4.6.4 Document Description Macros

Only the simplest document lacks a title.⁹ As its level of sophistication (or complexity) increases, it tends to acquire a date of revision, explicitly identified authors, sponsoring institutions for authors, and, at the rarefied heights, an abstract of its content. Define these data by calling the macros below in the order shown; DA or ND can be called to set the document date (or other identifier) at any time before (a) the abstract, if present, or (b) its information is required in a header or footer. Use of these macros is optional, except that TL is mandatory if any of RP, AU, AI, or AB is called, and AE is mandatory if AB is called.

Macro: .RP [no-repeat-info] [no-renumber] ¶

Use the “report” (AT&T: “released paper”) format for your document, creating a separate cover page. The default arrangement is to place most of the document description (title, author names and institutions, and abstract, but not the date) at the top of the first page. If the optional no-repeat-info argument is given, ms produces a cover page but does not repeat any of its information subsequently (but see the DA macro below regarding the date). Normally, RP sets the page number following the cover page to 1. Specifying the optional no-renumber argument suppresses this alteration. Optional arguments can occur in any order. no is recognized as a synonym of no-repeat-info for AT&T compatibility.

Macro: .TL ¶

Specify the document title. ms collects text on input lines following this call into the title until reaching AU, AB, or a heading or paragraphing macro call.

Macro: .AU ¶

Specify an author’s name. ms collects text on input lines following this call into the author’s name until reaching AI, AB, another AU, or a heading or paragraphing macro call. Call it repeatedly to specify multiple authors.

Macro: .AI ¶

Specify the preceding author’s institution. An AU call is usefully followed by at most one AI call; if there are more, the last AI call controls. ms collects text on input lines following this call into the author’s institution until reaching AU, AB, or a heading or paragraphing macro call.

Macro: .DA [x …] ¶

Typeset the current date, or any arguments x, in the center footer, and, if RP is also called, left-aligned at the end of the description information on the cover page.

Macro: .ND [x …] ¶

Typeset the current date, or any arguments x, if RP is also called, left-aligned at the end of the document description on the cover page. This is groff ms’s default.

Macro: .AB [no] ¶

Begin the abstract. ms collects text on input lines following this call into the abstract until reaching an AE call. By default, ms places the word “ABSTRACT” centered and in italics above the text of the abstract. The optional argument no suppresses this heading.

Macro: .AE ¶

End the abstract.

An example document description, using a cover page, follows.

.RP
.TL
The Inevitability of Code Bloat
in Commercial and Free Software
.AU
J.\& Random Luser
.AI
University of West Bumblefuzz
.AB
This report examines the long-term growth of the code
bases in two large,
popular software packages;
the free Emacs and the commercial Microsoft Word.
While differences appear in the type or order of
features added,
due to the different methodologies used,
the results are the same in the end.
.PP
The free software approach is shown to be superior in
that while free software can become as bloated as
commercial offerings,
free software tends to have fewer serious bugs and the
added features are more in line with user demand.
.AE

…the rest of the paper…