dalthesis.cls
LaTeX Template for Theses at the Dalhousie University

Download Files

• dalthesis.cls — LaTeX class template file
• thesis.tex — sample LaTeX thesis (a simple example)
• thesis.bib — sample thesis bibliography in BibTeX format
• thesis.pdf — resulting PDF file

For more information about the template, please read further.

Table of Contents

Download Files
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
    1.1 FGS Regulations
    1.2 PDF/A Format
    1.3 Overview of Main Commands
    1.4 Caveats
    1.5 Current Issues
    1.6 Other Similar Templates
2. Package dalthesis
3. Examples of Parts to a Thesis
    3.1 Front Pages
    3.2 Figures
    3.3 Tables
    3.4 Algorithms
    3.5 Theorems
    3.6 Glossary (List of Abbreviations and Symbols Used)
4. Administrative Notes
    4.1 About
    4.2 Acknowledgements
    4.3 Update History (ChangeLog)
    4.4 Previous Saved Versions of dalthesis (and dalcsthesis)
Last Update Information and the End

^ 1. Introduction

^ 1.1 FGS Regulations

The final thesis format is approved by the Faculty of Graduate Studies office. Although this format is regularly maintained in an effort to keep it up to date with the prescribed FGS guidelines, it is possible that some additional corrections will be required. The students are responsible for ensuring that their final thesis conforms to the FGS regulations, especially since LaTeX allows authors to override many aspects of the template within their own text. Hence, make sure that you have your thesis format checked by FGS before trying to submit the final copy of your thesis. This evaluation takes two business days (last time we checked).

The FGS thesis regulations can be found at:
https://dalu.sharepoint.com/sites/graduate-studies/SitePages/forms.aspx?_ga=2.91981274.132963336.1665572441-196558592.1661273966
This page contains format guidelines document as well a sample thesis template in PDF form, among other information.

With this template, we try to provide an example of something that FGS should accept. Students are welcome to make their thesis look as they want, whether by using their own template or by modifying this one, but always have your thesis format checked by FGS before trying to submit the final copy of your thesis.
If you notice that this template does not follow one of the latest FGS rules, please let us know by sending email to: vlado@cs.dal.ca

^ 1.2 PDF/A Format

Ever since the required electronic submission of theses was introduced, the FGS regulations require that the PDF file is in the PDF/A format. This format is not produced by default by pdflatex, or other most common ways of producing PDF from a LaTeX file.

Detailed instructions about how to properly convert your LaTeX document into a PDF/A format are given by Peter Selinger at: http://www.mathstat.dal.ca/~selinger/pdfa/

Additionally, some conversion suggestions are offered by FGS at: http://www.dal.ca/faculty/gradstudies/currentstudents/thesesanddefences/submission.html

^ 1.3 Overview of Main Commands

The LaTeX template for theses at the Dalhousie University is based on version 2.9 of the CS template, which was based on version 2.2 of the template for theses in Mathematics. The math template was developed by Clyde Clements and Steven Matheson. The basic usage of this template is similar to the Math one. Some features may not be documented here, so you can also see instructions of the Math template at www.mscs.dal.ca/~clyde/dalthesis or the basic simple.tex starter file to get started and for the regular bells and whistles.

Declare your supervisor with a \supervisor{} statement and each reader with a \reader{} statement. If you have co-supervisors, declare each of them with a separate \supervisor{} statement and the template will designate them as co-supervisors.

The basic template allows you to not print out the front pages if you include a \nofront command in your file. You can omit specific parts with the following commands: \notitlepage, \nosignaturepage, \nopermissionpage \nodedicationpage, \notableofcontents, \nolistoftables, \nolistoffigures, or \nobib. You can also declare a "draft" version of the thesis with the \draft command.

You can browse the file dalthesis.cls to find all degree tags. For example, the following ones are relevant to the Faculty of Computer Science:

• \bcshon — Bachelor of Computer Science Honours thesis
• \bcshoncoop — Bachelor of Computer Science Honours thesis (with co-op)
• \macs — Master of Applied Computer Science project report
• \mcs — Master of Computer Science thesis
• \mec — Master of Electronic Commerce thesis
• \mhi — Master of Health Informatics thesis
• \phd — Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Use one of these designations before your \frontmatter call and it will define the appropriate abbreviations for your thesis.

