This is a2ps.info, produced by makeinfo version 4.0 from a2ps.texi.

INFO-DIR-SECTION Printing Tools
START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
* a2ps: (a2ps).                    PostScript Generating Utility
* PreScript: (a2ps) PreScript.     Input language for a2ps
* card: (a2ps) card.               Print Reference Cards
* fixps: (a2ps) fixps.             Fixing Some Ill Designed PostScript Files
* fixnt: (a2ps) fixnt.             Fixing Microsoft NT PostScript Files
* pdiff: (a2ps) pdiff.             Produce Pretty Comparison of Files
* psmandup: (a2ps) psmandup.       Printing Duplex on Simplex Printers
* psset: (a2ps) psset.             Inserting calls to setpagedevice
END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY

   This document describes GNU a2ps 4.13, a converter from various
formats, included text, to PostScript converter, with pretty-printing
abilities.

   Copyright (C) 1988-1993 Miguel Santana Copyright (C) 1995-2000 Akim
Demaille, Miguel Santana

   Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this
manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are
preserved on all copies.

   Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of
this manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also
that the section entitled "Copying" is included exactly as in the
original, and provided that the entire resulting derived work is
distributed under the terms of a permission notice identical to this
one.

   Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this
manual into another language, under the above conditions for modified
versions, except that this permission notice may be stated in a
translation approved by the author.


File: a2ps.info,  Node: Syntax,  Next: PreScript Commands,  Prev: PreScript,  Up: PreScript

Syntax
......

   Every command name begins with a backslash (`\'). If the command
uses an argument, it is given between curly braces with no spaces
between the command name and the argument.

   The main limit on `PreScript' is that no command can be used inside
another command. For instance the following line will be badly
interpreted by a2ps:

     \Keyword{Problems using \keyword{recursive \copyright} calls}

   The correct way to write this in `PreScript' is

     \Keyword{Problems using} \keyword{recursive} \copyright \Keyword{calls}.

   Everything from an unquoted % to the end of line is ignored
(comments).


File: a2ps.info,  Node: PreScript Commands,  Next: PreScript examples,  Prev: Syntax,  Up: PreScript

PreScript Commands
..................

   These commands required arguments.

`\keyword{TEXT}'
`\Keyword{TEXT}'
     Highlight lightly/strongly the given TEXT.  Should be used only
     for a couple of adjacent words.

`\comment{TEXT}'
`\Comment{TEXT}'
     The TEXT is given a special face.  The TEXT may be removed if
     option `--strip' is used.

`\label{TEXT}'
`\Label{TEXT}'
     TEXT should be considered as a definition, or an important point
     in the structure of the whole text.

`\string{TEXT}'
     Write TEXT with string's face (e.g., in font Times).

`\error{TEXT}'
     Write TEXT with error's face (generally a very different face, so
     that you see immediately).

`\symbol{TEXT}'
     TEXT is written in the PostScript symbol font.  This feature is
     not compatible with LaTeX.  It is recommended, when possible, to
     use the special keywords denoting symbols, which are compatible
     with LaTeX (*note Symbol::).

`\header{TEXT}'
`\footer{TEXT}'
     Use TEXT as header (footer) for the current page.  If several
     headers or footers are defined on the same page, the last one is
     taken into account.

`\encoding{KEY}'
     Change dynamically the current encoding.  After this command, the
     text is printed using the encoding corresponding to KEY.


File: a2ps.info,  Node: PreScript examples,  Prev: PreScript Commands,  Up: PreScript

Examples
........

   `PreScript' and a2ps can be used for one-the-fly formating. For
instance, on the `passwd' file:

     ypcat passwd |
      awk -F: \
        '{print "\Keyword{" $5 "} (" $1 ") \rightarrow\keyword{" $7 "}"}'\
      | a2ps -Epre -P


File: a2ps.info,  Node: PreTeX,  Next: TeXScript,  Prev: PreScript,  Up: Type Setting Style Sheets

PreTeX
------

   The aim of the PreTeX style sheet is to provide something similar to
`PreScript', but with a more LaTeX like syntax.

* Menu:

* Special characters::
* PreTeX Commands::
* Differences with LaTeX::


File: a2ps.info,  Node: Special characters,  Next: PreTeX Commands,  Prev: PreTeX,  Up: PreTeX

Special characters
..................

   `$' is ignored in `PreTeX' for compatibility with LaTeX, and `%'
introduces a comment. Hence they are the only symbols which have to be
quoted by a `\'.  The following characters should also be quoted to
produce good LaTeX files, but are accepted by `PreScript': `_', `&',
`#'.

   Note that _inside a command_, like `\textbf', the quotation
mechanism does not work in `PreScript' (`\textrm{#$%}' writes `#$%')
though LaTeX still requires quotation. Hence whenever special
characters or symbols are introduced, they should be at the outer most
level.


File: a2ps.info,  Node: PreTeX Commands,  Next: Differences with LaTeX,  Prev: Special characters,  Up: PreTeX

PreTeX Commands
...............

   These commands required arguments.

`\section{TITLE}'
`\subsection{TITLE}'
`\subsubsection{TITLE}.'
     Used to specify the title of a section, subsection or
     subsubsection.

`\textbf{TEXT}'
`\textit{TEXT}'
`\textbi{TEXT}'
`\textrm{TEXT}'
     write TEXT in bold, italic, bold-italic, Times.  Default font is
     Courier.

`\textsy{TEXT}'
     TEXT is written in the PostScript symbol font.  This feature is
     not compatible with LaTeX.  It is recommended, when possible, to
     use the special keywords denoting symbols, which are compatible
     with LaTeX (See the style sheet `Symbol').

`\header{TEXT}'
`\footer{TEXT}'
     Use TEXT as header (footer) for the current page.  If several
     headers or footers are defined on the same page, the last one is
     taken into account.

`\verb+TEXT+'
     Quote TEXT so that no special sequence will be interpreted.  In
     `\verb+QUOTED STRING+' `+' can be any symbol in `+', `!', `|',
     `#', `='.

