Print error messages in the form file:line:error which is similar to the way many compilers format them.

Use format as the name of the format to be used, instead of the name by which pdfTeX was called or a %& line.

Print help message and exit.

Be pdfinitex, for dumping formats; this is implicitly true if the program is called as pdfinitex.

Sets the interaction mode. The mode can be one of batchmode, nonstopmode, scrollmode, and errorstopmode. The meaning of these modes is the same as that of the corresponding \commands.

Send DVI or PDF output to a socket as well as the usual output file. Whether this option is available is the choice of the installer.

As --ipc, and starts the server at the other end as well. Whether this option is available is the choice of the installer.

Use name for the job name, instead of deriving it from the name of the input file.

Sets path searching debugging flags according to the bitmask. See the Kpathsea manual for details.

Enable mktexfmt, where fmt must be one of tex or tfm.

Disable mktexfmt, where fmt must be one of tex or tfm.

Use string for the DVI file comment instead of the date.

If the first line of the main input file begins with %& parse it to look for a dump name or a --translate-file option.

Pretend to be program name. This affects both the format used and the search paths.

Enable the filename recorder. This leaves a trace of the files opened for input and output in a file with extension .fls.

Enable the \write18{command} construct. The command can be any Bourne shell command. This construct is normally disallowed for security reasons.

Use the tcxname translation table.

Print version information and exit.