[OS X TeX] Survey about TeXShop feature use.

[David Watson]

On Jun 30, 2007, at 8:28 AM, Herbert Schulz wrote:
>
> 1)What features of TeXShop do you use? I know we edit source files  
> and compile files, I'm interested in the helpful (or not so  
> helpful?) extras like Panels, Macros (text or Applescript), Command  
> Completion, Auto Completion, Specialized Engines. special keyboard  
> assignments (via System Preferences or other Key Binding methods)  
> that you use to help you in your work. You can also include things  
> like using the BibDesk InputManager for references/citations within  
> TeXShop.
>

I go back and forth between emacs and TeXShop, depending to a large  
part on the number of references I am using; BibDesk is a lifesaver,  
and though it isn't unique to TeXShop, I like the autocomplete.

TeXShop is my preferred method when I need to see the results fast.  
My work doesn't call for much mathematics, so I mainly use TeXShop  
when I know I'm not going to remember the markup for something.

> 2)How long have you been using TeXShop and your experience level  
> (approximate) with using TeX.

I used LaTeX passively in my undergraduate days, mostly because I was  
"LaTeX curious" as a chemist with a good friend in physics. Their  
department was using revtex if I remember correctly, and I thought  
about how much they must have been paying the secretary to review  
their documents!

My interest in LaTeX grew into an obsession and I suppose my grades  
probably suffered for that, but I made it through and learned a lot  
about typographical addiction. To this day it pains me to see  
presentations or papers designed in Word, but I suppose most people  
don't have the time or energy or passion or permission to use LaTeX -  
in the same sort way that I know people -shudder- that can listen to  
64Kbps mp3 and not get that feeling you get when people draw their  
nails across a blackboard.

I remember when I purchased OzTeX - it was the first shareware I ever  
purchased - I was filled with a pride for having done the right thing  
because I used it almost daily in my Junior year.

Eventually, OS X came along and I quickly found Classic intolerable.  
TeXShop followed soon enough afterwards that I had to leave OzTeX  
behind; we had grown apart and TeXShop rekindled those magic feelings  
at a vulnerable moment in my life.

Apart from the simplicity of the editor, there is not much more than  
I need from a GUI than the ability to run LaTeX, BibTeX, MakeIndex,  
and Sweave quickly. TeXShop does this and many other things well, but  
mostly it just lets me do what I want to on my own time and in my own  
way. That's the kind of relationship I look for when it comes to  
software.



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