Hypertext Help with LaTeX
Document Style / Document Class
In LaTeX2 , the very
first command of a documents is \documentclass. This replaces
the LaTeX2.09 command \documentstyle. Also, the
\usepackage command has been added which is used in conjunction
with \documentclass.
However, LaTeX2
still understands the old \documentstyle command; if it is
encountered, LaTex2 enters
compatibility mode in which most LateX2.09 input files will
still be processed properly (although the exact typesetting on the page,
e.g. line- and page-breaks can differ in some cases).
Valid document classes include:
- article
- report
- letter
- book
They are selected with the following commands:
Latex2.09 : |
\documentstyle[options]{class} |
Latex2 :
|
\documentclass[options]{class}
\usepackage[options]{package} |
The options for the different classes that LaTeX2.09 and
LaTeX2 have in common are:
- article: 11pt, 12pt, twoside, twocolumn, draft,
fleqn, leqno, acm
- report: 11pt, 12pt, twoside, twocolumn, draft,
fleqn, leqno, acm
- letter : 11pt, 12pt, fleqn, leqno, acm
- book : 11pt, 12pt, twoside, twocolumn, draft,
fleqn, leqno
If you specify more than one option, they must be
separated by a comma.
In LaTeX2 ,
a number of new options where introduced. It is now allowed to explicitly
specify the default text size: 10pt (in LaTeX2.09 the default was
selected by omitting to specify a text size). Also, the paper size
may be specified explicitly with options letterpaper (11×8.5 in), a4paper (29.7×21
cm), legalpaper (14×8.5 in), a5paper
(21×14.8 cm), executivepaper (10.5×7.25 in), and
b5paper (25×17.6 cm). The margins are adjusted automatically
to have the text centered on the paper. The default orientation is to have
the longest dimension be the vertical one, but this can be overridden by
specifying option landscape. The text may be formatted in either
single column (default) or two columns, corresponding to options
onecolumn and twocolumn. The horizontal location of the
text on the paper is normally the same on all pages, but may be made to
differ on odd and even numbered pages using options oneside and
twoside. In the case of the book class, chapters normally
start on a right-hand, odd-numbered page, corresponding to option
openright, but this may be overridden to use the earliest available
page by specifying openany. The printing of a separate title page
for the book and report classes may be suppressed by
specifying the notitlepage option, while printing such a page can
be forced for the article class with titlepage.
Finally, the option final, which is the opposite of draft
and the default, will not mark lines that are too wide.
Related topics:
See also starting and ending
The \documentstyle command has been changed in
LaTeX2e
Go to Typeface Styles
Back to the LaTeX Table of Contents
Last updated: R.A. Jansen -- 7 Jul 2004
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