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
40 Principal maintainer of this file is
45 If you have comments or error corrections, please send them to the LyX
46 Documentation mailing list, <lyx-docs@lists.lyx.org>.
52 This is the list of Frequently Asked Questions for LyX, the Open Source
53 document processor that provides a What-You-See-Is-What-You-Mean environment
54 for producing high quality documents.
55 For further help, you may wish to contact the LyX User Group mailing list
58 lyx-users@lists.lyx.org
64 you have read through the docs.
71 \begin_inset LatexCommand \tableofcontents{}
78 Introduction and General Information
84 LyX is a program that provides a more modern approach to writing documents
85 with a computer, an approach that breaks with the obsolete tradition of
87 \begin_inset Quotes eld
91 \begin_inset Quotes erd
94 It is designed for authors who want professional output quickly with a
95 minimum of effort without becoming specialists in typesetting.
96 The job of typesetting is done mostly by the computer, not the author;
97 with LyX, the author can concentrate on the contents of her writing.
101 \begin_inset Quotes eld
105 \begin_inset Quotes erd
108 view of the document.
110 \begin_inset Quotes eld
114 \begin_inset Quotes erd
117 means that the line- and page-breaks are not displayed exactly as they
118 will appear in the printed document.
119 However, that's not really necessary, since LyX uses a separate typesetter
120 program (called LaTeX) to perform the final formatting of your text.
121 While LyX contains everything it needs to be a comfortable user interface,
122 the typesetting program contains everything necessary to format text, and
123 do so very, very well.
127 So, line- and page-breaks aren't your problem anymore.
128 Remembering which number to use for the next subsection isn't your problem
130 Recalling what font you used for all of your section headings isn't your
132 You tell LyX (and LaTeX) what
136 of document you're editing and what
140 of paragraph this-or-that text is, the computer can typeset it accordingly.
141 Of course you can also still do some low-level formatting for fine-tuning.
142 However, the proper way with LyX is to tell the computer what the text
147 , not what it should look like.
148 So, we like to say that LyX gives you WYSIWYM editing (What You See Is
156 That's fine, but is it useful?
160 The following type of documents have been produced with LyX:
169 Dissertations (260 pages in a single document, longer using include files)
174 \begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://www.fee.uva.nl/scholar/mdw/leuven/thesis.pdf}
182 Lecture notes (133 pages, 27 figures on a 33 MHz 486 machine!)
185 Seminar notebooks (500+ pages)
188 Conference proceedings (Proceedings of the Second Continental Workshop on
189 the Geoid in Europe, (Finnish Geodetic Institute Report 98:4), 292 pages)
192 Software Documentation (the LyX User Guide is about 120 pages)
200 \begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://www.postgresql.org/docs/awbook.html}
204 for an example on PostgreSQL
207 Donnay, J-P., Barnsley, M.J., and Longley, P.A., eds., 2001, Remote Sensing and
208 Urban Analysis (Taylor and Francis: London).
211 Herbert Voss: Praktische Kryptologie mit Java 286 pages, lots of equations,
216 Yann Collette and Patrick Siarry, Optimisation multiobjectifs, 2002, Eyrolles
220 Papers published in the following refereed journals:
224 Astronomy & Astrophysics (Suetterlin, P.
225 1998, A&A, 333, 305; Suetterlin, P.
230 Astronomical Journal (Ressler, M.
237 Novels (400+ page novel due out in September 2000; an 836 page novel is
238 currently with an agent)
241 Scripts for plays and movies
244 Business proposals for > $1 M (US)
251 \begin_inset LatexCommand \url{www.lyx.org}
255 is the first place to go for anything related to LyX.
256 News, examples, downloads, and lots of other stuff is available there.
257 After you have installed LyX and started it the first time, read the Tutorial
260 Help\SpecialChar \menuseparator
264 Yes, I really mean that.
267 Another basic introductory guide may be found at
268 \begin_inset LatexCommand \url{www.bilkent.edu.tr/~robin/lyxguide.pdf}
275 Does LyX run on my computer?
278 At this time, you need to have the X Window system to run LyX.
279 OS/2 and Win32 ports exist, but you need to have an Xserver
287 and running on these systems.
288 LyX is known to run on the following platforms (and probably a zillion
292 Linux: RedHat 4.2, 5.0, 5.1, 6.0, 6.1, SUSE 5.x, Mandrake 7.0, 7.2
295 SparcLinux: RedHat 6.0
307 OSF1 flore V4.0 1091 alpha
310 How much hard disk space does LyX need?
313 On my system, the LyX binary consumes 2.0 MB of disk space, while the supporting
314 files occupy another 12.6 MB (9.1 MB of which is consumed by the docs! You
315 can delete the languages you don't care about to save some space).
