-ME REFERENCE MANUAL
Release 2.27
Eric P. Allman*
Project INGRES
Electronics Research Laboratory
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California 94720
This document describes in extremely terse form the features
of the -me macro package for version seven NROFF/TROFF. Some fam-
iliarity is assumed with those programs. Specifically, the reader
should understand breaks, fonts, pointsizes, the use and defini-
tion of number registers and strings, how to define macros, and
scaling factors for ens, points, v's (vertical line spaces), etc.
For a more casual introduction to text processing using
NROFF, refer to the document /usr/share/doc/usd/19.memacros:
Writing Papers with NROFF using -me.
There are a number of macro parameters that may be adjusted.
Fonts may be set to a font number only. Font 8 means bold font in
TROFF; in NROFF font 8 is underlined unless the -rb3 flag is
specified to use "true bold" font (most versions of NROFF do not
interpret bold font nicely). Font 0 is no font change; the font
of the surrounding text is used instead. Notice that fonts 0 and
8 are "pseudo-fonts"; that is, they are simulated by the macros.
This means that although it is legal to set a font register to
zero or eight, it is not legal to use the escape character form,
such as:
\f8
All distances are in basic units, so it is nearly always
necessary to use a scaling factor. For example, the request to
set the paragraph indent to eight one-en spaces is:
____________________
*Author's current address: Computer Science Division, EECS,
University of California, Berkeley, California 94720.
-NROFF and TROFF may be trademarks of AT&T Bell Laboratories.
-me Reference Manual USD:20-1
USD:20-2 -me Reference Manual
.nr pi 8n
and not
.nr pi 8
which would set the paragraph indent to eight basic units, or
about 0.02 inch. Default parameter values are given in brackets
in the remainder of this document.
Registers and strings of the form $x may be used in expres-
sions but should not be changed. Macros of the form $x perform
some function (as described) and may be redefined to change this
function. This may be a sensitive operation; look at the body of
the original macro before changing it.
All names in -me follow a rigid naming convention. The user
may define number registers, strings, and macros, provided that
s/he uses single character upper case names or double character
names consisting of letters and digits, with at least one upper
case letter. In no case should special characters be used in
user-defined names.
On daisy wheel type printers in twelve pitch, the -rx1 flag
can be stated to make lines default to one eighth inch (the nor-
mal spacing for a newline in twelve-pitch). This is normally too
small for easy readability, so the default is to space one sixth
inch.
The -rv2 flag will indicates that this is being output on a
C/A/T phototypesetter; this changes the page offset and inserts
cut marks.
This documentation was NROFF'ed on August 15, 2010 and
applies to version 2.27 of the -me macros.
1. Paragraphing
These macros are used to begin paragraphs. The standard
paragraph macro is .pp; the others are all variants to be used
for special purposes.
The first call to one of the paragraphing macros defined in
this section or the .sh macro (defined in the next session) ini-
tializes the macro processor. After initialization it is not pos-
sible to use any of the following requests: .sc, .lo, .th, or
.ac. Also, the effects of changing parameters which will have a
global effect on the format of the page (notably page length and
header and footer margins) are not well defined and should be
avoided.
.lp Begin left-justified paragraph. Centering and
underlining are turned off if they were on, the
-me Reference Manual USD:20-3
font is set to \n(pf [1] the type size is set to
\n(pp [10p], and a \n(ps space is inserted before
the paragraph [0.35v in TROFF, 1v or 0.5v in NROFF
depending on device resolution]. The indent is
reset to \n($i [0] plus \n(po [0] unless the para-
graph is inside a display. (see .ba). At least the
first two lines of the paragraph are kept together
on a page.
.pp Like .lp, except that it puts \n(pi [5n] units of
indent. This is the standard paragraph macro.
.ip T I Indented paragraph with hanging tag. The body of
the following paragraph is indented I spaces (or
\n(ii [5n] spaces if I is not specified) more than
a non-indented paragraph (such as with .pp) is.
The title T is exdented (opposite of indented).
The result is a paragraph with an even left edge
and T printed in the margin. Any spaces in T must
be unpaddable. If T will not fit in the space pro-
vided, .ip will start a new line.
.np A variant of .ip which numbers paragraphs. Number-
ing is reset after a .lp, .pp, or .sh. The current
paragraph number is in \n($p.
