Helpful Information (Tips)

The "optional" Package

I found the optional package to be helpful in maintaining two versions of my document --- one a SAND Report and the other a normal journal paper. Then I only have to change two lines at the top of my document to switch. For example...

• %\documentclass[final]{siamltex}
• \documentclass{SANDreport}
• \usepackage[sand]{optional} % Choose sand or siam
• \opt{sand}{\SANDnum{...} ... }
• \opt{siam}{...}

Thanks to Tammy Kolda

PDF bookmarks

If the document is going to have PDF bookmarks, then I suggest adding the following...

• \begin{document}
• \opt{sand}{\pdfbookmark[1]{Front Page}{frontpage}}
• \maketitle
• \opt{sand}{\pdfbookmark[1]{Abstract}{abstract}}
• \begin{abstract}...

Thanks to Tammy Kolda

LaTeX Tree

Finally, I would suggest to users that they add this package to their LaTeX tree. For MikTeX, this can be done by putting all the files in localtexmf/tex/latex/SANDreport. You then just refresh the filename database, and it finds everything automatically --- even the graphics.

Thanks to Tammy Kolda

pdflatex

The SAND Report class is compatible with pdflatex. The class will load the PDF versions of the DOE and Sandia Logos, so make sure they are in your directory. When using markings and pdflatex, make sure you use the fancyhdr.sty file that comes with the SAND Report class distribution. The original one doesn't work with pdflatex.

With newer LaTeX distributions this does not seem to be necessary anymore.

\date{}

Include \date{} without a parameter in your LaTeX file. This prevents printing of the date on the title page (Page 3). \SANDprintDate should be used instead.

Wrong Margins: texconfig and dvips

Many LaTeX distribution are set to print on A4 paper. Use the texconfig program to switch to US letter paper to ensure your Postscript and PDF files have the right margins.

Run these commands: (as root)
texconfig dvips paper letter
texconfig xdvi paper us
texconfig pdftex paper letter # only on newer versions of LaTeX
texconfig dvipdfm paper letter # only on newer versions of LaTeX

The last two will not work (and are not needed), if you have an older TeX distribution.

Bibliography Style

The standard LaTeX plain bibliography style is fine for SAND reports. The SAND report guide suggests an author/date style as an alternative. I like the chicago.bst BibTeX style for that.

The SAND report guide also says to use a different bibliography for the main document and each appendix. The current SANDreport class does not really support this at the moment. One way to do this is by using the bibunits package.

TeX capacity exceeded, sorry

pdflatex has this problem when markings in the SAND report class are used. I had to comment out a line in fancyhdr.sty to fix this. I don't know why. Make sure the fancyhdr.sty that is in the tar file, is found before the system one. (Placing it into the same directory as your LaTeX file usually does the trick.)

Other Links

Here are some links that might be useful:

http://www-irn.sandia.gov/organization/div12000/ctr12600/newctr12620/logopg.html This is the page where the title page logos came from. The page is not accessible from outside Sandia. The logos provided on our download page have been optimized to load better with some LaTeX distributions.

The Create Arts web page contains guidelines and information about preparing SNL publications.

SAND Report Guide The newest version is 6 from February 2009. Presumably the link will be updated when a new version is published.

A Quick Reference quide that's only 61 pages instead of the 96 for the report ;-) It is specific to SAND reports and leaves out most of the other types of publications the Guide above contains.

Some older documents:

https://wfsprod01.sandia.gov/groups/srn-uscitizens/documents/document/wfs073820.pdf Guide to Preparing SAND Reports and Other Communications Products, Version 2.0 (2005 edition).

http://infoserve.sandia.gov/sand_doc/2002/022068p.pdf Guide to Preparing SAND Reports and Other Communications Products (2002 edition).

http://infoserve.sandia.gov/sand_doc/1998/980730.pdf Guide to Preparing SAND Reports (1998 edition).

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