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diff --git a/Master/texmf-dist/doc/generic/FAQ-en/html/FAQ-texthings.html b/Master/texmf-dist/doc/generic/FAQ-en/html/FAQ-texthings.html deleted file mode 100644 index 44a15b6a86b..00000000000 --- a/Master/texmf-dist/doc/generic/FAQ-en/html/FAQ-texthings.html +++ /dev/null @@ -1,171 +0,0 @@ -<head> -<title>UK TeX FAQ -- question label texthings</title> -</head><body> -<h3>Things with “TeX” in the name</h3> -<p/>New TeX users are often baffled by the myriad terms with “TeX” -in the name. The goal of this answer is to clarify some of the more -common TeX terms. -<p/><p/><b>TeX itself</b>   -TeX proper is a typesetting system based on a set of low-level -control sequences that instruct TeX how to lay out text on the -page. For example, <code>\</code><code>hskip</code> inserts a given amount of horizontal -space into the document, and <code>\</code><code>font</code> makes a given font available -to TeX. TeX is fully programmable using an integrated macro -scripting language that supports variables, scoping, conditional -execution, control flow, and function (really, macro) definitions. -See -<a href="FAQ-whatTeX.html">What is TeX?</a> for some background -information on TeX and -<a href="FAQ-ref-doc.html">Reference documents</a> for pointers to -descriptions of TeX control sequences, data types, and other key -parts of TeX. -<p/><p/><b>TeX macro packages (a.k.a. TeX formats)</b>   -TeX’s control sequences are tedious to use directly; they are -intended primarily as building blocks for higher-level—and therefore -more user-friendly—abstractions. For example, there is no way in -base TeX to specify that a piece of text should be typeset in a -larger font. Instead, one must keep track of the current size and -typeface, load a new font with the same typeface but a (specified) -larger size, and tell TeX to use that new font until instructed -otherwise. Fortunately, because TeX is programmable, it is -possible to write a macro that hides this complexity behind a simple, -new control sequence. For example, - -<code>\</code><code>larger{my text}</code> can be defined to typeset “my text” in -the next larger font). -<p/>While some users write their own, perfectly customized set of -macros—which they then typically reuse across many documents—it is -far more common to rely upon a <em>macro package</em>, a collection of -TeX macros written by experts. For the user’s convenience, these -macro packages are often combined with the base TeX engine into a -standalone executable. The following are some of that macro packages -that you are likely to encounter: -<dl> - <dt>Plain TeX (executable: <i>tex</i>)<dd> - See - <a href="FAQ-books.html">Books on TeX and its relations</a>, - <a href="FAQ-man-tex.html">Online introductions: TeX</a>, - <a href="FAQ-plainvltx.html">Should I use Plain TeX or LaTeX?</a> and - <a href="FAQ-ol-books.html">Freely available (La)TeX books</a>. - Note that the Plain TeX executable is called <i>tex</i>; the - base TeX engine is generally provided by a separate executable - such as <i>initex</i> or as a <code>-ini</code> flag to - <i>tex</i>. -<p/> <dt>LaTeX (executable: <i>latex</i>)<dd> - See - <a href="FAQ-books.html">Books on TeX and its relations</a>, - <a href="FAQ-tutorialstar.html">(La)TeX Tutorials, etc.</a>, - <a href="FAQ-man-latex.html">Online introductions: LaTeX</a>, - <a href="FAQ-tutbitslatex.html">Specialized (La)TeX tutorials</a> and - <a href="FAQ-doc-dirs.html">Directories of (La)TeX information</a>. - Note that there have been two major versions of LaTeX: LaTeX2e - refers to the current version of LaTeX while LaTeX 2.09 is the - long-since-obsolete (since 1994) version (cf. - <a href="FAQ-latex2e.html">What is LaTeX2e?</a> for more information). -<p/> <dt>ConTeXt (executable: <i>texmfstart</i>)<dd> - See - <a href="FAQ-context.html">What is ConTeXt?</a>. -<p/> <dt>Texinfo (executables: <i>tex</i>, <i>makeinfo</i>)<dd> - See - <a href="FAQ-texinfo.html">What is Texinfo?</a>. <i>makeinfo</i> - converts Texinfo documents to HTML, DocBook, Emacs info, - XML, and plain text. <i>Tex</i> (or wrappers such as - <i>texi2pdf</i> and <i>texi2pdf</i>) produce one of TeX’s - usual output formats such as DVI or PDF. Because - <i>tex</i> loads the Plain TeX macros, not the Texinfo ones, - a Texinfo document must begin with <code>\</code><code>input{texinfo}</code> to - explicitly load the Texinfo macro package. -<p/> <dt>Eplain—Extended Plain TeX (executable: <i>eplain</i>)<dd> - See - <a href="FAQ-eplain.html">What is Eplain?</a>. -</dl> -<p/><p/><b>Modified <i>tex</i> executables</b>   -The original <i>tex</i> executable was produced in the late 1970s -(cf. <a href="FAQ-whatTeX.html">What is TeX?