# HITEX - HINT output from TeX - man(1) - [phpMan] [_HITEX_(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/HITEX/1/markdown) General Commands Manual [_HITEX_(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/HITEX/1/markdown) ## NAME hitex - HINT output from TeX ## SYNOPSIS **hitex **[_options_] [**&_**format_] [_file_|**\_**commands_] ## DESCRIPTION Run the HiTeX typesetter on _file_, usually creating _file.hnt_. If the file argument has no ex‐ tension, ".tex" will be appended to it. Instead of a file name, a set of HiTeX commands can be given, the first of which must start with a backslash. With a **&_**format_ argument HiTeX uses a different set of precompiled commands, contained in _format_**.fmt**; it is usually better to use the **-fmt _**format_ option instead. HiTeX is a version of TeX that creates HINT files. The HINT file format is designed for on- screen reading of documents. Using a HINT viewer (see ****) to display a HINT file its content will dynamically adapt to the available display area. The typical use of HiTeX is with pre generated formats. The **hitex **command uses the equiva‐ lent of the plain TeX format, and the **hilatex **command uses the equivalent of the LaTeX for‐ mat. To generate formats, use the **-ini **switch. HiTeX's handling of its command-line arguments is similar to that of of the other TeX pro‐ grams in the _web2c_ implementation. HiTeX incorporates the e-TeX extensions (see [**etex**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/etex/1/markdown)) if used with the **-etex **switch. HiTeX incorporates the extensions needed for LaTeX (see [**latex**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/latex/1/markdown)) if used with the **-ltx** switch. ## OPTIONS This version of HiTeX understands the following command line options. ### -cnf-line _ Parse _string_ as a _texmf.cnf_ configuration line. See the Kpathsea manual. ### -compress Enable the use of compression for the HINT file. Compressed files are smaller but re‐ quire decompression when viewing. Use only for large files if the file size matters. ### -empty-page When writing books, often empty pages are inserted - for example to begin chapters on a right hand side page. These empty pages are a nuisance for on-screen reading where there are no left or right hand side pages. This option keeps empty pages in the out‐ put. ### -no-empty-page This option tries to eliminate empty pages in the output. It is set as a default. ### -etex -ini See [**etex**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/etex/1/markdown). ### -file-line-error Print error messages in the form _file:line:error_ which is similar to the way many com‐ pilers format them. ### -no-file-line-error Disable printing error messages in the _file:line:error_ style. ### -fmt _ Use _format_ as the name of the format to be used, instead of the name by which HiTeX was called or a _%&_ line. ### -help ### -hint-debug _ Sets HINT file debugging flags according to the _bitmask_. See the **-hint-debug-help **op‐ tion for details. ### -hint-debug-help Print an explanation of the HINT debugging flags and exit. ### -hyphenate-first-word TeX will usually not attempt to insert hyphenation points into the first word of a paragraph. If a HINT file must be displayed on a very small device such hyphenation points might prove necessary. This option is set by default and enables the generation of these hyphenation points. ### -no-hyphenate-first-word Disable the automatic insertion of hyphenation points in the first word of a para‐ graph. Needed only if complete compatibility with TeX is required. ### -ini setting, but no format is preloaded, and basic initializations like setting catcodes may be required. ### -interaction _ Sets the interaction mode. The mode can be either _batchmode_, _nonstopmode_, _scrollmode_, and _errorstopmode_. The meaning of these modes is the same as that of the correspond‐ ing \commands. ### -jobname _ Use _name_ for the job name, instead of deriving it from the name of the input file. ### -kpathsea-debug _ Sets path searching debugging flags according to the bitmask. See the _Kpathsea_ manual for details. ### -ltx -ini See [**latex**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/latex/1/markdown). ### -mfmode _ Use _mode_ as the Metafont _mode_ when generating missing fonts. See [**mf**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/mf/1/markdown) for details. ### -mktex _ Enable mktex_fmt_, where _fmt_ must be either _tex_, _tfm_, _fmt_, or _pk_. ### -no-mktex _ Disable mktex_fmt_, where _fmt_ must be either _tex_, _tfm_, _fmt_, or _pk_. ### -output-directory _ Write output files in _directory_ instead of the current directory. Look up input files in _directory_ first, then along the normal search path. ### -parse-first-line If the first line of the main input file