Template for PhD Theses at Promotionszentrum Angewandte Informatik (PZAI)

Overview

This project contains LaTeX files for building your thesis document. The default build tool is latexmk, which simplifies the compilation process by automatically handling dependencies and multiple runs of LaTeX-related commands. For users who prefer a manual approach, an alternative build sequence using pdflatex, biber, and makeglossaries is also available.

Requirements

To build the project, you need the following software installed:

• LaTeX distribution (e.g., TeX Live, MiKTeX, or MacTeX)
• latexmk (included in most LaTeX distributions)
• biber (for bibliography management with biblatex)
• makeglossaries (for glossaries and acronym handling)

Build Instructions

Default Build with latexmk

Latexmk is an automation tool for LaTeX projects. It determines the necessary sequence of commands (e.g., multiple runs of pdflatex, biber, makeglossaries) to produce a properly compiled document. It also monitors dependencies and ensures everything is up-to-date.

1. Open a terminal in the project directory.
2. Choose one of the two commands to build with latexmk:
   • Run make to compile the document with latexmk terminating after the process is completed.
   • Run make interactive to enable interactive, continuous compilation with real-time preview (i.e. with -pvc).

Make will invoke latexmk to compile the main.tex file into main.pdf. The output PDF will be in the same directory as the main.tex file.

Why latexmk?

Latexmk automatically resolves dependencies and determines the number of runs needed for cross-references, glossaries, and bibliographies. In continuous preview mode (-pvc) it keeps the PDF updated as you edit your LaTeX files.

Alternative Build

For those who prefer more control, the project includes a manual build sequence:

• Open a terminal in the project directory.
• Run the following command: make alt-build

This performs the following steps:

• Runs pdflatex to generate auxiliary files.
• Runs biber to process bibliographies.
• Runs makeglossaries to handle glossaries and acronyms.
• Performs additional pdflatex runs to resolve cross-references.

The output PDF will be in the same directory as the main.tex file.

Cleaning Auxiliary Files

To remove temporary and auxiliary files generated during the build process (e.g., .aux, .log, .glo, etc.), run:

make clean

This command cleans both the main project directory and the content folder where additional files may reside.

Project Structure

• README.md: This file.
• main.tex: The main LaTeX file for the document.
• content/: A folder containing additional chapters or sections included in the main file.
• Makefile: Contains build instructions for the project.
• Auxiliary files: Temporary files generated during the build process, which can be removed using make clean.

Notes

Ensure that biber and makeglossaries are installed and available in your system path.

If you are using the continuous preview mode with latexmk (i.e., running make interactive), you can edit the LaTeX source files, and the PDF will automatically update.