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Path: utzoo!utgpu!romwa
From: romwa@utgpu.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.text
Subject: Re: Preprocessor for General Text Processing
Message-ID: <1987Aug22.180919.9252@gpu.utcs.toronto.edu>
Date: Sat, 22-Aug-87 18:09:19 EDT
Article-I.D.: gpu.1987Aug22.180919.9252
Posted: Sat Aug 22 18:09:19 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 23-Aug-87 10:17:13 EDT
References: <1828@super.upenn.edu>
Organization: University of Toronto Computing Services
Lines: 44
Checksum: 58236
Summary: Postprocess!!

In article <1828@super.upenn.edu>, jes@eniac.seas.upenn.edu (Joe Smith) writes:
> 
> 	I am preparing to write my thesis using troff and the 
> other tools from the UNIX Documentors Work Bench (tbl, eqn
> col) and some of the preprocessors from other sources (lbl,
> bib,soelim ), but there is one nagging problem, I must constantly
> remember essentially four languages ( troff, eqn, tbl and the macro
> package (ME or MS, I haven't decided ).  I am wondering if there
> is a preprocessor for the whole process that will allow me to say
> 
> 	#define .sqroot. @what ever the eqn code is
> 	#define .ECOLI.  \fIE. coli\fP
> 	#include ...
> 
> 	I am aware that .so exists and I am aware that
> 
> 	 .DS EC "\fIE. coli\fP"
> 
> would work, but then in the text I would have to reference E. coli
> in the text every time by saying \*(EC. Not very readable or
> easy to write.  Does any one know of any public domain or cheap software
> that would allow me to do this?  I saw a man page that said 
> 
> 	SEE ALSO nrpp(1)
> 
> Is this what I am looking for?

A possible solution to this is to postprocess your document
with sed or awk or even global changes with ed.  (sed is
preferred).

Set up your sed script to look like:

s/.ECOLI./\\fIE. coli\\fP/   (syntax not guaranteed)
etc...
etc...

All you have to do is set up your "defines" with sed syntax,
and then you t/nroff run a command which looks like:

eqn file | troff -macro | lp

Mark T. Dornfeld
utgpu!romwa