AMSLATEX(1)

NAME
amslatex - structured text formatting and typesetting

SYNOPSIS
amslatex [ first line ]

DESCRIPTION
AmSLaTeX is an extension of LaTeX (see LaTeX - A Document Preparation System) that provides the powerful mathematical typesetting macros of AmSTeX (see The Joy of TeX) within the syntax of LaTeX. It should be contrasted with LAmS-TeX (lamstex(1)), which extends AmSTeX with LaTeX-like features.

AmSLaTeX documents can be processed by latex(1), so a separate executable program named amslatex is not usually provided.

AmSLaTeX is a TeX macro package, not a modification to the TeX source program, so all the capabilities described in tex(1) are present.

The AmSLaTeX macros encourage writers to think about the content of their documents, rather than the form. The ideal, not always realized, is to have no formatting commands (like ``switch to italic'' or ``skip 2 picas'') in the document at all; instead, everything is done by specific markup instructions: ``emphasize'', ``start a section''.

AmSTeX is the official typesetting system of the American Mathematical Society, and nearly all of its publications are typeset using AmSTeX. The online version of AMS Math Reviews uses AmSTeX input syntax for display of mathematical material. AMS authors can provide editors with computer-readable AmSTeX or AmSLaTeX files.

AmSLaTeX will become deprecated in favor of LaTeX 2e, when the latter is released.

FILES

@TEXMF@/doc/latex/amslatex/amsldoc.dvi
    Documentation for AmSLaTeX, typesettable by LaTeX. This supersedes The Joy of TeX, but AmSLaTeX users may still find that book a convenient supplement.

SEE ALSO
amstex(1), lamstex(1), latex(1), tex(1), slitex(1).
Leslie Lamport, LaTeX - A Document Preparation System, Addison-Wesley, 1985, ISBN 0-201-15790-X.
Michael Spivak, The Joy of TeX, 2nd edition, Addison-Wesley, 1990, ISBN 0-8218-2997-1.