7:groff mm
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groff_mm - groff mm macros
groff -mm [ options... ] [ files... ]
Contents |
DESCRIPTION
The groff mm macros are intended to be compatible with the DWB mm macros with the following limitations:
� no Bell Labs localisms implemented.
� the macros OK and PM are not implemented.
� groff mm does not support cut marks
mm is intended to be international. Therefore it is possible to write short national macrofiles which change all
english text to the preferred language. Use mmse as an example.
A file called locale or lang_locale is read after the initiation of the global variables. It is therefore possi-
ble to localize the macros with companyname and so on.
In this manual square brackets is used to show optional arguments.
Number registers and strings
Many macros can be controlled by number registers and strings. A number register is assigned with the nr com-
mand:
.nr XXX [+-]n [i]
XXX is the name of the register, n is the value to be assigned, and i is increment value for auto-increment. n
can have a plus or minus sign as prefix if an increment or decrement of the current value is wanted. (Auto-
increment or decrement occurs if the number register is used with a plus or minus sign, \n+[XXX] or \n-[XXX].)
Strings is defined with ds.
.ds YYY string
The string is assigned everything to the end of the line, even blanks. Initial blanks in string should be pre-
fixed with a double-quote. (Strings are used in the text as \*[YYY].)
Special formatting of number registers
A number register is printed with normal digits if no format has been given. Set the format with af:
.af R c
R is the name of the register, c is the format.
Form Sequence
1 0, 1, 2, 3, ...
001 000, 001, 002, 003, ...
i 0, i, ii, iii, iv, ...
I 0, I, II, III, IV, ...
a 0, a, b, c, ..., z, aa, ab, ...
A 0, A, B, C, ..., Z, AA, AB, ...
Macros:
)E level text
Adds text (heading-text) to the table of contents with level either 0 or between 1-7. See also .H. This
macro is used for customized table of contents.
1C [1] Begin one column processing. An 1 as argument disables the page-break. Use wide footnotes, small foot-
notes may be overprinted.
2C Begin two column processing. Splits the page in two columns. It is a special case of MC. See also 1C.
AE Abstract end, see AS.
AF [name of firm]
Authors firm, should be called before AU, see also COVER.
AL [type [text-indent [1]]]
Start autoincrement list. Items are numbered beginning on one. The type argument controls the type of
numbers.
Arg Description
1 Arabic (the default)
A Upper-case letters (A-Z)
a Lower-case letters (a-z)
I Upper-case roman
i Lower-case roman
Text-indent sets the indent and overrides Li. A third argument will prohibit printing of a blank line
before each item.
APP name text
Begin an appendix with name name. Automatic naming occurs if name is "". The appendixes starts with A if
auto is used. An new page is ejected, and a header is also produced if the number variable Aph is non-
zero. This is the default. The appendix always appear in the 'List of contents' with correct pagenumber.
The name APPENDIX can be changed by setting the string App to the desired text. The string Apptxt con-
tains the current appendix text.
APPSK name pages text
Same as .APP, but the pagenr is incremented with pages. This is used when diagrams or other non-formatted
documents are included as appendixes.
AS [arg [indent]]
Abstract start. Indent is specified in 'ens', but scaling is allowed. Argument arg controls where the
abstract is printed.
Arg Placement
0 Abstract will be printed on page 1 and on the cover sheet if used in the released-paper style (MT 4),
otherwise it will be printed on page 1 without a cover sheet.
1 Abstract will only be printed on the cover sheet (MT 4 only).
2 Abstract will be printed only on the cover sheet (other than MT 4 only). The cover sheet is printed
without need for CS.
Abstract is not printed at all in external letters (MT 5). The indent controls the indentation of both
margins, otherwise will normal text indent be used.
AST [title]
Abstract title. Default is ABSTRACT. Sets the text above the abstract text.
AT title1 [title2 ...]
Authors title. AT must appear just after each AU. The title will show up after the name in the signature
block.
AU [name [initials [loc [dept [ext [room [arg [arg [arg]]]]]]]]]
Author information, specifies the author of the memo or paper, and will be printed on the cover sheet and
on other similar places. AU must not appear before TL. The author information can contain initials,
location, department, telephone extension, room number or name and up to three extra arguments.
AV [name [1]]
Approval signature, generates an approval line with place for signature and date. The string APPROVED:
can be changed with variable Letapp, and the string Date in Letdate.
AVL [name]
Letter signature, generates a line with place for signature.
B [bold-text [prev-font-text [bold...]]]
Begin boldface. No limit on the number of arguments. All arguments will be concatenated to one word, the
first, third and so on will be printed in boldface.
B1 Begin box (as the ms macro). Draws a box around the text. The text will be indented one character, and
the right margin will be one character shorter.
B2 End box. Finish the box started by B1.
BE End bottom block, see BS.
BI [bold-text [italic-text [bold-text [...]]]]
Bold-italic. No limit on the number of arguments, see B.
BL [text-indent [1]]
Start bullet list, initialize a list with a bullet and a space in the beginning of each list item (see
LI). Text-indent overrides the default indentation of the list items set by number register Pi. A third
argument will prohibit printing of a blank line before each item.
BR [bold-text [roman-text [bold-text [...]]]]
Bold-roman. No limit on the number of arguments.
BS Bottom block start. Begins the definition of a text block which is printed at the bottom of each page.
Block ends with BE.
BVL text-indent [mark-indent [1]]
Start of broken variable-item list. Broken variable-item list has no fixed mark, it assumes that every LI
has a mark instead. The text will always begin at the next line after the mark. Text-indent sets the
indent to the text, and mark-indent the distance from the current indent to the mark. A third argument
will prohibit printing of a blank line before each item.
