SYNOPSIS

texexec [ OPTION ... ] FILE [ ... ]

DESCRIPTION

  texexec, a ruby(1) script, is the command-line front end to the ConTeXt typesetting system, an extensive macro package built on the tex(1) family of typesetting programs. texexec provides several facilties:

•

Process a ConTeXt source file, performing as many runs as necessary of tex(1), texutil(1), and MetaPost (mpost(1)). Options control the output format, the pages to process, paper size, and so forth.

•

Create new ConTeXt formats, useful during installation.

•

Post-process existing PDF files, including merging multiple files, and extracting and rearranging pages within a file, similar to the facilities provided for PostScript files by psnup(1) or for PDF files by pdftk(1).

•

Extract or strip documentation from ConTeXt source files using texutil(1).

•

Run MetaPost (mpost(1)) to generate figures from MetaPost source.

•

Produce proof sheets of figures used in a ConTeXt source file.

OPTIONS

  All switches are specified in full here but can be abbreviated to the shortest unique prefix. Thus, --env works the same as --environment. With no options, texexec assumes that the file on the command line is a ConTeXt source file, i.e. a TeX file in the ConTeXt dialect, and produces a PDF file using the source file.
 

General Options

 

--alone

Avoid calling other programs when possible. For example, --alone will prevent texexec from using fmtutil(1) to generate formats (this prevention can be handy when tracing installation problems).

--environments=file[,file[,...]]

Specify ConTeXt environment file(s), separated by commas, to use when processing the source file. This option is useful when converting from non-ConTeXt file formats without environment or layout settings.

--help

Produce a summary of switches and arguments. A more detailed help is produced by including --all.

--interface=language

Specify the language ConTeXt should use to communicate with you. Options are

en

US English

nl

Dutch

de

German

uk

British English

cz

Czech

it

Italian

--keep

Preserve a few of the temporary files generated while processing by appending .keep to their name. For example, after

texexec --keep document.tex

you will find (besides document.pdf) document.log.keep and document.top.keep. The document.top file is where texexec wraps document.tex with the proper ConTeXt macro commands to set the output format, etc.

--once

Process a file exactly once. (By default, texexec processes the file as many times as necessary to sort out all references, typeset MetaPost code, and so forth.)

--purge

Get rid of most temporary files generated while processing the source file. For example,

texexec --purge somefile.tex

will generate somefile.pdf, cleaning up after itself and leaving only one extra file, somefile.tuo. See also the --purge option of ctxtools(1)

--purgeall

Get rid of all temporary files generated while processing the source file, including the filename.tuo file. See also the --purge --all option combination of ctxtools(1)

--randomseed=NNNN

Set the random seed.

--result=FILENAME

Allows you to change the basename of the output file. See --mode for an example.

--runs=NUMBER

Specify the number of runs to perform on a file. Overrides texexec's calculations.

--separation

Perform color separations.

--silent

Suppress a few diagnostic and progress messages.

--timeout=NNN

Abort the run if a subprocess waits for more than NNN seconds; e.g. while waiting for user input when tex reports an undefined control sequence. Useful for automated testing scripts, to make sure the runs finish.

--usemodules=module1[,module2,[...]]

Use the comma-separated list of modules. For example, to typeset document.tex using the bib and units modules:

texexec --usemodules=bib,units document.tex

--verbose

Output extra diagnostic information.

--version

Print the version number.

 

Processing ConTeXt Source Files

  Including specifying paper sizes, formats, and so forth.
 

--arrange

Perform page rearrangements, which are used to produce booklets. This option tells ConTeXt to the first n-1 runs without taking account of arrangements, then on the last run to pay attention to the arrangement commands in the source file.

--batchmode

Process the file in batchmode, which means to typeset the whole document even if there are errors. More imformation about batchmode can be found in Donald E. Knuth's TeXbook.

--nonstopmode

Process the file in nonstopmode, which means to typeset the document and report errors, but not to stop at any error. It is similar to batchmode but more verbose. More imformation about nonstopmode can be found in Donald E. Knuth's TeXbook.

