Ucbthesis readme file
Contents
ucbthesis README file
This is the README file for the ucbthesis class for LaTeX. It corresponds to version 3.3 of the ucbthesis class (3 September 2010). This README is public domain.
Version 3.3 includes updates needed to conform to changes in formatting requirements implemented in late 2009 and early 2010. It also changed the name from ucthesis to ucbthesis (to reflect the fact that this document class is actually specific to Berkeley), and changed the maintainer to Paul Vojta.
The only change from 3.1 to 3.2 is to clarify the license as LPPL, per Daniel Gildea. 3.2 was prepared by Karl Berry. Version 3.1 was prepared by Daniel Gildea.
NOTE: v3.0 is the first LaTeX2e version of ucthesis. It is now a class that runs in native LaTeX2e mode. It is functionally identical to ucthesis.sty v2.7 released on 30 October 1994 by Ethan V. Munson. Other than changes for compatibility (mostly having to do with font selection), and option selection, very little modification has been done to the style. As a result, there are probably cleaner ways to implement a number of features. That will have to wait for the next release. (BBF 10/31/94)
Using the ucbthesis class
Sample File
There is a sample dissertation (by the fictitious, but very irritating, Perry H Disdainful) in the file ucbtest.tex. It also uses ucbtest.bib as its bibliography database (though the contents of the database are not important). Mostly this is useful as an example of how to produce the front matter. If you don't understand LaTeX at all, this file might help you get started, but, since you're going to be writing a 100+ page document, you should invest the $20 in a copy of the LaTeX manual (by Leslie Lamport the original author of LaTeX). This has recently been updated for LaTeX2e.
The LaTeX Companion, by Goossens, Mittelbach, and Samarin (who have been involved in developing and supporting the new version of LaTeX) is also quite good. It gives a lot of useful information if you are going to be writing or modifying classes, and gives a lot of additional information on commonly available style packages. It's about $35.
Choosing the ucbthesis class
To use the ucbthesis class, make sure that the ucbthesis.cls file is on your TEXINPUTS search path and use the following command at the start of your input file:
\documentclass{ucbthesis}
What the ucbthesis class does
The ucbthesis class is a port of the ucbthesis style version 2.7 (the final 2.09 release) to LaTeX2e. The ucbthesis style is a modified version of the standard LaTeX report style that is accepted for use with University of California PhD dissertations and Master's theses. The available commands are almost identical to those of the report style, so your best starting point for documentation is the LaTeX manual written by Leslie Lamport.
The key features of the class are:
- The primary modification to the report style is the use of pseudo-double-spacing for master's theses, since the UC system's rules are still designed for typewriters. This is achieved by increasing the \baselinestretch parameter to 1.37. The \baselinestretch is returned to a single-spaced value of 1.00 for elements like tables, captions, and footnotes and for all displayed text (quote, quotation, and verse environments). Unfortunately, this is done with a macro called \ssp which resets the font size to \normalsize. In LaTeX 2.09 this seems to be unavoidable, but it makes it very hard to create tables in different font sizes.
- Margins are 1 inch on all sides.
- Uses 12-point type by default. You can use the 10pt or 11pt options for those sizes, but these should only be used for draft copies of the thesis, since 12-point type is required for submission.
- Page numbers are in the top right corner for all pages.
- Complete, correct front matter for UC Berkeley dissertations can be generated. If you are not a Berkeley student, you should make sure that the front matter is OK with your school.
Options
There are seven primary options:
The masters option sets up the document to be a master's thesis instead of a Ph.D. dissertation. This involves changing the default spacing to double spacing and altering the formatting of the front matter.
The phd option turns off the masters option. This is selected by default, but is included only for symmetry.
The draft style uses single-spacing throughout the document, and suppresses warnings that would otherwise be generated by use of the 10pt and 11pt options.
The final style uses the correct pseudo-double-spacing for master's theses, or single spacing for doctoral dissertations. This option is the default and is redundant, but is included for symmetry.
The 10pt, 11pt, and 12pt styles set the default font size to the obvious value. The 12pt option is the default and thus is redundant, but is safe to use anyway. If the 10pt or 11pt options are used, a warning message is generated (unless draft mode is in effect).
