When working with a TeX or LaTeX input file, remember that the filename should have the extension .tex: for example, an acceptable filename might be myfile.tex.
In the input file, words are separated by leaving one blank space; paragraphs are separated by leaving one blank line. (You can also use the command \par to indicate a new paragraph.) TeX ignores multiple blank spaces and multiple blank lines in input files.
Type single quotation marks by using the left (`) and right (') single quote marks on your keyboard. Type left double quotation marks by using using two single left quotes (``), and type right double quotation marks by using either two single right quotes ('') or the double quote key (").
There are three kinds of dashes in typeset documents:
Since there is only one dash on the keyboard, type -, --, and --- to get the hyphen, endash, and emdash, respectively.
To prevent two words from being split at a line break, tie them together with the tilde character: for example, text entered as "Mr.~Smith" will never appear with "Mr." at the end of one line and "Smith" at the beginning of the next.
You can use the percent symbol () to insert a comment in your input file. When TeX sees the , it will ignore the rest of the line.
Certain punctuation marks are reserved for use by TeX. To print these characters in your output, you must type them in your input file as shown below.
To Print Type Special TeX meaning
# \# Parameter in a macro; also used in tables
$ \$ Used to begin and end math mode
\ Used for comments in the source file
& \& Tab mark, used in alignments
_ \_ Used in math mode for subscripts
^ \^{} Used in math mode for superscripts
~ \~{} Tie character, used to produce "hard"
space
{ $\{$ Used to begin a group
} $\}$ Used to end a group
\ $\backslash$ Used to begin a control sequence
< $<$ Without the $ signs, produces
> $>$ Without the $ signs, produces >
Please send comments and suggestions to
consult@rpi.edu