PCTEX FAQs

• Is PCTeX Year 2000 Compatible

  Because PCTeX and accompanying macros etc. are operating system/date dependant; as long as you have taken proper precautions to ensure your operating system is year 2000 compliant, you will experience no change in operation, come January 1, 2000. If you need a verification letter for your files, click HERE.

• I installed PCTeX32 into a long filename directory (such as "C:\Program Files\PCTEX32"), but the typesetter can't find any of my documents.

  Due to constraints within the Typesetting system, you may not use a long filename containing spaces. Thus the common installation directory "C:\Program Files\..." is forbidden. We recommend that you use the supplied default directory of \PCTEX32. Users who wish to use long file names have found that underscores (i.e. "C:\PCTEX_Version_3.2") function well in place of spaces.

  You should uninstall and reinstall your product into an appropriately named directory.

• When I view a DVI document, the text appears green on my screen, or the PCTeX32 tells me "... Font is missing or corrupted ..." Furthermore, equations aren't recognizable, and ligatures (such as 'fi', 'ffi') show up strangely.

  Green characters, and the Font is missing or corrupted message signify that the correct font is erroneously loaded on your system. Since the appropriate TeX font is not available, PCTeX will substitute an existing font (typically Times New Roman). Since this substitute font is not what is expected, the resulting output appears flawed.

  You should correct this condition in one of two ways:

  • PCTeX versions 1.x, 2.x, & 3.x: Open the Windows Control Panel, then open the Fonts folder. In the fonts folder, make sure you are viewing Details. Push the button at the top named Size. Delete all fonts with Zero (Ok) byte size. Close the Fonts window and the Control Panel window, restart PCTeX.

    ONLY IF THE ABOVE HAS NOT RESOLVED THE PROBLEM, DO THE FOLLOWING:

  • PCTeX version 3.x: Since this version uses dynamic font loading, the fonts are not permanently installed in Windows. Font substitution could result if the dynamic font list (stored in the PCTEXW32.INI file) was lost or damaged. A backup of the vital section is stored in your installation directory as PCTEXW32.SAV. To repair your INI file:
    1. Open PCTEXW32.SAV from your installation directory in a text editor (use Notepad, Wordpad, or the PCTeX editor). Choose Select All and Copy from the edit menu.
    2. Open PCTEXW32.INI from your Windows directory, and scan through the file for a section starting with either "[ttfonts]" or "[FontList]". If such blocks exist, remove the block up until the next empty line.
    3. Place the cursor at the bottom of the file, press return once to generate a blank line, then Paste in the block copied from the SAV file.
    4. Save this file. Your problem should be resolved the next time you start PCTeX.

• I need to get the latest AMS macro packages!

  Simply click here to go to the American Mathematical Society's FTP website. Download the .zip files (amslatex.zip and amstex.zip), and unzip them into their respective directories, (over-writing the older files): amsltx12 (AMS LaTeX) and amstex AMSTeX).

• Where did TeX and LaTeX come from, and what do they mean to me? (a beginner's guide to TeX, and LaTeX)

  Click here to go to the TeX User's Group's beginner's page.

• Why am unable to use the post script fonts that I installed on my computer?

  PCTeX32 is able to use PostScript fonts. Before it is able to utilize them, however, they must be installed in the Windows/fonts directory in True Type format. (there are many programs available for converting from Post Script to True Type) Once this has been successfully accomplished, one may generate the appropriate TeX Metric File (TFM/.tfm) for any one of the True Type fonts in the Windows/fonts directory. In PCTeX32, in the "Settings... TFM files..." menu, simply press the "Generate TFM File and Decimal Map" button. Select the font you need, press "OK", and PCTeX32 will do the rest. The TFM files, give PCTeX32 metric measurements of your font's characters, which help with proper typesetting. Don't forget to write down the font's 'code name' that PCTeX32 has given your font, which is shown in the corresponding DVI file, in the upper left-hand corner. For future reference, it will be listed in the "Settings... TFM files... Added Fonts" window, by code.

• I'd like to use the typesetter from a command prompt. What is its usage for iniTeXing and Typesetting?

  The typesetter can be run from a command prompt in versions 1 through 3.3, as follows:

  ptitex &format documentfile -pi=inputpaths -pt=tfmpaths
  

  Where format is either plain, amsplain or latex,
  and documentfile is the directory and name of your document (.TEX extension optional).

  Examples:
  Typeset the MATHTEST.TEX sample:

  ptitex &PLAIN C:\PCTEX32\SAMPLES\MATHTEST

  Typeset the ARTICLE.TEX sample:

  ptitex &LATEX C:\PCTEX32\SAMPLES\ARTICLE

  Note for Windows NT users Since the NT command prompt reserves the '&', you must enclose the format in quotes, as follows:
  Typeset the ARTICLE.TEX sample (under NT):

  ptitex "&LATEX" C:\PCTEX32\SAMPLES\ARTICLE

  You may run the typesetter in iniTeX mode by appending "-i" to the command line. In addition, you may specify a list of search paths for input files with -pi= followed by a semicolon separated list. The search path for TFM files is similarly specified by -pt=. These search paths will be saved in the format file, and will be searched whenever that format is used. Examples for iniTeXing the Plain, LaTeX, and AMSPlain formats are given below:
  

  ptitex plain \dump -i -pt=c:\pctex32\wintfms;c:\pctex32\amstfms

  ptitex latex.ltx -i -pi=c:\pctex32\latex2e;c:\pctex32\amsltx12 -pt=c:\pctex32\wintfms;c:\pctex32\amstfms

  ptitex amsplain \dump -i -pi=c:\pctex32\amstex -pt=c:\pctex32\wintfms;c:\pctex32\amstfms

LaTeX

• When I initialize the LaTeX format, it gives me an error stating that the source files are more than one year old.

