From Linux Man Pages
groff - a short reference for the GNU roff language
DESCRIPTION
The name groff stands for GNU roff and is the free implementation of the roff type-setting system. See roff(7)
for a survey and the background of the groff system.
This document gives only short descriptions of the predefined roff language elements as used in groff. Both the
classical features and the groff extensions are provided.
Historically, the roff language was called troff. groff is compatible with the classical system and provides
proper extensions. So in GNU, the terms roff, troff, and groff language could be used as synonyms. However
troff slightly tends to refer more to the classical aspects, whereas groff emphasizes the GNU extensions, and
roff is the general term for the language.
This file is only a short version of the complete documentation that is found in the groff info(1) file, which
contains more detailed, actual, and concise information.
The general syntax for writing groff documents is relatively easy, but writing extensions to the roff language
can be a bit harder.
The roff language is line-oriented. There are only two kinds of lines, control lines and text lines. The con-
trol lines start with a control character, by default a period "'." or a single quote "''"; all other lines are
text lines.
Control lines represent commands, optionally with arguments. They have the following syntax. The leading con-
trol character can be followed by a command name; arguments, if any, are separated by blanks from the command
name and among themselves, for example,
.command_name arg1 arg2
For indentation, any number of space or tab characters can be inserted between the leading control character and
the command name, but the control character must be on the first position of the line.
Text lines represent the parts that will be printed. They can be modified by escape sequences, which are recog-
nized by a leading backslash `\'. These are in-line or even in-word formatting elements or functions. Some of
these take arguments separated by single quotes "''", others are regulated by a length encoding introduced by an
open parenthesis `(' or enclosed in brackets `[' and `]'.
The roff language provides flexible instruments for writing language extension, such as macros. When interpret-
ing macro definitions, the roff system enters a special operating mode, called the copy mode.
The copy mode behavior can be quite tricky, but there are some rules that ensure a safe usage.
1. Printable backslashes must be denoted as \e. To be more precise, \e represents the current escape charac-
ter. To get a backslash glyph, use \(rs or \[rs].
2. Double all backslashes.
3. Begin all text lines with the special non-spacing character \&.
This does not produce the most efficient code, but it should work as a first measure. For better strategies, see
the groff info file and groff_tmac(5).
Reading roff source files is easier, just reduce all double backslashes to a single one in all macro definitions.
GROFF ELEMENTS
The roff language elements add formatting information to a text file. The fundamental elements are predefined
commands and variables that make roff a full-blown programming language.
There are two kinds of roff commands, possibly with arguments. Requests are written on a line of their own
starting with a dot `'.' or a "''", whereas Escape sequences are in-line functions and in-word formatting elements
starting with a backslash `\'.
The user can define her own formatting commands using the de request. These commands are called macros, but they
are used exactly like requests. Macro packages are pre-defined sets of macros written in the groff language. A
user's possibilities to create escape sequences herself is very limited, only special characters can be mapped.
The groff language provides several kinds of variables with different interfaces. There are pre-defined vari-
ables, but the user can define her own variables as well.
String variables store character sequences. They are set with the ds request and retrieved by the \* escape
sequences. Strings can have variables.
Register variables can store numerical values, numbers with a scale unit, and occasionally string-like objects.
They are set with the nr request and retrieved by the \n escape sequences.
Environments allow the user to temporarily store global formatting parameters like line length, font size, etc.
for later reuse. This is done by the ev request.
Fonts are identified either by a name or by an internal number. The current font is chosen by the ft request or
by the \f escape sequences. Each device has special fonts, but the following fonts are available for all
devices. R is the standard font Roman. B is its bold counterpart. The italic font is called I and is available
everywhere, but on text devices it is displayed as an underlined Roman font. For the graphical output devices,
there exist constant-width pendants of these fonts, CR, CI, and CB. On text devices, all characters have a con-
stant width anyway.
Moreover, there are some advanced roff elements. A diversion stores information into a macro for later usage. A
trap is a positional condition like a certain number of lines from page top or in a diversion or in the input.
Some action can be prescribed to be run automatically when the condition is met.
More detailed information and examples can be found in the groff info file.
CONTROL CHARACTERS
There is a small set of characters that have a special controlling task in certain conditions.
. A dot is only special at the beginning of a line or after the condition in the requests if, ie, el, and
while. There it is the control character that introduces a request (or macro). The special behavior can
be delayed by using the \. escape. By using the cc request, the control character can be set to a dif-
ferent character, making the dot `.' a non-special character.
In all other positions, it just means a dot character. In text paragraphs, it is advantageous to start
each sentence at a line of its own.
'' The single quote has two controlling tasks. At the beginning of a line and in the conditional requests it
is the non-breaking control character. That means that it introduces a request like the dot, but with the
additional property that this request doesn't cause a linebreak. By using the c2 request, the non-break
control character can be set to a different character.
