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GROFF_MS
!!!GROFF_MS
NAME
SYNOPSIS
DESCRIPTION
FILES
SEE ALSO
----
!!NAME


groff_ms - groff ms macros
!!SYNOPSIS


__groff -ms__ [[ ''options''... ] [[ ''files''...
]__
groff -m ms__ [[ ''options''... ] [[ ''files''...
]
!!DESCRIPTION


This manual page describes the GNU version of the ms macros,
which is part of the groff document formatting system. The
groff ms macros are intended to be compatible with the
documented behaviour of the 4.3 BSD Unix ms
macros subject to the following limitations:


the internals of groff ms are not similar to the internals
of Unix ms and so documents that depend upon implementation
details of Unix ms may well not work with groff
ms;


there is no support for typewriter-like
devices;


Berkeley localisms, in particular the __TM__ and
__CT__ macros, are not implemented;


groff ms does not provide cut marks;


multiple line spacing is not allowed (use a larger vertical
spacing instead);


groff ms does not work in compatibility mode (eg with the
__-C__ option);


the error-handling policy of groff ms is to detect and
report errors, rather than silently to ignore
them.


The groff ms macros make use of many features of GNU troff
and therefore cannot be used with any other
troff.


Bell Labs localisms are not implemented in either the
BSD ms macros or in the groff ms
macros.


Some Unix ms documentation says that the __CW__ and
__GW__ number registers can be used to control the column
width and gutter width respectively. This is not the case.
These number registers are not used in groff
ms.


Macros that cause a reset set the indent. Macros that change
the indent do not increment or decrement the indent, but
rather set it absolutely. This can cause problems for
documents that define additional macros of their own. The
solution is to use not the __in__ request but instead the
__RS__ and __RE__ macros.


The number register __GS__ is set to 1 by the groff ms
macros, but is not used by the Unix ms macros. It is
intended that documents that need to determine whether they
are being formatted with Unix ms or groff ms make use of
this number register.


Footnotes are implemented so that they can safely be used
within keeps and displays. Automatically numbered footnotes
within floating keeps are not recommended. It is safe to
have another __**__ between a __**__ and the
corresponding __.FS__; it is required only that each
__.FS__ occur after the corresponding __**__ and that
the occurrences of __.FS__ are in the same order as the
corresponding occurrences of __**__.


The strings __*{__ and __*}__ can be used to begin and
end a superscript.


Some Unix V10 ms features are implemented. The __B__,
__I__ and __BI__ macros can have an optional third
argument which will be printed in the current font before
the first argument. There is a macro __CW__ like __B__
that changes to a constant-width font.


The following strings can be redefined to adapt the groff ms
macros to languages other than English:


String      Default Value
REFERENCES  References
ABSTRACT    ABSTRACT
TOC         Table of Contents
MONTH1      January
MONTH2      February
MONTH3      March
MONTH4      April
MONTH5      May
MONTH6      June
MONTH7      July
MONTH8      August
MONTH9      September
MONTH10     October
MONTH11     November
MONTH12     December
The font family is reset from the string __FAM__; at initialization if this string is undefined it is set to the current font family. The point size, vertical spacing, and inter-paragraph spacing for footnotes are taken from the number registers __FPS__, __FVS__, and __FPD__; at initialization these are set to __n(PS-2__, __n[[FPS]+2__, and __n(PD/2__ respectively; however, if any of these registers has been defined before initialization, it will not be set. The hyphenation flags (as set by the __.hy__ request) are set from the __HY__ register; if this has not been defined at initialization, it will be set to 14.


Right-aligned displays are available with __.DS R__ and
__.RD__.


The following conventions are used for names of macros,
strings and number registers. External names available to
documents that use the groff ms macros contain only
uppercase letters and digits. Internally the macros are
divided into modules. Names used only within one module are
of the form ''module''__*__''name''. Names used
outside the module in which they are defined are of the form
''module''__@__''name''. Names associated with a
particular environment are of the form
''environment''__:__''name;'' these are used only
within the __par__ module, and ''name'' does not have
a module prefix. Constructed names used to implement arrays
are of the form ''array''__!__''index''. Thus the
groff ms macros reserve the following names:


names containing __*__;


names containing __@__;


names containing __:__;


names containing only uppercase letters and
digits.
!!FILES


__/usr/share/groff/1.17.2/tmac/ms.tmac__ (a wrapper file
for __s.tmac__)__
/usr/share/groff/1.17.2/tmac/s.tmac__
!!SEE ALSO


groff(1), troff(1), tbl(1),
pic(1), eqn(1)__
ms__(7)
----
3 pages link to groff_ms(7):
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Last edited on Tuesday, June 4, 2002 12:30:57 am by "perry"
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