1 #LyX 1.4.0cvs created this file. For more info see http://www.lyx.org/
10 \paperfontsize default
17 \paperorientation portrait
20 \paragraph_separation indent
22 \quotes_language english
25 \paperpagestyle default
26 \tracking_changes false
41 \begin_layout Standard
42 If you have comments or error corrections, please send them to the LyX Documenta
43 tion mailing list, <lyx-docs@lists.lyx.org>.
51 \begin_layout Standard
52 \begin_inset LatexCommand \tableofcontents{}
64 \begin_inset Quotes eld
67 Uncle Cosmo, why do they call this a word processor?
68 \begin_inset Quotes erd
75 \begin_inset Quotes eld
79 You've seen what food processors do to food, right?
80 \begin_inset Quotes erd
90 \begin_inset Quotes eld
94 \begin_inset Quotes erd
100 \begin_layout Section
104 \begin_layout Standard
105 LyX is a document preparation system.
106 It excels at letting you create complex technical and scientific articles
107 with mathematics, cross-references, bibliographies, indices, etc.
108 It is very good at documents of any length in which the usual processing
109 abilities are required: automatic sectioning and pagination, spellchecking,
111 It can also be used to write a letter to your mom, though granted, there
112 are probably simpler programs available for that.
113 It is definitely not the best tool for creating banners, flyers, or advertiseme
114 nts (we'll explain why later), though with some effort all these can be
116 Some examples of what it is used for: memos, letters, dissertations and
117 theses, lecture notes, seminar notebooks, conference proceedings, software
118 documentation, books (on PostgreSQL, remote sensing, cryptology, fictional
119 novels, poetry, and even a children's book or two), articles in refereed
120 scientific journals, scripts for plays and movies, business proposals \SpecialChar \ldots{}
125 \begin_layout Standard
126 LyX is a program that provides a modern approach to writing documents with
127 a computer by using a markup language paradigm, an approach that breaks
128 with the obsolete tradition of the
129 \begin_inset Quotes eld
133 \begin_inset Quotes erd
136 It is designed for authors who want professional output quickly with a
137 minimum of effort without becoming specialists in typesetting.
138 The job of typesetting is done mostly by the computer, not the author;
139 with LyX, the author can concentrate on the contents of her writing.
142 \begin_layout Standard
143 Part of the initial challenge of using LyX comes from the change in thinking
144 that you, the user, must make.
145 At one time, all we had for creating documents were typewriters, so we
146 all learned certain tricks to get around their limitations.
147 Underlining, which is little more than overstriking with the
148 \begin_inset Quotes eld
152 \begin_inset Quotes erd
155 character, became a way to emphasize text.
156 You were forced to figure out column sizes and tab stops, and set them,
157 before creating a table.
158 The same applied for letters and other right justified text.
159 Hyphenation at the end of a line required a careful eye and a lot of foresight.
162 \begin_layout Standard
163 In other words, we've all been trained to worry about the little details
164 of which character goes where.
165 Consequently, almost all word processors have this mentality.
166 They still use tab stops for adding whitespace.
167 You still need to worry about exactly where on the page something will
169 Emphasizing text means changing a font, similar to changing the typewriter
171 This is the underlying philosophy of a WYSIWYG word processor:
172 \begin_inset Quotes eld
175 What You See Is What You Get
176 \begin_inset Quotes erd
180 Unfortunately, that paradigm often results in
181 \begin_inset Quotes eld
184 What You See Is All You Get
185 \begin_inset Quotes erd
191 \begin_layout Standard
192 This is where LyX differs from an ordinary word processor.
193 You don't concern yourself with what character goes where.
198 and LyX takes care of the rest, following a set of rules called a
206 \begin_layout Standard
207 To be fair, most recent versions of the most popular office suites now have
208 some sort of style sheets which follow a similar markup method.
