I have inherited a .tex document from a colleague with supporting .cls file to use in preparing a course outline. The person who supplied it told me they run it with no problems. However, when I downloaded all the necessary files and pressed compile, I saw the "Undefined control sequence. \maketitle" error. I reviewed the .cls file to see if anything obvious jumped out, but I could not find the source of the error. Here is a minimal working example of the source code:
% This is an example temple for the courseoutline.cls by Norm Gall
%
% I have used every new macro and environment.
%
% If you have tutorials, add ta to the options field in \documentclass
%
% Please read the .cls for any further explanations.
%
\documentclass[11pt]{courseoutline}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{color}
%
\university{No Name University}
\department{blah blah}
%
\coursename{Water and Landscapes}
\coursenumber{blah blah}
\coursesection{(sec. 101)}
\coursesession{Fall 2017-18}
\coursetime{Mo--We--Fr 10.00--11.00hrs}
\courselocation{blah blah}
\coursewebpage{blah blah}
%
\instructor{blah blah}
\instructoroffice{rm. 127, Geography}
\instructorofficehours{We--Fr 11.00--12.00hrs}
\instructorphone{(604) 822--9105}
\instructoremail{blah blah}
%
\ta{blah blah}
\taoffice{blah blah}
\taofficehours{available during scheduled labs}
%
\tutorialtime{
\begin{tabular}[t]{l}
(D) Tu 10.00--11.00hrs\\
(E) Tu 13.00--14.00hrs\\
(F) Tu 14.00--15.00hrs\\
(G) We 12.00--13.00hrs\\
(H) We 13.00--14.00hrs\\
(I) Th 11.00--12.00hrs\\
(J) Th 12.00--13.00hrs
\end{tabular}
}
\tutoriallocation{
\begin{tabular}[t]{r}
rm 130\\
rm 130\\
rm 130\\
rm 130\\
rm 130\\
rm 130\\
rm 130\\
\end{tabular}
}
\pagestyle{myheadings}
\markright{Water and Landscapes}
\begin{document}
\maketitle
\begin{textbooks}
\begin{itemize}
\item Bierman and Montgomery, 2013. \textit{Key Concepts in Geomorphology} (ISBN-10: 1-4292-3860-7). MacMillan.
%\newline
\texttt{PLEASE NOTE: this textbook is MANDATORY, and is not equivalent to any previously used textbooks for this course}.
\end{itemize}
\end{textbooks}
\end{document}
The .cls file defines \university, \department, etc.
Here is the definitions block from the .cls file:
% - Main Code ------------------------------------------
%
% some definitions
%
\def\university#1{\gdef\@university{#1}}
\def\department#1{\gdef\@department{#1}}
\def\coursename#1{\gdef\@coursename{#1}}
\def\coursenumber#1{\gdef\@coursenumber{#1}}
\def\coursesection#1{\gdef\@coursesection{#1}}
\def\coursesession#1{\gdef\@coursesession{Session: #1}}
\def\coursetime#1{\gdef\@coursetime{Lecture Times: #1}}
\def\courselocation#1{\gdef\@courselocation{Room: #1}}
\def\coursewebpage#1{\gdef\@coursewebpage{website: #1}}
\def\texts#1{\gdef\@texts{#1}}
\def\instructor#1{\gdef\@instructor{Instructor: #1}}
\def\instructoroffice#1{\gdef\@instructoroffice{#1}}
\def\instructorofficehours#1{\gdef\@instructorofficehours{#1}}
\def\instructorphone#1{\gdef\@instructorphone{Office Phone: #1}}
\def\instructoremail#1{\gdef\@instructoremail{E-mail: #1}}
\def\ta#1{\gdef\@ta{Teaching Assistant: #1}}
\def\taoffice#1{\gdef\@taoffice{Office: #1}}
\def\taofficehours#1{\gdef\@taofficehours{Office Hours: #1}}
\def\taphone#1{\gdef\@taphone{Office Phone: #1}}
\def\taemail#1{\gdef\@taemail{E-mail: #1}}
\def\tutorialtime#1{\gdef\@tutorialtime{#1}}
\def\tutoriallocation#1{\gdef\@tutoriallocation{#1}}
%
\def\@ifdefined#1#2{\@ifundefined{#1}{}{#2}}
My question is that I cannot seem to figure out why the compiler is throwing the "Undefined control sequence. \maketitle" error. I have reviewed many postings with similar topic headings, but trying several suggested fixes did not help. Thanks. Update: The .tex file and the .cls file can be downloaded from here if that helps troubleshooting the problem:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/n86yao7ejpbz800/AABdQXHRNqC0WfxuOER2tozqa?dl=0.
The code does create a .pdf, which appears good, but it would be nice if the source of the problem were known.
Best Answer
\maketitleis redefined from usual\maketitlegiven by the loaded classarticle, in the very end the\@maketitlemacro redefined bycourseoutline.cls--\@maketitlerequires much information to be set with various commands.Here the compilation fails because
\@taemailand\@taphoneare not defined yet, the same a standard class would fail because\titlehas not been used.