A thesis file may rely on some additional style files. All of them are typically available on a system with installed LaTeX, but if a required style file is not available, you can place their copies in the directory with your thesis.

The basic files needed are:

• dalthesis.cls -- thesis class file
• afterpage.sty
• glossary.sty

Simple.tex (pdf, ps) is a sample basic thesis, which may be a good start file to write a thesis. To process it, you also need its bibliography file simple.bib. All these files are available in the directory example-simple.

The rest of this page provides information on including different features in your thesis like a glossary, tables, or figures. They are presented as changes to simple.tex. Taking a UNIX "diff" between simple.tex and the example will show you the items that change to use the given feature.

^ 1.4 Caveats

Page Margins

FGS guidelines specify that the left-side margin should be around 1.5 inches and other three margins approximately 1 inch. The thesis style file is designed to satisfy this requirement but, as Clyde Clements mentions in the math version of the thesis template, you may print the thesis generated by this template and get incorrect margins. Known reasons are

• You selected the wrong paper size when you converted the dvi file to postscript (use the correct option for dvips).
• You generated a PDF file and then, as you printed from Adobe Acrobat, you had the "fit to page" option selected, which decreases the printed text by 93%. (unselect the "fit to page" option before printing)

The easiest way to tell if your margins are correct after printing is to measure where the page number appears at the bottom of a page. The template is designed to print it between 0.5 inches and 0.75 inches from the bottom of the page. If the margin is bigger than that then your method of printing the dvi file has shrunk the margins.

^ 1.5 Current Issues

Although an effort is made to keep the template in accordance with the latest FGS regulations, it happens that a thesis using the template does not conform to some requirements. We greatly appreciate any reports about the corrections, and our first step is to list such issues in this subsection. Additionally, we report here any other reported problems.

• issue with using the package: \usepackage{listings}
  When an appendix chapter consists entierly of a long, multi-page code segment, the page immediatelly after the first chapter page is blank. A quick solution is to redefine the \dal@chapter command in the following way, somewhere in preamble (before \begin{document}) of your thesis:

  \makeatletter
  \def\dal@chapter[#1]#2{%
  \ifnum \c@secnumdepth >\m@ne\refstepcounter{chapter}%
  \typeout{\@chapapp\space\thechapter.}%
  \addcontentsline{toc}{chapter}%
  {\protect\numberline{\@chapapp\space\thechapter}#1}%
  \else\addcontentsline{toc}{chapter}{#1}%
  \fi\chaptermark{#1}%
  \addtocontents{lof}{\protect\addvspace{10\p@}}%
  \addtocontents{lot}{\protect\addvspace{10\p@}}%
  \if@twocolumn\@topnewpage[\@makechapterhead{#2}]%
  \else\@makechapterhead{#2}%
  \@afterheading\fi%
  %\ifdal@in@preface\else\afterpage{\dal@add@textheight{\footskip}}\fi%
  }
  \makeatother
  

  This should be done just before the first code appendix chapter. Thanks to Mike Lawrence for reporting this problem.
• When using dotted leaders to separate entries from page number, ensure that at least three dots can fit between the end of your entry and the page number (list of tables, list of figures, table of contents).

  One solution can be illustrated as follows:

  \section[This Section Title is Very Close to the Length of Two Lines
   in the Table of Contents---There Should be Two Dots at the End of
   ToC Line~.~.]
  {This Section Title is Very Close to the Length of Two Lines
   in the Table of Contents---There Should be Two Dots at the End of
   ToC Line}
  

  This is a trick to repeat the title for the short and long version, but we add ~.~. in the "short" version. This makes the title in the Table of Contents longer, and makes sure that there are at least two dots in the dotted line, as required.
• In table and figure captions, we can use the following style:

  \caption[caption title]{actual caption text}
  

  instead of

  \caption{caption text}
  

  In the first case only the caption title will appear in the table of contents. The first usage is encouraged if the caption text takes more than one line.
• There is a new command, \mixedCaseTitle, which should be documented. The command negates the code to capitalize the title. If you absolutely need mixed case in the title (like a chemistry person who might need NaCl in the title with that casing) then invoke the no-parameter \mixedCaseTitle command and you now control the case title.