As a second task, it is the most commonly used argument separator in some functional escape sequences (but
any pair of characters not part of the argument will work). In all other positions, it denotes the single
quote or apostrophe character. Groff provides a printable representation with the \(cq escape sequence.
" The double quote is used to enclose arguments in requests, macros, and strings. In the ds and as
requests, a leading double quote in the argument will be stripped off, making everything else afterwards
the string to be defined (enabling leading whitespace). The escaped double quote \" introduces a comment.
Otherwise, it is not special. Groff provides a printable representation with the \(dq escape sequence.
\ The backslash usually introduces an escape sequence (this can be changed with the ec request). A printed
version of the escape character is the \e escape; a backslash glyph can be obtained by \(rs.
( The open parenthesis is only special in escape sequences when introducing an escape name or argument con-
sisting of exactly two characters. In groff, this behavior can be replaced by the [] construct.
[ The opening bracket is only special in groff escape sequences; there it is used to introduce a long escape
name or long escape argument. Otherwise, it is non-special, e.g. in macro calls.
] The closing bracket is only special in groff escape sequences; there it terminates a long escape name or
long escape argument. Otherwise, it is non-special.
space Space characters are only functional characters. They separate the arguments in requests, macros, and
strings, and the words in text lines. They are subject to groff's horizontal spacing calculations. To
get a defined space width, escape sequences like `\ ' (this is the escape character followed by a space),
\|, \^, or \h should be used.
newline
In text paragraphs, newlines mostly behave like space characters. Continuation lines can be specified by
an escaped newline, i.e., by specifying a backslash `\' as the last character of a line.
tab If a tab character occurs during text the interpreter makes a horizontal jump to the next pre-defined tab
position. There is a sophisticated interface for handling tab positions.
NUMERICAL EXPRESSIONS
A numerical value is a signed or unsigned integer or float with or without an appended scaling indicator. A
scaling indicator is a one-character abbreviation for a unit of measurement. A number followed by a scaling
indicator signifies a size value. By default, numerical values do not have a scaling indicator, i.e., they are
normal numbers.
The roff language defines the following scaling indicators.
c Centimeter
i Inch
P Pica = 1/6 inch
p Point = 1/72 inch
m Em = the font size in points (width of letter `m')
M 100th of an Em
n En = Em/2
u Basic unit for actual output device
v Vertical line space in basic units scaled point = 1/sizescale of a point (defined in font DESC
file)
f Scale by 65536.
Numerical expressions are combinations of the numerical values defined above with the following arithmetical
operators already defined in classical troff.
+ Addition
- Subtraction
* Multiplication
/ Division
% Modulo
= Equals
== Equals
< Less than
> Greater than
<= Less or equal
>= Greater or equal
& Logical and
: Logical or
! Logical not
( Grouping of expressions
) Close current grouping
Moreover, groff added the following operators for numerical expressions:
e1>?e2 The maximum of e1 and e2.
e1<?e2 The minimum of e1 and e2.
(c;e) Evaluate e using c as the default scaling indicator.
For details see the groff info file.
CONDITIONS
Conditions occur in tests raised by the if, ie, and the while requests. The following table characterizes the
different types of conditions.
N A numerical expression N yields true if its value is greater than 0.
!N True if the value of I is 0.
's1s2' True if string s1 is identical to string s2.
!s1s2' True if string s1 is not identical to string s2.
cch True if there is a character ch available.
dname True if there is a string, macro, diversion, or request called name.
e Current page number is even.
o Current page number is odd.
mname True if there is a color called name.
n Formatter is nroff.
rreg True if there is a register named reg.
t Formatter is troff.
REQUESTS
This section provides a short reference for the predefined requests. In groff, request and macro names can be
arbitrarily long. No bracketing or marking of long names is needed.
Most requests take one or more arguments. The arguments are separated by space characters (no tabs!); there is
no inherent limit for their length or number. An argument can be enclosed by a pair of double quotes. This is
very handy if an argument contains space characters, e.g., "arg with space" denotes a single argument.
Some requests have optional arguments with a different behaviour. Not all of these details are outlined here.
Refer to the groff info file and groff_diff(7) for all details.
In the following request specifications, most argument names were chosen to be descriptive. Only the following
denotations need clarification.
c denotes a single character.
font a font either specified as a font name or a font number.
anything all characters up to the end of the line or within \{ and \}.
n is a numerical expression that evaluates to an integer value.
N is an arbitrary numerical expression, signed or unsigned.
�N has three meanings depending on its sign, described below.
If an expression defined as �N starts with a `+' sign the resulting value of the expression will be added to an
already existing value inherent to the related request, e.g. adding to a number register. If the expression
starts with a `-' the value of the expression will be subtracted from the request value.
Without a sign, N replaces the existing value directly. To assign a negative number either prepend 0 or enclose
the negative number in parentheses.
Request Short Reference
. Empty line, ignored. Useful for structuring documents.
.\" anything
Complete line is a comment.
.ab string
Print string on standard error, exit program.
