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roff(1) [v7 man page]

ROFF(1) 						      General Commands Manual							   ROFF(1)

NAME
roff - format text SYNOPSIS
roff [ +n ] [ -n ] [ -s ] [ -h ] file ... nroff -mr [ option ] ... file ... troff -mr [ option ] ... file ... DESCRIPTION
Roff formats text according to control lines embedded in the text in the given files. Encountering a nonexistent file terminates printing. Incoming inter-terminal messages are turned off during printing. The optional flag arguments mean: +n Start printing at the first page with number n. -n Stop printing at the first page numbered higher than n. -s Stop before each page (including the first) to allow paper manipulation; resume on receipt of an interrupt signal. -h Insert tabs in the output stream to replace spaces whenever appropriate. Input consists of intermixed text lines, which contain information to be formatted, and request lines, which contain instructions about how to format it. Request lines begin with a distinguished control character, normally a period. Output lines may be filled as nearly as possible with words without regard to input lineation. Line breaks may be caused at specified places by certain commands, or by the appearance of an empty input line or an input line beginning with a space. The capabilities of roff are specified in the attached Request Summary. Numerical values are denoted there by n or +n, titles by t, and single characters by c. Numbers denoted +n may be signed + or -, in which case they signify relative changes to a quantity, otherwise they signify an absolute resetting. Missing n fields are ordinarily taken to be 1, missing t fields to be empty, and c fields to shut off the appropriate special interpretation. Running titles usually appear at top and bottom of every page. They are set by requests like .he 'part1'part2'part3' Part1 is left justified, part2 is centered, and part3 is right justified on the page. Any % sign in a title is replaced by the current page number. Any nonblank may serve as a quote. ASCII tab characters are replaced in the input by a replacement character, normally a space, according to the column settings given by a .ta command. (See .tr for how to convert this character on output.) Automatic hyphenation of filled output is done under control of .hy. When a word contains a designated hyphenation character, that charac- ter disappears from the output and hyphens can be introduced into the word at the marked places only. The -mr option of nroff or troff(1) simulates roff to the greatest extent possible. FILES
/usr/lib/suftab suffix hyphenation tables /tmp/rtm? temporary BUGS
Roff is the simplest of the text formatting programs, and is utterly frozen. REQUEST SUMMARY Request Break Initial Meaning the current line is stopped. without filling. to be invoked by request `.xx' (definition ends on line beginning `..'). and is not done, if n=0. ROFF(1)

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is  a  text formatter.	Its input consists of the text to be out-
put, intermixed with formatting commands.  A  formatting  command
is  a  line  containing  the  control character followed by a two
character command name, and possibly one or more arguments.   The
control  character is initially . (dot).  The formatted output is
produced on standard output.  The formatting commands are  listed
below, with being a number, being a character, and being a title.
A + before n means it may be signed,  indicating  a  positive  or
negative change from the current value.  Initial values for where
relevant, are given in parentheses.
  .ad	  Adjust right margin.
  .ar	  Arabic page numbers.
  .br	  Line break.  Subsequent text will begin on a new line.
  .bl n   Insert n blank lines.
  .bp +n  Begin new page and number it n. No n means +1.
  .cc c   Control character is set to c.
  .ce n   Center the next n input lines.
  .de zz  Define a macro called zz. A line with .. ends definition.
  .ds	  Double space the output. Same as .ls 2.
  .ef t   Even page footer title is set to t.
  .eh t   Even page header title is set to t.
  .fi	  Begin filling output lines as full as possible.
  .fo t   Footer titles (even and odd) are set to t.
  .hc c   The character c (e.g., %) tells roff where hyphens are permitted.
  .he t   Header titles (even and odd) are set to t.
  .hx	  Header titles are suppressed.
  .hy n   Hyphenation is done if n is 1, suppressed if it is 0. Default is 1.
  .ig	  Ignore input lines until a line beginning with .. is found.
  .in n   Indent n spaces from the left margin; force line break.
  .ix n   Same as .in but continue filling output on current line.
  .li n   Literal text on next n lines.  Copy to output unmodified.
  .ll +n  Line length (including indent) is set to n (65).
  .ls +n  Line spacing: n (1) is 1 for single spacing, 2 for double, etc.
  .m1 n   Insert n (2) blank lines between top of page and header.
  .m2 n   Insert n (2) blank lines between header and start of text.
  .m3 n   Insert n (1) blank lines between end of text and footer.
  .m4 n   Insert n (3) blank lines between footer and end of page.
  .na	  No adjustment of the right margin.
  .ne n   Need n lines.  If fewer are left, go to next page.
  .nn +n  The next n output lines are not numbered.
  .n1	  Number output lines in left margin starting at 1.
  .n2 n   Number output lines starting at n.  If 0, stop numbering.
  .ni +n  Indent line numbers by n (0) spaces.
  .nf	  No more filling of lines.
  .nx f   Switch input to file f.
  .of t   Odd page footer title is set to t.
  .oh t   Odd page header title is set to t.
  .pa +n  Page adjust by n (1).  Same as .bp
  .pl +n  Paper length is n (66) lines.
  .po +n  Page offset.	Each line is started with n (0) spaces.
  .ro	  Page numbers are printed in Roman numerals.
  .sk n   Skip n pages (i.e., make them blank), starting with next one.
  .sp n   Insert n blank lines, except at top of page.
  .ss	  Single spacing.  Equivalent to .ls 1.
  .ta	  Set tab stops, e.g., .ta 9 17 25 33 41 49 57 65 73 (default).
  .tc c   Tabs are expanded into c.  Default is space.
  .ti n   Indent next line n spaces; then go back to previous indent.
  .tr ab  Translate a into b on output.
  .ul n   Underline the letters and numbers in the next n lines.
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