The options are selected on the \documentclass line, e.g.:
\documentclass[10pt,draft]{ucbthesis}
Page Headers
If you want to use page headers or footers other than the default ones, you should try using headerfooter.sty or fancyheadings.sty. The myheadings pagestyle doesn't work well and there is no workaround. The headerfooter and fancyheadings styles are widely distributed, well documented, and easy to use.
Front matter
The other key service provided by this class is that it generates correct front matter (title page, approval page, abstract, etc.) with a failrly simple set of commands. This facility could be a little easier, but compared to an earlier state of affairs, it's pretty slick. The format of the front matter is specified quite explicitly in the documents "Instructions for Formatting & Filing Your Dissertation" and "Instructions for Formatting & Filing Your Thesis" distributed by the UC Berkeley Graduate Division. These documents are available by following the relevant links on the web page http://grad.berkeley.edu/policies/ . The current version of the class is based on the 2010 version of these documents.
A complete example of the use of the front matter commands can be found in the sample dissertation distributed with the class.
Declarations
To use the front matter macros and environments, you must first declare a number of text strings:
| \title | Dissertation title |
| \author | Your name as registered with UC (usually with full middle name) |
| \degreeyear | Year your dissertation will be granted |
| \degreesemester | Semester (or term) your dissertation will be granted |
| \degree | The title of your degree (e.g. Doctor of Philosophy) |
| \chair | Title and name of your committee chair (e.g. "Professor Michael A. Harrison") |
| \othermembers | The names of the other members of your committee separated by linebreaks (e.g. "Professor Susan L. Graham\\Professor Jim Pitman") |
| \numberofmembers | The number of members on your committee. This defaults to 3 (and thus is optional) and can be any value between 3 and 6. It affects the number of lines on the approval page and the space between them. |
| \prevdegrees | This option is no longer supported, since previous degrees are no longer listed on the title page. |
| \field | The official title of your field. This is usually your department's name, but at Berkeley, most Engineering degrees have a more complex name. Be sure to check the guidelines for any special twists on the name of your field. |
| \campus | The name of your UC campus. This should be capitalized (e.g. Berkeley). |
Title, Approval, and Copyright pages
The title, approval, and copyright pages have extremely rigid formats that allow them to be generated automatically once the above declarations have been made. To generate them, invoke the macros
\maketitle \approvalpage \copyrightpage
You should probably invoke them in that order, because that's the order required by the guidelines.
Note that, for Ph.D. dissertations (but not master's theses) the approval page should not be submitted as part of the dissertation itself. You should include the macro once, just to print that page on paper, and then remove the macro for the final version. A warning will be issued if this macro is used, unless the draft or masters options are in effect. (Ignore the warning when creating the page for printing.)
Abstract Environment
Because you have to provide the text of the abstract, only the title can be generated automatically. So, there is an abstract environment. It generates the title and numbers the pages in arabic numerals and makes sure that it starts on new page.
As of December 2009, the abstract is no longer signed, so the \abstractsignature macro present in earlier versions of the ucbthesis class is no longer defined.
Other Front Matter
The remaining front matter (dedication, table of contents, lists of figures and tables, acknowledgements) must be put inside the frontmatter environment, which ensures that page-numbering is handled properly. Within this frontmatter environment, you put the environments and commands for the rest of the front matter. There are environments for "dedication" and "acknowledgements" and the standard LaTeX commands for producing \tableofcontents, \listoffigures, and \listoftables.
The standard LaTeX commands are well documented in the LaTeX manual. You will probably have to hand edit the .lof (list of figures) and .lot (list of tables) files to make verbose captions more suitable for this front matter. Once you do this, remember to use the \nofiles macro to keep them from getting overwritten.
The acknowledgements and dedication environments make their contents start on a new page. The acknowledgements environment also puts the word "Acknowledgements" in large, bold, centered text at the top of the page. For formatting the dedication page, you're on your own. After all, the dedication is a kind of poetry and there's no predicting the right way to format poetry.
Other commands not found in the standard report style
The smalltabular and smalltabular* environments are equivalent to the tabular and tabular* environments, except that they use the \small font. The scriptsizetabular and scriptsizetabular* environments use the \scriptsize font.
Installing the ucbthesis class
To install the ucbthesis class, you need to install four files:
ucbthesis.cls ucbt10.clo ucbt11.clo ucbt12.clo
in your LaTeX class file repository.
