ROFF(I) 11/4/74 ROFF(I)
NAME
roff - format text
SYNOPSIS
roff [ +n ] [ -n ] [ -s ] [ -h ] file ...
DESCRIPTION
Roff formats text according to control lines embedded in the
text in the given files. Encountering a nonexistent file
terminates printing. Incoming interconsole 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 in-
formation 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 Re-
quest Summary. Numerical values are denoted there by n or
+n, titles by t, and single characters by c. Numbers denot-
ed +n may be signed + or -, in which case they signify rela-
tive changes to a quantity, otherwise they signify an abso-
lute 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 re-
placed by the current page number. Any nonblank may serve
as a quote.
ASCII tab characters are replaced in the input by a replace-
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ment character, normally a space, according to the column
settings given by a .ta command. (See .tr for how to con-
vert this character on output.)
Automatic hyphenation of filled output is done under control
of .hy. When a word contains a designated hyphenation char-
acter, that character disappears from the output and hyphens
can be introduced into the word at the marked places only.
FILES
/usr/lib/suftab suffix hyphenation tables
/tmp/rtm? temporary
SEE ALSO
nroff(I), troff(I)
BUGS
Roff is the simplest of the runoff programs, but is utterly
frozen.
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REQUEST SUMMARY
Request Break Initial Meaning
.ad yes yes Begin adjusting right margins.
.ar no arabic Arabic page numbers.
.br yes - Causes a line break - the filling of the
current line is stopped.
.bl n yes - Insert of n blank lines, on new page if
necessary.
.bp +n yes n=1 Begin new page and number it n; no n
means `+1'.
.cc c no c=. Control character becomes `c'.
.ce n yes - Center the next n input lines, without
filling.
.de xx no - Define parameterless macro to be invoked
by request `.xx' (definition ends on line
beginning `..').
.ds yes no Double space; same as `.ls 2'.
.ef t no t='''' Even foot title becomes t.
.eh t no t='''' Even head title becomes t.
.fi yes yes Begin filling output lines.
.fo no t='''' All foot titles are t.
.hc c no none Hyphenation character becomes `c'.
.he t no t='''' All head titles are t.
.hx no - Title lines are suppressed.
.hy n no n=1 Hyphenation is done, if n=1; and is not
done, if n=0.
.ig no - Ignore input lines through a line begin-
ning with `..'.
.in +n yes - Indent n spaces from left margin.
.ix +n no - Same as `.in' but without break.
.li n no - Literal, treat next n lines as text.
.ll +n no n=65 Line length including indent is n char-
acters.
.ls +n yes n=1 Line spacing set to n lines per output
line.
.m1 n no n=2 Put n blank lines between the top of
page and head title.
.m2 n no n=2 n blank lines put between head title and
beginning of text on page.
.m3 n no n=1 n blank lines put between end of text
and foot title.
.m4 n no n=3 n blank lines put between the foot title
and the bottom of page.
.na yes no Stop adjusting the right margin.
.ne n no - Begin new page, if n output lines cannot
fit on present page.
.nn +n no - The next n output lines are not num-
bered.
.n1 no no Add 5 to page offset; number lines in
margin from 1 on each page.
.n2 n no no Add 5 to page offset; number lines from
n; stop if n=0.
.ni +n no n=0 Line numbers are indented n.
.nf yes no Stop filling output lines.
.nx filename - Change to input file `filename'.
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.of t no t='''' Odd foot title becomes t.
.oh t no t='''' Odd head title becomes t.
.pa +n yes n=1 Same as `.bp'.
.pl +n no n=66 Total paper length taken to be n lines.
.po +n no n=0 Page offset. All lines are preceded by
n spaces.
.ro no arabic Roman page numbers.
.sk n no - Produce n blank pages starting next
page.
.sp n yes - Insert block of n blank lines, except at
top of page.
.ss yes yes Single space output lines, equivalent to
`.ls 1'.
.ta n n.. - Pseudotab settings. Initial tab
settings are columns 9 17 25 ...
.tc c no space Tab replacement character becomes `c'.
.ti +n yes - Temporarily indent next output line n
spaces.
.tr cdef.. no - Translate c into d, e into f,
etc.
.ul n no - Underline the letters and numbers in the
next n input lines.
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