Using the dread nroff

[Daniel Dern]

Question: How do you learn and use nroff (more or less)

I can't speak for anybody else.  I had a head start on UN*X-based nroff, since
I worked on the manual for PRIME's equivalent.  I asked the same question
in my first month or so here at BBNCC; a local nroff guru said "Read the
documentation thoroughly twenty times."  

One problem is that the commands and concepts are not sorted out as well as
they might be.  (Once you understand the documentation's organization, it's
not too bad...)  I put together my own intro write-up to sort that out...

Then there is the problem of multiple and local macro packages.  Ya gotta make
lists...

Then there is the problem of "what command do I want here"?  I put together a
shell script to do a command or keyword search on my command summary file,
which can be executed while in our text editor.  This is probably the most
valuable thing I did; now I can usually locate the command I want without
leaving my file, yanking out a manual, etc.  I use it a lot.  All I have to
do is keep the summary file(s) up to date.

I have found that as with most UN*X constructs, the big investment is in
finding out what's where and learning how it hangs together; by comparison,
using things that you understand is a snap.

Debugging nroff input files is still a source of (*expletive deleted*).  Why
they don't include lists of error messages or types of problems is beyond
me.  Also, the messages often masquerade as system messages (they don't
say nroff: <message>).

* (UN*X is a footprint of a very big company)

Daniel Dern
ddern at bbn.arpa