WinTeX - Documentation

1. Welcome

WinTeX is a text editor which is optimized for use with TeX. WinTeX offers a variety of functions to simplify editing of TeX files (e.g. a graphical table editor, toolbars for frequently used TeX-commands and syntax completion). Syntax highlighting improves the readability of your TeX sources. You can customize WinTeX to have every possible TeX-tool just one mouseclick away.

Features include:

• Modern XP Style MDI Interface
• Individual Extension of WinTeX possible (VBScript)
• Syntax Highlighting with font, color and style
• Graphical user interface to easily manage and edit BiBTeX files
• Easy management of TeX-Projects with all needed files
• Spellchecking
• Search & Replace
• Nested Undo & Redo
• Unlimited number of connections to external programs
• Buttonbar for easy access of these connections
• Unlimited number of Key-Shortcuts to insert any sequence of TeX-commands on one keystroke or mouseclick
• Toolboxes for mathematical symbols etc.
• Powerful Table-editor
• Easily find TeX-errors and -warnings with integrated Log browser.
• One mouseclick lists all include'd and input'ed files.
• You can drop bookmarks in the editor and jump back to this line with one keystroke
• Syntax completion for all LaTeX commands

Please also visit the WinTeX homepage for the most current information:

http://www.tex-tools.de

2. WinTeX Tasks

The following chapters will give a brief description of the features of WinTeX. In most cases the information provided here will be sufficient to help you start with WinTeX or help you with your problems. A detailed description of all functions of WinTeX is given in the next part.

Command Line Arguments

WinTeX supports two command line switches:

-f          specifies a filename for the inverse search option of YAP

-l          specifies the line number for the inverse search option of YAP

For further information regarding this feature please consult the online help of YAP (YAP is part of the miktex package http://www.miktex.org ).

Example: "wintex.exe –f d:mytexfilestest.tex –l 4711"

Opening Files

You can open files in three different ways:

1. By using the ‘Open File’ dialog
2. By specifying a filename as command line argument (i.e. clicking on a *.tex file when these are associated with WinTeX)
3. Drag&Drop one or more files from the explorer into the WinTeX window.

Customising the Editor

You open the properties dialog by clicking on the entry in the "Editor" tab of the options dialog. The details of the properties are discussed in the next part of this document.

Options

The ‘Options’ tab lets you control the behaviour of the editor. You can toggle word wrapping (automated wrapping of long lines), auto indent (places the cursor under the first non space character in a new line) and syntax highlighting.

Further you can have a visible right margin at n chracters and a ‘gutter’ which is a blank space at the left hand side of the editor where special icons give further information on some lines (e.g. bookmarks or wrapped lines).

You can specify by how many characters a block of text is indented if you press <Ctrl>+K I and have a fixed word wrap column (0 means that the text is wrapped at the width of the window).

For detailed description of all functions see part 3 of this documentation.

Highlighting

On the ‘Highlighting’ tab you can change colours and text styles for special elements of your TeX file. Simply select an entry in the list (e.g. Comment) and then change the settings for this element. You can see the effect of your changes in the preview pane.

Key assignments

Here you can change the shortcut keys for some editing functions like ‘copy’, ‘set bookmark’ or even ‘indent block’, etc.

Auto correct

The auto correct tab lets you specify wrong typed phrases, that should be automatically corrected when typed (e.g. teh -> the).

Shortcuts

Shortcuts provide an easy way to insert often used sequences of TeX commands into the text. If you want to insert a code template into your text simply type the name of the template and then press ESC. The cursor will be placed at the position of the pipe symbol (‘|’) in the template. If you don’t remember the name of the template you can simply press ESC and WinTeX will provide a list of all templates to choose from.

Using Templates

In WinTeX templates provide a convenient way to recycle often used document structures. Simply create the structure as you need it (e.g. an outline for a letter or for a report) and choose ‘File/Save as template’. The save dialog will automatically navigate to the templates directory (which is the directory where you installed WinTeX + ‘Template’). Now type a name for your new template and choose ‘Save’. Next time you open the ‘New file’ dialog from ‘File/New’ you will have an additional entry for your new template. Double clicking this entry will open a new file with the contents of your template.

Using Syntax Completion

Syntax completion is one of the editing aids of WinTeX. It is invoked by the shortcut

<Ctrl>+<Space>.

It completes a TeX command (e.g. usep -> usepackage) or a TeX environment (e.g. begin{environment} is completed with the corresponding end{environment}).

If you invoke it on a TeX command WinTeX provides a list with TeX commands where the cursor is placed on the best match. You can accept it by pressing <Enter> or scroll through the list and look for a different entry which is then inserted into the text.

