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From: bb@wjh12.HARVARD.EDU (Brent Byer)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions
Subject: Re: vert. rules in tbl; Typesetting != Horseshoes
Message-ID: <110@wjh12.HARVARD.EDU>
Date: Mon, 26-Oct-87 06:36:37 EST
Article-I.D.: wjh12.110
Posted: Mon Oct 26 06:36:37 1987
Date-Received: Wed, 28-Oct-87 01:29:43 EST
References: <630@nugipsy.UUCP> <6550@brl-smoke.ARPA> <513@kuling.UUCP> <311@sequent.cs.qmc.ac.uk>
Reply-To: bb@wjh12.UUCP (Brent Byer)
Organization: Textware
Lines: 29
Keywords: tbl, rules
Summary: A driver exam

In article <311@sequent.cs.qmc.ac.uk> liam@cs.qmc.ac.uk (William Roberts) writes:
>The characters used for \(br \(ul and so forth no
>longer meet up properly. To fix this I changed the ditroff ->
>PostScript translation stuff in our copy of TranScript ...

It has been my experience, going all the way back to v7+ troff, that
hacking on the rule characters is not sufficient to get desirable
(i.e., *perfect*) results.  Professional typesetters do not accept
grungy corners; do you?

Below is a simple input file which you can run thru tbl, troff and your
post-processor software; getting this right is critical if you want
to produce sharp corners and attractive borders.

	.\" process via "tbl FILE | troff -TyourDEV | yourPOSTPROCESSOR"
	.sp 1i
	.TS
	linesize(36) box;
	c.
	Is this
	a box
	or is this
	a crock?
	.TE

( Good night; I hope we passed the audition. )

	Brent Byer
	  Textware