Device independent file format

The Device independent file format (DVI ) is a by David Fuchs 1979 designed page description language.

Features DVI files

In a DVI file is a text, supplemented by set information ( fonts, character and line spacing, character positions ) are stored. The specificity of DVI compared to similar formats such as PDF, PostScript or SVG is that the fonts used are not stored in the file itself, but only be referenced from there, so they must be present on the target system. DVI files are therefore usually very small; but you have to read them, the appropriate fonts installed (for example, by a similar TeX - based system as the creator of the file ). Another advantage besides the size is that the fonts on the target device (eg printer ) are optimized for this. This can be done with METAFONT fonts, in which for each device, an adjusted set of bitmap fonts is created.

Graphics can be treated only indirectly, by DVI, mostly as an external reference (DVI special) to a file in an appropriate graphic format. From the aspect set forth DVI treats a graph as a single character, such as how an ordinary letter. The only exception is rectangular, filled areas, such as horizontal or vertical lines. These can be described directly in DVI files.

DVI has been widely used probably mainly by Donald Ervin Knuth's decision to use DVI output for its typesetting system TeX, as there were no established standard for page description at the time of programming of TeX. There is a statement from him that he had then used PostScript if it had already existed. DVI can be converted to various other formats, among others, PostScript, PDF and SVG.

DVI output not only of TeX, other programs, such as groff, can produce DVI files.

Tools for DVI files

Observer

  • Xdvi is the program used by default on UNIX, Linux and OpenVMS for viewing DVI files. An extension set xdvik and xhdvi represent those hyperlinks can be followed in the DVI file. The GNOME Desktop also comes with the Evince PDF viewer that can display and DVI.
  • Yap is available under Windows viewer for DVI files and is included in MiKTeX.
  • Kdvi is a DVI viewer (standalone or KPart ) for KDE.
  • Okular is a document viewer for KDE since version 4, which, inter alia, also can represent DVI.

Printer driver

Until the mid- 1990s separately printer driver have been developed for many different printers. Since many developments were free software, they can still be found on the CTAN archives and download if necessary. Since then, however, has

  • Dvips

Established as the default printer driver that generated from a DVI file to a PostScript file. Non-PostScript - enabled printers are then raised with the help of ghostscript.

Other printer drivers that are currently being actively developed, are

  • Dvipdfmx - a driver that generates PDF files directly from DVI files
  • Dvisvg - a driver for SVG
  • Dvisvgm - another driver for SVG

Others

  • DVItype - is a DVI file into a human readable format (ASCII ), where the level of detail can be adjusted by a parameter. The value written in the Web source code contains the documentation of the DVI format.
  • Dvicopy - makes DVI files with special properties simpler DVI files, such as by dissolving virtual fonts.
Groff (software) KDE Platform#KParts
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