^ 1.6 Other Similar Templates

At an ad-hoc committee meeting on Jun 14, 2012, it was decided that a common Dalhousie LaTeX thesis template to be created, and this site is the result of such effort. A number of other LaTeX templates at the Dalhousie University exist, and here is a list of them (if you know of any other, please email Vlado Keselj at vlado@dnlp.ca):

• Computer Science: http://web.cs.dal.ca/~vlado/dalcsthesis/
  The Computer Science template is replaced with the dalthesis template (this template), and will be removed. It was adapted from the Math templated by Clyde Clements by Mike McAllister and Vlado Keselj.
• Oceanography: https://github.com/dankelley/dal-oce-thesis
  The Oceanography template is maintained by Dan Kelly.
• Math and Stats (discontinued): http://www.mathstat.dal.ca/~clyde/dalthesis/index.html
  This is the oldest thesis template, created by Clyde Clements. The link does not exist any more.

^ 2. Package dalthesis

dalthesis.cls, MANIFEST, thesis.tex, thesis.bib, thesis.pdf, index.html, styles.css, afterpage.sty, glossary.sty, example-simple/thesis.tex, example-simple/thesis.bib, example-simple/thesis.pdf, example-simple/Makefile, example-simple/dalthesis.cls, example-glossary/glossary.sty, example-glossary/glossary.tex, example-glossary/glossary.pdf, example-glossary/Makefile, example-glossary/simple.bib,

^ 3. Examples of Parts to a Thesis

^ 3.1 Front Pages

According to current regulations, an abstract should occupy a single page. It may be typeset in the single space mode, if necessary. To obtain the single-space mode you need to specify the beginning tag as:

\begin{abstract}[s]

\begin{abstract}

^ 3.2 Figures

The example included here uses two LaTeX subpackages: graphicx and subfigure. The graphicx package is quite common and useful to include external images. The current FGS requirements (2011-04) require that a thesis is submitted in the PDF format, for the electronic submission, and it should be PDF/A compliant. This requires that all fonts are embedded, among other requirements. To obtain such format, it is recommended that you use pdflatex, instead of producing a DVI file and then a PS file. All EPS figures need to be converted to PDF as well. You can use epstopdf command (in Linux environment) to convert an EPS figure to PDF. For example, to convert a f.eps file to pdf, type "epstopdf f.eps", and it will produce "f.pdf" file, usable as a figure by pdflatex.

This example uses two sub-packages: graphicx and subfigure. graphicx is a standard package that gives you everything you need for figures. The subfigure package is used here to place more than one picture (each with their own caption) within one figure.

• figures.tex (pdf)— latex file that uses figures
• samplefig.eps — EPS figure to include in the example
• samplefig.pdf — PDF figure to include in the example
• graphicx.sty — style file for graphics (you shouldn't need to install this on any system)
• subfigure.sty — style file for subfigures (Installed on the UNIX system, you may need it for your own system)

Diff with "simple.tex" (< means a line was removed, > means that a line was added):