Locating Lines

If you are looking for a specific line in your code either double click on the status bar or right click on the editor and chose ‘Goto line’ (you can also use the shortcut <Ctrl>+G).

Spell checking

WinTeX comes with a built in spell checker. If you have checked the ‘Auto Spell’ option in the ‘Edit’ menu every word that is not found in the defined dictionaries will be underlined. You can then correct this word by right clicking on it. Additionally you can use the standard spell checking routine which will go through the text and let you choose a replacement for every word not found in your dictionaries.

New dictionaries can be obtained on our website: http://www.tex-tools.de/

Issues concerning special characters and spell checking

In native TeX if you want to have special characters in your text (like ä,â,á, etc.) you have to use special TeX commands instead. This is a problem when you want to use spell checking because the spell checker does not recognise these special characters. The solution is to use a TeX style that allows you to use the special characters in your TeX source. Such a style is inputenc. You can see it in the ‘special characters example’ installed in your WinTeX home directory.

Tables in TeX

WinTeX provides a GUI (graphical user interface) for creating tables in TeX. Creating tables in TeX is a little bit tricky and if you want your table to look a little bit different than the TeX standard you will have a lot of work.

The table GUI in WinTeX lets you paint you table as you know from Excel or Word. You can resize your cells with the mouse and add or remove every single line in the table. Also you can specify the horizontal and vertical alignment of every single cell. When you are finished the table will be translated into TeX code and inserted into your text. Don’t be scared by the strange looking code which is generated. As we said: Creating custom tables in TeX is a little bit tricky ...

If you want to modify the table later on simply mark the code of the table in your text. The selection must reach from the comment at the beginning of the table (e.g. ‘% Table generated by WinTeX...’) to the ‘end{tabular}’ statement. Then press the ‘Create table’ button on the toolbar. Instead of creating a new table WinTeX reads in the selected one and displays it in the gui for editing.

An alternative is to use a plugin for creating tables and implement them into WinTeX using a makro. Plugins can be found on our homepage.

Formatting Text

WinTeX has three buttons on the TeX toolbar that facilitate formatting of text. They are labeled ‘B’, ‘I’ and ‘U’. Simply select the portion of text that should be formatted and press one of the buttons. The selected text will get surrounded by the corresponding TeX statements. The buttons are:

• ‘B’ – Boldface
• ‘I’ – Italic or Emphasised
• ‘U’ – Underlined

The ‚Structure‘ Window

When you load a TeX file into the editor that contains a structure a new widow will open on the left hand side of WinTeX showing this structure. This structure window provides easy access to certain parts of the TeX source. On the TeX-structure tab in the options dialog you specify a hierarchy of TeX-commands that mark the beginning of such a part. The hierarchy is preconfigured with the standard structuring commands of TeX:

part
chapter
section
subsection
subsubsection
paragraph
subparagraph

According to this hierarchy the TeX file is scanned and the structure window is generated. By clicking on an item WinTeX jumps to the line where this section starts. This way you have an easy and fast access to specific parts of your document.

TeX Projects

Large documents should be structured into some smaller files for easier editing and faster access. For example if a book is split into different parts you could create a separate file for every part. You will then need a ‘frame’ where you put those files together to form your document. It could for example look like this:

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

% %

% My Book %

% %

% Title %

% %

% Author %

% Creation date %

% %

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

documentclass[a4paper,12pt,fleqn,openright,titlepage]{book}

usepackage{latexsym}

usepackage{epsf}

bibliographystyle{newapa}

begin{document}

tableofcontents

part{Part I}

input{part1.tex}

chapter{Chapter I}

input{chapter1-1.tex}

chapter{Chapter II}

input{chapter1-2.tex}

part{Part II}

input{part2.tex}

chapter{Chapter 1}

input{chapter2-1.tex}

end{document}

In WinTeX you can create a project file where you put all those files together for easier access by choosing ‘Project/New’. On the left hand side of the editor you now see the project pane with one root node. You can add files to a node in your project by right clicking on the node and choosing ‘Add file’. A new node will be added as a child node to the selected one and will be labelled with the filename. You can open the file by double clicking on the node. You can add further children to the new child node and so on. That way the project can get as nested as you need it.

In your project you will have one main file (as seen above). If you edit for example part II and invoke the TeX compiler you don’t want it to operate on the file part2.tex but on the main file. Otherwise you will get several errors because the file part2.tex is not a complete document and is missing some very important TeX commands. You specify the main file of your project by right clicking on the node and choosing ‘Main file’ from the menu. The little smiley will become red to indicate the status of this node.

