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Path: utzoo!utgpu!romwa
From: romwa@utgpu.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.text
Subject: Re: Preprocessor for General Text Processing
Message-ID: <1987Aug29.111617.4236@gpu.utcs.toronto.edu>
Date: Sat, 29-Aug-87 11:16:17 EDT
Article-I.D.: gpu.1987Aug29.111617.4236
Posted: Sat Aug 29 11:16:17 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 30-Aug-87 07:20:29 EDT
References: <1828@super.upenn.edu> <1987Aug22.180919.9252@gpu.utcs.toronto.edu> <705@hslrswi.UUCP>
Organization: University of Toronto Computing Services
Lines: 41
Checksum: 27548
Summary: mea culpa

In article <705@hslrswi.UUCP>, graham@hslrswi.UUCP (Graham Tritt) writes:
> >> 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 ...
> >
> >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 | sed ... | lp
> >
> >Mark T. Dornfeld
> >utgpu!romwa
> 
> What you need is a pre-processor rather than a post-processor.
> Or, for instance, your line lengths and justification set by
> troff (in our case nroff) will be all screwed up.
> Tell me if I am wrong.
No, you're right, I was wrong.  Somehow my brain got switched
off when I wrote that reply.  I preprocess troff all the time.
Nothing like a little public humiliation to put one in one's
place :-).
> 
> We use several extra pre(pre)processors to make such substitutions.
> For instance, for words in a file "listofstrings", to insert \fI \fR
> bracketing, which is handy for manual pages containing lots of
> command names.  Similarly for the expansion of abbreviations.
> We find that sed is enough, and can be wrapped up in a friendly
> (but slow) script.  Some of these are used once only followed
> by manual checking. Some are automatically called everytime
> (if needed, like lbl, tbl or col) in the script which intelligently
> decides what has to be done and calls nroff in the appropriate pipe.