% diff simple.tex figures.tex
1,4c1,7
< % simple.tex - simple Master's thesis sample
< \documentclass[12pt]{dalthesis}
< % to prepare draft version use option draft:
< %\documentclass[12pt,draft]{dalthesis}
---
> % dalcsthesis examples/figures.tex
> % $Id: figures.tex 307 2011-01-21 14:00:38Z vlado $
> \documentclass[12pt]{dalcsthesis}
> 
> %Figures -- these packages let you do some extra things with figures.
> \usepackage[dvips]{graphicx}
> \usepackage{subfigure}
6a10
> 
12,13c16,17
< \defenceyear{2010}
< \convocation{May}{2011}
---
> \defenceyear{2006}
> \convocation{May}{2007}
59a64,90
> 
> Every dissertation should consider having nice figures like Figure~\ref{fig-steiner_growth}.
> 
> \begin{figure}
>   \centering
>      {\includegraphics[height = 3.0 in]{samplefig}}
>   \caption{\label{fig-steiner_growth} Growth patterns for Steiner
>     graph versus original lattice. Note the logarithmic scale.}
> \end{figure}
> 
> Sometimes it is useful to group figures together. 
> Figure~\ref{fig-partial_compare} is an example of using the subfigure style.
> 
> \begin{figure}
>   \centering
>   \subfigure[Caption A]{\includegraphics[width = 2.75 in]{samplefig}}\qquad
>   \subfigure[Caption B]{\includegraphics[width = 2.75 in]{samplefig}}\qquad
>   \subfigure[Caption C]{\includegraphics[width = 2.75 in]{samplefig}}\qquad
>   \subfigure[Caption D]{\includegraphics[width = 2.75 in]{samplefig}}
>   \caption{\label{fig-partial_compare}Relative weight reduction for the
>   schedule trees produced on subsets of size (a) 10\% (b) 25\% (c)
>   50\% (d) 75\%. The baseline in this case is chosen as the
>   smaller of (i) a sort of the raw data set for each view or (ii)
>   computation of the full cube.}
> \end{figure}
> 
> Thanks to Todd Eavis for providing the figures and usage method for the package.

^ 3.3 Tables

Tables have native support in LaTeX. This one uses a tabular inner environment to give a pretty layout to the data.

• tables.tex (pdf)— latex file that uses tables

Diff with "simple.tex" (< means a line was removed, > means that a line was added):

% diff simple.tex tables.tex
1,4c1,2
< % simple.tex - simple Master's thesis sample
< \documentclass[12pt]{dalthesis}
< % to prepare draft version use option draft:
< %\documentclass[12pt,draft]{dalthesis}
---
> % Version 2006-12-05
> \documentclass[12pt]{dalcsthesis}
6a5
> 
12,13c11,12
< \defenceyear{2010}
< \convocation{May}{2011}
---
> \defenceyear{2006}
> \convocation{May}{2007}
22c21
< \nolistoftables
---
> 
59a59,77
> 
> Tables are native to LaTeX.  Table~\ref{tab-steiner_growth} shows a
> tabular environment within a table.
> 
> \begin{table}[tbh]
> \centering
> \begin{tabular}{|r|r|r|r|r|}
>     \hline
>     Dimensions & Lattice Nodes & Lattice Edges & Steiner Nodes & Steiner Edges \\
>     \hline \hline
>     3 & 8 & 12 & 16 & 117 \\
>     \hline
>     4 & 16 & 32 & 65 & 1948 \\
>     \hline
> \end{tabular}
>  \caption{\label{tab-steiner_growth}Growth patterns for Steiner
>     graph versus original lattice in tabular form}
> \end{table}
> 

^ 3.4 Algorithms

This example uses two sub-packages: algorithm and algorithmic. There are other algorithm packages that exist that you might consider too. The algorithms don't appear in any table of contents unless you enclose them in a figure environment.

• algorithm.tex (pdf) — latex file with an algorithm
• algorithm.sty — May need to install on your own system or the UNIX system.
• algorithmic.sty — May need to install on your own system or the UNIX system.

Diff with "simple.tex" (< means a line was removed, > means that a line was added):

% diff simple.tex tables.tex
1,4c1,6
< % simple.tex - simple Master's thesis sample
< \documentclass[12pt]{dalthesis}
< % to prepare draft version use option draft:
< %\documentclass[12pt,draft]{dalthesis}
---
> % Version 2006-12-05
> \documentclass[12pt]{dalcsthesis}
> 
> % Algorithms
> \usepackage{algorithmic}
> \usepackage{algorithm}
6a9
> 
12,13c15,16
< \defenceyear{2010}
< \convocation{May}{2011}
---
> \defenceyear{2006}
> \convocation{May}{2007}
59a63,103
> 
> \begin{algorithm}
> 
>  \caption{Add Non Essential Views}
>  \label{alg-add_non_essential_views}
> 
>  \begin{algorithmic}[1]
> 
>     \INPUT A tree $E$ consisting of the selected group-bys, and a
>     guiding graph $G$. Also used are auxiliary variables $BP$
>     (best plan) and $CP$ (current plan).
> 
>     \OUTPUT Reduced tree $R$.
> 
>     \COMMENT{Add nodes from $G - R$ to $E$ as long as the total
>     cost improves}
> 
>     \REPEAT
>         \STATE clear $BP$
> 
>         \FOR{every $v \: in \: G - R$}
>             \STATE clear $CP$
>             \STATE $CP.node = v$
>             \STATE {\sf FindBestParent(R, CP)}
>             \STATE {\sf FindBestChildren(R, CP)}
> 
>             \IF{ {\em CP.benefit\/} $>$ {\em BP.benefit\/} }
>                 \STATE $BP = CP$
>             \ENDIF
>         \ENDFOR
> 
>         \IF{ {\em BP.benefit\/} $> 0$}
>             \STATE add $BP.node$ to $R$ and update $R$ accordingly
>         \ENDIF
> 
>     \UNTIL{ {\em BP.benefit\/} $<= 0$}
> 
>  \end{algorithmic}
> \end{algorithm}
> 
> Thanks to Todd Eavis for providing the sample algorithm.

