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From: jaap@mcvax.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.text
Subject: Re: Question about Troff Fonts
Message-ID: <244@sering.mcvax.cwi.nl>
Date: Mon, 13-Apr-87 18:04:53 EST
Article-I.D.: sering.244
Posted: Mon Apr 13 18:04:53 1987
Date-Received: Wed, 15-Apr-87 04:22:19 EST
References: <1906@epistemi.UUCP> <1987Apr9.191355.2792@sq.uucp>
Reply-To: jaap@sering.UUCP (Jaap Akkerhuis)
Organization: CWI, Amsterdam
Lines: 57

In article <1987Apr9.191355.2792@sq.uucp> murray@sq.UUCP (Murray Maloney) writes:


An absolute bogus answer to the question
 > 
 > In article <1906@epistemi.UUCP> rda@epistemi.UUCP (Robert Dale) writes:
 > >Can anyone tell me how I would go about getting access to a proper
 > >fixed-width font within troff?  
 > >
 > >We're using ptroff and an Apple LaserWriter.  I want something like
                ~~~~~~

Note that Robert Dale is using ptroff and not psroff.


 > >typewriter face that I can use for stuff like program examples; switching
 > >into constant space mode while using either Times or Helvetica is pretty
 > >ugly.  I'm sure lots of people must have come across this problem.  Have I
 > >just not read the manual carefully enough?
 > >
 > In fact, it should be fairly straightforward.  Since you have an Apple,
 > you also have Courier fonts.  I suspect that you should be able to use
 > them by selecting Courier with .ft CR.  If, however, you do not have
 > font tables for Courier, and your DESC file contains no reference to them,
 > you will have to ask your supplier (or someone on the net) to provide
 > the tables.
 > 
This means that he is using good old troff and not anything more
fancier than. So there is no DESC file etc. Good old troff was hardly
capable to switch dynamically fonts. It could do it if you had a C/A/T
directly atteched to the machine (at least, the code of V7 troff
allowed it), but for anything else it was/is sheer impossible.

The correct answer is: go and read the manual for ptroff. If you don't have it,
read the source (ptroff was a shell script the last time I looked).
If I remember correctly, it takes -F Courier. Probably that is not what you
want. You probably want R B I C and S.
Well, you cannot, since there is no way to tell pscat that you changed fonts,
so you have to drop one of the standard fonts to get the
Courier instead. Look at the manual for catmap(8) how to do this.

Using psroff is an alternative, but you need ditroff or DWB around (or have
system V, ditroff is there troff, and good old troff is otroff).

 > I hope that answers your question satisfactorily.

I cannot imagen that it was, but maybe it is now.

 > __________________________________________________________________________
 > 						Murray C. Maloney
 > 						Manager Technical Services
 > 						SoftQuad Inc.
 > 						Toronto, Ontario

Of course, you can also buy sqroff :-)

	jaap.