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This is groff, produced by makeinfo version 4.8 from ./groff.texinfo.
This manual documents GNU `troff' version 1.19.2.
Copyright (C) 1994-2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 Free Software
Foundation, Inc.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this
document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License,
Version 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software
Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts
being `A GNU Manual," and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a)
below. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled
`GNU Free Documentation License."
(a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: `You have freedom to copy and
modify this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by
the Free Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development."
INFO-DIR-SECTION Typesetting
START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
* Groff: (groff). The GNU troff document formatting system.
END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY

File: groff, Node: Top, Next: Introduction, Prev: (dir), Up: (dir)
GNU troff
*********
This manual documents GNU `troff' version 1.19.2.
Copyright (C) 1994-2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 Free Software
Foundation, Inc.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this
document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License,
Version 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software
Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts
being `A GNU Manual," and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a)
below. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled
`GNU Free Documentation License."
(a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: `You have freedom to copy and
modify this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by
the Free Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development."
* Menu:
* Introduction::
* Invoking groff::
* Tutorial for Macro Users::
* Macro Packages::
* gtroff Reference::
* Preprocessors::
* Output Devices::
* File formats::
* Installation::
* Copying This Manual::
* Request Index::
* Escape Index::
* Operator Index::
* Register Index::
* Macro Index::
* String Index::
* Glyph Name Index::
* Font File Keyword Index::
* Program and File Index::
* Concept Index::

File: groff, Node: Introduction, Next: Invoking groff, Prev: Top, Up: Top
1 Introduction
**************
GNU `troff' (or `groff') is a system for typesetting documents.
`troff' is very flexible and has been in existence (and use) for about
3 decades. It is quite widespread and firmly entrenched in the UNIX
community.
* Menu:
* What Is groff?::
* History::
* groff Capabilities::
* Macro Package Intro::
* Preprocessor Intro::
* Output device intro::
* Credits::

File: groff, Node: What Is groff?, Next: History, Prev: Introduction, Up: Introduction
1.1 What Is `groff'?
====================
`groff' belongs to an older generation of document preparation systems,
which operate more like compilers than the more recent interactive
WYSIWYG(1) (*note What Is groff?-Footnote-1::) systems. `groff' and
its contemporary counterpart, TeX, both work using a "batch" paradigm:
The input (or "source") files are normal text files with embedded
formatting commands. These files can then be processed by `groff' to
produce a typeset document on a variety of devices.
Likewise, `groff' should not be confused with a "word processor",
since that term connotes an integrated system that includes an editor
and a text formatter. Also, many word processors follow the WYSIWYG
paradigm discussed earlier.
Although WYSIWYG systems may be easier to use, they have a number of
disadvantages compared to `troff':
* They must be used on a graphics display to work on a document.
* Most of the WYSIWYG systems are either non-free or are not very
portable.
* `troff' is firmly entrenched in all UNIX systems.
* It is difficult to have a wide range of capabilities available
within the confines of a GUI/window system.
* It is more difficult to make global changes to a document.
"GUIs normally make it simple to accomplish simple actions and
impossible to accomplish complex actions." -Doug Gwyn (22/Jun/91
in `comp.unix.wizards')

File: groff, Node: What Is groff?-Footnotes, Up: What Is groff?
(1) What You See Is What You Get

File: groff, Node: History, Next: groff Capabilities, Prev: What Is groff?, Up: Introduction
1.2 History
===========
`troff' can trace its origins back to a formatting program called
`runoff', written by J. E. Saltzer, which ran on MIT's CTSS operating
system in the mid-sixties. This name came from the common phrase of
the time "I'll run off a document." Bob Morris ported it to the 635
architecture and called the program `roff' (an abbreviation of
`runoff'). It was rewritten as `rf' for the PDP-7 (before having
UNIX), and at the same time (1969), Doug McIllroy rewrote an extended
and simplified version of `roff' in the BCPL programming language.
The first version of UNIX was developed on a PDP-7 which was sitting
around Bell Labs. In 1971 the developers wanted to get a PDP-11 for
further work on the operating system. In order to justify the cost for
this system, they proposed that they would implement a document
formatting system for the AT&T patents division. This first formatting
program was a reimplementation of McIllroy's `roff', written by
J. F. Ossanna.
When they needed a more flexible language, a new version of `roff'
called `nroff' ("Newer `roff'") was written. It had a much more
complicated syntax, but provided the basis for all future versions.
When they got a Graphic Systems CAT Phototypesetter, Ossanna wrote a
version of `nroff' that would drive it. It was dubbed `troff', for
"typesetter `roff'", although many people have speculated that it
actually means "Times `roff'" because of the use of the Times font
family in `troff' by default. As such, the name `troff' is pronounced
`t-roff' rather than `trough'.
With `troff' came `nroff' (they were actually the same program
except for some `#ifdef's), which was for producing output for line
printers and character terminals. It understood everything `troff'
did, and ignored the commands which were not applicable (e.g. font
changes).
Since there are several things which cannot be done easily in
`troff', work on several preprocessors began. These programs would
transform certain parts of a document into `troff', which made a very
natural use of pipes in UNIX.
The `eqn' preprocessor allowed mathematical formul<75> to be specified
in a much simpler and more intuitive manner. `tbl' is a preprocessor
for formatting tables. The `refer' preprocessor (and the similar
program, `bib') processes citations in a document according to a
bibliographic database.
Unfortunately, Ossanna's `troff' was written in PDP-11 assembly
language and produced output specifically for the CAT phototypesetter.
He rewrote it in C, although it was now 7000 lines of uncommented code
and still dependent on the CAT. As the CAT became less common, and was
no longer supported by the manufacturer, the need to make it support
other devices became a priority. However, before this could be done,
Ossanna was killed in a car accident.
So, Brian Kernighan took on the task of rewriting `troff'. The
newly rewritten version produced device independent code which was very
easy for postprocessors to read and translate to the appropriate
printer codes. Also, this new version of `troff' (called `ditroff' for
"device independent `troff'") had several extensions, which included
drawing functions.
Due to the additional abilities of the new version of `troff',
several new preprocessors appeared. The `pic' preprocessor provides a
wide range of drawing functions. Likewise the `ideal' preprocessor did
the same, although via a much different paradigm. The `grap'
preprocessor took specifications for graphs, but, unlike other
preprocessors, produced `pic' code.
James Clark began work on a GNU implementation of `ditroff' in
early 1989. The first version, `groff' 0.3.1, was released June 1990.
`groff' included:
* A replacement for `ditroff' with many extensions.
* The `soelim', `pic', `tbl', and `eqn' preprocessors.
* Postprocessors for character devices, POSTSCRIPT, TeX DVI, and
X Windows. GNU `troff' also eliminated the need for a separate
`nroff' program with a postprocessor which would produce ASCII
output.
* A version of the `me' macros and an implementation of the `man'
macros.
Also, a front-end was included which could construct the, sometimes
painfully long, pipelines required for all the post- and preprocessors.
Development of GNU `troff' progressed rapidly, and saw the additions
of a replacement for `refer', an implementation of the `ms' and `mm'
macros, and a program to deduce how to format a document (`grog').
It was declared a stable (i.e. non-beta) package with the release of
version 1.04 around November 1991.
Beginning in 1999, `groff' has new maintainers (the package was an
orphan for a few years). As a result, new features and programs like
`grn', a preprocessor for gremlin images, and an output device to
produce HTML output have been added.

File: groff, Node: groff Capabilities, Next: Macro Package Intro, Prev: History, Up: Introduction
1.3 `groff' Capabilities
========================
So what exactly is `groff' capable of doing? `groff' provides a wide
range of low-level text formatting operations. Using these, it is
possible to perform a wide range of formatting tasks, such as
footnotes, table of contents, multiple columns, etc. Here's a list of
the most important operations supported by `groff':
* text filling, adjusting, and centering
* hyphenation
* page control
* font and glyph size control
* vertical spacing (e.g. double-spacing)
* line length and indenting
* macros, strings, diversions, and traps
* number registers
* tabs, leaders, and fields
* input and output conventions and character translation
* overstrike, bracket, line drawing, and zero-width functions
* local horizontal and vertical motions and the width function
* three-part titles
* output line numbering
* conditional acceptance of input
* environment switching
* insertions from the standard input
* input/output file switching
* output and error messages

File: groff, Node: Macro Package Intro, Next: Preprocessor Intro, Prev: groff Capabilities, Up: Introduction
1.4 Macro Packages
==================
Since `groff' provides such low-level facilities, it can be quite
difficult to use by itself. However, `groff' provides a "macro"
facility to specify how certain routine operations (e.g. starting
paragraphs, printing headers and footers, etc.) should be done. These
macros can be collected together into a "macro package". There are a
number of macro packages available; the most common (and the ones
described in this manual) are `man', `mdoc', `me', `ms', and `mm'.

File: groff, Node: Preprocessor Intro, Next: Output device intro, Prev: Macro Package Intro, Up: Introduction
1.5 Preprocessors
=================
Although `groff' provides most functions needed to format a document,
some operations would be unwieldy (e.g. to draw pictures). Therefore,
programs called "preprocessors" were written which understand their own
language and produce the necessary `groff' operations. These
preprocessors are able to differentiate their own input from the rest
of the document via markers.
To use a preprocessor, UNIX pipes are used to feed the output from
the preprocessor into `groff'. Any number of preprocessors may be used
on a given document; in this case, the preprocessors are linked
together into one pipeline. However, with `groff', the user does not
need to construct the pipe, but only tell `groff' what preprocessors to
use.
`groff' currently has preprocessors for producing tables (`tbl'),
typesetting equations (`eqn'), drawing pictures (`pic' and `grn'), and
for processing bibliographies (`refer'). An associated program which
is useful when dealing with preprocessors is `soelim'.
A free implementation of `grap', a preprocessor for drawing graphs,
can be obtained as an extra package; `groff' can use `grap' also.
There are other preprocessors in existence, but, unfortunately, no
free implementations are available. Among them are preprocessors for
drawing mathematical pictures (`ideal') and chemical structures
(`chem').

File: groff, Node: Output device intro, Next: Credits, Prev: Preprocessor Intro, Up: Introduction
1.6 Output Devices
==================
`groff' actually produces device independent code which may be fed into
a postprocessor to produce output for a particular device. Currently,
`groff' has postprocessors for POSTSCRIPT devices, character terminals,
X Windows (for previewing), TeX DVI format, HP LaserJet 4 and Canon LBP
printers (which use CAPSL), and HTML.

File: groff, Node: Credits, Prev: Output device intro, Up: Introduction
1.7 Credits
===========
Large portions of this manual were taken from existing documents, most
notably, the manual pages for the `groff' package by James Clark, and
Eric Allman's papers on the `me' macro package.
The section on the `man' macro package is partly based on Susan G.
Kleinmann's `groff_man' manual page written for the Debian GNU/Linux
system.
Larry Kollar contributed the section in the `ms' macro package.

File: groff, Node: Invoking groff, Next: Tutorial for Macro Users, Prev: Introduction, Up: Top
2 Invoking `groff'
******************
This section focuses on how to invoke the `groff' front end. This
front end takes care of the details of constructing the pipeline among
the preprocessors, `gtroff' and the postprocessor.
It has become a tradition that GNU programs get the prefix `g' to
distinguish it from its original counterparts provided by the host (see
*Note Environment::, for more details). Thus, for example, `geqn' is
GNU `eqn'. On operating systems like GNU/Linux or the Hurd, which
don't contain proprietary versions of `troff', and on
MS-DOS/MS-Windows, where `troff' and associated programs are not
available at all, this prefix is omitted since GNU `troff' is the only
used incarnation of `troff'. Exception: `groff' is never replaced by
`roff'.
In this document, we consequently say `gtroff' when talking about
the GNU `troff' program. All other implementations of `troff' are
called AT&T `troff' which is the common origin of all `troff' derivates
(with more or less compatible changes). Similarly, we say `gpic',
`geqn', etc.
* Menu:
* Groff Options::
* Environment::
* Macro Directories::
* Font Directories::
* Paper Size::
* Invocation Examples::

File: groff, Node: Groff Options, Next: Environment, Prev: Invoking groff, Up: Invoking groff
2.1 Options
===========
`groff' normally runs the `gtroff' program and a postprocessor
appropriate for the selected device. The default device is `ps' (but
it can be changed when `groff' is configured and built). It can
optionally preprocess with any of `gpic', `geqn', `gtbl', `ggrn',
`grap', `grefer', or `gsoelim'.
This section only documents options to the `groff' front end. Many
of the arguments to `groff' are passed on to `gtroff', therefore those
are also included. Arguments to pre- or postprocessors can be found in
*Note Invoking gpic::, *Note Invoking geqn::, *Note Invoking gtbl::,
*Note Invoking ggrn::, *Note Invoking grefer::, *Note Invoking
gsoelim::, *Note Invoking grotty::, *Note Invoking grops::, *Note
Invoking grohtml::, *Note Invoking grodvi::, *Note Invoking grolj4::,
*Note Invoking grolbp::, and *Note Invoking gxditview::.
The command line format for `groff' is:
groff [ -abceghilpstvzCEGNRSUVXZ ] [ -FDIR ] [ -mNAME ]
[ -TDEF ] [ -fFAM ] [ -wNAME ] [ -WNAME ]
[ -MDIR ] [ -dCS ] [ -rCN ] [ -nNUM ]
[ -oLIST ] [ -PARG ] [ -LARG ] [ -IDIR ]
[ FILES... ]
The command line format for `gtroff' is as follows.
gtroff [ -abcivzCERU ] [ -wNAME ] [ -WNAME ] [ -dCS ]
[ -fFAM ] [ -mNAME ] [ -nNUM ]
[ -oLIST ] [ -rCN ] [ -TNAME ]
[ -FDIR ] [ -MDIR ] [ FILES... ]
Obviously, many of the options to `groff' are actually passed on to
`gtroff'.
Options without an argument can be grouped behind a single `-'. A
filename of `-' denotes the standard input. It is possible to have
whitespace between an option and its parameter.
The `grog' command can be used to guess the correct `groff' command
to format a file.
Here's the description of the command-line options:
`-h'
Print a help message.
`-e'
Preprocess with `geqn'.
`-t'
Preprocess with `gtbl'.
`-g'
Preprocess with `ggrn'.
`-G'
Preprocess with `grap'.
`-p'
Preprocess with `gpic'.
`-s'
Preprocess with `gsoelim'.
`-c'
Suppress color output.
`-R'
Preprocess with `grefer'. No mechanism is provided for passing
arguments to `grefer' because most `grefer' options have
equivalent commands which can be included in the file. *Note
grefer::, for more details.
Note that `gtroff' also accepts a `-R' option, which is not
accessible via `groff'. This option prevents the loading of the
`troffrc' and `troffrc-end' files.
`-v'
Make programs run by `groff' print out their version number.
`-V'
Print the pipeline on `stdout' instead of executing it. If
specified more than once, print the pipeline on `stderr' and
execute it.
`-z'
Suppress output from `gtroff'. Only error messages are printed.
`-Z'
Do not postprocess the output of `gtroff'. Normally `groff'
automatically runs the appropriate postprocessor.
`-PARG'
Pass ARG to the postprocessor. Each argument should be passed
with a separate `-P' option. Note that `groff' does not prepend
`-' to ARG before passing it to the postprocessor.
`-l'
Send the output to a spooler for printing. The command used for
this is specified by the `print' command in the device description
file (see *Note Font Files::, for more info). If not present,
`-l' is ignored.
`-LARG'
Pass ARG to the spooler. Each argument should be passed with a
separate `-L' option. Note that `groff' does not prepend a `-' to
ARG before passing it to the postprocessor. If the `print'
keyword in the device description file is missing, `-L' is ignored.
`-TDEV'
Prepare output for device DEV. The default device is `ps', unless
changed when `groff' was configured and built. The following are
the output devices currently available:
`ps'
For POSTSCRIPT printers and previewers.
`dvi'
For TeX DVI format.
`X75'
For a 75dpi X11 previewer.
`X75-12'
For a 75dpi X11 previewer with a 12pt base font in the
document.
`X100'
For a 100dpi X11 previewer.
`X100-12'
For a 100dpi X11 previewer with a 12pt base font in the
document.
`ascii'
For typewriter-like devices using the (7-bit) ASCII character
set.
`latin1'
For typewriter-like devices that support the Latin-1
(ISO 8859-1) character set.
`utf8'
For typewriter-like devices which use the Unicode (ISO 10646)
character set with UTF-8 encoding.
`cp1047'
For typewriter-like devices which use the EBCDIC encoding IBM
cp1047.
`lj4'
For HP LaserJet4-compatible (or other PCL5-compatible)
printers.
`lbp'
For Canon CAPSL printers (LBP-4 and LBP-8 series laser
printers).
`html'
To produce HTML output. Note that the HTML driver consists
of two parts, a preprocessor (`pre-grohtml') and a
postprocessor (`post-grohtml').
The predefined `gtroff' string register `.T' contains the current
output device; the read-only number register `.T' is set to 1 if
this option is used (which is always true if `groff' is used to
call `gtroff'). *Note Built-in Registers::.
The postprocessor to be used for a device is specified by the
`postpro' command in the device description file. (*Note Font
Files::, for more info.) This can be overridden with the `-X'
option.
`-X'
Preview with `gxditview' instead of using the usual postprocessor.
This is unlikely to produce good results except with `-Tps'.
Note that this is not the same as using `-TX75' or `-TX100' to
view a document with `gxditview': The former uses the metrics of
the specified device, whereas the latter uses X-specific fonts and
metrics.
`-N'
Don't allow newlines with `eqn' delimiters. This is the same as
the `-N' option in `geqn'.
`-S'
Safer mode. Pass the `-S' option to `gpic' and disable the
`open', `opena', `pso', `sy', and `pi' requests. For security
reasons, this is enabled by default.
`-U'
Unsafe mode. This enables the `open', `opena', `pso', `sy', and
`pi' requests.
`-a'
Generate an ASCII approximation of the typeset output. The
read-only register `.A' is then set to 1. *Note Built-in
Registers::. A typical example is
groff -a -man -Tdvi troff.man | less
which shows how lines are broken for the DVI device. Note that
this option is rather useless today since graphic output devices
are available virtually everywhere.
`-b'
Print a backtrace with each warning or error message. This
backtrace should help track down the cause of the error. The line
numbers given in the backtrace may not always be correct: `gtroff'
can get confused by `as' or `am' requests while counting line
numbers.
`-i'
Read the standard input after all the named input files have been
processed.
`-wNAME'
Enable warning NAME. Available warnings are described in *Note
Debugging::. Multiple `-w' options are allowed.
`-WNAME'
Inhibit warning NAME. Multiple `-W' options are allowed.
`-E'
Inhibit all error messages.
`-C'
Enable compatibility mode. *Note Implementation Differences::,
for the list of incompatibilities between `groff' and AT&T `troff'.
`-dCS'
`-dNAME=S'
Define C or NAME to be a string S. C must be a one-letter name;
NAME can be of arbitrary length. All string assignments happen
before loading any macro file (including the start-up file).
`-fFAM'
Use FAM as the default font family. *Note Font Families::.
`-mNAME'
Read in the file `NAME.tmac'. Normally `groff' searches for this
in its macro directories. If it isn't found, it tries `tmac.NAME'
(searching in the same directories).
`-nNUM'
Number the first page NUM.
`-oLIST'
Output only pages in LIST, which is a comma-separated list of page
ranges; `N' means print page N, `M-N' means print every page
between M and N, `-N' means print every page up to N, `N-' means
print every page beginning with N. `gtroff' exits after printing
the last page in the list. All the ranges are inclusive on both
ends.
Within `gtroff', this information can be extracted with the `.P'
register. *Note Built-in Registers::.
If your document restarts page numbering at the beginning of each
chapter, then `gtroff' prints the specified page range for each
chapter.
`-rCN'
`-rNAME=N'
Set number register C or NAME to the value N. C must be a
one-letter name; NAME can be of arbitrary length. N can be any
`gtroff' numeric expression. All register assignments happen
before loading any macro file (including the start-up file).
`-FDIR'
Search `DIR' for subdirectories `devNAME' (NAME is the name of the
device), for the `DESC' file, and for font files before looking in
the standard directories (*note Font Directories::). This option
is passed to all pre- and postprocessors using the
`GROFF_FONT_PATH' environment variable.
`-MDIR'
Search directory `DIR' for macro files before the standard
directories (*note Macro Directories::).
`-IDIR'
This option may be used to specify a directory to search for files.
It is passed to the following programs:
* `gsoelim' (see *Note gsoelim:: for more details); it also
implies `groff''s `-s' option.
* `gtroff'; it is used to search files named in the `psbb' and
`so' requests.
* `grops'; it is used to search files named in the
`\X'ps: import' and `\X'ps: file' escapes.
The current directory is always searched first. This option may be
specified more than once; the directories will be searched in the
order specified. No directory search is performed for files
specified using an absolute path.

File: groff, Node: Environment, Next: Macro Directories, Prev: Groff Options, Up: Invoking groff
2.2 Environment
===============
There are also several environment variables (of the operating system,
not within `gtroff') which can modify the behavior of `groff'.
`GROFF_COMMAND_PREFIX'
If this is set to X, then `groff' runs `Xtroff' instead of
`gtroff'. This also applies to `tbl', `pic', `eqn', `grn',
`refer', and `soelim'. It does not apply to `grops', `grodvi',
`grotty', `pre-grohtml', `post-grohtml', `grolj4', and `gxditview'.
The default command prefix is determined during the installation
process. If a non-GNU troff system is found, prefix `g' is used,
none otherwise.
`GROFF_TMAC_PATH'
A colon-separated list of directories in which to search for macro
files (before the default directories are tried). *Note Macro
Directories::.
`GROFF_TYPESETTER'
The default output device.
`GROFF_FONT_PATH'
A colon-separated list of directories in which to search for the
`dev'NAME directory (before the default directories are tried).
*Note Font Directories::.
`GROFF_BIN_PATH'
This search path, followed by `PATH', is used for commands executed
by `groff'.
`GROFF_TMPDIR'
The directory in which `groff' creates temporary files. If this is
not set and `TMPDIR' is set, temporary files are created in that
directory. Otherwise temporary files are created in a
system-dependent default directory (on Unix and GNU/Linux systems,
this is usually `/tmp'). `grops', `grefer', `pre-grohtml', and
`post-grohtml' can create temporary files in this directory.
Note that MS-DOS and MS-Windows ports of `groff' use semi-colons,
rather than colons, to separate the directories in the lists described
above.

File: groff, Node: Macro Directories, Next: Font Directories, Prev: Environment, Up: Invoking groff
2.3 Macro Directories
=====================
All macro file names must be named `NAME.tmac' or `tmac.NAME' to make
the `-mNAME' command line option work. The `mso' request doesn't have
this restriction; any file name can be used, and `gtroff' won't try to
append or prepend the `tmac' string.
Macro files are kept in the "tmac directories", all of which
constitute the "tmac path". The elements of the search path for macro
files are (in that order):
* The directories specified with `gtroff''s or `groff''s `-M'
command line option.
* The directories given in the `GROFF_TMAC_PATH' environment
variable.
* The current directory (only if in unsafe mode using the `-U'
command line switch).
* The home directory.
* A platform-dependent directory, a site-specific
(platform-independent) directory, and the main tmac directory; the
default locations are
/usr/local/lib/groff/site-tmac
/usr/local/share/groff/site-tmac
/usr/local/share/groff/1.18.2/tmac
assuming that the version of `groff' is 1.18.2, and the
installation prefix was `/usr/local'. It is possible to fine-tune
those directories during the installation process.

File: groff, Node: Font Directories, Next: Paper Size, Prev: Macro Directories, Up: Invoking groff
2.4 Font Directories
====================
Basically, there is no restriction how font files for `groff' are named
and how long font names are; however, to make the font family mechanism
work (*note Font Families::), fonts within a family should start with
the family name, followed by the shape. For example, the Times family
uses `T' for the family name and `R', `B', `I', and `BI' to indicate
the shapes `roman', `bold', `italic', and `bold italic', respectively.
Thus the final font names are `TR', `TB', `TI', and `TBI'.
All font files are kept in the "font directories" which constitute
the "font path". The file search functions will always append the
directory `dev'NAME, where NAME is the name of the output device.
Assuming, say, DVI output, and `/foo/bar' as a font directory, the font
files for `grodvi' must be in `/foo/bar/devdvi'.
The elements of the search path for font files are (in that order):
* The directories specified with `gtroff''s or `groff''s `-F'
command line option. All device drivers and some preprocessors
also have this option.
* The directories given in the `GROFF_FONT_PATH' environment
variable.
* A site-specific directory and the main font directory; the default
locations are
/usr/local/share/groff/site-font
/usr/local/share/groff/1.18.2/font
assuming that the version of `groff' is 1.18.2, and the
installation prefix was `/usr/local'. It is possible to fine-tune
those directories during the installation process.

File: groff, Node: Paper Size, Next: Invocation Examples, Prev: Font Directories, Up: Invoking groff
2.5 Paper Size
==============
In groff, the page size for `gtroff' and for output devices are handled
separately. *Note Page Layout::, for vertical manipulation of the page
size. *Note Line Layout::, for horizontal changes.
A default paper size can be set in the device's `DESC' file. Most
output devices also have a command line option `-p' to override the
default paper size and option `-l' to use landscape orientation. *Note
DESC File Format::, for a description of the `papersize' keyword which
takes the same argument as `-p'.
A convenient shorthand to set a particular paper size for `gtroff'
is command line option `-dpaper=SIZE'. This defines string `paper'
which is processed in file `papersize.tmac' (loaded in the start-up
file `troffrc' by default). Possible values for SIZE are the same as
the predefined values for the `papersize' keyword (but only in
lowercase) except `a7'-`d7'. An appended `l' (ell) character denotes
landscape orientation.
For example, use the following for PS output on A4 paper in landscape
orientation:
groff -Tps -dpaper=a4l -P-pa4 -P-l -ms foo.ms > foo.ps
Note that it is up to the particular macro package to respect default
page dimensions set in this way (most do).

File: groff, Node: Invocation Examples, Prev: Paper Size, Up: Invoking groff
2.6 Invocation Examples
=======================
This section lists several common uses of `groff' and the corresponding
command lines.
groff file
This command processes `file' without a macro package or a
preprocessor. The output device is the default, `ps', and the output
is sent to `stdout'.
groff -t -mandoc -Tascii file | less
This is basically what a call to the `man' program does. `gtroff'
processes the manual page `file' with the `mandoc' macro file (which in
turn either calls the `man' or the `mdoc' macro package), using the
`tbl' preprocessor and the ASCII output device. Finally, the `less'
pager displays the result.
groff -X -m me file
Preview `file' with `gxditview', using the `me' macro package. Since
no `-T' option is specified, use the default device (`ps'). Note that
you can either say `-m me' or `-me'; the latter is an anachronism from
the early days of UNIX.(1) (*note Invocation Examples-Footnote-1::)
groff -man -rD1 -z file
Check `file' with the `man' macro package, forcing double-sided
printing - don't produce any output.
* Menu:
* grog::

File: groff, Node: Invocation Examples-Footnotes, Up: Invocation Examples
(1) The same is true for the other main macro packages that come
with `groff': `man', `mdoc', `ms', `mm', and `mandoc'. This won't work
in general; for example, to load `trace.tmac', either `-mtrace' or
`-m trace' must be used.

File: groff, Node: grog, Prev: Invocation Examples, Up: Invocation Examples
2.6.1 `grog'
------------
`grog' reads files, guesses which of the `groff' preprocessors and/or
macro packages are required for formatting them, and prints the `groff'
command including those options on the standard output. It generates
one or more of the options `-e', `-man', `-me', `-mm', `-mom', `-ms',
`-mdoc', `-mdoc-old', `-p', `-R', `-g', `-G', `-s', and `-t'.
A special file name `-' refers to the standard input. Specifying no
files also means to read the standard input. Any specified options are
included in the printed command. No space is allowed between options
and their arguments. The only options recognized are `-C' (which is
also passed on) to enable compatibility mode, and `-v' to print the
version number and exit.
For example,
grog -Tdvi paper.ms
guesses the appropriate command to print `paper.ms' and then prints it
to the command line after adding the `-Tdvi' option. For direct
execution, enclose the call to `grog' in backquotes at the UNIX shell
prompt:
`grog -Tdvi paper.ms` > paper.dvi
As seen in the example, it is still necessary to redirect the output to
something meaningful (i.e. either a file or a pager program like
`less').

