NAME

troff − typeset text

SYNOPSIS

troff [ options ] [ files ]

DESCRIPTION

Troff formats text contained in files (standard input by default) for a Wang Laboratories, Inc., C/A/T phototypesetter.  Its capabilities are described in the NROFF/TROFF User’s Manual cited below. 

An argument consisting of a minus (−) is taken to be a file name corresponding to the standard input.  The options, which may appear in any order, but must appear before the files, are:

−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 BUGS below.) 

−nN Number first generated page N.

−sN Stop every N pages.  Troff will stop the phototypesetter every N pages, produce a trailer to allow changing cassettes, and resume when the typesetter’s start button is pressed. 

−raN Set register a (which must have a one-character name) to N.

−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 Prepend to the input files the non-compacted (ASCII text) macro file /usr/lib/tmac/tmac.name.

−cname Prepend to the input

files the compacted macro files /usr/lib/macros/cmp.[nt]. [dt].name and /usr/lib/macros/ucmp.[nt].name.

−kname Compact the macros used in this invocation of troff, placing the output in files [dt].name in the current directory (see the May 1979 Addendum to the NROFF/TROFF User’s Manual for details of compacting macro files). 

−t Direct output to the standard output instead of the phototypesetter. 

−f Refrain from feeding out paper and stopping phototypesetter at the end of the run. 

−w Wait until phototypesetter is available, if it is currently busy. 

−b Report whether the phototypesetter is busy or available.  No text processing is done. 

−a Send a printable ASCII approximation of the results to the standard output. 

−pN Print all characters in point size N while retaining all prescribed spacings and motions, to reduce phototypesetter elapsed time. 

−Tname Use font-width tables for device name (the font tables are found in /usr/lib/font/name/∗). 

EXAMPLE

troff -o4,8-10 -mabc file1 file2

requests formatting of pages 4, 8, 9, and 10 of a document contained in the files named "file1" and "file2", and invokes the macro package abc. 

FILES

/usr/lib/suftabsuffix hyphenation tables

/tmp/ta$#temporary file

/usr/lib/tmac/tmac.∗standard macro files and pointers

/usr/lib/macros/∗standard macro files

/usr/lib/font/∗font width tables for troff

SEE ALSO

cw(1), eqn(1), mmt(1), nroff(1), tbl(1), tc(1), mm(5), mv(5). 
NROFF/TROFF User’s Manual and A TROFF Tutorial

BUGS

Troff believes in Eastern Standard Time; as a result, depending on the time of the year and on your local time zone, the date that troff generates may be off by one day from your idea of what the date is. 
When troff is used with the −olist option inside a pipeline (e.g., with one or more of cw(1), eqn(1), and tbl(1)), it may cause a harmless "broken pipe" diagnostic if the last page of the document is not specified in list.

Version 2.4  —  May 08, 1986