Using troff
Troff
formats
text
for
printing
or
display.
The
troff
language
is
not
usually
used
directly
but
through
some
intermediary.
Commonly
this
involves
embedding
the
tags
defined
by
the
ms(6)
macros
into
your
text
document.
For example,
troff -ms file
would output your text file with ms(6) macros as PostScript. Another commonly used set of macros are for typesetting man(6) pages. To view a typeset version of a manpage:
troff -man /sys/man/4/factotum | page
RELATED TOOLS
Various tools can be used in conjunction with troff to form a toolset for word-processing, publishing, or as the back-end of such an application.
- proof(1), page(1) - takes a troff file and displays an approximation of the page on the screen
- dpost(1) - converts troff output to postscript
- lp(1) - for printer output
- spell(1) - for spell-checking
- deroff(1), doctype(1) - for plain text output
- troff2html(1) - for HTML output
- tbl(1) - for formatting tables
- eqn(1) - for typesetting mathematics (e.g. equations)
- pic(1) - for drawing figures
- grap(1) - for drawing graphs
- ms(6) - macros for formatting manuscripts
- mpictures(6) - picture inclusion macros
- man(6) - macros for Plan 9 manpages
- html2ms(1), ms2html(1) - for converting between HTML and ms(6) macros
- fortune(1) - for generating editorial content
- doc2txt(1) - for extracting printable strings from Word documents
REFERENCES
- A TROFF Tutorial - A tutorial for new users (in PostScript format).
- Troff User's Manual - A user manual covering the Plan 9 edition of troff.
- troff(1) - The man page.
- troff.org - A website devoted to troff.
- Publications that use troff - troff works.