On 04/08/14 17:06, Bernd Warken wrote: > For `gpinyin', the European-like Chinese, I need to create character > overstrikes for the 1st (a macron) and the 3rd tone (a caron). > To append an accent over the ü and Ü characters (u/U umlaut) for all > 4 tones seems to be even more complex. > > The overstrike with `\o' and `\z' preduce on `-Tpdf', etc., a plus > sign within the digit 0 for both escapes. But both escapes do not > work on `-Tutf8' or `nroff': > > $ echo "A\o'0+'\z0+Z" | nroff > A++Z > > which is wrong.
It may not be what you would like, but if your output device is a video terminal, (or emulated video terminal), it is not wrong; it is the best you can hope to achieve, given the limitations imposed by the physical characteristics of such devices. > Both escapes are documented in Osanna/Kernioghan `CSTR 54' and > many other ancient `roff' documentations. So `nroff' should be able > to do that as well. Every typewriter could do such overstriking. But a video terminal is not a typewriter. Video terminals can display only one glyph in each physical character cell; when you compose a character by overstriking multiple glyphs, you will see only the last one struck in each cell. You can achieve no better than this. OTOH, when a typewriter overstrikes, the accumulation of all glyphs struck remains indelibly impressed on the printed page. > I had also trouble with `\h' and `\v', but for that later on. Again, you will be hamstrung by the physical limitations of the video display device -- motions will be restricted to integer multiples of the physical character cell size. -- Regards, Keith.
