nroff and troff are invoked from the command line as follows:
nroff [options] [files] troff [options] [files]
Many of the options are the same for both formatters.
-FdirSearch for font tables in directory dir.
-iRead standard input after files are processed.
-mnamePrepend a macro file to input files. Historically, one of /usr/lib/tmac/tmac.name or /usr/share/lib/tmac/tmac.name were the locations of the macros for name. Solaris uses /usr/share/lib/tmac/name. The actual location and filename(s) vary among different Unix systems.
-nN First output page has page number N.
-olistPrint pages contained only in the comma-separated list. Page ranges can be specified as n-m, -m (first page through m), or n- (n through end of file).
-raNSet register a to N. The register a is restricted to one-character names.
-sNStop every n pages. This allows changing a paper cassette. Resume by pressing Return (in nroff) or by pressing the start button on the typesetter (in troff).
-TnamePrepare output designed for printer or typesetter name. For device names, see your specific documentation or a local expert.
-uN The font in position 3 is overstruck N times. Typically used to adjust the weight of the bold font.
-zDiscard output except messages generated by .tm request (otroff only).
-eWhen justifying output lines, space words equally (using terminal resolution instead of full space increments).
-hHasten output by replacing eight horizontal spaces with a tab.
-qInvoke simultaneous input/output of .rd requests.
-aFormat a printable ASCII approximation. Useful for finding page counts without producing printed output.
-fDon't stop the typesetter when formatting is done (otroff only).
-NRun as nroff instead of as troff (recent versions of ditroff only).
Run chap1 through the tbl preprocessor, then format the result using the mm macros, with register N set to 5 (sets the page-numbering style), etc.:
tbl chap1 | troff -mm -rN5 |spooler&
Format chap2 using the ms macros; the first page is 7, but print only pages 8-10, 15, and 18 through the end of the file:
nroff -ms -n7 -o8-10,15,18- chap2 | col > chap2.txt &