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.TH PICPACK 1
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.SH NAME
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.B picpack
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\- PostScript picture packing preprocessor
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.SH SYNOPSIS
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\*(mBpicpack\f1
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.OP "" options []
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.OP "" files []
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.SH DESCRIPTION
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.B picpack
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copies
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.I files
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to stdout, expanding picture inclusion requests
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(marked by the
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.MW .BP
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or
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.MW .PI
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macros) into an in-line
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format that can be passed through
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.B troff
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and handled by
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.BR dpost .
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If no
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.I files
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are specified
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or if
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.OP \-
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is one of the input
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.I files
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standard input is read.
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The following
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.I options
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are understood:
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.TP 0.75i
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.OP \-k list
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.I list
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is a comma- or space-separated string of words used to locate
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picture inclusion requests.
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The start of every line in the input
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.I files
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is compared with each word in
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.I list .
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If there is a match, the second string on the line is
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taken as the pathname of a picture file that is added
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to the output file.
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The default
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.I list
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is
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.RM `` ".BP .PI ''.
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.TP
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.OP \-q
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Suppress ``missing picture file'' error messages.
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.PP
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.B picpack
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is a trivial preprocessor that, in a sense, duplicates some of the
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picture inclusion capabilities already available in
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.BR dpost .
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.B picpack
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should not be used if your formatting command line includes
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a call to
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.BR dpost .
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Its only purpose is to combine picture files with text in a single
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file that can be passed through
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.B troff
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and unpacked, at some later time, by
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.BR dpost .
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The original picture inclusion mechanism, with files are pulled in by
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.BR dpost ,
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is the preferred approach.
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.SH EXAMPLES
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A typical application might be in a distributed printing environment
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where everything up to
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.B troff
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is run by the user and everything after
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.B troff
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is handled by a spooling daemon (perhaps
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.BR lp ).
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In that case the command line would be,
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.EX
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pic  \f2file\fP | tbl | eqn | picpack | troff -mm -Tpost | lp
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.EE
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A poor example, although one that should still work, would be,
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.EX
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pic  \f2file\fP | tbl | eqn | picpack | troff -mm -Tpost | dpost >\f2file\fP.ps
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.EE
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In this case picture inclusion requests could (and should) be handled by
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.BR dpost .
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Running
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.B picpack
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is not needed or even recommended.
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It should be dropped from any pipeline that includes a call to
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.BR dpost .
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.SH DIAGNOSTICS
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A 0 exit status is returned if
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.I files
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were successfully processed.
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.SH WARNINGS
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.PP
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Combining pictures and text using the capabilities available in
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.B dpost
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is the recommended approach and is always guaranteed to be more
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efficient than
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.BR picpack .
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Running
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.B picpack
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and
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.B dpost
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in the same pipeline makes little sense.
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.PP
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Using
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.B picpack
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will likely result in files that can no longer be reliably passed
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through other important
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.B troff
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postprocessors like
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.BR proof .
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At present
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.B picpack
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is only guaranteed to work with
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.BR dpost .
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.SH SEE ALSO
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.BR dpost (1),
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.BR troff (1)