[net.unix] Problems with troff output on a SUN Laserwriter

john@comp.lancs.ac.uk (John R. Nicol) (09/18/86)

I've prepared my Ph.D. thesis using troff and its me macro package. However,
I've run into problems in printing the formatted document on the SUN
laser-writer. I need a 1.5 inch left margin. But.... when I set the page
offset (.po) to 1.5i, troff goes bananas complaining that:

"Page offset + Line Length exceeds the width of the paper"

The resulting laser-written output is garbled too. Strange thing is the above
message is garbage: my line length (.ll) is 5.75i and I'm using standard British
A4 size paper. 

Apparently SUN know that troffing stuff with me intended for output on their
laser-writer is bug prone. This is no comfort to me! Has any bright spark
worked out a convenient way to get round this problem? Serious suggestions
are most welcome.

					John

"I'm desparate, Dan" (from "The Boys from the Black Stuff")
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gerolima@wdl1.UUCP (09/22/86)

>Apparently SUN know that troffing stuff with me intended for output on their
>laser-writer...

MAN! That must hurt!
-Mark

kgd@rlvd.UUCP (Keith Dancey) (09/25/86)

In article <430@comp.lancs.ac.uk> john@comp.lancs.ac.uk (John R. Nicol) writes:
>
>I've prepared my Ph.D. thesis using troff and its me macro package. However...
 
>"Page offset + Line Length exceeds the width of the paper"
 
>The resulting laser-written output is garbled too. Strange thing is the above
>message is garbage: my line length (.ll) is 5.75i and I'm using std British
>A4 size paper. 
 
I very much expect that 'me' is resetting the line length, somewhere.  Have
a quick look through its source for '.ll' or a register holding its value.
Certainly, the 'ms' macros reset the line length...
 
-- 
Keith Dancey,                                UUCP:   ..!mcvax!ukc!rlvd!kgd
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory,
Chilton, Didcot, Oxon  OX11 0QX             
                                            JANET:       K.DANCEY@uk.ac.rl
Tel: (0235) 21900   ext 5716

jabarby@watvlsi.UUCP (Jim Barby) (10/04/86)

> In article <430@comp.lancs.ac.uk> john@comp.lancs.ac.uk (John R. Nicol) writes:
> >
> >I've prepared my Ph.D. thesis using troff and its me macro package. However...
>  
> >"Page offset + Line Length exceeds the width of the paper"
>  
> >The resulting laser-written output is garbled too. Strange thing is the above
> >message is garbage: my line length (.ll) is 5.75i and I'm using std British
> >A4 size paper. 
>  
> I very much expect that 'me' is resetting the line length, somewhere.  Have
> a quick look through its source for '.ll' or a register holding its value.
> Certainly, the 'ms' macros reset the line length...
>  

Your
	"Page offset + Line Length exceeds the width of the paper"
is a warning message only it really is harmless.  Buried in
tmac.e is a
	.nr _l 7.75i
or something close to this.  This register is used as a
threshold indicator.  To overcome this problem I add the
following line at the top of my input file
	.nr _l 8.5i
(based on the assumption that I will never used paper more
than 8.5 inches wide).  Of course you must use '.ll' to set
the desired line size.
-- 
	Jim Barby  (U of Waterloo VLSI Group, Waterloo Ont.)
	...!watmath!watvlsi!jabarby