# groff_tmac(5) - man - phpMan [GROFF_TMAC(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/GROFFTMAC/5/markdown) File Formats Manual [GROFF_TMAC(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/GROFFTMAC/5/markdown) ## NAME groff_tmac - macro files in the roff typesetting system ## DESCRIPTION The [**roff**(7)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/roff/7/markdown) type-setting system provides a set of macro packages suitable for special kinds of documents. Each macro package stores its macros and definitions in a file called the package's **tmac** **file**. The name is deduced from ‘**T**_roff_**MAC**_ros_’. The tmac files are normal roff source documents, except that they usually contain only defi‐ nitions and setup commands, but no text. All tmac files are kept in a single or a small num‐ ber of directories, the **tmac** directories. ## GROFF MACRO PACKAGES _groff_ provides all classical macro packages, some more full packages, and some secondary packages for special purposes. Note that it is not possible to use multiple primary macro packages at the same time; saying e.g. _sh#_ groff -m man -m ms foo or _sh#_ groff -m man foo -m ms bar fails. Exception to this is the use of man pages written with either the **mdoc** or the **man** macro package. See below the description of the _andoc.tmac_ file. ### Man Pages _man_ This is the classical macro package for Unix manual pages (man pages); it is quite handy and easy to use; see **groff**___**[man**(7)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/man/7/markdown). _doc_ _mdoc_ An alternative macro package for man pages mainly used in BSD systems; it provides many new features, but it is not the standard for man pages; see **groff**___**[mdoc**(7)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/mdoc/7/markdown). _andoc_ _mandoc_ Use this file in case you don't know whether the **man** macros or the **mdoc** package should be used. Multiple man pages (in either format) can be handled. ### Full Packages The packages in this section provide a complete set of macros for writing documents of any kind, up to whole books. They are similar in functionality; it is a matter of taste which one to use. _me_ The classical _me_ macro package; see **groff**___**[me**(7)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/me/7/markdown). _mm_ The semi-classical _mm_ macro package; see **groff**___**[mm**(7)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/mm/7/markdown). _mom_ The new _mom_ macro package, only available in groff. As this is not based on other packages, it can be freely designed. So it is expected to become quite a nice, modern macro package. See **groff**___**[mom**(7)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/mom/7/markdown). _ms_ The classical _ms_ macro package; see **groff**___**[ms**(7)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/ms/7/markdown). ### Language-specific Packages _cs_ This file adds support for Czech localization, including the main macro packages (me, mom, mm, and ms). Note that _cs.tmac_ sets the input encoding to latin-2. _de_ _den_ German localization support, including the main macro packages (me, mom, mm, and ms). _de.tmac_ selects hyphenation patterns for traditional orthography, and _den.tmac_ does the same for the new orthography (‘Rechtschreibreform’). It should be used as the last macro package on the command line. _fr_ This file adds support for French localization, including the main macro packages (me, mom, mm, and ms). Example: _sh#_ groff -ms -mfr foo.ms > foo.ps Note that _fr.tmac_ sets the input encoding to latin-9 to get proper support of the ‘oe’ ligature. _sv_ Swedish localization support, including the me, mom, and ms macro packages. Note that Swedish for the mm macros is handled separately; see **groff**___**[mmse**(7)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/mmse/7/markdown) (only in Swedish locales). It should be used as the last macro package on the command line. ### Input Encodings _latin1_ _latin2_ _latin5_ _latin9_ Various input encodings supported directly by groff. Normally, this macro is loaded at the very beginning of a document or specified as the first macro argument on the command line. **roff** loads latin1 by default at start-up. Note that these macro pack‐ ages don't work on EBCDIC hosts. _cp1047_ Encoding support for EBCDIC. On those platforms it is loaded automatically at start- up. Due to different character ranges used in **roff** it doesn't work on architectures which are based on ASCII. Note that it can happen that some input encoding characters are not available for a particu‐ lar output device. For example, saying groff -Tlatin1 -mlatin9 ... fails if you use the Euro character in the input. Usually, this limitation is present only for devices which have a limited set of output glyphs (**-Tascii**, **-Tlatin1**); for other devices it is usually sufficient to install proper fonts which contain the necessary glyphs. ### Special Packages The macro packages in this section are not intended for stand-alone usage, but can be used to add special functionality to any other macro package or to plain groff. _62bit_ Provides macros for addition, multiplication, and division of 62-bit integers (allow‐ ing safe multiplication of 31-bit integers, for example). _ec_ Switch to the EC and TC font families. To be used with [**grodvi**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/grodvi/1/markdown) – this man page also gives more details of how to use it. _hdtbl_ The Heidelberger table macros, contributed by Joachim Walsdorff, allow the generation of tables through a syntax similar to the HTML table model. Note that _hdtbl_ is a macro package, not a preprocessor like [**tbl**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/tbl/1/markdown). _hdtbl_ works only with the **-Tps** and **-Tpdf** output devices. See **groff**___**[hdtbl**(7)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/hdtbl/7/markdown)**.