[tex-live] compact latex samples?

[George N. White III]

On 5/19/07, Thanh Han The <hanthethanh at gmail.com> wrote:

> I am looking for some compact latex samples, to server as
> quick-start-by-examples for new latex users. What I have in
> mind is something similar small2e.tex and sample2e.tex
> (those come with standard latex), but covers more common
> topics in latex. On the other hand it should not be too
> lengthy so it doesn't draw back newbies from giving it a
> try. My intention is to collect and then translate those
> documents to Vietnamese, and include them to the vntex
> package.

Do you need the files to contain the level of instructional detail
found in sample2e or will the files be used in connection with
a translation of some reference manual?

> Any hint please?

Not everyone sees the advantage of starting small and working
up to complete documents.

Many users prefer to start with an existing document that is
similar in structure to the one they want to produce.   In science
that generally means the student gets the source of a paper or
report from an advisor and replaces the content with new
material.  Many manage to  get by without consulting a manual,
although I have seen others close to tears over a misplaced curly
brace.

A collection of examples would be helpful in other ways.
Instead of trying to get the person who posted the message
"package <X> is broken - please help" to generate a simple
test file many such cases could be covered by one of the
standard example files that use package <X>.  The original
poster could compare their results with those on CTAN,
which would include logs (with tracing).

I'd split sample2e into several 1--2 page documents, each
introducing a small number of concepts but with tracing on
so there is lots of information in the logs, and then fill in the
gaps with additional small documents:

*  text ("ransom" note)
*  sections and headers
*  lists, etc
*  math examples
*  tables
*  figures
*  hyperlinks and cross references
*  bibliographies

These examples could be done with simpler text than sample2e,
e.g., a few short sentences repeated when you need to fill space.

-- 
George N. White III <aa056 at chebucto.ns.ca>
Head of St. Margarets Bay, Nova Scotia