This is groff, produced by makeinfo version 4.2 from ./groff.texinfo.
This manual documents GNU `troff' version 1.18.
Copyright (C) 1994-2000, 2001, 2002 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 Miscellaneous
START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
* Groff: (groff). The GNU troff document formatting system.
END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
File: groff, Node: grops, Next: grodvi, Prev: grotty, Up: Output Devices
`grops'
=======
* Menu:
* Invoking grops::
* Embedding PostScript::
File: groff, Node: Invoking grops, Next: Embedding PostScript, Prev: grops, Up: grops
Invoking `grops'
----------------
File: groff, Node: Embedding PostScript, Prev: Invoking grops, Up: grops
Embedding POSTSCRIPT
--------------------
File: groff, Node: grodvi, Next: grolj4, Prev: grops, Up: Output Devices
`grodvi'
========
* Menu:
* Invoking grodvi::
File: groff, Node: Invoking grodvi, Prev: grodvi, Up: grodvi
Invoking `grodvi'
-----------------
File: groff, Node: grolj4, Next: grolbp, Prev: grodvi, Up: Output Devices
`grolj4'
========
* Menu:
* Invoking grolj4::
File: groff, Node: Invoking grolj4, Prev: grolj4, Up: grolj4
Invoking `grolj4'
-----------------
File: groff, Node: grolbp, Next: grohtml, Prev: grolj4, Up: Output Devices
`grolbp'
========
* Menu:
* Invoking grolbp::
File: groff, Node: Invoking grolbp, Prev: grolbp, Up: grolbp
Invoking `grolbp'
-----------------
File: groff, Node: grohtml, Next: gxditview, Prev: grolbp, Up: Output Devices
`grohtml'
=========
* Menu:
* Invoking grohtml::
* grohtml specific registers and strings::
File: groff, Node: Invoking grohtml, Next: grohtml specific registers and strings, Prev: grohtml, Up: grohtml
Invoking `grohtml'
------------------
File: groff, Node: grohtml specific registers and strings, Prev: Invoking grohtml, Up: grohtml
`grohtml' specific registers and strings
----------------------------------------
- Register: \n[ps4html]
- String: \*[www-image-template]
The registers `ps4html' and `www-image-template' are defined by
the `pre-grohtml' preprocessor. `pre-grohtml' reads in the
`troff' input, marks up the inline equations and passes the result
firstly to
troff -Tps -rps4html=1 -dwww-image-template=TEMPLATE
and secondly to
troff -Thtml
The PostScript device is used to create all the image files, and
the register `ps4html' enables the macro sets to ignore floating
keeps, footers, and headings.
The register `www-image-template' is set to the user specified
template name or the default name.
File: groff, Node: gxditview, Prev: grohtml, Up: Output Devices
`gxditview'
===========
* Menu:
* Invoking gxditview::
File: groff, Node: Invoking gxditview, Prev: gxditview, Up: gxditview
Invoking `gxditview'
--------------------
File: groff, Node: File formats, Next: Installation, Prev: Output Devices, Up: Top
File formats
************
All files read and written by `gtroff' are text files. The
following two sections describe their format.
* Menu:
* gtroff Output::
* Font Files::
File: groff, Node: gtroff Output, Next: Font Files, Prev: File formats, Up: File formats
`gtroff' Output
===============
This section describes the intermediate output format of GNU
`troff'. This output is produced by a run of `gtroff' before it is fed
into a device postprocessor program.
As `groff' is a wrapper program around `gtroff' that automatically
calls a postprocessor, this output does not show up normally. This is
why it is called "intermediate". `groff' provides the option `-Z' to
inhibit postprocessing, such that the produced intermediate output is
sent to standard output just like calling `gtroff' manually.
Here, the term "troff output" describes what is output by `gtroff',
while "intermediate output" refers to the language that is accepted by
the parser that prepares this output for the postprocessors. This
parser is smarter on whitespace and implements obsolete elements for
compatibility, otherwise both formats are the same.(1) (*note gtroff
Output-Footnote-1::)
The main purpose of the intermediate output concept is to facilitate
the development of postprocessors by providing a common programming
interface for all devices. It has a language of its own that is
completely different from the `gtroff' language. While the `gtroff'
language is a high-level programming language for text processing, the
intermediate output language is a kind of low-level assembler language
by specifying all positions on the page for writing and drawing.
The intermediate output produced by `gtroff' is fairly readable,
while output from AT&T `troff' is rather hard to understand because of
strange habits that are still supported, but not used any longer by
`gtroff'.
* Menu:
* Language Concepts::
* Command Reference::
* Intermediate Output Examples::
* Output Language Compatibility::
File: groff, Node: gtroff Output-Footnotes, Up: gtroff Output
(1) The parser and postprocessor for intermediate output can be
found in the file
`GROFF-SOURCE-DIR/src/libs/libdriver/input.cc'.
