bionic (1) tblcvt.1.gz

NAME

       tblcvt - troffcvt preprocessor to convert tbl-format tables

SYNTAX

       tblcvt [ file ] ...

DESCRIPTION

       tblcvt  examines  troff  input  for tables that would normally be processed by the tbl program, i.e., for
       lines bracketed by the .TS table start and .TE table end requests.  tblcvt  parses  table  specifications
       and  data  and  converts  it to a form that troffcvt can more easily handle.  This is useful for document
       processing commands that use troffcvt, since troffcvt has knowledge only of the troff input language, and
       knows nothing of the tbl input language.

       tblcvt  is  a  direct  replacement  for tbl.  Suppose you would normally process a document using tbl and
       troff (or groff, etc.) like this:
              % tbl file ... | troff ...
       To format the document using tblcvt and troffcvt, use a command like this:
              % tblcvt file ... | troffcvt ...
       Actually, it's more likely that you'll be using one of the troffcvt front ends such  as  troff2html  than
       that you'll be using troffcvt directly.  troffcvt in the preceding command may be replaced by the name of
       the front end:
              % tblcvt file ... | troff2html ...
       If it seems that troffcvt or a front end are not reading the output from tblcvt ,  specify  -  after  the
       option list to explicitly tell them to read the standard input after processing their other options:
              % tblcvt file ... | troffcvt ... -
              % tblcvt file ... | troff2html ... -

DIAGNOSTICS

       Diagnostic messages are written in this format:
              tblcvt:line l (table t, section s): message...
       This  indicates  that  a  problem was detected at line number l, and that tblcvt considers the line to be
       part of table number t and section s within the table.  Section numbers start at one and are  incremented
       for each .T& request that occurs within a table specification.

SEE ALSO

       troffcvt(1)

       tblcvt - A troffcvt Preprocessor

WHO-TO-BLAME

       Paul DuBois, dubois@primate.wisc.edu.

BUGS

       For  the  most  part,  tblcvt  assumes your tables make sense, i.e., are legal according to the tbl input
       language.  tblcvt may complain about malformed table constructs (if it detects them), but it may also get
       confused by them and generate garbage output.

       tblcvt  generates  troff  output  that uses long request names, so you can't use compatibility mode -C  (
       option) with troffcvt or a troffcvt front end.

       tblcvt doesn't support vertically-spanned lines.  It prints a warning when it detects one, but the  table
       output won't be correct.

                                                                                                       TBLCVT(1)