# GROFF_ME(7) - man - phpMan [GROFF_ME(7)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/GROFFME/7/markdown) Miscellaneous Information Manual [GROFF_ME(7)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/GROFFME/7/markdown) ## NAME groff_me - “me” macro package for formatting documents with GNU roff ## SYNOPSIS **groff** **-me** [_option_ ...] [_input-file_ ...] **groff** **-m** **me** [_option_ ...] [_input-file_ ...] ## DESCRIPTION The _me_ package of macro definitions for the _roff_ language provides a convenient facility for preparing technical papers in various formats. This manual page describes the GNU version of the _me_ macros, which is part of the _groff_ document formatting system. This version can be used with both GNU _troff_ and Unix _troff_. Many _roff_ requests are unsafe in conjunction with this package; however, the following re‐ quests may be used with impunity after the first **.pp**: **.bp** begin new page **.br** break output line here **.sp** _n_ insert _n_ spacing lines **.ls** _n_ (line spacing) _n_=1 single, _n_=2 double space **.na** no alignment of right margin **.ce** _n_ center next _n_ lines **.ul** _n_ underline next _n_ lines _Note:_ In contrast to its behavior with other macro packages and “raw” _roff_, when using the _me_ package, the **.sp** request will _not_ put space at the top of a page. Output of the _pic_, _eqn_, _refer_, and _tbl_ preprocessors is acceptable as input. ### Macro Reference Numeric arguments to macros are denoted with lowercase letters and string arguments with up‐ percase. An optional macro argument such as _x_ appears in brackets, **[**_x_**]**. Note that arguments to macros generally must be quoted if they contain whitespace. An exception is the argument to header and footer macros, which require some explanation. They take the form “_c_ _left_ _c_ _middle_ _c_ _right_ _c_”, with spaces added here for clarity. The strings _left_, _middle_, and _right_ correspond to their page placement and can contain unprotected whitespace, but must not con‐ tain the (non-space) character _c_, which delimits them. For brevity, the table presents header and footer arguments as _clcmcrc_. Popular choices for _c_ are the ASCII apostrophe “**'**” and the ASCII double quote “**"**”. This list is incomplete; some requests are too complex to summarize in a table, and some that are listed below accept additional arguments not shown. See the _-me_ _Reference_ _Manual_ for in‐ teresting details. Request Initial Causes Explanation Value Break ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── .(c - yes Begin centered block. .(d - no Begin delayed text. .(f - no Begin footnote. .(l - yes Begin list. .(q - yes Begin major quote. .(x [_X_] - no Begin item in index (named _X_). .(z - no Begin floating keep. .)c - yes End centered block. .)d - yes End delayed text. .)f - yes End footnote. .)l - yes End list. .)q - yes End major quote. .)x - yes End index item. .)z - yes End floating keep. .++ _M_ [_clcmcrc_] - no Define paper section as _M_, which must be one of **C** (chap‐ ter), **A** (appendix), **P** (preliminary, i.e., front matter or table of contents), **AB** (abstract), **B** (bibliography), **RC** (chapters renumbered from page one each chapter), or **RA** (appendix renumbered from page one) (and set page header to _clcmcrc_). .+c [_T_] - yes Begin chapter (or appendix, etc., as set by **.++**) (with title _T_). .1c 1 yes One-column format on a new page. .2c 1 yes Two-column format. .EN - yes Space after equation produced by _eqn_ or _neqn_. .EQ [_M_ [_T_]] - yes Begin displayed equation (with indentation _M_, which must be one of **C** (centered, default), **I** (indented), or **L** (justified left) (and title _T_ in right margin)). .GE - yes End _gremlin_ picture. .GS - yes Begin _gremlin_ picture. .PE - yes End _pic_ picture. .PS - yes Begin _pic_ picture. .TE - yes End _tbl_ table. .TH - yes End heading of _tbl_ table. .TS [**H**] - yes Begin _tbl_ table; if **H**, table repeats heading on each page. .b [_X_ [_Y_]] - no Print _X_ in bold (appending _Y_ in the previous font); if no arguments, switch to bold. .ba _n_ 0 yes Augment the base indent (for regular text, like para‐ graphs) by _n_. .bc - yes Begin new column. .bi [_X_ [_Y_]] - no Print _X_ in bold italics (appending _Y_ in the previous font); if no arguments, switch to bold italics. .bu - yes Begin bulleted paragraph. .bx [_X_ [_Y_]] - no Print _X_ in a box (with Y appended). Renders reliably only in no-fill mode. .ef _clcmcrc_ """" no Set even-numbered page footer. .eh _clcmcrc_ """" no Set even-numbered page header. .fo _clcmcrc_ """" no Set page footer. .hx - no Suppress headers and footers on next page. .he _clcmcrc_ """" no Set page header. .hl - yes Draw a horizontal line. .i [_X_ [_Y_]] - no Print _X_ in italics (appending _Y_ in the previous font); if no arguments, switch to italics. .ip [_X_ [_n_]] _n_=5n yes Start indented paragraph (with hanging tag _X_ (and inden‐ tation _n_)). .lp - yes Begin paragraph with first line flush left. .np 1 yes Start numbered paragraph. .of _clcmcrc_ """" no Set odd-numbered page footer. .oh _clcmcrc_ """" no Set odd-numbered page header. .pd - yes Print delayed text. .pp - yes Begin paragraph with indented first line. .r [_X_ [_Y_]] - no Print _X_ in roman (appending _Y_ in the previous font); if no arguments, switch to roman. .re 0.5i no Reset tabs to default values. .sh [_n_ [_T_]] _n_=1 yes Start numbered section; print section number (set to _n_ (and title _T_)) in bold. .sk - no Leave the next page blank. Only one page is remembered ahead. .sm _X_ [_Y_] - no Print _X_ in a smaller point size (appending _Y_ at the pre‐ vious size). .sz _n_ 10p no Augment the point size by _n_ points. .tp - yes Begin title page. .u _X_ [_Y_] - no Underline _X_ (appending _Y_ without underlining). Renders reliably only in no-fill mode. .uh [_T_] - yes Start unnumbered section (and print title _T_ in bold). .xp [_X_] - no Print index (named _X_). ## FILES _/usr/share/groff/1.22.4/tmac/me.tmac_ (a wrapper file for _e.tmac_) _/usr/share/groff/1.22.4/tmac/e.tmac_ ## NOTES Early _roff_ macro packages limited themselves to a single-letter namespace (_mm_, _ms_, _mv_, _mn_, etc.). The “e” in “me” stands for “Eric P. Allman”, who wrote the macro package and the original technical papers documenting it while an undergraduate at the University of Califor‐ nia. ## SEE ALSO [**groff**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/groff/1/markdown), [**troff**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/troff/1/markdown) Two manuals are available in source and rendered form. On your system, they may be com‐ pressed and/or available in additional formats. _/usr/share/doc/groff-base/meintro.me_ _/usr/share/doc/groff-base/meintro.ps_ is _Writing_ _Papers_ _with_ _Groff_ _Using_ _-me_, by Eric P. Allman and James Clark. _/usr/share/doc/groff-base/meref.me_ _/usr/share/doc/groff-base/meref.ps_ is the _-me_ _Reference_ _Manual_, by Eric P. Allman and James Clark. For preprocessors supported by _me_, see [**eqn**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/eqn/1/markdown), [**grn**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/grn/1/markdown), [**pic**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/pic/1/markdown), [**refer**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/refer/1/markdown), and [**tbl**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/tbl/1/markdown). groff 1.22.4 23 March 2022 [GROFF_ME(7)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/GROFFME/7/markdown)