−ME REFERENCE MANUAL
GROFF Version 1.22.4†
Eric P. Allman*
Project INGRES
Electronics Research Laboratory
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California 94720
Modified for GROFF by James Clark
This document describes in extremely terse form the features
of the −me macro package for GROFF. Some familiarity is assumed
with GROFF. Specifically, the reader should understand breaks,
fonts, pointsizes, the use and definition of number registers and
strings, how to define macros, and scaling factors for ens,
points, v’s (vertical line spaces), etc.
For a more casual introduction to text processing using
GROFF, refer to the document Writing Papers with GROFF using −me.
There are a number of macro parameters that may be adjusted.
Fonts may be set to a font number only. Font 0 is no font
change; the font of the surrounding text is used instead. Notice
that font 0 is a “pseudo‐font”; that is, it is simulated by the
macros. This means that although it is valid to set a font reg‐
ister to zero, it is not valid to use the escape character form,
such as:
\f0
All distances are in basic units, so it is nearly always
necessary to use a scaling factor. For example, the request to
set the paragraph indent to eight one‐en spaces is:
____________________
†Based on Berkeley Release 2.31.
*Author’s current address: Britton Lee, Inc., 1919 Addison
Suite 105, Berkeley, California 94704.
−ME REFERENCE MANUAL 1
−ME REFERENCE MANUAL 2
.nr pi 8n
and not
.nr pi 8
which would set the paragraph indent to eight basic units, or
about 0.02 inch. Default parameter values are given in brackets
in the remainder of this document.
Registers and strings of the form $x may be used in expres‐
sions but should not be changed. Macros of the form $x perform
some function (as described) and may be redefined to change this
function. This may be a sensitive operation; look at the body of
the original macro before changing it.
All names in −me follow a rigid naming convention. The user
may define number registers, strings, and macros, provided that
s/he uses single character upper case names or double character
names consisting of letters and digits, with at least one upper
case letter. In no case should special characters be used in
user‐defined names. Locally defined macros should all be of the
form .*X, where X is any letter (upper or lower case) or digit.
This documentation applies to GROFF version 1.22.4 of the
−me macros.
1. Paragraphing
These macros are used to begin paragraphs. The standard
paragraph macro is .pp; the others are all variants to be used
for special purposes.
After the first call to one of the paragraphing macros de‐
fined in this section or the .sh macro (defined in the next sec‐
tion), the effects of changing parameters which will have a
global effect on the format of the page (notably page length and
header and footer margins) are not well defined and should be
avoided.
.lp Begin left‐justified paragraph. Centering and un‐
derlining are turned off if they were on, the font
is set to \n(pf [1] the type size is set to \n(pp
[10p], and a \n(ps space is inserted before the
paragraph [0.35v] The indent is reset to \n($i [0]
plus \n(po [0] unless the paragraph is inside a
display. (see .ba). At least the first two lines
of the paragraph are kept together on a page.
.pp Like .lp, except that it puts \n(pi [5n] units of
indent. This is the standard paragraph macro.
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.ip T I Indented paragraph with hanging tag. The body of
the following paragraph is indented I spaces (or
\n(ii [5n] spaces if I is not specified) more than
a non‐indented paragraph (such as with .pp) is.
The title T is exdented (opposite of indented).
The result is a paragraph with an even left edge
and T printed in the margin. Any spaces in T must
be unpaddable. If T will not fit in the space
provided, .ip will start a new line.
.np A variant of .ip which numbers paragraphs. Num‐
bering is reset after a .lp, .pp, or .sh. The
current paragraph number is in \n($p.
.bu Like .np except that paragraphs are marked with
bullets (•). Leading space is eliminated to cre‐
ate compact lists.
2. Section Headings
Numbered sections are similar to paragraphs except that a
section number is automatically generated for each one. The sec‐
tion numbers are of the form 1.2.3. The depth of the section is
the count of numbers (separated by decimal points) in the section
number.
Unnumbered section headings are similar, except that no num‐
ber is attached to the heading.
