DVI (TeX) - Definition and Overview

DVI ("DeVice Independent") is the output file format of the TeX typesetting program. Unlike the TeX markup files used to generate them, DVI files are not intended to be human-readable; they consist of binary data describing the visual layout of a document in a manner not reliant on any specific image format, display hardware or printer (hence the DVI format's name). DVI files are typically used as input to a second program (called a DVI driver) which translates DVI files to graphical data. For example, most TeX software packages include a program for previewing DVI files on a user's computer display; this program is a driver. Drivers are also used to convert DVI files to popular document formats (e.g. PostScript, PDF) and for printing. Wikipedia uses a PNG driver to generate graphics for mathematical formulae in articles.

DVI is not a document encryption format, and TeX markup may be at least partially reverse-engineered from DVI files, although this process is unlikely to produce high-level constructs identical to those present in the original markup, especially if the original markup used high-level TeX extensions (e.g. LaTeX).

Publishers who require submissions in TeX format will generally reject DVI files not accompanied by TeX markup files.

External links

Description of the DVI file format (http://www.math.umd.edu/~asnowden/comp-cont/dvi.html)