summaryrefslogtreecommitdiffstats
path: root/contrib/groff/PROBLEMS
blob: cc879908c95f62d13d75357d597394dcd73cf6f5 (plain)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
This file describes various problems that have been encountered in
compiling, installing and running groff.  Suggestions for additions or
other improvements to this file are welcome.

* I get lots of `numeric overflow' error messages whenever I run
groff; I compiled groff with AT&T C++ 2.0 with an ANSI C compiler.

Make sure -DCFRONT_ANSI_BUG is included in DEFINES in the top-level
Makefile.  If that doesn't solve the problem, define INT_MIN as
-INT_MAX in libgroff/lib.h.

* I get errors when I try to compile groff with Sun C++ version 3 or
earlier.

Groff requires header files that are moderately compatible with AT&T
C++ and ANSI C.  With some versions of Sun C++, the supplied header
files need some of the following changes to meet this requirement:
<string.h> must declare the mem* functions, (just add `#include
<memory.h>' to <string.h>); the first argument to fopen and freopen
should be declared as `const char *'; the first argument to fread
should be declared as `void *'; the first argument to fwrite should be
declared as `const void *'; malloc should be declared to return `void
*'; in <alloca.h>, the declaration `extern "C" { void
*__builtin_alloca(int); }' should be added; declarations of getopt(),
optarg, optind and opterr should be added to <stdlib.h>; in
<sys/signal.h> the return type and the second argument type of
signal() should be changed to be `void (*)(int)'.

You can either change them in place, or copy them to some other
directory and include that directory with a -I option.

* I get errors when I try to compile groff with DEC C++.

Fix the declaration of write() in <unistd.h> so that the second
argument is a const char *.  Fix the declaration of open() in
<sys/file.h> so that the first argument is a const char *.

* On Ultrix, the make stops with the message

  *** Error code 1

  Stop.

for no apparent reason.

Use GNU make.

* I'm having problems compiling groff on 386BSD 0.1.

If you're using ash as /bin/sh, you'll need the following patch.

*** gendef.sh.org	Sun Jun 30 13:30:36 1991
--- gendef.sh	Sun Feb 28 10:23:49 1993
***************
*** 3,9 ****
  file=$1
  shift
  
! defs="#define $1"
  shift
  for def
  do
--- 3,10 ----
  file=$1
  shift
  
! x=$1
! defs="#define $x"
  shift
  for def
  do

You'll also need to change dirnamemax.c so that it doesn't use
pathconf().

* While compiling on Xenix, ranlib libgroff.a fails.

The system ranlib can't handle externals longer than 40 characters.
Use the ranlib included in demon.co.uk:/pub/xenix/g++-1.40.3a.v1
instead.

* Groff can't handle my troff document. It works fine with AT&T troff.

Read the section on incompatibilities in gtroff(1).  Try using the -C
option.  Alternatively there's the sed script in tmac/fixmacros.sed
which will attempt to edit a file of macros so that it can be used
with groff without the -C flag.

* groff -Tdvi produces dvi files that use fonts at weird magnifications.

Yes, it does.  You may need to compile fonts with Metafont at these
magnifications. The CompileFonts script in the devdvi/generate
directory may help you to do this. (It will take a *long* time.)

* pic output is not centered horizontally; pictures sometimes run off
the bottom of the page.

The macro package you are using is not supplying appropriate definitions
of PS and PE.  Give groff a -mpic option.

* I'm having problems including PostScript illustrations using the PSPIC
macro.

A PostScript document must meet three requirements in order to be
included with the PSPIC macro: it must comply with the Adobe Document
Structuring Conventions; it must contain a BoundingBox line; it must
be ``well-behaved''.  The BoundingBox line should be of the form:

  %%BoundingBox: llx lly urx ury

where llx, lly, urx, ury are the coordinates of the lower left x,
lower left y, upper right x, upper right y of the bounding box of
marks on the page expressed as integers in the default PostScript
coordinate system (72 units per inch, origin at bottom left corner).
A useful tactic is to print out the illustration by itself (you may
need to add a `showpage' at the end), and physically measure the
bounding box.  For more detail on these requirements, read the
specification of Encapsulated PostScript format.  (This is available
from the Adobe file server; send a message with a body of `help' to
ps-file-server@adobe.com.)