COVER [arg]
COVER begins a coversheet definition. It is important that .COVER appears before any normal text. .COVER
uses arg to build the filename /usr/share/groff/1.18.1/tmac/mm/arg.cov. Therefore it is possible to cre-
ate unlimited types of coversheets. ms.cov is supposed to look like the ms coversheet. .COVER requires a
.COVEND at the end of the coverdefinition. Always use this order of the covermacros:
.COVER
.TL
.AF
.AU
.AT
.AS
.AE
.COVEND
However, only .TL and .AU are required.
COVEND This finish the cover description and prints the cover-page. It is defined in the cover file.
DE Display end. Ends a block of text, display, that begins with DS or DF.
DF [format [fill [rindent]]]
Begin floating display (no nesting allowed). A floating display is saved in a queue and is printed in the
order entered. Format, fill and rindent is the same as in DS. Floating displays are controlled by the
two number registers De and Df.
De register
0 Nothing special, this is the default.
1 A page eject will occur after each printed display, giving only one display per page and no text fol-
lowing it.
Df register
0 Displays are printed at the end of each section (when section-page numbering is active) or at the end
of the document.
1 A new display will be printed on the current page if there is enough space, otherwise it will be
printed at the end of the document.
2 One display will be printed at the top of each page or column (in multi-column mode).
3 Print one display if there is enough space for it, otherwise it will be printed at the top of the
next page or column.
4 Print as many displays that will fit in a new page or column. A page break will occur between each
display if De is not zero.
5 Fill the current page with displays and the rest beginning at a new page or column. (This is the
default.) A page break will occur between each display if De is not zero.
DL [text-indent [1 [1]]]
Dash list start. Begins a list where each item is printed after a dash. Text-indent changes the default
indentation of the list items set by number register Pi. A second argument prevents the empty line
between each list item to be printed. See LI. A third argument will prohibit printing of a blank line
before each item.
DS [format [fill [rindent]]]
Static display start. Begins collection of text until DE. The text is printed together on the same page,
unless it is longer than the height of the page. DS can be nested to a unlimited depth (reasonably :-).
format
"" No indentation.
none No indentation.
L No indentation.
I Indent text with the value of number register Si.
C Center each line
CB Center the whole display as a block.
R Right adjust the lines.
RB Right adjust the whole display as a block
L, I, C and CB can also be specified as 0, 1, 2 or 3 for compatibility reasons. (Don't use it. :-)
fill
"" Line-filling turned off.
none Line-filling turned off.
N Line-filling turned off.
F Line-filling turned on.
N and F can also be specified as 0 or 1. An empty line will normally be printed before and after the dis-
play. Setting number register Ds to 0 will prevent this. Rindent shortens the line length by that
amount.
EC [title [override [flag [refname]]]]
Equation title. Sets a title for an equation. The override argument change the numbering.
flag
none override is a prefix to the number.
0 override is a prefix to the number.
1 override is a suffix to the number.
2 override replaces the number.
EC uses the number register Ec as counter. It is possible to use .af to change the format of the number.
If number register Of is 1, then the format of title will use a dash instead of a dot after the number.
The string Le controls the title of the List of Equations, default is LIST OF EQUATIONS. The List of
Equations will only be printed if number register Le is 1, default 0. The string Liec contains the word
Equation, wich is printed before the number. If refname is used, then the equation number is saved with
.SETR, and can be retrieved with .GETST refname.
Special handling of the title will occur if EC is used inside DS/DE, it will not be affected by the format
of DS.
EF [arg]
Even-page footer, printed just above the normal page footer on even pages, see PF.
EH [arg]
Even-page header, printed just below the normal page header on even pages, see PH.
EN Equation end, see EQ.
EOP End of page user-defined macro. This macro will be called instead of the normal printing of the footer.
The macro will be executed in a separate environment, without any trap active. See TP.
Strings available to EOP
EOPf Argument from PF.
EOPefArgument from EF.
EOPofArgument from OF.
EPIC [-L] width height [name]
EPIC draws a box with the given width and height, it will also print the text name or a default string if
name is not specified.. This is used to include external pictures, just give the size of the picture. -L
will leftadjust the picture, the default is to center adjust. See PIC
EQ [label]
Equation start. EQ/EN are the delimiters for equations written for eqn. EQ/EN must be inside a DS/DE-
pair, except when EQ is only used to set options in eqn. The label will appear at the right margin of the
equation, unless number register Eq is 1. Then the label will appear at the left margin.
EX [title [override [flag [refname]]]]
Exhibit title, arguments are the same as for EC. EX uses the number register Ex as counter. The string
Lx controls the title of the List of Exhibits, default is LIST OF EXHIBITS. The List of Exhibits will
only be printed if number register Lx is 1, default 1. The string Liex contains the word Exhibit, which
is printed before the number. If refname is used, then the exhibit number is saved with .SETR, and can be
retrieved with .GETST refname.
Special handling of the title will occur if EX is used inside DS/DE, it will not be affected by the format
of DS.
FC [closing]
Prints Yours very truly, as a formal closing of a letter or memorandum. The argument replaces the defualt
string. The default is stored in string variable Letfc.
FD [arg [1]]
Footnote default format. Controls the hyphenation (hyphen), right margin justification (adjust), indenta-
tion of footnote text (indent). It can also change the label justification (ljust).
arg hyphen adjust indent ljust
0 no yes yes left
1 yes yes yes left
2 no no yes left
3 yes no yes left
4 no yes no left
5 yes yes no left
6 no no no left
7 yes no no left
8 no yes yes right
9 yes yes yes right
10 no no yes right
11 yes no yes right
Argument greater than or equal to 11 is considered as arg 0. Default for mm is 10.
