1 #LyX 1.3 created this file. For more info see http://www.lyx.org/
15 \use_numerical_citations 0
16 \paperorientation portrait
19 \paragraph_separation indent
21 \quotes_language english
25 \paperpagestyle default
29 LyX Frequently Asked Questions with Answers
38 If you have comments or error corrections, please send them to the LyX Documenta
39 tion mailing list, <lyx-docs@lists.lyx.org>.
45 This is the list of Frequently Asked Questions for LyX, the Open Source
46 document processor that provides a What-You-See-Is-What-You-Mean environment
47 for producing high quality documents.
48 For further help, you may wish to contact the LyX User Group mailing list
51 lyx-users@lists.lyx.org
57 you have read through the docs.
64 \begin_inset LatexCommand \tableofcontents{}
71 Introduction and General Information
77 LyX is a program that provides a more modern approach to writing documents
78 with a computer, an approach that breaks with the obsolete tradition of
80 \begin_inset Quotes eld
84 \begin_inset Quotes erd
87 It is designed for authors who want professional output quickly with a
88 minimum of effort without becoming specialists in typesetting.
89 The job of typesetting is done mostly by the computer, not the author;
90 with LyX, the author can concentrate on the contents of her writing.
94 \begin_inset Quotes eld
98 \begin_inset Quotes erd
101 view of the document.
103 \begin_inset Quotes eld
107 \begin_inset Quotes erd
110 means that the line- and page-breaks are not displayed exactly as they
111 will appear in the printed document.
112 However, that's not really necessary, since LyX uses a separate typesetter
113 program (called LaTeX) to perform the final formatting of your text.
114 While LyX contains everything it needs to be a comfortable user interface,
115 the typesetting program contains everything necessary to format text, and
116 do so very, very well.
120 So, line- and page-breaks aren't your problem anymore.
121 Remembering which number to use for the next subsection isn't your problem
123 Recalling what font you used for all of your section headings isn't your
125 You tell LyX (and LaTeX) what
129 of document you're editing and what
133 of paragraph this-or-that text is, the computer can typeset it accordingly.
134 Of course you can also still do some low-level formatting for fine-tuning.
135 However, the proper way with LyX is to tell the computer what the text
140 , not what it should look like.
141 So, we like to say that LyX gives you WYSIWYM editing (What You See Is
149 That's fine, but is it useful?
153 The following type of documents have been produced with LyX:
162 Dissertations (260 pages in a single document, longer using include files)
167 \begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://www.fee.uva.nl/scholar/mdw/leuven/thesis.pdf}
175 Lecture notes (133 pages, 27 figures on a 33 MHz 486 machine!)
178 Seminar notebooks (500+ pages)
181 Conference proceedings (Proceedings of the Second Continental Workshop on
182 the Geoid in Europe, (Finnish Geodetic Institute Report 98:4), 292 pages)
185 Software Documentation (the LyX User Guide is about 120 pages)
193 \begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://www.postgresql.org/docs/awbook.html}
197 for an example on PostgreSQL
200 Donnay, J-P., Barnsley, M.J., and Longley, P.A., eds., 2001, Remote Sensing and
201 Urban Analysis (Taylor and Francis: London).
204 Herbert Voss: Praktische Kryptologie mit Java 286 pages, lots of equations,
209 Yann Collette and Patrick Siarry, Optimisation multiobjectifs, 2002, Eyrolles
213 Papers published in the following refereed journals:
217 Astronomy & Astrophysics (Suetterlin, P.
218 1998, A&A, 333, 305; Suetterlin, P.
223 Astronomical Journal (Ressler, M.
230 Novels (400+ page novel due out in September 2000; an 836 page novel is
231 currently with an agent)
234 Scripts for plays and movies
237 Business proposals for > $1 M (US)
244 \begin_inset LatexCommand \url{www.lyx.org}
248 is the first place to go for anything related to LyX.
249 News, examples, downloads, and lots of other stuff is available there.
250 After you have installed LyX and started it the first time, read the Tutorial
253 Help\SpecialChar \menuseparator
257 Yes, I really mean that.
260 Another basic introductory guide may be found at
261 \begin_inset LatexCommand \url{www.bilkent.edu.tr/~robin/lyxguide.pdf}
268 Does LyX run on my computer?
271 At this time, you need to have the X Window system to run LyX.
272 OS/2 and Win32 ports exist, but you need to have an Xserver
280 and running on these systems.