`\begin{document}'
`\end{document}'
`\begin{itemize}'
`\end{itemize}'
`\begin{enumerate}'
`\end{enumerate}'
`\begin{description}'
`\end{description}'
     These commands are legal in LaTeX but have no sense in PreTeX.
     Hence there are simply ignored and not printed (if immediately
     followed by an end-of-line).


File: a2ps.info,  Node: Differences with LaTeX,  Prev: PreTeX Commands,  Up: PreTeX

Differences with LaTeX
......................

   The following symbols, inherited from the style sheet `Symbol', are
not supported by LaTeX:

   `\Alpha', `\apple', `\Beta', `\carriagereturn', `\Chi', `\Epsilon',
`\Eta', `\florin', `\Iota', `\Kappa', `\Mu', `\Nu', `\Omicron',
`\omicron', `\radicalex', `\register', `\Rho', `\suchthat', `\Tau',
`\therefore', `\trademark', `\varUpsilon', `\Zeta'.

   LaTeX is more demanding about special symbols. Most of them must be
in so-called math mode, which means that the command must be inside `$'
signs. For instance, though
     If \forall x \in E, x \in F then E \subseteq F.

is perfectly legal in PreTeX, it should be written
     If $\forall x \in E, x \in F$ then $E \subseteq F$.

for LaTeX. Since in PreTeX every `$' is discarded (unless quoted by a
`\'), the second form is also admitted.


File: a2ps.info,  Node: TeXScript,  Prev: PreTeX,  Up: Type Setting Style Sheets

TeXScript
---------

   `TeXScript' is a replacement of the old version of `PreScript': it
combines both the a2ps-like and the LaTeX-like syntaxes through
inheritance of both `PreScript' and `PreTeX'.

   In addition it provides commands meant to ease processing of file for
a2ps by LaTeX.

   Everything between `%%TeXScript:skip' and `%%TeXScript:piks' will be
ignored in `TeXScript', so that there can be inserted command
definitions for LaTeX exclusively.

   The commands `\textbi' (for bold-italic) and `\textsy' (for symbol)
do not exist in LaTeX.  They should be defined in the preamble:

     %%TeXScript:skip
     \newcommand{\textbi}[1]{\textbf{\textit{#1}}}
     \newcommand{\textsy}[1]{#1}
     %%TeXScript:piks

   There is no way in TeXScript to get an automatic numbering.  There is
no equivalent to the LaTeX environment `enumerate'.  But every command
beginning by `\text' is doubled by a command beginning by `\magic'.
a2ps behaves the same way on both families of commands.  Hence, if one
specifies that arguments of those functions should be ignored in the
preamble of the LaTeX document, the numbering is emulated.  For instance
     \begin{enumerate}
     \magicbf{1.}\item First line
     \magicbf{2.}\item Second line
     \end{enumerate}

will be treated the same way both in TeXScript and LaTeX.

   `\header' and `\footer', are not understood by LaTeX.


File: a2ps.info,  Node: Faces,  Next: Style sheets semantics,  Prev: Type Setting Style Sheets,  Up: Pretty Printing

Faces
=====

   A "face" is an attribute given to a piece of text, which specifies
how it should look like.  Since a2ps is devoted to pretty-printing
source files, the faces it uses are related to the syntactic entities
that can be encountered in a file.

   The faces a2ps uses are:
`Plain'
     This corresponds to the text body.

`Keyword'
`Keyword_strong'
     These are related to the keywords that may appear in a text.

`Comment'
`Comment_strong'
     These are related to comments in the text.  Remember that comments
     should be considered as non essential ("_Aaaeaaarg_" says the
     programmer); indeed, the user might suppress the comments thanks
     (?) to the option `--strip-level'.  Hence, *never* use these faces
     just because you think they look better on, say, strings.

`Label'
`Label_strong'
     These are used when a point of extreme importance, or a sectioning
     point, is met.  Typically, functions declarations etc.

`String'
     Used mainly for string and character literals.

`Error'
     Used to underline the presence of an error.  For instance in
     Encapsulated PostScript, some PostScript operators are forbidden:
     they are underlined as errors.

   Actually, there is also the face `Symbol', but this one is
particular: it is not legal changing its font.


File: a2ps.info,  Node: Style sheets semantics,  Next: Style Sheets Implementation,  Prev: Faces,  Up: Pretty Printing

Style Sheets Semantics
======================

   a2ps pretty prints a source file thanks to "style sheets", one per
language.  In the following is described how the style sheets are
defined.  You may skip this section if you don't care how a2ps does
this, and if you don't expect to implement new styles.

* Menu:

* Name and key::                Both names of a style sheet
* Comments::                    Author name, version etc.
* Alphabets::                   What words are legal
* Case sensitivity::            Is BEGIN different of begin
* P-Rules::                     Pretty Printing Rules
* Sequences::                   Strings, comments etc.
* Optional entries::            Second level of pretty printing


File: a2ps.info,  Node: Name and key,  Next: Comments,  Prev: Style sheets semantics,  Up: Style sheets semantics

Name and key
------------

   Every style sheet has both a key, and a name.  The name can be clean
and beautiful, with any character you might want.  The key is in fact
the prefix part of the file name, and is alpha-numerical, lower case,
and less than 8 characters long.

   Anywhere a2ps needs to recognize a style sheet by a name, *it uses
the key* (in the `sheets.map' file, with the option `-E', etc.).

   As an example, C++ is implemented in a file called `cxx.ssh', in
which the name is declared to be `C++'.

   The rationale is that not every system accepts any character in the
file name (e.g., no `+' in MS-DOS).  Moreover, it allows to make
symbolic links on the ssh files (e.g., `ln -s cxx.ssh c++.ssh' let's
you use `-E c++').


File: a2ps.info,  Node: Comments,  Next: Alphabets,  Prev: Name and key,  Up: Style sheets semantics

Comments
--------

   ssh files can include the name of its author, a version number, a
documentation note and a requirement on the version of a2ps.  For
instance, if a style sheet requires a2ps version 4.9.6, then a2ps
version 4.9.5 will reject it.


