How can I open a .tex file?

Question

I'm trying to open a .tex file.

I'm not sure I've got to the bottom of the (possibly) surprisingly complex process. I was told I could do it with Notepad++, which I proceeded to download. Here is the result:

%sample file for Modelica 2011 Conference paper  \documentclass[11pt,a4paper,twocolumn]{article} \usepackage{graphicx} % uncomment according to your operating system: % ------------------------------------------------ \usepackage[latin1]{inputenc}    %% european characters can be used (Windows, old Linux) %\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}     %% european characters can be used (Linux) %\usepackage[applemac]{inputenc} %% european characters can be used (Mac OS) % ------------------------------------------------ \usepackage[T1]{fontenc}   %% get hyphenation and accented letters right \usepackage{mathptmx}      %% use fitting times fonts also in formulas % do not change these lines: \pagestyle{empty}                %% no page numbers! \usepackage{geometry}            %% please don't change geometry settings! \geometry{left=20mm, right=20mm, top=25mm, bottom=25mm, noheadfoot}   % begin the document \begin{document} \thispagestyle{empty}  \title{\textbf{Implementation of a Modelica Library\\   for Simulation of Refrigeration Systems}} \author{Torge Pfafferott \quad Gerhard Schmitz\\ Technical University Hamburg-Harburg, Department of Technical Thermodynamics\\ Denickestr. 17, 21075 Hamburg} \date{} % <--- leave date empty \maketitle\thispagestyle{empty} %% <-- you need this for the first page  \abstract{ The physical modelling and transient simulation of refrigeration systems can be useful within the specification, development, integration and optimisation. Therefore, a model library for vapour compression cycles has been implemented. The library is based on the free Modelica library ThermoFluid and contains basic correlations for heat and mass transfer and pressure drop, partial components for control volumes and flow resistances and advanced ready-to-use models for all relevant components of refrigeration systems like pipes, heat exchangers, compressor, expansion devices and accumulator. }  \emph{Keywords: refrigeration; compression cycle; simulation; thermofluid; CO2; R134a}  \section{Introduction}  The modeling and simulation of refrigeration systems is of interest  for several problems:  \section{Library for refrigeration systems}  The aim of the modelling is to implement a library with physical based models of components of refrigeration systems. At the moment the library enables investigations with two refrigerants (CO$_2$, R134a). But the realised structure allows the extension of the library by other refrigerants.  \subsection{ThermoFluid library}  The implemented refrigeration library is based on the free Modelica library ThermoFluid \cite{eborn}, \cite{tum}, \cite{thermofluid}. The ThermoFluid library, especially its base classes and partial components, offers a good base for the modelling of refrigeration systems with respect to the implementation of the three balance equations and the method of discretisation.   \section{Transient simulation of a CO$_2$-system}  In the following, results of the transient simulation of the above mentioned CO$_2$-system are presented. The results are compared with data of a start up of the system and following step changes in compressor speed as shown in Figure \ref{fig5}.  \begin{figure}[h] %uncomment next line to include a graphic file %\centerline{\includegraphics[width=6cm, angle=-90]{fig5.eps}} %and comment out next line \centerline{\framebox[6cm]{\rule{0cm}{3.5cm} figure example}} \caption{Step changes in compressor speed and run of air inlet temperature at the evaporator in the experiment; set as boundary condition of simulation run} \label{fig5} \end{figure}  \begin{thebibliography}{00} \addcontentsline{toc}{chapter}{References}  \bibitem{eborn} Eborn J. On Model Libraries for Thermo-hydraulic Applications. Lund, Sweden: PhD thesis, Department of Automatic control, Lund Institute of Technology, 2001.  \bibitem{tum}Tummescheit H. Design and Implementation of Object-Oriented Model Libraries using Modelica. Lund, Sweden: PhD thesis, Department of Automatic control, Lund Institute of Technology, 2002.  \bibitem{thermofluid} Tummescheit H, Eborn J. Chemical Reaction Modeling with ThermoFluid/MF and MultiFlash. In: Proceedings of the 2th Modelica Conference 2002, Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, Modelica Association, 18-19 March 2002. \end{thebibliography}   \end{document} 

It seems to me this is not the correct way to view the document. Can someone please let me know whether or not I'm right, and if so, how I can view the document properly?

Answer 1

A .tex file should be a LaTeX source file.

If this is the case, that file contains the source code for a LaTeX document. You can open it with any text editor (notepad, notepad++ should work) and you can view the source code. But if you want to view the final formatted document, you need to install a LaTeX distribution and compile the .tex file.

Of course, any program can write any file with any extension, so if this is not a LaTeX document, then we can't know what software you need to install to open it. Maybe if you upload the file somewhere and link it in your question we can see the file and provide more help to you.

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Yes, this is the source code of a LaTeX document. If you were able to paste it here, then you are already viewing it. If you want to view the compiled document, you need to install a LaTeX distribution. You can try to install MiKTeX then you can use that to compile the document to a .pdf file.

You can also check out this question and answer for how to do it: How to compile a LaTeX document?

Also, there's an online LaTeX editor and you can paste your code in there to preview the document: https://www.overleaf.com/.