A Sample ACM SIG Proceedings Paper in LaTeX Format^∗

We have already seen several typeface changes in this sample. You can indicate italicized words or phrases in your text with the command \textit; emboldening with the command \textbf and typewriter-style (for instance, for computer code) with \texttt. But remember, you do not have to indicate typestyle changes when such changes are part of the structural elements of your article; for instance, the heading of this subsection will be in a sans serif³ typeface, but that is handled by the document class file. Take care with the use of⁴ the curly braces in typeface changes; they mark the beginning and end of the text that is to be in the different typeface.

You can use whatever symbols, accented characters, or non-English characters you need anywhere in your document; you can find a complete list of what is available in the LaTeX User’s Guide[5].

You may want to display math equations in three distinct styles: inline, numbered or non-numbered display. Each of the three are discussed in the next sections.

Inline (In-text) Equations

A formula that appears in the running text is called an inline or in-text formula. It is produced by the math environment, which can be invoked with the usual \begin. . .\end construction or with the short form $. . .$. You can use any of the symbols and structures, from α to ω, available in LaTeX[5]; this section will simply show a few examples of in-text equations in context. Notice how this equation: lim_$n$→∞ $x=0$, set here in in-line math style, looks slightly different when set in display style. (See next section).

Display Equations

A numbered display equation – one set off by vertical space from the text and centered horizontally – is produced by the equation environment. An unnumbered display equation is produced by the displaymath environment.

Again, in either environment, you can use any of the symbols and structures available in LaTeX; this section will just give a couple of examples of display equations in context. First, consider the equation, shown as an inline equation above:

$\begin{array}{c}\underset{n\to \infty }{\lim }x=0\end{array}$

Notice how it is formatted somewhat differently in the displaymath environment. Now, we’ll enter an unnumbered equation:

$\begin{array}{c}{\displaystyle \sum _{i=0}^{\infty }}x+1\hfill \end{array}$

and follow it with another numbered equation:

$\begin{array}{c}\sum _{i=0}^{\infty }{x}_i={\int }_0^{\pi +2}f\hfill \end{array}$

just to demonstrate LaTeX’s able handling of numbering.

Citations to articles [1, 3, 3, 4], conference proceedings [2] or books [5, 6] listed in the Bibliography section of your article will occur throughout the text of your article. You should use BibTeX to automatically produce this bibliography; you simply need to insert one of several citation commands with a key of the item cited in the proper location in the .tex file [5]. The key is a short reference you invent to uniquely identify each work; in this sample document, the key is the first author’s surname and a word from the title. This identifying key is included with each item in the .bib file for your article.

The details of the construction of the .bib file are beyond the scope of this sample document, but more information can be found in the Author’s Guide, and exhaustive details in the LaTeX User’s Guide[5].

This article shows only the plainest form of the citation command, using \cite. This is what is stipulated in the SIGS style specifications. No other citation format is endorsed.

Because tables cannot be split across pages, the best placement for them is typically the top of the page nearest their initial cite. To ensure this proper floating placement of tables, use the environment table to enclose the table’s contents and the table caption. The contents of the table itself must go in the tabular environment, to be aligned properly in rows and columns, with the desired horizontal and vertical rules. Again, detailed instructions on tabular material is found in the LaTeX User’s Guide.

Immediately following this sentence is the point at which Table [Frequency of Special Characters] is included in the input file; compare the placement of the table here with the table in the printed dvi output of this document.

Frequency of Special Characters

Non-English or Math	Frequency	Comments
Ø	1 in 1,000	For Swedish names
π	1 in 5	Common in math
$	4 in 5	Used in business
${\Psi }_1^2$	1 in 40,000	Unexplained usage

To set a wider table, which takes up the whole width of the page’s live area, use the environment table* to enclose the table’s contents and the table caption. As with a single-column table, this wide table will float to a location deemed more desirable. Immediately following this sentence is the point at which Table 2 is included in the input file; again, it is instructive to compare the placement of the table here with the table in the printed dvi output of this document.

Like tables, figures cannot be split across pages; the best placement for them is typically the top or the bottom of the page nearest their initial cite. To ensure this proper floating placement of figures, use the environment figure to enclose the figure and its caption.

This sample document contains examples of .eps and .ps files to be displayable with LaTeX. More details on each of these is found in the Author’s Guide.

As was the case with tables, you may want a figure that spans two columns. To do this, and still to ensure proper floating placement of tables, use the environment figure* to enclose the figure and its caption.

Note that either .ps or .eps formats are used; use the \epsfig or \psfig commands as appropriate for the different file types.

Other common constructs that may occur in your article are the forms for logical constructs like theorems, axioms, corollaries and proofs. There are two forms, one produced by the command \newtheorem and the other by the command \newdef; perhaps the clearest and easiest way to distinguish them is to compare the two in the output of this sample document:

This uses the theorem environment, created by the \newtheorem command:

Theorem 1

Let $f$ be continuous on $[a,b]$. If G is an antiderivative for f on [a, b], then $\begin{array}{c}{\displaystyle \underset{a}{\overset{b}{\int }}}f\left(t\right)dt=G\left(b\right)-G\left(a\right).\hfill \end{array}$

The other uses the definition environment, created by the \newdef command:

Definition 1

If $z$ is irrational, then by $e^z$ we mean the unique number which has logarithm $z$: $log{e}^z=z$

Two lists of constructs that use one of these forms is given in the Author’s Guidelines.

There is one other similar construct environment, which is already set up for you; i.e. you must not use a \newdef command to create it: the proof environment. Here is a example of its use:

Proof

Suppose on the contrary there exists a real number $L$ such that $\begin{array}{c}{\displaystyle \underset{x\to \infty }{\lim }}\genfrac{}{}{0.1ex}{}{f\left(x\right)}{g\left(x\right)}=L.\hfill \end{array}$

Then

$\begin{array}{c}l={\displaystyle \underset{x\to c}{\lim }}f\left(x\right)={\displaystyle \underset{x\to c}{\lim }}[gx\cdot \genfrac{}{}{0.1ex}{}{f\left(x\right)}{g\left(x\right)}]={\displaystyle \underset{x\to c}{\lim }}g\left(x\right)\cdot {\displaystyle \underset{x\to c}{\lim }}\genfrac{}{}{0.1ex}{}{f\left(x\right)}{g\left(x\right)}=0\cdot L=0,\hfill \end{array}$

which contradicts our assumption that $l\ne 0$.

Complete rules about using these environments and using the two different creation commands are in the Author’s Guide; please consult it for more detailed instructions. If you need to use another construct, not listed therein, which you want to have the same formatting as the Theorem or the Definition[6] shown above, use the \newtheorem or the \newdef command, respectively, to create it.

Some Typical Commands

Command	A Number	Comments
\alignauthor	100	Author alignment
\numberofauthors	200	Author enumeration
\table	300	For tables
\table*	400	For wider tables