[net.text] novice tbl user needs help

weltyrp@rpics.UUCP (Richard Welty) (09/12/85)

I am trying to format a glossary using tbl.  I am having difficulty keeping
the width of the left hand column (the terms being defined) narrow
while keeping the right hand column ( the definitions) wide.

An example:

.TS
expand tab(%) ;
LfB Lw(65) .
acute%T{
A turn of substantially more than 90 degrees at an intersection.
May or may not be used for clarification.
T}
after%T{
... and so forth ...

the above produces a nice result.  The problem is that sometimes the
terms column needs to be several lines.  What I want is something like
the following as output:

course           An instruction or portion of an instruction which
following        directs the rallyist to proceed in a direction in
instruction      which he would not have proceeded in the absence of
                 the course following instruction.

tbl insists on stringing the term in the left hand column out on one
line:

course following instruction       An instruction ...


I have tried several solutions, such as including .b directives 
in the description of the left hand column:

T{
course
.b
following
.b
instruction
T}


any suggestions would be most appreciated, as I am in a bit of a hurry ...
-- 
				Rich Welty

	(I am both a part-time grad student at RPI and a full-time
	 employee of a local CAE firm, and opinions expressed herein
	 have nothing to do with anything at all)

	CSNet:   weltyrp@rpi
	ArpaNet: weltyrp.rpi@csnet-relay
	UUCP:  seismo!rpics!weltyrp

weltyrp@rpics.UUCP (Richard Welty) (09/12/85)

In my own article , I have found a minor oops ...
> tbl insists on stringing the term in the left hand column out on one
> line:
> 
> course following instruction       An instruction ...
> 
> 
> I have tried several solutions, such as including .b directives 
> in the description of the left hand column:
> 
> T{
> course
> .b
> following
> .b
> instruction
> T}

the .b requests should of course be .br (I have the misfortune of sometimes
using DEC Runoff, a terrible program, and sometimes I get confused).
This partially corrects the problem ... to wit:

course                             An instruction ...
following
instruction

now the left column looks good, but the distance between the left and right
hand columns is unchanged ...
-- 
				Rich Welty

	(I am both a part-time grad student at RPI and a full-time
	 employee of a local CAE firm, and opinions expressed herein
	 have nothing to do with anything at all)

	CSNet:   weltyrp@rpi
	ArpaNet: weltyrp.rpi@csnet-relay
	UUCP:  seismo!rpics!weltyrp

weltyrp@rpics.UUCP (Richard Welty) (09/13/85)

Problem solved ... I learned how to use \^ to span vertically in data today
... the .br didn't work because tbl doesn't look for troff commands, and
therefore thinks everything goes on one line ...
-- 
				Rich Welty

	(I am both a part-time grad student at RPI and a full-time
	 employee of a local CAE firm, and opinions expressed herein
	 have nothing to do with anything at all)

	CSNet:   weltyrp@rpi
	ArpaNet: weltyrp.rpi@csnet-relay
	UUCP:  seismo!rpics!weltyrp