File: groff, Node: Tutorial for Macro Users, Next: Macro Packages, Prev: Invoking groff, Up: Top
3 Tutorial for Macro Users
**************************
Most users tend to use a macro package to format their papers. This
means that the whole breadth of `groff' is not necessary for most
people. This chapter covers the material needed to efficiently use a
macro package.
* Menu:
* Basics::
* Common Features::

File: groff, Node: Basics, Next: Common Features, Prev: Tutorial for Macro Users, Up: Tutorial for Macro Users
3.1 Basics
==========
This section covers some of the basic concepts necessary to understand
how to use a macro package.(1) (*note Basics-Footnote-1::) References
are made throughout to more detailed information, if desired.
`gtroff' reads an input file prepared by the user and outputs a
formatted document suitable for publication or framing. The input
consists of text, or words to be printed, and embedded commands
("requests" and "escapes"), which tell `gtroff' how to format the
output. For more detail on this, see *Note Embedded Commands::.
The word "argument" is used in this chapter to mean a word or number
which appears on the same line as a request, and which modifies the
meaning of that request. For example, the request
.sp
spaces one line, but
.sp 4
spaces four lines. The number 4 is an argument to the `sp' request
which says to space four lines instead of one. Arguments are separated
from the request and from each other by spaces (_no_ tabs). More
details on this can be found in *Note Request and Macro Arguments::.
The primary function of `gtroff' is to collect words from input
lines, fill output lines with those words, justify the right-hand margin
by inserting extra spaces in the line, and output the result. For
example, the input:
Now is the time
for all good men
to come to the aid
of their party.
Four score and seven
years ago, etc.
is read, packed onto output lines, and justified to produce:
Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their party.
Four score and seven years ago, etc.
Sometimes a new output line should be started even though the current
line is not yet full; for example, at the end of a paragraph. To do
this it is possible to cause a "break", which starts a new output line.
Some requests cause a break automatically, as normally do blank input
lines and input lines beginning with a space.
Not all input lines are text to be formatted. Some input lines are
requests which describe how to format the text. Requests always have a
period (`.') or an apostrophe (`'') as the first character of the input
line.
The text formatter also does more complex things, such as
automatically numbering pages, skipping over page boundaries, putting
footnotes in the correct place, and so forth.
Here are a few hints for preparing text for input to `gtroff'.
* First, keep the input lines short. Short input lines are easier to
edit, and `gtroff' packs words onto longer lines anyhow.
* In keeping with this, it is helpful to begin a new line after every
comma or phrase, since common corrections are to add or delete
sentences or phrases.
* End each sentence with two spaces - or better, start each sentence
on a new line. `gtroff' recognizes characters that usually end a
sentence, and inserts sentence space accordingly.
* Do not hyphenate words at the end of lines - `gtroff' is smart
enough to hyphenate words as needed, but is not smart enough to
take hyphens out and join a word back together. Also, words such
as "mother-in-law" should not be broken over a line, since then a
space can occur where not wanted, such as "mother- in-law".
`gtroff' double-spaces output text automatically if you use the
request `.ls 2'. Reactivate single-spaced mode by typing `.ls 1'.(2)
(*note Basics-Footnote-2::)
A number of requests allow to change the way the output looks,
sometimes called the "layout" of the output page. Most of these
requests adjust the placing of "whitespace" (blank lines or spaces).
The `bp' request starts a new page, causing a line break.
The request `.sp N' leaves N lines of blank space. N can be omitted
(meaning skip a single line) or can be of the form Ni (for N inches) or
Nc (for N centimeters). For example, the input:
.sp 1.5i
My thoughts on the subject
.sp
leaves one and a half inches of space, followed by the line "My
thoughts on the subject", followed by a single blank line (more
measurement units are available, see *Note Measurements::).
Text lines can be centered by using the `ce' request. The line
after `ce' is centered (horizontally) on the page. To center more than
one line, use `.ce N' (where N is the number of lines to center),
followed by the N lines. To center many lines without counting them,
type:
.ce 1000
lines to center
.ce 0
The `.ce 0' request tells `groff' to center zero more lines, in other
words, stop centering.
All of these requests cause a break; that is, they always start a new
line. To start a new line without performing any other action, use
`br'.

File: groff, Node: Basics-Footnotes, Up: Basics
(1) This section is derived from `Writing Papers with nroff using
-me' by Eric P. Allman.
(2) If you need finer granularity of the vertical space, use the
`pvs' request (*note Changing Type Sizes::).

File: groff, Node: Common Features, Prev: Basics, Up: Tutorial for Macro Users
3.2 Common Features
===================
`gtroff' provides very low-level operations for formatting a document.
There are many common routine operations which are done in all
documents. These common operations are written into "macros" and
collected into a "macro package".
All macro packages provide certain common capabilities which fall
into the following categories.
* Menu:
* Paragraphs::
* Sections and Chapters::
* Headers and Footers::
* Page Layout Adjustment::
* Displays::
* Footnotes and Annotations::
* Table of Contents::
* Indices::
* Paper Formats::
* Multiple Columns::
* Font and Size Changes::
* Predefined Strings::
* Preprocessor Support::
* Configuration and Customization::

File: groff, Node: Paragraphs, Next: Sections and Chapters, Prev: Common Features, Up: Common Features
3.2.1 Paragraphs
----------------
One of the most common and most used capability is starting a
paragraph. There are a number of different types of paragraphs, any of
which can be initiated with macros supplied by the macro package.
Normally, paragraphs start with a blank line and the first line
indented, like the text in this manual. There are also block style
paragraphs, which omit the indentation:
Some men look at constitutions with sanctimonious
reverence, and deem them like the ark of the covenant, too
sacred to be touched.
And there are also indented paragraphs which begin with a tag or label
at the margin and the remaining text indented.
one This is the first paragraph. Notice how the first
line of the resulting paragraph lines up with the
other lines in the paragraph.
longlabel
This paragraph had a long label. The first
character of text on the first line does not line up
with the text on second and subsequent lines,
although they line up with each other.
A variation of this is a bulleted list.
. Bulleted lists start with a bullet. It is possible
to use other glyphs instead of the bullet. In nroff
mode using the ASCII character set for output, a dot
is used instead of a real bullet.

File: groff, Node: Sections and Chapters, Next: Headers and Footers, Prev: Paragraphs, Up: Common Features
3.2.2 Sections and Chapters
---------------------------
Most macro packages supply some form of section headers. The simplest
kind is simply the heading on a line by itself in bold type. Others
supply automatically numbered section heading or different heading
styles at different levels. Some, more sophisticated, macro packages
supply macros for starting chapters and appendices.

File: groff, Node: Headers and Footers, Next: Page Layout Adjustment, Prev: Sections and Chapters, Up: Common Features
3.2.3 Headers and Footers
-------------------------
Every macro package gives some way to manipulate the "headers" and
"footers" (also called "titles") on each page. This is text put at the
top and bottom of each page, respectively, which contain data like the
current page number, the current chapter title, and so on. Its
appearance is not affected by the running text. Some packages allow
for different ones on the even and odd pages (for material printed in a
book form).
The titles are called "three-part titles", that is, there is a
left-justified part, a centered part, and a right-justified part. An
automatically generated page number may be put in any of these fields
with the `%' character (see *Note Page Layout::, for more details).

File: groff, Node: Page Layout Adjustment, Next: Displays, Prev: Headers and Footers, Up: Common Features
3.2.4 Page Layout
-----------------
Most macro packages let the user specify top and bottom margins and
other details about the appearance of the printed pages.

File: groff, Node: Displays, Next: Footnotes and Annotations, Prev: Page Layout Adjustment, Up: Common Features
3.2.5 Displays
--------------
"Displays" are sections of text to be set off from the body of the
paper. Major quotes, tables, and figures are types of displays, as are
all the examples used in this document.
"Major quotes" are quotes which are several lines long, and hence
are set in from the rest of the text without quote marks around them.
A "list" is an indented, single-spaced, unfilled display. Lists
should be used when the material to be printed should not be filled and
justified like normal text, such as columns of figures or the examples
used in this paper.
A "keep" is a display of lines which are kept on a single page if
possible. An example for a keep might be a diagram. Keeps differ from
lists in that lists may be broken over a page boundary whereas keeps are
not.
"Floating keeps" move relative to the text. Hence, they are good for
things which are referred to by name, such as "See figure 3". A
floating keep appears at the bottom of the current page if it fits;
otherwise, it appears at the top of the next page. Meanwhile, the
surrounding text `flows' around the keep, thus leaving no blank areas.

File: groff, Node: Footnotes and Annotations, Next: Table of Contents, Prev: Displays, Up: Common Features
3.2.6 Footnotes and Annotations
-------------------------------
There are a number of requests to save text for later printing.
"Footnotes" are printed at the bottom of the current page.
"Delayed text" is very similar to a footnote except that it is
printed when called for explicitly. This allows a list of references to
appear (for example) at the end of each chapter, as is the convention in
some disciplines.
Most macro packages which supply this functionality also supply a
means of automatically numbering either type of annotation.

File: groff, Node: Table of Contents, Next: Indices, Prev: Footnotes and Annotations, Up: Common Features
3.2.7 Table of Contents
-----------------------
"Tables of contents" are a type of delayed text having a tag (usually
the page number) attached to each entry after a row of dots. The table
accumulates throughout the paper until printed, usually after the paper
has ended. Many macro packages provide the ability to have several
tables of contents (e.g. a standard table of contents, a list of
tables, etc).

File: groff, Node: Indices, Next: Paper Formats, Prev: Table of Contents, Up: Common Features
3.2.8 Indices
-------------
While some macro packages use the term "index", none actually provide
that functionality. The facilities they call indices are actually more
appropriate for tables of contents.
To produce a real index in a document, external tools like the
`makeindex' program are necessary.

File: groff, Node: Paper Formats, Next: Multiple Columns, Prev: Indices, Up: Common Features
3.2.9 Paper Formats
-------------------
Some macro packages provide stock formats for various kinds of
documents. Many of them provide a common format for the title and
opening pages of a technical paper. The `mm' macros in particular
provide formats for letters and memoranda.

File: groff, Node: Multiple Columns, Next: Font and Size Changes, Prev: Paper Formats, Up: Common Features
3.2.10 Multiple Columns
-----------------------
Some macro packages (but not `man') provide the ability to have two or
more columns on a page.

File: groff, Node: Font and Size Changes, Next: Predefined Strings, Prev: Multiple Columns, Up: Common Features
3.2.11 Font and Size Changes
----------------------------
The built-in font and size functions are not always intuitive, so all
macro packages provide macros to make these operations simpler.

File: groff, Node: Predefined Strings, Next: Preprocessor Support, Prev: Font and Size Changes, Up: Common Features
3.2.12 Predefined Strings
-------------------------
Most macro packages provide various predefined strings for a variety of
uses; examples are sub- and superscripts, printable dates, quotes and
various special characters.

File: groff, Node: Preprocessor Support, Next: Configuration and Customization, Prev: Predefined Strings, Up: Common Features
3.2.13 Preprocessor Support
---------------------------
All macro packages provide support for various preprocessors and may
extend their functionality.
For example, all macro packages mark tables (which are processed with
`gtbl') by placing them between `TS' and `TE' macros. The `ms' macro
package has an option, `.TS H', that prints a caption at the top of a
new page (when the table is too long to fit on a single page).

File: groff, Node: Configuration and Customization, Prev: Preprocessor Support, Up: Common Features
3.2.14 Configuration and Customization
--------------------------------------
Some macro packages provide means of customizing many of the details of
how the package behaves. This ranges from setting the default type size
to changing the appearance of section headers.

File: groff, Node: Macro Packages, Next: gtroff Reference, Prev: Tutorial for Macro Users, Up: Top
4 Macro Packages
****************
This chapter documents the main macro packages that come with `groff'.
Different main macro packages can't be used at the same time; for
example
groff -m man foo.man -m ms bar.doc
doesn't work. Note that option arguments are processed before
non-option arguments; the above (failing) sample is thus reordered to
groff -m man -m ms foo.man bar.doc
* Menu:
* man::
* mdoc::
* ms::
* me::
* mm::

File: groff, Node: man, Next: mdoc, Prev: Macro Packages, Up: Macro Packages
4.1 `man'
=========
This is the most popular and probably the most important macro package
of `groff'. It is easy to use, and a vast majority of manual pages are
based on it.
* Menu:
* Man options::
* Man usage::
* Man font macros::
* Miscellaneous man macros::
* Predefined man strings::
* Preprocessors in man pages::
* Optional man extensions::

File: groff, Node: Man options, Next: Man usage, Prev: man, Up: man
4.1.1 Options
-------------
The command line format for using the `man' macros with `groff' is:
groff -m man [ -rLL=LENGTH ] [ -rLT=LENGTH ] [ -rFT=DIST ]
[ -rcR=1 ] [ -rC1 ] [ -rD1 ] [-rHY=FLAGS ]
[ -rPNNN ] [ -rSXX ] [ -rXNNN ]
[ -rIN=LENGTH ] [ -rSN=LENGTH ] [ FILES... ]
It is possible to use `-man' instead of `-m man'.
`-rcR=1'
This option (the default if a TTY output device is used) creates a
single, very long page instead of multiple pages. Use `-rcR=0' to
disable it.
`-rC1'
If more than one manual page is given on the command line, number
the pages continuously, rather than starting each at 1.
`-rD1'
Double-sided printing. Footers for even and odd pages are
formatted differently.
`-rFT=DIST'
Set the position of the footer text to DIST. If positive, the
distance is measured relative to the top of the page, otherwise it
is relative to the bottom. The default is -0.5i.
`-rHY=FLAGS'
Set hyphenation flags. Possible values are 1 to hyphenate without
restrictions, 2 to not hyphenate the last word on a page, 4 to
not hyphenate the last two characters of a word, and 8 to not
hyphenate the first two characters of a word. These values are
additive; the default is 14.
`-rIN=LENGTH'
Set the body text indentation to LENGTH. If not specified, the
indentation defaults to 7n (7 characters) in nroff mode and 7.2n
otherwise. For nroff, this value should always be an integer
multiple of unit `n' to get consistent indentation.
`-rLL=LENGTH'
Set line length to LENGTH. If not specified, the line length is
set to respect any value set by a prior `ll' request (which _must_
be in effect when the `TH' macro is invoked), if this differs from
the built-in default for the formatter; otherwise it defaults to
78n in nroff mode (this is 78 characters per line) and 6.5i in
troff mode.(1) (*note Man options-Footnote-1::)
`-rLT=LENGTH'
Set title length to LENGTH. If not specified, the title length
defaults to the line length.
`-rPNNN'
Page numbering starts with NNN rather than with 1.
`-rSXX'
Use XX (which can be 10, 11, or 12pt) as the base document font
size instead of the default value of 10pt.
`-rSN=LENGTH'
Set the indentation for sub-subheadings to LENGTH. If not
specified, the indentation defaults to 3n.
`-rXNNN'
After page NNN, number pages as NNNa, NNNb, NNNc, etc. For
example, the option `-rX2' produces the following page numbers: 1,
2, 2a, 2b, 2c, etc.

File: groff, Node: Man options-Footnotes, Up: Man options
(1) Note that the use of a `.ll LENGTH' request to initialize the
line length, prior to use of the `TH' macro, is supported for backward
compatibility with some versions of the `man' program. _Always_ use the
`-rLL=LENGTH' option, or an equivalent `.nr LL LENGTH' request, in
preference to such a `.ll LENGTH' request. In particular, note that in
nroff mode, the request `.ll 65n', (with any LENGTH expression which
evaluates equal to 65n, i.e., the formatter's default line length in
nroff mode), will _not_ set the line length to 65n (it will be adjusted
to the `man' macro package's default setting of 78n), whereas the use
of the `-rLL=65n' option, or the `.nr LL 65n' request _will_ establish
a line length of 65n.

File: groff, Node: Man usage, Next: Man font macros, Prev: Man options, Up: man
4.1.2 Usage
-----------
This section describes the available macros for manual pages. For
further customization, put additional macros and requests into the file
`man.local' which is loaded immediately after the `man' package.
-- Macro: .TH title section [extra1 [extra2 [extra3]]]
Set the title of the man page to TITLE and the section to SECTION,
which must have a value between 1 and 8. The value of SECTION may
also have a string appended, e.g. `.pm', to indicate a specific
subsection of the man pages.
Both TITLE and SECTION are positioned at the left and right in the
header line (with SECTION in parentheses immediately appended to
TITLE. EXTRA1 is positioned in the middle of the footer line.
EXTRA2 is positioned at the left in the footer line (or at the
left on even pages and at the right on odd pages if double-sided
printing is active). EXTRA3 is centered in the header line.
For HTML output, headers and footers are completely suppressed.
Additionally, this macro starts a new page; the new line number
is 1 again (except if the `-rC1' option is given on the command
line) - this feature is intended only for formatting multiple man
pages; a single man page should contain exactly one `TH' macro at
the beginning of the file.
-- Macro: .SH [heading]
Set up an unnumbered section heading sticking out to the left.
Prints out all the text following `SH' up to the end of the line
(or the text in the next line if there is no argument to `SH') in
bold face (or the font specified by the string `HF'), one size
larger than the base document size. Additionally, the left margin
and the indentation for the following text is reset to its default
value.
-- Macro: .SS [heading]
Set up an unnumbered (sub)section heading. Prints out all the text
following `SS' up to the end of the line (or the text in the next
line if there is no argument to `SS') in bold face (or the font
specified by the string `HF'), at the same size as the base
document size. Additionally, the left margin and the indentation
for the following text is reset to its default value.
-- Macro: .TP [nnn]
Set up an indented paragraph with label. The indentation is set to
NNN if that argument is supplied (the default unit is `n' if
omitted), otherwise it is set to the previous indentation value
specified with `TP', `IP', or `HP' (or to the default value if
none of them have been used yet).
The first line of text following this macro is interpreted as a
string to be printed flush-left, as it is appropriate for a label.
It is not interpreted as part of a paragraph, so there is no
attempt to fill the first line with text from the following input
lines. Nevertheless, if the label is not as wide as the
indentation the paragraph starts at the same line (but indented),
continuing on the following lines. If the label is wider than the
indentation the descriptive part of the paragraph begins on the
line following the label, entirely indented. Note that neither
font shape nor font size of the label is set to a default value;
on the other hand, the rest of the text has default font settings.
-- Macro: .LP
-- Macro: .PP
-- Macro: .P
These macros are mutual aliases. Any of them causes a line break
at the current position, followed by a vertical space downwards by
the amount specified by the `PD' macro. The font size and shape
are reset to the default value (10pt roman if no `-rS' option is
given on the command line). Finally, the current left margin and
the indentation is restored.
-- Macro: .IP [designator [nnn]]
Set up an indented paragraph, using DESIGNATOR as a tag to mark
its beginning. The indentation is set to NNN if that argument is
supplied (default unit is `n'), otherwise it is set to the
previous indentation value specified with `TP', `IP', or `HP' (or
the default value if none of them have been used yet). Font size
and face of the paragraph (but not the designator) are reset to
their default values.
To start an indented paragraph with a particular indentation but
without a designator, use `""' (two double quotes) as the first
argument of `IP'.
For example, to start a paragraph with bullets as the designator
and 4 en indentation, write
.IP \(bu 4
-- Macro: .HP [nnn]
Set up a paragraph with hanging left indentation. The indentation
is set to NNN if that argument is supplied (default unit is `n'),
otherwise it is set to the previous indentation value specified
with `TP', `IP', or `HP' (or the default value if non of them have
been used yet). Font size and face are reset to their default
values.
-- Macro: .RS [nnn]
Move the left margin to the right by the value NNN if specified
(default unit is `n'); otherwise it is set to the previous
indentation value specified with `TP', `IP', or `HP' (or to the
default value if none of them have been used yet). The
indentation value is then set to the default.
Calls to the `RS' macro can be nested.
-- Macro: .RE [nnn]
Move the left margin back to level NNN, restoring the previous left
margin. If no argument is given, it moves one level back. The
first level (i.e., no call to `RS' yet) has number 1, and each call
to `RS' increases the level by 1.
To summarize, the following macros cause a line break with the
insertion of vertical space (which amount can be changed with the `PD'
macro): `SH', `SS', `TP', `LP' (`PP', `P'), `IP', and `HP'.
The macros `RS' and `RE' also cause a break but do not insert
vertical space.
Finally, the macros `SH', `SS', `LP' (`PP', `P'), and `RS' reset the
indentation to its default value.

File: groff, Node: Man font macros, Next: Miscellaneous man macros, Prev: Man usage, Up: man
4.1.3 Macros to set fonts
-------------------------
The standard font is roman; the default text size is 10 point. If
command line option `-rS=N' is given, use Npt as the default text size.
-- Macro: .SM [text]
Set the text on the same line or the text on the next line in a
font that is one point size smaller than the default font.
-- Macro: .SB [text]
Set the text on the same line or the text on the next line in bold
face font, one point size smaller than the default font.
-- Macro: .BI text
Set its arguments alternately in bold face and italic, without a
space between the arguments. Thus,
.BI this "word and" that
produces "thisword andthat" with "this" and "that" in bold face,
and "word and" in italics.
-- Macro: .IB text
Set its arguments alternately in italic and bold face, without a
space between the arguments.
-- Macro: .RI text
Set its arguments alternately in roman and italic, without a space
between the arguments.
-- Macro: .IR text
Set its arguments alternately in italic and roman, without a space
between the arguments.
-- Macro: .BR text
Set its arguments alternately in bold face and roman, without a
space between the arguments.
-- Macro: .RB text
Set its arguments alternately in roman and bold face, without a
space between the arguments.
-- Macro: .B [text]
Set TEXT in bold face. If no text is present on the line where
the macro is called, then the text of the next line appears in bold
face.
-- Macro: .I [text]
Set TEXT in italic. If no text is present on the line where the
macro is called, then the text of the next line appears in italic.

File: groff, Node: Miscellaneous man macros, Next: Predefined man strings, Prev: Man font macros, Up: man
4.1.4 Miscellaneous macros
--------------------------
The default indentation is 7.2n in troff mode and 7n in nroff mode
except for `grohtml' which ignores indentation.
-- Macro: .DT
Set tabs every 0.5 inches. Since this macro is always executed
during a call to the `TH' macro, it makes sense to call it only if
the tab positions have been changed.
-- Macro: .PD [nnn]
Adjust the empty space before a new paragraph (or section). The
optional argument gives the amount of space (default unit is `v');
without parameter, the value is reset to its default value (1 line
in nroff mode, 0.4v otherwise).
This affects the macros `SH', `SS', `TP', `LP' (as well as `PP'
and `P'), `IP', and `HP'.
The following two macros are included for BSD compatibility.
-- Macro: .AT [system [release]]
Alter the footer for use with AT&T manpages. This command exists
only for compatibility; don't use it. The first argument SYSTEM
can be:
`3'
7th Edition (the default)
`4'
System III
`5'
System V
An optional second argument RELEASE to `AT' specifies the release
number (such as "System V Release 3").
-- Macro: .UC [version]
Alters the footer for use with BSD manpages. This command exists
only for compatibility; don't use it. The argument can be:
`3'
3rd Berkeley Distribution (the default)
`4'
4th Berkeley Distribution
`5'
4.2 Berkeley Distribution
`6'
4.3 Berkeley Distribution
`7'
4.4 Berkeley Distribution

File: groff, Node: Predefined man strings, Next: Preprocessors in man pages, Prev: Miscellaneous man macros, Up: man
4.1.5 Predefined strings
------------------------
The following strings are defined:
-- String: \*[S]
Switch back to the default font size.
-- String: \*[HF]
The typeface used for headings. The default is `B'.
-- String: \*[R]
The `registered' sign.
-- String: \*[Tm]
The `trademark' sign.
-- String: \*[lq]
-- String: \*[rq]
Left and right quote. This is equal to `\(lq' and `\(rq',
respectively.

File: groff, Node: Preprocessors in man pages, Next: Optional man extensions, Prev: Predefined man strings, Up: man
4.1.6 Preprocessors in `man' pages
----------------------------------
If a preprocessor like `gtbl' or `geqn' is needed, it has become common
usage to make the first line of the man page look like this:
'\" WORD
Note the single space character after the double quote. WORD consists
of letters for the needed preprocessors: `e' for `geqn', `r' for
`grefer', `t' for `gtbl'. Modern implementations of the `man' program
read this first line and automatically call the right preprocessor(s).

File: groff, Node: Optional man extensions, Prev: Preprocessors in man pages, Up: man
4.1.7 Optional `man' extensions
-------------------------------
Use the file `man.local' for local extensions to the `man' macros or
for style changes.
Custom headers and footers
..........................
In groff versions 1.18.2 and later, you can specify custom headers and
footers by redefining the following macros in `man.local'.
-- Macro: .PT
Control the content of the headers. Normally, the header prints
the command name and section number on either side, and the
optional fifth argument to `TH' in the center.
-- Macro: .BT
Control the content of the footers. Normally, the footer prints
the page number and the third and fourth arguments to `TH'.
Use the `FT' number register to specify the footer position. The
default is -0.5i.
Ultrix-specific man macros
..........................
The `groff' source distribution includes a file named `man.ultrix',
containing macros compatible with the Ultrix variant of `man'. Copy
this file into `man.local' (or use the `mso' request to load it) to
enable the following macros.
-- Macro: .CT key
Print `<CTRL/KEY>'.
-- Macro: .CW
Print subsequent text using the constant width (Courier) typeface.
-- Macro: .Ds
Begin a non-filled display.
-- Macro: .De
End a non-filled display started with `Ds'.
-- Macro: .EX [indent]
Begins a non-filled display using the constant width (Courier)
typeface. Use the optional INDENT argument to indent the display.
-- Macro: .EE
End a non-filled display started with `EX'.
-- Macro: .G [text]
Sets TEXT in Helvetica. If no text is present on the line where
the macro is called, then the text of the next line appears in
Helvetica.
-- Macro: .GL [text]
Sets TEXT in Helvetica Oblique. If no text is present on the line
where the macro is called, then the text of the next line appears
in Helvetica Oblique.
-- Macro: .HB [text]
Sets TEXT in Helvetica Bold. If no text is present on the line
where the macro is called, then all text up to the next `HB'
appears in Helvetica Bold.
-- Macro: .TB [text]
Identical to `HB'.
-- Macro: .MS title sect [punct]
Set a manpage reference in Ultrix format. The TITLE is in Courier
instead of italic. Optional punctuation follows the section
number without an intervening space.
-- Macro: .NT [`C'] [title]
Begin a note. Print the optional title, or the word "Note",
centered on the page. Text following the macro makes up the body
of the note, and is indented on both sides. If the first argument
is `C', the body of the note is printed centered (the second
argument replaces the word "Note" if specified).
-- Macro: .NE
End a note begun with `NT'.
-- Macro: .PN path [punct]
Set the path name in constant width (Courier), followed by
optional punctuation.
-- Macro: .Pn [punct] path [punct]
When called with two arguments, identical to `PN'. When called
with three arguments, set the second argument in constant width
(Courier), bracketed by the first and third arguments in the
current font.
-- Macro: .R
Switch to roman font and turn off any underlining in effect.
-- Macro: .RN
Print the string `<RETURN>'.
-- Macro: .VS [`4']
Start printing a change bar in the margin if the number `4' is
specified. Otherwise, this macro does nothing.
-- Macro: .VE
End printing the change bar begun by `VS'.
Simple example
..............
The following example `man.local' file alters the `SH' macro to add
some extra vertical space before printing the heading. Headings are
printed in Helvetica Bold.
.\" Make the heading fonts Helvetica
.ds HF HB
.
.\" Put more whitespace in front of headings.
.rn SH SH-orig
.de SH
. if t .sp (u;\\n[PD]*2)
. SH-orig \\$*
..

File: groff, Node: mdoc, Next: ms, Prev: man, Up: Macro Packages
4.2 `mdoc'
==========
See the `groff_mdoc(7)' man page (type `man groff_mdoc' at the command
line).

File: groff, Node: ms, Next: me, Prev: mdoc, Up: Macro Packages
4.3 `ms'
========
The `-ms' macros are suitable for reports, letters, books, user
manuals, and so forth. The package provides macros for cover pages,
section headings, paragraphs, lists, footnotes, pagination, and a table
of contents.
* Menu:
* ms Intro::
* General ms Structure::
* ms Document Control Registers::
* ms Cover Page Macros::
* ms Body Text::
* ms Page Layout::
* Differences from AT&T ms::
* Naming Conventions::

File: groff, Node: ms Intro, Next: General ms Structure, Prev: ms, Up: ms
4.3.1 Introduction to `ms'
--------------------------
The original `-ms' macros were included with AT&T `troff' as well as
the `man' macros. While the `man' package is intended for brief
documents that can be read on-line as well as printed, the `ms' macros
are suitable for longer documents that are meant to be printed rather
than read on-line.
The `ms' macro package included with `groff' is a complete,
bottom-up re-implementation. Several macros (specific to AT&T or
Berkeley) are not included, while several new commands are. *Note
Differences from AT&T ms::, for more information.

File: groff, Node: General ms Structure, Next: ms Document Control Registers, Prev: ms Intro, Up: ms
4.3.2 General structure of an `ms' document
-------------------------------------------
The `ms' macro package expects a certain amount of structure, but not
as much as packages such as `man' or `mdoc'.
The simplest documents can begin with a paragraph macro (such as
`LP' or `PP'), and consist of text separated by paragraph macros or
even blank lines. Longer documents have a structure as follows:
*Document type*
If you invoke the `RP' (report) macro on the first line of the
document, `groff' prints the cover page information on its own
page; otherwise it prints the information on the first page with
your document text immediately following. Other document formats
found in AT&T `troff' are specific to AT&T or Berkeley, and are
not supported in `groff'.
*Format and layout*
By setting number registers, you can change your document's type
(font and size), margins, spacing, headers and footers, and
footnotes. *Note ms Document Control Registers::, for more
details.
*Cover page*
A cover page consists of a title, the author's name and
institution, an abstract, and the date.(1) (*note General ms
Structure-Footnote-1::) *Note ms Cover Page Macros::, for more
details.
*Body*
Following the cover page is your document. You can use the `ms'
macros to write reports, letters, books, and so forth. The
package is designed for structured documents, consisting of
paragraphs interspersed with headings and augmented by lists,
footnotes, tables, and other common constructs. *Note ms Body
Text::, for more details.
*Table of contents*
Longer documents usually include a table of contents, which you can
invoke by placing the `TC' macro at the end of your document. The
`ms' macros have minimal indexing facilities, consisting of the
`IX' macro, which prints an entry on standard error. Printing the
table of contents at the end is necessary since `groff' is a
single-pass text formatter, thus it cannot determine the page
number of each section until that section has actually been set
and printed. Since `ms' output is intended for hardcopy, you can
manually relocate the pages containing the table of contents
between the cover page and the body text after printing.

File: groff, Node: General ms Structure-Footnotes, Up: General ms Structure
(1) Actually, only the title is required.

