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GTROFF(1)							     GTROFF(1)

NAME
       gtroff - format documents

SYNOPSIS
       gtroff [ -abivzCERU ] [ -wname ] [ -Wname ] [ -dcs ] [ -ffam ]
	      [ -mname ] [ -nnum ] [ -olist ] [ -rcn ] [ -Tname ] [ -Fdir ]
	      [ -Mdir ] [ files... ]

       It is possible to have whitespace between a command line option and its
       parameter.

DESCRIPTION
       This manual page describes the GNU version of troff, which is  part  of
       the  groff  document  formatting	 system.  It is highly compatible with
       UNIX troff.  Usually it should be  invoked  using  the  groff  command,
       which will also run preprocessors and postprocessors in the appropriate
       order and with the appropriate options.

OPTIONS
       -a	 Generate an ASCII approximation of the typeset output.

       -b	 Print a backtrace with each warning or error  message.	  This
		 backtrace should help track down the cause of the error.  The
		 line numbers given in the backtrace may not  always  be  cor‐
		 rect:	troff's idea of line numbers gets confused by as or am
		 requests.

       -i	 Read the standard input after all the named input files  have
		 been processed.

       -v	 Print the version number.

       -wname	 Enable warning name.  Available warnings are described in the
		 Warnings subsection below.  Multiple -w options are allowed.

       -Wname	 Inhibit warning name.	Multiple -W options are allowed.

       -E	 Inhibit all error messages.

       -z	 Suppress formatted output.

       -C	 Enable compatibility mode.

       -dcs
       -dname=s	 Define c or name to be a string s; c must  be	a  one	letter
		 name.

       -ffam	 Use fam as the default font family.

       -mname	 Read in the file name.tmac.  If it isn't found, try tmac.name
		 instead.  It will be first searched for in directories	 given
		 with the -M command line option, then in directories given in
		 the GROFF_TMAC_PATH environment variable, then in the current
		 directory  (only  if  in  unsafe  mode),  the home directory,
		 /freeware/gnu-tools/vax/lib/groff/site-tmac,	/freeware/gnu-
		 tools/share/groff/site-tmac,	     and	/freeware/gnu-
		 tools/share/groff/1.17.2/tmac.

       -U	 Unsafe mode.  This will enable the following requests: .open,
		 .opena,  .pso,	 .sy,  and  .pi.   For security reasons, these
		 potentially dangerous requests are  disabled  otherwise.   It
		 will also add the current directory to the macro search path.

       -R	 Don't load troffrc and troffrc-end.

       -nnum	 Number the first page num.

       -olist	 Output only pages in list, which is a comma-separated list of
		 page ranges; n means print page n, m-n means print every page
		 between  m and n, -n means print every page up to n, n- means
		 print every page from n.  Troff will exit after printing  the
		 last page in the list.

       -rcn
       -rname=n	 Set number register c or name to n; c must be a one character
		 name; n can be any troff numeric expression.

       -Tname	 Prepare output for device name, rather than the default ps.

       -Fdir	 Search in directory (or directory path) dir  for  subdirecto‐
		 ries  devname	(name is the name of the device) and there for
		 the DESC file and font files.	 dir  is  scanned  before  all
		 other font directories.

       -Mdir	 Search	 directory  (or	 directory  path) dir for macro files.
		 This is scanned before all other macro directories.

USAGE
       Only the features not in UNIX troff are described here.

   Long names
       The names of number registers, fonts,  strings/macros/diversions,  spe‐
       cial  characters	 can  be of any length. In escape sequences, where you
       can use (xx for a two character name, you can use [xxx] for a  name  of
       arbitrary length:

       \[xxx] Print the special character called xxx.

       \f[xxx]
	      Set font xxx.

       \*[xxx]
	      Interpolate string xxx.

       \n[xxx]
	      Interpolate number register xxx.

   Fractional pointsizes
       A scaled point is equal to 1/sizescale points, where sizescale is spec‐
       ified in the DESC file (1 by default).  There is a new scale  indicator
       z  which	 has  the  effect  of  multiplying by sizescale.  Requests and
       escape sequences in troff interpret arguments that represent  a	point‐
       size  as	 being	in units of scaled points, but they evaluate each such
       argument using a default scale indicator of z.	Arguments  treated  in
       this  way are the argument to the ps request, the third argument to the
       cs request, the second and fourth arguments to  the  tkf	 request,  the
       argument to the \H escape sequence, and those variants of the \s escape
       sequence that take a numeric expression as their argument.

       For example, suppose sizescale is 1000; then a  scaled  point  will  be
       equivalent  to a millipoint; the request .ps 10.25 is equivalent to .ps
       10.25z and so sets the pointsize to 10250 scaled points, which is equal
       to 10.25 points.

       The  number  register \n[.s] returns the pointsize in points as decimal
       fraction.  There is also a new number register \n[.ps] that returns the
       pointsize in scaled points.

       It  would  make	no  sense  to  use  the z scale indicator in a numeric
       expression whose default scale indicator was neither u nor  z,  and  so
       troff  disallows this.  Similarly it would make no sense to use a scal‐
       ing indicator other than z or u in a numeric expression	whose  default
       scale indicator was z, and so troff disallows this as well.

       There  is  also new scale indicator s which multiplies by the number of
       units in a scaled point.	 So, for example, \n[.ps]s is equal to 1m.  Be
       sure not to confuse the s and z scale indicators.

   Numeric expressions
       Spaces are permitted in a number expression within parentheses.

       M indicates a scale of 100ths of an em.

       e1>?e2 The maximum of e1 and e2.

       e1<?e2 The minimum of e1 and e2.

       (c;e)  Evaluate	e  using  c as the default scaling indicator.  If c is
	      missing, ignore scaling indicators in the evaluation of e.

