Math software for Windows
Installation and Usage Tips for
TeXnic Center (and Miktex)
Version of
14 March 2006.
Watch this web page; it may grow a bit in the near future. I just
started using TeXnic Center recently, and so I'm still learning about
it. Here are some features that I probably will add to this page soon:
(1) How to use forward search in multi-file projects (e.g., one file for
each chapter). (2) How to use TeXnicCenter with pictures (as
described in my web page about pictures in TeX).
-- Please email to me if you have further suggestions for this
page. -- ES
TeXnic Center
is a fairly good program, but some parts of its documentation
are a bit unclear; in some places the documentation is too abstract (i.e.,
with insufficiently many examples). I have done some experimenting to
figure out some features; below are my resulting clarifications.
General comments about installation
Where the Miktex files go depends on which
version of Miktex you've installed, and which
version of Windows you are using. On most computers you'll find all the Miktex-related
files under "C:\texmf", but on some computers
you'll find the files under "C:\Program Files\MiKTeX".
You should install TexnicCenter
after installing Miktex. TexnicCenter
will find most of the Miktex files on its own,
but it may need a little help and it may ask
you a few questions. In particular:
- Question: Enter the full path
of the DVI-viewer to use: Answer:
C:\texmf\miktex\bin\yap.exe
(which you don't really need to type in;
instead you can click on the "browse" button
to the right of the fill-in blank).
- Question: Enter the command line option that prevents the viewer from starting
multiple instances: Answer:
-1
(That's a numeral one, not a letter L.
- Question: Enter the command line option, that causes the viewer to display
a paragraph beginning to a given
source line. Use the place holders: Answer:
-s %l"%pc"
(This time it's a lower-case L, not a numeral one.
And be sure to include the double quote marks.)
Then, when you're setting up the profiles, you
may need to adjust the settings for Yap. That's
under the profile "LaTeX => DVI", in the
"Viewer" section. The following commands seem to work. (To avoid
typing errors, use copy-and-paste to copy them from this web
page into TxC's blanks.)
In the line above "Forward Search" (using a one):
-1 "%bm.tex" "%bm.dvi"
In the line below "Forward Search" (using a one and then an L):
-1 -s %l"%bc.tex" "%bm.dvi"
Refreshing the filename database
Any time that you add some files that you want Miktex to be able to find,
you have to update the filename database. Some examples of this
are given below. The easiest way to update the filename database is
to go to "Start" "Programs" "Miktex" "Miktex options"
and then click on the button that says "Refresh now".
Personal configuration file
(This is really a Miktex issue, but it does affect TexnicCenter too.)
You will find some of Miktex's configuration settings in the file
"C:\texmf\miktex\config\miktex.ini". That is a textfile, which
can be edited with a texteditor such as Notepad
(not with a formatted editor such as Word or
Wordperfect). However, here is another method that
is recommended instead:
Find the directory "C:\localtexmf\miktex\config", and
in it put a copy of miktex.ini. Edit the lines you want
to edit, and delete all the other lines.
Here's why: (1) Whenever you run Miktex, it will first
look in the texmf version for basic configuration, and
then look in the localtexmf version for further settings
or resettings. Thus, you still get the effect you want.
(2) When it comes time to update your copy of Miktex
(perhaps once a year or so), the texmf version will
get overwritten with a new version, but your localtexmf
version will be preserved the way you want it.
After you create the local config file, you'll
need to refresh the filename database, so that
Miktex knows it's there. (See remarks earlier
on this page.)
Fine-tuning the automatic error handling
One of TxC's really great features is its automatic error
handling. If you click on the appropriate arrow buttons
near the top of the TxC window, TxC will look through
your most recent log file and then take you to
"next error", "previous error", "next warning", etc.
This makes it much easier to find and fix your errors.
I will now describe a defect that I found in this error
handling, and a solution that I eventually discovered.
Here is a typical line from my log file:
LaTeX Warning: Reference `is.choice.true' on page 183 undefined on input line 8
7.
The warning refers to a minor, easily-correct
problem on line 87 of my source file. Unfortunately,
the default configuration setting had my log outputs
something like 78 columns wide. That's one column too
short for this particular message; the number "87" got
cut off in the middle; the "7" appears on the next line.
TeXnicCenter ignored the "7", and looked for the error
on line "8". That's not so helpful to me. Even worse
were some other warning messages, where the entire line
number got cut off and sent to the next line of output;
in these cases, TeXnicCenter simply took me to line 1
of the source file. Not what I wanted.