** _papersize_ This macro file is already loaded at start-up by **troff** so it isn't necessary to call it explicitly. It provides an interface to set the paper size on the command line with the option **-dpaper=**_size_. Possible values for _size_ are the same as the predefined **papersize** values in the DESC file (only lowercase; see **groff**___**[font**(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/font/5/markdown) for more) except **a7**–**d7**. An appended **l** (ell) character denotes landscape orientation. Examples: **a4**, **c3l**, **letterl**. Most output drivers need additional command-line switches **-p** and **-l** to override the default paper length and orientation as set in the driver-specific DESC file. For ex‐ ample, use the following for PS output on A4 paper in landscape orientation: _sh#_ groff -Tps -dpaper=a4l -P-pa4 -P-l -ms foo.ms > foo.ps _pdfpic_ A single macro is provided in this file, **PSPIC**, to include a PDF graphic in a docu‐ ment, i.e., under the output device **-Tpdf**. For all other devices, _pspic_ is used. So _pdfpic_ is an extension of _pspic_. By that you can now even replace all **PSPIC** by **PDF**‐‐ **PIC**, nothing gets lost by that. The options of **PDFPIC** are identical to the **PSDIF** op‐ tions. _pic_ This file provides proper definitions for the macros **PS** and **PE**, needed for the [**pic**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/pic/1/markdown) preprocessor. They center each picture. Use it only if your macro package doesn't provide proper definitions for those two macros (actually, most of them already do). _pspic_ A single macro is provided in this file, **PSPIC**, to include a PostScript graphic in a document. The following output devices support inclusion of PS images: **-Tps**, **-Tdvi**, **-Thtml**, and **-Txhtml**; for all other devices the image is replaced with a hollow rectan‐ gle of the same size. This macro file is already loaded at start-up by **troff** so it isn't necessary to call it explicitly. Syntax: **.PSPIC** [**-L**|**-R**|**-C**|**-I** _n_] _file_ [_width_ [_height_]] _file_ is the name of the PostScript file; _width_ and _height_ give the desired width and height of the image. If neither a _width_ nor a _height_ argument is specified, the im‐ age's natural width (as given in the file's bounding box) or the current line length is used as the width, whatever is smaller. The _width_ and _height_ arguments may have scaling indicators attached; the default scaling indicator is **i**. This macro scales the graphic uniformly in the x and y directions so that it is no more than _width_ wide and _height_ high. Option **-C** centers the graphic horizontally, which is the default. The **-L** and **-R** options cause the graphic to be left-aligned and right-aligned, respec‐ tively. The **-I** option causes the graphic to be indented by _n_ (default scaling indica‐ tor is **m**). For use of **.PSPIC** within a diversion it is recommended to extend it with the following code, assuring that the diversion's width completely covers the image's width. .am PSPIC . vpt 0 \h'(\\n[ps-offset]u + \\n[ps-deswid]u)' . sp -1 . vpt 1 .. _ptx_ A single macro is provided in this file, **xx**, for formatting permuted index entries as produced by the GNU [**ptx**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/ptx/1/markdown) program. In case you need a different formatting, copy the macro into your document and adapt it to your needs. _trace_ Use this for tracing macro calls. It is only useful for debugging. See **groff**___**[trace**(7)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/trace/7/markdown)**.** _tty-char_ Overrides the definition of standard troff characters and some groff characters for TTY devices. The optical appearance is intentionally inferior compared to that of normal TTY formatting to allow processing with critical equipment. _www_ Additions of elements known from the HTML format, as used in the internet (World Wide Web) pages; this includes URL links and mail addresses; see **groff**___**[www**(7)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/www/7/markdown). ## NAMING Classical roff systems were designed before the conventions of the modern C [**getopt**(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/getopt/3/markdown) call evolved, and used a naming scheme for macro packages that looks odd to modern eyes. Macro packages were always included with the option **-m**; when this option was directly followed by its argument without an intervening space, this looked like a long option preceded by a sin‐ gle minus — a sensation in the computer stone age. To make this invocation form work, clas‐ sical troff macro packages used names that started with the letter ‘m’, which was omitted in the naming of the macro file. For example, the macro package for the man pages was called _man_, while its macro file _tmac.an_. So it could be activated by the argument _an_ to option **-m**, or **-man** for short. For similar reasons, macro packages that did not start with an ‘m’ had a leading ‘m’ added in the documentation and in speech; for example, the package corresponding to _tmac.doc_ was called _mdoc_ in the documentation, although a more suitable name would be _doc_. For, when omitting the space between the option and its argument, the command-line option for activat‐ ing this package reads **-mdoc**. To cope with all situations, actual versions of [**groff**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/groff/1/markdown) are smart about both naming schemes by providing two macro files for the inflicted macro packages; one with a leading ‘m’ the other one without it. So in _groff_, the _man_ macro package may be specified as one of the fol‐ lowing four methods: _sh#_ groff -m man _sh#_ groff -man _sh#_ groff -mman _sh#_ groff -m an Recent packages that do not start with ‘m’ do not use an additional ‘m’ in the documentation. For example, the _www_ macro package may be specified only as one of the two methods: _sh#_ groff -m www _sh#_ groff -mwww Obviously, variants like _-mmwww_ would not make much sense. A second strange feature of classical troff was to name macro files in the form _tmac._name. In modern operating systems, the type of a file is specified as a postfix, the file name ex‐ tension. Again, groff copes with this situation by searching both _anything_**.tmac** and **tmac.