1GROFF_MOM(7) Miscellaneous Information Manual GROFF_MOM(7)
2
6 groff_mom - groff “mom” macros; “mom” is a “roff” language, part of
7 “groff”
8
10 pdfmom [-Tps [pdfroff-option ...]] [groff-option ...] file ...
11 groff -mom [option ...] file ...
13 groff -m mom [option ...] file ...
14
16 mom is a macro set for groff, designed primarily to format documents
17 for PDF and PostScript output.
18 mom provides two categories of macros: macros for typesetting, and
20 macros for document processing. The typesetting macros provide access
21 to groff's typesetting capabilities in ways that are simpler to master
22 than groff's primitives. The document processing macros provide highly
23 customizable markup tags that allow the user to design and output pro‐
24 fessional-looking documents with a minimum of typesetting intervention.
25 Files processed with pdfmom(1) with or without the -Tps option, produce
27 PDF documents. The documents include a PDF outline that appears in the
28 ‘Contents’ panel of document viewers, and may contain clickable inter‐
29 nal and external links.
30 When -Tps is absent, groff's native PDF driver, gropdf, is used to gen‐
32 erate the output. When given, the output is still PDF, but processing
33 is passed over to pdfroff, which uses groff's PostScript driver, grops.
34 Not all PDF features are available when -Tps is given; its primary use
35 is to allow processing of files with embedded PostScript images.
36 Files processed with groff -mom (or -m mom) produce PostScript output
38 by default.
39 mom comes with her own very complete documentation in HTML format. A
41 separate PDF manual, Producing PDFs with groff and mom, covers full mom
42 or PDF usage.
43
45 /usr/share/groff/1.22.4/tmac/om.tmac
46 – the main macro file
47 /usr/share/groff/1.22.4/tmac/mom.tmac
48 – a wrapper file that calls om.tmac directly.
49 /usr/share/doc/groff/html/mom/toc.html
51 – entry point to the HTML documentation
52 /usr/share/doc/groff/pdf/mom-pdf.pdf
54 – the PDF manual, Producing PDFs with groff and mom
55 /usr/share/doc/groff/examples/mom/*.mom
57 – example files using mom
58
60 This part of the man page contains information just as in groff(7), mom
61 macros and mom escape sequences in alphabetical order.
62 The logical order of mom macros and mom escape sequences is very well
64 documented in
65 /usr/share/doc/groff/html/mom/toc.html
67 – entry point to the HTML documentation
68 That document is quite good for beginners, but other users should be
70 happy to have some documentation in reference style.
71 So we restrict this part to the alphabetical order of macros and escape
73 sequences. But, so far, we took all documentation details from the
74 toc.html file, just in a more useful alphabetical order. So this part
75 of the man page is nothing new, but only a logical arrangement.
76
78 Quick Reference of Inline Escape Sequences in alphabetical Order
79 \*[<colorname>]
80 begin using an initialized colour inline
81 \*[BCK n]
83 move backwards in a line
84 \*[BOLDER]
86 invoke pseudo bold inline (related to macro .SETBOLDER)
87 \*[BOLDERX]
89 off pseudo bold inline (related to macro .SETBOLDER)
90 \*[BU n]
92 move characters pairs closer together inline (related to macro
93 .KERN)
94 \*[COND]
96 invoke pseudo condensing inline (related to macro .CONDENSE)
97 \*[CONDX]
99 off pseudo condensing inline (related to macro .CONDENSE)
100 \*[CONDSUP]...\*[CONDSUPX]
102 pseudo-condensed superscript
103 \*[DOWN n]
105 temporarily move downwards in a line
106 \*[EN-MARK]
108 mark initial line of a range of line numbers (for use with line
109 numbered endnotes)
110 \*[EXT]
112 invoke pseudo extending inline (related to macro .EXTEND)
113 \*[EXTX]
115 off pseudo condensing inline (related to macro .EXTEND)
116 \*[EXTSUP]...\*[EXTSUPX]
118 pseudo extended superscript
119 \*[FU n]
121 move characters pairs further apart inline (related to macro
122 .KERN)
123 \*[FWD n]
125 move forward in a line
126 \*[LEADER]
128 insert leaders at the end of a line
129 \*[RULE]
131 draw a full measure rule
132 \*[SIZE n]
134 change the point size inline (related to macro .PT_SIZE)
135 \*[SLANT]
137 invoke pseudo italic inline (related to macro .SETSLANT)
138 \*[SLANTX]
140 off pseudo italic inline (related to macro .SETSLANT)
141 \*[ST<n>]...\*[ST<n>X]
143 string tabs (mark tab positions inline)
144 \*[SUP]...\*[SUPX]
146 superscript
147 \*[TB+]
149 inline escape for .TN (Tab Next)
150 \*[UL]...\*[ULX]
152 invoke underlining inline (fixed width fonts only)
153 \*[UP n]
155 temporarily move upwards in a line
156 Quick Reference of Macros in alphabetical Order
158 .AUTOLEAD
159 set the linespacing relative to the point size
160 .B_MARGIN
162 set a bottom margin
163 .BR break a justified line
165 .CENTER
167 set line-by-line quad centre
168 .CONDENSE
170 set the amount to pseudo condense
171 .EL break a line without advancing on the page
173 .EXTEND
175 set the amount to pseudo extend
176 .FALLBACK_FONT
178 establish a fallback font (for missing fonts)
179 .FAM alias to .FAMILY
181 .FAMILY <family>
183 set the family type
184 .FT set the font style (roman, italic, etc.)