209 However, our experience is that they are still rarely used in practice.
214 Let's look at a little example:
217 \begin_layout Standard
218 Suppose you are writing a report.
219 To begin your report, you want a section called
220 \begin_inset Quotes eld
223 Introduction\SpecialChar \@.
225 \begin_inset Quotes erd
228 So, you go into whatever menu it is in your word processor that changes
229 font sizes and decide on a new font size.
230 Then you turn on bold face.
232 \begin_inset Quotes eld
238 \begin_inset Quotes erd
242 Of course, if you later decide that this section belongs someplace else
243 in the document, or if you insert a new section before it, you need to
244 change the numbering for this and all following sections, as well as any
245 entry in the table of contents.
249 \begin_layout Standard
250 In LyX, you go to the pull-down on the far left of the button bar and select
256 \begin_inset Quotes eld
259 Introduction\SpecialChar \@.
261 \begin_inset Quotes erd
267 \begin_layout Standard
269 If you cut and paste the section, it will automatically be renumbered ---
271 And if you enter references to that section correctly (by inserting cross-refer
272 ence tags), LyX will automatically update them all throughout the file so
273 that you never, ever type a section number.
276 \begin_layout Standard
277 Now let's look at the problem of consistency.
278 Five days later, you reopen your report and start Section\InsetSpace ~
280 However, you forget that you were using 18pt bold instead of 16pt, so you
281 type in the heading for Section\InsetSpace ~
282 4 in a different font that what you used
283 for Section\InsetSpace ~
285 That problem doesn't even exist in LyX.
286 The computer takes care of all that silly bookkeeping about which thing
287 has what size font, not you.
288 After all, that's what a computer is good at.
291 \begin_layout Standard
292 Here's another example.
293 Suppose you're making a list.
294 In other word processors, a list is just a bunch of tab stops and newlines.
295 You need to figure out where to put the label for each list item, what
296 that label should be, how many blank lines to put between each item, and
298 Under LyX, you have only two concerns: what kind of list is this, and what
299 do I want to put in it.
303 \begin_layout Standard
304 So, the basic idea behind LyX is: specify
314 \begin_inset Quotes eld
317 What You See Is What You Get,
318 \begin_inset Quotes erd
322 \begin_inset Quotes eld
325 What You See Is What You
330 \begin_inset Quotes erd
334 \begin_inset Quotes eld
338 \begin_inset Quotes erd
341 It's a powerful idea that greatly simplifies the mechanics of writing documents.
342 This is also why LyX isn't so good for creating posters and flyers---in
347 want to specify exactly where everything goes, because there are no functional
348 units like paragraphs, sections, etc.
349 This doesn't mean LyX is missing some cool function.
350 It simply means that it isn't the right tool for the job --- you don't
351 use a screwdriver to drive in nails (unless your screwdriver comes with
352 a lifetime warranty).
355 \begin_layout Section
356 Differences between LyX and Other Word
362 \begin_layout Standard
363 LyX and Other Word Processors
372 \begin_layout Standard
373 No, we're not trying to start (or win) a word processor holy war here.
374 But we do think it's important to describe LyX's features.
375 And one of LyX's main features, WYSIWYM, is a fundamentally different concept
376 than the one that most of people have about word processing.
384 \begin_layout Standard
385 Here's a list of things you won't find in LyX:
388 \begin_layout Itemize
392 \begin_layout Itemize
396 \begin_layout Itemize
397 Extra whitespace (i.e.
409 \begin_layout Standard
410 Tab stops, along with a ruler showing you the position of things on the
411 page, are useless in LyX.
412 The program worries about where things go on the page, not you.
413 Extra whitespace is similar; LyX adds them where necessary, depending on
415 Not being able to type two blank lines in a row will be annoying at first,
416 but it makes more sense once you're thinking in WYSIWYM terms.
419 \begin_layout Standard
420 Here are some things that exist in LyX, but aren't used as you might think:
423 \begin_layout Itemize
427 \begin_layout Itemize
431 \begin_layout Itemize
433 single spaced, double spaced, etc.)
