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groff_ms

GROFF_MS(7)                                                        GROFF_MS(7)



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, part of
       the groff typesetting system.  The ms macros are mostly compatible with
       the  documented behavior of the 4.3 BSD Unix ms macros (see Differences
       from troff ms below for details).   The  ms  macros  are  suitable  for
       reports, letters, books, and technical documentation.

USAGE
       The  ms  macro package expects files to have a certain amount of struc-
       ture.  The simplest documents can begin with a paragraph macro and con-
       sist of text separated by paragraph macros or even blank lines.  Longer
       documents have a structure as follows:

       Document type
              If you use the RP (report) macro at the beginning of  the  docu-
              ment,  groff  prints the cover page information on its own page;
              otherwise it prints the information on the first page with  your
              document  text  immediately  following.   Other document formats
              found in AT&T troff are specific to AT&T or  Berkeley,  and  are
              not supported in groff ms.

       Format and layout
              By setting number registers, you can change your document's type
              (font and size), margins,  spacing,  headers  and  footers,  and
              footnotes.   See  Document  control  registers  below  for  more
              details.

       Cover page
              A cover page consists of a title, and  optionally  the  author's
              name and institution, an abstract, and the date.  See Cover page
              macros below for more details.

       Body   Following the cover page is your document.  It consists of para-
              graphs, headings, and lists.

       Table of contents
              Longer  documents usually include a table of contents, which you
              can add by placing the TC macro at the end of your document.

   Document control registers
       The following table lists the document control number  registers.   For
       the sake of consistency, set registers related to margins at the begin-
       ning of your document, or just after the RP macro.

       Margin settings

              Reg.          Definition         Effective    Default
              ------------------------------------------------------
               PO     Page offset (left mar-   next page    1i
                      gin)
               LL     Line length              next para.   6i
               LT     Header/footer length     next para.   6i
               HM     Top (header) margin      next page    1i


               FM     Bottom (footer) margin   next page    1i
              ------------------------------------------------------

       Text settings

              Reg.          Definition         Effective    Default
              ------------------------------------------------------
               PS     Point size               next para.   10p
               VS     Line spacing (leading)   next para.   12p
              ------------------------------------------------------

       Paragraph settings

              Reg.          Definition          Effective    Default
              -------------------------------------------------------
               PI    Initial indent             next para.   5n
               PD    Space between paragraphs   next para.   0.3v
               QI    Quoted paragraph indent    next para.   5n
              -------------------------------------------------------

       Footnote settings

              Reg.     Definition        Effective     Default
              -------------------------------------------------
               FL    Footnote length   next footnote   LL*5/6
               FI    Footnote indent   next footnote   2n
               FF    Footnote format   next footnote   0
              -------------------------------------------------

       Other settings

               Reg.          Definition         Effective   Default
              ------------------------------------------------------
               MINGW    Minimum width between   next page   2n
                        columns
              ------------------------------------------------------

   Cover page macros
       Use the following macros to create a cover page for  your  document  in
       the order shown.

       .RP [no]
              Specifies  the report format for your document.  The report for-
              mat creates a separate cover page.   With  no  RP  macro,  groff
              prints a subset of the cover page on page 1 of your document.

              If  you  use the optional no argument, groff prints a title page
              but does not repeat any of the title  page  information  (title,
              author, abstract, etc.) on page 1 of the document.

       .P1    (P-one) Prints the header on page 1.  The default is to suppress
              the header.

       .DA [xxx]
              (optional) Print the current date, or the arguments to the macro
              if  any,  on  the  title page (if specified) and in the footers.
              This is the default for nroff.

       .ND [xxx]
              (optional) Print the current date, or the arguments to the macro
              if any, on the title page (if specified) but not in the footers.
              This is the default for troff.

       .TL    Specifies the document title.  Groff collects text following the
              TL  macro  into  the  title,  until  reaching the author name or
              abstract.

       .AU    Specifies the author's name.  You can specify  multiple  authors
              by using an AU macro for each author.

       .AI    Specifies  the  author's  institution.  You can specify multiple
              institutions.

       .AB [no]
              Begins the abstract.  The default is to print the word ABSTRACT,
              centered  and  in  italics, above the text of the abstract.  The
              option no suppresses this heading.

       .AE    End the abstract.

   Paragraphs
       Use the PP macro to create indented paragraphs, and  the  LP  macro  to
       create paragraphs with no initial indent.