281 LyX is known to run on the following platforms (and probably a zillion
285 Linux: RedHat 4.2, 5.0, 5.1, 6.0, 6.1, SUSE 5.x, Mandrake 7.0, 7.2
288 SparcLinux: RedHat 6.0
300 OSF1 flore V4.0 1091 alpha
303 How much hard disk space does LyX need?
306 On my system, the LyX binary consumes 2.0 MB of disk space, while the supporting
307 files occupy another 12.6 MB (9.1 MB of which is consumed by the docs! You
308 can delete the languages you don't care about to save some space).
309 Of course, you do need to have something like teTeX installed which consumes
310 a mere 115 MB, as well as ghostscript, which is another 10 MB!
313 Is LyX really Open Source?
317 The freely available X toolkit that LyX uses, xforms, was until recently
319 Also the other toolkit that LyX uses, Qt, although a proprietary product
320 of Troll Tech, is used in its open source variant.
321 The LyX source itself is available under the GPL, so it qualifies.
325 Version 1.0 of xforms is available under the LGPL and its sources (and binaries)
327 \begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://savannah.nongnu.org/download/xforms/xforms-1.0.tar.gz}
331 , which however requires some tinkering to get running.
332 Qt tends to come with your distribution.
338 Where should I look on the World Wide Web for LyX stuff?
342 \begin_inset LatexCommand \url{www.lyx.org}
350 \begin_inset LatexCommand \url{bugzilla.lyx.org}
354 , if you want to report a bug in LyX.
358 \begin_inset LatexCommand \url{www.devel.lyx.org}
362 , if you are interested in the real blood and guts.
365 Known mirror sites include:
370 \begin_inset LatexCommand \url{www.mx.lyx.org}
378 \begin_inset LatexCommand \url{www.no.lyx.org}
386 \begin_inset LatexCommand \url{www.it.lyx.org}
394 Where can I get LyX material by FTP?
397 ftp.lyx.org in /pub/lyx (also known as ftp.via.ecp.fr)
400 What mailing lists are there?
403 lyx-announce@lists.lyx.org (very low volume), for announcements related to
407 lyx-users@lists.lyx.org (medium volume), for general usage issues
410 lyx-devel@lists.lyx.org (high volume), for development and debugging issues
413 lyx-docs@lists.lyx.org (excruciatingly low volume), for documentation issues
417 Generally, you would send email to lyx-foo-subscribe@lists.lyx.org to subscribe
418 to these lists or to lyx-foo-unsubscribe@lists.lyx.org to unsubscribe, where
420 \begin_inset Quotes eld
424 \begin_inset Quotes erd
428 \begin_inset Quotes eld
432 \begin_inset Quotes erd
436 \begin_inset Quotes eld
440 \begin_inset Quotes erd
444 \begin_inset Quotes eld
448 \begin_inset Quotes erd
452 \begin_inset Quotes eld
456 \begin_inset Quotes erd
460 \begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://www.lyx.org/internet/mailing.php3}
464 for the full details.
467 Are the mailing lists archived anywhere?
474 Okay, wise guy! Where are they archived?
478 \begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://www.mail-archive.com/lyx-announce@lists.lyx.org/}
486 \begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://www.mail-archive.com/lyx-users@lists.lyx.org/}
494 \begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://www.mail-archive.com/lyx-devel@lists.lyx.org/}
501 Compatibility with other word/document processors
504 Can I read/write LaTeX files?
508 LyX outputs LaTeX files that are either machine or human friendly.
513 program that comes with LyX does a decent job of converting LaTeX into
515 It's not perfect, but it will usually get at least 95% of the job done
519 Can I read/write Word files?
523 People have had some level of success with the following sequence: LyX
524 \begin_inset Formula $\rightarrow$
528 \begin_inset Formula $\rightarrow$
532 \begin_inset Formula $\rightarrow$
535 Word, and vice versa.
536 However, Word is inherently not a markup language like LyX and LaTeX are,
537 so conversions are usually difficult and almost meaningless.
540 However, here are a few suggestions which were sent in:
543 word2x produces LaTeX, HTML and plain text output.
544 The LaTeX is importable in principle (and is rather clean) but I often
545 prefer plain text and add the formatting back in.
546 (This requires that you have knowledge on the original formatting).
547 On last writing did not yet handle Office 2000 Word.
550 wvware (found at www.wvware.com, or the abisource CVS repository for the latest).
551 This was previously called msWordView.
552 Very good, only tends to produce visually formatted LaTeX/HTML.
553 Is however highly configurable: a config file
557 guides the translation process.
558 Handles also the newest Office formats.
561 Ted This is the editor to use when someone sends you an RTF file created
564 Mail yourself the converted version (plain text or HTML).
567 Finally, when all else fails, use any word processor (WordPerfect, StarOffice/Op
568 enOffice, ...) which understands Word.
