🚀 go-pugleaf

I have a troff and troff filter question.  I would
like to pass text and parameters under macro control
"relatively transparently" to a post processing filter.
In particular I want to pass some absolute page coordinates
and a file name so that the post processor can paint the
specified file which contains a bitmap image at the
specified coordinates.  My first idea was to utilize some
of the "unused" control codes for the CATT and then
ascii for the position and file name info.  But, duh,
I quickly realized that I probably couldn't figure out
how to get troff to output "unused" control codes.  (I
also decided that I would need to translate the character info
in the CATT to ascii table that most post processors have--
i.e., but that's no biggie).  My next idea was to use some "bizarre"
position (like -1,-1) as the flag that one of these requests
was coming into the filter.  My last idea was to ask the
wizards of the net; troff is one of the more frequently attacked
UNIX black boxes, so I feel sure that some one has already
done something like this.

Thanks for your time

Mark Wallen
UC San Diego

wallen@nprdc.ARPA   ucbvax!sdcsvax!sdcsla!wallen.UUCP