FE Footnote end.
FG [title [override [flag [refname]]]]
Figure title, arguments are the same as for EC. FG uses the number register Fg as counter. The string Lf
controls the title of the List of Figures, default is LIST OF FIGURES. The List of Figures will only be
printed if number register Lf is 1, default 1. The string Lifg contains the word Figure, wich is printed
before the number. If refname is used, then the figure number is saved with .SETR, and can be retrieved
with .GETST refname.
Special handling of the title will occur if FG is used inside DS/DE, it will not be affected by the format
of DS.
FS [label]
Footnote start. The footnote is ended by FE. Footnotes is normally automatically numbered, the number is
available in string F. Just add \*F in the text. By adding label, it is possible to have other number or
names on the footnotes. Footnotes in displays is now possible. An empty line separates footnotes, the
height of the line is controlled by number register Fs, default value is 1.
GETHN refname [varname]
Includes the headernumber where the corresponding SETR refname was placed. Will be X.X.X. in pass 1. See
INITR. If varname is used, GETHN sets the stringvariable varname to the headernumber.
GETPN refname [varname]
Includes the pagenumber where the corresponding SETR refname was placed. Will be 9999 in pass 1. See
INITR. If varname is used, GETPN sets the stringvariable varname to the pagenumber.
GETR refname
Combines GETHN and GETPN with the text 'chapter' and ', page'. The string Qrf contains the text for ref-
erence:
.ds Qrf See chapter \\*[Qrfh], page \\*[Qrfp].
Qrf may be changed to support other languages. Strings Qrfh and Qrfp are set by GETR and contains the
page and headernumber.
GETST refname [varname]
Includes the string saved with the second argument to .SETR. Will be dummystring in pass 1. If varname
is used, GETST sets the stringvariable varname to the saved string. See INITR.
H level [heading-text [heading-suffix]]
Numbered section heading. Section headers can have a level between 1 and 7, level 1 is the top level.
The text is given in heading-text, and must be surrounded by double quotes if it contains spaces. Head-
ing-suffix is added to the header in the text but not in the table of contents. This is normally used for
footnote marks and similar things. Don't use \*F in heading-suffix, it won't work. A manual label must
be used, see FS.
An eventual paragraph, P, directly after H will be ignored, H is taking care of spacing and indentation.
Page ejection before heading
Number register Ej controls page ejection before the heading. Normally, a level one heading gets two
blank lines before it, higher levels gets only one. A new page is ejected before each first-level heading
if number register Ej is 1. All levels below or equal the value of Ej gets a new page. Default value for
Ej is 0.
Heading break level
A line break occurs after the heading if the heading level is less or equal to number register Hb.
Default value 2.
Heading space level
A blank line is inserted after the heading if the heading level is less or equal to number register Hs.
Default value 2.
Text will follow the heading on the same line if the level is greater than both Hb and Hs.
Post-heading indent
Indentation of the text after the heading is controlled by number register Hi, default value 0.
Hi
0 The text will be left-justified.
1 Indentation of the text will follow the value of number register Pt, see P.
2 The text will be lined up with the first word of the heading.
Centered section headings
All headings whose level is equal or below number register Hc and also less than or equal to Hb or Hs is
centerered.
Font control of the heading
The font of each heading level is controlled by string HF. It contains a fontnumber or fontname for each
level. Default is 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 (all headings in italic). Could also be written as I I I I I I I. Note
that some other implementations use 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 as the default value. All omitted values are presumed
to be a 1.
Point size control.
String HP controls the pointsize of each heading, in the same way as HF controls the font. A value of 0
selects the default point size. Default value is 0 0 0 0 0 0 0. Beware that only the point size changes,
not the vertical size. That can be controlled by the user specified macro HX and/or HZ.
Heading counters
Seven number registers, named H1 thru H7 contains the counter for each heading level. The values are
printed using arabic numerals, this can be changed with the macro HM (see below). All marks are concate-
nated before printing. To avoid this, set number register Ht to 1. That will only print the current
heading counter at each heading.
Automatic table of contents
All headings whose level is equal or below number register Cl is saved to be printed in the table of con-
tents. Default value is 2.
Special control of the heading, user-defined macros.
These macros can be defined by the user to get a finer control of vertical spacing, fonts or other
features. Argument level is the level-argument to H, but 0 for unnumbered headings (see HU). Argument
rlevel is the real level, it is set to number register Hu for unnumbered headings. Argument heading-text
is the text argument to H and HU.
HX level rlevel heading-text
HX is called just before the printing of the heading. The following register is available for HX. HX may
alter }0, }2 and ;3.
string }0
Contains the heading mark plus two spaces if rlevel is non-zero, otherwise empty.
register ;0
Contains the position of the text after the heading. 0 means that the text should follow the heading
on the same line, 1 means that a line break should occur before the text and 2 means that a blank
line should separate the heading and the text.
string }2
Contains two spaces if register ;0 is 0. It is used to separate the heading from the text. The
string is empty if ;0 is non-zero.
register ;3
Contains the needed space in units after the heading. Default is 2v.
Can be used to change things like numbering (}0), vertical spacing (}2) and the needed space after
the heading.
HY dlevel rlevel heading-text
HY is called after size and font calculations and might be used to change indentation.
HZ dlevel rlevel heading-text
HZ is called after the printing of the heading, just before H or HU exits. Could be used to change the
page header according to the section heading.
HC [hyphenation-character]
Set hyphenation character. Default value is \%. Resets to the default if called without argument.
Hyphenation can be turned off by setting number register Hy to 0 in the beginning of the file.
