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Diff for /mandoc/Attic/manuals.7 between version 1.2 and 1.14

version 1.2, 2009/03/22 14:09:38 version 1.14, 2009/06/10 20:18:43
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   .\"     $Id$
   .\"
   .\" Copyright (c) 2009 Kristaps Dzonsons <kristaps@kth.se>
   .\"
   .\" Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any
   .\" purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above
   .\" copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies.
   .\"
   .\" THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES
   .\" WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
   .\" MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR
   .\" ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES
   .\" WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN
   .\" ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF
   .\" OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
   .\"
 .Dd $Mdocdate$  .Dd $Mdocdate$
 .Dt manuals 7  .Dt MANUALS 7
 .Os  .Os
 .\" SECTION  .\" SECTION
 .Sh NAME  .Sh NAME
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 .Pp  .Pp
 A system component's documentation describes the utility of that  A system component's documentation describes the utility of that
 component, whether it's a device driver, an executable or, most  component, whether it's a device driver, an executable or, most
 importantly, a game.  Although there are plenty of documents available  importantly, a game.
 on how to read  
 .Ux  
 documents, or where to find them, few focus on composition.  
 .\" PARAGRAPH  
 .Pp  .Pp
 This document serves as a tutorial to writing  This document serves as a tutorial to writing
 .Ux  .Ux
 documentation  documentation
 .Pq Dq manuals .  .Pq Dq manuals .
 If you add something to your operating system, whether it's a new file  
 format or directory structure or device driver, it needs documentation.  
 .\" SECTION  .\" SECTION
 .Sh CLASSIFICATION  .Sh COMPOSITION
 Classify your system component.  In  First, copy over the manual template from
 .Ux ,  .Pa /usr/share/misc/mdoc.template
 each component has a  into your source directory.
 .Dq manual section ,  
 which categorises the component's function.  The section of a manual is  
 usually listed in parenthesis next to the component name, such as  
 .Xr ps 1 ,  
 section 1.  You can query a manual explicitly by its section:  
 .Pp  .Pp
 .Dl % man \-s 1 ps  .Dl % cp /usr/share/misc/mdoc.template \.
 .Pp  .Pp
 The following table lists broad classifications and the applicable  .Em \&Do not
 manual sections:  start afresh or by copying another manual unless you know exactly what
 .Pp  you're doing!  If the template doesn't exist, bug your administrator.
 .\" LIST  
 .Bl -tag -width "XXXXXXXXXXXX" -offset indent -compact  
 .It Em Category  
 .Em Section(s)  
 .It Device  
 4  
 .It Executable  
 1, 6, 8  
 .It Function  
 2, 3, 9  
 .It File-format  
 5  
 .It Other  
 7  
 .El  
 .\" SUBSECTION  .\" SUBSECTION
 .Ss Devices  .Ss Section Numbering
 Consists of hardware (and pseudo-) device driver documentation.  Drivers  Find an appropriate section for your manual.  There may exist multiple
 are unilaterally classified in section 4.  manual names per section, so be specific:
 .Em Note :  
 these manuals are necessarily system- and architecture-specific.  
 .Pp  .Pp
 Example:  
 .Pp  
 .\" LIST  .\" LIST
 .Bl -tag -width "File-formatX" -offset indent -compact  
 .It Em Manual  
 .Em Description  
 .It Xr dc 4  
 DEC/Intel 10/100 Ethernet device  
 .El  
 .\" SUBSECTION  
 .Ss Executables  
 Executables consist of runnable binaries.  They're further classified by  
 operator utility:  
 .Pp  
 .\" LIST  
 .Bl -tag -width "XXXXXXXXXXXX" -offset indent -compact  .Bl -tag -width "XXXXXXXXXXXX" -offset indent -compact
 .It Em Section  .It Em Section
 .Em Description  .Em Description
 .It 1  .It 1
 operator utilities  operator utilities
 .It 8  
 administrator utilities  
 .It 6  
 games  
 .El  
 .Pp  
 Examples:  
 .Pp  
 .\" LIST  
 .Bl -tag -width "XXXXXXXXXXXX" -offset indent -compact  
 .It Em Manual  
 .Em Description  
 .It Xr usermod 8  
 modify user login information  
 .It Xr cc 1  
 the C compiler  
 .It Xr fortune 6  
 print a random adage  
 .El  
 .\" SUBSECTION  
 .Ss Functions  
 Function documentation describes programme source code, whether in the  
 form of libraries, modules or standalone sources.  They're further  
 classified by context:  
 .Pp  
 .\" LIST  
 .Bl -tag -width "XXXXXXXXXXXX" -offset indent -compact  
 .It Em Section  
 .Em Description  
 .It 2  .It 2
 system calls  system calls
 .It 3, 3p, 3f  .It 3, 3p, 3f
 programming libraries (C, Perl, Fortran)  programming libraries (C, Perl, Fortran)
   .It 5
   file and wire protocol formats
   .It 6
   games
   .It 7
   tutorials, documents and papers
   .It 8
   administrator utilities
 .It 9  .It 9
 in-kernel routines  in-kernel routines
 .El  .El
 .Pp  .Pp
 .Em Note :  If your manual falls into multiple categories, choose the most
 section 2 and 9 manuals are necessarily system- and often  widely-used or, better, re-consider the topic of your manual to be more
 architecture-specific.  Examples:  specific.  You can list all manuals per section by invoking
 .Pp  .Xr apropos 1 ,
 .\" LIST  then provide the
 .Bl -tag -width "XXXXXXXXXXXX" -offset indent -compact  .Fl s
 .It Em Manual  flag to
 .Em Description  .Xr man 1
 .It Xr open 2  to see the specific section manual (section 1, in this example):
 open or create a file for reading or writing  .\" DISPLAY
 .It Xr isspace 3  .Bd -literal -offset indent
 whitespace character test  % apropos myname
 .It Xr Pod::Man 3p  myname (1) - utility description
 convert POD data to formatted roff  myname (3) - library description
 .It Xr tsleep 9  % man \-s 1 myname
 process context sleep  .Ed
 .El  
 .\" SUBSECTION  .\" SUBSECTION
 .Ss File-formats  
 A file format usually describes the format of on-disc binary or text  
 data, although it can also be used to describe wire protocols (this is  
 usually best left to RFC).  These manuals are unilaterally classified in  
 section 5.  