186 .HI [ <measure> ]
188 hanging indent
189 .HY automatic hyphenation on/off
191 .HY_SET
193 set automatic hyphenation parameters
194 .IB [ <left measure> <right measure> ]
196 indent both
197 .IBX [ CLEAR ]
199 exit indent both
200 .IL [ <measure> ]
202 indent left
203 .ILX [ CLEAR ]
205 exit indent left
206 .IQ [ CLEAR ]
208 quit any/all indents
209 .IR [ <measure> ]
211 indent right
212 .IRX [ CLEAR ]
214 exit indent right
215 .JUSTIFY
217 justify text to both margins
218 .KERN automatic character pair kerning on/off
220 .L_MARGIN
222 set a left margin (page offset)
223 .LEFT set line-by-line quad left
225 .LL set a line length
227 .LS set a linespacing (leading)
229 .PAGE set explicit page dimensions and margins
231 .PAGEWIDTH
233 set a custom page width
234 .PAGELENGTH
236 set a custom page length
237 .PAPER <paper_type>
239 set common paper sizes (letter, A4, etc)
240 .PT_SIZE
242 set the point size
243 .QUAD "justify" text left, centre, or right
245 .R_MARGIN
247 set a right margin
248 .RIGHT set line-by-line quad right
250 .SETBOLDER
252 set the amount of emboldening
253 .SETSLANT
255 set the degree of slant
256 .SPREAD
258 force justify a line
259 .SS set the sentence space size
261 .T_MARGIN
263 set a top margin
264 .TI [ <measure> ]
266 temporary left indent
267 .WS set the minimum word space size
269
271 Details of Inline Escape Sequences in alphabetical Order
272 \*[<colorname>]
273 begin using an initialized colour inline
274 \*[BCK n]
276 move wards in a line
277 \*[BOLDER]
279 \*[BOLDERX]
280 Emboldening on/off
281 \*[BOLDER] begins emboldening type. \*[BOLDERX] turns the fea‐
283 ture off. Both are inline escapes, therefore they should not
284 appear as separate lines, but rather be embedded in text lines,
285 like this:
286 Not \*[BOLDER]everything\*[BOLDERX] is as it seems.
287 Alternatively, if you wanted the whole line emboldened, you
289 should do
290 \*[BOLDER]Not everything is as it seems.\*[BOLDERX]
291 Once \*[BOLDER] is invoked, it remains in effect until turned
292 off.
293 Note: If you're using the document processing macros with
295 .PRINTSTYLE TYPEWRITE, mom ignores \*[BOLDER] requests.
296 \*[BU n]
298 move characters pairs closer together inline (related to macro
299 .KERN)
300 \*[COND]
302 \*[CONDX]
303 Pseudo-condensing on/off
304 \*[COND] begins pseudo-condensing type. \*[CONDX] turns the
306 feature off. Both are inline escapes, therefore they should not
307 appear as separate lines, but rather be embedded in text lines,
308 like this:
309 \*[COND]Not everything is as it seems.\*[CONDX]
310 \*[COND] remains in effect until you turn it off with \*[CONDX].
311 IMPORTANT: You must turn \*[COND] off before making any changes
313 to the point size of your type, either via the .PT_SIZE macro or
314 with the \s inline escape. If you wish the new point size to be
315 pseudo-condensed, simply reinvoke \*[COND] afterwards. Equally,
316 \*[COND] must be turned off before changing the condense per‐
317 centage with .CONDENSE.
318 Note: If you're using the document processing macros with
320 .PRINTSTYLE TYPEWRITE, mom ignores \*[COND] requests.
321 \*[CONDSUP]...\*[CONDSUPX]
323 pseudo-condensed superscript
324 \*[DOWN n]
326 temporarily move downwards in a line
327 \*[EN-MARK]
329 mark initial line of a range of line numbers (for use with line
330 numbered endnotes)
331 \*[EXT]
333 \*[EXTX]
334 Pseudo-extending on/off
335 \*[EXT] begins pseudo-extending type. \*[EXTX] turns the fea‐
337 ture off. Both are inline escapes, therefore they should not
338 appear as separate lines, but rather be embedded in text lines,
339 like this:
340 \*[EXT]Not everything is as it seems.\*[EXTX]
341 \*[EXT] remains in effect until you turn it off with \*[EXTX].
342 IMPORTANT: You must turn \*[EXT] off before making any changes
344 to the point size of your type, either via the .PT_SIZE macro or
345 with the \s inline escape. If you wish the new point size to be
346 pseudo-extended, simply reinvoke \*[EXT] afterwards. Equally,
347 \*[EXT] must be turned off before changing the extend percentage
348 with .EXTEND.
349 Note: If you are using the document processing macros with
351 .PRINTSTYLE TYPEWRITE, mom ignores \*[EXT] requests.
352 \*[EXTSUP]...\*[EXTSUPX]
354 pseudo extended superscript
355 \*[FU n]
357 move characters pairs further apart inline (related to macro
358 .KERN)
359 \*[FWD n]
361 move forward in a line
362 \*[LEADER]
364 insert leaders at the end of a line
365 \*[RULE]
367 draw a full measure rule
368 \*[SIZE n]
370 change the point size inline (related to macro .PT_SIZE)
371 \*[SLANT]
373 \*[SLANTX]
374 Pseudo italic on/off
375 \*[SLANT] begins pseudo-italicizing type. \*[SLANTX] turns the
377 feature off. Both are inline escapes, therefore they should not
378 appear as separate lines, but rather be embedded in text lines,
379 like this:
380 Not \*[SLANT]everything\*[SLANTX] is as it seems.
381 Alternatively, if you wanted the whole line pseudo-italicized,
383 you'd do
384 \*[SLANT]Not everything is as it seems.\*[SLANTX]
385 Once \*[SLANT] is invoked, it remains in effect until turned
387 off.
388 Note: If you're using the document processing macros with
390 .PRINTSTYLE TYPEWRITE, mom underlines pseudo-italics by default.
391 To change this behaviour, use the special macro
392 .SLANT_MEANS_SLANT.