569 Then export as the file as plain text and add the formatting by hand in
574 For me personally, at least, it's faster doing this than cleaning up attempts
575 at a conversion, though it is certainly unsatisfactory if you need to go
576 back and forth a lot.
579 Can I read/write HTML files?
582 You can output HTML files using the
583 \begin_inset Quotes eld
587 \begin_inset Quotes erd
590 converter program, amongst others.
592 \begin_inset Formula $\rightarrow$
595 LaTeX program available which allows you to convert the other direction.
598 Obtaining and Compiling LyX
604 LyX source code: lyx-1.x.x.tar.gz
607 XForms library: xforms-0.88 or higher (using the latest version available
611 A LaTeX installation: we strongly recommend teTeX-1.0 or higher
614 A PostScript® interpreter: ghostscript 7.0 or higher
617 A modern C++ compiler.
618 If you are using gcc, LyX requires at least version 2.95.2.
630 make install (usually as root, though you don't have to be if you add flags
631 to the configure command)
634 See the INSTALL file for more details.
638 Where are precompiled binaries?
641 Most of the above packages are available as precompiled binaries for a variety
642 of Linux systems, perhaps others as well.
643 The LyX binaries are available as RPMS and a few other formats and may
645 \begin_inset LatexCommand \url{ftp://ftp.lyx.org/pub/lyx/bin/}
652 The Windows port is available at
653 \begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://www.fh-hannover.de/mbau/tim/hentschel/lyx/index.html}
660 Questions about Evil Red Text (IMPORTANT!)
663 What is Evil Red Text (aka ERT)?
666 ERT (Evil Red Text) refers to raw LaTeX commands which are inserted into
668 Certain troglodytes in the development group coined this term when they
669 complained about the unsightly appearance it leads to in LyX documents.
670 The more enlightened among us know that it is extremely useful, even though
671 it does qualify as URT (Ugly Red Text), but ERT seems to have stuck.
675 How do I enter Evil Red Text?
678 Aesthetic arguments aside, many of the answers in this FAQ require that
679 you use ERT, so whenever we say
680 \begin_inset Quotes eld
683 insert the following LaTeX code
684 \begin_inset Quotes erd
690 Click the TeX toolbar button or select
695 nsert\SpecialChar \menuseparator
705 Type the command as it is written in the normal way
708 The new ERT inset is really inconvenient !
711 A lot of people have been complaining about the ERT inset introduced in
713 However, since there is little hope of to see the old LaTeX font return
714 from the grave (it was really a hack), here are a couple of things to ponder:
717 You can collapse the ERT like any other floats by using
722 dit\SpecialChar \menuseparator
736 You can also set it to
737 \begin_inset Quotes eld
741 \begin_inset Quotes erd
744 by using the properties dialog obtained by right-clicking anywhere in the
748 Is there an alternative?
751 LaTeX commands can also be inserted in the
752 \begin_inset Quotes eld
756 \begin_inset Quotes erd
759 , a form in LyX that is inserted verbatim into the LaTeX file which is generated
761 This is especially useful for including nonstandard LaTeX packages, defining
762 global shortcuts to be used within the document, etc.
765 Questions Related to Using LyX
768 In this section, we attempt to address the truly most frequently asked questions.
769 For a broader range of not-so-frequently asked questions and many
770 \begin_inset Quotes eld
774 \begin_inset Quotes erd
777 topics, see Herbert Voss' spectacular collection at
778 \begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://www.educat.hu-berlin.de/~voss/lyx}
783 You are doing yourself a large disservice if you don't check there before
784 sending a message to the mailing lists!
788 \layout Subsubsection
790 How do I get rid of the date under the title?
793 The simplest solution is to open the menu
798 ayout\SpecialChar \menuseparator
813 in the preamble window.
814 \layout Subsubsection
816 How do I change the spacing in an Itemize/\SpecialChar \-
817 Enumerate/\SpecialChar \-
818 Description list environment
822 You'll have to do this by hand: for example, for one particular list, you
823 can add the following LaTeX code at the beginning of the list:
833 \layout Subsubsection
835 How do I number equations by section?
838 Add the following two lines to your LaTeX preamble:
843 @addtoreset{equation}{section}
855 \layout Subsubsection
857 Is it possible to do this for figures and tables as well?
891 Don't forget to adapt the
893 @addtoreset command, too.
894 \layout Subsubsection
896 How do I change to footnote numbers to symbols (star, dagger, etc.)?
909 to your LaTeX preamble.
