Re: [Groff] tables in a macro

[Tadziu Hoffmann]

[snip]

That was supposed to have been "... simply isn't there in
_the_ macro that we use ..."  (I shouldn't try to explain
things in a hurry.)  Anyhow, here's a little example to
illustrate further the behavior of tbl/troff:


.\" tbl
.de HR
.br
\v'-.25m'\D'l \\n(.lu 0'
..
.sp 3c
.ll 7.5c
.HR
.ce
Centering is delegated to \fItroff\fP:
.HR
A \(lqreal\(rq 2-row 1-column table with \fIc\/\fP format:
.TS
allbox tab(;) center;
c.
short
looooooooooong
.TE
.HR
The same table in a macro:
.eo
.de ATABLE ..
.TS
allbox tab(;) center;
c.
\$1
\$2
.TE
...
.ec
.ATABLE short looooooooooong
.HR
.sp -.8
.HR
.ce
Recognition of numbers is handled by \fItbl\/\fP itself:
.HR
A \(lqreal\(rq 2-row 1-column table with \fIn\/\fP format
(decimal point is correctly recognized by \fItbl\/\fP):
.TS
allbox tab(;) center;
n.
3.
.14159265358979
.TE
.HR
The same table in a macro
(\fItbl\/\fP sees only the placeholders \(lq\e$1\(rq and
\(lq\e$2\(rq and therefore recognizes no decimal point):
.eo
.de ATABLE ..
.TS
allbox tab(;) center;
n.
\$1
\$2
.TE
...
.ec
.ATABLE 3. .14159265358979
.HR