# Index of Notation for Thesis using AMS template

I would like to add a List of Notation at the end of my thesis - just before the Index - similar to this book: http://books.google.com.mt/books?id=h5bMkZTnowAC&pg=PA1055&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=2#v=onepage&q&f=false

Specifically I would like to collect symbols of particular topics such as topology, measure theory, function spaces, etc. together, with a short explanation and the page number of their first occurrence.

I am using AMS-LaTeX v.2 and any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

## 2 Answers

Assuming the lines below are stored in IndexNotations.tex, one simple and automatic way would be:

%compilation commands:
%pdflatex IndexNotations.tex
%makeindex IndexNotations.nlo -s nomencl.ist -o IndexNotations.nls

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage[refpage]{nomencl}
\usepackage{ifthen}
\usepackage{lipsum}

\makenomenclature
%%  A FOR ROMAN SYMBOLS
%%  B FOR GREEK SYMBOLS
%%  C FOR ABBREVIATIONS

\renewcommand{\nomgroup}[1]
{%
\ifthenelse{\equal{#1}{A}}%
{\item[]\hspace*{-\leftmargin}%
{\textbf{Roman symbols}}}%
{%
\ifthenelse{\equal{#1}{B}}%
{\vspace{3\parsep}\item[]\hspace*{-\leftmargin}%
{\textbf{Greek symbols and maths}}}%
{%
\ifthenelse{\equal{#1}{C}}%
{\vspace{3\parsep}\item[]\hspace*{-\leftmargin}%
{\textbf{Abbreviations}}}%
}
}
}

\begin{document}
\section{Title}
\lipsum[1] \nomenclature[A]{$\mathbf{x}$}{Displacement}
\lipsum[1-2] \nomenclature[A]{$\mathbf{L}$}{Linear operator}
\lipsum[1-3]
\nomenclature[B]{$\omega$}{Frequency}
\nomenclature[C]{DOF}{Degree of freedom}

\printnomenclature[1.07cm]%
\end{document}


• Hi, I'm quite new to latex, so may I ask if I must create some file called IndexNotations.tex apart from your own? Thanks – bibo_extreme Jun 6 '14 at 15:40
• You copy-paste the content in the gray box in a file that you call IndexNotations.tex that you compile with the first lines: pdflatex IndexNotations.tex, then makeindex IndexNotations.nlo -s nomencl.ist -o IndexNotations.nls and pdflatex IndexNotations.tex again. You should get a proper pdf file called IndexNotations.pdf. – pluton Jun 6 '14 at 15:48
• Thank you for your patience. It works now. Would it be very difficult to have the list as a separate chapter so to speak? One includes chapters and bibliographies in the AMS template that I'm using and they appear in the table of contents Could something similar be done with your code? – bibo_extreme Jun 6 '14 at 15:54
• @bibo_extreme Please see tex.stackexchange.com/questions/133053/… – pluton Jun 6 '14 at 16:04
• Surprisingly I managed to make it work. Thanks for your time. – bibo_extreme Jun 6 '14 at 16:19

from the looks of the structure of the index of notation, it was created manually, not with any package like glossary or an indexing tool. the arrangement of the entries is too well defined to have endured an automatic sort.

an individual entry can be considered as being made up of three parts: the notation example, the definition or explanation, and the references.

the references can be identified in the text by the use of \label, and then cited in the list of notation using \ref. (more than one label will be needed if more than one reference is wanted.)

the left-hand column, with the notation examples, should be of fixed width. if none of the examples requires more than one line, then it can be set in a box of fixed width and the right-hand column, with definitions, can be set as ordinary text (preferably ragged right) with a left indent the width of the box containing the example.

i will post code for this structure after i've worked out the case where the left column requires more than one line.