Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!convex!convex1.convex.com!rosenkra
From: rosenkra@convex1.convex.com (William Rosencranz)
Newsgroups: comp.os.minix
Subject: nroff v1.10p3 (part00/05) new version
Message-ID: <104585@convex.convex.com>
Date: 3 Aug 90 04:15:29 GMT
Sender: news@convex.com
Organization: Convex Computer Corporation; Richardson, TX
Lines: 85

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this is the file POST.MNX from the distribution. please read it and the
readme before you flame me!

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This is a new version of nroff(1), a text processor similar to Unix(tm)
nroff, though not 100% compatible (not all the commands are available and
the macro packages here will not work with unix nroff, though the macro
commands in text files will). This is version 1.10 and was written on
a 4 MB atari ST under TOS, not minix. I have NOT tested it under minix
because I do not have minix operational on my "spare" ST (yet?).

NOTE: there was a patch to 0.99 for the termcap stuff in main.c.
unfortunately, i lost it in my last "career move" so you may need to
fix this for terminal support for bold, italic, and/or standout modes.
If you do, pls send me the patch (diff -c oldfile.c newfile.f is fine).

I made the Makefile as compatible as I could for minix. The original
(TOS) makefile is also included. You _SHOULD_ just be able to say:

	% make all

and it will compile. I would suggest you look at the Makefile first
before trying "make install". At least do "make -n install" to see what
would happen (assuming, of course, that minix make has a unix-like "-n"
flag).

This version adds 2 things: 1) support (partial) for the ".if" command
(look at the tmac.* files to see how it can be used), and 2) a working
though hardly complete -ms (manuscript) package. I also added the ".mc"
command to make changebars in documents possible. oh, i added the "-raN"
command line switch (to preset a user number register).

This post is equivalent to TOS nroff, v1.10, patchlevel 3. v1.10 was
posted to c.s.atari.st and c.b.atari.st up to patchlevel 2. pl 3 only
makes it possible to specify margin char location with the .mc command
which is like 4-5 lines of code. This is what I am currently using
as of this writing.

I suggest you use the macro packages rather than raw nroff commands as
they may not always work as you would expect. vertical displacements
are generally in "units" rather than inches though horizontal distances
should be ok with inches, though you will need floating point support.
nroff does not yet support complicated things like:

	.in \nA+\n(.l/2

just single numbers (no arithmetic on args). use the existing macro
packages (tmac.an and tmac.s) and the test programs (in tests.uu) as
a guide for using nroff or for writing/expanding macro packages.

Futures: I eventually hope to finish the .if command (to accept block
input as in:

	.if something \{\
	...
	... \}

and add support for .ie/.el (if/else) within the next few months. I'd
also like to add at least .wh traps and possibly diversions within
6 months, depending on what little free time I have.

Note that there is a GNU troff on prep.ai.mit.edu (ftp access). I have
NOT ported that to minix since i seriously doubt it would fit. It would
take forever to run on my 8 Mhz ST anyway. My nroff is a single pass
nroff while "real" nroff is at least 2 pass, I think, and though no
speed demon itself, this nroff is probably faster than what the full
nroff would do on these tiny systems.

Anyway, have fun. I use this all the time to write -ms and -man docs
on my atari, then move them (without changes) to other unix systems
(currently convex). The -ms package has all the basics: TL,AU,AI,AB,AE,
SH,NH,PP,LP,QP,XP,RS,RE,IP(buggy),I,B,R which will easily let you make
nice looking documents. Check the test cases in tests.uu (this is a
uuencoded shar file). Note that there is no support for displays, keeps,
footnotes, tables, etc. in the -ms package. It is pretty basic. The -man
package supports TH,SH,SS,PP,RS,RE,IP,I,B,IR,BR, etc.

Enjoy...

-Bill Rosenkranz
rosenkra%c1yankee@convex.com

Bill Rosenkranz            |UUCP: {uunet,texsun}!convex!c1yankee!rosenkra
Convex Computer Corp.      |ARPA: rosenkra%c1yankee@convex.com