Overview of LaTeX and Local Guide

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The LaTeX command typesets a file of text using the TeX program and the LaTeX Macro package for TeX. To be more specific, it processes an input file containing the text of a document with interspersed commands that describe how the text should be formatted. It produces at least three files as output:

1. A “Device Independent”, or .dvi file. This contains commands that can be translated into commands for a variety of output devices. You can view the output of LaTeX by using a program such as xdvi, which actually uses the .dvi file.
2. A “transcript” or .log file that contains summary information and diagnostic messages for any errors discovered in the input file.
3. An “auxiliary” or .aux file. This is used by LaTeX itself, for things such as sectioning.

For a description of what goes on inside TeX, you should consult The TeX book by Donald E. Knuth, ISBN 0–201–13448–9, published jointly by the American Mathematical Society and Addison-Wesley Publishing Company. For a description of LaTeX, you should consult:

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