Some suggestions for compliance options

[GoogleCodeExporter]

An email is pasted here that started this issue:

Thanks for posting your Latex style file online (byumsphd.cls).  I'm
using it for my dissertation.  I've made a couple of changes to make it
closer to the official guidelines and incorporate some needed features
from my masters thesis style file and another phd class.  Attached is
the patch.  These changes include:

* A new option, "frontdouble", which makes the front pages double-sided
(i.e., adds a blank page in between the front pages).  It's frustrating
when printing draft copies to have to make two print commands, once for
the double-sided and once for the single-sided.  More seriously, if
printing double-sided (the whole document), and if there are an odd
number of front pages, then the current method throws the odd/even
margins off for the rest of the document.

* The official example has a date next to the graduate coordinator and
dean's line.  I changed the command to \SignaturePurpose and made it
more like the official example.

* I retitled the bibliography as "References," as per the official
instructions.

* I copied in a command from another style file here in the math
department which is _very_ useful.  It makes any chosen environment
single-spaced (just resets the baselinestretch).  For example, I want my
matrices and arrays single-spaced (they just look ugly and take up too
much space and are hard to read if double-spaced).  To do that, in my
headers, I just now put:

\MakeEnvSingleSpaced{array}
\MakeEnvSingleSpaced{bmatrix}

Anyways, thanks again!

Jason Grout

Original issue reported on code.google.com by shiblon on 20 Jun 2007 at 2:15

Attachments:

• byumsphd.cls.patch

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Thanks for submitting the request!  We'll keep all of it here from now on so 
that
it's publicly available.

I have commented on your changes below.  Please keep in mind that my statements 
like
"this is wrong" apply to computer science, so I may not be correct in so 
saying. 
Even so, it is worth looking into these, actually asking the people that approve
documents rather than relying on the often outdated examples and instructions:

- Your use case for frontdouble is interesting and I believe not very common.  
The
reason it is uncommon is that people don't generally have two-sided printers 
that
work, and when printing the document "for real", they don't have the paper that 
they
need.  When just looking at the document, I printed it out one-sided on our lab
printer and checked that the page numbering and margins were correct, etc.  
Then I
took the huge stack to the copy center and told them it was a thesis, that the
frontmatter had to be one-sided, and the rest double-sided.  They then did the 
right
thing on the right paper.  We might still want to add a feature like what you
suggest, but we'd want to call it something else, like "duplex-printer" or some 
such,
and we'd want to make sure that it did the right thing all the time on such a 
printer.

- The official example that spawned your SignaturePurpose is wrong, 
unfortunately. 
The date is correct and consistent and passes the final review.

- The instructions about using "References" are also wrong and need updating.  
I have
just finished helping two PhD graduates with this process, and they both came 
back
with complaints that "References" is incorrect and were unable to pass until 
they had
it changed to "Bibliography".  I never would have added the complexity of 
changing
the name otherwise, since "References" is the default name.

- The MakeEnvSingleSpaced command looks useful, but I would rather see its
implementation documented in the example file rather than cluttering up the 
class
with it.  It isn't for everyone, so I believe it falls in the category if 
"document,
don't implement".

Original comment by shiblon on 20 Jun 2007 at 2:22

• Changed state: New

[GoogleCodeExporter]

A couple of comments.  I should have included references in my original 
email...I'll do so below.  Also, I'm not 
in the CS department so I'm not aware of any department-specific requirements 
there may be.

* frontdouble: For the final printing, yes, printing it out single-sided anyway 
and then photocopying it is what 
I do as well.  However, when printing copies for my committee to read or for me 
to proofread, I generally print 
double-sided to save paper.  However, that is a convenience issue.  The issue 
of margins being off for odd/
even pages is a more serious issue.  Can you test this to confirm that it 
happens?  Make the preliminary pages 
have an even number of pages, and then an odd number of pages (for example, 
remove the acknowledgments 
page).  Does the first page of the dissertation have the correct margins for a 
right-side odd page?

Also, when archiving an ETD, are we supposed to make the preliminary pages 
print out on the right side when 
printed out in duplex?  I highly doubt that the library, when printing their 
copy, prints out the first few pages 
in single-side mode and the rest in duplex mode.

* SignaturePurpose: Here are the relevant guidelines from the graduate studies 
office from the form accessible 
from the front page (go to current student > forms > minimum standards; 
http://gradstudies.byu.edu/
resources/publications/MinimumStandards.pdf)

"The required preliminary pages are to be single-sided and in the standard 
university style as illustrated on 
the attached sample pages. The preliminary pages consist of a title page, a 
copyright page (optional), a 
committee approval page, a final reading approval and acceptance page, an 
abstract, and an 
acknowledgments page (optional). "

Note that while there are not detailed guidelines (and the attached files are 
actually not attached), the other 
relevant document, "Minimum Standards Preliminary Pages Template for Master's 
Degree" or "Minimum 
Standards Preliminary Pages Template for Doctoral Degree" both have a date 
field next to the signatures for 
the graduate coordinator and dean.  As far as I can tell, these are the 
official examples and as near as we can 
get to an official source of information (again, university-wide; there may be 
more specific guidelines for CS 
majors).

