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NAME

       tex, virtex, initex - text formatting and typesetting

SYNOPSIS

       tex [options] [& format ] [ file | \ commands ]

DESCRIPTION

       Run the TeX typesetter on file, usually creating file.dvi.  If the file
       argument has no extension, ".tex" will be appended to it.  Instead of a
       filename,  a  set of TeX commands can be given, the first of which must
       start with a backslash.  With a &format argument TeX uses  a  different
       set  of  precompiled  commands,  contained in format.fmt; it is usually
       better to use the -fmt format option instead.

       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 TeX for nroffbook.  TeX is normally used with a large
       body of precompiled macros, and there are several  specific  formatting
       systems,  such  as  LaTeX,  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.  If they exist, then both initex and virtex are symbolic
       links 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 TeX for nroffbook.  Other formats that are
       often available include latex and amstex.

       The  non-option command line arguments 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 TeX for nroffbook, that first line
       should begin with a filename, a \controlsequence, or a &formatname.

       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 can 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 translation  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 -parse-first-line option
       or the parse_first_line configuration variable  controls  whether  this
       behaviour is enabled.

       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  "%s"  indicating  where  the  filename  goes  and  "%d"
       indicating where the decimal line number (if any) goes.  For example, a
       TEXEDIT string for emacs can be set with the sh command
       TEXEDIT="emacs +%d %s"; export 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.

       -enc   Enable the encTeX extensions.  This option is only effective  in
              combination   with   -ini.   For  documentation  of  the  encTeX
              extensions see http://www.olsak.net/enctex.html.

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

       -no-file-line-error
              Disable printing error messages in the file:line:error style.

       -file-line-error-style
              This is the old name of the -file-line-error option.

       -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.

       -halt-on-error
              Exit with an error code when  an  error  is  encountered  during
              processing.

       -help  Print help message and exit.

       -ini   Start  in INI mode, which is used to dump formats.  The INI mode
              can be used for typesetting, but no  format  is  preloaded,  and
              basic initializations like setting catcodes may be required.

       -interaction mode
              Sets  the  interaction  mode.  The mode can be either 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.

       -jobname name
              Use name for the job name, instead of deriving it from the  name
              of the input file.

       -kpathsea-debug bitmask
              Sets  path  searching  debugging flags according to the bitmask.
              See the Kpathsea manual for details.

       -mktex fmt
              Enable mktexfmt, where fmt must be either tex or tfm.

       -mltex Enable MLTeX extensions.  Only  effective  in  combination  with
              -ini.

       -no-mktex fmt
              Disable mktexfmt, where fmt must be either tex or tfm.

       -output-comment string
              Use string for the DVI file comment instead of the date.

       -output-directory directory
              Write   output   files  in  directory  instead  of  the  current
              directory.  Look up input files in directory first,  then  along
              the normal search path.  See also description of the TEXMFOUTPUT
              environment variable.

       -parse-first-line
              If the first line of the main input file begins with %& parse it
              to look for a dump name or a -translate-file option.

       -no-parse-first-line
              Disable parsing of the first line of the main input file.

       -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
              shell  command.   This  construct  is  normally  disallowed  for
              security reasons.

       -no-shell-escape
              Disable  the  \write18{command} construct, even if it is enabled
              in the texmf.cnf file.

       -src-specials
              Insert source specials into the DVI file.

       -src-specials where
              Insert source specials in certain places of the DVI file.  where
              is  a  comma-separated value list: cr, display, hbox, math, par,
              parent, or vbox.

       -translate-file tcxname
              Use the tcxname translation table to set the  mapping  of  input
              characters and re-mapping of output characters.

       -default-translate-file tcxname
              Like  -translate-file  except  that  a %& line can overrule this
              setting.

       -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
       Metafont, 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
              ".:/home/usr/tex:"   to   prepend   the  current  directory  and
              ``/home/user/tex'' to the standard search path.

       TEXFORMATS
              Search path for format files.

       TEXPOOL
              search path for tex internal strings.

       TEXEDIT
              Command template for switching to editor.  The default,  usually
              vi, is set when TeX is compiled.

       TFMFONTS
              Search path for font metric (.tfm) files.

FILES

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

       texmf.cnf
              Configuration file.  This contains definitions of  search  paths
              as well as other configuration parameters like parse_first_line.

       tex.pool
              Text file containing TeX's internal strings.

       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 for nroffbook.

NOTES

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

BUGS

       This version of TeX implements a number  of  optional  extensions.   In
       fact,  many  of these extensions conflict to a greater or lesser extent
       with the definition of TeX.  When  such  extensions  are  enabled,  the
       banner printed when TeX starts is changed to print TeXk instead of TeX.

       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 TeX  for  nroffbook,  Addison-Wesley,  1986,  ISBN
       0-201-13447-0.
       Leslie  Lamport, LaTeX - 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 for nroff, 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  Web
       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 Web to
       C system (web2c), originally written by Tomas Rokicki and Tim Morgan.

       The encTeX extensions were written by Petr Olsak.