.bu Like .np except that paragraphs are marked with
bullets (•). Leading space is eliminated to create
compact lists.
2. Section Headings
Numbered sections are similar to paragraphs except that a
section number is automatically generated for each one. The sec-
tion numbers are of the form 1.2.3. The depth of the section is
the count of numbers (separated by decimal points) in the section
number.
Unnumbered section headings are similar, except that no
number is attached to the heading.
.sh +N T a b c dBeegifn numbered section of depth N. If N is miss-
ing, the current depth (maintained in the number
register \n($0) is used. The values of the indivi-
dual parts of the section number are maintained in
\n($1 through \n($6. There is a \n(ss [1v] space
before the section. T is printed as a section
title in font \n(sf [8] and size \n(sp [10p]. The
"name" of the section may be accessed via \*($n.
If \n(si is non-zero, the base indent is set to
\n(si times the section depth, and the section
title is exdented. (See .ba.) Also, an additional
indent of \n(so [0] is added to the section title
USD:20-4 -me Reference Manual
(but not to the body of the section). The font is
then set to the paragraph font, so that more
information may occur on the line with the section
number and title. .sh insures that there is enough
room to print the section head plus the beginning
of a paragraph (about 3 lines total). If a through
f are specified, the section number is set to that
number rather than incremented automatically. If
any of a through f are a hyphen, that number is
not reset. If T is a single underscore ("_"), then
the section depth and numbering is reset, but the
base indent is not reset and nothing is printed
out. This is useful to automatically coordinate
section numbers with chapter numbers.
.sx +N Go to section depth N [-1], but do not print the
number and title, and do not increment the section
number at level N. This has the effect of starting
a new paragraph at level N.
.uh T Unnumbered section heading. The title T is printed
with the same rules for spacing, font, etc., as
for .sh.
.$p T B N Print section heading. May be redefined to get
fancier headings. T is the title passed on the .sh
or .uh line; B is the section number for this sec-
tion, and N is the depth of this section. These
parameters are not always present; in particular,
.sh passes all three, .uh passes only the first,
and .sx passes three, but the first two are null
strings. Care should be taken if this macro is
redefined; it is quite complex and subtle.
.$0 T B N This macro is called automatically after every
call to .$p. It is normally undefined, but may be
used to automatically put every section title into
the table of contents or for some similar func-
tion. T is the section title for the section title
which was just printed, B is the section number,
and N is the section depth.
.$1 - .$6 Traps called just before printing that depth sec-
tion. May be defined to (for example) give vari-
able spacing before sections. These macros are
called from .$p, so if you redefine that macro you
may lose this feature.
3. Headers and Footers
Headers and footers are put at the top and bottom of every
page automatically. They are set in font \n(tf [3] and size \n(tp
[10p]. Each of the definitions apply as of the next page. Three-
-me Reference Manual USD:20-5
part titles must be quoted if there are two blanks adjacent any-
where in the title or more than eight blanks total.
The spacing of headers and footers are controlled by three
number registers. \n(hm [4v] is the distance from the top of the
page to the top of the header, \n(fm [3v] is the distance from
the bottom of the page to the bottom of the footer, \n(tm [7v] is
the distance from the top of the page to the top of the text, and
\n(bm [6v] is the distance from the bottom of the page to the
bottom of the text (nominal). The macros .m1, .m2, .m3, and .m4
are also supplied for compatibility with ROFF documents.
.he 'l'm'r' Define three-part header, to be printed on the top
of every page.
.fo 'l'm'r' Define footer, to be printed at the bottom of
every page.
.eh 'l'm'r' Define header, to be printed at the top of every
even-numbered page.
.oh 'l'm'r' Define header, to be printed at the top of every
odd-numbered page.
.ef 'l'm'r' Define footer, to be printed at the bottom of
every even-numbered page.
.of 'l'm'r' Define footer, to be printed at the bottom of
every odd-numbered page.
.hx Suppress headers and footers on the next page.
.m1 +N Set the space between the top of the page and the
header [4v].
.m2 +N Set the space between the header and the first
line of text [2v].
.m3 +N Set the space between the bottom of the text and
the footer [2v].
.m4 +N Set the space between the footer and the bottom of
the page [4v].
.ep End this page, but do not begin the next page.