  This warning can be safely ignored. Simply press the Proceed Button, and ignore the error message at the end of typesetting. Your LaTeX format file will have been created, and is usable without further warning messages.

  If you'd like the most recent release of LaTeX that has been tested with our product, you can obtain an update from this web page by clicking here.

• I'm using PCTeX32, and when I try to initialize LaTeX, the typesetter can't find the LCIRCLE10 and LCIRCLEW10 fonts.

  Chances are if your using PCTeX32 on a network, or with early versions of Windows, they include no support for long filenames. Thus when LaTeX looks for a font such as LCIRCLEW10, it is shown as LCIRCLEW, and therefore the typesetter correctly reports that no such font exists on disk.

  You may circumvent this problem by renaming the following files within your TeX and LaTeX format files. Rename LCIRCLE10.TFM to LCIRCLE1.TFM
  Rename LCIRCLEW10.TFM to LCIRCLEW.TFM
  Once this is completed, you should be able to typeset as normal.

Macros: PiCTeX, Table

• I've installed PiCTeX or Table into PCTeX32, but the typesetter can't find their files.

  The PiCTeX distribution assumes you are using an older version of PCTeX, and installs itself into \PCTEX\TEXINPUT. You need to copy all the files from \PCTEX\TEXINPUT to \PCTEX32\TEXINPUT.
  

  Example copying using the command prompt:

  copy \PCTEX\TEXINPUT\*.* \PCTEX32\TEXINPUT

  The essential files are: PICTEX.TEX, PREPICTE.TEX, POSTPICT.TEX, PICEX.TEX, and PICPLAIN.TEX. Be sure to read the next FAQ regarding using these files.

• I'm using PiCTeX under Windows 95 or NT. Even after I've installed it correctly (see previous FAQ), the typesetter can't find the PREPICTEX or POSTPICTEX files.

  The old PiCTeX file distribution has names truncated at 8 characters. Thus the files on disk are named PREPICTE.TEX and POSTPICT.TEX. You should rename these files to PREPICTEX.TEX and POSTPICTEX.TEX respectively. You may use File Manager, Explorer, or the command prompt to perform this renaming.

  Example using the command prompt:

  cd\pctex32\texinputren prepicte.tex prepictex.texren postpict.tex postpictex.tex

• When I use PiCTeX with LaTeX2e, the typesetter claims \fiverm is an Undefined control sequence.

  PiCTeX was originally designed to be used with Plain TeX and LaTeX 2.09. LaTeX 2e emulates LaTeX 2.09 well, but does not by default load the numerous fonts used by the older version. Since PiCTeX depends on some of these old fonts being loaded, you must request that LaTeX2e load all the old fonts by using the rawfonts package.

  • If you are using LaTeX in compatibility mode (i.e. you use \documentstyle), include rawfonts in the options list:

    \documentstyle[rawfonts]{article}

  • If you already have options listed, append it to end of the list

    \documentstyle[11pt,fleqn,rawfonts]{article}

  • If you are using LaTeX in 2e mode, add a package statement as follows:

    \documentclass{article}\usepackage{rawfonts}

Misc: BibTeX

Please know that BiBTeX was created by the LaTeX community, and not Personal TeX, Inc. We therefore cannot guarantee its usage, and have included the 'Help' below, and the product itself, as a convenience to our customers, and ask that you exhaust all other resources (internet, other books, etc.) before writing or calling the technical support department with your questions or comments about BiBTeX.

• For complete instructions on the use of BIBTeX, typeset the document "btxdoc.tex" from the PCTeX\texinput directory, or acquire the book, "LaTeX - A Document Preparation System" by Leslie Lamort \ Addison Wesley
  Also, you may subscribe to the BIBTeX News Group, at: comp.text.tex

• I'd like to set up BibTeX as a tool, but can't figure out the proper parameter string to invoke it.

  The proper parameter string for BibTeX as a tool under PCTeX is "%d\%f". This will expand to the full path and name of the TeX file, but without the extension. Be sure to read the next FAQ if you're using BibTeX under Windows 95 or NT.

• I'm using BibTeX under Windows 95 or NT, and it doesn't behave correctly on long filenames or in long filename directories.

  The BibTeX program provided is a DOS executable, and thus does not recognize long filenames. It is recommended that you not use long filenames when working with BibTeX. Advanced users may circumvent this problem by doing the following:

  1. Open a New Document in PCTeX (by selecting New from the File Menu.

  2. Type the following (replacing C:\PCTEX32 by your installation directory, if different, and C:\TEMP by an appropriate TEMP directory):

     COPY %1.AUX C:\TEMP\BIB.AUXC:\PCTEX32\BIBTEX.EXE C:\TEMP\BIBCOPY C:\TEMP\BIB.BBL %1.BBLCOPY C:\TEMP\BIB.BLG %1.BLGDEL C:\TEMP\BIB.*

  3. Choose Save from the File Menu. Specify C:\PCTEX32\BIBTEX.BAT as the filename.

  4. Configure this Batch file as a tool with the following entries:

     Menu Text:	&BibTeX
     Program File Name:	C:\PCTEX32\BIBTEX.BAT
     Parameters:	%d\%f
     Working Directory:	C:\PCTEX32

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• I would like to download the PostScript versions of the TeX fonts. Click here.

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• How do I stop the PCTeX logo from displaying, on startup?

  In the shortcut icon to PCTeX, go to "Properties... Shortcut...". Change the path \PCTEX32\PCTEXW32.EXE to \PCTEX32\PCTEXW32.EXE /nologo adding the /nologo command in the "Shortcut" input window.

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• I'd like to convert my LaTeX files to Excel, or Excel document into LaTeX - How can I do that? For information, click here for Excel2Latex.