lol thanks for the kind words John. Lucky for you I just pulled the "Fool" cart from my tarot deck.
I'm not interested in re-implementing troff, its syntax, or its grammar. I am however interested in generating troff output, without using troff. High-level programming languages all compile down to assembly language. The compiler writer's job is to convert syntax and semantics and generate the corresponding assembly code. I see troff output as the assembly code, and the troff commands as a programming language. C, Pascal, C++ or whatever language are all different ways of generating assembly code, they just have different syntax and semantics. On Fri, Nov 30, 2018 at 11:13 AM John Gardner <gardnerjo...@gmail.com> wrote: > Insanity. Seriously. > > Reimplementing Troff is a task best not attempted at all. The grammar is > horribly complex, the language riddled with cryptic, arcane features, and > most importantly, it's not one program. It's several: the Troff pipeline > involves preprocessors, postprocessors, and bundled macro packages, each of > which have their own nuances and complications. You'd also be tasked with > handling font metrics for device-specific output (PDF, terminal, > PostScript, et al)... > > Normally I don't discourage people from trying their own implementations, > but there are some things you just don't try: hand-rolling your own web > browser, writing your own compiler infrastructure, or reimplementing > complex, ancient typesetting systems like TeX or Troff. > > You need to be a special sort of crazy (and patient, and knowledgeable) to > want to endure the obvious pains of reimplementing such a complex system. > > Here's the source code <https://github.com/Alhadis/otroff> for the > original AT&T troff, BTW. > > — John > > > On Sat, 1 Dec 2018 at 02:37, Yves Cloutier <yves.clout...@gmail.com> > wrote: > >> Hello, >> >> I'm in search of any documentation that provides insight into the design >> and implementation of a *roff. >> >> I know source code exists for a few implementations like Plan 9, Heirloom, >> Groff and Neatroff. >> >> However what I'm in search of is something a bit more high-level than >> source code. Rather some design/implementation documentation that explains >> an *approach* to implementing a *roff. >> >> Would anyone know if anything like this exists? >> >> My google searches how not come up with anything, and was just wondering >> if >> someone somewhere might have such documentation lying around in their >> archives. >> >> regards, >> >> yc >> >