436 \begin_layout Itemize
437 Whitespace, horizontal and vertical
440 \begin_layout Itemize
444 \begin_layout Itemize
445 Typefaces (bold, italic, underline, etc.)
448 \begin_layout Standard
449 Although they exist in LyX, you generally don't need them.
450 LyX will take care of these things for you, depending on what you're doing.
451 Different parts of the document are automatically set in a different typeface
453 Paragraph indenting is context dependent; different types of paragraphs
454 get indented differently.
455 Page breaks get handled automatically, as well.
456 In general, the space between lines, between words, and between paragraphs
457 is variable, set by LyX.
461 \begin_layout Standard
462 There are ways to adjust all of these (only some of which require knowledge
463 of LaTeX), either for a whole document or for a specific location in a
481 \begin_layout Standard
482 Lastly, there are a few areas where we believe LyX (and LaTeX) surpasses
483 many word processors:
486 \begin_layout Itemize
490 \begin_layout Itemize
494 \begin_layout Itemize
498 \begin_layout Itemize
502 \begin_layout Itemize
506 \begin_layout Standard
507 Granted, many modern word processors can handle mathematical symbols, tables,
508 and hyphenation, and many have moved towards style definitions and the
510 However, they've only recently been able to do so, whereas LyX is built
511 upon the LaTeX document preparation system.
512 LaTeX has been around for decades, and
519 \begin_layout Section
524 LaTeX (and why do I care)?
527 \begin_layout Standard
528 LaTeX is a document preparation system designed by Leslie Lamport in 1985.
532 \begin_layout Standard
533 The source for the info in this section is
534 \begin_inset Quotes eld
542 \begin_inset Quotes erd
545 by Helmut Kopka and Patrick Daly, which has an entry in the bibliography
556 It, in turn, was built up from a typesetting language called TeX, created
557 by Donald Knuth in 1984.
559 \begin_inset Quotes eld
563 \begin_inset Quotes erd
567 \begin_inset Quotes eld
571 \begin_inset Quotes erd
574 which is how many people feel about it.
575 However, most folks don't understand just what TeX is.
576 TeX takes a sequence of typesetting commands, written in a script in an
577 ASCII file, and executes them.
578 It's a bit more complicated than a typewriter, but not nearly as involved
579 as an actual printing press; however, many of the
580 \begin_inset Quotes eld
584 \begin_inset Quotes erd
587 of the printing trade were modeled by Knuth as computer algorithms and
588 incorporated into TeX, thus its excellent printed appearance.
589 In any case, what comes directly out of TeX is the so-called
590 \begin_inset Quotes eld
594 \begin_inset Quotes erd
602 You can then feed the
606 file to anything that understands
614 to other formats like PostScript®, PDF, etc.
618 \begin_layout Standard
619 If it weren't for one other feature, all TeX would be is a typesetting engine.
620 However, TeX also allows you to define macros.
621 This is where the action begins.
624 \begin_layout Standard
625 Most people who use TeX are actually using a macro package which Knuth created
626 to hide a lot of the typesetting details.
627 This is what most people think of when they think of TeX\SpecialChar \@.
629 don't work with raw TeX, which are the bare-bones typesetting commands.
630 People creating new macro-packages do that.
631 This is where Leslie Lamport enters our story.
632 He wanted a macro package that was more user-oriented and less typesetter-orien
633 ted, a set of commands that consistently typeset things like sections or
634 tables or math formulae in a uniform, consistent fashion with as little
636 This is how LaTeX was born.
639 \begin_layout Standard
640 Now, in parallel with the development and growth of LaTeX, other folks were
641 creating their own custom macro packages for TeX, ones to make slides or
642 articles for math journals and so on.
643 Some used the raw TeX facilities to do this, others began modifying LaTeX.
644 To try and unify this mess, a team of LaTeX-nicians (including Lamport,
645 of course) began to work on LaTeX2e, the current version of LaTeX, during
647 This new version of LaTeX has commands which provide an easier-to-use interface
648 to TeX's macro-creating commands (remember TeX?), aid in the use of new
650 In fact, LaTeX is quite an extensive language in its own right! Users around
651 the world have been creating their own add-ons for LaTeX beyond the standard
655 \begin_layout Standard
656 There are two ways to extend LaTeX: classes and styles.
661 is a set of LaTeX (and TeX) macros describing a new type of document, like
662 a book, or an article.
