🚀 go-pugleaf

> *Excerpts from ext.nn.comp.text: 14-Jan-89 Re: pic preprocessor for troff*
> *Pegasystems@daedalus (1396)*
> In article <1000@cmx.npac.syr.edu> crockett@top.cis.syr.edu (Peter Crockett)
> writes:
> >A professor came here with some troff source which uses a troff
> >preprocessor called pic.  He had the code for pic sent here, but it
> >generates a troff directive D which is not understood by any troff on
> >campus.  Anyone know anything about pic and/or the nature of this
> >mysterious directive?
> >
> the \D troff command belongs to ditroff and will not work with
> nroff or troff if the troff is the old troff often distributed with systems.
> however there is a command line argument to pic to use the old \L and \l
> commands but this has only limited useability.
Close, but not true. Early version of pic used \L etc. for short vertical &
horizontal lines only and there was a flag which forced it always to use \D'...'

However, the early sources of pic made it possible to generate old drawing
characters by using a different module voor the pic to troff code generator
(some like pltroff, my memory is fuzzy about this). I've used this quite happily
with old fashioned troff for a while, just to prove that it was possible. It is
also terribly slow...).

Something else, the AT&T lawyers might frown upon the fact that somebody gives
you the source from pic. Why don't you just get the latest version of DWB 2.0
(directly from at&t or from support offering companies like ELAN, SQUAD etc.).
That will solve your problem and keep the lawyers away.

        jaap