Here's how to fix it:
First, edit the "C:\localtexmf\miktex\config\miktex.ini" file
(mentioned earlier on this web page). Add this line to it:
max_print_line=200
(Then refresh the filename database.)
But now you won't be able to read the output window, because
its display lines will be too long! To fix that, we still
have to make another alteration.
In TeXnicCenter, go to
"Tools" "Options..." "Text Format".
Get the "Window" set to "Output".
Then change the font to something very narrow -- for instance,
I changed mine to "Arial Narrow" size 10.
Brightening the colors
The syntax color highlighting is helpful, but it is more
helpful if you brighten the colors. I think the best
way to do this is not by changing the colors themselves,
but by changing the display font to boldface. See
illustration: Go into
"Tools" "Customize..." "Text Format".
Get the "Window" set to "Editor".
Then, in the section labeled "Font", click on
"Change". Experiment with the fonts until you
find something you like. With most fonts, changing to
boldface has little visible effect, but
I found that the fonts "Terminal" and "Fixedsys" have
markedly brighter colors when you use boldface.
Currently, I'm using "Lucida Console", boldface,
size 12 points. You may want to experiment with
a few fonts to see what looks good to you.
(I emphasize that this is the font used in the
editor's display, NOT the font used in your output.)
You can also change the color scheme itself if you wish;
the appropriate box is right below the fonts box. I haven't
changed mine, but perhaps you have some specialized reason
for wanting to change yours.
Configuring Windows DDE for TxC
I have set up my computer so that when I double-click on a TeX file, TeXnic Center
starts up and loads the TeX file -- or, if TeXic Center is already running, the already-running
instance loads that TeX file (as opposed to starting a new instance). I installed this
command in Windows using the usual procedure, which is indicated in the picture below:
In Windows Explorer, click "View" -- "Folder Options" -- "File Types". Look at the list of filetypes.
If Tex isn't listed there, click "New type..." and fill in the basics (and choose an icon that
you like, too -- I like lions because that's what Knuth used when he first created Tex).
If Tex is listed there, select it and
click "Edit..." (or in some versions of Windows, click "Advanced").
Then, under "Actions", click "New...". Type "TeXnic Center" (or "Txc", or whatever
you like) for the "Action". For "Application used to perform action", type exactly
what I have typed:
"C:\Program Files\TeXnicCenter\TEXCNTR.EXE" /ddecmd "[open('%1')]"
(To avoid typograpical errors, don't retype it; just use copy-and-paste.)
Finally, click "OK", "OK", "OK".
(I was tempted to use the little "Use DDE" box that you see in the picture. I experimented extensively with it but couldn't get it to work with TxC. If you
get it to work, let me know. The procedure I've described above does work, at least
on my computer.)
Adding tools to TxC
In TeXnic Center, under "Tools", you'll see "Windows Explorer". That was included
in the default setup as an example. You can add whatever tools you like under
"Windows Explorer" (and you can also remove "Windows Explorer" if you don't want
it there). But adding tools is a little tricky; you have to get the commands just right.
Here are some of the tools that I've found useful to add to TxC:
- 4Spell. This spelling checker is, in my opinion, better than
the one that comes built into TxC. (Of course, you'll need to install 4Spell
first; see its
listing.)
- New Yap. You can load a dvi file into Yap using the
"View Output (F5)" button that comes on TxC's "Latex" buttonbar. But
if you already have Yap running, that just reuses the same instance
of Yap. Sometimes I like to have two different instances of Yap
running simultaneously, so that I can look at two different pages
in the same document.
- (I may add more to this list after a while.)
Here is the procedure, illustrated at right. In TeXnic Center,
click on "Tools" --
"Customize..." --
"Tools".
Click on the leftmost icon (circled in my illustration).
That creates a box into which you can type whatever
you like, for the label that will appear on the tool list.
That part doesn't have to be typed exactly right. But then
fill in the three boxes below it; those must be typed
exactly. Here is what to fill in. (Don't retype it -- to avoid
typographical errors, just copy-and-paste from the table below.)
