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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 new file mode 100644 index 00000000000..4388082f856 --- /dev/null +++ b/Master/texmf-dist/doc/generic/FAQ-en/html/FAQ-texthings.html @@ -0,0 +1,169 @@ +<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>texexec</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</b> executables</i> +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 engine: <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/><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/><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/><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> |