File: groff, Node: Language Concepts, Next: Command Reference, Prev: gtroff Output, Up: gtroff Output
Language Concepts
-----------------
During the run of `gtroff', the input data is cracked down to the
information on what has to be printed at what position on the intended
device. So the language of the intermediate output format can be quite
small. Its only elements are commands with and without arguments. In
this section, the term "command" always refers to the intermediate
output language, and never to the `gtroff' language used for document
formatting. There are commands for positioning and text writing, for
drawing, and for device controlling.
* Menu:
* Separation::
* Argument Units::
* Document Parts::
File: groff, Node: Separation, Next: Argument Units, Prev: Language Concepts, Up: Language Concepts
Separation
..........
AT&T `troff' output has strange requirements on whitespace. The
`gtroff' output parser, however, is smart about whitespace by making it
maximally optional. The whitespace characters, i.e., the tab, space,
and newline characters, always have a syntactical meaning. They are
never printable because spacing within the output is always done by
positioning commands.
Any sequence of space or tab characters is treated as a single
"syntactical space". It separates commands and arguments, but is only
required when there would occur a clashing between the command code and
the arguments without the space. Most often, this happens when
variable-length command names, arguments, argument lists, or command
clusters meet. Commands and arguments with a known, fixed length need
not be separated by syntactical space.
A line break is a syntactical element, too. Every command argument
can be followed by whitespace, a comment, or a newline character. Thus
a "syntactical line break" is defined to consist of optional
syntactical space that is optionally followed by a comment, and a
newline character.
The normal commands, those for positioning and text, consist of a
single letter taking a fixed number of arguments. For historical
reasons, the parser allows to stack such commands on the same line, but
fortunately, in `gtroff''s intermediate output, every command with at
least one argument is followed by a line break, thus providing
excellent readability.
The other commands - those for drawing and device controlling - have
a more complicated structure; some recognize long command names, and
some take a variable number of arguments. So all `D' and `x' commands
were designed to request a syntactical line break after their last
argument. Only one command, `x X', has an argument that can stretch
over several lines; all other commands must have all of their arguments
on the same line as the command, i.e., the arguments may not be
splitted by a line break.
Empty lines (these are lines containing only space and/or a
comment), can occur everywhere. They are just ignored.
File: groff, Node: Argument Units, Next: Document Parts, Prev: Separation, Up: Language Concepts
Argument Units
..............
Some commands take integer arguments that are assumed to represent
values in a measurement unit, but the letter for the corresponding
scale indicator is not written with the output command arguments. Most
commands assume the scale indicator `u', the basic unit of the device,
some use `z', the scaled point unit of the device, while others, such
as the color commands, expect plain integers.
Note that single characters can have the eighth bit set, as can the
names of fonts and special characters. The names of characters and
fonts can be of arbitrary length. A character that is to be printed
will always be in the current font.
A string argument is always terminated by the next whitespace
character (space, tab, or newline); an embedded `#' character is
regarded as part of the argument, not as the beginning of a comment
command. An integer argument is already terminated by the next
non-digit character, which then is regarded as the first character of
the next argument or command.
File: groff, Node: Document Parts, Prev: Argument Units, Up: Language Concepts
Document Parts
..............
A correct intermediate output document consists of two parts, the
"prologue" and the "body".
The task of the prologue is to set the general device parameters
using three exactly specified commands. `gtroff''s prologue is
guaranteed to consist of the following three lines (in that order):
x T DEVICE
x res N H V
x init
with the arguments set as outlined in *Note Device Control Commands::.
Note that the parser for the intermediate output format is able to
swallow additional whitespace and comments as well even in the prologue.
The body is the main section for processing the document data.
Syntactically, it is a sequence of any commands different from the ones
used in the prologue. Processing is terminated as soon as the first
`x stop' command is encountered; the last line of any `gtroff'
intermediate output always contains such a command.
Semantically, the body is page oriented. A new page is started by a
`p' command. Positioning, writing, and drawing commands are always
done within the current page, so they cannot occur before the first `p'
command. Absolute positioning (by the `H' and `V' commands) is done
relative to the current page; all other positioning is done relative to
the current location within this page.
File: groff, Node: Command Reference, Next: Intermediate Output Examples, Prev: Language Concepts, Up: gtroff Output
Command Reference
-----------------
This section describes all intermediate output commands, both from
AT&T `troff' as well as the `gtroff' extensions.
* Menu:
* Comment Command::
* Simple Commands::
* Graphics Commands::
* Device Control Commands::
* Obsolete Command::
File: groff, Node: Comment Command, Next: Simple Commands, Prev: Command Reference, Up: Command Reference
Comment Command
...............
`#ANYTHING<end of line>'
A comment. Ignore any characters from the `#' character up to the
next newline character.
This command is the only possibility for commenting in the
intermediate output. Each comment can be preceded by arbitrary
syntactical space; every command can be terminated by a comment.
