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.