20.3 Format with texi2dvi

The texi2dvi command automatically runs both TeX and texindex as many times as necessary to produce a DVI file with sorted indices and all cross-references resolved. It is therefore simpler than manually executing the tex—texindex—tex—tex sequence described in the previous section.

To run texi2dvi on an input file foo.texi, do this (where `prompt$ ' is your shell prompt):

     prompt$ texi2dvi foo.texi

As shown in this example, the input filenames to texi2dvi must include any extension (`.texi', `.texinfo', etc.). Under MS-DOS and perhaps in other circumstances, you may need to run `sh texi2dvi foo.texi' instead of relying on the operating system to invoke the shell on the `texi2dvi' script.

Perhaps the most useful option to texi2dvi is `--command=cmd'. This inserts cmd on a line by itself after the @setfilename in a temporary copy of the input file before running TeX. With this, you can specify different printing formats, such as @smallbook (see smallbook), @afourpaper (see A4 Paper), or @pagesizes (see pagesizes), without actually changing the document source. (You can also do this on a site-wide basis with texinfo.cnf; see Preparing for TeX).

With the --pdf option, texi2dvi produces PDF output instead of DVI (see PDF Output), by running pdftex instead of tex. Alternatively, the command texi2pdf is an abbreviation for running `texi2dvi --pdf'.

texi2dvi can also be used to process LaTeX files; simply run `texi2dvi filename.ext'.

texi2dvi will use etex (or pdfetex) if they are available; these extended versions of TeX are not required, and the DVI (or PDF) output is identical, but they simplify the TeX programming in some cases, and provide additional tracing information when debugging texinfo.tex.

For a list of other options, run `texi2dvi --help'.