Newbiemacs Lecture 1

Jang Soo Kim

May 26, 2025

Introduction

  • Newbiemacs는 Emacs를 기반으로 개발한 수학자를 위한 프로그램
  • AI가 latex 코드를 생성해 주는 시대에 latex을 배울 필요가 있을까?
  • AI로 코드를 생성한 후 그것을 편집하는 것이 중요함
  • Newbiemacs는 latex 코드를 원하는 대로 편집하는데 편리한 기능을 제공

History of Newbiemacs

  • 2022년 10월부터 Newbiemacs 개발 시작
  • 현재 국내외 약 10명이 사용중

Features of Newbiemacs

  • pdf와 tex 파일 통합 관리
  • 다양한 LaTeX 편집 기능
  • 손쉬운 사용자 스니펫 추가
  • 간편한 BibTeX 사용

Basic notions

Notation

notation description
C Ctrl key
M Meta key (Alt or Command for Mac)
RET Return key (Enter key)
M-RET hold M and press RET

Newbiemacs screen

  • Click Bee Icon
  • Or type M-<backspace>

newbiemacs-screenshot.png

Newbiemacs home folder

  • Newbiemacs folder: ~/newbiemacs
  • Folder Icon in Newbiemacs screen

Help

  • Type ? in Newbiemacs screen.

Organize pdf and tex files

How to find pdf or tex file

  • Type p or t in Newbiemacs screen.
  • Or click PDF or TEX Icon anytime.

Add pdf files

How to add a pdf file from arxiv

  1. Visit the title page of a paper from https://arxiv.org/

    arxiv.png

  2. (Skip this in mac) Copy the address.
  3. Type a in Newbiemacs screen.

Exercises

  1. Add 3 papers from the arxiv.
  2. Open the 3 papers that you downloaded.

How to add a pdf file of a published paper

  1. Download a pdf file.

  2. Find the paper in MathSciNet.

    mathscinet.png mathscinet2.png
  3. Click Cite, and then click Copy.
  4. In Newbiemacs screen, type m.

Exercises

  1. Add 3 papers using mathscinet.
  2. Open the 3 papers that you downloaded.

How to create a new tex file

  1. Type n in Newbiemacs screen.
  2. Enter a file name.
  3. Choose a template file.

Exercises

  1. Create 3 tex files.
  2. Open the 3 tex files that you created.

How to delete, copy, or rename pdf or tex files

  • Open current folder: Folder Icon
  • Open pdf or tex folder
    1. Open the Newbiemacs home folder.
    2. Goto the pdf or tex folder.
    3. You can delete, copy, or rename files as you normally do.

Exercises

  1. Download sample-tex-file.
  2. Copy the sample-tex-file folder under the tex folder.
  3. Open the tex file in Newbiemacs.

LaTeX Features

How to edit tex files

  • Compile: M-RET b
  • View pdf: M-RET v
  • pdf to tex:
    • (mac) Command+Shift+mouse click
    • (win) double click

Basic keybindings

keybinding description
C-c, C-v, C-x copy, paste, cut
C-s save file
C-z, C-y undo, redo
C-f search
C-F search and replace
  • (During search) C-s: next match
  • (During search) C-r: previous match

The dollar key

  • $키를 한 번 누르면 inline math mode
  • $키를 두 번 누르면 display math mode
  • 수식 입력후 $키를 누르면 수식 밖으로 커서가 이동
  • 한글 입력 상태인 경우 한영 자동 전환
  • 한영 전환: M-i

수식 전환

  • M-RET t i: inline math에서 display math로 변환
  • M-RET t e: display math에서 \begin{equation} 환경으로 전환
  • M-RET t a: display math에서 \begin{align} 환경으로 전환

화면의 수식 복사

  • M-RET p 누르고 복사를 원하는 수식 레이블 입력
  • M-RET P: environment를 붙여넣기

Insert environments

  • M-RET e 누르고 원하는 environment 선택
  • M-RET e RET 현재 environment를 변경

Define new macros

  • M-RET n m

Greek letters

  • To insert \alpha, type `a

Insert references

  • M-RET r r or M-RET r i
  • M-RET t r: toggle \usepackage{refcheck}

Add screenshots

  1. Take a screenshot.
  2. Type the following in your tex file.
    • M-RET i f: insert a figure environment
    • M-RET i q: insert image only

