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Annotation of researchv10no/cmd/troff/Old/README, revision 1.1.1.1

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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