^ 3.5 Theorems

The example theorems.tex (pdf) illustrates how we can write definitions, theorems, proofs, and other similar parts in LaTeX.

• theorems.tex (pdf) — latex file with a theorem

Diff with "simple.tex" (< means a line was removed, > means that a line was added):

% diff simple.tex theorems.tex
1,4c1,11
< % simple.tex - simple Master's thesis sample
< \documentclass[12pt]{dalthesis}
< % to prepare draft version use option draft:
< %\documentclass[12pt,draft]{dalthesis}
---
> % Version 2006-12-05
> \documentclass[12pt]{dalcsthesis}
> 
> % Definitions, Theorems, Lemmas, etc.
> \newtheorem{definition}{Definition}
> \newtheorem{theorem}{Theorem}
> \newtheorem{lemma}{Lemma}
> 
> % A simple proof environment
> \newenvironment{proof}{\paragraph{Proof.}}
> {\nopagebreak\hfill\nopagebreak\rule{2mm}{2mm}\par\bigskip}
6a14
> 
12,13c20,21
< \defenceyear{2010}
< \convocation{May}{2011}
---
> \defenceyear{2006}
> \convocation{May}{2007}
56a65,76
> 
> Theorem~\ref{theorem-sample} is a sample theorem.
> 
> \begin{theorem}[Optional title] \label{theorem-sample}
>     This is a theorem!
> \end{theorem}
> 
> \begin{proof}
>     This is the proof.
> 
>     Here comes the Q.E.D. (quod erat demonstrandum) box.
> \end{proof}

For proofs and proof sketches you can also use the style package written by Norbert Zeh, nzproof.sty. The package requires the following other style files: amsmath.sty, amssymb.sty, amsfonts.sty, and ifthen.sty, which are likely already installed on the system. This example shows how nzproof style file can be used. Thanks to Norbert Zeh for providing the style file and the sample LaTeX source.

• nzproof.sty — the style file
• nzproof.tex (pdf) — sample LaTeX file

Diff with "simple.tex" (< means a line was removed, > means that a line was added):

% diff simple.tex nzproof.tex
1,4c1,12
< % simple.tex - simple Master's thesis sample
< \documentclass[12pt]{dalthesis}
< % to prepare draft version use option draft:
< %\documentclass[12pt,draft]{dalthesis}
---
> % Version 2006-12-05
> \documentclass[12pt]{dalcsthesis}
> 
> %Theorem
> \usepackage{nzproof,theorem}
> \newtheorem{theorem}{Theorem}
> \newtheorem{proposition}{Proposition}
> \newtheorem{lemma}{Lemma}
> \newtheorem{definition}{Definition}
> \newtheorem{observation}{Observation}
> \newtheorem{corollary}{Corollary}
> \newtheorem{problem}{Problem}
6a15
> 
12,13c21,22
< \defenceyear{2010}
< \convocation{May}{2011}
---
> \defenceyear{2006}
> \convocation{May}{2007}
59a69,104
> 
> Theorem~\ref{theorem-greatest} is a sample theorem.  You could equally well
> make it a lemma, definition, proposition, observation, corollary, or problem.
> 
> \begin{theorem}
> 
>     \label{theorem-greatest}
> 
>     This is the greatest theorem!
> 
> \end{theorem}
> 
> \begin{pf}
>     Trivial. Just admire it obvious correctness!  Sometimes you just have to 
>     make things short enough that people believe the result right away.
> 
>     Then there are other times like this one where you're waiving your hands 
>     wildly and hoping that nobody notices...but they always do.
> 
>     Ending here, if I leave a blank line before the endproof line then the 
>     box appears on a separate line.  If I leave no line, like now, the box 
>     comes at the end of this line.
> \end{pf}
> 
> Or, you can do a proof sketch:
> 
> \begin{ps}
>     Just waive your hands around and make it look convincing.
> \end{ps}
> 
> Another alternative is to give a label to your proof, which can also be
> done to proof sketches:
> 
> \begin{pf}[Theorem~\ref{theorem-greatest}]
> This is a delated proof to a result stated earlier in the text.
> \end{pf}

