Actually, I'm thinking that, if you used Eric Raymond's groff-to-xml converter, you wouldn't really have to learn all the advanced groff stuff because basically you'd just be reversing the directives
--- "Karee, Srinivas" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > This is an option (but I have to learn advanced groff, I know only the > basics of groff). When I started this thread, I thought there could be > plenty of tools which does this job. > > I appreciate all the responses. Thank you very much. > > Srini. > > -----Original Message----- > From: Meg McRoberts [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Monday, August 20, 2007 3:29 PM > To: Karee, Srinivas; Clarke Echols > Cc: Groff@gnu.org > Subject: RE: [Groff] Groff editor. > > Thanks for the explanation... You do have a bit of a conundrum here. > How frequently does this file need to be modified? > > I am rapidly getting in over my head here, but one thought is that, > since Eric Raymond's groff-to-xml converter is open source, it wouldn't > be too tough to make a version that then converts XML back to groff. > You might be able to modify the source to eliminate any coding that is > not converting well so that it's a clean conversion in both directions. > > If this file needs frequent maintenance and the application has a long > future, it might actually be easier to rewrite the code that uses this > file to use XML, then convert the file to XML and go forward with that. > > I guess it depends on what sort of information has to be changed, too. > For example, if this is a price list and the users just need to modify > the price amount and perhaps add/remove items, it might be possible to > write a little application for them that pulls the info from the groff > file, displays it in some friendly format, then modifies the groff file > in the background for them... I remember being involved in something > like this years ago -- the trick was to use comment lines that contained > some unique string before and after the lines that were modified... > > meg > > > --- "Karee, Srinivas" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > This is existing code (groff) which I picked-up for the enhancement, I > > cannot replace groff, there is quite a code which uses groff. I could > > ask users to do that tag thing as you suggested but they do > > ADDING/MODIFYING and DELETING lines/words and you know users they > don't > > want to write these tags. > > > > I need to save the file as groff file after the editing because > current > > framework uses groff file to send the fax to customers and printing > > work. > > > > So even if I can convert groff to PDF or XML or PS file and let users > > edit the file, I need a way to convert it back to groff file. Unless I > > rewrite the code which uses groff file post editing. > > > > > > Thanks, > > Srini. > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Meg McRoberts [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Sent: Monday, August 20, 2007 2:39 PM > > To: Karee, Srinivas; Clarke Echols > > Cc: Groff@gnu.org > > Subject: RE: [Groff] Groff editor. > > > > Why do you need to maintain this as a groff file? Perhaps if we > > understood > > that we could help you find a better solution. > > > > I happen to love groff and I can code it very quickly. What I have > done > > in > > this situation is give the user the formatted ASCII file and tell them > > to > > edit it, sticking some string like "SRINI START" and "SRINI END" > before > > and > > after any changes they make. Then I manually make their changes to > the > > groff > > source, inserting the appropriate codings. It's basically the same > > procedure > > as if they hand-wrote comments on a formatted draft... > > > > I think that converting the file to Docbook/XML would preserve the > > bold/italic > > fonts and probably most of the tables unless the tables were coded by > > someone > > who went crazy with the coding. And it gives you a text source file > > which is > > very nice for source code control. So you get a lot of the benefits > of > > groff > > with a format for which there are tools like you want. > > > > I haven't worked with the any PDF editing software but, theoretically, > > it should retain all the formatting for you. I just googled "edit PDF > > file" > > and got some interesting hits -- software that converts PDF to XML > (it's > > shaded at the top of the list and that site seems to allow you to > submit > > a > > test file for conversion for free to see the results). > > > > Those of us on this list love groff and so I certainly don't mean to > > discourage > > you from learning it and joining us ;-) However, the learning curve > is > > fairly > > significant... XML has many of the advantages of groff but editors > > such as > > XMetal (and others, and I haven't actually worked with any of them so > > this is > > not an endorsement -- google "XML editors" if you want to investigate) > > give you > > the ability to maintain the text-based source with visible formatting > > and yet > > have a WYSIWYG editor as an alternative to manual coding... > > > > meg > > > > --- "Karee, Srinivas" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > This file does not contain any pics, it has some tables, I can > covert > > it > > > to ascii (-Tascii) and show to the users. But my requirement is for > > user > > > to edit the file and I should able to save it back in groff format > and > > > use user edited (groff file) file for printing on the PS printer and > > > sending fax. > > > > > > Basically I cannot lose bold/italic/font and other stuff. I am new > to > > > groff, so I thought there could be some tools which I could buy and > > > workout this requirement, but looks like there are no tools out > there > > > which I can use. > > > > > > Srini. > > > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > > From: Meg McRoberts [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > Sent: Monday, August 20, 2007 2:03 PM > > > To: Karee, Srinivas; Clarke Echols > > > Cc: Groff@gnu.org > > > Subject: RE: [Groff] Groff editor. > > > > > > What sort of document is this? Is it mostly text or are there > > > a lot of tables, graphics, and such? > > > > > > I can think of a few ways that one might get the content into > > > some sort of WYSIWYG editor, but the fancier the formatting, > > > the less satisfactory these will be: > > > > > > - Run the text into formatted ASCII then import the formatted text > > > into Word or some other editor. A command similar to the > following > > > might work: > > > > > > groff -mandoc -stC -Tascii <filename>| col -b > <filename>.txt > > > > > > This is for man page source -- replace -mandoc with the > appropriate > > > string if the document is using a different set of macros. > > > > > > You will loose all bold/italic and lots of other stuff but it will > > > get you text that does not show the formatting characters. > > > > > > - Run the text into PDF and then try a PDF editor. I know that > > > Broderbund > > > is selling such an editor but I haven't used it. The following > > > commands > > > will create PDF from a groff file (these are the commands I use -- > > > perhaps > > > someone will have a more elegant method) -- note that you have to > > > create > > > a PostScript file and then convert the ps file to PDF: > > > > > > groff -mandoc -st <filename> > <filename>.ps > > > ps2pdf <filename>.ps <filename>.pdf > > > > > > - Convert the groff code to Docbook/XML; editors like you want are > > > available > > > for XML. Here is some information about a tool that does this: > > > > > > http://www.xmlhack.com/read.php?item=1749 > > > > > > These are not perfect solutions but would allow you to capture the > > text > > > into a format that can be maintained without learning groff. > > > > > > meg > > > > > >
