> I was trying to convert a very small input file like:
>
> aaaa
> bbbb
> cccc
> dddd
>
> into .dvi.
> I used the command: groff -Tdvi foo > foo.dvi
>
> I get an error message saying:
> "the file you want open contains non-valid characters".
With the above input? This can't happen, except you are using an
editor that silently inserts a Unicode Byte Order Mark (BOM) at the
very beginning of the input file even for UTF-8 encoded files. In
case you are using such an editor with that (mis-)feature, add option
`-k' to the groff command line to call the `preconv' preprocessor,
which silently removes the BOM.
> The output-file like this: [...]
Yes, this is correct. DVI files are binary, to be processed further
with programs like `dvips' or `dvipdfmx' to create a PS or PDF output
file, respectively.
> When I use the command : groff -Tdvi -mlatin9 foo > foo.dvi
> I get no error message. The output is exactly the same.
This might support my assumption.
> I know Latex only a little bit.
> But this doesn't like an input-file for Latex.
Well, if you process a LaTeX input file with `latex', you also get a
DVI file. If you call `pdflatex' or `xelatex', or `lualatex', the
output is directly PDF.
Werner
