diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'contrib/mom/momdoc/letters.html')
-rw-r--r-- | contrib/mom/momdoc/letters.html | 577 |
1 files changed, 577 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/contrib/mom/momdoc/letters.html b/contrib/mom/momdoc/letters.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3021eb2 --- /dev/null +++ b/contrib/mom/momdoc/letters.html @@ -0,0 +1,577 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> +<!-- +This file is part of groff, the GNU roff type-setting system. + +Copyright (C) 2004-2020 Free Software Foundation, Inc. +Written by Peter Schaffter (peter@schaffter.ca). + +Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document +under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or +any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no +Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover +Texts. + +A copy of the Free Documentation License is included as a file called +FDL in the main directory of the groff source package. +--> + +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + +<head> + <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8"/> + <title>Mom -- Writing letters</title> + <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="stylesheet.css" /> +</head> + +<body style="background-color: #f5faff;"> + +<!-- ==================================================================== --> + +<div id="top" class="page"> + +<!-- Navigation links --> +<table style="width: 100%;"> +<tr> + <td><a href="toc.html">Back to Table of Contents</a></td> + <td style="text-align: right;"><a href="macrolist.html#top">Next: Quick reference guide</a></td> +</tr> +</table> + +<h1 class="docs">Writing letters</h1> + +<div style="width: 33%; margin: auto;"> +<ul class="no-enumerator"> + <li><a href="#letters-intro">Introduction</a></li> + <li><a href="#letters-tutorial">Tutorial</a></li> + <li><a href="#letters-defaults">Mom’s default letter style</a></li> + <li><a href="#index-letters-macros">The letter macros</a></li> +</ul> +</div> + +<div class="rule-medium"><hr/></div> + +<h2 id="letters-intro" class="docs">Introduction</h2> + +<p> +Mom’s simple but effective letter-writing macros are a subset +of the +<a href="docprocessing.html#docprocessing">document processing macros</a>, +designed to ease the creation of correspondence. +</p> + +<p> +Because the letter macros are a subset of the document processing +macros, you can use +<a href="definitions.html#controlmacro">control macros</a> +to design correspondence to your own specifications. However, +mom makes no pretence of providing complete design flexibility in +the matter of letters, which are, after all, simple communicative +documents whose only real style requirements are that they be neat +and professional-looking. +</p> + +<div class="examples-container" style="margin-top: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1.5em;"> +<h3 id="letters-tutorial" class="docs">Tutorial – writing letters</h3> + +<p> +Mom letters begin, like all mom-processed documents, with +<a href="docprocessing.html#reference-macros">reference macros</a> +(in this case, +<a href="docprocessing.html#author">AUTHOR</a>), +a +<a href="docprocessing.html#doctype">DOCTYPE</a> +(LETTER, obviously), the essential +<a href="docprocessing.html#printstyle">PRINTSTYLE</a> +macro, and +<a href="docprocessing.html#start">START</a>, +like this: +<br/> +<span class="pre-in-pp"> + .AUTHOR "Yannick P. Guique" + .DOCTYPE LETTER + .PRINTSTYLE TYPESET + .START +</span> +PRINTSTYLE, above, could also be <kbd>TYPEWRITE</kbd>. Mom has no +objection to creating letters that look like they were typed on an +Underwood by a shapely secretary with 1940s gams. +</p> + +<p> +Please note that if you choose <kbd>PRINTSTYLE TYPEWRITE</kbd>, +there’s no need to give the <kbd>SINGLESPACE</kbd> option, as +this is the unalterable default for letters. +</p> + +<p> +After the START macro, you enter headers pertinent to your letter: +the date, the addressee (in business correspondence, typically both +name and address), the addresser (that’s you; in business +correspondence, typically both name and address), and a greeting +(in full, e.g. “Dear Mr. Smith,” or “Dear +Mr. Smith:”). +</p> + +<p> +The macros for entering the headers are simple (they’re not even +<a href="definitions.html#toggle">toggles</a>): +<br/> +<span class="pre-in-pp"> + .DATE + .TO + .FROM + .GREETING +</span> +You may enter them in any order you like, except for GREETING, which +must come last. Mom ignores any headers you omit and spaces the +letter’s opening according to what you do include. See +<a href="#letters-defaults">Default for letters</a> +to find out how mom formats the headers. +</p> + +<p> +Once you’ve filled in what you need to get a letter started, +simply type the letter, introducing each and every paragraph, +including the first, with the +<a href="docelement.html#pp">PP</a> +macro. +</p> + +<p> +At the end of the letter, should you wish a closing (“Yours +truly,” “Sincerely,” “Hugs and +kisses”), invoke the macro <kbd>.CLOSING</kbd> on a line +by itself, and follow it with the text of the closing. <b>N.B.</b> +Don’t put your name here; mom supplies it automatically from +<a href="docprocessing.html#author">AUTHOR</a>), +with enough space to leave room for your signature. If you omit the +closing, mom simply adds your name (from AUTHOR), again with enough +space for your signature. +</p> + +<p> +Assuming our tutorial letter is for business correspondence, +here’s what the complete letter looks like. +<br/> +<span class="pre-in-pp"> + .AUTHOR "Yannick P. Guique" + .DOCTYPE LETTER + .PRINTSTYLE TYPESET + .START + .DATE + August 25, 2010 + .TO + GUILLAUME BARRIÈRES + Minidoux Corporation + 5000 Pannes Drive + Redmond, Virginia + .FROM + Y.P. GUIQUE + 022 Umask Road + St-Sauveur-en-dehors-de-la-mappe, Québec + .GREETING + Dear Mr. Barrières, + .PP + It has come to my attention that you have once again been + lobbying the US government to prohibit the use of open source + software by endeavouring to outlaw so-called "warranty + free" applications. + .PP + I feel it is my duty to inform you that the success of your + operating system relies heavily on open source programs and + protocols, notably TCP/IP. + .PP + Therefore, in the interests of your corporation’s fiscal health, + I strongly advise that you withdraw support for any US + legislation that would cripple or render illegal open source + development. + .CLOSING + Sincerely, +</span> +This produces a letter with headers that follow the North American +standard for business correspondence. If you’d prefer another style +of correspondence, for example, British, you’d set up the same +letter like this: +<br/> +<span class="pre-in-pp"> + .AUTHOR "Yannick P. Guique" + .DOCTYPE LETTER + .PRINTSTYLE TYPESET + .START + .FROM + .RIGHT + Y.P. GUIQUE + 022 Umask Road + St-Sauveur-en-dehors-de-la-mappe, Québec + .TO + GUILLAUME BARRIÈRES + Minidoux Corporation + 5000 Pannes Drive + Redmond, Virginia + .DATE + .RIGHT + August 25, 2004 + .GREETING + Dear Mr. Barrières, +</span> +Notice the use of <kbd>.RIGHT</kbd> after <kbd>.FROM</kbd> and +<kbd>.DATE</kbd> in this example, used to change the default quad +for these macros. +</p> +</div> + +<h2 id="letters-defaults" class="docs">Default letter style</h2> + +<p> +In letters, if the order of header macros is +</p> +<ol style="margin-top: -.5em;"> + <li><kbd>.DATE</kbd></li> + <li><kbd>.TO</kbd> (the addressee)</li> + <li><kbd>.FROM</kbd> (the addresser)</li> + <li><kbd>.GREETING</kbd> (“Dear Whoever,” “To Whom It May Concern,” etc.)</li> +</ol> +<p style="margin-top: -.5em;"> +mom sets +</p> +<ul style="margin-top: -.5em;"> + <li>the date flush right, page right, at the top of page one, + with a gap of two linespaces underneath + </li> + <li>the addressee (<kbd>.TO</kbd>) in a block flush left, page + left, with a gap of one linespace underneath + </li> + <li>the addresser (<kbd>.FROM</kbd>) in a block flush left, page + left, with a gap of one linespace underneath + </li> + <li>the greeting flush left, with a gap of one linespace + underneath + </li> +</ul> +<p style="margin-top: -.5em;"> +which is the standard for North American business correspondence. +</p> + +<p> +If you switch the order of <kbd>.DATE</kbd>, <kbd>.TO</kbd> and/or +<kbd>.FROM</kbd>, mom sets all the headers +flush left, with a gap of one linespace underneath each. (The +default left quad of any header can be changed by invoking the +<kbd>.RIGHT</kbd> macro, on a line by itself, immediately before +inputting the