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HelpDocs: LaTeX Templates and Common Errors

 

Those who wish to use the revised (CMPT) LaTeX Template 

  • The link to the LaTeX template is under "Updated LaTeX Template" in the table below.
  • Please be sure to check all the items in the column under the template (which refer to the numbered and bolded issues outlined in the left column).

Using the old Computing Science LaTeX template or the Physice Latex thesis template?

Please review the three numbered points below and visit the links within.  Further down the page in the left-hand column under "Old LaTeX Templates" are links students have sent to help you fix some of the issues with the template.  

  1. Please be sure all is ok according to Step 1 in the 3-Steps to Submission and visit the links within Step 1 as well to be sure you have the necessary info (i.e., Title Page, Approval Page, and Abstract). 
  2. Please ensure all sections of the document are in the correct order as indicated in the Submission Requirements column of the table on the website (http://www.lib.sfu.ca/theses).
  3. Make the necessary changes under "Old LaTeX Templates" below, save the files and run the latex source code again--at least three times.
  4. Then check the output for everything in Step 1 of the 3-Steps to Submission again.

Note. If you find you need help with any LaTeX issues, CMPT, ENSC, and PHYS students can ask the support staff/techs in their respective department.  However students from other departments are on their own--the Thesis Office knows of a person available on a contact basis--email for contact information.

Students who are competent programmers and are able to fix issues under the "Updated LaTeX Template" below are asked to share the modified template with the Library--please send it to .

 

Old LaTeX Templates

(if you got it directly from Computing Science or Physics)

Updated LaTeX Template

(this version uploaded, 22 Feb 2012--a reminder, there is no support)

1. Margins: Issues with Images

 1. not fixed--these depend on each person's thesis--student must check for this and, if need be, fix.

2. Title Page:
keep everything centered, but change 3-line department to 3-lines as indicated below

  • (i.e., with 1st-line "in the", 2nd-line school/department, and 3rd-line faculty)

Change from:
In the
School of
Computing Science

to:
in the
School of Computing Science
Faculty of Applied Sciences

  1. Open the csthesis.sty file.
  2. Find the "Title page commands" part (it is a comment line:"%%%% Title page commandes")
  3. Change "\def@entity{School}" to "\def@entity{}" (Remove "School")
  4. Change "\def@dept{Computing Science}" to "\def@dept{School of Computing Science \\ Faculty}"
  5. Go to the "Title page" part (it is a comment line: "Title page")
  6. In the third "\begin{center}" and "\end{center}" block, remove the line: "of\\"
 2. Fixed--but double-check to be sure you have the department formatted correctly as in the adjacent "to" example. 

3. Title Page:
Make all text land on 1 page (as per Title Page)

A title page becoming two pages can happen when the title of your thesis is long.  You can tighten up on the spacing between elements, and perhaps by making the title Title-cased (All Major Words and Proper Nouns Are Capped; but Prepositions and Conjunctions are Lower-cased), that might help with the title page issues.

(if you find a fix for this online that works, please send the link to )

3: Fixed, no further changes needed UNLESS you have an unusually long title. You need to modify:

  • \def \mySkip{\baselineskip}%%%  - Change this if you need more spacing between ``elements''.

to this

  • \def \mySkip{0.01in}%%%  - Change this if you need more spacing between ``elements''.
to reduce the amount of space skipped between each element.

4. Approval Page

  • Must be on one page, and the template cannot do this with a 6-member committee plus the chair. 
    (if you find a fix for this online that works, please send a link to —if you can't find a way to make this work, contact and I will send you a Word document).
  • Must have committee member positions and position in Department
    - Senior Supervisor and Supervisor(s), Senior Supervisor and Co-supervisor (and Supervisors if applicable), or Supervisor and Co-supervisor (and Supervisors, if applicable); and, if applicable, Internal Examiner, Internal/External Examiner, and/or External Examiner.
    - Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor, Senior Lecturer, Professor Emertus/Emerta
    -and if not in student's department, list department (no need for "SFU")
    -and if another institution, list department and institution
 4: Fixed, changes may be required to activate the fix on a per-thesis basis.

If you go past the current member count and it pushes the Approval page onto 2 pages, you have to open csthesis.sty and change:
  • \def \myAppSkip{0.5in}%%%  - Change this if you need more or less spacing between committee members on the approval page (if your approval page has become two pages, lower this value).

to

  • \def \myAppSkip{0.35in}%%%  - Change this if you need more or less spacing between committee members on the approval page (if your approval page has become two pages, lower this value).

This reduces the space between members. Be careful--if you make it too small, there will be no room to sign!

5. If you don't have a List of Programs, this page needs to be removed along with it's listing in the ToC

  1. Open the csthesis.sty file.
  2. Find the "Typeset list of Contents, Figures, Tables, etc" part
    (it is a comment line: "%%%%%%%%%Typeset list of Contents, Figures, Tables, etc")
  3. Remove the lines between "\ifotherlistpage" and "\fi" (included).
 5. Not fixed--this depends on each person's thesis.  Student must check for this and--if you need to modify, see adjacent fix.

6. Table of Contents (ToC):
How to make the word "Appendix" appear in your ToC--and check to be sure the page numbers are correct

 6. No additional changes required, however, you could break the fixes, so be sure your appendicies have the word "Appendix" in the ToC--if you need to modify, see adjacent fix.

7. Table of Contents (ToC):
How to get your Bibliography/References heading to generate into the ToC--and check to be sure the page number is correct

My reference list worked (I was using a package called "natbib") and my table of contents worked, but latek does not automatically recognize that the reference list needed to appear in the table of contents (it does this automatically with chapters and sections).  A line of code is needed to put my reference list into the table of contents.  

I went wrong by putting the code in this order (I'm ommiting some other necessary code),

\bibliography{thesis}   <- writes the reference list
\addcontentsline{toc}{chapter}{\bibname}   <- puts the reference in the contents

It needs to be in this order

\addcontentsline{toc}{chapter}{\bibname}   <- puts the reference in the contents
\bibliography{thesis}   <- writes the reference list

If the orders are mixed up latex will put the last page of the reference list in the table of contents (instead of the first page).

(J. Thompson, personal communication, August 4, 2011)		 7. No additional changes required, however, check to be sure your Bibliography and it's correct page number are in the ToC.  If not, see adjacent fix.  

8. When the preliminary page numbers become longer (e.g., xvii, xviii, etc.) they sometimes get cut-off

(if you find a fix for this online that works, please send the link to )

 8. Not fixed--this depends on each person's thesis--student must check for this and, if you need to modify, see adjacent fix.

9. Check your citations--this sometimes become question-marks ("[?]")

regenerate/compile a number of times to fix

 9. not fixed--see adjacent fix.


 

 

Owned by: Joanie Wolfe
Revised by: Joanie Wolfe
Last Modified: 2012-03-16