begins with _%&_ parse it to look for a dump name. ### -no-parse-first-line Disable parsing of the first line of the main input file. ### -progname _ Pretend to be program _name_. This affects both the format used and the search paths. ### -resolution _ When using Metafont to generate missing pk fonts, use a resolution of _number_ DPI. See [**mf**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/mf/1/markdown) for details. ### -version Print version information and exit. ## ENVIRONMENT See the Kpathsea library documentation (e.g., the `Path specifications' node) for precise de‐ tails of how the environment variables are used. The **kpsewhich **utility can be used to query the values of the variables. One caveat: In most HiTeX formats, you cannot use ~ in a file name you give directly to Hi‐ TeX, because ~ is an active character in TeX, and hence is expanded, not taken as part of the file name. Other programs, such as Metafont, do not have this problem. **TEXMFOUTPUT** Normally, HiTeX puts its output files in the current directory. If any output file cannot be opened there, it tries to open it in the directory specified in the environ‐ ment variable TEXMFOUTPUT. There is no default value for that variable. For example, if you say _hitex_ _paper_ and the current directory is not writable and TEXMFOUTPUT has the value _/tmp_, HiTeX attempts to create _/tmp/paper.log_ (and _/tmp/paper.hnt_, if any output is produced.) TEXMFOUTPUT is also checked for input files, as TeX often gener‐ ates files that need to be subsequently read; for input, no suffixes (such as ``.tex'') are added by default, the input name is simply checked as given. **TEXINPUTS** Search path for _\input_ and _\openin_ files. This normally starts with ``.'', so that user files are found before system files. An empty path component will be replaced with the paths defined in the _texmf.cnf_ file. For example, set TEXINPUTS to ".:/home/user/tex:" to prepend the current directory and ``/home/user/tex'' to the standard search path. **TEXFORMATS** Search path for format files. **TFMFONTS** Search path for font metric (_.tfm_) files. **SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH** If set, its value, taken to be in epoch-seconds, will be used for the creation date and as the reference moment for the time related primitives of LaTeX. This is useful for making reproducible builds. **FORCE_SOURCE_DATE** If set to the value "1", the time-related TeX primitives (_\year_, _\month_, _\day_, _\time_) are also initialized from the value of SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH. This is not recommended if there is any viable alternative. Many, many more environment variables may be consulted related to path searching. See the Kpathsea manual. ## FILES The location of the files mentioned below varies from system to system. Use the **kpsewhich** utility to find their locations. _*.tfm_ Metric files for HiTeX's fonts. _*.fmt_ Predigested HiTeX format files. _*.pk_ _*.pfb_ Font files used by HiTeX. ## NOTES This manual page is not meant to be exhaustive. The complete documentation for HiTeX can be found in the _HiTeX_ _user_ _manual_ Further information can be found in the manual of the _Kpath‐_ _sea_ _library_ and in _HINT:_ _The_ _file_ _format_ which is available as a book or in electronic form from the HINT project home page at ****. ## BUGS This version of HiTeX fails to handle correctly glues and kerns with a width that depends on \hsize or \vsize. Similarly, when the layout of table entries or mathematical formulas de‐ pends on \hsize or \vsize their output might be distorted. ## AVAILABILITY HiTeX should compile on a large variety of machine architectures and operating systems. Hi‐ TeX is part of the TeX Live distribution. The HiTeX home page is at ****. There you find additional software, most importantly viewers for HINT files, and further information. ## SEE ALSO [**histretch**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/histretch/1/markdown), [**hishrink**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/hishrink/1/markdown), [**latex**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/latex/1/markdown), [**tex**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/tex/1/markdown), [**kpsewhich**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/kpsewhich/1/markdown), ## AUTHORS The primary author of HiTeX is Martin Ruckert, with eTeX extensions by Peter Breitenlohner, LaTeX extensions by Thierry Laronde, and the kpathsearch library by Karl Berry. TeX was designed by Donald E. Knuth, who implemented it using his Web system for Pascal pro‐ grams. Many, many more contributed to the typesetting system now known as TeX; far too many to name all of them here. Version 1.0 11 November 2021 [_HITEX_(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/HITEX/1/markdown)