.ad Begin line adjustment for output lines in current adjust mode.
.ad c Start line adjustment in mode c (c=l,r,b,n).
.af register c
Assign format c to register (c=l,i,I,a,A).
.aln alias register
Create alias name for register.
.als alias object
Create alias name for request, string, macro, or diversion object.
.am macro Append to macro until .. is encountered.
.am macro end
Append to macro until .end is called.
.ami macro
Append to a macro whose name is contained in the string register macro until .. is encountered.
.ami macro end
Append to a macro indirectly. macro and end are string registers whose contents are interpolated for
the macro name and the end macro, respectively.
.am1 macro
Same as .am but with compatibility mode switched off during macro expansion.
.am1 macro end
Same as .am but with compatibility mode switched off during macro expansion.
.as stringvar anything
Append anything to stringvar.
.asciify diversion
Unformat ASCII characters, spaces, and some escape sequences in diversion.
.as1 stringvar anything
Same as .as but with compatibility mode switched off during string expansion.
.backtrace
Print a backtrace of the input on stderr.
.bd font N
Embolden font by N-1 units.
.bd S font N
Embolden Special Font S when current font is font.
.blm Unset the blank line macro.
.blm macro
Set the blank line macro to macro.
.box End current diversion.
.box macro
Divert to macro, omitting a partially filled line.
.boxa End current diversion.
.boxa macro
Divert and append to macro, omitting a partially filled line.
.bp Eject current page and begin new page.
.bp �N Eject current page; next page number �N.
.br Line break.
.brp Break and spread output line. Same as \p.
.break Break out of a while loop.
.c2' Reset no-break control character to "''".
.c2 c Set no-break control character to c.
.cc Reset control character to `.'.
.cc c Set control character to c.
.ce Center the next input line.
.ce N Center following N input lines.
.cf filename
Copy contents of file filename unprocessed to stdout or to the diversion.
.cflags mode c1 c2 ...
Treat characters c1, c2, ... according to mode number.
.ch trap N
Change trap location to N .
.char c anything
Define character c as string anything.
.chop object
Chop the last character off macro, string, or diversion object.
.close stream
Close the stream.
.color Enable colors.
.color N If N is zero disable colors, otherwise enable them.
.continue Finish the current iteration of a while loop.
.cp Enable compatibility mode.
.cp N If N is zero disable compatibility mode, otherwise enable it.
.cs font N M
Set constant character width mode for font to N/36 ems with em M.
.cu N Continuous underline in nroff, like .ul in troff.
.da End current diversion.
.da macro Divert and append to macro.
.de macro Define or redefine macro until .. is encountered.
.de macro end
Define or redefine macro until .end is called.
.de1 macro
Same as .de but with compatibility mode switched off during macro expansion.
.de1 macro end
Same as .de but with compatibility mode switched off during macro expansion.
.defcolor color scheme component
Define or redefine a color with name color. scheme can be rgb, cym, cymk, gray, or grey. component
can be single components specified as fractions in the range 0 to 1 (default scaling indicator f), as a
string of two-digit hexadecimal color components with a leading #, or as a string of four-digit hex-
adecimal components with two leading #. The color default can't be redefined.
.dei macro
Define or redefine a macro whose name is contained in the string register macro until .. is encoun-
tered.
.dei macro end
Define or redefine a macro indirectly. macro and end are string registers whose contents are interpo-
lated for the macro name and the end macro, respectively.
.di End current diversion.
.di macro Divert to macro .
.do name Interpret .name with compatibility mode disabled.
.ds stringvar anything
Set stringvar to anything.
.ds1 stringvar anything
Same as .ds but with compatibility mode switched off during string expansion.
.dt N trap
Set diversion trap to position N (default scaling indicator v).
.ec Reset escape character to `\'.
.ec c Set escape character to c.
.ecr Restore escape character saved with .ecs.
.ecs Save current escape character.
.el anything
Else part for if-else (ie) request.
.em macro The macro will be run after the end of input.
.eo Turn off escape character mechanism.
.ev Switch to previous environment.
.ev env Push down environment number or name env and switch to it.
.evc env Copy the contents of environment env to the current environment. No pushing or popping.
.ex Exit from roff processing.
.fam Return to previous font family.
.fam name Set the current font family to name.
.fc Disable field mechanism.
.fc a Set field delimiter to a and pad character to space.
.fc a b Set field delimiter to a and pad character to b.
.fchar c anything
Define fallback character c as string anything.
.fi Fill output lines.
.fl Flush output buffer.
.fp n font
Mount font on position n.
.fp n internal external
Mount font with long external name to short internal name on position n.
.fspecial font s1 s2 ...
When the current font is font, then the fonts s1, s2, ... will be special.
.ft Return to previous font. Same as \f[] or \fP.
.ft font Change to font name or number font; same as \f[font] escape sequence.
.ftr font1 font2
Translate font1 to font2.
