2 .\" The above line should force the use of eqn as a preprocessor
7 08 Feb 2007 -- macro simplification by ESR.
9 This file is part of groff, the GNU roff type-setting system.
10 It is the source of the man-page groff_diff(7).
12 Copyright (C) 1989, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007
13 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
14 written by James Clark
16 modified by Werner Lemberg <wl@gnu.org>
17 Bernd Warken <bwarken@mayn.de>
19 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
20 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
21 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
22 Invariant Sections being this .ig-section and AUTHORS, with no
23 Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover Texts.
25 A copy of the Free Documentation License is included as a file called
26 FDL in the main directory of the groff source package.
30 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
32 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
34 .\" define a string tx for the TeX logo
35 .ie t .ds tx T\h'-.1667m'\v'.224m'E\v'-.224m'\h'-.125m'X
39 .\" from old groff_out.man
46 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
48 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
50 .TH GROFF_DIFF @MAN7EXT@ "@MDATE@" "Groff Version @VERSION@"
52 groff_diff \- differences between GNU troff and classical troff
55 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
57 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
59 This manual page describes the language differences between
63 text processing system and the classical
65 formatter of the freely available Unix\~7 of the 1970s, documented in
67 .I Troff User's Manual
72 This inludes the roff language as well as the intermediate output
73 format (troff output).
78 gives pointers to both the classical
85 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
87 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
89 In this section, all additional features of
91 compared to the classical Unix\~7
93 are described in detail.
96 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
98 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
100 The names of number registers, fonts, strings/\:macros/\:diversions,
101 special characters (glyphs), and colors can be of any length.
103 In escape sequences, additionally to the classical
105 construction for a two-character name, you can use
107 for a name of arbitrary length.
111 Print the special character (glyph) called
115 .BI \[rs][ "comp1 comp2 .\|.\|." ]
116 Print composite glyph consisting of multiple components.
118 Example: `\[rs][A\~ho]' is capital letter A with ogonek which finally maps
119 to glyph name `u0041_0328'.
123 for details how a glyph name for a composite glyph is constructed, and
124 .BR groff_char (@MAN7EXT@)
125 for list of glyph name components used composite glyph names.
134 is a new syntax equal to
136 i.e., to return to the previous font.
139 .BI \[rs]*[ "xxx arg1 arg2 .\|.\|." ]
150 Interpolate number register
154 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
155 .SS "Fractional pointsizes"
156 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
168 There is a new scale indicator
170 that has the effect of multiplying by sizescale.
172 Requests and escape sequences in troff interpret arguments that
173 represent a pointsize as being in units of scaled points, but they
174 evaluate each such argument using a default scale indicator of
176 Arguments treated in this way are the argument to the
178 request, the third argument to the
180 request, the second and fourth arguments to the
182 request, the argument to the
184 escape sequence, and those variants of the
186 escape sequence that take a numeric expression as their argument.
189 For example, suppose sizescale is 1000; then a scaled point is
190 equivalent to a millipoint; the call
194 and so sets the pointsize to 10250 scaled points, which is equal to
200 returns the pointsize in points as decimal fraction.
202 There is also a new number register
204 that returns the pointsize in scaled points.
207 It would make no sense to use the
209 scale indicator in a numeric expression whose default scale indicator
218 Similarly it would make no sense to use a scaling indicator other than
222 in a numeric expression whose default scale indicator was
226 disallows this as well.
229 There is also new scale indicator\~\c
231 which multiplies by the number of units in a scaled point.
237 Be sure not to confuse the
244 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
245 .SS "Numeric expressions"
246 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
248 Spaces are permitted in a number expression within parentheses.
252 indicates a scale of 100ths of an em.
254 indicates a scale of 65536 units, providing fractions for color
259 For example, 0.5f = 32768u.
281 as the default scaling indicator.
285 is missing, ignore scaling indicators in the evaluation of
289 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
290 .SS "New escape sequences"
291 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
294 .BI \[rs]A' anything '
299 resp., depending on whether
301 is or is not acceptable as the name of a string, macro, diversion, number
302 register, environment, font, or color.
309 This is useful if you want to lookup user input in some sort of
313 .BI \[rs]B' anything '
318 resp., depending on whether
320 is or is not a valid numeric expression.
332 Normally it is more convenient to use
333 .BI \[rs][ xxx ]\f[R].
336 has the advantage that it is compatible with recent versions of
338 and is available in compatibility mode.
342 This is equivalent to an escape character, but it is not interpreted in
345 For example, strings to start and end superscripting could be defined
351 \&.ds { \[rs]v'\-.3m'\[rs]s'\[rs]En[.s]*6u/10u'
352 \&.ds } \[rs]s0\[rs]v'.3m'
359 ensures that these definitions work even if
361 gets interpreted in copy-mode (for example, by being used in a macro
373 This is the same as the
378 switches back to the previous color (note that
380 won't work; it selects font family `P' instead).
390 switches back to the previous color.
398 Set background color for filled objects drawn with the
399 .BI \[rs]D' .\|.\|. '
402 switches back to the previous color.
406 Typeset the glyph with index
412 Most devices only have glyphs with indices between 0 and 255.
414 If the current font does not contain a glyph with that code,
421 escape sequence can be conveniently used in conjunction with the
428 \&.char \[rs][phone] \[rs]f(ZD\[rs]N'37'
433 The index of each glyph is given in the fourth column in the font
434 description file after the
438 It is possible to include unnamed glyphs in the font description
439 file by using a name of
443 escape sequence is the only way to use these.
449 Suppressing troff output.
457 are intended for internal use by
463 Disable any ditroff glyphs from being emitted to the device driver,
464 provided that the escape occurs at the outer level (see
471 Enable output of glyphs, provided that the escape occurs at the outer
477 also reset the registers
485 These four registers mark the top left and bottom right hand corners
486 of a box which encompasses all written glyphs.
490 Provided that the escape occurs at the outer level, enable output of
491 glyphs and also write out to stderr the page number and four registers
492 encompassing the glyphs previously written since the last call to
497 Begin a nesting level.
503 This is really an internal mechanism for
505 while producing images.
507 They are generated by running the troff source through
509 to the postscript device and
511 to produce images in PNG format.
515 escape starts a new page if the device is not html (to reduce the
516 possibility of images crossing a page boundary).
523 .BI \[rs]O5[ Pfilename ]
528 Provided that this escape occurs at the outer nesting level, write
532 The position of the image,
534 must be specified and must be one of l, r, c, or i (left, right,
538 is associated with the production of the next inline image.