^ 3.6 Glossary (List of Abbreviations and Symbols Used)

For generating glossaries it is recommended that you use the package glossaries as described in the following Overleaf page: https://www.overleaf.com/learn/latex/Glossaries

First, you need to include the package glossaries. It is also recommended to have the hyperref package, and in that case it should be included first. This is an example of including both packages with setting some defaults:

\usepackage[hidelinks]{hyperref}
% Example of some parameter modifications:
\hypersetup{
    colorlinks=true,
    linkcolor=blue,
    citecolor=black,
    filecolor=magenta,      
    urlcolor=black,
    }
% Now, we include glossaries:
\usepackage[acronym,toc]{glossaries}
% and we also include this command to prepare glossaries,
% before the first glossary entry:
\makeglossaries

Immediately after the abstract and before acknowledgements you need to insert the commands for generating the List of Abbreviations and Symbols Used, and Glossary:

% The list of abbreviations and symbols:
\printglossary[type=acronym,
  title=List of Abbreviations and Symbols Used,
  toctitle=List of Abbreviations and Symbols Used,
  style=long3col
  ]

% The Glossary list:
\printglossary

Defining new abbreviations or symbol explanations can be done anywhere in text using commands like these:

\newacronym{gcd}{GCD}{Greatest Common Divisor}
\newacronym{intersection}{$\cap$}{Set Intersection}

Defining terms for the glossary is done using a command like this:

\newglossaryentry{formula}
{ name=formula, description={A mathematical expression} }

The abbreviations and glossary entries can be mentioned in text using the following commands (they keys `formula' and `gcd' are used as examples):

• \acrshort{gcd} — to include the abbreviation in text,
• \acrlong{gcd} — to include the expanded abbreviation in text,
• \acrfull{gcd} — to include the expanded and short version in parentheses of an abbreviation in text,
• \gls{formula} — to include a glossary term in text,
• \glspl{formula} — to include a glossary term in plural form in text,
• \Gls{formula} — to include a capitalized glossary term in text,
• \Glspl{formula} — to include a capitalized glossary term in plural form in text,
• \glsadd{intersection} — to include the glossary term, abbreviation, or symbol as appearing on this page without actually including it in text.

The command \glsadd is particularly useful for math notation, because using a command like \acrshort would break an equation where we typically use a math symbol. We can use it for example like this:

\begin{equation}
A = B \cap C
\glsadd{intersection}
\end{equation}

Please consult further other information such as the page: https://www.overleaf.com/learn/latex/Glossaries

The record below shows the previously recommended and older way of creating glossaries in LaTeX. It does not seem to work in Overleaf if you are using that platform, and it is considered an older and less preferred way of generating glossaries. This part is planned to be eventually removed.

Previous Glossary Usage

This is the previous glossary usage and it will be kept here temporarily.

This example creates a List of Abbreviations and Symbols Used, which we will also call simply a glossary. The example uses the file glossary.sty, which may be installed on your system, or you can download it from here.

To create a glossary, you should first make the following modifications to your LaTeX source of the thesis. First, make the following line replacement: line:

< \documentclass[12pt]{dalthesis}
---
> \documentclass[12pt,glossary]{dalthesis}

\printglossary

A Context-Free Grammar (CFG) is a four-tuple ...

