ROFF4, version 1.60
                                      by
                              Ernest E. Bergmann
                               Physics, Bldg #16
                               Lehigh University
                             Bethlehem, Pa. 18015
                                (215-) 861-3932


                  ROFF4,  v1.60  is  being provided essentially in the
          public domain, not because it isn't good, but to  provide  a
          means   to  create  and  transport  technical  documentation
          between users  with  different  hardware.    This   is   not
          possible  with  commercial formatters because they are often
          not powerful enough to handle  special  symbols,  equations,
          and the  like.    Equally  importantly,  there  is  not much
          standardization and commercial formatters cannot  be  "given
          away";   the  sender  and  receiver are not as likely to own
          the same commercial formatters.

                  I am a practicing scientist and  I  need  to  format
          manuscripts  which  are  sometimes  long, contain equations,
          special symbols, footnotes, and illustrations.  I  needed  a
          formatter  that  was easy to use, flexible, and available to
          others.  It takes me less time  to  type  a  manuscript  for
          this  formatter and rework it, including special characters,
          than to have it typed and retyped by a typist only  to  have
          me proof read it ad nauseum.

                  ROFF4 is  table  driven;    it is relatively easy to
          configure for different output devices.    I  have  used  it
          with the  MX-80  and  Graftrax  printer  combination;  It is
          able to create special symbols where needed.    I  Also  can
          get  special symbols on my CRT screen because of my computer
          hardware   (the   Exidy   Sorcerer   has   user    definable
          characters).   However, the characteristics of my CRT device
          and of my printer are very different.  My design  philosophy
          was  to be able to drive either from the same input files so
          that I could "preview" my output before going  to  hardcopy.
          You may  have  a  variety  of  output  devices;    use  your
          imagination.

                  Your comments, criticisms, and possible bug  reports
          will be most useful.

                  I  hope  to  extend ROFF4 so that it will be able to
          better utilize  specialty  printers  (it  presently  assumes
          that  the  printer  does  NOT  know  how  to  backspace, nor
          reverse scroll).  I  will  have  to  learn  how  to  support
          printers that do proportional spacing and variable pitch.

                  I  would  also  like  to  write  a  translater  that
          automatically   converts   WORDSTAR(tm   MicroPro)    files,
          including  control-P  and  dot commands into input files for
          ROFF4.  ROFF4 ignores the parity bit on  input  files.    It
          may  get confused by inputting control-codes (it should only
          get the <CR><LF> and <TAB> of standard text files).

                                                  March 10, 1984

                                                  Ernest E. Bergmann