Re: [Groff] fontselection

[Sigfrid Lundberg, NetLab]

On Fri, 5 Apr 2002, Tadziu Hoffmann wrote:

...

> Yes, but I think it's not such a good idea when writing *roff
> code by hand.  I tend to use the method implemented in the
> manpage macros, i.e., in the manuscript use high-level macros
> which themselves refer to the fonts by font position.  Then
> you don't have to decide in advance which specific fonts to
> set your manuscript in.


I agree. This reminds me of how the venerable comp.text FAQ puts it
(note the end of the second paragraph):

        Subject: GN4. What is SGML? ODA?

        SGML is the Standard Generalized Markup Language.  SGML is
        defined in International Standard ISO 8879:1986.  SGML is a
        language for formally describing the structure and contents of
        documents.  SGML is also the syntax used by documents so
        described.

        SGML is an important move in the direction of separating
        information from its presentation, e.g. making different
        presentations possible for the same information.  The better
        macro packages for TeX and troff attempt to do the same thing.
        This is in contrast with WYSIWYG - see GN5.

I suppose that good TeX/troff mark-up should aim at just this, to
seperate content from presentation.



Sigge