File: groff, Node: Simple Commands, Next: Graphics Commands, Prev: Comment Command, Up: Command Reference
Simple Commands
...............
The commands in this subsection have a command code consisting of a
single character, taking a fixed number of arguments. Most of them are
commands for positioning and text writing. These commands are smart
about whitespace. Optionally, syntactical space can be inserted
before, after, and between the command letter and its arguments. All
of these commands are stackable, i.e., they can be preceded by other
simple commands or followed by arbitrary other commands on the same
line. A separating syntactical space is only necessary when two
integer arguments would clash or if the preceding argument ends with a
string argument.
`C XXX<whitespace>'
Print a special character named XXX. The trailing syntactical
space or line break is necessary to allow glyph names of arbitrary
length. The glyph is printed at the current print position; the
glyph's size is read from the font file. The print position is
not changed.
`c G'
Print glyph G at the current print position;(1) (*note Simple
Commands-Footnote-1::) the glyph's size is read from the font
file. The print position is not changed.
`f N'
Set font to font number N (a non-negative integer).
`H N'
Move right to the absolute vertical position N (a non-negative
integer in basic units `u' relative to left edge of current page.
`h N'
Move N (a non-negative integer) basic units `u' horizontally to
the right. The original UNIX troff manual allows negative values
for N also, but `gtroff' doesn't use this.
`m COLOR-SCHEME [COMPONENT ...]'
Set the color for text (glyphs), line drawing, and the outline of
graphic objects using different color schemes; the analoguous
command for the filling color of graphic objects is `DF'. The
color components are specified as integer arguments between 0 and
65536. The number of color components and their meaning vary for
the different color schemes. These commands are generated by
`gtroff''s escape sequence `\m'. No position changing. These
commands are a `gtroff' extension.
`mc CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW'
Set color using the CMY color scheme, having the 3 color
components CYAN, MAGENTA, and YELLOW.
`md'
Set color to the default color value (black in most cases).
No component arguments.
`mg GRAY'
Set color to the shade of gray given by the argument, an
integer between 0 (black) and 65536 (white).
`mk CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK'
Set color using the CMYK color scheme, having the 4 color
components CYAN, MAGENTA, YELLOW, and BLACK.
`mr RED GREEN BLUE'
Set color using the RGB color scheme, having the 3 color
components RED, GREEN, and BLUE.
`N N'
Print glyph with index N (a non-negative integer) of the current
font. This command is a `gtroff' extension.
`n B A'
Inform the device about a line break, but no positioning is done by
this command. In AT&T `troff', the integer arguments B and A
informed about the space before and after the current line to make
the intermediate output more human readable without performing any
action. In `groff', they are just ignored, but they must be
provided for compatibility reasons.
`p N'
Begin a new page in the outprint. The page number is set to N.
This page is completely independent of pages formerly processed
even if those have the same page number. The vertical position on
the outprint is automatically set to 0. All positioning, writing,
and drawing is always done relative to a page, so a `p' command
must be issued before any of these commands.
`s N'
Set point size to N scaled points (this is unit `z'). AT&T
`troff' used the unit points (`p') instead. *Note Output Language
Compatibility::.
`t XXX<whitespace>'
`t XXX DUMMY-ARG<whitespace>'
Print a word, i.e., a sequence of characters XXX representing
output glyphs which names are single characters, terminated by a
space character or a line break; an optional second integer
argument is ignored (this allows the formatter to generate an even
number of arguments). The first glyph should be printed at the
current position, the current horizontal position should then be
increased by the width of the first glyph, and so on for each
glyph. The widths of the glyphs are read from the font file,
scaled for the current point size, and rounded to a multiple of
the horizontal resolution. Special characters cannot be printed
using this command (use the `C' command for special characters).
This command is a `gtroff' extension; it is only used for devices
whose `DESC' file contains the `tcommand' keyword (*note DESC File
Format::).
`u N XXX<whitespace>'
Print word with track kerning. This is the same as the `t'
command except that after printing each glyph, the current
horizontal position is increased by the sum of the width of that
glyph and N (an integer in basic units `u'). This command is a
`gtroff' extension; it is only used for devices whose `DESC' file
contains the `tcommand' keyword (*note DESC File Format::).
`V N'
Move down to the absolute vertical position N (a non-negative
integer in basic units `u') relative to upper edge of current page.
`v N'
Move N basic units `u' down (N is a non-negative integer). The
original UNIX troff manual allows negative values for N also, but
`gtroff' doesn't use this.
`w'
Informs about a paddable white space to increase readability. The
spacing itself must be performed explicitly by a move command.
File: groff, Node: Simple Commands-Footnotes, Up: Simple Commands
(1) `c' is actually a misnomer since it outputs a glyph.
File: groff, Node: Graphics Commands, Next: Device Control Commands, Prev: Simple Commands, Up: Command Reference
Graphics Commands
.................