Useful for forcing out footnotes, but other than
that hardly every used. Must be followed by a .bp
or the end of input.
.$h Called at every page to print the header. May be
redefined to provide fancy (e.g., multi-line)
headers, but doing so loses the function of the
.he, .fo, .eh, .oh, .ef, and .of requests, as well
USD:20-6 -me Reference Manual
as the chapter-style title feature of .+c.
.$f Print footer; same comments apply as in .$h.
.$H A normally undefined macro which is called at the
top of each page (after putting out the header,
initial saved floating keeps, etc.); in other
words, this macro is called immediately before
printing text on a page. It can be used for column
headings and the like.
4. Displays
All displays except centered blocks and block quotes are
preceded and followed by an extra \n(bs [same as \n(ps] space.
Quote spacing is stored in a separate register; centered blocks
have no default initial or trailing space. The vertical spacing
of all displays except quotes and centered blocks is stored in
register \n($R instead of \n($r.
.(l m f Begin list. Lists are single spaced, unfilled
text. If f is F, the list will be filled. If m [I]
is I the list is indented by \n(bi [4m]; if M the
list is indented to the left margin; if L the list
is left justified with respect to the text (dif-
ferent from M only if the base indent (stored in
\n($i and set with .ba) is not zero); and if C the
list is centered on a line-by-line basis. The list
is set in font \n(df [0]. Must be matched by a
.)l. This macro is almost like .(b except that no
attempt is made to keep the display on one page.
.)l End list.
.(q Begin major quote. These are single spaced,
filled, moved in from the text on both sides by
\n(qi [4n], preceded and followed by \n(qs [same
as \n(bs] space, and are set in point size \n(qp
[one point smaller than surrounding text].
.)q End major quote.
.(b m f Begin block. Blocks are a form of keep, where the
text of a keep is kept together on one page if
possible (keeps are useful for tables and figures
which should not be broken over a page). If the
block will not fit on the current page a new page
is begun, unless that would leave more than \n(bt
[0] whitespace at the bottom of the text. If \n(bt
is zero, the threshold feature is turned off.
Blocks are not filled unless f is F, when they are
filled. The block will be left-justified if m is
L, indented by \n(bi [4m] if m is I or absent,
-me Reference Manual USD:20-7
centered (line-for-line) if m is C, and left jus-
tified to the margin (not to the base indent) if m
is M. The block is set in font \n(df [0].
.)b End block.
.(z m f Begin floating keep. Like .(b except that the keep
is floated to the bottom of the page or the top of
the next page. Therefore, its position relative to
the text changes. The floating keep is preceded
and followed by \n(zs [1v] space. Also, it
defaults to mode M.
.)z End floating keep.
.(c Begin centered block. The next keep is centered as
a block, rather than on a line-by-line basis as
with .(b C. This call may be nested inside keeps.
.)c End centered block.
5. Annotations
.(d Begin delayed text. Everything in the next keep is
saved for output later with .pd, in a manner simi-
lar to footnotes.
.)d n End delayed text. The delayed text number register
\n($d and the associated string \*# are incre-
mented if \*# has been referenced.
.pd Print delayed text. Everything diverted via .(d is
printed and truncated. This might be used at the
end of each chapter.
.(f Begin footnote. The text of the footnote is
floated to the bottom of the page and set in font
\n(ff [1] and size \n(fp [8p]. Each entry is pre-
ceded by \n(fs [0.2v] space, is indented \n(fi
[3n] on the first line, and is indented \n(fu [0]
from the right margin. Footnotes line up under-
neath two column output. If the text of the foot-
note will not all fit on one page it will be car-
ried over to the next page.
.)f n End footnote. The number register \n($f and the
associated string \** are incremented if they have
been referenced.
.$s The macro to output the footnote separator. This
macro may be redefined to give other size lines or
other types of separators. Currently it draws a
1.5i line.
USD:20-8 -me Reference Manual
.(x x Begin index entry. Index entries are saved in the
index x [x] until called up with .xp. Each entry
is preceded by a \n(xs [0.2v] space. Each entry is
"undented" by \n(xu [0.5i]; this register tells
how far the page number extends into the right
margin.
.)x P A End index entry. The index entry is finished with
a row of dots with A [null] right justified on the
last line (such as for an author's name), followed
by P [\n%]. If A is specified, P must be speci-
fied; \n% can be used to print the current page
number. If P is an underscore, no page number and
no row of dots are printed.