File: a2ps.info,  Node: Alphabets,  Next: Case sensitivity,  Prev: Comments,  Up: Style sheets semantics

Alphabets
---------

   a2ps needs to know the beginning and the end of a word, especially
keywords.  Hence it needs two alphabets: the first one specifying by
which letters an identifier can begin, and the second one for the rest
of the word.  If you prefer, a keyword starts with a character
belonging to the first alphabet, and a character not pertaining to the
second is a separator.


File: a2ps.info,  Node: Case sensitivity,  Next: P-Rules,  Prev: Alphabets,  Up: Style sheets semantics

Case sensitivity
----------------

   If the style is case insensitive, then matching is case insensitive
(keywords, operators and sequences).


File: a2ps.info,  Node: P-Rules,  Next: Sequences,  Prev: Case sensitivity,  Up: Style sheets semantics

P-Rules
-------

   A "P-rule" (Pretty printing rule), or "rule" for short, is a
structure which consists of two items:
"lhs"
"left-hand side"
     its source string, with which the source file is compared;

"rhs"
"right hand side"
     a list of faced strings which will replace the text matched in the
     pretty-printed output.  A faced string is composed of
        - a string, or a reference to a part of the source string
          (*note Back-reference Operator: (regex)Back-reference
          Operator.)

        - the face to use to print it

   Just a short example: `(foo, bar, Keyword_strong)' as a rule means
that every input occurrence of `foo' will be replaced by `bar', written
with the `Keyword_strong' face.

   If the destination string is empty, then a2ps will use the source
string.  This is different from giving the source string as a
destination string if the case is different.  An example will make it
fairly clear.

   Let `foobar' be a case insensitive style sheet including the rules
`(foo, "", Keyword)' and `(bar, bar, Keyword)'.  Then, on the input
`FOO BAR', a2ps will produce `FOO bar' in `Keyword'.

   a2ps implements two different ways to match a string.  The difference
comes from that some keywords are sensitive to the delimiters around
them (such as `unsigned' and `int' in `C', which are definitely not the
same thing as `unsignedint'), and others not (in `C', `!=' is
"different from" both in `a != b' and `a!=b').

   The first ones are called "keywords" in a2ps jargon, and the seconds
are "operators".  Operators are matched anywhere they appear, while
keywords need to have separators around them (*note Alphabets::).

   Let us give a more complicated example: that of the `Yacc' rules.  A
rule in `Yacc' is of the form:
     a_rule : part1 part2 ;

   Suppose you want to highlight these rules.  To recognize them, you
will write a regular expression specifying that:
  1. it must start at the beginning of the line,

  2. then there is string composed of symbols, which is what you want to
     highlight,

  3. and a colon, which can be preceded by blank characters.

   The regexp you want is: `/^[a-zA-Z0-9_]*[\t ]*:/'.  But with the rule
     /^[a-zA-Z0-9_]*[\t ]*:/, "", Label_strong

the blanks and the colon are highlighted too.  Hence you need to
specify some parts in the regexp (*note Back-reference Operator:
(regex)Back-reference Operator.), and use a longer list of destination
strings.  The correct rule is
     (/^([a-zA-Z0-9_]*)([\t ]*:)/, \1 Label_strong, \2 Plain)

   Since it is a bit painful to read, regexps can be spread upon several
lines.  It is strongly suggested to break them by groups, and to
document the group:
     (/^([a-zA-Z0-9_]*)/    # \1. Name of the rule
      /([\t ]*:)/           # \2. Trailing space and colon
      \1 Label_strong, \2 Plain)


File: a2ps.info,  Node: Sequences,  Next: Optional entries,  Prev: P-Rules,  Up: Style sheets semantics

Sequences
---------

   A "sequence" is a string between two "markers", along with a list of
exceptions.  A marker is a fixed string.  Typical examples are
comments, string (with usually `"' as opening and closing markers, and
`\\' and `\"' as exceptions) etc.  Three faces are used: one for the
initial marker, one for the core of the sequence, and a last one for
the final maker.


File: a2ps.info,  Node: Optional entries,  Prev: Sequences,  Up: Style sheets semantics

Optional entries
----------------

   There are two levels of pretty-printing encoded in the style sheets.
By default, a2ps uses the first level, called "normal", unless the
option `-g' is specified, in which case, "heavy" highlighting is
invoked, i.e., optional keywords, operators and sequences are
considered.


File: a2ps.info,  Node: Style Sheets Implementation,  Next: A tutorial on style sheets,  Prev: Style sheets semantics,  Up: Pretty Printing

Style Sheets Implementation
===========================

   In the previous section (*note Style sheets semantics::) were
explained the various items needed to understand the machinery involved
in pretty printing.  Here, their implementation, i.e., how to write a
style sheet file,  is explained.  The next section (*note A tutorial on
style sheets::), exposes a step by step simple example.

* Menu:

* A Bit of Syntax::             Lexical rules of the ssh language
* Style Sheet Header::          Declaration of a style
* Syntax of the Words::         Classes of the Characters
* Inheriting::                  Extending existing style sheets
* Syntax for the P-Rules::      Atomic Pretty Printing rules
* Declaring keywords and operators::  Special Classes of Identifiers
* Declaring sequences::         Bordered Lexical Entities
* Checking a Style Sheet::      Ask a2ps to Check the Sheet


File: a2ps.info,  Node: A Bit of Syntax,  Next: Style Sheet Header,  Prev: Style Sheets Implementation,  Up: Style Sheets Implementation

A Bit of Syntax
---------------

   Here are the lexical rules underlying the style sheet language:
   - the separators are white space, form feed, new line, and tab.

   - `#' introduces a comment, ended at the end of the line.

   - special characters are the separators, plus `#', `"', `,', `(',
     `)', `+' and `/'.  Any other character is a regular character.