Each graphics or drawing command in the intermediate output starts
with the letter `D', followed by one or two characters that specify a
subcommand; this is followed by a fixed or variable number of integer
arguments that are separated by a single space character. A `D'
command may not be followed by another command on the same line (apart
from a comment), so each `D' command is terminated by a syntactical
line break.
`gtroff' output follows the classical spacing rules (no space
between command and subcommand, all arguments are preceded by a single
space character), but the parser allows optional space between the
command letters and makes the space before the first argument optional.
As usual, each space can be any sequence of tab and space characters.
Some graphics commands can take a variable number of arguments. In
this case, they are integers representing a size measured in basic
units `u'. The arguments called H1, H2, ..., HN stand for horizontal
distances where positive means right, negative left. The arguments
called V1, V2, ..., VN stand for vertical distances where positive
means down, negative up. All these distances are offsets relative to
the current location.
Unless indicated otherwise, each graphics command directly
corresponds to a similar `gtroff' `\D' escape sequence. *Note Drawing
Requests::.
Unknown `D' commands are assumed to be device-specific. Its
arguments are parsed as strings; the whole information is then sent to
the postprocessor.
In the following command reference, the syntax element <line break>
means a syntactical line break as defined above.
`D~ H1 V1 H2 V2 ... HN VN<line break>'
Draw B-spline from current position to offset (H1,V1), then to
offset (H2,V2), if given, etc. up to (HN,VN). This command takes
a variable number of argument pairs; the current position is moved
to the terminal point of the drawn curve.
`Da H1 V1 H2 V2<line break>'
Draw arc from current position to (H1,V1)+(H2,V2) with center at
(H1,V1); then move the current position to the final point of the
arc.
`DC D<line break>'
`DC D DUMMY-ARG<line break>'
Draw a solid circle using the current fill color with diameter D
(integer in basic units `u') with leftmost point at the current
position; then move the current position to the rightmost point of
the circle. An optional second integer argument is ignored (this
allows the formatter to generate an even number of arguments).
This command is a `gtroff' extension.
`Dc D<line break>'
Draw circle line with diameter D (integer in basic units `u') with
leftmost point at the current position; then move the current
position to the rightmost point of the circle.
`DE H V<line break>'
Draw a solid ellipse in the current fill color with a horizontal
diameter of H and a vertical diameter of V (both integers in basic
units `u') with the leftmost point at the current position; then
move to the rightmost point of the ellipse. This command is a
`gtroff' extension.
`De H V<line break>'
Draw an outlined ellipse with a horizontal diameter of H and a
vertical diameter of V (both integers in basic units `u') with the
leftmost point at current position; then move to the rightmost
point of the ellipse.
`DF COLOR-SCHEME [COMPONENT ...]<line break>'
Set fill color for solid drawing objects using different color
schemes; the analoguous command for setting the color of text, line
graphics, and the outline of graphic objects is `m'. The color
components are specified as integer arguments between 0 and 65536.
The number of color components and their meaning vary for the
different color schemes. These commands are generated by
`gtroff''s escape sequences `\D'F ...'' and `\M' (with no other
corresponding graphics commands). No position changing. This
command is a `gtroff' extension.
`DFc CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW<line break>'
Set fill color for solid drawing objects using the CMY color
scheme, having the 3 color components CYAN, MAGENTA, and
YELLOW.
`DFd<line break>'
Set fill color for solid drawing objects to the default fill
color value (black in most cases). No component arguments.
`DFg GRAY<line break>'
Set fill color for solid drawing objects to the shade of gray
given by the argument, an integer between 0 (black) and 65536
(white).
`DFk CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK<line break>'
Set fill color for solid drawing objects using the CMYK color
scheme, having the 4 color components CYAN, MAGENTA, YELLOW,
and BLACK.
`DFr RED GREEN BLUE<line break>'
Set fill color for solid drawing objects using the RGB color
scheme, having the 3 color components RED, GREEN, and BLUE.
`Df N<line break>'
The argument N must be an integer in the range -32767 to 32767.
0 <= N <= 1000
Set the color for filling solid drawing objects to a shade of
gray, where 0 corresponds to solid white, 1000 (the default)
to solid black, and values in between to intermediate shades
of gray; this is obsoleted by command `DFg'.
N < 0 or N < 1000
Set the filling color to the color that is currently being
used for the text and the outline, see command `m'. For
example, the command sequence
mg 0 0 65536
Df -1
sets all colors to blue.
No position changing. This command is a `gtroff' extension.
`Dl H V<line break>'
Draw line from current position to offset (H,V) (integers in basic
units `u'); then set current position to the end of the drawn line.