.hc Remove additional hyphenation indicator character.
.hc c Set up additional hyphenation indicator character c.
.hcode c1 code1 c2 code2 ...
Set the hyphenation code of character c1 to code1, that of c2 to code2, etc.
.hla lang Set the current hyphenation language to lang.
.hlm n Set the maximum number of consecutive hyphenated lines to n.
.hpf file Read hyphenation patterns from file.
.hpfa file
Append hyphenation patterns from file.
.hpfcode file
Set input mapping for .hpf.
.hw words List of words with exceptional hyphenation.
.hy N Switch to hyphenation mode N.
.hym n Set the hyphenation margin to n (default scaling indicator m).
.hys n Set the hyphenation space to n.
.ie cond anything
If cond then anything else goto .el.
.if cond anything
If cond then anything; otherwise do nothing.
.ig Ignore text until .. is encountered.
.ig end Ignore text until .end.
.in Change to previous indent value.
.in �N Change indent according to �N (default scaling indicator m).
.it N trap
Set an input-line count trap for the next N lines.
.itc N trap
Same as .it but count lines interrupted with \c as one line.
.kern Enable pairwise kerning.
.kern n If n is zero, disable pairwise kerning, otherwise enable it.
.lc Remove leader repetition character.
.lc c Set leader repetition character to c.
.length register anything
Write the length of the string anything in register.
.linetabs Enable line-tabs mode (i.e., calculate tab positions relative to output line).
.linetabs n
If n is zero, disable line-tabs mode, otherwise enable it.
.lf N file
Set input line number to N and filename to file.
.lg N Ligature mode on if N>0.
.ll Change to previous line length.
.ll �N Set line length according to �N (default size 6.5i, default scaling indicator m).
.ls Change to the previous value of additional intra-line skip.
.ls N Set additional intra-line skip value to N, i.e., N-1 blank lines are inserted after each text output
line.
.lt �N Length of title (default scaling indicator m).
.mc Margin character off.
.mc c Print character c after each text line at actual distance from right margin.
.mc c N Set margin character to c and distance to N from right margin (default scaling indicator m).
.mk register
Mark current vertical position in register.
.mso file The same as the .so request except that file is searched in the tmac directories.
.na No output-line adjusting.
.ne Need a one-line vertical space.
.ne N Need N vertical space (default scaling indicator v).
.nf No filling or adjusting of output-lines.
.nh No hyphenation.
.nm Number mode off.
.nm �N [M [S [I]]]
In line number mode, set number, multiple, spacing, and indent.
.nn Do not number next line.
.nn N Do not number next N lines.
.nop anything
Always execute anything.
.nr register �N M
Define or modify register using �N with auto-increment M.
.nroff Make the built-in condition n true and t false.
.ns Turn no-space mode on.
.nx Immediately jump to end of current file.
.nx filename
Next file.
.open stream filename
Open register filename for writing and associate the stream named register stream with it.
.opena stream filename
Like .open but append to it.
.os Output vertical distance that was saved by the sv request.
.output string
Emit string directly to intermediate output, allowing leading whitespace if string starts with " (which
will be stripped off).
.pc Reset page number character to `%'.
.pc c Page number character.
.pi program
Pipe output to program (nroff only).
.pl Set page length to default 11i. The current page length is stored in register .p.
.pl �N Change page length to �N (default scaling indicator v).
.pm Print macro names and sizes (number of blocks of 128 bytes).
.pm t Print only total of sizes of macros (number of 128 bytes blocks).
.pn �N Next page number N.
.pnr Print the names and contents of all currently defined number registers on stderr.
.po Change to previous page offset. The current page offset is available in register .o.
.po �N Page offset N.
.ps Return to previous point-size.
.ps �N Point size; same as \s[�N].
.psbb filename
Get the bounding box of a PostScript image filename.
.pso command
This behaves like the so request except that input comes from the standard output of command.
.ptr Print the names and positions of all traps (not including input line traps and diversion traps) on
stderr.
.pvs Change to previous post-vertical line spacing.
.pvs �N Change post-vertical line spacing according to �N (default scaling indicator p).
.rchar c1 c2 ...
Remove the definitions of characters c1, c2, ...
.rd prompt
Read insertion.
.return Return from a macro.
.rj n Right justify the next n input lines.
.rm name Remove request, macro, or string name.
.rn old new
Rename request, macro, or string old to new.
.rnn reg1 reg2
Rename register reg1 to reg2.
.rr register
Remove register.
.rs Restore spacing; turn no-space mode off.
.rt �N Return (upward only) to marked vertical place (default scaling indicator v).
.shc Reset soft hyphen character to \(hy.
.shc c Set the soft hyphen character to c.
.shift n In a macro, shift the arguments by n positions.
.sizes s1 s2 ... sn [0]
Set available font sizes similar to the sizes command in a DESC file.
.so filename
Include source file.
.sp Skip one line vertically.
