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(groff)Requests

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Requests
--------

   A request line begins with a control character, which is either a
single quote (`'', the "no-break control character") or a period (`.',
the normal "control character").  These can be changed; see Note:
Character Translations, for details.  After this there may be
optional tabs or spaces followed by an identifier which is the name of
the request.  This may be followed by any number of space-separated
arguments (_no_ tabs here).

   Since a control character followed by whitespace only is ignored, it
is common practice to use this feature for structuring the source code
of documents or macro packages.


     .de foo
     .  tm This is foo.
     ..
     .
     .
     .de bar
     .  tm This is bar.
     ..

   Another possibility is to use the blank line macro request `blm' by
assigning an empty macro to it.


     .de do-nothing
     ..
     .blm do-nothing  \" activate blank line macro
     
     .de foo
     .  tm This is foo.
     ..
     
     
     .de bar
     .  tm This is bar.
     ..
     
     .blm             \" deactivate blank line macro

   To begin a line with a control character without it being
interpreted, precede it with `\&'.  This represents a zero width space,
which means it does not affect the output.

   In most cases the period is used as a control character.  Several
requests cause a break implicitly; using the single quote control
character prevents this.

Request Arguments