\glossary{name={CFG},description={Context-Free Grammar}}

Now, after running LaTeX on our source file, which may be named thesis.tex for exampl, we issue the command:

makeindex -s thesis.ist -o thesis.gls thesis.glo

makeindex -s glossary.ist -o glossary.gls glossary.glo

The files provided in the glossary example are:

• glossary.tex (pdf) — LaTeX file with a glossary
• glossary.sty — the glossary style file; it may be already installed on the system.
• simple.bib — the bibliography file
• Makefile — the makefile with main command-line recipes for making the final PDF.

The following is the diff output between "simple.tex" and "glossary.tex", showing all changes (< means a line was removed, > means that a line was added):

% diff simple.tex glossary.tex
1,2c1,2
< % simple.tex - simple Master's thesis sample
< \documentclass[12pt]{dalthesis}
---
> % glossary.tex - thesis example with glossary
> \documentclass[12pt,glossary]{dalthesis}
6a7
> 
30a32,33
> \printglossary
> 
47,49c50,52
< preparation,
< methodology,
< forethought,
---
> preparation\glossary{name={Preparation},description={Getting ready to do something}},
> methodology\glossary{name={Methodology},description={The way to do something methodically}},
> forethought\glossary{name={Forethought},description={Thinking ahead}},
51c54
< analysis
---
> analysis\glossary{name={Analysis},description={Looking back at what you did to see what did or didn't work}}

^ 4. Administrative Notes

^ 4.1 About

The dalthesis LaTeX template is currently maintained by Vlado Keselj, and you can send him comments or questions at vlado+dalthesis@dnlp.ca.

Join the email list dalthesis.tex to discuss the format and receive update announcements by sending an email to vlado+dalthesis@dnlp.ca.

The dalthesis template has been created through a collective effort and we you can find the names of the contributors in the sections below.

^ 4.2 Acknowledgements

The dalthesis template arose out of the efforts of many people. Particular thanks go to the following contributors:

• Clyde Clements and Steven Matheson for providing the base Math template from which the CS template arose,
• Mike McAllister for the main work on adaptation of the Computer Science template, integration of the updates below, and producing this web page, and examples.
• Todd Eavis, Andrew Rau-Chaplin, Billy Biggs, Srini Sampalli, and Stuart MacAskill for providing examples of how they adjusted the math template to adapt to the FGS regulations as they were getting their theses approved. In particular, Todd provided the foundation, algorithm, and figures of the bigger thesisExample sample thesis.
• Norbert Zeh for looking over the finishing touches of the template and for providing a proof environment.
• Vlado Keselj for some major latex hacking to address the FGS requirements that will go unnoticed by most non-FGS people but that are some of the trickier details to integrate simply and seamlessly in the class file.
• Mike Smit for providing additional corrections from FGS.
• Li Lei for providing corrections.
• Sajjad Hussain for providing corrections.
• Mike McAllister created and maintained the CS thesis template in the period from 2005 to 2006.
• Vlado Keselj and Mike McAllister maintained the CS thesis template in the period from 2006 to 2012.
• Vlado Keselj modified dalcsthesis template into general dalthesis template in 2012, and continued maintaining it.
• Peter Selinger provided fixes to some bugs related to PDF bookmarks and wrote detailed instructions for how to produce theses in PDF/A format in 2014-2015.
• Peter Selinger fixed the way list of tables and figures appear in table of contents

^ 4.3 Update History (ChangeLog)

