--- name: "groff_tmac" section: "5" platform: "linux" package: "groff" version: "1.24.2-1" release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01" platforms: ["linux"] url: "https://new.carta.tech/groff_tmac" --- # groff\_tmac(5) macro files in the GNU roff typesetting system ## Name groff\_tmac - macro files in the GNU *roff* typesetting system ## Description Definitions of macros, strings, and registers for use in a [*roff*(7)](/roff/7.md) document can be collected into *macro files*, *roff* input files designed to produce no output themselves but instead ease the preparation of other *roff* documents. There is no syntactical difference between a macro file and any other *roff* document; only its purpose distinguishes it. When a macro file is installed at a standard location, named according to a certain convention, and suitable for use by a general audience, it is termed a *macro package*. The “tmac” name originated in early Unix culture as an abbreviation of “*troff* macros”. Macro packages can be loaded by supplying the **-m** option to [*troff*(1)](/troff/1.md) or a *groff* front end. A macro file's name must have the form name*.tmac* (or *tmac.*name) and be placed in a “*tmac* directory” to be loadable with the “**-m** *name*” option. Section “Environment” of [*troff*(1)](/troff/1.md) lists these directories. Alternatively, a *groff* document requiring a macro file can load it with the **mso** (“macro source”) request. Macro files are named for their most noteworthy application, but a macro file need not define any macros. It can restrict itself to defining registers and strings or invoking other *groff* requests. It can even be empty. Encode macro files in ISO 646:1991 IRV (US-ASCII) or ISO Latin-1 (8859-1). To prepare for a future *groff* release supporting UTF-8 input, restrict files to ISO 646 codes. [*soelim*(1)](/soelim/1.md) by design does not interpret **mso** requests, and the encodings used by documents employing a macro file can vary. ## Macro packages Some macro packages (“major” or “full-service”) assume responsibility for page layout and other critical functions; others (“supplemental” or “auxiliary”) do not. GNU *roff* provides most major macro packages found in AT&T and BSD Unix systems, an additional full-service package, and many supplemental packages. Multiple full-service macro packages cannot be used by the same document. Auxiliary packages can, in general, be freely combined, though attention to their use of the *groff* language name spaces for identifiers (particularly registers, macros, strings, and diversions) should be paid. Name space management challenged AT&T *troff* users; GNU *troff*'s support for arbitrarily long identifiers affords few excuses for name collisions, apart from attempts at compatibility with the demands of historical documents. ### Man pages Two full-service macro packages are specialized for formatting Unix reference manuals; they do not support features like footnotes or multiple columnation. - *an* constructs man pages in a format introduced by Seventh Edition Unix (1979). Its macro interface is small, and the package widely used; see [*groff\_man*(7)](/groff_man/7.md). - *doc* constructs man pages in a format introduced by 4.3BSD-Reno (1990). It provides many more features than *an*, but is also larger, more complex, and not as widely adopted; see [*groff\_mdoc*(7)](/groff_mdoc/7.md). Because readers of man pages often do not know in advance which macros are used to format a given document, a wrapper is available. - *andoc* recognizes a document's use of *an* or *doc* and loads the corresponding macro package. Multiple man pages, in either format, can be handled; *andoc* reloads each macro package as necessary. ### General full-service packages The following packages each support composition of documents of any kind, from single-page memos to lengthy monographs. They are similar in functionality; select one that suits your taste. - *me* originates in 2BSD (1978); see [*groff\_me*(7)](/groff_me/7.md). - *mm* originates in Programmer's Workbench (PWB) Unix 1.0 (1977); see [*groff\_mm*(7)](/groff_mm/7.md). - *mom* was contributed to *groff* in 2002, and freely exercises its many extended features. See [*groff\_mom*(7)](/groff_mom/7.md). - *ms* originates in Sixth Edition Unix (1975); see [*groff\_ms*(7)](/groff_ms/7.md). ### Localization packages For Western languages, an auxiliary package