12.2 Command-line Invocation

Nroff and troff are invoked from the command line as follows:

/usr/ucb/nroff [ options ] [ files ]

/usr/ucb/troff [ options ] [ files ]

Many of the options are the same for both formatters.

Nroff/troff options

-F dir

Search for font tables in directory dir .

-i

Read standard input after files are processed.

-m name

Prepend a macro file to input files . Troff prepends /usr/lib/tmac/tmac. name . Nroff prepends /usr/share/lib/tmac/tmac. name .

-n N

First output page has page number N .

-o list

Print pages contained only in the comma-separated list . Page ranges can be specified as n - m , - m (first page through m ), or n - ( n through end of file).

-r aN

Set register a to N .

-s N

Stop every n pages. This allows changing of a paper cassette. Resume by pressing RETURN (in nroff) or by pressing the start button on the typesetter (in troff).

-T name

Prepare output designed for printer or typesetter name . For device names, see your specific documentation or a local expert.

-u N

The font in position 3 is overstruck N times. Typically used to adjust the weight of the bold font.

-z

Discard output except messages generated by .tm request.

Nroff-only options

-e

When justifying output lines, space words equally (using terminal resolution instead of full space increments).

-h

Hasten output by replacing 8 horizontal spaces with a tab.

-q

Invoke simultaneous input/output of .rd requests.

Troff-only options

-a

Format a printable ASCII approximation. Useful for finding page counts without producing printed output.

-f

Don't stop typesetter when formatting is done.

Examples

Run chap1 through the tbl preprocessor, then format the result using the mm macros, with register N set to 5 (sets the page-numbering style), etc.:

tbl chap1 | troff -mm -rN5 | 



spooler



 &

Format chap2 using the ms macros; the first page is 7, but print only pages 8-10, 15, and 18 through the end of the file:

nroff -ms -n7 -o8-10,15,18- chap2 &