--bodyfont=font

The name of a font to preload for use in setting the body of the text (OBSOLETE).

--centerpage

Center the document on the page.

--color

Turn on color mode. Color mode can also be set by commands embedded in the document. These commands override the --color option.

--convert=FORMAT

Convert the input file to ConTeXt format from FORMAT before processing. In most cases, this conversion will result in a TeX file. Currently supported input FORMATs are xml and sgml.

--dvipdfmx, --dvipdfm, --dpx, --dpm

Use the TeX engine (e.g. pdftex or pdfetex) to make a DVI file and dvipdfmx(1) to turn it into PDF.

--dvi, --ps, --dvips

Use the TeX engine (e.g. pdftex or pdfetex) to make a DVI file and dvips(1) to turn it into PostScript. It's counterintuitive that --dvi produces a PostScript file in addition to the DVI file. But that's because --dvi is shorthand for --dvips; adding the --nobackend option prevents texexec's running dvips(1). See also the --engine option.

--fast

Typeset the document(s) as fast as possible without causing problems.

--final

Perform a final run without skipping anything. This option is typically used with --fast.

--language=LANGUAGE

Set the language for hyphenation. Can be specified in your source file. Options are the same as those for --interface.

--mode=MODELIST, --modes=MODELIST

Allows you to change the mode used while typesetting the source file. The MODELIST is a comma separated list of modes. Modes are a conditional-compilation facility like #ifdef in C. So one source file can be used to produce several typeset documents: one for A4 paper, one for screen display in full color, one for letter paper, etc. For example:

texexec --pdf --mode=A4     --result=manual-a manual-t.tex 
texexec --pdf --mode=letter --result=manual-l manual-t.tex
texexec --pdf --mode=screen --result=manual-s manual-t.tex

Here the --mode tells ConTeXt which mode directives to use when typesetting the source file. The --result option tells ConTeXt where to put the output file.

--modefile=file

Load this file before most of the usual processing; usually used for mode-related material.

--noarrange

Ignore arrangement commands in the source file.

--nobackend

Do not run the backend, e.g. dvips(1) or dvipdfmx(1). See the --dvips or --dvipdfmx options. Why would you give one of those options to choose a backend, yet tell texexec not to run the backend? Because each backend has its own syntax for \special calls. Specifying the backend allows the ConTeXt macros to use the correct syntax so that when you later run the backend to produce PostScript or PDF, the specials will be interpreted correctly.

--pages=PAGENUMBERLIST

Specify the pages or page range to appear in the output file. PAGENUMBERLIST may be the keyword odd or even; or one or more pages or page ranges separated by commas. For example,

texexec --pages=1,7,8-11,14 somefile.tex

--paperformat=KEY

For typesetting multiple pages on a single piece of paper. KEY has the form a4a3 (for printing A4 pages on A3 paper), a5a4 (for printing A5 pages on A4 paper), or in general aMaN. The actual layout of the pages is specified with the --printformat option.

--pdf, --pdftex

Use pdftex(1) to produce a pdf document (the default).

--printformat=KEY

Specify the layout of the final output. KEY can be up, resulting in 2 pages per sheet, double sided; or down, resulting in 2 rotated pages per sheet, double sided. Use the --paperformat option to specify the original page and sheet size.

--utfbom

Turn on UTF-8 encoding.

--xetex, --xtx

Use xetex(1) to produce a pdf document.

 

Creating ConTeXt Format Files

 

--make

Generate a ConTeXt format file. For example, to make cont-en.fmt and have it placed in a default format directory:

texexec --make de

The most common invocation, which is used by scripts that install a new version of ConTeXt (see ctxtools(1)), uses --all so that texexec makes the usual formats:

texexec --make --all

--local

When searching for TeX or MetaPost formats, look in the current directory rather than in the location set by the kpse library. See kpathsea(1) for more information on path searching.

--check

Check and report information about the ConTeXt version, the distribution, the TeX engine, and the language interfaces/formats.

Expert options

You should know what you're doing if you use these options!

--alpha

Use the TEXMFALPHA environment variable to find and run an alpha release of ConTeXt.

