Converting existing TeX documents
Converting TeX
To help you reuse your existing LaTeX documents and snippets in Word, Aurora includes a TeX interpreter with support for many common LaTeX commands. To convert a piece of TeX code, place it on the clipboard and use the “Paste from TeX” command to parse it.
Supported features
- Inline and display math, both numbered and unnumbered.
- Footnotes, block quotes, bulleted and numbered lists.
- Text accents, ligatures, and certain special symbols in text mode.
-
\section
,\subsection
, and\subsubsection
commands. - Font appearance (
\sl
,\em
,\bf
,\it
) and font size (\ssmall
through\HUGE
) modifiers. - Alignment commands (
\centering
,\raggedleft
,\raggedright
) and environments (center
,flushleft
,flushright
). -
tabular
andtabular*
environments with full support for\multicolumn
,\hline
, and\cline
commands. Nested tables and all but@{...}
and*{num}{cols}
column specifiers are also supported. -
\caption
withintable
andfigure
environments. - Full syntax of
\newcommand
,\renewcommand
, and\providecommand
commands and partial support for\def
.
Certain TeX peculiarities, such as < and > symbols becoming ¡ and ¿ in text mode, are also supported. Unrecognized environments are converted into Aurora objects to be processed by LaTeX itself.
Note: The TeX converter is still experimental and as such has a number of limitations, some of which will be addressed in future releases. The converter’s output will generally need some manual touching up to achieve the level of fidelity on par with the original document.
Limitations
- Labels and references are not currently converted.
- Theorem environments are not currently supported.
- Inserting graphics is not currently supported.
- Neither
\verb
command norverbatim
environment are currently supported.\tt
is not supported either. - Only equations defined in the environments
align
,equation
,eqnarray
,multline
,gather
, andflalign
are numbered during conversion. Only a single number is generated, regardless of how many equations are given in thealign
andeqnarray
environments. Environments themselves are transformed into their starred variants. - The only additional information passed to LaTeX when processing math and unrecognized environments are the command definitions encountered during parsing. In particular, the
\usepackage
directives are neither parsed nor given to LaTeX. To work around that, specify the preamble information in the “Packages” section of the formula properties dialog ahead of time. - Defining custom environments is not supported.
- Nested lists and bullet specifications are not converted.
- Low-level TeX commands are not supported. Rudimentary support for
\def
exists, but context-sensitive matching is not implemented. - Inline tables, while allowed in LaTeX, are not supported in Word.
Modifying multiple equations
Editing properties of multiple equations
The “Edit selection properties...” command lets you modify the properties—font size, rendering method, resolution, and package information—of several equations at once. It works the same way as the Aurora’s properties dialog, except it also lets you select which properties should be changed and which should be left untouched.
Note that Aurora actually goes through all the selected equations, opens them, changes the properties you asked it to change, and re-runs LaTeX. As a result, large selections might take a while to process.
Aurora settings in Word
Use font size of the surrounding text for new equations
When this flag is enabled (default), new inline equations adopt the same font size as the text around them—larger in headings, smaller in footnotes, and so on, while new display equations get the font size from their respective styles: “Display Equation” and “Display Equation (numbered)”.
Disabling this setting makes Aurora reuse the font size of the last edited formula when creating new equations of either type.
Update chapter and section numbers when creating numbered equations
By default, inserting a new numbered equation prompts Aurora to look for changes in the document structure that might lead to changes in equation numbering. Since this process is done in the background, it should not normally distract you from entering the equation. However, if you find the delay unacceptable, you may disable this renumbering here. If you do so, use the “Update equation numbers” command from time to time to ensure the equation numbers remain in sync.
This flag has no effect when automatic chapter and section numbering is disabled in the “Manage equation numbering...” dialog.
Show the “Insert equation reference” dialog
Specifies whether to display the help dialog when the “Insert equation reference” command is used. If you checked the box “In the future, do not show me this reminder” within the dialog and want the dialog to be shown again, you can enable it here.
Keyboard shortcuts
Aurora
Re-run LaTeX | <Ctrl+R>, <Ctrl+S>, <Ctrl+Shift+L>, or F2 |
Run LaTeX and exit Aurora | <Ctrl+Enter> or <Alt+F4> |
Cancel all changes and exit Aurora | ESC |
Switch between the source/errors panels | <Ctrl+Tab> |
Open the manual | F1 |
Open the properties window | <Ctrl+P> |
Change the editor window font | <Ctrl+F> |
Microsoft Word
To avoid conflicts with other applications, most of Aurora’s keyboard shortcuts in Microsoft Word are prefixed with<Alt+U>. For example, to insert a new display equation, hold <Alt> and press <U> followed by <D>.
Insert inline equation | <Alt+Q> |
Insert display equation | <Alt+U D> |
Insert numbered equation | <Alt+U N> |
Insert equation number | <Alt+U A> |
Insert equation reference | <Alt+U R> |
Insert section break | <Alt+U B> |
Show/hide (toggle) section markers | <Alt+U T> |
Format equation numbers | <Alt+U F> |
Manage equation numbering | <Alt+U M> |
Update equation numbers | <Alt+U U> |
Paste from TeX | <Alt+U V> |
Edit selection properties | <Alt+U S> |
In the past, Aurora used <Ctrl+;>, where <;> is the key used to insert a semi-colon when using the English keyboard layout, as the prefix key for its keyboard shortcuts. While these shortcuts are still supported by Aurora, they are not compatible with certain keyboard layouts. For completeness, here is the list of these alternative keyboard shortcuts:
Insert inline equation | <Ctrl+; ;> |
Insert display equation | <Ctrl+; D> |
Insert numbered equation | <Ctrl+; N> |
Edit equation on the left | <Ctrl+; L> or <Ctrl+; Left> |
Edit equation on the right | <Ctrl+; '> (apostrophe, the key to the right of<;>) or <Ctrl+; Right> |
Insert equation number | <Ctrl+; A> |
Insert equation reference | <Ctrl+; R> |
Insert section break | <Ctrl+; B> |
Show/hide (toggle) section markers | <Ctrl+; T> |
Format equation numbers | <Ctrl+; F> |
Manage equation numbering | <Ctrl+; M> |
Update equation numbers | <Ctrl+; U> |
Paste from TeX | <Ctrl+; V> |
Edit selection properties | <Ctrl+; S> |
Microsoft PowerPoint, Visio, Excel
Insert equation | <Alt+Q> in Office 2000, XP, and 2003 <Alt+N Q> in Office 2007 |