File: groff, Node: ms Document Control Registers, Next: ms Cover Page Macros, Prev: General ms Structure, Up: ms
4.3.3 Document control registers
--------------------------------
The following is a list of document control number registers. For the
sake of consistency, set registers related to margins at the beginning
of your document, or just after the `RP' macro. You can set other
registers later in your document, but you should keep them together at
the beginning to make them easy to find and edit as necessary.
Margin Settings
...............
-- Register: \n[PO]
Defines the page offset (i.e., the left margin). There is no
explicit right margin setting; the combination of the `PO' and `LL'
registers implicitly define the right margin width.
Effective: next page.
Default value: 1i.
-- Register: \n[LL]
Defines the line length (i.e., the width of the body text).
Effective: next paragraph.
Default: 6i.
-- Register: \n[LT]
Defines the title length (i.e., the header and footer width). This
is usually the same as `LL', but not necessarily.
Effective: next paragraph.
Default: 6i.
-- Register: \n[HM]
Defines the header margin height at the top of the page.
Effective: next page.
Default: 1i.
-- Register: \n[FM]
Defines the footer margin height at the bottom of the page.
Effective: next page.
Default: 1i.
Text Settings
.............
-- Register: \n[PS]
Defines the point size of the body text. If the value is larger
than or equal to 1000, divide it by 1000 to get a fractional point
size. For example, `.nr PS 10250' sets the document's point size
to 10.25p.
Effective: next paragraph.
Default: 10p.
-- Register: \n[VS]
Defines the space between lines (line height plus leading). If the
value is larger than or equal to 1000, divide it by 1000 to get a
fractional point size. Due to backwards compatibility, `VS' must
be smaller than 40000 (this is 40.0p).
Effective: next paragraph.
Default: 12p.
-- Register: \n[PSINCR]
Defines an increment in point size, which will be applied to
section headings at nesting levels below the value specified in
`GROWPS'. The value of `PSINCR' should be specified in points,
with the p scaling factor, and may include a fractional component;
for example, `.nr PSINCR 1.5p' sets a point size increment of 1.5p.
Effective: next section heading.
Default: 1p.
-- Register: \n[GROWPS]
Defines the heading level below which the point size increment set
by `PSINCR' becomes effective. Section headings at and above the
level specified by `GROWPS' will be printed at the point size set
by `PS'; for each level below the value of `GROWPS', the point
size will be increased in steps equal to the value of `PSINCR'.
Setting `GROWPS' to any value less than 2 disables the incremental
heading size feature.
Effective: next section heading.
Default: 0.
-- Register: \n[HY]
Defines the hyphenation level. `HY' sets safely the value of the
low-level `hy' register. Setting the value of `HY' to 0 is
equivalent to using the `nh' request.
Effective: next paragraph.
Default: 14.
-- Register: \n[FAM]
Defines the font family used to typeset the document.
Effective: next paragraph.
Default: as defined in the output device.
Paragraph Settings
..................
-- Register: \n[PI]
Defines the initial indentation of a (`PP' macro) paragraph.
Effective: next paragraph.
Default: 5n.
-- Register: \n[PD]
Defines the space between paragraphs.
Effective: next paragraph.
Default: 0.3v.
-- Register: \n[QI]
Defines the indentation on both sides of a quoted (`QP' macro)
paragraph.
Effective: next paragraph.
Default: 5n.
-- Register: \n[PORPHANS]
Defines the minimum number of initial lines of any paragraph which
should be kept together, to avoid orphan lines at the bottom of a
page. If a new paragraph is started close to the bottom of a page,
and there is insufficient space to accommodate `PORPHANS' lines
before an automatic page break, then the page break will be forced,
before the start of the paragraph.
Effective: next paragraph.
Default: 1.
-- Register: \n[HORPHANS]
Defines the minimum number of lines of the following paragraph
which should be kept together with any section heading introduced
by the `NH' or `SH' macros. If a section heading is placed close
to the bottom of a page, and there is insufficient space to
accommodate both the heading and at least `HORPHANS' lines of the
following paragraph, before an automatic page break, then the page
break will be forced before the heading.
Effective: next paragraph.
Default: 1.
Footnote Settings
.................
-- Register: \n[FL]
Defines the length of a footnote.
Effective: next footnote.
Default: `\n[LL]' * 5 / 6.
-- Register: \n[FI]
Defines the footnote indentation.
Effective: next footnote.
Default: 2n.
-- Register: \n[FF]
The footnote format:
`0'
Print the footnote number as a superscript; indent the
footnote (default).
`1'
Print the number followed by a period (like 1.) and indent the
footnote.
`2'
Like 1, without an indentation.
`3'
Like 1, but print the footnote number as a hanging paragraph.
Effective: next footnote.
Default: 0.
-- Register: \n[FPS]
Defines the footnote point size. If the value is larger than or
equal to 1000, divide it by 1000 to get a fractional point size.
Effective: next footnote.
Default: `\n[PS]' - 2.
-- Register: \n[FVS]
Defines the footnote vertical spacing. If the value is larger
than or equal to 1000, divide it by 1000 to get a fractional point
size.
Effective: next footnote.
Default: `\n[FPS]' + 2.
-- Register: \n[FPD]
Defines the footnote paragraph spacing.
Effective: next footnote.
Default: `\n[PD]' / 2.
Miscellaneous Number Registers
..............................
-- Register: \n[MINGW]
Defines the minimum width between columns in a multi-column
document.
Effective: next page.
Default: 2n.

File: groff, Node: ms Cover Page Macros, Next: ms Body Text, Prev: ms Document Control Registers, Up: ms
4.3.4 Cover page macros
-----------------------
Use the following macros to create a cover page for your document in
the order shown.
-- Macro: .RP [`no']
Specifies the report format for your document. The report format
creates a separate cover page. The default action (no `RP' macro)
is to print a subset of the cover page on page 1 of your document.
If you use the word `no' as an optional argument, `groff' prints a
title page but does not repeat any of the title page information
(title, author, abstract, etc.) on page 1 of the document.
-- Macro: .P1
(P-one) Prints the header on page 1. The default is to suppress
the header.
-- Macro: .DA [...]
(optional) Prints the current date, or the arguments to the macro
if any, on the title page (if specified) and in the footers. This
is the default for `nroff'.
-- Macro: .ND [...]
(optional) Prints the current date, or the arguments to the macro
if any, on the title page (if specified) but not in the footers.
This is the default for `troff'.
-- Macro: .TL
Specifies the document title. `groff' collects text following the
`TL' macro into the title, until reaching the author name or
abstract.
-- Macro: .AU
Specifies the author's name, which appears on the line (or lines)
immediately following. You can specify multiple authors as
follows:
.AU
John Doe
.AI
University of West Bumblefuzz
.AU
Martha Buck
.AI
Monolithic Corporation
...
-- Macro: .AI
Specifies the author's institution. You can specify multiple
institutions in the same way that you specify multiple authors.
-- Macro: .AB [`no']
Begins the abstract. The default is to print the word ABSTRACT,
centered and in italics, above the text of the abstract. The word
`no' as an optional argument suppresses this heading.
-- Macro: .AE
Ends the abstract.
The following is example mark-up for a title page.
.RP
.TL
The Inevitability of Code Bloat
in Commercial and Free Software
.AU
J. Random Luser
.AI
University of West Bumblefuzz
.AB
This report examines the long-term growth
of the code bases in two large, popular software
packages; the free Emacs and the commercial
Microsoft Word.
While differences appear in the type or order
of features added, due to the different
methodologies used, the results are the same
in the end.
.PP
The free software approach is shown to be
superior in that while free software can
become as bloated as commercial offerings,
free software tends to have fewer serious
bugs and the added features are in line with
user demand.
.AE
... the rest of the paper follows ...

File: groff, Node: ms Body Text, Next: ms Page Layout, Prev: ms Cover Page Macros, Up: ms
4.3.5 Body text
---------------
This section describes macros used to mark up the body of your
document. Examples include paragraphs, sections, and other groups.
* Menu:
* Paragraphs in ms::
* Headings in ms::
* Highlighting in ms::
* Lists in ms::
* Indentation values in ms::
* Tabstops in ms::
* ms Displays and Keeps::
* ms Insertions::
* Example multi-page table::
* ms Footnotes::

File: groff, Node: Paragraphs in ms, Next: Headings in ms, Prev: ms Body Text, Up: ms Body Text
4.3.5.1 Paragraphs
..................
The following paragraph types are available.
-- Macro: .PP
-- Macro: .LP
Sets a paragraph with an initial indentation.
-- Macro: .QP
Sets a paragraph that is indented at both left and right margins.
The effect is identical to the HTML `<BLOCKQUOTE>' element. The
next paragraph or heading returns margins to normal.
-- Macro: .XP
Sets a paragraph whose lines are indented, except for the first
line. This is a Berkeley extension.
The following markup uses all four paragraph macros.
.NH 2
Cases used in the study
.LP
The following software and versions were
considered for this report.
.PP
For commercial software, we chose
.B "Microsoft Word for Windows" ,
starting with version 1.0 through the
current version (Word 2000).
.PP
For free software, we chose
.B Emacs ,
from its first appearance as a standalone
editor through the current version (v20).
See [Bloggs 2002] for details.
.QP
Franklin's Law applied to software:
software expands to outgrow both
RAM and disk space over time.
.LP
Bibliography:
.XP
Bloggs, Joseph R.,
.I "Everyone's a Critic" ,
Underground Press, March 2002.
A definitive work that answers all questions
and criticisms about the quality and usability of
free software.
The `PORPHANS' register (*note ms Document Control Registers::)
operates in conjunction with each of these macros, to inhibit the
printing of orphan lines at the bottom of any page.

File: groff, Node: Headings in ms, Next: Highlighting in ms, Prev: Paragraphs in ms, Up: ms Body Text
4.3.5.2 Headings
................
Use headings to create a hierarchical structure for your document. The
`ms' macros print headings in *bold*, using the same font family and
point size as the body text.
The following describes the heading macros:
-- Macro: .NH curr-level
-- Macro: .NH S level0 ...
Numbered heading. The argument is either a numeric argument to
indicate the level of the heading, or the letter `S' followed by
numeric arguments to set the heading level explicitly.
If you specify heading levels out of sequence, such as invoking
`.NH 3' after `.NH 1', `groff' prints a warning on standard error.
-- String: \*[SN]
-- String: \*[SN-DOT]
-- String: \*[SN-NO-DOT]
After invocation of `NH', the assigned section number is made
available in the strings `SN-DOT' (exactly as it appears in the
printed section heading) and `SN-NO-DOT' (with the final period
omitted). The string `SN' is also defined, as an alias for
`SN-DOT'; if preferred, you may redefine it as an alias for
`SN-NO-DOT', by including the initialization
.ds SN-NO-DOT
.als SN SN-NO-DOT
*before* your first use of `NH', or simply
.als SN SN-NO-DOT
*after* your first use of `NH'.
-- Macro: .SH [match-level]
Unnumbered subheading.
The optional MATCH-LEVEL argument is a GNU extension. It is a
number indicating the level of the heading, in a manner analogous
to the CURR-LEVEL argument to `.NH'. Its purpose is to match the
point size, at which the heading is printed, to the size of a
numbered heading at the same level, when the `GROWPS' and `PSINCR'
heading size adjustment mechanism is in effect. *Note ms Document
Control Registers::.
The `HORPHANS' register (*note ms Document Control Registers::)
operates in conjunction with the `NH' and `SH' macros, to inhibit the
printing of orphaned section headings at the bottom of any page.

File: groff, Node: Highlighting in ms, Next: Lists in ms, Prev: Headings in ms, Up: ms Body Text
4.3.5.3 Highlighting
....................
The `ms' macros provide a variety of methods to highlight or emphasize
text:
-- Macro: .B [txt [post [pre]]]
Sets its first argument in *bold type*. If you specify a second
argument, `groff' prints it in the previous font after the bold
text, with no intervening space (this allows you to set
punctuation after the highlighted text without highlighting the
punctuation). Similarly, it prints the third argument (if any) in
the previous font *before* the first argument. For example,
.B foo ) (
prints (*foo*).
If you give this macro no arguments, `groff' prints all text
following in bold until the next highlighting, paragraph, or
heading macro.
-- Macro: .R [txt [post [pre]]]
Sets its first argument in roman (or regular) type. It operates
similarly to the `B' macro otherwise.
-- Macro: .I [txt [post [pre]]]
Sets its first argument in _italic type_. It operates similarly
to the `B' macro otherwise.
-- Macro: .CW [txt [post [pre]]]
Sets its first argument in a `constant width face'. It operates
similarly to the `B' macro otherwise.
-- Macro: .BI [txt [post [pre]]]
Sets its first argument in bold italic type. It operates
similarly to the `B' macro otherwise.
-- Macro: .BX [txt]
Prints its argument and draws a box around it. If you want to box
a string that contains spaces, use a digit-width space (`\0').
-- Macro: .UL [txt [post]]
Prints its first argument with an underline. If you specify a
second argument, `groff' prints it in the previous font after the
underlined text, with no intervening space.
-- Macro: .LG
Prints all text following in larger type (two points larger than
the current point size) until the next font size, highlighting,
paragraph, or heading macro. You can specify this macro multiple
times to enlarge the point size as needed.
-- Macro: .SM
Prints all text following in smaller type (two points smaller than
the current point size) until the next type size, highlighting,
paragraph, or heading macro. You can specify this macro multiple
times to reduce the point size as needed.
-- Macro: .NL
Prints all text following in the normal point size (that is, the
value of the `PS' register).
-- String: \*[{]
-- String: \*[}]
Text enclosed with `\*{' and `\*}' is printed as a superscript.

File: groff, Node: Lists in ms, Next: Indentation values in ms, Prev: Highlighting in ms, Up: ms Body Text
4.3.5.4 Lists
.............
The `IP' macro handles duties for all lists.
-- Macro: .IP [marker [width]]
The MARKER is usually a bullet glyph (`\[bu]') for unordered
lists, a number (or auto-incrementing number register) for
numbered lists, or a word or phrase for indented (glossary-style)
lists.
The WIDTH specifies the indentation for the body of each list
item; its default unit is `n'. Once specified, the indentation
remains the same for all list items in the document until specified
again.
The `PORPHANS' register (*note ms Document Control Registers::)
operates in conjunction with the `IP' macro, to inhibit the
printing of orphaned list markers at the bottom of any page.
The following is an example of a bulleted list.
A bulleted list:
.IP \[bu] 2
lawyers
.IP \[bu]
guns
.IP \[bu]
money
Produces:
A bulleted list:
o lawyers
o guns
o money
The following is an example of a numbered list.
.nr step 1 1
A numbered list:
.IP \n[step] 3
lawyers
.IP \n+[step]
guns
.IP \n+[step]
money
Produces:
A numbered list:
1. lawyers
2. guns
3. money
Note the use of the auto-incrementing number register in this
example.
The following is an example of a glossary-style list.
A glossary-style list:
.IP lawyers 0.4i
Two or more attorneys.
.IP guns
Firearms, preferably
large-caliber.
.IP money
Gotta pay for those
lawyers and guns!
Produces:
A glossary-style list:
lawyers
Two or more attorneys.
guns Firearms, preferably large-caliber.
money
Gotta pay for those lawyers and guns!
In the last example, the `IP' macro places the definition on the
same line as the term if it has enough space; otherwise, it breaks to
the next line and starts the definition below the term. This may or
may not be the effect you want, especially if some of the definitions
break and some do not. The following examples show two possible ways
to force a break.
The first workaround uses the `br' request to force a break after
printing the term or label.
A glossary-style list:
.IP lawyers 0.4i
Two or more attorneys.
.IP guns
.br
Firearms, preferably large-caliber.
.IP money
Gotta pay for those lawyers and guns!
The second workaround uses the `\p' escape to force the break. Note
the space following the escape; this is important. If you omit the
space, `groff' prints the first word on the same line as the term or
label (if it fits) *then* breaks the line.
A glossary-style list:
.IP lawyers 0.4i
Two or more attorneys.
.IP guns
\p Firearms, preferably large-caliber.
.IP money
Gotta pay for those lawyers and guns!
To set nested lists, use the `RS' and `RE' macros. *Note
Indentation values in ms::, for more information.
For example:
.IP \[bu] 2
Lawyers:
.RS
.IP \[bu]
Dewey,
.IP \[bu]
Cheatham,
.IP \[bu]
and Howe.
.RE
.IP \[bu]
Guns
Produces:
o Lawyers:
o Dewey,
o Cheatham,
o and Howe.
o Guns

File: groff, Node: Indentation values in ms, Next: Tabstops in ms, Prev: Lists in ms, Up: ms Body Text
4.3.5.5 Indentation values
..........................
In many situations, you may need to indentation a section of text while
still wrapping and filling. *Note Lists in ms::, for an example of
nested lists.
-- Macro: .RS
-- Macro: .RE
These macros begin and end an indented section. The `PI' register
controls the amount of indentation, allowing the indented text to
line up under hanging and indented paragraphs.
*Note ms Displays and Keeps::, for macros to indentation and turn off
filling.

File: groff, Node: Tabstops in ms, Next: ms Displays and Keeps, Prev: Indentation values in ms, Up: ms Body Text
4.3.5.6 Tab Stops
.................
Use the `ta' request to define tab stops as needed. *Note Tabs and
Fields::.
-- Macro: .TA
Use this macro to reset the tab stops to the default for `ms'
(every 5n). You can redefine the `TA' macro to create a different
set of default tab stops.

File: groff, Node: ms Displays and Keeps, Next: ms Insertions, Prev: Tabstops in ms, Up: ms Body Text
4.3.5.7 Displays and keeps
..........................
Use displays to show text-based examples or figures (such as code
listings).
Displays turn off filling, so lines of code are displayed as-is
without inserting `br' requests in between each line. Displays can be
"kept" on a single page, or allowed to break across pages.
-- Macro: .DS L
-- Macro: .LD
-- Macro: .DE
Left-justified display. The `.DS L' call generates a page break,
if necessary, to keep the entire display on one page. The `LD'
macro allows the display to break across pages. The `DE' macro
ends the display.
-- Macro: .DS I
-- Macro: .ID
-- Macro: .DE
Indents the display as defined by the `DI' register. The `.DS I'
call generates a page break, if necessary, to keep the entire
display on one page. The `ID' macro allows the display to break
across pages. The `DE' macro ends the display.
-- Macro: .DS B
-- Macro: .BD
-- Macro: .DE
Sets a block-centered display: the entire display is
left-justified, but indented so that the longest line in the
display is centered on the page. The `.DS B' call generates a
page break, if necessary, to keep the entire display on one page.
The `BD' macro allows the display to break across pages. The `DE'
macro ends the display.
-- Macro: .DS C
-- Macro: .CD
-- Macro: .DE
Sets a centered display: each line in the display is centered. The
`.DS C' call generates a page break, if necessary, to keep the
entire display on one page. The `CD' macro allows the display to
break across pages. The `DE' macro ends the display.
-- Macro: .DS R
-- Macro: .RD
-- Macro: .DE
Right-justifies each line in the display. The `.DS R' call
generates a page break, if necessary, to keep the entire display on
one page. The `RD' macro allows the display to break across
pages. The `DE' macro ends the display.
-- Macro: .Ds
-- Macro: .De
These two macros were formerly provided as aliases for `DS' and
`DE', respectively. They have been removed, and should no longer
be used. The original implementations of `DS' and `DE' are
retained, and should be used instead. X11 documents which actually
use `Ds' and `De' always load a specific macro file from the X11
distribution (`macros.t') which provides proper definitions for
the two macros.
On occasion, you may want to "keep" other text together on a page.
For example, you may want to keep two paragraphs together, or a
paragraph that refers to a table (or list, or other item) immediately
following. The `ms' macros provide the `KS' and `KE' macros for this
purpose.
-- Macro: .KS
-- Macro: .KE
The `KS' macro begins a block of text to be kept on a single page,
and the `KE' macro ends the block.
-- Macro: .KF
-- Macro: .KE
Specifies a "floating keep"; if the keep cannot fit on the current
page, `groff' holds the contents of the keep and allows text
following the keep (in the source file) to fill in the remainder of
the current page. When the page breaks, whether by an explicit
`bp' request or by reaching the end of the page, `groff' prints
the floating keep at the top of the new page. This is useful for
printing large graphics or tables that do not need to appear
exactly where specified.
You can also use the `ne' request to force a page break if there is
not enough vertical space remaining on the page.
Use the following macros to draw a box around a section of text (such
as a display).
-- Macro: .B1
-- Macro: .B2
Marks the beginning and ending of text that is to have a box drawn
around it. The `B1' macro begins the box; the `B2' macro ends it.
Text in the box is automatically placed in a diversion (keep).

File: groff, Node: ms Insertions, Next: Example multi-page table, Prev: ms Displays and Keeps, Up: ms Body Text
4.3.5.8 Tables, figures, equations, and references
..................................................
The `ms' macros support the standard `groff' preprocessors: `tbl',
`pic', `eqn', and `refer'. You mark text meant for preprocessors by
enclosing it in pairs of tags as follows.
-- Macro: .TS [`H']
-- Macro: .TE
Denotes a table, to be processed by the `tbl' preprocessor. The
optional argument `H' to `TS' instructs `groff' to create a
running header with the information up to the `TH' macro. `groff'
prints the header at the beginning of the table; if the table runs
onto another page, `groff' prints the header on the next page as
well.
-- Macro: .PS
-- Macro: .PE
Denotes a graphic, to be processed by the `pic' preprocessor. You
can create a `pic' file by hand, using the AT&T `pic' manual
available on the Web as a reference, or by using a graphics
program such as `xfig'.
-- Macro: .EQ [align]
-- Macro: .EN
Denotes an equation, to be processed by the `eqn' preprocessor.
The optional ALIGN argument can be `C', `L', or `I' to center (the
default), left-justify, or indent the equation.
-- Macro: .[
-- Macro: .]
Denotes a reference, to be processed by the `refer' preprocessor.
The GNU `refer(1)' man page provides a comprehensive reference to
the preprocessor and the format of the bibliographic database.
* Menu:
* Example multi-page table::

File: groff, Node: Example multi-page table, Next: ms Footnotes, Prev: ms Insertions, Up: ms Body Text
4.3.5.9 An example multi-page table
...................................
The following is an example of how to set up a table that may print
across two or more pages.
.TS H
allbox expand;
cb | cb .
Text ...of heading...
_
.TH
.T&
l | l .
... the rest of the table follows...
.CW
.TE

File: groff, Node: ms Footnotes, Prev: Example multi-page table, Up: ms Body Text
4.3.5.10 Footnotes
..................
The `ms' macro package has a flexible footnote system. You can specify
either numbered footnotes or symbolic footnotes (that is, using a
marker such as a dagger symbol).
-- String: \*[*]
Specifies the location of a numbered footnote marker in the text.
-- Macro: .FS
-- Macro: .FE
Specifies the text of the footnote. The default action is to
create a numbered footnote; you can create a symbolic footnote by
specifying a "mark" glyph (such as `\[dg]' for the dagger glyph)
in the body text and as an argument to the `FS' macro, followed by
the text of the footnote and the `FE' macro.
You can control how `groff' prints footnote numbers by changing the
value of the `FF' register. *Note ms Document Control Registers::.
Footnotes can be safely used within keeps and displays, but you
should avoid using numbered footnotes within floating keeps. You can
set a second `\**' marker between a `\**' and its corresponding `.FS'
entry; as long as each `FS' macro occurs _after_ the corresponding
`\**' and the occurrences of `.FS' are in the same order as the
corresponding occurrences of `\**'.

File: groff, Node: ms Page Layout, Next: Differences from AT&T ms, Prev: ms Body Text, Up: ms
4.3.6 Page layout
-----------------
The default output from the `ms' macros provides a minimalist page
layout: it prints a single column, with the page number centered at the
top of each page. It prints no footers.
You can change the layout by setting the proper number registers and
strings.
* Menu:
* ms Headers and Footers::
* ms Margins::
* ms Multiple Columns::
* ms TOC::
* ms Strings and Special Characters::

File: groff, Node: ms Headers and Footers, Next: ms Margins, Prev: ms Page Layout, Up: ms Page Layout
4.3.6.1 Headers and footers
...........................
For documents that do not distinguish between odd and even pages, set
the following strings:
-- String: \*[LH]
-- String: \*[CH]
-- String: \*[RH]
Sets the left, center, and right headers.
-- String: \*[LF]
-- String: \*[CF]
-- String: \*[RF]
Sets the left, center, and right footers.
For documents that need different information printed in the even and
odd pages, use the following macros:
-- Macro: .OH 'left'center'right'
-- Macro: .EH 'left'center'right'
-- Macro: .OF 'left'center'right'
-- Macro: .EF 'left'center'right'
The `OH' and `EH' macros define headers for the odd and even
pages; the `OF' and `EF' macros define footers for the odd and
even pages. This is more flexible than defining the individual
strings.
You can replace the quote (`'') marks with any character not
appearing in the header or footer text.

File: groff, Node: ms Margins, Next: ms Multiple Columns, Prev: ms Headers and Footers, Up: ms Page Layout
4.3.6.2 Margins
...............
You control margins using a set of number registers. *Note ms Document
Control Registers::, for details.

File: groff, Node: ms Multiple Columns, Next: ms TOC, Prev: ms Margins, Up: ms Page Layout
4.3.6.3 Multiple columns
........................
The `ms' macros can set text in as many columns as will reasonably fit
on the page. The following macros are available; all of them force a
page break if a multi-column mode is already set. However, if the
current mode is single-column, starting a multi-column mode does _not_
force a page break.
-- Macro: .1C
Single-column mode.
-- Macro: .2C
Two-column mode.
-- Macro: .MC [width [gutter]]
Multi-column mode. If you specify no arguments, it is equivalent
to the `2C' macro. Otherwise, WIDTH is the width of each column
and GUTTER is the space between columns. The `MINGW' number
register controls the default gutter width.

File: groff, Node: ms TOC, Next: ms Strings and Special Characters, Prev: ms Multiple Columns, Up: ms Page Layout
4.3.6.4 Creating a table of contents
....................................
The facilities in the `ms' macro package for creating a table of
contents are semi-automated at best. Assuming that you want the table
of contents to consist of the document's headings, you need to repeat
those headings wrapped in `XS' and `XE' macros.
-- Macro: .XS [page]
-- Macro: .XA [page]
-- Macro: .XE
These macros define a table of contents or an individual entry in
the table of contents, depending on their use. The macros are very
simple; they cannot indent a heading based on its level. The
easiest way to work around this is to add tabs to the table of
contents string. The following is an example:
.NH 1
Introduction
.XS
Introduction
.XE
.LP
...
.CW
.NH 2
Methodology
.XS
Methodology
.XE
.LP
...
You can manually create a table of contents by beginning with the
`XS' macro for the first entry, specifying the page number for
that entry as the argument to `XS'. Add subsequent entries using
the `XA' macro, specifying the page number for that entry as the
argument to `XA'. The following is an example:
.XS 1
Introduction
.XA 2
A Brief History of the Universe
.XA 729
Details of Galactic Formation
...
.XE
-- Macro: .TC [`no']
Prints the table of contents on a new page, setting the page number
to *i* (Roman lowercase numeral one). You should usually place
this macro at the end of the file, since `groff' is a single-pass
formatter and can only print what has been collected up to the
point that the `TC' macro appears.
The optional argument `no' suppresses printing the title specified
by the string register `TOC'.
-- Macro: .PX [`no']
Prints the table of contents on a new page, using the current page
numbering sequence. Use this macro to print a manually-generated
table of contents at the beginning of your document.
The optional argument `no' suppresses printing the title specified
by the string register `TOC'.
The `Groff and Friends HOWTO' includes a `sed' script that
automatically inserts `XS' and `XE' macro entries after each heading in
a document.
Altering the `NH' macro to automatically build the table of contents
is perhaps initially more difficult, but would save a great deal of
time in the long run if you use `ms' regularly.

File: groff, Node: ms Strings and Special Characters, Prev: ms TOC, Up: ms Page Layout
4.3.6.5 Strings and Special Characters
......................................
The `ms' macros provide the following predefined strings. You can
change the string definitions to help in creating documents in
languages other than English.
-- String: \*[REFERENCES]
Contains the string printed at the beginning of the references
(bibliography) page. The default is `References'.
-- String: \*[ABSTRACT]
Contains the string printed at the beginning of the abstract. The
default is `ABSTRACT'.
-- String: \*[TOC]
Contains the string printed at the beginning of the table of
contents.
-- String: \*[MONTH1]
-- String: \*[MONTH2]
-- String: \*[MONTH3]
-- String: \*[MONTH4]
-- String: \*[MONTH5]
-- String: \*[MONTH6]
-- String: \*[MONTH7]
-- String: \*[MONTH8]
-- String: \*[MONTH9]
-- String: \*[MONTH10]
-- String: \*[MONTH11]
-- String: \*[MONTH12]
Prints the full name of the month in dates. The default is
`January', `February', etc.
The following special characters are available(1) (*note ms Strings
and Special Characters-Footnote-1::):
-- String: \*[-]
Prints an em dash.
-- String: \*[Q]
-- String: \*[U]
Prints typographer's quotes in troff, and plain quotes in nroff.
`\*Q' is the left quote and `\*U' is the right quote.
Improved accent marks are available in the `ms' macros.
-- Macro: .AM
Specify this macro at the beginning of your document to enable
extended accent marks and special characters. This is a Berkeley
extension.
To use the accent marks, place them *after* the character being
accented.
Note that groff's native support for accents is superior to the
following definitions.
The following accent marks are available after invoking the `AM'
macro:
-- String: \*[']
Acute accent.
-- String: \*[`]
Grave accent.
-- String: \*[^]
Circumflex.
-- String: \*[,]
Cedilla.
-- String: \*[~]
Tilde.
-- String: \*[:]
Umlaut.
-- String: \*[v]
Hacek.
-- String: \*[_]
Macron (overbar).
-- String: \*[.]
Underdot.
-- String: \*[o]
Ring above.
The following are standalone characters available after invoking the
`AM' macro:
-- String: \*[?]
Upside-down question mark.
-- String: \*[!]
Upside-down exclamation point.
-- String: \*[8]
German <20> ligature.
-- String: \*[3]
Yogh.
-- String: \*[Th]
Uppercase thorn.
-- String: \*[th]
Lowercase thorn.
-- String: \*[D-]
Uppercase eth.
-- String: \*[d-]
Lowercase eth.
-- String: \*[q]
Hooked o.
-- String: \*[ae]
Lowercase <20> ligature.
-- String: \*[Ae]
Uppercase <20> ligature.

File: groff, Node: ms Strings and Special Characters-Footnotes, Up: ms Strings and Special Characters
(1) For an explanation what special characters are see *Note Special
Characters::.

