Unofficial CSM Thesis Template

Introduction

Welcome to the home of the Unofficial CSM Thesis Template, a package for users of LaTeX and LyX. Please be aware that I have my own responsibilities. So, while I will do whatever I can to help you get your thesis to render properly, I provide no guarantee that I will fix any particular issue you might have in a timely fashion (see legaleze below). If you do have an issue then feel free to contact me by email via ehoover at mines dot edu.

Download

This template is provided “AS IS” without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The entire risk as to the quality and performance of the template is with you. Should the template prove defective, you assume the cost of all necessary servicing, repair or correction.

Download the latest version of the template (~1.27 MiB)

For Windows users that do not already have gzip-compatible archive software it is recommended that you download 7-Zip.

Installing

LaTeX:

• No installation is necessary, simply work in the same folder as the style files (*.sty).

LyX (Linux, Mac OS X):

1. Run "install-lyx.sh" (./install-lyx.sh in a terminal)
2. Run LyX and select "Reconfigure" from the "Tools" menu.
3. Restart lyx
4. Load the example thesis

LyX (Windows):

1. Run "install-lyx.bat"
2. Run LyX and select "Reconfigure" from the "Tools" menu.
3. Restart lyx
4. Load the example thesis

Upgrading

Should the current version of the template not suite your needs, it is easy to upgrade to a new version without changing your document. Simply download the new version of the template, extract all of the style files (*.sty), and use those files to replace the style files from your existing version.

LyX users may also wish to extract the LyX layout file and either install-lyx.bat (Windows) or install-lyx.sh (Linux/Mac) and re-run the install script in order to update the layout file. This step is not critical as the LyX layout does not need to be updated regularly, all the brains behind the template are in the LaTeX portion of the package.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Should I use latex or pdflatex to compile my document?

  Either should work fine, provided that you use the appropriate type of figures for the document compiler you have chosen.

• How can I use a short TOC caption for a figure with subfigures?

  You can use the convenience function "\abbrvcaption". Alternatively, you can use the latex command "\caption[short]{short long}". Please note that it is important to have the short caption actually appear at the beginning of the caption within the main document, otherwise your thesis will not comply with the OGS guidelines.

• How do I include a URL in a reference?

  Provided that you are using a BibTeX-compatible reference file, the best way to cite a URL in a reference is to use the "miscellaneous" reference type with the "howpublished" keyword and the "\url{}" command (eg. "\url{http://example.url/to/cite}"). Many applications (such as JabRef, zotero, and Papers) export BibTeX files and support this type of reference. If you are writing your BibTeX document by hand then you can see how to do this from the example provided with the template:

  @misc{ref:Wikipedia,
  	author		= {Wikipedia},
  	title		= {{S}trong {B}ad --- {W}ikipedia{,} {T}he {F}ree {E}ncyclopedia},
  	howpublished	= {\url{http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Strong_Bad&oldid=274899439}},
  	year		= {2009}
  }

• How can I use "author-date" citations instead of numbered citations?

  Provided that you are starting with the newest version of the template (which uses the "natbib" package for citations), it is possible to use "author-date" citations instead of numbered citations. However, it is a little tricky to get the author-date citation notation setup properly. Instructions are provided below for your convenience.

  LyX Instructions:

  1. Go to the "Document" menu and choose "Settings"
  2. Within the settings dialog choose "LaTeX Preamble"
  3. Remove the text "\usepackage[numbers,sort&compress]{natbib}"
  4. Within the settings dialog choose "Bibliography"
  5. Change the "Citation Style" to "natbib" and set the "Natbib style" to "Author-year"
  6. Left-click on "BibTeX Generated Bibliography" in the bibliography near the end of the document
  7. Use the dropdown box to switch from "unsrt" to "authordate1"
  8. Make sure that when you include citations that they are of the form "(Author Year)"

  LaTeX Instructions:

  1. Change the "natbib" package options from "\usepackage[numbers,sort&compress]{natbib}" to "\usepackage[authoryear]{natbib}"
  2. Change the bibliography style from "\bibliographystyle{unsrtnat}" to "\bibliographystyle{authordate1}"
  3. Make sure you use "\citep{}" for citations instead of "\cite{}"

• What does this abstract warning mean?:

  Your abstract contains <X> words, a dissertation (PhD thesis) may not exceed 350 words.
  If you are submitting a dissertation you may alternatively submit a shorter summary to OGS that adheres to the 350-word limit.

