Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!ucla-cs!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!chinacat!chip From: chip@chinacat.Unicom.COM (Chip Rosenthal) Newsgroups: comp.text Subject: Re: Xroff -- Request for Comments/Gripes Message-ID: <1983@chinacat.Unicom.COM> Date: 4 May 91 00:37:15 GMT References: <1991May3.163405.23681@solbourne.com> Distribution: usa Organization: Unicom Systems Development, Austin, TX Lines: 43 In article <1991May3.163405.23681@solbourne.com> tsmith@solbourne.com (Terry Smith) writes: >Any Xroff users out there? The Image Network folks were kind enough to let me eval a copy of xroff when I was DWB shopping. I ended up selecting eroff, but I've got nice things to say about the Image Network people and the xroff product. >We're currently using eroff, but want to evaluate Xroff. It looks like >any other roff to me, but with a few X-named scripts doing some of the work. >I don't see any real connection to X Windows other than it has a previewer >that runs in an xterm. First, you are right, the Image Network xroff program has no relation to the X Window Pig(tm). xroff is their port of DWB. I tested it out on a plain vanilla XENIX/386 box. I like xroff. It and Elan seemed to be the two most robust DWB's I looked at. Xroff also included a nice set of fonts - from DigiFont I believe. I'd kill to be able to have a copy of the `Palatino' font Image Network ships. The HP Palacio is a poor substitute. (I'll leave my story of how the DigiFont sales prevention people kept me from doing business with them for another time.) The thing which was a total knock-out punch for xroff is the fact that the backend is not ditroff compatible - nor was it documented. Therefore, if you've got any tools for printer handling, fonts, etc. they are useless. I needed this capability, and thus xroff was rendered unusable for my needs. xroff is similar in capability (and unfortunately price) to Elan eroff. All the preprocessors (pic, tbl, etc.) are there. If not for the proprietary backend, the choice between eroff and xroff would probably have been a coin flip. I think I would have ended up picking xroff because of the fonts. BTW...why are you looking to drop eroff? -- Chip Rosenthal 512-482-8260 | Unicom Systems Development | I saw Elvis in my wtmp file. |