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TEX
!!!TEX
NAME
SYNOPSIS
DESCRIPTION
OPTIONS
ENVIRONMENT
FILES
BUGS
SEE ALSO
TRIVIA
AUTHORS
----
!!NAME


tex, virtex, initex - text formatting and typesetting
!!SYNOPSIS


__tex__ [[''options''] [[''commands'']
!!DESCRIPTION


This manual page is not meant to be exhaustive. The complete
documentation for this version of TEX can be found in the
info file or manual ''Web2C: A TeX
implementation''.


TEX formats the interspersed text and commands contained in
the named files and outputs a typesetter independent file
(called ''DVI'', which is short for ''!DeVice
Independent''). TEX's capabilities and language are
described in ''The TEXbook''. TEX is normally used with a
large body of precompiled macros, and there are several
specific formatting systems, such as L A TEX,
which require the support of several macro
files.


This version of TEX looks at its command line to see what
name it was called under. Both __initex__ and
__virtex__ are symlinks to the __tex__ executable.
When called as __initex__ (or when the __--ini__
option is given) it can be used to precompile macros into a
''.fmt'' file. When called as __virtex__ it will use
the ''plain'' format. When called under any other name,
TEX will use that name as the name of the format to use. For
example, when called as __tex__ the ''tex'' format is
used, which is identical to the ''plain'' format. The
commands defined by the ''plain'' format are documented
in ''The TEXbook''. Other formats that are often
available include ''latex'' and
''amstex''.


The ''commands'' given on the command line to the TEX
program are passed to it as the first input line. (But it is
often easier to type extended arguments as the first input
line, since UNIX shells tend to gobble up or misinterpret
TEX's favorite symbols, like backslashes, unless you quote
them.) As described in ''The TEXbook'', that first line
should begin with a filename, a ''controlsequence'', or a
''''.


The normal usage is to say


''tex paper''


to start processing ''paper.tex''. The name ''paper''
will be the ``jobname'', and is used in forming output
filenames. If TEX doesn't get a filename in the first line,
the jobname is ''texput''. When looking for a file, TEX
looks for the name with and without the default extension
(''.tex'') appended, unless the name already contains
that extension. If ''paper'' is the ``jobname'', a log of
error messages, with rather more detail than normally
appears on the screen, will appear in ''paper.log'', and
the output file will be in ''paper.dvi''.


This version of TEX will look in the first line of the file
''paper.tex'' to see if it begins with the magic sequence
''%''. If the first line begins with
__%__''format'' __--translate-file__
''tcxname'' then TEX will use the named format and
transation table ''tcxname'' to process the source file.
Either the format name or the __--translate-file__
specification may be omitted, but not both. This overrides
the format selection based on the name by which the program
is invoked.


The ''e'' response to TEX's error prompt causes the
system default editor to start up at the current line of the
current file. The environment variable TEXEDIT can be used
to change the editor used. It may contain a string with
''emacs__
can be set with the __sh__ command


''TEXEDIT=
''


A convenient file in the library is ''null.tex'',
containing nothing. When TEX can't find a file it thinks you
want to input, it keeps asking you for another filename;
responding `null' gets you out of the loop if you don't want
to input anything. You can also type your EOF character
(usually control-D).
!!OPTIONS


This version of TEX understands the following command line
options.


__--file-line-error-style__


Print error messages in the form ''file:line:error''
which is similar to the way many compilers format
them.


__--fmt__ ''format''


Use ''format'' as the name of the format to be used,
instead of the name by which TEX was called or a
''%'' line.


__--help__


Print help message and exit.


__--ini__


Be __initex__, for dumping formats; this is implicitly
true if the program is called as __initex__.


__--interaction__ ''mode''


Sets the interaction mode. The mode can be one of
''batchmode'', ''nonstopmode'', ''scrollmode'', and
''errorstopmode''. The meaning of these modes is the same
as that of the corresponding commands.


__--ipc__


Send DVI output to a socket as well as the usual output
file. Whether this option is available is the choice of the
installer.


__--ipc-start__


As __--ipc__, and starts the server at the other end as
well. Whether this option is available is the choice of the
installer.