393 \*[ST<number>]...\*[ST<number>X]
395 Mark positions of string tabs
396 The quad direction must be LEFT or JUSTIFY (see .QUAD and
398 .JUSTIFY) or the no-fill mode set to LEFT in order for these in‐
399 lines to function properly. Please see IMPORTANT, below.
400 String tabs need to be marked off with inline escapes before be‐
402 ing set up with the .ST macro. Any input line may contain
403 string tab markers. <number>, above, means the numeric identi‐
404 fier of the tab.
405 The following shows a sample input line with string tab markers.
407 \*[ST1]Now is the time\*[ST1X] for all \*[ST2]good men\*ST2X] to come to the aid of the party.
408 String tab 1 begins at the start of the line and ends after the
410 word time. String tab 2 starts at good and ends after men. In‐
411 line escapes (e.g. font or point size changes, or horizontal
412 movements, including padding) are taken into account when mom
413 determines the position and length of string tabs.
414 Up to nineteen string tabs may be marked (not necessarily all on
416 the same line, of course), and they must be numbered between 1
417 and 19.
418 Once string tabs have been marked in input lines, they have to
420 be set with .ST, after which they may be called, by number, with
421 .TAB.
422 Note: Lines with string tabs marked off in them are normal input
424 lines, i.e. they get printed, just like any input line. If you
425 want to set up string tabs without the line printing, use the
426 .SILENT macro.
427 IMPORTANT: Owing to the way groff processes input lines and
429 turns them into output lines, it is not possible for mom to
430 guess the correct starting position of string tabs marked off in
431 lines that are centered or set flush right.
432 Equally, she cannot guess the starting position if a line is
434 fully justified and broken with .SPREAD.
435 In other words, in order to use string tabs, LEFT must be ac‐
437 tive, or, if .QUAD LEFT or JUSTIFY are active, the line on which
438 the string tabs are marked must be broken manually with .BR (but
439 not .SPREAD).
440 To circumvent this behaviour, I recommend using the PAD to set
442 up string tabs in centered or flush right lines. Say, for exam‐
443 ple, you want to use a string tab to underscore the text of a
444 centered line with a rule. Rather than this,
445 .CENTER
446 \*[ST1]A line of text\*[ST1X]\c
447 .EL
448 .ST 1
449 .TAB 1
450 .PT_SIZE 24
451 .ALD 3p
452 \*[RULE]
453 .RLD 3p
454 .TQ
455 you should do:
456 .QUAD CENTER
457 .PAD "#\*[ST1]A line of text\*[ST1X]#"
458 .EL
459 .ST 1
460 .TAB 1
461 .PT_SIZE 24
462 .ALD 3p
463 \*[RULE] \" Note that you can't use \*[UP] or \*[DOWN] with \*[RULE]
464 .RLD 3p
465 .TQ
466 \*[SUP]...\*[SUPX]
468 superscript
469 \*[TB+]
471 Inline escape for .TN (Tab Next)
472 \*[UL]...\*[ULX]
474 invoke underlining inline (fixed width fonts only)
475 \*[UP n]
477 temporarily move upwards in a line
478 Details of Macros in alphabetical Order
480 .AUTOLEAD
481 set the linespacing relative to the point size
482 .B_MARGIN <bottom margin>
484 Bottom Margin
485 Requires a unit of measure
487 .B_MARGIN sets a nominal position at the bottom of the page be‐
489 yond which you don't want your type to go. When the bottom mar‐
490 gin is reached, mom starts a new page. .B_MARGIN requires a
491 unit of measure. Decimal fractions are allowed. To set a nomi‐
492 nal bottom margin of 3/4 inch, enter
493 .B_MARGIN .75i
494 Obviously, if you haven't spaced the type on your pages so that
496 the last lines fall perfectly at the bottom margin, the margin
497 will vary from page to page. Usually, but not always, the last
498 line of type that fits on a page before the bottom margin causes
499 mom to start a new page.
500 Occasionally, owing to a peculiarity in groff, an extra line
502 will fall below the nominal bottom margin. If you're using the
503 document processing macros, this is unlikely to happen; the doc‐
504 ument processing macros are very hard-nosed about aligning bot‐
505 tom margins.
506 Note: The meaning of .B_MARGIN is slightly different when you're
508 using the document processing macros.
509 .FALLBACK_FONT <fallback font> [ ABORT | WARN ]
511 Fallback Font
512 In the event that you pass an invalid argument to .FAMILY (i.e.
514 a non-existent family), mom, by default, uses the fallback font,
515 Courier Medium Roman (CR), in order to continue processing your
516 file.
517 If you'd prefer another fallback font, pass .FALLBACK_FONT the
519 full family+font name of the font you'd like. For example, if
520 you'd rather the fallback font were Times Roman Medium Roman,
521 .FALLBACK_FONT TR
522 would do the trick.
523 Mom issues a warning whenever a font style set with .FT does not
525 exist, either because you haven't registered the style or be‐
526 cause the font style does not exist in the current family set
527 with .FAMILY. By default, mom then aborts, which allows you to
528 correct the problem.
529 If you'd prefer that mom not abort on non-existent fonts, but
531 rather continue processing using a fallback font, you can pass
532 .FALLBACK_FONT the argument WARN, either by itself, or in con‐
533 junction with your chosen fallback font.
534 Some examples of invoking .FALLBACK_FONT:
536 .FALLBACK_FONT WARN
538 mom will issue a warning whenever you try to access a
539 non-existent font but will continue processing your file
540 with the default fallback font, Courier Medium Roman.
541 .FALLBACK_FONT TR WARN
543 mom will issue a warning whenever you try to access a
544 non-existent font but will continue processing your file
545 with a fallback font of Times Roman Medium Roman; addi‐
546 tionally, TR will be the fallback font whenever you try
547 to access a family that does not exist.