910 \layout Subsubsection
912 How do I kill widows and orphans?
915 Okay, we are not playing Duke Nukem here! To eliminate widows and orphans
916 (first line from a paragraph at the bottom of the page and the last line
917 from a paragraph at the top of the page), add the following to the LaTeX
939 \layout Subsubsection
941 How do I get a formatted list which starts with e.g.
946 If you want a list which looks like
953 b) Second alternative
959 then try the following
969 b) Second alternative
975 where {} is in ERT (i.e.
976 a placeholder not generating output.
977 Specifically, set the style to
978 \begin_inset Quotes eld
982 \begin_inset Quotes erd
985 , enter the brackets in ERT, change the environment depth, and add the three
987 LyX will auto-label the entries.
988 \layout Subsubsection
990 How do I count words in LyX?
993 Run a spellcheck; it will display the total number of words checked.
994 Make sure the cursor is at the top of the document when you start the spellchec
995 ker so that everything is counted.
996 \layout Subsubsection
998 How do I insert a fixed amount of horizontal space?
1001 There are various ERT commands to use:
1043 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1047 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1050 is roughly the width of the letter
1051 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1055 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1058 in the current font.
1059 The length argument of the
1065 command is any valid TeX length; units can be
1081 (points = 1/72 inch),
1086 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1090 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1098 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1102 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1119 \layout Subsubsection
1121 How can I make citations show up as [1,2,3,6] or [1-3,6] rather than [1][2][3][6
1131 into the LaTeX preamble.
1132 Most LaTeX distributions should have this package included.
1133 LyX supports this package, if you insert multiple citations separated by
1134 commas into the citation dialog, e.
1136 [Smalley_JCP,Jarrold_Sci], instead of just one citation after the other:
1137 [Smalley_JCP] [Jarrold_Sci].
1140 Figure related questions
1141 \layout Subsubsection
1143 What is the difference between a
1144 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1148 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1152 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1156 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1162 This is an example of less-than-ideal terminology.
1164 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1168 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1171 is what I would really call a
1172 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1176 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1179 ; it basically means insert a picture file.
1181 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1185 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1188 is more what one means by a figure in a paper: it includes the graphic,
1189 the caption, the figure label, etc.
1190 You should almost always insert a figure float first, then put a figure
1194 Tables work in the same manner.
1195 Put a table float in first, then insert the table within that.
1196 \layout Subsubsection
1198 How do I get LyX to put the figure exactly where I want it?
1203 Layout\SpecialChar \menuseparator
1212 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1220 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1224 This tells LaTeX to try really hard to put the figure here first, then
1225 the top of a page, then on a page by itself.
1226 This is a global setting: all figure will then obey this rule set.
1229 If you want to control how each figure behaves, right-click in the figure
1230 float and you will get a dialog allowing to control the figure behavior.
1231 \layout Subsubsection
1234 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1237 Too many unprocessed floats
1238 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1244 LaTeX can handle only a limited number of floating elements floating at
1246 For example, if Figure 4 can't be fit in a good location (using the default
1247 rules of top of the page, then bottom, then a page of its own) and Figure
1248 5 comes along, they will both continue to float toward the end of the document
1249 until a good location can be found.
1250 If nothing good turns up, they will just be placed at the end of the document.
1251 If there are too many of these, LaTeX overruns a counter and emits the
1253 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1256 too many unprocessed floats
1257 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1261 This is not a bug in LaTeX, this is simply too many figures with too little
1265 The easiest way to work around this is to insert a
1271 command somewhere in the document where a pagebreak would be appropriate.
1272 While a pagebreak would simply start a new page,
1278 processes all remaining floats, then begins a new page.
1279 This may lead to an unsightly stack of figures in the middle of your document;
1280 you may need to use several
1286 to make things balance nicely.
1289 Math related questions
1290 \layout Subsubsection
1292 How do I put normal text inside a mathematical equation?
1296 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1304 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1307 while inside the equation to enter
1308 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1312 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1316 \layout Subsubsection
1318 How do I make a cube root (or higher)?
1322 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1330 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1334 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1338 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1342 Use the cursor keys to navigate the entry boxes.
1345 Questions Related to Running LyX
1348 How do I convert LyX files to LaTeX from the command line?
1351 File export was vastly improved in version 1.1.6.
1355 lyx --export latex <yourfile>.lyx
1358 and that is all you need to do.
1361 If you have an older version of LyX, you can use the same syntax if you
1362 are running X, because it will cause LyX windows to pop up onto your screen.
