I first found Unix methods within the early 1990s, once I was an undergraduate at college. I favored it a lot that I changed the MS-DOS system on my dwelling laptop with the Linux working system.
One factor that Linux did not have within the early to mid-1990s was a phrase processor. A regular workplace software on different desktop working methods, a phrase processor enables you to edit textual content simply. I usually used a phrase processor on DOS to jot down my papers for sophistication. I would not discover a Linux-native phrase processor till the late 1990s. Until then, phrase processing was one of many uncommon causes I maintained dual-boot on my first laptop, so I may sometimes boot again into DOS to jot down papers.
Then I found that Linux supplied type of a phrase processor. GNU troff, higher often known as groff, is a contemporary implementation of a traditional textual content processing system referred to as troff, quick for “typesetter roff,” which is an improved model of the nroff system. And nroff was meant to be a brand new implementation of the unique roff (which stood for “run off,” as in to “run off” a doc).
With textual content processing, you edit textual content in a plain textual content editor, and also you add formatting by way of macros or different processing instructions. You then course of that textual content file by way of a text-processing system comparable to groff to generate formatted output appropriate for a printer. Another well-known textual content processing system is LaTeX, however groff was easy sufficient for my wants.
With a little bit follow, I discovered I may write my class papers simply as simply in groff as I may utilizing a phrase processor on Linux. While I do not use groff to jot down paperwork as we speak, I nonetheless bear in mind the macros and instructions to generate printed paperwork with it. And when you’re the identical and also you discovered how one can write with groff all these years in the past, you most likely acknowledge these 5 indicators that you are a groff author.
1. You have a favourite macro set
You format a doc in groff by writing plain textual content interspersed with macros. A macro in groff is a brief command that begins with a single interval at the start of a line. For instance: if you wish to insert a couple of strains into your output, the .sp 2 macro command provides two clean strains. groff helps different primary macros for every kind of formatting.
To make formatting a doc simpler for the author, groff additionally supplies completely different macro units, collections of macros that allow you to format paperwork your personal manner. The first macro set I discovered was the -me macro set. Really, the macro set is known as the e macro set, and also you specify the e macro set once you course of a file utilizing the -me possibility.
groff contains different macro units, too. For instance, the -man macro set was once the usual macro set to format the built-in guide pages on Unix methods, and the -ms macro set is commonly used to format sure different technical paperwork. If you discovered to jot down with groff, you most likely have a favourite macro set.
2. You need to focus in your content material, not the formatting
One nice function of writing with groff is that you could focus in your content material and never fear an excessive amount of about what it appears to be like like. That is a useful function for technical writers. groff is a superb “distraction-free” atmosphere for skilled writers. At least, so long as you do not thoughts delivering your output in any of the codecs that groff helps with the -T command-line possibility, together with PDF, PostScript, HTML, and plain textual content. You cannot generate a LibreOffice ODT file or Word DOC file instantly from groff.
Once you get snug writing in groff, the macros begin to disappear. The formatting macros develop into a part of the background, and also you focus purely on the textual content in entrance of you. I’ve performed sufficient writing in groff that I do not even see the macros anymore. Maybe it is like writing programming code, and your thoughts simply switches gears, so that you assume like a pc and see the code as a set of directions. For me, writing in groff is like that; I simply see my textual content, and my thoughts interprets the macros routinely into formatting.
three. You just like the old-school really feel
Sure, it is perhaps simpler to jot down your paperwork with a extra typical phrase processor like LibreOffice Writer and even Google Docs or Microsoft Word. And for sure sorts of paperwork, a desktop phrase processor is the suitable match. But if you would like the “old-school” really feel, it is arduous to beat writing in groff.
I will admit that I do most of my writing with LibreOffice Writer, which does an impressive job. But once I get that itch to do it “old-school,” I will open an editor and write my doc utilizing groff.
four. You like that you should utilize it wherever
groff (and its cousins) are a typical package deal on nearly any Unix system. And with groff, the macros do not change. For instance, the -me macros must be the identical from system to system. So as soon as you have discovered to make use of the macros on one system, you should utilize them on the following system.
And as a result of groff paperwork are simply plain textual content, you should utilize any editor you prefer to edit your paperwork for groff. I like to make use of GNU Emacs to edit my groff paperwork, however you should utilize GNOME Gedit, Vim, or your favorite text editor. Most editors embody some type of “mode” that can spotlight the groff macros in a special coloration from the remainder of your textual content that will help you spot errors earlier than processing the file.
5. You wrote this text in -me
When I made a decision to jot down this text, I believed the easiest way could be to make use of groff instantly. I needed to show how versatile groff was in making ready paperwork. So although you are studying this on an internet site, the article was initially written utilizing groff.
I hope this has you in studying how one can use groff to jot down paperwork. If you need to make use of extra superior capabilities within the -me macro set, seek advice from Eric Allman’s Writing papers with groff utilizing -me, which it’s best to discover in your system as meintro.me in groff’s documentation. It’s an excellent reference doc that explains different methods to format papers utilizing the -me macros.
I’ve additionally included a duplicate of the unique draft of my article that makes use of the -me macros. Save the file to your system as five-signs-groff.me, and run it by way of groff to view it. The -T possibility units the output sort, comparable to -Tps to generate PostScript output or -Thtml to create an HTML file. For instance:
groff -me -Thtml five-signs-groff.me > five-signs-groff.html
