xref: /freebsd-10-stable/contrib/groff/INSTALL

To install groff, follow the instructions in the file INSTALL.gen.

This file contains information that supplements those instructions.

(For instructions how to build groff with DJGPP tools for MS-DOS and
MS-Windows, see the file arch/djgpp/README.)

(For instructions how to build groff with the MinGW tools for
MS-Windows, see the file README.MinGW.)

groff is written in C++, so you will need a C++ compiler.  The C++
source files use a suffix of `.cpp', so your C++ compiler must be able
to handle this.  If you don't already have a C++ compiler, I suggest
gcc 2.7.1 or later (gcc version 2 includes GNU C++ as well as GNU C).
From gcc 2.5, it is no longer necessary to install libg++: the C++
header files needed by groff are created by the gcc installation
process.  To override configure's choice of C++ compiler, you can set
the CXX environment variable.

If you have a library that provides a faster malloc than your system's
usual malloc, it is good idea to include it in LIBS.  For example,
using the malloc that comes with GNU Emacs version 20 can give a
worthwhile (and sometimes spectacular) performance improvement.

If you want A4 or letter paper format and the configure script produces
an incorrect guess, say

  PAGE=xxx ./configure

where `xxx' should be either `A4' or `letter'.  Note that this will only
affect the paper selection of some device drivers like grops (which can
be still overridden on the command line).  For compatibility with
ditroff, the default page length in gtroff is always 11 inches.  The
page length can be changed with the `pl' request.

When you have built groff, you can use the test-groff script to try
groff out on one of the man pages.  (Use the .n files not the .man
files.)  The test-groff script sets up environment variables to allow
groff to run without being installed.  For example, you could do

  ./test-groff -man -Tascii src/roff/groff/groff.n | less

To get a DVI, PDF, or HTML version of the groff texinfo manual, say `make
groff.dvi', `make groff.pdf', or `make groff.html', respectively, in the
`doc' subdirectory (after configuring the groff package).  Note that you
need texinfo version 4.6 as a prerequisite.  Neither older versions nor
texinfo 4.7 (due to a bug) will work.

If you have problems, read the PROBLEMS file.  If this doesn't help
send a bug report using the form in the file BUG-REPORT.