Re: [Groff] macros in tbl

[Ralph Corderoy]

Hi SGT,

> in the following (abbreviated) .UR can not be used out side of the
> T{...T} block. or else it's interpreted literally:
> 
> .mso man.tmac
> .fam A
> .ps -4
> .vs -4
> .TH Résumé CS
> .TS
> tab(:) center;
> l l l l.
> 2014-2015::T{
> It is neither this nor that while it's both this and that
> T}:T{
> .UR http://example.com
> .UE
> T}:Rumi
> .TE
> 
> is that intended?

Yes.

> > FWIW, if you're not familiar with it, the troff.org web site
> > <http://troff.org/papers.html> has lots of information that can be a
> > real help.
> 
> i always google around before asking. in the link you posted searching
> for .UR in this: http://cm.bell-labs.com/cm/cs/doc/76/tbl.ps.gz didn't
> return anything either. make me think that it could be a silly
> question... 

URLs didn't exist when tbl or that paper were written, so neither did
.UR.  The paper says

    Troff commands within tables — An input line beginning with a .
        followed by anything but a number is assumed to be a command to
        troff and is passed through unchanged, retaining its position in
        the table.  So, for example, vertical space within a table may
        be produced by .sp commands in the data. 

GNU groff's tbl(1) says

    Table data
        ...
        A dot starting a line, followed by anything but a digit is
        handled as a troff command, passed through without changes.  The
        table position is unchanged in this case.

You can use the zero-width space character \& to stop `.' being at the
start of a line, e.g.

    \&.UR foo:///bar
    \&.UE

Cheers, Ralph.