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Annotation of researchv10no/cmd/troff/Old/README, revision 1.1

1.1     ! root        1: Changed 7/27/81
        !             2: 
        !             3: The troff in this directory (known as a.out)
        !             4: is a troff that produces machine-independent output.
        !             5: It requires a file of descriptive information about
        !             6: the particular typesetter you have in mind, and produces
        !             7: output parameterized for that device.
        !             8: 
        !             9: Thus:
        !            10:        a.out -T202 ...
        !            11: produces output for the mergenthaler linotron 202.
        !            12: (This is the default.)
        !            13: 
        !            14: To make this work, one needs to create a set of
        !            15: device and font descriptions in the directory
        !            16:        /usr/lib/font/devxxx
        !            17: where "xxx" is your device name.
        !            18: Currently supported devices are
        !            19:        202     mergenthaler 202 using our software
        !            20:        aps     autologic aps5
        !            21:        cat     gsi cat (not really working at present)
        !            22: 
        !            23: The file "DESC" contains information about the
        !            24: device itself and the character set.  The file dev202/DESC
        !            25: is a good example; follow the format closely.
        !            26: 
        !            27: In addition, each font needs a description of its
        !            28: characters, width and device-driving codes;
        !            29: see dev202/R and S for typical examples.
        !            30: 
        !            31: The program "makedev" will convert these text
        !            32: descriptions into a binary form that the a.out can
        !            33: slurp up in a single gulp during initialization;
        !            34: these wind up in dev202/DESC.out (which includes
        !            35: default font info) and XX.out for info about font XX.
        !            36: 
        !            37: The second half of the job is to write a post-processor
        !            38: that converts the more or less machine-independent a.out
        !            39: output into specific codes for your favorite typesetter.
        !            40: d202.c is the driver for the 202;
        !            41: it will serve as a useful prototype.  In particular,
        !            42: it contains a precise description of the output language.
        !            43: Other working postprocessors are
        !            44:        daps    aps5
        !            45:        dcat    graphic systems CAT (not really up to date)
        !            46:        tc      tektronix 4014
        !            47:        hc      hp2621 (mainly for crude graphics)
        !            48:        ta      arbitrary terminal
        !            49: The 202 driver writes onto /dev/202 in the same way that
        !            50: old troff writes on /dev/cat; to get its output on the std output,
        !            51: use, e.g., d202 -t ... >file.
        !            52: 
        !            53: One can always simply run
        !            54:        a.out
        !            55: and look at the output; it is guaranteed to be ascii text
        !            56: and thus safe to edit, grep, etc.
        !            57: (Since it is ascii, it is also guaranteed to be quite voluminous.)
        !            58: On the research system, /usr/bin/troff is actually a shell program
        !            59: that detects -Txxx arguments;  the current default is 202.
        !            60: /usr/lib/troff.new and the appropriate postprocessor are fired up.
        !            61: 
        !            62: Putting output codes into the font description files
        !            63: seems like the right thing to do but I'm not happy yet.
        !            64: Accordingly, the formats of any or all of the files
        !            65: described here are subject to drastic change; hang loose.
        !            66: 
        !            67: As it says in the Unix warranty:
        !            68:        "There is no warranty of merchantability nor any warranty
        !            69:        of fitness for a particular purpose nor any other warranty,
        !            70:        either express or implied, as to the accuracy of the
        !            71:        enclosed materials or as to their suitability for any
        !            72:        particular purpose.  Accordingly, Bell Telephone
        !            73:        Laboratories assumes no responsibility for their use by the
        !            74:        recipient.   Further, Bell Laboratories assumes no obligation
        !            75:        to furnish any assistance of any kind whatsoever, or to
        !            76:        furnish any additional information or documentation."
        !            77: 
        !            78: Nevertheless, I will try to answer questions in cases of
        !            79: dire necessity.  Suggestions and other comments would be appreciated.
        !            80: 
        !            81: Brian W. Kernighan

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