316 Of course, you do need to have something like teTeX installed which consumes
317 a mere 115 MB, as well as ghostscript, which is another 10 MB!
320 Is LyX really Open Source?
324 Some may quibble that since the freely available X toolkit that LyX uses,
325 xforms, is currently closed source, LyX is less than Pure and Holy.
327 The LyX source itself is available under a slightly modified version of
328 the GPL, so it qualifies.
329 Also, the developers of LyX are working on making it toolkit independent,
330 so that next major version 1.3.0 will have Qt2/3 support; and even if not,
331 version 1.0 of xforms will be released under the LGPL (at the time of this
332 writing, prereleases of version 1.0 are available in source form from
333 \begin_inset LatexCommand \url{ftp://ftp.lyx.org/pub/xforms/OpenSource/}
343 Where should I look on the World Wide Web for LyX stuff?
347 \begin_inset LatexCommand \url{www.lyx.org}
355 \begin_inset LatexCommand \url{bugzilla.lyx.org}
359 , if you want to report a bug in LyX.
363 \begin_inset LatexCommand \url{www.devel.lyx.org}
367 , if you are interested in the real blood and guts.
370 Known mirror sites include:
375 \begin_inset LatexCommand \url{www.mx.lyx.org}
383 \begin_inset LatexCommand \url{www.no.lyx.org}
391 \begin_inset LatexCommand \url{www.it.lyx.org}
399 Where can I get LyX material by FTP?
402 ftp.lyx.org in /pub/lyx (also known as ftp.via.ecp.fr)
405 What mailing lists are there?
408 lyx-announce@lists.lyx.org (very low volume), for announcements related to
412 lyx-users@lists.lyx.org (medium volume), for general usage issues
415 lyx-devel@lists.lyx.org (high volume), for development and debugging issues
418 lyx-docs@lists.lyx.org (excruciatingly low volume), for documentation issues
422 Generally, you would send email to lyx-foo-subscribe@lists.lyx.org to subscribe
423 to these lists or to lyx-foo-unsubscribe@lists.lyx.org to unsubscribe, where
425 \begin_inset Quotes eld
429 \begin_inset Quotes erd
433 \begin_inset Quotes eld
437 \begin_inset Quotes erd
441 \begin_inset Quotes eld
445 \begin_inset Quotes erd
449 \begin_inset Quotes eld
453 \begin_inset Quotes erd
457 \begin_inset Quotes eld
461 \begin_inset Quotes erd
465 \begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://www.lyx.org/internet/mailing.php3}
469 for the full details.
472 Are the mailing lists archived anywhere?
479 Okay, wise guy! Where are they archived?
483 \begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://www.mail-archive.com/lyx-announce@lists.lyx.org/}
491 \begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://www.mail-archive.com/lyx-users@lists.lyx.org/}
499 \begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://www.mail-archive.com/lyx-devel@lists.lyx.org/}
506 Compatibility with other word/document processors
509 Can I read/write LaTeX files?
513 LyX outputs LaTeX files that are either machine or human friendly.
514 The reLyX program that comes with LyX does a decent job of converting LaTeX
516 It's not perfect, but it will usually get at least 95% of the job done
520 Can I read/write Word files?
524 People have had some level of success with the following sequence: LyX
525 \begin_inset Formula $\rightarrow$
529 \begin_inset Formula $\rightarrow$
533 \begin_inset Formula $\rightarrow$
536 Word, and vice versa.
537 However, Word is inherently not a markup language like LyX and LaTeX are,
538 so conversions are usually difficult and almost meaningless.
541 However, here are a few suggestions which were sent in:
544 word2x produces LaTeX, HTML and plain text output.
545 The LaTeX is importable in principle (and is rather clean) but I often
546 prefer plain text and add the formatting back in.
547 (This requires that you have knowledge on the original formatting).
548 On last writing did not yet handle Office 2000 Word.
551 wvware (found at www.wvware.com, or the abisource CVS repository for the latest).
552 This was previously called msWordView.
553 Very good, only tends to produce visually formatted LaTeX/HTML.
554 Is however highly configurable: a config file
558 guides the translation process.
559 Handles also the newest Office formats.
562 Ted This is the editor to use when someone sends you an RTF file created
565 Mail yourself the converted version (plain text or HTML).
568 Finally, when all else fails, use any word processor (WordPerfect, StarOffice,
569 ...) which understands Word.