.sp N Space vertical distance N up or down according to sign of N (default scaling indicator v).
.special s1 s2 ...
Fonts s1, s2, etc. are special and will be searched for characters not in the current font.
.spreadwarn
Toggle the spread warning on and off without changing its value.
.spreadwarn limit
Emit a warning if each space in an output line is widened by limit or more (default scaling indica-
tor m).
.ss N Space-character size set to N/12 of the spacewidth in the current font.
.ss N M Space-character size set to N/12 and sentence space size set to M/12 of the spacewidth in the current
font (=1/3 em).
.sty n style
Associate style with font position n.
.substring xx n1 n2
Replace the string named xx with the substring defined by the indices n1 and n2.
.sv Save 1v of vertical space.
.sv N Save the vertical distance N for later output with os request.
.sy command-line
Execute program command-line.
.ta T N Set tabs after every position that is a multiple of N (default scaling indicator m).
.ta n1 n2 ... nn T r1 r2 ... rn
Set tabs at positions n1, n2, ..., nn, then set tabs at nn+r1, nn+r2, ..., nn+rn, then at nn+rn+r1,
nn+rn+r2, ..., nn+rn+rn, and so on.
.tc Remove tab repition character.
.tc c Set tab repetition character to c.
.ti �N Temporary indent next line (default scaling indicator m).
.tkf font s1 n1 s2 n2
Enable track kerning for font.
.tl 'leftcenterright'
Three-part title.
.tm anything
Print anything on terminal (UNIX standard message output).
.tm1 anything
Print anything on terminal (UNIX standard message output), allowing leading whitespace if anything
starts with " (which will be stripped off).
.tmc anything
Similar to .tm1 without emitting a final newline.
.tr abcd...
Translate a to b, c to d, etc. on output.
.trf filename
Transparently output the contents of file filename.
.trin abcd...
This is the same as the tr request except that the asciify request will use the character code (if any)
before the character translation.
.trnt abcd...
This is the same as the tr request except that the translations do not apply to text that is transpar-
ently throughput into a diversion with \!.
.troff Make the built-in condition t true and n false.
.uf font Underline font set to font (to be switched to by .ul).
.ul N Underline (italicize in troff) N input lines.
.unformat diversion
Unformat space characters and tabs, preserving font information in diversion.
.vpt n Enable vertical position traps if n is non-zero, disable them otherwise.
.vs Change to previous vertical base line spacing.
.vs �N Set vertical base line spacing according to �N (default scaling indicator p). Default value is 12p.
.warn n Set warnings code to n.
.warnscale si
Set scaling indicator used in warnings to si.
.wh N Remove (first) trap at position N.
.wh N trap
Set location trap; negative means from page bottom.
.while cond anything
While condition cond is true, accept anything as input.
.write stream anything
Write anything to the stream named stream.
.writec stream anything
Similar to .write without emitting a final newline.
.writem stream xx
Write contents of macro or string xx to the stream named stream.
Besides these standard groff requests, there might be further macro calls. They can originate from a macro pack-
age (see roff(7) for an overview) or from a preprocessor.
Preprocessor macros are easy to be recognized. They enclose their code into a pair of characteristic macros.
box, center, tab (@); c | c | c CfCB | CfCB | CfCB. preprocessor@start macro@ end macro = eqn@.PS@.PE
grap@.G1@.G2 grn@.GS@.GE pic@.PS@.PE refer@.R1@.R2 soelim@none@none tbl@.TS@.TE
ESCAPE SEQUENCES
Escape sequences are in-line language elements usually introduced by a backslash `\' and followed by an escape
name and sometimes by a required argument. Input processing is continued directly after the escaped character or
the argument resp. without an intervening separation character. So there must be a way to determine the end of
the escape name and the end of the argument.
This is done by enclosing names (escape name and arguments consisting of a variable name) by a pair of brackets
[name] and constant arguments (number expressions and characters) by apostrophes (ASCII 0x27) like 'constant'.
There are abbreviations for short names. Two character escape names can be specified by an opening parenthesis
like \(xy without a closing counterpart. And all one-character names different from the special characters `['
and `(' can even be specified without a marker in the form \c.
Constant arguments of length 1 can omit the marker apostrophes, too, but there is no two-character analogue.
While 1-character escape sequences are mainly used for in-line functions and system related tasks, the 2-letter
names following the \( construct are used for special characters predefined by the roff system. Escapes
sequences with names of more than two characters \[name] denote user defined named characters (see the char
request).
Single Character Escapes
\" Beginning of a comment. Everything up to the end of the line is ignored.
\# Everything up to and including the next newline is ignored. This is interpreted in copy mode. This is
like \" except that the terminating newline is ignored as well.
\*s The string stored in the string variable with 1-character name s.
\*(st The string stored in the string variable with 2-character name st.
\*[stringvar arg1 arg2 ...]
The string stored in the string variable with arbitrary length name stringvar, taking arg1, arg2, ... as
arguments.