   New escape sequences
       \A'anything'
	      This expands to 1 or 0  according	 as  anything  is  or  is  not
	      acceptable  as  the  name	 of a string, macro, diversion, number
	      register, environment or font.  It will return 0 if anything  is
	      empty.   This is useful if you want to lookup user input in some
	      sort of associative table.

       \B'anything'
	      This expands to 1 or 0 according as anything  is	or  is	not  a
	      valid  numeric  expression.   It	will  return  0 if anything is
	      empty.

       \C'xxx'
	      Typeset character named xxx.  Normally it is more convenient  to
	      use \[xxx].  But \C has the advantage that it is compatible with
	      recent versions of UNIX and is available in compatibility mode.

       \E     This is equivalent to an escape character, but it's  not	inter‐
	      preted  in  copy-mode.   For  example,  strings to start and end
	      superscripting could be defined like this:

		     .ds { \v'-.3m'\s'\En[.s]*6u/10u'
		     .ds } \s0\v'.3m'

	      The use of \E ensures that these definitions will work  even  if
	      \*{ gets interpreted in copy-mode (for example, by being used in
	      a macro argument).

       \N'n'  Typeset the character with code n in the current font.  n can be
	      any  integer.   Most  devices  only  have	 characters with codes
	      between 0 and 255.  If the current font does not contain a char‐
	      acter  with  that code, special fonts will not be searched.  The
	      \N escape sequence can be conveniently used on conjunction  with
	      the char request:

		     .char \[phone] \f(ZD\N'37'

	      The  code of each character is given in the fourth column in the
	      font description file after the charset command.	It is possible
	      to  include  unnamed  characters in the font description file by
	      using a name of ---; the \N escape sequence is the only  way  to
	      use these.

       \R'name ±n'
	      This has the same effect as

		     .nr name ±n

       \s(nn
       \s±(nn Set the point size to nn points; nn must be exactly two digits.

       \s[±n]
       \s±[n]
       \s'±n'
       \s±'n' Set the point size to n scaled points; n is a numeric expression
	      with a default scale indicator of z.

       \Vx
       \V(xx
       \V[xxx]
	      Interpolate the contents of the  environment  variable  xxx,  as
	      returned by getenv(3).  \V is interpreted in copy-mode.

       \Yx
       \Y(xx
       \Y[xxx]
	      This  is	approximately  equivalent to \X'\*[xxx]'.  However the
	      contents of the string or macro xxx are not interpreted; also it
	      is  permitted  for  xxx to have been defined as a macro and thus
	      contain newlines (it is not permitted for the argument to \X  to
	      contain newlines).  The inclusion of newlines requires an exten‐
	      sion to the UNIX troff output format, and will  confuse  drivers
	      that do not know about this extension.

       \Z'anything'
	      Print  anything  and  then  restore  the horizontal and vertical
	      position; anything may not contain tabs or leaders.

       \$0    The name by which	 the  current  macro  was  invoked.   The  als
	      request can make a macro have more than one name.

       \$*    In  a macro, the concatenation of all the arguments separated by
	      spaces.

       \$@    In a macro, the concatenation of all  the	 arguments  with  each
	      surrounded by double quotes, and separated by spaces.

       \$(nn
       \$[nnn]
	      In a macro, this gives the nn-th or nnn-th argument.  Macros can
	      have an unlimited number of arguments.

       \?anything\?
	      When used in a diversion, this will transparently embed anything
	      in  the  diversion.   anything  is  read in copy mode.  When the
	      diversion is reread, anything will be interpreted.  anything may
	      not  contain newlines; use \! if you want to embed newlines in a
	      diversion.  The escape sequence \? is also  recognised  in  copy
	      mode  and	 turned	 into  a single internal code; it is this code
	      that terminates anything.	 Thus
		     .nr x 1
		     .nf
		     .di d
		     \?\\?\\\\?\\\\\\\\nx\\\\?\\?\?
		     .di
		     .nr x 2
		     .di e
		     .d
		     .di
		     .nr x 3
		     .di f
		     .e
		     .di
		     .nr x 4
		     .f

	      will print 4.

       \/     This increases the width of the preceding character so that  the
	      spacing  between that character and the following character will
	      be correct if the following character is a roman character.  For
	      example, if an italic f is immediately followed by a roman right
	      parenthesis, then in many fonts the top right portion of	the  f
	      will overlap the top left of the right parenthesis producing f),
	      which is ugly.  Inserting \/ produces f) and avoids  this	 prob‐
	      lem.   It is a good idea to use this escape sequence whenever an
	      italic character is immediately followed by  a  roman  character
	      without any intervening space.

       \,     This modifies the spacing of the following character so that the
	      spacing between that character and the preceding character  will
	      correct  if  the	preceding character is a roman character.  For
	      example, inserting \, between the parenthesis and the f  changes
	      (f  to  (f.  It is a good idea to use this escape sequence when‐
	      ever a roman character is	 immediately  followed	by  an	italic
	      character without any intervening space.

       \)     Like  \&	except	that it behaves like a character declared with
	      the cflags request to be transparent for the purposes of end  of
	      sentence recognition.

       \~     This  produces an unbreakable space that stretches like a normal
	      inter-word space when a line is adjusted.

       \:     This causes the insertion of a zero-width break  point.	It  is
	      equal to \% but without insertion of a soft hyphen character.

       \#     Everything  up  to  and  including  the next newline is ignored.
	      This is interpreted in copy mode.	 This is like \"  except  that
	      \" does not ignore the terminating newline.

   New requests
       .aln xx yy
	      Create an alias xx for number register object named yy.  The new
	      name and the old name will be  exactly  equivalent.   If	yy  is
	      undefined,  a  warning  of  type	reg will be generated, and the
	      request will be ignored.

       .als xx yy
	      Create an alias xx for  request,	string,	 macro,	 or  diversion
	      object  named yy.	 The new name and the old name will be exactly
	      equivalent (it is similar to a hard rather than  a  soft	link).
	      If yy is undefined, a warning of type mac will be generated, and
	      the request will be ignored.  The de, am, di,  da,  ds,  and  as
	      requests	only  create  a	 new  object if the name of the macro,
	      diversion or string diversion is currently undefined or if it is
	      defined  to  be  a request; normally they modify the value of an
	      existing object.

