WYSIWYM (What You See Is What You Mean)

Many of us have used a word processor at
some point in our lives to write a letter or perhaps even to design
a web page. Modern word processors, such as Microsoft Word, Sun's
StarOffice and AbiWord, use the principle of WYSIWYG, what you see
is what you get. This basically means that the way text appears on
your screen is what the hard copy will look like.However, in the UNIX/Linux world there are many programs that
don't work this way. One is called LyX
(www.lyx.org), and it is an
open-source document processor that encourages users to spend more
time working on the structure of a document rather than focusing on
its appearance.LyX uses the LaTeX typesetting language to produce
high-quality, professional-looking documents in such formats as
HTML, PostScript, DVI and PDF.Rather than concerning yourself with formatting and spacing,
like you would with a normal word processor, you tell LyX what you
wish to do, and it uses a template called a "style" to construct
your document.This approach to the creation of the written word could best
be described as WYSIWYM: what you see is what you mean.At first sight, LyX looks a lot like a regular word
processor. In fact, its interface is very WYSIWYG-like. But, LyX
does not behave like an ordinary word processor. For example, it is
impossible to create multiple spaces and multiple line breaks with
the keyboard. Instead, the program will do this formatting for
you.Every element of your document, whether it be the title, a
paragraph or even a table of contents, can be categorized. Through
the use of a pull-down menu, the type of element you'd like to
create can be selected. For example, Title can be selected from the
menu. Rather than using a bunch of widgets to change the appearance
of the text in the title, LyX automatically makes the text large
and adds emphasis. The creation of the title alone would take
several steps with an ordinary word processor.Although LyX can be used to write small notes and memos, it
really shines when a user is making complex documents. Its ability
to add sections automatically to the table of contents as they are
created, and to do section and list numbering, saves a lot of time
and strain.Navigation through a large, complex document is made easy by
the use of links pointing to figures, captions, pages and quotes.
The table of contents can even act as an outline browser. LyX is
quite a powerful application; going over every one of its
capabilities would be difficult in a short article such as
this.Although LyX is mostly used for the creation and processing
of documents that contain text and sometimes graphics, the program
also contains a mathematical formula editor. Entering mathematical
equations and symbols into a document that are not part of a
standard character set has usually been difficult and time
consuming. LyX solves this problem by providing a WYSIWYG interface
to LaTeX's superb mathematical capabilities.By default, LyX comes with many styles and even a few
templates to get you started. Other templates are easily created,
providing guidelines for future projects. Although knowledge of
LaTeX is not needed to use the program, LaTeX commands can be used
in LyX documents to extend the program's functionality.LyX may work differently from a regular word processor, but
it is not all that difficult to learn. A copious amount of
documentation is bundled with the program, including a beginner's
tutorial, user's guide and other documents describing advanced
features.LyX makes the creation of documents easier, quicker and, in
some ways, fun. For more information about LyX and to download the
program, visit
www.lyx.org.Editor's Note: Stay tuned for a LyX tutorial, coming
soon.Tom Mrak is an aspiring
20-year-old writer and musician who happens to enjoy tinkering with
GNU/Linux and technology in general. He currently lives in Duluth,
Minnesota.

email: fumasamaruku@yahoo.com