[OS X TeX] Re: Newbie is confused by Getting Started document

[Maarten Sneep]

On Jan 22, 2007, at 04:22, Gary L. Gray wrote:

>
> On Jan 21, 2007, at 9:52 PM, Bob Harris wrote:
>
>> Earlier this evening, I wrote:
>>> I'm new to TeX on Mac OSX.
>>>   ...
>>> So it seems to me like all I need is something that
>>> converts latex to pdf and is easy to install.
>>
>> Looking at some other latex pages, it looks like all I might need are
>> these commands
>>   latex sample.tex
>>   dvips -o sample.ps sample.dvi
>>   dvips -o -Ppdf sample.ps sample.dvi
>>   ps2pdf sample.ps
>>
>> Though I haven't tried them out yet, those commands (latex, dvips,  
>> and
>> ps2pdf) are all available on the command line without me installing
>> anything.  Given that I probably would be using TextWrangler as my
>> editor anyway, is there really any good reason for me to download the
>> other stuff?  From the standpoint of converting latex to pdf, is  
>> there
>> something these command line tools are lacking?
>
>
> Of course anything that can be done with TeXShop can also be  
> invoked from the command line. If that is your cup of tea, go for  
> it. You will lose the ability sync between source and preview  
> (invaluable in long docs) and several other nice things that it  
> provides, but it sounds like you aren't really interested in  
> anything new. [;-)]

My AppleScripts for BBEdit and TetWrangler (still at http:// 
www.nat.vu.nl/~sneep/tex/CompileTeX-BBEdit8.dmg) allows for  
synchronised viewing with TeXniScope, syncing with pdfview requires  
changes to that application, right now it will not work with multi- 
file source documents). It also provides easy access to the command- 
line tools Bob mentioned.

Another tool that is really with installing the additions for is  
BibDesk, with is not just an editor, but a bibliography management  
tool, and a really good one too.

Maarten

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