.xp x Print index x [x]. The index is formatted in the
font, size, and so forth in effect at the time it
is printed, rather than at the time it is col-
lected.
6. Columned Output
.2c +S N Enter two-column mode. The column separation is
set to +S [4n, 0.5i in ACM mode] (saved in \n($s).
The column width, calculated to fill the single
column line length with both columns, is stored in
\n($l. The current column is in \n($c. You can
test register \n($m [1] to see if you are in sin-
gle column or double column mode. Actually, the
request enters N [2] column output.
.1c Revert to single-column mode.
.bc Begin column. This is like .bp except that it
begins a new column on a new page only if neces-
sary, rather than forcing a whole new page if
there is another column left on the current page.
7. Fonts and Sizes
.sz +P The pointsize is set to P [10p], and the line
spacing is set proportionally. The ratio of line
spacing to pointsize is stored in \n($r. The ratio
used internally by displays and annotations is
stored in \n($R (although this is not used by
.sz). This size is not sticky beyond many macros:
in particular, \n(pp (paragraph pointsize) modi-
fies the pointsize every time a new paragraph is
begun using the .pp, .lp, .ip, .np, or .bu macros.
Also, \n(fp (footnote pointsize), \n(qp (quote
pointsize), \n(sp (section header pointsize), and
\n(tp (title pointsize) may modify the pointsize.
-me Reference Manual USD:20-9
.r W X Set W in roman font, appending X in the previous
font. To append different font requests, use X =
\c. If no parameters, change to roman font.
.i W X Set W in italics, appending X in the previous
font. If no parameters, change to italic font.
Underlines in NROFF.
.b W X Set W in bold font and append X in the previous
font. If no parameters, switch to bold font. In
NROFF, underlines.
.rb W X Set W in bold font and append X in the previous
font. If no parameters, switch to bold font. .rb
differs from .b in that .rb does not underline in
NROFF.
.u W X Underline W and append X. This is a true underlin-
ing, as opposed to the .ul request, which changes
to "underline font" (usually italics in TROFF). It
won't work right if W is spread or broken (includ-
ing hyphenated). In other words, it is safe in
nofill mode only.
.q W X Quote W and append X. In NROFF this just surrounds
W with double quote marks (`"'), but in TROFF uses
directed quotes.
.bi W X Set W in bold italics and append X. Actually, sets
W in italic and overstrikes once. Underlines in
NROFF. It won't work right if W is spread or bro-
ken (including hyphenated). In other words, it is
safe in nofill mode only.
.bx W X Sets W in a box, with X appended. Underlines in
NROFF. It won't work right if W is spread or bro-
ken (including hyphenated). In other words, it is
safe in nofill mode only.
sm W X Sets W in a smaller pointsize, with X appended.
8. Roff Support
.ix +N Indent, no break. Equivalent to 'in N.
.bl N Leave N contiguous whitespace, on the next page if
not enough room on this page. Equivalent to a .sp
N inside a block.
.pa +N Equivalent to .bp.
.ro Set page number in roman numerals. Equivalent to
.af % i.
USD:20-10 -me Reference Manual
.ar Set page number in Arabic. Equivalent to .af % 1.
.n1 Number lines in margin from one on each page.
.n2 N Number lines from N, stop if N = 0.
.sk Leave the next output page blank, except for
headers and footers. This is used to leave space
for a full-page diagram which is produced exter-
nally and pasted in later. To get a partial-page
paste-in display, say .sv N, where N is the amount
of space to leave; this space will be output
immediately if there is room, and will otherwise
be output at the top of the next page. However, be
warned: if N is greater than the amount of avail-
able space on an empty page, no space will ever be
output.
9. Preprocessor Support
.EQ m T Begin equation. The equation is centered if m is C
or omitted, indented \n(bi [4m] if m is I, and
left justified if m is L. T is a title printed on
the right margin next to the equation. See
Typesetting Mathematics - User's Guide by Brian W.
Kernighan and Lorinda L. Cherry.
.EN c End equation. If c is C the equation must be con-
tinued by immediately following with another .EQ,
the text of which can be centered along with this
one. Otherwise, the equation is printed, always on
one page, with \n(es [0.5v in TROFF, 1v in NROFF]
space above and below it.
