12.2 Command-line Invocation

Nroff and troff are invoked from the command line as follows:

/usr/ucb/nroff [options] [files]

/usr/ucb/troff [options] [files]

Many of the options are the same for both formatters.

Nroff/troff options

-Fdir

Search for font tables in directory dir.

-i

Read standard input after files are processed.

-mname

Prepend a macro file to input files. Troff prepends /usr/lib/tmac/tmac.name. Nroff prepends /usr/share/lib/tmac/tmac.name.

-nN

First output page has page number N.

-olist

Print pages contained only in the comma-separated list. Page ranges can be specified as n-m, -m (first page through m), or n- (n through end of file).

-raN

Set register a to N.

-sN

Stop every n pages. This allows changing of a paper cassette. Resume by pressing RETURN (in nroff) or by pressing the start button on the typesetter (in troff).

-Tname

Prepare output designed for printer or typesetter name. For device names, see your specific documentation or a local expert.

-uN

The font in position 3 is overstruck N times. Typically used to adjust the weight of the bold font.

-z

Discard output except messages generated by .tm request.

Nroff-only options

-e

When justifying output lines, space words equally (using terminal resolution instead of full space increments).

-h

Hasten output by replacing 8 horizontal spaces with a tab.

-q

Invoke simultaneous input/output of .rd requests.

Troff-only options

-a

Format a printable ASCII approximation. Useful for finding page counts without producing printed output.

-f

Don't stop typesetter when formatting is done.

Examples

Run chap1 through the tbl preprocessor, then format the result using the mm macros, with register N set to 5 (sets the page-numbering style), etc.:

tbl chap1 | troff -mm -rN5 | spooler &

Format chap2 using the ms macros; the first page is 7, but print only pages 8-10, 15, and 18 through the end of the file:

nroff -ms -n7 -o8-10,15,18- chap2 &