4Spell |
| Command: |
C:\Program Files\4Spell\4spell.exe |
| Arguments: |
"%pc" |
| Initial directory: |
"C:\Program Files\4Spell\" |
new Yap this project |
| Command: |
C:\texmf\miktex\bin\yap.exe |
| Arguments: |
-s %l"%Wc" "%bm.dvi" |
| Initial directory: |
%dc |
new Yap this file |
| Command: |
C:\texmf\miktex\bin\yap.exe |
| Arguments: |
-s %l"%pc" "%bc.dvi" |
| Initial directory: |
%dc |
dvipdfm this project |
| Command: |
C:\texmf\miktex\bin\dvipdfm.exe |
| Arguments: |
"%bm.dvi" |
| Initial directory: |
%dm |
dvipdfm this file |
| Command: |
C:\texmf\miktex\bin\dvipdfm.exe |
| Arguments: |
%bc.dvi |
| Initial directory: |
%dc |
dos box in this file's directory |
| Command: |
cmd.exe |
| Arguments: |
|
| Initial directory: |
%dc |
Changing TxC's button bars
To change the button bars in TeXnic Center, go to "Tools" --
"Customize..." -- "Toolbars". Checking or unchecking
the boxes will change which buttonbars are showing; experiment
with this a little to see how it works. Clicking "New..." will create
a new buttonbar. Also, you can move buttons from
one toolbar onto another, or delete a button altogether by dragging it
away from the toolbars. Don't worry about deletions; you can always
reset a button bar latter if you wish.
While you're new to the program, you may want to use
large buttons (go to
"Tools" --
"Customize..." -- "Options", and check the
"Large Icons" box);
later you can switch to small buttons.
Here are some techniques that I like to use; you might like
some of them:
- I only use about a third of the buttons.
I get rid of the rest, so that my screen won't
be so cluttered.
- I never use any of the original button bars.
I create new bars, drag all the buttons I want to them,
then reset the original button bars, then hide the
original button bars by unchecking their boxes.
This system makes later changes a little easier.
- I made myself two customized versions of the
"Latex" button bar. I use one for some kinds of documents,
and the other for other kinds of documents. It's very
easy to turn one button bar off and turn another one
on -- you don't have to go through all the edit menus --
just click your right mouse button anywhere on
the button bar, and then check or uncheck the
appropriate boxes.
Change the output profiles
To get to these, go to "Build" -- "Define Output Profiles...".
I found that the default profiles, built into TxC, worked pretty well for
me; I only had one minor change (you may have more):
I'm working on a book (which uses makeindex but not bibtex)
and also on many small documents for my students
(using neither makeindex nor bibtex).
I got tired of all the error messages about "bib file not found".
So I checked "Do not use Bibtex in this profile." Then I
used "Copy" to duplicate the "LaTeX => DVI" profile,
and then I renamed the profiles: One is named
"LaTeX => DVI book long" and the other is named
"LaTeX => DVI simple short". In the latter, I also checked
"Do not use Makeindex in this profile".
Configuring Windows DDE for TxC
TeXnicCenter can hold several files at once; that is convenient for
some kinds of editing.
I have set up my computer so that when I double-click on a TeX file, TeXnic Center
starts up and loads the TeX file -- or, if TeXic Center is already running, the already-running
instance loads that TeX file (as opposed to starting a new instance).
Setting things up that way is a little tricky. The setup procedure starts
in the usual fashion (outlined in my discussion of
file associations for Windows programs):
In Windows Explorer, click "View" -- "Folder Options" -- "File Types". Look at the list of filetypes.
If Tex isn't listed there, click "New type..." and fill in the basics (and choose an icon that
you like, too -- I like lions because that's what Knuth used when he first created Tex).
If Tex is listed there, select it and
click "Edit..." (or in some versions of Windows, click "Advanced").
Then, under "Actions", click "New...". Type "TeXnic Center" (or "Txc", or whatever
you like) for the "Action".
Now comes the tricky part. If you do things in the usual fashion,
under "Application used to perform action"
you would type
"C:\Program Files\TeXnicCenter\TEXCNTR.EXE" "%1"
but that does not have the desired effect. If you do that, each time you double click on
a TeX file you'll start up a new instance of TeXnicCenter, even if one
is already running.
One remedy is to instead type
under "Application used to perform action"
the following code:
"C:\Program Files\TeXnicCenter\TEXCNTR.EXE" /ddecmd "[open('%1')]"
Note the single quotes around the %1.
Here is another method that also works: Fill the "Application used" box in the
usual fashion, but then check the box
labeled "Use DDE". This makes more boxes appear.
Now, in the box labeled "DDE Message", type
[open("%1")]
Note that this time the %1 is surrounded by double quotes.
See picture below.