abdqavsf31 / latex-cheat-sheet

University of Southampton LaTeX templates and LaTeX commands' cheat sheet

University of Southampton LaTeX template

This is a modified template, based on the official template found here. The modifications are detailed below, in the 'Customisation' section. This is intended to be a universal template that can be used by PhD candidates of any discipline and any department. At the moment, the university name (University of Southampton) is hard-coded inside the LaTeX class. If you would like to use this template for another university, you will have to modify the \University variable in the class file(s).

Installation

The templates are provided in a zip file. Two versions of the zip file are available, one for local and one for online installation. Depending on your workflow, two methods of installing are available:

Overleaf installation

Disclaimer: This template hasn't been tested for use with Overleaf; although technically it should work, if installation issues arise, you are on your own! If you are using Overleaf, simply download the online-zip file and upload it straight to Overleaf (New project -> Upload project -> Choose zip file). You might have to provide a copy of the .cls file in every sub-folder, if Overleaf complains about an unknown class. Bear in mind that Overleaf does not always play nice with subfiles, so you might have to resort to \include or \input commands instead

Local installation

If you are working with a local LaTeX installation, you will have to install the template .tex files and the accompanying class files to a directory that is discoverable by your LaTeX packages.

1. Download the file titled local-zip and extract its contents. Usually you will want to extract it to your local TEXMF directory.

2. For Windows installations, the user TEXMF directory is usually located at C:\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents\TeX.
   For Mac and Linux installations, the path is /User/username/Library/texmf.

   You can locate the path of the directory by firing up a terminal (cmd window in Windows) and typing:

      kpsewhich --var-value TEXMFHOME
   

   If the directory doesn't exist, you can create it manually.

3. Extract the contents of local-zip to your TEXMF directory. Make sure to maintain the directory structure intact (if prompted, select to merge the contents of the folder rather than replace them).

4. On Windows, click Start->Programs->MiKTeX->MikTeX Options and click on "Refresh Now".
   On Unix/Mac, open a terminal and type:

       texhash ~/texmf   
   

Template structure

The template contains three class files and a set of .tex files to get you started.

The class files are:

ecsprogress.cls -- This style file will produce a document for submission as a first-year/9-month progress report.
ecsminithesis.cls -- This style file produces a document for submission as an 18-month/upgrade report.
ecsthesis.cls -- This style file produces a document for the final submission of the PhD thesis.

Directory structure:

The .tex files are located at templates->latex->ecsdocs. It is advised to work on copies of these templates; this way, if you come across any issues, you can revert back to a clean copy. Copy the whole directory structure from ecsdocs into a different location and start working there. The directory structure of ecsdocs is this:

      ecsdocs  --> Appendices   
                                '--> AppendixA.tex   #An appendix file
              '--> Bibliography 
                                '--> biblio.bib   #The bibliography file containing bibliographic references
              '--> Chapter1 
                                '--> Chapter1.tex   #Sample of a chapter
              '--> Images 
                                '--> figure.eps   #Sample picture in *.eps* format
                                '--> figure.pdf   #Sample picture in *.pdf* format
              '--> Introduction 
                                '--> Introduction.tex   #Sample introductory chapter
              '--> main 
                                '--> Progress.tex   # The main file. Use this to compile the whole document.
              '--> Preable 
                                '--> Abstract.tex   #The abstract
                                '--> Info.tex      #All customisation options are contained here
                                '--> Preamble.tex   #File containing extra commands and instructions for LaTeX. Any additional packages you want to include can go there.   

Customisation

The fields that require you to customise them are indicated in the .tex files by a %TODO comment. In most editors, these comments will appear highlighted.

Most of these fields are within the Info.tex document:

• Information for the cover and abstract page:
  \dept -- Your University department name
  \fact -- The faculty of your department
  \grp -- Your research group (leave blank if non-applicable)

  \title -- The title of your project
  \authors -- Your name

  \supervisor -- The name of your supervisor(s) (Add more lines as needed. Remember to end each line with \\)
  \examiner -- The name of your supervisor(s) (Add more lines as needed. Remember to end each line with \\)

  \addresses -- Do not modify
  \date -- Will produce the date of the last compilation. Change if you require a specific date.
  \subject -- Any categories you wish printed underneath the title
  \keywords -- Any keywords you want embedded in the resulting pdf

• Information about the citation style:
  style= refers to the format of the bibliography at the end of the document. Uncomment your preferred style as needed.
  citestyle= refers to the format of the citations in text. Uncomment your preferred style.

• Information about the bibliography sources: \addbibresource The default is biblio.bib. You can change this to use a different file, or add extra \addbibresource underneath, in case you're using more than one .bib files.

• Information about the font type:
  Uncomment the following lines in case you'd like to modify the font used by the document:
  %\renewcommand{\sfdefault}{phv} %<---- To change the default font
%\renewcommand{\familydefault}{\sfdefault}

• Information about the colour of the cover and abstract: \defaultcolour -- Uncomment one of the available colours to change how the links (names, faculty, departments etc.) appear. Applies to the cover, abstract and declaration only.

In the Progress.tex document:

You can enter acknowledgments into \acknowledgements{ } and a dedication in \dedicatory{ }. If you don't want these section to appear, you will have to comment them out.
The \authorshipdeclaration{} takes no argument. It only produces a declaration page if you are using the ecsthesis class.

The abbreviations list has been substituted by the nomencl package. To define abbreviations in your text use:

        \nom{ABRV.}{Explanation}   

For example, \nom{ID}{Identification} will produce an entry:

        Abbreviations   
        --------------
        
          ID            Identification    

Your content goes after \mainmatter. All chapters are organised into subfiles. Create additional subfiles as needed, but makesure to maintain the correct structure:
% !TeX root = Name-of-the-subfile.tex

      \documentclass[../main/Progress.tex]{subfiles}
      \begin{document}
          ...some content here
      \end{document}   

Normally, auto-complete won't be provided for citation commands when used in a subfile. To circumvent this, declare your bib file again inside your subfile (\addbibresource{}) and refresh. This will ensure that autocomplete gets populated. However, make sure to comment out that line before you compile your master document.

Have fun!

© 2019 Niko Tsakalakis - These templates are distributed under a CC BY-NC-ND licence. Please use responsibly.