   - the list of the structuring keywords is
          `alphabet', `alphabets', `are', `case', `documentation',
          `end', `exceptions', `first', `in', `insensitive', `is',
          `keywords', `operators', `optional', `second', `sensitive',
          `sequences', `style'

   - the list of the keywords designating faces is
          `Comment', `Comment_strong', `Encoding', `Error', `Index1',
          `Index2', `Index3', `Index4', `Invisible', `Keyword',
          `Keyword_strong', `Label', `Label_strong', `Plain', `String',
          `Symbol', `Tag1', `Tag2', `Tag3', `Tag4'

   - the list of keywords designating special sequences is
          `C-char', `C-string'

   - the list of keywords representing special characters is
          `---', `\Alpha', `\Beta', `\Chi', `\Delta', `\Downarrow',
          `\Epsilon', `\Eta', `\Gamma', `\Im', `\Iota', `\Kappa',
          `\Lambda', `\Leftarrow', `\Leftrightarrow', `\Mu', `\Nu',
          `\Omega', `\Omicron', `\Phi', `\Pi', `\Psi', `\Re', `\Rho',
          `\Rightarrow', `\Sigma', `\Tau', `\Theta', `\Uparrow',
          `\Upsilon', `\Xi', `\Zeta', `\aleph', `\alpha', `\angle',
          `\approx', `\beta', `\bullet', `\cap', `\carriagereturn',
          `\cdot', `\chi', `\circ', `\clubsuit', `\cong', `\copyright',
          `\cup', `\delta', `\diamondsuit', `\div', `\downarrow',
          `\emptyset', `\epsilon', `\equiv', `\eta', `\exists',
          `\florin', `\forall', `\gamma', `\geq', `\heartsuit', `\in',
          `\infty', `\int', `\iota', `\kappa', `\lambda', `\langle',
          `\lceil', `\ldots', `\leftarrow', `\leftrightarrow', `\leq',
          `\lfloor', `\mu', `\nabla', `\neq', `\not', `\not\in',
          `\not\subset', `\nu', `\omega', `\omicron', `\oplus',
          `\otimes', `\partial', `\perp', `\phi', `\pi', `\pm',
          `\prime', `\prod', `\propto', `\psi', `\radicalex', `\rangle',
          `\rceil', `\register', `\rfloor', `\rho', `\rightarrow',
          `\sigma', `\sim', `\spadesuit', `\subset', `\subseteq',
          `\suchthat', `\sum', `\supset', `\supseteq', `\surd', `\tau',
          `\theta', `\therefore', `\times', `\trademark', `\uparrow',
          `\upsilon', `\varUpsilon', `\varcopyright',
          `\vardiamondsuit', `\varphi', `\varpi', `\varregister',
          `\varsigma', `\vartheta', `\vartrademark', `\vee', `\wedge',
          `\wp', `\xi', `\zeta'
     It is a good idea to print the style sheet `symbols.ssh' to see
     them:
          a2ps symbols.ssh

   - a string starts and finishes with `"', and may contain anything.
     Regular `C' escaping mechanism is used.

   - a regular expression starts and finishes with `/', and may contain
     anything.  Regular `C' escaping mechanism is used.  Regexps can be
     split in several parts, a` la C strings (i.e., `/part 1/ /part
     2/').

   - any sequence of regular characters which is not a keyword, is a
     string (consider this as a shortcut, avoiding extraneous `"').



File: a2ps.info,  Node: Style Sheet Header,  Next: Syntax of the Words,  Prev: A Bit of Syntax,  Up: Style Sheets Implementation

Style Sheet Header
------------------

   The definition of the name of the style sheet is:
     `style' NAME `is'
       # body of the style sheet
     `end' `style'

   The following constructions are optional:
`version'
     To define the version number of the style sheet
          version is VERSION-NUMBER

`written'
     To define the author(s).
          written by AUTHORS

     Giving your email is useful for bug reports about style sheets.
          written by "Some Body <Some.Body@some.whe.re>"

`requires'
     To specify the version of a2ps it requires.  a2ps won't accept a
     file which requires a higher version number than its own.
          requires a2ps A2PS-VERSION-NUMBER

`documentation'
     To leave extra comments people should read.
          documentation is
             STRINGS
          end documentation
     STRINGS may be a list of strings, without comas, in which case new
     lines are automatically inserted between each item.  *Note
     Documentation Format::, for details on the format.

     Please, write useful comments, not `This style is devoted to C
     files', since the name is here for that, nor `Report errors to
     mail@me.somewhere', since `written by' is there for that.
          documentation is
              "Not all the keywords are used, to avoid too much"
              "bolding. Heavy highlighting (code(-g)code), covers"
              "the whole language."
          end documentation


File: a2ps.info,  Node: Syntax of the Words,  Next: Inheriting,  Prev: Style Sheet Header,  Up: Style Sheets Implementation

Syntax of the Words
-------------------

   There are two things a2ps needs to know: what is symbol consistent,
and whether the style is case insensitive.

`alphabet'
     To define two different alphabets, use
          first alphabet is STRING
          second alphabet is STRING

     If both are identical, you may use the shortcut
          alphabets are STRING

     The default alphabets are
          first alphabet is
            "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ_"
          second alphabet is
          "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ_\
          0123456789"

     Note that it is on purpose that no characters interval are used.

`case'
          case insensitive        # e.g., C, C++ etc.
          case sensitive          # e.g., Perl, Sather, Java etc.

     The default is `case insensitive'.


File: a2ps.info,  Node: Inheriting,  Next: Syntax for the P-Rules,  Prev: Syntax of the Words,  Up: Style Sheets Implementation

Inheriting from Other Style Sheets
----------------------------------

   It is possible to extend an existing style. The syntax is:
     ancestors are
        ANCESTOR_1[, ANCESTOR_2...]
     end ancestors

where ANCESTOR1 etc. are style sheet keys.

   For semantics, the rules are the following:
   - the ancestors are read in order;

   - the definition of the current style is read last;

   - it is always the last item read which wins (last defined
     alphabets, case sensitivity, keywords, operators and sequences).