Change variables

  1. Select the region to apply changes.
  2. Press M-RET t v.

Jump to sections

  • M-RET =
  • M-RET j s

Jump to anywhere in screen

  1. Type M-n.
  2. Type the first letter of the word you want to move.
  3. Type the label.

More features

  • M-RET `: Go to error
  • M-RET c: Copy the current math content
  • M-RET C: Copy the current math content with environment
  • M-RET d: Delete the current math content
  • M-RET D: Delete the current math content with environment
  • M-RET t =: Swap LHS and RHS.
  • M-RET t p: Toggle patheses (..) to \left(..\right).
  • M-RET n s: New section
  • M-RET .: Select the current environment

BibTeX

What is BibTeX?

  • It is a program that manages references.

How to open the main bib file

  • In Newbiemacs screen, type x 5
  • You may copy and paste the content of your own bib file to this file.

How to use the main bib file

  • In your tex file, type M-RET B T

  • This will add the following two lines in your tex file. 

    \bibliographystyle{abbrv}
\bibliography{(path-to-newbiemacs)/newbiemacs/nbm-user-settings/references/ref.bib}
  • To insert a citation, type M-RET r c

How to toggle the bibliography

  • In your tex file, type M-RET B T
  • This will toggle the above two lines to the actual bibitems.
  • This may be useful if you want to share your tex file with your collaborators without sharing the bib file.

How to add a new bibtex item from MathSciNet

  1. Copy a bibtex item from MathSciNet or zbMath.
  2. In a tex file, type M-RET B n and follow the instructions.

How to add a new bibtex item from arxiv

  1. Go to the arxiv page of the article you want to cite.
  2. Click Export BibTeX Citation on the right box and copy the contents.
  3. In a tex file, type M-RET B n and follow the instructions.

Snippets

What is a snippet?

  • It is a code block that you can insert quickly.

How to use snippets

  • With keys
    1. Type the key of the snippet.
    2. Type TAB key.
    3. You may enter contents and type TAB to exit the snippet.
  • Without keys
    • M-RET s i

How to see existing snippets

  • M-RET s t

Exercises

  1. Use the following snippets:
    1. fr, bi
    2. lp, la
    3. su,, su;, pr,, pr;
    4. ++, --, .., ,,
    5. <<, <<=, >>
    6. inv (in math mode try a inv and TAB)
    7. iff
    8. xn+, xn,
  2. Discover 3 more snippets on your own.

How to create a new snippet

  • M-RET s q: create a simple snippet
  • M-RET s n: create a complicated snippet
  • M-RET s d: delete a snippet
  • M-RET s f: visit a snippet file

Exercises

  1. Create a snippet with key skku and content Sungkyunkwan University
  2. Create 3 more snippets on your own. (e.g. LHS, RHS, TFAE, etc.)

Snippet syntax

  • Example
# -*- mode: snippet -*-
# name: frac
# key: fr
# --
\frac{$1}{$2}
  • Example
# -*- mode: snippet -*-
# name: x1+...+xn
# key: xn+
# --
${1:x}_1 + \cdots + $1_{${2:n}}
  • Example
# -*- mode: snippet -*-
# name: display-math
# key: dm
# --
\[
  $0
\]

Exercises

  1. Create a snippet for the Vandermonde determinant.
    1. key: vdm

    2. content: 

      \prod_{1\le i<j\le n}(x_i-x_j)
    3. Make n and x be modifiable.

  2. Create 3 more snippets on your own. For example, 

    \lim_{n\to \infty}
\det\left( \right)
\bigcup_{i=0}^n

Extra

Update Newbiemacs

  • Type U in Newbiemacs screen.

Torus Game

  • Click Torus Icon.

Change themes

  • M-o N T ?: help
  • M-o N T c: Change theme

Modify template files

  1. In Newbiemacs screen, type x 4
  2. Edit any template tex file you want.
  3. You may also add your own template files here.

Further study

  • Org mode: Organize everything!
  • Vim: In Newbiemacs screen x e and select vim.
  • Git: You can collaborate with people using Overleaf.