File: groff, Node: Differences from AT&T ms, Next: Naming Conventions, Prev: ms Page Layout, Up: ms
4.3.7 Differences from AT&T `ms'
--------------------------------
This section lists the (minor) differences between the `groff -ms'
macros and AT&T `troff -ms' macros.
* The internals of `groff -ms' differ from the internals of AT&T
`troff -ms'. Documents that depend upon implementation details of
AT&T `troff -ms' may not format properly with `groff -ms'.
* The general error-handling policy of `groff -ms' is to detect and
report errors, rather than silently to ignore them.
* `groff -ms' does not work in compatibility mode (this is, with the
`-C' option).
* There is no special support for typewriter-like devices.
* `groff -ms' does not provide cut marks.
* Multiple line spacing is not supported. Use a larger vertical
spacing instead.
* Some UNIX `ms' documentation says that the `CW' and `GW' number
registers can be used to control the column width and gutter
width, respectively. These number registers are not used in
`groff -ms'.
* Macros that cause a reset (paragraphs, headings, etc.) may change
the indentation. Macros that change the indentation do not
increment or decrement the indentation, but rather set it
absolutely. This can cause problems for documents that define
additional macros of their own. The solution is to use not the
`in' request but instead the `RS' and `RE' macros.
* To make `groff -ms' use the default page offset (which also
specifies the left margin), the `PO' register must stay undefined
until the first `-ms' macro is evaluated. This implies that `PO'
should not be used early in the document, unless it is changed
also: Remember that accessing an undefined register automatically
defines it.
-- Register: \n[GS]
This number register is set to 1 by the `groff -ms' macros, but it
is not used by the `AT&T' `troff -ms' macros. Documents that need
to determine whether they are being formatted with `AT&T' `troff
-ms' or `groff -ms' should use this number register.
* Menu:
* Missing ms Macros::
* Additional ms Macros::

File: groff, Node: Missing ms Macros, Next: Additional ms Macros, Prev: Differences from AT&T ms, Up: Differences from AT&T ms
4.3.7.1 `troff' macros not appearing in `groff'
...............................................
Macros missing from `groff -ms' are cover page macros specific to Bell
Labs and Berkeley. The macros known to be missing are:
`.TM'
Technical memorandum; a cover sheet style
`.IM'
Internal memorandum; a cover sheet style
`.MR'
Memo for record; a cover sheet style
`.MF'
Memo for file; a cover sheet style
`.EG'
Engineer's notes; a cover sheet style
`.TR'
Computing Science Tech Report; a cover sheet style
`.OK'
Other keywords
`.CS'
Cover sheet information
`.MH'
A cover sheet macro

File: groff, Node: Additional ms Macros, Prev: Missing ms Macros, Up: Differences from AT&T ms
4.3.7.2 `groff' macros not appearing in AT&T `troff'
....................................................
The `groff -ms' macros have a few minor extensions compared to the AT&T
`troff -ms' macros.
-- Macro: .AM
Improved accent marks. *Note ms Strings and Special Characters::,
for details.
-- Macro: .DS I
Indented display. The default behavior of AT&T `troff -ms' was to
indent; the `groff' default prints displays flush left with the
body text.
-- Macro: .CW
Print text in `constant width' (Courier) font.
-- Macro: .IX
Indexing term (printed on standard error). You can write a script
to capture and process an index generated in this manner.
The following additional number registers appear in `groff -ms':
-- Register: \n[MINGW]
Specifies a minimum space between columns (for multi-column
output); this takes the place of the `GW' register that was
documented but apparently not implemented in AT&T `troff'.
Several new string registers are available as well. You can change
these to handle (for example) the local language. *Note ms Strings and
Special Characters::, for details.

File: groff, Node: Naming Conventions, Prev: Differences from AT&T ms, Up: ms
4.3.8 Naming Conventions
------------------------
The following conventions are used for names of macros, strings and
number registers. External names available to documents that use the
`groff -ms' macros contain only uppercase letters and digits.
Internally the macros are divided into modules; naming conventions
are as follows:
* Names used only within one module are of the form MODULE`*'NAME.
* Names used outside the module in which they are defined are of the
form MODULE`@'NAME.
* Names associated with a particular environment are of the form
ENVIRONMENT`:'NAME; these are used only within the `par' module.
* NAME does not have a module prefix.
* Constructed names used to implement arrays are of the form
ARRAY`!'INDEX.
Thus the groff ms macros reserve the following names:
* Names containing the characters `*', `@', and `:'.
* Names containing only uppercase letters and digits.

File: groff, Node: me, Next: mm, Prev: ms, Up: Macro Packages
4.4 `me'
========
See the `meintro.me' and `meref.me' documents in groff's `doc'
directory.

File: groff, Node: mm, Prev: me, Up: Macro Packages
4.5 `mm'
========
See the `groff_mm(7)' man page (type `man groff_mm' at the command
line).

File: groff, Node: gtroff Reference, Next: Preprocessors, Prev: Macro Packages, Up: Top
5 `gtroff' Reference
********************
This chapter covers *all* of the facilities of `gtroff'. Users of
macro packages may skip it if not interested in details.
* Menu:
* Text::
* Measurements::
* Expressions::
* Identifiers::
* Embedded Commands::
* Registers::
* Manipulating Filling and Adjusting::
* Manipulating Hyphenation::
* Manipulating Spacing::
* Tabs and Fields::
* Character Translations::
* Troff and Nroff Mode::
* Line Layout::
* Line Control::
* Page Layout::
* Page Control::
* Fonts and Symbols::
* Sizes::
* Strings::
* Conditionals and Loops::
* Writing Macros::
* Page Motions::
* Drawing Requests::
* Traps::
* Diversions::
* Environments::
* Suppressing output::
* Colors::
* I/O::
* Postprocessor Access::
* Miscellaneous::
* Gtroff Internals::
* Debugging::
* Implementation Differences::

File: groff, Node: Text, Next: Measurements, Prev: gtroff Reference, Up: gtroff Reference
5.1 Text
========
`gtroff' input files contain text with control commands interspersed
throughout. But, even without control codes, `gtroff' still does
several things with the input text:
* filling and adjusting
* adding additional space after sentences
* hyphenating
* inserting implicit line breaks
* Menu:
* Filling and Adjusting::
* Hyphenation::
* Sentences::
* Tab Stops::
* Implicit Line Breaks::
* Input Conventions::
* Input Encodings::

File: groff, Node: Filling and Adjusting, Next: Hyphenation, Prev: Text, Up: Text
5.1.1 Filling and Adjusting
---------------------------
When `gtroff' reads text, it collects words from the input and fits as
many of them together on one output line as it can. This is known as
"filling".
Once `gtroff' has a "filled" line, it tries to "adjust" it. This
means it widens the spacing between words until the text reaches the
right margin (in the default adjustment mode). Extra spaces between
words are preserved, but spaces at the end of lines are ignored.
Spaces at the front of a line cause a "break" (breaks are explained in
*Note Implicit Line Breaks::).
*Note Manipulating Filling and Adjusting::.

File: groff, Node: Hyphenation, Next: Sentences, Prev: Filling and Adjusting, Up: Text
5.1.2 Hyphenation
-----------------
Since the odds are not great for finding a set of words, for every
output line, which fit nicely on a line without inserting excessive
amounts of space between words, `gtroff' hyphenates words so that it
can justify lines without inserting too much space between words. It
uses an internal hyphenation algorithm (a simplified version of the
algorithm used within TeX) to indicate which words can be hyphenated
and how to do so. When a word is hyphenated, the first part of the
word is added to the current filled line being output (with an attached
hyphen), and the other portion is added to the next line to be filled.
*Note Manipulating Hyphenation::.

File: groff, Node: Sentences, Next: Tab Stops, Prev: Hyphenation, Up: Text
5.1.3 Sentences
---------------
Although it is often debated, some typesetting rules say there should be
different amounts of space after various punctuation marks. For
example, the `Chicago typsetting manual' says that a period at the end
of a sentence should have twice as much space following it as would a
comma or a period as part of an abbreviation.
`gtroff' does this by flagging certain characters (normally `!',
`?', and `.') as "end-of-sentence" characters. When `gtroff'
encounters one of these characters at the end of a line, it appends a
normal space followed by a "sentence space" in the formatted output.
(This justifies one of the conventions mentioned in *Note Input
Conventions::.)
In addition, the following characters and symbols are treated
transparently while handling end-of-sentence characters: `"', `'', `)',
`]', `*', `\[dg]', and `\[rq]'.
See the `cflags' request in *Note Using Symbols::, for more details.
To prevent the insertion of extra space after an end-of-sentence
character (at the end of a line), append `\&'.

File: groff, Node: Tab Stops, Next: Implicit Line Breaks, Prev: Sentences, Up: Text
5.1.4 Tab Stops
---------------
`gtroff' translates "tabulator characters", also called "tabs"
(normally code point ASCII `0x09' or EBCDIC `0x05'), in the input into
movements to the next tabulator stop. These tab stops are initially
located every half inch across the page. Using this, simple tables can
be made easily. However, it can often be deceptive as the appearance
(and width) of the text on a terminal and the results from `gtroff' can
vary greatly.
Also, a possible sticking point is that lines beginning with tab
characters are still filled, again producing unexpected results. For
example, the following input
1 2 3
4 5
produces
1 2 3 4 5
*Note Tabs and Fields::.

File: groff, Node: Implicit Line Breaks, Next: Input Conventions, Prev: Tab Stops, Up: Text
5.1.5 Implicit Line Breaks
--------------------------
An important concept in `gtroff' is the "break". When a break occurs,
`gtroff' outputs the partially filled line (unjustified), and resumes
collecting and filling text on the next output line.
There are several ways to cause a break in `gtroff'. A blank line
not only causes a break, but it also outputs a one-line vertical space
(effectively a blank line). Note that this behaviour can be modified
with the blank line macro request `blm'. *Note Blank Line Traps::.
A line that begins with a space causes a break and the space is
output at the beginning of the next line. Note that this space isn't
adjusted, even in fill mode.
The end of file also causes a break - otherwise the last line of the
document may vanish!
Certain requests also cause breaks, implicitly or explicitly. This
is discussed in *Note Manipulating Filling and Adjusting::.

File: groff, Node: Input Conventions, Next: Input Encodings, Prev: Implicit Line Breaks, Up: Text
5.1.6 Input Conventions
-----------------------
Since `gtroff' does filling automatically, it is traditional in `groff'
not to try and type things in as nicely formatted paragraphs. These
are some conventions commonly used when typing `gtroff' text:
* Break lines after punctuation, particularly at the end of a
sentence and in other logical places. Keep separate phrases on
lines by themselves, as entire phrases are often added or deleted
when editing.
* Try to keep lines less than 40-60 characters, to allow space for
inserting more text.
* Do not try to do any formatting in a WYSIWYG manner (i.e., don't
try using spaces to get proper indentation).

File: groff, Node: Input Encodings, Prev: Input Conventions, Up: Text
5.1.7 Input Encodings
---------------------
Currently, the following input encodings are available.
cp1047
This input encoding works only on EBCDIC platforms (and vice
versa, the other input encodings don't work with EBCDIC); the file
`cp1047.tmac' is by default loaded at start-up.
latin-1
This is the default input encoding on non-EBCDIC platforms; the
file `latin1.tmac' is loaded at start-up.
latin-2
To use this encoding, either say `.mso latin2.tmac' at the very
beginning of your document or use `-mlatin2' as a command line
argument for `groff'.
latin-9 (latin-0)
This encoding is intended (at least in Europe) to replace latin-1
encoding. The main difference to latin-1 is that latin-9 contains
the Euro character. To use this encoding, either say
`.mso latin9.tmac' at the very beginning of your document or use
`-mlatin9' as a command line argument for `groff'.
Note that it can happen that some input encoding characters are not
available for a particular output device. For example, saying
groff -Tlatin1 -mlatin9 ...
will fail if you use the Euro character in the input. Usually, this
limitation is present only for devices which have a limited set of
output glyphs (e.g. `-Tascii' and `-Tlatin1'); for other devices it is
usually sufficient to install proper fonts which contain the necessary
glyphs.
Due to the importance of the Euro glyph in Europe, the groff package
now comes with a POSTSCRIPT font called `freeeuro.pfa' which provides
various glyph shapes for the Euro. With other words, latin-9 encoding
is supported for the `-Tps' device out of the box (latin-2 isn't).
By its very nature, `-Tutf8' supports all input encodings; `-Tdvi'
has support for both latin-2 and latin-9 if the command line `-mec' is
used also to load the file `ec.tmac' (which flips to the EC fonts).

File: groff, Node: Measurements, Next: Expressions, Prev: Text, Up: gtroff Reference
5.2 Measurements
================
`gtroff' (like many other programs) requires numeric parameters to
specify various measurements. Most numeric parameters(1) (*note
Measurements-Footnote-1::) may have a "measurement unit" attached.
These units are specified as a single character which immediately
follows the number or expression. Each of these units are understood,
by `gtroff', to be a multiple of its "basic unit". So, whenever a
different measurement unit is specified `gtroff' converts this into its
"basic units". This basic unit, represented by a `u', is a device
dependent measurement which is quite small, ranging from 1/75th to
1/72000th of an inch. The values may be given as fractional numbers;
however, fractional basic units are always rounded to integers.
Some of the measurement units are completely independent of any of
the current settings (e.g. type size) of `gtroff'.
`i'
Inches. An antiquated measurement unit still in use in certain
backwards countries with incredibly low-cost computer equipment.
One inch is equal to 2.54cm.
`c'
Centimeters. One centimeter is equal to 0.3937in.
`p'
Points. This is a typesetter's measurement used for measure type
size. It is 72 points to an inch.
`P'
Pica. Another typesetting measurement. 6 Picas to an inch (and
12 points to a pica).
`s'
`z'
*Note Fractional Type Sizes::, for a discussion of these units.
`f'
Fractions. Value is 65536. *Note Colors::, for usage.
The other measurements understood by `gtroff' depend on settings
currently in effect in `gtroff'. These are very useful for specifying
measurements which should look proper with any size of text.
`m'
Ems. This unit is equal to the current font size in points. So
called because it is _approximately_ the width of the letter `m'
in the current font.
`n'
Ens. In `groff', this is half of an em.
`v'
Vertical space. This is equivalent to the current line spacing.
*Note Sizes::, for more information about this.
`M'
100ths of an em.
* Menu:
* Default Units::

File: groff, Node: Measurements-Footnotes, Up: Measurements
(1) those that specify vertical or horizontal motion or a type size

File: groff, Node: Default Units, Prev: Measurements, Up: Measurements
5.2.1 Default Units
-------------------
Many requests take a default unit. While this can be helpful at times,
it can cause strange errors in some expressions. For example, the line
length request expects em units. Here are several attempts to get a
line length of 3.5 inches and their results:
3.5i => 3.5i
7/2 => 0i
7/2i => 0i
(7 / 2)u => 0i
7i/2 => 0.1i
7i/2u => 3.5i
Everything is converted to basic units first. In the above example it
is assumed that 1i equals 240u, and 1m equals 10p (thus 1m equals 33u).
The value 7i/2 is first handled as 7i/2m, then converted to 1680u/66u
which is 25u, and this is approximately 0.1i. As can be seen, a
scaling indicator after a closing parenthesis is simply ignored.
Thus, the safest way to specify measurements is to always attach a
scaling indicator. If you want to multiply or divide by a certain
scalar value, use `u' as the unit for that value.

File: groff, Node: Expressions, Next: Identifiers, Prev: Measurements, Up: gtroff Reference
5.3 Expressions
===============
`gtroff' has most arithmetic operators common to other languages:
* Arithmetic: `+' (addition), `-' (subtraction), `/' (division), `*'
(multiplication), `%' (modulo).
`gtroff' only provides integer arithmetic. The internal type used
for computing results is `int', which is usually a 32bit signed
integer.
* Comparison: `<' (less than), `>' (greater than), `<=' (less than
or equal), `>=' (greater than or equal), `=' (equal), `==' (the
same as `=').
* Logical: `&' (logical and), `:' (logical or).
* Unary operators: `-' (negating, i.e. changing the sign), `+' (just
for completeness; does nothing in expressions), `!' (logical not;
this works only within `if' and `while' requests). See below for
the use of unary operators in motion requests.
* Extrema: `>?' (maximum), `<?' (minimum).
Example:
.nr x 5
.nr y 3
.nr z (\n[x] >? \n[y])
The register `z' now contains 5.
* Scaling: `(C;E)'. Evaluate E using C as the default scaling
indicator. If C is missing, ignore scaling indicators in the
evaluation of E.
Parentheses may be used as in any other language. However, in
`gtroff' they are necessary to ensure order of evaluation. `gtroff'
has no operator precedence; expressions are evaluated left to right.
This means that `gtroff' evaluates `3+5*4' as if it were parenthesized
like `(3+5)*4', not as `3+(5*4)', as might be expected.
For many requests which cause a motion on the page, the unary
operators `+' and `-' work differently if leading an expression. They
then indicate a motion relative to the current position (down or up,
respectively).
Similarly, a leading `|' operator indicates an absolute position.
For vertical movements, it specifies the distance from the top of the
page; for horizontal movements, it gives the distance from the beginning
of the _input_ line.
`+' and `-' are also treated differently by the following requests
and escapes: `bp', `in', `ll', `lt', `nm', `nr', `pl', `pn', `po', `ps',
`pvs', `rt', `ti', `\H', `\R', and `\s'. Here, leading plus and minus
signs indicate increments and decrements.
*Note Setting Registers::, for some examples.
-- Escape: \B'anything'
Return 1 if ANYTHING is a valid numeric expression; or 0 if
ANYTHING is empty or not a valid numeric expression.
Due to the way arguments are parsed, spaces are not allowed in
expressions, unless the entire expression is surrounded by parentheses.
*Note Request and Macro Arguments::, and *Note Conditionals and
Loops::.

File: groff, Node: Identifiers, Next: Embedded Commands, Prev: Expressions, Up: gtroff Reference
5.4 Identifiers
===============
Like any other language, `gtroff' has rules for properly formed
"identifiers". In `gtroff', an identifier can be made up of almost any
printable character, with the exception of the following characters:
* Whitespace characters (spaces, tabs, and newlines).
* Backspace (ASCII `0x08' or EBCDIC `0x16') and character code
`0x01'.
* The following input characters are invalid and are ignored if
`groff' runs on a machine based on ASCII, causing a warning
message of type `input' (see *Note Debugging::, for more details):
`0x00', `0x0B', `0x0D'-`0x1F', `0x80'-`0x9F'.
And here are the invalid input characters if `groff' runs on an
EBCDIC host: `0x00', `0x08', `0x09', `0x0B', `0x0D'-`0x14',
`0x17'-`0x1F', `0x30'-`0x3F'.
Currently, some of these reserved codepoints are used internally,
thus making it non-trivial to extend `gtroff' to cover Unicode or
other character sets and encodings which use characters of these
ranges.
Note that invalid characters are removed before parsing; an
identifier `foo', followed by an invalid character, followed by
`bar' is treated as `foobar'.
For example, any of the following is valid.
br
PP
(l
end-list
@_
Note that identifiers longer than two characters with a closing bracket
(`]') in its name can't be accessed with escape sequences which expect
an identifier as a parameter. For example, `\[foo]]' accesses the
glyph `foo', followed by `]', whereas `\C'foo]'' really asks for glyph
`foo]'.
To avoid problems with the `refer' preprocessor, macro names should
not start with `[' or `]'. Due to backwards compatibility, everything
after `.[' and `.]' is handled as a special argument to `refer'. For
example, `.[foo' makes `refer' to start a reference, using `foo' as a
parameter.
-- Escape: \A'ident'
Test whether an identifier IDENT is valid in `gtroff'. It expands
to the character 1 or 0 according to whether its argument (usually
delimited by quotes) is or is not acceptable as the name of a
string, macro, diversion, number register, environment, or font.
It returns 0 if no argument is given. This is useful for looking
up user input in some sort of associative table.
\A'end-list'
=> 1
*Note Escapes::, for details on parameter delimiting characters.
Identifiers in `gtroff' can be any length, but, in some contexts,
`gtroff' needs to be told where identifiers end and text begins (and in
different ways depending on their length):
* Single character.
* Two characters. Must be prefixed with `(' in some situations.
* Arbitrary length (`gtroff' only). Must be bracketed with `['
and `]' in some situations. Any length identifier can be put in
brackets.
Unlike many other programming languages, undefined identifiers are
silently ignored or expanded to nothing. When `gtroff' finds an
undefined identifier, it emits a warning, doing the following:
* If the identifier is a string, macro, or diversion, `gtroff'
defines it as empty.
* If the identifier is a number register, `gtroff' defines it with a
value of 0.
*Note Warnings::., *Note Interpolating Registers::, and *Note
Strings::.
Note that macros, strings, and diversions share the same name space.
.de xxx
. nop foo
..
.
.di xxx
bar
.br
.di
.
.xxx
=> bar
As can be seen in the previous example, `gtroff' reuses the identifier
`xxx', changing it from a macro to a diversion. No warning is emitted!
The contents of the first macro definition is lost.
*Note Interpolating Registers::, and *Note Strings::.

File: groff, Node: Embedded Commands, Next: Registers, Prev: Identifiers, Up: gtroff Reference
5.5 Embedded Commands
=====================
Most documents need more functionality beyond filling, adjusting and
implicit line breaking. In order to gain further functionality,
`gtroff' allows commands to be embedded into the text, in two ways.
The first is a "request" which takes up an entire line, and does
some large-scale operation (e.g. break lines, start new pages).
The other is an "escape" which can be usually embedded anywhere in
the text; most requests can accept it even as an argument. Escapes
generally do more minor operations like sub- and superscripts, print a
symbol, etc.
* Menu:
* Requests::
* Macros::
* Escapes::

File: groff, Node: Requests, Next: Macros, Prev: Embedded Commands, Up: Embedded Commands
5.5.1 Requests
--------------
A request line begins with a control character, which is either a single
quote (`'', the "no-break control character") or a period (`.', the
normal "control character"). These can be changed; see *Note Character
Translations::, for details. After this there may be optional tabs or
spaces followed by an identifier which is the name of the request.
This may be followed by any number of space-separated arguments (_no_
tabs here).
Since a control character followed by whitespace only is ignored, it
is common practice to use this feature for structuring the source code
of documents or macro packages.
.de foo
. tm This is foo.
..
.
.
.de bar
. tm This is bar.
..
Another possibility is to use the blank line macro request `blm' by
assigning an empty macro to it.
.de do-nothing
..
.blm do-nothing \" activate blank line macro
.de foo
. tm This is foo.
..
.de bar
. tm This is bar.
..
.blm \" deactivate blank line macro
*Note Blank Line Traps::.
To begin a line with a control character without it being
interpreted, precede it with `\&'. This represents a zero width space,
which means it does not affect the output.
In most cases the period is used as a control character. Several
requests cause a break implicitly; using the single quote control
character prevents this.
* Menu:
* Request and Macro Arguments::

File: groff, Node: Request and Macro Arguments, Prev: Requests, Up: Requests
5.5.1.1 Request and Macro Arguments
...................................
Arguments to requests and macros are processed much like the shell: The
line is split into arguments according to spaces.(1) (*note Request and
Macro Arguments-Footnote-1::)
An argument to a macro which is intended to contain spaces can
either be enclosed in double quotes, or have the spaces "escaped" with
backslashes. This is _not_ true for requests.
Here are a few examples for a hypothetical macro `uh':
.uh The Mouse Problem
.uh "The Mouse Problem"
.uh The\ Mouse\ Problem
The first line is the `uh' macro being called with 3 arguments, `The',
`Mouse', and `Problem'. The latter two have the same effect of calling
the `uh' macro with one argument, `The Mouse Problem'.(2) (*note
Request and Macro Arguments-Footnote-2::)
A double quote which isn't preceded by a space doesn't start a macro
argument. If not closing a string, it is printed literally.
For example,
.xxx a" "b c" "de"fg"
has the arguments `a"', `b c', `de', and `fg"'. Don't rely on this
obscure behaviour!
There are two possibilities to get a double quote reliably.
* Enclose the whole argument with double quotes and use two
consecutive double quotes to represent a single one. This
traditional solution has the disadvantage that double quotes don't
survive argument expansion again if called in compatibility mode
(using the `-C' option of `groff'):
.de xx
. tm xx: `\\$1' `\\$2' `\\$3'
.
. yy "\\$1" "\\$2" "\\$3"
..
.de yy
. tm yy: `\\$1' `\\$2' `\\$3'
..
.xx A "test with ""quotes""" .
=> xx: `A' `test with "quotes"' `.'
=> yy: `A' `test with ' `quotes""'
If not in compatibility mode, you get the expected result
xx: `A' `test with "quotes"' `.'
yy: `A' `test with "quotes"' `.'
since `gtroff' preserves the input level.
* Use the double quote glyph `\(dq'. This works with and without
compatibility mode enabled since `gtroff' doesn't convert `\(dq'
back to a double quote input character.
Not that this method won't work with UNIX `troff' in general since
the glyph `dq' isn't defined normally.
Double quotes in the `ds' request are handled differently. *Note
Strings::, for more details.

File: groff, Node: Request and Macro Arguments-Footnotes, Up: Request and Macro Arguments
(1) Plan 9's `troff' implementation also allows tabs for argument
separation - `gtroff' intentionally doesn't support this.
(2) The last solution, i.e., using escaped spaces, is "classical" in
the sense that it can be found in most `troff' documents.
Nevertheless, it is not optimal in all situations, since `\ ' inserts a
fixed-width, non-breaking space character which can't stretch.
`gtroff' provides a different command `\~' to insert a stretchable,
non-breaking space.

File: groff, Node: Macros, Next: Escapes, Prev: Requests, Up: Embedded Commands
5.5.2 Macros
------------
`gtroff' has a "macro" facility for defining a series of lines which
can be invoked by name. They are called in the same manner as requests
- arguments also may be passed basically in the same manner.
*Note Writing Macros::, and *Note Request and Macro Arguments::.

File: groff, Node: Escapes, Prev: Macros, Up: Embedded Commands
5.5.3 Escapes
-------------
Escapes may occur anywhere in the input to `gtroff'. They usually
begin with a backslash and are followed by a single character which
indicates the function to be performed. The escape character can be
changed; see *Note Character Translations::.
Escape sequences which require an identifier as a parameter accept
three possible syntax forms.
* The next single character is the identifier.
* If this single character is an opening parenthesis, take the
following two characters as the identifier. Note that there is no
closing parenthesis after the identifier.
* If this single character is an opening bracket, take all characters
until a closing bracket as the identifier.
Examples:
\fB
\n(XX
\*[TeX]
Other escapes may require several arguments and/or some special
format. In such cases the argument is traditionally enclosed in single
quotes (and quotes are always used in this manual for the definitions
of escape sequences). The enclosed text is then processed according to
what that escape expects. Example:
\l'1.5i\(bu'
Note that the quote character can be replaced with any other
character which does not occur in the argument (even a newline or a
space character) in the following escapes: `\o', `\b', and `\X'. This
makes e.g.
A caf
\o
e\'
in Paris
=> A caf<61> in Paris
possible, but it is better not to use this feature to avoid confusion.
The following escapes sequences (which are handled similarly to
characters since they don't take a parameter) are also allowed as
delimiters: `\%', `\ ', `\|', `\^', `\{', `\}', `\'', `\`', `\-', `\_',
`\!', `\?', `\@', `\)', `\/', `\,', `\&', `\:', `\~', `\0', `\a', `\c',
`\d', `\e', `\E', `\p', `\r', `\t', and `\u'. Again, don't use these
if possible.
No newline characters as delimiters are allowed in the following
escapes: `\A', `\B', `\Z', `\C', and `\w'.
Finally, the escapes `\D', `\h', `\H', `\l', `\L', `\N', `\R', `\s',
`\S', `\v', and `\x' can't use the following characters as delimiters:
* The digits `0'-`9'.
* The (single-character) operators `+-/*%<>=&:().'.
* The space, tab, and newline characters.
* All escape sequences except `\%', `\:', `\{', `\}', `\'', `\`',
`\-', `\_', `\!', `\@', `\/', `\c', `\e', and `\p'.
To have a backslash (actually, the current escape character) appear
in the output several escapes are defined: `\\', `\e' or `\E'. These
are very similar, and only differ with respect to being used in macros
or diversions. *Note Character Translations::, for an exact
description of those escapes.
*Note Implementation Differences::, *Note Copy-in Mode::, and *Note
Diversions::, *Note Identifiers::, for more information.
* Menu:
* Comments::

File: groff, Node: Comments, Prev: Escapes, Up: Escapes
5.5.3.1 Comments
................
Probably one of the most(1) (*note Comments-Footnote-1::) common forms
of escapes is the comment.
-- Escape: \"
Start a comment. Everything to the end of the input line is
ignored.
This may sound simple, but it can be tricky to keep the comments
from interfering with the appearance of the final output.
If the escape is to the right of some text or a request, that
portion of the line is ignored, but the space leading up to it is
noticed by `gtroff'. This only affects the `ds' and `as' request
and its variants.
One possibly irritating idiosyncracy is that tabs must not be used
to line up comments. Tabs are not treated as whitespace between
the request and macro arguments.
A comment on a line by itself is treated as a blank line, because
after eliminating the comment, that is all that remains:
Test
\" comment
Test
produces
Test
Test
To avoid this, it is common to start the line with `.\"' which
causes the line to be treated as an undefined request and thus
ignored completely.
Another commenting scheme seen sometimes is three consecutive
single quotes (`'''') at the beginning of a line. This works, but
`gtroff' gives a warning about an undefined macro (namely `'''),
which is harmless, but irritating.
-- Escape: \#
To avoid all this, `gtroff' has a new comment mechanism using the
`\#' escape. This escape works the same as `\"' except that the
newline is also ignored:
Test
\# comment
Test
produces
Test Test
as expected.
-- Request: .ig [end]
Ignore all input until `gtroff' encounters the macro named `.'END
on a line by itself (or `..' if END is not specified). This is
useful for commenting out large blocks of text:
text text text...
.ig
This is part of a large block
of text that has been
temporarily(?) commented out.
We can restore it simply by removing
the .ig request and the ".." at the
end of the block.
..
More text text text...
produces
text text text... More text text text...
Note that the commented-out block of text does not cause a break.
The input is read in copy-mode; auto-incremented registers _are_
affected (*note Auto-increment::).