570 Then export as the file as plain text and add the formatting by hand in
572 For me personally, at least, it's faster doing this than cleaning up attempts
573 at a conversion, though it is certainly unsatisfactory if you need to go
574 back and forth a lot.
577 Can I read/write HTML files?
580 You can output HTML files using the
581 \begin_inset Quotes eld
585 \begin_inset Quotes erd
588 converter program, amongst others.
590 \begin_inset Formula $\rightarrow$
593 LaTeX program available which allows you to convert the other direction.
596 Obtaining and Compiling LyX
602 LyX source code: lyx-1.x.x.tar.gz
605 XForms library: xforms-0.88 or higher (using the latest version available
609 A LaTeX installation: we strongly recommend teTeX-1.0 or higher
612 A PostScript® interpreter: ghostscript 7.0 or higher
615 A modern C++ compiler.
616 If you are using gcc, LyX requires at least version 2.95.2.
628 make install (usually as root, though you don't have to be if you add flags
629 to the configure command)
632 See the INSTALL file for more details.
636 Where are precompiled binaries?
639 Most of the above packages are available as precompiled binaries for a variety
640 of Linux systems, perhaps others as well.
641 The LyX binaries are available as RPMS and a few other formats and may
643 \begin_inset LatexCommand \url{ftp://ftp.lyx.org/pub/lyx/bin/}
650 The Windows port is available at
651 \begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://www.fh-hannover.de/mbau/tim/hentschel/lyx/index.html}
658 Questions about Evil Red Text (IMPORTANT!)
661 What is Evil Red Text (aka ERT)?
664 ERT (Evil Red Text) refers to raw LaTeX commands which are inserted into
666 Certain troglodytes in the development group coined this term when they
667 complained about the unsightly appearance it leads to in LyX documents.
668 The more enlightened among us know that it is extremely useful, even though
669 it does qualify as URT (Ugly Red Text), but ERT seems to have stuck.
673 How do I enter Evil Red Text?
676 Aesthetic arguments aside, many of the answers in this FAQ require that
677 you use ERT, so whenever we say
678 \begin_inset Quotes eld
681 insert the following LaTeX code
682 \begin_inset Quotes erd
688 Click the TeX toolbar button or select
693 nsert\SpecialChar \menuseparator
703 Type the command as it is written in the normal way
706 The new ERT inset is really inconvenient !
709 A lot of people have been complaining about the ERT inset introduced in
711 However, since there is little hope of to see the old LaTeX font return
712 from the grave (it was really a hack), here are a couple of things to ponder:
715 You can collapse the ERT like any other floats by using
720 dit\SpecialChar \menuseparator
734 You can also set it to
735 \begin_inset Quotes eld
739 \begin_inset Quotes erd
742 by using the properties dialog obtained by right-clicking anywhere in the
746 Is there an alternative?
749 LaTeX commands can also be inserted in the
750 \begin_inset Quotes eld
754 \begin_inset Quotes erd
757 , a form in LyX that is inserted verbatim into the LaTeX file which is generated
759 This is especially useful for including nonstandard LaTeX packages, defining
760 global shortcuts to be used within the document, etc.
763 Questions Related to Using LyX
766 In this section, we attempt to address the truly most frequently asked questions.
767 For a broader range of not-so-frequently asked questions and many
768 \begin_inset Quotes eld
772 \begin_inset Quotes erd
775 topics, see Herbert Voss' spectacular collection at
776 \begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://www.educat.hu-berlin.de/~voss/lyx}
781 You are doing yourself a large disservice if you don't check there before
782 sending a message to the mailing lists!
786 \layout Subsubsection
788 How do I get rid of the date under the title?
791 The simplest solution is to open the menu
796 ayout\SpecialChar \menuseparator
811 in the preamble window.
812 \layout Subsubsection
814 How do I change the spacing in an Itemize/\SpecialChar \-
815 Enumerate/\SpecialChar \-
816 Description list environment
820 You'll have to do this by hand: for example, for one particular list, you
821 can add the following LaTeX code at the beginning of the list:
831 \layout Subsubsection
833 How do I number equations by section?
836 Add the following two lines to your LaTeX preamble:
841 @addtoreset{equation}{section}
853 \layout Subsubsection
855 Is it possible to do this for figures and tables as well?
889 Don't forget to adapt the
891 @addtoreset command, too.
892 \layout Subsubsection
894 How do I change to footnote numbers to symbols (star, dagger, etc.)?
907 to your LaTeX preamble.