`Dp H1 V1 H2 V2 ... HN VN<line break>'
Draw a polygon line from current position to offset (H1,V1), from
there to offset (H2,V2), etc. up to offset (HN,VN), and from there
back to the starting position. For historical reasons, the
position is changed by adding the sum of all arguments with odd
index to the actual horizontal position and the even ones to the
vertical position. Although this doesn't make sense it is kept
for compatibility. This command is a `gtroff' extension.
`Dp H1 V1 H2 V2 ... HN VN<line break>'
Draw a solid polygon in the current fill color rather than an
outlined polygon, using the same arguments and positioning as the
corresponding `Dp' command. This command is a `gtroff' extension.
`Dt N<line break>'
Set the current line thickness to N (an integer in basic units
`u') if N>0; if N=0 select the smallest available line thickness;
if N<0 set the line thickness proportional to the point size (this
is the default before the first `Dt' command was specified). For
historical reasons, the horizontal position is changed by adding
the argument to the actual horizontal position, while the vertical
position is not changed. Although this doesn't make sense it is
kept for compatibility. This command is a `gtroff' extension.
File: groff, Node: Device Control Commands, Next: Obsolete Command, Prev: Graphics Commands, Up: Command Reference
Device Control Commands
.......................
Each device control command starts with the letter `x', followed by
a space character (optional or arbitrary space or tab in `gtroff') and
a subcommand letter or word; each argument (if any) must be preceded by
a syntactical space. All `x' commands are terminated by a syntactical
line break; no device control command can be followed by another
command on the same line (except a comment).
The subcommand is basically a single letter, but to increase
readability, it can be written as a word, i.e., an arbitrary sequence
of characters terminated by the next tab, space, or newline character.
All characters of the subcommand word but the first are simply ignored.
For example, `gtroff' outputs the initialization command `x i' as
`x init' and the resolution command `x r' as `x res'.
In the following, the syntax element <line break> means a
syntactical line break (*note Separation::).
`xF NAME<line break>'
The `F' stands for FILENAME.
Use NAME as the intended name for the current file in error
reports. This is useful for remembering the original file name
when `gtroff' uses an internal piping mechanism. The input file is
not changed by this command. This command is a `gtroff' extension.
`xf N S<line break>'
The `f' stands for FONT.
Mount font position N (a non-negative integer) with font named S
(a text word). *Note Font Positions::.
`xH N<line break>'
The `H' stands for HEIGHT.
Set glyph height to N (a positive integer in scaled points `z').
AT&T `troff' uses the unit points (`p') instead. *Note Output
Language Compatibility::.
`xi<line break>'
The `i' stands for INIT.
Initialize device. This is the third command of the prologue.
`xp<line break>'
The `p' stands for PAUSE.
Parsed but ignored. The original UNIX troff manual writes
pause device, can be restarted
`xr N H V<line break>'
The `r' stands for RESOLUTION.
Resolution is N, while H is the minimal horizontal motion, and V
the minimal vertical motion possible with this device; all
arguments are positive integers in basic units `u' per inch. This
is the second command of the prologue.
`xS N<line break>'
The `S' stands for SLANT.
Set slant to N (an integer in basic units `u').
`xs<line break>'
The `s' stands for STOP.
Terminates the processing of the current file; issued as the last
command of any intermediate troff output.
`xt<line break>'
The `t' stands for TRAILER.
Generate trailer information, if any. In GTROFF, this is actually
just ignored.
`xT XXX<line break>'
The `T' stands for TYPESETTER.
Set name of device to word XXX, a sequence of characters ended by
the next white space character. The possible device names coincide
with those from the `groff' `-T' option. This is the first
command of the prologue.
`xu N<line break>'
The `u' stands for UNDERLINE.
Configure underlining of spaces. If N is 1, start underlining of
spaces; if N is 0, stop underlining of spaces. This is needed for
the `cu' request in nroff mode and is ignored otherwise. This
command is a `gtroff' extension.
`xX ANYTHING<line break>'
The `x' stands for X-ESCAPE.
Send string ANYTHING uninterpreted to the device. If the line
following this command starts with a `+' character this line is
interpreted as a continuation line in the following sense. The
`+' is ignored, but a newline character is sent instead to the
device, the rest of the line is sent uninterpreted. The same
applies to all following lines until the first character of a line
is not a `+' character. This command is generated by the `gtroff'
escape sequence `\X'. The line-continuing feature is a `gtroff'
extension.
File: groff, Node: Obsolete Command, Prev: Device Control Commands, Up: Command Reference
Obsolete Command
................
In AT&T `troff' output, the writing of a single glyph is mostly done
by a very strange command that combines a horizontal move and a single
character giving the glyph name. It doesn't have a command code, but
is represented by a 3-character argument consisting of exactly 2 digits
and a character.
DDG
Move right DD (exactly two decimal digits) basic units `u', then
print glyph G (represented as a single character).
