HPUX nroff[1]
nroff(1) nroff(1)
NAME
nroff - format text
SYNOPSIS
nroff [options] file ...
DESCRIPTION
nroff 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, nroff uses
default line lengths and page dimensions to produce readable output,
outputting a blank line for each blank line encountered in the input,
and filling and adjusting text to both margins. nroff ignores any
lines in the source text that begin with a period (.) but are not
valid nroff formatter requests.
nroff formatting capabilities are described in the tutorial cited
below.
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
interface for headings, page footers, lists, and other features,
rather than coding the file with inherently low-level nroff requests.
Options
nroff recognizes the following command-line options, which can appear
in any order but must appear before the file argument:
-olist Print only pages whose page numbers appear in the
list of numbers and ranges, separated by commas. A
range n-m means pages n through m; an initial -n
means from the beginning to page n; and a final n-
means from n to the end. (See WARNINGS below.)
-nn Number first generated page n.
-sn Stop every n pages. nroff 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 mm
). When nroff halts between pages, an ASCII BEL is
sent to the terminal.
-raN Set register a (which must have a one-character name)
to N.
Hewlett-Packard Company - 1 - HP-UX Release 9.0: August 1992
nroff(1) nroff(1)
-i Read standard input after files are exhausted.
-q Invoke the simultaneous input-output mode of the .rd
request.
-z Print only messages generated by .tm (terminal
message) requests.
-mname Precede the input files with the non-compiled (ASCII
text) macro file /usr/lib/nls/LANG/tmac/tmac.name,
where LANG is the value of the LANG environment
variable. If LANG is not set or
/usr/lib/nls/LANG/tmac/tmac.name does not exist
/usr/lib/tmac/tmac.name is used instead.
-cname Precede the input files with the compiled macro files
/usr/lib/macros/cmp.[nt].d.name and
/usr/lib/macros/ucmp.[nt].name.
-kname Compile the macros used in this invocation of nroff,
placing the output in d.name in the current
directory.
-Tname Prepare output for specified terminal. Known names
are 37 for the (default) TELETYPE Model 37 terminal,
tn300 for the GE TermiNet 300 (or any terminal
without half-line capability), 300s for the DASI
300s, 300 for the DASI 300, 450 for the DASI 450, lp
for a (generic) ASCII line printer, 382 for the DTC-
382, 4000A for the Trendata 4000A, 832 for the
Anderson Jacobson 832, X for a (generic) EBCDIC
printer, 2631 for the Hewlett-Packard 2631 line
printer, klp for a (generic) 16-bit character printer
having ratio of 2 to 3 in 8-bit and 16-bit character
width, and lj for Hewlett Packard PCL3 and newer
laser printers.
-e Produce equally-spaced words in adjusted lines, using
the full resolution of the particular terminal.
-h 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.
-un Set the emboldening factor (number of character
overstrikes) for the third font position (bold) to n,
or to zero if n is missing.
EXTERNAL INFLUENCES
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nroff(1) nroff(1)
Environment Variables
LC_CTYPE determines the interpretation of text as single and/or
multi-byte characters.
LANG is used to determine the search path for the -m option. LANG
also determines the language in which messages are displayed.
If LC_CTYPE is not specified in the environment or is set to the empty
string, the value of LANG is used as a default for each unspecified or
empty variable. If LANG is not specified or is set to the empty
string, a default of "C" (see lang(5)) is used instead of LANG. If
any internationalization variable contains an invalid setting, nroff
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 nroff source file is filename:
nroff -o-5 filename
Note that there should not be a space between the o and the - or the -
and the 5.
To print only pages 1, 3, and 4 type:
nroff -o1,3,4 filename
WARNINGS
When nroff is used with the -olist 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
/usr/lib/macros/* standard macro files
/usr/lib/term/* terminal driving tables for nroff
/usr/lib/suftab suffix hyphenation tables
/usr/lib/tmac/tmac.* standard macro files and pointers
SEE ALSO
col(1), mm(1), neqn(1), soelim(1), ul(1), man(5).
nroff/troff tutorial in the Text Formatting Users Guide.
Hewlett-Packard Company - 3 - HP-UX Release 9.0: August 1992