HM [arg1 [arg2 [... [arg7]]]]
Heading mark style. Controls the type of marking for printing of the heading counters. Default is 1 for
all levels.
Argument
1 Arabic numerals.
0001 Arabic numerals with leading zeroes, one or more.
A Upper-case alphabetic
a Lower-case alphabetic
I Upper-case roman numerals
i lower-case roman numerals
emptyArabic numerals.
HU heading-text
Unnumbered section header. HU behavies like H at the level in number register Hu. See H.
HX dlevel rlevel heading-text
Userdefined heading exit. Called just before printing the header. See H.
HY dlevel rlevel heading-text
Userdefined heading exit. Called just before printing the header. See H.
HZ dlevel rlevel heading-text
Userdefined heading exit. Called just after printing the header. See H.
I [italic-text [prev-font-text [italic-text [...]]]]
Italic. Changes the font to italic if called without arguments. With one argument it will set the word
in italic. With two argument it will concatenate them and set the first word in italic and the second in
the previous font. There is no limit on the number of argument, all will be concatenated.
IA [addressee-name [title]]
Begins specification of the addressee and addressee's address in letter style. Several names can be spec-
ified with empty IA/IE-pairs, but only one address. See LT.
IB [italic-text [bold-text [italic-text [...]]]]
Italic-bold. Even arguments is printed in italic, odd in boldface. See I.
IE Ends the address-specification after IA.
INITI type filename [macro]
Initialize the new index system, sets the filename to collect index lines in with IND. Argument type
selects the type of index, page number, header marks or both. The default is N.
It is also possible to create a macro that is responsible for formatting each row. Add the name of the
macro as argument 3. The macro will be called with the index as argument(s).
type
N Page numbers
H Header marks
B Both page numbers and header marks, tab separated
INITR filename
Initialize the refencemacros. References will be written to stderr and is supposed to be written to file-
name.qrf. Requires two passes with groff, this is handled by a separate program called mmroff, the reason
is that groff is often installed without the unsafe operations that INITR requiered. The first pass looks
for references and the second one includes them. INITR can be used several times, but it is only the
first occurrence of INITR that is active.
See also SETR, GETPN and GETHN.
IND arg1 [arg2 [...]]
IND writes a line in the index file selected by INITI with all arguments and the page number or header
mark separated by tabs.
Examples
arg1\tpage number
arg1\targ2\tpage number
arg1\theader mark
arg1\tpage number\theader mark
INDP INDP prints the index by running the command specified by string variable Indcmd, normally sort -t\t.
INDP reads the output from the command to form the index, normally in two columns (can be changed by
defining TYIND). The index is printed with string variable Index as header, default is INDEX. One-column
processing is returned after the list. INDP will call the user-defined macros TXIND, TYIND and TZIND if
defined. TXIND is called before printing INDEX, TYIND is called instead of printing INDEX. TZIND is
called after the printing and should take care of restoring to normal operation again.
ISODATE [0]
ISODATE changes the predefined date string in DT to ISO-format, ie YYYY-MM-DD. This can also be done by
adding -rIso=1 on the command line. Reverts to old date format if argument is 0.
IR [italic-text [roman-text [italic-text [...]]]]
Italic-roman. Even arguments is printed in italic, odd in roman. See I.
LB text-indent mark-indent pad type [mark [LI-space [LB-space]]]
List begin macro. This is the common macro used for all lists. Text-indent is the number of spaces to
indent the text from the current indent.
Pad and mark-indent controls where to put the mark. The mark is placed within the mark area, and mark-
indent sets the number of spaces before this area. It is normally 0. The mark area ends where the text
begins. The start of the text is still controlled by text-indent.
The mark is left justified whitin the mark area if pad is 0. If pad is greater than 0, then mark-indent
is ignored, and the mark is placed pad spaces before the text. This will right justify the mark.
If type is 0 the list will have either a hanging indent or, if argument mark is given, the string mark as
mark.
If type is greater than 0 automatic numbering will occur, arabic if mark is empty. Mark can then be any
of 1, A, a, I or i.
Type selects one of six possible ways to display the mark.
type
1 x.
2 x)
3 (x)
4 [x]
5
<x>
6 {x}
Every item in the list will get LI-space number of blank lines before them. Default is 1.
LB itself will print LB-space blank lines. Default is 0.
LC [list-level]
List-status clear. Terminates all current active lists down to list-level, or 0 if no argmuent is given.
This is used by H to clear any active list.
LE [1] List end. Terminate the current list. LE outputs a blank line if an argument is given.
LI [mark [1]]
List item precedes every item in a list. Without argument LI will print the mark determined by the cur-
rent list type. By giving LI one argument, it will use that as the mark instead. Two arguments to LI
will make mark a prefix to the current mark. There will be no separating space between the prefix and the
mark if the second argument is 2 instead of 1. This behaviour can also be achieved by setting number reg-
ister Limsp to zero. A zero length mark will make a hanging indent instead.
A blank line is normally printed before the list item. This behaviour can be controlled by number regis-
ter Ls. Pre-spacing will occur for each list-level less than or equal to Ls. Default value is 99.
(Nesting of lists is unlimited. :-)
The indentation can be changed thru number register Li. Default is 6.
All lists begins with a list initialization macro, LB. There are, however, seven predefined listtypes to
make lists easier to use. They all call LB with different default values.
AL Automatically Incremented List
ML Marked List
VL Variable-Item List
BL Bullet List
DL Dash List
RL Reference List
BVL Broken Varable List.
These lists are described at other places in this manual. See also LB.
LT [arg]
Formats a letter in one of four different styles depending on the argument. See also INTERNALS.
Arg Style
BL Blocked. Date line, return address, writer's address and closing begins at the center of the line.