908 \layout Subsubsection
910 How do I kill widows and orphans?
913 Okay, we are not playing Duke Nukem here! To eliminate widows and orphans
914 (first line from a paragraph at the bottom of the page and the last line
915 from a paragraph at the top of the page), add the following to the LaTeX
937 \layout Subsubsection
939 How do I get a formatted list which starts with e.g.
944 If you want a list which looks like
951 b) Second alternative
957 then try the following
967 b) Second alternative
973 where {} is in ERT (i.e.
974 a placeholder not generating output.
975 Specifically, set the style to
976 \begin_inset Quotes eld
980 \begin_inset Quotes erd
983 , enter the brackets in ERT, change the environment depth, and add the three
985 LyX will auto-label the entries.
986 \layout Subsubsection
988 How do I count words in LyX?
991 Run a spellcheck; it will display the total number of words checked.
992 Make sure the cursor is at the top of the document when you start the spellchec
993 ker so that everything is counted.
994 \layout Subsubsection
996 How do I insert a fixed amount of horizontal space?
999 There are various ERT commands to use:
1041 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1045 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1048 is roughly the width of the letter
1049 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1053 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1056 in the current font.
1057 The length argument of the
1063 command is any valid TeX length; units can be
1079 (points = 1/72 inch),
1084 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1088 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1096 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1100 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1117 \layout Subsubsection
1119 How can I make citations show up as [1,2,3,6] or [1-3,6] rather than [1][2][3][6
1129 into the LaTeX preamble.
1130 Most LaTeX distributions should have this package included.
1131 LyX supports this package, if you insert multiple citations separated by
1132 commas into the citation dialog, e.
1134 [Smalley_JCP,Jarrold_Sci], instead of just one citation after the other:
1135 [Smalley_JCP] [Jarrold_Sci].
1138 Figure related questions
1139 \layout Subsubsection
1141 What is the difference between a
1142 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1146 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1150 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1154 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1160 This is an example of less-than-ideal terminology.
1162 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1166 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1169 is what I would really call a
1170 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1174 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1177 ; it basically means insert a picture file.
1179 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1183 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1186 is more what one means by a figure in a paper: it includes the graphic,
1187 the caption, the figure label, etc.
1188 You should almost always insert a figure float first, then put a figure
1192 Tables work in the same manner.
1193 Put a table float in first, then insert the table within that.
1194 \layout Subsubsection
1196 How do I get LyX to put the figure exactly where I want it?
1201 Layout\SpecialChar \menuseparator
1210 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1218 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1222 This tells LaTeX to try really hard to put the figure here first, then
1223 the top of a page, then on a page by itself.
1224 This is a global setting: all figure will then obey this rule set.
1227 If you want to control how each figure behaves, right-click in the figure
1228 float and you will get a dialog allowing to control the figure behavior.
1229 \layout Subsubsection
1232 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1235 Too many unprocessed floats
1236 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1242 LaTeX can handle only a limited number of floating elements floating at
1244 For example, if Figure 4 can't be fit in a good location (using the default
1245 rules of top of the page, then bottom, then a page of its own) and Figure
1246 5 comes along, they will both continue to float toward the end of the document
1247 until a good location can be found.
1248 If nothing good turns up, they will just be placed at the end of the document.
1249 If there are too many of these, LaTeX overruns a counter and emits the
1251 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1254 too many unprocessed floats
1255 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1259 This is not a bug in LaTeX, this is simply too many figures with too little
1263 The easiest way to work around this is to insert a
1269 command somewhere in the document where a pagebreak would be appropriate.
1270 While a pagebreak would simply start a new page,
1276 processes all remaining floats, then begins a new page.
1277 This may lead to an unsightly stack of figures in the middle of your document;
1278 you may need to use several
1284 to make things balance nicely.
1287 Math related questions
1288 \layout Subsubsection
1290 How do I put normal text inside a mathematical equation?
1294 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1302 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1305 while inside the equation to enter
1306 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1310 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1314 \layout Subsubsection
1316 How do I make a cube root (or higher)?
1320 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1328 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1332 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1336 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1340 Use the cursor keys to navigate the entry boxes.
1343 Questions Related to Running LyX
1346 How do I convert LyX files to LaTeX from the command line?
1349 File export was vastly improved in version 1.1.6.
1353 lyx --export latex <yourfile>.lyx
1356 and that is all you need to do.
1359 If you have an older version of LyX, you can use the same syntax if you
1360 are running X, because it will cause LyX windows to pop up onto your screen.
