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- DosTeX version 2.93a Release Notes
-
- (c) Electronetics, Incorporated
-
- September 15, 1988
-
-
- NEW FEATURES
-
- DosTeX version 2.93a corresponds to TeX version 2.93, currently the
- latest revision from Don Knuth. This version contains support for
- run-time sizing of the mem[] array within INITEX. In addition, a
- utility is provided to allow construction of preloaded versions from
- INITEX dumps. Preloaded versions are therefore no longer distributed.
- Instead, example .BAT files are provided which may be used to produce
- preloaded versions of "plain" and LaTeX. A bug related to invisible
- rules has been fixed as well as all previously reported bugs.
-
- The Epson printer driver (based on Nelson Beebe's version 2.10) no longer
- swaps the bitmap to disk. Instead, two passes are made over each page
- with a half-size bitmap. This gives approximately double the performance
- of swapping. The bug related to closing log files is fixed.
-
- The Hercules previewer is no longer distributed with screen resolution
- (120 dpi) fonts. The default is now to subsample the Epson (240 dpi)
- .pk fonts. Screen resolution fonts may still be selected, but the user
- must provide these.
-
-
- INSTALLATION PROCEDURE
-
- Successful installation of DosTeX requires at least
- 4,500,000 bytes of free space on the default drive.
- Operation of the DosTeX software requires over 500,000 bytes
- of free memory to be accessible. The exact amount depends on
- how much memory is set aside for the mem[] array.
- An automatic installation procedure
- is provided with DosTeX. To use it:
-
- 1. Make backup copies of the distribution diskettes to
- use in installing DosTeX. The distribution consists of
- six 5.25" diskettes (360k).
-
- 2. Create an empty directory in which all DosTeX files
- and subdirectories will be created (e.g., MKDIR \TEX).
-
- 3. CD to this directory (e.g., CD \TEX).
-
- 4. Insert distribution diskette #1 in drive A: and
- give the command A:INSTALL.
-
-
- You will be prompted to insert the remaining diskettes as needed.
- Subdirectories INPUTS and FONTS will be created to contain
- TeX input files, font metric and raster information.
-
- Several environment variables must be set for proper operation of
- the DosTeX package. For example, environment variables
- TEXINPUTS and TEXFONTS should be set to the paths containing TeX
- system input files and .tfm information, respectively. The variable
- TEXMEM is used to override the default size for mem[].
-
- The installation procedure attempts to append some of this
- information to the file \autoexec.bat on the default drive. Assuming
- \autoexec.bat is not write-protected, it should suffice to
- re-execute \autoexec.bat to set the environment properly.
- Otherwise, the variables will have to be set manually.
-
- Following installation, read the general information in GENERAL.DOC
- and the redistribution policy in COPYING.DOC.
-
- To produce correct TeX results, the last line of each file processed must
- end with a carriage return. Everything following the final carriage return
- in a file may be ignored by DosTeX.
-
- LIMITATIONS
-
- Preloaded versions are not distributed with DosTeX anymore. The INITEX.EXE
- executable swaps both mem[] and font_info[]. The default size for mem[]
- is 65530 words. The font_info[] array is fixed at 21000 words.
- Sizes of all other arrays are as given in the WEB source
- of TeX: The Program. A disk file VM.TMP is used to hold the
- swapped-out pages. At least 512k free disk space must be available for VM.TMP.
- If the environment variable TMP exists, it will be used as the
- directory for the VM.TMP file (hopefully, a RAMdisk).
- Otherwise, the default directory will be used. A typical
- setting would be set TMP=E:\ to use E:\VM.TMP as the swap space.
-
- INITEX will dump and read .FMT (format) files. Pre-loaded versions do
- not read any format files.
-
- There is no check in any of the versions for a disk-full condition.
- Symptoms of this may include truncated .dvi and other output files.
-
- CREATING A PRELOADED TEX
-
- VIRTEX and preloaded versions are no longer distributed. Instead, preloaded
- versions may be produced using PRELOAD.EXE. Since none of the DosTeX utilities
- check for a disk-full condition, the user must monitor disk space closely
- during the following steps.
-
- First, decide how much memory
- to allocate to mem[]. The .BAT files supplied with DosTeX use a size of 30000
- words. The default size is 65530, which will almost certainly be too large,
- since the preloaded version will not swap the array. Set the TEXMEM
- environment variable accordingly. For example,
-
- SET TEXMEM=30000
-
- indicates that 30000 words are to be reserved for mem[].
-
- Second, run INITEX.
- You may wish to use the TMP variable to force swapping to a RAMdisk, although
- this is not absolutely necessary. The dump command will cause INITEX to write
- two files to the current directory. One is the .fmt file, which may be read
- again (by INITEX) with the "&" notation. The second is a file named IMAGE.MEM.
- This contains the array contents to use for preloading.
