Configuring Some Older TeX Shell Programs
version of 18 June 2005

Configuring and using PFE (Programmers' File Editor)

To use PFE effectively as a text and tex editor, you may want to associate it with both filetypes, and use the "%1" trick, as I described in my notes on "Changing your file associations".

The main thing that a shell program must do is give you some easy way to launch the tex program, without always having to retype or remember the appropriate tex command. I like to use PFE for that purpose because I'm going to have PFE on my desktop anyway, to edit my source file.

The simplest way to use PFE for this purpose is with its "Launch" button, which is labeled with a little picture of a rocketship. (See first red circle in illustration. That's good with the mouse; or if your hands are on the keyboard, press shift-F11.) This will bring up a little dialogue box titled "Launch Application." The first time you use this, you'll have to type in the two arguments:

• In the "Command:" box, type: latex --src-specials %f
• In the "Directory:" box, type: c:\%d

Actually, you can store several different commands in the launch button. If you want to use a different command, just type it in before you click the "Okay" button. If you want to use a command that you've used before, click on the downward-pointing triangle (second red circle in my illustration) and you'll see a list of all the commands you've used before; click on the one you want.

Personally, though, I find it convenient to just keep my most frequently used launch command (i.e., the latex command) in my launch button. I store my other commands in another place:

In the menu at the top of the PFE window, click on "Options." Below that, click on "Preferences." This opens up a dialogue box titled "Preferences." In its left column, scroll down to "Execute Menu," and click on it. A list (initially empty) of execution commands, and buttons below them. Click on the "New" button to add an item to the list, or the "Edit" button to edit an item you've already put in the list. (Or the "Up" or "Down" button, not shown in my illustration, to move an item up or down the list if you want to change the display order.)

The "New" or "Edit" button will produce yet another dialogue box; my illustration shows the "Edit" box. There are spaces for "Command" and "Directory", just like in the launch button's dialogue; but there is also a space for "Menu item." Type whatever you wish in that box; the name you put there will appear on display in the menu.

After you've set up one or more items in the list, you're able to use the menu. Anytime you want to execute one of the commands, click on the word "Execute" at the top of the PFE window (see first red circle in illustration). (Or, if your hands are on the keyboard rather than the mouse, use Alt-X to get the same result.) That will open up a dialogue box with lots of options. I don't even know what some of those options do. But in the right column of that dialogue box is a numbered list of all the things you've put in the execute menu. Click on one of those to execute the appropriate command, or press its number if your hands happen to be on the keyboard. For instance, if I press "2" while that dialogue box is on display, it will execute my "Makeindex" command.

(This section updated 31 August 2002.)   Here are some of the commands that I have found most useful in my own work:

For all of these commands, the default directory already specified by PFE is "." (that's a period, which is just barely visible). The effect is "use the current directory", which might be what you want. An alternative is "c:\%d" (without the quote marks), which means "use the directory containing the file that you're currently editing". That longer specification seems to work better in Windows XP, in my experience.

Note that there are two different "Yap" commands in this list. Those are for forward search (which only works with one-file documents, not with the a-file-for-each-chapter documents). I find it convenient to have both versions in my PFE execute menu. Using either of them, a copy of Yap will be brought to the screen, and Yap's "cursor" (a small circle, which doesn't show up when printing) will be pointing at the line in the dvi display that corresponds (approximately) to the line where the cursor currently is in the .tex file that you're editing in PFE. (Of course, the approximation won't be very good if you've been editing the .tex file for a while since the last update of the .dvi file.)

• If you use the "new yap" version, then a new copy of Yap will be started up, regardless of whether you already had a copy running. (I sometimes find it useful to simultaneously use two or more copies of Yap -- to compare two different documents, or to compare two pages in the same document.)
• If you use the "last yap" version, then the copy of Yap that you acccessed most recently (i.e., last) will be reused, but with its page and cursor moved. (If you don't already have a Yap running, then this command will have the same effect as the other Yap command -- i.e., it will start up an instance of Yap.) Note that one copy of Yap can display several different documents -- one at a time, tiled, cascaded, or arranged however you wish using the mouse. (But one copy of Yap will not display two copies of the same document, so if you want to look simultaneously at two different pages in one document, then you must use the "new yap" command.)

Where do you get all those abbreviations? Well, the phrases "latex", "makeindex", "dvipdfm" are names of programs that are parts of the Miktex system; I assume you're using Miktex. The other parts, such as %f, are abbreviations used by PFE. In PFE's help subprogram, search for the phrase "Substituting Current Filename". That will take you to the help page that lists all the abbreviations. Here are some of the most important ones:

Configuring and using TeXShell

Also, you can change the existing buttons or add more buttons if you wish; look in the help file under "Speed Buttons". Just use a text editor to edit the TEXSHELL.INI file which can be found in the same directory as the TeXshell program itself. (Caution: First make a backup of the file, in case you mess things up.) Then, the next time you restart the program, your revised buttons will appear. ... For instance, I relabeled my "TeX" button as "LaTeX", and then I added these buttons:

• Plain TeX for making a plain .tex file into a .dvi file,
• Pdf for making pdf files,
• Ps for making postscript files,
• Makeindex for updating the index in the book that I've been writing.

LaTeX=<texmain>$LATEX the main file$
Save=<save>$SAVE the edit changes$
Log=<showlog>$Show LOG file$
Preview=<previewmain>$Preview the DVI file$
Plain TeX=<plaintex>$click here to use PLAIN TeX$tex --src-specials %F.tex
Pdf=<pdf>$click here to make a PDF version$dvipdfm %F.dvi
Ps=<ps>$click here to make a POSTSCRIPT version$dvips %F.dvi
Index=<makeindex>$click here to update your INDEX$makeindex %F

Because I am using TeXShell, I have now altered my Windows setup to make it work better with TeXShell. You may want to do likewise. I've set it up so that, whenever I right-click on any TeX file in Windows Explorer, one of the options that comes up in the context menu says "TeXShell" -- but it actually means "open TeXShell with this file as the main file". That's not hard to do. Follow this procedure: Start up your Windows Explorer. Then, in the menu at its top, go to "View ... Folder Options ... File Types." Then look for TeX files among your document types. (You may have to look for a while, if the TeX files have gotten named something else, such as "latex files" or "wintex files".) Then edit that filetype, and add a new action. Call the action "TeXShell", and for the application use

but replacing my "C:\Moreapps ..." with whatever is the path to texshell on your computer.

If you have any difficulties with your PATH variable, here is one remedy: Just tell TeXShell where MikTeX is, and then MikTeX doesn't need to be in your PATH. This is accomplished as follows: On TeXShell's main menu, under "Options", "Program Calls", make these two alterations.

Like YAP, TexShell will remember what documents you've been working on. You should close TeXShell's subwindow for any document that you're done with; otherwise it will show up and distract you next time you open TeXShell.

computer.

If you have any difficulties with your PATH variable, here is one remedy: Just tell TeXShell where MikTeX is, and then MikTeX doesn't need to be in your PATH. This is accomplished as follows: On TeXShell's main menu, under "Options", "Program Calls", make these two alterations.

Like YAP, TexShell will remember what documents you've been working on. You should close TeXShell's subwindow for any document that you're done with; otherwise it will show up and distract you next time you open TeXShell.