       .am1 xx yy
	      Similar to .am, but compatibility mode is	 switched  off	during
	      execution.   On  entry,  the current compatibility mode is saved
	      and restored at exit.

       .asciify xx
	      This request `unformats' the diversion xx in  such  a  way  that
	      ASCII and space characters (and some escape sequences) that were
	      formatted and diverted into xx will  be  treated	like  ordinary
	      input  characters	 when  xx is reread.  Useful for diversions in
	      conjunction with the .writem request.  It can be also  used  for
	      gross hacks; for example, this

		     .tr @.
		     .di x
		     @nr n 1
		     .br
		     .di
		     .tr @@
		     .asciify x
		     .x

	      will  set	 register  n to 1.  Note that glyph information (font,
	      font size, etc.) is not preserved; use .unformat instead.

       .backtrace
	      Print a backtrace of the input stack on stderr.

       .blm xx
	      Set the blank line macro to xx.  If there is a blank line macro,
	      it  will	be invoked when a blank line is encountered instead of
	      the usual troff behaviour.

       .box xx
       .boxa xx
	      These requests are similar to the di and da  requests  with  the
	      exception	 that  a partially filled line will not become part of
	      the diversion (i.e., the diversion  always  starts  with	a  new
	      line)  but  restored  after ending the diversion, discarding the
	      partially filled line which possibly comes from the diversion.

       .break Break out of a while loop.  See  also  the  while	 and  continue
	      requests.	 Be sure not to confuse this with the br request.

       .brp   This is the same as \p.

       .cflags n c1 c2...
	      Characters c1, c2,...  have properties determined by n, which is
	      ORed from the following:

	      1	     the character ends sentences  (initially  characters  .?!
		     have this property);

	      2	     lines  can	 be  broken before the character (initially no
		     characters have this property); a line will not be broken
		     at	 a  character with this property unless the characters
		     on each side both have non-zero hyphenation codes.

	      4	     lines can be broken after the character (initially	 char‐
		     acters  -\(hy\(em have this property); a line will not be
		     broken at a character with this property unless the char‐
		     acters on each side both have non-zero hyphenation codes.

	      8	     the character overlaps horizontally (initially characters
		     \(ul\(rn\(ru have this property);

	      16     the character overlaps  vertically	 (initially  character
		     \(br has this property);

	      32     an	 end  of  sentence character followed by any number of
		     characters with this property will be treated as the  end
		     of	 a sentence if followed by a newline or two spaces; in
		     other words the character is transparent for the purposes
		     of	 end of sentence recognition; this is the same as hav‐
		     ing a zero space  factor  in  TeX	(initially  characters
		     "')]*\(dg\(rq have this property).

       .char c string
	      Define  character	 c to be string.  Every time character c needs
	      to be printed, string will be processed in a temporary  environ‐
	      ment  and	 the  result  will be wrapped up into a single object.
	      Compatibility mode will be turned off and the  escape  character
	      will be set to \ while string is being processed.	 Any embolden‐
	      ing, constant spacing or track kerning will be applied  to  this
	      object  rather than to individual characters in string.  A char‐
	      acter defined by this request can be used	 just  like  a	normal
	      character	 provided  by  the output device.  In particular other
	      characters can be translated to it with the tr request;  it  can
	      be  made	the  leader character by the lc request; repeated pat‐
	      terns can be drawn with the character using the \l and \L escape
	      sequences; words containing the character can be hyphenated cor‐
	      rectly, if the hcode request is used to  give  the  character  a
	      hyphenation  code.   There  is a special anti-recursion feature:
	      use of character within the character's definition will be  han‐
	      dled  like normal characters not defined with char.  A character
	      definition can be removed with the rchar request.

       .chop xx
	      Chop the last character off  macro,  string,  or	diversion  xx.
	      This  is	useful for removing the newline from the end of diver‐
	      sions that are to be interpolated as strings.

       .close stream
	      Close the stream named stream;  stream  will  no	longer	be  an
	      acceptable argument to the write request.	 See the open request.

       .continue
	      Finish  the  current  iteration  of  a while loop.  See also the
	      while and break requests.

       .cp n  If n is non-zero or missing, enable compatibility	 mode,	other‐
	      wise  disable  it.   In  compatibility  mode, long names are not
	      recognised, and the incompatibilities caused by  long  names  do
	      not arise.

       .dei xx yy
	      Define macro indirectly.	The following example

		     .ds xx aa
		     .ds yy bb
		     .dei xx yy

	      is equivalent to

		     .de aa bb

       .de1 xx yy
	      Similar  to  .de,	 but compatibility mode is switched off during
	      execution.  On entry, the current compatibility  mode  is	 saved
	      and restored at exit.

       .do xxx
	      Interpret .xxx with compatibility mode disabled.	For example,

		     .do fam T

	      would have the same effect as

		     .fam T

	      except  that  it	would work even if compatibility mode had been
	      enabled.	Note that the previous compatibility mode is  restored
	      before any files sourced by xxx are interpreted.

       .ecs   Save current escape character.

       .ecr   Restore  escape  character  saved	 with ecs.  Without a previous
	      call to ecs, `\' will be the new escape character.

       .evc xx
	      Copy the contents of environment xx to the current  environment.
	      No pushing or popping of environents will be done.

       .fam xx
	      Set  the	current font family to xx.  The current font family is
	      part of the current environment.	If xx is missing, switch  back
	      to previous font family.	See the description of the sty request
	      for more information on font families.

       .fspecial f s1 s2...
	      When the current font is f, fonts s1, s2,...  will  be  special,
	      that  is,	 they  will searched for characters not in the current
	      font.  Any fonts	specified  in  the  special  request  will  be
	      searched after fonts specified in the fspecial request.