       The  QP  macro  indents  all  text at both left and right margins.  The
       effect is identical to the HTML <BLOCKQUOTE> element.  The  next  para-
       graph or heading returns margins to normal.

       The  XP  macro  produces  an exdented paragraph.  The first line of the
       paragraph begins at the left margin, and subsequent lines are  indented
       (the opposite of PP).

   Headings
       Use headings to create a hierarchical structure for your document.  The
       ms macros print headings in bold using the same font family  and  point
       size as the body text.

       The following heading macros are available:

       .NH xx Numbered  heading.  The argument xx is either a numeric argument
              to indicate the level of the heading, or S xx xx "..."   to  set
              the  section  number  explicitly.  If you specify heading levels
              out of sequence, such  as  invoking  .NH 3  after  .NH 1,  groff
              prints a warning on standard error.

       .SH    Unnumbered subheading.

   Highlighting
       The  ms  macros  provide a variety of methods to highlight or emphasize
       text:

       .B [txt [post [pre]]]
              Sets its first argument in bold type.  If you specify  a  second
              argument,  groff  prints  it in the previous font after the bold
              text, with no intervening space (this allows you to set punctua-
              tion after the highlighted text without highlighting the punctu-
              ation).  Similarly, it prints the third argument (if any) in the
              previous font before the first argument.  For example,

                     .B foo ) (

              prints (foo).

              If  you give this macro no arguments, groff prints all text fol-
              lowing in bold until the next highlighting, paragraph, or  head-
              ing macro.

       .R [txt [post [pre]]]
              Sets its first argument in roman (or regular) type.  It operates
              similarly to the B macro otherwise.

       .I [txt [post [pre]]]
              Sets its first argument in italic type.  It  operates  similarly
              to the B macro otherwise.

       .CW [txt [post [pre]]]
              Sets  its  first argument in a constant width face.  It operates
              similarly to the B macro otherwise.

       .BI [txt [post [pre]]]
              Sets its first argument in bold italic type.  It operates  simi-
              larly to the B macro otherwise.

       .BX [txt]
              Prints  its  argument and draws a box around it.  If you want to
              box a string that contains spaces, use a digit-width space (\0).

       .UL [txt [post]]
              Prints  its  first argument with an underline.  If you specify a
              second argument, groff prints it in the previous font after  the
              underlined text, with no intervening space.

       .LG    Prints  all  text following in larger type (2 points larger than
              the current point size) until the next font size,  highlighting,
              paragraph,  or heading macro.  You can specify this macro multi-
              ple times to enlarge the point size as needed.

       .SM    Prints all text following in smaller type (2 points smaller than
              the  current point size) until the next type size, highlighting,
              paragraph, or heading macro.  You can specify this macro  multi-
              ple times to reduce the point size as needed.

       .NL    Prints all text following in the normal point size (that is, the
              value of the PS register).

       \*{text\*}
              Print the enclosed text as a superscript.

   Indents
       You may need to indent sections of text.  A typical use for indents  is
       to create nested lists and sublists.

       Use  the  RS and RE macros to start and end a section of indented text,
       respectively.  The PI register controls the amount of indent.

       You can nest indented sections as deeply as needed by  using  multiple,
       nested pairs of RS and RE.

   Lists
       The IP macro handles duties for all lists.  Its syntax is as follows:

       .IP [marker [width]]

              The  marker  is  usually  a  bullet character \(bu for unordered
              lists, a number (or auto-incrementing number register) for  num-
              bered  lists,  or a word or phrase for indented (glossary-style)
              lists.

              The width specifies the indent for the body of each  list  item.
              Once  specified,  the indent remains the same for all list items
              in the document until specified again.

   Tab stops
       Use the ta request to set tab stops as needed.  Use  the  TA  macro  to
       reset tabs to the default (every 5n).  You can redefine the TA macro to
       create a different set of default tab stops.

   Displays and keeps
       Use displays to show text-based examples or figures (such as code list-
       ings).   Displays  turn  off filling, so lines of code can be displayed
       as-is without inserting br requests in between each line.  Displays can
       be  kept  on  a  single  page,  or  allowed to break across pages.  The
       following table shows the display types available.

                   Display macro                Type of display
                With keep      No keep
              ---------------------------------------------------------
              .DS L            .LD       Left-justified.
              .DS I [indent]   .ID       Indented (default indent in
                                         the DI register).
              .DS B            .BD       Block-centered (left-justi-
                                         fied, longest line centered).
              .DS C            .CD       Centered.
              .DS R            .RD       Right-justified.
              ---------------------------------------------------------

       Use the DE macro to end any display type.