text of the header.) +</p> + +<p> +Following the headers, mom sets +</p> +<ul style="margin-top: -.5em;"> + <li>the body of the letter justified</li> + <li>in multi-page letters: + <ul style="margin-left: -.5em;"> + <li>a footer indicating there’s a next page (of the form <kbd>.../#</kbd>)</li> + <li>the page number at the top of every page after page one</li> + </ul></li> + <li>the closing/signature lines flush left, indented halfway across the page</li> +</ul> + +<p> +Other important style defaults are listed below, and may be changed +via the +<a href="typesetting.html#top">typesetting macros</a> +or the document processing +<a href="definitions.html#controlmacro">control macros</a> +prior to +<a href="docprocessing.html#start">START</a>. +Assume that any style parameter not listed below is the same as for +any document processed with +<a href="docprocessing.html#typeset-defaults">PRINTSTYLE <kbd>TYPESET</kbd></a> +or +<a href="docprocessing.html#typewrite-defaults">PRINTSTYLE <kbd>TYPEWRITE</kbd></a>. +</p> + +<div class="defaults-container" style="padding-bottom: 8px;"> +<span class="pre defaults"> + PARAMETER PRINTSTYLE TYPESET PRINTSTYLE TYPEWRITE + + Paper size 8.5 x 11 inches 8.5 x 11 inches + Left/right margins 1.125 inches 1.125 inches + Header margin 3.5 picas 3.5 picas + (for page numbers) + Header gap 3 picas 3 picas + (for page numbers) + Family Times Roman Courier + Font roman roman + Point size 12 12 + Line space 13.5 12 (i.e. singlespaced) + Paragraph indent 3 ems 3 picas + Spaced paragraphs yes no + Footers* yes yes + Footer margin 3 picas 3 picas + Footer gap 3 picas 3 picas + Page numbers top, centred top, centred + + *Footers contain a "next page" number of the form .../# +</span> +</div> + +<div class="rule-medium"><hr/></div> + + +<div class="macro-list-container"> +<h3 id="index-letters-macros" class="macro-list">The letter macros</h3> +<p style="margin-left: 9px; margin-top: -1.5em;"> +All letter macros must come after +<a href="docprocessing.html#start">START</a>, +except NO_SUITE, which must come after +<a href="docprocessin.html#start">PRINTSTYLE</a> +and before +<a href="docprocessing.html#start">START</a>. +</p> + +<ul class="macro-list" style="margin-top: -.75em;"> + <li><a href="#date">DATE</a></li> + <li><a href="#to">TO</a></li> + <li><a href="#from">FROM</a></li> + <li><a href="#greeting">GREETING</a></li> + <li><a href="#closing">CLOSING</a> + <ul style="margin-left: -.5em;"> + <li><a href="#closing-indent">CLOSING_INDENT</a></li> + <li><a href="#signature-indent">SIGNATURE_INDENT</a></li> + </ul></li> + <li><a href="#no-suite">NO_SUITE</a> – turn the “next page” footer off</li> +</ul> +</div> + +<!-- -DATE- --> + +<div id="date" class="box-macro-args"> +Macro: <b>DATE</b> +</div> + +<p> +Invoke <kbd>.DATE</kbd> on a line by itself, with the date +underneath, like this: +<br/> +<span class="pre-in-pp"> + .DATE + October 31, 2012 +</span> +If you wish to change the default quad direction for the date, +enter <kbd>.LEFT</kbd> or <kbd>.RIGHT</kbd>, on a line by itself, +immediately after <kbd>.DATE</kbd>. +</p> + +<p> +If you wish to insert additional space between the date and any +letter header that comes after it, do so after inputting the date, +not at the top of the next header macro, like this: +<br/> +<span class="pre-in-pp"> + .DATE + October 31, 2012 + .SPACE \"Or, more simply, .SP +</span> +If you wish to remove the default space, +<br/> +<span class="pre-in-pp"> + .SPACE -1v \"Or, more simply, .SP -1v +</span> +will do the trick. +</p> + +<!-- -TO- --> + +<div id="to" class="box-macro-args"> +Macro: <b>TO</b> +</div> + +<p> +Invoke <kbd>.TO</kbd> on a line by itself, with the name and address +of the addressee underneath, like this: +<br/> +<span class="pre-in-pp"> + .TO + JOHN SMITH + 10 Roberts Crescent + Bramladesh, Ont. +</span> +If you wish to change the default quad direction for the address, +enter <kbd>.LEFT</kbd> or <kbd>.RIGHT</kbd>, on a line by itself, +immediately after <kbd>.TO</kbd>. +</p> + +<p> +If you wish to insert additional space between the address and +any letter header that comes after it, do so after inputting the +address, not at the top of the next header macro, like this: +<br/> +<span class="pre-in-pp"> + .TO + JOHN SMITH + 10 Roberts Crescent + Bramladesh, Ont. + .SPACE \"Or, more simply, .SP +</span> +If you wish to remove the default space, +<br/> +<span class="pre-in-pp"> + .SPACE -1v \"Or, more simply, .SP -1v +</span> +will do the trick. +</p> + +<!