File: groff, Node: Comments-Footnotes, Up: Comments
(1) Unfortunately, this is a lie. But hopefully future `gtroff'
hackers will believe it `:-)'

File: groff, Node: Registers, Next: Manipulating Filling and Adjusting, Prev: Embedded Commands, Up: gtroff Reference
5.6 Registers
=============
Numeric variables in `gtroff' are called "registers". There are a
number of built-in registers, supplying anything from the date to
details of formatting parameters.
*Note Identifiers::, for details on register identifiers.
* Menu:
* Setting Registers::
* Interpolating Registers::
* Auto-increment::
* Assigning Formats::
* Built-in Registers::

File: groff, Node: Setting Registers, Next: Interpolating Registers, Prev: Registers, Up: Registers
5.6.1 Setting Registers
-----------------------
Define or set registers using the `nr' request or the `\R' escape.
-- Request: .nr ident value
-- Escape: \R'ident value'
Set number register IDENT to VALUE. If IDENT doesn't exist,
`gtroff' creates it.
The argument to `\R' usually has to be enclosed in quotes. *Note
Escapes::, for details on parameter delimiting characters.
The `\R' escape doesn't produce an input token in `gtroff'; with
other words, it vanishes completely after `gtroff' has processed
it.
For example, the following two lines are equivalent:
.nr a (((17 + (3 * 4))) % 4)
\R'a (((17 + (3 * 4))) % 4)'
=> 1
Both `nr' and `\R' have two additional special forms to increment or
decrement a register.
-- Request: .nr ident +value
-- Request: .nr ident -value
-- Escape: \R'ident +value'
-- Escape: \R'ident -value'
Increment (decrement) register IDENT by VALUE.
.nr a 1
.nr a +1
\na
=> 2
To assign the negated value of a register to another register,
some care must be taken to get the desired result:
.nr a 7
.nr b 3
.nr a -\nb
\na
=> 4
.nr a (-\nb)
\na
=> -3
The surrounding parentheses prevent the interpretation of the
minus sign as a decrementing operator. An alternative is to start
the assignment with a `0':
.nr a 7
.nr b -3
.nr a \nb
\na
=> 4
.nr a 0\nb
\na
=> -3
-- Request: .rr ident
Remove number register IDENT. If IDENT doesn't exist, the request
is ignored.
-- Request: .rnn ident1 ident2
Rename number register IDENT1 to IDENT2. If either IDENT1 or
IDENT2 doesn't exist, the request is ignored.
-- Request: .aln ident1 ident2
Create an alias IDENT1 for a number register IDENT2. The new name
and the old name are exactly equivalent. If IDENT1 is undefined,
a warning of type `reg' is generated, and the request is ignored.
*Note Debugging::, for information about warnings.

File: groff, Node: Interpolating Registers, Next: Auto-increment, Prev: Setting Registers, Up: Registers
5.6.2 Interpolating Registers
-----------------------------
Numeric registers can be accessed via the `\n' escape.
-- Escape: \ni
-- Escape: \n(id
-- Escape: \n[ident]
Interpolate number register with name IDENT (one-character name I,
two-character name ID). This means that the value of the register
is expanded in-place while `gtroff' is parsing the input line.
Nested assignments (also called indirect assignments) are possible.
.nr a 5
.nr as \na+\na
\n(as
=> 10
.nr a1 5
.nr ab 6
.ds str b
.ds num 1
\n[a\n[num]]
=> 5
\n[a\*[str]]
=> 6

File: groff, Node: Auto-increment, Next: Assigning Formats, Prev: Interpolating Registers, Up: Registers
5.6.3 Auto-increment
--------------------
Number registers can also be auto-incremented and auto-decremented.
The increment or decrement value can be specified with a third argument
to the `nr' request or `\R' escape.
-- Request: .nr ident value incr
Set number register IDENT to VALUE; the increment for
auto-incrementing is set to INCR. Note that the `\R' escape
doesn't support this notation.
To activate auto-incrementing, the escape `\n' has a special syntax
form.
-- Escape: \n+i
-- Escape: \n-i
-- Escape: \n(+id
-- Escape: \n(-id
-- Escape: \n+(id
-- Escape: \n-(id
-- Escape: \n[+ident]
-- Escape: \n[-ident]
-- Escape: \n+[ident]
-- Escape: \n-[ident]
Before interpolating, increment or decrement IDENT (one-character
name I, two-character name ID) by the auto-increment value as
specified with the `nr' request (or the `\R' escape). If no
auto-increment value has been specified, these syntax forms are
identical to `\n'.
For example,
.nr a 0 1
.nr xx 0 5
.nr foo 0 -2
\n+a, \n+a, \n+a, \n+a, \n+a
.br
\n-(xx, \n-(xx, \n-(xx, \n-(xx, \n-(xx
.br
\n+[foo], \n+[foo], \n+[foo], \n+[foo], \n+[foo]
produces
1, 2, 3, 4, 5
-5, -10, -15, -20, -25
-2, -4, -6, -8, -10
To change the increment value without changing the value of a
register (A in the example), the following can be used:
.nr a \na 10

File: groff, Node: Assigning Formats, Next: Built-in Registers, Prev: Auto-increment, Up: Registers
5.6.4 Assigning Formats
-----------------------
When a register is used in the text of an input file (as opposed to
part of an expression), it is textually replaced (or interpolated) with
a representation of that number. This output format can be changed to
a variety of formats (numbers, Roman numerals, etc.). This is done
using the `af' request.
-- Request: .af ident format
Change the output format of a number register. The first argument
IDENT is the name of the number register to be changed, and the
second argument FORMAT is the output format. The following output
formats are available:
`1'
Decimal arabic numbers. This is the default format: 0, 1, 2,
3, ....
`0...0'
Decimal numbers with as many digits as specified. So, `00'
would result in printing numbers as 01, 02, 03, ....
In fact, any digit instead of zero will do; `gtroff' only
counts how many digits are specified. As a consequence,
`af''s default format `1' could be specified as `0' also (and
exactly this is returned by the `\g' escape, see below).
`I'
Upper-case Roman numerals: 0, I, II, III, IV, ....
`i'
Lower-case Roman numerals: 0, i, ii, iii, iv, ....
`A'
Upper-case letters: 0, A, B, C, ..., Z, AA, AB, ....
`a'
Lower-case letters: 0, a, b, c, ..., z, aa, ab, ....
Omitting the number register format causes a warning of type
`missing'. *Note Debugging::, for more details. Specifying a
nonexistent format causes an error.
The following example produces `10, X, j, 010':
.nr a 10
.af a 1 \" the default format
\na,
.af a I
\na,
.af a a
\na,
.af a 001
\na
The largest number representable for the `i' and `I' formats is
39999 (or -39999); UNIX `troff' uses `z' and `w' to represent
10000 and 5000 in Roman numerals, and so does `gtroff'.
Currently, the correct glyphs of Roman numeral five thousand and
Roman numeral ten thousand (Unicode code points `U+2182' and
`U+2181', respectively) are not available.
If IDENT doesn't exist, it is created.
Changing the output format of a read-only register causes an
error. It is necessary to first copy the register's value to a
writeable register, then apply the `af' request to this other
register.
-- Escape: \gi
-- Escape: \g(id
-- Escape: \g[ident]
Return the current format of the specified register IDENT
(one-character name I, two-character name ID). For example, `\ga'
after the previous example would produce the string `000'. If the
register hasn't been defined yet, nothing is returned.

File: groff, Node: Built-in Registers, Prev: Assigning Formats, Up: Registers
5.6.5 Built-in Registers
------------------------
The following lists some built-in registers which are not described
elsewhere in this manual. Any register which begins with a `.' is
read-only. A complete listing of all built-in registers can be found in
*Note Register Index::.
`\n[.F]'
This string-valued register returns the current input file name.
`\n[.H]'
Horizontal resolution in basic units.
`\n[.U]'
If `gtroff' is called with the `-U' command line option, the
number register `.U' is set to 1, and zero otherwise. *Note Groff
Options::.
`\n[.V]'
Vertical resolution in basic units.
`\n[seconds]'
The number of seconds after the minute, normally in the range 0
to 59, but can be up to 61 to allow for leap seconds. Initialized
at start-up of `gtroff'.
`\n[minutes]'
The number of minutes after the hour, in the range 0 to 59.
Initialized at start-up of `gtroff'.
`\n[hours]'
The number of hours past midnight, in the range 0 to 23.
Initialized at start-up of `gtroff'.
`\n[dw]'
Day of the week (1-7).
`\n[dy]'
Day of the month (1-31).
`\n[mo]'
Current month (1-12).
`\n[year]'
The current year.
`\n[yr]'
The current year minus 1900. Unfortunately, the documentation of
UNIX Version 7's `troff' had a year 2000 bug: It incorrectly
claimed that `yr' contains the last two digits of the year. That
claim has never been true of either AT&T `troff' or GNU `troff'.
Old `troff' input that looks like this:
'\" The following line stopped working after 1999
This document was formatted in 19\n(yr.
can be corrected as follows:
This document was formatted in \n[year].
or, to be portable to older `troff' versions, as follows:
.nr y4 1900+\n(yr
This document was formatted in \n(y4.
`\n[.c]'
`\n[c.]'
The current _input_ line number. Register `.c' is read-only,
whereas `c.' (a `gtroff' extension) is writable also, affecting
both `.c' and `c.'.
`\n[ln]'
The current _output_ line number after a call to the `nm' request
to activate line numbering.
*Note Miscellaneous::, for more information about line numbering.
`\n[.x]'
The major version number. For example, if the version number is
1.03 then `.x' contains `1'.
`\n[.y]'
The minor version number. For example, if the version number is
1.03 then `.y' contains `03'.
`\n[.Y]'
The revision number of `groff'.
`\n[$$]'
The process ID of `gtroff'.
`\n[.g]'
Always 1. Macros should use this to determine whether they are
running under GNU `troff'.
`\n[.A]'
If the command line option `-a' is used to produce an ASCII
approximation of the output, this is set to 1, zero otherwise.
*Note Groff Options::.
`\n[.P]'
This register is set to 1 (and to 0 otherwise) if the current page
is actually being printed, i.e., if the `-o' option is being used
to only print selected pages. *Note Groff Options::, for more
information.
`\n[.T]'
If `gtroff' is called with the `-T' command line option, the
number register `.T' is set to 1, and zero otherwise. *Note Groff
Options::.
`\*[.T]'
A single read-write string register which contains the current
output device (for example, `latin1' or `ps'). This is the only
string register defined by `gtroff'.

File: groff, Node: Manipulating Filling and Adjusting, Next: Manipulating Hyphenation, Prev: Registers, Up: gtroff Reference
5.7 Manipulating Filling and Adjusting
======================================
Various ways of causing "breaks" were given in *Note Implicit Line
Breaks::. The `br' request likewise causes a break. Several other
requests also cause breaks, but implicitly. These are `bp', `ce',
`cf', `fi', `fl', `in', `nf', `rj', `sp', `ti', and `trf'.
-- Request: .br
Break the current line, i.e., the input collected so far is emitted
without adjustment.
If the no-break control character is used, `gtroff' suppresses the
break:
a
'br
b
=> a b
Initially, `gtroff' fills and adjusts text to both margins. Filling
can be disabled via the `nf' request and re-enabled with the `fi'
request.
-- Request: .fi
-- Register: \n[.u]
Activate fill mode (which is the default). This request implicitly
enables adjusting; it also inserts a break in the text currently
being filled. The read-only number register `.u' is set to 1.
The fill mode status is associated with the current environment
(*note Environments::).
See *Note Line Control::, for interaction with the `\c' escape.
-- Request: .nf
Activate no-fill mode. Input lines are output as-is, retaining
line breaks and ignoring the current line length. This command
implicitly disables adjusting; it also causes a break. The number
register `.u' is set to 0.
The fill mode status is associated with the current environment
(*note Environments::).
See *Note Line Control::, for interaction with the `\c' escape.
-- Request: .ad [mode]
-- Register: \n[.j]
Set adjusting mode.
Activation and deactivation of adjusting is done implicitly with
calls to the `fi' or `nf' requests.
MODE can have one of the following values:
`l'
Adjust text to the left margin. This produces what is
traditionally called ragged-right text.
`r'
Adjust text to the right margin, producing ragged-left text.
`c'
Center filled text. This is different to the `ce' request
which only centers text without filling.
`b'
`n'
Justify to both margins. This is the default used by
`gtroff'.
Finally, MODE can be the numeric argument returned by the `.j'
register.
With no argument, `gtroff' adjusts lines in the same way it did
before adjusting was deactivated (with a call to `na', for
example).
text
.ad r
.nr ad \n[.j]
text
.ad c
text
.na
text
.ad \" back to centering
text
.ad \n[ad] \" back to right justifying
The current adjustment mode is available in the read-only number
register `.j'; it can be stored and subsequently used to set
adjustment.
The adjustment mode status is associated with the current
environment (*note Environments::).
-- Request: .na
Disable adjusting. This request won't change the current
adjustment mode: A subsequent call to `ad' uses the previous
adjustment setting.
The adjustment mode status is associated with the current
environment (*note Environments::).
-- Request: .brp
-- Escape: \p
Adjust the current line and cause a break.
In most cases this produces very ugly results since `gtroff'
doesn't have a sophisticated paragraph building algorithm (as TeX
have, for example); instead, `gtroff' fills and adjusts a paragraph
line by line:
This is an uninteresting sentence.
This is an uninteresting sentence.\p
This is an uninteresting sentence.
is formatted as
This is an uninteresting sentence. This is an
uninteresting sentence.
This is an uninteresting sentence.
-- Request: .ss word_space_size [sentence_space_size]
-- Register: \n[.ss]
-- Register: \n[.sss]
Change the size of a space between words. It takes its units as
one twelfth of the space width parameter for the current font.
Initially both the WORD_SPACE_SIZE and SENTENCE_SPACE_SIZE are 12.
In fill mode, the values specify the minimum distance.
If two arguments are given to the `ss' request, the second
argument sets the sentence space size. If the second argument is
not given, sentence space size is set to WORD_SPACE_SIZE. The
sentence space size is used in two circumstances: If the end of a
sentence occurs at the end of a line in fill mode, then both an
inter-word space and a sentence space are added; if two spaces
follow the end of a sentence in the middle of a line, then the
second space is a sentence space. If a second argument is never
given to the `ss' request, the behaviour of UNIX `troff' is the
same as that exhibited by GNU `troff'. In GNU `troff', as in UNIX
`troff', a sentence should always be followed by either a newline
or two spaces.
The read-only number registers `.ss' and `.sss' hold the values of
the parameters set by the first and second arguments of the `ss'
request.
The word space and sentence space values are associated with the
current environment (*note Environments::).
Contrary to AT&T `troff', this request is _not_ ignored if a TTY
output device is used; the given values are then rounded down to a
multiple of 12 (*note Implementation Differences::).
The request is ignored if there is no parameter.
Another useful application of the `ss' request is to insert
discardable horizontal space, i.e., space which is discarded at a
line break. For example, paragraph-style footnotes could be
separated this way:
.ll 4.5i
1.\ This is the first footnote.\c
.ss 48
.nop
.ss 12
2.\ This is the second footnote.
The result:
1. This is the first footnote. 2. This
is the second footnote.
Note that the `\h' escape produces unbreakable space.
-- Request: .ce [nnn]
-- Register: \n[.ce]
Center text. While the `.ad c' request also centers text, it
fills the text as well. `ce' does not fill the text it affects.
This request causes a break. The number of lines still to be
centered is associated with the current environment (*note
Environments::).
The following example demonstrates the differences. Here the
input:
.ll 4i
.ce 1000
This is a small text fragment which shows the differences
between the `.ce' and the `.ad c' request.
.ce 0
.ad c
This is a small text fragment which shows the differences
between the `.ce' and the `.ad c' request.
And here the result:
This is a small text fragment which
shows the differences
between the `.ce' and the `.ad c' request.
This is a small text fragment which
shows the differences between the `.ce'
and the `.ad c' request.
With no arguments, `ce' centers the next line of text. NNN
specifies the number of lines to be centered. If the argument is
zero or negative, centering is disabled.
The basic length for centering text is the line length (as set
with the `ll' request) minus the indentation (as set with the `in'
request). Temporary indentation is ignored.
As can be seen in the previous example, it is a common idiom to
turn on centering for a large number of lines, and to turn off
centering after text to be centered. This is useful for any
request which takes a number of lines as an argument.
The `.ce' read-only number register contains the number of lines
remaining to be centered, as set by the `ce' request.
-- Request: .rj [nnn]
-- Register: \n[.rj]
Justify unfilled text to the right margin. Arguments are
identical to the `ce' request. The `.rj' read-only number
register is the number of lines to be right-justified as set by
the `rj' request. This request causes a break. The number of
lines still to be right-justified is associated with the current
environment (*note Environments::).

File: groff, Node: Manipulating Hyphenation, Next: Manipulating Spacing, Prev: Manipulating Filling and Adjusting, Up: gtroff Reference
5.8 Manipulating Hyphenation
============================
Here a description of requests which influence hyphenation.
-- Request: .hy [mode]
-- Register: \n[.hy]
Enable hyphenation. The request has an optional numeric argument,
MODE, to restrict hyphenation if necessary:
`1'
The default argument if MODE is omitted. Hyphenate without
restrictions. This is also the start-up value of `gtroff'.
`2'
Do not hyphenate the last word on a page or column.
`4'
Do not hyphenate the last two characters of a word.
`8'
Do not hyphenate the first two characters of a word.
Values in the previous table are additive. For example, the
value 12 causes `gtroff' to neither hyphenate the last two nor the
first two characters of a word.
The current hyphenation restrictions can be found in the read-only
number register `.hy'.
The hyphenation mode is associated with the current environment
(*note Environments::).
-- Request: .nh
Disable hyphenation (i.e., set the hyphenation mode to zero). Note
that the hyphenation mode of the last call to `hy' is not
remembered.
The hyphenation mode is associated with the current environment
(*note Environments::).
-- Request: .hlm [nnn]
-- Register: \n[.hlm]
-- Register: \n[.hlc]
Set the maximum number of consecutive hyphenated lines to NNN. If
this number is negative, there is no maximum. The default value
is -1 if NNN is omitted. This value is associated with the
current environment (*note Environments::). Only lines output
from a given environment count towards the maximum associated with
that environment. Hyphens resulting from `\%' are counted;
explicit hyphens are not.
The current setting of `hlm' is available in the `.hlm' read-only
number register. Also the number of immediately preceding
consecutive hyphenated lines are available in the read-only number
register `.hlc'.
-- Request: .hw word1 word2 ...
Define how WORD1, WORD2, etc. are to be hyphenated. The words
must be given with hyphens at the hyphenation points. For example:
.hw in-sa-lub-rious
Besides the space character, any character whose hyphenation code
value is zero can be used to separate the arguments of `hw' (see
the documentation for the `hcode' request below for more
information). In addition, this request can be used more than
once.
Hyphenation exceptions specified with the `hw' request are
associated with the current hyphenation language; it causes an
error if there is no current hyphenation language.
This request is ignored if there is no parameter.
In old versions of `troff' there was a limited amount of space to
store such information; fortunately, with `gtroff', this is no
longer a restriction.
-- Escape: \%
-- Escape: \:
To tell `gtroff' how to hyphenate words on the fly, use the `\%'
escape, also known as the "hyphenation character". Preceding a
word with this character prevents it from being hyphenated;
putting it inside a word indicates to `gtroff' that the word may
be hyphenated at that point. Note that this mechanism only
affects that one occurrence of the word; to change the hyphenation
of a word for the entire document, use the `hw' request.
The `\:' escape inserts a zero-width break point (that is, the
word breaks but without adding a hyphen).
... check the /var/log/\:httpd/\:access_log file ...
Note that `\X' and `\Y' start a word, that is, the `\%' escape in
(say) `\X'...'\%foobar' and `\Y'...'\%foobar' no longer prevents
hyphenation but inserts a hyphenation point at the beginning of
`foobar'; most likely this isn't what you want to do.
-- Request: .hc [char]
Change the hyphenation character to CHAR. This character then
works the same as the `\%' escape, and thus, no longer appears in
the output. Without an argument, `hc' resets the hyphenation
character to be `\%' (the default) only.
The hyphenation character is associated with the current
environment (*note Environments::).
-- Request: .hpf pattern_file
-- Request: .hpfa pattern_file
-- Request: .hpfcode a b [c d ...]
Read in a file of hyphenation patterns. This file is searched for
in the same way as `NAME.tmac' (or `tmac.NAME') is searched for if
the `-mNAME' option is specified.
It should have the same format as (simple) TeX patterns files.
More specifically, the following scanning rules are implemented.
* A percent sign starts a comment (up to the end of the line)
even if preceded by a backslash.
* No support for `digraphs' like `\$'.
* `^^XX' (X is 0-9 or a-f) and `^^X' (character code of X in
the range 0-127) are recognized; other use of `^' causes an
error.
* No macro expansion.
* `hpf' checks for the expression `\patterns{...}' (possibly
with whitespace before and after the braces). Everything
between the braces is taken as hyphenation patterns.
Consequently, `{' and `}' are not allowed in patterns.
* Similarly, `\hyphenation{...}' gives a list of hyphenation
exceptions.
* `\endinput' is recognized also.
* For backwards compatibility, if `\patterns' is missing, the
whole file is treated as a list of hyphenation patterns (only
recognizing the `%' character as the start of a comment).
If no `hpf' request is specified (either in the document or in a
macro package), `gtroff' won't hyphenate at all.
The `hpfa' request appends a file of patterns to the current list.
The `hpfcode' request defines mapping values for character codes in
hyphenation patterns. `hpf' or `hpfa' then apply the mapping
(after reading the patterns) before replacing or appending them to
the current list of patterns. Its arguments are pairs of
character codes - integers from 0 to 255. The request maps
character code A to code B, code C to code D, and so on. You can
use character codes which would be invalid otherwise.
The set of hyphenation patterns is associated with the current
language set by the `hla' request. The `hpf' request is usually
invoked by the `troffrc' or `troffrc-end' file; by default,
`troffrc' loads hyphenation patterns and exceptions for American
English (in files `hyphen.us' and `hyphenex.us').
A second call to `hpf' (for the same language) will replace the
hyphenation patterns with the new ones.
Invoking `hpf' causes an error if there is no current hyphenation
language.
-- Request: .hcode c1 code1 [c2 code2 ...]
Set the hyphenation code of character C1 to CODE1, that of C2 to
CODE2, etc. A hyphenation code must be a single input character
(not a special character) other than a digit or a space.
To make hyphenation work, hyphenation codes must be set up. At
start-up, groff only assigns hyphenation codes to the letters
`a'-`z' (mapped to themselves) and to the letters `A'-`Z' (mapped
to `a'-`z'); all other hyphenation codes are set to zero.
Normally, hyphenation patterns contain only lowercase letters
which should be applied regardless of case. With other words, the
words `FOO' and `Foo' should be hyphenated exactly the same way as
the word `foo' is hyphenated, and this is what `hcode' is good
for. Words which contain other letters won't be hyphenated
properly if the corresponding hyphenation patterns actually do
contain them. For example, the following `hcode' requests are
necessary to assign hyphenation codes to the letters `<60><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>'
(this is needed for German):
.hcode <20> <20> <20> <20>
.hcode <20> <20> <20> <20>
.hcode <20> <20> <20> <20>
.hcode <20> <20>
Without those assignments, groff treats German words like
`Kinderg<72>rten' (the plural form of `kindergarten') as two
substrings `kinderg' and `rten' because the hyphenation code of
the umlaut a is zero by default. There is a German hyphenation
pattern which covers `kinder', so groff finds the hyphenation
`kin-der'. The other two hyphenation points (`kin-der-g<>r-ten')
are missed.
This request is ignored if it has no parameter.
-- Request: .hym [length]
-- Register: \n[.hym]
Set the (right) hyphenation margin to LENGTH. If the current
adjustment mode is not `b' or `n', the line is not hyphenated if
it is shorter than LENGTH. Without an argument, the hyphenation
margin is reset to its default value, which is 0. The default
scaling indicator for this request is `m'. The hyphenation margin
is associated with the current environment (*note Environments::).
A negative argument resets the hyphenation margin to zero, emitting
a warning of type `range'.
The current hyphenation margin is available in the `.hym' read-only
number register.
-- Request: .hys [hyphenation_space]
-- Register: \n[.hys]
Set the hyphenation space to HYPHENATION_SPACE. If the current
adjustment mode is `b' or `n', don't hyphenate the line if it can
be justified by adding no more than HYPHENATION_SPACE extra space
to each word space. Without argument, the hyphenation space is
set to its default value, which is 0. The default scaling
indicator for this request is `m'. The hyphenation space is
associated with the current environment (*note Environments::).
A negative argument resets the hyphenation space to zero, emitting
a warning of type `range'.
The current hyphenation space is available in the `.hys' read-only
number register.
-- Request: .shc [glyph]
Set the "soft hyphen character" to GLYPH.(1) (*note Manipulating
Hyphenation-Footnote-1::) If the argument is omitted, the soft
hyphen character is set to the default glyph `\(hy' (this is the
start-up value of `gtroff' also). The soft hyphen character is
the glyph that is inserted when a word is hyphenated at a line
break. If the soft hyphen character does not exist in the font of
the character immediately preceding a potential break point, then
the line is not broken at that point. Neither definitions
(specified with the `char' request) nor translations (specified
with the `tr' request) are considered when finding the soft hyphen
character.
-- Request: .hla language
-- Register: \n[.hla]
Set the current hyphenation language to the string LANGUAGE.
Hyphenation exceptions specified with the `hw' request and
hyphenation patterns specified with the `hpf' and `hpfa' requests
are both associated with the current hyphenation language. The
`hla' request is usually invoked by the `troffrc' or the
`troffrc-end' files; `troffrc' sets the default language to `us'.
The current hyphenation language is available as a string in the
read-only number register `.hla'.
.ds curr_language \n[.hla]
\*[curr_language]
=> us

File: groff, Node: Manipulating Hyphenation-Footnotes, Up: Manipulating Hyphenation
(1) "Soft hyphen character" is a misnomer since it is an output
glyph.

File: groff, Node: Manipulating Spacing, Next: Tabs and Fields, Prev: Manipulating Hyphenation, Up: gtroff Reference
5.9 Manipulating Spacing
========================
-- Request: .sp [distance]
Space downwards DISTANCE. With no argument it advances 1 line. A
negative argument causes `gtroff' to move up the page the
specified distance. If the argument is preceded by a `|' then
`gtroff' moves that distance from the top of the page. This
request causes a line break. The default scaling indicator is `v'.
If a vertical trap is sprung during execution of `sp', the amount
of vertical space after the trap is discarded. For example, this
.de xxx
..
.
.wh 0 xxx
.
.pl 5v
foo
.sp 2
bar
.sp 50
baz
results in
foo
bar
baz
The amount of discarded space is available in the number register
`.trunc'.
To protect `sp' against vertical traps, use the `vpt' request:
.vpt 0
.sp -3
.vpt 1
-- Request: .ls [nnn]
-- Register: \n[.L]
Output NNN-1 blank lines after each line of text. With no
argument, `gtroff' uses the previous value before the last `ls'
call.
.ls 2 \" This causes double-spaced output
.ls 3 \" This causes triple-spaced output
.ls \" Again double-spaced
The line spacing is associated with the current environment (*note
Environments::).
The read-only number register `.L' contains the current line
spacing setting.
*Note Changing Type Sizes::, for the requests `vs' and `pvs' as
alternatives to `ls'.
-- Escape: \x'spacing'
-- Register: \n[.a]
Sometimes, extra vertical spacing is only needed occasionally, e.g.
to allow space for a tall construct (like an equation). The `\x'
escape does this. The escape is given a numerical argument,
usually enclosed in quotes (like `\x'3p''); the default scaling
indicator is `v'. If this number is positive extra vertical space
is inserted below the current line. A negative number adds space
above. If this escape is used multiple times on the same line,
the maximum of the values is used.
*Note Escapes::, for details on parameter delimiting characters.
The `.a' read-only number register contains the most recent
(nonnegative) extra vertical line space.
Using `\x' can be necessary in combination with the `\b' escape,
as the following example shows.
This is a test with the \[rs]b escape.
.br
This is a test with the \[rs]b escape.
.br
This is a test with \b'xyz'\x'-1m'\x'1m'.
.br
This is a test with the \[rs]b escape.
.br
This is a test with the \[rs]b escape.
produces
This is a test with the \b escape.
This is a test with the \b escape.
x
This is a test with y.
z
This is a test with the \b escape.
This is a test with the \b escape.
-- Request: .ns
-- Request: .rs
-- Register: \n[.ns]
Enable "no-space mode". In this mode, spacing (either via `sp' or
via blank lines) is disabled. The `bp' request to advance to the
next page is also disabled, except if it is accompanied by a page
number (see *Note Page Control::, for more information). This
mode ends when actual text is output or the `rs' request is
encountered which ends no-space mode. The read-only number
register `.ns' is set to 1 as long as no-space mode is active.
This request is useful for macros that conditionally insert
vertical space before the text starts (for example, a paragraph
macro could insert some space except when it is the first
paragraph after a section header).