Adding New TeX Programs

Few customisation is needed to use WinTeX with your local TeX environment. In fact if you use mikTeX and have the mikTeX binaries directory (e.g. c:texmfmiktexbin) in your PATH, WinTeX comes preconfigured and you can skip this chapter.

Adding external programs to WinTeX is done in the TeX-programs tab of the options dialog.

Simply add an entry to the list by clicking on ‘add’ and fill out the properties for the new entry. The properties are:

• Menu
  Specifies the caption that will appear in the TeX menu and on the toolbar.
• Commandline
  This is the command that will be executed if this entry is invoked. If you have the program in your PATH variable you my specify it as shown here, otherwise specify the full pathname (e.g. ‘c:texmfmiktexbinlatex.exe %f.tex’). The tag ‘%f’ will be replaced by the current filename (if you use a TeX project with a main file it will be replaced with the main file instead) and the tag ‘%n’ with the line number where the cursor was.
• Shortcut
  Here you can choose a function key to invoke the command with one keystroke.
• Icon
  Choose an icon for your new TeX program link.
• Force execution on current file
  If you have checked this box the tag ‘%f’ of the command line will always be replaced with the current file, no matter if you use a project or not.

Using Makros To Implement Own Features

WinTeX can be extended by own features using VBScript. In order to implement a makro do the following:

1. Create a new document and add your code:
   
   sub MyFirstMakro()
   
   MsgBox "Hello World!!!"
   
   end sub
2. Save your new makro as a WinTeX makro file (Extension *:WTM) and place it in the MAKROS directory located either in the directory where you installed WinTeX (Windows 98/ME) or in your personal profile under the WinTeX directory (Windows NT//XP). Only makros that are located in this directory can be accessed from WinTeX.
3. Either restart WinTeX to activate the new makro or use the 'Reload' button on the 'Makros' tab in the options dialog.
4. Now you can add the new makro using the 'Add' button on the 'Makros' tab in the options dialog and filling the input fields on the right hand side:

• Menu
  Specifies the caption that will appear in the Makros menu and on the toolbar.
• Module
  Choose a module from the list. The list contains all *.WTM files in the MAKROS directory (except for the GLOBAL.WTM file which plays a special role).
• Procedure
  This list schows all procedures that are defined within the chosen Makro. Choose the procedure that shall be executed.
• Shortcut
  Here you can choose a function key to invoke the makro with one keystroke.
• Icon
  Choose an icon for your new makro.

Compiling and Viewing TeX Files

After you have defined your TeX programs in WinTeX you can use them to compile and view your TeX file. Simply open the file and then click on the ‘LaTeX’ button on the toolbar or in the TeX menu. You can also use the shortcut key you have defined for LaTeX (e.g. F5). Now WinTeX calls LaTeX to compile your file. You can see how a DOS box is opened and LaTeX does it’s work. If errors occur during compilation you can see the output in the DOS box and have to react on it (e.g. press ‘q’ to continue compiling in quiet mode (i.e. without any further error messages) and then use the ‘Errors & Warnings’ dialog (see TeX Errors & Warnings) in WinTeX to locate the errors and fix them.

After you have compiled your TeX file you can call the DVI viewer to view the results. Simply click on the ‘DVIWIN’ or ‘YAP’ button on the toolbar.

TeX Errors & Warnings

WinTeX provides an easy way to work with errors and warnings that come from LaTeX. As soon as you start any TeX program a window will show you the output of that program. After the program has ended one of three things will happen:

1. If the program did not produce a log file you will simply see the output of the program in the 'Shell' tab:

2. If the program produced a log file but the log browser of WinTeX did not find any errors in it, you will see the log file in the 'Log' tab:

3. If the program produced a log file and the log browser of WinTeX found errors of warnings in it, you will see the log browser in the 'All Errors' tab:

The first column shows the file in which the error occurred, the second column shows the error description, the third column shows the line number in which the error occurred and the last column shows the error type. You can sort the list by clicking on a column caption. If you double click on a line the affected file will be opened in the editor (if it isn’t opened already) and the cursor jumps to the line in which the error occurred. You can also filter the log browser by any error type by simply clicking on the desired tab.

The BiBTeX Editor

With the built in editor for BiBTeX databases you can easily manage and edit even large bibliography files. You can add, edit, delete and even convert entries from one type to another (e.g. Unpublished -> INBOOK) - just drag&drop the entry from one folder to another one. For each type and field WinTeX gives a brief description of it’s purpose.