542 .BI \[rs]R' name\ \[+-]n '
543 This has the same effect as
547 .BI .nr\ name\ \[+-]n
554 Set the point size to
558 must be exactly two digits.
568 Set the point size to
572 is a numeric expression with a default scale indicator of\~\c
581 Interpolate the contents of the environment variable
586 is interpreted in copy-mode.
594 This is approximately equivalent to
595 .BI \[rs]X'\[rs]*[ xxx ]'\f[R].
596 However the contents of the string or macro
598 are not interpreted; also it is permitted for
600 to have been defined as a macro and thus contain newlines (it is not
601 permitted for the argument to
603 to contain newlines).
605 The inclusion of newlines requires an extension to the UNIX troff
606 output format, and confuses drivers that do not know about this
610 .BI \[rs]Z' anything '
611 Print anything and then restore the horizontal and vertical position;
613 may not contain tabs or leaders.
617 The name by which the current macro was invoked.
621 request can make a macro have more than one name.
625 In a macro or string, the concatenation of all the arguments separated
630 In a macro or string, the concatenation of all the arguments with each
631 surrounded by double quotes, and separated by spaces.
635 In a macro, the representation of all parameters as if they were an
644 In a macro or string, this gives the
650 Macros and strings can have an unlimited number of arguments.
653 .BI \[rs]? anything \[rs]?
654 When used in a diversion, this transparently embeds
658 is read in copy mode.
660 When the diversion is reread,
664 may not contain newlines; use
666 if you want to embed newlines in a diversion.
670 is also recognised in copy mode and turned into a single internal
671 code; it is this code that terminates
683 \&\[rs]?\[rs]\[rs]?\[rs]\[rs]\[rs]\[rs]?\[rs]\[rs]\[rs]\[rs]\[rs]\[rs]\[rs]\c
684 \&\[rs]nx\[rs]\[rs]\[rs]\[rs]?\[rs]\[rs]?\[rs]?
706 This increases the width of the preceding glyph so that the
707 spacing between that glyph and the following glyph is
708 correct if the following glyph is a roman glyph.
711 . nop For example, if an italic f is immediately followed by a roman
712 . nop right parenthesis, then in many fonts the top right portion of
713 . nop the f overlaps the top left of the right parenthesis
714 . nop producing \f[I]f\f[R])\f[R], which is ugly.
718 . ie \n(.g \f[I]f\/\f[R])\f[R]
719 . el \f[I]f\|\f[R])\f[R]
720 . nop and avoids this problem.
722 It is a good idea to use this escape sequence whenever an italic
723 glyph is immediately followed by a roman glyph without any
728 This modifies the spacing of the following glyph so that the
729 spacing between that glyph and the preceding glyph is
730 correct if the preceding glyph is a roman glyph.
733 . nop For example, inserting
735 . nop between the parenthesis and the f changes
736 . nop \f[R](\f[I]f\f[R] to
737 . ie \n(.g \f[R](\,\f[I]f\f[R].
738 . el \f[R](\^\f[I]f\f[R].
740 It is a good idea to use this escape sequence whenever a roman
741 glyph is immediately followed by an italic glyph without any
748 except that it behaves like a character declared with the
750 request to be transparent for the purposes of end-of-sentence
755 This produces an unbreakable space that stretches like a normal
756 inter-word space when a line is adjusted.
760 This causes the insertion of a zero-width break point.
764 within a word but without insertion of a soft hyphen character.
768 Everything up to and including the next newline is ignored.
770 This is interpreted in copy mode.
776 does not ignore the terminating newline.
779 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
781 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
787 for number register object named
789 The new name and the old name are exactly equivalent.
793 is undefined, a warning of type
795 is generated, and the request is ignored.
801 for request, string, macro, or diversion object named
804 The new name and the old name are exactly equivalent (it is
805 similar to a hard rather than a soft link).
809 is undefined, a warning of type
811 is generated, and the request is ignored.
821 requests only create a new object if the name of the macro, diversion
822 or string diversion is currently undefined or if it is defined to be a
823 request; normally they modify the value of an existing object.
829 but compatibility mode is switched off during execution.
831 To be more precise, a `compatibility save' token is inserted at the
832 beginning of the macro addition, and a `compatibility restore' token at
835 As a consequence, the requests
841 can be intermixed freely since the compatibility save/\:restore tokens
842 only affect the macro parts defined by
849 Append to macro indirectly.
853 request below for more information.
859 request but compatibility mode is switched off during execution.
865 but compatibility mode is switched off during expansion.
867 To be more precise, a `compatibility save' token is inserted at the
868 beginning of the string, and a `compatibility restore' token at the end.
870 As a consequence, the requests
876 can be intermixed freely since the compatibility save/\:restore tokens
877 only affect the (sub)strings defined by
884 This request `unformats' the diversion
888 and space characters (and some escape sequences) that were formatted
891 are treated like ordinary input characters when
894 Useful for diversions in conjunction with the
898 It can be also used for gross hacks; for example, this
922 Note that glyph information (font, font size, etc.) is not preserved;
929 Print a backtrace of the input stack on stderr.
933 Set the blank line macro to
935 If there is a blank line macro, it is invoked when a blank line
936 is encountered instead of the usual troff behaviour.
942 These requests are similar to the
946 requests with the exception that a partially filled line does not
947 become part of the diversion (i.e., the diversion always starts with a
948 new line) but restored after ending the diversion, discarding the
949 partially filled line which possibly comes from the diversion.
953 Break out of a while loop.
961 Be sure not to confuse this with the
971 .BI .cflags\ n\ c1\ c2\|.\|.\|.\&
975 have properties determined by
977 which is ORed from the following:
981 The character ends sentences (initially characters
986 Lines can be broken before the character (initially no characters have
987 this property); a line is not broken at a character with this
988 property unless the characters on each side both have non-zero
990 This can be overridden with value 64.
993 Lines can be broken after the character (initially characters
994 .B \-\[rs][hy]\[rs][em]
995 have this property); a line is not broken at a character with
996 this property unless the characters on each side both have non-zero
998 This can be overridden with value 64.
1001 The character overlaps horizontally (initially characters
1002 .B \[rs][ul]\[rs][rn]\[rs][ru]\[rs][radicalex]\[rs][sqrtex]
1003 have this property).
1006 The character overlaps vertically (initially character
1011 An end-of-sentence character followed by any number of characters with
1012 this property is treated as the end of a sentence if followed by
1013 a newline or two spaces; in other words the character is transparent
1014 for the purposes of end-of-sentence recognition; this is the same as
1015 having a zero space factor in \*[tx] (initially characters
1016 .B \[dq]')]*\[rs](dg\[rs](rq
1017 have this property).
