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
information to be formatted, and request lines, which con-
tain 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
1
as a quote.
ASCII tab characters are replaced in the input by a replace-
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.
2
REQUEST SUMMARY
Request Break Initial Meaning
the current line is stopped.
3
.ti 0 .li .ce n yes - Center the next n input lines,
without filling. .ti 0 .li
.de xx no - Define parame-
terless macro to be invoked by request
`.xx' (definition ends on line beginning
`..'). .ti 0 .li
.ds yes no Double space;
same as `.ls 2'. .ti 0 .li
.ef t no t='''' Even foot title
becomes t. .ti 0 .li
.eh t no t='''' Even head title
becomes t. .ti 0 .li
.fi yes yes Begin filling
output lines. .ti 0 .li
.fo no t='''' All foot titles
are t. .ti 0 .li
.hc c no none Hyphenation
character becomes `c'. .ti 0 .li
.he t no t='''' All head titles
are t. .ti 0 .li .hx no -
Title lines are suppressed. .ti 0
.li .hy n no n=1 Hyphenation
is done, if n=1; and is not done, if n=0.
.ti 0 .li .ig no - Ignore
input lines through a line beginning with
`..'. .ti 0 .li .in +n yes -
Indent n spaces from left margin.
.ti 0 .li .ix +n no - Same
as `.in' but without break. .ti 0 .li
.li n no - Literal, treat
next n lines as text. .ti 0 .li
.ll +n no n=65 Line length
including indent is n characters. .ti 0
.li .ls +n yes n=1 Line spacing
set to n lines per output line. .ti 0
.li .m1 n no n=2 Put n blank
lines between the top of page and head
title. .ti 0 .li
.m2 n no n=2 n blank lines
put between head title and beginning of
text on page. .ti 0 .li
.m3 n no n=1 n blank lines
put between end of text and foot title.
.ti 0 .li .m4 n no n=3 n
blank lines put between the foot title
and the bottom of page. .ti 0 .li
.na yes no Stop adjusting
the right margin. .ti 0 .li
.ne n no - Begin new page,
if n output lines cannot fit on present
page. .ti 0 .li .nn +n no -
The next n output lines are not
numbered. .ti 0 .li
.n1 no no Add 5 to page
offset; .ev1 .tl - % - .ev .ev1 .ift .}C
.ev number lines in margin from 1 on each
page. .ti 0 .li
.n2 n no no Add 5 to page
offset; number lines from n; stop if n=0.
.ti 0 .li .ni +n no n=0 Line
numbers are indented n. .ti 0 .li
.nf yes no Stop filling
output lines. .ti 0 .li
.nx filename - Change to input
file `filename'. .ti 0 .li
.of t no t='''' Odd foot title
becomes t. .ti 0 .li
.oh t no t='''' Odd head title
becomes t. .ti 0 .li
.pa +n yes n=1 Same as `.bp'.
.ti 0 .li .pl +n no n=66 Total
paper length taken to be n lines. .ti 0
.li .po +n no n=0 Page offset.
All lines are preceded by n spaces. .ti
0 .li .ro no arabic Roman page
numbers. .ti 0 .li .sk n no -
Produce n blank pages starting
next page. .ti 0 .li .sp n yes -
Insert block of n blank lines,
except at top of page. .ti 0 .li
.ss yes yes Single space
output lines, equivalent to `.ls 1'. .ti
0 .li .ta n n.. -
Pseudotab settings. Initial tab
settings are columns 9 17 25 ... .ti 0
.li .tc c no space Tab replace-
ment character becomes `c'. .ti 0 .li
.ti +n yes - Temporarily
indent next output line n spaces. .ti0
.li .tr cdef.. no -
Translate c into d, e into f, etc.
.ti0 .li .ul n no -
Underline the letters and numbers
in the next n input lines.
.ev1 .tl - % - .ev .ev1 .ift .}C .ev