</a>) and consequently -lacked some features that users have come to expect from today’s -software. The following programs address these issues by augmenting -the TeX engine with some additional useful features: -<p/><dl> - <dt>PDFTeX (executable: <i>pdftex</i>)<dd> - TeX, which predates the PDF file format by a decade, - outputs files in a TeX-specific format called DVI - (cf. <a href="FAQ-dvi.html">What is a DVI file?</a>). In - contrast, PDFTeX can output both DVI <em>and</em> PDF - files. In PDF mode, it lets documents exploit various - PDF features such as hyperlinks, bookmarks, and annotations, - PDFTeX additionally supports two sophisticated micro-typographic - features: character protrusion and font expansion. See - <a href="FAQ-whatpdftex.html">What is PDFTeX?</a>. -<p/> <dt>XeTeX (executable: <i>xetex</i>)<dd> - TeX not only predates all major font technologies in use today - (e.g., TrueType, OpenType, and PostScript Type 1) but also predates - the notion that fonts be included with an operating system. - Consequently, TeX uses its own font formats, which are - incompatible with anything a user is likely to have preinstalled. - XeTeX addresses this issue by enhancing TeX’s <code>\</code><code>font</code> - control sequence to support all of the fonts made available by the - operating system. See - <a href="FAQ-xetex.html">What is XeTeX?</a>. -<p/> <dt>LuaTeX (executable: <i>luatex</i>)<dd> - TeX is programmed in its own, integrated, macro-based programming - language. Many users have criticized this language for being - needlessly difficult to program. LuaTeX addresses that criticism - by integrating a modern scripting language, Lua, into the base - TeX engine. See - <a href="FAQ-luatex.html">What is LuaTeX?</a>. -<p/> <dt>e-TeX (executable: <i>etex</i>)<dd> - e-TeX provides a number of features that are only indirectly - useful to end users but that can be immensely useful to package - developers. Consequently, there is an increasing number of macro - packages that require the use of e-TeX. (Note: Be careful not to - confuse e-TeX, which enhances the TeX engine, with Eplain, - which enhances the Plain TeX macro package.) See - <a href="FAQ-etex.html">What is e-TeX?</a>. -</dl> -<p/>Because each of the above modifies only the base TeX engine, it is -possible to combine any of those with any of the TeX macro packages -listed earlier to produce executables with both sets of features. For -example, the <i>pdflatex</i>, <i>xelatex</i> and -<i>lualatex</i> executables each combine -LaTeX with an enhanced TeX engine. Some executables combine the -features of multiple enhanced TeX engines: <i>pdfetex</i> -combines PDFTeX and e-TeX into a single executable. -<p/>As combining features is a generally desirable tendency, current -TeX distributions (see below) incorporate the features of PDFTeX -and e-TeX into a single executable. This executable may be -offered with a LaTeX format (as <i>latex</i> or -<i>pdflatex</i>) or with a Plain TeX format (as -<i>pdftex</i>). (<i>Tex</i> remains with an unadorned TeX -executable using Plain TeX, for people such as Knuth himself, who -want the certainty of the “original”.) -<p/><p/><b>TeX distributions</b>   -A <em>TeX distribution</em> is a collection of TeX-related -software. Generally, a TeX distribution includes a set of core -TeX executables such as <i>tex</i> and <i>latex</i>; -various fonts optimized for use with TeX; helper programs such as -the BibTeX bibliographic-database formatter, editors, integrated -development environments, file-format-conversion programs; numerous -LaTeX packages; configuration tools; and any other goodies the -distributor chooses to include. Commonly encountered TeX -distributions include TeX Live, MiKTeX and MacTeX; older ones -include ozTeX, CMacTeX and teTeX. Some TeX -distributions target a specific operating system and/or processor -architecture; others run on multiple platforms. Some TeX -distributions are free; others require payment. See -<a href="FAQ-TeXsystems.html">(La)TeX for different machines</a> for a -list of free and shareware TeX distributions and -<a href="FAQ-commercial.html">Commercial TeX implementations</a> for a -list of commercial TeX distributions. -<p/><p/><b>Summary</b>   -If your document begins with <code>\</code><code>documentclass</code>, you’re using some -form of the LaTeX macro package. Even if hidden behind a button in -a TeX-aware GUI, this document is getting compiled by a TeX -executable—probably <i>latex</i> or <i>pdflatex</i>—to -produce an output file. The executable came bundled as part of a -TeX distribution such as MiKTeX, which includes various other -TeX-related components. -<p/>This question is also covered in a page on the TUG site, -“<a href="http://tug.org/levels.html">the Levels of TeX</a>”. -<p><em>This answer last edited: 2010-12-08</em></p> -<p/><p>This question on the Web: <a href="http://www.tex.ac.uk/cgi-bin/texfaq2html?label=texthings">http://www.tex.ac.uk/cgi-bin/texfaq2html?label=texthings</a> -</body> |