 .Pp  
 Example:  
 .Pp  
 .\" LIST  
 .Bl -tag -width "XXXXXXXXXXXX" -offset indent -compact  
 .It Em Manual  
 .Em Description  
 .It Xr passwd 5  
 format of the password file  
 .El  
 .\" SUBSECTION  
 .Ss Other  
 Documents with no other classification are relegated to section 7.  This  
 constitutes reference tutorials (such as this document) and other  
 miscellaneous information.  
 .Pp  
 Examples:  
 .Pp  
 .\" LIST  
 .Bl -tag -width "XXXXXXXXXXXX" -offset indent -compact  
 .It Em Manual  
 .Em Description  
 .It Xr ascii 7  
 ASCII character sets  
 .It Xr symlink 7  
 symbolic link handling  
 .El  
 .\" SECTION  
 .Sh COMPOSITION  
 Prepare your composition environment.  
 .\" SUBSECTION  
 .Ss Naming  .Ss Naming
 Your component will need a name by which to query its contents via  Name your component.  Be terse, erring on the side of clarity.  Look for
 .Xr man 1 .  other manuals by that same name before committing:
 Keep it simple.  You may want to look for other manuals by that same  
 name before committing:  
 .Pp  .Pp
 .Dl % apropos myname  .Dl % apropos myname
 .Pp  .Pp
 Conventionally, manual files are named  Manual files are named
 .Pa myname.section ,  .Pa myname.mysection ,
 such as  such as
 .Pa manuals.7  .Pa manuals.7
 for this document.  for this document.  Rename the template file:
   .Pp
   .Dl % mv mdoc.template myname.mysection
 .\" SUBSECTION  .\" SUBSECTION
 .Ss Input Language  .Ss Input Language
 Manuals should  Manuals should
Line 196  formatting language.
Line 112  formatting language.
 .Pp  .Pp
 There exist other documentation-specific languages, such as the  There exist other documentation-specific languages, such as the
 historical  historical
 .Xr me 7 ,  
 .Xr ms 7  
 and  
 .Xr man 7  .Xr man 7
 packages of  package of
 .Xr roff 7 ;  .Xr roff 7 ;
 newer languages such as DocBook, texinfo or schema-driven XML; or even  newer languages such as DocBook or texinfo; or even ad-hoc conventions
 ad-hoc conventions such as README files.  such as README files.
 .Em Stay away from these methods!  .Em Avoid these formats .
 Historical formats fail to capture a manual's semantic content, instead  
 only modelling its style.  Newer methods requires special,  
 system-specific tools and may change or become obsolete over the  
 life-time of your component.  
 .Pp  .Pp
 There are two canonical references for writing mdoc manuals:  There are two canonical references for writing mdoc.  Read them.
 .Pp  .Pp
 .\" LIST  .\" LIST
 .Bl -tag -width XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX -offset indent -compact  .Bl -tag -width XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX -offset indent -compact
Line 220  formal language reference
Line 129  formal language reference
 macro reference  macro reference
 .El  .El
 .Pp  .Pp
 Don't merely copy existing manuals!  Most systems distribute an mdoc  Open the template you've copied into
 template to help you get started in  .Pa myname.mysection
 .Pa /usr/share/misc/mdoc.template .  and begin editing.