All other lines begin at the left margin.
SB Semi-blocked. Same as blocked, except that the first line in every paragraph is indented five
spaces.
FB Full-blocked. All lines begin at the left margin.
SP Simplified. Almost the same as the full-blocked style. Subject and the writer's identification are
printed in all-capital.
LO type [arg]
Specify options in letter (see .LT). This is a list of the standard options:
CN Confidential notation. Prints CONFIDENTIAL on the second line below the date line. Any argument
replaces CONFIDENTIAL. See also string variable LetCN.
RN Reference notation. Prints In reference to: and the argument two lines below the date line. See
also string variable LetRN.
AT Attention. Prints ATTENTION: and the argument below the inside address. See also string variable
LetAT.
SA Salutation. Prints To Whom It May Concern: or the argument if it was present. The salutation is
printed two lines below the inside address. See also string variable LetSA.
SJ Subject line. Prints the argument as subject prefixed with SUBJECT: two lines below the inside
address, except in letter type SP. Then the subject is printed in all-captial without any prefix.
See also string variable LetSJ.
MC column-size [column-separation]
Begin multiple columns. Return to normal with 1C. MC will create as many columns as the current line
length permits. Column-size is the width of each column, and column-separation is the space between two
columns. Default separation is the column-size/15. See also 1C.
ML mark [text-indent [1]]
Marked list start. The mark argument will be printed before each list item. Text-indent sets the indent
and overrides Li. A third argument will prohibit printing of a blank line before each item.
MT [arg [addressee]]
Memorandum type. The arg is part of a filename in /usr/share/groff/1.18.1/tmac/mm/*.MT. Memorandum type
0 thru 5 are supported, including "string". Addressee just sets a variable, used in the AT&T macros.
arg
0 Normal memorandum, no type printed
1 Memorandum with MEMORANDUM FOR FILE printed
2 Memorandum with PROGRAMMER'S NOTES printed
3 Memorandum with ENGINEER'S NOTES printed
4 Released paper style
5 External letter style
See also COVER/COVEND, a more flexible type of front page.
MOVE y-pos [x-pos [line-length]]
Move to a position, pageoffset set to x-pos. If line-length is not given, the difference between current
and new pageoffset is used. Use PGFORM without arguments to return to normal.
MULB cw1 space1 [cw2 space2 [cw3 ...]]
Begin a special multi-column mode. Every columns width must be specified. Also the space between the
columns must be specified. The last column does not need any space-definition. MULB starts a diversion
and MULE ends the diversion and prints the columns. The unit for width and space is 'n', but MULB accepts
all normal unitspecifications like 'c' and 'i'. MULB operates in a separate environment.
MULN Begin the next column. This is the only way to switch column.
MULE End the multi-column mode and print the columns.
nP [type]
Print numbered paragraph with header level two. See .P.
NCOL Force printing to the next column, don't use this together with the MUL* macros, see 2C.
NS [arg [1]]
Prints different types of notations. The argument selects between the predefined type of notations. If
the second argument is available, then the argument becomes the entire notation. If the argument doesn't
exist in the predefined, it will be printed as Copy (arg) to. It is possible to add more standard nota-
tions, see the string variable Letns and Letnsdef.
Arg Notation
none Copy To
"" Copy To
1 Copy To (with att.) to
2 Copy To (without att.) to
3 Att.
4 Atts.
5 Enc.
6 Encs.
7 Under separate cover
8 Letter to
9 Memorandum to
10 Copy (with atts.) to
11 Copy (without atts.) to
12 Abstract Only to
13 Complete Memorandum to
14 CC
ND new-date
New date. Override the current date. Date is not printed if new-date is an empty string.
OF [arg]
Odd-page footer, a line printed just above the normal footer. See EF and PF.
OH [arg]
Odd-page header, a line printed just below the normal header. See EH and PH.
OP Make sure that the following text is printed at the top of an odd-numbered page. Will not output an empty
page if currently at the top of an odd page.
P [type]
Begin new paragraph. P without argument will produce left justified text, even the first line of the
paragraph. This is the same as setting type to 0. If the argument is 1, then the first line of text
following P will be indented by the number of spaces in number register Pi, normally 5.
Instead of giving 1 as argument to P it is possible to set the paragraph type in number register Pt.
Using 0 and 1 will be the same as adding that value to P. A value of 2 will indent all paragraphs, except
after headings, lists and displays.
The space between two paragraphs is controlled by number register Ps, and is 1 by default (one blank
line).
PGFORM [linelength [pagelength [pageoffset [1]]]]
Sets linelength, pagelength and/or pageoffset. This macro can be used for special formatting, like let-
terheads and other. It is normally the first command in a file, though it's not necessary. PGFORM can be
used without arguments to reset everything after a MOVE. A line-break is done unless the fourth argument
is given. This can be used to avoid the pagenumber on the first page while setting new width and length.
(It seems as if this macro sometimes doesn't work too well. Use the command line arguments to change
linelength, pagelength and pageoffset instead. Sorry.)
PGNH No header is printed on the next page. Used to get rid of the header in letters or other special texts.
This macro must be used before any text to inhibit the pageheader on the first page.
PIC [-L] [-C] [-R] [-I n] filename [width [height]]
PIC includes a Postscript file in the document. The macro depends on mmroff and INITR. -L, -C, -R and -I
n adjusts the picture or indents it. The optionally width and height can also be given to resize the pic-
ture.
PE Picture end. Ends a picture for pic, see the manual for pic.
PF [arg]
Page footer. PF sets the line to be printed at the bottom of each page. Normally empty. See PH for the
argument specification.