**_anything_ if only _anything_ is specified. The easiest way to find out which macro packages are available on a system is to check the man page [**groff**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/groff/1/markdown), or the contents of the _tmac_ directories. In _groff_, most macro packages are described in man pages called **groff**[__name_(7)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/name/7/markdown), with a leading ‘m’ for the classical packages. ## INCLUSION There are several ways to use a macro package in a document. The classical way is to specify the troff/groff option **-m** _name_ at run-time; this makes the contents of the macro package _name_ available. In groff, the file name_.tmac_ is searched within the tmac path; if not found, _tmac._name is searched for instead. Alternatively, it is also possible to include a macro file by adding the request **.so** _filename_ into the document; the argument must be the full file name of an existing file, possibly with the directory where it is kept. In groff, this was improved by the similar request **.mso** _package_, which added searching in the tmac path, just like option **-m** does. Note that in order to resolve the **.so** and **.mso** requests, the roff preprocessor [**soelim**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/soelim/1/markdown) must be called if the files to be included need preprocessing. This can be done either directly by a pipeline on the command line or by using the troff/groff option **-s**. _man_ calls soelim automatically. For example, suppose a macro file is stored as _/usr/share/groff/1.22.4/tmac/macros.tmac_ and is used in some document called _docu.roff_. At run-time, the formatter call for this is _sh#_ groff -m macros docu.roff To include the macro file directly in the document either .mso macros.tmac is used or .so /usr/share/groff/1.22.4/tmac/macros.tmac In both cases, the formatter should be called with option **-s** to invoke **soelim**. _sh#_ groff -s docu.roff If you want to write your own groff macro file, call it whatever_.tmac_ and put it in a direc‐ tory in the tmac path; see section “Files” below. Then documents can include it with the **.mso** request or the option **-m**. ## WRITING MACROS A [**roff**(7)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/roff/7/markdown) document is a text file that is enriched by predefined formatting constructs, such as requests, escape sequences, strings, numeric registers, and macros from a macro package. These elements are described in [**roff**(7)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/roff/7/markdown). To give a document a personal style, it is most useful to extend the existing elements by defining some macros for repeating tasks; the best place for this is near the beginning of the document or in a separate file. Macros without arguments are just like strings. But the full power of macros reveals when arguments are passed with a macro call. Within the macro definition, the arguments are available as the escape sequences **\$1**, ..., **\$9**, **\$[**...**]**, **\$***, and **\$@**, the name under which the macro was called is in **\$0**, and the number of arguments is in register **\n[.$]**; see [**groff**(7)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/groff/7/markdown). ### Copy-in Mode The phase when groff reads a macro is called _copy-in_ _mode_ or _copy_ _mode_ in roff-talk. This is comparable to the C preprocessing phase during the development of a program written in the C language. In this phase, groff interprets all backslashes; that means that all escape sequences in the macro body are interpreted and replaced by their value. For constant expressions, this is wanted, but strings and registers that might change between calls of the macro must be pro‐ tected from being evaluated. This is most easily done by doubling the backslash that intro‐ duces the escape sequence. This doubling is most important for the positional parameters. For example, to print information on the arguments that were passed to the macro to the ter‐ minal, define a macro named ‘.print_args’, say. .ds midpart was called with .de print_args . tm \f[I]\\$0\f[] \*[midpart] \\n[.$] arguments: . tm \\$* .. When calling this macro by .print_args arg1 arg2 the following text is printed to the terminal: _print_args_ was called with the following 2 arguments: arg1 arg2 Let's analyze each backslash in the macro definition. As the positional parameters and the number of arguments change with each call of the macro their leading backslash must be dou‐ bled, which results in \\_$*_ and \\_[.