\$0 The name by which the current macro was invoked. The als request can make a macro have more than one
name.
\$x Macro or string argument with 1-place number x, where x is a digit between 1 and 9.
\$(xy Macro or string argument with 2-digit number xy.
\$[nexp]
Macro or string argument with number nexp, where nexp is a numerical expression evaluating to an integer
>=1.
\$* In a macro or string, the concatenation of all the arguments separated by spaces.
\$@ In a macro or string, the concatenation of all the arguments with each surrounded by double quotes, and
separated by spaces.
\\ reduces to a single backslash; useful to delay its interpretation as escape character in copy mode. For a
printable backslash, use \e, or even better \[rs], to be independent from the current escape character.
\' The acute accent �; same as \(aa. Unescaped: apostrophe, right quotation mark, single quote (ASCII 0x27).
\` The grave accent `; same as \(ga. Unescaped: left quote, backquote (ASCII 0x60).
\- The - sign in the current font.
\. An uninterpreted dot (period), even at start of line.
\% Default optional hyphenation character.
\! Transparent line indicator.
\?anything?
In a diversion, this will transparently embed anything in the diversion. anything is read in copy mode.
See also the escape sequences \! and \?.
\space Unpaddable space-size space character (no line break).
\0 Digit width.
\| 1/6 em narrow space character; zero width in nroff.
\^ 1/12 em half-narrow space character; zero width in nroff.
\& Non-printable, zero width character.
\) Like \& except that it behaves like a character declared with the cflags request to be transparent for the
purposes of end of sentence recognition.
\/ Increases the width of the preceding character so that the spacing between that character and the follow-
ing character will be correct if the following character is a roman character.
\, Modifies the spacing of the following character so that the spacing between that character and the preced-
ing character will correct if the preceding character is a roman character.
\~ Unbreakable space that stretches like a normal inter-word space when a line is adjusted.
\: Inserts a zero-width break point (similar to \% but without a soft hyphen character).
\newline
Ignored newline, for continuation lines.
\{ Begin conditional input.
\} End conditional input.
\(sc The special character with 2-character name sc, see section Special Characters.
\[name]
The named character with arbitrary length name name.
\a Non-interpreted leader character.
\A'anything'
If anything is acceptable as a name of a string, macro, diversion, register, environment or font it
expands to 1, and to 0 otherwise.
\b'abc...'
Bracket building function.
\B'anything'
If anything is acceptable as a valid numeric expression it expands to 1, and to 0 otherwise.
\c Interrupt text processing.
\C'char'
The character called char; same as \[char], but compatible to other roff versions.
\d Forward (down) 1/2 em vertical unit (1/2 line in nroff).
\D'charseq'
Draw a graphical element defined by the characters in charseq; see groff info file for details.
\e Printable version of the current escape character.
\E Equivalent to an escape character, but is not interpreted in copy-mode.
\fF Change to font with 1-character name or 1-digit number F.
\fP Switch back to previous font.
\f(fo Change to font with 2-character name or 2-digit number fo.
\f[font]
Change to font with arbitrary length name or number expression font.
\f[] Switch back to previous font.
\Ff Change to font family with 1-character name f.
\F(fm Change to font family with 2-character name fm.
\F[fam]
Change to font family with arbitrary length name fam.
\F[] Switch back to previous font family.
\g[reg]
Return format of register with name reg suitable for .af. Alternative forms \g(xy and \gx.
\h'N' Local horizontal motion; move right N (left if negative).
\H'N' Set height of current font to N.
\k[reg]
Mark horizontal input place in register with arbitrary length name reg. Alternative forms \k(xy and \kx.
\l'Nc' Horizontal line drawing function (optionally using character c).
\L'Nc' Vertical line drawing function (optionally using character c).
\m[color]
Change to color color. Alternative forms \m(co and \mc.
\m[] Switch back to previous color.
\M[color]
Change filling color for closed drawn objects to color color. Alternative forms \M(co and \Mc.
\M[] Switch to previous fill color.
\nr The numerical value stored in the register variable with the 1-character name r.
\n(re The numerical value stored in the register variable with the 2-character name re.
\n[reg]
The numerical value stored in the register variable with arbitrary length name reg.
\N'n' Typeset the character with code n in the current font, no special fonts are searched. Useful for adding
characters to a font using the char request.
\o'abc...'
Overstrike characters a, b, c, etc.
\O0 Disable glyph output. Mainly for internal use.
\O1 Enable glyph output. Mainly for internal use.
\p Break and spread output line.
\r Reverse 1 em vertical motion (reverse line in nroff).
\R'name �n'
The same as .nr name �n.
\s[�N] Set the point size to N scaled points. Note the alternative forms \s�[N], \s�N', \s�N', \s(�xy, \s�(xy,
\s�x. Same as ps request.
\S'N' Slant output N degrees.
\t Non-interpreted horizontal tab.
\u Reverse (up) 1/2 em vertical motion (1/2 line in nroff).