Each type has an additional editing pane where you can add user defined fields to your entry (e.g. ABSTRACT). You have to enter these user fields as complete BiBTeX syntax:

ABSTRACT={This book is on TeX}

Inserting Citations

How often did it happen that you wanted to cite an item of your bibliography file and did not remember the key? With WinTeX that is no problem any more. Simply press

<Shift>+<ESC>

in the editor. A popup appears with all cite keys of all BIB files that are currently opened by WinTeX. Simply choose an entry from the list and press <ENTER>. WinTeX inserts the corresponding cite{SOMEKEY} into your text.

Cleaning Up

When you use TeX you will soon end up with a huge number of temporary files that you don’t need any longer. For example TeX creates

• log files
• auxiliary files
• contents files
• etc.

After you have finished your TeX file these files are no longer needed (since you have the DVI file). If you need to compile your TeX file again later these files are rebuilt which only takes a little bit longer for the first compilation run.

WinTeX can search special parts of your harddisk and delete those files for you. You start this task by choosing ‘Cleanup’ from the file menu. Which directories are searched and which files are deleted is controlled via the options dialog.

In the left list you enter the extensions which are to be deleted and in the right list you enter the directories that are to be cleaned. You can append a ‘//’ to the path to tell WinTeX to also clean all subdirectories.

Adding Buttons To WinTeX

The TeX-Programs and Makro options show a list of icons that you can use for your menu items and toolbar buttons. You can easily extend this list with your own images by simply placing the image (16x16 pixel bitmap) in the BITMAPS directory under the WinTeX install path.

3. WinTeX Reference

This Chapter gives a detailed description of every function in WinTeX.

‚File‘ Menu

New...

This dialog displays all files that reside in the ‘TEMPLATE’ directory under your install directory plus three icons for an empty document, a new WinTeX project and a BiBTeX file. Choose one with a double click or select an item and then press OK.

Open...

Displays the standard Windows open dialog to open a file.

Reopen

Provides a list of the last 15 files that were edited with WinTeX with the least recently used one at the bottom.

Close

Closes the current file. This can also be done by clicking on the small x in the upper right hand corner of WinTeX or by pressing <Ctrl>+<F4>.

Close All

Closes all open files.

Save

Saves the current file. If the file has no name yet, the ‘Save as...’ dialog will be displayed to chose a name.

Save All

Saves all open files in case they are modified.

Save As...

Displays the ‘Save as...’ dialog to choose a new name for the current file.

Save As Template...

Saves the current file as a template. The ‘Save as...’ dialog will be displayed with the templates directory opened. Simply choose a name for your template and then click OK. The next time you open the ‘File new...’ dialog the template you just saved will be available.

Cleanup

Starts the cleanup process. All directories specified in the options dialog (see Options/Cleanup) will be cleaned from all files with an extension listed also in the options dialog.

Import BIB file

If you have a BIB file open you can merge the contents of another one into your current file by choosing this menu item.

Exit

Exits the program.

‚Edit‘ Menu

Undo

Undoes the latest changes step by step. The undo buffer is cleared every time you save your file.

Redo

Redoes undone changes.

Cut

Cuts the selected text to the Windows clipboard.

Copy

Copy’s the selected text to the Windows clipboard.

Paste

Pastes the contents of the Windows clipboard into the text.

Find...

Finds phrases in the current file. In the find dialog you can enter a phrase you want to find. Click Search to find the next occurrence. You can do a case sensitive or case insensitive search and search for whole words or parts of words.

After you have found something the ‘Replace’ and ‘Replace all’ buttons become active. You can now type in text to replace the found text with and click on ‘Replace’ to replace this occurrence and find the next one or ‘Replace all’ to replace all occurrences in the whole file.

Find again

Find again repeats the last find operation with the same settings.

Spellcheck

You can check the spelling of your text with the dictionary you have specified in the options dialog (see Options/General). WinTeX searches your text for a word that is not in your dictionary and suggests the correct spelling.

Auto Spell

If this menu is checked WinTeX will automatically underline every word in your text that is not in your dictionary.

Thesaurus

The Thesaurus suggests alternatives for the word the cursor is placed in.

Reformat Block

This will remove all hard line breaks from the selected block of text.

Word Wrap

This will toggle the automatic wrapping of text at the window border on and off.

‚TeX‘ Menu

This menu displays all TeX programs that you have defined in the options dialog. If you click an item the corresponding program is executed.

‚Makro‘ Menu

This menu displays all makros that you have defined in the options dialog. If you click an item the corresponding makro function is executed.

‚Project‘ Menu

Save Project

Saves the current project.

Save Project As...

Saves the current project under a different name.

Close Project

Closes the currently open project.