       To  keep  text together on a page, such as a paragraph that refers to a
       table (or list, or other item) immediately following, use the KS and KE
       macros.   The  KS  macro  begins a block of text to be kept on a single
       page, and the KE macro ends the block.

       You can specify a floating keep using the KF and  KE  macros.   If  the
       keep  cannot  fit  on the current page, groff holds the contents of the
       keep and allows text following the keep (in the source file) to fill in
       the remainder of the current page.  When the page breaks, whether by an
       explicit bp request or by reaching the end of the  page,  groff  prints
       the  floating  keep  at  the  top  of the new page.  This is useful for
       printing large graphics or tables that do not need  to  appear  exactly
       where specified.

   Tables, figures, equations, and references
       The -ms macros support the standard groff preprocessors: tbl, pic, eqn,
       and refer.  Mark text meant for preprocessors by enclosing it in  pairs
       of tags as follows:

       .TS [H] and .TE
              Denotes  a  table, to be processed by the tbl preprocessor.  The
              optional H argument instructs groff to create a  running  header
              with  the  information  up  to  the  TH macro.  Groff prints the
              header at the beginning of the table; if  the  table  runs  onto
              another  page, groff prints the header on the next page as well.

       .PS and .PE
              Denotes a graphic, to be processed by the pic preprocessor.  You
              can  create a pic file by hand, using the AT&T pic manual avail-
              able on the Web as a reference, or by using a  graphics  program
              such as xfig.

       .EQ [align] and .EN
              Denotes  an  equation,  to be processed by the eqn preprocessor.
              The optional align argument can be C, L, or  I  to  center  (the
              default), left-justify, or indent the equation.

       .[ and .]
              Denotes  a reference, to be processed by the refer preprocessor.
              The GNU refer(1) manual page provides a comprehensive  reference
              to   the  preprocessor  and  the  format  of  the  bibliographic
              database.

   Footnotes
       The ms macros provide a flexible footnote system.  You  can  specify  a
       numbered  footnote by using the \** escape, followed by the text of the
       footnote enclosed by FS and FE macros.

       You can specify symbolic footnotes by placing the mark character  (such
       as  \(dg  for  the  dagger character) in the body text, followed by the
       text of the footnote enclosed by FS \(dg and FE macros.

       You can control how groff prints footnote numbers by changing the value
       of the FF register as follows:

              0      Prints  the footnote number as a superscript; indents the
                     footnote (default).

              1      Prints the number followed by  a  period  (like  1.)  and
                     indents the footnote.

              2      Like 1, without an indent.

              3      Like 1, but prints the footnote number as a hanging para-
                     graph.

       You can use footnotes safely within keeps and displays, but avoid using
       numbered  footnotes  within  floating  keeps.  You can set a second \**
       between a \** and its corresponding .FS; as long  as  each  .FS  occurs
       after  the corresponding \** and the occurrences of .FS are in the same
       order as the corresponding occurrences of \**.

   Headers and footers
       There are two ways to define headers and footers:

       o  Use the strings LH, CH, and RH to set the left,  center,  and  right
          headers; use LF, CF, and RF to set the left, center, and right foot-
          ers.  This works best for documents that do not distinguish  between
          odd and even pages.

       o  Use  the  OH  and  EH  macros to define headers for the odd and even
          pages; and OF and EF macros to define footers for the odd  and  even
          pages.   This is more flexible than defining the individual strings.
          The syntax for these macros is as follows:

                 .OH 'left'center'right'

          You can replace the quote (') marks with any character not appearing
          in the header or footer text.

   Margins
       You control margins using a set of number registers.  The following ta-
       ble lists the register names and defaults:

              Reg.          Definition         Effective    Default
              ------------------------------------------------------
               PO     Page offset (left mar-   next page    1i
                      gin)
               LL     Line length              next para.   6i
               LT     Header/footer length     next para.   6i
               HM     Top (header) margin      next page    1i
               FM     Bottom (footer) margin   next page    1i
              ------------------------------------------------------

       Note  that  there  is no right margin setting.  The combination of page
       offset and line length provide the information necessary to derive  the
       right margin.

   Multiple columns
       The ms macros can set text in as many columns as will reasonably fit on
       the page.  The following macros are available.  All  of  them  force  a
       page break if a multi-column mode is already set.  However, if the cur-
       rent mode is single-column, starting a multi-column mode does not force
       a page break.

