simpson@trwrb.UUCP (10/28/87)
We have an old version of ditroff that doesn't seem to be able to give a
string directly to the postprocessor (like the \special command of TeX).
Can anyone tell me what is the string ditroff outputs when it sends a
string directly to the postprocessor? Our troff(5) manual page lists the
following commands
sn Change point size
fn Change font
cx Generate character
Cxyz Generate special character
Hn Absolute horizontal
hn Relative horizontal
Vn Vertical horizontal
vn Relative vertical
nnx Horizontal motion then print character
nb a Eol
w Appears between words
pn Begin a page
{ Push stack
} Pop stack
txxxxx Print string using natural width of each char
#...\n Comment
Dl x y Draw line
Dc d Draw circle
De dx dy Draw ellipse
Da x y r Draw arc
D~ x y x y... Draw spline
x init Initialize
x T device Name of typesetter
x res n h v Resolution
x pause Pause
x stop Stop
x trailer Generate trailer
x font n name Mount font
x Height Set char height
x Slant Set slant
That's it! No other commands for direct commands to the postprocessor.
Help!
--
Scott Simpson
TRW Space and Defense
...{decvax,ihnp4,ucbvax}!trwrb!simpson (UUCP)
trwrb!simpson@trwind.trw.com (ARPA)trevor@linc.cis.upenn.edu (Trevor Darrell) (10/29/87)
Alas, there is a command to pass through literal text in ditroff (DWB 2.0 or greater). Of course it is only marginally documented :-) \X'foo' will casue ditroff to emit x X foo if memory serves correctly
moss@ptsfa.UUCP (10/30/87)
Sorry for the net response, e-mail keeps bouncing... >We have an old version of ditroff that doesn't seem to be able to give a >string directly to the postprocessor... Scott, Ditroff (all versions that I know of) does not have any special output command for transparent data, but it does have an escape sequence that allows passing source lines transparently to ditroff's output. This is the transparent line escape "\!". Anything that follows a \! will be passed through (without the \!) directly to ditroff's output. The trick is to pass through something that is special to the postprocessor, but is not an ordinary ditroff command such as "c", "x", etc. For example, say your preprocessor recognized a "B" (which is not one of the ditroff output directives (commands)) to output a bitmapped graphic image. The following line appearing in the source: \!B /usr/bitmaps/someimage 300 1200 350... would pass the line: B /usr/bitmaps/someimage 300 1200 350... throught to ditroff's output. Any letter or character that is not one used by ditroff could be used. It is up to the postprocessor to strip out the line and interpret it. Also, your version of ditroff may or may not have the ".cf" request (copy file). This is the equivilant of a "transparent file" request: .cf filename The contents of "filename" are sent unmodified to ditroff's output. This could be useful for sending multiline output to a postprocessor. As an example, suppose a postprocessor recognized the lines: X-Begin X-End as enclosing data that is to be passed directly to the output device. Then the file "mydata" might contain: X-Begin any data here that is meaningful to the printer including escape sequences and special characters (metacharacters). X-End Enough already. I think you get the idea. If you have any questions, please feel free to call me or send me mail direct. Ken Keirnan -- Minicomputer Operations Support Staff / !pt05a!kk1 (415) 823-3911 {dual,ihnp4,lll-crg,ames,pyramid}!ptsfa - !pt05a!john (415) 823-0179 "Tum podex carmen extulit horridulum!" \ !pt05a!mal (916) 972-4821
mao@blipyramid.BLI.COM (Mike Olson) (10/31/87)
In article <3696@ptsfa.UUCP>, Ken Keirnan writes: > Ditroff (all versions that I know of) does not have any special > output command for transparent data, but it does have an escape sequence > that allows passing source lines transparently to ditroff's output. This > is the transparent line escape "\!". this works very well, so long as you don't try to use it in a diversion. for example, using the -me macros: .(b some text... \!PASS THIS THROUGH some more text .)b will *not* do what you expect. in cases like this, escape the backslash (\\!). mike olson britton lee, inc. ...!ucbvax!ucsfcgl!blia!mao
john@basser.oz (John Mackin) (11/03/87)
In article <52@blipyramid.BLI.COM>, mao@blipyramid.BLI.COM (Mike Olson) writes: > In article <3696@ptsfa.UUCP>, Ken Keirnan writes: > > Ditroff [has] an escape sequence that allows passing source lines > > transparently to ditroff's output. This is the transparent line escape > > "\!". > > this works very well, so long as you don't try to use it in a diversion. > [...] > in cases like this, escape the [exclamation mark] (\\!). Mike's suggestion is correct. Unfortunately, the number of backslashes you need to use depends on the number of times the text is going to be scanned -- something which is by no means obvious in advance, and varies with different macro packages, keep types, etc. A general method is to use the following macro, by Mark Shand (now shand@cad.unsw.oz.AU): .de !! .ie '\\n(.z'' \!\\$1 .el \!.!! "\\$1 .. Then just .!! "anything at all". John Mackin, Basser Department of Computer Science, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia john@basser.oz.AU (john%basser.oz.AU@UUNET.UU.NET) {uunet,hplabs,mcvax,ukc,nttlab}!munnari!basser.oz!john
henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer) (11/04/87)
> We have an old version of ditroff that doesn't seem to be able to give a > string directly to the postprocessor (like the \special command of TeX). > Can anyone tell me what is the string ditroff outputs when it sends a > string directly to the postprocessor? ... The send-it-direct command at the troff input level is "\X'...'" and the resulting output is "x X ..." (ends with a newline), at least in the version I've got handy. -- PS/2: Yesterday's hardware today. | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology OS/2: Yesterday's software tomorrow. | {allegra,ihnp4,decvax,utai}!utzoo!henry