Initialization screen

The first time you start 4TeX (or rather, if there is no 4TEX.INI file, or when you start 4TeX with the -ini parameter, the initialization screen is shown. This screen shows an introduction text that explains how to install 4TeX. You can fill out a few settings and then start 4TeX. The file 4TEX.INI is created when starts 4TeX.

First choose the language you want for your 4TeX windows. When changing the language, the introductional text and initialization screen is also changed. The introductional text is stored in the file XX_INTRO.LST, where XX represents the language: US = English, DE = German, NL = Dutch, PL = Polish, FR = French, RU = Russian, CS = Czech, SL = Slovak, DK = Danish.

In the first field you can specify the root directory of the Web2C distribution.

In the second field the directory of the executables of TeX and friends needs to be specified.

The third field specifies the root directory of your personal TeX tree. This tree is used to store your own TeX documents, style files, fonts, etc. This tree can also be used to store updates and bug fixes. Please use the tree structure conventions as specified by the TDS, it will help the 4TeX team to support automatic updating and bug fixes.

The next option you need to specify is where the files 4TEX.INI and 4TEXSET.BAT are stored. By default they are stored in the Windows directory, but many people prefer to store it in the same directory as where the 4TEX.EXE resides.

By default 4TeX generates an icon in the Programs menu. This means that you can start 4TeX by clicking on the Start button, then click on the "Programs" item and finally click on the 4TeX icon. To make things easier you can also make a shortcut on the desktop and/or in the Windows "Start" menu..

If you use Windows Explorer you can associate file types (extensions) to certain programs. If you double-click on a file in the Windows Explorer it will start the associated program with the selected file. 4TeX can do this for all the TeX files (files with the .TEX extension). If you check "Use 4TeX", 4TeX will associate the .TEX files with the 4TeX program.

In many cases you do not need to change anything in the initialization screen and can simply press 4TeX's "Start" button. If you do not want to install 4TeX just press the "Abort" button.

If you want to change the Web2C root or the Personal TeX root just click at the appropriate field or the button next to it. Clicking on either of them will result in opening the "Choose directory" screen.

NB. When installing 4TeX under Windows 95/98 several environment settings are added to the file AUTOEXEC.BAT. For these new settings to become effective, a reboot of your system is required. If your system is running Windows NT there is no need for a reboot.