1020 Ignore hyphenation code values of the surrounding characters.
1021 Use this in combination with values 2 and\~4 (initially no characters have
1026 .BI .char\ c\ string
1033 needs to be printed,
1035 is processed in a temporary environment and the result is
1036 wrapped up into a single object.
1038 Compatibility mode is turned off and the escape character is
1045 Any emboldening, constant spacing or track kerning is applied to
1046 this object rather than to individual glyphs in
1050 A glyph defined by this request can be used just like a normal
1051 glyph provided by the output device.
1053 In particular other characters can be translated to it with the
1055 request; it can be made the leader character by the
1057 request; repeated patterns can be drawn with the character using the
1061 escape sequences; words containing the character can be hyphenated
1064 request is used to give the character a hyphenation code.
1067 There is a special anti-recursion feature: Use of glyph within the
1068 glyph's definition is handled like normal glyphs not
1072 A glyph definition can be removed with the
1078 Chop the last element off macro, string, or diversion
1080 This is useful for removing the newline from the end of diversions
1081 that are to be interpolated as strings.
1085 Close the stream named
1088 will no longer be an acceptable argument to the
1097 .BI .composite\ glyph1\ glyph2
1103 .BI \[rs][ .\|.\|. ]
1104 with more than one component.
1108 Finish the current iteration of a while loop.
1120 is non-zero or missing, enable colors (this is the default), otherwise
1127 is non-zero or missing, enable compatibility mode, otherwise disable
1130 In compatibility mode, long names are not recognised, and the
1131 incompatibilities caused by long names do not arise.
1134 .BI .defcolor\ xxx\ scheme\ color_components
1137 can be one of the following values:
1143 (four components), and
1149 Color components can be given either as a hexadecimal string or as
1150 positive decimal integers in the range 0-65535.
1152 A hexadecimal string contains all color components concatenated; it
1153 must start with either
1157 The former specifies hex values in the range 0-255 (which are
1158 internally multiplied by\~257), the latter in the range 0-65535.
1160 Examples: #FFC0CB (pink), ##ffff0000ffff (magenta).
1162 A new scaling indicator\~\c
1164 has been introduced which multiplies its value by\~65536; this makes
1165 it convenient to specify color components as fractions in the range 0
1173 \&.defcolor darkgreen rgb 0.1f 0.5f 0.2f
1181 is the default scaling indicator for the
1183 request, thus the above statement is equivalent to
1188 \&.defcolor darkgreen rgb 0.1 0.5 0.2
1196 (which is device-specific) can't be redefined.
1198 It is possible that the default color for
1208 but compatibility mode is switched off during execution.
1210 On entry, the current compatibility mode is saved and restored at exit.
1214 Define macro indirectly.
1216 The following example
1245 request but compatibility mode is switched off during execution.
1248 .BI .device\ anything
1249 This is (almost) the same as the
1253 is read in copy mode; a leading\~\c
1259 This is the same as the
1261 escape (to embed the contents of a macro into the intermediate
1262 output preceded with `x\~X').
1268 with compatibility mode disabled.
1281 would have the same effect as
1290 except that it would work even if compatibility mode had been enabled.
1292 Note that the previous compatibility mode is restored before any files
1303 but compatibility mode is switched off during expansion.
1305 To be more precise, a `compatibility save' token is inserted at the
1306 beginning of the string, and a `compatibility restore' token at the end.
1310 Save current escape character.
1314 Restore escape character saved with
1316 Without a previous call to
1319 will be the new escape character.
1323 Copy the contents of environment
1325 to the current environment.
1327 No pushing or popping of environments is done.
1331 Set the current font family to
1333 The current font family is part of the current environment.
1336 is missing, switch back to previous font family.
1338 The value at start-up is `T'.
1340 See the description of the
1342 request for more information on font families.
1345 .BI .fchar\ c\ string
1346 Define fallback glyph
1351 The syntax of this request is the same as the
1353 request; the only difference is that a glyph defined with
1355 hides the glyph with the same name in the current font, whereas a
1358 is checked only if the particular glyph isn't found in the current font.
1360 This test happens before checking special fonts.
1364 Set the fill color to
1369 switch to the previous fill color.
1372 .BI .fschar\ f\ c\ string
1373 Define fallback glyph
1380 The syntax of this request is the same as the
1382 request (with an additional argument to specify the font); a glyph
1385 is searched after the list of fonts declared with the
1387 request but before the list of fonts declared with
1391 .BI .fspecial\ f\ s1\ s2\|.\|.\|.\&
1392 When the current font is
1397 are special, that is, they are searched for glyphs not in
1400 Any fonts specified in the
1402 request are searched after fonts specified in the
1406 Without argument, reset the list of global special fonts to be empty.
1414 Whenever a font named
1416 is referred to in an
1418 escape sequence, in the
1422 conditional operators, or in the
1438 is missing, or equal to
1451 must a non-negative integer multiple of 1/1000th.
1452 If it is missing or is equal to zero, it means the same as 1000, namely no
1455 \~must be a real font name, not a style.
1459 Set the glyph color to
1464 switch to the previous glyph color.
1467 .BI .hcode \ c1\ code1\ c2\ code2\|.\|.\|.\&
1468 Set the hyphenation code of character
1476 A hyphenation code must be a single input character (not a special
1477 character) other than a digit or a space.
1479 Initially each lower-case letter \%a-z has a hyphenation code, which is
1480 itself, and each upper-case letter \%A-Z has a hyphenation code which is
1481 the lower-case version of itself.
1489 Set the current hyphenation language to
1491 Hyphenation exceptions specified with the
1493 request and hyphenation patterns specified with the
1495 request are both associated with the current hyphenation language.
1499 request is usually invoked by the
1505 Set the maximum number of consecutive hyphenated lines to\~\c
1509 is negative, there is no maximum.
1511 The default value is\~\-1.
1513 This value is associated with the current environment.
1515 Only lines output from an environment count towards the maximum
1516 associated with that environment.
1518 Hyphens resulting from
1520 are counted; explicit hyphens are not.
1524 Read hyphenation patterns from
1526 this is searched for in the same way that
1528 is searched for when the
1530 option is specified.
1532 It should have the same format as (simple) \*[tx] patterns files.
1534 More specifically, the following scanning rules are implemented.
1538 A percent sign starts a comment (up to the end of the line) even if
1539 preceded by a backslash.
1542 No support for `digraphs' like
1550 (character code of\~\c
1552 in the range 0-127) are recognized; other use of
1561 checks for the expression
1562 .B \[rs]patterns{.\|.\|.}
1563 (possibly with whitespace before and after the braces).
