On Tue, Jun 06, 2023 at 03:07:07PM -0500, G. Branden Robinson wrote: > Subject: drawing commands in groff(7) (was: undiagnosed pic error)
> \D't n' > Set line thickness of geometric objects to to n basic units. A > zero n selects the minimal supported thickness. A negative n > selects a thickness proportional to the type size; this is the > default. > > Comments? Is it worth pointing out here that \D't n' is not zero-width? e.g.: .sp 1i .po 1i .ps 12s .ll 24P \D'l \n[.l]u 0' .br \D't .5p'\D'l \n[.l]u 0' .br In fill mode, the second drawing command produces this error: troff: thick:7: warning [p 1, 1.2i]: can't break line The troff output: x T ps x res 72000 1 1 x init p1 V84000 H72000 md DFd s12000 Dl 288000 0 n12000 0 V96000 H72000 Dt 500 0 Dl 288000 0 n12000 0 x trailer V792000 x stop shows that \D't .5p' has a width of 500 units, which is output as a 500-unit space. For as long as I can remember, I've needed to use this instead: \Z'\D't .5p''\D'l \n[.l]u 0' I'm pretty sure this anomaly has been discussed on the groff list before, but I don't know of any explanation in the documentation. -- Steve -- Steve Izma - Home: 35 Locust St., Kitchener, Ontario, Canada N2H 1W6 E-mail: si...@golden.net phone: 519-745-1313 cell (text only; not frequently checked): 519-998-2684 == The most erroneous stories are those we think we know best – and therefore never scrutinize or question. -- Stephen Jay Gould, *Full House: The Spread of Excellence from Plato to Darwin*, 1996