9.5 Using CDLaTeX to enter math

CDLaTeX-mode is a minor mode that is normally used in combination with a major LaTeX mode like AUCTeX in order to speed-up insertion of environments and math templates. Inside Org-mode, you can make use of some of the features of cdlatex-mode. You need to install cdlatex.el and texmathp.el (the latter comes also with AUCTeX) from http://www.astro.uva.nl/~dominik/Tools/cdlatex. Don't turn cdlatex-mode itself under Org-mode, but use the light version org-cdlatex-mode that comes as part of Org-mode. Turn it on for the current buffer with M-x org-cdlatex-mode, or for all Org-mode files with

     (add-hook 'org-mode-hook 'turn-on-org-cdlatex)

When this mode is enabled, the following features are present (for more details see the documentation of cdlatex-mode):

• Environment templates can be inserted with C-c {.
• The <TAB> key will do template expansion if the cursor is inside a LaTeX fragment¹. For example, <TAB> will expand fr to \frac{}{} and position the cursor correctly inside the first brace. Another <TAB> will get you into the second brace. Even outside fragments, <TAB> will expand environment abbreviations at the beginning of a line. For example, if you write `equ' at the beginning of a line and press <TAB>, this abbreviation will be expanded to an equation environment. To get a list of all abbreviations, type M-x cdlatex-command-help.
• Pressing _ and ^ inside a LaTeX fragment will insert these characters together with a pair of braces. If you use <TAB> to move out of the braces, and if the braces surround only a single character or macro, they are removed again (depending on the variable cdlatex-simplify-sub-super-scripts).
• Pressing the backquote ` followed by a character inserts math macros, also outside LaTeX fragments. If you wait more than 1.5 seconds after the backquote, a help window will pop up.
• Pressing the normal quote ' followed by another character modifies the symbol before point with an accent or a font. If you wait more than 1.5 seconds after the backquote, a help window will pop up. Character modification will work only inside LaTeX fragments, outside the quote is normal.