README file for the ramsreport "package". ============================== This "package" contains the required files to write your project and/or Master's thesis by pdfLaTeX. First you need to download and install LaTeX on your computer. Guidance on how to do this is given on https://www.ntnu.no/wiki/display/ross/LaTeX+Installation+and+Hints If you have a Windows PC, you may choose between MikTeX and TeX Live. Both are equally good, but MikTeX may be easier to install and keep updated. If you do not have other preferences, I recommend you to use the LaTeX editor TeXworks. This is included in the LaTeX package for both MikTeX and TeX Live. When you open TeXworks (or TeXShop if you use a Mac), please open "Preferences->Editor" and check that the font encoding is specified as UTF-8 (If not, change to this encoding). When you have LaTeX installed, you should move all files in this "package" to a separate folder, for example, called “project” (or “master”), and read the file "thesis.pdf" carefully. I have set up this template with a master-file called thesis.tex and a set of input files — one for each part and chapter of your thesis. The first chapter is called chapter01.tex. Then follows chapter 02.tex, and so on. You may add as many chapter files as you wish. When you have added a file, for example, chapter07.tex, you must remember to add this file into the master file, thesis.tex — by the line \include{chapter07}. [It is not strictly required to have so many files. It is fully okay to write everything in the same file - but it may then be easier to lose oversight. My recommendation is that you follow my guidelines.] In all the files, I have included some top-lines where it is specified that you are using encoding utf8 and that your spell.checker is set up with US English (you may change this yourself). This is functioning well on a Mac, but I have not tested it under Windows. Comments in the .tex files are preceded by a %. Everything following a % is not read when compiling the file. I suggest that you copy all the files in thesis.zip into your project or master folder. To write your own report, just use my files, and replace my often foolish text with your own. Do not include any “List of Figures” and “List of Tables”. I have included a reference file called refs.bib. You may open this by JabRef (if you use Windows) or BiBDesk (if you use Mac) to add further references. When you read a paper or a report, it is a good idea to add them to refs.bib. It is not a problem to include references in refs.bib that you will not use in the final version of your thesis. Please be very careful when you enter new references - and fill in all required fields. In many cases, you may export the references directly into "refs.bib" from ScienceDirect, Amazon, Google Books, etc. without having to type anything - and drag-and-drop them into JabRef or BibDesk. When you have entered text in one or more chapters, you must compile thesis.tex yo see the result. In TeXworks, compilation is done by activating the green "arrow" in the upper left corner of the screen. Please check that pdfLaTeX is in the option window (to the right of the green "arrow"). It it is not already done, you may set the default to pdfLaTeX by opening "Preferences->Typesetting->Default". If you have entered references, you need to run BibTeX (change the option window to BibTeX and activate the green "arrow") and then you have to run pdfLaTeX two times more to include the references. The style of your report is specified in the file "ramsstyle.sty". This file contains settings, such as fonts, symbols, special "packages" that are included, etc. You may edit this file, but please take a back-up before you start editing. This "package" is made for pdfLaTeX and figure files must therefore be in pdf, png, or jpeg format. I recommend to save all figures in pdf-format. It may happen that you get problems with the size of the figures -- because your drawing program has not specified the "bounding box" of the figure properly. You may have to experiment a bit to get this box correct. I have activated hyperlinks in the "package". If you think it is a nuisance while writing the thesis, you may turn it off by commenting out the \usepackage{hyperref} in "ramsstyle.sty". You may also change the behavior of the hyperlinks by adding options to the hyperref package. 2014-08-12 Marvin Rausand