In `gtroff', arbitrary syntactical space around and within this
command is allowed to be added. Only when a preceding command on
the same line ends with an argument of variable length a
separating space is obligatory. In AT&T `troff', large clusters
of these and other commands are used, mostly without spaces; this
made such output almost unreadable.
For modern high-resolution devices, this command does not make sense
because the width of the glyphs can become much larger than two decimal
digits. In `gtroff', this is only used for the devices `X75',
`X75-12', `X100', and `X100-12'. For other devices, the commands `t'
and `u' provide a better functionality.
File: groff, Node: Intermediate Output Examples, Next: Output Language Compatibility, Prev: Command Reference, Up: gtroff Output
Intermediate Output Examples
----------------------------
This section presents the intermediate output generated from the same
input for three different devices. The input is the sentence `hell
world' fed into `gtroff' on the command line.
High-resolution device `ps'
This is the standard output of `gtroff' if no `-T' option is given.
shell> echo "hell world" | groff -Z -T ps
x T ps
x res 72000 1 1
x init
p1
x font 5 TR
f5
s10000
V12000
H72000
thell
wh2500
tw
H96620
torld
n12000 0
x trailer
V792000
x stop
This output can be fed into `grops' to get its representation as a
PostScript file.
Low-resolution device `latin1'
This is similar to the high-resolution device except that the
positioning is done at a minor scale. Some comments (lines
starting with `#') were added for clarification; they were not
generated by the formatter.
shell> echo "hell world" | groff -Z -T latin1
# prologue
x T latin1
x res 240 24 40
x init
# begin a new page
p1
# font setup
x font 1 R
f1
s10
# initial positioning on the page
V40
H0
# write text `hell'
thell
# inform about space, and issue a horizontal jump
wh24
# write text `world'
tworld
# announce line break, but do nothing because ...
n40 0
# ... the end of the document has been reached
x trailer
V2640
x stop
This output can be fed into `grotty' to get a formatted text
document.
AT&T `troff' output
Since a computer monitor has a very low resolution compared to
modern printers the intermediate output for the X Window devices
can use the jump-and-write command with its 2-digit displacements.
shell> echo "hell world" | groff -Z -T X100
x T X100
x res 100 1 1
x init
p1
x font 5 TR
f5
s10
V16
H100
# write text with jump-and-write commands
ch07e07l03lw06w11o07r05l03dh7
n16 0
x trailer
V1100
x stop
This output can be fed into `xditview' or `gxditview' for
displaying in X.
Due to the obsolete jump-and-write command, the text clusters in
the AT&T `troff' output are almost unreadable.
File: groff, Node: Output Language Compatibility, Prev: Intermediate Output Examples, Up: gtroff Output
Output Language Compatibility
-----------------------------
The intermediate output language of AT&T `troff' was first
documented in the UNIX troff manual, with later additions documented in
`A Typesetter-indenpendent TROFF', written by Brian Kernighan.
The `gtroff' intermediate output format is compatible with this
specification except for the following features.
* The classical quasi device independence is not yet implemented.
* The old hardware was very different from what we use today. So the
`groff' devices are also fundamentally different from the ones in
AT&T `troff'. For example, the AT&T PostScript device is called
`post' and has a resolution of only 720 units per inch, suitable
for printers 20 years ago, while `groff''s `ps' device has a
resolution of 72000 units per inch. Maybe, by implementing some
rescaling mechanism similar to the classical quasi device
independence, `groff' could emulate AT&T's `post' device.
* The B-spline command `D~' is correctly handled by the intermediate
output parser, but the drawing routines aren't implemented in some
of the postprocessor programs.
* The argument of the commands `s' and `x H' has the implicit unit
scaled point `z' in `gtroff', while AT&T `troff' has point (`p').
This isn't an incompatibility but a compatible extension, for both
units coincide for all devices without a `sizescale' parameter in
the `DESC' file, including all postprocessors from AT&T and
`groff''s text devices. The few `groff' devices with a
`sizescale' parameter either do not exist for AT&T `troff', have a
different name, or seem to have a different resolution. So
conflicts are very unlikely.
* The position changing after the commands `Dp', `DP', and `Dt' is
illogical, but as old versions of `gtroff' used this feature it is
kept for compatibility reasons.
File: groff, Node: Font Files, Prev: gtroff Output, Up: File formats
Font Files
==========
The `gtroff' font format is roughly a superset of the `ditroff' font
format (as used in later versions of AT&T `troff' and its descendants).
Unlike the `ditroff' font format, there is no associated binary
format; all files are text files.(1) (*note Font Files-Footnote-1::)
The font files for device NAME are stored in a directory `devNAME'.
There are two types of file: a device description file called `DESC'
and for each font F a font file called `F'.
* Menu:
* DESC File Format::
* Font File Format::
File: groff, Node: Font Files-Footnotes, Up: Font Files
(1) Plan 9 `troff' has also abandoned the binary format.