PH [arg]
Page header, a line printed at the top of each page. The argument should be specified as "'left-part'cen-
ter-part'right-part'", where left-, center- and right-part is printed left-justified, centered and right
justified. The character % is changed to the current page number. The default page-header is "- %
-", the page number between two dashes.
PS Picture start (from pic). Begins a picture for pic, see the manual.
PX Page-header user-defined exit. PX is called just after the printing of the page header in no-space mode.
R Roman. Return to roman font, see also I.
RB [roman-text [bold-text [roman-text [...]]]]
Roman-bold. Even arguments is printed in roman, odd in boldface. See I.
RD [prompt [diversion [string]]]
Read from standard input to diversion and/or string. The text will be saved in a diversion named diver-
sion. Recall the text by writing the name of the diversion after a dot on an empty line. A string will
also be defined if string is given. Diversion and/or prompt can be empty ("").
RF Reference end. Ends a reference definition and returns to normal processing. See RS.
RI [roman-text [italic-text [roman-text [...]]]]
Even arguments are printed in roman, odd in italic. See I.
RL [text-indent [1]]
Reference list start. Begins a list where each item is preceded with a automatically incremented number
between square brackets. Text-indent changes the default indentation.
RP [arg1 [arg2]]
Produce reference page. RP can be used if a reference page is wanted somewhere in the document. It is
not needed if TC is used to produce a table of content. The reference page will then be printed automati-
cally.
The reference counter will not be reset if arg1 is 1.
Arg2 tells RP whether to eject a page or not.
Arg2
0
The reference page will be printed on a separate page. This is the default.
1 Do not eject page after the list.
2 Do not eject page before the list.
3 Do not eject page before and after the list.
The reference items will be separated by a blank line. Setting number register Ls to 0 will suppress the
line.
The string Rp contains the reference page title and is normally set to REFERENCES.
RS [string-name]
RS begins an automatically numbered reference definition. Put the string \*(Rf where the reference mark
should be and write the reference between RS/RF at next new line after the reference mark. The reference
number is stored in number register :R. If string-name is given, a string with that name will be defined
and contain the current reference mark. The string can be referenced as \*[string-name] later in the
text.
S [size [spacing]]
Set point size and vertical spacing. If any argument is equal 'P', then the previous value is used. A
'C' means current value, and 'D' default value. If '+' or '-' is used before the value, then increment or
decrement of the current value will be done.
SA [arg]
Set right-margin justification. Justification is normally turned on. No argumenent or 0 turns off justi-
fication, a 1 turns on justification.
SETR refname [string]
Remember the current header and page-number as refname. Saves string if string is defined. string is
retrieved with .GETST. See INITR.
SG [arg [1]]
Signature line. Prints the authors name(s) after the formal closing. The argument will be appended to
the reference data, printed at either the first or last author. The reference data is the location,
department and initials specified with .AU. It will be printed at the first author if the second argument
is given, otherwise at the last. No reference data will be printed if the author(s) is specifed thru
.WA/.WE. See INTERNALS.
SK [pages]
Skip pages. If pages is 0 or omitted, a skip to the next page will occur unless it is already at the top
of a page. Otherwise it will skip pages pages.
SM string1 [string2 [string3]]
Make a string smaller. If string2 is given, string1 will be smaller and string2 normal, concatenated with
string1. With three argument, all is concatenated, but only string2 is made smaller.
SP [lines]
Space vertically. lines can have any scalingfactor, like 3i or 8v. Several SP in a line will only pro-
duce the maximum number of lines, not the sum. SP will also be ignored until the first textline in a
page. Add a \& before SP to avoid this.
TAB reset tabs to every 5n. Normally used to reset any previous tabpositions.
TB [title [override [flag [refname]]]]
Table title, arguments are the same as for EC. TB uses the number register Tb as counter. The string Lt
controls the title of the List of Tables, default is LIST OF TABLES. The List of Tables will only be
printed if number register Lt is 1, default 1. The string Litb contains the word TABLE, wich is printed
before the number.
Special handling of the title will occur if TB is used inside DS/DE, it will not be affected by the format
of DS.
TC [slevel [spacing [tlevel [tab [h1 [h2 [h3 [h4 [h5]]]]]]]]]
Table of contents. This macro is normally used at the last line of the document. It generates a table of
contents with headings up to the level controlled by number register Cl. Note that Cl controls the saving
of headings, it has nothing to do with TC. Headings with level less than or equal to slevel will get
spacing number of lines before them. Headings with level less than or equal to tlevel will have their
page numbers right justified with dots or spaces separating the text and the page number. Spaces is used
if tab is greater than zero, otherwise dots. Other headings will have the page number directly at the end
of the heading text (ragged right).
The rest of the arguments will be printed, centered, before the table of contents.
The user-defined macros TX and TY are used if TC is called with at most four arguments. TX is called
before the printing of CONTENTS, and TY is called instead of printing CONTENTS.
Equivalent macros can be defined for list of figures, tables, equations and excibits by defining TXxx or
TYxx, where xx is Fg, TB, EC or EX.
String Ci can be set to control the indentations for each heading-level. It must be scaled, like
.ds Ci .25i .5i .75i 1i 1i. The indentation is normally controlled by the maxlength of headings in each
level.
All texts can be redefined, new stringvariables Lifg, Litb, Liex, Liec and Licon contain "Figure", "TA-
BLE", "Exhibit", "Equation" and "CONTENTS". These can be redefined to other languages.
TE Table end. See TS.
TH [N] Table header. See TS. TH ends the header of the table. This header will be printed again if a page-
break occurs. Argument N isn't implemented yet.