* References: I very happily concede this point.  My information was based on 
the official example pages when 
I finished my masters thesis several years ago.  Now, the relevant instructions 
are:

"The work’s citations, references, and bibliographic style are to be 
consistent and follow the department’s or 
the discipline’s style guide. "

It's good to know that in at least some things I can follow my discipline's 
conventions.

* MakeEnvSingleSpaced - yes, this seems fine for the example file instead of 
the class file.  One thing I 
appreciate about the class is that it is very readable (as opposed to some 
other BYU style classes that weren't 
very easy to change).  I noticed after I sent the patch to you, however, that 
the setstretch command gave 
errors when in math mode (apparently it calls \normalsize), so the first patch 
I sent you should probably be 
used.

Jason

Original comment by jason-by...@creativetrax.com on 20 Jun 2007 at 9:20

[GoogleCodeExporter]

In all this, though, it seems to me that while we can take the 
officially-provided examples letter-by-letter, most 
people that approve don't care as long as the ideas are still the same.  
However, it seems odd to me to have a 
signature without a date anyway, especially if it's something that is a huge 
thing, like the university 
representative (the dean and graduate coordinator) signing off on the thesis.

So, whatever works for you is great.  I'll be using my changes because they 
seem better to me (except the 
References---thanks for pointing that out!)

Original comment by jason-by...@creativetrax.com on 20 Jun 2007 at 9:23

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Some responses, and then maybe we can get down to the work of including the 
patches
in various forms:

- frontdouble

  I see two concerns here:

  - When printing duplex, the right side page doesn't always start on the right side

    Answer: That is expected behavior.  I am in favor of adding a single blank page
between the front matter and the body to fix this, but am very much against 
adding
one after every little section, mostly because it won't work.  If, for example, 
you
have a two-page abstract, there won't be four pages printed for it (with blank 
pages
interleaved), but two.  I don't remember off the top of my head how to do this 
right.
 I would be happy to include the feature if it inserted a blank even page after every
odd page for the front matter, but that would be a different change than what 
you are
suggesting.  I'm not sure how to implement it, either.  I'd have to dig into the
recesses of my brain and LaTeX to do that.  I'm wondering at this point whether 
it is
worth it.

  - When there are an odd number of front matter pages, the first body page does not
start on the right side

    Answer: I believe this statement is false.  No matter how many pages of front
matter are there, the first page of Chapter 1 is always a right-sided page; it 
always
has a larger left margin.  It may not *print* on the front side when printing 
duplex
if you have an odd number of front matter pages, but it will *always* have the
correct margins.  So, that appears to be working right.  The fix to make odd 
pages
print on the front side is addressed in the next point.

- Duplex printing

  I still like the idea of creating an option for duplex printing, just to save
paper.  Dissertations get printed approximately 700,000,000 times before 
submission,
so it's good to save trees.  I patched the file so that a single blank page is
inserted before the first chapter if it would otherwise print on the wrong 
side.  No
margin changes are necessary.

- ETD archiving

  The library does not print the ETD.  They just store it electronically.  If someone
wants to print it, they have to do it themselves.  Then again, maybe this has 
changed
in the last couple of months?

  What might be best for the ETD version would be a document that is simply
one-sided.  That's up to you.  I'm pretty sure that the library doesn't print 
it,
though.  You still have to give them a hard copy, just not *two* copies like it 
used
to be.

- Signatures

  I took a more careful look at your patch and now I understand what SignaturePurpose
does.  I have changed the spacing a bit to better match the template on
gradstudies.byu.edu.  I think it looks like what you wanted, now.

- Double/Single spacing

  I'm not sure what your patch is trying to do.  What makes this new def superior to
what is already going on?

I have attached a patch that I like a little better.  Let me know what you 
think. 
Thanks again for looking at and patching this in the first place.  I hope that 
the
process of revision isn't intimidating or frustrating to you :-)

Original comment by shiblon on 21 Jun 2007 at 5:44

• Changed state: Started
• Added labels: Priority-Medium
• Removed labels: Priority-Low

Attachments:

• byumsphd.cls.patch

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Patch applied: Revision 23

Original comment by shiblon on 6 Jul 2007 at 1:39

• Added labels: Type-Defect
• Removed labels: Type-Enhancement

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Just cleaning up.  Marking this closed.

Original comment by shiblon on 27 Oct 2009 at 3:37

• Changed state: Fixed