$]_. The same applies to the macro name because it could be called with an alias name, so \\_$0_. On the other hand, _midpart_ is a constant string, it does not change, so no doubling for \_*[midpart]_. The \_f_ escape sequences are predefined groff elements for setting the font within the text. Of course, this behavior does not change, so no doubling with \_f[I]_ and \_f[]_. ### Draft Mode Writing groff macros is easy when the escaping mechanism is temporarily disabled. In groff, this is done by enclosing the macro definition(s) into a pair of **.eo** and **.ec** requests. Then the body in the macro definition is just like a normal part of the document — text enhanced by calls of requests, macros, strings, registers, etc. For example, the code above can be written in a simpler way by .eo .ds midpart was called with .de print_args . tm \f[I]\$0\f[] \*[midpart] \n[.$] arguments: . tm \$* .. .ec Unfortunately, draft mode cannot be used universally. Although it is good enough for defin‐ ing normal macros, draft mode fails with advanced applications, such as indirectly defined strings, registers, etc. An optimal way is to define and test all macros in draft mode and then do the backslash doubling as a final step; do not forget to remove the _.eo_ request. ### Tips for Macro Definitions • Start every line with a dot, for example, by using the groff request **.nop** for text lines, or write your own macro that handles also text lines with a leading dot. .de Text . if (\\n[.$] == 0) \ . return . nop \)\\$*\) .. • Write a comment macro that works both for copy-in and draft mode; for as escaping is off in draft mode, trouble might occur when normal comments are used. For example, the following macro just ignores its arguments, so it acts like a comment line: .de c .. .c This is like a comment line. • In long macro definitions, make ample use of comment lines or almost-empty lines (this is, lines which have a leading dot and nothing else) for a better structuring. • To increase readability, use groff's indentation facility for requests and macro calls (arbitrary whitespace after the leading dot). ### Diversions Diversions can be used to implement quite advanced programming constructs. They are compara‐ ble to pointers to large data structures in the C programming language, but their usage is quite different. In their simplest form, diversions are multi-line strings, but they get their power when di‐ versions are used dynamically within macros. The (formatted) information stored in a diver‐ sion can be retrieved by calling the diversion just like a macro. Most of the problems arising with diversions can be avoided if you remain aware of the fact that diversions always store complete lines. If diversions are used when the line buffer has not been flushed, strange results are produced; not knowing this, many people get desperate about diversions. To ensure that a diversion works, line breaks should be added at the right places. To be on the secure side, enclose everything that has to do with diversions into a pair of line breaks; for example, by explicitly using **.br** requests. This rule should be ap‐ plied to diversion definition, both inside and outside, and to all calls of diversions. This is a bit of overkill, but it works nicely. [If you really need diversions which should ignore the current partial line, use environments to save the current partial line and/or use the **.box** request.] The most powerful feature using diversions is to start a diversion within a macro definition and end it within another macro. Then everything between each call of this macro pair is stored within the diversion and can be manipulated from within the macros. ## FILES All macro package files must be named name_.tmac_ to fully use the tmac mechanism. _tmac._name as with classical packages is possible as well, but deprecated. The macro files are kept in the _tmac_ _directories_; a colon separated list of these constitutes the _tmac_ _path_. The search sequence for macro files is (in that order): • the directories specified with troff/groff's **-M** command-line option • the directories given in the _GROFF_TMAC_PATH_ environment variable • the current directory (only if in unsafe mode, which is enabled by the **-U** command-line switch) • the home directory • a platform-specific directory, being _/usr/lib/groff/site-tmac_ in this installation • a site-specific (platform-independent) directory, being _/usr/share/groff/site-tmac_ in this installation • the main tmac directory, being _/usr/share/groff/1.22.4/tmac_ in this installation ## ENVIRONMENT _GROFF_TMAC_PATH_ A colon separated list of additional tmac directories in which to search for macro files. See the previous section for a detailed description. ## AUTHORS This document was written by Bernd Warken ⟨⟩ and Werner Lemberg ⟨⟩. ## SEE ALSO _Groff:_ _The_ _GNU_ _Implementation_ _of_ _troff_, by Trent A. Fisher and Werner Lemberg, is the primary _groff_ manual. You can browse it interactively with “info groff”. [**groff**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/groff/1/markdown) an overview of the groff system. **groff**___**[man**(7)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/man/7/markdown), **groff**___**[mdoc**(7)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/mdoc/7/markdown), **groff**___**[me**(7)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/me/7/markdown), **groff**___**[mm**(7)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/mm/7/markdown), **groff**___**[mom**(7)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/mom/7/markdown), **groff**___**[ms**(7)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/ms/7/markdown), **groff**___**[trace**(7)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/trace/7/markdown), **groff**___**[www**(7)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/www/7/markdown). the groff tmac macro packages. [**groff**(7)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/groff/7/markdown) the groff language. The Filesystem Hierarchy Standard is available at the FHS web site ⟨ fhs/⟩. groff 1.22.4 23 March 2022 [GROFF_TMAC(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/GROFFTMAC/5/markdown)