gxditview

gxditview [-options...] [-Pprinter] [--] [file...]

-Pprinter
    Selects a specific printer device for rendering. This parameter sets the default device that gxditview uses for its internal display calculations, which can affect font metrics and page layout.

-rres
    (Ignored) Intended to set the horizontal device resolution in dots per inch (dpi). However, in current versions, this option has no effect on the display.

-sres
    (Ignored) Intended to set the vertical device resolution in dots per inch (dpi). Similar to -r, this option is currently not functional.

-v
    Displays the version number of gxditview and then exits immediately.

file...
    One or more paths to ditroff formatted files to be displayed. If no file arguments are provided, gxditview will read its input from standard input (stdin).

-display display
    Standard X option to specify the X display server to connect to (e.g., ':0.0').

-geometry geometry
    Standard X option to set the initial size and position of the viewer window (e.g., '800x600+100+50').

-bg color or -background color
    Standard X option to set the background color of the viewer window.

-fg color or -foreground color
    Standard X option to set the foreground color (text color) of the viewer window.

-font fontname
    Standard X option to set the default font to be used by the viewer's GUI elements.

-title string
    Standard X option to set the title of the viewer window.

-name string
    Standard X option to set the application name, used for resource lookups in X resource databases.

-xrm resourcestring
    Standard X option to specify an arbitrary X resource string to be loaded and applied.

gxditview is a graphical viewer for files formatted in the groff ditroff output format. It's part of the groff document formatting system, designed to display documents processed by commands like groff -Tdit. Utilizing the X Window System, gxditview provides an interactive interface to view formatted text, including support for various fonts, sizes, and basic graphics, as interpreted from the ditroff stream. Users can navigate through pages, zoom in and out, and even print documents directly from the viewer. It's particularly useful for authors and developers working with groff to preview their formatted output before final production or printing, ensuring the layout and content appear as intended. The command supports loading multiple files and can also read its input from standard input, making it versatile for piping output from other groff commands.

The -r and -s options for setting device resolution are currently ignored, meaning gxditview does not respect these settings for rendering its output.
Only the ditroff output format is parsed and displayed. gxditview does not support device-specific outputs generated by other groff drivers, such as grops (PostScript) or gxdvi (DVI).
Page headers, if present in the ditroff stream, are not displayed by the viewer.
As a graphical application, gxditview requires the X Window System to be running and accessible.

If no file arguments are provided on the command line, gxditview will automatically read its ditroff input from standard input (stdin). This makes it highly versatile for use in pipelines, for example, to directly view the output of a groff command:
groff -Tdit myfile.txt | gxditview

Like many X applications, gxditview respects X resources. This allows for extensive customization of its appearance and behavior through your X resource database (e.g., defined in files like .Xdefaults or .Xresources in your home directory, or via the xrdb utility).

gxditview emerged as part of the GNU groff project, a free software implementation of the troff/ditroff document formatting system. Its development aimed to provide a modern, graphical interface for previewing groff's device-independent ditroff output directly within the X Window System environment. Prior to its widespread use, users might have relied on simpler, text-based viewers or an older X viewer like xditview, or had to convert ditroff output to other formats (e.g., PostScript) for viewing. gxditview offered an integrated and more user-friendly solution for developers and authors working with groff, allowing for immediate visual feedback on their formatted documents without leaving the graphical environment.

groff(1), troff(1), ditroff(7), xditview(1)