URL:
<https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?67883>
Summary: [refer] groff -R renders refer preprocessor commands
within .R1 and .R2
Group: GNU roff
Submitter: afh
Submitted: Sat 03 Jan 2026 03:17:00 PM UTC
Category: Preprocessor refer
Severity: 3 - Normal
Item Group: Incorrect behaviour
Status: None
Privacy: Public
Assigned to: None
Open/Closed: Open
Discussion Lock: Unlocked
Planned Release: None
_______________________________________________________
Follow-up Comments:
-------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat 03 Jan 2026 03:17:00 PM UTC By: Alexis <afh>
groff built from the latest Git (e91667c1e37a93d6b44e7b1c1e4b94b01df45e41)
demonstrates the unexpected (and incorrect?) behaviour for ms and mm, where
the refer preprocessor instructions within .R1 and .R2 are rendered to the
document and any references in the text appear as the keyword specified within
.[ and .] when refer is invoked via groff's -R option. Note that running refer
separately and piping its output to groff works as expected.
Please find attached minimal working examples (mwe) for ms and mm including a
bibliography file for refer. What follows are examples using demonstrating the
issue based on the mwe.
echo;nroff -R -ms -mrefer-ms mwe-refer.ms | sed -E -e '/^$/d' -e
's/\x1B\[[0-9?;]*[mK]//g'
accumulate database mwe-refer.bib
Minimal Working Example Demonstrating use of Refer
with ms
This sentences makes a reference to the paper on grohtml. mul-
ley-lemberg
echo;nroff -R -mm -mrefer-mm mwe-refer.mm | sed -E -e '/^$/d' -e
's/\x1B\[[0-9?;]*[mK]//g'
‐ 1 ‐
accumulate database mwe‐refer.bib
Minimal Working Example Demonstrating Use of Refer with mm
This sentences makes a reference to the paper on grohtml.
mulley‐lemberg
Either using groff 1.23.0 or running refer separately and piping its output to
groff demonstrates the expected correct behaviour for ms and mm:
echo; nroff -R -ms -mrefer-ms mwe-refer.ms | sed -E -e '/^$/d' -e
's/\x1B\[[0-9?;]*[mK]//g'
Minimal Working Example Demonstrating use of Refer
with ms
This sentences makes a reference to the paper on grohtml.[1]
References
1. Gaius Mulley and Werner Lemberg, "Extending GNU Troff to
Produce HTML Through the Technique of Next Event Simula-
tion," International Journal of Simulation Vol. 6 No 7-8
(2005-06).
echo; nroff -R -mm -mrefer-mm mwe-refer.mm | sed -E -e '/^$/d' -e
's/\x1B\[[0-9?;]*[mK]//g'
Minimal Working Example Demonstrating Use of Refer with mm
This sentences makes a reference to the paper on grohtml.[1]
REFERENCES
1. Gaius Mulley and Werner Lemberg, "Extending GNU Troff
to Produce HTML Through the Technique of Next Event
Simulation," International Journal of Simulation Vol. 6
No 7-8 (2005-06).
echo; refer mwe-refer.ms | nroff -ms -mrefer-ms | sed -E -e '/^$/d' -e
's/\x1B\[[0-9?;]*[mK]//g'
Minimal Working Example Demonstrating use of Refer
with ms
This sentences makes a reference to the paper on grohtml.[1]
References
1. Gaius Mulley and Werner Lemberg, “Extending GNU Troff to
Produce HTML Through the Technique of Next Event Simula‐
tion,” International Journal of Simulation Vol. 6 No 7‐8
(2005‐06).
echo; refer mwe-refer.mm | nroff -mm -mrefer-mm | sed -E -e '/^$/d' -e
's/\x1B\[[0-9?;]*[mK]//g'
Minimal Working Example Demonstrating Use of Refer with mm
This sentences makes a reference to the paper on grohtml.[1]
REFERENCES
1. Gaius Mulley and Werner Lemberg, “Extending GNU Troff
to Produce HTML Through the Technique of Next Event
Simulation,” International Journal of Simulation Vol. 6
No 7‐8 (2005‐06).
_______________________________________________________
File Attachments:
Name: mwe-refer.bib Size: 220B
<https://file.savannah.gnu.org/file/mwe-refer.bib?file_id=58064>
Name: mwe-refer.mm Size: 211B
<https://file.savannah.gnu.org/file/mwe-refer.mm?file_id=58065>
Name: mwe-refer.ms Size: 198B
<https://file.savannah.gnu.org/file/mwe-refer.ms?file_id=58066>
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