Penguin
Recent Changes
Annotated edit history of gtbl(1) version 1, including all changes. View license author blame.
Rev Author # Line
1 perry 1 TBL
2 !!!TBL
3 NAME
4 SYNOPSIS
5 DESCRIPTION
6 OPTIONS
7 USAGE
8 BUGS
9 SEE ALSO
10 ----
11 !!NAME
12
13
14 tbl - format tables for troff
15 !!SYNOPSIS
16
17
18 __tbl__ [[ __-Cv__ ] [[ ''files''... ]
19 !!DESCRIPTION
20
21
22 This manual page describes the GNU version of __tbl__,
23 which is part of the groff document formatting system.
24 __tbl__ compiles descriptions of tables embedded within
25 __troff__ input files into commands that are understood
26 by __troff__. Normally, it should be invoked using the
27 __-t__ option of __groff.__ It is highly compatible
28 with Unix __tbl__. The output generated by GNU __tbl__
29 cannot be processed with Unix __troff__; it must be
30 processed with GNU __troff__. If no files are given on
31 the command line, the standard input will be read. A
32 filename of __-__ will cause the standard input to be
33 read.
34 !!OPTIONS
35
36
37 __-C__
38
39
40 Recognize __.TS__ and __.TE__ even when followed by a
41 character other than space or newline.
42
43
44 __-v__
45
46
47 Print the version number.
48 !!USAGE
49
50
51 Only the differences between GNU __tbl__ and Unix
52 __tbl__ are described here.
53
54
55 Normally __tbl__ attempts to prevent undesirable breaks
56 in the table by using diversions. This can sometimes
57 interact badly with macro packages' own use of diversions,
58 when footnotes, for example, are used. The __nokeep__
59 option tells __tbl__ not to try and prevent breaks in
60 this way.
61
62
63 The __decimalpoint__ option specifies the character to be
64 recognized as the decimal point character in place of the
65 default period. It takes an argument in parentheses, which
66 must be a single character, as for the __tab__
67 option.
68
69
70 The __f__ format modifier can be followed by an arbitrary
71 length font name in parentheses.
72
73
74 There is a __d__ format modifier which means that a
75 vertically spanning entry should be aligned at the bottom of
76 its range.
77
78
79 There is no limit on the number of columns in a table, nor
80 any limit on the number of text blocks. All the lines of a
81 table are considered in deciding column widths, not just the
82 first 200. Table continuation (__.T__) lines are not
83 restricted to the first 200 lines.
84
85
86 Numeric and alphabetic items may appear in the same
87 column.
88
89
90 Numeric and alphabetic items may span
91 horizontally.
92
93
94 __tbl__ uses register, string, macro and diversion names
95 beginning with __3__. When using __tbl__ you should
96 avoid using any names beginning with a
97 __3__.
98 !!BUGS
99
100
101 You should use __.TS H__/__.TH__ in conjunction with a
102 supporting macro package for ''all'' multi-page boxed
103 tables. If there is no header that you wish to appear at the
104 top of each page of the table, place the __.TH__ line
105 immediately after the format section. Do not enclose a
106 multi-page table within keep/release macros, or divert it in
107 any other way.
108
109
110 A text block within a table must be able to fit on one
111 page.
112
113
114 The __bp__ request cannot be used to force a page-break
115 in a multi-page table. Instead, define __BP__ as
116 follows
117
118
119 __.de BP
120 .ie '\n(.z'' .bp \$1
121 .el !.BP \$1
122 ..__
123
124
125 and use __BP__ instead of __bp__.
126
127
128 Using a directly in a table to get leaders will not work.
129 This is correct behaviour: a is a __uninterpreted__
130 leader. To get leaders use a real leader, either by using a
131 control A or like this:
132
133
134 __.ds a a
135 .TS
136 tab(;);
137 lw(1i) l.
138 A*a;B
139 .TE
140 __
141 !!SEE ALSO
142
143
144 groff(1), troff(1)
145 ----
This page is a man page (or other imported legacy content). We are unable to automatically determine the license status of this page.