1363 If you have the Xvfb command available, you can resort to a deeper level
1364 of subterfuge (under
1373 (Xvfb :1 -once -terminate &); rm <file>.tex; lyx -display :1 --export latex
1377 Under csh/tcsh it is simply
1382 Xvfb :1 -once -terminate &; rm <file>.tex; lyx -display :1 --export latex
1386 This should work anywhere, whether or not X is actually running.
1389 How do I create PDF files from my LyX document?
1392 Read Section 5.3.6 of the
1399 Why do the fonts in my document look so bad in
1406 The problem and the solution are also discussed in Section 5.3.6 of the
1413 Why doesn't my latest and greatest version of Ghostscript render EPS inline
1417 [Note: this only applies to versions of LyX older than 1.2.0, since the graphics
1418 rendering code has been rewritten in this version]
1421 A couple of users reported that they couldn't get recent Ghostscript versions
1422 to display inline figures in LyX.
1423 It transpires that this is a Ghostscript bug:
1427 \begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://sourceforge.net/bugs/?func=detailbug&bug_id=124957&group_id=1897}
1434 This bug appears to affect Ghostscript 6.22 and upwards.
1435 After applying the above mentioned patch, rendering in Lyx works fine again.
1436 GNU Ghostscript 6.53 and above include this fix.
1439 Questions Related to LyX on Windows
1442 Why do the menus and the toolbar flicker ?
1445 You are probably using the XWin32 X server.
1446 This is a bug in XWin32: you can work around the problem by disabling the
1448 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1452 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1455 option of XWin32, and using a color mode other than PseudoColor.
1458 How to get further assistance
1461 You still haven't answered my question!
1464 Then RTFM, especially the Tutorial.
1465 The documentation really is quite good.
1466 (Besides, I helped write parts of it :-) If you think your problem may
1467 be LaTeX related, then look in
1469 LaTeX, A Document Preparation System, 2nd Ed.
1472 by Leslie Lamport (1994).
1473 There are also numerous example files included with LyX.
1476 File\SpecialChar \menuseparator
1477 Open\SpecialChar \menuseparator
1483 I want to mail someone about my problem.
1487 Send email to the LyX Users list lyx-users@lists.lyx.org.
1488 If LyX is actually crashing or otherwise non-functional, then try the developer
1489 s' list at lyx-devel@lists.lyx.org.
1492 What to put in a request for help.
1495 Include your version of LyX and a description of what you are trying to
1496 do, along with evidence that you've actually read the docs.
1499 If LyX has crashed, include the version of LyX, the operating system, the
1500 version of xforms (if it seems to be a screen drawing problem), and a precise
1501 description of the events that lead to the crash.
1502 The easier it is for the developers to reproduce your crash, the more likely
1504 If you're brave and like to hack, use gdb to generate a backtrace and include
1505 the results with your mail.
1506 If you have no clue what I'm talking about, just describe what you did
1507 as completely as you can.
1510 Administrative information and acknowledgments
1513 Feedback is invited.
1517 Send comments, suggested additions, world record document claims, etc.
1520 lyx-docs@lists.lyx.org.
1523 Formats in which this FAQ is available.
1527 The LyX file original is included in the LyX source distribution, converted
1528 versions in HTML and ASCII should soon be available at the website.
1529 A German version is also available with the distribution.
1532 Authorship and acknowledgments.
1535 Bernhard Iselborn, David Johnson, and Paul Evans were responsible for the
1536 FAQ through version 0.2.2 which covered LyX-0.10.7.
1537 The FAQ as of version 0.3.0 was written from scratch and covers LyX-1.0 and
1539 Many people contributed pieces to the current version; Mike Ressler of
1540 the Doc Team collected them into this file.
1543 Disclaimer and Copyright.
1547 I don't claim anything in this document is accurate to within a factor of
1549 \begin_inset Formula $\pi$
1552 ; after all, I'm just an astronomer, and we like to set
1553 \begin_inset Formula $c=h=k=\pi=1$
1557 When the answer is wrong, we just redefine the units.
1558 This file is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
1559 ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS
1560 FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
1561 See the GNU General Public License for more details.
1562 In other words, it's not my fault if you lose your dissertation the night
1563 before your doctoral defense because you forgot to save it before the power
1564 failed while wondering how a fundamental physical constant expressed in
1566 \begin_inset Formula $\textrm{m s}^{-1}$
1569 could possibly be equal to one expressed as
1570 \begin_inset Formula $\textrm{kg m s}^{-2}\textrm{ K}^{-1}$
1574 This file is Copyright © 2000 by Michael E.
1575 Ressler on behalf of the LyX Documentation Team.