DVITYPE(1)

📦
version 2026.20260303.78225 · 6 versions
, in arch rolling, ubuntu stonking

💖 dvitype — the manual, but make it make sense 💖

okay so you're reading the General Commands Manual page for dvitype(1) (and its lil sibling odvitype) and honestly? iconic of you. sit down, grab a boba, we're doing this 🧋✨

✨ NAME ✨

dvitype, odvitype — translate a dvi file for humans to read 🫶

like. that's the whole job. it takes the unreadable bytes and makes them readable by actual people. slay.

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

dvitype dvi_file[.dvi]

that's it. that's the whole vibe. one file, bestie. 💅

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so dvitype takes a DVI (DeVice Independent) file — the kind that tex(1) or gftodvi(1) outputs — and translates it into a file that humans can actually read. no cap. 📖

it's also lowkey doing three jobs at once, main character energy fr:

  • it's a DVI file-validating program — like, if dvitype can read it, it's correct. that's the vibe check. ✅
  • it's an example of a DVI-processing program for future device drivers (so future you can be like "oh THAT'S how we do it")
  • and obviously it's the translator

the output can show you all the commands, just the important ones, or none at all — and in that last case it only reports errors. so it's giving "silent but judgmental" and we respect it 🙈

you can also select a subinterval of pages, and you can change the magnification and resolution of the ``output device'' — and so on. so many little knobs, obsessed.

if you omit the .dvi extension from dvi_file, it gets supplied for you. no need to type it, queen. 👑

the output goes to stdout. 📤

and then there's odvitype, which does the exact same job but for Omega/Aleph's output, modified to support their .ofm font format. two sisters, one mission 🫶✨

💅 OPTIONS 💅

quick note before we dive in: see tex(1) for details of command-line parsing. iykyk.

  • -dpi=real — set resolution to real pixels per inch. default is 300.0. yes, it's a real number, treat her with respect 🎀
  • -magnification=number — override the existing magnification with number. you're in charge now ✨
  • -max-pages=number — process number pages. default is one million. ONE MILLION. that's the energy 🫶
  • -output-level=number — verbosity level, from 0 to 4. default 4. turn it down if you want peace, turn it up if you want TEA ☕
  • -page-start=page-spec — start at page-spec, for example 2 or 5.*.-2. pick your starting point, main character that you are 💅
  • -show-opcodes — show numeric opcodes (in decimal). numbers! on display! ⭐

the standard -help and -version options are also supported. of course they are. 🩷

🌈 ENVIRONMENT 🌈

the environment variable TEXFONTS is used to search for the TFM files used in the DVI file. see tex(1) for the details of the searching. 🔍

if TEXFONTS is not set, it uses the system default. so either way you're covered, bestie 🫶

🎀 SEE ALSO 🎀

👑 AUTHORS 👑

Donald E. Knuth wrote the program, based on work by David Fuchs. it was published as part of the TeXware technical report from Stanford. 🎓

Howard Trickey and Pavel Curtis originally ported it to Unix. 💻

Yannis Haralambous and John Plaice created the Omega version. 🌍

public discussion list and bug reports: https://lists.tug.org/tex-k — go yell (kindly) 🫶

okay that's the whole page, you ate that. this was Web2C 2026, dated 22 January 2026 — which is literally the DVITYPE(1) energy. periodt. 💖✨🦋🌸💅

📦 where this page comes from