[vox-tech] LATEX, ucthesis.cls and changes in font size

[p at dirac.org]

On Thu 07 Dec 06,  8:50 AM, Dylan Beaudette <dylan.beaudette at gmail.com> said:
> On 12/7/06, p at dirac.org <p at dirac.org> wrote:
> >On Tue 05 Dec 06,  7:44 PM, Dylan Beaudette <dylan.beaudette at gmail.com> 
> >said:
> >> Greetings,
> >>
> >> I am attempting to use the ucthesis.cls document class for my MS thesis, 
> >but
> >> have run into a bit of a snag in terms of altering font size. Commands 
> >like
> >> \tiny \scriptsize etc. do not seem to have any effect within a verbatim
> >> environment. I did not have this problem when using a different document
> >> class. Ideally I would like all verbatim blocks to be slightly smaller 
> >than
> >> the rest of the text so that they don't take up as much room on the page.
> >>
> >> here is a link to some of the details:
> >> http://www.movesinstitute.org/~kolsch/ucthesis/ucthesis.readme
> >>
> >> Cheers,
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >Hey Dylan,
> >
> >Do yourself a favor and don't ever use verbatim.  There's another package
> >which is at least an order of magnitude better.  Maybe even two orders of
> >magnitude.  It's called fancyvrb.
> >
> >
> >You can change font size quite easily with it:
> >
> >
> >   \usepackage{fancyvrb}
> >
> >   \begin{Verbatim}[fontsize=8]
> >      foobar
> >   \end{Verbatim}
> >
> >
> >The fancyvrb environment rocks supremely when you include another package
> >called 'relsize' because it allows you to change fontsize relative to the
> >current fontsize:
> >
> >
> >   \usepackage{fancyvrb,relsize}
> >
> >   \begin{Verbatim}[fontsize=\relsize{-2}]
> >      foobar
> >   \end{Verbatim}
> >
> >
> >It also allows you to print line numbers next to the text on the left 
> >margin
> >(note you can also use "numbers=right" to get the numbers to the right of
> >the text).
> >
> >
> >   \begin{Verbatim}[fontsize=\relsize{-2},numbers=left]
> >      item 1
> >      item 2
> >      item 3
> >   \end{Verbatim}
> >
> >
> >You can even define your own environment so you don't have to keep putting
> >the same options within the [] everytime you use fancyvrb:
> >
> >
> >   \DefineVerbatimEnvironment%
> >      {VerbatimProg}%
> >      {Verbatim}%
> >      {numbers=left, fontsize=\relsize{-2}, frame=single}
> >
> >
> >   \begin{VerbatimProg}
> >   int main( int argc, char *argv[] );
> >   \end{VerbatimProg}
> >
> >
> >BTW, the "frame=single" means "put a frame box around the verbatim text".
> >Another very cool feature.
> >
> >One really great thing about fancyvrb is that you __can__ use LaTeX 
> >commands
> >from within the verbatim environment.  OH YESSSSSSSS!!!!!!
> >
> >   \DefineVerbatimEnvironment%
> >      {VerbatimCmdProg}%
> >      {Verbatim}%
> >      {numbers=left, fontsize=\relsize{-2}, frame=single, 
> >      commandchars=\\\{\}}
> >
> >
> >Allows you to do...
> >
> >
> >
> >   \begin{VerbatimCmdProg}
> >   int main( void )
> >   \{
> >         printf("hello world\Backslash{n}");   \label{printf_call}
> >         return 0;
> >   \}
> >   \end{VerbatimCmdProg}
> >
> >
> >   Here we call {\tt printf()} at line \ref{printf_call}.
> >
> >
> >Two things to note when you use the commandchars feature of fancyvrb:
> >
> >   * You have to escape the French braces "{" and "}".
> >   * You also have to jump through a hoop to print backslashes.  Here's how
> >      I defined \Backslash:
> >
> >         \newcommand{\Backslash}[1]{\texttt{\symbol{92}}#1}
> >
> >
> >This is just a very tiny example of the power of fancyvrb.
> >
> >Have fun!
> >
> >Peter
> 
> Thanks Pete!
> 
> I will look into this immediately!
> 
> Also, as a more general question: would you or any others recommend
> using the slightly dated ucthesis.cls ? Or would the book class, with
> some tweaking be better?
> 
> Any ideas?
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Dylan

The ucthesis is subtley different from Davis's requirement.  I believe
ucthesis is actually "ucberkeleythesis".  Apparently the requirements are
_not_ uniform across the UC campuses.

That said, it gets you very close.  It all depends on the mood of the person
who checks your document.  I don't think anyone hunches over your thesis
with a ruler and straight edge any longer.  There was a very minor thing
with my dissertation, but I can't even remember what it was anymore.  That's
the other fiction...since the advent of a computer, all of a sudden,
reformatting your thesis takes on a whole different dimension.  A few clicks
of a keyboard.  Back in the day, of course, you had to rewrite a 100+ page
tech document.


I would start with ucthesis since it's so close to what you need.  Borrowing
someone's modified file is the best thing to do.  If you like, I can dig
around for my modified ucthesis and send it to you offlist.

Pete