       .ftr f g
	      Translate	 font  f to g.	Whenever a font named f is referred to
	      in \f escape sequence, or in the ft, ul, bd, cs,	tkf,  special,
	      fspecial,	 fp,  or  sty  requests, font g will be used.  If g is
	      missing, or equal to f then font f will not be translated.

       .hcode c1 code1 c2 code2...
	      Set the hyphenation code of character c1 to code1 and that of c2
	      to  code2.   A hyphenation code must be a single input character
	      (not a special character) other than a digit or a	 space.	  Ini‐
	      tially  each  lower-case letter has a hyphenation code, which is
	      itself, and each upper-case letter has a hyphenation code	 which
	      is the lower case version of itself.  See also the hpf request.

       .hla lang
	      Set  the	current	 hyphenation  language	to  lang.  Hyphenation
	      exceptions specified with the hw request	and  hyphenation  pat‐
	      terns  specified	with  the hpf request are both associated with
	      the current hyphenation language.	 The hla  request  is  usually
	      invoked by the troffrc file.

       .hlm n Set the maximum number of consecutive hyphenated lines to n.  If
	      n is negative, there is no maximum.  The default	value  is  -1.
	      This  value  is  associated  with the current environment.  Only
	      lines output from an environment count towards the maximum asso‐
	      ciated  with  that  environment.	 Hyphens resulting from \% are
	      counted; explicit hyphens are not.

       .hpf file
	      Read hyphenation patterns from file; this will be	 searched  for
	      in  the  same way that name.tmac is searched for when the -mname
	      option is specified.  It should have  the	 same  format  as  the
	      argument	to the \patterns primitive in TeX; the letters appear‐
	      ing in this file are interpreted	as  hyphenation	 codes.	  A  %
	      character in the patterns file introduces a comment that contin‐
	      ues to the end of the line.  The set of hyphenation patterns  is
	      associated  with	the  current  language set by the hla request.
	      The hpf request is usually invoked by the troffrc file.

       .hym n Set the hyphenation margin to n:	when  the  current  adjustment
	      mode is not b, the line will not be hyphenated if the line is no
	      more than n short.  The default hyphenation margin  is  0.   The
	      default  scaling	indicator  for this request is m.  The hyphen‐
	      ation margin is associated with the  current  environment.   The
	      current  hyphenation  margin is available in the \n[.hym] regis‐
	      ter.

       .hys n Set the hyphenation space to n: when the current adjustment mode
	      is  b  don't  hyphenate the line if the line can be justified by
	      adding no more than n extra  space  to  each  word  space.   The
	      default  hyphenation  space is 0.	 The default scaling indicator
	      for this request is m.  The hyphenation space is associated with
	      the  current  environment.   The	current	 hyphenation  space is
	      available in the \n[.hys] register.

       .kern n
	      If n is non-zero or missing, enable pairwise kerning,  otherwise
	      disable it.

       .length xx string
	      Compute  the length of string and return it in the number regis‐
	      ter xx (which is not necessarily defined before).

       .linetabs n
	      If n is non-zero or missing, enable  line-tabs  mode,  otherwise
	      disable  it (which is the default).  In line-tabs mode, tab dis‐
	      tances are computed relative to the (current) output line.  Oth‐
	      erwise  they are taken relative to the input line.  For example,
	      the following

		     .ds x a\t\c
		     .ds y b\t\c
		     .ds z c
		     .ta 1i 3i
		     \*x
		     \*y
		     \*z

	      yields

		     a	       b	 c

	      In line-tabs mode, the same code gives

		     a	       b		   c

	      Line-tabs mode is associated with the current  environment;  the
	      read-only	 number register \n[.linetabs] is set to 1 if in line-
	      tabs mode, and 0 otherwise.

       .mso file
	      The same as the so request except that file is searched  for  in
	      the  same directories as macro files for the the -m command line
	      option.  If the file name to be included has the form  name.tmac
	      and  it  isn't found, mso tries to include tmac.name instead and
	      vice versa.

       .nop anything
	      Execute anything.	 This is similar to `.if 1'.

       .nroff Make the n built-in condition true and the t built-in  condition
	      false.  This can be reversed using the troff request.

       .open stream filename
	      Open  filename for writing and associate the stream named stream
	      with it.	See also the close and write requests.

       .opena stream filename
	      Like open, but if filename exists, append to it instead of trun‐
	      cating it.

       .pnr   Print  the  names	 and  contents of all currently defined number
	      registers on stderr.

       .psbb filename
	      Get the bounding box of a PostScript image filename.  This  file
	      must  conform  to	 Adobe's Document Structuring Conventions; the
	      command looks for a %%BoundingBox comment to extract the	bound‐
	      ing  box	values.	  After a successful call, the coordinates (in
	      PostScript units) of the lower left and upper right  corner  can
	      be  found	 in  the  registers  \n[llx],  \n[lly],	 \n[urx],  and
	      \n[ury], respectively.  If some error  has  occurred,  the  four
	      registers are set to zero.

       .pso command
	      This  behaves  like  the so request except that input comes from
	      the standard output of command.

       .ptr   Print the names and positions of all traps (not including	 input
	      line  traps  and diversion traps) on stderr.  Empty slots in the
	      page trap list are printed as well, because they can affect  the
	      priority of subsequently planted traps.

       .rchar c1 c2...
	      Remove the definitions of characters c1, c2,...  This undoes the
	      effect of a char request.

       .return
	      Within a macro, return immediately.  No effect otherwise.

       .rj
       .rj n  Right justify the next n input lines.  Without an argument right
	      justify  the  next  input line.  The number of lines to be right
	      justified is available in the \n[.rj] register.  This implicitly
	      does .ce 0.  The ce request implicitly does .rj 0.

       .rnn xx yy
	      Rename number register xx to yy.

