Provided by: groff_1.23.0-2_amd64 bug

Name

       gperl - execute Perl commands in groff documents

Synopsis

       gperl [file ...]

       gperl -h
       gperl --help

       gperl -v
       gperl --version

Description

       This is a preprocessor for groff(1).  It allows the use of perl(7) code in groff(7) files.
       The result of a Perl part can be stored in groff strings or numerical registers  based  on
       the arguments at a final line of a Perl part.

       If  no  operands  are  given, or if file is “-”, gperl reads the standard input stream.  A
       double-dash argument (“--”) causes all subsequent arguments  to  be  interpreted  as  file
       operands,  even  if their names start with a dash.  -h and --help display a usage message,
       whereas -v and --version display version information; all exit afterward.

Perl regions

       Perl parts in groff files are enclosed by two .Perl requests with different  arguments,  a
       starting and an ending command.

   Starting Perl mode
       The  starting  Perl  request can either be without arguments, or by a request that has the
       term start as its only argument.

              •      .Perl.Perl start

   Ending Perl mode without storage
       A .Perl command line with an argument different from start finishes a running  Perl  part.
       Of  course,  it  would  be  reasonable  to add the argument stop; that's possible, but not
       necessary.

              •      .Perl stop.Perl other_than_start
       The argument other_than_start can additionally be used as a groff string variable name for
       storage — see next section.

   Ending Perl mode with storage
       A useful feature of gperl is to store one or more results from the Perl mode.

       The output of a Perl part can be got with backticks `...`.

       This  program  collects  all printing to STDOUT (normal standard output) by the Perl print
       program.  This pseudo-printing output can have several lines, due to printed  line  breaks
       with  \n.   By  that,  the output of a Perl run should be stored into a Perl array, with a
       single line for each array member.

       This Perl array output can be stored by gperl in either

       groff strings
              by creating a groff command .ds

       groff register
              by creating a groff command .rn

       The storage modes can be determined by arguments of a final stopping .Perl command.   Each
       argument  .ds  changes  the  mode  into  groff  string and .nr changes the mode into groff
       register for all following output parts.

       By default, all output is saved as strings, so .ds is not really needed before  the  first
       .nr  command.   That suits to groff(7), because every output can be saved as groff string,
       but the registers can be very restrictive.

       In string mode, gperl generates a groff string storage line
              .ds var_name content
       In register mode the following groff command is generated
              .nr var_name content

       We present argument collections in the following.  You can add as first argument  for  all
       stop.  We omit this additional element.

       .Perl .ds var_name
              This  will  store  1  output  line  into  the  groff  string  named var_name by the
              automatically created command
                     .ds var_name output

       .Perl var_name
              If var_name is different from start this  is  equivalent  to  the  former  command,
              because the string mode is string with .ds command.  default.

       .Perl var_name1 var_name2
              This  will  store  2  output lines into groff string names var_name1 and var_name2,
              because the default mode .ds is active, such that no .ds argument  is  needed.   Of
              course, this is equivalent to
                     .Perl .ds var_name1 var_name2
              and
                     .Perl .ds var_name1 .ds var_name2

       .Perl .nr var_name1 varname2
              stores both variables as register variables.  gperl generates
              .nr var_name1 output_line1
              .nr var_name2 output_line2

       .Perl .nr var_name1 .ds var_name2
              stores the 1st argument as register and the second as string by
              .nr var_name1 output_line1
              .ds var_name2 output_line2

Example

       A possible Perl part in a roff file could look like that:
              before
              .Perl start
              my $result = 'some data';
              print $result;
              .Perl stop .ds string_var
              after

       This  stores  the result ”some data” into the roff string called string_var, such that the
       following line is printed:
              .ds string_var some data
       by gperl as food for the coming groff run.

       A Perl part with several outputs is:
              .Perl start
              print ”first\n”;
              print ”second line\n”;
              print ”3\n”;
              .Perl var1 var2 .nr var3
       This stores 3 printed lines into 3 groff strings.  var1,var2,var3.  So the following groff
       command lines are created:
              .ds var1 first
              .ds var2 second line
              .nr var3 3

Authors

       gperl was written by Bernd Warken ⟨groff-bernd.warken-72@web.de⟩.

See also

       Man pages related to groff are groff(1), groff(7), and grog(1).

       Documents related to Perl are perl(1), perl(7).