663 There are classes for slides, for physics and math journals\SpecialChar \ldots{}
665 even have a class for their thesis format! A
669 differs from a class in that it doesn't define a new type of document,
670 but a different type of
674 that any document can use.
675 For example, LyX controls page margins and line spacing using two different
676 LaTeX style-files designed for these purposes.
677 There are style-files for a whole slew of things: printing labels or envelopes,
678 changing indentation behavior, adding new fonts, manipulating graphics,
679 designing fancy page headings, customizing bibliographies, altering the
680 location and appearance of footnotes, tables, and figures, customizing
684 \begin_layout Standard
689 \labelwidthstring 00.00.0000
690 TeX: Typesetting language with macro capability.
694 \labelwidthstring 00.00.0000
695 LaTeX: Macro package built upon TeX\SpecialChar \@.
700 \labelwidthstring 00.00.0000
701 classes: Descriptions of a type of document, using LaTeX\SpecialChar \@.
706 \labelwidthstring 00.00.0000
707 styles: Alters the default behavior of LaTeX in some way.
711 \labelwidthstring 00.00.0000
712 LyX: Visual, WYSIWYM word-processor that uses LaTeX in all its glory to
716 \begin_layout Standard
717 The idea of this section was to try and explain
721 LyX works somewhat differently from other word processors.
722 The reason is simple: LyX uses LaTeX as its printing backend.
723 Just like LaTeX, LyX focuses on the context of your writing ---
728 The computer then handles how it should look.
731 \begin_layout Standard
732 Oh --- one last thing.
733 LaTeX is pronounced like TeX is.
735 \begin_inset Quotes eld
739 \begin_inset Quotes erd
746 \begin_layout Standard
748 \begin_inset Quotes eld
752 \begin_inset Quotes erd
755 , depending on how you pronounce your
756 \begin_inset Quotes eld
760 \begin_inset Quotes erd
763 s\SpecialChar \ldots{}
770 Lamport says in his book, though, that
771 \begin_inset Quotes eld
778 -tecks is also possible
779 \begin_inset Quotes erd
784 \begin_inset Quotes eld
788 \begin_inset Quotes erd
791 on the other hand, is pronounced
792 \begin_inset Quotes eld
796 \begin_inset Quotes erd
800 \begin_inset Quotes eld
804 \begin_inset Quotes erd
808 \begin_inset Quotes eld
812 \begin_inset Quotes erd
815 depending on what country you're from \SpecialChar \ldots{}
816 but numerous holy wars and flame
817 fests have been started over this issue on the LyX mailing lists, so please
818 just pronounce it however you please.
819 Just don't pronounce it
820 \begin_inset Quotes eld
824 \begin_inset Quotes erd
833 \begin_layout Chapter
834 Navigating the Documentation
837 \begin_layout Standard
838 To make it easier to answer your questions and describe all of the features
839 of LyX, the documentation has been split up into several different files.
840 Each one has its own purpose, as described below.
841 Before you go plowing into any of those files, however, you should read
842 this chapter thoroughly first, since it contains a lot of useful information
843 and commentary that can save you some time.
846 \begin_layout Standard
847 Although LyX is now well past the
848 \begin_inset Quotes eld
852 \begin_inset Quotes erd
855 mark, some of the documentation may be incomplete or a bit out of date,
856 though we try to keep up.
857 Like the rest of LyX, the manuals are the work of a group of volunteers
859 \begin_inset Quotes eld
863 \begin_inset Quotes erd
866 , families, dishes to clean, kitty litter to dispose of, et cetera.
867 If you want to help out, be sure to read Chapter\InsetSpace ~
869 \begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{chp:Contrib}
873 in addition to the rest of this document.)