for localization sets the hyphenation mode and loads hyphenation patterns and exceptions. Localization files can also adjust the date format and provide translations of strings used by some of the full-service macro packages; alter the input encoding (see the next section); and change the amount of supplemental inter-sentence space. For Eastern languages, the localization file defines character classes and sets flags on them. By default, *troffrc* loads the localization file for English. - *trans* loads localized strings used by various macro packages after their localized forms have been prepared by a localization macro file. *groff* provides the following localization files. - *cs* Czech; localizes *man*, *me*, *mm*, *mom*, and *ms*. Sets the input encoding to Latin-2 by loading *latin2.tmac*. - *de* *den* German; localizes *man*, *me*, *mm*, *mom*, and *ms*. Sets the input encoding to Latin-1 by loading *latin1.tmac*. - *de.tmac* selects hyphenation patterns for traditional orthography, and *den.tmac* does the same for the new orthography (“Rechtschreibreform”). - *en* English. Sets the input encoding to Latin-1 by loading *latin1.tmac*. - *es* Spanish; localizes *man*, *me*, *mm*, *mom*, and *ms*. Sets the input encoding to Latin-9 by loading *latin9.tmac*. - *fr* French; localizes *man*, *me*, *mm*, *mom*, and *ms*. Sets the input encoding to Latin-9 by loading *latin9.tmac*. - *it* Italian; localizes *man*, *me*, *mm*, *mom*, and *ms*. Sets the input encoding to Latin-1 by loading *latin1.tmac*. - *ja* Japanese. - *pl* Polish; localizes *man*, *me*, *mm*, *mom*, and *ms*. Sets the input encoding to Latin-2 by loading *latin2.tmac*. - *ru* Russian; localizes *man*, *me*, *mm*, *mom*, and *ms*. Sets the input encoding to KOI8-R by loading *koi8-r.tmac*. - *sv* Swedish; localizes *man*, *me*, *mm*, *mom*, and *ms*. Sets the input encoding to Latin-1 by loading *latin1.tmac*. Some of the localization of the *mm* package is handled separately; see [*groff\_mmse*(7)](/groff_mmse/7.md). - *zh* Chinese. ### Input encodings Localization influences automatic hyphenation in two distinct but related respects. A macro file specific to a character coding identifies which character codes correspond to letters expected in the language's hyphenation pattern files and sets up case equivalences for those letters. A language's macro file determines which of these letters are equivalent to other letters for hyphenation purposes. For example, in English, the letter “” occurs in loan words. The *latin1.tmac* and *latin9.tmac* macro files define a hyphenation code for “” and make “” equivalent to it. The English localization file *en.tmac* furthermore makes “” equivalent to “n”. In Spanish (*es.tmac*), however, “” and “n” are *not* equivalent. The language localization file loads an appropriate encoding localization file; a document need not do so directly. - *latin1* *latin2* *latin5* *latin9* support the ISO Latin-1, Latin-2, Latin-5, and Latin-9 encodings (8859-1, 8859-2, 8859-9, and 8859-15, respectively). - *koi8-r* supports the KOI8-R encoding. KOI8-R code points in the range 0x80–0x9F are not valid input to GNU *troff*; see section “Identifiers” in [*groff*(7)](/groff/7.md). This should be no impediment to practical documents, as these KOI8-R code points do not encode letters, but box-drawing symbols and characters that are better obtained via special character escape sequences; see [*groff\_char*(7)](/groff_char/7.md). ### General auxiliary packages The macro packages in this section are not intended for stand-alone use, but can add functionality to any other macro package or to plain (“raw”) *groff* documents. - *62bit* provides macros for addition, multiplication, and division of 62-bit integers (allowing safe multiplication of signed 31-bit integers, for example).