--beta

Use the TEXMFBETA environment variable to find and run a beta release of ConTeXt.

--distribution

=dist

Usually one of standard, web2c, or miktex. texexec should figure it out automatically, and you shouldn't need to use this option.

--engine=texengine

Specify the program to do the hard work of typesetting. Currently either pdftex (the default), xetex, or aleph. The luatex value is experimental. The --engine option is not usually needed. Instead, let texexec figure out the setting based on other command-line information. See for example the --xetex or --pdf switches.

Postprocess PDF Files

 

--combination=ROWS*COLS

Specify the number of pages to show on a single page. Use with --pdfcombine.

--pdfarrange

For rearranging pages in PDF files.

texexec --pdfarrange --paperformat=a5a4 --printformat=up foo.pdf

This command creates an A5 booklet from a PDF file foo.pdf. --pdfarrange is used in conjunction with the following options.

--pdfcopy

Copy and perhaps process pages from the pdf file. The resulting file is texexec.pdf by default, but you can change that using --result. Use the --scale option to magnify or demagnify the original pages and the --pages option to select the pages to copy. Here is an example using all these options:

texexec --pages=4-7 --pdfcopy --scale=750 --result=one images.pdf

It takes pages 4-7 from images.pdf, scales them by 75%, and copies them to one.pdf.

--scale=integer

If the integer is less than 10, then it is taken as an (integer) magnification factor. Otherwise, it is taken as a magnification factor in TeX terms, i.e. with 1000 meaning full scale.

--paperoffset=dimen

Specify the space between the edge of the pages and the beginning of the text block.

--backspace=dimen

Specify the inside (gutter) margins.

--topspace=dimen

Specify the top and bottom margin.

--markings

Add crop marks.

--addempty=PAGES

Add empty pages after the pages specified in PAGES. (Useful for, among other things, adding blank pages after a table of contents.)

--textwidth=WIDTH

Set the width of the original text. Specifying this parameter with a single-sided original will allow ConTeXt to adjust the page layout for double-sided output, producing much more attractive results.

With the --pdfarrange flag, specifying more than one file will result in all of the files being combined in the final result, allowing you to add title pages, decorated part separators, and so forth.

You can also do more complex manipulations, such as adding additional text to the page by setting up a small file with layout definitions and a simple figure insertion loop.

--pdfcombine

Combine multiple pages. Requires the --combination option.

--pdfselect

Extract pages from a file. Use in combination with the --selection switch, as in

texexec --pdfselect --paperformat=S6
--selection=1,9,14 file-1

which extracts pages 1, 9, and 14 from file-1.pdf, and places them in texexec.pdf (the default output filename if an output file isn't specified).

See --pdfarrange for other options.

--selection=PAGES

Specify pages to be affected by another option. See --pdfarrange and --pdfselect for examples.
 

XML handling

--filters=filter1[,filter2[,...]]

Specify XML filters to use.

Extract or Strip Out Documentation

 

--listing

Produce a typeset version of the source code in FILE. You can specify the format of the output file. For example, use

texexec --ps --listing readme.now

to produce a PostScript file called texexec.ps.

See also --backspace, --topspace, and --result.

--module

Create documentation for ConTeXt, MetaPost (see mpost(1)), perl(1), and ruby(1) modules. Converts the documentation to ConTeXt format and then typesets a documentated version of the source file.

Documentation lines in ConTeXt source files are specified by beginning lines with these strings:

%C : Copyright information

%D : Documentation lines

%I : TeXEdit information lines (mostly in Dutch)

%M : Macro code needed to processs the documentation

%S : Suppressed lines

The same forms can be used for Perl or ruby scripts, except that the % character (the TeX comment character) is replaced by # (the Perl comment character).

See also the --documentation option to ctxtools(1).
 

Process MetaPost Figures

 

--mpsformats=name

The name of a MetaPost format file, e.g. metafun (the default).

--mptex

Strips out and typesets TeX code embedded in a MetaPost file.

--nomp

Do not run mpost(1), even if needed.

--nomprun

Do not run mpost(1) on embedded MetaPost code.
 

