initex(1)


NAME

   tex, 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  TeXbook.  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 TeXbook.  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 TeXbook, 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.)  TEXMFOUTPUT is also checked for input files, as  TeX
          often  generates  files  that  need to be subsequently read; for
          input, no suffixes (such as ``.tex'') are added by default,  the
          input name is simply checked as given.

   TEXINPUTS
          Search  path  for \input and \openin files.  This 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/user/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 TeXbook.

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 TeXbook, 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, 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  created  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.





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