; TeX output 1991.08.15:1456*&2XQ cmr12MyNewsletterT׎n넍ٛ33&2&233ߦgJ=@_GGGcmss17GUsingjTJ-EIXtoDoANewsletter O&9ow cmss9ByTHunterGoatley J=J=&2333333a|OK`y cmr10ThisKdoGcumentattemptstodescribehowmyplainTU>'ExX newslettersformatworks. ThedoGcumentationissparse,butIhopGetoletitspeakforitselfthroughtheuseofexamples.GWillUtheybGemeaningfulexamples?Probablynot.qBut,UUhey*,I'llgiveitashot.Istarted?proGducing$': cmti10LightsOut!|TheR}'obertR.McCammon̴NewsletterinUJune1989.mF*orthosewhodon'tknow,RobGertR.McCammonisaverypGopularauthorAwhosebGooksAhaveprimarilybGeencategorizedinthehorrorgenrGe.0Hislatest,!p0J cmsl10Boy'sLifeg,waspublishedinhardcover?byPoGcketBoGoksinAugust1991.mBoy'sLifeisHnothorror|it'sawonderfultaleofhow1964loGokedto a12-year-oldbGoy*.YThere'samystery*,hbutthebGook isprimarilyabGoutrememberinglifewhenyouwereyoung.IurgeQyouto ndthebGookQandgiveitatry*. HHerearequotesfromacoupleofreviewsofMcCammon'spreviousUUnovel,Mineg: !", cmsy10\MineHgripsiyoutightlybythethroat,rightattheUUstart,andsqueezes b> cmmi10::::"WLq|TheUUNewY*orkDailyNews\McCammonRathisverybGest:::andthensome."g!|TheUUBirminghamNewsW*ell,yenough abGoutRobertR.McCammon. bEvenifyou>don'tlikehorror,y[I>thinkyou'lllikeMcCammon'swork.gOther7titlesincludeSwanSongC,=BlueW*orldd,andMysteryUUW*alkD.I'llp4nowbreakandwe'llstartanewsub-articleunderthis>mainarticle. ,I=usedthisapproachinaregularcolumnentitled\ThingsUnearthed,"ިwhichconsistedofvqariousnewsitemsabGoutnewbookreleasesandothernewsUUitems. ffff'I?33㎍339H;m#R cmss10WhyUUIChoseTU>8E"XOverEVenturaUUandPageMaker333333뎦WheniKIidecidedIwasgoingtostartproGducinganewslet-ter,IMstartedNloGokingattheoptionsIhadavqailabletome.Because%I'maVAX$systemsprogrammer,.IpreferredtouseRsomethingontheVAX.IChadhadsomeexpGosuretoTU>'ExXHandknewthatitwoulddothejob,؄butI-thoughtI'dUUloGokatPC-basedchoices.Iplayed2aroundwithPageMaker2some,b)andreadabGoutbV*entura|anddecidedthattheywerewaytoGoclumsytodowhatIwanted. #IlikedthefactthatTU>'ExXusedregulartext leswithembGeddedcommands|IϦcouldЌusetheeditorIwasaccustomedto,YTU>'ExXwas`avqailableforavarietyofplatforms,andTU>'ExXwasincrediblyUU exible.rRhff :USouIudecidedonTU>'ExX,}IhadtodecideifIwasgoing toUUuseTU>'ExXorLffU+- cmcsc10aTU>EX.Butthat'sanothersub-article. Ο iff([z33SS33tG[WhyUUIChosePlainTU>8E"XUInsteadUUofLffUaTU>ExXS333333뎟IThadTPoriginallyintendedtouseLffUaTU>ExX,bGecausethat'swhatthetechnicalwritinggroupofmyemployer-at-the-timeDwasusingtoproGducetheirmanuals.l1IDknewthatIwantednmultiplecolumnsandtobGeabletoswitchbackandbforthbGetweenbsingle-anddouble-columnsonthesameτpageatwill.TAftertryingmanyvqariationsoftheLffUaTU>ExXdouble-columnstyle,I nallydecidedIcouldn'teasilyJ}doit.n*(ThiswasbGeforeF*rankMittelbach'sLffUaTU>ExXmacrosUUappGearedinTheTUGb}'oatث.)So,-onceIdecidedonTU>'ExX,IdecidedIbGetterlearnabGouteXTU>'ExXsoIeTcouldwritemyownmacros.Twoyearslater,@?I:still:moGdifythe lesome,butithasbGeenlotsoffunUUandIlearnedawholelotabGoutTU>'ExX.I'veZsincelearnedthat,Yapparently*,notZmanypGeopleuse2vplainTU>'ExX.f'Personally*,9oI2mdon'tknowwhyeverybGodyGZP Ο IR6ff cmss12INothing/bdCeatsTH32EIuX.D>Nothing.