.sh +N T a b c Begin numbered section of depth N. If N is miss‐
ing the current depth (maintained in the number
register \n($0) is used. The values of the indi‐
vidual parts of the section number are maintained
in \n($1 through \n($6. There is a \n(ss [1v]
space before the section. T is printed as a sec‐
tion title in font \n(sf [8] and size \n(sp [10p].
The “name” of the section may be accessed via
\*($n. If \n(si is non‐zero, the base indent is
set to \n(si times the section depth, and the sec‐
tion title is exdented. (See .ba.) Also, an ad‐
ditional indent of \n(so [0] is added to the sec‐
tion title (but not to the body of the section).
The font is then set to the paragraph font, so
that more information may occur on the line with
the section number and title. .sh insures that
there is enough room to print the section head
plus the beginning of a paragraph (about 3 lines
total). If a through f are specified, the section
number is set to that number rather than incre‐
mented automatically. If any of a through f are a
hyphen that number is not reset. If T is a single
underscore (“_”) then the section depth and num‐
bering is reset, but the base indent is not reset
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and nothing is printed out. This is useful to au‐
tomatically coordinate section numbers with chap‐
ter numbers.
.sx +N Go to section depth N [−1], but do not print the
number and title, and do not increment the section
number at level N. This has the effect of start‐
ing a new paragraph at level N.
.uh T Unnumbered section heading. The title T is
printed with the same rules for spacing, font,
etc., as for .sh.
.$p T B N Print section heading. May be redefined to get
fancier headings. T is the title passed on the
.sh or .uh line; B is the section number for this
section, and N is the depth of this section.
These parameters are not always present; in par‐
ticular, .sh passes all three, .uh passes only the
first, and .sx passes three, but the first two are
null strings. Care should be taken if this macro
is redefined; it is quite complex and subtle.
.$0 T B N This macro is called automatically after every
call to .$p. It is normally undefined, but may be
used to automatically put every section title into
the table of contents or for some similar func‐
tion. T is the section title for the section ti‐
tle which was just printed, B is the section num‐
ber, and N is the section depth.
.$1 − .$6 Traps called just before printing that depth sec‐
tion. May be defined to (for example) give vari‐
able spacing before sections. These macros are
called from .$p, so if you redefine that macro you
may lose this feature.
3. Headers and Footers
Headers and footers are put at the top and bottom of every
page automatically. They are set in font \n(tf [3] and size
\n(tp [10p]. Each of the definitions apply as of the next page.
Three‐part titles must be quoted if there are two blanks adjacent
anywhere in the title or more than eight blanks total.
The spacing of headers and footers are controlled by three
number registers. \n(hm [4v] is the distance from the top of the
page to the top of the header, \n(fm [3v] is the distance from
the bottom of the page to the bottom of the footer, \n(tm [7v] is
the distance from the top of the page to the top of the text, and
\n(bm [6v] is the distance from the bottom of the page to the
bottom of the text (nominal). The macros .m1, .m2, .m3, and .m4
are also supplied for compatibility with ROFF documents.
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.he ´l´m´r´ Define three‐part header, to be printed on the top
of every page.
.fo ´l´m´r´ Define footer, to be printed at the bottom of ev‐
ery page.
.eh ´l´m´r´ Define header, to be printed at the top of every
even‐numbered page.
.oh ´l´m´r´ Define header, to be printed at the top of every
odd‐numbered page.
.ef ´l´m´r´ Define footer, to be printed at the bottom of ev‐
ery even‐numbered page.
.of ´l´m´r´ Define footer, to be printed at the bottom of ev‐
ery odd‐numbered page.
.hx Suppress headers and footers on the next page.
.m1 +N Set the space between the top of the page and the
header [4v].
.m2 +N Set the space between the header and the first
line of text [2v].
.m3 +N Set the space between the bottom of the text and
the footer [2v].
.m4 +N Set the space between the footer and the bottom of
the page [4v].
.ep End this page, but do not begin the next page.