Cleanup Project

Starts the cleanup process only for the current project. All files with an extension listed in the options dialog will be deleted from the project directories.

Add File

Adds a file to the current project.

Remove File

Removes the selected file from the current project.

Set Main File

Defines the selected file as the main file for the project. See section 'Adding New TeX Programs' for details on this.

‚Format‘ Menu

Bold

Applies the bold format to the selected text.

Italic

Applies the italic format to the selected text.

Underline

Applies the underline format to the selected text.

Table

Opens the create table dialog to create a new table. If you have selected a formerly created table in the text that table is opened in the table editor to be modified. See section 'Tables in TeX' for details.

‚View‘ Menu

Log file

A click on this menu item opens the output / log / log browser window of WinTeX.

Build Structure

This builds or rebuilds the structure tree for the current document according to the hierarchy defined in the options.

Show Structure

This shows or hides the structure tree on the left hand side of the editor.

Auto Hide Structure

When this menu item is checked the structure and project panel will automatically hide away giving you more space to edit your text. As soon as you move the mouse to the left border of WinTeX the structure panel will show again.

Customize Toolbars

This opens the dialog where you can show or hide the different toolbars and add or remove buttons. Simply drag and drop the buttons to or from the toolbars.

General Options

This is the options dialog where you can configure WinTeX. Pressing the default button will cause WinTeX to import the default settings for mikTeX. All your settings will be overwritten! Cancel will undo all your changes that you made since you last opened the options dialog.

General

In the ‘General’ Tab you have the following options:

Use special BiBTeX viewer
If you uncheck this option WinTeX uses the standard editor for BiBTeX files instead of the built in BIB editor.

Auto build structure
Automatically generates the structure menu for every opened TeX file (which takes some time for large files).

Auto save editor file
Automatically saves the current file after the specified amount of time.

Create backup copies
When this option is checked WinTeX creates a copy of the current file with the extension ‘.backup’ before saving it. This way you can recover if you have saved accidentally.

Reopen files
If you want WinTeX to autmatically open the files that were open at your last session check this option.

File Extensions
Here you see which file extensions are associated with WinTeX at the moment. You can change this by simply clicking an entry in the list.

reclaim file extensions
When this option is checked WinTeX will restore the selected associations on every program start in case they have been modified by some other program.

Editor

The editor tab lets you control the behaviour of the editor. You have the following options:

Use key conversion
If this box is checked the table above this option is used to translate keystrokes during editing. This is mainly useful for accentuated characters (e.g. replace ‘ä’ with ‘"a’).

Show corresponding brace
When you have checked this option WinTeX jumps to the corresponding opening brace as you type ‘}’. It stays there for the specified amount of time and the returns to the place you entered the closing brace.

Complete ‘*’ with ‘*’
Here you specify if you want WinTeX to automatically add the corresponding closing brace as you type an opening brace.

Color for AutoSpell
Lets you control the color of the underlines of misspelled words.

TeX-programs

Here you define the TeX programs that can be used from within WinTeX. Simply press the ‘Add’ button select the new entry and fill out it’s properties. An entry can be deleted by selecting it in the list and then pressing DEL.

Menu
The caption that will appear in the TeX menu and on the toolbar.

Commandline
The command which is executed if the user selects the entry in the TeX menu or presses the button on the toolbar. The command is executed in the directory of the current file. You must either specify complete pathnames (e.g. "C:Program Filesmiktexbinlatex.exe") or add the directory with your TeX-tool to the path variable (This is automatically done if you install mikTeX so you can simply say "latex.exe").

There are two special tags that you can use here. The tag %f will be replaced with the name of the file which is currently opened by WinTeX or if you are running a project with the name of the main file of the project. The %n tag will be replaced with the line number where the cursor is currently located.

Shortcut
Defines a function key that can be used to invoke this command.

Icon
Here you can choose an icon for the menu and toolbar.

Force execution on current file
Forces the execution of this command on the file that is currently opened with WinTeX rather than the main file of the project

Makros

Here you define the TeX programs that can be used from within WinTeX. Simply press the ‘Add’ button select the new entry and fill out it’s properties. An entry can be deleted by selecting it in the list and then pressing DEL.

Menu
Specifies the caption that will appear in the Makros menu and on the toolbar.

Module
Choose a module from the list. The list contains all *.WTM files in the MAKROS directory (except for the GLOBAL.WTM file which plays a special role). Please see section 'WinTeX Makros' for further details.

Procedure
This list schows all procedures that are defined within the chosen Makro. Choose the procedure that shall be executed.

Shortcut
Here you can choose a function key to invoke the makro with one keystroke.