.TS h Table start. Tables are single spaced and kept on
one page if possible. If you have a large table
which will not fit on one page, use h = H and fol-
low the header part (to be printed on every page
of the table) with a .TH. See Tbl - A Program to
Format Tables by M. E. Lesk.
.TH With .TS H, ends the header portion of the table.
.TE Table end. Note that this table does not float, in
fact, it is not even guaranteed to stay on one
page if you use requests such as .sp intermixed
with the text of the table. If you want it to
float (or if you use requests inside the table),
surround the entire table (including the .TS and
.TE requests) with the requests .(z and .)z.
.PS h w Begin pic picture. H is the height and w is the
width, both in basic units. Ditroff only.
-me Reference Manual USD:20-11
.PE End picture.
.IS Begin ideal picture.
.IE End ideal picture.
.IF End ideal picture (alternate form).
GS Begin gremlin picture.
GE End gremlin picture.
GF End gremlin picture (alternate form).
10. Miscellaneous
.re Reset tabs. Set to every 0.5i in TROFF and every
0.8i in NROFF.
.ba +N Set the base indent to +N [0] (saved in \n($i).
All paragraphs, sections, and displays come out
indented by this amount. Titles and footnotes are
unaffected. The .sh request performs a .ba request
if \n(si [0] is not zero, and sets the base indent
to \n(si*\n($0.
.xl +N Set the line length to N [6.0i]. This differs from
.ll because it only affects the current environ-
ment.
.ll +N Set line length in all environments to N [6.0i].
This should not be used after output has begun,
and particularly not in two-column output. The
current line length is stored in \n($l.
.hl Draws a horizontal line the length of the page.
This is useful inside floating keeps to differen-
tiate between the text and the figure.
.lh Print a letterhead at the current position on the
page. The format of the letterhead must be defined
in the file /usr/lib/me/letterhead.me by your
local systems staff. Some environments may require
ditroff for this macro to function properly.
.lo This macro loads another set of macros (in
/usr/lib/me/local.me) which is intended to be a
set of locally defined macros. These macros should
all be of the form .*X, where X is any letter
(upper or lower case) or digit.
USD:20-12 -me Reference Manual
11. Standard Papers
.tp Begin title page. Spacing at the top of the page
can occur, and headers and footers are suppressed.
Also, the page number is not incremented for this
page.
.th Set thesis mode. This defines the modes acceptable
for a doctoral dissertation at Berkeley. It double
spaces, defines the header to be a single page
number, and changes the margins to be 1.5 inch on
the left and one inch on the top. .++ and .+c
should be used with it. This macro must be stated
before initialization, that is, before the first
call of a paragraphing macro or .sh.
.++ m H This request defines the section of the paper
which we are entering. The section type is defined
by m. C means that we are entering the chapter
portion of the paper, A means that we are entering
the appendix portion of the paper, P means that
the material following should be the preliminary
portion (abstract, table of contents, etc.) por-
tion of the paper, AB means that we are entering
the abstract (numbered independently from 1 in
Arabic numerals), and B means that we are entering
the bibliographic portion at the end of the paper.
Also, the variants RC and RA are allowed, which
specify renumbering of pages from one at the
beginning of each chapter or appendix, respec-
tively. The H parameter defines the new header. If
there are any spaces in it, the entire header must
be quoted. If you want the header to have the
chapter number in it, use the string \\\\n(ch. For
example, to number appendixes A.1 etc., type .++
RA '''\\\\n(ch.%'. Each section (chapter, appen-
dix, etc.) should be preceded by the .+c request.
It should be mentioned that it is easier when
using TROFF to put the front material at the end
of the paper, so that the table of contents can be
collected and put out; this material can then be
physically moved to the beginning of the paper.
.+c T Begin chapter with title T. The chapter number is
maintained in \n(ch. This register is incremented
every time .+c is called with a parameter. The
title and chapter number are printed by .$c. The
header is moved to the footer on the first page of
each chapter. If T is omitted, .$c is not called;
this is useful for doing your own "title page" at
the beginning of papers without a title page
proper. .$c calls .$C as a hook so that chapter
titles can be inserted into a table of contents
-me Reference Manual USD:20-13
automatically. The footnote numbering is reset to
one.