Useful for forcing out footnotes, but other than
that hardly every used. Must be followed by a .bp
or the end of input.
.$h Called at every page to print the header. May be
redefined to provide fancy (e.g., multi‐line)
headers, but doing so loses the function of the
.he, .fo, .eh, .oh, .ef, and .of requests, as well
as the chapter‐style title feature of .+c.
.$f Print footer; same comments apply as in .$h.
.$H A normally undefined macro which is called at the
top of each page (after putting out the header,
initial saved floating keeps, etc.), or of each
column when in two‐column mode; in other words,
this macro is called immediately before printing
text on a page or in a column. It can be used for
column headings and the like.
−ME REFERENCE MANUAL 6
4. Displays
All displays except centered blocks and block quotes are
preceded and followed by an extra \n(bs [same as \n(ps] space.
Quote spacing is stored in a separate register; centered blocks
have no default initial or trailing space. The vertical spacing
of all displays except quotes and centered blocks is stored in
register \n($V instead of \n($v.
.(l m f Begin list. Lists are single spaced, unfilled
text. If f is F, the list will be filled. If m
[I] is I the list is indented by \n(bi [4m]; if M
the list is indented to the left margin; if L the
list is left justified with respect to the text
(different from M only if the base indent (stored
in \n($i and set with .ba) is not zero); and if C
the list is centered on a line‐by‐line basis. The
list is set in font \n(df [0]. Must be matched by
a .)l. This macro is almost like .(b except that
no attempt is made to keep the display on one
page.
.)l End list.
.(q Begin major quote. These are single spaced,
filled, moved in from the text on both sides by
\n(qi [4n], preceded and followed by \n(qs [same
as \n(bs] space, and are set in point size \n(qp
[one point smaller than surrounding text].
.)q End major quote.
.(b m f Begin block. Blocks are a form of keep, where the
text of a keep is kept together on one page if
possible (keeps are useful for tables and figures
which should not be broken over a page). If the
block will not fit on the current page a new page
is begun, unless that would leave more than \n(bt
[0] white space at the bottom of the text. If
\n(bt is zero, the threshold feature is turned
off. Blocks are not filled unless f is F, when
they are filled. The block will be left‐justified
if m is L, indented by \n(bi [4m] if m is I or ab‐
sent, centered (line‐for‐line) if m is C, and left
justified to the margin (not to the base indent)
if m is M. The block is set in font \n(df [0].
.)b End block.
.(z m f Begin floating keep. Like .(b except that the
keep is floated to the bottom of the page or the
top of the next page. Therefore, its position
relative to the text changes. The floating keep
−ME REFERENCE MANUAL 7
is preceded and followed by \n(zs [1v] space.
Also, it defaults to mode M.
.)z End floating keep.
.(c Begin centered block. The next keep is centered
as a block, rather than on a line‐by‐line basis as
with .(b C. This call may be nested inside keeps.
.)c End centered block.
5. Annotations
.(d Begin delayed text. Everything in the next keep
is saved for output later with .pd, in a manner
similar to footnotes.
.)d n End delayed text. The delayed text number regis‐
ter \n($d and the associated string \*# are incre‐
mented if \*# has been referenced.
.pd Print delayed text. Everything diverted via .(d
is printed and truncated. This might be used at
the end of each chapter.
.(f Begin footnote. The text of the footnote is
floated to the bottom of the page and set in font
\n(ff [1] and size \n(fp [8p]. Each entry is pre‐
ceded by \n(fs [0.2v] space, is indented \n(fi
[3n] on the first line, and is indented \n(fu [0]
from the right margin. Footnotes line up under‐
neath two column output. If the text of the foot‐
note will not all fit on one page it will be car‐
ried over to the next page.
.)f n End footnote. The number register \n($f and the
associated string \** are incremented if they have
been referenced.
.$s The macro to output the footnote separator. This
macro may be redefined to give other size lines or
other types of separators. Currently it draws a
1.5i line.
