Linux cli command tex
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NAME 🖥️ tex 🖥️
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 *
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