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From: padpowell@wateng.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.text,net.unix
Subject: ugly vulgarity of troff/ditroff .am, .de, etc. and -me macros
Message-ID: <1029@wateng.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 25-May-84 10:49:48 EDT
Article-I.D.: wateng.1029
Posted: Fri May 25 10:49:48 1984
Date-Received: Mon, 28-May-84 05:41:19 EDT
Organization: U of Waterloo, Ontario
Lines: 19

In the macro define/append requests .de, .am "input lines are copied
in copy mode until the definition is terminated with a line beginning
with '.yy', whereupon the macro 'yy' is called."

NOTE the following bad things:
Do not create macros of the form-
.de XX
.	(x \\$1
\\$2
.	)x

^ Note the tabs after the periods.

The index macro .(x is looking for a "close" of the form .)x,
and instead it sees ".<tab>)x", and fails to "close".  Needless to say,
this will cause problems, as the rest of your text is gobbled up by
the index entry.

Patrick ("Would you believe this?") Powell