͍HunterGoaUTtley뎎 !O Ϋ oGcksftoLffUaTU>ExX|plainTU>'EXissomuchfmore exible.It is`truethatyouneedadefaultsetofmacrostogetyou going,but*oncethey'rethere,IbGelieveTU>'ExXisactually easierUUtousethanLffUaTU>ExX.Anpasidehere:ifyouhaven'tseenTU>'ExXforthe Impatient7,nbyd4PaulW.Abrahams,nIcstronglyrecommend acopy*.9-It'sagreatreferencebGookforplainTU>'ExX,|andhis 'ExX)providessomevery usefulmacros.ItwaspublishedlastyearbyAddison- W*esley. Ο X-ff%X-33Ǎ33H%SomeUUoftheHighlightsCofUUtheNewsletterFormat333333뎟Therearevqarietyofcommandsprovidedbymynewslet-terformat. BecauseLightsŲOut! זcoveredahorrorauthor,\some[8ofthecommandsarespGeci callydesignedtohandlebGooksandinterviews.WWhileIwasdevelopingthe=[format,w]I= triedtomakesurethatIkeptthingsasgenericgaspGossiblesothatitcouldbeusedtogenerateother&%newsletters.8ItremainstobGeseenifwhetherornotUUIwassuccessful.󪬉ן UTPrage1K|VVol.1PNo.1**!wGoatDroppings!T׎nፍ0Ԫ>33q*"*"33y;ThisUUisinsidea\shadowbox.oY*"333333q,53؉33mgThisUUisa gureacrossthewholepage.jx䍐I've *includedthecommands\twelvepoint, \elevenpoint,Rf:::,Rf\eightpointʫtochangefontsizes.I;didn't\dothesethe\ocial"TU>'ExXway\(fontfamilies)out6oflaziness. jT*ogettheeight-pGoint6fontcmss8younsimplytypGe:\eightpoint\ss,?probablywithinagroup.MymultiplecolumnscommandsuppGortsupto6columnsonapage.VWhenyouincreasethenumbGerofcolumnsHFonapage,Jyouusuallyneedtochangethefontsize(forthreecolumns,ˏIswitchedtothecmss8font|it_RseemedtoworkoutOK_ bGecausethesansseriffonthelpGedidi erentiatebetweenithe\Letters"columnandtheUUrestofthenewsletter).OneofthethingsthatseemstobGehardestinTU>'ExX|espGeciallyMwhenmultiplecolumnsareinvolved|istheinsertionof gures.MIlikethingstobGeverystructured|thez?mathematicalsideofme,yIz5guess|sowhenIadded gureTsuppGorttomymacros,ԈIT-diditbysettingupmy5Vmultiplecolumnoutputroutinetoplace guresincertainloGcationsonapage. MY*oucanspecifythata guregisinsertedacrosstheentirepageatthetopandbGottomJdofthepage,Loratthetop,middle,orbGottomofeachjcolumn.HerecomesthereallykludgypartofmyrDŽjff format. Thecmacro\definefigsmustbGeexecutedtotell TU>'ExXuhowmanypagesarefollowingthatmaycontain gures. UWhathappGensisthatalargeblockofboxes is-alloGcated. NItriedvqariouscombinationstomakeit more2dynamic,buthadlittleluck. Becauseoftime constraints,]I+Iwent+withtheway+thatworked. This shouldn't*.reallycauseaproblem,dbGecauseyoude ne gureswithinanarticle,andmostarticlesaren'tsolong thatVyouexceedthenumbGerofboxesTU>'ExXhas. The commandUUtode nea gureis:\definefig{Page}{Column}{Position}{Box}Ϋwhere1Boxisa\vboxcontainingyour gure.Z\This canbGeanempty\vbox\vfill'edtothecorrectsize for.laterpasting. ZSThequoteonthepreviouspage wasinsertedwitha\Quoteastheargumenttothe \definefigUUcommand.That'sallI'mgoingtosayabGoutthecommandsfor now.zRNoticethatwhenyouendthedoublecolumns, theyUUareautomaticallybalanced.] uTuTX-ffן=Yٛ33&2&233ߦgJ=@GThisjIsAnotherArticle lByTMe,OfCourse J=J=&2333333CPϡ0This vismorejusttoshowthat you$canalsodothree-columnsontheB`samepagewithsingle-anddouble-column 0formatswithoutTU>'ExXTcomplainingabGoutit.mIShope'9wffz this!examplehasbGeenofsomeuse toUUyou.Note e&thatbalancingthese columnsY"stillhasafewglitches| butľnothingaddingorsubtracting匄9wffz a<'fewwordswon't x. &=I'vebGeen usingMthisformattogenerate ve newslettersUUsofar.ffןǍThisHismorejusttoshowthatyoucankeepbGothsingle-,K>double-,andHtriple-columnformatsonthesamepage. TU>'ExXUUwon'tcomplainabGoutitatall(usually).- uTuT͉ן 33August1991u[Prage2;hҐ IR6ff cmss12GGGcmss179ow cmss92XQ cmr12+- cmcsc10$': cmti10!p0J cmsl10 cmmi10K`y cmr10,