1361 If you have the Xvfb command available, you can resort to a deeper level
1362 of subterfuge (under
1371 (Xvfb :1 -once -terminate &); rm <file>.tex; lyx -display :1 --export latex
1375 Under csh/tcsh it is simply
1380 Xvfb :1 -once -terminate &; rm <file>.tex; lyx -display :1 --export latex
1384 This should work anywhere, whether or not X is actually running.
1387 How do I create PDF files from my LyX document?
1390 Read Section 5.3.6 of the
1397 Why do the fonts in my document look so bad in
1404 The problem and the solution are also discussed in Section 5.3.6 of the
1411 Why doesn't my latest and greatest version of Ghostscript render EPS inline
1415 [Note: this only applies to versions of LyX older than 1.2.0, since the graphics
1416 rendering code has been rewritten in this version]
1419 A couple of users reported that they couldn't get recent Ghostscript versions
1420 to display inline figures in LyX.
1421 It transpires that this is a Ghostscript bug:
1425 \begin_inset LatexCommand \url{http://sourceforge.net/bugs/?func=detailbug&bug_id=124957&group_id=1897}
1432 This bug appears to affect Ghostscript 6.22 and upwards.
1433 After applying the above mentioned patch, rendering in Lyx works fine again.
1434 GNU Ghostscript 6.53 and above include this fix.
1437 Questions Related to LyX on Windows
1440 Why do the menus and the toolbar flicker ?
1443 You are probably using the XWin32 X server.
1444 This is a bug in XWin32: you can work around the problem by disabling the
1446 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1450 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1453 option of XWin32, and using a color mode other than PseudoColor.
1456 How to get further assistance
1459 You still haven't answered my question!
1462 Then RTFM, especially the Tutorial.
1463 The documentation really is quite good.
1464 (Besides, I helped write parts of it :-) If you think your problem may
1465 be LaTeX related, then look in
1467 LaTeX, A Document Preparation System, 2nd Ed.
1470 by Leslie Lamport (1994).
1471 There are also numerous example files included with LyX.
1474 File\SpecialChar \menuseparator
1475 Open\SpecialChar \menuseparator
1481 I want to mail someone about my problem.
1485 Send email to the LyX Users list lyx-users@lists.lyx.org.
1486 If LyX is actually crashing or otherwise non-functional, then try the developer
1487 s' list at lyx-devel@lists.lyx.org.
1490 What to put in a request for help.
1493 Include your version of LyX and a description of what you are trying to
1494 do, along with evidence that you've actually read the docs.
1497 If LyX has crashed, include the version of LyX, the operating system, the
1498 version of xforms (if it seems to be a screen drawing problem), and a precise
1499 description of the events that lead to the crash.
1500 The easier it is for the developers to reproduce your crash, the more likely
1502 If you're brave and like to hack, use gdb to generate a backtrace and include
1503 the results with your mail.
1504 If you have no clue what I'm talking about, just describe what you did
1505 as completely as you can.
1508 Administrative information and acknowledgments
1511 Feedback is invited.
1515 Send comments, suggested additions, world record document claims, etc.
1518 mike.ressler@alum.mit.edu.
1521 Formats in which this FAQ is available.
1525 The LyX file original is included in the LyX source distribution, converted
1526 versions in HTML and ASCII should soon be available at the website.
1527 A German version is also available with the distribution.
1530 Authorship and acknowledgments.
1533 Bernhard Iselborn, David Johnson, and Paul Evans were responsible for the
1534 FAQ through version 0.2.2 which covered LyX-0.10.7.
1535 The FAQ as of version 0.3.0 was written from scratch and covers LyX-1.0 and
1537 Many people contributed pieces to the current version; Mike Ressler (
1539 mike.ressler@alum.mit.edu
1541 ) of the Doc Team is collecting them into this file.
1544 Disclaimer and Copyright.
1548 I don't claim anything in this document is accurate to within a factor of
1550 \begin_inset Formula $\pi$
1553 ; after all, I'm just an astronomer, and we like to set
1554 \begin_inset Formula $c=h=k=\pi=1$
1558 When the answer is wrong, we just redefine the units.
1559 This file is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
1560 ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS
1561 FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
1562 See the GNU General Public License for more details.
1563 In other words, it's not my fault if you lose your dissertation the night
1564 before your doctoral defense because you forgot to save it before the power
1565 failed while wondering how a fundamental physical constant expressed in
1567 \begin_inset Formula $\textrm{m s}^{-1}$
1570 could possibly be equal to one expressed as
1571 \begin_inset Formula $\textrm{kg m s}^{-2}\textrm{ K}^{-1}$
1575 This file is Copyright © 2000 by Michael E.
1576 Ressler on behalf of the LyX Documentation Team.