File: groff, Node: DESC File Format, Next: Font File Format, Prev: Font Files, Up: Font Files
`DESC' File Format
------------------
The `DESC' file can contain the following types of line. Except for
the `charset' keyword which must comes last (if at all), the order of
the lines is not important.
`res N'
There are N machine units per inch.
`hor N'
The horizontal resolution is N machine units.
`vert N'
The vertical resolution is N machine units.
`sizescale N'
The scale factor for point sizes. By default this has a value
of 1. One scaled point is equal to one point/N. The arguments to
the `unitwidth' and `sizes' commands are given in scaled points.
*Note Fractional Type Sizes::, for more information.
`unitwidth N'
Quantities in the font files are given in machine units for fonts
whose point size is N scaled points.
`prepro PROGRAM'
Call PROGRAM as a preprocessor. Currently, this keyword is used
by `groff' with option `-Thtml' only.
`postpro PROGRAM'
Call PROGRAM as a postprocessor. For example, the line
postpro grodvi
in the file `devdvi/DESC' makes `groff' call `grodvi' if option
`-Tdvi' is given (and `-Z' isn't used).
`tcommand'
This means that the postprocessor can handle the `t' and `u'
intermediate output commands.
`sizes S1 S2 ... SN 0'
This means that the device has fonts at S1, S2, ... SN scaled
points. The list of sizes must be terminated by 0 (this is digit
zero). Each SI can also be a range of sizes M-N. The list can
extend over more than one line.
`styles S1 S2 ... SM'
The first M font positions are associated with styles S1 ... SM.
`fonts N F1 F2 F3 ... FN'
Fonts F1 ... FN are mounted in the font positions M+1, ..., M+N
where M is the number of styles. This command may extend over
more than one line. A font name of 0 means no font is mounted on
the corresponding font position.
`family FAM'
The default font family is FAM.
`use_charnames_in_special'
This command indicates that `gtroff' should encode special
characters inside special commands. Currently, this is only used
by the HTML output device. *Note Postprocessor Access::.
`papersize STRING ...'
Select a paper size. Valid values for STRING are the ISO paper
types `A0'-`A7', `B0'-`B7', `C0'-`C7', `D0'-`D7', `DL', and the US
paper types `letter', `legal', `tabloid', `ledger', `statement',
`executive', `com10', and `monarch'. Case is not significant for
STRING if it holds predefined paper types. Alternatively, STRING
can be a file name (e.g. `/etc/papersize'); if the file can be
opened, `groff' reads the first line and tests for the above paper
sizes. Finally, STRING can be a custom paper size in the format
`LENGTH,WIDTH' (no spaces before and after the comma). Both
LENGTH and WIDTH must have a unit appended; valid values are `i'
for inches, `C' for centimeters, `p' for points, and `P' for
picas. Example: `12c,235p'. An argument which starts with a
digit is always treated as a custom paper format. `papersize'
sets both the vertical and horizontal dimension of the output
medium.
More than one argument can be specified; `groff' scans from left to
right and uses the first valid paper specification.
`pass_filenames'
Tell `gtroff' to emit the name of the source file currently being
processed. This is achieved by the intermediate output command
`F'. Currently, this is only used by the HTML output device.
`print PROGRAM'
Use PROGRAM as a spooler program for printing. If omitted, the
`-l' and `-L' options of `groff' are ignored.
`charset'
This line and everything following in the file are ignored. It is
allowed for the sake of backwards compatibility.
The `res', `unitwidth', `fonts', and `sizes' lines are mandatory.
Other commands are ignored by `gtroff' but may be used by
postprocessors to store arbitrary information about the device in the
`DESC' file.
Here a list of obsolete keywords which are recognized by `groff' but
completely ignored: `spare1', `spare2', `biggestfont'.
File: groff, Node: Font File Format, Prev: DESC File Format, Up: Font Files
Font File Format
----------------
A "font file", also (and probably better) called a "font description
file", has two sections. The first section is a sequence of lines each
containing a sequence of blank delimited words; the first word in the
line is a key, and subsequent words give a value for that key.
`name F'
The name of the font is F.
`spacewidth N'
The normal width of a space is N.
`slant N'
The glyphs of the font have a slant of N degrees. (Positive means
forward.)
`ligatures LIG1 LIG2 ... LIGN [0]'
Glyphs LIG1, LIG2, ..., LIGN are ligatures; possible ligatures are
`ff', `fi', `fl', `ffi' and `ffl'. For backwards compatibility,
the list of ligatures may be terminated with a 0. The list of
ligatures may not extend over more than one line.
`special'
The font is "special"; this means that when a glyph is requested
that is not present in the current font, it is searched for in any
special fonts that are mounted.
Other commands are ignored by `gtroff' but may be used by
postprocessors to store arbitrary information about the font in the font
file.
The first section can contain comments which start with the `#'
character and extend to the end of a line.