1565 Everything between the braces is taken as hyphenation patterns.
1571 are not allowed in patterns.
1575 .B \[rs]hyphenation{.\|.\|.}
1576 gives a list of hyphenation exceptions.
1583 For backwards compatibility, if
1585 is missing, the whole file is treated as a list of hyphenation patterns
1586 (only recognizing the
1588 character as the start of a comment).
1594 request to map the encoding used in hyphenation patterns files to
1598 The set of hyphenation patterns is associated with the current language
1605 request is usually invoked by the
1607 file; a second call replaces the old patterns with the new ones.
1613 except that the hyphenation patterns from
1615 are appended to the patterns already loaded in the current language.
1618 .BI .hpfcode\ a\ b\ c\ d\ .\|.\|.
1619 After reading a hyphenation patterns file with the
1623 request, convert all characters with character code\~\c
1625 in the recently read patterns to character code\~\c
1633 Initially, all character codes map to themselves.
1637 must be integers in the range 0 to\~255.
1639 Note that it is even possible to use character codes which are invalid in
1646 .I hyphenation margin
1649 when the current adjustment mode is not\~\c
1651 the line is not hyphenated if the line is no more than
1655 The default hyphenation margin is\~0.
1657 The default scaling indicator for this request is\~\c
1659 The hyphenation margin is associated with the current environment.
1661 The current hyphenation margin is available in the
1668 .I hyphenation space
1671 when the current adjustment mode is\~\c
1673 don't hyphenate the line if the line can be justified by adding no
1676 extra space to each word space.
1678 The default hyphenation space is\~0.
1680 The default scaling indicator for this request is\~\c
1682 The hyphenation space is associated with the current environment.
1684 The current hyphenation space is available in the
1692 for which a line interrupted with
1694 counts as one input line.
1700 is non-zero or missing, enable pairwise kerning, otherwise disable it.
1703 .BI .length\ xx\ string
1704 Compute the length of
1706 and return it in the number register
1708 (which is not necessarily defined before).
1714 is non-zero or missing, enable line-tabs mode, otherwise disable it
1715 (which is the default).
1717 In line-tabs mode, tab distances are computed relative to the
1718 (current) output line.
1720 Otherwise they are taken relative to the input line.
1722 For example, the following
1729 \&.ds x a\[rs]t\[rs]c
1730 \&.ds y b\[rs]t\[rs]c
1749 In line-tabs mode, the same code gives
1757 Line-tabs mode is associated with the current environment; the
1758 read-only number register
1759 .B \[rs]n[.linetabs]
1760 is set to\~1 if in line-tabs mode, and 0 otherwise.
1768 is searched for in the same directories as macro files for the the
1770 command line option.
1772 If the file name to be included has the form
1778 instead and vice versa.
1784 This is similar to `.if\ 1'.
1790 built-in condition true and the
1792 built-in condition false.
1794 This can be reversed using the
1799 .BI .open\ stream\ filename
1802 for writing and associate the stream named
1813 .BI .opena\ stream\ filename
1818 exists, append to it instead of truncating it.
1824 directly to the intermediate output (subject to copy-mode interpretation);
1827 used at the top level.
1829 An initial double quote in
1831 is stripped off to allow initial blanks.
1835 Print the current environment and each defined environment state on
1840 Print the names and contents of all currently defined number registers
1844 .BI .psbb \ filename
1845 Get the bounding box of a PostScript image
1847 This file must conform to Adobe's Document Structuring Conventions;
1848 the command looks for a
1850 comment to extract the bounding box values.
1852 After a successful call, the coordinates (in PostScript units) of the
1853 lower left and upper right corner can be found in the registers
1861 If some error has occurred, the four registers are set to zero.
1865 This behaves like the
1867 request except that input comes from the standard output of
1872 Print the names and positions of all traps (not including input line
1873 traps and diversion traps) on stderr.
1875 Empty slots in the page trap list are printed as well, because they
1876 can affect the priority of subsequently planted traps.
1880 Set the post-vertical line space to
1882 default scale indicator is\~\c
1885 This value is added to each line after it has been output.
1887 With no argument, the post-vertical line space is set to its previous
1891 The total vertical line spacing consists of four components:
1895 with a negative value which are applied before the line is output, and
1899 with a positive value which are applied after the line is output.
1902 .BI .rchar\ c1\ c2\|.\|.\|.\&
1903 Remove the definitions of glyphs
1906 This undoes the effect of a
1912 Within a macro, return immediately.
1914 If called with an argument, return twice, namely from the current macro and
1915 from the macro one level higher.
1917 No effect otherwise.
1920 .BI .rfschar\ c1\ c2\|.\|.\|.\&
1921 Remove the font-specific definitions of glyphs
1924 This undoes the effect of a
1932 Right justify the next
1936 Without an argument right justify the next input line.
1938 The number of lines to be right justified is available in the
1942 This implicitly does
1946 request implicitly does
1951 Rename number register
1957 .BI .schar\ c\ string
1958 Define global fallback glyph
1963 The syntax of this request is the same as the
1965 request; a glyph defined with
1967 is searched after the list of fonts declared with the
1969 request but before the mounted special fonts.
1973 Set the soft hyphen character to
1977 is omitted, the soft hyphen character is set to the default
1979 The soft hyphen character is the glyph which is inserted when
1980 a word is hyphenated at a line break.
1982 If the soft hyphen character does not exist in the font of the
1983 glyph immediately preceding a potential break point, then the line
1984 is not broken at that point.
1986 Neither definitions (specified with the
1988 request) nor translations (specified with the
1990 request) are considered when finding the soft hyphen character.
1994 In a macro, shift the arguments by
1996 positions: argument\~\c
2002 are no longer available.
2006 is missing, arguments are shifted by\~1.
2008 Shifting by negative amounts is currently undefined.
2011 .BI .sizes\ s1\ s2\|.\|.\|.\|sn\ [0]
2012 This command is similar to the
2018 It sets the available font sizes for the current font to
2020 .IR s2 ,\|.\|.\|.\|,\~ sn
2023 The list of sizes can be terminated by an optional\~\c
2028 can also be a range of sizes
2031 Contrary to the font file command, the list can't extend over more
2035 .BI .special\ s1\ s2\|.\|.\|.\&
2039 are special and are searched for glyphs not in the current
2042 Without arguments, reset the list of special fonts to be empty.
2045 .BI .spreadwarn\ limit
2048 emit a warning if the additional space inserted for each space between
2049 words in an output line is larger or equal to
2052 A negative value is changed to zero; no argument toggles the warning on
2053 and off without changing
2056 The default scaling indicator is\~\c
2066 .B .spreadwarn\ 0.2m
2069 must add 0.2m or more for each interword space in a line.