876 \begin_layout Standard
877 Also, please do us a favor---if anything in these manuals confuses you,
878 is unclear, or wrong, don't hesitate to let us know! You can reach the
879 current document maintainers by mailing to
881 lyx-docs@lists.lyx.org
884 If you have questions which are not obviously answered in the documentation,
885 and need help fast, there is an active users' mailing list which you can
888 lyx-users@lists.lyx.org
893 \begin_layout Section
894 The Format of the Manuals
897 \begin_layout Standard
898 Some of you may have printed out the manual(s).
899 Others may be reading it online, within LyX as a file.
900 For those reading online, there are some differences from the printed version.
901 First, the title is simply at the top of the document, not formatted on
902 a separate page as in some of the printed versions.
903 Nor are any of the footnotes or the Table of Contents visible.
904 To open a footnote, which looks like this,
908 \begin_layout Standard
912 \begin_layout Standard
913 To close me, click on the grey box on the top left of this box, the one
915 \begin_inset Quotes eld
919 \begin_inset Quotes erd
927 click on it with the left mouse button.
928 For the Table of Contents, either click on the grey box, or click on the
936 menu, where the contents are displayed automatically\SpecialChar \@.
940 \begin_layout Standard
941 In the printed manuals, all cross-references appear as the actual numbers
942 for a chapter, section, subsection, and so on.
943 Online, however, all cross-references appear as a grey box like the following:
945 \begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{chp:Contrib}
950 (The printed manuals show a number instead.) If you click on that box with
951 the left mouse button, a dialog box will appear containing a list of all
952 the cross-references in the document.
953 This introduction has only one named
954 \begin_inset Quotes eld
958 \begin_inset Quotes erd
962 You can go to the section the referred to by clicking the button labeled
964 Going back to where you came from is just as easy.
966 \begin_inset Quotes eld
970 \begin_inset Quotes erd
977 will take you back to your earlier location.
979 \begin_inset Quotes eld
987 \begin_inset Quotes erd
993 \begin_layout Standard
994 Now that we've cleared up some of the differences between the printed and
995 online versions of this file, we can start looking at the format of this
997 You'll occasionally notice things in different fonts:
1000 \begin_layout Itemize
1005 is used for general emphasis, generic arguments, book titles, names of
1006 sections of other manuals, and notes from the authors.
1009 \begin_layout Itemize
1014 is used for program and file names, LaTeX code, and LyX code and functions.
1017 \begin_layout Itemize
1022 is used for menu, button, or dialog box names, and the names of keyboard
1026 \begin_layout Itemize
1031 is used for people's names.
1034 \begin_layout Standard
1035 For menu accelerator keys and other more obscure keybindings, you'll probably
1041 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1046 Extended Features Manual
1049 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1057 When we do need to reference keys, we'll use the following prefixing convention
1061 \begin_layout Itemize
1062 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1070 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1080 \begin_layout Itemize
1081 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1089 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1099 \begin_layout Itemize
1100 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1108 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1115 key, which on some keyboards will be the
1122 \begin_layout Itemize
1123 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1131 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1134 \SpecialChar \ldots{}
1136 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1144 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1147 are the function keys.
1150 \begin_layout Itemize
1151 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1159 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1165 \begin_layout Itemize
1166 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1174 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1178 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1186 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1190 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1198 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1202 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1210 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1216 \begin_layout Itemize
1219 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1225 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1229 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1237 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1241 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1249 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1253 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1261 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1265 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1273 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1277 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1285 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1288 : these are the 6 keys that appear above the cursor keys on many PC keyboards.
1290 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1298 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1302 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1310 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1314 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1322 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1326 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1334 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1340 \begin_layout Itemize
1349 both refer to the same key.
1350 Some keyboards label the
1355 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1359 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1363 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1367 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1370 still others have two keys.
1371 LyX treats all of them as the same key, so we'll use
1382 \begin_layout Standard
1383 You'll also see something like
1384 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1390 \begin_inset Quotes els
1396 \begin_inset Quotes ers
1400 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1404 We've listed the possible default keybindings for a function in its entry
1406 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1411 Extended Features Manual
1414 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1417 so check there, too.