       .shc c Set  the	soft hyphen character to c.  If c is omitted, the soft
	      hyphen character will be set to  the  default  \(hy.   The  soft
	      hyphen  character is the character which will be inserted when a
	      word is hyphenated at a line break.  If the soft hyphen  charac‐
	      ter does not exist in the font of the character immediately pre‐
	      ceding a potential break point, then the line will not be broken
	      at  that	point.	 Neither  definitions (specified with the char
	      request) nor translations (specified with the  tr	 request)  are
	      considered when finding the soft hyphen character.

       .shift n
	      In  a  macro,  shift  the	 arguments  by n positions: argument i
	      becomes argument i-n; arguments 1 to n will no longer be	avail‐
	      able.   If n is missing, arguments will be shifted by 1.	Shift‐
	      ing by negative amounts is currently undefined.

       .special s1 s2...
	      Fonts s1, s2, are special and will be  searched  for  characters
	      not in the current font.

       .sty n f
	      Associate	 style f with font position n.	A font position can be
	      associated either with a font or with a style.  The current font
	      is  the index of a font position and so is also either a font or
	      a style.	When it is a style, the font that is actually used  is
	      the  font	 the name of which is the concatenation of the name of
	      the current family and the name of the current style.  For exam‐
	      ple,  if the current font is 1 and font position 1 is associated
	      with style R and the current font family is T, then font TR will
	      be  used.	  If the current font is not a style, then the current
	      family is ignored.  When the requests cs, bd, tkf, uf, or	 fspe‐
	      cial  are	 applied to a style, then they will instead be applied
	      to the member of the current family corresponding to that style.
	      The  default  family  can be set with the -f option.  The styles
	      command in the DESC file controls which font positions (if  any)
	      are initially associated with styles rather than fonts.

       .substring xx n1 [n2]
	      Replace  the string in register xx with the substring defined by
	      the indices n1 and n2.  The first character in  the  string  has
	      index  one.   If	n2  is omitted, it is taken to be equal to the
	      string's length.	If the index value n1 or  n2  is  negative  or
	      zero, it will be counted from the end of the string, going back‐
	      wards: The last character has index 0, the character before  the
	      last character has index -1, etc.

       .tkf f s1 n1 s2 n2
	      Enable track kerning for font f.	When the current font is f the
	      width of every character will be increased by an amount  between
	      n1  and n2; when the current point size is less than or equal to
	      s1 the width will be increased by n1; when it is greater than or
	      equal  to	 s2  the width will be increased by n2; when the point
	      size is greater than or equal to s1 and less than or equal to s2
	      the increase in width is a linear function of the point size.

       .tm1 string
	      Similar to the tm request, string is read in copy mode and writ‐
	      ten on the standard error, but an initial double quote in string
	      is stripped off to allow initial blanks.

       .tmc string
	      Similar to tm1 but without writing a final newline.

       .trf filename
	      Transparently  output  the contents of file filename.  Each line
	      is output as it would be were it preceded by  \!;	 however,  the
	      lines  are not subject to copy-mode interpretation.  If the file
	      does not end with a newline, then a newline will be added.   For
	      example,	you  can  define  a macro x containing the contents of
	      file f, using

		     .di x
		     .trf f
		     .di

	      Unlike with the cf request, the file cannot  contain  characters
	      such as NUL that are not legal troff input characters.

       .trnt abcd
	      This  is the same as the tr request except that the translations
	      do not apply to text that is  transparently  throughput  into  a
	      diversion with \!.  For example,

		     .tr ab
		     .di x
		     \!.tm a
		     .di
		     .x

	      will print b; if trnt is used instead of tr it will print a.

       .troff Make  the	 n built-in condition false, and the t built-in condi‐
	      tion true.  This undoes the effect of the nroff request.

       .unformat xx
	      This request `unformats' the  diversion  xx.   Contrary  to  the
	      .asciify	request,  which tries to convert formatted elements of
	      the diversion back to input tokens as much as possible,  .unfor‐
	      mat  will	 only  handle  tabs  and spaces between words (usually
	      caused by spaces or newlines in the input) specially.  The  for‐
	      mer are treated as if they were input tokens, and the latter are
	      stretchable again.  Note that the vertical size of lines is  not
	      preserved.   Glyph  information  (font,  font size, space width,
	      etc.) is retained.  Useful in  conjunction  with	the  .box  and
	      .boxa requests.

       .vpt n Enable  vertical	position  traps if n is non-zero, disable them
	      otherwise.  Vertical position traps are traps set by the	wh  or
	      dt requests.  Traps set by the it request are not vertical posi‐
	      tion traps.  The parameter that controls whether vertical	 posi‐
	      tion  traps  are enabled is global.  Initially vertical position
	      traps are enabled.

       .warn n
	      Control warnings.	 n is the sum of the numbers  associated  with
	      each  warning  that is to be enabled; all other warnings will be
	      disabled.	 The number associated with each warning is listed  in
	      the  `Warnings'  section.	 For example, .warn 0 will disable all
	      warnings, and .warn 1 will  disable  all	warnings  except  that
	      about  missing characters.  If n is not given, all warnings will
	      be enabled.

       .while c anything
	      While condition c is true, accept anything as input;  c  can  be
	      any condition acceptable to an if request; anything can comprise
	      multiple lines if the first line starts with  \{	and  the  last
	      line ends with \}.  See also the break and continue requests.

       .write stream anything
	      Write  anything  to the stream named stream.  stream must previ‐
	      ously have been the subject of an	 open  request.	  anything  is
	      read in copy mode; a leading " will be stripped.

       .writem stream xx
	      Write the contents of the macro or string xx to the stream named
	      stream.  stream must previously have been the subject of an open
	      request.	xx is read in copy mode.

   Extended requests
       .cf filename
	      When  used  in  a diversion, this will embed in the diversion an
	      object which, when reread, will cause the contents  of  filename
	      to  be  transparently  copied  through  to  the output.  In UNIX
	      troff, the contents of filename is immediately copied through to
	      the  output  regardless of whether there is a current diversion;
	      this behaviour is so anomalous that it must be considered a bug.

