GROFF

groff ? front end for the groff document formatting system

groff [ ?abehilpstvzCENRSUVXZ ] [ ?wname ] [ ?Wname ] [ ?mname ] [ ?Fdir ] [ ?Idir ] [ ?Tdev ] [ ?ffam ] [ ?Mdir ] [ ?dcs ] [ ?rcn ] [ ?nnum ] [ ?olist ] [ ?Parg ] [ ?Larg ] [ files... ]

groff is a front-end to the groff document formatting system. Normally it runs the troff program and a postprocessor appropriate for the selected device. Available devices are:

ps

For PostScript printers and previewers

dvi

For TeX dvi format.

X75

For a 75 dpi X11 previewer.

X100

For a 100dpi X11 previewer.

ascii

For typewriter-like devices.

latin1

For typewriter-like devices using the ISO Latin-1 character set.

lj4

For an HP LaserJet4-compatible (or other PCL5-compatible) printer.

html

To produce HTML output.

The postprocessor to be used for a device is specified by the postpro command in the device description file. This can be overridden with the ?X option.

The default device is ps. It can optionally preprocess with any of pic, eqn, tbl, refer, or soelim.

Options without an argument can be grouped behind a single ?. A filename of ? denotes the standard input.

The grog command can be used to guess the correct groff command to use to format a file.

?h

Print a help message.

?e

Preprocess with eqn.

?t

Preprocess with tbl.

?p

Preprocess with pic.

?s

Preprocess with soelim.

?Idir

This option is as described in soelim(1). This option implies the ?s option.

?R

Preprocess with refer. No mechanism is provided for passing arguments to refer because most refer options have equivalent commands which can be included in the file. See refer(1) for more details.

?v

Make programs run by groff print out their version number.

?V

Print the pipeline on stdout instead of executing it.

?z

Suppress output from troff. Only error messages will be printed.

?Z

Do not postprocess the output of troff. Normally groff will automatically run the appropriate postprocessor.

?Parg

Pass arg to the postprocessor. Each argument should be passed with a separate ?P option. Note that groff does not prepend ? to arg before passing it to the postprocessor.

?l

Send the output to a printer. The command used for this is specified by the print command in the device description file.

?Larg

Pass arg to the spooler. Each argument should be passed with a separate ?L option. Note that groff does not prepend ? to arg before passing it to the postprocessor.

?Tdev

Prepare output for device dev. The default device is ps.

?X

Preview with gxditview instead of using the usual postprocessor. Groff passes gxditview a -printCommand option which will make the Print action do what groff would have done if the -l option had been given. This is unlikely to produce good results except with ?Tps.

?N

Don’t allow newlines with eqn delimiters. This is the same as the ?N option in eqn.

?S

Safer mode. Pass the ?S option to pic and use the ?msafer macros with troff. (enabled by default)

?U

Unsafe mode. Reverts to the old unsafe behaviour.

?a

?b

?i

?C

?E

?wname

?Wname

?mname

?olist

?dcs

?rcn

?Fdir

?Mdir

?ffam

?nnum

These are as described in troff(1).

GROFF_COMMAND_PREFIX

If this is set X, then groff will run Xtroff instead of troff. This also applies to tbl, pic, eqn, refer, and soelim. It does not apply to grops, grodvi, grotty, grolj4, grohtml, and gxditview.

GROFF_TMAC_PATH

A colon separated list of directories in which to search for macro files.

GROFF_TYPESETTER

Default device.

GROFF_FONT_PATH

A colon separated list of directories in which to search for the devname directory.

PATH

The search path for commands executed by groff.

GROFF_TMPDIR

The directory in which temporary files will be created. If this is not set and TMPDIR is set, temporary files will be created in that directory. Otherwise temporary files will be created in /tmp. The grops(1) and refer(1) commands can create temporary files.

/usr/lib/groff/font/devname/DESC

Device

description file for device name.

/usr/lib/groff/font/devname/F

Font file for font F of device name.

James Clark <jjc@jclark.com>

Report bugs to bug-groff@gnu.org. Include a complete, self-contained example that will allow the bug to be reproduced, and say which version of groff you are using.

Copyright © 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1999 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

groff is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option) any later version.

groff is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with groff; see the file COPYING. If not, write to the Free Software Foundation, 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.

The most recent released version of groff is always available for anonymous ftp from ftp.gnu.org in the directory gnu/groff.

grog(1), troff(1), tbl(1), pic(1), eqn(1), soelim(1), refer(1), grops(1), grodvi(1), grotty(1), grohtml(1), gxditview(1), groff_font(5), groff_out(5), groff_man(7), groff_ms(7), groff_me(7), groff_char(7), groff_msafer(7)