The second section contains one or two subsections. It must contain
a `charset' subsection and it may also contain a `kernpairs'
subsection. These subsections can appear in any order. Each
subsection starts with a word on a line by itself.
The word `charset' starts the character set subsection.(1) (*note
Font File Format-Footnote-1::) The `charset' line is followed by a
sequence of lines. Each line gives information for one glyph. A line
comprises a number of fields separated by blanks or tabs. The format is
NAME METRICS TYPE CODE [ENTITY-NAME] [`--' COMMENT]
NAME identifies the glyph name(2) (*note Font File Format-Footnote-2::):
If NAME is a single character C then it corresponds to the `gtroff'
input character C; if it is of the form `\C' where C is a single
character, then it corresponds to the special character `\[C]';
otherwise it corresponds to the special character `\[NAME]'. If it is
exactly two characters XX it can be entered as `\(XX'. Note that
single-letter special characters can't be accessed as `\C'; the only
exception is `\-' which is identical to `\[-]'.
`gtroff' supports 8-bit input characters; however some utilities
have difficulties with eight-bit characters. For this reason, there is
a convention that the entity name `charN' is equivalent to the single
input character whose code is N. For example, `char163' would be
equivalent to the character with code 163 which is the pounds sterling
sign in the ISO Latin-1 character set. You shouldn't use `charN'
entities in font description files since they are related to input, not
output. Otherwise, you get hard-coded connections between input and
output encoding which prevents use of different (input) character sets.
The name `---' is special and indicates that the glyph is unnamed;
such glyphs can only be used by means of the `\N' escape sequence in
`gtroff'.
The TYPE field gives the glyph type:
`1'
the glyph has a descender, for example, `p';
`2'
the glyph has an ascender, for example, `b';
`3'
the glyph has both an ascender and a descender, for example, `('.
The CODE field gives the code which the postprocessor uses to print
the glyph. The glyph can also be input to `gtroff' using this code by
means of the `\N' escape sequence. CODE can be any integer. If it
starts with `0' it is interpreted as octal; if it starts with `0x' or
`0X' it is interpreted as hexadecimal. Note, however, that the `\N'
escape sequence only accepts a decimal integer.
The ENTITY-NAME field gives an ASCII string identifying the glyph
which the postprocessor uses to print the `gtroff' glyph NAME. This
field is optional and has been introduced so that the HTML device
driver can encode its character set. For example, the glyph `\[Po]' is
represented as `£' in HTML 4.0.
Anything on the line after the ENTITY-NAME field resp. after `--'
will be ignored.
The METRICS field has the form:
WIDTH[`,'HEIGHT[`,'DEPTH[`,'ITALIC-CORRECTION
[`,'LEFT-ITALIC-CORRECTION[`,'SUBSCRIPT-CORRECTION]]]]]
There must not be any spaces between these subfields (it has been split
here into two lines for better legibility only). Missing subfields are
assumed to be 0. The subfields are all decimal integers. Since there
is no associated binary format, these values are not required to fit
into a variable of type `char' as they are in `ditroff'. The WIDTH
subfield gives the width of the glyph. The HEIGHT subfield gives the
height of the glyph (upwards is positive); if a glyph does not extend
above the baseline, it should be given a zero height, rather than a
negative height. The DEPTH subfield gives the depth of the glyph, that
is, the distance from the baseline to the lowest point below the
baseline to which the glyph extends (downwards is positive); if a glyph
does not extend below the baseline, it should be given a zero depth,
rather than a negative depth. The ITALIC-CORRECTION subfield gives the
amount of space that should be added after the glyph when it is
immediately to be followed by a glyph from a roman font. The
LEFT-ITALIC-CORRECTION subfield gives the amount of space that should
be added before the glyph when it is immediately to be preceded by a
glyph from a roman font. The SUBSCRIPT-CORRECTION gives the amount of
space that should be added after a glyph before adding a subscript.
This should be less than the italic correction.
A line in the `charset' section can also have the format
NAME "
This indicates that NAME is just another name for the glyph mentioned
in the preceding line.
The word `kernpairs' starts the kernpairs section. This contains a
sequence of lines of the form:
C1 C2 N
This means that when glyph C1 appears next to glyph C2 the space
between them should be increased by N. Most entries in the kernpairs
section have a negative value for N.
File: groff, Node: Font File Format-Footnotes, Up: Font File Format
(1) This keyword is misnamed since it starts a list of ordered
glyphs, not characters.
(2) The distinction between input, characters, and output, glyphs,
is not clearly separated in the terminology of `groff'; for example,
the `char' request should be called `glyph' since it defines an output
entity.
File: groff, Node: Installation, Next: Copying This Manual, Prev: File formats, Up: Top
Installation
************
File: groff, Node: Copying This Manual, Next: Request Index, Prev: Installation, Up: Top
Copying This Manual
*******************
* Menu:
* GNU Free Documentation License:: License for copying this manual.