Icon
Choose an icon for your new makro.

Enable VBScript debugger
If the Script Debugger is installed it can be switched on and off with this option. With the Script Debugger you can execute your makros line by line or inspect and change variables. The Script Debugger can be downloaded on the Microsoft Scripting Homepage.

Reload
This will reload all Makros in the MAKROS directory and will activate all changes you may have made. It will also reset all global variables so you have to know what you are doing when using this option.

Cleanup

This tab lets you specify the parameters for the cleanup process invoked over the file menu. In the left list you enter the extensions of the files which are to be deleted. In the right list you enter the directories which shall be searched by WinTeX. Appending a ‘//’ at the end of a path tells WinTeX to also search all subdirectories.

TeX-structure

Every file you open with WinTeX is scanned for it’s internal structure. The information generated is provided in the structure window. Here you specify the hierarchy of TeX commands that define the structure of the file. As default we have the standard TeX commands for structuring TeX files but you can modify the list to meet your needs.

The very first entry in the list marks the top and the last item marks the lowest level in the structure.

Shortcuts

Code templates are pre-defined snippets of code that are available for insertion into a file being edited. Each template is defined by a short name, a meaningful description and a replacement specifier. When the short name is typed at the keyboard and immediately followed by the pressing of the Hotkey (ESC) the short name will be replaced by the replacement specifier. If the short name is not clear a popup will appear allowing the user to choose the template he thought of.

Editor Options

In this dialog you can change specific options of the editing pane of WinTeX.

Options

The Options tab has quite a lot options to control the general behaviour of the editing pane. The options are:

Word wrap
Toggles automatic word wrap, which means that the line is automatically wrapped if it is to long to display it in the editing pane or if it has more characters than specified in ‘Word wrap column’.

Auto indent
When checked the cursor is automatically placed below the first non space character when you press <ENTER>. Only works if word wrap is disabled.

Smart tab
TAB key moves to next non space character in line above. Only works if word wrap is disabled.

Smart fill
If auto indent or smart tab is enabled the occurring space is filled with a minimum number of characters made up of tabs and spaces. Otherwise the gap is filled with the correct number of spaces.

Use tab character
Insert a tab character into the text if the user presses TAB. Otherwise the correct number of spaces is inserted instead.

Line numbers in gutter
Display the line numbers in the small panel on the left hand side of the editor.

Mark wrapped lines
Shows an icon in the gutter if the current line is wrapped.

Block cursor for Overwrite
Show a block cursor when the editor is in Overwrite mode (toggled with the INS key).

Word select
Double click selects the whole word.

Syntax highlight
Toggles syntax highlighting.

Show all chars
Also show invisible characters (like tab or linebreak) in the editor.

Visible right margin
Shows a light line at the position specified by the Right margin option. This margin does not affect the text and is for illustration purposes only. You will only see it if you set the editor background to a colour other than light grey.

Visible gutter
The gutter is a blank space at the left hand side of the editor where special icons give further information on some lines (e.g. bookmarks or wrapped lines). You can also specify the width of this area.

Block indent step size
Specifies by how many characters the marked block of text is indented if you press block indent in the editor (<Ctrl>+K+I).

Word wrap column
Setting this option to zero will cause the text to be wrapped at the width of the display area if word wrap is enabled. Entering a number here will cause the text to be wrapped at the specified character column.

Show word wrap column
Enabling this option will show a dashed line where the text will be wrapped if the word wrap option is on. You will only see it if you set the editor background to a colour other than light grey.

Tab columns
Defines tab stops for the editor. The tabs are given as space or comma separated list. The first column of the display is column one (1). Column values of zero will cause an exception to be generated.

Tab stop
Defines the default tab stop distance when the cursor is beyond the last defined tab column.

Highlighting

This tab lets you define colours to be used for special tags in the text. Choose an item in the list and then define the attributes with which the text of this type should be displayed. You can see the effects of your changes in the preview pane in the lower part of the dialog.

Key assignments

Here you can change the key assignments for the different editing functions to meet your needs. You can specify different keys for one function to use alternatively.

Auto correct

Auto replace definitions are provided to assist in editing by replacing one text item by another. A common use of auto-replace is to automatically correct common spelling/typing errors such as 'teh' instead of 'the'. Keyboard shortcuts can also be specified such as (c) to be replaced by the copyright symbol.

Act key(s) describes the keyboard keys that can activate an auto-replace action.

‚Window‘ Menu

With the ‘window’ menu you can control the child windows of WinTeX .

‚Help‘ Menu

Here you can access the online help of WinTeX and LaTeX. In the LaTeX help you can get help on TeX commands and environments. You also find some other useful resources of information.

