TeXnicCenter

TeXnicCenter is a free open source program, IDE for LaTeX in Windows, using the MiKTeX or TeXLive distributions. It allows the user to type documents in LaTeX and to compile them in PDF, DVI or PS. A menu gives the possibility to access easily to precoded elements and environments (formulas, symbols, sections). It also makes possible to create projects to organise and access the sections and environments of your document and to insert a bibliography (using BibTeX) and an index (using MakeIndex).

To use TeXLive 2005 distribution you need to make a minor change to the output profiles ... replace each of the output argument options with their unix format variants (yes even for running on Windows) ... so that the command line arguments "%pm" becomes "%Pm" and "%bm" becomes "%Bm" etc.)

Acrobat integration

TeXnicCenter has the ability to integrate nicely with Adobe Acrobat, such that recently compiled PDF files are opened automatically, and existing open PDF files are closed automatically upon recompilation. This is done using DDE calls to Acrobat, documented in Acrobat Interapplication Communication Overview and Acrobat Interapplication Communication Reference

Integration setup

You can insert the following lines of command in TeXnicCenter to integrate it with Acrobat. This particularly enables you to compile your files in pdf without having to close the previous document first (necessary in the default option). Integration is setup in the Build | Define Output Profiles menu option. Select a profile "LaTeX=>PDF" or "LaTeX=>PS=>PDF", and click on the viewer window :

view project's output:  [v] DDE command.
command: [DocOpen("%bm.pdf")][FileOpen("%bm.pdf")]
server: acroview
topic: control

forward search: [v] DDE command.
command: [DocOpen("%bm.pdf")][FileOpen("%bm.pdf")]
server: acroview
topic: control

Close document before running (La)TeX: [v] DDE command
command: [DocClose("%bm.pdf")]
server: acroview
topic: control

Alternatively, the following command can be used for "forward search", which opens the pdf-document on page <pageno>+1:

forward search: [v] DDE command.
command: [DocOpen("%bm.pdf")][DocGoTo("%bm.pdf",<pageno>)]
server: acroview
topic: control

If you want Acrobat to reopen the file after a recompilation at the same location as it was just before, set:

view project's output:  [v] DDE command.
command: [DocOpen("%bm.pdf")][FileOpen("%bm.pdf")][MenuitemExecute("GoBack")]
server: acroview
topic: control

forward search: [v] DDE command.
command: [DocOpen("%bm.pdf")][FileOpen("%bm.pdf")][MenuitemExecute("GoBack")]
server: acroview
topic: control

Close document before running (La)TeX: [v] DDE command
command: [DocClose("%bm.pdf")]
server: acroview
topic: control

External links

• TeXnicCenter homepage
• TeXnicCenter on SourceForge