   As an example, both `C++' and `Objective C' style sheets extend the
`C' style sheet:

     style "Objective C" is
     #[...]
     ancestors are
        c
     end ancestors
     #[...]
     end style

   To the biggest surprise of the author, mutually dependent style
sheets do work!


File: a2ps.info,  Node: Syntax for the P-Rules,  Next: Declaring keywords and operators,  Prev: Inheriting,  Up: Style Sheets Implementation

Syntax for the P-Rules
----------------------

   *Note P-Rules::, for the definition of "P-rule".

   Because of various short cuts, there are many ways to declare a rule:
     RULES     ::= RULE_1 `,' RULE_2...
     RULE      ::= `(' LHS RHS `)'
                | LHS SRHS ;
     LHS       ::= STRING | REGEX ;
     RHS       ::= SRHS `,' ...
     SRHS      ::= LATEX-KEYWORD | EXPANSION FACE
     EXPANSION ::= STRING | `\'NUM | <nothing>;
     FACE      ::= FACE-KEYWORD | <nothing>;

   The rules are the following:
   - If the left-hand side (lhs) is a regular expression, then it is
     compiled with the following syntax bits:
          #define RE_SYNTAX_A2PS \
            (/* Allow char classes. */					\
              RE_CHAR_CLASSES						\
            /* Be picky. */						\
            | RE_CONTEXT_INVALID_OPS					\
            /* Allow intervals with `{' and `}', forbid invalid ranges. */\
            | RE_INTERVALS | RE_NO_BK_BRACES | RE_NO_EMPTY_RANGES		\
            /* `(' and `)' are the grouping operators. */			\
            | RE_NO_BK_PARENS						\
            /* `|' is the alternation. */					\
            | RE_NO_BK_VBAR)

     Basically it means that all of the possible operators are used,
     and that they are in non-backslashed form.  For instance `(' and
     `)' stand for the group operator, while `\\(' stands for the
     character `('.  *Note Regular Expression Syntax: (regex)Regular
     Expression Syntax, for a detailed description of the regular
     expressions.

   - If no EXPANSION is specified, then the matched string is used.
     For instance `(/fo*/, NULL, Keyword)' applied on the source
     `fooooo' produces `fooooo' in `Keyword'.

   - If no FACE is given, then
        - if the context defines the default face, then this face is
          used;

        - if no default face is given, `PLAIN' is used.


File: a2ps.info,  Node: Declaring keywords and operators,  Next: Declaring sequences,  Prev: Syntax for the P-Rules,  Up: Style Sheets Implementation

Declaring the keywords and the operators
----------------------------------------

   Basically, keywords and operators are lists of rules.  The syntax is:
     keywords are
       RULES
     end keywords

or
     keywords in FACE-KEYWORD are
       RULES
     end keywords

in which case the default face is set to FACE-KEYWORD.

   As an example:
     keywords in Keyword_strong are
       /foo*/,
       "bar" "BAR" Keyword,
       -> \rightarrow
     end keywords

is valid.

   The syntax for the operators is the same, and both constructs can be
qualified with an `optional' flag, in which case they are taken into
account in the heavy highlighting mode (*note Pretty Print Options::).

   This is an extract of the `C' style sheet:
     optional operators are
        -> \rightarrow,
        && \wedge,
        || \vee,
        != \neq,
        == \equiv,
        # We need to protect these, so that <= is not replaced in <<=
        <<=,
        >>=,
        <= \leq,
        >= \geq,
        ! \not
     end operators

   Note how `<<=' and `>>=' are protected (there are defined to be
written as is when met in the source).  This is to prevent the two last
characters of `<<=' from being converted into a `less or equal' sign.

   The order in which you define the elements of a category (but the
sequences) does not matter.  But since a2ps sorts them at run time, it
may save time if the alphabetical `C'-order is more or less followed.

   You should be aware that when declaring a keyword with a regular
expression as lhs, then a2ps automatically makes this expression
matching only if there are no character of the first alphabet both just
before, and just after the string.

   In term of implementation, it means that
     keywords are
       /foo|bar/
     end keywords

is exactly the same as
     operators are
       /\\b(foo|bar)\\b/
     end operators

   This can cause problems if you use anchors (e.g. `$', or `^') in
keywords: the matcher will be broken.  In this particular case, define
your keywords as operators, taking care of the `\\b' by yourself.

   *Note Match-word-boundary Operator: (regex)Match-word-boundary
Operator, for details on `\b'.


File: a2ps.info,  Node: Declaring sequences,  Next: Checking a Style Sheet,  Prev: Declaring keywords and operators,  Up: Style Sheets Implementation

Declaring the sequences
-----------------------

   Sequences admit several declarations too:
     SEQUENCES      ::= sequences are
                          SEQUENCE_1 `,' SEQUENCE_2...
                        end sequences
     SEQUENCE       ::= RULE IN_FACE CLOSE_OPT EXCEPTIONS_OPT
                      | `C-string'
                      | `C-char'
                      ;
     CLOSE_OPT      ::= RULE
                      | closers are
                          RULES
                        end closers
                      | <nothing>
                      ;
     EXCEPTIONS_OPT ::= exceptions are
                          RULES
                        end exceptions
                      | <nothing>
                      ;

   The rules are:
   - The default face is then IN_FACE.

   - If no closing rule is given, `"\n"' (i.e., end-of-line) is used.

   As a first example, here is the correct definition for a `C' string:
     sequences are
      "\"" Plain String "\"" Plain
          exceptions are
             "\\\\", "\\\""
          end exceptions
     end sequences
   Since a great deal of languages uses this kind of constructs, you may
use `C-string' to mean exactly this, and `C-char' for manifest
characters defined the `C' way.

