grotty Command in Linux
grotty is a Linux command that allows you to convert the output of the groff text formatting system into a format that suits typewriter-like devices, such as terminal emulators. This command translates text attributes like bold, italic and underline into ANSI escape sequences. Thus, allowing for colored and styled text on compatible terminals.
Typically, grotty is invoked by groff when specific output options like -Tascii or -Tuff8 are used. However, if no files are specified, it reads from standard input and writes to standard output.
Table of Contents
Here is a comprehensive guide to the options available with the grotty command in linux −
Syntax of grotty Command
To execute the grotty command in Linux, you can use the following basic syntax −
grotty [options] [files]
Where,
- [options] specifies different flags that can be utilized to customize the output.
- [files] indicates the input files to be processed by the command.
grotty Command Options
There are different options that you can use with the grotty that allow you to customize the behavior and output format of the command. You can find them in the table provided below −
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| -b | Uses backspace characters to create bold and underlined text. |
| -B | Disables bold text output. |
| -c | Uses text in a legacy format. |
| -d | Enables debugging information to be displayed. |
| -f | Inserts form feed characters in the output. |
| -h | Displays help information and usage instructions. |
| -i | Uses italics instead of underlining for emphasis. |
| -o | Prevents overstriking of characters. |
| -r | Outputs text in reverse video mode. |
| -u | Disables underlined text output. |
| -U | Uses underline characters for underlined text. |
Examples of grotty Command in Linux
Lets discuss a few examples of grotty commands in Linux systems. This will help you in learning how to get started with the command.
- Converting Groff Output to Terminal Format
- Suppressing Bold Text
- Using Italics Instead of Underlining
- Enabling Debugging Output
- Using Legacy Output Format
Converting Groff Output to Terminal Format
One of the basic usages of grotty command is to convert the groff output into a format suitable for terminal display. For example, if you have a file named myfile.tr, you can use −
groff -Tascii myfile.tr | grotty
Once you run the above command, it will process the myfile.tr file using groff and convert the output to a terminal-friendly format using grotty.
Suppressing Bold Text
If you want to disable bold text in the output, you can use the -B option with the command. Heres an example −
groff -Tascii myfile.tr | grotty -B
The above command will process myfile.tr with groff and suppress any bold text in the output using grotty.
Using Italics Instead of Underlining
You can also use the grotty command to display italics instead of underlined text. You can do this by using the -i option. For example −
groff -Tascii myfile.tr | grotty -i
After executing this command, grotty will process the output from groff and use italics for emphasis instead of underlining.
Enabling Debugging Output
If you need to see debugging information, you can enable it with the -d option. Heres an example −
groff -Tascii myfile.tr | grotty -d
This command will process myfile.tr with groff and display debugging information using grotty, which can help you troubleshoot any issues.
Using Legacy Output Format
To use the legacy output format, you can use the -c option. Heres how you can do it −
groff -Tascii myfile.tr | grotty -c
When you run this command, grotty will process the output from groff and convert it into a legacy format. This might be needed for compatibility with older systems.
Conclusion
The grotty command is a versatile Linux tool that is used for converting groff output into a format suitable for terminal display.
In this tutorial, we detailed the grotty command including its syntax and various options available to customize its functionality. Further, the examples provided after the aforementioned methods will help you effectively manage text formatting tasks with ease. You can tailor these examples according to your specific need to improve your workflow and quality of your terminal output.