* I've configured groff for A4 paper, but gtroff still seems to think
that the length of a page (as returned by \n(.p) is 11 inches.

This is intentional.  The PAGE option is used only by grops.  For
compatibility with ditroff, the default page length in gtroff is
always 11 inches.  The page length can be changed with the `pl'
request.

* Groff doesn't use the font names I'm used to.

Use the `ftr' request.  See gtroff(1).

* I get errors using the Unix -ms macros with groff -e -C.

Apply this change:

*** /usr/lib/ms/ms.eqn	Tue Apr 25 02:14:28 1989
--- ms.eqn	Sun Nov 11 10:33:59 1990
***************
*** 22,29 ****
  ..
  .	\" EN - end of a displayed equation
  .de EN
! .if !\\*(10 .br
  .di
  .rm EZ
  .nr ZN \\n(dn
  .if \\n(ZN>0 .if \\n(YE=0 .LP
--- 22,30 ----
  ..
  .	\" EN - end of a displayed equation
  .de EN
! .if \\n(.k>0 .br
  .di
+ .ds 10 \\*(EZ\\
  .rm EZ
  .nr ZN \\n(dn
  .if \\n(ZN>0 .if \\n(YE=0 .LP


* gpic doesn't accept the syntax `chop N M' for chopping both ends of a
line.

The correct syntax is `chop N chop M'.

* With gpic -t, when I print `line ->; box' using a dvi to ps
program, the arrow head sticks through into the inside of the box.

The dvi to ps program should be modified to set the line cap and
line join parameters to 1 while printing tpic specials.

* When I print the output groff -Tps, the output is always shifted up
by about 0.7 inches; I'm using 8.5x11 inch paper.

Make sure that PAGE is defined to be `letter' in the top-level
Makefile.

* When I try to print the output of groff -Tps, I get no output at all
from the printer, and the log file shows the error
%%[ error: undefined; offendingcommand: BP ]%%
I using TranScript spooling software.

This is a bug in the page reversal filter in early versions of
TranScript.  Change the `broken' parameter in
/usr/local/lib/groff/font/devps/DESC to 7.

* When I preview groff -Tps output using the Sun OpenWindows 2.0 pageview
program, all the pages are displayed on top of each other.

This is a defect in pageview.  Change the `broken' parameter in
/usr/local/lib/groff/font/devps/DESC to 2.

* With groff -TX75, -TX100or -X, I can only view the first page.

The left mouse button brings up a menu that allows you to view other
pages.

* When I print the output of groff -Tdvi, I just get a black dot in
upper left corner.

Some dvi drivers (notably early versions of xtex) do not correctly
handle dvi files that use a resolution different from that used by dvi
files produced by TeX.  Try getting a more up to date driver.

* I get lots of errors when I use groff with the AT&T -mm macros.

The AT&T -mm macros need a few changes to work with groff; `make
install.dwbmm' will copy your -mm macros to groff's macro directory
and make the necessary changes.  You may need to edit the commands for
the install.mm target in the Makefile.  Alternatively use the groff
-mm macros.

* gtroff doesn't understand lines like `.ce99' with no space between
the name of the request or macro and the arguments.

Gtroff requires a space between macro or request and its arguments
because it allows the use of long names for macros and requests.  You
can use the -C option or the `cp' request to put gtroff into a
compatibility mode in which it is not possible to use long names for
macros but in which no space is required between macros and their
arguments.  The use of compatibility mode is strongly discouraged.

* gtroff gives warnings about lines like
  .ev	\" a comment
(with a tab after the .ev).