.(x x Begin index entry. Index entries are saved in the
index x [x] until called up with .xp. Each entry
is preceded by a \n(xs [0.2v] space. Each entry
is “undented” by \n(xu [0.5i]; this register tells
how far the page number extends into the right
margin.
.)x P A End index entry. The index entry is finished with
a row of dots with A [null] right justified on the
−ME REFERENCE MANUAL 8
last line (such as for an author’s name), followed
by P [\n%]. If A is specified, P must be speci‐
fied; \n% can be used to print the current page
number. If P is an underscore, no page number and
no row of dots are printed.
.xp x Print index x [x]. The index is formatted in the
font, size, and so forth in effect at the time it
is printed, rather than at the time it is col‐
lected.
6. Columned Output
.2c +S N Enter two‐column mode. The column separation is
set to +S [4n, 0.5i in ACM mode] (saved in \n($s).
The column width, calculated to fill the single
column line length with both columns, is stored in
\n($l. The current column is in \n($c. You can
test register \n($m [1] to see if you are in sin‐
gle column or double column mode. Actually, the
request enters N [2] column output.
.1c Revert to single‐column mode.
.bc Begin column. This is like .bp except that it be‐
gins a new column on a new page only if necessary,
rather than forcing a whole new page if there is
another column left on the current page.
7. Fonts and Sizes
.sz +P The pointsize is set to P [10p], and the line
spacing is set proportionally. The line spacing
as a percentage of the pointsize expressed in
units is stored in \n($v. The percentage used in‐
ternally by displays and annotations is stored in
\n($V (although this is not used by .sz). This
size is not sticky beyond many macros: in particu‐
lar, \n(pp (paragraph pointsize) modifies the
pointsize every time a new paragraph is begun us‐
ing the .pp, .lp, .ip, .np, or .bu macros. Also,
\n(fp (footnote pointsize), \n(qp (quote point‐
size), \n(sp (section header pointsize), and \n(tp
(title pointsize) may modify the pointsize.
.r W X Set W in roman font, appending X in the previous
font. To append different font requests, use X =
\c. If no parameters, change to roman font.
.i W X Set W in italics, appending X in the previous
font. If no parameters, change to italic font.
−ME REFERENCE MANUAL 9
.b W X Set W in bold font and append X in the previous
font. If no parameters, switch to bold font.
.u W X Underline W and append X. This is a true under‐
lining, as opposed to the .ul request, which
changes to “underline font” (usually italics in
GROFF). It won’t work right if W is spread or
broken (including hyphenated). In other words, it
is safe in nofill mode only.
.q W X Quote W and append X. In GROFF this surrounds W
with “, and ”.
.bi W X Set W in bold italics and append X.
.bx W X Sets W in a box, with X appended. It won’t work
right if W is spread or broken (including hyphen‐
ated). In other words, it is safe in nofill mode
only.
.sm W X Sets W in a smaller pointsize, with X appended.
8. Roff Support
.ix +N Indent, no break. Equivalent to ´in N.
.bl N Leave N contiguous white space, on the next page
if not enough room on this page. Equivalent to
putting a .sp N inside a block.
.pa +N Equivalent to .bp.
.ro Set page number in roman numerals. Equivalent to
.af % i.
.ar Set page number in Arabic. Equivalent to .af % 1.
.n1 Number lines in margin from one on each page.
.n2 N c Number lines from N, stop if N missing; resume
where stopped with (unsigned) value N or increment
N if N is ±N. If c is c, maintain compatibility
with original .n2 by narrowing line width to ac‐
commodate numbers.
.sk Leave the next output page blank, except for head‐
ers and footers. This is used to leave space for
a full‐page diagram which is produced externally
and pasted in later. To get a partial‐page paste‐
in display, say .sv N, where N is the amount of
space to leave; this space will be output immedi‐
ately if there is room, and will otherwise be out‐
put at the top of the next page. However, be
−ME REFERENCE MANUAL 10
warned: if N is greater than the amount of avail‐
able space on an empty page, no space will ever be
output.