1418 Note that there are two different keybinding maps in common use in the
1420 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1424 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1427 style which is the default and familiar to those coming from the PC world,
1429 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1433 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1436 style, which is common with those who
1437 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1441 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1444 on Unix systems and use the Emacs editor.
1445 Unless specifically noted, the keybindings in the documentation are from
1446 the default CUA map.
1447 If you like Emacs, you should be smart enough to read the documentation
1448 and figure out the bindings on your own.
1451 \begin_layout Section
1455 \begin_layout Standard
1456 The following list describes the contents of each of the files in the documentat
1460 \begin_layout Description
1467 \begin_layout Standard
1472 \begin_layout Description
1479 \begin_layout Standard
1480 If you are new to LyX, and have never used LaTeX before, you should start
1482 If you think LaTeX is the stuff they make condoms out of, then you definitely
1483 need to reread Chapter 1, then read the
1488 Note that after you read the
1492 , you'll probably still think LaTeX is some stretchy substance --- but you
1497 know how to use LyX.
1500 \begin_layout Standard
1505 used LaTeX before, you should still read the
1509 , starting with the section on
1510 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1513 LyX for LaTeX users.
1514 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1517 (Skimming the rest of the document wouldn't hurt, either.)
1520 \begin_layout Standard
1521 If, at any time, you find yourself feeling a bit clueless with respect to
1522 LyX, try perusing the
1526 before diving into any of the other manuals.
1527 It's a good springboard.
1531 \begin_layout Description
1539 \begin_layout Standard
1540 The primary documentation.
1545 of the basic operation and available features of LyX here.
1546 The main manual assumes that you've read the
1554 \begin_layout Description
1557 Extended\InsetSpace ~
1562 \begin_layout Standard
1568 Documents how to use raw LaTeX commands, additional layouts, and special-purpos
1569 e editing features, and includes some of the (rather bizarre, but nifty)
1570 tricks of the LaTeX masters.
1574 \begin_layout Description
1581 \begin_layout Standard
1582 A description of advanced LyX features, including how to customize the overall
1583 behavior of LyX\SpecialChar \@.
1584 This includes such things as keybindings, internationalization,
1585 and configuration files.
1586 Don't even think of going in here until you read the
1594 \begin_layout Description
1602 \begin_layout Standard
1603 LyX investigates your system upon installation.
1604 This file contains info on what LyX learned about your installation.
1605 Check it to see if you're missing something you might like to have.
1609 \begin_layout Standard
1610 These files will reference one another as necessary.
1619 information on installation and customization, but refers the reader to
1622 Customization Manual
1624 for more information.
1627 \begin_layout Standard
1628 We'll state again an important point:
1631 \begin_layout Standard
1632 \begin_inset VSpace bigskip
1638 \begin_layout Standard
1640 If you are new to LyX, read the
1649 \begin_layout Standard
1650 \begin_inset VSpace bigskip
1656 \begin_layout Standard
1657 Otherwise, you could needlessly frustrate yourself.
1658 LyX does all that you need a word processor to do, but using a different
1662 \begin_layout Chapter
1663 \begin_inset LatexCommand \label{chp:Contrib}
1667 Contributing to the LyX Project
1670 \begin_layout Section
1674 \begin_layout Standard
1675 LyX is mostly written in C++.
1676 It is a large project, and as a result it is not free from bugs, or the
1677 need for improvements in the source code.
1680 \begin_layout Subsection
1684 \begin_layout Standard
1685 While using LyX, you may find behaviour which you consider a bug.
1686 Crashes, though rare, can happen.
1687 User interface problems are considered major bugs by the LyX team: especially
1688 helpful are indications of parts of the LyX interface you find confusing,
1692 \begin_layout Standard
1693 LyX has a bug tracking system, which you can find at
1696 \begin_inset LatexCommand \htmlurl[LyX bug tracker]{http://bugzilla.lyx.org/}
1703 You should check the bug tracker before reporting any bugs, in case it
1704 has already been reported.
