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<title>UK TeX FAQ -- question label dvi</title>
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<h3>What is a DVI file?</h3>
<p/>A DVI file (that is, a file with the type or extension
<code>.dvi</code>) is TeX’s main output file, using TeX in its
broadest sense to include LaTeX, etc. ‘DVI’ is supposed to
be an acronym for DeVice-Independent, meaning
that the file can be printed on most
kinds of typographic output device. The DVI file is designed to be
read by a driver (<a href="FAQ-driver.html">DVI drivers</a>) to produce
further output designed specifically for a particular printer (e.g., a
LaserJet) or to be used as input to a previewer for display on a
computer screen. DVI files use TeX’s internal coding; a TeX
input file should produce the same DVI file regardless of which
implementation of TeX is used to produce it.
<p/>A DVI file contains all the information that is needed for printing
or previewing except for the actual bitmaps or outlines of fonts, and
possibly material to be introduced by means of
<a href="FAQ-specials.html"><code>\</code><code>special</code> commands</a>.
<p/>The canonical reference for the structure of a DVI file is the
source of Knuth’s program <i>dvitype</i> (whose original purpose,
as its name implies, was to view the content of a DVI file).
<dl>
<dt><tt><i>dvitype</i></tt><dd><a href="ftp://cam.ctan.org/tex-archive/systems/knuth/texware/dvitype.web">systems/knuth/texware/dvitype.web</a>
</dl>
<p/><p>This question on the Web: <a href="http://www.tex.ac.uk/cgi-bin/texfaq2html?label=dvi">http://www.tex.ac.uk/cgi-bin/texfaq2html?label=dvi</a>
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