TL [charging-case number(s) [filing-case number(s)]]
Begin title of memorandum. All text up to the next AU is included in the title. Charging-case number and
filing-case are saved for use in the front page processing.
TM [num1 [num2 [...]]]
Technical memorandumnumbers used in .MT. Unlimited number of arguments may be given.
TP Top of page user-defined macro. This macro is called instead of the normal page header. It is possible
to get complete control over the header. Note that header and footer is printed in a separate environ-
ment. Linelength is preserved though.
TS [H] Table start. This is the start of a table specification to tbl. See separate manual for tbl. TS ends
with TE. Argument H tells mm that the table has a header. See TH.
TX Userdefined table of contents exit. This macro is called just before TC prints the word CONTENTS. See
TC.
TY Userdefined table of contents exit (no "CONTENTS"). This macro is called instead of printing CONTENTS.
See TC.
VERBON [flag [pointsize [font]]]
Begin verbatim output using courier font. Usually for printing programs. All character has equal width.
The pointsize can be changed with the second argument. By specifying the font-argument it is possible to
use another font instead of courier. flag controls several special features. It contains the sum of all
wanted features.
ValueDescription
1 Disable the escape-character (\). This is normally turned on during verbose output.
2 Add an empty line before the verbose text.
4 Add an empty line after the verbose text.
8 Print the verbose text with numbered lines. This adds four digitsized spaces in the beginning of
each line. Finer control is available with the string-variable Verbnm. It contains all arguments to
the troff-command .nm, normally '1'.
16 Indent the verbose text with five 'n':s. This is controlled by the number-variable Verbin (in
units).
VERBOFF
End verbatim output.
VL text-indent [mark-indent [1]]
Variable-item list has no fixed mark, it assumes that every LI have a mark instead. Text-indent sets the
indent to the text, and mark-indent the distance from the current indent to the mark. A third argument
will prohibit printing of a blank line before each item.
VM [-T] [top [bottom]]
Vertical margin. Adds extra vertical top and margin space. Option -T set the total space instead. No
argument resets the margin to zero or the default (7v 5v) if -T was used. It is higly recommended that
macro TP and/or EOP are defined if using -T and setting top and/or bottom margin to less than the default.
WA [writer-name [title]]
Begins specification of the writer and writer's address. Several names can be specified with empty WA/WE-
pairs, but only one address.
WE Ends the address-specification after .WA.
WC [format]
Footnote and display width control.
N Set default mode, -WF, -FF, -WD and FB.
WF Wide footnotes, wide also in two-column mode.
-WF Normal footnote width, follow column mode.
FF All footnotes gets the same width as the first footnote encountered.
-FF Normal footnotes, width follows WF and -WF.
WD Wide displays, wide also in two-column mode.
-WD Normal display width, follow column mode.
FB Floating displays generates a line break when printed on the current page.
-FB Floating displays does not generate line break.
Strings used in mm:
App A string containing the word "APPENDIX".
Apptxt
The current appendix text.
EM Em dash string
H1txt Will be updated by .H and .HU to the current heading text. Also updated in table of contents & friends.
HF Fontlist for headings, normally "2 2 2 2 2 2 2". Nonnumeric fontnames may also be used.
HP Pointsize list for headings. Normally "0 0 0 0 0 0 0" which is the same as "10 10 10 10 10 10 10".
Index
Contains INDEX.
Indcmd
Contains the index command, sort -t\t.
Lifg String containing Figure.
Litb String containing TABLE.
Liex String containing Exhibit.
Liec String containing Equation.
Licon String containing CONTENTS.
Lf Contains "LIST OF FIGURES".
Lt Contains "LIST OF TABLES".
Lx Contains "LIST OF EXHIBITS".
Le Contains "LIST OF EQUATIONS".
Letfc Contains "Yours very truly,", used in .FC.
Letapp Contains "APPROVED:", used in .AV.
Letdate
Contains "Date", used in .AV.
LetCN Contains "CONFIDENTIAL", used in .LO CN.
LetSA Contains "To Whom It May Concern:", used in .LO SA.
LetAT Contains "ATTENTION:", used in .LO AT.
LetSJ Contains "SUBJECT:", used in .LO SJ.
LetRN Contains "In reference to:", used in .LO RN.
Letns is an array containing the different strings used in .NS. It is really a number of stringvariables pre-
fixed with Letns!. If the argument doesn't exist, it will be included between () with Letns!copy as pre-
fix and Letns!to as suffix. Observe the space after copy and before to.
Name Value
Letns!0 Copy to
Letns!1 Copy (with att.) to
Letns!2 Copy (without att.) to
Letns!3 Att.
Letns!4 Atts.
Letns!5 Enc.
Letns!6 Encs.
Letns!7 Under separate cover
Letns!8 Letter to
Letns!9 Memorandum to
Letns!10 Copy (with atts.) to
Letns!11 Copy (without atts.) to
Letns!12 Abstract Only to
Letns!13 Complete Memorandum to
Letns!14 CC
Letns!copy Copy "
Letns!to " to
Letnsdef
Defines the standard-notation used when no argument is given to .NS. Default is 0.
MO1 - MO12
Strings containing January thru December.
Qrf String containing "See chapter \\*[Qrfh], page \\n[Qrfp].".
Rp Contains "REFERENCES".
Tcst Contains current status of table of contents and list of XXXX. Empty outside .TC. Useful in user-defined
macros like .TP.
Value Meaning
co Table of contents
fg List of figures
tb List of tables
ec List of equations
ex List of exhibits
ap Appendix
Tm Contains \(tm, trade mark.
Verbnm Argument to .nm in .VERBON, default: 1.
Number variables used in mm:
Aph Print an appendix-page for every new appendix if this numbervariable is non-zero. No output will occur if
Aph is zero, but there will always be an appendix-entry in the 'List of contents'.
