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- dvidvi 1.0, Copyright (C) 1988-91, Radical Eye Software
-
- Here's a little hack I threw together for those doing pagination
- tricks. Any improvements are appreciated. Enjoy!
- The dvidvi program converts a dvi file into another dvi file,
- with perhaps certain changes. Invocation is
-
- dvidvi param infile outfile
-
- What are the parameters? The 'easy' paramaters are the following:
-
- -f n page n is first page selected
- -l n page n is last page selected
- -n n select at most n pages. Notice that n is the number of pages
- selected, independently of the number of pages actually
- contained in a sheet
- -i { n1..n2 | n1 }[,...]
- include pages (ranges allowed). When this option is
- used, ONLY the specified pages are selected. However,
- we can exclude from these pages with the option -x
- -x { n1..n2 | n1 }[,...]
- exclude pages (ranges allowed)
- -q work in quiet mode, that is do not print in the screen
- messages of how the work is being done.
- -r reverse the order of the pages.
-
- The page numbers for the above options -f -l -i and -x can be specified
- in different ways.
-
- 1) If a number n is given, it is interpreted as the n'th page from the
- begining of the .dvi file. Of course, this number is independent of the
- page number assigned by TeX.
-
- 2) TeX page numbers are those who are actually written in the page;
- these page numbers can be modified, for example, by using the TeX commands
- \pagenumbering, \setcounter{page}{n}, and \addtocounter{page}{n}.
- A TeX page number can be specified by preceding the number n with the
- character @. Thus, if you specify -f @25 -l @30 you select the pages
- between 25 and 30, these numbers being those assigned by TeX.
-
- 3) However, several pages can have the same TeX page number in a .dvi file.
- For example, the introductory pages in a book are numbered i, ii, and so on
- until the first chapter begins and then, the pages are numbered 1, 2, etc.
- In this case, the pages numbered i and 1 in the .dvi file have the same TeX
- page number. If you want to select for example the second occurrence of the
- page numbered 1, you can specify a page number as (@2)1. Thus @1 is equivalent
- to (@1)1. For example, if you specify -f (@2)1 -l(@2)10 you select the pages
- between 1 and 10 of the first chapter, not the introductory pages between
- i and x.
-
- There is another parameter that tells dvidvi how you want to change page
- layout and specifications. This is the -m parameter.
-
- The number preceding the colon is the modulo value. Everything
- will be done in chunks of pages this big. If there is no colon, than the
- default value is assumed to be one. The last chunk of pages is padded
- with as many blank pages as necessary.
-
- Following the colon is a comma-separated list of page numbers.
- These page numbers are with respect to the current chunk of pages, and
- must lie in the range zero to the modulo value less one. If a negative
- sign precedes the number, then the page is taken from the mirror chunk;
- if there are m chunks, then the mirror chunk of chunk n is the chunk
- numbered m-n-1. Put simply, it is the chunk numbered the same, only
- from the end. This can be used to reverse pages. If no number is
- given, the page number defaults to 1.
-
- Following each page number is an optional offset value in
- parenthesis, which consists of a pair of comma-separated dimensions.
- Each dimension is a decimal number with an optional unit of measure.
- The default unit of measure is inches, or the last unit of measure
- used. All units are in true dimensions. Allowable units of measure
- are the same that TeX allows: in, mm, cm, pt, pc, dd, and cc.
-
- Simple enough, eh? Okay, let's do some simple things.
-
- -m - Reverses the order of the pages. This time, both the modulo and
- the page number are defaulted.
-
- -m 2:0 Selects the first, third, fifth, etc. pages from the file. Print
- this one after printing the next, taking the paper out of the
- feed tray and reinserting it into the paper feed.
-
- -m 2:-1 Selects the second, fourth, etc. pages, and writes them in reverse
- order.
- -m 4:-1,2(4.25in,0in)
- -m 4:-3,0(4.25in,0in)
- Useful for printing a little booklet, four pages to a sheet,
- double-sided, for stapling in the middle. Print the first one,
- put the stack back into the printer upside down, and print the
- second. The `in' specifications are superfluous.
- -m ,(1pt,1)
- Scare your system administrator! Actually, things are so
- blurry with this option, you may want to send enemies letters
- printed like this. *Long* letters.
- -m 4:0(5.5in,4.25),3(0,4.25)
- -m 4:1(0in,4.25),2(5.5,4.25)
- Print a four-page card on one sheet. Print the first, rotate
- the paper 180 degrees and feed it again. (PostScript people
- can do funny tricks with PostScript so this isn't necessary.)
-
- Enjoy; this is an early release, so make suggestions, improvements,
- and I'll get back to you with a better version later.
-
-