The standard format is under review at the moment and may change, but until further notice, follow the Styleguide.
To get started with a contribution, first make sure you have a working LaTeX toolchain set up on your machine.
For more instructions on how to use Github and our rebase workflow, check out CONTRIBUTING_GITHUB.md
Compiling the document should require any standard LaTeX distribution as well as the following packages:
- amsmath
- circuitikz
- enumitem
- float
- geometry
- siunitx (v2 for now for compatibility)
The pdf documents should be kept up to date with each commit and are there for people who only want to view without recompiling the documents.
The compilation process uses latexmk. See this quick introduction for installation instructions and a tutorial.
This process may get wrapped in a Makefile or shell script for ease of use, but in the meanwhile, to compile the PDF, it is recommended that you use latexmk. Run the following command to build the pdf and remove any auxiliary files afterwards:
latexmk -pdf main.tex
# Clean out auxiliary files
latexmk -cThis section is about writing solutions qualitatively. For information on formatting, see Solutions under Document Formatting
When writing solutions, do not repeat the original problem statement so as to not violate copyrights. Assume the reader has read the problem and has access to all the same variables presented in the problem and any images the problem may reference.
Make sure you are explaining all your steps as well as any formulas used. Do not just apply a formula without at least briefly mentioning it. (Use your best judgement; there is probably no need to explain V=IR in Chapter 5, but in Chapter 1, that might be a good thing to note when you apply it.)
If possible, explain the thought process behind arriving at the solution instead of just throwing out formulas. This helps people learn how to approach new circuits rather than limiting them to circuits they have seen before.
To keep the style consistent throughout the document, there is a set of LaTeX macros located in taoesolutions.sty. These macros also define some common electrical-engineering specific terms.
The root document is located at main.tex which assembles the entire project.
This is the file that should be compiled to generate the final document.
Each chapter is located in its own file called ChapterN.tex and is included in main.tex.
In general, take a look at the existing document structure and use that as guidance. If there are inconsistencies, feel free to open an issue.
To the extent possible, each new line of LaTeX code should go onto its own line. This is a weaker form of semantic linebreaks (requiring only new sentences to be on new lines).
Also, editor configurations (e.g. tabs vs spaces) have been specified in the .editorconfig file.
Please conform to this setup.
Most editors today support plugins that will automatically configure your editor based on the editorconfig settings.
See the editorconfig docs for more information.
Use \chapter{chapterName} to start a new chapter.
For consistency, each title should be of the form: Solutions for Chapter n, where n is the chapter in question.
For each exercise, use \ex{exerciseNum} to create a header for that particular exercise.
Use the full number of the exercise for exerciseNum(e.g. `\ex{1.10}).
You only need the number, not the word "Exercise".
Solutions should follow each Exercise header. Write these with plain text in LaTeX. Use any ordinary math environments as necessary.
Units are typeset using the siunitx package.
This latest major release of siunitx is version 3, but since it is still quite new, we will stick with version 2 to maintain backwards compatibility for now.
The full capabilities of the package can be found in the documentation. Sections 2 and 3 are particularly helpful, as are Tables 1-5.
The short version is that units can be indicated using the \si{} command, and quantities with units can be indicated using the \SI{}{} command.
These commands can be used in text and math environments.
For example,
\SI{20}{\milli\ampere\per\cubic\meter}
\si{\volt}Additionally, siunitx provides several helpful unit abbreviations defined in Table 5.
Some of the more useful quantities are listed below (excerpted from Table 5).
| Unit | Command |
|---|---|
| nanosecond | \ns |
| microcsecond | \us |
| millisecond | \ms |
| second | \s |
| microampere | \uA |
| milliampere | \mA |
| ampere | \A |
| kilohertz | \kHz |
| megahertz | \MHz |
| kilohm | \kohm |
| megohm | \Mohm |
| volt | \V |
| millivolt | \mV |
| watt | \W |
| milliwatt | \mW |
| farad | \F |
| decibel | \dB |
Whenever possible, use the siunitx package to keep the unit formatting consistent, and use the unit abbreviations to shorten the source code of the equations.
Within a math environment, several macros have been defined to make formatting easier.
They are defined in taoesolutions.sty.
For example, to indicate an equivalent resistance, you can use $R_\eq$ rather than $R_{\text{eq}}$.
Note that $R_{eq}$ is incorrect typesetting since the "eq" will be in italics as the variable e and q.
For solutions with a single, concise answer (i.e. solutions that are just a number or a single phrase of text), use \mans{ans} inside a math environment and \tans{ans} inside a text environment to indicate the final answer.
(These commands stand for math-answer and text-answer.)
These commands surround the answer with a box for emphasis and ease of checking.
If a problem is a proof or an explanation, then this kind of emphasis does not really make sense, so do not use these commands.
Just write the answer as usual.
TAoE uses letters to indicate parts, so we will follow that convention here. The enumerate command has already been formatted to use letters, so just use the following format to create different parts in your solution.
\begin{enumerate}
\item
Solution for part (a)
\item
Solution for part (b)
...
\end{enumerate}It may be helpful in your solution to provide circuit drawings. This can be accomplished using the included custom environment
\begin{circuit}{label}{caption}
...
\end{circuit}This macro handles all the boilerplate code for the circuitikz pacakge.
Simply type circuitikz code directly in the body of the environment -- no need for semicolons or any \draw commands that circuitikz requires.
It also automatically applies the american style within circuitikz.
Also note that each circuit should be accompanied by a label and a caption. The caption is a standard LaTeX caption, and the label is a standard LaTeX label that can be referenced. To keep all labels descriptive and unique, use the following convention for all labels:
fig:<chapterNum>.<exerciseNum>.<figureNum>For example, suppose the solutions for exercise 3.2 use six different circuit drawings/images. To label the fourth image/circuit, use fig:3.2.4 as the label. Use this notation for images as well as circuits (which are just treated internally as images).
\todo{noteToSelf}is a handy macro that will insertnoteToSelfin bolded red text within the final document as a reminder of unfinished work.\todoex{exercise}will create a red TODO indicating that a particular exercise is unfinished.