Difference between revisions of "Paper/Thesis Guide"
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This is a reference for how to write papers and theses. I spent a lot of time messing with different tools and these are the ones I settled on. You may wish to substitute your personal favorite here and there, but these are a very good basic set. I like them because they are free, portable, and stable. You will be able to work on your paper from any machine. In other words, if you lose your laptop and that special license for a piece of software, you don't have to borrow one or find a hack to get your data back. | This is a reference for how to write papers and theses. I spent a lot of time messing with different tools and these are the ones I settled on. You may wish to substitute your personal favorite here and there, but these are a very good basic set. I like them because they are free, portable, and stable. You will be able to work on your paper from any machine. In other words, if you lose your laptop and that special license for a piece of software, you don't have to borrow one or find a hack to get your data back. | ||
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| − | + | ==Word Processing== | |
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I prefer to use LaTeX. Any other word processor (except perhaps Framemaker) is a pain to get to have the right format. Word is horrible because every time you make an edit you have to replace your figures. Given that, you can start with several document classes that have the formatting done for you: | I prefer to use LaTeX. Any other word processor (except perhaps Framemaker) is a pain to get to have the right format. Word is horrible because every time you make an edit you have to replace your figures. Given that, you can start with several document classes that have the formatting done for you: | ||
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<LI>Other conferences will generally provide you with a LaTeX template</LI> | <LI>Other conferences will generally provide you with a LaTeX template</LI> | ||
</UL> | </UL> | ||
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Some other (mostly Mac) utilities I have found useful for LaTeX: | Some other (mostly Mac) utilities I have found useful for LaTeX: | ||
<UL> | <UL> | ||
<LI>[http://evolve.lse.ac.uk/software/EquationEditor EquationEditor] - for putting equations on slides</LI> | <LI>[http://evolve.lse.ac.uk/software/EquationEditor EquationEditor] - for putting equations on slides</LI> | ||
<LI>[http://www.uoregon.edu/~koch/texshop TexShop] - for quickly updating/viewing your LaTeX results</LI> | <LI>[http://www.uoregon.edu/~koch/texshop TexShop] - for quickly updating/viewing your LaTeX results</LI> | ||
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</UL> | </UL> | ||
| − | + | ==Drawing Graphics== | |
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For making images, I try to be consistent. It is important to have the ability to always modify the image. If you need some fancy tool like Visio, you may not have a license. Photoshop, for example, costs thousands of dollars. Therefore, I recommend these tools for vector graphics (simple line-based shapes) in the order of my preference: | For making images, I try to be consistent. It is important to have the ability to always modify the image. If you need some fancy tool like Visio, you may not have a license. Photoshop, for example, costs thousands of dollars. Therefore, I recommend these tools for vector graphics (simple line-based shapes) in the order of my preference: | ||
<UL> | <UL> | ||
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For bitmaps, you can use [http://www.gimp.org The Gimp]. | For bitmaps, you can use [http://www.gimp.org The Gimp]. | ||
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| − | + | ==Results== | |
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For making plots, there are also many options. I prefer to use (in order): | For making plots, there are also many options. I prefer to use (in order): | ||
<UL> | <UL> | ||
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</UL> | </UL> | ||
For computing results, you should also look at the [http://www.r-project.org R project]. | For computing results, you should also look at the [http://www.r-project.org R project]. | ||
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| − | + | ==Converting Image Formats== | |
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To convert formats, I highly recommend the ImageMagick tool suite. The interface is through the command 'convert' and it pretty much automatically recognizes extensions. So, for example, you can do: | To convert formats, I highly recommend the ImageMagick tool suite. The interface is through the command 'convert' and it pretty much automatically recognizes extensions. So, for example, you can do: | ||
<PRE> | <PRE> | ||
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</PRE> | </PRE> | ||
You can also specify rotation, scale, resolution, etc. It works with almost any image format you will find. Type "man convert" for more information. | You can also specify rotation, scale, resolution, etc. It works with almost any image format you will find. Type "man convert" for more information. | ||
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==Revision Control== | ==Revision Control== | ||
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To get an SVN client for any machine (Linux, OSX, Windows), you can look at http://subversion.tigris.org/project_packages.html | To get an SVN client for any machine (Linux, OSX, Windows), you can look at http://subversion.tigris.org/project_packages.html | ||
| − | + | ==Feedback== | |
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If any of the above tools (except Matlab) are missing from a group machine, please let me know and I will install it. | If any of the above tools (except Matlab) are missing from a group machine, please let me know and I will install it. | ||
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Revision as of 15:49, 1 May 2008
This is a reference for how to write papers and theses. I spent a lot of time messing with different tools and these are the ones I settled on. You may wish to substitute your personal favorite here and there, but these are a very good basic set. I like them because they are free, portable, and stable. You will be able to work on your paper from any machine. In other words, if you lose your laptop and that special license for a piece of software, you don't have to borrow one or find a hack to get your data back.
Contents
Word Processing
I prefer to use LaTeX. Any other word processor (except perhaps Framemaker) is a pain to get to have the right format. Word is horrible because every time you make an edit you have to replace your figures. Given that, you can start with several document classes that have the formatting done for you:
- Javi Martinez's thesis format
- IEEE style guide
- Other conferences will generally provide you with a LaTeX template
Some other (mostly Mac) utilities I have found useful for LaTeX:
- EquationEditor - for putting equations on slides
- TexShop - for quickly updating/viewing your LaTeX results
Drawing Graphics
For making images, I try to be consistent. It is important to have the ability to always modify the image. If you need some fancy tool like Visio, you may not have a license. Photoshop, for example, costs thousands of dollars. Therefore, I recommend these tools for vector graphics (simple line-based shapes) in the order of my preference:
For bitmaps, you can use The Gimp.
Results
For making plots, there are also many options. I prefer to use (in order):
- gnuplot
- Matlab (but this requires a license)
For computing results, you should also look at the R project.
Converting Image Formats
To convert formats, I highly recommend the ImageMagick tool suite. The interface is through the command 'convert' and it pretty much automatically recognizes extensions. So, for example, you can do:
convert myimage.gif myimage.eps
You can also specify rotation, scale, resolution, etc. It works with almost any image format you will find. Type "man convert" for more information.
Revision Control
Another thing that is very important, is revision control. YOU SHOULD USE SVN TO MANAGE YOUR REVISIONS. If you do not, you will eventually delete a file by mistake or want to undo an edit and you will be out of luck. SVN can handle binary formats automatically. All of the above source files should be checked into an SVN repository that is either in your personal space or on the group server.
To access our group SVN server from the mada cluster, you can do this:
svn co file:///mada/users/vlsi/<project>
To access it from outside the cluster, you can access it through ssh like this:
svn co svn+ssh://user@mada0/mada/users/vlsi/<project>
To get an SVN client for any machine (Linux, OSX, Windows), you can look at http://subversion.tigris.org/project_packages.html
Feedback
If any of the above tools (except Matlab) are missing from a group machine, please let me know and I will install it.