  This warning indicates that you have an excessively long abstract. So, if you want to submit your thesis to the Office of Graduate Studies then you will either need to shorten your abstract or submit a summarized abstract (extra paperwork). Please note that this restriction does not apply to Masters theses, however, there is currently no way for the template to tell the difference between a Masters thesis and a PhD thesis.

• How can I include each chapter of my thesis as a sub-document?

  If your documents are all in the same folder you can just use "\input{file}". However, should you have your documents in separate folders then it is may be necessary to use the "import" package. By using the import package you can ensure that the working directory of your document is preserved when importing sub-documents. To include a sub-document, while properly changing the working folder, insert "\usepackage{import}" in the preamble and include the sub-document like so:

  \subimport{./Chapter1/}{Content.tex}

  Should you wish to render your sub-document separately from your thesis you can do so the same way as using the template for other documents.

• Can I use this template for other documents?

  The newest version of the template includes the "insane" option for disabling the the format review checks. However, be warned that you should not use this option for rendering your actual thesis document, as it will allow you to produce a non-compliant document. Taking this warning into account, you can use the "insane" option by including the csm-thesis package like so:

  \usepackage[insane]{csm-thesis}

• Where can I find the most recent version of the Thesis and Dissertation Writer's Guide?

  On the Office of Graduate Studies' website.

• Is this template up-to-date with the most recent Thesis and Dissertation Writer's Guide?

  As of this writing, the most recent version of the guide is the Fifth Edition (revised in Spring of 2009). To the best of my knowledge the current version of the template complies with the requirements set forth in the guide, or at least warns the user of possible incompatibilities (see legal disclaimer).

ChangeLog/Archive

2010-05-15:

• Added a "dedication" environment for inserting a dedication page.
• Added a "\listofabbreviations" example to the LyX version of the template.
• Fixed a compatibility issue when used in conjunction with the "biblatex" package.
• Fixed hyperref bookmarks to reference before the title of a section instead of afterward.
• Fixed a bug in "insane" mode where pages are not properly renumbered if no "\makesubmittal" call exists.
• Added an optional parameter for the "\listofsymbols" command to re-title the section (ie. "\listofsymbols[Nomenclature]").

2010-04-12:

• The template now generates an error when a section is empty.
• Fixed a bug with double-spacing references when using the "natbib" package.
• Single-sided documents no-longer generate a blank page before new chapters.
• The "\newoddpage" command is now replaced with the standard "\cleardoublepage" command.
• Fixed handling of LaTeX commands in the title when "automatic title triangulation" is enabled.
• Using "manual title triangulation" with hyperref no-longer results in character encoding warnings.
• Fixed a bug where figures and tables just before the references could float to the references page.
• The standard "\cleardoublepage" command is now redefined to create a blank page with no page number.
• To retain compatibility with older documents, the "\newoddpage" is now an alias for "\cleardoublepage".
• Added an "\atom{mass number}{proton number}{symbol}{ionization}{# atoms}" convenience command for using chemical symbols in the title and chapter commands.

2010-04-06:

• Added a "\makecopyright{year}" convenience command.
• Fixed some incompatibilities with the "natbib" package.
• Fixed the page numbering when there is a copyright page.
• The "natbib" package is now used by default (in the example) for citations.

2010-03-23:

• Added an "insane" option to disable the document format review checks (for rendering sub-documents).
• Added a "nolabel" option to turn off the automatic addition of "Figure~" and "Table~" to figure and table references. Please note that your caption reference must match your document reference to comply with OGS guidelines.