       .ev xx If xx is not a number, this will switch to a  named  environment
	      called  xx.  The environment should be popped with a matching ev
	      request without any arguments, just  as  for  numbered  environ‐
	      ments.   There  is no limit on the number of named environments;
	      they will be created the first time that they are referenced.

       .fp n f1 f2
	      The fp request has an optional third  argument.	This  argument
	      gives  the  external name of the font, which is used for finding
	      the font description file.  The second argument gives the inter‐
	      nal name of the font which is used to refer to the font in troff
	      after it has been mounted.  If there is no third	argument  then
	      the  internal name will be used as the external name.  This fea‐
	      ture allows you to use fonts with long  names  in	 compatibility
	      mode.

       .ss m n
	      When two arguments are given to the ss request, the second argu‐
	      ment gives the sentence space size.  If the second  argument  is
	      not  given, the sentence space size will be the same as the word
	      space size.  Like the word space size, the sentence space is  in
	      units of one twelfth of the spacewidth parameter for the current
	      font.  Initially both the word space size and the sentence space
	      size  are	 12.   Contrary	 to UNIX troff, GNU troff handles this
	      request in nroff mode also; a given value is then	 rounded  down
	      to  the nearest multiple of 12.  The sentence space size is used
	      in two circumstances: if the end of a sentence occurs at the end
	      of a line in fill mode, then both an inter-word space and a sen‐
	      tence space will be added; if two spaces follow  the  end	 of  a
	      sentence	in the middle of a line, then the second space will be
	      a sentence space.	 Note that the behaviour of UNIX troff will be
	      exactly  that  exhibited	by  GNU	 troff if a second argument is
	      never given to the ss request.  In GNU troff, as in UNIX	troff,
	      you should always follow a sentence with either a newline or two
	      spaces.

       .ta n1 n2...nn T r1 r2...rn
	      Set tabs at positions n1, n2,..., nn and then set tabs at nn+r1,
	      nn+r2,....,  nn+rn and then at nn+rn+r1, nn+rn+r2,..., nn+rn+rn,
	      and so on.  For example,

		     .ta T .5i

	      will set tabs every half an inch.

   New number registers
       The following read-only registers are available:

       \n[.C] 1 if compatibility mode is in effect, 0 otherwise.

       \n[.cdp]
	      The depth of the last character added to	the  current  environ‐
	      ment.   It  is positive if the character extends below the base‐
	      line.

       \n[.ce]
	      The number of lines remaining to be centered, as set by  the  ce
	      request.

       \n[.cht]
	      The  height  of the last character added to the current environ‐
	      ment.  It is positive if the character extends above  the	 base‐
	      line.

       \n[.csk]
	      The skew of the last character added to the current environment.
	      The skew of a character is how far to the right of the center of
	      a	 character  the center of an accent over that character should
	      be placed.

       \n[.ev]
	      The name or number  of  the  current  environment.   This	 is  a
	      string-valued register.

       \n[.fam]
	      The current font family.	This is a string-valued register.

       \n[.fp]
	      The number of the next free font position.

       \n[.g] Always  1.  Macros should use this to determine whether they are
	      running under GNU troff.

       \n[.hla]
	      The current hyphenation language as set by the hla request.

       \n[.hlc]
	      The  number  of  immediately  preceding  consecutive  hyphenated
	      lines.

       \n[.hlm]
	      The  maximum  allowed number of consecutive hyphenated lines, as
	      set by the hlm request.

       \n[.hy]
	      The current hyphenation flags (as set by the hy request).

       \n[.hym]
	      The current hyphenation margin (as set by the hym request).

       \n[.hys]
	      The current hyphenation space (as set by the hys request).

       \n[.in]
	      The indent that applies to the current output line.

       \n[.int]
	      Set to a positive value  if  last	 output	 line  is  interrupted
	      (i.e., if it contains \c).

       \n[.kern]
	      1 if pairwise kerning is enabled, 0 otherwise.

       \n[.lg]
	      The current ligature mode (as set by the lg request).

       \n[.linetabs]
	      The current line-tabs mode (as set by the linetabs request).

       \n[.ll]
	      The line length that applies to the current output line.

       \n[.lt]
	      The title length as set by the lt request.

       \n[.ne]
	      The  amount of space that was needed in the last ne request that
	      caused a trap to be sprung.   Useful  in	conjunction  with  the
	      \n[.trunc] register.

       \n[.ns]
	      1 if no-space mode is active, 0 otherwise.

       \n[.pn]
	      The  number  of  the  next  page:	 either	 the value set by a pn
	      request, or the number of the current page plus 1.

       \n[.ps]
	      The current pointsize in scaled points.

       \n[.psr]
	      The last-requested pointsize in scaled points.

       \n[.rj]
	      The number of lines to be	 right-justified  as  set  by  the  rj
	      request.

       \n[.sr]
	      The  last	 requested  pointsize in points as a decimal fraction.
	      This is a string-valued register.

       \n[.tabs]
	      A string representation of the current tab settings suitable for
	      use as an argument to the ta request.

       \n[.trunc]
	      The  amount  of  vertical	 space	truncated by the most recently
	      sprung vertical position trap, or, if the trap was sprung	 by  a
	      ne  request, minus the amount of vertical motion produced by the
	      ne request.  In other words, at the point a trap is  sprung,  it
	      represents  the  difference  of what the vertical position would
	      have been but for the trap, and what the vertical position actu‐
	      ally is.	Useful in conjunction with the \n[.ne] register.

       \n[.ss]
       \n[.sss]
	      These  give  the	values	of the parameters set by the first and
	      second arguments of the ss request.

       \n[.vpt]
	      1 if vertical position traps are enabled, 0 otherwise.

       \n[.warn]
	      The sum of the numbers associated with  each  of	the  currently
	      enabled  warnings.   The	number associated with each warning is
	      listed in the `Warnings' subsection.

