---
name: "tex2mail"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "pari"
version: "2.19.0-4"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/tex2mail"
---

# tex2mail(1)

TeX to ascii math prettyprinter

## NAME

tex2mail - TeX to ascii math prettyprinter

## SYNOPSIS

**tex2mail** \[-linelength= *length*\] \[-maxdef= *number*\] \[-debug= *number*\] \[-by\_par= *number*\] \[-TeX\] \[-ragged\] \[-noindent\]

## DESCRIPTION

Filter converting TeX or LaTeX math formulae to ASCII art. tex2mail is used by the PARI-GP calculator for output method *external prettyprint .* Under gp, prettyprint mode can be set by **default(output, 3)** (or \\o3). By default, this switches gp main output to TeX format, filtered by

tex2mail -TeX -noindent -ragged -by\_par

Flags passed to tex2mail can be modified via the *prettyprinter* default in gp.

## OPTIONS

The following command line options are available:

- **-linelength=length**

  Wrap text at this column.

- **-maxdef=number**

  definition loops: croak if more than maxdef substitutions in a given paragraph.

- **-debug=debuglevel**

  output debugging messages.

- **-by\_par**

  Expect each paragraph to be terminated by \*exactly\* 2 "\\n", and do not print an extra "\\n" between paragraphs.

- **-TeX**

  Assume input formulae are in plain TeX format.

- **-ragged**

  leave right ragged.

- **-noindent**

  assume \\noindent everywhere.

## BUGS

 % at the end of a line followed by \\n\\n is recognized as end of paragraph

## AUTHOR

Ilya Zakharevitch

## SEE ALSO

[*gp*(1)](/gp/1.md), [*tex*(1)](/tex/1.md),

## COPYING

This program is  free  software;  you  can  redistribute  it and/or  modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A  PARTICULAR  PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the  GNU  General  Public License  along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,  Inc., 675  Mass  Ave,  Cambridge,  MA 02139, USA.