Cl Contents level [0:7], contents saved if heading level <= Cl, default 2.
Cp Eject page between LIST OF XXXX if Cp == 0, default 0.
D Debugflag, values >0 produces varying degree of debug. A value of 1 gives information about the progress
of formatting, default 0.
De Eject after floating display is output [0:1], default 0.
Dsp Controls the space output before and after static displays if defined. Otherwise is the value of Lsp
used.
Df Floating keep output [0:5], default 5.
Ds Lsp space before and after display if == 1 [0:1], default 1.
Ej Eject page, default 0.
Eq Equation lable adjust 0=left, 1=right. Default 0.
Fs Footnote spacing, default 1.
H1-H7 Heading counters
H1dot Append a dot after the level one heading number if > 0. Default is 1.
H1h
Copy of number register H1, but it is incremented
just before the page break. Useful in user defined header macros. Hb Heading break level [0:7],
default 2.
Hc Heading centering level, [0:7]. Default 0.
Hi Heading temporary indent [0:2], default 1.
0 -> 0 indent, left margin
1 -> indent to right , like .P 1
2 -> indent to line up with text part of preceding heading
Hps Numbervariable with the heading pre-space level. If the heading-level is less than or equal to Hps, then
two lines will precede the section heading instead of one. Default is first level only. The real amount
of lines is controlled by the variables Hps1 and Hps2.
Hps1 This is the number of lines preceding .H when the heading-level is greater than Hps. Value is in units,
normally 0.5.
Hps2 This is the number of lines preceding .H when the heading-level is less than or equal to Hps. Value is in
units, normally 1.
Hs Heading space level [0:7], default 2.
Hss This is the number of lines that follows .H when the heading-level is less than or equal to Hs. Value is
in units, normally 1.
Ht Heading numbering type, default 0. 0 -> multiple (1.1.1 ...)
1 -> single
Hu Unnumbered heading level, default 2.
Hy Hyphenation in body, default 1.
0 -> no hyphenation
1 -> hyphenation 14 on
Iso Set this variable to 1 on the command line to get ISO-formatted date string. (-rIso=1) Useless inside a
document.
L Page length, only for command line settings.
Letwam Max lines in return-address, used in .WA/.WE. Default 14.
Lf, Lt, Lx, Le
Enables (1) or disables(0) the printing of List of figures, List of tables, List of exhibits and List of
equations. Default: Lf=1, Lt=1, Lx=1, Le=0.
Li List indent, used by .AL, default 6.
Limsp Flag for space between prefix and mark in automatic lists (.AL).
0 == no space
1 == space
Ls List space, if current listlevel > Ls then no spacing will occur around lists. Default 99.
Lsp The size of an empty line. Normally 0.5v, but it is 1v if n is set (.nroff).
N Numbering style [0:5], default 0.
0 == (default) normal header for all pages.
1 == header replaces footer on first page, header is empty.
2 == page header is removed on the first page.
3 == "section-page" numbering enabled.
4 == page header is removed on the first page.
5 == "section-page" and "section-figure" numbering enabled. See also the number-register Sectf and Sectp.
Np Numbered paragraphs, default 0.
0 == not numbered
1 == numbered in first level headings.
O Page offset, only for command line settings.
Of Format of figure,table,exhibit,equation titles, default 0.
0 = ". "
1 = " - "
P Current page-number, normally the same as % unless "section-page" numbering is enabled.
Pi paragraph indent, default 5.
Pgps Controls whether header and footer pointsize should follow the current setting or just change when the
header and footer is defined.
ValueDescription
0 Pointsize will only change to the current setting when .PH, .PF, .OH, .EH, .OF or .OE is executed.
1 Pointsize will change after every .S. This is the default.
Ps paragraph spacing, default 1.
Pt Paragraph type, default 0.
0 == left-justified
1 == indented .P
2 == indented .P except after .H, .DE or .LE.
Sectf Flag controlling "section-figures". A non-zero value enables this. See also register N.
Sectp Flag controlling "section-page-numbers". A non-zero value enables this. See also register N.
Si Display indent, default 5.
Verbin Indent for .VERBON, default 5n.
W Line length, only for command line settings.
.mgm Always 1.
INTERNALS
The letter macros is using different submacros depending on the letter type. The name of the submacro has the
letter type as suffix. It is therefore possible to define other letter types, either in the national macro-file,
or as local additions. .LT will set the number variables Pt and Pi to 0 and 5. The following strings and macros
must be defined for a new letter type:
let@init_type
This macro is called directly by .LT. It is supposed to initialize variables and other stuff.
let@head_type
This macro prints the letter head, and is called instead of the normal page header. It is supposed to
remove the alias let@header, otherwise it will be called for all pages.
let@sg_type name title n flag [arg1 [arg2 [...]]]
.SG is calling this macro only for letters, memorandums has its own processing. name and title is speci-
fied thru .WA/.WB. n is the counter, 1-max, and flag is true for the last name. Any other argument to
.SG is appended.
let@fc_type closing
This macro is called by .FC, and has the formal closing as argument.
.LO is implemented as a general option-macro. .LO demands that a string named Lettype is defined, where type is
the letter type. .LO will then assign the argument to the string variable let*lo-type.
FILES
/usr/share/groff/1.18.1/tmac/tmac.m
/usr/share/groff/1.18.1/tmac/mm/*.cov
/usr/share/groff/1.18.1/tmac/mm/*.MT
/usr/share/groff/1.18.1/tmac/mm/locale
RELATED
groff(1), troff(1), tbl(1), pic(1), eqn(1) groff_mmse(7)