1705 If you have a comment on an existing bug, or wish to report a new bug,
1706 you may either use the bug tracker, or send an e-mail to the development
1709 lyx-devel@lists.lyx.org
1712 Archives of this list are linked from the main LyX website,
1715 \begin_inset LatexCommand \htmlurl[LyX website]{http://www.lyx.org/}
1724 \begin_layout Standard
1725 A good (useful) bug report will at a minimum include the version of LyX
1726 you are having the problem with.
1727 Accurate, detailed descriptions are preferred - the more time developers
1728 have to spend to pinpoint the source of a bug, the less time they have
1729 for other improvements.
1730 Mention the system and system version you are running LyX with.
1731 Give the versions of the libraries you have installed on your system, and,
1732 if relevant, the versions of external programs that LyX uses.
1733 If it's a compilation or configuration problem, include the file
1737 , and mention which compiler you are using.
1741 \begin_layout Standard
1742 If you can make LyX crash, please take the time to produce a backtrace with
1743 a non-stripped lyx executable.
1744 The one built in the source directory is per default not stripped, while
1745 the installed binary is stripped.
1746 So, run LyX from gdb by typing, for example,
1747 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1753 gdb /users/steve/lyx-1.0.x/src/lyx
1757 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1761 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1771 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1775 Make LyX crash and you'll return to gdb.
1777 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1787 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1790 to produce a backtrace and include the output in the bug report
1794 \begin_layout Standard
1795 if you want to be thorough, use the
1796 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1804 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1808 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1816 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1819 commands to print out the values of local variables at a few stack levels.
1825 If possible, then a description of a way to reproduce the bug is more important
1826 than a backtrace, because then we have the possibility to roll our own
1828 If the bug is not easily reproducible, a backtrace is essential, because
1829 then that might be all we've got.
1832 \begin_layout Subsection
1833 Contributing fixes and new features
1836 \begin_layout Standard
1837 If you have made changes to LyX's source that you think should become part
1838 of LyX, send your changes as a diff file (in unified format) to the development
1839 list referenced above, along with a change log, and a description of what
1843 \begin_layout Section
1844 Contributing to the Documentation
1847 \begin_layout Standard
1848 LyX's documentation is extensive; however LyX is under constant development,
1849 and each new release adds new features.
1850 You may find some documentation needs improvement.
1851 This section describes what to do if you find an error, or have some suggestion
1852 s for improving the documentation.
1855 \begin_layout Subsection
1856 Reporting Errors in the Manuals
1859 \begin_layout Standard
1860 If you find a problem with the documentation, send a message to the mailing
1863 lyx-docs@lists.lyx.org
1866 The documentation team will make any necessary fixes.
1869 \begin_layout Subsection
1870 Joining the Documentation Team.
1873 \begin_layout Standard
1874 The LyX Documentation Project, like anything else in the LyX project, can
1875 always use assistance! If you're interested in contributing to the Documentatio
1876 n Project, you need to do the following assignment
1883 \begin_layout Enumerate
1884 Get the latest LyX source code.
1889 \begin_layout Standard
1890 The more adventurous can grab the latest documentation anonymously from
1891 the LyX CVS repository - it is contained in the
1900 You will find a directory inside the main tree called
1905 Inside that directory is a file called
1910 Read it; it's the style sheet for the documentation.
1913 \begin_layout Enumerate
1927 \begin_layout Standard
1928 The point of this exercise is to give you ideas.
1937 is likely to be the most up-to-date of all of the documentation.
1938 You should be able to glean some insights into how we want the manuals
1939 to read and to look.
1943 \begin_layout Enumerate
1944 Contact the team at:
1948 \begin_layout Standard
1951 lyx-docs@lists.lyx.org
1954 \begin_layout Standard
1955 to discuss your intended changes, and get some feedback on them.
1959 \begin_layout Standard
1960 The changes you wish to make may range from improving clarity of the text,
1961 to doing major re-structuring of the documentation.
1962 Any and all improvements are gladly received.