Re: [Groff] ANSI crap in output

[Colin Watson]

On Tue, Oct 21, 2003 at 04:13:02PM +0200, Gisle Vanem wrote:
> I've just installed groff 1.19 on Windows and noticed groff
> (or troff/grotty) puts out ANSI codes in output.This didn't
> happen the 1.16 version.

This is documented in the NEWS file for version 1.18, which says:

***************************************************************************
*                                                                         *
*  PLEASE READ THE CHANGES BELOW REGARDING GROTTY, GROFF'S TTY FRONTEND.  *
*                                                                         *
***************************************************************************

[...]

  Outputting color can be disabled in troff and groff with the option -c
  (it is always disabled in compatibility mode).  See the section on grotty
  for the GROFF_NO_SGR environment variable also.

[...]

Grotty
------

o Color support has been added, using the SGR (ISO 6429, sometimes called
  ANSI color) escape sequences.

o SGR escape sequences are now used by default for underlining and bold
  printing also, no longer using the backspace character trick.  To revert
  to the old behaviour, use the `-c' switch.

  Note that you have to use the `-R' option of `less' to make SGR escapes
  display correctly.  On the other hand, terminal programs and consoles like
  `xterm' which support SGR sequences natively can directly display the
  output of grotty.  Consequently, the options `-b', `-B', `-u', and `-U'
  work only in combination with `-c' and are ignored silently otherwise.

  For the `man' program, it may be necessary to add the `-R' option of
  `less' to the $PAGER environment variable; alternatively, you can use
  `man's `-P' option (or adapt its configuration file accordingly).  See
  man(1) for more details.

o If the environment variable GROFF_NO_SGR is set, SGR output is disabled,
  reverting to the old behaviour.

o A new special \X'tty: sgr n' has been added; if n is non-zero or missing,
  enable SGR output (the default).

Cheers,

-- 
Colin Watson                                  address@hidden