Guide to LaTeX, Fourth Edition

3 Document Layout and Organization

3.1 Document class

The first command in the preamble of a LATEX file determines the global processing format for the entire document. Its syntax is:

\documentclass[options]{class}

where some value of class must be given, while [options] may be omitted if default values are acceptable.

Class: article report book

The standard values of class, of which one and only one may be given, are book, report, article, or letter. (The properties of the letter class are explained in Chapter 18.) The basic differences between these classes lie not only in the page layouts, but also in the organization. An article may contain parts, sections, subsections, and so on, while a report can also have chapters. A book also has chapters, ...