A tab character cannot be used as a substitute for a space character
(except in one case: between a control character at the beginning of a
line and the name of a macro or request).  For example, in Unix troff
  .ps	\" restore the previous point size
(with a tab after the .ps) will NOT restore the previous point-size;
instead it will be silently ignored.  Since this is very likely to be
an error, gtroff can give a warning about it.  If you want to align
comments, you can do it like this:
  .ev\"				\" a comment

* I don't like the page headers and footers produced by groff -man.

There seem to be many different styles of page header and footer
produced by different versions of the -man macros.  You will need to
modify macros/tmac.an to suit your personal taste.  For example, if
you want the center of the page header to say
  UNIX Programmer's Manual
you will need to change the line
  .el .ds an-extra3 \"UNIX Programmer's Manual
to
  .el .ds an-extra3 UNIX Programmer's Manual

* While formatting a manual page, groff complains about not being able to
break lines.  The problem seems to be caused by a line like:
  .TP \w'label'+2

The -man documentation says that the default scale indicator for TP
macro is `n'.  The groff -man macros implement this correctly, so that
the argument will be evaluated as if it were
  \w'label'n+2n
The Unix -man macros don't implement this correctly (probably because
it's hard to do in Unix troff); they just append `n' to the entire
argument, so that it will be evaluated as if it were
  \w'label'u+2n
The solution is to fix the manual page:
  .TP \w'label'u+2

* I'm having problems formatting Ultrix man pages with groff -man.

The Ultrix man pages use a number of non-standard extensions to the
Unix man macros.  One solution is to use the Ultrix -man macros with
groff.  Rename /usr/local/lib/groff/tmac/tmac.an to
/usr/local/lib/groff/tmac/tmac.an.gnu, copy /usr/lib/tmac/tmac.an to
/usr/local/lib/groff/tmac/tmac.an and apply the following patch (from
Frank Wortner):

*** /usr/local/lib/groff/tmac/tmac.an     Wed Sep  9 12:29:28 1992
--- /usr/lib/tmac/tmac.an       Fri Jul 24 19:58:19 1992
***************
*** 489,495 ****
  .     \" make special case of shift out of italic
  .de }S
  .ds ]F
! .if \\$12 .if !\\$5 .ds ]F \^
  .ie !\\$4 .}S \\$2 \\$1 "\\$3\f\\$1\\$4\\*(]F" "\\$5" "\\$6" "\\$7" "\\$8" "\\$9"
  .el \\$3
  .}f
--- 489,495 ----
  .     \" make special case of shift out of italic
  .de }S
  .ds ]F
! .if \\$12 .if !\\$5 .ds ]F\^
  .ie !\\$4 .}S \\$2 \\$1 "\\$3\f\\$1\\$4\\*(]F" "\\$5" "\\$6" "\\$7" "\\$8" "\\$9"
  .el \\$3
  .}f

Another possible solution is to install tmac/man.ultrix as
/usr/local/lib/groff/tmac/man.local.

* I'm having problems formatting HP-UX 9.0 man pages with groff -man.

Rename /usr/local/lib/groff/tmac/tmac.an to (for example)
/usr/local/lib/groff/tmac/tmac.gan, copy HP's tmac.an into
/usr/local/lib/groff/tmac/tmac.an, and either put `.cp 1' at the
beginning or filter it (and any files it .so's) through
tmac/fixmacros.sed.

* I'm having problems formatting man pages produced by the perl
wrapman script.

