How To Do It

Replace <name> by your last name (in lower case) in the sample commands listed on this page.

Note: Special cases, such as people named Smith, will handle the usual problem in the usual way.

The % in the sample commands represents a shell prompt - your prompt may look different. Do not type the %.

Logging in to math.uic.edu

To login to math.uic.edu from a UNIX system use the command below from your shell window. 
% ssh math.uic.edu
To login to math.uic.edu from a PC, use TTSSH.

If you do not have an account on math.uic.edu, follow the instructions here to get one.

All of the instructions below assume that you have logged in to math.uic.edu.

Choosing a text editor

If you know emacs, use emacs. If you know vi, use vi. Otherwise, use pico.

Pico is a very simple text editor which is used in the Pine program. All of the editing commands are displayed on the screen, so it is not necessary to read any documentation to learn to use it.

Finding your vita files

You must use the cd command to change to the directory where your vita files are stored. The commands on this page will only work after you have done this. The command is: 

% cd ~mscsinfo/vitas/<name>

Checking out your vita files so you can edit them

% make mine

The files <name>.tex and <name>.ref will be created in the directory ~mscsinfo/vitas/<name> . The first is the vita document and the second is the publications database used by the TeX auxiliary program Tib.

NOTE: Do not panic if the directory ~mscscinfo/vitas/<name> contains only a Makefile and a subdirectory called RCS. The files <name>.tex and <name>.ref are archived in the RCS subdirectory. Typing "make mine" causes them to be "checked out" from the archive. Information on how to TeX and print your vita, in either its long or short form, is given below.

Editing your vita files.

As mentioned above, there are two files that you will need to edit; they aree called .tex and .ref . The .tex file is the vita itself, and the .ref file is a database file used to generate your publications list. Be careful to use the correct format for the .ref file. Samples of typical entries can be found here.

Checking in your vita files after you have made changes

% make done
After executing "make done" the directory will contain a file Makefile and a subdirectory RCS. The vita files are archived inside the RCS subdirectory.

Generating a dvi file for your vita

% make

Generating a PDF file for your vita

% make pdf
This uses Postscript Times Roman fonts, which are known to all PDF viewers. The resulting PDF file is called vita.pdf. With the Adobe acroread viewer you should be able to cut-and-paste from the PDF file.

Generating a dvi file for a short vita

% make short

Generating a dvi file for your publication list only

% make publist

Printing a copy of your vita

% make print

Printing a copy of your short vita

% make printshort

Printing a copy of your publication list

% make printpublist

Cleaning up your vita directory

% make done