Basic TeX-related Unix Commands

acroread

Opens a PDF file. If the file is currently opened, then the command is not executed. On the other hand, acroread -openInNewWindow [filename] opens the file in a new Adobe Reader 7, regardless of the PDF file(s) already opened. This can be useful when comparing two versions of the same manuscript, or checking cross references. (For most Linux machines, the combination [alt+tab] makes changing between windows very fast and convenient.).

To make this easier, create a file called, say acr which contains these lines:

#!/bin/csh
acroread -openInNewWindow $1

Put it in your ~/bin directory and make it executable by typing chmod u+x acr. Now it will be possible to open a PDF file in a new window by simply typing acr [filename]. Acrobat Reader 5 works in a similar fashion with acroread5 +useFrontEndProgram [filename].
NOTE: acroread5 is only available on the linux PCs, not the suns.