Some versions of wrapman have a superfluous blank line before the .TH
line.  This must be deleted.  Then either use groff -C, or apply the
following patch:

*** wrapman.~2~	Sun Jan 19 12:10:24 1992
--- wrapman	Tue Aug 10 02:06:41 1993
***************
*** 35,41 ****
      $line1 .= <IN> if $line1 =~ /eval/;
      $line1 .= <IN> if $line1 =~ /argv/;
      $line2 = <IN>;
!     next if $line2 eq "'di';\n";
  
      # Pull the old switcheroo.
  
--- 35,41 ----
      $line1 .= <IN> if $line1 =~ /eval/;
      $line1 .= <IN> if $line1 =~ /argv/;
      $line2 = <IN>;
!     next if $line2 eq "'di ';\n" || $line2 eq "'di';\n";
  
      # Pull the old switcheroo.
  
***************
*** 49,56 ****
  
      print OUT $line1;
      print OUT <<EOF;
! 'di';
! 'ig00';
  #
  # $header
  #
--- 49,58 ----
  
      print OUT $line1;
      print OUT <<EOF;
! 'di ';
! 'ds 00 \\"';
! 'eo ';
! 'ig 00 ';
  #
  # $header
  #
***************
*** 72,85 ****
  
      # These next few lines are legal in both Perl and nroff.
  
! $null.00;                       # finish .ig
   
  'di           \\" finish diversion--previous line must be blank
  .nr nl 0-1    \\" fake up transition to first page again
  .nr % 0         \\" start at page 1
! '; __END__ ##### From here on it's a standard manual page #####
  .TH $PROG 1 "$month $mday, 19$year"
- .AT 3
  .SH NAME
  $prog \\- whatever
  .SH SYNOPSIS
--- 74,87 ----
  
      # These next few lines are legal in both Perl and nroff.
  
! $null.00 ;                      # finish .ig
! 'ec \\';
   
  'di           \\" finish diversion--previous line must be blank
  .nr nl 0-1    \\" fake up transition to first page again
  .nr % 0         \\" start at page 1
! .\\"'; __END__ ##### From here on it's a standard manual page #####
  .TH $PROG 1 "$month $mday, 19$year"
  .SH NAME
  $prog \\- whatever
  .SH SYNOPSIS


* When I preview documents using -TX75 or -TX100, the layout is not the same
as when I print the document with -Tps: the line and page breaks come
in different places.

Use groff -X -Tps.

* When I try to run gxditview, I get the error:
Error: Widget viewport has zero width and/or height

This error means you haven't correctly installed the application
defaults file, GXditview.ad; ``make install'' does this for you
automatically, so either you didn't do ``make install'', or you don't
have imake configured correctly.

* groff uses up an enormous amount of memory processing large files.
I'm using 386BSD 0.1.

386BSD includes an old version of g++, 1.39, which has a bug that
causes a major memory leak in gtroff.  Apply the following fix to g++
and recompile groff:

*** cplus-decl.c.~1~	Mon Aug  6 05:28:59 1990
--- cplus-decl.c	Wed Jun  5 08:55:04 1991
***************
*** 7951,7961 ****
  
        /* At the end, call delete if that's what's requested.  */
        if (TREE_GETS_DELETE (current_class_type))
  	exprstmt = build_method_call (build1 (NOP_EXPR, TYPE_POINTER_TO (current_class_type), error_mark_node),
  				      get_identifier (OPERATOR_DELETE_FORMAT),
! 				      build_tree_list (NULL_TREE, integer_zero_node),
  				      NULL_TREE, LOOKUP_NORMAL);
        else if (TYPE_USES_VIRTUAL_BASECLASSES (current_class_type))
  	exprstmt = build_x_delete (ptr_type_node, current_class_decl, 0);
        else
  	exprstmt = 0;
--- 7951,7961 ----
  
        /* At the end, call delete if that's what's requested.  */
        if (TREE_GETS_DELETE (current_class_type))
  	exprstmt = build_method_call (build1 (NOP_EXPR, TYPE_POINTER_TO (current_class_type), error_mark_node),
  				      get_identifier (OPERATOR_DELETE_FORMAT),
! 				      build_tree_list (NULL_TREE, current_class_decl),
  				      NULL_TREE, LOOKUP_NORMAL);
        else if (TYPE_USES_VIRTUAL_BASECLASSES (current_class_type))
  	exprstmt = build_x_delete (ptr_type_node, current_class_decl, 0);
        else
  	exprstmt = 0;

* Where can I get grap?

