Go to the previous, next section.
The name of a file to be run through LaTeX must end with .tex. To run a file through LaTeX, type the following command:
latex file
Replace file with the name of the file to be run through LaTeX. For example, to run the file examples.tex through LaTeX, I could type the following command:
latex examples.tex
LaTeX responds by working its way through the file and reporting its progress as it goes. This "report" goes to both the terminal screen and a file called file.log, where file is the name of the file you ran through LaTeX (without the .tex suffix).
If LaTeX finds errors, it reports them as it finds them. If LaTeX generates error messages you don't understand, refer to the LaTeX Manual for explanations.
If LaTeX finds no errors, it generates a file called file.dvi, where file is the name of the file you ran through LaTeX (without the .tex suffix). The .dvi suffix is short for device independent. A dvi file can translated into the many different languages that printers know about. To print your LaTeX documents, see Section See section Printing.
Go to the previous, next section.