Name

tex — TeX

Synopsis

tex [option...] [[file] | [\command...]]

Description

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.

TeX looks at its command-line to see what name it was called under. Both initex and virtex are linked to the tex executable. When called as initex (or when the -initialize 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 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 file name, a \controlsequence, or a &formatname.

The normal usage is to say

tex paper

to start processing paper.tex. The name “paper” will be the “job name”, and is used in forming output file names. If TeX doesn't get a file name in the first line, the job name 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 “job name”, 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.

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.

The e response to TeX's error prompt causes the default editor to start up at the current line of the current file. The configuration value Editor can be used to change the editor used. It may contain a string with %f indicating where the file name goes and %l indicating where the decimal line number (if any) goes.

A convenient file is null.tex, containing nothing. When TeX can't find a file it thinks you want to input, it keeps asking you for another file name; 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-Z).

Options

--alias=app

Pretend to be app, i.e., set program (and memory dump) name to app. This may affect the search paths and other values used. Using this option is equivalent to copying the executable file to app.exe and invoking app.exe.

--aux-directory=dir

Set the directory dir to which auxiliary files are written. Also look for input files in dir first, before along the normal search path.

--buf-size=n

Set the the maximum number of characters simultaneously present in current lines of open files and in control sequences between \csname and \endcsname.

--c-style-errors

Change the way, error messages are printed. The alternate style looks like error messages from many compilers and is easier to parse for some editors. This option implies \scrollmode.

--disable-installer

Disable automatic installation of missing packages. Specifying this option overwrites the global configuration setting in MiKTeX Options (see the section called “Automatic Package Installation”).

--disable-pipes

Disable input (output) from (to) child processes.

--disable-write18

Disable the \write18{command} construct.

--dont-parse-first-line

Disable checking whether the first line of the main input file starts with %&.

--enable-installer

Enable automatic installation of missing packages. Specifying this option overwrites the global configuration setting in MiKTeX Options (see the section called “Automatic Package Installation”).

--enable-pipes

Enable input (output) from (to) child processes.

--enable-write18

Enable the \write18{command} construct. It is disabled by default to avoid security problems. When enabled, the command (which undergoes the usual TeX expansions) is passed to the command interpreter. The output of the command is not diverted anywhere, so it will not appear in the log file. The command execution either happens at \output time or right away, according to the absence or presence of the \immediate prefix.

--error-line=n

Set the width of context lines on terminal error messages.

--font-max=n

Set the maximum internal font number; must not exceed 5000.

--font-mem-size=n

Set the size, in TeX memory words, of the font memory.

--half-error-line=n

Set the width of first lines of contexts in terminal error messages.

--halt-on-error

Quit after the first error.

--help

Give help and exit.

--include-directory=dir

Prefix dir to the search path.

--initialize

Become the INI variant of the compiler.

--interaction=mode

Set the interaction mode. Must be one of batchmode, nonstopmode, scrollmode and errorstopmode. The meaning of these modes is the same as the corresponding commands.

--job-name=name

Set the name of the job (\jobname. This has an affect on the output file names.

--job-time=file

Set the time-stamp of all output files equal to file's time-stamp.

--max-in-open=n

Set the maximum number of input files and error insertions that can be going on simultaneously.

--max-print-line=n

Set the width of longest text lines output; should be at least 60.

--max-strings=n

Set the maximum number of strings.

--mem-bot=n

Set the the smallest index in the internal memory array dumped by the INI variant of the compiler; must not be less than mem_min.

--mem-max=n

Set the the greatest index in the internal memory array.

--mem-min=n

Set the the smallest index in the internal memory array; must be 0 or more; must be equal to mem_bot in the INI variant of the compiler, otherwise less than or equal to mem_bot}.

--mem-top=n

Set the largest index in the internal memory array dumped by the INI variant of the compiler; must be substantially larger than 0 and not greater than mem_max.

--mltex

Enable MLTeX extensions such as \charsubdef.

--nest-size=n

Set the maximum number of semantic levels simultaneously active.

--no-c-style-errors

Don't change the way, error messages are printed.

--output-directory=dir

Create output files in dir. This implies --include-directory=dir.

--param-size=n

Set the the maximum number of simultaneous macro parameters.

--parse-first-line

Check whether the first line of the main input file starts with %&, and parse if it does. This can be used to specify extra command-line options.

--pool-size=n

Set the maximum number of characters in strings, including all error messages and help texts, and the names of all fonts and control sequences; must exceed string_vacancies by the total length of the program's own strings, which is currently about 30000.

--quiet

Suppress all output, except errors.

--recorder

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

--record-package-usages=file

Record all package usages and write them into file.

--save-size=n

Set the the amount of space for saving values outside of current group.

--src-specials

Embed source file information (source specials) in the DVI file.

--stack-size=n

Set the maximum number of simultaneous input sources.

--string-vacancies=n

Set the minimum number of characters that should be available for the user's control sequences and font names, after the compiler's own error messages are stored.

--tcx=name

Process the TCX table name.

--terminal=oem

Use the active code page (e.g., 437 ) for console output.

--time-statistics

Show processing time statistics.

--trace[=tracestreams]

Enable trace messages. The tracestreams argument, if speciefied, is a comma-separated list of trace stream names (Chapter 9, Trace Streams).

--trie-op-size=n

Set the amount of space for “opcodes” in the hyphenation patterns.

--trie-size=n

Set the amount of space for hyphenation patterns; should be larger for the INI variant of the compiler.

--undump=name

Use name as the name of the format to be used, instead of the name by which the program was called or a

%&

line.

--version

Show version information and exit.

Aliases

initex

Equivalent to tex -ini.

virtex

Equivalent to tex.

Environment

TEXINPUTS

Extra paths to locate TeX \input and \openin files.

TFMFONTS

Extra paths to locate TeX font metric files

See Also

The TeXbook

ISBN 0-201-13448-9

See texify(1), for an alternative way to invoke TeX.