   The following example comes from `ssh.ssh', the style sheet for
style sheet files, in which there are two kinds of pseudo-strings: the
strings (`"example"'), and the regular expressions (`/example/').  We
do not want the content of the pseudo-strings in the face `String'.

     sequences are
       # The comments
       "#" Comment,
     
       # The name of the style sheet
       "style " Keyword_strong (Label + Index1) " is" Keyword_strong,
     
       # Strings are exactly the C-strings, though we don't want to
       # have them in the "string" face
       "\"" Plain "\""
          exceptions are
             "\\\\", "\\\""
          end exceptions,
     
       # Regexps
       "/" Plain "/"
          exceptions are
             "\\\\", "\\\/"
          end exceptions
     
     end sequences

   The order between sequences does matter.  For instance in Java,
`/**' introduces strong comments, and `/*' comments.  `/**' _must_ be
declared before `/*', or it will be hidden.

   There are actually some sequences that could have been implemented as
operators with a specific regular expression (that goes up to the
closer).  Nevertheless be aware of a big difference: regular expression
are applied to a single line of the source file, hence, they cannot
match on several lines.  For instance, the `C' comments,
     /*
      * a comment
      */

cannot be implemented with operators, though `C++' comments can:
     //
     // a comment
     //


File: a2ps.info,  Node: Checking a Style Sheet,  Prev: Declaring sequences,  Up: Style Sheets Implementation

Checking a Style Sheet
----------------------

   Once your style sheet is written, you may want to let a2ps perform
simple tests on it (e.g., checking there are no rules involving upper
case characters in a case insensitive style sheet, etc.).  These tests
are performed when verbosity includes the style sheets.

   you may also want to use the special convention that when a style
sheet is required with a suffix, then a2ps will not look at it in its
library path, but precisely from when you are.

   Suppose for instance you extended the `c.ssh' style sheet, which is
in the current directory, and is said case insensitive.  Run
     ubu $ a2ps foo.c -Ec.ssh -P void -v sheets
     # Long output deleted
     Checking coherence of "C" (c.ssh)
     a2ps: c.ssh:`FILE' uses upper case characters
     a2ps: c.ssh:`NULL' uses upper case characters
     "C" (c.ssh) is corrupted.
     ---------- End of Finalization of c.ssh

Here, it is clear that `C' is not case insensitive.


File: a2ps.info,  Node: A tutorial on style sheets,  Prev: Style Sheets Implementation,  Up: Pretty Printing

A Tutorial on Style Sheets
==========================

   In this section a simple example of style sheet is entirely covered:
that of `ChangeLog' files.

   `ChangeLog' files are some kind of memory of changes done to files,
so that various programmers can understand what happened to the sources.
This helps a lot, for instance, in guessing what recent changes may have
introduced new bugs.

* Menu:

* Example and syntax::          ChangeLog files
* Implementation::              Implementation of chlog.ssh
* The Entry in sheets.map::     Getting automatic style selection
* More Sophisticated Rules::    Complex regular expressions
* Distributed Style Sheets::    Additional Constraints


File: a2ps.info,  Node: Example and syntax,  Next: Implementation,  Prev: A tutorial on style sheets,  Up: A tutorial on style sheets

Example and syntax
------------------

   First of all, here is a sample of a `ChangeLog' file, taken from the
`misc/' directory of the original a2ps package:
     Sun Apr 27 14:29:22 1997  Akim Demaille  <demaille@inf.enst.fr>
     
             * base.ps: Merged in color.ps, since now a lot is
               common [added box and underline features].
     
     Fri Apr 25 14:05:20 1997  Akim Demaille  <demaille@inf.enst.fr>
     
             * color.ps: Added box and underline routines.
     
     Mon Mar 17 20:39:11 1997  Akim Demaille  <demaille@gargantua.enst.fr>
     
             * base.ps: Got rid of CourierBack and reencoded_backspace_font.
               Now the C has to handle this by itself.
     
     Sat Mar  1 19:12:22 1997  Akim Demaille  <demaille@gargantua.enst.fr>
     
             * *.enc: they build their own dictionaries, to ease multi
               lingual documents.

   The syntax is really simple: A line specifying the author and the
date of the changes, then a list of changes, all of them starting with
an star followed by the name of the files concerned, then optionally
between parentheses the functions affected, and then some comments.


File: a2ps.info,  Node: Implementation,  Next: The Entry in sheets.map,  Prev: Example and syntax,  Up: A tutorial on style sheets

Implementation
--------------

   Quite naturally the style will be called `ChangeLog', hence:
     style ChangeLog is
     written by "Akim Demaille <demaille@inf.enst.fr>"
     version is 1.0
     requires a2ps 4.9.5
     
     documentation is
        "This is a tutorial style sheet.\n"
     end documentation
       ...
     end style

   A first interesting and easy entry is that of function names, between
`(' and `)':
     sequences are
       "(" Plain Label ")" Plain
     end sequences

   A small problem that may occur is that there can be several functions
mentioned separated by commas, that we don't want to highlight this way.
Commas, here, are exceptions.  Since regular expressions are not yet
implemented in a2ps, there is a simple but stupid way to avoid that
white spaces are all considered as part of a function name, namely
defining two exceptions: one which captures a single comma, and a
second, capturing a comma and its trailing space.

   For the file names, the problem is a bit more delicate, since they
may end with `:', or when starts the list of functions.  Then, we
define two sequences, each one with one of the possible closers, the
exceptions being attached to the first one:

     sequences are
       "* " Plain Label_strong ":" Plain
          exceptions are
             ", " Plain, "," Plain
          end exceptions,
       "* " Plain Label_strong " " Plain
     end sequences

   Finally, let us say that some words have a higher importance in the
core of text: those about removing or adding something.
     keywords in Keyword_strong are
       add, added, remove, removed
     end keywords

   Since they may appear in lower or upper, of mixed case, the style
will be defined as case insensitive.

   Finally, we end up with this style sheet file, in which an optional
highlighting of the mail address of the author is done.  Saving the file
is last step.  But do not forget that a style sheet has both a name as
nice as you may want (such as `Common Lisp'), and a key on which there
are strict rules: the prefix must be alpha-numerical, lower case, with
no more than 8 characters.  Let's chose `chlog.ssh'.

