TEXI2DVI(1)

📦
version 7.3 · 6 versions
, in alpine 3.24, arch rolling, nixpkgs unstable, ubuntu stonking

✨ TEXI2DVI(1) ✨

okay bestie, so this is texi2dvi, a little user command from the GNU Texinfo fam that takes your Texinfo documents and turns them into DVI or PDF. literally iconic behavior. 💅

🌸 NAME 🌸

texi2dvi — convert Texinfo documents to DVI or PDF 🦋

💖 SYNOPSIS 💖

texi2dvi [OPTION]... FILE...
texi2pdf [OPTION]... FILE...
pdftexi2dvi [OPTION]... FILE...

🎀 DESCRIPTION 🎀

So the way this works is: it runs each Texinfo or (La)TeX FILE through TeX in turn, over and over, until all the cross-references are resolved and all the indices are built. it's giving persistence, honestly. 🫶

The directory containing each FILE is searched for included files. The suffix of FILE is what determines its language — either (La)TeX or Texinfo. And if you wanna process (e)plain TeX files? no problem bestie, just set the environment variable LATEX=tex. slay.

When it's invoked as texi2pdf, or when you hand it the --pdf option, it generates PDF output. Otherwise? you're getting DVI. that's the deal. 💫

💅 General options:

  • -D, --debug — turn on shell debugging (basically set -x, so you can watch it do its thing)
  • -h, --help — display this help and exit successfully ✨
  • -o, --output=OFILE — leave the output in OFILE. careful though: only one input FILE is allowed with this one
  • -q, --quiet — no output unless there are errors 🤫
  • -v, --version — display version information and exit successfully
  • -V, --verbose — report on what is done, like a little narrator keeping you posted
  • --max-iterations=N — don't process files more than N times [7]
  • --mostly-clean — remove auxiliary files or directories from previous runs (but not the output, bestie)

🌈 Output format:

  • --dvi — output a DVI file [default]
  • --dvipdf — output a PDF file via DVI (using a dvi-to-pdf program)
  • -p, --pdf — use pdftex or pdflatex for processing
  • --ps — output a PostScript file via DVI (using dvips)

🧚 TeX tuning:

  • -E, --expand — macro expansion using makeinfo
  • -I DIR — search DIR for Texinfo files
  • -l, --language=LANG — specify LANG for FILE, either latex or texinfo
  • --no-line-error — do not pass --file-line-error to TeX
  • --shell-escape — pass --shell-escape to TeX
  • --src-specials — pass --src-specials to TeX
  • --translate-file=FILE — use given charset translation file for TeX
  • -t, --command=CMD — insert CMD in copy of input file

⭐ Build modes:

  • --build=MODE — specify the treatment of auxiliary files [local]
  • --tidy — same as --build=tidy
  • -c, --clean — same as --build=clean
  • --build-dir=DIR — specify where the tidy compilation is performed; implies --tidy

The MODE specifies where the TeX compilation takes place, and, as a consequence, how auxiliary files are treated. 👑

🦋 Valid values of MODE are:

  • local — compile in the current directory, leaving all the auxiliary files around. This is the traditional TeX use.
  • tidy — compile in a local *.t2d directory, where the auxiliary files are left. Output files are copied back to the original file.
  • clean — same as tidy, but remove the auxiliary directory afterwards. Every compilation therefore requires the full cycle. it's thorough, okay?

The build mode can also be set using the environment variable TEXI2DVI_BUILD_MODE. The tidy build directory can also be set using the environment variable TEXI2DVI_BUILD_DIRECTORY. 🌸

The values of these environment variables are used to run the corresponding commands, if they are set:

BIBER BIBTEX DVIPDF DVIPS EGREP LATEX MAKEINDEX MAKEINFO PDFLATEX
PDFTEX SED TEX TEXINDEX TEXINDY THUMBPDF_CMD

Regarding --dvipdf, if DVIPDF is not set in the environment, the following programs are looked for (in this order): dvipdfmx dvipdfm dvipdf dvi2pdf dvitopdf.

If Texinfo is installed on your site, then the command

info texi2dvi

should give you access to more documentation. 📚

😭 REPORTING BUGS 😭

Report bugs to bug-texinfo@gnu.org, general questions and discussion to help-texinfo@gnu.org.

GNU Texinfo home page: <https://www.gnu.org/software/texinfo/>

General help using GNU software: <http://www.gnu.org/gethelp/>

Copyright © 2026 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>

This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.

There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law. (yes bestie, zero, none, nada — read the license, it's real)

💜 SEE ALSO 💜

The full documentation for texi2dvi is maintained as a Texinfo manual. If the info and texi2dvi programs are properly installed at your site, the command

info texi2dvi

should give you access to the complete manual. go read it, it's giving lore. 📖

and that's the whole page, bestie — brought to you by texi2dvi (GNU Texinfo 7.3), dated March 2026. mwah. 💅✨

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