Re: [Groff] developers only?

[Ted Harding]

On 29-Mar-05 Otavio Exel wrote:
> [...]
> I'm printing the lyrics of a CD; I want it in 2-col; so I did
> 
>       .2c
>       .nf
> 
> I wanted groff to *not* join short lines but break long lines;
> Short lines were not joined, ok!
> But groff did not break the long lines :-))
> - Long lines in the first column invaded the second column
> - Long lines in the second column were truncated
> 
> How do I get groff to split but don't join?
> 
> I'm using -me and groff 1.17.2 (debian stable);

I'll make a suggestion. This uses the 'ms' macros (which
I'm more familiar with than 'me' so I know what I'm doing!).
The following is the 'input file' for groff:
============================================
.nr PD 0
.de newXP
.XP
.nh
.ad l
..
.blm newXP
.2C

This is a mixture

Of some short lines and some long lines

Including some lines which are very long indeed
and can be typed on several consecutive lines with
no blank line between them.

The blank lines

Will trigger the blank line macro

Which is defined by the macro definition .blm above,
which starts an exdented paragraph (the first line left-justified,
all subsequent lines indented, until the next one).

The .nr PD 0 definition
sets the paragraph drop (the spacing between paragraphs)
to 0

So that the new lines of the lyric will be recognised
by starting on the left.
.sp

When you do want a space

For instance between verses of a lyric

You can use the .sp command.
========================================================

If you put the above (between ====...//...//====...)
into say temp.tr and then run

groff -Tascii -ms temp.tr > temp.out

you should find that temp.out contains
======================================
  This is a mixture
  Of some short lines and some
       long lines
  Including some lines which
       are very long indeed
       and can be typed on
       several consecutive
       lines with no blank
       line between them.
  The blank lines
  Will trigger the blank line
       macro
  Which is defined by the
       macro definition .blm
       above, which starts an
       exdented paragraph (the
       first line left-
       justified, all
       subsequent lines
       indented, until the
       next one).
  The .nr PD 0 definition sets
       the paragraph drop (the
       spacing between
       paragraphs) to 0
  So that the new lines of the
       lyric will be
       recognised by starting
       on the left.

  When you do want a space
  For instance between verses
       of a lyric
  You can use the .sp command.
====================================

Because of ".2C" this is the first column of a two-column
layout, hence the short lines as printed.

Other things you need to know, not explained in the "lyrics",
are:

".nh" supresses hyphenation

".ad l" does "left adjustment" but not "right adjustment"
as well, so that the automatic expansion of inter-word
spaces which normally cause the line to be filled out to
its full length does not take place.

The other things are explained in the lyrics.
Note in particular the blank line following ".sp"
in the input file.

Hoping this helps!
Ted.


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Date: 30-Mar-05                                       Time: 00:04:49
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