9. Preprocessor Support
.EQ m T Begin equation. The equation is centered if m is
C or omitted, indented \n(bi [4m] if m is I, and
left justified if m is L. T is a title printed on
the right margin next to the equation. See Type‐
setting Mathematics − User’s Guide by Brian W.
Kernighan and Lorinda L. Cherry.
.EN c End equation. If c is C the equation must be con‐
tinued by immediately following with another .EQ,
the text of which can be centered along with this
one. Otherwise, the equation is printed, always
on one page, with \n(es [0.5v] space above and be‐
low it.
.TS h Table start. Tables are single spaced and kept on
one page if possible. If you have a large table
which will not fit on one page, use h = H and fol‐
low the header part (to be printed on every page
of the table) with a .TH. See Tbl − A Program to
Format Tables by M. E. Lesk.
.TH With .TS H, ends the header portion of the table.
.TE Table end. Note that this table does not float,
in fact, it is not even guaranteed to stay on one
page if you use requests such as .sp intermixed
with the text of the table. If you want it to
float (or if you use requests inside the table),
surround the entire table (including the .TS and
.TE requests) with the requests .(z and .)z.
.PS h w Begin pic picture. H is the height and w is the
width, both in basic units.
.PE End picture.
.IS Begin ideal picture.
.IE End ideal picture.
.IF End ideal picture (alternate form).
.GS x Begin gremlin picture. X can be either C, L, or R
to center, left, or right justify the whole pic‐
ture. Default is centering the image.
−ME REFERENCE MANUAL 11
.GE End gremlin picture.
.GF End gremlin picture (alternate form).
10. Miscellaneous
.re Reset tabs every 0.5i.
.ba +N Set the base indent to +N [0] (saved in \n($i).
All paragraphs, sections, and displays come out
indented by this amount. Titles and footnotes are
unaffected. The .sh request performs a .ba re‐
quest if \n(si [0] is not zero, and sets the base
indent to \n(si*\n($0.
.xl +N Set the line length to N [6.0i]. This differs
from .ll because it only affects the current envi‐
ronment.
.ll +N Set line length in all environments to N [6.0i].
This should not be used after output has begun,
and particularly not in two‐column output. The
current line length is stored in \n($l.
.hl Draws a horizontal line the length of the page.
This is useful inside floating keeps to differen‐
tiate between the text and the figure.
11. Standard Papers
.tp Begin title page. Spacing at the top of the page
can occur, and headers and footers are suppressed.
Also, the page number is not incremented for this
page.
.++ m H This request defines the section of the paper
which we are entering. The section type is de‐
fined by m. C means that we are entering the
chapter portion of the paper, A means that we are
entering the appendix portion of the paper, P
means that the material following should be the
preliminary portion (abstract, table of contents,
etc.) portion of the paper, AB means that we are
entering the abstract (numbered independently from
1 in Arabic numerals), and B means that we are en‐
tering the bibliographic portion at the end of the
paper. Also, the variants RC and RA are allowed,
which specify renumbering of pages from one at the
beginning of each chapter or appendix, respec‐
tively. The section type is available in register
\n(_M [1]; value 1 is equivalent to type C or RC,
value 2 represents type A or RA, and values 3 to 5
are type P, B, and AB, respectively. The H
−ME REFERENCE MANUAL 12
parameter defines the new header. If there are
any spaces in it, the entire header must be
quoted. If you want the header to have the chap‐
ter number in it, Use the string \\\\n(ch. For
example, to number appendixes A.1 etc., type .++
RA ´´´\\\\n(ch.%´. Each section (chapter, appen‐
dix, etc.) should be preceded by the .+c request.
It should be mentioned that it is easier when us‐
ing TROFF to put the front material at the end of
the paper, so that the table of contents can be
collected and put out; this material can then be
physically moved to the beginning of the paper.