4. WinTeX Makros

WinTeX can be extended with custom makros. These makros are programmed using Microsofts VBScript.You can use the full range of commands that are provided by VBScript plus some functions to access certain elements of WinTeX. This documentation only describes the WinTeX specific functions. Documentation and tutorials about VBScript are widely available in paper and electronic form. For a selection of useful links please visit our homepage.

For some examples please see the example makros that come with WinTeX which are installed in the MAKROS directory.

General Things To Know

Makros are organized in *.wtm files. Each file forms a Module providing several functions. A special module is the GLOBAL.WTM module. This module contains global variables, functions and the implementation for the different events provided by WinTeX. Functions implemented in this module can be accessed from any other module but are not directly accessable from WinTeX. The module files have to be stored in the MAKROS directory located either under the Installation directory of WinTeX (for Windows 98/ME) or under the user profile directory (for Windows NT//XP).

Events

Events are special makros that are executed at certain events in WinTeX. You can find these events in the GLOBAL.WTM file. Simply located the desired function and add your code.

OnStartApplication()

This event is executed when WinTeX starts. This is a good place to initialize global variables.

Example:

sub OnStartApplication()

Dim WScript

Set WScript = CreateObject("WScript.Shell") 

sMiktexInstallRoot = ""

sMiktexInstallRoot = WScript.RegRead( _

 "HKLMSoftwareMiKMiKTeXCurrentVersionMiKTeXInstall Root" )

if sMiktexInstallRoot = "" then

    sMiktexInstallRoot = WScript.RegRead( _

 "HKCUSoftwareMiKMiKTeXCurrentVersionMiKTeXInstall Root" ) 

end if

sMiktexLocalRoot = ""

sMiktexLocalRoot = WScript.RegRead( _

 "HKLMSoftwareMiKMiKTeXCurrentVersionMiKTeXLocal Root" )

if sMiktexLocalRoot = "" then

    sMiktexLocalRoot = WScript.RegRead( _

 "HKCUSoftwareMiKMiKTeXCurrentVersionMiKTeXLocal Root" ) 

end if

end sub

OnExitApplication()

This event is executed when WinTeX is closed.

OnFileOpen( sFilename )

This event is executed when a file is opened. The event receives the name (incl. path) of the file which is opened.

OnFileClose()

This event is executed when a file is closed.

WinTeX Specific Functions

Besides the full range of all VBScript commands you can use the WinTeX object to access certain functions of WinTeX.

Example:

' Replaces the word left of the caret with some text

sub replaceWord()

   dim sTmp

   dim iCol

   dim iCharsBeforeLine

   dim i

   dim sWord

   ' get current line and caret position

   sTmp = WinTeX.get_line( WinTeX.get_caret_row() )

   iCol = WinTeX.get_caret_offset_col()

   iCharsBeforeLine = WinTeX.get_chars_before_line()

   ' read to the left until a blank is found

   i = iCol - 1

   do while i >= 1 

       if mid( sTmp, i, 1 ) = " " then exit do

       i = i - 1

   loop

   sWord = mid( sTmp, i + 1, iCol - i - 1 )

   Select case sWord

   ' replace s with section{}

   case "s"

   call WinTeX.set_sel_start( i + iCharsBeforeLine ) 

   call WinTeX.set_sel_length( iCol - i - 1 )

   call WinTeX.set_sel_text( "section{}" )

   call WinTeX.exec_command( "caLEFT", "false" )

   ' replace ss with subsection{}

   case "ss"

   call WinTeX.set_sel_start( i + iCharsBeforeLine )

   call WinTeX.set_sel_length( iCol - i - 1 )

   call WinTeX.set_sel_text( "subsection{}" )

   call WinTeX.exec_command( "caLEFT", "false" )

   end select

end sub

WinTeX.set_sel_text( Text )

This function replaces the selected text.

Example:

call WinTeX.set_sel_text( "Hello World!" ) 

WinTeX.get_sel_text

This function retrieves the selected text.

Example:

MySelectedText = WinTeX.get_sel_text()

WinTeX.get_caret_row

This function calculates the row number of the document where the caret is positioned.

Example:

Your document is (with cursor in line 2):

This is my document (line 1)
This is my document (line 2)
This is my document (line 3)

Your code is (MyCaretRow will be 2):

MyCaretRow = WinTeX.get_caret_row()

WinTeX.set_caret_row

This function sets the caret to the given row number.

Example:

Your document is:

This is my document (line 1)
This is my document (line 2)
This is my document (line 3)

Your code is (the cursor will be positioned in line 2):

call WinTeX.set_caret_row( 2 )

WinTeX.get_caret_offset_col

This function calculates the column number of the document where the caret is positioned.

