How to write documents

mkf

ABSTRACT

In this document, we explain how to write troff documents using ms macro, ensuring they look as they should and sending it using git.

Writing documents

These documents are written in a markup language called troff. troff these days is largely used for papers and manual pages. to see what a troff document looks like, you can see this file's source (contributing.ms) We use ms macro for our documents, see ms(6) man page for more info.

Checking documents

Now you have written your document. It's time to check if it looks good and if it has spelling issues. Assuming your document is named foo.ms, You can check spelling issues with:

; deroff -ms foo.ms | spell

This is likely to have many false positives, ignore them as you wish. afterwards, to see how resulting document looks like, run the following:

pdf/ps

; troff -ms foo.ms | page

This will run page document viewer to proof read the result, which needs graphics.

text

; nroff -ms foo.ms

Sending the documents

Now, assuming your documents look good and all, you need to upload it. If you push access, you can send your documents directly, otherwise, ask someone with commit access and send them a patch. to send a patch in UNIX like systems:

WIP

And to do so in Plan 9 (assuming you have git9):

; git/pull
; git/branch -n my_new_branch
; git/add foo.ms # if you have made new files
; git/commit -m 'commit message' foo.ms
; git/export > export.txt

and send him export.txt file.