nroff(1) General Commands Manual nroff(1)
NAME
nroff - format text
SYNOPSIS
[options] file ...
DESCRIPTION
is a text formatting program that interprets source text contained in file and prepares it for printing on typewriter-like devices and line
printers. If file name is or not specified, standard input is used as source text.
If the file contains plain text with no formatter requests, uses default line lengths and page dimensions to produce readable output, out-
putting a blank line for each blank line encountered in the input, and filling and adjusting text to both margins. ignores any lines in
the source text that begin with a period but are not valid formatter requests.
Source File Preparation
Document source file preparation is usually easier when text is coded using macro packages such as mm(1) which provide a high-level inter-
face for headings, page footers, lists, and other features, rather than coding the file with inherently low-level requests.
Options
recognizes the following command-line options, which can appear in any order but must appear before the file argument:
Print only pages whose page numbers appear in the
list of numbers and ranges, separated by commas. A range means pages n through m; an initial means from the begin-
ning to page n; and a final means from n to the end. (See WARNINGS below.)
Number first generated page
n.
Stop every n pages. halts after every n pages (default n=1) to allow paper loading or changing, and resumes upon receipt of a
line-feed or new-line (new-lines do not work in pipelines, such as with When halts between pages, an ASCII is sent to
the terminal.
Set register a (which must have a one-character name) to N.
Read standard input after
files are exhausted.
Invoke the simultaneous input-output mode of the
request.
Print only messages generated by
(terminal message) requests.
Precede the input
files with the non-compiled (ASCII text) macro file
where LANG is the value of the environment variable. If is not set or
does not exist, the following file is used instead:
Prepare output for specified terminal.
Known names are as follows:
for the (default)
TELETYPE Model 37 terminal
for the GE TermiNet 300 (or any terminal without half-line capability)
for the DASI 300s
for the DASI 300
for the DASI 450
for a (generic)
ASCII line printer
for the DTC-382
for the Trendata 4000A
for the Anderson Jacobson 832
for a (generic)
EBCDIC printer
for the Hewlett-Packard 2631 line printer
for a (generic) 16-bit character printer having ratio of 2 to 3
in 8-bit and 16-bit character width
for Hewlett-Packard
PCL3 and newer laser printers.
Produce equally-spaced words in adjusted lines,
using the full resolution of the particular terminal.
Use output tabs during horizontal spacing
to speed output and reduce output character count. Tab settings are assumed to be every eight nominal character
widths.
Set the emboldening factor (number of character overstrikes)
for the third font position (bold) to n, or to zero if n is missing.
If this option is specified on the command line, it allows the use
of the special feature provided by some Asian printers which prints two column wide characters in 3/2 column wide
boxes.
EXTERNAL INFLUENCES
Environment Variables
determines the interpretation of text as single and/or multi-byte characters.
is used to determine the search path for the option. also determines the language in which messages are displayed.
If is not specified in the environment or is set to the empty string, the value of is used as a default for each unspecified or empty vari-
able. If is not specified or is set to the empty string, a default of "C" (see lang(5)) is used instead of If any internationalization
variable contains an invalid setting, behaves as if all internationalization variables are set to "C". See environ(5).
EXAMPLES
The following command prints the first five pages of the document whose source file is filename:
Note that there should not be a space between the and the or the and the
To print only pages 1, 3, and 4 type:
WARNINGS
When is used with the option inside a pipeline, it may cause a harmless "broken pipe" diagnostic if the last page of the document is not
specified in list.
FILES
Standard macro files
Terminal driving tables for
Suffix hyphenation tables
Standard macro files and pointers
SEE ALSO
col(1), mm(1), neqn(1), soelim(1), ul(1), man(5).
nroff(1)