.$c T Print chapter number (from \n(ch) and T. This
macro can be redefined to your liking. It is
defined by default to be acceptable for a PhD
thesis at Berkeley. This macro calls $C, which can
be defined to make index entries, or whatever.
.$C K N T This macro is called by .$c. It is normally unde-
fined, but can be used to automatically insert
index entries, or whatever. K is a keyword, either
"Chapter" or "Appendix" (depending on the .++
mode); N is the chapter or appendix number, and T
is the chapter or appendix title.
.ac A N This macro (short for .acm) sets up the NROFF
environment for camera-ready papers as used by the
ACM. This format is 25% larger, and has no headers
or footers. The author's name A is printed at the
bottom of the page (but off the part which will be
printed in the conference proceedings), together
with the current page number and the total number
of pages N. Additionally, this macro loads the
file /usr/lib/me/acm.me, which may later be aug-
mented with other macros useful for printing
papers for ACM conferences. It should be noted
that this macro will not work correctly in version
7 TROFF, since it sets the page length wider than
the physical width of the C/A/T phototypesetter
roll.
12. Predefined Strings
\** Footnote number, actually \*([*\n($f\*(]*. This
macro is incremented after each call to .)f.
\*# Delayed text number. Actually [\n($d].
\*([* Superscript. This used to be \*[ in the old -me
macros, but this has been changed for GNU GROFF
compatibility. This string gives upward movement
and a change to a smaller point size if possible,
otherwise it gives the left bracket character
(`['). Extra space is left above the line to allow
room for the superscript.
\*(]* Unsuperscript. This used to be \*] in the old -me
macros, but this has been changed for GNU GROFF
compatibility. Inverse to \*([*. For example, to
produce a superscript you might type x\*([*2\*(]*,
which will produce x[2].
USD:20-14 -me Reference Manual
\*< Subscript. Defaults to `<' if half-carriage motion
not possible. Extra space is left below the line
to allow for the subscript.
\*> Inverse to \*<.
\*(dw The day of the week, as a word.
\*(mo The month, as a word.
\*(td Today's date, directly printable. The date is of
the form August 15, 2010. Other forms of the date
can be used by using \n(dy (the day of the month;
for example, 15), \*(mo (as noted above) or \n(mo
(the same, but as an ordinal number; for example,
August is 8), and \n(yr (the last two digits of
the current year).
\*(lq Left quote marks. Double quote in NROFF.
\*(rq Right quote.
\*- 3/4 em dash in TROFF; two hyphens in NROFF.
13. Special Characters and Marks
There are a number of special characters and diacritical
marks (such as accents) available through -me. To reference these
characters, you must call the macro .sc to define the characters
before using them.
.sc Define special characters and diacritical marks,
as described in the remainder of this section.
This macro must be stated before initialization.
The special characters available are listed below.
Name Usage Example
Acute accent \*' a\*' '
Grave accent \*` e\*` `
Umlat \*: u\*: u
Tilde \*~ n\*~ ~
Caret \*^ e\*^ ^
Cedilla \*, c\*, ,
Czech \*v e\*v e
Circle \*o A\*o A
There exists \*(qe EXISTS
For all \*(qa FORALL
Acknowledgments
-me Reference Manual USD:20-15
I would like to thank Bob Epstein, Bill Joy, and Larry Rowe
for having the courage to use the -me macros to produce non-
trivial papers during the development stages; Ricki Blau, Pamela
Humphrey, and Jim Joyce for their help with the documentation
phase; peter kessler for numerous complaints, most accompanied by
fixes; and the plethora of people who have contributed ideas and
have given support for the project.
USD:20-16 -me Reference Manual
Summary
This alphabetical list summarizes all macros, strings, and
number registers available in the -me macros. Selected troff com-
mands, registers, and functions are included as well; those
listed can generally be used with impunity.
The columns are the name of the command, macro, register, or
string; the type of the object, and the description. Types are M
for macro or builtin command (invoked with . or ' in the first
input column), S for a string (invoked with \* or \*(), R for a
number register (invoked with \n or \n(), and F for a troff buil-
tin function (invoked by preceding it with a single backslash).
Lines marked with S are troff internal codes. Lines marked
with - or = may be defined by the user to get special functions;
= indicates that these are defined by default and changing them
may have unexpected side effects. Lines marked with are specific
to ditroff (device-independent troff).
