Instructions for using this repository as a template for writing a thesis (diploma work) in LaTeX.

Directory structure

The thesis related files:

File/Directory	Purpose
hegyhati.sty	Contains the includes for the necessary packages and several useful macros (see below)
thesis.tex	The "master" LaTeX file, that is compiled
references.bib	BibTeX file for references
cover.pdf	Cover pages formatted according to the University requirements
Parts/	Directory of LaTeX files for chapters, sections, etc.
Figures/	Directory for figures

Other files related for easy building, CI workflow:

File/Directory	Purpose
Makefile	Simple makefile to build the project
Docker/Dockerfile	The Dockerfile for the hegyhati/diploma-latex image
.gitignore	Typical LaTeX gitignore
.github/workflows	GitHub Actions workflow configuration files

Compiling the thesis

Regular way

If you have a Linux-based system, simply run make, and it will:

• run pdflatex
• run bibtex
• run pdflatex twice
• merge cover.pdf and the generated thesis.pdf into a single thesis_with_cover.pdf

To get rid of the generated files (pdf included) simply run make clean.

In order to have the necessary commands executed my make, several packages need to be installed, which can differ for each distribution. The Dockerfile provides these packages for Ubuntu 18.04.

The Docker way

If you don't want to install these packages on your host system, but have docker, simply mount this directory into a container and do it there:

docker run --rm -v ${PWD}:/project -w /project hegyhati/diploma-latex:latest make

You can similarly run make clean as well, although it only uses rm so there isn't much reason to do so.

To make building in docker a bit easier, docker-all is specified in the makefile target, with the command above. So you can just run the following if you have make and docker but not the LaTeX packages.

make docker-all

The "GitHub way"

Just push the changes to the repository, and this simple workflow will build it for you, and thesis_with_cover.pdf will be available as an artifact.

Extending the build environment

If your thesis requires additional LaTeX packages, either create a new docker image (preferred), or extend the workflow with installing those packages.

Example

Let's say you need the texlive-games packages. Here is what you have to do:

1. Change the dockerfile to:

FROM hegyhati/diploma-latex:latest
RUN apt-get update && apt-get install --no-install-recommends -y \
  texlive-games \
&& rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

2. Build it with docker build -t yourdockerusername/diploma-latex and docker push
3. Update the Makefile and the CI workflow to use your new docker image

LaTeX macros

Handy small macros

Command	Parameters	Result
\Emph	{text}	Formats text bold and italic for emphasis.
\CodeName	{text}	Formats monospace and bold for filenames, identifiers in code, etc.
\Todo	{message}	Inserts a flashy red message about an urgent and important todo in the document.
\TodoLater	{message}	Inserts a less intrusive green message in the footnote about non-urgent todo.

Use these within the document everywhere, and change their action as you see fit.

Partitioning the document

Command	Parameters	Result
\Chapter	{title} {name}	Defines a new chapter with the title given in title, and assigns a label with the id chapter_name. Then, it inputs Parts/name.tex. name may contain a path as well, e.g. Introduction/litreview.
\ChapterShort	{shorttitle} {title} {name}	Same as above, but uses shorttitle in the TOC and header. (Use if chapter title is too long.)
\ChapterUnnumbered	{title} {name} {toctitle}	Adds a chapter, without numbering, toctitle is how it appears in the TOC. (Usually used for abstracts, acknowledgements, etc.)
\Section	{title} {name}	Same as \Chapter but for sections, the defined label id is section_name.
\SectionShort	{shorttitle} {title} {name}	Same as \ChapterShort but for sections.
\Subsection	{title} {name}	Same as \Chapter but for subsections, the defined label id is subsection_name.
\Subsubsection	{title} {name}	Same as \Chapter but for subsubsections, the defined label id is subsubsection_name.

Figures, Tables, Pseudo codes, Code segments

Command	Parameters	Result
\Figure	{filename} {caption} {options}	Includes the file Figures/filename with option options passed to \includegraphics, e.g., width=8cm. filename must contain the extension, and may include a path. It is also used to define a label with id fig_filename. caption is used for caption. Everything is wrapped in a figure floating block with htpb positioning.
\FigureShort	{filename} {shortcaption} {caption} {options}	Same as above, only shortcaption will appear in the list of figures.
\Table	{labelsuffix} {caption} {columndef} {tablecontent}	Creates a tabular block with column definition columndef (e.g. r||c|c|c|), htpb positioning, and with the content in tablecontent. General rules of LaTeX tables apply. caption will be used as a caption, and a label is defined with an id tab_labelsuffix.
\TableShort	{labelsuffix} {shortcaption} {caption} {columndef} {tablecontent}	Same as above, only shortcaption will appear in list of tables.
\Algorithm	{label} {caption} {pseudocode}	Creates a floating algorithm block with content in pseudocode, that should use the syntax of the algorithmic package. Caption is set to caption, and a label with id alg_label is defined. \LETE command is also defined for assignment.
\AlgorithmShort	{label} {shortcaption} {caption} {pseudocode}	Same as above, only shortcaption appears in the list of algorithms.
\Code	{labelsuffix} {caption} {language} {code}	Will be used for including source codes with lstlistings. Not provided yet.