\ - *hdtbl* allows the generation of tables using a syntax similar to the HTML table model. This Heidelberger table macro package is not a preprocessor, which can be useful if the contents of table entries are determined by macro calls or string interpolations. Compare to [*tbl*(1)](/tbl/1.md). It works only with the **ps** and **pdf** output devices. See [*groff\_hdtbl*(7)](/groff_hdtbl/7.md). - *papersize* enables the paper format to be set on the command line with the “**-d** **paper=***fmt* ” option to *troff*. Valid *fmt*s are the ISO and DIN formats “**A0**–**A6**”, “**B0**–**B6**”, “**C0**–**C6**”, and “**D0**–**D6**”; the U.S. formats “**letter**”, “**legal**”, “**tabloid**”, “**ledger**”, “**statement**”, and “**executive**”; and the envelope formats “**com10**”, “**monarch**”, and “**DL**”. All formats, even those for envelopes, are in portrait orientation: the longer measurement is vertical. Appending “l” (ell) to any of these denotes landscape orientation instead. This macro file assumes one-inch horizontal margins, and sets registers recognized by the *groff* *man*, *mdoc*, *mm*, *mom*, and *ms* packages to configure them accordingly. If you want different margins, you will need to use those packages' facilities, or *troff* **ll** and/or **po** requests, to adjust them. An output device typically requires command-line options **-p** and **-l** to override the paper dimensions and orientation, respectively, defined in its *DESC* file; see subsection “Paper format” of [*groff*(1)](/groff/1.md). This macro file is normally loaded at startup by the *troffrc* file when formatting for a typesetter (but not a terminal). - *pdfpic* provides a single macro, **PDFPIC**, that operates in two modes. If it is not used with *gropdf*, the given *file* must be a PDF; **PDFPIC** then relies on the external program [*pdftops*(1)](/pdftops/1.md) to convert the PDF to an encapsulated PostScript (EPS) file and calls the **PSPIC** macro with which it shares an interface. If output is to a PDF document, **PDFPIC** uses the “**pdf: pdfpic**” device extension command (see [*gropdf*(1)](/gropdf/1.md)); the given *file* can then be a PDF or any graphic file format supported by *gropdf*. - Since **PDFPIC** needs to discover the width and height of the image (to check if sufficient room exists to place it on the page), it has dependencies on external programs as shown below. - | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | *pdfinfo(1)* | *file(1)* | *identify(1)* | | *.pdf* | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | | *.jpg* | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | | *.jp2* | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | | *other* | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | - To include image formats such as PNG, PAM, and GIF, *gropdf* relies upon PerlMagick modules to embed the graphic. They are not needed for the types listed in the table above. - If the required programs are not available, *file* is treated as a PDF; failure is likely if it is not one. - *pic* supplies definitions of the macros **PS**, **PE**, **PF**, and **PY**, used with the [*pic*(1)](/pic/1.md) preprocessor. They center each picture. Use it if your document does not use a full-service macro package, or that package does not supply working *pic* macro definitions. Except for *man* and *mdoc*, those provided with *groff* already do so (exception: *mm* employs the name **PF** for a different purpose). - *pspic* provides a macro, **PSPIC**, that includes a PostScript graphic in a document. The **ps**, **dvi**, **html**, and **xhtml** output devices support such inclusions; for all other drivers, the image is replaced with a rectangular border of the same size. *pspic.tmac* is loaded at startup by the *troffrc* file.\ - Its syntax is as follows. - **.PSPIC** \[**-L**\|**-R**\|**-C**\|**-I** *n*\] *file* \[*width* \[*height*\]\] - *file* is the name of the PostScript file; *width* and *height* give the desired width and height of the image. If neither a *width* nor a *height* argument is specified, the image's natural width (as given in the file's bounding box) or the current line length is used as the width, whatever is smaller. The *width* and *height* arguments may have scaling units attached; the default scaling unit is **i**. **PSPIC** scales the graphic uniformly in the horizontal and vertical directions so that it is no more than *width* wide and *height* high. Option **-C** centers the graphic horizontally; this is the default. **-L** and **-R** left- and right-align the graphic, respectively. **-I** indents the graphic by *n* (with a default scaling unit of **m**). - To use **PSPIC** within a diversion, we recommend extending it with the following code, assuring that the diversion's width completely covers the image's width. - ``` .am PSPIC . vpt 0 \h'(\\n[ps-offset]u + \\n[ps-deswid]u)' . sp -1 . vpt 1 .. ``` - Failure to load **PSPIC**'s image argument is not an error. (The **psbb** request does issue an error diagnostic.) To