       \n[.x] The major version number.	 For example, if the version number is
	      1.03 then \n[.x] will contain 1.

       \n[.y] The minor version number.	 For example, if the version number is
	      1.03 then \n[.y] will contain 03.

       \n[.Y] The revision number of groff.

       \n[llx]
       \n[lly]
       \n[urx]
       \n[ury]
	      These four registers are set by the .psbb	 request  and  contain
	      the  bounding  box values (in PostScript units) of a given Post‐
	      Script image.

       The following read/write registers are set by the \w escape sequence:

       \n[rst]
       \n[rsb]
	      Like the st and sb registers, but takes account of  the  heights
	      and depths of characters.

       \n[ssc]
	      The  amount  of horizontal space (possibly negative) that should
	      be added to the last character before a subscript.

       \n[skw]
	      How far to right of the center of the last character in  the  \w
	      argument,	 the  center  of an accent from a roman font should be
	      placed over that character.

       Other available read/write number registers are:

       \n[c.] The current input line number.  \n[.c] is a read-only  alias  to
	      this register.

       \n[hp] The current horizontal position at input line.

       \n[systat]
	      The  return  value of the system() function executed by the last
	      sy request.

       \n[slimit]
	      If greater than 0, the maximum number of objects	on  the	 input
	      stack.   If  less	 than  or equal to 0, there is no limit on the
	      number of objects on the input stack.  With no limit,  recursion
	      can continue until virtual memory is exhausted.

       \n[year]
	      The current year.	 Note that the traditional troff number regis‐
	      ter \n[yr] is the current year minus 1900.

   Miscellaneous
       gtroff predefines a single (read/write) string-based  register,	\*(.T,
       which contains the argument given to the -T command line option, namely
       the current output device (for example, latin1 or  ascii).   Note  that
       this is not the same as the (read-only) number register \n[.T] which is
       defined to be 1 if troff is called with the -T command line option, and
       zero otherwise.	This behaviour is different to UNIX troff.

       Fonts not listed in the DESC file are automatically mounted on the next
       available font position when they are referenced.  If a font is	to  be
       mounted	explicitly  with the fp request on an unused font position, it
       should be mounted on the first unused font position, which can be found
       in the \n[.fp] register; although troff does not enforce this strictly,
       it will not allow a font to be mounted at a position  whose  number  is
       much greater than that of any currently used position.

       Interpolating a string does not hide existing macro arguments.  Thus in
       a macro, a more efficient way of doing

	      .xx \\$@

       is

	      \\*[xx]\\

       If the font description file  contains  pairwise	 kerning  information,
       characters  from that font will be kerned.  Kerning between two charac‐
       ters can be inhibited by placing a \& between them.

       In a string comparison in a condition, characters that appear  at  dif‐
       ferent input levels to the first delimiter character will not be recog‐
       nised as the second or third delimiters.	 This applies also to  the  tl
       request.	  In  a \w escape sequence, a character that appears at a dif‐
       ferent input level to the starting  delimiter  character	 will  not  be
       recognised  as  the closing delimiter character.	 When decoding a macro
       argument that is delimited by double quotes, a character	 that  appears
       at a different input level to the starting delimiter character will not
       be recognised as the closing delimiter character.   The	implementation
       of  \$@	ensures	 that  the  double quotes surrounding an argument will
       appear the same input level, which will be different to the input level
       of the argument itself.	In a long escape name ] will not be recognized
       as a closing delimiter except when it occurs at the same input level as
       the  opening  ].	  In  compatibility  mode, no attention is paid to the
       input-level.

       There are some new types of condition:

       .if rxxx
	      True if there is a number register named xxx.

       .if dxxx
	      True if there is a string, macro, diversion,  or	request	 named
	      xxx.

       .if cch
	      True if there is a character ch available; ch is either an ASCII
	      character or a special character \(xx or \[xxx];	the  condition
	      will also be true if ch has been defined by the char request.

       The tr request can now map characters onto \~.

   Warnings
       The  warnings that can be given by troff are divided into the following
       categories.  The name associated with each warning is used  by  the  -w
       and  -W	options;  the  number  is used by the warn request, and by the
       .warn register.

       char	      1	  Non-existent	characters.   This   is	  enabled   by
			  default.

       number	      2	  Invalid  numeric  expressions.   This	 is enabled by
			  default.

       break	      4	  In fill mode, lines which could  not	be  broken  so
			  that	their  length  was  less than the line length.
			  This is enabled by default.

       delim	      8	  Missing or mismatched closing delimiters.

       el	     16	  Use of the el request with no matching ie request.

       scale	     32	  Meaningless scaling indicators.

       range	     64	  Out of range arguments.

       syntax	    128	  Dubious syntax in numeric expressions.

       di	    256	  Use of di or da without an argument when there is no
			  current diversion.

       mac	    512	  Use  of  undefined  strings,	macros and diversions.
			  When an undefined  string,  macro  or	 diversion  is
			  used, that string is automatically defined as empty.
			  So, in most cases, at most one warning will be given
			  for each name.

       reg	   1024	  Use  of  undefined  number registers.	 When an unde‐
			  fined number register	 is  used,  that  register  is
			  automatically defined to have a value of 0.  a defi‐
			  nition is automatically made with a value of 0.  So,
			  in most cases, at most one warning will be given for
			  use of a particular name.

       tab	   2048	  Inappropriate use of a tab character.	 Either use of
			  a  tab character where a number was expected, or use
			  of tab character in an unquoted macro argument.

       right-brace 4096	  Use of \} where a number was expected.

       missing	   8192	  Requests that are missing non-optional arguments.

       input	  16384	  Illegal input characters.

       escape	  32768	  Unrecognized escape sequences.  When an unrecognized
			  escape sequence is encountered, the escape character
			  is ignored.

       space	  65536	  Missing space between a request  or  macro  and  its
			  argument.   This warning will be given when an unde‐
			  fined name longer than  two  characters  is  encoun‐
			  tered, and the first two characters of the name make
			  a defined name.  The request or macro	 will  not  be
			  invoked.   When  this	 warning is given, no macro is
			  automatically defined.  This is enabled by  default.
			  This warning will never occur in compatibility mode.

       font	 131072	  Non-existent fonts.  This is enabled by default.

       ig	 262144	  Illegal escapes in text ignored with the ig request.
			  These are conditions that are errors	when  they  do
			  not occur in ignored text.