548 .FALLBACK_FONT TR ABORT
550 mom will abort whenever you try to access a non-existent
551 font, and will use the fallback font TR whenever you try
552 to access a family that does not exist. If, for some
553 reason, you want to revert to ABORT, just enter
554 ".FALLBACK_FONT ABORT" and mom will once again abort on
555 font errors.
556 .FAM <family>
558 Type Family, alias of .FAMILY
559 .FAMILY <family>
561 Type Family, alias .FAM
562 .FAMILY takes one argument: the name of the family you want.
564 Groff comes with a small set of basic families, each identified
565 by a 1-, 2- or 3-letter mnemonic. The standard families are:
566 A = Avant Garde
567 BM = Bookman
568 H = Helvetica
569 HN = Helvetica Narrow
570 N = New Century Schoolbook
571 P = Palatino
572 T = Times Roman
573 ZCM = Zapf Chancery
574 The argument you pass to .FAMILY is the identifier at left,
576 above. For example, if you want Helvetica, enter
577 .FAMILY H
578 Note: The font macro (.FT) lets you specify both the type family
580 and the desired font with a single macro. While this saves a
581 few keystrokes, I recommend using .FAMILY for family, and .FT
582 for font, except where doing so is genuinely inconvenient. ZCM,
583 for example, only exists in one style: Italic (I).
584 Therefore,
586 .FT ZCMI
587 makes more sense than setting the family to ZCM, then setting
588 the font to I.
589 Additional note: If you are running a version of groff lower
591 than 1.19.2, you must follow all .FAMILY requests with a .FT re‐
592 quest, otherwise mom will set all type up to the next .FT re‐
593 quest in the fallback font.
594 If you are running a version of groff greater than or equal to
596 1.19.2, when you invoke the .FAMILY macro, mom remembers the
597 font style (Roman, Italic, etc) currently in use (if the font
598 style exists in the new family) and will continue to use the
599 same font style in the new family. For example:
600 .FAMILY BM \" Bookman family
601 .FT I \" Medium Italic
602 <some text> \" Bookman Medium Italic
603 .FAMILY H \" Helvetica family
604 <more text> \" Helvetica Medium Italic
605 However, if the font style does not exist in the new family, mom
607 will set all subsequent type in the fallback font (by default,
608 Courier Medium Roman) until she encounters a .FT request that's
609 valid for the family.
610 For example, assuming you don't have the font Medium Condensed
612 Roman (mom extension CD) in the Helvetica family:
613 .FAMILY UN \" Univers family
614 .FT CD \" Medium Condensed
615 <some text> \" Univers Medium Condensed
616 .FAMILY H \" Helvetica family
617 <more text> \" Courier Medium Roman!
618 In the above example, you must follow .FAMILY H with a .FT re‐
620 quest that's valid for Helvetica.
621 Please see the Appendices, Adding fonts to groff, for informa‐
623 tion on adding fonts and families to groff, as well as to see a
624 list of the extensions mom provides to groff's basic R, I, B, BI
625 styles.
626 Suggestion: When adding families to groff, I recommend following
628 the established standard for the naming families and fonts. For
629 example, if you add the Garamond family, name the font files
630 GARAMONDR
631 GARAMONDI
632 GARAMONDB
633 GARAMONDBI
634 GARAMOND then becomes a valid family name you can pass to .FAM‐
635 ILY. (You could, of course, shorten GARAMOND to just G, or GD.)
636 R, I, B, and BI after GARAMOND are the roman, italic, bold and
637 bold-italic fonts respectively.
638 .FONT R | B | BI | <any other valid font style>
640 Alias to .FT
641 .FT R | B | BI | <any other valid font style>
643 Set font
644 By default, groff permits .FT to take one of four possible argu‐
646 ments specifying the desired font:
647 R = (Medium) Roman
648 I = (Medium) Italic
649 B = Bold (Roman)
650 BI = Bold Italic
651 For example, if your family is Helvetica, entering
653 .FT B
654 will give you the Helvetica bold font. If your family were
655 Palatino, you'd get the Palatino bold font.
656 Mom considerably extends the range of arguments you can pass to
658 .FT, making it more convenient to add and access fonts of dif‐
659 fering weights and shapes within the same family.
660 Have a look here for a list of the weight/style arguments mom
662 allows. Be aware, though, that you must have the fonts, cor‐
663 rectly installed and named, in order to use the arguments. (See
664 Adding fonts to groff for instructions and information.) Please
665 also read the ADDITIONAL NOTE found in the description of the
666 .FAMILY macro.
667 How mom reacts to an invalid argument to .FT depends on which
669 version of groff you're using. If your groff version is greater
670 than or equal to 1.19.2, mom will issue a warning and, depending
671 on how you've set up the fallback font, either continue process‐
672 ing using the fallback font, or abort (allowing you to correct
673 the problem). If your groff version is less than 1.19.2, mom
674 will silently continue processing, using either the fallback
675 font or the font that was in effect prior to the invalid .FT
676 call.
677 .FT will also accept, as an argument, a full family and font
679 name.
680 For example,
682 .FT HB
683 will set subsequent type in Helvetica Bold.
684 However, I strongly recommend keeping family and font separate
686 except where doing so is genuinely inconvenient.
687 For inline control of fonts, see Inline Escapes, font control.
689 .HI [ <measure> ]
691 Hanging indent — the optional argument requires a unit of mea‐
692 sure.
693 A hanging indent looks like this:
695 The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I
696 could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed
697 revenge. You who so well know the nature of my soul
698 will not suppose, however, that I gave utterance to a
699 threat, at length I would be avenged...
700 The first line of text hangs outside the left margin.
701 In order to use hanging indents, you must first have a left in‐
703 dent active (set with either .IL or .IB). Mom will not hang
704 text outside the left margin set with .L_MARGIN or outside the
705 left margin of a tab.