2071 This request is active only if text is justified to both margins (using
2078 with font position\~\c
2080 A font position can be associated either with a font or with a style.
2082 The current font is the index of a font position and so is also either
2085 When it is a style, the font that is actually used is the font the
2086 name of which is the concatenation of the name of the current family
2087 and the name of the current style.
2089 For example, if the current font is\~1 and font position\~1 is
2090 associated with style\~\c
2092 and the current font family is\~\c
2098 If the current font is not a style, then the current family is ignored.
2107 are applied to a style, then they are applied instead to the
2108 member of the current family corresponding to that style.
2110 The default family can be set with the
2118 file controls which font positions (if any) are initially associated
2119 with styles rather than fonts.
2122 .BI .substring\ xx\ n1\ [ n2 ]
2123 Replace the string named
2125 with the substring defined by the indices
2129 The first character in the string has index\~0.
2133 is omitted, it is taken to be equal to the string's length.
2139 is negative, it is counted from the end of the string,
2142 The last character has index\~-1, the character before the last
2143 character has index\~-2, etc.
2146 .BI .tkf\ f\ s1\ n1\ s2\ n2
2147 Enable track kerning for font
2149 When the current font is
2151 the width of every glyph is increased by an amount between
2155 when the current point size is less than or equal to
2157 the width is increased by
2159 when it is greater than or equal to
2161 the width is increased by
2163 when the point size is greater than or equal to
2165 and less than or equal to
2167 the increase in width is a linear function of the point size.
2175 is read in copy mode and written on the standard error, but an initial
2178 is stripped off to allow initial blanks.
2184 but without writing a final newline.
2188 Transparently output the contents of file
2190 Each line is output as if preceded by
2192 however, the lines are not subject to copy-mode interpretation.
2194 If the file does not end with a newline, then a newline is added.
2196 For example, you can define a macro\~\c
2198 containing the contents of file\~\c
2217 request, the file cannot contain characters such as
2219 that are not valid troff input characters.
2223 This is the same as the
2225 request except that the
2227 request uses the character code (if any) before the character
2260 This is the same as the
2262 request except that the translations do not apply to text that is
2263 transparently throughput into a diversion with
2295 built-in condition false, and the
2297 built-in condition true.
2299 This undoes the effect of the
2305 This request `unformats' the diversion
2309 request, which tries to convert formatted elements of the diversion
2310 back to input tokens as much as possible,
2312 only handles tabs and spaces between words (usually caused by
2313 spaces or newlines in the input) specially.
2315 The former are treated as if they were input tokens, and the latter
2316 are stretchable again.
2318 Note that the vertical size of lines is not preserved.
2320 Glyph information (font, font size, space width, etc.) is retained.
2322 Useful in conjunction with the
2330 Enable vertical position traps if
2332 is non-zero, disable them otherwise.
2334 Vertical position traps are traps set by the
2342 request are not vertical position traps.
2344 The parameter that controls whether vertical position traps are
2347 Initially vertical position traps are enabled.
2353 is the sum of the numbers associated with each warning that is to be
2354 enabled; all other warnings are disabled.
2356 The number associated with each warning is listed in
2357 .BR @g@troff (@MAN1EXT@).
2361 disables all warnings, and
2363 disables all warnings except that about missing glyphs.
2367 is not given, all warnings are enabled.
2371 Set the scaling indicator used in warnings to
2384 At startup, it is set to\~\c
2388 .BI .while \ c\ anything
2395 can be any condition acceptable to an
2399 can comprise multiple lines if the first line starts with
2401 and the last line ends with
2410 .BI .write\ stream\ anything
2416 must previously have been the subject of an
2420 is read in copy mode;
2426 .BI .writec\ stream\ anything
2429 but without writing a final newline.
2432 .BI .writem\ stream\ xx
2433 Write the contents of the macro or string
2438 must previously have been the subject of an
2442 is read in copy mode.
2445 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
2446 .SS "Extended escape sequences"
2447 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
2450 .BI \[rs]D' .\|.\|. '
2451 All drawing commands of groff's intermediate output are accepted.
2454 .B "Drawing Commands"
2455 below for more information.
2458 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
2459 .SS "Extended requests"
2460 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
2464 When used in a diversion, this embeds in the diversion an object
2465 which, when reread, will cause the contents of
2467 to be transparently copied through to the output.
2469 In UNIX troff, the contents of
2471 is immediately copied through to the output regardless of whether
2472 there is a current diversion; this behaviour is so anomalous that it
2473 must be considered a bug.
2483 In compatibility mode, these requests behaves similar to
2489 respectively: A `compatibility save' token is inserted at the
2490 beginning, and a `compatibility restore' token at the end, with
2491 compatibility mode switched on during execution.
2497 is not a number, this switches to a named environment called
2499 The environment should be popped with a matching
2501 request without any arguments, just as for numbered environments.
2503 There is no limit on the number of named environments; they are
2504 created the first time that they are referenced.
2508 When two arguments are given to the
2510 request, the second argument gives the
2511 .IR "sentence space size" .
2512 If the second argument is not given, the sentence space size
2513 is the same as the word space size.
2515 Like the word space size, the sentence space is in units of
2516 one twelfth of the spacewidth parameter for the current font.
2518 Initially both the word space size and the sentence
2521 Contrary to UNIX troff, GNU troff handles this request in nroff mode
2522 also; a given value is then rounded down to the nearest multiple
2525 The sentence space size is used in two circumstances.
2527 If the end of a sentence occurs at the end of a line in fill mode,
2528 then both an inter-word space and a sentence space are added; if
2529 two spaces follow the end of a sentence in the middle of a line, then
2530 the second space is a sentence space.
2532 Note that the behaviour of UNIX troff are exactly that exhibited
2533 by GNU troff if a second argument is never given to the
2537 In GNU troff, as in UNIX troff, you should always follow a sentence
2538 with either a newline or two spaces.
2541 .BI .ta\ n1\ n2\|.\|.\|.nn \ T\ r1\ r2\|.\|.\|.\|rn
2542 Set tabs at positions
2544 .IR n2 ,\|.\|.\|.\|,
2546 and then set tabs at
2548 .IR nn + r2 ,\|.\|.\|.\|,
2552 .IR nn + rn + r2 ,\|.\|.\|.\|,
2565 sets tabs every half an inch.
2569 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
2570 .SS "New number registers"
2571 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
2573 The following read-only registers are available:
2577 Within a macro call, it is set to\~1 if the macro is called with the
2578 `normal' control character (`.' by default), and set to\~0 otherwise.
2579 This allows to reliably modify requests.
2589 \&.ie \[rs]\[rs]n[.br] .bp*orig
2597 Using this register outside of a macro makes no sense (it always returns
2598 zero in such cases).
2602 1\~if compatibility mode is in effect, 0\~otherwise.
2606 The depth of the last glyph added to the current environment.
2608 It is positive if the glyph extends below the baseline.
2612 The number of lines remaining to be centered, as set by the
2618 The height of the last glyph added to the current environment.
2620 It is positive if the glyph extends above the baseline.
2624 1\~if colors are enabled, 0\~otherwise.
2628 The skew of the last glyph added to the current environment.
2632 of a glyph is how far to the right of the center of a glyph
2633 the center of an accent over that glyph should be placed.
2637 The name or number of the current environment.
2639 This is a string-valued register.
2643 The current font family.
2645 This is a string-valued register.
2649 The current (internal) real font name.
2651 This is a string-valued register.
2653 If the current font is a style, the value of
2655 is the proper concatenation of family and style name.
2659 The number of the next free font position.
2665 Macros should use this to determine whether they are running under GNU
2670 The current height of the font as set with
2675 The current hyphenation language as set by the
2681 The number of immediately preceding consecutive hyphenated lines.
2685 The maximum allowed number of consecutive hyphenated lines, as set by
2692 The current hyphenation flags (as set by the
2698 The current hyphenation margin (as set by the
2704 The current hyphenation space (as set by the
2710 The indent that applies to the current output line.
2714 Set to a positive value if last output line is interrupted (i.e., if
2720 1\~if pairwise kerning is enabled, 0\~otherwise.
2724 The current ligature mode (as set by the
2729 .B \[rs]n[.linetabs]
2730 The current line-tabs mode (as set by the
2736 The line length that applies to the current output line.
2740 The title length as set by the
2746 The name of the current drawing color.
2748 This is a string-valued register.
2752 The name of the current background color.
2754 This is a string-valued register.
2758 The amount of space that was needed in the last
2760 request that caused a trap to be sprung.
2762 Useful in conjunction with the
2768 1\~if no-space mode is active, 0\~otherwise.
2772 1\~during a page ejection caused by the
2774 request, 0\~otherwise.
2778 The number of the next page, either the value set by a
2780 request, or the number of the current page plus\~1.
2784 The current pointsize in scaled points.
2788 The last-requested pointsize in scaled points.
2792 The current post-vertical line space as set with the
2798 The number of lines to be right-justified as set by the
2804 The slant of the current font as set with
2809 The last requested pointsize in points as a decimal fraction.
2811 This is a string-valued register.
2817 These give the values of the parameters set by the first and second
2824 The current font style.
2826 This is a string-valued register.
2830 A string representation of the current tab settings suitable for use
2831 as an argument to the
2837 The amount of vertical space truncated by the most recently sprung
2838 vertical position trap, or, if the trap was sprung by a
2840 request, minus the amount of vertical motion produced by the
2844 In other words, at the point a trap is sprung, it represents the
2845 difference of what the vertical position would have been but for the
2846 trap, and what the vertical position actually is.
2848 Useful in conjunction with the
2854 Set to 1 if in safer mode and to 0 if in unsafe mode (as given with the
2856 command line option).
2860 1\~if vertical position traps are enabled, 0\~otherwise.
2864 The sum of the numbers associated with each of the currently enabled
2867 The number associated with each warning is listed in
2868 .BR @g@troff (@MAN1EXT@).
2872 The major version number.
2874 For example, if the version number is 1.03, then
2880 The minor version number.
2882 For example, if the version number is 1.03, then
2888 The revision number of groff.
2892 The zoom value of the current font, in multiples of 1/1000th.
2893 Zero if no magnification.
2903 These four registers are set by the
2905 request and contain the bounding box values (in PostScript units) of a
2906 given PostScript image.
2909 The following read/write registers are set by the
2921 registers, but take account of the heights and depths of glyphs.
2925 The amount of horizontal space (possibly negative) that should be
2926 added to the last glyph before a subscript.
2930 How far to right of the center of the last glyph in the
2932 argument, the center of an accent from a roman font should be placed
2936 Other available read/write number registers are:
2940 The current input line number.
2942 is a read-only alias to this register.
2946 The number of hours past midnight.
2948 Initialized at start-up.
2952 The current horizontal position at input line.
2956 The number of minutes after the hour.
2958 Initialized at start-up.
2962 The number of seconds after the minute.
2964 Initialized at start-up.
2968 The return value of the system() function executed by the last
2974 If greater than\~0, the maximum number of objects on the input stack.
2976 If less than or equal to\~0, there is no limit on the number of
2977 objects on the input stack.
2979 With no limit, recursion can continue until virtual memory is
2986 Note that the traditional
2990 is the current year minus 1900.
2993 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
2995 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
2998 predefines a single (read/write) string-based register,
3000 which contains the argument given to the
3002 command line option, namely the current output device (for example,
3006 Note that this is not the same as the (read-only) number register
3008 which is defined to be\~1 if
3012 command line option, and zero otherwise.
3014 This behaviour is different to UNIX troff.
3017 Fonts not listed in the
3019 file are automatically mounted on the next available font position
3020 when they are referenced.
3022 If a font is to be mounted explicitly with the
3024 request on an unused font position, it should be mounted on the first
3025 unused font position, which can be found in the
3029 does not enforce this strictly, it does not allow a font to be mounted
3030 at a position whose number is much greater than that of any currently
3034 Interpolating a string does not hide existing macro arguments.
3036 Thus in a macro, a more efficient way of doing
3039 .BI . xx\ \[rs]\[rs]$@
3044 .BI \[rs]\[rs]*[ xx ]\[rs]\[rs]
3047 If the font description file contains pairwise kerning information,
3048 glyphs from that font are kerned.
3050 Kerning between two glyphs can be inhibited by placing a
3055 In a string comparison in a condition, characters that appear at
3056 different input levels to the first delimiter character are not
3057 recognised as the second or third delimiters.
3059 This applies also to the
3065 escape sequence, a character that appears at a different input level
3066 to the starting delimiter character is not recognised as the
3067 closing delimiter character.