-- -FROM- --> + +<div id="from" class="box-macro-args"> +Macro: <b>FROM</b> +</div> + +<p> +Invoke <kbd>.FROM</kbd> on a line by itself, with the name and +address of the addresser underneath, like this: +<br/> +<span class="pre-in-pp"> + .FROM + JOE BLOW + 15 Brunette Road + Ste-Vieille-Andouille, Québec +</span> +If you wish to change the default quad direction for the address, +enter <kbd>.LEFT</kbd> or <kbd>.RIGHT</kbd>, on a line by itself, +immediately after <kbd>.FROM</kbd>. +</p> + +<p> +If you wish to insert additional space between the address and +any letter header that comes after it, do so after inputting the +address, not at the top of the next header macro, like this: +<br/> +<span class="pre-in-pp"> + .FROM + JOE BLOW + 15 Brunette Road + Ste-Vieille-Andouille, Québec + .SPACE \"Or, more simply, .SP +</span> +If you wish to remove the default space, +<br/> +<span class="pre-in-pp"> + .SPACE -1v \"Or, more simply, .SP -1v +</span> +will do the trick. +</p> + +<!-- -GREETING- --> + +<div id="greeting" class="box-macro-args"> +Macro: <b>GREETING</b> +</div> + +<p> +Invoke <kbd>.GREETING</kbd> on a line by itself, with the full +salutation you want for the letter underneath, like this: +<br/> +<span class="pre-in-pp"> + .GREETING + Dear Mr. Smith, +</span> +</p> + +<!-- -CLOSING- --> + +<div id="closing" class="box-macro-args"> +Macro: <b>CLOSING</b> +</div> + +<p> +Invoke <kbd>.CLOSING</kbd> on a line by itself after the body of +the letter, with the closing you’d like (e.g. “Yours +truly,”) underneath, like this: +<br/> +<span class="pre-in-pp"> + .CLOSING + Yours truly, +</span> +</p> + +<div class="box-tip" style="background-color: #E3D2B1;"> +<p class="tip"> +<span class="tip" style="display: inline-block; padding-bottom: .5em; color: #000056;">CLOSING control macros and defaults</span> +<br/> +Two macros control the behaviour of <kbd>.CLOSING</kbd>: +</p> +<ul style="margin-top: -1.25em;"> + <li>CLOSING_INDENT</li> + <li>SIGNATURE_SPACE</li> +</ul> + +<p id="closing-indent" style="margin-top: -.25em;"> +The first, CLOSING_INDENT, indicates the distance from the left +margin you’d like to have your closing indented. It takes a +single +<a href="definitions.html#numericargument">numeric argument</a> +and must have a +<a href="definitions.html#unitofmeasure">unit of measure</a> +appended to it, unless you want an indent of 0 (zero). Mom’s +default is one half the width of the letter’s line length +(i.e. halfway across the page). If you wanted, instead, an indent of +6 +<a href="definitions.html#picaspoints">picas</a>, +you’d do it like this: +<br/> +<span class="pre-in-pp"> + .CLOSING_INDENT 6P +</span> +Or, if you wanted to have no indent at all: +<br/> +<span class="pre-in-pp"> + .CLOSING_INDENT 0 +</span> +</p> + +<p id="signature-space" style="margin-top: -1.25em;"> +The second, SIGNATURE_SPACE, controls how much room to leave for the +signature. It takes a single +<a href="definitions.html#numericargument">numeric argument</a> +and must have a +<a href="definitions.html#unitofmeasure">unit of measure</a> +appended to it. Mom’s default is 3 line spaces, but if you +wanted to change that to, say, 2 line spaces, you’d do: +<br/> +<span class="pre-in-pp"> + .SIGNATURE_SPACE 2v +</span> +</p> +</div> + +<!-- -NO_SUITE- --> + +<div id="no-suite" class="box-macro-args" style="margin-top: 2em;"> +Macro: <b>NO_SUITE</b> +</div> + +<p> +If you don’t want mom to print a “next page” +number at the bottom of multi-page letters, invoke +<kbd>.NO_SUITE</kbd>, on a line by itself, prior to +<a href="docprocessing.html#start">START</a>. +</p> + +<div class="rule-long"><hr/></div> + +<!-- Navigation links --> +<table style="width: 100%; margin-top: 12px;"> +<tr> + <td style="width: 33%;"><a href="toc.html">Back to Table of Contents</a></td> + <td style="width: 33%; text-align: center;"><a href="#top">Top</a></td> + <td style="width: 33%; text-align: right;"><a href="macrolist.html">Next: Quick reference guide</a></td> +</tr> +</table> + +</div> + +<div class="bottom-spacer"><br/></div> + +</body> +</html> |