__--kpathsea-debug__ ''bitmask''


Sets path searching debugging flags according to the
bitmask. See the ''Kpathsea'' manual for
details.


__--maketex__ ''fmt''


Enable mktex''fmt'', where ''fmt'' must be one of
''tex'' or ''tfm''.


__--mltex__


Enable MLTEX extensions.


__--no-maketex__ ''fmt''


Disable mktex''fmt'', where ''fmt'' must be one of
''tex'' or ''tfm''.


__--output-comment__ ''string''


Use ''string'' for the DVI file comment instead of the
date.


__--progname__ ''name''


Pretend to be program ''name''. This affects both the
format used and the search paths.


__--recorder__


Enable the filename recorder. This leaves a trace of the
files opened for input and output in a file with extension
''.fls''.


__--shell-escape__


Enable the __write18{__''command''__}__ construct.
The ''command'' can be any Bourne shell command. This
construct is normally disallowed for security
reasons.


__--translate-file__ ''tcxname''


Use the ''tcxname'' translation table.


__--version__


Print version information and exit.
!!ENVIRONMENT


See the Kpathsearch library documentation (the `Path
specifications' node) for precise details of how the
environment variables are used. The __kpsewhich__ utility
can be used to query the values of the
variables.


One caveat: In most TEX formats, you cannot use ~ in a
filename you give directly to TEX, because ~ is an active
character, and hence is expanded, not taken as part of the
filename. Other programs, such as M ETAFONT ,
do not have this problem.


TEXMFOUTPUT


Normally, TEX puts its output files in the current
directory. If any output file cannot be opened there, it
tries to open it in the directory specified in the
environment variable TEXMFOUTPUT. There is no default value
for that variable. For example, if you say ''tex paper''
and the current directory is not writable, if TEXMFOUTPUT
has the value ''/tmp'', TEX attempts to create
''/tmp/paper.log'' (and ''/tmp/paper.dvi'', if any
output is produced.)


TEXINPUTS


Search path for ''input'' and ''openin'' files. This
should probably start with ``.'', so that user files are
found before system files. An empty path component will be
replaced with the paths defined in the ''texmf.cnf''
file. For example, set TEXINPUTS to
''


TEXEDIT


Command template for switching to editor. The default,
usually __vi__, is set when TEX is compiled.
!!FILES


The location of the files mentioned below varies from system
to system. Use the __kpsewhich__ utility to find their
locations.


''tex.pool''


Encoded text of TEX's messages.


''texfonts.map''


Filename mapping definitions.


''*.tfm''


Metric files for TEX's fonts.


''*.fmt''


Predigested TEX format (.fmt) files.


''$TEXMFMAIN/tex/plain/base/plain.tex''


The basic macro package described in the
''TEX''book.
!!BUGS


This version of TEX fails to trap arithmetic overflow when
dimensions are added or subtracted. Cases where this occurs
are rare, but when it does the generated ''DVI'' file
will be invalid.
!!SEE ALSO


mf(1),
Donald E. Knuth, ''The TEXbook'', Addison-Wesley, 1986,
ISBN 0-201-13447-0.
Leslie Lamport, L A TEX ''- A Document
Preparation System'', Addison-Wesley, 1985, ISBN
0-201-15790-X.
K. Berry, ''Eplain: Expanded plain'' TEX,
ftp://ftp.cs.umb.edu/pub/tex/eplain/doc.
Michael Spivak, ''The Joy of TEX'', 2nd edition,
Addison-Wesley, 1990, ISBN 0-8218-2997-1.''
TUGboat'' (the journal of the TEX Users
Group).
!!TRIVIA


TEX, pronounced properly, rhymes with ``blecchhh.'' The
proper spelling in typewriter-like fonts is ``TeX'' and not
``TEX'' or ``tex.''
!!AUTHORS


TEX was designed by Donald E. Knuth, who implemented it
using his W EB system for Pascal programs. It
was ported to Unix at Stanford by Howard Trickey, and at
Cornell by Pavel Curtis. The version now offered with the
Unix TEX distribution is that generated by the W
EB to C system (__web2c__), originally
written by Tomas Rokicki and Tim Morgan.
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Last edited on Tuesday, June 4, 2002 12:22:56 am by "perry"
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