Producing Proof Sheets of Figures

  Generate information and proof sheets of one or more (non-EPS) graphics files. For example,

texexec --figures *.png *.jpg

scans the current directory for PNG and JPG files and extracts useful information about their sizes and types. By default, this information is stored in rlxtools.rli. Then the given figures are made into a proof sheet (by default texexec.pdf) according to the method specified by the --method option. Note that newer versions of pdftex(1) do not support TIFF inclusion.

--method=ALTERNATIVE

Specify one of three options to produce the document containing the images used in the source file:

a : A proof sheet with additional information provided for each figure (the default)

b : A proof sheet with the graphics only

c : One figure per page, with the page clipped to the bounding box of the figure

See also --paperoffset, which allows you to specify an offset to be added to the page, as in

texexec --figures --method=c --paperoffset=.5cm *.pdf *.png *.jpg

 

USAGE

  Each ConTeXt user interface (language) has its own format. The following command generates two formats, one using the English interface for typesetting in English, and one for Dutch:

texexec --make en nl

By default, the language used for typesetting matches the user-interface language (set with --interface. It is possible to use one language for typesetting and another for messages by changing the relevant settings in cont-usr.tex. These languages can also be changed on the command line with a command such as

texexec --make --language=pl,cz,sk en

That command generates a ConTeXt format file with an English user interface, and the main language set to Polish (pl). Czech and Slovak hyphenation patterns are also loaded so that Czech and Slovak text included in a source file will be typeset properly (cz and sk).

o

When the appropriate formats are present, a file can be typeset by typing

texexec test

texexec tries to determine what interface it should use to typeset test.tex by looking for a line such as

% interface=en tex=pdftex output=pdftex

at the top of the file (i.e., on the very first line). This line is equivalent to TeX's format line, ``&FORMAT'').

By default, texexec will produce a PDF file using pdftex(1). The --dvips flag tells texexec to produce a PostScript file instead.

After an error-free run, texexec will run texutil(1) to determine whether additional runs of tex(1) (or pdftex(1)) or any utility programs (e.g., bibtex(1), makeindex(1)) are necessary. You can suppress these additional runs by specifying the --once or --runs flags:

texexec --once test 
texexec --runs=2 test

EXAMPLES

Produce PDF from ConTeXt source (the .tex extension is optional):

texexec file.tex

Same as the above but without rerunning for crossreferences, etc.:

texexec --once file.tex

Produce PostScript from ConTeXt source:

texexec --ps file.tex

Produce file-a4.pdf using conditional compilation (modes):

texexec --mode=a4 --result=file-a4 file.tex

Generate format (.fmt) files used by ConTeXt (used during installation):

texexec --make --all

INITIALIZATION

texexec requires ruby. On Unix and Unix-like systems, no special steps have to be taken to get texexec to work beyond installing ruby and having the ruby(1) binary in your path.

ENCODINGS

Some languages require specific character encodings to represent their alphabets (beyond the basic ASCII encoding). Although you can use TeX commands to represent these characters, such as ``\.z'', it's easier to use a text editor that includes direct support for these characters and let ConTeXt translate them to the necessary TeX commands. For some languages, this approach can also improve the performance of TeX's hyphenation algorithms.

ConTeXt supports several of the most commonly used encodings. Check the files beginning with enco-, lang-, and font- in the ConTeXt distribution for more information.

web2c distributions (such as teTeX) support a mechanism to map document encodings to ConTeXt's internal encoding, font encodings, and hyphenation patterns. texexec provides a document option and a command-line flag to pass the necessary information to tex(1) or pdftex(1). You can add lines such as

%& --translate-file=cp1250pl

or

% --translate=cp1250pl

to the beginning of your document, or you can specify the --translate flag on the command line, as

texexec --translate=il2pl somefile

Using language-specific encodings will make your file less portable than using ASCII. It may then not be possible for other people to typeset your documents on their systems.

AUTHOR

This manpage was written by Tobias Burnus <[email protected]> and C.M. Connelly <[email protected]> and updated by Sanjoy Mahajan <[email protected]>. It is based on the mtexexec.pdf manual written by Hans Hagen <[email protected]>.