NAME TYPE DESCRIPTION
\(space) FS unpaddable space
\" FS comment (to end of line)
\*# S optional delayed text tag string
\$N FS interpolate argument N
\n($0 R section depth
.$0 M- invoked after section title printed
\n($1 R first section number
.$1 M- invoked before printing depth 1 section
\n($2 R second section number
.$2 M- invoked before printing depth 2 section
\n($3 R third section number
.$3 M- invoked before printing depth 3 section
\n($4 R fourth section number
.$4 M- invoked before printing depth 4 section
\n($5 R fifth section number
.$5 M- invoked before printing depth 5 section
\n($6 R sixth section number
.$6 M- invoked before printing depth 6 section
.$C M- called at beginning of chapter
.$H M- text header
\n($R R= relative vertical spacing in displays
\n($c R current column number
.$c M= print chapter title
\n($d R delayed text number
\n($f R footnote number
.$f M= print footer
.$h M= print header
\n($i R paragraph base indent
\n($l R column width
\n($m R number of columns in effect
\*($n S section name
\n($p R numbered paragraph number
-me Reference Manual USD:20-17
NAME TYPE DESCRIPTION
.$p M= print section heading (internal macro)
\n($r R= relative vertical spacing in text
\n($s R column indent
.$s M= footnote separator (from text)
\n% RS current page number
\& FS zero width character, useful for hiding controls
\(xx FS interpolate special character xx
.(b M begin block
.(c M begin centered block
.(d M begin delayed text
.(f M begin footnote
.(l M begin list
.(q M begin quote
.(x M begin index entry
.(z M begin floating keep
.)b M end block
.)c M end centered block
.)d M end delayed text
.)f M end footnote
.)l M end list
.)q M end quote
.)x M end index entry
.)z M end floating keep
\*x FS interpolate string x
\*(xx FS interpolate string xx
\** S optional footnote tag string
.++ M set paper section type
.+c M begin chapter
\*, S cedilla
\- FS minus sign
\*- S 3/4 em dash
\0 FS unpaddable digit-width space
.1c M revert to single column output
.2c M begin two column output
\*: S umlat
\*< S begin subscript
\*> S end subscript
.EN M end equation
.EQ M begin equation
\L'd' FS vertical line drawing function for distance d
.GE M end gremlin picture
.GF M end gremlin picture (with flyback)
.GS M start gremlin picture
.IE M end ideal picture
.IF M end ideal picture (with flyback)
.IS M start ideal picture
.PE M end pic picture
.PF M end pic picture (with flyback)
.PS M start pic picture
.TE M end table
.TH M end header of table
.TS M begin table
USD:20-18 -me Reference Manual
NAME TYPE DESCRIPTION
\*([* S begin superscript (formerly \*[)
\n(.$ RS number of arguments to macro
\n(.i RS current indent
\n(.l RS current line length
\n(.s RS current point size
\*(' S acute accent
\*(` S grave accent
\(' FS acute accent
\(` FS grave accent
\*(]* S end superscript (formerly \*])
\^ FS 1/12 em narrow space
\*^ S caret
.ac M ACM mode
.ad MS set text adjustment
.af MS assign format to register
.am MS append to macro
.ar M set page numbers in Arabic
.as MS append to string
.b M bold font
.ba M set base indent
.bc M begin new column
.bi M bold italic
\n(bi R display (block) indent
.bl M blank lines (even at top of page)
\n(bm R bottom title margin
.bp MS begin page
.br MS break (start new line)
\n(bs R display (block) pre/post spacing
\n(bt R block keep threshold
.bx M boxed
\c FS continue input
.ce MS center lines
\n(ch R current chapter number
.de MS define macro
\n(df R display font
.ds MS define string
\n(dw RS current day of week
\*(dw S current day of week
\n(dy RS day of month
\e FS printable version of \
.ef M set footer (even numbered pages only)
.eh M set header (even numbered pages only)
.el MS else part of conditional
.ep M end page
\n(es R equation pre/post space
\ff FS inline font change to font f
\f(ff FS inline font change to font ff
.fc MS set field characters
\n(ff R footnote font
.fi MS fill output lines
\n(fi R footnote indent (first line only)
\n(fm R footer margin
-me Reference Manual USD:20-19
