Skip to content

Instantly share code, notes, and snippets.

@tychobrailleur
Last active January 9, 2026 15:14
Show Gist options
  • Select an option

  • Save tychobrailleur/fcf4ce23ae5d79f36ce7a062897f2c9d to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.

Select an option

Save tychobrailleur/fcf4ce23ae5d79f36ce7a062897f2c9d to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.
Small TeX file showing how to get output trace from TeX
\tracingall
\hsize=5in
\noindent
This is TeX.
\vskip 10pt
\hbox{A box}
\showboxbreadth=9999
\showboxdepth=9999
\showlists
\bye
% By default, the TeX "origin" (0,0) is defined to be exactly 1 inch from the top
% and 1 inch from the left edge of the physical paper.
\def\printlayout{
\immediate\write16{--- PAGE LAYOUT PARAMS ---}
\immediate\write16{vsize: \the\vsize}
\immediate\write16{hsize: \the\hsize}
\immediate\write16{voffset: \the\voffset}
\immediate\write16{hoffset: \the\hoffset}
\immediate\write16{leftskip: \the\leftskip}
\immediate\write16{rightskip: \the\rightskip}
\immediate\write16{baselineskip: \the\baselineskip}
\immediate\write16{lineskiplimit: \the\lineskiplimit}
\immediate\write16{topskip: \the\topskip}
\immediate\write16{parindent: \the\parindent}
\immediate\write16{parskip: \the\parskip}
\immediate\write16{------------------------------}
}
\newdimen\afourwidth \afourwidth=210mm
%% \newdimen\afourwidth \afourwidth=8.5in
\advance\afourwidth by -\hsize
\immediate\write16{current a4 width: \the\afourwidth}
\divide\afourwidth by 2
\advance\afourwidth by -1in %% 1in is the current origin
\hoffset=\afourwidth
%% in eTeX, \dimexpr (https://latexref.xyz/Expressions.html) can be used
\printlayout
\nopagenumbers
\newdimen\longindentation \longindentation=4truein
\newdimen\tmpleftskip
\let\newdimen=\leftskip
\leftskip=\longindentation
Mr. S\'ebastien Le Callonnec\par
1 Main Street\par
\'Ait ar bith \par
Ireland. \par
\leftskip=\tmpleftskip
\vfill
Dear Sir or Madam,
Blah blah
Blah blah
\bigskip
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec et urna lobortis, elementum urna sed, lacinia sem. Mauris ut nisi velit. Integer eget fermentum erat. Quisque at fermentum tellus, facilisis rutrum mauris. Donec posuere, enim nec pharetra mattis, massa lacus ullamcorper dolor, vitae gravida magna nunc sed diam. Aliquam commodo metus enim, vel tincidunt erat faucibus a. Sed aliquet est nisl. Mauris eget sodales lectus. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia curae; Mauris sit amet urna velit.
Quisque commodo non erat non eleifend. Nulla vestibulum tortor efficitur turpis auctor, et fermentum eros condimentum. Suspendisse at tortor lectus. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nulla in porttitor enim. Curabitur viverra ac lacus sit amet posuere. Vivamus ligula erat, placerat nec lectus tristique, pellentesque rutrum ante. Sed nisi diam, egestas eu feugiat sed, vestibulum eget ex. Fusce tincidunt ut dui at tempus. Proin faucibus id velit quis suscipit. Sed risus quam, consequat et efficitur ut, varius ac enim.
Maecenas sit amet quam rutrum, varius sapien sit amet, blandit quam. Nam convallis felis a dolor blandit, quis pulvinar urna cursus. Nullam hendrerit ligula porttitor tellus finibus, a lacinia lacus volutpat. Nullam laoreet blandit enim, ut gravida leo feugiat sed. Nulla fringilla purus sed lacus pretium dictum. Etiam maximus venenatis ornare. Nullam in turpis sed velit suscipit facilisis id sit amet urna. Suspendisse potenti. Aliquam euismod, diam quis vehicula efficitur, nunc augue porttitor nisl, a ultrices sapien odio vitae diam.
Nunc in eros ut lectus interdum ultricies ultrices ac urna. Vivamus sit amet nisl ante. Aenean maximus ut lectus quis consequat. Mauris sollicitudin, tellus sit amet consequat luctus, ex massa porttitor erat, et convallis turpis nunc eget justo. Ut tristique odio neque, eu auctor nulla vulputate ac. Proin cursus facilisis quam, sit amet imperdiet metus hendrerit sed. Aenean ut ex pretium, tempor nibh at, fringilla ante. Curabitur euismod turpis in orci vulputate bibendum. Vestibulum quis ante magna. Nulla vitae condimentum eros.
In erat nisi, suscipit quis risus nec, lobortis elementum elit. Proin lorem nisi, congue id neque ac, posuere convallis felis. Praesent ultricies metus quis leo sagittis aliquam ut et purus. Etiam et mauris elit. Suspendisse eu scelerisque augue, sit amet sollicitudin sapien. Cras interdum pharetra libero sit amet molestie. Orci varius natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Aliquam gravida risus vel ex ullamcorper, in tincidunt mauris convallis. Cras sed accumsan lorem. Donec orci elit, tristique non mollis sed, hendrerit nec elit. Cras ac quam mauris. Etiam eget auctor quam.
\vfill
Yours Sincerely,
S\'ebastien Le~Callonnec
\bye
Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment