awf(1)awf(1)NAMEawf - amazingly workable (text) formatter
SYNOPSISawf-macros [ file ] ...
DESCRIPTION
Awf formats the text from the input file(s) (standard input if none) in
an imitation of The -macro option is mandatory and must be `-man' or
`-ms'.
Awf implements the following raw requests:
.\" .ce .fi .in .ne .pl .sp
.ad .de .ft .it .nf .po .ta
.bp .ds .ie .ll .nr .ps .ti
.br .el .if .na .ns .rs .tm
and the following in-text codes:
\$ \% \* \c \f \n \s
plus the full list of /troff special characters in the original V7 troff
manual.
Many restrictions are present; the behavior in general is a subset of Of
particular note are the following:
o Point sizes do not exist; .ps and \s are ignored.
o Conditionals implement only numeric comparisons on \n(.$, string
comparisons between a macro parameter and a literal, and n (always
true) and t (always false).
o The implementation of strings is generally primitive.
o Expressions in (e.g.) .sp are fairly general, but the |, &, and :
operators do not exist, and the implementation of \w requires that
quote (') be used as the delimiter and simply counts the characters
inside (so that, e.g., \w'\(bu' equals 4).
White space at the beginning of lines, and imbedded white space within
lines, is dealt with properly. Sentence terminators at ends of lines are
understood to imply extra space afterward in filled lines. Tabs are
implemented crudely and not quite correctly, although in most cases they
work as expected. Hyphenation is done only at explicit hyphens, em-
dashes, and discretionary hyphens.
MAN MACROS
The -man macro set implements the full V7 manual macros, plus a few
semi-random oddballs. The full list is:
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awf(1)awf(1)
.B .DT .IP .P .RE .SM
.BI .HP .IR .PD .RI .TH
.BR .I .LP .PP .RS .TP
.BY .IB .NB .RB .SH .UC
.BY and .NB each take a single string argument (respectively, an
indication of authorship and a note about the status of the manual page)
and arrange to place it in the page footer.
MS MACROS
The -ms macro set is a substantial subset of the V7 manuscript macros.
The implemented macros are:
.AB .CD .ID .ND .QP .RS .UL
.AE .DA .IP .NH .QS .SH .UX
.AI .DE .LD .NL .R .SM
.AU .DS .LG .PP .RE .TL
.B .I .LP .QE .RP .TP
Size changes are recognized but ignored, as are .RP and .ND. .UL just
prints its argument in italics. .DS/.DE does not do a keep, nor do any
of the other macros that normally imply keeps.
Assignments to the header/footer string variables are recognized and
implemented, but there is otherwise no control over header/footer
formatting. The DY string variable is available. The PD, PI, and LL
number registers exist and can be changed.
OUTPUT
The only output format supported by awf, in its distributed form, is that
appropriate to a dumb terminal, using overprinting for italics (via
underlining) and bold. The special characters are printed as some vague
approximation (it's sometimes very vague) to their correct appearance.
Awf's knowledge of the output device is established by a device file,
which is read before the user's input. It is sought in awf's library
directory, first as dev.term (where term is the value of the TERM
environment variable) and, failing that, as dev.dumb. The device file
uses special internal commands to set up resolution, special characters,
fonts, etc., and more normal commands to set up page length etc.
FILES
All in /usr/lib/awf (this can be overridden by the AWFLIB environment
variable):
common common device-independent initialization
dev.* device-specific initialization
mac.m* macro packages
pass1 macro substituter
pass2.base central formatter
pass2.m* macro-package-specific bits of formatter
pass3 line and page composer
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awf(1)awf(1)SEE ALSOawk(1), nroff(1), man(5), ms(5).
DIAGNOSTICS
Unlike nroff, awf complains whenever it sees unknown commands and macros.
All diagnostics (these and some internal ones) appear on standard error
at the end of the run.
HISTORY
Written at University of Toronto by Henry Spencer, more or less as a
supplement to the C News project.
=> None of the above really want to admit it. <=
BUGS
There are plenty, but what do you expect for a text formatter written
entirely in (old) awk?
The -ms stuff has not been checked out very thoroughly.
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