Thesis Template

I (Josh) wrote, formatted, and edited my thesis using TeXworks, a free, open-source TeX editing software. (You can download it and all necessary associated files using that link.) The formatting used in these documents was accepted by the Graduate School in August, 2014, but you should probably check if there are any changes in the requirements.

Directions for Downloading Files and Compiling Josh's Thesis

I've uploaded .zip files with all of the files you need to compile my thesis. Unfortunately, because of the size limit on uploading files, I had to split it up, so it's a bit more complicated than I would have liked.

First, download the .tex documents:

File:TeX files.zip

Unzip the folder, and save them all in a folder, let's call it "Thesis" (but it doesn't really matter). All of the files must eventually be put in this same folder.

Next, download the reference files:

File:Ref1.zip

File:Ref2.zip

File:Ref3.zip

File:Ref4.zip

Unzip this files, and put them all in one folder called "References" (this name DOES matter). Put "References" inside "Thesis" with the .tex files.

Finally, download the figure files:

File:Figs1.zip

File:Figs2.zip

Unzip these files, and save them in a new folder called "Josh" (this name DOES matter). Then, put "Josh" inside another folder called "figures"(this name DOES matter). (I know, I'm sorry that it's complicated. I would have had to change my code to make this easier.) Put "figures" in "Thesis".

Overview of Files

The main file is the file called "thesis.tex". This is the main file that calls all of the other files; it's the only one you ever have to "run". It calls all of the other .tex files, and it automatically generates a PDF every time you run it. (To "run" or typeset the document in TeXworks, use CTRL+T or click on the green circle with the arrow in the top left of the screen.) For all the other .tex files, you just make changes in them, and then save. Then you run thesis.tex, and the changes will be reflected in the new PDF.

thesis.tex

The first big chunk of thesis.tex is all formatting stuff. You really don't have to change any of it, unless you want to add fancy new packages to get more features in the document. (I don't know how to do this.) One thing you can do is use the "Margin Check". If you comment out line 15 (\documentclass[12pt]{withesis}) using a %, and then uncomment line 18 (\documentclass[12pt,margincheck]{withesis}), then it will generate a PDF that has black boxes in the right margin anywhere where your document goes outside of the accepted margins.

The real important part starts at line 112 (\begin{document}).

I don't know what the \bibliographystyle thing is. I just left it how it was from Tyler's thesis.

The next parts are where the other chapters are called. The command

\include{CHAPTERNAME}

calls the file called CHAPTERNAME.tex. (You may have to save the chapter .tex files in the same folder as thesis.tex.) You'll have to change these \include commands to call your chapters.

For the references, \bibliography{REFERENCES} calls the file REFERENCES.bib that should contain your references. (Here it is References/library because my .bib file is called "library", and it is in the folder "References".)

For keeping track of references, both for the thesis and in general, I recommend Mendeley, a free reference manager. It stores PDFs, is searchable (it searches within PDFs), and it creates (and automatically updates!) a .bib file that creates handles the references in the thesis.

For appendices, it is the same as chapters, except you use the \include command between the commands \begin{appendices} and \end{appendices}.

myprelude.tex

The first chapter you'll want is call myprelude.tex. (You can change this file name or any other file name, as long as you change both the file name and the code that calls it.) The prelude is where you enter the title page info, the dedication, the acknowledgements, and the abstracts. It also generates the table of contents and the lists of tables and figures.

There are lots of things you can change in this file. I'll only mention the ones that I changed.

In the "TITLE PAGE" section, you enter the title, your name, and the date. You may want to play around with the spacing by adding vertical spaces if your title is multiple lines. (See below for vertical space command.)

You can edit the department (\department) if you're not in Physics, and you can enter your dedication and acknowledgements in those sections.

The CONTENTS, TABLES, FIGURES section doesn't have to be edited. It automatically generates a table of contents and a list of figures.

Enter your advisor name and title (\advisorname and \advisortitle), and then enter your abstract. For the abstract, you can either have a separate .tex file called abstract, which is called by \include abstract. (If you'd rather, you can comment out that line, and then uncomment the section below. You then type in your entire abstract in between the lines \begin{abstract} and \end{abstract}.)

Chapter .tex Files

For all of the other chapters and appendices, you create a .tex file called CHAPTERNAME.tex, and then you call that chapter in the thesis.tex file using \include{CHAPTERNAME} as described above. (Remember that you can't run/typeset the individual chapters. You just create or change CHAPTERNAME.tex, and save it. The next time your run thesis.tex, the changes will appear in the PDF.)

You don't have to give the .tex file the same name as the chapter itself. (You probably don't want to if it's long.) You name the chapter using the first line in the .tex file.

Each chapter starts out with the following line:

\chapter{This Is The Full Chapter Title, and Spaces are OK Here}\label{ch:chapname}.

This allows you to name the chapter, and the code does the formatting for you. The \label part allows you to refer to the chapter later. (See below for more on \label.)

Style (.sty) and Class (.cls) Files

I don't really understand the Style and Class files (withesis.sty, withe10.sty, withe12.sty, and withesis.cls). Mostly I didn't do anything with them at all.

The only changes I can really remember doing is modifying withesis.cls to include the final oral exam date (which you'll want to change - Line 710) my committee members (a relatively recent requirement - Line 714) and changing the title "List of References" to "References" (Line 437).

Some of these things are repeated in the Style files, too, but they don't seem to have any affect on the PDF. I'm not sure why they are repeated

General .tex Notes

Basic Commands

If you're not familiar with LaTeX, as I wasn't, I would suggest just looking (in my .tex files or others) for examples of things similar to what you want to do and then modifying that code. I found many coding answers just using Google or searching Stack Exchange. Stack Exchange also has the answer to many other pressing questions.

That said, here are a few basic commands and other small tips that I found useful.

\cite{} \label{} \ref{} \begin{equation, eqnarray} \vspace ! between letters \textit{ \text{

Other Thoughts

spelling

talk about figures, tables

With some changes, especially with reference and figure numbering, you may have to run / typeset thesis.tex twice before you see the changes take place in the PDF.

I think it screws it up if you use spaces in your file names, so use underscores (_) instead.

other zip files - for alternative formats