706 The first time you invoke .HI, you must give it a measure. If
708 you want the first line of a paragraph to hang by, say, 1 pica,
709 do
710 .IL 1P
711 .HI 1P
712 Subsequent invocations of .HI do not require you to supply a
713 measure; mom keeps track of the last measure you gave it.
714 Generally speaking, you should invoke .HI immediately prior to
716 the line you want hung (i.e. without any intervening control
717 lines). And because hanging indents affect only one line,
718 there's no need to turn them off.
719 IMPORTANT: Unlike IL, IR and IB, measures given to .HI are NOT
721 additive. Each time you pass a measure to .HI , the measure is
722 treated literally. Recipe: A numbered list using hanging in‐
723 dents
724 Note: mom has macros for setting lists. This recipe exists to
726 demonstrate the use of hanging indents only.
727 .PAGE 8.5i 11i 1i 1i 1i 1i
728 .FAMILY T
729 .FT R
730 .PT_SIZE 12
731 .LS 14
732 .JUSTIFY
733 .KERN
734 .SS 0
735 .IL \w'\0\0.'
736 .HI \w'\0\0.'
737 1.\0The most important point to be considered is whether the
738 answer to the meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything
739 really is 42. We have no-one's word on the subject except
740 Mr. Adams'.
741 .HI
742 2.\0If the answer to the meaning of Life, the Universe,
743 and Everything is indeed 42, what impact does this have on
744 the politics of representation? 42 is, after all not a
745 prime number. Are we to infer that prime numbers don't
746 deserve equal rights and equal access in the universe?
747 .HI
748 3.\0If 42 is deemed non-exclusionary, how do we present it
749 as the answer and, at the same time, forestall debate on its
750 exclusionary implications?
751 First, we invoke a left indent with a measure equal to the width
753 of 2 figures spaces plus a period (using the \w inline escape).
754 At this point, the left indent is active; text afterwards would
755 normally be indented. However, we invoke a hanging indent of
756 exactly the same width, which hangs the first line (and first
757 line only!) to the left of the indent by the same distance (in
758 this case, that means “out to the left margin”). Because we be‐
759 gin the first line with a number, a period, and a figure space,
760 the actual text (The most important point...) starts at exactly
761 the same spot as the indented lines that follow.
762 Notice that subsequent invocations of .HI don't require a mea‐
764 sure to be given.
765 Paste the example above into a file and preview it with
767 pdfmom filename.mom | ps2pdf - filename.pdf
768 to see hanging indents in action.
769 .IB [ <left measure> <right measure> ]
771 Indent both — the optional argument requires a unit of measure
772 .IB allows you to set or invoke a left and a right indent at the
774 same time.
775 At its first invocation, you must supply a measure for both in‐
777 dents; at subsequent invocations when you wish to supply a mea‐
778 sure, both must be given again. As with .IL and .IR, the mea‐
779 sures are added to the values previously passed to the macro.
780 Hence, if you wish to change just one of the values, you must
781 give an argument of zero to the other.
782 A word of advice: If you need to manipulate left and right in‐
784 dents separately, use a combination of .IL and .IR instead of
785 .IB. You'll save yourself a lot of grief.
786 A minus sign may be prepended to the arguments to subtract from
788 their current values. The \w inline escape may be used to spec‐
789 ify text-dependent measures, in which case no unit of measure is
790 required. For example,
791 .IB \w'margarine' \w'jello'
792 left indents text by the width of the word margarine and right
793 indents by the width of jello.
794 Like .IL and .IR, .IB with no argument indents by its last ac‐
796 tive values. See the brief explanation of how mom handles in‐
797 dents for more details.
798 Note: Calling a tab (with .TAB <n>) automatically cancels any
800 active indents.
801 Additional note: Invoking .IB automatically turns off .IL and
803 .IR.
804 .IL [ <measure> ]
806 Indent left — the optional argument requires a unit of measure
807 .IL indents text from the left margin of the page, or if you're
809 in a tab, from the left edge of the tab. Once IL is on, the
810 left indent is applied uniformly to every subsequent line of
811 text, even if you change the line length.
812 The first time you invoke .IL, you must give it a measure. Sub‐
814 sequent invocations with a measure add to the previous measure.
815 A minus sign may be prepended to the argument to subtract from
816 the current measure. The \w inline escape may be used to spec‐
817 ify a text-dependent measure, in which case no unit of measure
818 is required. For example,
819 .IL \w'margarine'
820 indents text by the width of the word margarine.
821 With no argument, .IL indents by its last active value. See the
823 brief explanation of how mom handles indents for more details.
824 Note: Calling a tab (with .TAB <n>) automatically cancels any
826 active indents.
827 Additional note: Invoking .IL automatically turns off IB.
829 .IQ [ <measure> ]
831 IQ — quit any/all indents
832 IMPORTANT NOTE: The original macro for quitting all indents was
834 .IX. This usage has been deprecated in favour of IQ. .IX will
835 continue to behave as before, but mom will issue a warning to
836 stderr indicating that you should update your documents.
837 As a consequence of this change, .ILX, .IRX and .IBX may now
839 also be invoked as .ILQ, .IRQ and .IBQ. Both forms are accept‐
840 able.
841 Without an argument, the macros to quit indents merely restore
843 your original margins and line length. The measures stored in
844 the indent macros themselves are saved so you can call them
845 again without having to supply a measure.
846 If you pass these macros the optional argument CLEAR, they not
848 only restore your original left margin and line length, but also
849 clear any values associated with a particular indent style. The
850 next time you need an indent of the same style, you have to sup‐
851 ply a measure again.
852 .IQ CLEAR, as you'd suspect, quits and clears the values for all
854 indent styles at once.
855 .IR [ <measure> ]
857 Indent right — the optional argument requires a unit of measure
858 .IR indents text from the right margin of the page, or if you're
860 in a tab, from the end of the tab.
861 The first time you invoke .IR, you must give it a measure. Sub‐
863 sequent invocations with a measure add to the previous indent
864 measure. A minus sign may be prepended to the argument to sub‐
865 tract from the current indent measure. The \w inline escape may
866 be used to specify a text-dependent measure, in which case no
867 unit of measure is required. For example,
868 .IR \w'jello'
869 indents text by the width of the word jello.
870 With no argument, .IR indents by its last active value. See the
872 brief explanation of how mom handles indents for more details.
873 Note: Calling a tab (with .TAB <n>) automatically cancels any
875 active indents.
876 Additional note: Invoking .IR automatically turns off IB.
878 .L_MARGIN <left margin>
880 Left Margin
881 L_MARGIN establishes the distance from the left edge of the
883 printer sheet at which you want your type to start. It may be
884 used any time, and remains in effect until you enter a new
885 value.
886 Left indents and tabs are calculated from the value you pass to
888 .L_MARGIN, hence it's always a good idea to invoke it before
889 starting any serious typesetting. A unit of measure is re‐
890 quired. Decimal fractions are allowed. Therefore, to set the
891 left margin at 3 picas (1/2 inch), you'd enter either
892 .L_MARGIN 3P
893 or
894 .L_MARGIN .5i
895 If you use the macros .PAGE, .PAGEWIDTH or .PAPER without invok‐
897 ing .L_MARGIN (either before or afterwards), mom automatically
898 sets .L_MARGIN to 1 inch.
899 Note: .L_MARGIN behaves in a special way when you're using the
901 document processing macros.
902 .MCO Begin multi-column setting.
904 .MCO (Multi-Column On) is the macro you use to begin multi-col‐
906 umn setting. It marks the current baseline as the top of your
907 columns, for use later with .MCR. See the introduction to col‐
908 umns for an explanation of multi-columns and some sample input.
909 Note: Do not confuse .MCO with the .COLUMNS macro in the docu‐
911 ment processing macros.
912 .MCR Once you've turned multi-columns on (with .MCO), .MCR, at any
914 time, returns you to the top of your columns.
915 .MCX [ <distance to advance below longest column> ]
917 Optional argument requires a unit of measure.
918 .MCX takes you out of any tab you were in (by silently invoking
920 .TQ) and advances to the bottom of the longest column.
921 Without an argument, .MCX advances 1 linespace below the longest
923 column.
924 Linespace, in this instance, is the leading in effect at the mo‐
926 ment .MCX is invoked.
927 If you pass the <distance> argument to .MCX, it advances 1 line‐
929 space below the longest column (see above) PLUS the distance
930 specified by the argument. The argument requires a unit of mea‐
931 sure; therefore, to advance an extra 6 points below where .MCX
932 would normally place you, you'd enter
933 .MCX 6p
934 Note: If you wish to advance a precise distance below the base‐
936 line of the longest column, use .MCX with an argument of 0
937 (zero; no unit of measure required) in conjunction with the .ALD
938 macro, like this:
939 .MCX 0
940 .ALD 24p
941 The above advances to precisely 24 points below the baseline of
942 the longest column.
943 .NEWPAGE
945 Whenever you want to start a new page, use .NEWPAGE, by itself
947 with no argument. Mom will finish up processing the current
948 page and move you to the top of a new one (subject to the top
949 margin set with .T_MARGIN).
950 .PAGE <width> [ <length> [ <lm> [ <rm> [ <tm> [ <bm> ] ] ] ] ]
952 All arguments require a unit of measure
954 IMPORTANT: If you're using the document processing macros, .PAGE
956 must come after .START. Otherwise, it should go at the top of a
957 document, prior to any text. And remember, when you're using
958 the document processing macros, top margin and bottom margin
959 mean something slightly different than when you're using just
960 the typesetting macros (see Top and bottom margins in document
961 processing).
962 .PAGE lets you establish paper dimensions and page margins with
964 a single macro. The only required argument is page width. The
965 rest are optional, but they must appear in order and you can't
966 skip over any. <lm>, <rm>, <tm> and <bm> refer to the left,
967 right, top and bottom margins respectively.
968 Assuming your page dimensions are 11 inches by 17 inches, and
970 that's all you want to set, enter
971 .PAGE 11i 17i
972 If you want to set the left margin as well, say, at 1 inch, PAGE
973 would look like this:
974 .PAGE 11i 17i 1i
975 Now suppose you also want to set the top margin, say, at 1–1/2
977 inches. <tm> comes after <rm> in the optional arguments, but
978 you can't skip over any arguments, therefore to set the top mar‐
979 gin, you must also give a right margin. The .PAGE macro would
980 look like this:
981 .PAGE 11i 17i 1i 1i 1.5i
982 | |
983 required right---+ +---top margin
984 margin
985 Clearly, .PAGE is best used when you want a convenient way to
987 tell mom just the dimensions of your printer sheet (width and
988 length), or when you want to tell her everything about the page
989 (dimensions and all the margins), for example
990 .PAGE 8.5i 11i 45p 45p 45p 45p
991 This sets up an 8½ by 11 inch page with margins of 45 points
992 (5/8-inch) all around.
993 Additionally, if you invoke .PAGE with a top margin argument,
995 any macros you invoke after .PAGE will almost certainly move the
996 baseline of the first line of text down by one linespace. To
997 compensate, do
998 .RLD 1v
999 immediately before entering any text, or, if it's feasible, make
1000 .PAGE the last macro you invoke prior to entering text.
1001 Please read the Important note on page dimensions and papersize
1003 for information on ensuring groff respects your .PAGE dimensions
1004 and margins.
1005 .PAGELENGTH <length of printer sheet>
1007 tells mom how long your printer sheet is. It works just like
1008 .PAGEWIDTH.
1009 Therefore, to tell mom your printer sheet is 11 inches long, you
1011 enter
1012 .PAGELENGTH 11i
1013 Please read the important note on page dimensions and papersize
1014 for information on ensuring groff respects your PAGELENGTH.
1015 .PAGEWIDTH <width of printer sheet>
1017 The argument to .PAGEWIDTH is the width of your printer sheet.
1019 .PAGEWIDTH requires a unit of measure. Decimal fractions are
1021 allowed. Hence, to tell mom that the width of your printer
1022 sheet is 8½ inches, you enter
1023 .PAGEWIDTH 8.5i
1024 Please read the Important note on page dimensions and papersize
1026 for information on ensuring groff respects your PAGEWIDTH.
1027 .PAPER <paper type>
1029 provides a convenient way to set the page dimensions for some
1030 common printer sheet sizes. The argument <paper type> can be
1031 one of: LETTER, LEGAL, STATEMENT, TABLOID, LEDGER, FOLIO,
1032 QUARTO, EXECUTIVE, 10x14, A3, A4, A5, B4, B5.
1033 .PRINTSTYLE
1035 .PT_SIZE <size of type in points>
1037 Point size of type, does not require a unit of measure.
1038 .PT_SIZE (Point Size) takes one argument: the size of type in
1040 points. Unlike most other macros that establish the size or
1041 measure of something, .PT_SIZE does not require that you supply
1042 a unit of measure since it's a near universal convention that
1043 type size is measured in points. Therefore, to change the type
1044 size to, say, 11 points, enter
1045 .PT_SIZE 11
1046 Point sizes may be fractional (e.g. 10.25 or 12.5).
1047 You can prepend a plus or a minus sign to the argument to
1049 .PT_SIZE, in which case the point size will be changed by + or -
1050 the original value. For example, if the point size is 12 , and
1051 you want 14 , you can do
1052 .PT_SIZE +2
1053 then later reset it to 12 with
1054 .PT_SIZE -2
1055 The size of type can also be changed inline.
1056 Note: It is unfortunate that the pic preprocessor has already
1058 taken the name, PS, and thus mom's macro for setting point sizes
1059 can't use it. However, if you aren't using pic, you might want
1060 to alias .PT_SIZE as .PS, since there'd be no conflict. For ex‐
1061 ample
1062 .ALIAS PS PT_SIZE
1063 would allow you to set point sizes with .PS.
1064 .R_MARGIN <right margin>
1066 Right Margin
1067 Requires a unit of measure.
1069 IMPORTANT: .R_MARGIN, if used, must come after .PAPER,
1071 .PAGEWIDTH, .L_MARGIN, and/or .PAGE (if a right margin isn't
1072 given to PAGE). The reason is that .R_MARGIN calculates line
1073 length from the overall page dimensions and the left margin.
1074 Obviously, it can't make the calculation if it doesn't know the
1076 page width and the left margin.
1077 .R_MARGIN establishes the amount of space you want between the
1079 end of typeset lines and the right hand edge of the printer
1080 sheet. In other words, it sets the line length. .R_MARGIN re‐
1081 quires a unit of measure. Decimal fractions are allowed.
1082 The line length macro (LL) can be used in place of .R_MARGIN.
1084 In either case, the last one invoked sets the line length. The
1085 choice of which to use is up to you. In some instances, you may
1086 find it easier to think of a section of type as having a right
1087 margin. In others, giving a line length may make more sense.
1088 For example, if you're setting a page of type you know should
1090 have 6-pica margins left and right, it makes sense to enter a
1091 left and right margin, like this:
1092 .L_MARGIN 6P
1093 .R_MARGIN 6P
1094 That way, you don't have to worry about calculating the line
1096 length. On the other hand, if you know the line length for a
1097 patch of type should be 17 picas and 3 points, entering the line
1098 length with LL is much easier than calculating the right margin,
1099 e.g.
1100 .LL 17P+3p
1101 If you use the macros .PAGE, .PAGEWIDTH or PAPER without invok‐
1103 ing .R_MARGIN afterwards, mom automatically sets .R_MARGIN to 1
1104 inch. If you set a line length after these macros (with .LL),
1105 the line length calculated by .R_MARGIN is, of course, overrid‐
1106 den.
1107 Note: .R_MARGIN behaves in a special way when you're using the
1109 document processing macros.
1110 .ST <tab number> L | R | C | J [ QUAD ]
1112 After string tabs have been marked off on an input line (see
1114 \*[ST]...\*[STX]), you need to set them by giving them a direc‐
1115 tion and, optionally, the QUAD argument.
1116 In this respect, .ST is like .TAB_SET except that you don't have
1118 to give .ST an indent or a line length (that's already taken
1119 care of, inline, by \*[ST]...\*[STX]).
1120 If you want string tab 1 to be left, enter
1122 .ST 1 L
1123 If you want it to be left and filled, enter
1124 .ST 1 L QUAD
1125 If you want it to be justified, enter
1126 .ST 1 J
1127 .TAB <tab number>
1129 After tabs have been defined (either with .TAB_SET or .ST), .TAB
1130 moves to whatever tab number you pass it as an argument.
1131 For example,
1133 .TAB 3
1134 moves you to tab 3.
1135 Note: .TAB breaks the line preceding it and advances 1 line‐
1137 space. Hence,
1138 .TAB 1
1139 A line of text in tab 1.
1140 .TAB 2
1141 A line of text in tab 2.
1142 produces, on output
1143 A line of text in tab 1.
1144 A line of text in tab 2.
1145 If you want the tabs to line up, use .TN (Tab Next) or, more
1147 conveniently, the inline escape \*[TB+]:
1148 .TAB 1
1149 A line of text in tab 1.\*[TB+]
1150 A line of text in tab 2.
1151 which produces
1152 A line of text in tab 1. A line of text in tab 2.
1153 If the text in your tabs runs to several lines, and you want the
1155 first lines of each tab to align, you must use the multi-column
1156 macros.