3069 The same is true for
3081 When decoding a macro or string argument that is delimited by double
3082 quotes, a character that appears at a different input level to the starting
3083 delimiter character is not recognised as the closing delimiter
3086 The implementation of
3088 ensures that the double quotes surrounding an argument appear at the
3089 same input level, which is different to the input level of the
3092 In a long escape name
3094 is not recognized as a closing delimiter except when it occurs at
3095 the same input level as the opening
3098 In compatibility mode, no attention is paid to the input-level.
3101 There are some new types of condition:
3105 True if there is a number register named
3110 True if there is a string, macro, diversion, or request named
3115 True if there is a color named
3120 True if there is a glyph
3126 character or a glyph (special character)
3127 .BI \[rs]N' xxx '\f[R],
3130 .BI \[rs][ xxx ]\f[R];
3131 the condition is also true if
3133 has been defined by the
3144 is handled as if it was opened with the
3146 request (this is, font translation and styles are applied), without
3147 actually mounting it.
3153 has been registered.
3155 Font translation is applied.
3160 request can now map characters onto
3164 It is now possible to have whitespace between the first and second dot
3165 (or the name of the ending macro) to end a macro definition.
3175 \&. nop Hello, I'm `bar'.
3181 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
3182 .SH "INTERMEDIATE OUTPUT FORMAT"
3183 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
3185 This section describes the format output by GNU troff.
3187 The output format used by GNU troff is very similar to that used
3188 by Unix device-independent troff.
3190 Only the differences are documented here.
3193 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
3195 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
3199 command is in scaled points (units of
3203 is the argument to the
3205 command in the DESC file).
3209 command is also in scaled points.
3212 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
3214 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
3218 Print glyph with index\~\c
3220 (a non-negative integer) of the current font.
3225 line is present in the DESC file, troff uses the following two
3231 is any sequence of characters terminated by a space or a newline (to
3232 be more precise, it is a sequence of glyphs which are accessed with
3233 the corresponding characters); the first character should be printed at
3234 the current position, the current horizontal position should be increased
3235 by the width of the first character, and so on for each character.
3237 The width of the glyph is that given in the font file,
3238 appropriately scaled for the current point size, and rounded so that
3239 it is a multiple of the horizontal resolution.
3241 Special characters cannot be printed using this command.
3247 command except that after printing each character, the current
3248 horizontal position is increased by the sum of the width of that
3253 Note that single characters can have the eighth bit set, as can the
3254 names of fonts and special characters.
3257 The names of glyphs and fonts can be of arbitrary length; drivers
3258 should not assume that they are only two characters long.
3261 When a glyph is to be printed, that glyph is always
3262 in the current font.
3264 Unlike device-independent troff, it is not necessary for drivers to
3265 search special fonts to find a glyph.
3268 For color support, some new commands have been added:
3271 \f[B]mc \f[I]cyan magenta yellow\f[R]
3275 \f[B]mg \f[I]gray\f[R]
3277 \f[B]mk \f[I]cyan magenta yellow black\f[R]
3279 \f[B]mr \f[I]red green blue\f[R]
3280 Set the color components of the current drawing color, using various
3284 resets the drawing color to the default value.
3286 The arguments are integers in the range 0 to 65536.
3291 device control command has been extended.
3294 \f[B]x u \f[I]n\f[R]
3297 is\~1, start underlining of spaces.
3301 is\~0, stop underlining of spaces.
3303 This is needed for the
3305 request in nroff mode and is ignored otherwise.
3308 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
3309 .SS "Drawing Commands"
3310 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
3314 drawing command has been extended.
3316 These extensions are not used by GNU pic if the
3321 \f[B]Df \f[I]n\f[R]\*[ic]\[rs]n
3322 Set the shade of gray to be used for filling solid objects to
3325 must be an integer between 0 and 1000, where 0 corresponds solid white
3326 and 1000 to solid black, and values in between correspond to
3327 intermediate shades of gray.
3329 This applies only to solid circles, solid ellipses and solid
3332 By default, a level of 1000 is used.
3334 Whatever color a solid object has, it should completely obscure
3335 everything beneath it.
3337 A value greater than 1000 or less than 0 can also be used: this means
3338 fill with the shade of gray that is currently being used for lines and
3341 Normally this is black, but some drivers may provide a way of
3346 .BI \[rs]D'f .\|.\|. '
3347 command shouldn't be used since its argument is always rounded to an
3348 integer multiple of the horizontal resolution which can lead to
3352 \f[B]DC \f[I]d\f[R]\*[ic]\[rs]n
3353 Draw a solid circle with a diameter of
3355 with the leftmost point at the current position.
3358 \f[B]DE \f[I]dx dy\f[R]\*[ic]\[rs]n
3359 Draw a solid ellipse with a horizontal diameter of
3361 and a vertical diameter of
3363 with the leftmost point at the current position.
3369 \f[B]Dp\f[R] $dx sub 1$ $dy sub 1$ $dx sub 2$ $dy sub 2$ $...$ $dx sub n$ $dy sub n$\[rs]n
3370 Draw a polygon with, for $i = 1 ,..., n+1$, the
3372 vertex at the current position
3374 $+ sum from j=1 to i-1 ( dx sub j , dy sub j )$.
3376 At the moment, GNU pic only uses this command to generate triangles
3380 \f[B]DP\f[R] $dx sub 1$ $dy sub 1$ $dx sub 2$ $dy sub 2$ $...$ $dx sub n$ $dy sub n$\[rs]n
3384 but draw a solid rather than outlined polygon.
3387 \f[B]Dt \f[I]n\f[R]\*[ic]\[rs]n
3388 Set the current line thickness to
3392 Traditionally Unix troff drivers use a line thickness proportional to
3393 the current point size; drivers should continue to do this if no
3395 command has been given, or if a
3397 command has been given with a negative value of
3401 selects the smallest available line thickness.
3404 A difficulty arises in how the current position should be changed after
3405 the execution of these commands.
3407 This is not of great importance since the code generated by GNU pic
3408 does not depend on this.
3410 Given a drawing command of the form
3412 \f[B]\[rs]D'\f[I]c\f[R] $x sub 1$ $y sub 1$ $x sub 2$ $y sub 2$ $...$ $x sub n$ $y sub n$\f[B]'\f[R]
3424 Unix troff treats each of the $x sub i$ as a horizontal quantity,
3425 and each of the $y sub i$ as a vertical quantity and assumes that
3426 the width of the drawn object is $sum from i=1 to n x sub i$,
3427 and that the height is $sum from i=1 to n y sub i$.
3429 (The assumption about the height can be seen by examining the
3433 registers after using such a
3435 command in a \[rs]w escape sequence).