make such a failure fatal, append to the **pspic\*error-hook** macro. - ``` .am pspic*error-hook . ab .. ``` - *ptx* provides a macro, **xx**, to format permuted index entries as produced by the GNU [*ptx*(1)](/ptx/1.md) program. If your formatting needs differ, copy the macro into your document and adapt it. - *rfc1345* defines special character escape sequences named for the glyph mnemonics specified in RFC 1345 and the digraph table of the Vim text editor. See [*groff\_rfc1345*(7)](/groff_rfc1345/7.md). - *sboxes* offers an interface to the “**pdf: background**” device extension command supported by [*gropdf*(1)](/gropdf/1.md). Using this package, *groff ms* documents can draw colored rectangles beneath any output. - **.BOXSTART SHADED** *color* **OUTLINED** *color* **INDENT** *size* **WEIGHT** *size* begins a box, where the argument after **SHADED** gives the fill color and that after **OUTLINED** the border color. Omit the former to get a borderless filled box and the latter for a border with no fill. The specified **WEIGHT** is used if the box is **OUTLINED**. - **INDENT** precedes a value that leaves a gap between the border and the contents inside the box. - Each *color* must be a defined *groff* color name, and each *size* a valid *groff* numeric expression. The keyword/value pairs can be specified in any order. - Boxes can be stacked, so you can start a box within another box; usually the later boxes would be smaller than the containing box, but this is not enforced. When using **BOXSTART**, the left position is the current indent minus the **INDENT** in the command, and the right position is the left position (calculated above) plus the current line length and twice the indent. - **.BOXSTOP** takes no parameters. It closes the most recently started box at the current vertical position after adding its **INDENT** spacing. - Your *groff* documents can conditionally exercise the *sboxes* macros. The register **GSBOX** is defined if the package is loaded, and interpolates a true value if the **pdf** output device is in use. - *sboxes* furthermore hooks into the [*groff\_ms*(7)](/groff_ms/7.md) package to receive notifications when footnotes are growing, so that it can close boxes on a page before footnotes are printed. When that condition obtains, *sboxes* will close open boxes two points above the footnote separator and re-open them on the next page. (This amount probably will not match the box's **INDENT**.) - See “Using PDF boxes with *groff* and the *ms* macros” ⟨file:///usr/\\:\\%share/\\:\\%doc/\\:\\%groff\\-1.24.2/\\:\\%msboxes\\:.pdf⟩ for a demonstration. - *trace* aids the debugging of *groff* documents by tracing macro calls. See [*groff\_trace*(7)](/groff_trace/7.md). - *www* defines macros corresponding to HTML elements. See [*groff\_www*(7)](/groff_www/7.md). ## Naming AT&T *nroff* and *troff* were implemented before the conventions of the modern C [*getopt*(3)](/getopt/3.md) call evolved, and used a naming scheme for macro packages that looks oddly terse to modern eyes. The formatter's **-m** option was the main means of loading a macro package, and its argument had to follow immediately without intervening space. This looked like a long option name preceded by a single minus—a sensation in the computer stone age. Macro packages therefore came to be known by names that started with the letter “m”, which was omitted from the name of the macro file as stored on disk. For example, the manuscript macro package was stored as *tmac.s* and loaded with the option **-ms**. It has since become conventional in operating systems to use a suffixed file name extension to suggest a file type or format, thus we see *roff* documents with names ending in *.man*, *.me*, and so on.\ *groff* commands permit space between an option and its argument. The syntax “**groff -m s**” makes the macro file name more clear but may surprise users familiar with the original convention, unaware that the package's “real” name was “s” all along. For such packages of long pedigree, *groff* accommodates different users' expectations by supplying wrapper macro files that load the desired file with **mso** requests. Thus, all of “**groff -m s**”, “**groff -m ms**”, “**groff -ms**”, and “**groff -mms**” serve to load the manuscript macros. ## Inclusion The traditional method of employing a macro package is to specify the “**-m** *package*” option to the formatter, which then reads *package*'s macro file prior to any input. Historically, *package* was sought in a file named *tmac.*package (that is, with a “**tmac.**” prefix). GNU *troff* searches for package*.tmac* in the macro path; if not found, it looks for *tmac.*package instead, and vice versa. Alternatively, one could include a macro file with the request “**so** *file-name*”; the argument is resolved as [*fopen*(3)](/fopen/3.md) would, from the current working directory of the formatter. This approach was inadequate to locate macro packages, since systems stored them in varying locations. GNU *troff* offers an improved feature in the similar request “**mso** *package-file-name*”, which searches the macro path for *package-file-name*. Because its argument is a file name, its “**.tmac**” component must be included for the file to be found. If a sourced file requires preprocessing, for example if it includes *tbl* tables or *eqn* equations, the preprocessor [*soelim*(1)](/soelim/1.md) must be used. This can be achieved with a pipeline or by specifying the **-s** option to [*groff*(1)](/groff/1.md). [*man*(1)](/man/1.md) librarian programs typically run *soelim* automatically. (As a rule, macro packages themselves do not require preprocessing.) ## Writing macros A [*roff*(7)](/roff/7.md) document is a text file that is enriched by predefined formatting constructs, such as requests, escape sequences, strings, numeric registers, and macros from a macro package. [*roff*(7)](/roff/7.md) describes these elements. To give a document a personal style, it is most useful to extend the existing elements by defining some macros for repeating tasks; the best place for this is near the beginning of the document or in a separate file. Macros without arguments are just like strings. But the full power of macros occurs when arguments are passed with a macro call. Within the macro definition, the arguments are available as the escape sequences **\\$1**, ..., **\\$9**, **\\$\[**...**\]**, **\\$\***, and **\\$@**, the name under which the macro was called is in **\\$0**, and the number of arguments is in register **\\n\[.$\]**; see [*groff*(7)](/groff/7.md). ### Drafting macros One approach temporarily disables escape sequences by bracketing a macro definition with **eo** and **ec** requests. - ``` .eo .ds midpart was called with the following .de print_args \f[I]\$0\f[] \*[midpart] \n[.$] arguments: \$* .. .ec ``` The above procedure has limitations; it is unsuitable for a macro that requires certain interpolations at the time it is defined, or for indirect definitions of identifiers. See section “Copy mode” of [*groff*(7)](/groff/7.md). In such cases, you might define and test the macro with the escape character doubled before escape sequences that are interpreted even in copy mode, then bracket it with **eo** and **ec** requests, un-double the escape characters, then test again. ### Tips for macro definitions - • Use only control lines in macro definitions; that is, start every input line with a control character. *groff*'s **nop** request makes use of text lines unnecessary. - ``` .de Text . if (\\n[.$] == 0) \ . return . nop \&\\$*\& .. ``` - • Write a comment macro that works in both draft and non-draft modes; since the escape character is disabled in draft mode, trouble might occur when comment escape sequences are used. - ``` .de c .. .c This is my comment. ``` - • Comment lengthy macro definitions. - • Use empty requests, and indentation after control characters, to clarify a macro's structure. ## Authors This document was written by Werner Lemberg ⟨wl@\\:gnu\\:.org⟩ and G. Branden Robinson ⟨g.branden\\:.robinson@\\:gmail\\:.com⟩. ## See also *Groff: The GNU Implementation of troff*, by Trent A. Fisher and Werner Lemberg, is the primary *groff* manual. You can browse it interactively with “info groff”. - [*groff*(1)](/groff/1.md) is an overview of the *groff* system. - [*groff\_man*(7)](/groff_man/7.md), [*groff\_mdoc*(7)](/groff_mdoc/7.md), [*groff\_me*(7)](/groff_me/7.md), [*groff\_mm*(7)](/groff_mm/7.md), [*groff\_mom*(7)](/groff_mom/7.md), [*groff\_ms*(7)](/groff_ms/7.md), [*groff\_rfc1345*(7)](/groff_rfc1345/7.md), [*groff\_trace*(7)](/groff_trace/7.md), and [*groff\_www*(7)](/groff_www/7.md) are *groff* macro packages. - [*groff*(7)](/groff/7.md) summarizes the language recognized by GNU *troff*. - [*troff*(1)](/troff/1.md) documents the default macro file search path.