Re: [Groff] \o and \z do not work for -Tutf8

[Ted Harding]

On 05-Aug-2014 00:44:25 James K. Lowden wrote:
> On Mon, 04 Aug 2014 23:19:41 +0100
> Keith Marshall <address@hidden> wrote:
> 
>> OTOH, when a typewriter overstrikes, the accumulation of all glyphs
>> struck remains indelibly impressed on the printed page.
> 
> [OT]
> 
> The symbol set of APL took advantage of that property.  The language
> defines some 60 symbols, more than fit on the special-order APL
> Selectric typeball.  Some symbols were composed using the backspace.  
> 
> http://www.quadibloc.com/comp/aplint.htm
> "The letters of the alphabet could be overstruck with squares, circles,
> or several other symbols to increase the number of available variables."
> 
> --jkl

And, to return to Keith's comment (and to move perhaps even further OT),
this takes me back to how we wrote technical documents 50 years ago.

No, Keith, the accumulation of glyphs by typewriter overstrike did not
remain indelibly impressed on the printed page. We had little bottles
of "correction fluid" with which we could paint out errors, wait for
it to dry, and then re-type (hopefully correctly).[1]

And, for documents to be reproduced in multiple copies, these of course
had to be typed on "stencils" -- wax-coated sheets which were struck
by the type-head, making glyph-shaped channels through the wax through
which the ink would pass when the sheet was mounted on the printing
engine.

Again, when an error was observed, the sheet could be mended by applying
a coating of liquid wax, waiting for it to dry, and re-typing.

But, in this case, often the error was not seen until the sheet was
printed, so it had to be re-inserted in the typewriter and very carefully
lined up before the correct character was typed.

This could all take hours. With groff and such, I feel we have moved
on a just little way from those days ...

Best wishes to all,
Ted.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correction_fluid

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E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <address@hidden>
Date: 05-Aug-2014  Time: 10:01:43
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