MIME-Version: 1.0 Server: CERN/3.0 Date: Monday, 06-Jan-97 21:05:18 GMT Content-Type: text/html Content-Length: 2615 Last-Modified: Friday, 24-Feb-95 20:49:26 GMT TeX

TeX & Friends FAQ

 1.  How do I get a .ps file? 
 2.  What's a good LaTeX2e book? 
 3.  I've made my own .fmt file, how do I get TeX to use it? 
 4.  How do I get TeX to use the macros in /p/lib/tex/macros? 
 5.  How do I get TeX and dvips to use my fonts? 
 6.  How do I print a .dvi file?

1. How do I get a .ps file?

Use the -o flag.

The above will create a file named foo.ps


2. What's a good LaTeX2e book?

"The LaTeX Companion" by Goossens, Mittelbach, and Samarin (ISBN 0-201-54199-8) is a good book. I was able to get a copy from the University CO-OP.

If you know a better one, let me know.


3. I've made my own .fmt file, how do I get TeX to use it?

The easiest way to do this is to set the TEXFORMATS enviroment variable. Let's say I keep my .fmt files in /u/pkn/tex/lib/formats, then I would set TEXFORMATS to:
	setenv TEXFORMATS /u/pkn/tex/lib/formats:
That would search my directory first and the the default directory (/lusr/tex/lib/tex/formats)

4. How do I get TeX to use the macros in /p/lib/tex/macros?

You need to set the TEXINPUTS enviroment variable to
	setenv TEXINPUTS /p/lib/tex/macros:
That will cause TeX to look in /p first, then the current directory, and finally in the default directory (/lusr/tex/lib/tex/macros). If you want TeX to look in /p last, put the colon before /p/lib/tex/macros

5. How do I get TeX and dvips to use my fonts?

You need to set TEXFONTS to the directory with the .tfm files in it. dvips need TEXPKS set to the directory with the .pk files in it.

6. How do I print a .dvi file?

With dvips . If you have the PRINTER enviroment variable set you can just type:
	dvips filename
Where filename is the name of the .dvi file. If you don't have PRINTER set, use the -P printername flag
	dvips -P printername filename