On 24-Aug-98 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> Hi,
> Am I correct in understanding that things like Tex/Latex/LyX/Kalyx are
> typesetters? And can someone explain what they are for and what the difference
> between them is?
Yes, they are typesetters (or, more accurately, formatting programs), rather
than word-processors. The program troff (part of the groff suite) is also a
(much older) formatting program. TeX is the basic program, LaTeX is TeX
augmented with a massive set of macros developed by Lamport (hence the "La").
LyX is a GUI allowing you to create Tex/LaTeX source files without necessarily
typing any formatting tags by hand. I don't know what Kalyx is but it's
presumably similar/related.
What they are for: You write a "source file" in plain ASCII, embedding "markup
tags", also in plain ASCII, which define _structurally_ (i.e. paragraph,
equation, display, diagram , italic/bold/underline, font size etc) how the text
they relate to is intended to be formatted. The programs transform the source
file into an output file, full of low-level formatting info, which can then be
used to generate "typeset" final copy. (HTML is also based on the "markup-tag"
principle, as is SGML -- "HyperText"/"Standard General" "Markup Language").
The TeX programs generate a "device-independent" output file ("something.dvi")
which is then post-processed by some other program to generate a file which can
be used to drive a particular rendering device directly. For instance, "dvips"
converts the .dvi file into a .ps PostScript file, which can then be sent to a
PostScript printer for hard copy, or displayed (e.g. by ghostview) on a screen.
The postprocessors usually available with TeX are:
dvi2fax: dfaxhigh binary format for sending via a fax machine
dvicopy: convert from .dvi with virtual fonts to non-virtual fonts
dvihp: equivalent to dvicopy followed by one of the dvilj programs
dvilj4, dvilj4l, dvilj2p, dvilj: convert to HP-PCL for Laserjet printers
dvips: dvi to PostScript
dvired: reduced dvips (2 pp per sheet)
dvitomp: to "MetaPost" (troff/PostScript related, but I don't know details:
I'd be grateful for info about this, if anyone can provide it)
dvitype: .dvi file in "human-readable" form
There is vast docmentation for TeX and LaTeX, including many books (set using
TeX, of course).
Hoping this helps,
Ted.
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E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: 24-Aug-98 Time: 19:27:12
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