     # This is a tutorial on a2ps' style sheets
     style ChangeLog is
     written by "Akim Demaille <demaille@inf.enst.fr>"
     version is 1.0
     requires a2ps 4.9.5
     
     documentation is
        "Second level of high lighting covers emails."
     end documentation
     
     sequences are
       "(" Plain Label ")" Plain
          exceptions are
             ", " Plain, "," Plain
          end exceptions,
       "* " Plain Label_strong ":" Plain
          exceptions are
             ", " Plain, "," Plain
          end exceptions,
       "* " Plain Label_strong " " Plain
     end sequences
     
     keywords in Keyword_strong are
       add, added, remove, removed
     end keywords
     
     optional sequences are
        < Plain Keyword > Plain
     end sequences
     end style

   As a last step, you may which to let a2ps check your style sheet,
both its syntax, and common errors:
     ubu $ a2ps -vsheet -E/tmp/chlog.ssh ChangeLog -P void
     Long output deleted
     Checking coherence of "ChangeLog" (/tmp/chlog.ssh)
     "ChangeLog" (/tmp/chlog.ssh) is sane.
     ---------- End of Finalization of /tmp/chlog.ssh

   It's all set, your style sheet is ready!


File: a2ps.info,  Node: The Entry in sheets.map,  Next: More Sophisticated Rules,  Prev: Implementation,  Up: A tutorial on style sheets

The Entry in `sheets.map'
-------------------------

   The last touch is to include the pattern rules about `ChangeLog'
files (which could appear as `ChangeLog.old' etc.) in `sheets.map':
     # ChangeLog files
     chlog:  /ChangeLog*/

   This won't work...  Well, not always.  Not for instance if you print
`misc/ChangeLog'.  This is not a bug, but truly a feature, since
sometimes one gets more information about the type of a file from its
path, than from the file name.

   Here, to match the preceding path that may appear, just use `*':
     # ChangeLog files
     chlog:  /*ChangeLog*/

If you want to be more specific (`FooChangeLog' should not match), use:
     # ChangeLog files
     chlog:  /ChangeLog*/ /*\/ChangeLog*/


File: a2ps.info,  Node: More Sophisticated Rules,  Next: Distributed Style Sheets,  Prev: The Entry in sheets.map,  Up: A tutorial on style sheets

More Sophisticated Rules
------------------------

   The example we have presented until now uses only basic features, and
does not take advantage of the regexp.  In this section we should how
to write more evolved pretty printing rules.

   The target will be the lines like:
     Sun Apr 27 14:29:22 1997  Akim Demaille  <demaille@inf.enst.fr>
     
     Fri Apr 25 14:05:20 1997  Akim Demaille  <demaille@inf.enst.fr>

   There are three fields: the date, the name, the mail.  These lines
all start at the beginning of line.  The last field is the easier to
recognize: is starts with a `<', and finishes with a `>'.  Its rule is
then `/<[^>]+>/'.  It is now easier to specify the second: it is
composed only of words, at least one, separated by blanks, and is
followed by the mail: `/[[:alpha:]]+([ \t]+[[:alpha:]]+)*/'.  To
concatenate the two, we introduce optional blanks, and we put each one
into a pair of `('-`)' to make each one a recognizable part:
     ([[:alpha:]]+([ \t]+[[:alpha:]]+)*)
     (.+)
     (<[^>]+>)

   Now the first part is rather easy: it starts at the beginning of the
line, finishes with a digit.  Once again, it is separated from the
following field by blanks. Split by groups (*note Grouping Operators:
(regex)Grouping Operators.), we have:
     ^
     ([^\t ].*[0-9])
     ([ \t]+)
     ([[:alpha:]]+([ \t]+[[:alpha:]]+)*)
     (.+)
     (<[^>]+>)

   Now the destination is composed of back references to those groups,
together with a face:
     # We want to highlight the date and the maintainer name
     optional operators are
       (/^([^\t ].*[0-9])/                        # \1. The date
        /([ \t]+)/                                # \2. Spaces
        /([[:alpha:]]+([ \t]+[[:alpha:]]+)*)/     # \3. Name
        /(.+)/                                    # \5. space and <
        /(<[^>]+)>/                               # \6. email
        \1 Keyword, \2 Plain, \3 Keyword_strong,
        \5 Plain, \6 Keyword, > Plain)
     end operators

   Notice the way regexps are split, to ease reading.


File: a2ps.info,  Node: Distributed Style Sheets,  Prev: More Sophisticated Rules,  Up: A tutorial on style sheets

Guide Line for Distributed Style Sheets
---------------------------------------

   This section is meant for people who wish to contribute style sheets.
There is a couple of additional constraints, explained here.

_The Copyright_
     Please, do put a copyright in your file, the same as all other
     distributed files have: it should include your name, but also the
     three paragraphs stating the sheet is covered by the GPL.  I won't
     distribute files without these paragraphs.

_The Version_
     Do put a version number, so that people can track evolutions.

_The Requirements_
     Make sure to include a requirement on the needed version of a2ps.
     If you don't know what to put, just put the version of the a2ps
     you run.

_The Documentation_
     The documentation string is mandatory.  Unless the language your
     style sheet covers is widely known, please document a bit what the
     style sheet is meant for.  If there were choices you made, if
     there are special behaviors, document them.

_The `sheets.map' Entries_
     Put in a comment on the `sheets.map' lines that correspond to your
     style sheet.

_A Test File_
     It is better to give a test file, as small as possible, that
     contains the most specific and/or most difficult contructs that
     your style sheet supports.  I need to be able to distribute this
     file, therefore, do not put anything that is copyrighted.

   Finally, make sure your style sheet behaves well! (*note Checking a
Style Sheet::)


File: a2ps.info,  Node: PostScript,  Next: Contributions,  Prev: Pretty Printing,  Up: Top

PostScript
**********

   This chapter is devoted to the information which is only relevant to
PostScript.