3437 This rule also holds for all the original drawing commands with the
3440 For the sake of compatibility GNU troff also follows this rule, even
3441 though it produces an ugly result in the case of the
3445 and, to a lesser extent,
3449 Thus after executing a
3453 \f[B]D\f[I]c\f[R] $x sub 1$ $y sub 1$ $x sub 2$ $y sub 2$ .\|.\|. $x sub n$ $y sub n$\[rs]n
3456 the current position should be increased by
3458 $( sum from i=1 to n x sub i , sum from i=1 to n y sub i )$.
3461 Another set of extensions is
3464 \f[B]DFc \f[I]cyan magenta yellow\f[R]\*[ic]\[rs]n
3466 \f[B]DFd\f[R]\*[ic]\[rs]n
3468 \f[B]DFg \f[I]gray\f[R]\*[ic]\[rs]n
3470 \f[B]DFk \f[I]cyan magenta yellow black\f[R]\*[ic]\[rs]n
3472 \f[B]DFr \f[I]red green blue\f[R]\*[ic]\[rs]n
3473 Set the color components of the filling color similar to the
3478 The current position isn't changed by those colour commands (contrary to
3482 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
3483 .SS "Device Control Commands"
3484 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
3486 There is a continuation convention which permits the argument to the
3488 command to contain newlines: when outputting the argument to the
3490 command, GNU troff follows each newline in the argument with a
3492 character (as usual, it terminates the entire argument with a
3493 newline); thus if the line after the line containing the
3497 then the newline ending the line containing the
3499 command should be treated as part of the argument to the
3503 should be ignored, and the part of the line following the
3505 should be treated like the part of the line following the
3510 The first three output commands are guaranteed to be:
3519 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
3520 .SH INCOMPATIBILITIES
3521 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
3523 In spite of the many extensions, groff has retained compatibility to
3524 classical troff to a large degree.
3526 For the cases where the extensions lead to collisions, a special
3527 compatibility mode with the restricted, old functionality was created
3531 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
3532 .SS "Groff Language"
3533 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
3537 .B compatibility mode
3538 that allows to process roff code written for classical
3540 or for other implementations of roff in a consistent way.
3543 Compatibility mode can be turned on with the
3545 command line option, and turned on or off with the
3551 is\~1 if compatibility mode is on, 0\~otherwise.
3554 This became necessary because the GNU concept for long names causes
3555 some incompatibilities.
3562 as defining a string
3568 mode, this is considered as a call of a macro named
3578 as references to a string or number register called
3582 takes this as the start of a long name.
3586 .IR "compatibility mode" ,
3587 groff interprets these things in the traditional way; so long
3588 names are not recognized.
3591 On the other hand, groff in
3593 does not allow to use the single-character escapes
3622 (character c) in names of strings, macros, diversions, number
3623 registers, fonts or environments, whereas
3630 escape sequence can be helpful in avoiding these escape sequences in
3634 Fractional pointsizes cause one noteworthy incompatibility.
3641 request ignores scale indicators and so
3648 sets the pointsize to 10\~points, whereas in groff native mode the
3649 pointsize is set to 10\~scaled points.
3654 there is a fundamental difference between unformatted input
3655 characters, and formatted output characters (glyphs).
3657 Everything that affects how a glyph is output is
3658 stored with the glyph; once a glyph has been
3659 constructed it is unaffected by any subsequent requests that are
3660 executed, including the
3670 Normally glyphs are constructed from input characters at
3671 the moment immediately before the glyph is added to the current
3674 Macros, diversions and strings are all, in fact, the same type of
3675 object; they contain lists of input characters and glyphs
3679 Special characters can be both; before being added to the output, they
3680 act as input entities, afterwards they denote glyphs.
3683 A glyph does not behave like an input character for the
3684 purposes of macro processing; it does not inherit any of the special
3685 properties that the input character from which it was constructed
3688 The following example makes things clearer.
3695 .B \[rs]\[rs]\[rs]\[rs]
3708 So each pair of input backslashes
3710 is turned into a single output backslash glyph
3712 and the resulting output backslashes are not interpreted as escape
3713 characters when they are reread.
3717 would interpret them as escape characters when they were reread and
3718 would end up printing a single backslash `\[rs]'.
3721 In GNU, the correct way to get a printable version of the backslash
3725 escape sequence, but classical troff does not provide a clean feature
3726 for getting a non-syntactical backslash.
3728 A close method is the printable version of the current escape
3731 escape sequence; this works if the current escape character is not
3734 It works in both GNU mode and compatibility mode, while dirty tricks
3735 like specifying a sequence of multiple backslashes do not work
3736 reliably; for the different handling in diversions, macro definitions,
3737 or text mode quickly leads to a confusion about the necessary number of
3741 To store an escape sequence in a diversion that is interpreted
3742 when the diversion is reread, either the traditional
3744 transparent output facility or the
3747 escape sequence can be used.
3750 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
3751 .SS "Intermediate Output"
3752 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
3754 The groff intermediate output format is in a state of evolution.
3756 So far it has some incompatibilities, but it is intended to establish
3757 a full compatibility to the classical troff output format.
3759 Actually the following incompatibilities exist:
3762 The positioning after the drawing of the polygons conflicts with the
3763 classical definition.
3766 The intermediate output cannot be rescaled to other devices as
3767 classical "device-independent" troff did.
3770 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
3772 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
3774 Copyright (C) 1989, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007
3775 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
3778 This document is distributed under the terms of the FDL (GNU Free
3779 Documentation License) version 1.1 or later.
3781 You should have received a copy of the FDL on your system, it is also
3782 available on-line at the
3783 .UR http://\:www.gnu.org/\:copyleft/\:fdl.html
3787 This document was written by James Clark, with modifications by
3797 This document is part of
3799 the GNU roff distribution.
3801 Formerly, the contents of this document was kept in the manual
3803 .BR @g@troff (@MAN1EXT@).
3804 Only the parts dealing with the language aspects of the different
3806 systems were carried over into this document.
3810 command line options and warnings are still documented in
3811 .BR @g@troff (@MAN1EXT@).
3813 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
3815 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
3822 presents all groff documentation within a single document.
3825 .BR groff (@MAN1EXT@)
3826 A list of all documentation around
3830 .BR groff (@MAN7EXT@)
3831 A description of the
3833 language, including a short, but complete reference of all predefined
3834 requests, registers, and escapes of plain
3836 From the command line, this is called using
3846 .BR roff (@MAN7EXT@)
3849 systems, including pointers to further historical documentation.
3854 .I Nroff/\:Troff User's Manual
3857 of 1976 in the revision of
3860 .UR http://\:cm.bell-labs.com/\:cm/\:cs/\:cstr/\:54.ps.gz
3861 classical troff documentation
3864 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
3866 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
3868 .\" Local Variables: