1ROFF(1) General Commands Manual ROFF(1)
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6 roff - format text
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9 roff [ +n ] [ -n ] [ -s ] [ -h ] file ...
10 nroff -mr [ option ] ... file ...
12 troff -mr [ option ] ... file ...
13
15 Roff formats text according to control lines embedded in the text in
16 the given files. Encountering a nonexistent file terminates printing.
17 Incoming inter-terminal messages are turned off during printing. The
18 optional flag arguments mean:
19 +n Start printing at the first page with number n.
20 -n Stop printing at the first page numbered higher than n.
21 -s Stop before each page (including the first) to allow paper manipu‐
22 lation; resume on receipt of an interrupt signal.
23 -h Insert tabs in the output stream to replace spaces whenever appro‐
24 priate.
25 Input consists of intermixed text lines, which contain information to
27 be formatted, and request lines, which contain instructions about how
28 to format it. Request lines begin with a distinguished control charac‐
29 ter, normally a period.
30 Output lines may be filled as nearly as possible with words without
32 regard to input lineation. Line breaks may be caused at specified
33 places by certain commands, or by the appearance of an empty input line
34 or an input line beginning with a space.
35 The capabilities of roff are specified in the attached Request Summary.
37 Numerical values are denoted there by n or +n, titles by t, and single
38 characters by c. Numbers denoted +n may be signed + or -, in which
39 case they signify relative changes to a quantity, otherwise they sig‐
40 nify an absolute resetting. Missing n fields are ordinarily taken to
41 be 1, missing t fields to be empty, and c fields to shut off the appro‐
42 priate special interpretation.
43 Running titles usually appear at top and bottom of every page. They
45 are set by requests like
46 .he 'part1'part2'part3'
48 Part1 is left justified, part2 is centered, and part3 is right justi‐
50 fied on the page. Any % sign in a title is replaced by the current
51 page number. Any nonblank may serve as a quote.
52 ASCII tab characters are replaced in the input by a replacement charac‐
54 ter, normally a space, according to the column settings given by a .ta
55 command. (See .tr for how to convert this character on output.)
56 Automatic hyphenation of filled output is done under control of .hy.
58 When a word contains a designated hyphenation character, that character
59 disappears from the output and hyphens can be introduced into the word
60 at the marked places only.
61 The -mr option of nroff or troff(1) simulates roff to the greatest
63 extent possible.
64
66 /usr/lib/suftab suffix hyphenation tables
67 /tmp/rtm? temporary
68
70 Roff is the simplest of the text formatting programs, and is utterly
71 frozen.
72 REQUEST SUMMARY
73Request Break Initial Meaning
75the current line is stopped.
76without filling.
77to be invoked by request `.xx' (definition ends on line beginning `..').
78and is not done, if n=0.
79 ROFF(1)