.+c T Begin chapter with title T. The chapter number is
maintained in \n(ch. This register is incremented
every time .+c is called with a parameter. The
title and chapter number are printed by .$c. The
header is moved to the footer on the first page of
each chapter. If T is omitted, .$c is not called;
this is useful for doing your own “title page” at
the beginning of papers without a title page
proper. .$c calls .$C as a hook so that chapter
titles can be inserted into a table of contents
automatically. The footnote numbering is reset to
one.
.$c T Print chapter number (from \n(ch) and T. This
macro can be redefined to your liking. It is de‐
fined by default to be acceptable for a PhD thesis
at Berkeley. This macro calls $C, which can be
defined to make index entries, or whatever.
.$C K N T This macro is called by .$c. It is normally unde‐
fined, but can be used to automatically insert in‐
dex entries, or whatever. K is a keyword, either
“Chapter” or “Appendix” (depending on the .++
mode); N is the chapter or appendix number, and T
is the chapter or appendix title.
12. Predefined Strings
\** Footnote number, actually \*[\n($f\*]. The number
in this string is incremented after each call to
.)f.
\*# Delayed text number. Actually [\n($d].
\*{ Superscript. This string gives upward movement
and a change to a smaller point size. Extra space
is left above the line to allow room for the su‐
perscript.
−ME REFERENCE MANUAL 13
\*} Unsuperscript. Inverse to \*{. For example, to
produce a superscript you might type x\*{2\*},
which will produce x2.
\*< Subscript. Extra space is left below the line to
allow for the subscript.
\*> Inverse to \*<.
\*(dw The day of the week, as a word.
\*(mo The month, as a word.
\*(td Today’s date, directly printable. The date is of
the form February 15, 2003. Other forms of the
date can be used by using \n(dy (the day of the
month; for example, 15), \*(mo (as noted above) or
\n(mo (the same, but as an ordinal number; for ex‐
ample, February is 2), \n(y4 (the current year),
and \n(y2 (the last two digits of the current
year).
\*(lq Left quote marks.
\*(rq Right quote.
\*− ¾ em dash.
13. Special Characters and Marks
There are a number of special characters and diacritical
marks (such as accents) available through −me.
Name Usage Example
Acute accent \*´ a\*´ ´
Grave accent \*` e\*` `
Umlaut \*: u\*: .
Tilde \*~ n\*~ ~
Caret \*^ e\*^ ^
Cedilla \*, c\*, ,
Czech \*v e\*v v
Circle \*o A\*o °
There exists \*(qe —│
For all \*(qa —
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Bob Epstein, Bill Joy, and Larry Rowe
for having the courage to use the −me macros to produce non‐
−ME REFERENCE MANUAL 14
trivial papers during the development stages; Ricki Blau, Pamela
Humphrey, and Jim Joyce for their help with the documentation
phase; peter kessler for numerous complaints, most accompanied by
fixes; and the plethora of people who have contributed ideas and
have given support for the project.
−ME REFERENCE MANUAL 15
Summary
This alphabetical list summarizes all macros, strings, and
number registers available in the −me macros. Selected troff
commands, registers, and functions are included as well; those
listed can generally be used with impunity.
The columns are the name of the command, macro, register, or
string; the type of the object, and the description. Types are M
for macro or builtin command (invoked with . or ´ in the first
input column), S for a string (invoked with \* or \*(), R for a
number register (invoked with \n or \n(), and F for a troff
builtin function (invoked by preceding it with a single back‐
slash).
Lines marked with § are troff internal codes. Lines marked
with † or ‡ may be defined by the user to get special functions;
‡ indicates that these are defined by default and changing them
may have unexpected side effects. Lines marked with ° are spe‐
cific to ditroff (device‐independent troff).
