This README file provides necessary information on the GMU MS LaTeX thesis style
release designed by Daniel O. Awduche and Christopher A. St. Jean of GMU's
Communications and Networking Lab.

%%**********************************************************************
%% Legal Notice:
%% This code is offered as-is without any warranty either
%% expressed or implied; without even the implied warranty of
%% MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE!
%% User assumes all risk.
%% In no event shall any contributor to this code be liable for any damages
%% or losses, including, but not limited to, incidental, consequential, or
%% any other damages, resulting from the use or misuse of any information
%% contained here.
%%**********************************************************************

The release of code was designed to be an easy "plug and play" solution for generating
approved MS thesis documents.  The user should modify those and only those portions of
the template that are indicated to be user-specific.  Modifying other areas of the
template or the LaTeX style file itself is done at the user's peril.  The user is
also urged, in the strongest terms, to follow the compilation and printing guidelines
included in the accompanying usage notes (USAGE_NOTES.txt); the margins of
LaTeX-generated documents are notoriously testy, and the instructions need to be
followed in order to guarantee proper formatting.

This template was created using WinEdt™, a high-quality shareware TeX editor, but any
LaTeX editor may be used.  (WinEdt™ can be found at www.winedt.com.)  Happy LaTeXing!

% Revision information
$Id: README.txt,v 1.14 2007/08/12 04:21:07 Owner Exp $

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In addition to this README.txt file, this release of the GMU MS LaTeX thesis style
template contains the following 12 files:

(1) USAGE_NOTES.txt

    A collection of utterly ESSENTIAL notes on using this template.  Start here!

(2) GMU_thesis_template.tex

    The main LaTeX file template that will be modified by the user.

(3) gmuthesis.sty

    The LaTeX style file that needs to be included unmodified in the working
    directory of the user's LaTeX project

(4) mythesisabbrev.sty

    Contains any and all user-specific commands/definitions/redefinitions that the
    user would like to include.  Sample commands are included in the file.

(5) chapterOne.tex

    A sample first chapter  (The sample text is from George Mason himself.)

(6) chapterTwo.tex

    A sample second chapter

(7) Appendix.tex

    A sample appendix.  Note that the chapter-like command for appendices is
    "appchapter" instead of the usual "chapter" because of a page numbering
    difference.

(8) bibfile.bib

    A sample BibTeX bibliography file.  The user is urged to consider using BibTeX,
    but if he/she does not, then this file, IEEEtran.bst, IEEEfull.bib, and the
    associated BibTeX commands in GMU_thesis_template.tex (i.e., \bibliographystyle
    and \bibliography) may be ignored.

(9) IEEEtran.bst

    The IEEE's official bibliography style file.  Of course, any standard
    .bst file may be used, but this file is ideally suited to electrical and
    computer engineering theses.  Although the edition of this file provided is
    the most recent, the official location of this file, which should be consulted
    for updates, is:

        www.ctan.org/tex-archive/biblio/bibtex/contrib/IEEEtran/

    The user is encouraged to use the .bst file that may be most appropriate for
    his/her field, if such a file is available.

(10) IEEEfull.bib

    Provides template abbreviations for IEEE journals and magazines and
    is designed to work with IEEEtran.bst

(11) figGeorgeMason.eps

    A sample .eps figure of someone important

(12) GMU_thesis_template_output.pdf

    The output .pdf file of this template (to be used for comparison to one's own
    compilation)

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Please note that although every effort has been made to conform this
template to official GMU thesis guidelines, there is no expressed or implied
warranty that the produced results will be satisfactory.