• 2023-Mar-2 -- VK: documentation improvements - glossary
• 2022-Nov-14 -- VK: documentation improvements (glossary): documenting the use of newer package glossaries as recommended by Overleaf.
• 2017-Aug-15 -- Peter Selinger: Version 1.4
  • Fixed the way list of tables and figure appear in the table of contents.
• 2015-Aug-19 -- VK: documentation improvements (glossary)
• 2015-Mar-10 -- Vlado Keselj: Version 1.3
  • Minor update on the title page, based on FGS feedback
• 2015-Mar-10 -- Peter Selinger: Version 1.2
  • Fixed two bugs related to PDF bookmarks
  • Provided detailed instructions for how to produce these in PDF/A format
• 2014-Aug-07 -- VK: documentation improvements
• 2013-Oct-01 -- VK: glossary files added (fixing)
• 2013-Jun-24 -- VK: Version 1.1
  • Implemented the format change from FGS: removal of pages ii and iii; the signature page and the permission page.
• 2012-Nov-13 -- Vlado Keselj: dalthesis.cls created from dalcsthesis.cls; documentation improvements;
• 2012-Jun-14 -- VK: documentation improvements
• 2012-Jun-01 -- VK: documentation improvements
• 2011-Apr-05 -- VK: documentation improvements (figures)
• 2011-Jan-21 -- VK: front page updates, fixing spacing
• 2010-Jan-05 -- VK: minor documentation updates
• 2008-Sep-05 -- VK: issue with the package listings (empty page)
• 2008-Jun-14 -- VK: minor documentation and examples updates (glossary)
• 2007-Sep-18 -- VK: Version 2.8
  • fixed bug with PhD thesis: Previously, signatures appeared on the next (wrong) page because there are five of them;
  • minor documentation and "big example" updates,
  • added phd-example
• 2007-Aug-30 -- VK: minor documentation updates
• 2007-Mar-08 -- VK: minor documentation updates
• 2007-Jan-04 -- VK: minor documentation updates
• 2006-Dec-05 -- VK: Version 2.7, Bachelor of Computer Science, Honours is submitted to FCS instead of FGS. Updates of examples and documentation.
• 2006-Dec-04 -- Vlado Keselj updated the examples and the documentation.
• 2006-Dec-01 -- Vlado Keselj updated the examples and the documentation.
• 2006-Nov-18 -- Mike Mcallister adapted version 2.6 from version 2.5 as required by FGS:
  • Title must be capitalized everywhere. Added command \mixedCaseTitle to in case the title needs mixed case, at which point the author of the dissertation takes on the responsibility of getting the case right.
  • Even spacing on title bage between title, "by" and author name
  • Put lower part of title page in single space
  • Capitalized words on author signature page as required
• 2006-Aug-31 -- Maintainers: Mike McAllister and Vlado Keselj
• 2005-Apr-28 -- Maintainer: Vlado Keselj
• 2005-Apr-21 -- Graduate committee approved the template.
• 2005-Apr-06 -- Added the "random information" section to document that the thesis must still be reviewed by FGS and that the abstract has a limited size.
• 2005-Mar-29 -- Added information about paper margins and on not printing some parts of the text.
• 2005-Mar-22 -- Added a note about how to have co-supervisors.
• 2005-Mar-17 -- Indicate that the template passes the requirements of FGS. Updated the list of files required by nzproof.sty too.
• 2005-Feb-25 -- Made the distinction between \submitdate{} (title page) and \defencedate{} (signature pages) since the latter requires a full date while the former only asks for the month and year. If you have a thesis that uses a prior version of the template, you will need to add a \defencedate{} clause with the new thesis template!
• 2005-Feb-25 -- Added in a disclaimer and indicated that students are welcome to submit whatever thesis format FGS will accept; this template is just a suggestion. Reformatted the acknowledgements section.
• 2005-Feb-24 -- new thesis class file again and glossary example. Vlado made the glossary into an option of the thesis class so that we can modify its line spacing to what FGS wants. Way to go Vlado!
• 2005-Feb-23 -- new thesis class file uploaded with some margin and font size fixes. The index was also removed from examples since grad studies doesn't want an index.
• 2005-Feb -- Created by Mike McAllister, and changes below are done by Mike unless marked otherwise.

^ 4.4 Previous Saved Versions of dalthesis (and dalcsthesis)

• Version 1.1, stored on 10-Mar-2015
• Version 1.0, stored on 24-Jun-2013
• (last dalcsthesis version) Version 2.9, stored on 14-Jun-2012
• Version 2.6, stored on 04-Dec-2006
• Version 2.5, stored on 17-Nov-2006
• Version 2.4, stored on 30-Aug-2006
• Version 2.4, stored on 21-Dec-2005

^ Last Update Information and the End

Last update: 05-Mar-2023