       .1C    Single-column mode.

       .2C    Two-column mode.

       .MC [width [gutter]]
              Multi-column  mode.   If you specify no arguments, it is equiva-
              lent to the 2C macro.  Otherwise, width is  the  width  of  each
              column  and gutter is the space between columns.  The MINGW num-
              ber register is the default gutter width.

   Creating a table of contents
       Wrap text that you want to appear in the table of contents in XS and XE
       macros.   Use the TC macro to print the table of contents at the end of
       the document, resetting the page number to i (Roman numeral 1).

       You can manually create a table of contents by specifying a page number
       as  the  first  argument  to  XS.   Add subsequent entries using the XA
       macro.  For example:

              .XS 1
              Introduction
              .XA 2
              A Brief History of the Universe
              .XA 729
              Details of Galactic Formation
              ...
              .XE

       Use the PX macro to print a manually-generated table of contents  with-
       out resetting the page number.

       If you give the argument no to either PX or TC, groff suppresses print-
       ing the title specified by the \*[TOC] string.

DIFFERENCES FROM troff ms
       The groff ms macros are a complete re-implementation, using no original
       AT&T  code.   Since  they  take  advantage  of the extended features in
       groff, they cannot be used with AT&T troff.  Other differences include:

       o  The  internals  of  groff  ms  differ from the internals of Unix ms.
          Documents that depend upon implementation details of Unix ms may not
          format properly with groff ms.

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

       o  Bell Labs localisms are not implemented.

       o  Berkeley localisms, in particular the TM  and  CT  macros,  are  not
          implemented.

       o  Groff  ms  does  not  work  in  compatibility mode (e.g. with the -C
          option).

       o  There is no support for typewriter-like devices.

       o  Groff ms does not provide cut marks.

       o  Multiple line spacing is not supported (use a larger vertical  spac-
          ing instead).

       o  Some  Unix ms documentation says that the CW and GW number registers
          can be used to control the column width  and  gutter  width  respec-
          tively.  These number registers are not used in groff ms.

       o  Macros  that  cause a reset (paragraphs, headings, etc.)  may change
          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.

       o  The number register GS is set to 1 by the groff ms  macros,  but  is
          not  used  by  the Unix ms macros.  Documents that need to determine
          whether they are being formatted with Unix ms or groff ms should use
          this number register.

   Strings
       You  can redefine the following strings 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 \*- string produces an em dash ¿ like this.

   Text Settings
       The FAM string sets the default font family.  If this string  is  unde-
       fined at initialization, it is set to Times.

       The point size, vertical spacing, and inter-paragraph spacing for foot-
       notes are controlled by the number registers FPS, FVS, and FPD; at ini-
       tialization  these  are  set to \n(PS-2, \n[FPS]+2, and \n(PD/2 respec-
       tively.  If any of these registers are defined  before  initialization,
       the initialization macro does not change them.

       The  hyphenation  flags  (as set by the hy request) are set from the HY
       register; the default is 14.

       Improved accent marks (as originally defined in Berkeley's ms  version)
       are available by specifying the AM macro at the beginning of your docu-
       ment.  You can place an accent over most characters by  specifying  the
       string  defining the accent directly after the character.  For example,
       n\*~ produces an n with a tilde over it.

NAMING CONVENTIONS
       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; naming conventions  are
       as follows:

       o  Names used only within one module are of the form module*name.

       o  Names  used  outside the module in which they are defined are of the
          form module@name.

       o  Names associated with a  particular  environment  are  of  the  form
          environment:name; these are used only within the par module.

       o  name does not have a module prefix.

       o  Constructed   names  used  to  implement  arrays  are  of  the  form
          array!index.

       Thus the groff ms macros reserve the following names:

       o  Names containing the characters *, @, and :.

       o  Names containing only uppercase letters and digits.

FILES
       /usr/share/groff/1.18.1/tmac/ms.tmac (a wrapper file for s.tmac)
       /usr/share/groff/1.18.1/tmac/s.tmac

SEE ALSO
       groff(1), troff(1), tbl(1), pic(1), eqn(1), refer(1),  Groff:  The  GNU
       Implementation of troff by Trent Fisher and Werner Lemberg.

AUTHOR
       Original  manual  page  by James Clark et al; rewritten by Larry Kollar
       (lkollar@despammed.com).



Groff Version 1.18.1             09 March 2002                     GROFF_MS(7)