Grap is not freely available, but there is a nawk script implementing
an extended subset of grap available for ftp as
ftp.informatik.uni-rostock.de:/pub/local/software/prag-1.0.shar.gz.

* How can I use groff with an old LaserJet printer that doesn't work
with groff -Tlj4?

You have at least 3 options:

- use groff -Tps with GNU Ghostscript;

- use groff -Tdvi with a TeX .dvi to Laserjet driver;

- use groff with the LaserJet driver in Chris Lewis' psroff package
(available for ftp from:
ftp.uunet.ca:/distrib/chris_lewis/psroff3.0pl17).

* Groff seems to generate level 3 Postscript, but my printer is only a
level 1 or 2 PostScript printer.

In fact groff generates only level 1 PostScript.  The `%!PS-Adobe-3.0'
comment at the beginning of PostScript output generated by groff
indicates that the file conforms to version 3.0 of the Adobe Document
Structuring Conventions.  The output generated by groff should be
printable on any PostScript printer.  Problems with groff output's not
printing are most often caused by the spooling system.

* The \n(st and \n(sb registers don't seem to work.  I thought \w set
them to the height and depth of its argument, but the registers always
seem to be 0.

\n(st and \n(sb aren't supposed to give the height and depth of the
string rather they give the minimum and maximum vertical displacement
of the baseline.  For example for \v'2u'\v'-3u', \n(st will be 1 and
\n(sb will be -2.  The height and depth of the string is available in
the \n[rst] and \n[rsb] registers: these are groff extensions.

* On an SGI system, how can I make the man command use groff?

From David Hinds <dhinds@allegro.stanford.edu> (some of these steps
are unnecessary if you install with the `g' Makefile variable defined
as empty):

Create a script called 'eqn':

 > #!/bin/sh
 > if [ ${1:-""} = /usr/pub/eqnchar ] ; then shift ; fi
 > geqn $*

and a script called 'neqn':

 > #!/bin/sh
 > if [ ${1:-""} = /usr/pub/eqnchar ] ; then shift ; fi
 > geqn -Tascii $*

and do:

 > ln -s gnroff nroff

and edit the end of the gnroff script to be:

 > rest=`echo ${1+"$@"} | sed -e 's+/usr/lib/tmac+/usr/local/lib/groff/tmac+'`
 > exec groff -Wall -mtty-char $T $opts $rest

To get PostScript output from 'man -t', you also need to create a
'psroff' script similar to 'nroff'.  Here are the context diffs:

*** /usr/local/bin/nroff        Sat Feb 13 15:51:09 1993
--- /usr/local/bin/psroff       Sat Feb 13 17:45:46 1993
***************
*** 1,8 ****
  #!/bin/sh
! # Emulate nroff with groff.

  prog="$0"
! T=-Tascii
  opts=

  for i
--- 1,8 ----
  #!/bin/sh
! # Emulate psroff with groff.

  prog="$0"
! T=-Tps
  opts=

  for i
***************
*** 25,30 ****
--- 25,33 ----
        -Tascii|-Tlatin1)
                T=$1
                ;;
+       -t)
+               # ignore -- default is send to stdout
+               ;;
        -T*)
                # ignore other devices
                ;;
***************
*** 49,53 ****
  rest=`echo ${1+"$@"} | sed -e 's+/usr/lib/tmac+/usr/local/lib/groff/tmac+'`

  # This shell script is intended for use with man, so warnings are
  # probably not wanted.  Also load nroff-style character definitions.
! exec groff -Wall -mtty-char $T $opts $rest
--- 52,56 ----
  rest=`echo ${1+"$@"} | sed -e 's+/usr/lib/tmac+/usr/local/lib/groff/tmac+'`

  # This shell script is intended for use with man, so warnings are
! # probably not wanted.
! exec groff -Wall $T $opts $rest
OpenPOWER on IntegriCloud