* Menu:

* Good and Bad PostScript::     How to lose, how to win
* Page Device Options::         Accessing some printers' features
* Statusdict Options::          Some other features
* Colors in PostScript::        Specifying a color or a gray
* a2ps PostScript Files::       Convention for PostScript library files
* Designing PostScript Prologues::  Make it look like what you want


File: a2ps.info,  Node: Good and Bad PostScript,  Next: Page Device Options,  Prev: PostScript,  Up: PostScript

Foreword: Good and Bad PostScript
=================================

   To read this section, the reader must understand what DSC are (*note
Glossary::).

     Why are there good PostScript files, easy to post-process, and bad
     files that none of my tools seem to understand?  They print fine
     though!

   Once you understood that PostScript is not a page description format
(like PDF is), you'll have understood most of the problem.  Let's
imagine for a second that you are a word processor.

   The user asks you to print his/her 100 page document in PostScript.
Up to page 50, there are few different fonts used.  Then, on pages 51 to
80, there are now many different heavy fonts.

   When/where will you download the fonts?

   The most typical choice, sometimes called "Optimize for Speed", is,
once you arrived to page 51, to download those fonts *once* for the
rest of the document.  The global processing chain will have worked
quite quickly: little effort from the software, same from the printer;
better yet: you can start sending the file to the printer even before it
is finished!  The problem is that this is not DSC conformant, and it is
easy to understand why: if somebody wants to print only the page 60,
then s/he will lack the three fonts which were defined in page 51...
This document is not page independent.

   Another choice is to download the three fonts in *each* page ranging
from 51 to 80, that is the PostScript file contains 30 times the
definition of each font.  It is easy for the application to do that, but
the file is getting real big, and the printer will have to interpret 30
times the same definitions of fonts.  But it is DSC conformant!  And you
can still send the file while you make it.

   Now you understand why
     *Non DSC conformant files are not necessarily badly designed files
     from broken applications.*

   They are files meant to be sent directly to the printer (they are
still perfect PostScript files after all!), they are not meant to be
post-processed.  And the example clearly shows why they are *right*.

   There is a third possibility, sometimes called "Optimize for
Portability": downloading the three fonts in the prologue of the
document, i.e., the section before the first page where are given all
the common definitions of the whole file.  This is a bit more
complicated to implement (the prologue, which is issued first though,
grows at the same time as you process the file), and cannot be sent
concurrently with the processing (you have to process the whole file to
design the prologue).  This file is small (the fonts are downloaded once
only), and DSC conformant.  Well, there are problems, of course...  You
need to wait before sending the output, it can be costly for the
computer (which cannot transfer as it produces), and for the printer
(you've burnt quite a lot of RAM right since the beginning just to hold
fonts that won't be used before page 51...  This can be a real problem
for small printers).

   This is what a2ps does.

   If should be clear that documents optimized for speed should never
escape the way between the computer and the printer: no post-processing
is possible.

   What you should remember is that some applications offer the
possibility to tune the PostScript output, and they can be praised for
that.  Unfortunately, when these very same applications don't
automatically switch to "Optimize for Portability" when you save the
PostScript file, and they can be criticized for that.

   So please, think of the people after you: if you create a PostScript
file meant to be exchanged, read, printed, etc; by other people: give
sane DSC conformant, optimized for portability files.


File: a2ps.info,  Node: Page Device Options,  Next: Statusdict Options,  Prev: Good and Bad PostScript,  Up: PostScript

Page Device Options
===================

   Page device is a PostScript level 2 feature that offers an uniform
interface to control the printer's output device.  a2ps protects all
page device options inside an if block so they have no effect in level 1
interpreters.  Although all level 2 interpreters support page device,
they do not have to support all page device options.  For example some
printers can print in duplex mode and some can not.  Refer to the
documentation of your printer for supported options.

   Here are some usable page device options which can be selected with
the `-S' option (`--setpagedevice').  For a complete listing, see
`PostScript Language Reference Manual' (section 4.11 Device Setup in
the second edition, or section 6, Device Control in the third edition).

`Collate BOOLEAN'
     how output is organized when printing multiple copies

`Duplex BOOLEAN'
     duplex (two side) printing

`ManualFeed BOOLEAN'
     manual feed paper tray

`OutputFaceUp BOOLEAN'
     print output `face up' or `face down'

`Tumble BOOLEAN'
     how opposite sides are positioned in duplex printing


File: a2ps.info,  Node: Statusdict Options,  Next: Colors in PostScript,  Prev: Page Device Options,  Up: PostScript

Statusdict Options
==================

   The `statusdict' is a special storage entity in PostScript (called a
"dictionary"), in which some variables and operators determine the
behavior of the printer.  This is an historic horror that existed before
page device definitions were defined.  They are even more printer
dependent, and are provided only for the people who don't have a level
printer.  In any case, refer to the documentation of your printer for
supported options.

   Here are some statusdict definitions in which you might be
interested:

`manualfeed BOOLEAN'
     Variable which determine that the manual fed paper tray will be
     used.  Use is `--statusdict=manualfeed::true'.

`setmanualfeed BOOLEAN'
     Idem as the previous point, but use is
     `--statusdict=setmanualfeed:true'.

`setduplexmode BOOLEAN'
     If BOOLEAN, then print Duplex.  Use if
     `--statusdict=setduplexmode:true'.


File: a2ps.info,  Node: Colors in PostScript,  Next: a2ps PostScript Files,  Prev: Statusdict Options,  Up: PostScript

Colors in PostScript
====================

   Nevertheless, here are some tips on how to design your PostScript
styles.  It is strongly recommended to use `gray.pro' or `color.pro' as
a template.

   There are two PostScript instructions you might want to use in your
new PostScript prologue:
`setgray'
     this instruction must be preceded by a number between 0 (black)
     and 1 (white).  It defines the gray level used.

`setrgbcolor'
     this instruction must be preceded by three numbers between 0 (0 %)
     and 1 (100%).  Those three numbers are related to red, green and
     blue proportions used to designate a color.

   a2ps uses two higher level procedures, `BG' and `FG', but both use
an argument as in `setrgbcolor'.  So if you wanted a gray shade, just
give three times the same ratio.