-
- Third, run PRELOAD.EXE. PRELOAD requires that IMAGE.MEM be present. It also
- requires source and destination filenames. The source should always be the
- file PRELOAD.PRE, supplied with the distribution. This is the template from
- which all preloaded versions are built. The destination is the name of the
- preloaded .EXE file. NOTE: To run any preloaded TeX under versions of DOS
- prior to DOS 3.0, an additional environment variable named TEXEXE must be set.
- It should be set to the full pathname of the preloaded executable.
- Example: SET TEXEXE = C:\TEX\LATEX.EXE
-
- Example scripts for producing preloaded versions of "plain" and LaTeX are
- provided in PLAIN.BAT and LATEX.BAT. The memory allocated for mem[] should
- be modified as needed in the local installation environment.
-
- SUPPORT POLICY
-
- There is no warranty of any kind for DosTeX. Don Knuth of Stanford
- University is the original author of the TeX system. DosTeX is
- simply a port of his work to the MSDOS operating system. In the
- WEB source of TeX Knuth writes,
-
- Although considerable effort has been expended to make
- the TeX program correct and reliable, no warranty is
- implied; the author disclaims any obligation or liability
- for damages, including but not limited to special,
- indirect, or consequential damages arising out of or in
- connection with the use or performance of this software.
-
- This disclaimer applies equally to DosTeX. Nevertheless, it is
- the intent of Electronetics, Inc. to continue to update DosTeX
- as new versions of TeX become available and to correct bugs
- which may have been introduced by the porting process. This version
- of DosTeX has passed the TRIP validation test specified
- by Knuth.
-
- Support of DosTeX at present consists of correction of bugs
- reported to and verified by Electronetics, Incorporated.
- It is currently provided at no charge. Anything that prevents
- or hinders the proper operation of producing documents using DosTeX
- consitutes a potential bug. If applicable, a DosTeX bug should
- exhibit behavior not shown by other versions of TeX.
-
- Bug reports must contain sufficient information to reliably reproduce the
- aberrant behavior. Other pertinent information such as your name and address
- must be included. Telephone support is not available at present.
- Suggested fixes or workarounds are welcome. Enhancements to DosTeX
- or requests for other TeXware will be handled on an individual basis.
-
-
- Send bug reports and other correspondence to:
-
- Gary Beihl
- Electronetics, Incorporated
- Paine Field, Bldg. 335
- Everett, WA 98204 USA
-
- The current distribution may be ordered from the above address by
- sending (check or money order to Electronetics) for US$75
- (US$85 foreign).
-
- HINTS
-
- The DosTeX preloaded versions require access to over 500,000 bytes free memory.
- The amount of free memory may be checked using the CHKDSK command under DOS.
- If you experience difficulty finding enough free memory, the
- following hints may be useful. Reboot after any changes to CONFIG.SYS,
- then rerun CHKDSK.
-
- 1. Try making a preloaded version with a smaller value for TEXMEM.
-
- 2. If you have a CONFIG.SYS file, remove all device driver
- entries from it. These are lines beginning with `DEVICE = ...'.
- If your device drivers are small, you may be able to squeeze them back in.
- We have run DosTeX with drivers for a RAMdisk and a harddisk present
- (DOS 3.1). Buffers also occupy substantial memory. For example,
- changing `BUFFERS=20' to `BUFFERS=10' will save over 5000 bytes.
- If you have difficulty opening files for no apparent reason, try adding
- `FILES=10' (or larger) to your CONFIG.SYS file.
-
- 3. Remove any memory-resident (`pop-up') utilities. Note that
- PRINT.COM leaves behind a resident portion after the first execution.
- Try `COPY /B A.FILE PRN' instead of `PRINT A.FILE'.
-
- 4. The environment also occupies space. This is the /E:nn option in
- the `SHELL=...' line of CONFIG.SYS, where nn is the
- number of 16-byte paragraphs reserved for the environment (DOS 3.1).
-
- The environment variables TEXINPUTS and TEXFONTS tell DosTeX
- where system input and .tfm files are located. TEXFORMATS tells where
- to look for .fmt (format) files. You won't need TEXFORMATS unless you
- use INITEX. Example settings are
-
- SET TEXINPUTS=C:\TEX\INPUTS
- SET TEXFONTS=C:\TEX\FONTS\TFM
- SET TEXFORMATS=C:\TEX\FORMATS
-
- The environment variable FONTDIR tells the Epson .dvi driver (DVIEPS) and
- Hercules previewer (DVI2HERC) where
- to find the font raster images. They assume subdirectories for each
- magnification. For example, with
-
- SET FONTDIR=C:\TEX\FONTS\PK\
-
- DVIEPS will look for \magstep0 font cmr10 (PK format) in file
-
- C:\TEX\FONTS\PK\240\CMR10.PK
-
- since the Epson is a 240 dots per inch
- device (horizontal).
-
- The 4,500,000 byte disk space requirement is only approximate. Should you
- experience unexplained difficulty in installation or production of preloaded
- versions, you may need to free up more disk.
-
-
-
-
-
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