Linux From Scratch - Version 12.3-rc2

Chapter 8. Installing Basic System Software

8.63. Groff-1.23.0

The Groff package contains programs for processing and formatting text and images.

Approximate build time: 0.2 SBU
Required disk space: 108 MB

8.63.1. Installation of Groff

Groff expects the environment variable PAGE to contain the default paper size. For users in the United States, PAGE=letter is appropriate. Elsewhere, PAGE=A4 may be more suitable. While the default paper size is configured during compilation, it can be overridden later by echoing either “A4” or “letter” to the /etc/papersize file.

Prepare Groff for compilation: 

PAGE=<paper_size> ./configure --prefix=/usr

Build the package: 

make

To test the results, issue: 

make check

Install the package: 

make install

8.63.2. Contents of Groff

Installed programs: addftinfo, afmtodit, chem, eqn, eqn2graph, gdiffmk, glilypond, gperl, gpinyin, grap2graph, grn, grodvi, groff, groffer, grog, grolbp, grolj4, gropdf, grops, grotty, hpftodit, indxbib, lkbib, lookbib, mmroff, neqn, nroff, pdfmom, pdfroff, pfbtops, pic, pic2graph, post-grohtml, preconv, pre-grohtml, refer, roff2dvi, roff2html, roff2pdf, roff2ps, roff2text, roff2x, soelim, tbl, tfmtodit, and troff
Installed directories: /usr/lib/groff and /usr/share/doc/groff-1.23.0, /usr/share/groff

Short Descriptions

addftinfo

Reads a troff font file and adds some additional font-metric information that is used by the groff system

afmtodit

Creates a font file for use with groff and grops

chem

Groff preprocessor for producing chemical structure diagrams

eqn

Compiles descriptions of equations embedded within troff input files into commands that are understood by troff

eqn2graph

Converts a troff EQN (equation) into a cropped image

gdiffmk

Marks differences between groff/nroff/troff files

glilypond

Transforms sheet music written in the lilypond language into the groff language

gperl

Preprocessor for groff, allowing the insertion of perl code into groff files

gpinyin

Preprocessor for groff, allowing the insertion of Pinyin (Mandarin Chinese spelled with the Roman alphabet) into groff files.

grap2graph

Converts a grap program file into a cropped bitmap image (grap is an old Unix programming language for creating diagrams)

grn

A groff preprocessor for gremlin files

grodvi

A driver for groff that produces TeX dvi format output files

groff

A front end to the groff document formatting system; normally, it runs the troff program and a post-processor appropriate for the selected device

groffer

Displays groff files and man pages on X and tty terminals

grog

Reads files and guesses which of the groff options -e, -man, -me, -mm, -ms, -p, -s, and -t are required for printing files, and reports the groff command including those options

grolbp

Is a groff driver for Canon CAPSL printers (LBP-4 and LBP-8 series laser printers)

grolj4

Is a driver for groff that produces output in PCL5 format suitable for an HP LaserJet 4 printer

gropdf

Translates the output of GNU troff to PDF

grops

Translates the output of GNU troff to PostScript

grotty

Translates the output of GNU troff into a form suitable for typewriter-like devices

hpftodit

Creates a font file for use with groff -Tlj4 from an HP-tagged font metric file

indxbib

Creates an inverted index for the bibliographic databases with a specified file for use with refer, lookbib, and lkbib

lkbib

Searches bibliographic databases for references that contain specified keys and reports any references found

lookbib

Prints a prompt on the standard error (unless the standard input is not a terminal), reads a line containing a set of keywords from the standard input, searches the bibliographic databases in a specified file for references containing those keywords, prints any references found on the standard output, and repeats this process until the end of input

mmroff

A simple preprocessor for groff

neqn

Formats equations for American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) output

nroff

A script that emulates the nroff command using groff

pdfmom

Is a wrapper around groff that facilitates the production of PDF documents from files formatted with the mom macros.

pdfroff

Creates pdf documents using groff

pfbtops

Translates a PostScript font in .pfb format to ASCII

pic

Compiles descriptions of pictures embedded within troff or TeX input files into commands understood by TeX or troff

pic2graph

Converts a PIC diagram into a cropped image

post-grohtml

Translates the output of GNU troff to HTML

preconv

Converts encoding of input files to something GNU troff understands

pre-grohtml

Translates the output of GNU troff to HTML

refer

Copies the contents of a file to the standard output, except that lines between .[ and .] are interpreted as citations, and lines between .R1 and .R2 are interpreted as commands for how citations are to be processed

roff2dvi

Transforms roff files into DVI format

roff2html

Transforms roff files into HTML format

roff2pdf

Transforms roff files into PDFs

roff2ps

Transforms roff files into ps files

roff2text

Transforms roff files into text files

roff2x

Transforms roff files into other formats

soelim

Reads files and replaces lines of the form .so file by the contents of the mentioned file

tbl

Compiles descriptions of tables embedded within troff input files into commands that are understood by troff

tfmtodit

Creates a font file for use with groff -Tdvi

troff

Is highly compatible with Unix troff; it should usually be invoked using the groff command, which will also run preprocessors and post-processors in the appropriate order and with the appropriate options