Path: utzoo!utdoe!contact!robohack!eci386!ecicrl!clewis
From: clewis@ferret.ocunix.on.ca (Chris Lewis)
Newsgroups: comp.text
Subject: Re: Xroff -- Request for Comments/Gripes
Keywords: troff ditroff xroff sqtroff
Message-ID: <1482@ecicrl.ocunix.on.ca>
Date: 10 May 91 04:24:27 GMT
References: <1991May7.170631.14030@eci386.uucp> <1991May3.163405.23681@solbourne.com> <1983@chinacat.Unicom.COM> <748@tivoli.UUCP>
Distribution: usa
Organization: Elegant Communications Inc., Ottawa, Canada
Lines: 45

In article <748@tivoli.UUCP> lark@tivoli.com (Lar Kaufman) writes:
|In article <1983@chinacat.Unicom.COM> chip@chinacat.Unicom.COM 
|(Chip Rosenthal) writes:
|  > In article <1991May3.163405.23681@solbourne.com>
|  > 	tsmith@solbourne.com (Terry Smith) writes:
|  > 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.

|  This does sound like a *VERY* important consideration.  There are lots
|  of tools for dealing with di-troff output....  Even though SoftQuad
|  enhanced their SQtroff output, they did fully document it (not that
|  it's hard to understand in the first place!), and they also provided a
|  filter to convert it back into di-troff(5).
  
|Actually, this is probably less of a consideration than you may think.  
|Xroff provides an adequate selection of good fonts, as well as drivers for 
|almost any laser printer you could wish, and other printer drivers as 
|well - even popular PC printers (there is an Xroff for MS-DOS).

That begs several questions:
	- since the interface isn't documented, you can't write your own
	  if xroff's vendors don't think your printer is worth while.
	- People specialize in writing drivers - I doubt that
	  xroff's HPLJ driver is as good as jetroff's or psroff's (in
	  efficiency as well as appearance), or postscript output as good
	  as psdit (Transcript).  Or has the facilities for adding fonts.
	- There are a LOT more textual output methodologies than you think.
	  I'm continually astounded with the wierd things people get
	  psroff to drive - xditview, xproof and xtroff to name
	  just ditroff display (not printing) mechanisms - each with
	  its own idiosyncrasies.
	- it is possible to do such things as page flipping in ditroff
	  format - these tools become useless with xroff.
	- Single sourcing.
	- "adequate" selection of fonts?  That sounds rather ominous.
	  Can't you add your own?

-- 
Chris Lewis, Phone: (613) 832-0541, Domain: clewis@ferret.ocunix.on.ca
UUCP: ...!cunews!latour!ecicrl!clewis; Ferret Mailing List:
ferret-request@eci386; Psroff (not Adobe Transcript) enquiries:
psroff-request@eci386 or Canada 416-832-0541.  Psroff 3.0 in c.s.u soon!