1157 Additional note: Any indents in effect prior to calling a tab
1159 are automatically turned off by TAB. If you were happily zip‐
1160 ping down the page with a left indent of 2 picas turned on, and
1161 you call a tab whose indent from the left margin is 6 picas,
1162 your new distance from the left margin will be 6 picas, not I 6
1163 picas plus the 2 pica indent.
1164 Tabs are not by nature columnar, which is to say that if the
1166 text inside a tab runs to several lines, calling another tab
1167 does not automatically move to the baseline of the first line in
1168 the previous tab. To demonstrate:
1169 TAB 1
1170 Carrots
1171 Potatoes
1172 Broccoli
1173 .TAB 2
1174 $1.99/5 lbs
1175 $0.25/lb
1176 $0.99/bunch
1177 produces, on output
1178 Carrots
1179 Potatoes
1180 Broccoli
1181 $1.99/5 lbs
1182 $0.25/lb
1183 $0.99/bunch
1184 .TB <tab number>
1186 Alias to .TAB
1187 .TI [ <measure> ]
1189 Temporary left indent — the optional argument requires a unit of
1190 measure
1191 A temporary indent is one that applies only to the first line of
1193 text that comes after it. Its chief use is indenting the first
1194 line of paragraphs. (Mom's .PP macro, for example, uses a tem‐
1195 porary indent.)
1196 The first time you invoke .TI, you must give it a measure. If
1198 you want to indent the first line of a paragraph by, say, 2 ems,
1199 do
1200 .TI 2m
1201 Subsequent invocations of .TI do not require you to supply a
1203 measure; mom keeps track of the last measure you gave it.
1204 Because temporary indents are temporary, there's no need to turn
1206 them off.
1207 IMPORTANT: Unlike .IL, .IR and IB, measures given to .TI are NOT
1209 additive. In the following example, the second ".TI 2P" is ex‐
1210 actly 2 picas.
1211 .TI 1P
1212 The beginning of a paragraph...
1213 .TI 2P
1214 The beginning of another paragraph...
1215 .TN Tab Next
1217 Inline escape \*[TB+]
1219 TN moves over to the next tab in numeric sequence (tab n+1)
1221 without advancing on the page. See the NOTE in the description
1222 of the .TAB macro for an example of how TN works.
1223 In tabs that aren't given the QUAD argument when they're set up
1225 with .TAB_SET or ST, you must terminate the line preceding .TN
1226 with the \c inline escape. Conversely, if you did give a QUAD
1227 argument to .TAB_SET or ST, the \c must not be used.
1228 If you find remembering whether to put in the \c bothersome, you
1230 may prefer to use the inline escape alternative to .TN, \*[TB+],
1231 which works consistently regardless of the fill mode.
1232 Note: You must put text in the input line immediately after .TN.
1234 Stacking of .TN's is not allowed. In other words, you cannot do
1235 .TAB 1
1236 Some text\c
1237 .TN
1238 Some more text\c
1239 .TN
1240 .TN
1241 Yet more text
1242 The above example, assuming tabs numbered from 1 to 4, should be
1243 entered
1244 .TAB 1
1245 Some text\c
1246 .TN
1247 Some more text\c
1248 .TN
1249 \&\c
1250 .TN
1251 Yet more text
1252 \& is a zero-width, non-printing character that groff recognizes
1253 as valid input, hence meets the requirement for input text fol‐
1254 lowing .TN.
1255 .TQ TQ takes you out of whatever tab you were in, advances 1 line‐
1257 space, and restores the left margin, line length, quad direction
1258 and fill mode that were in effect prior to invoking any tabs.
1259 .T_MARGIN <top margin>
1261 Top margin
1262 Requires a unit of measure
1264 .T_MARGIN establishes the distance from the top of the printer
1266 sheet at which you want your type to start. It requires a unit
1267 of measure, and decimal fractions are allowed. To set a top
1268 margin of 2½ centimetres, you'd enter
1269 .T_MARGIN 2.5c
1270 .T_MARGIN calculates the vertical position of the first line of
1271 type on a page by treating the top edge of the printer sheet as
1272 a baseline. Therefore,
1273 .T_MARGIN 1.5i
1274 puts the baseline of the first line of type 1½ inches beneath
1275 the top of the page.
1276 Note: .T_MARGIN means something slightly different when you're
1278 using the document processing macros. See Top and bottom mar‐
1279 gins in document processing for an explanation.
1280 IMPORTANT: .T_MARGIN does two things: it establishes the top
1282 margin for pages that come after it and it moves to that posi‐
1283 tion on the current page. Therefore, .T_MARGIN should only be
1284 used at the top of a file (prior to entering text) or after NEW‐
1285 PAGE, like this:
1286 .NEWPAGE
1287 .T_MARGIN 6P
1288 <text>
1289
1291 mom was written by Peter Schaffter ⟨peter@schaffter.ca⟩. PDF support
1292 was provided by Deri James ⟨deri@chuzzlewit.demon.co.uk⟩. The alpha‐
1293 betical documentation of macros and escape sequences in this man page
1294 were written by the mom team.
1295
1297 groff(1), groff_mom(7),
1298 /usr/share/doc/groff/html/mom/toc.html
1300 – entry point to the HTML documentation
1301 ⟨http://www.schaffter.ca/mom/momdoc/toc.html⟩
1303 – HTML documentation online
1304 ⟨http://www.schaffter.ca/mom/⟩
1306 – the mom macros homepage
1307groff 1.22.4 20 January 2022 GROFF_MOM(7)