Welcome to TeXnicCenter!\pWe have some tips for you, about how to use LaTeX and especially TeXnicCenter.\pLeave this dialog enabled for some time, until you think, you know all features of TeXnicCenter. If you don't want to see the dialog anymore, you can uncheck the box in the lower left corner. You can popup this dialog every time about the menu item '?|Tip of the day...'.
To create a printable file (i.e. DVI or PS), you have to create a project ('File|New|TeXnicCenter-Project') and select your TeX-file as the main file of this project.\pThe menu 'Output' contains the commands to generate and view output files.
You can insert LaTeX-constructs and -symbols simply by menu or short cut. Take a look at the 'Insert' and 'Math'-menu...
If you use PDFLaTeX (contained in the MiKTeX-distribution) instead of the ordinary LaTeX, you get PDF-files instead of DVI-files. So you can view your files in the AcrobatReader.
The tree view on the left of the TeXnicCenter-window shows the document structure of the opened project.\pIf you double click on an item in the view, the file, where the item is specified in, is opened and the cursor is set on the line the item is specified on.\pIf you click the right mouse button a menu is opened, that allows you i.e. to insert a reference to the specified item at the current position in the text.\pThe tree view is updated, every time you save a file.
You can use german umlauts (i.e. 'ä', 'ü') and other language specific characters in your documents, if you insert the instructions\p"\usepackage[german]{babel} \usepackage[T1]{fontenc} \usepackage[latin1]{inputenc}"\pin the preamble of your document.
TeXnicCenter can replaces quotation marks (") after typing with other character combinations, so that you can use special opening and closing quotation marks.\pTo enable and configure this option, choose 'Options...' from the 'Tools'-menu and select the 'General'-tab.
You can split your LaTeX-document in many TeX-files, to avoid large and unclearly files (i.e. one file for each chapter)\pInsert "\input{subfile}" into your project's main file for each sub file you wish to include. This will have the same effect as placing the text of the sub file and the position where the "\input"-command is placed.
You can ask TeXnicCenter to save all opened documents periodic, without asking you. Check the option 'Save automatic' on the 'Save'-tab in the 'Tools|Options...'-dialog and select a suitable save interval.
The command 'Edit|Go To last Change' places the cursor on the line in the current document, where the last editing operation has been taken place.\pThis is comfortable if you scroll through the document "just to look for something", but like to continue editing at the position, you made your last operations.
With the short cuts Ctrl+0 to Ctrl+9 you can set a bookmark at the current line in the editor. With the keys Alt+0 to Alt+9 you can jump to the bookmarks.
To embed graphics into your LaTeX-document, you have to place the command "\usepackage[dvips]{graphics}" in the preamble of your document. You can insert an inclusion command by choosing 'Insert|Graphics...' from the menu. The graphic will only be visible in your output, if you generate post script documents.\pThe next tip gives some more details about using graphics...
To create includable graphics, you can use an application, that can export graphics in the EPS-format. I.e. CorelDraw and StarDraw (from the free available office-package StarOffice) support this format.\pSelect the relevant region in your drawing application and export the selection as an EPS-file. You can include the resulting file by choosing 'Graphic...' from the 'Insert'-menu in TeXnicCenter.
Try the 'Edit|Incremental Search' from the menu to do a quick text search. While you are typing, the searched string is shown in the status bar and the find text in the editor...
If you wish text to appear in the output exactly as entered in your LaTeX-file (especially usable for source code), you can put it into an verbatim-environment.\pSimply enclose your text with "\begin{verbatim}" or "\end{verbatim}".\pText that should appear inside a line of normal text, should be preceded by "\verb". The character that follows directly on "\verb" is also the character that ends the argument of the command (i.e. "\verb|C:\test\text.tex|" to get "C:\test\text.tex" in the output).\pAlternatively you can use the 'Insert|Code'-menu.
With the short cut Ctrl+Tab you can select an open document to become active.
The command 'Window|Window List' displays a list of all open windows and enables you to close some of them or to activate one.
The tool bars of TeXnicCenter can be placed anywhere on the screen. Click on a non-used area on the toolbar an drag it to the position you want it to have.\pYou can even do so with the menu bars - try to dock them on the left or right site of the window...
You can specify short cuts for commands by opening the customization dialog with 'Tools|Customize'.
To set text italic in your document, you should use the "\emph{}"-command instead of "\textit".\pYou even can select the text you would like to emphasize and select 'Format|Character|Emphasize'.
You can customize the menu and tool bars of TeXnicCenter for your needs. Simply drag a menu or tool bar button with pressed Alt-key to another bar or choose 'Tools|Customize...'.
The navigator bar (tree view on the left edge of the TeXnicCenter-window) and the output bar (at the bottom) can be resized by dragging the beam between the bar and the editor window.\pYou even can even place those bars anywhere on the screen by clicking on their title bars an dragging them to a suitable position.
You can view different ranges of the same document by splitting the editor window with 'Window|Split' or creating a new window for an open document by choosing 'Window|New Window'.
With the command 'File|Send...' you can send the current document as an attachment of an e-mail.
The command 'Edit|Search in Files...', you can search for a string in the files of an directory.\pThis feature is comfortable for finding text positions in a large LaTeX-document, that has been split into many files.
Now you have seen all tips!