If you are using Windows then http://wiki.lyx.org/Windows/LyXWinInstaller is
worth considering, to provide both the LyX GUI front end to Latex and for
loading all the necessary packages to view the Latex output as pdf or dvi. I
have found it to provide a more satisfactory install than the standard LyX
installer. Beamer works very well with this installation.
Martyn
Dr. Martyn Sherriff
Reader in Dental Materials Science.
King's College London Dental Institute at Guy's, King's College and St
Thomas' Hospitals.
Department of Biomaterials and Biomimetics.
Floor 17, Rm 17/4, Guy's Tower, Guy's Campus.
London Bridge.
London SE1 9RT
England.
e-mail: [email protected]
Tel. +44(0)-2071-881822
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"The difference between winners and losers is that winners tell the jokes
and the losers talk about the run of the ball."
"It's not over until the fat man whistles."
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-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Michael S. Hanson
Sent: 16 December 2006 20:16
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: st: slide presentation by stata employees
On Dec 16, 2006, at 2:04 PM, Christer Thrane wrote:
> Sorry for being very ignorant here, perhaps it's because I am Word,
> Excel and PowerPoint guy (In additiaon to Stata, of course).
>
> What do I have to buy/dowloade/whatever of software to produce slides
> like these, and where can I find manuals to help me?
(Deep breath...) OK. Here are the basics as I see them. Others
will
likely chime in helpfully with their own takes on this question.
In a nutshell, you will need to install and learn to use LaTeX in
order to make slides like those referenced by the OP. This is not
something you can do in a day, or even a week. Briefly, here's how to
tell if making the plunge into LaTeX is right for you:
* If you use Stata primarily with the GUI and/or a small set of
commands you have committed to memory (or have a "cheat sheet" of
commands to type), or tend to use SPSS or EViews as much as Stata, then
you should stick with the "Office tools" you currently use.
* If you use Stata exclusively from the command line, and are
comfortable writing .do files of moderate complexity (e.g., loops,
macros), then you might be a candidate to use LaTeX. (So too if you
can move more-or-less smoothly between programming in Stata and another
statistical package like SAS, TSP or RATS.) Be aware LaTeX is
non-trivial to install, maintain, and learn -- more so than Stata on
each of these dimensions. There are numerous distributions available
for all major computing platforms that have more-or-less automated
installation -- but in the (relatively rare) event something goes
wrong, it can be incredibly difficult for a non-TeXpert to diagnose.
There also are numerous books and on-line reference materials, should
you chose to invest the time into learning how to code in LaTeX. If
you can grok using programming commands to write papers and make
slides, much like you use programming commands to undertake statistical
analysis in Stata, then LaTeX might be for you. Take a look at, for
example:
"Getting to Grips with LaTeX":
<http://www.andy-roberts.net/misc/latex/>
"The Not-So-Short Introduction to LaTeX":
<http://tobi.oetiker.ch/lshort/lshort.pdf>
* If you regularly program your own Stata commands in sophisticated
.ado files, or find yourself torn between using Stata and R, then get
thee to <http://www.ctan.org/> immediately! Why are you wasting time
with anything else?!
Note that there exist (La)TeX editors and tools that attempt to
place
a GUI-like interface on the coding intrinsic with LaTeX; LyX is one
such example. Having never used those tools extensively (I use TeXShop
or BBEdit to code in LaTeX), I do not know whether they can be used to
produce presentations with beamer.
LaTeX is very powerful, cross-platform, and very attractive to those
who care about how their work looks in print -- specifically,
mathematical typography. (As free software, it also attracts people
who are morally opposed to MS -- you appear to not be one of them.) If
you are simply interested in getting stuff in print quickly with
minimal fuss, and are content if the output is "good enough," then
frankly I doubt you will see the advantage to using LaTeX, and likely
will find it extremely difficult to motivate yourself to learn it.
Two other considerations: First, if you have someone at your
current
institution with LaTeX experience whom you can consult, you will find
learning LaTeX will be significantly easier than if you attempt to do
it on your own. Second, if file compatibility with colleagues and
co-authors who are, for whatever reason, MS Office devotees is
important to you, then you almost certainly should not bother with
LaTeX and beamer.
I hope that synopsis was helpful; I attempted to be as honest and
neutral in my assessment as possible. As noted above, others may have
different opinions. Like many on Statalist, I find using LaTeX to be a
desirable means to express my research in writing. But it is not the
best (nor even a good) tool for everyone. As they say, YMMV.
-- Mike
*
* For searches and help try:
* http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/res/findit.html
* http://www.stata.com/support/statalist/faq
* http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/
*
* For searches and help try:
* http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/res/findit.html
* http://www.stata.com/support/statalist/faq
* http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/