File: groff, Node: Tabs and Fields, Next: Character Translations, Prev: Manipulating Spacing, Up: gtroff Reference
5.10 Tabs and Fields
====================
A tab character (ASCII char 9, EBCDIC char 5) causes a horizontal
movement to the next tab stop (much like it did on a typewriter).
-- Escape: \t
This escape is a non-interpreted tab character. In copy mode
(*note Copy-in Mode::), `\t' is the same as a real tab character.
-- Request: .ta [n1 n2 ... nn T r1 r2 ... rn]
-- Register: \n[.tabs]
Change tab stop positions. This request takes a series of tab
specifiers as arguments (optionally divided into two groups with
the letter `T') which indicate where each tab stop is to be
(overriding any previous settings).
Tab stops can be specified absolutely, i.e., as the distance from
the left margin. For example, the following sets 6 tab stops every
one inch.
.ta 1i 2i 3i 4i 5i 6i
Tab stops can also be specified using a leading `+' which means
that the specified tab stop is set relative to the previous tab
stop. For example, the following is equivalent to the previous
example.
.ta 1i +1i +1i +1i +1i +1i
`gtroff' supports an extended syntax to specify repeat values after
the `T' mark (these values are always taken as relative) - this is
the usual way to specify tabs set at equal intervals. The
following is, yet again, the same as the previous examples. It
does even more since it defines an infinite number of tab stops
separated by one inch.
.ta T 1i
Now we are ready to interpret the full syntax given at the
beginning: Set tabs at positions N1, N2, ..., NN and then set tabs
at NN+R1, NN+R2, ..., NN+RN and then at NN+RN+R1, NN+RN+R2, ...,
NN+RN+RN, and so on.
Example: `4c +6c T 3c 5c 2c' is equivalent to `4c 10c 13c 18c 20c
23c 28c 30c ...'.
The material in each tab column (i.e., the column between two tab
stops) may be justified to the right or left or centered in the
column. This is specified by appending `R', `L', or `C' to the tab
specifier. The default justification is `L'. Example:
.ta 1i 2iC 3iR
Some notes:
* The default unit of the `ta' request is `m'.
* A tab stop is converted into a non-breakable horizontal
movement which can be neither stretched nor squeezed. For
example,
.ds foo a\tb\tc
.ta T 5i
\*[foo]
creates a single line which is a bit longer than 10 inches (a
string is used to show exactly where the tab characters are).
Now consider the following:
.ds bar a\tb b\tc
.ta T 5i
\*[bar]
`gtroff' first converts the tab stops of the line into
unbreakable horizontal movements, then splits the line after
the second `b' (assuming a sufficiently short line length).
Usually, this isn't what the user wants.
* Superfluous tabs (i.e., tab characters which do not
correspond to a tab stop) are ignored except the first one
which delimits the characters belonging to the last tab stop
for right-justifying or centering. Consider the following
example
.ds Z foo\tbar\tfoo
.ds ZZ foo\tbar\tfoobar
.ds ZZZ foo\tbar\tfoo\tbar
.ta 2i 4iR
\*[Z]
.br
\*[ZZ]
.br
\*[ZZZ]
.br
which produces the following output:
foo bar foo
foo bar foobar
foo bar foobar
The first line right-justifies the second `foo' relative to
the tab stop. The second line right-justifies `foobar'. The
third line finally right-justifies only `foo' because of the
additional tab character which marks the end of the string
belonging to the last defined tab stop.
* Tab stops are associated with the current environment (*note
Environments::).
* Calling `ta' without an argument removes all tab stops.
* The start-up value of `gtroff' is `T 0.8i'.
The read-only number register `.tabs' contains a string
representation of the current tab settings suitable for use as an
argument to the `ta' request.
.ds tab-string \n[.tabs]
\*[tab-string]
=> T120u
The `troff' version of the Plan 9 operating system uses register
`.S' for the same purpose.
-- Request: .tc [fill-glyph]
Normally `gtroff' fills the space to the next tab stop with
whitespace. This can be changed with the `tc' request. With no
argument `gtroff' reverts to using whitespace, which is the
default. The value of this "tab repetition character" is
associated with the current environment (*note Environments::).(1)
(*note Tabs and Fields-Footnote-1::)
-- Request: .linetabs n
-- Register: \n[.linetabs]
If N is missing or not zero, enable "line-tabs" mode, or disable
it otherwise (the default). In line-tabs mode, `gtroff' computes
tab distances relative to the (current) output line instead of the
input line.
For example, the following code:
.ds x a\t\c
.ds y b\t\c
.ds z c
.ta 1i 3i
\*x
\*y
\*z
in normal mode, results in the output
a b c
in line-tabs mode, the same code outputs
a b c
Line-tabs mode is associated with the current environment. The
read-only register `.linetabs' is set to 1 if in line-tabs mode,
and 0 in normal mode.
* Menu:
* Leaders::
* Fields::

File: groff, Node: Tabs and Fields-Footnotes, Up: Tabs and Fields
(1) "Tab repetition character" is a misnomer since it is an output
glyph.

File: groff, Node: Leaders, Next: Fields, Prev: Tabs and Fields, Up: Tabs and Fields
5.10.1 Leaders
--------------
Sometimes it may may be desirable to use the `tc' request to fill a
particular tab stop with a given glyph (for example dots in a table of
contents), but also normal tab stops on the rest of the line. For this
`gtroff' provides an alternate tab mechanism, called "leaders" which
does just that.
A leader character (character code 1) behaves similarly to a tab
character: It moves to the next tab stop. The only difference is that
for this movement, the fill glyph defaults to a period character and
not to space.
-- Escape: \a
This escape is a non-interpreted leader character. In copy mode
(*note Copy-in Mode::), `\a' is the same as a real leader
character.
-- Request: .lc [fill-glyph]
Declare the "leader repetition character".(1) (*note
Leaders-Footnote-1::) Without an argument, leaders act the same as
tabs (i.e., using whitespace for filling). `gtroff''s start-up
value is a dot (`.'). The value of the leader repetition
character is associated with the current environment (*note
Environments::).
For a table of contents, to name an example, tab stops may be
defined so that the section number is one tab stop, the title is the
second with the remaining space being filled with a line of dots, and
then the page number slightly separated from the dots.
.ds entry 1.1\tFoo\a\t12
.lc .
.ta 1i 5i +.25i
\*[entry]
This produces
1.1 Foo.......................................... 12

File: groff, Node: Leaders-Footnotes, Up: Leaders
(1) "Leader repetition character" is a misnomer since it is an
output glyph.

File: groff, Node: Fields, Prev: Leaders, Up: Tabs and Fields
5.10.2 Fields
-------------
"Fields" are a more general way of laying out tabular data. A field is
defined as the data between a pair of "delimiting characters". It
contains substrings which are separated by "padding characters". The
width of a field is the distance on the _input_ line from the position
where the field starts to the next tab stop. A padding character
inserts stretchable space similar to TeX's `\hss' command (thus it can
even be negative) to make the sum of all substring lengths plus the
stretchable space equal to the field width. If more than one padding
character is inserted, the available space is evenly distributed among
them.
-- Request: .fc [delim-char [padding-char]]
Define a delimiting and a padding character for fields. If the
latter is missing, the padding character defaults to a space
character. If there is no argument at all, the field mechanism is
disabled (which is the default). Note that contrary to e.g. the
tab repetition character, delimiting and padding characters are
_not_ associated to the current environment (*note Environments::).
Example:
.fc # ^
.ta T 3i
#foo^bar^smurf#
.br
#foo^^bar^smurf#
and here the result:
foo bar smurf
foo bar smurf

File: groff, Node: Character Translations, Next: Troff and Nroff Mode, Prev: Tabs and Fields, Up: gtroff Reference
5.11 Character Translations
===========================
The control character (`.') and the no-break control character (`'')
can be changed with the `cc' and `c2' requests, respectively.
-- Request: .cc [c]
Set the control character to C. With no argument the default
control character `.' is restored. The value of the control
character is associated with the current environment (*note
Environments::).
-- Request: .c2 [c]
Set the no-break control character to C. With no argument the
default control character `'' is restored. The value of the
no-break control character is associated with the current
environment (*note Environments::).
-- Request: .eo
Disable the escape mechanism completely. After executing this
request, the backslash character `\' no longer starts an escape
sequence.
This request can be very helpful in writing macros since it is not
necessary then to double the escape character. Here an example:
.\" This is a simplified version of the
.\" .BR request from the man macro package
.eo
.de BR
. ds result \&
. while (\n[.$] >= 2) \{\
. as result \fB\$1\fR\$2
. shift 2
. \}
. if \n[.$] .as result \fB\$1
\*[result]
. ft R
..
.ec
-- Request: .ec [c]
Set the escape character to C. With no argument the default
escape character `\' is restored. It can be also used to
re-enable the escape mechanism after an `eo' request.
Note that changing the escape character globally will likely break
macro packages since `gtroff' has no mechanism to `intern' macros,
i.e., to convert a macro definition into an internal form which is
independent of its representation (TeX has this mechanism). If a
macro is called, it is executed literally.
-- Request: .ecs
-- Request: .ecr
The `ecs' request saves the current escape character in an
internal register. Use this request in combination with the `ec'
request to temporarily change the escape character.
The `ecr' request restores the escape character saved with `ecs'.
Without a previous call to `ecs', this request sets the escape
character to `\'.
-- Escape: \\
-- Escape: \e
-- Escape: \E
Print the current escape character (which is the backslash
character `\' by default).
`\\' is a `delayed' backslash; more precisely, it is the default
escape character followed by a backslash, which no longer has
special meaning due to the leading escape character. It is _not_
an escape sequence in the usual sense! In any unknown escape
sequence `\X' the escape character is ignored and X is printed.
But if X is equal to the current escape character, no warning is
emitted.
As a consequence, only at top-level or in a diversion a backslash
glyph is printed; in copy-in mode, it expands to a single
backslash which then combines with the following character to an
escape sequence.
The `\E' escape differs from `\e' by printing an escape character
that is not interpreted in copy mode. Use this to define strings
with escapes that work when used in copy mode (for example, as a
macro argument). The following example defines strings to begin
and end a superscript:
.ds { \v'-.3m'\s'\En[.s]*60/100'
.ds } \s0\v'.3m'
Another example to demonstrate the differences between the various
escape sequences, using a strange escape character, `-'.
.ec -
.de xxx
--A'123'
..
.xxx
=> -A'foo'
The result is surprising for most users, expecting `1' since `foo'
is a valid identifier. What has happened? As mentioned above,
the leading escape character makes the following character
ordinary. Written with the default escape character the sequence
`--' becomes `\-' - this is the minus sign.
If the escape character followed by itself is a valid escape
sequence, only `\E' yields the expected result:
.ec -
.de xxx
-EA'123'
..
.xxx
=> 1
-- Escape: \.
Similar to `\\', the sequence `\.' isn't a real escape sequence.
As before, a warning message is suppressed if the escape character
is followed by a dot, and the dot itself is printed.
.de foo
. nop foo
.
. de bar
. nop bar
\\..
.
..
.foo
.bar
=> foo bar
The first backslash is consumed while the macro is read, and the
second is swallowed while exexuting macro `foo'.
A "translation" is a mapping of an input character to an output
glyph. The mapping occurs at output time, i.e., the input character
gets assigned the metric information of the mapped output character
right before input tokens are converted to nodes (*note Gtroff
Internals::, for more on this process).
-- Request: .tr abcd...
-- Request: .trin abcd...
Translate character A to glyph B, character C to glyph D, etc. If
there is an odd number of arguments, the last one is translated to
an unstretchable space (`\ ').
The `trin' request is identical to `tr', but when you unformat a
diversion with `asciify' it ignores the translation. *Note
Diversions::, for details about the `asciify' request.
Some notes:
* Special characters (`\(XX', `\[XXX]', `\C'XXX'', `\'', `\`',
`\-', `\_'), glyphs defined with the `char' request, and
numbered glyphs (`\N'XXX'') can be translated also.
* The `\e' escape can be translated also.
* Characters can be mapped onto the `\%' and `\~' escapes (but
`\%' and `\~' can't be mapped onto another glyph).
* The following characters can't be translated: space (with one
exception, see below), backspace, newline, leader (and `\a'),
tab (and `\t').
* Translations are not considered for finding the soft hyphen
character set with the `shc' request.
* The pair `C\&' (this is an arbitrary character C followed by
the zero width space character) maps this character to
nothing.
.tr a\&
foo bar
=> foo br
It is even possible to map the space character to nothing:
.tr aa \&
foo bar
=> foobar
As shown in the example, the space character can't be the
first character/glyph pair as an argument of `tr'.
Additionally, it is not possible to map the space character
to any other glyph; requests like `.tr aa x' undo `.tr aa \&'
instead.
If justification is active, lines are justified in spite of
the `empty' space character (but there is no minimal
distance, i.e. the space character, between words).
* After an output glyph has been constructed (this happens at
the moment immediately before the glyph is appended to an
output glyph list, either by direct output, in a macro,
diversion, or string), it is no longer affected by `tr'.
* Translating character to glyphs where one of them or both are
undefined is possible also; `tr' does not check whether the
entities in its argument do exist.
*Note Gtroff Internals::.
* `troff' no longer has a hard-coded dependency on Latin-1; all
`charXXX' entities have been removed from the font
description files. This has a notable consequence which
shows up in warnings like `can't find character with input
code XXX' if the `tr' request isn't handled properly.
Consider the following translation:
.tr <20><>
This maps input character `<60>' onto glyph `<60>', which is
identical to glyph `char201'. But this glyph intentionally
doesn't exist! Instead, `\[char201]' is treated as an input
character entity and is by default mapped onto `\['E]', and
`gtroff' doesn't handle translations of translations.
The right way to write the above translation is
.tr <20>\['E]
With other words, the first argument of `tr' should be an
input character or entity, and the second one a glyph entity.
* Without an argument, the `tr' request is ignored.
-- Request: .trnt abcd...
`trnt' is the same as the `tr' request except that the
translations do not apply to text that is transparently throughput
into a diversion with `\!'. *Note Diversions::, for more
information.
For example,
.tr ab
.di x
\!.tm a
.di
.x
prints `b' to the standard error stream; if `trnt' is used instead
of `tr' it prints `a'.

File: groff, Node: Troff and Nroff Mode, Next: Line Layout, Prev: Character Translations, Up: gtroff Reference
5.12 Troff and Nroff Mode
=========================
Originally, `nroff' and `troff' were two separate programs, the former
for TTY output, the latter for everything else. With GNU `troff', both
programs are merged into one executable, sending its output to a device
driver (`grotty' for TTY devices, `grops' for POSTSCRIPT, etc.) which
interprets the intermediate output of `gtroff'. For UNIX `troff' it
makes sense to talk about "Nroff mode" and "Troff mode" since the
differences are hardcoded. For GNU `troff', this distinction is not
appropriate because `gtroff' simply takes the information given in the
font files for a particular device without handling requests specially
if a TTY output device is used.
Usually, a macro package can be used with all output devices.
Nevertheless, it is sometimes necessary to make a distinction between
TTY and non-TTY devices: `gtroff' provides two built-in conditions `n'
and `t' for the `if', `ie', and `while' requests to decide whether
`gtroff' shall behave like `nroff' or like `troff'.
-- Request: .troff
Make the `t' built-in condition true (and the `n' built-in
condition false) for `if', `ie', and `while' conditional requests.
This is the default if `gtroff' (_not_ `groff') is started with
the `-R' switch to avoid loading of the start-up files `troffrc'
and `troffrc-end'. Without `-R', `gtroff' stays in troff mode if
the output device is not a TTY (e.g. `ps').
-- Request: .nroff
Make the `n' built-in condition true (and the `t' built-in
condition false) for `if', `ie', and `while' conditional requests.
This is the default if `gtroff' uses a TTY output device; the
code for switching to nroff mode is in the file `tty.tmac' which
is loaded by the start-up file `troffrc'.
*Note Conditionals and Loops::, for more details on built-in
conditions.

File: groff, Node: Line Layout, Next: Line Control, Prev: Troff and Nroff Mode, Up: gtroff Reference
5.13 Line Layout
================
The following drawing shows the dimensions which `gtroff' uses for
placing a line of output onto the page. They are labeled with the
request which manipulates each dimension.
-->| in |<--
|<-----------ll------------>|
+----+----+----------------------+----+
| : : : |
+----+----+----------------------+----+
-->| po |<--
|<--------paper width---------------->|
These dimensions are:
`po'
"Page offset" - this is the leftmost position of text on the final
output, defining the "left margin".
`in'
"Indentation" - this is the distance from the left margin where
text is printed.
`ll'
"Line length" - this is the distance from the left margin to right
margin.
A simple demonstration:
.ll 3i
This is text without indentation.
The line length has been set to 3\~inch.
.in +.5i
.ll -.5i
Now the left and right margins are both increased.
.in
.ll
Calling .in and .ll without parameters restore
the previous values.
Result:
This is text without indenta-
tion. The line length has
been set to 3 inch.
Now the left and
right margins are
both increased.
Calling .in and .ll without
parameters restore the previ-
ous values.
-- Request: .po [offset]
-- Request: .po +offset
-- Request: .po -offset
-- Register: \n[.o]
Set horizontal page offset to OFFSET (or increment or decrement
the current value by OFFSET). Note that this request does not
cause a break, so changing the page offset in the middle of text
being filled may not yield the expected result. The initial value
is 1i. For TTY output devices, it is set to 0 in the startup file
`troffrc'; the default scaling indicator is `m' (and not `v' as
incorrectly documented in the original UNIX troff manual).
The current page offset can be found in the read-only number
register `.o'.
If `po' is called without an argument, the page offset is reset to
the previous value before the last call to `po'.
.po 3i
\n[.o]
=> 720
.po -1i
\n[.o]
=> 480
.po
\n[.o]
=> 720
-- Request: .in [indent]
-- Request: .in +indent
-- Request: .in -indent
-- Register: \n[.i]
Set indentation to INDENT (or increment or decrement the current
value by INDENT). This request causes a break. Initially, there
is no indentation.
If `in' is called without an argument, the indentation is reset to
the previous value before the last call to `in'. The default
scaling indicator is `m'.
The indentation is associated with the current environment (*note
Environments::).
If a negative indentation value is specified (which is not
allowed), `gtroff' emits a warning of type `range' and sets the
indentation to zero.
The effect of `in' is delayed until a partially collected line (if
it exists) is output. A temporary indentation value is reset to
zero also.
The current indentation (as set by `in') can be found in the
read-only number register `.i'.
-- Request: .ti offset
-- Request: .ti +offset
-- Request: .ti -offset
-- Register: \n[.in]
Temporarily indent the next output line by OFFSET. If an
increment or decrement value is specified, adjust the temporary
indentation relative to the value set by the `in' request.
This request causes a break; its value is associated with the
current environment (*note Environments::). The default scaling
indicator is `m'. A call of `ti' without an argument is ignored.
If the total indentation value is negative (which is not allowed),
`gtroff' emits a warning of type `range' and sets the temporary
indentation to zero. `Total indentation' is either OFFSET if
specified as an absolute value, or the temporary plus normal
indentation, if OFFSET is given as a relative value.
The effect of `ti' is delayed until a partially collected line (if
it exists) is output.
The read-only number register `.in' is the indentation that applies
to the current output line.
The difference between `.i' and `.in' is that the latter takes
into account whether a partially collected line still uses the old
indentation value or a temporary indentation value is active.
-- Request: .ll [length]
-- Request: .ll +length
-- Request: .ll -length
-- Register: \n[.l]
-- Register: \n[.ll]
Set the line length to LENGTH (or increment or decrement the
current value by LENGTH). Initially, the line length is set to
6.5i. The effect of `ll' is delayed until a partially collected
line (if it exists) is output. The default scaling indicator is
`m'.
If `ll' is called without an argument, the line length is reset to
the previous value before the last call to `ll'. If a negative
line length is specified (which is not allowed), `gtroff' emits a
warning of type `range' and sets the line length to zero.
The line length is associated with the current environment (*note
Environments::).
The current line length (as set by `ll') can be found in the
read-only number register `.l'. The read-only number register
`.ll' is the line length that applies to the current output line.
Similar to `.i' and `.in', the difference between `.l' and `.ll'
is that the latter takes into account whether a partially
collected line still uses the old line length value.

File: groff, Node: Line Control, Next: Page Layout, Prev: Line Layout, Up: gtroff Reference
5.14 Line Control
=================
It is important to understand how `gtroff' handles input and output
lines.
Many escapes use positioning relative to the input line. For
example, this
This is a \h'|1.2i'test.
This is a
\h'|1.2i'test.
produces
This is a test.
This is a test.
The main usage of this feature is to define macros which act exactly
at the place where called.
.\" A simple macro to underline a word
.de underline
. nop \\$1\l'|0\[ul]'
..
In the above example, `|0' specifies a negative distance from the
current position (at the end of the just emitted argument `\$1') back
to the beginning of the input line. Thus, the `\l' escape draws a line
from right to left.
`gtroff' makes a difference between input and output line
continuation; the latter is also called "interrupting" a line.
-- Escape: \<RET>
-- Escape: \c
-- Register: \n[.int]
Continue a line. `\<RET>' (this is a backslash at the end of a
line immediately followed by a newline) works on the input level,
suppressing the effects of the following newline in the input.
This is a \
.test
=> This is a .test
The `|' operator is also affected.
`\c' works on the output level. Anything after this escape on the
same line is ignored, except `\R' which works as usual. Anything
before `\c' on the same line will be appended to the current
partial output line. The next non-command line after an
interrupted line counts as a new input line.
The visual results depend on whether no-fill mode is active.
* If no-fill mode is active (using the `nf' request), the next
input text line after `\c' will be handled as a continuation
of the same input text line.
.nf
This is a \c
test.
=> This is a test.
* If fill mode is active (using the `fi' request), a word
interrupted with `\c' will be continued with the text on the
next input text line, without an intervening space.
This is a te\c
st.
=> This is a test.
Note that an intervening control line which causes a break is
stronger than `\c', flushing out the current partial line in the
usual way.
The `.int' register contains a positive value if the last output
line was interrupted with `\c'; this is associated with the
current environment (*note Environments::).

File: groff, Node: Page Layout, Next: Page Control, Prev: Line Control, Up: gtroff Reference
5.15 Page Layout
================
`gtroff' provides some very primitive operations for controlling page
layout.
-- Request: .pl [length]
-- Request: .pl +length
-- Request: .pl -length
-- Register: \n[.p]
Set the "page length" to LENGTH (or increment or decrement the
current value by LENGTH). This is the length of the physical
output page. The default scaling indicator is `v'.
The current setting can be found in the read-only number register
`.p'.
Note that this only specifies the size of the page, not the top and
bottom margins. Those are not set by `gtroff' directly. *Note
Traps::, for further information on how to do this.
Negative `pl' values are possible also, but not very useful: No
trap is sprung, and each line is output on a single page (thus
suppressing all vertical spacing).
If no argument or an invalid argument is given, `pl' sets the page
length to 11i.
`gtroff' provides several operations which help in setting up top
and bottom titles (or headers and footers).
-- Request: .tl 'left'center'right'
Print a "title line". It consists of three parts: a left
justified portion, a centered portion, and a right justified
portion. The argument separator `'' can be replaced with any
character not occurring in the title line. The `%' character is
replaced with the current page number. This character can be
changed with the `pc' request (see below).
Without argument, `tl' is ignored.
Some notes:
* A title line is not restricted to the top or bottom of a page.
* `tl' prints the title line immediately, ignoring a partially
filled line (which stays untouched).
* It is not an error to omit closing delimiters. For example,
`.tl /foo' is equivalent to `.tl /foo///': It prints a title
line with the left justified word `foo'; the centered and
right justfied parts are empty.
* `tl' accepts the same parameter delimiting characters as the
`\A' escape; see *Note Escapes::.
-- Request: .lt [length]
-- Request: .lt +length
-- Request: .lt -length
-- Register: \n[.lt]
The title line is printed using its own line length, which is
specified (or incremented or decremented) with the `lt' request.
Initially, the title line length is set to 6.5i. If a negative
line length is specified (which is not allowed), `gtroff' emits a
warning of type `range' and sets the title line length to zero.
The default scaling indicator is `m'. If `lt' is called without
an argument, the title length is reset to the previous value
before the last call to `lt'.
The current setting of this is available in the `.lt' read-only
number register; it is associated with the current environment
(*note Environments::).
-- Request: .pn page
-- Request: .pn +page
-- Request: .pn -page
-- Register: \n[.pn]
Change (increase or decrease) the page number of the _next_ page.
The only argument is the page number; the request is ignored
without a parameter.
The read-only number register `.pn' contains the number of the next
page: either the value set by a `pn' request, or the number of the
current page plus 1.
-- Request: .pc [char]
Change the page number character (used by the `tl' request) to a
different character. With no argument, this mechanism is disabled.
Note that this doesn't affect the number register `%'.
*Note Traps::.

File: groff, Node: Page Control, Next: Fonts and Symbols, Prev: Page Layout, Up: gtroff Reference
5.16 Page Control
=================
-- Request: .bp [page]
-- Request: .bp +page
-- Request: .bp -page
-- Register: \n[%]
Stop processing the current page and move to the next page. This
request causes a break. It can also take an argument to set
(increase, decrease) the page number of the next page (which
actually becomes the current page after `bp' has finished). The
difference between `bp' and `pn' is that `pn' does not cause a
break or actually eject a page. *Note Page Layout::.
.de newpage \" define macro
'bp \" begin page
'sp .5i \" vertical space
.tl 'left top'center top'right top' \" title
'sp .3i \" vertical space
.. \" end macro
`bp' has no effect if not called within the top-level diversion
(*note Diversions::).
The read-write register `%' holds the current page number.
The number register `.pe' is set to 1 while `bp' is active. *Note
Page Location Traps::.
-- Request: .ne [space]
It is often necessary to force a certain amount of space before a
new page occurs. This is most useful to make sure that there is
not a single "orphan" line left at the bottom of a page. The `ne'
request ensures that there is a certain distance, specified by the
first argument, before the next page is triggered (see *Note
Traps::, for further information). The default scaling indicator
for `ne' is `v'; the default value of SPACE is 1v if no argument
is given.
For example, to make sure that no fewer than 2 lines get orphaned,
do the following before each paragraph:
.ne 2
text text text
`ne' will then automatically cause a page break if there is space
for one line only.
-- Request: .sv [space]
-- Request: .os
`sv' is similar to the `ne' request; it reserves the specified
amount of vertical space. If the desired amount of space exists
before the next trap (or the bottom page boundary if no trap is
set), the space is output immediately (ignoring a partially filled
line which stays untouched). If there is not enough space, it is
stored for later output via the `os' request. The default value
is 1v if no argument is given; the default scaling indicator is
`v'.
Both `sv' and `os' ignore no-space mode. While the `sv' request
allows negative values for SPACE, `os' will ignore them.
-- Register: \n[nl]
This register contains the current vertical position. If the
vertical position is zero and the top of page transition hasn't
happened yet, `nl' is set to negative value. `gtroff' itself does
this at the very beginning of a document before anything has been
printed, but the main usage is to plant a header trap on a page if
this page has already started.
Consider the following:
.de xxx
. sp
. tl ''Header''
. sp
..
.
First page.
.bp
.wh 0 xxx
.nr nl (-1)
Second page.
Result:
First page.
...
Header
Second page.
...
Without resetting `nl' to a negative value, the just planted trap
would be active beginning with the _next_ page, not the current
one.
*Note Diversions::, for a comparison with the `.h' and `.d'
registers.

File: groff, Node: Fonts and Symbols, Next: Sizes, Prev: Page Control, Up: gtroff Reference
5.17 Fonts and Symbols
======================
`gtroff' can switch fonts at any point in the text.
The basic set of fonts is `R', `I', `B', and `BI'. These are Times
Roman, Italic, Bold, and Bold Italic. For non-TTY devices, there is
also at least one symbol font which contains various special symbols
(Greek, mathematics).
* Menu:
* Changing Fonts::
* Font Families::
* Font Positions::
* Using Symbols::
* Special Fonts::
* Artificial Fonts::
* Ligatures and Kerning::

File: groff, Node: Changing Fonts, Next: Font Families, Prev: Fonts and Symbols, Up: Fonts and Symbols
5.17.1 Changing Fonts
---------------------
-- Request: .ft [font]
-- Escape: \ff
-- Escape: \f(fn
-- Escape: \f[font]
-- Register: \n[.sty]
The `ft' request and the `\f' escape change the current font to
FONT (one-character name F, two-character name FN).
If FONT is a style name (as set with the `sty' request or with the
`styles' command in the `DESC' file), use it within the current
font family (as set with the `fam' request, `\F' escape, or with
the `family' command in the `DESC' file).
With no argument or using `P' as an argument, `.ft' switches to
the previous font. Use `\f[]' to do this with the escape. The
old syntax forms `\fP' or `\f[P]' are also supported.
Fonts are generally specified as upper-case strings, which are
usually 1 to 4 characters representing an abbreviation or acronym
of the font name. This is no limitation, just a convention.
The example below produces two identical lines.
eggs, bacon,
.ft B
spam
.ft
and sausage.
eggs, bacon, \fBspam\fP and sausage.
Note that `\f' doesn't produce an input token in `gtroff'. As a
consequence, it can be used in requests like `mc' (which expects a
single character as an argument) to change the font on the fly:
.mc \f[I]x\f[]
The current style name is available in the read-only number
register `.sty' (this is a string-valued register); if the current
font isn't a style, the empty string is returned. It is
associated with the current environment.
*Note Font Positions::, for an alternative syntax.
-- Request: .ftr f [g]
Translate font F to font G. Whenever a font named F is referred
to in a `\f' escape sequence, in the `F' and `S' conditional
operators, or in the `ft', `ul', `bd', `cs', `tkf', `special',
`fspecial', `fp', or `sty' requests, font G is used. If G is
missing or equal to F the translation is undone.