Example:

Your document is (with cursor in line 2 after the word 'my'):

This is my document

Your code is (MyCaretCol will be 11):

MyCaretCol = WinTeX.get_caret_offset_col()

WinTeX.set_caret_offset_col

This function sets the caret to the given column number.

Example:

Your document is:

This is my document

Your code is (the cursor will be positioned after the word 'my'):

call WinTeX.set_caret_offset_col( 11 )

WinTeX.get_line

This function retrieves the text of the line specified.

Example:

Your document is:

This is my document (line 1)
This is my document (line 2)
This is my document (line 3)

Your code is (MyText will be 'This is my document (line 2)'):

MyText = WinTeX.get_line( 2 )

WinTeX.set_line

This function sets the text of the line specified.

Example:

Your document is:

This is my document (line 1)
This is my document (line 2)
This is my document (line 3)

Your code is:

call WinTeX.set_line( 2, "Hello World!!!" )

Now your document is:

This is my document (line 1)
Hello World!!!
This is my document (line 3)

WinTeX.insert_line

This function inserts the text after the line specified.

Example:

Your document is:

This is my document (line 1)
This is my document (line 2)
This is my document (line 3)

Your code is:

call WinTeX.insert_line( 2, "Hello World!!!" )

Now your document is:

This is my document (line 1)
This is my document (line 2)
Hello World!!!
This is my document (line 3)

WinTeX.del_line

This function deletes the line specified.

Example:

Your document is:

This is my document (line 1)
This is my document (line 2)
This is my document (line 3)

Your code is:

call WinTeX.del_line( 2 )

Now your document is:

This is my document (line 1)
This is my document (line 3)

WinTeX.exec_command

This function will execute some command on the editor.

Valid commands are:

Example:

call WinTeX.execute_command( "caBLOCKIND", "FALSE" )

Will indent the selected block of text.

WinTeX.get_sel_start

This function retrieves the start offset of the current selection from the beginning of the file.

Example:

Your document is (with the the word 'text' selected):

section{testsection}
some text

Your code is (SelStart will be 27 - the linebreak counts 2 (CR + LF)):

SelStart = WinTeX.get_sel_start()

WinTeX.set_sel_start

This function sets the start offset of the selection from the beginning of the file. With this command combined with set_sel_length you can select text.

Example:

Your document is:

section{testsection}
some text

Your code is (The cursor will be set before 'testsection'):

call WinTeX.set_sel_start( 9 )

WinTeX.get_sel_length

This function retrieves the length of the current selection.

Example:

Your document is (with the the word 'test' selected):

section{testsection}
some text

Your code is (SelLength will be 4):

SelLength = WinTeX.get_sel_length()

WinTeX.set_sel_length

This function sets the length of the selection.

Example:

Your document is (with the cursor before 'testsection'):

section{testsection}
some text

Your code is (The word 'testsection' will be selected):

call WinTeX.set_sel_length( 11 )

WinTeX.get_chars_before_line

This function retrieves the number of characters before the current line in the file. This is important if you want to convert the offset of get_sel_start or set_sel_start to a column in the current line.

Example:

Your document is (with the cursor somewhere in line 2):

section{testsection}
some text

Your code is (CBL will be 22 - the linebreak counts 2 (CR + LF)):

CBL = WinTeX.get_chars_before_line()

WinTeX.get_filename

This function retrieves the filename including full path of the current file.

Example:

MyFilename = WinTeX.get_filename()

WinTeX.open_file

This function opens the file specified in the editor.

Example:

call WinTeX.open_file( "d:my_stuffsomefile.tex" )

WinTeX.get_main_file

This function retrieves the main file of the current project. If no main file is defined it will return an empty string.

Example:

MyFilename = WinTeX.get_main_file()

WinTeX.dde_open

This function opens a DDE communication to a DDE server application.

Example:

call WinTeX.dde_open( "F:ProgrammeWinTeXtablastablas", _

 "tablas", "SirveComandos" )

WinTeX.dde_close

This function closes the current DDE communication.

Example:

call WinTeX.dde_close()

WinTeX.dde_request

This function requests data from a DDE server application. Before using this function you have to open a DDE connection! The result is of type string.

Example:

MyDDEData = WinTeX.dde_request( "tabledata" )

WinTeX.dde_exe

This function sends a command to a DDE server application. Before using this function you have to open a DDE connection!

Example:

call WinTeX.dde_exe( "Pegar:" & WinTeX.get_sel_text() )