NAME TYPE DESCRIPTION
\(space) F§ unpaddable space
\" F§ comment (to end of line)
\*# S optional delayed text tag string
\$N F§ interpolate argument N
\n($0 R section depth
.$0 M† invoked after section title printed
\n($1 R first section number
.$1 M† invoked before printing depth 1 section
\n($2 R second section number
.$2 M† invoked before printing depth 2 section
\n($3 R third section number
.$3 M† invoked before printing depth 3 section
\n($4 R fourth section number
.$4 M† invoked before printing depth 4 section
\n($5 R fifth section number
.$5 M† invoked before printing depth 5 section
\n($6 R sixth section number
.$6 M† invoked before printing depth 6 section
.$C M† called at beginning of chapter
.$H M† text header
\n($V R‡ relative vertical spacing in displays
\n($c R current column number
.$c M‡ print chapter title
\n($d R delayed text number
\n($f R footnote number
.$f M‡ print footer
.$h M‡ print header
\n($i R paragraph base indent
\n($l R column width
\n($m R number of columns in effect
\*($n S section name
−ME REFERENCE MANUAL 16
NAME TYPE DESCRIPTION
\n($p R numbered paragraph number
.$p M‡ print section heading (internal macro)
\n($s R column indent
.$s M‡ footnote separator (from text)
\n($v R‡ relative vertical spacing in text
\n% R§ current page number
\& F§ zero width character, useful for hiding controls
\(xx F§ interpolate special character xx
.(b M begin block
.(c M begin centered block
.(d M begin delayed text
.(f M begin footnote
.(l M begin list
.(q M begin quote
.(x M begin index entry
.(z M begin floating keep
.)b M end block
.)c M end centered block
.)d M end delayed text
.)f M end footnote
.)l M end list
.)q M end quote
.)x M end index entry
.)z M end floating keep
\*x F§ interpolate string x
\*(xx F§ interpolate string xx
\** S optional footnote tag string
.++ M set paper section type
.+c M begin chapter
\*, S cedilla
\− F§ minus sign
\*− S 3/4 em dash
\0 F§ unpaddable digit‐width space
.1c M revert to single column output
.2c M begin two column output
\*: S umlaut
\*< S begin subscript
\*> S end subscript
.EN M end equation
.EQ M begin equation
\L´d´ F§ vertical line drawing function for distance d
.GE M° end gremlin picture
.GF M° end gremlin picture (with flyback)
.GS M° start gremlin picture
.IE M° end ideal picture
.IF M° end ideal picture (with flyback)
.IS M° start ideal picture
.PE M° end pic picture
.PF M° end pic picture (with flyback)
.PS M° start pic picture
.TE M end table
.TH M end header of table
−ME REFERENCE MANUAL 17
NAME TYPE DESCRIPTION
.TS M begin table
\*{ S begin superscript
\n(.$ R§ number of arguments to macro
\n(.i R§ current indent
\n(.l R§ current line length
\n(.s R§ current point size
\*(´ S acute accent
\*(` S grave accent
\(´ F§ acute accent
\(` F§ grave accent
\*} S end superscript
\^ F§ 1/12 em narrow space
\*^ S caret
.ad M§ set text adjustment
.af M§ assign format to register
.am M§ append to macro
.ar M set page numbers in Arabic
.as M§ append to string
.b M bold font
.ba M set base indent
.bc M begin new column
.bi M bold italic
\n(bi R display (block) indent
.bl M blank lines (even at top of page, in contrast to .sp)
\n(bm R bottom title margin
.bp M§ begin page
.br M§ break (start new line)
\n(bs R display (block) pre/post spacing
\n(bt R block keep threshold
.bx M boxed
\c F§ continue input
.ce M§ center lines
\n(ch R current chapter number
.de M§ define macro
\n(df R display font
.ds M§ define string
\n(dw R§ current day of week
\*(dw S current day of week
\n(dy R§ day of month
\e F§ printable version of \
.ef M set footer (even numbered pages only)
.eh M set header (even numbered pages only)
.el M§ else part of conditional
.ep M end page
\n(es R equation pre/post space
\ff F§ inline font change to font f