File: groff, Node: Font Families, Next: Font Positions, Prev: Changing Fonts, Up: Fonts and Symbols
5.17.2 Font Families
--------------------
Due to the variety of fonts available, `gtroff' has added the concept
of "font families" and "font styles". The fonts are specified as the
concatenation of the font family and style. Specifying a font without
the family part causes `gtroff' to use that style of the current family.
Currently, fonts for the devices `-Tps', `-Tdvi', `-Tlj4', `-Tlbp',
and the X11 fonts are set up to this mechanism. By default, `gtroff'
uses the Times family with the four styles `R', `I', `B', and `BI'.
This way, it is possible to use the basic four fonts and to select a
different font family on the command line (*note Groff Options::).
-- Request: .fam [family]
-- Register: \n[.fam]
-- Escape: \Ff
-- Escape: \F(fm
-- Escape: \F[family]
-- Register: \n[.fn]
Switch font family to FAMILY (one-character name F, two-character
name FM). If no argument is given, switch back to the previous
font family. Use `\F[]' to do this with the escape. Note that
`\FP' doesn't work; it selects font family `P' instead.
The value at start-up is `T'. The current font family is
available in the read-only number register `.fam' (this is a
string-valued register); it is associated with the current
environment.
spam,
.fam H \" helvetica family
spam, \" used font is family H + style R = HR
.ft B \" family H + style B = font HB
spam,
.fam T \" times family
spam, \" used font is family T + style B = TB
.ft AR \" font AR (not a style)
baked beans,
.ft R \" family T + style R = font TR
and spam.
Note that `\F' doesn't produce an input token in `gtroff'. As a
consequence, it can be used in requests like `mc' (which expects a
single character as an argument) to change the font family on the
fly:
.mc \F[P]x\F[]
The `.fn' register contains the current "real font name" of the
current font. This is a string-valued register. If the current
font is a style, the value of `\n[.fn]' is the proper
concatenation of family and style name.
-- Request: .sty n style
Associate STYLE with font position N. A font position can be
associated either with a font or with a style. The current font
is the index of a font position and so is also either a font or a
style. If it is a style, the font that is actually used is the
font which name is the concatenation of the name of the current
family and the name of the current style. For example, if the
current font is 1 and font position 1 is associated with style `R'
and the current font family is `T', then font `TR' will be used.
If the current font is not a style, then the current family is
ignored. If the requests `cs', `bd', `tkf', `uf', or `fspecial'
are applied to a style, they will instead be applied to the member
of the current family corresponding to that style.
N must be a non-negative integer value.
The default family can be set with the `-f' option (*note Groff
Options::). The `styles' command in the `DESC' file controls
which font positions (if any) are initially associated with styles
rather than fonts. For example, the default setting for
POSTSCRIPT fonts
styles R I B BI
is equivalent to
.sty 1 R
.sty 2 I
.sty 3 B
.sty 4 BI
`fam' and `\F' always check whether the current font position is
valid; this can give surprising results if the current font
position is associated with a style.
In the following example, we want to access the POSTSCRIPT font
`FooBar' from the font family `Foo':
.sty \n[.fp] Bar
.fam Foo
=> warning: can't find font `FooR'
The default font position at start-up is 1; for the POSTSCRIPT
device, this is associated with style `R', so `gtroff' tries to
open `FooR'.
A solution to this problem is to use a dummy font like the
following:
.fp 0 dummy TR \" set up dummy font at position 0
.sty \n[.fp] Bar \" register style `Bar'
.ft 0 \" switch to font at position 0
.fam Foo \" activate family `Foo'
.ft Bar \" switch to font `FooBar'
*Note Font Positions::.

File: groff, Node: Font Positions, Next: Using Symbols, Prev: Font Families, Up: Fonts and Symbols
5.17.3 Font Positions
---------------------
For the sake of old phototypesetters and compatibility with old versions
of `troff', `gtroff' has the concept of font "positions", on which
various fonts are mounted.
-- Request: .fp pos font [external-name]
-- Register: \n[.f]
-- Register: \n[.fp]
Mount font FONT at position POS (which must be a non-negative
integer). This numeric position can then be referred to with font
changing commands. When `gtroff' starts it is using font
position 1 (which must exist; position 0 is unused usually at
start-up).
The current font in use, as a font position, is available in the
read-only number register `.f'. This can be useful to remember the
current font for later recall. It is associated with the current
environment (*note Environments::).
.nr save-font \n[.f]
.ft B
... text text text ...
.ft \n[save-font]
The number of the next free font position is available in the
read-only number register `.fp'. This is useful when mounting a
new font, like so:
.fp \n[.fp] NEATOFONT
Fonts not listed in the `DESC' file are automatically mounted on
the next available font position when they are referenced. If a
font is to be mounted explicitly with the `fp' request on an unused
font position, it should be mounted on the first unused font
position, which can be found in the `.fp' register. Although
`gtroff' does not enforce this strictly, it is not allowed to
mount a font at a position whose number is much greater (approx.
1000 positions) than that of any currently used position.
The `fp' request has an optional third argument. This argument
gives the external name of the font, which is used for finding the
font description file. The second argument gives the internal
name of the font which is used to refer to the font in `gtroff'
after it has been mounted. If there is no third argument then the
internal name is used as the external name. This feature makes it
possible to use fonts with long names in compatibility mode.
Both the `ft' request and the `\f' escape have alternative syntax
forms to access font positions.
-- Request: .ft nnn
-- Escape: \fn
-- Escape: \f(nn
-- Escape: \f[nnn]
Change the current font position to NNN (one-digit position N,
two-digit position NN), which must be a non-negative integer.
If NNN is associated with a style (as set with the `sty' request
or with the `styles' command in the `DESC' file), use it within
the current font family (as set with the `fam' request, the `\F'
escape, or with the `family' command in the `DESC' file).
this is font 1
.ft 2
this is font 2
.ft \" switch back to font 1
.ft 3
this is font 3
.ft
this is font 1 again
*Note Changing Fonts::, for the standard syntax form.

File: groff, Node: Using Symbols, Next: Special Fonts, Prev: Font Positions, Up: Fonts and Symbols
5.17.4 Using Symbols
--------------------
A "glyph" is a graphical representation of a "character". While a
character is an abstract entity containing semantic information, a
glyph is something which can be actually seen on screen or paper. It
is possible that a character has multiple glyph representation forms
(for example, the character `A' can be either written in a roman or an
italic font, yielding two different glyphs); sometimes more than one
character maps to a single glyph (this is a "ligature" - the most
common is `fi').
A "symbol" is simply a named glyph. Within `gtroff', all glyph
names of a particular font are defined in its font file. If the user
requests a glyph not available in this font, `gtroff' looks up an
ordered list of "special fonts". By default, the POSTSCRIPT output
device supports the two special fonts `SS' (slanted symbols) and `S'
(symbols) (the former is looked up before the latter). Other output
devices use different names for special fonts. Fonts mounted with the
`fonts' keyword in the `DESC' file are globally available. To install
additional special fonts locally (i.e. for a particular font), use the
`fspecial' request.
Here the exact rules how `gtroff' searches a given symbol:
* If the symbol has been defined with the `char' request, use it.
This hides a symbol with the same name in the current font.
* Check the current font.
* If the symbol has been defined with the `fchar' request, use it.
* Check whether the current font has a font-specific list of special
fonts; test all fonts in the order of appearance in the last
`fspecial' call if appropriate.
* If the symbol has been defined with the `fschar' request for the
current font, use it.
* Check all fonts in the order of appearance in the last `special'
call.
* If the symbol has been defined with the `schar' request, use it.
* As a last resort, consult all fonts loaded up to now for special
fonts and check them, starting with the lowest font number. Note
that this can sometimes lead to surprising results since the
`fonts' line in the `DESC' file often contains empty positions
which are filled later on. For example, consider the following:
fonts 3 0 0 FOO
This mounts font `foo' at font position 3. We assume that `FOO'
is a special font, containing glyph `foo', and that no font has
been loaded yet. The line
.fspecial BAR BAZ
makes font `BAZ' special only if font `BAR' is active. We further
assume that `BAZ' is really a special font, i.e., the font
description file contains the `special' keyword, and that it also
contains glyph `foo' with a special shape fitting to font `BAR'.
After executing `fspecial', font `BAR' is loaded at font
position 1, and `BAZ' at position 2.
We now switch to a new font `XXX', trying to access glyph `foo'
which is assumed to be missing. There are neither font-specific
special fonts for `XXX' nor any other fonts made special with the
`special' request, so `gtroff' starts the search for special fonts
in the list of already mounted fonts, with increasing font
positions. Consequently, it finds `BAZ' before `FOO' even for
`XXX' which is not the intended behaviour.
*Note Font Files::, and *Note Special Fonts::, for more details.
The list of available symbols is device dependent; see the
`groff_char(7)' man page for a complete list of all glyphs. For
example, say
man -Tdvi groff_char > groff_char.dvi
for a list using the default DVI fonts (not all versions of the `man'
program support the `-T' option). If you want to use an additional
macro package to change the used fonts, `groff' must be called directly:
groff -Tdvi -mec -man groff_char.7 > groff_char.dvi
Glyph names not listed in groff_char(7) are derived algorithmically,
using a simplified version of the Adobe Glyph List (AGL) algorithm
which is described in
`http://partners.adobe.com/asn/tech/type/unicodegn.jsp'. The (frozen)
set of glyph names which can't be derived algorithmically is called
"groff glyph list (GGL)".
* A glyph for Unicode character U+XXXX[X[X]] which is not a
composite character will be named `uXXXX[X[X]]'. X must be an
uppercase hexadecimal digit. Examples: `u1234', `u008E',
`u12DB8'. The largest Unicode value is 0x10FFFF. There must be at
least four `X' digits; if necessary, add leading zeroes (after the
`u'). No zero padding is allowed for character codes greater than
0xFFFF. Surrogates (i.e., Unicode values greater than 0xFFFF
represented with character codes from the surrogate area
U+D800-U+DFFF) are not allowed too.
* A glyph representing more than a single input character will be
named
`u' COMPONENT1 `_' COMPONENT2 `_' COMPONENT3 ...
Example: `u0045_0302_0301'.
For simplicity, all Unicode characters which are composites must be
decomposed maximally (this is normalization form D in the Unicode
standard); for example, `u00CA_0301' is not a valid glyph name
since U+00CA (LATIN CAPITAL LETTER E WITH CIRCUMFLEX) can be
further decomposed into U+0045 (LATIN CAPITAL LETTER E) and U+0302
(COMBINING CIRCUMFLEX ACCENT). `u0045_0302_0301' is thus the
glyph name for U+1EBE, LATIN CAPITAL LETTER E WITH CIRCUMFLEX AND
ACUTE.
* groff maintains a table to decompose all algorithmically derived
glyph names which are composites itself. For example, `u0100'
(LATIN LETTER A WITH MACRON) will be automatically decomposed into
`u0041_0304'. Additionally, a glyph name of the GGL is preferred
to an algorithmically derived glyph name; groff also automatically
does the mapping. Example: The glyph `u0045_0302' will be mapped
to `^E'.
* glyph names of the GGL can't be used in composite glyph names; for
example, `^E_u0301' is invalid.
-- Escape: \(nm
-- Escape: \[name]
-- Escape: \[component1 component2 ...]
Insert a symbol NAME (two-character name NM) or a composite glyph
with component glyphs COMPONENT1, COMPONENT2, .... There is no
special syntax for one-character names - the natural form `\N'
would collide with escapes.(1) (*note Using Symbols-Footnote-1::)
If NAME is undefined, a warning of type `char' is generated, and
the escape is ignored. *Note Debugging::, for information about
warnings.
groff resolves `\[...]' with more than a single component as
follows:
* Any component which is found in the GGL will be converted to
the `uXXXX' form.
* Any component `uXXXX' which is found in the list of
decomposable glyphs will be decomposed.
* The resulting elements are then concatenated with `_'
inbetween, dropping the leading `u' in all elements but the
first.
No check for the existence of any component (similar to `tr'
request) will be done.
Examples:
`\[A ho]'
`A' maps to `u0041', `ho' maps to `u02DB', thus the final
glyph name would be `u0041_02DB'. Note this is not the
expected result: The ogonek glyph `ho' is a spacing ogonek,
but for a proper composite a non-spacing ogonek (U+0328) is
necessary. Looking into the file `composite.tmac' one can
find `.composite ho u0328' which changes the mapping of `ho'
while a composite glyph name is constructed, causing the
final glyph name to be `u0041_0328'.
`\[^E u0301]'
`\[^E aa]'
`\[E a^ aa]'
`\[E ^ ']'
`^E' maps to `u0045_0302', thus the final glyph name is
`u0045_0302_0301' in all forms (assuming proper calls of the
`composite' request).
It is not possible to define glyphs with names like `A ho' within
a groff font file. This is not really a limitation; instead, you
have to define `u0041_0328'.
-- Escape: \C'xxx'
Typeset the glyph named XXX.(2) (*note Using Symbols-Footnote-2::)
Normally it is more convenient to use `\[XXX]', but `\C' has the
advantage that it is compatible with newer versions of AT&T
`troff' and is available in compatibility mode.
-- Request: .composite from to
Map glyph name FROM to glyph name TO if it is used in `\[...]'
with more than one component. See above for examples.
This mapping is based on glyph names only; no check for the
existence of either glyph is done.
A set of default mappings for many accents can be found in the file
`composite.tmac' which is loaded at start-up.
-- Escape: \N'n'
Typeset the glyph with code N in the current font (`n' is *not*
the input character code). The number N can be any non-negative
decimal integer. Most devices only have glyphs with codes between
0 and 255; the Unicode output device uses codes in the range
0-65535. If the current font does not contain a glyph with that
code, special fonts are _not_ searched. The `\N' escape sequence
can be conveniently used in conjunction with the `char' request:
.char \[phone] \f[ZD]\N'37'
The code of each glyph is given in the fourth column in the font
description file after the `charset' command. It is possible to
include unnamed glyphs in the font description file by using a
name of `---'; the `\N' escape sequence is the only way to use
these.
No kerning is applied to glyphs accessed with `\N'.
Some escape sequences directly map onto special glyphs.
-- Escape: \'
This is a backslash followed by the apostrophe character, ASCII
character `0x27' (EBCDIC character `0x7D'). The same as `\[aa]',
the acute accent.
-- Escape: \`
This is a backslash followed by ASCII character `0x60' (EBCDIC
character `0x79' usually). The same as `\[ga]', the grave accent.
-- Escape: \-
This is the same as `\[-]', the minus sign in the current font.
-- Request: .cflags n c1 c2 ...
Input characters and symbols have certain properties associated
with it.(3) (*note Using Symbols-Footnote-3::) These properties
can be modified with the `cflags' request. The first argument is
the sum of the desired flags and the remaining arguments are the
characters or symbols to have those properties. It is possible to
omit the spaces between the characters or symbols.
`1'
The character ends sentences (initially characters `.?!' have
this property).
`2'
Lines can be broken before the character (initially no
characters have this property).
`4'
Lines can be broken after the character (initially the
character `-' and the symbols `\[hy]' and `\[em]' have this
property).
`8'
The character overlaps horizontally if used as a horizontal
line building element. Initially the symbols `\[ul]',
`\[rn]', `\[ru]', `\[radicalex]', and `\[sqrtex]' have this
property.
`16'
The character overlaps vertically if used as vertical line
building element. Initially symbol `\[br]' has this property.
`32'
An end-of-sentence character followed by any number of
characters with this property is treated as the end of a
sentence if followed by a newline or two spaces; in other
words the character is "transparent" for the purposes of
end-of-sentence recognition - this is the same as having a
zero space factor in TeX (initially characters `"')]*' and
the symbols `\[dg]' and `\[rq]' have this property).
-- Request: .char g [string]
-- Request: .fchar g [string]
-- Request: .fschar f g [string]
-- Request: .schar g [string]
Define a new glyph G to be STRING (which can be empty).(4) (*note
Using Symbols-Footnote-4::) Every time glyph G needs to be
printed, STRING is processed in a temporary environment and the
result is wrapped up into a single object. Compatibility mode is
turned off and the escape character is set to `\' while STRING is
being processed. Any emboldening, constant spacing or track
kerning is applied to this object rather than to individual
characters in STRING.
A glyph defined by these requests can be used just like a normal
glyph provided by the output device. In particular, other
characters can be translated to it with the `tr' or `trin'
requests; it can be made the leader character by the `lc' request;
repeated patterns can be drawn with the glyph using the `\l' and
`\L' escape sequences; words containing the glyph can be
hyphenated correctly if the `hcode' request is used to give the
glyph's symbol a hyphenation code.
There is a special anti-recursion feature: Use of `g' within the
glyph's definition is handled like normal characters and symbols
not defined with `char'.
Note that the `tr' and `trin' requests take precedence if `char'
accesses the same symbol.
.tr XY
X
=> Y
.char X Z
X
=> Y
.tr XX
X
=> Z
The `fchar' request defines a fallback glyph: `gtroff' only checks
for glyphs defined with `fchar' if it cannot find the glyph in the
current font. `gtroff' carries out this test before checking
special fonts.
`fschar' defines a fallback glyph for font F: `gtroff' checks for
glyphs defined with `fschar' after the list of fonts declared as
font-specific special fonts with the `fspecial' request, but
before the list of fonts declared as global special fonts with the
`special' request.
Finally, the `schar' request defines a global fallback glyph:
`gtroff' checks for glyphs defined with `schar' after the list of
fonts declared as global special fonts with the `special' request,
but before the already mounted special fonts.
*Note Using Symbols::, for a detailed description of the glyph
searching mechanism in `gtroff'.
-- Request: .rchar c1 c2 ...
-- Request: .rfschar f c1 c2 ...
Remove the definitions of glyphs C1, C2, .... This undoes the
effect of a `char', `fchar', or `schar' request.
It is possible to omit the whitespace between arguments.
The request `rfschar' removes glyph definitions defined with
`fschar' for glyph f.
*Note Special Characters::.

File: groff, Node: Using Symbols-Footnotes, Up: Using Symbols
(1) Note that a one-character symbol is not the same as an input
character, i.e., the character `a' is not the same as `\[a]'. By
default, `groff' defines only a single one-character symbol, `\[-]'; it
is usually accessed as `\-'. On the other hand, `gtroff' has the
special feature that `\[charXXX]' is the same as the input character
with character code XXX. For example, `\[char97]' is identical to the
letter `a' if ASCII encoding is active.
(2) `\C' is actually a misnomer since it accesses an output glyph.
(3) Note that the output glyphs themselves don't have such
properties. For `gtroff', a glyph is a numbered box with a given
width, depth, and height, nothing else. All manipulations with the
`cflags' request work on the input level.
(4) `char' is a misnomer since an output glyph is defined.

File: groff, Node: Special Fonts, Next: Artificial Fonts, Prev: Using Symbols, Up: Fonts and Symbols
5.17.5 Special Fonts
--------------------
Special fonts are those that `gtroff' searches when it cannot find the
requested glyph in the current font. The Symbol font is usually a
special font.
`gtroff' provides the following two requests to add more special
fonts. *Note Using Symbols::, for a detailed description of the glyph
searching mechanism in `gtroff'.
Usually, only non-TTY devices have special fonts.
-- Request: .special [s1 s2 ...]
-- Request: .fspecial f [s1 s2 ...]
Use the `special' request to define special fonts. Initially, this
list is empty.
Use the `fspecial' request to designate special fonts only when
font F is active. Initially, this list is empty.
Previous calls to `special' or `fspecial' are overwritten; without
arguments, the particular list of special fonts is set to empty.
Special fonts are searched in the order they appear as arguments.
All fonts which appear in a call to `special' or `fspecial' are
loaded.
*Note Using Symbols::, for the exact search order of glyphs.

File: groff, Node: Artificial Fonts, Next: Ligatures and Kerning, Prev: Special Fonts, Up: Fonts and Symbols
5.17.6 Artificial Fonts
-----------------------
There are a number of requests and escapes for artificially creating
fonts. These are largely vestiges of the days when output devices did
not have a wide variety of fonts, and when `nroff' and `troff' were
separate programs. Most of them are no longer necessary in GNU
`troff'. Nevertheless, they are supported.
-- Escape: \H'height'
-- Escape: \H'+height'
-- Escape: \H'-height'
-- Register: \n[.height]
Change (increment, decrement) the height of the current font, but
not the width. If HEIGHT is zero, restore the original height.
Default scaling indicator is `z'.
The read-only number register `.height' contains the font height as
set by `\H'.
Currently, only the `-Tps' device supports this feature.
Note that `\H' doesn't produce an input token in `gtroff'. As a
consequence, it can be used in requests like `mc' (which expects a
single character as an argument) to change the font on the fly:
.mc \H'+5z'x\H'0'
In compatibility mode, `gtroff' behaves differently: If an
increment or decrement is used, it is always taken relative to the
current point size and not relative to the previously selected font
height. Thus,
.cp 1
\H'+5'test \H'+5'test
prints the word `test' twice with the same font height (five
points larger than the current font size).
-- Escape: \S'slant'
-- Register: \n[.slant]
Slant the current font by SLANT degrees. Positive values slant to
the right. Only integer values are possible.
The read-only number register `.slant' contains the font slant as
set by `\S'.
Currently, only the `-Tps' device supports this feature.
Note that `\S' doesn't produce an input token in `gtroff'. As a
consequence, it can be used in requests like `mc' (which expects a
single character as an argument) to change the font on the fly:
.mc \S'20'x\S'0'
This request is incorrectly documented in the original UNIX troff
manual; the slant is always set to an absolute value.
-- Request: .ul [lines]
The `ul' request normally underlines subsequent lines if a TTY
output device is used. Otherwise, the lines are printed in italics
(only the term `underlined' is used in the following). The single
argument is the number of input lines to be underlined; with no
argument, the next line is underlined. If LINES is zero or
negative, stop the effects of `ul' (if it was active). Requests
and empty lines do not count for computing the number of underlined
input lines, even if they produce some output like `tl'. Lines
inserted by macros (e.g. invoked by a trap) do count.
At the beginning of `ul', the current font is stored and the
underline font is activated. Within the span of a `ul' request,
it is possible to change fonts, but after the last line affected by
`ul' the saved font is restored.
This number of lines still to be underlined is associated with the
current environment (*note Environments::). The underline font
can be changed with the `uf' request.
The `ul' request does not underline spaces.
-- Request: .cu [lines]
The `cu' request is similar to `ul' but underlines spaces as well
(if a TTY output device is used).
-- Request: .uf font
Set the underline font (globally) used by `ul' and `cu'. By
default, this is the font at position 2. FONT can be either a
non-negative font position or the name of a font.
-- Request: .bd font [offset]
-- Request: .bd font1 font2 [offset]
-- Register: \n[.b]
Artificially create a bold font by printing each glyph twice,
slightly offset.
Two syntax forms are available.
* Imitate a bold font unconditionally. The first argument
specifies the font to embolden, and the second is the number
of basic units, minus one, by which the two glyphs are
offset. If the second argument is missing, emboldening is
turned off.
FONT can be either a non-negative font position or the name
of a font.
OFFSET is available in the `.b' read-only register if a
special font is active; in the `bd' request, its default unit
is `u'.
* Imitate a bold form conditionally. Embolden FONT1 by OFFSET
only if font FONT2 is the current font. This command can be
issued repeatedly to set up different emboldening values for
different current fonts. If the second argument is missing,
emboldening is turned off for this particular current font.
This affects special fonts only (either set up with the
`special' command in font files or with the `fspecial'
request).
-- Request: .cs font [width [em-size]]
Switch to and from "constant glyph space mode". If activated, the
width of every glyph is WIDTH/36 ems. The em size is given
absolutely by EM-SIZE; if this argument is missing, the em value
is taken from the current font size (as set with the `ps' request)
when the font is effectively in use. Without second and third
argument, constant glyph space mode is deactivated.
Default scaling indicator for EM-SIZE is `z'; WIDTH is an integer.

File: groff, Node: Ligatures and Kerning, Prev: Artificial Fonts, Up: Fonts and Symbols
5.17.7 Ligatures and Kerning
----------------------------
Ligatures are groups of characters that are run together, i.e, producing
a single glyph. For example, the letters `f' and `i' can form a
ligature `fi' as in the word `file'. This produces a cleaner look
(albeit subtle) to the printed output. Usually, ligatures are not
available in fonts for TTY output devices.
Most POSTSCRIPT fonts support the fi and fl ligatures. The C/A/T
typesetter that was the target of AT&T `troff' also supported `ff',
`ffi', and `ffl' ligatures. Advanced typesetters or `expert' fonts may
include ligatures for `ft' and `ct', although GNU `troff' does not
support these (yet).
Only the current font is checked for ligatures and kerns; neither
special fonts nor entities defined with the `char' request (and its
siblings) are taken into account.
-- Request: .lg [flag]
-- Register: \n[.lg]
Switch the ligature mechanism on or off; if the parameter is
non-zero or missing, ligatures are enabled, otherwise disabled.
Default is on. The current ligature mode can be found in the
read-only number register `.lg' (set to 1 or 2 if ligatures are
enabled, 0 otherwise).
Setting the ligature mode to 2 enables the two-character ligatures
(fi, fl, and ff) and disables the three-character ligatures (ffi
and ffl).
"Pairwise kerning" is another subtle typesetting mechanism that
modifies the distance between a glyph pair to improve readability. In
most cases (but not always) the distance is decreased. Typewriter-like
fonts and fonts for terminals where all glyphs have the same width
don't use kerning.
-- Request: .kern [flag]
-- Register: \n[.kern]
Switch kerning on or off. If the parameter is non-zero or missing,
enable pairwise kerning, otherwise disable it. The read-only
number register `.kern' is set to 1 if pairwise kerning is enabled,
0 otherwise.
If the font description file contains pairwise kerning information,
glyphs from that font are kerned. Kerning between two glyphs can
be inhibited by placing `\&' between them: `V\&A'.
*Note Font File Format::.
"Track kerning" expands or reduces the space between glyphs. This
can be handy, for example, if you need to squeeze a long word onto a
single line or spread some text to fill a narrow column. It must be
used with great care since it is usually considered bad typography if
the reader notices the effect.
-- Request: .tkf f s1 n1 s2 n2
Enable track kerning for font F. If the current font is F the
width of every glyph is increased by an amount between N1 and N2
(N1, N2 can be negative); if the current point size is less than
or equal to S1 the width is increased by N1; if it is greater than
or equal to S2 the width is increased by N2; if the point size is
greater than or equal to S1 and less than or equal to S2 the
increase in width is a linear function of the point size.
The default scaling indicator is `z' for S1 and S2, `p' for N1 and
N2.
Note that the track kerning amount is added even to the rightmost
glyph in a line; for large values it is thus recommended to
increase the line length by the same amount to compensate it.
Sometimes, when typesetting letters of different fonts, more or less
space at such boundaries are needed. There are two escapes to help
with this.
-- Escape: \/
Increase the width of the preceding glyph so that the spacing
between that glyph and the following glyph is correct if the
following glyph is a roman glyph. For example, if an italic `f'
is immediately followed by a roman right parenthesis, then in many
fonts the top right portion of the `f' overlaps the top left of
the right parenthesis. Use this escape sequence whenever an
italic glyph is immediately followed by a roman glyph without any
intervening space. This small amount of space is also called
"italic correction".
-- Escape: \,
Modify the spacing of the following glyph so that the spacing
between that glyph and the preceding glyph is correct if the
preceding glyph is a roman glyph. Use this escape sequence
whenever a roman glyph is immediately followed by an italic glyph
without any intervening space. In analogy to above, this space
could be called "left italic correction", but this term isn't used
widely.
-- Escape: \&
Insert a zero-width character, which is invisible. Its intended
use is to stop interaction of a character with its surrounding.
* It prevents the insertion of extra space after an
end-of-sentence character.
Test.
Test.
=> Test. Test.
Test.\&
Test.
=> Test. Test.
* It prevents interpretation of a control character at the
beginning of an input line.
.Test
=> warning: `Test' not defined
\&.Test
=> .Test
* It prevents kerning between two glyphs.
* It is needed to map an arbitrary character to nothing in the
`tr' request (*note Character Translations::).
-- Escape: \)
This escape is similar to `\&' except that it behaves like a
character declared with the `cflags' request to be transparent for
the purposes of an end-of-sentence character.
Its main usage is in macro definitions to protect against arguments
starting with a control character.
.de xxx
\)\\$1
..
.de yyy
\&\\$1
..
This is a test.\c
.xxx '
This is a test.
=>This is a test.' This is a test.
This is a test.\c
.yyy '
This is a test.
=>This is a test.' This is a test.

File: groff, Node: Sizes, Next: Strings, Prev: Fonts and Symbols, Up: gtroff Reference
5.18 Sizes
==========
`gtroff' uses two dimensions with each line of text, type size and
vertical spacing. The "type size" is approximately the height of the
tallest glyph.(1) (*note Sizes-Footnote-1::) "Vertical spacing" is the
amount of space `gtroff' allows for a line of text; normally, this is
about 20% larger than the current type size. Ratios smaller than this
can result in hard-to-read text; larger than this, it spreads the text
out more vertically (useful for term papers). By default, `gtroff'
uses 10 point type on 12 point spacing.
The difference between type size and vertical spacing is known, by
typesetters, as "leading" (this is pronounced `ledding').
* Menu:
* Changing Type Sizes::
* Fractional Type Sizes::

File: groff, Node: Sizes-Footnotes, Up: Sizes
(1) This is usually the parenthesis. Note that in most cases the
real dimensions of the glyphs in a font are _not_ related to its type
size! For example, the standard POSTSCRIPT font families `Times
Roman', `Helvetica', and `Courier' can't be used together at 10pt; to
get acceptable output, the size of `Helvetica' has to be reduced by one
point, and the size of `Courier' must be increased by one point.