\v'N' Local vertical motion; move down N (up if negative).
\V[env]
The contents of the environment variable env. Alternative forms \V(xy and \Vx.
\w'string'
The width of the character sequence string.
\x'N' Extra line-space function (negative before, positive after).
\X'string'
Output string as device control function.
\Y[name]
Output string variable or macro name uninterpreted as device control function. Alternative forms \Y(xy
and \Yx.
\zc Print c with zero width (without spacing).
\Z'anything'
Print anything and then restore the horizontal and vertical position; anything may not contain tabs or
leaders.
The escape sequences \e, \., \", \$, \*, \a, \n, \t, \g, and \newline are interpreted in copy mode.
Escape sequences starting with \( or \[ do not represent single character escape sequences, but introduce escape
names with two or more characters.
If a backslash is followed by a character that does not constitute a defined escape sequence the backslash is
silently ignored and the character maps to itself.
Special Characters
Common special characters are predefined by escape sequences of the form \(xy with characters x and y. Some of
these exist in the usual font while most of them are only available in the special font. Below you'll find a
selection of the most important glyphs; a complete list can be found in groff_char(7).
\(bu Bullet sign
\(co Copyright
\(ct Cent
\(dd Double dagger
\(de Degree
\(dg Dagger
\(rs Printable double quote
\(em Em-dash
\(hy Hyphen
\(rg Registered sign
\(rs Printable backslash character
\(sc Section sign
\(ul Underline character
\(== Identical
\(>= Larger or equal
\(<= Less or equal
\(!= Not equal
\(-> Right arrow
\(<- Left arrow
\(+- Plus-minus sign
Strings
Strings are defined by the ds request and can be retrieved by the \* escape sequence.
Strings share their name space with macros. So strings and macros without arguments are roughly equivalent; it
is possible to call a string like a macro and vice-versa, but this often leads to unpredictable results. The
following strings are predefined in groff.
\*[.T] The name of the current output device as specified by the -T command line option.
REGISTERS
Registers are variables that store a value. In groff, most registers store numerical values (see section NUMERI-
CAL EXPRESSIONS above), but some can also hold a string value.
Each register is given a name. Arbitrary registers can be defined and set with the request nr register.
The value stored in a register can be retrieved by the escape sequences introduced by \n.
Most useful are predefined registers. In the following the notation name is used to refer to a register called
register name to make clear that we speak about registers. Please keep in mind that the \n[] decoration is not
part of the register name.
Read-only Registers
The following registers have predefined values that should not be modified by the user (usually, registers start-
ing with a dot a read-only). Mostly, they provide information on the current settings or store results from
request calls.
\n[.$] Number of arguments in the current macro or string.
\n['.a] Post-line extra line-space most recently utilized using \xN'.
\n[.A] Set to 1 in troff if option -A is used; always 1 in nroff.
\n[.c] Current input line number.
\n[.C] 1 if compatibility mode is in effect, 0 otherwise.
\n[.cdp] The depth of the last character added to the current environment. It is positive if the character
extends below the baseline.
\n[.ce] The number of lines remaining to be centered, as set by the ce request.
\n[.cht] The height of the last character added to the current environment. It is positive if the character
extends above the baseline.
\n[.color]
1 if colors are enabled, 0 otherwise.
\n[.csk] The skew of the last character added to the current environment. The skew of a character is how far to
the right of the center of a character the center of an accent over that character should be placed.
\n[.d] Current vertical place in current diversion; equal to register register nl.
\n[.ev] The name or number of the current environment (string-valued).
\n[.f] Current font number.
\n[.fam] The current font family (string-valued).
\n[.fn] The current (internal) real font name (string-valued).
\n[.fp] The number of the next free font position.
\n[.g] Always 1 in GNU troff. Macros should use it to test if running under groff.
\n[.h] Text base-line high-water mark on current page or diversion.
\n[.H] Available horizontal resolution in basic units.
\n[.hla] The current hyphenation language as set by the .hla request.
\n[.hlc] The number of immediately preceding consecutive hyphenated lines.
\n[.hlm] The maximum allowed number of consecutive hyphenated lines, as set by the hlm request.
\n[.hy] The current hyphenation flags (as set by the hy request).
\n[.hym] The current hyphenation margin (as set by the hym request).
\n[.hys] The current hyphenation space (as set by the hys request).
\n[.i] Current ident.
\n[.in] The indent that applies to the current output line.
\n[.int] Positive if last output line contains \c.
\n[.kern] 1 if pairwise kerning is enabled, 0 otherwise.
\n[.l] Current line length.
\n[.lg] The current ligature mode (as set by the lg request).
\n[.linetabs]
The current line-tabs mode (as set by the linetabs request).
\n[.ll] The line length that applies to the current output line.
\n[.lt] The title length (as set by the lt request).
\n[.n] Length of text portion on previous output line.
