In Unix, what is groff?
In Unix, groff is the front-end for the groff
document formatting system. It usually runs the groff
program and a postprocessor
appropriate for the selected device. For a list of available devices,
at the Unix prompt, enter:
man groff
You can use groff to properly read and format
man pages. If you attempt to view a file in one
of the man directories (e.g., man1, man2)
using the cat command, the file will display in an
unformatted version. To use groff to format the file
properly, enter:
groff -t -man -Tascii filename.1 | more
Replace filename.1 with the name of the file you are
trying to view.
To find out if groff is installed on a Unix system, enter one of the following commands at the Unix prompt:
At Indiana University, for personal or departmental Linux or Unix systems support, see At IU, how do I get support for Linux or Unix?
Last modified on May 13, 2009.