 .\" SUBSECTION  .\" SUBSECTION
 .Ss Development Tools  .Ss Development Tools
 While writing, make sure that your manual is correctly structured:  While writing, make sure that your manual is correctly structured:
Line 232  While writing, make sure that your manual is correctly
Line 141  While writing, make sure that your manual is correctly
 You may spell-check your work as follows:  You may spell-check your work as follows:
 .Pp  .Pp
 .Dl % deroff name.1 | spell  .Dl % deroff name.1 | spell
   .Pp
   If
   .Xr ispell 1
   is installed, it has a special mode for manuals:
   .Pp
 .Dl % ispell \-n name.1  .Dl % ispell \-n name.1
 .Pp  .Pp
 Use  Use
 .Xr cvs 1  .Xr cvs 1
 or, if not available,  or
 .Xr rcs 1  .Xr rcs 1
 to version-control your work.  If you wish the last check-in to effect  to version-control your work.  If you wish the last check-in to effect
 your document's date, use the following RCS tag for the date macro:  your document's date, use the following RCS tag for the date macro:
 .Pp  .Pp
 .Dl \&.Dd $Mdocdate$  .Dl \&.Dd $Mdocdate$
 .Pp  
 .\" SUBSECTION  .\" SUBSECTION
 .Ss Viewing  .Ss Viewing
 mdoc documents may be paged to your terminal with traditional  mdoc documents may be paged to your terminal with
 tools such as  .Xr mandoc 1 .
 .Xr nroff 1 ,  If you plan on distributing your work to systems without this tool,
 .Xr groff 1 ,  check it against
 or with newer, more powerful tools such as  .Xr groff 1 :
 .Xr mandoc 1 :  
 .\" DISPLAY  
 .Bd -literal -offset indent  .Bd -literal -offset indent
 % nroff \-mandoc name.1 | less  % mandoc \-Wall name.1 2>&1 | less
 % groff \-Tascii \-mandoc name.1 | less  % groff -mandoc name.1 2>&1 | less
 % mandoc name.1 | less  
 .Ed  .Ed
 .Pp  
 Other output formats are also supported:  
 .\" DISPLAY  
 .Bd -literal -offset indent  
 % groff \-Tps \-mandoc name.1 | less  
 % mandoc \-Thtml name.1 | less  
 .Ed  
 .\" SUBSECTION  .\" SUBSECTION
 .Ss Automation  .Ss Automation
 Consider adding your mdoc documents to  Consider adding your mdoc documents to
 .Xr make 1  .Xr make 1
 Makefiles in order to automatically check your input and generate  Makefiles in order to automatically check your input:
 output:  
 .Bd -literal -offset indent  .Bd -literal -offset indent
 \&.SUFFIXES: .html .txt .1 .in  \&.SUFFIXES: .1 .in
   
 \&.in.1:  \&.in.1:
         mandoc -Wall,error -Tlint $<          mandoc -Wall,error -Tlint $<
         cp -f $< $@          cp -f $< $@
   
 \&.1.html:  
         mandoc -Thtml $< >$@  
   
 \&.1.txt:  
         mandoc -Tascii $< | col -b >$@  
 .Ed  .Ed
   .\" SUBSECTION
   .Ss Licensing
   Your manual must have a license.  It should be listed at the start of
   your document, just as in source code.
 .\" SECTION  .\" SECTION
 .Sh BEST PRACTICES  .Sh BEST PRACTICES
 The  The
 .Xr mdoc 7  .Xr mdoc 7
 and  and
 .Xr mdoc.samples 7  .Xr mdoc.samples 7
 files will be indispensable in guiding composition.  In this section, we  files are indispensable in guiding composition.  In this section, we
 introduce some  introduce some
 .Ux  .Ux
 manual best practices:  manual best practices:
Line 312  symbols and so on), use the escapes dictated in
Line 212  symbols and so on), use the escapes dictated in
 .Xr mdoc 7 .  .Xr mdoc 7 .
 .El  .El
 .\" SUBSECTION  .\" SUBSECTION
   .Ss Style
   The structure of the mdoc language makes it very hard to have any
   particular format style.  Keep your lines under 72 characters in length.
   If you must have long option lines, use
   .Sq \&Oo/Oc .
   The same goes for function prototypes.
   .Em \&Do not
   use
   .Sq \&Xo/Xc .
   Find another way to structure your line.
   .\" SUBSECTION
 .Ss References  .Ss References
 Other components may be referenced with the  Other components may be referenced with the
 .Sq \&Xr ,  .Sq \&Xr
 and  and
 .Sq \&Sx  .Sq \&Sx
 macros.  Make sure that these exist.  If you intend to distribute your  macros.  Make sure that these exist.  If you intend to distribute your
Line 330  publications, please use the
Line 241  publications, please use the
 .Sq \&Rs/Re  .Sq \&Rs/Re
 block macros.  block macros.
 .\" SUBSECTION  .\" SUBSECTION
 .Ss Types and Prototypes  .Ss Formatting
 If writing section 3 manuals, make sure that you correctly annotate your  .Em Don't style your manual .
 variables and functions.  This guarantees that cross-referncing between  Give it meaningful content.  The front-end will worry about formatting
 function names and their prototypes works properly.  and style.
   .\" SECTION
   .Sh MAINTENANCE
   As your component changes and bugs are fixed, your manual may become out
   of date.  You may be tempted to use tools like Doxygen to automate the
   development of your manuals.  Don't.
   .Pp
   .Em Manuals are part of a system component :
   if you modify your code or specifications, modify the documentation.
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