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From: ted@imsvax.UUCP (Ted Holden)
Newsgroups: net.micro.pc
Subject: More on WordPerfect, TROFF, and DIF
Message-ID: <488@imsvax.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 30-Dec-85 18:52:05 EST
Article-I.D.: imsvax.488
Posted: Mon Dec 30 18:52:05 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 1-Jan-86 01:00:12 EST
Organization: IMS Inc, Rockville MD
Lines: 40





               To Brent  Byer of  Harvard, I say don't waste a good 52-line
          flame on an innocuous little informatory article in net.micro.pc;
          save  those  for  net.politics  or  net.origins.   The lady whose
          article  I  responded  to  specifically  asked   for  information
          concerning  interchange  of  documents  between  WordPerfect  and
          TROFF, something which cannot be done in any reasonable way.  The
          closest thing  which DOES lie within the realm of the possible is
          the WordPerfect->NAVY DIF->Xerox 8010 (or 6085) connection, which
          it is not possible for me to describe without indulging in a TINY
          bit of advertising.  On a scale of 1 - 10 for things I  have ever
          felt guilty over, this rates about a zero.

               To someone  who has  been driving a model-T for 50 years and
          is  happy  with  it,  it  may  seem  like  the  supreme technical
          accomplishment of  the century;   my view of TROFF is essentially
          similar to that of the average 1985 motorist's  view of model-Ts.
          There  are  now  several  systems  which can do nearly everything
          TROFF does as far  as producing  output on  paper, and  which are
          also WYSWYG.   These  include the ALLIS word processor which runs
          on several small, high-class graphics systems running under UNIX,
          as  well  as  the  Xerox  6085,  which  I recommend because it is
          substantially  cheaper  and  has  DIF  routines.    There  is  no
          comparison between  ANY of  these products  and TROFF.   With the
          WYSWYG systems, you don't  take 20  attempts before  you get your
          document looking  right on  paper, much as one doesn't take three
          days driving from D.C. to New York in a 928 Porsche.

               WordPerfect, as well as  most ordinary  word processors, AND
          THE NAVY  DIF, AND  IBM'S DCA/DISOSS, thinks in terms of columns.
          It is not possible to write a reasonable  conversion routine from
          ANY of  these to  anything (such  as TROFF)  which ONLY thinks in
          fractions  of  an  inch.    The  Xerox  6085   has  columnar  AND
          PROPORTIONAL  fonts  as  well  as  multiple  sized  fonts.  It is
          possible to translate DIF formatted documents  into 8010  or 6085
          format using  one of  the columnar  fonts and  THEN start playing
          games and changing things.