February 2010

From: Dr Christopher Mabb, Scientific Word Ltd.
To: Our Scientific Word/WorkPlace/Notebook Technical Typesetting list

 

1. Fitting tables onto a page:    Early in January one of our users asked for help with tables, writing:

   "I want to create footnotes in tables to appear at the bottom of the respective page. <snip>
   Also, can you help me out with some advice on sizing tables. I want to create tables with up to 25 rows but, with the default size, this is too long for a standard page. Can the height of the cells be controlled to allow me to get my table on to one page? Similarly, is there any way of controlling the size of text to allow additional columns to appear in tables?"

   We edited his .tex file, and replied with the following explanation:

   1. To compress your table vertically I've employed the setspace package with TeX fields \setstretch{0.5} [choose the factor, here 0.5, as desired] and its reciprocal \setstretch{2} before and after the table respectively
   2. To obtain the footnote inside the table, use the Footnote - Options - Mark Only inside the table for the number, and Footnote - Options - Text Only outside the table to obtain the text
   3. To ensure that your choice of H (here) for the Floating table is effective, add the float package
   4. The sizes below small are (in order): footnotesize, scriptsize, and tiny; the document itself says:

      ---

      You can apply the size tags tiny, scriptsize, footnotesize, small, normalsize, large, Large, LARGE, huge and Huge.

      ---

   We thought this issue demonstrated several points that would be of general interest to our users. Hope it's as useful as we think - why not let us know?



2. PDF manuals now available for download:    Copies of the manuals that ship out with all our boxed systems - whether Scientific Word (yellow), Scientific WorkPlace (blue) or Scientific Notebook (red) - are now available for download in PDF format at https://www.sciword.co.uk/manuals/ . This will allow access (in searchable format, too) to those users who have lost their copies of the manuals, as well as enable future users to save money (and Carriage costs) by buying systems 'licence-only' .



3. Numbered list levels:    Nesting numbered lists can sometimes fox even the best of us. A few weeks ago, one of our users Emailed:

   "Many thanks for your detailed reply. I will check out this information and come back to you. Meantime I attach my tex file and pdf output.
   When I save and open again, the number 2 doesn't appear in SW, only a) and b). Q3 appears as Q2. <snip> The problem only occurs when I have e.g. 2 a) and (b) without any text between 2 and a)."

   In this situation, think carefully about the different levels of numbering. We responded:

   Put the cursor on the a of what should be 2a, right click and select Properties. The Lead Item Properties will show you that at Level 2, you have selected Default labelling. Use the down arrow to look at Level 1, and you will see that None is selected (that's why you don't see your level 1 number). Change this to Default and click OK.




4. Free update to Build 2960:    MacKichan Software have released Build 2960 of Scientific WorkPlace, Scientific Word and Scientific Notebook version 5.5. Changes include an updated version of pdfLaTeX, many updated typesetting packages, fixes related to Windows Vista, and several updated shell documents and associated support files. Click on http://www.mackichan.com/index.html?techtalk/v55/patchupdatev55-2.htm for further information (there's an extensive list of changes made, a couple of screens down) and links to the patch update if you currently have Build 2890 or Build 2953 (click Help - About to check your existing version).
       We have now tested this patch update, and recommend, before installing, that you first turn off User Account Control (from Control Panel - User Accounts) if you make use of this feature. And of course, keep a backup of your files first - the easiest way is to use Windows Explorer to right-click, hold and drag so as to make a copy of the entire \swp55, \sw55 or \ScientificNotebook folder.



5. We lost a sale the other day:    Here's what happened. Someone telephoned (unusual these days, with Email so commonplace), asked various questions about Scientific Word's features, clarified pricing and payment terms - finished the conversation and rang off. And as they did, I had a hunch they were going to shop around to see if they could buy our software any cheaper! That's when I realised I'd forgotten to remind them of our main selling point:

   As UK distributors since 1990, supplying only the MacKichan range of products, all our systems (except Student systems) come with our matchless technical support included free of charge for those who buy directly from ourselves or through our approved resellers. This also includes the option of booking our range of Training Courses, as on our Training page at https://www.sciword.co.uk/training.htm ...

   Quite why anyone would pass up the security of our 20 years' expertise to save five or ten pounds is beyond us - but we're quite happy with the kind of people who do end up in our family of customers! (And I was right: he didn't come back!)



6. Referrals still welcome:    Just click the button below and enter the names and Email addresses of your friends and colleagues, and they'll receive an automatic Email inviting them to our website. We won't even receive their name unless they choose to take advantage of our free 30-day demo and Email us to request an appropriate serial number. And they absolutely won't be added to any junk mail lists - ever.