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(latex.info)Overview

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Overview of LaTeX and Local Guide
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   The LaTeX command typesets a file of text using the TeX program and
the LaTeX Macro package for TeX.  To be more specific, it processes an
input file containing the text of a document with interspersed commands
that describe how the text should be formatted.  It produces at least
three files as output:

  1. A "Device Independent", or `.dvi' file. This contains commands that
     can be translated into commands for a variety of output devices.
     You can view the output of LaTeX by using a program such as `xdvi',
     which actually uses the `.dvi' file.

  2. A "transcript" or `.log' file that contains summary information and
     diagnostic messages for any errors discovered in the input file.

  3. An "auxiliary" or `.aux' file. This is used by LaTeX itself, for
     things such as sectioning.

   For a description of what goes on inside TeX, you should consult
`The TeXbook' by Donald E. Knuth, ISBN 0-201-13448-9, published jointly
by the American Mathematical Society and Addison-Wesley Publishing
Company.

   For a description of LaTeX, you should consult:

   `LaTeX: A Document Preparation System', by Leslie Lamport,
Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 2nd edition, 1994.

   `The LaTeX Companion', by Michel Goossens, Frank Mittelbach, and
Alexander Samarin, Addison-Wesley, 1994.