Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!agate!bionet!ames!elan!kg
From: kg@elan.UUCP (Ken Greer)
Newsgroups: comp.text
Subject: Re: ditroff - leading chars and tables
Message-ID: <510@elan.UUCP>
Date: 7 Apr 89 18:03:34 GMT
References: <1108@hsi.UUCP>
Organization: Elan Computer Group, Inc., Mountain View, CA
Lines: 40

From article <1108@hsi.UUCP>, by hecht@hsi.UUCP (Alice Hecht):
> 
> I am using troff with the ms macro package and would like to
> be able to use leading characters WITHIN tables.
> Here is what I would like the output to resemble:
> 
> 	--------------------------------
> 	|                              |
>  	| Name________________________ |
> 	| ____________________________ |
> 	| Address_____________________ |
> 	| Code Number_________________ |
> 	|                              | 
> 	|______________________________|
> 

Have you tried \a and set your leader character to underscore?

Alternately, this should work:

	.de _
	'nr x_ \\w'\\$1\ 'u
	'nr y_ \\$2-\\n(x_
	\\$1\ \l'\\n(y_u'\\c
	..
	.de __
	\\h'\\n(x_u'\l'\\n(y_u'
	..

Then
	.nf
	._ Name 4i
	.__
	._ Address 4i
	._ "Code Number" 4i

Ken Greer
Elan Computer Group, Inc.
{ames,uunet}!elan!kg
415-964-2200