File: groff, Node: Changing Type Sizes, Next: Fractional Type Sizes, Prev: Sizes, Up: Sizes
5.18.1 Changing Type Sizes
--------------------------
-- Request: .ps [size]
-- Request: .ps +size
-- Request: .ps -size
-- Escape: \ssize
-- Register: \n[.s]
Use the `ps' request or the `\s' escape to change (increase,
decrease) the type size (in points). Specify SIZE as either an
absolute point size, or as a relative change from the current size.
The size 0, or no argument, goes back to the previous size.
Default scaling indicator of `size' is `z'. If `size' is zero or
negative, it is set to 1u.
The read-only number register `.s' returns the point size in
points as a decimal fraction. This is a string. To get the point
size in scaled points, use the `.ps' register instead.
`.s' is associated with the current environment (*note
Environments::).
snap, snap,
.ps +2
grin, grin,
.ps +2
wink, wink, \s+2nudge, nudge,\s+8 say no more!
.ps 10
The `\s' escape may be called in a variety of ways. Much like
other escapes there must be a way to determine where the argument
ends and the text begins. Any of the following forms are valid:
`\sN'
Set the point size to N points. N must be either 0 or in the
range 4 to 39.
`\s+N'
`\s-N'
Increase or decrease the point size by N points. N must be
exactly one digit.
`\s(NN'
Set the point size to NN points. NN must be exactly two
digits.
`\s+(NN'
`\s-(NN'
`\s(+NN'
`\s(-NN'
Increase or decrease the point size by NN points. NN must be
exactly two digits.
Note that `\s' doesn't produce an input token in `gtroff'. As a
consequence, it can be used in requests like `mc' (which expects a
single character as an argument) to change the font on the fly:
.mc \s[20]x\s[0]
*Note Fractional Type Sizes::, for yet another syntactical form of
using the `\s' escape.
-- Request: .sizes s1 s2 ... sn [0]
Some devices may only have certain permissible sizes, in which case
`gtroff' rounds to the nearest permissible size. The `DESC' file
specifies which sizes are permissible for the device.
Use the `sizes' request to change the permissible sizes for the
current output device. Arguments are in scaled points; the
`sizescale' line in the `DESC' file for the output device provides
the scaling factor. For example, if the scaling factor is 1000,
then the value 12000 is 12 points.
Each argument can be a single point size (such as `12000'), or a
range of sizes (such as `4000-72000'). You can optionally end the
list with a zero.
-- Request: .vs [space]
-- Request: .vs +space
-- Request: .vs -space
-- Register: \n[.v]
Change (increase, decrease) the vertical spacing by SPACE. The
default scaling indicator is `p'.
If `vs' is called without an argument, the vertical spacing is
reset to the previous value before the last call to `vs'.
`gtroff' creates a warning of type `range' if SPACE is negative;
the vertical spacing is then set to smallest positive value, the
vertical resolution (as given in the `.V' register).
Note that `.vs 0' isn't saved in a diversion since it doesn't
result in a vertical motion. You explicitly have to repeat this
command before inserting the diversion.
The read-only number register `.v' contains the current vertical
spacing; it is associated with the current environment (*note
Environments::).
The effective vertical line spacing consists of four components.
Breaking a line causes the following actions (in the given order).
* Move the current point vertically by the "extra pre-vertical line
space". This is the minimum value of all `\x' escapes with a
negative argument in the current output line.
* Move the current point vertically by the vertical line spacing as
set with the `vs' request.
* Output the current line.
* Move the current point vertically by the "extra post-vertical line
space". This is the maximum value of all `\x' escapes with a
positive argument in the line which has just been output.
* Move the current point vertically by the "post-vertical line
spacing" as set with the `pvs' request.
It is usually better to use `vs' or `pvs' instead of `ls' to produce
double-spaced documents: `vs' and `pvs' have a finer granularity for
the inserted vertical space compared to `ls'; furthermore, certain
preprocessors assume single-spacing.
*Note Manipulating Spacing::, for more details on the `\x' escape
and the `ls' request.
-- Request: .pvs [space]
-- Request: .pvs +space
-- Request: .pvs -space
-- Register: \n[.pvs]
Change (increase, decrease) the post-vertical spacing by SPACE.
The default scaling indicator is `p'.
If `pvs' is called without an argument, the post-vertical spacing
is reset to the previous value before the last call to `pvs'.
`gtroff' creates a warning of type `range' if SPACE is zero or
negative; the vertical spacing is then set to zero.
The read-only number register `.pvs' contains the current
post-vertical spacing; it is associated with the current
environment (*note Environments::).

File: groff, Node: Fractional Type Sizes, Prev: Changing Type Sizes, Up: Sizes
5.18.2 Fractional Type Sizes
----------------------------
A "scaled point" is equal to 1/SIZESCALE points, where SIZESCALE is
specified in the `DESC' file (1 by default). There is a new scale
indicator `z' which has the effect of multiplying by SIZESCALE.
Requests and escape sequences in `gtroff' interpret arguments that
represent a point size as being in units of scaled points, but they
evaluate each such argument using a default scale indicator of `z'.
Arguments treated in this way are the argument to the `ps' request, the
third argument to the `cs' request, the second and fourth arguments to
the `tkf' request, the argument to the `\H' escape sequence, and those
variants of the `\s' escape sequence that take a numeric expression as
their argument (see below).
For example, suppose SIZESCALE is 1000; then a scaled point is
equivalent to a millipoint; the request `.ps 10.25' is equivalent to
`.ps 10.25z' and thus sets the point size to 10250 scaled points, which
is equal to 10.25 points.
`gtroff' disallows the use of the `z' scale indicator in instances
where it would make no sense, such as a numeric expression whose
default scale indicator was neither `u' nor `z'. Similarly it would
make no sense to use a scaling indicator other than `z' or `u' in a
numeric expression whose default scale indicator was `z', and so
`gtroff' disallows this as well.
There is also new scale indicator `s' which multiplies by the number
of units in a scaled point. So, for example, `\n[.ps]s' is equal to
`1m'. Be sure not to confuse the `s' and `z' scale indicators.
-- Register: \n[.ps]
A read-only number register returning the point size in scaled
points.
`.ps' is associated with the current environment (*note
Environments::).
-- Register: \n[.psr]
-- Register: \n[.sr]
The last-requested point size in scaled points is contained in the
`.psr' read-only number register. The last requested point size
in points as a decimal fraction can be found in `.sr'. This is a
string-valued read-only number register.
Note that the requested point sizes are device-independent, whereas
the values returned by the `.ps' and `.s' registers are not. For
example, if a point size of 11pt is requested, and a `sizes'
request (or a `sizescale' line in a `DESC' file) specifies 10.95pt
instead, this value is actually used.
Both registers are associated with the current environment (*note
Environments::).
The `\s' escape has the following syntax for working with fractional
type sizes:
`\s[N]'
`\s'N''
Set the point size to N scaled points; N is a numeric expression
with a default scale indicator of `z'.
`\s[+N]'
`\s[-N]'
`\s+[N]'
`\s-[N]'
`\s'+N''
`\s'-N''
`\s+'N''
`\s-'N''
Increase or or decrease the point size by N scaled points; N is a
numeric expression with a default scale indicator of `z'.
*Note Font Files::.

File: groff, Node: Strings, Next: Conditionals and Loops, Prev: Sizes, Up: gtroff Reference
5.19 Strings
============
`gtroff' has string variables, which are entirely for user convenience
(i.e. there are no built-in strings exept `.T', but even this is a
read-write string variable).
-- Request: .ds name [string]
-- Request: .ds1 name [string]
-- Escape: \*n
-- Escape: \*(nm
-- Escape: \*[name arg1 arg2 ...]
Define and access a string variable NAME (one-character name N,
two-character name NM). If NAME already exists, `ds' overwrites
the previous definition. Only the syntax form using brackets can
take arguments which are handled identically to macro arguments;
the single exception is that a closing bracket as an argument must
be enclosed in double quotes. *Note Request and Macro
Arguments::, and *Note Parameters::.
Example:
.ds foo a \\$1 test
.
This is \*[foo nice].
=> This is a nice test.
The `\*' escape "interpolates" (expands in-place) a
previously-defined string variable. To be more precise, the stored
string is pushed onto the input stack which is then parsed by
`gtroff'. Similar to number registers, it is possible to nest
strings, i.e. string variables can be called within string
variables.
If the string named by the `\*' escape does not exist, it is
defined as empty, and a warning of type `mac' is emitted (see
*Note Debugging::, for more details).
*Caution:* Unlike other requests, the second argument to the `ds'
request takes up the entire line including trailing spaces. This
means that comments on a line with such a request can introduce
unwanted space into a string.
.ds UX \s-1UNIX\s0\u\s-3tm\s0\d \" UNIX trademark
Instead the comment should be put on another line or have the
comment escape adjacent with the end of the string.
.ds UX \s-1UNIX\s0\u\s-3tm\s0\d\" UNIX trademark
To produce leading space the string can be started with a double
quote. No trailing quote is needed; in fact, any trailing quote is
included in your string.
.ds sign " Yours in a white wine sauce,
Strings are not limited to a single line of text. A string can
span several lines by escaping the newlines with a backslash. The
resulting string is stored _without_ the newlines.
.ds foo lots and lots \
of text are on these \
next several lines
It is not possible to have real newlines in a string. To put a
single double quote character into a string, use two consecutive
double quote characters.
The `ds1' request turns off compatibility mode while interpreting
a string. To be more precise, a "compatibility save" input token
is inserted at the beginning of the string, and a "compatibility
restore" input token at the end.
.nr xxx 12345
.ds aa The value of xxx is \\n[xxx].
.ds1 bb The value of xxx ix \\n[xxx].
.
.cp 1
.
\*(aa
=> warning: number register `[' not defined
=> The value of xxx is 0xxx].
\*(bb
=> The value of xxx ix 12345.
Strings, macros, and diversions (and boxes) share the same name
space. Internally, even the same mechanism is used to store them.
This has some interesting consequences. For example, it is
possible to call a macro with string syntax and vice versa.
.de xxx
a funny test.
..
This is \*[xxx]
=> This is a funny test.
.ds yyy a funny test
This is
.yyy
=> This is a funny test.
Diversions and boxes can be also called with string syntax.
Another consequence is that you can copy one-line diversions or
boxes to a string.
.di xxx
a \fItest\fR
.br
.di
.ds yyy This is \*[xxx]\c
\*[yyy].
=> This is a test.
As the previous example shows, it is possible to store formatted
output in strings. The `\c' escape prevents the insertion of an
additional blank line in the output.
Copying diversions longer than a single output line produces
unexpected results.
.di xxx
a funny
.br
test
.br
.di
.ds yyy This is \*[xxx]\c
\*[yyy].
=> test This is a funny.
Usually, it is not predictable whether a diversion contains one or
more output lines, so this mechanism should be avoided. With UNIX
`troff', this was the only solution to strip off a final newline
from a diversion. Another disadvantage is that the spaces in the
copied string are already formatted, making them unstretchable.
This can cause ugly results.
A clean solution to this problem is available in GNU `troff',
using the requests `chop' to remove the final newline of a
diversion, and `unformat' to make the horizontal spaces
stretchable again.
.box xxx
a funny
.br
test
.br
.box
.chop xxx
.unformat xxx
This is \*[xxx].
=> This is a funny test.
*Note Gtroff Internals::, for more information.
-- Request: .as name [string]
-- Request: .as1 name [string]
The `as' request is similar to `ds' but appends STRING to the
string stored as NAME instead of redefining it. If NAME doesn't
exist yet, it is created.
.as sign " with shallots, onions and garlic,
The `as1' request is similar to `as', but compatibility mode is
switched off while the appended string is interpreted. To be more
precise, a "compatibility save" input token is inserted at the
beginning of the appended string, and a "compatibility restore"
input token at the end.
Rudimentary string manipulation routines are given with the next two
requests.
-- Request: .substring str n1 [n2]
Replace the string named STR with the substring defined by the
indices N1 and N2. The first character in the string has index 0.
If N2 is omitted, it is taken to be equal to the string's length.
If the index value N1 or N2 is negative, it is counted from the
end of the string, going backwards: The last character has
index -1, the character before the last character has index -2,
etc.
.ds xxx abcdefgh
.substring xxx 1 -4
\*[xxx]
=> bcde
-- Request: .length reg str
Compute the number of characters of STR and return it in the
number register REG. If REG doesn't exist, it is created. `str'
is read in copy mode.
.ds xxx abcd\h'3i'efgh
.length yyy \*[xxx]
\n[yyy]
=> 14
-- Request: .rn xx yy
Rename the request, macro, diversion, or string XX to YY.
-- Request: .rm xx
Remove the request, macro, diversion, or string XX. `gtroff'
treats subsequent invocations as if the object had never been
defined.
-- Request: .als new old
Create an alias named NEW for the request, string, macro, or
diversion object named OLD. The new name and the old name are
exactly equivalent (it is similar to a hard rather than a soft
link). If OLD is undefined, `gtroff' generates a warning of type
`mac' and ignores the request.
-- Request: .chop xx
Remove (chop) the last character from the macro, string, or
diversion named XX. This is useful for removing the newline from
the end of diversions that are to be interpolated as strings.
This command can be used repeatedly; see *Note Gtroff Internals::,
for details on nodes inserted additionally by `gtroff'.
*Note Identifiers::, and *Note Comments::.

File: groff, Node: Conditionals and Loops, Next: Writing Macros, Prev: Strings, Up: gtroff Reference
5.20 Conditionals and Loops
===========================
* Menu:
* Operators in Conditionals::
* if-else::
* while::

File: groff, Node: Operators in Conditionals, Next: if-else, Prev: Conditionals and Loops, Up: Conditionals and Loops
5.20.1 Operators in Conditionals
--------------------------------
In `if' and `while' requests, there are several more operators
available:
`e'
`o'
True if the current page is even or odd numbered (respectively).
`n'
True if the document is being processed in nroff mode (i.e., the
`.nroff' command has been issued).
`t'
True if the document is being processed in troff mode (i.e., the
`.troff' command has been issued).
`v'
Always false. This condition is for compatibility with other
`troff' versions only (identifying a `-Tversatec' device).
`'XXX'YYY''
True if the string XXX is equal to the string YYY. Other
characters can be used in place of the single quotes; the same set
of delimiters as for the `\D' escape is used (*note Escapes::).
`gtroff' formats the strings before being compared:
.ie "|"\fR|\fP" \
true
.el \
false
=> true
The resulting motions, glyph sizes, and fonts have to match,(1)
(*note Operators in Conditionals-Footnote-1::) and not the
individual motion, size, and font requests. In the previous
example, `|' and `\fR|\fP' both result in a roman `|' glyph with
the same point size and at the same location on the page, so the
strings are equal. If `.ft I' had been added before the `.ie',
the result would be "false" because (the first) `|' produces an
italic `|' rather than a roman one.
`r XXX'
True if there is a number register named XXX.
`d XXX'
True if there is a string, macro, diversion, or request named XXX.
`m XXX'
True if there is a color named XXX.
`c G'
True if there is a glyph G available(2) (*note Operators in
Conditionals-Footnote-2::); G is either an ASCII character or a
special character (`\(GG' or `\[GGG]'); the condition is also true
if G has been defined by the `char' request.
`F FONT'
True if a font named FONT exists. FONT is handled as if it was
opened with the `ft' request (this is, font translation and styles
are applied), without actually mounting it.
This test doesn't load the complete font but only its header to
verify its validity.
`S STYLE'
True if style STYLE has been registered. Font translation is
applied.
Note that these operators can't be combined with other operators like
`:' or `&'; only a leading `!' (without whitespace between the
exclamation mark and the operator) can be used to negate the result.
.nr xxx 1
.ie !r xxx \
true
.el \
false
=> false
A whitespace after `!' always evaluates to zero (this bizarre
behaviour is due to compatibility with UNIX `troff').
.nr xxx 1
.ie ! r xxx \
true
.el \
false
=> r xxx true
It is possible to omit the whitespace before the argument to the
`r', `d', and `c' operators.
*Note Expressions::.

File: groff, Node: Operators in Conditionals-Footnotes, Up: Operators in Conditionals
(1) The created output nodes must be identical. *Note Gtroff
Internals::.
(2) The name of this conditional operator is a misnomer since it
tests names of output glyphs.

File: groff, Node: if-else, Next: while, Prev: Operators in Conditionals, Up: Conditionals and Loops
5.20.2 if-else
--------------
`gtroff' has if-then-else constructs like other languages, although the
formatting can be painful.
-- Request: .if expr anything
Evaluate the expression EXPR, and executes ANYTHING (the remainder
of the line) if EXPR evaluates to a value greater than zero
(true). ANYTHING is interpreted as though it was on a line by
itself (except that leading spaces are swallowed). *Note
Expressions::, for more info.
.nr xxx 1
.nr yyy 2
.if ((\n[xxx] == 1) & (\n[yyy] == 2)) true
=> true
-- Request: .nop anything
Executes ANYTHING. This is similar to `.if 1'.
-- Request: .ie expr anything
-- Request: .el anything
Use the `ie' and `el' requests to write an if-then-else. The
first request is the `if' part and the latter is the `else' part.
.ie n .ls 2 \" double-spacing in nroff
.el .ls 1 \" single-spacing in troff
-- Escape: \{
-- Escape: \}
In many cases, an if (or if-else) construct needs to execute more
than one request. This can be done using the `\{' and `\}'
escapes. The following example shows the possible ways to use
these escapes (note the position of the opening and closing
braces).
.ie t \{\
. ds lq ``
. ds rq ''
.\}
.el \
.\{\
. ds lq "
. ds rq "\}
*Note Expressions::.

File: groff, Node: while, Prev: if-else, Up: Conditionals and Loops
5.20.3 while
------------
`gtroff' provides a looping construct using the `while' request, which
is used much like the `if' (and related) requests.
-- Request: .while expr anything
Evaluate the expression EXPR, and repeatedly execute ANYTHING (the
remainder of the line) until EXPR evaluates to 0.
.nr a 0 1
.while (\na < 9) \{\
\n+a,
.\}
\n+a
=> 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Some remarks.
* The body of a `while' request is treated like the body of a
`de' request: `gtroff' temporarily stores it in a macro which
is deleted after the loop has been exited. It can
considerably slow down a macro if the body of the `while'
request (within the macro) is large. Each time the macro is
executed, the `while' body is parsed and stored again as a
temporary macro.
.de xxx
. nr num 10
. while (\\n[num] > 0) \{\
. \" many lines of code
. nr num -1
. \}
..
The traditional and ofter better solution (UNIX `troff'
doesn't have the `while' request) is to use a recursive macro
instead which is parsed only once during its definition.
.de yyy
. if (\\n[num] > 0) \{\
. \" many lines of code
. nr num -1
. yyy
. \}
..
.
.de xxx
. nr num 10
. yyy
..
Note that the number of available recursion levels is set
to 1000 (this is a compile-time constant value of `gtroff').
* The closing brace of a `while' body must end a line.
.if 1 \{\
. nr a 0 1
. while (\n[a] < 10) \{\
. nop \n+[a]
.\}\}
=> unbalanced \{ \}
-- Request: .break
Break out of a `while' loop. Be sure not to confuse this with the
`br' request (causing a line break).
-- Request: .continue
Finish the current iteration of a `while' loop, immediately
restarting the next iteration.
*Note Expressions::.

File: groff, Node: Writing Macros, Next: Page Motions, Prev: Conditionals and Loops, Up: gtroff Reference
5.21 Writing Macros
===================
A "macro" is a collection of text and embedded commands which can be
invoked multiple times. Use macros to define common operations.
-- Request: .de name [end]
-- Request: .de1 name [end]
-- Request: .dei name [end]
-- Request: .dei1 name [end]
Define a new macro named NAME. `gtroff' copies subsequent lines
(starting with the next one) into an internal buffer until it
encounters the line `..' (two dots). The optional second argument
to `de' changes this to a macro to `.END'.
There can be whitespace after the first dot in the line containing
the ending token (either `.' or macro `END').
Here a small example macro called `P' which causes a break and
inserts some vertical space. It could be used to separate
paragraphs.
.de P
. br
. sp .8v
..
The following example defines a macro within another. Remember
that expansion must be protected twice; once for reading the macro
and once for executing.
\# a dummy macro to avoid a warning
.de end
..
.
.de foo
. de bar end
. nop \f[B]Hallo \\\\$1!\f[]
. end
..
.
.foo
.bar Joe
=> Hallo Joe!
Since `\f' has no expansion, it isn't necessary to protect its
backslash. Had we defined another macro within `bar' which takes
a parameter, eight backslashes would be necessary before `$1'.
The `de1' request turns off compatibility mode while executing the
macro. On entry, the current compatibility mode is saved and
restored at exit.
.nr xxx 12345
.
.de aa
The value of xxx is \\n[xxx].
..
.de1 bb
The value of xxx ix \\n[xxx].
..
.
.cp 1
.
.aa
=> warning: number register `[' not defined
=> The value of xxx is 0xxx].
.bb
=> The value of xxx ix 12345.
The `dei' request defines a macro indirectly. That is, it expands
strings whose names are NAME or END before performing the append.
This:
.ds xx aa
.ds yy bb
.dei xx yy
is equivalent to:
.de aa bb
The `dei1' request is similar to `dei' but with compatibility mode
switched off during execution of the defined macro.
If compatibility mode is on, `de' (and `dei') behave similar to
`de1' (and `dei1'): A `compatibility save' token is inserted at
the beginning, and a `compatibility restore' token at the end, with
compatibility mode switched on during execution. *Note Gtroff
Internals::, for more information on switching compatibility mode
on and off in a single document.
Using `trace.tmac', you can trace calls to `de' and `de1'.
Note that macro identifiers are shared with identifiers for
strings and diversions.
-- Request: .am name [end]
-- Request: .am1 name [end]
-- Request: .ami name [end]
-- Request: .ami1 name [end]
Works similarly to `de' except it appends onto the macro named
NAME. So, to make the previously defined `P' macro actually do
indented instead of block paragraphs, add the necessary code to the
existing macro like this:
.am P
.ti +5n
..
The `am1' request turns off compatibility mode while executing the
appended macro piece. To be more precise, a "compatibility save"
input token is inserted at the beginning of the appended code, and
a "compatibility restore" input token at the end.
The `ami' request appends indirectly, meaning that `gtroff'
expands strings whose names are NAME or END before performing the
append.
The `ami1' request is similar to `ami' but compatibility mode is
switched off during execution of the defined macro.
Using `trace.tmac', you can trace calls to `am' and `am1'.
*Note Strings::, for the `als' request to rename a macro.
The `de', `am', `di', `da', `ds', and `as' requests (together with
its variants) only create a new object if the name of the macro,
diversion or string diversion is currently undefined or if it is
defined to be a request; normally they modify the value of an existing
object.
-- Request: .return [anything]
Exit a macro, immediately returning to the caller.
If called with an argument, exit twice, namely the current macro
and the macro one level higher. This is used to define a wrapper
macro for `return' in `trace.tmac'.
* Menu:
* Copy-in Mode::
* Parameters::

File: groff, Node: Copy-in Mode, Next: Parameters, Prev: Writing Macros, Up: Writing Macros
5.21.1 Copy-in Mode
-------------------
When `gtroff' reads in the text for a macro, string, or diversion, it
copies the text (including request lines, but excluding escapes) into
an internal buffer. Escapes are converted into an internal form,
except for `\n', `\$', `\*', `\\' and `\<RET>' which are evaluated and
inserted into the text where the escape was located. This is known as
"copy-in" mode or "copy" mode.
What this means is that you can specify when these escapes are to be
evaluated (either at copy-in time or at the time of use) by insulating
the escapes with an extra backslash. Compare this to the `\def' and
`\edef' commands in TeX.
The following example prints the numbers 20 and 10:
.nr x 20
.de y
.nr x 10
\&\nx
\&\\nx
..
.y

File: groff, Node: Parameters, Prev: Copy-in Mode, Up: Writing Macros
5.21.2 Parameters
-----------------
The arguments to a macro or string can be examined using a variety of
escapes.
-- Register: \n[.$]
The number of arguments passed to a macro or string. This is a
read-only number register.
Note that the `shift' request can change its value.
Any individual argument can be retrieved with one of the following
escapes:
-- Escape: \$n
-- Escape: \$(nn
-- Escape: \$[nnn]
Retrieve the Nth, NNth or NNNth argument. As usual, the first
form only accepts a single number (larger than zero), the second a
two-digit number (larger or equal to 10), and the third any
positive integer value (larger than zero). Macros and strings can
have an unlimited number of arguments. Note that due to copy-in
mode, use two backslashes on these in actual use to prevent
interpolation until the macro is actually invoked.
-- Request: .shift [n]
Shift the arguments 1 position, or as many positions as specified
by its argument. After executing this request, argument I becomes
argument I-N; arguments 1 to N are no longer available. Shifting
by negative amounts is currently undefined.
The register `.$' is adjusted accordingly.
-- Escape: \$*
-- Escape: \$@
In some cases it is convenient to use all of the arguments at once
(for example, to pass the arguments along to another macro). The
`\$*' escape concatenates all the arguments separated by spaces. A
similar escape is `\$@', which concatenates all the arguments with
each surrounded by double quotes, and separated by spaces. If not
in compatibility mode, the input level of double quotes is
preserved (see *Note Request and Macro Arguments::).
-- Escape: \$0
The name used to invoke the current macro. The `als' request can
make a macro have more than one name.
.de generic-macro
. ...
. if \\n[error] \{\
. tm \\$0: Houston, we have a problem.
. return
. \}
..
.
.als foo generic-macro
.als bar generic-macro
*Note Request and Macro Arguments::.

File: groff, Node: Page Motions, Next: Drawing Requests, Prev: Writing Macros, Up: gtroff Reference
5.22 Page Motions
=================
*Note Manipulating Spacing::, for a discussion of the main request for
vertical motion, `sp'.
-- Request: .mk [reg]
-- Request: .rt [dist]
The request `mk' can be used to mark a location on a page, for
movement to later. This request takes a register name as an
argument in which to store the current page location. With no
argument it stores the location in an internal register. The
results of this can be used later by the `rt' or the `sp' request
(or the `\v' escape).
The `rt' request returns _upwards_ to the location marked with the
last `mk' request. If used with an argument, return to a position
which distance from the top of the page is DIST (no previous call
to `mk' is necessary in this case). Default scaling indicator is
`v'.
Here a primitive solution for a two-column macro.
.nr column-length 1.5i
.nr column-gap 4m
.nr bottom-margin 1m
.
.de 2c
. br
. mk
. ll \\n[column-length]u
. wh -\\n[bottom-margin]u 2c-trap
. nr right-side 0
..
.
.de 2c-trap
. ie \\n[right-side] \{\
. nr right-side 0
. po -(\\n[column-length]u + \\n[column-gap]u)
. \" remove trap
. wh -\\n[bottom-margin]u
. \}
. el \{\
. \" switch to right side
. nr right-side 1
. po +(\\n[column-length]u + \\n[column-gap]u)
. rt
. \}
..
.
.pl 1.5i
.ll 4i
This is a small test which shows how the
rt request works in combination with mk.
.2c
Starting here, text is typeset in two columns.
Note that this implementation isn't robust
and thus not suited for a real two-column
macro.
Result:
This is a small test which shows how the
rt request works in combination with mk.
Starting here, isn't robust
text is typeset and thus not
in two columns. suited for a
Note that this real two-column
implementation macro.
The following escapes give fine control of movements about the page.
-- Escape: \v'e'
Move vertically, usually from the current location on the page (if
no absolute position operator `|' is used). The argument E
specifies the distance to move; positive is downwards and negative
upwards. The default scaling indicator for this escape is `v'.
Beware, however, that `gtroff' continues text processing at the
point where the motion ends, so you should always balance motions
to avoid interference with text processing.
`\v' doesn't trigger a trap. This can be quite useful; for
example, consider a page bottom trap macro which prints a marker
in the margin to indicate continuation of a footnote or something
similar.
There are some special-case escapes for vertical motion.
-- Escape: \r
Move upwards 1v.
-- Escape: \u
Move upwards .5v.
-- Escape: \d
Move down .5v.
-- Escape: \h'e'
Move horizontally, usually from the current location (if no
absolute position operator `|' is used). The expression E
indicates how far to move: positive is rightwards and negative
leftwards. The default scaling indicator for this escape is `m'.
This horizontal space is not discarded at the end of a line. To
insert discardable space of a certain length use the `ss' request.
There are a number of special-case escapes for horizontal motion.
-- Escape: \<SP>
An unbreakable and unpaddable (i.e. not expanded during filling)
space. (Note: This is a backslash followed by a space.)
-- Escape: \~
An unbreakable space that stretches like a normal inter-word space
when a line is adjusted.
-- Escape: \|
A 1/6th em space. Ignored for TTY output devices (rounded to
zero).
-- Escape: \^
A 1/12th em space. Ignored for TTY output devices (rounded to
zero).
-- Escape: \0
A space the size of a digit.
The following string sets the TeX logo:
.ds TeX T\h'-.1667m'\v'.224m'E\v'-.224m'\h'-.125m'X
-- Escape: \w'text'
-- Register: \n[st]
-- Register: \n[sb]
-- Register: \n[rst]
-- Register: \n[rsb]
-- Register: \n[ct]
-- Register: \n[ssc]
-- Register: \n[skw]
Return the width of the specified TEXT in basic units. This
allows horizontal movement based on the width of some arbitrary
text (e.g. given as an argument to a macro).
The length of the string `abc' is \w'abc'u.
=> The length of the string `abc' is 72u.
Font changes may occur in TEXT which don't affect current settings.
After use, `\w' sets several registers:
`st'
`sb'
The highest and lowest point of the baseline, respectively,
in TEXT.
`rst'
`rsb'
Like the `st' and `sb' registers, but takes account of the
heights and depths of glyphs. With other words, this gives
the highest and lowest point of TEXT. Values below the
baseline are negative.
`ct'
Defines the kinds of glyphs occurring in TEXT:
0
only short glyphs, no descenders or tall glyphs.
1
at least one descender.
2
at least one tall glyph.
3
at least one each of a descender and a tall glyph.
`ssc'
The amount of horizontal space (possibly negative) that
should be added to the last glyph before a subscript.
`skw'
How far to right of the center of the last glyph in the `\w'
argument, the center of an accent from a roman font should be
placed over that glyph.
-- Escape: \kp
-- Escape: \k(ps
-- Escape: \k[position]
Store the current horizontal position in the _input_ line in
number register with name POSITION (one-character name P,
two-character name PS). Use this, for example, to return to the
beginning of a string for highlighting or other decoration.
-- Register: \n[hp]
The current horizontal position at the input line.
-- Register: \n[.k]
A read-only number register containing the current horizontal
output position (relative to the current indentation).
-- Escape: \o'abc'
Overstrike glyphs A, B, C, ...; the glyphs are centered, and the
resulting spacing is the largest width of the affected glyphs.
-- Escape: \zg
Print glyph G with zero width, i.e., without spacing. Use this to
overstrike glyphs left-aligned.
-- Escape: \Z'anything'
Print ANYTHING, then restore the horizontal and vertical position.
The argument may not contain tabs or leaders.
The following is an example of a strike-through macro:
.de ST
.nr ww \w'\\$1'
\Z@\v'-.25m'\l'\\n[ww]u'@\\$1
..
.
This is
.ST "a test"
an actual emergency!

Local Variables:
coding: iso-8859-1
End:
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