       There are also names that can be used to refer to groups of warnings:

       all    All  warnings  except di, mac and reg.  It is intended that this
	      covers all warnings that are useful with traditional macro pack‐
	      ages.

       w      All warnings.

   Incompatibilities
       Long names cause some incompatibilities.	 UNIX troff will interpret

	      .dsabcd

       as  defining  a	string	ab with contents cd.  Normally, GNU troff will
       interpret this as a call of a macro named dsabcd.  Also UNIX troff will
       interpret  \*[  or  \n[	as  references	to a string or number register
       called [.  In GNU troff, however, this will normally be interpreted  as
       the  start of a long name.  In compatibility mode GNU troff will inter‐
       pret these things in the traditional way.  In compatibility mode,  how‐
       ever,  long names are not recognised.  Compatibility mode can be turned
       on with the -C command line option, and turned on or off	 with  the  cp
       request.	  The number register \n[.C] is 1 if compatibility mode is on,
       0 otherwise.

       GNU  troff  does	 not  allow  the   use	 of   the   escape   sequences
       \\|\^\&\}\{\(space)\'\`\-\_\!\%\c  in  names of strings, macros, diver‐
       sions, number registers, fonts or environments; UNIX troff  does.   The
       \A  escape  sequence  may  be  helpful  in avoiding use of these escape
       sequences in names.

       Fractional pointsizes cause one noteworthy  incompatibility.   In  UNIX
       troff the ps request ignores scale indicators and so

	      .ps 10u

       will  set  the pointsize to 10 points, whereas in GNU troff it will set
       the pointsize to 10 scaled points.

       In GNU troff there is a	fundamental  difference	 between  unformatted,
       input  characters,  and	formatted, output characters.  Everything that
       affects how an output character will be output is stored with the char‐
       acter;  once  an output character has been constructed it is unaffected
       by any subsequent requests that are executed, including	bd,  cs,  tkf,
       tr,  or	fp  requests.  Normally output characters are constructed from
       input characters at the moment  immediately  before  the	 character  is
       added  to  the current output line.  Macros, diversions and strings are
       all, in fact, the same type of object;  they  contain  lists  of	 input
       characters and output characters in any combination.  An output charac‐
       ter does not behave like an input character for the purposes  of	 macro
       processing;  it does not inherit any of the special properties that the
       input character from which it was  constructed  might  have  had.   For
       example,

	      .di x
	      \\\\
	      .br
	      .di
	      .x

       will  print  \\	in GNU troff; each pair of input \s is turned into one
       output \ and the resulting output \s  are  not  interpreted  as	escape
       characters  when	 they  are reread.  UNIX troff would interpret them as
       escape characters when they were reread and would end up	 printing  one
       \.   The	 correct  way  to obtain a printable \ is to use the \e escape
       sequence: this will always print	 a  single  instance  of  the  current
       escape  character,  regardless of whether or not it is used in a diver‐
       sion; it will also work in both GNU troff and UNIX troff.  If you  wish
       for some reason to store in a diversion an escape sequence that will be
       interpreted when the diversion is reread, you can either use the tradi‐
       tional  \!  transparent output facility, or, if this is unsuitable, the
       new \? escape sequence.

ENVIRONMENT
       GROFF_TMAC_PATH
	      A colon separated list of directories in	which  to  search  for
	      macro files.  troff will scan directories given in the -M option
	      before these, and in standard directories (current directory  if
	      in     unsafe	mode,	  home	  directory,	/freeware/gnu-
	      tools/share/groff/site-tmac,			/freeware/gnu-
	      tools/vax/lib/groff/site-tmac,			/freeware/gnu-
	      tools/share/groff/1.17.2/tmac) after these.

       GROFF_TYPESETTER
	      Default device.

       GROFF_FONT_PATH
	      A colon separated list of directories in which to search for the
	      devname  directory.  troff will scan directories given in the -F
	      option before these, and in standard directories (/freeware/gnu-
	      tools/share/groff/1.17.2/font:/usr/lib/font) after these.

FILES
       /freeware/gnu-tools/share/groff/1.17.2/tmac/troffrc
	      Initialization file (called before any other macro package).

       /freeware/gnu-tools/share/groff/1.17.2/tmac/troffrc-end
	      Initialization file (called after any other macro package).

       /freeware/gnu-tools/share/groff/1.17.2/tmac/name.tmac
       /freeware/gnu-tools/share/groff/1.17.2/tmac/tmac.name
	      Macro files

       /freeware/gnu-tools/share/groff/1.17.2/font/devname/DESC
	      Device description file for device name.

       /freeware/gnu-tools/share/groff/1.17.2/font/devname/F
	      Font file for font F of device name.

       Note  that  troffrc and troffrc-end are neither searched in the current
       nor in the home directory by default for security reasons (even if  the
       -U   option  is	given).	  Use  the  -M	command	 line  option  or  the
       GROFF_TMAC_PATH environment variable to add these  directories  to  the
       search path if necessary.

SEE ALSO
       groff(7)	 --  This  is  a short but complete reference of all requests,
       registers, and escapes.

       groff(1), gtbl(1), gpic(1), geqn(1),  grefer(1),	 gsoelim(1),  ggrn(1),
       grops(1),  grodvi(1),  grotty(1), grohtml(1), grolj4(1), groff_font(5),
       groff_out(5), groff_char(7)

Groff Version 1.17.2		 27 June 2001			     GTROFF(1)
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