\f(ff F§ inline font change to font ff
.fc M§ set field characters
\n(ff R footnote font
.fi M§ fill output lines
\n(fi R footnote indent (first line only)
\n(fm R footer margin
−ME REFERENCE MANUAL 18
NAME TYPE DESCRIPTION
.fo M set footer
\n(fp R footnote pointsize
\n(fs R footnote prespace
\n(fu R footnote undent (from right margin)
\h´d´ F§ local horizontal motion for distance d
.hc M§ set hyphenation character
.he M set header
.hl M draw horizontal line
\n(hm R header margin
.hx M suppress headers and footers on next page
.hy M§ set hyphenation mode
.i M italic font
.ie M§ conditional with else
.if M§ conditional
\n(ii R indented paragraph indent
.in M§ indent (transient, use .ba for pervasive)
.ip M begin indented paragraph
.ix M indent, no break
\l´d´ F§ horizontal line drawing function for distance d
.lc M§ set leader repetition character
.ll M set line length
.lp M begin left justified paragraph
\*(lq S left quote marks
.ls M§ set multi‐line spacing
.m1 M set space from top of page to header
.m2 M set space from header to text
.m3 M set space from text to footer
.m4 M set space from footer to bottom of page
.mc M§ insert margin character
.mk M§ mark vertical position
\n(mo R§ month of year
\*(mo S current month
\nx F§ interpolate number register x
\n(xx F§ interpolate number register xx
.n1 M number lines in margin
.n2 M number lines in margin
.na M§ turn off text adjustment
.ne M§ need vertical space
.nf M§ don’t fill output lines
.nh M§ turn off hyphenation
.np M begin numbered paragraph
.nr M§ set number register
.ns M§ no space mode
\*o S circle (e.g., for Norse °)
.of M set footer (odd numbered pages only)
.oh M set header (odd numbered pages only)
.pa M begin page
.pd M print delayed text
\n(pf R paragraph font
\n(pi R paragraph indent
.pl M§ set page length
.pn M§ set next page number
−ME REFERENCE MANUAL 19
NAME TYPE DESCRIPTION
.po M§ page offset
\n(po R simulated page offset
.pp M begin paragraph
\n(pp R paragraph pointsize
\n(ps R paragraph prespace
.q M quoted
\*(qa S for all
\*(qe S there exists
\n(qi R quote indent (also shortens line)
\n(qp R quote pointsize
\n(qs R quote pre/post space
.r M roman font
.rb M real bold font
.re M reset tabs
.rm M§ remove macro or string
.rn M§ rename macro or string
.ro M set page numbers in roman
\*(rq S right quote marks
.rr M§ remove register
.rs M§ restore spacing
.rt M§ return to vertical position
\sS F§ inline size change to size S
\n(sf R section title font
.sh M begin numbered section
\n(si R relative base indent per section depth
.sk M skip next page
.sm M set argument in a smaller pointsize
.so M§ source input file
\n(so R additional section title offset
.sp M§ vertical space (except at top of page, in contrast to .bl)
\n(sp R section title pointsize
\n(ss R section prespace
.sx M change section depth
.sz M set pointsize and vertical spacing
.ta M§ set tab stops
.tc M§ set tab repetition character
\*(td S today’s date
\n(tf R title font
.ti M§ temporary indent (next line only)
.tl M§ three part title
\n(tm R top title margin
.tp M begin title page
\n(tp R title pointsize
.tr M§ translate
.u M underlined
.uh M unnumbered section
.ul M§ underline next line
\v´d´ F§ local vertical motion for distance d
\*v S inverted ‘v’ for czeck ‘‘v’’
\w´S´ F§ return width of string S
.xl M set line length (local)
.xp M print index
−ME REFERENCE MANUAL 20
NAME TYPE DESCRIPTION
\n(xs R index entry prespace
\n(xu R index undent (from right margin)
\n(y2 R year (last two digits only)
\n(y4 R year (all digits)
\n(yr R§ year minus 1900
\n(zs R floating keep pre/post space
\{ F§ begin conditional group
\| F§ 1/6 em narrow space
\} F§ end conditional group
\*~ S tilde
\n(_M R section type (as set with .++ macro)
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