2010-02-12:

• Added preliminary support for the biblatex package.
• Fixed long lists (toc, lof, etc.) when using the hyperref package.
• Captions inside a "subfigure" are now automatically single-spaced.
• Fixed a bug where "\cite" in a figure caption would not allow the document to compile.
• Fixed some compatibility issues with hyperref where references were not correct internally.
• The convenience functions "\csmfigure" and "\csmlongfigure" are no-longer included "here" [H] by default.
• If exactly one appendix is included then the appendix label (A) is now removed. Depending on your software package you may need to manually re-compile your document (Kile will re-run automatically, WinEdit will not).

2009-11-03:

• Added "\listofabbreviations" capability, add an abbreviation with \addabbreviation{<explanation>}{<abbreviation>}.
• Fixed a bug where referencing a subfigure generated an incorrect reference.
• Fixed a bug where creating an inverted pyramid title manually was disabled.
• Fixed some minor alignment issues with automatic pyramid titles.
• Fixed compatibility issues with the "hyperref" package.

2009-10-21:

• Added "\listofsymbols" capability, add a symbol with \addsymbol{<explanation>}{$<symbol>$}.
• The automatic inverted pyramid title should now work properly under most circumstances.
• Fixed a bug in the detection of whether the list of tables and/or figures is required.
• Fixed a bug where the "acknowledgements" section was being required.
• The greater than (>) and less than (<) symbols now encode as text.

2009-07-08:

• Now warns the user if the abstract is longer than 350 words (the limit for a PhD thesis).
• Added preliminary support for one sided pages.
• No-longer conflicts with the "color" package.

2009-05-09:

• Now includes preliminary support for automatically creating the inverted pyramid title.
• Now stops the user from including the "fullpage" package (messes with the margins).

2009-04-27:

• Fixed a bug where "List of Tables and Figures" is displayed when there are no tables.
• Using "subfigure" no-longer adds blank entries to the list of tables and figures.

2009-04-01:

• List of Figures/Tables and References Cited now single-space multi-line entries.

2009-03-26:

• Removed error when "\listoffigures" and "\listoftables" are used individually rather than using "\listoffiguresandtables."
• Fixed equation numbering not restarting after each new chapter.

2009-03-25:

• Added additional space between Figure and Table labels and the description in the Table of Contents.
• Fixed Figure and Table labels in Appendices to use the correct Appendix value (ie. Figure~A.1).
• Simplified single-siding the front matter so that "\newpage" no-longer needs to be redefined.
• Added additional styles to the LyX layout to reduce the amount of direct LaTeX calls.

2009-03-09:

• Correctly redefines the label created using the "\label" command for every new "section" (all chapters and subsections).
• Automatically titles the "List of Tables and Figures" appropriately if one or the other does not exist.
• Warns about having a "List of Tables and Figures" section if there are no tables AND no figures.
• There is a new "\newappendixnum" and "\appendixnum" command for adding "pocket" appendices.
• Properly single-sides the front matter when any of the sections is longer than a page.
• Detects missing sections and generates an error forcing you to fix the problem.
• There is a new "\appendix{<Title of Appendix>}" command for appendices.
• Now includes examples of inserting figures and tables.

2009-03-05:

• Redefines the "\newpage" command properly instead of using a special "\nextpage" command.
• Detects errors such as missing "\author", "\title", "\degree", "\advisor", etc.
• Includes a LyX "layout" file to make it easy to work directly in LyX.
• Uses a special environment for each of the necessary components.

2009-03-04:

• Properly automatically capitalizes the title even if there are carriage returns in it.
• Fixed an incompatibility between the "\chapter" command and AMS-LaTeX.

2009-03-03:

• The co-advisor (\coadvisor{<name>}) is now optional (the signature page reflects this properly).

2009-02-04:

• First public release.