\n[.ne] The amount of space that was needed in the last ne request that caused a trap to be sprung. Useful in
conjunction with register .trunc.
\n[.ns] 1 if in no-space mode, 0 otherwise.
\n[.o] Current page offset.
\n[.p] Current page length.
\n[.pn] The number of the next page: either the value set by a pn request, or the number of the current page
plus 1.
\n[.ps] The current pointsize in scaled points.
\n[.psr] The last-requested pointsize in scaled points.
\n[.pvs] The current post-vertical line spacing.
\n[.rj] The number of lines to be right-justified as set by the rj request.
\n[.s] Current point size as a decimal fraction.
\n[.sr] The last requested pointsize in points as a decimal fraction (string-valued).
\n[.t] Distance to the next trap.
\n[.T] Set to 1 if option -T is used.
\n[.tabs] A string representation of the current tab settings suitable for use as an argument to the ta request.
\n[.trunc]
The amount of vertical space truncated by the most recently sprung vertical position trap, or, if the
trap was sprung by a ne request, minus the amount of vertical motion produced by .ne. In other words,
at the point a trap is sprung, it represents the difference of what the vertical position would have
been but for the trap, and what the vertical position actually is. Useful in conjunction with the reg-
ister .ne register.
\n[.ss] The value of the parameters set by the first argument of the ss request.
\n[.sss] The value of the parameters set by the second argument of the ss request.
\n[.u] Equal to 1 bin fill mode and 0 in nofill mode.
\n[.v] Current vertical line spacing.
\n[.V] Available vertical resolution in basic units.
\n[.vpt] 1 if vertical position traps are enabled, 0 otherwise.
\n[.w] Width of previous character.
\n[.warn] The sum of the number codes of the currently enabled warnings.
\n[.x] The major version number.
\n[.y] The minor version number.
\n[.Y] The revision number of groff.
\n[.z] Name of current diversion.
Writable Registers
The following registers can be read and written by the user. They have predefined default values, but these can
be modified for customizing a document.
\n[%] Current page number.
\n[c.] Current input line number.
\n[ct] Character type (set by width function \w).
\n[dl] Maximal width of last completed diversion.
\n[dn] Height of last completed diversion.
\n[dw] Current day of week (1-7).
\n[dy] Current day of month (1-31).
\n[hours] The number of hours past midnight. Initialized at start-up.
\n[hp] Current horizontal position at input line.
\n[llx] Lower left x-coordinate (in PostScript units) of a given PostScript image (set by .psbb).
\n[lly] Lower left y-coordinate (in PostScript units) of a given PostScript image (set by .psbb).
\n[ln] Output line number.
\n[minutes]
The number of minutes after the hour. Initialized at start-up.
\n[mo] Current month (1-12).
\n[nl] Vertical position of last printed text base-line.
\n[rsb] Like register sb, but takes account of the heights and depths of characters.
\n[rst] Like register st, but takes account of the heights and depths of characters.
\n[sb] Depth of string below base line (generated by width function \w).
\n[seconds]
The number of seconds after the minute. Initialized at start-up.
\n[skw] Right skip width from the center of the last character in the \w argument.
\n[slimit]
If greater than 0, the maximum number of objects on the input stack. If <=0 there is no limit, i.e.,
recursion can continue until virtual memory is exhausted.
\n[ssc] The amount of horizontal space (possibly negative) that should be added to the last character before a
subscript (generated by width function \w).
\n[st] Height of string above base line (generated by width function \w).
\n[systat]
The return value of the system() function executed by the last sy request.
\n[urx] Upper right x-coordinate (in PostScript units) of a given PostScript image (set by .psbb).
\n[ury] Upper right y-coordinate (in PostScript units) of a given PostScript image (set by .psbb).
\n[year] The current year (year 2000 compliant).
\n[yr] Current year minus 1900. For Y2K compliance use register register year instead.
COMPATIBILITY
The differences of the groff language in comparison to classical troff as defined by [CSTR #54] are documented in
groff_diff(7).
The groff system provides a compatibility mode, see groff(1) on how to invoke this.
BUGS
Report bugs to the groff bug mailing list <bug-groff@gnu.org>. Include a complete, self-contained example that
will allow the bug to be reproduced, and say which version of groff you are using.
RELATED
The main source of information for the groff language is the groff info(1) file. Besides the gory details, it
contains many examples.
groff(1)
the usage of the groff program and pointers to the documentation and availability of the groff system.
groff_diff(7)
the differences of the groff language as compared to classical roff. This is the authoritative document
for the predefined language elements that are specific to groff.
groff_char(7)
the predefined groff characters (glyphs).
groff_font(5)
the specification of fonts and the DESC file.
roff(7)
the history of roff, the common parts shared by all roff systems, and pointers to further documentation.
[CSTR #54]
Nroff/Troff User's Manual by Osanna & Kernighan <http://cm.bell-labs.com/cm/cs/54.ps> -- the bible for
classical troff.
CATEGORY