NAME TYPE DESCRIPTION
.fo M set footer
\n(fp R footnote pointsize
\n(fs R footnote prespace
\n(fu R footnote undent (from right margin)
\h'd' FS local horizontal motion for distance d
.hc MS set hyphenation character
.he M set header
.hl M draw horizontal line
\n(hm R header margin
.hx M suppress headers and footers on next page
.hy MS set hyphenation mode
.i M italic font
.ie MS conditional with else
.if MS conditional
\n(ii R indented paragraph indent
.in MS indent (transient, use .ba for pervasive)
.ip M begin indented paragraph
.ix M indent, no break
\l'd' FS horizontal line drawing function for distance d
.lc MS set leader repetition character
.lh M interpolate local letterhead
.ll M set line length
.lo M load local macros
.lp M begin left justified paragraph
\*(lq S left quote marks
.ls MS set multi-line spacing
.m1 M set space from top of page to header
.m2 M set space from header to text
.m3 M set space from text to footer
.m4 M set space from footer to bottom of page
.mc MS insert margin character
.mk MS mark vertical position
\n(mo RS month of year
\*(mo S current month
\nx FS interpolate number register x
\n(xx FS interpolate number register xx
.n1 M number lines in margin
.n2 M number lines in margin
.na MS turn off text adjustment
.ne MS need vertical space
.nf MS don't fill output lines
.nh MS turn off hyphenation
.np M begin numbered paragraph
.nr MS set number register
.ns MS no space mode
\*o S circle (e.g., for Norse A)
.of M set footer (odd numbered pages only)
.oh M set header (odd numbered pages only)
.pa M begin page
.pd M print delayed text
\n(pf R paragraph font
\n(pi R paragraph indent
USD:20-20 -me Reference Manual
NAME TYPE DESCRIPTION
.pl MS set page length
.pn MS set next page number
.po MS page offset
\n(po R simulated page offset
.pp M begin paragraph
\n(pp R paragraph pointsize
\n(ps R paragraph prespace
.q M quoted
\*(qa S for all
\*(qe S there exists
\n(qi R quote indent (also shortens line)
\n(qp R quote pointsize
\n(qs R quote pre/post space
.r M roman font
.rb M real bold font
.re M reset tabs
.rm MS remove macro or string
.rn MS rename macro or string
.ro M set page numbers in roman
\*(rq S right quote marks
.rr MS remove register
.rs MS restore spacing
.rt MS return to vertical position
\sS FS inline size change to size S
.sc M load special characters
\n(sf R section title font
.sh M begin numbered section
\n(si R relative base indent per section depth
.sk M skip next page
.sm M set argument in a smaller pointsize
.so MS source input file
\n(so R additional section title offset
.sp MS vertical space
\n(sp R section title pointsize
\n(ss R section prespace
.sx M change section depth
.sz M set pointsize and vertical spacing
.ta MS set tab stops
.tc MS set tab repetition character
\*(td S today's date
\n(tf R title font
.th M set thesis mode
.ti MS temporary indent (next line only)
.tl MS three part title
\n(tm R top title margin
.tp M begin title page
\n(tp R title pointsize
.tr MS translate
.u M underlined
.uh M unnumbered section
.ul MS underline next line
\v'd' FS local vertical motion for distance d
-me Reference Manual USD:20-21
NAME TYPE DESCRIPTION
\*v S inverted `v' for czeck ``e''
\w'S' FS return width of string S
.xl M set line length (local)
.xp M print index
\n(xs R index entry prespace
\n(xu R index undent (from right margin)
\n(yr RS year (last two digits only)
\n(zs R floating keep pre/post space
\{ FS begin conditional group
\| FS 1/6 em narrow space
\} FS end conditional group
\*~ S tilde
Generated on 2010-08-15 07:16:25 by $MirOS: src/scripts/roff2htm,v 1.58 2009/02/17 12:55:22 tg Exp $
These manual pages are copyrighted
by their respective writers; their source is available at our CVSweb, AnonCVS, and other mirrors.
The rest is Copyright © 2002-2008 The
MirOS Project, Germany.
This product includes material provided by Thorsten Glaser.
This manual page’s HTML representation is supposed to be valid XHTML/1.1; if not, please send a bug report – diffs preferred.