version 1.2, 2009/03/22 14:09:38 |
version 1.6, 2009/03/22 20:55:18 |
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If you add something to your operating system, whether it's a new file |
If you add something to your operating system, whether it's a new file |
format or directory structure or device driver, it needs documentation. |
format or directory structure or device driver, it needs documentation. |
.\" SECTION |
.\" SECTION |
.Sh CLASSIFICATION |
.Sh COMPOSITION |
Classify your system component. In |
Prepare your composition environment by copying over the manual template |
.Ux , |
from |
each component has a |
.Pa /usr/share/misc/mdoc.template . |
.Dq manual section , |
.Em \&Do not |
which categorises the component's function. The section of a manual is |
start afresh or by copying another manual unless you know exactly what |
usually listed in parenthesis next to the component name, such as |
you're doing! |
.Xr ps 1 , |
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section 1. You can query a manual explicitly by its section: |
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.Pp |
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.Dl % man \-s 1 ps |
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.Pp |
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The following table lists broad classifications and the applicable |
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manual sections: |
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.Pp |
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.\" LIST |
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.Bl -tag -width "XXXXXXXXXXXX" -offset indent -compact |
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.It Em Category |
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.Em Section(s) |
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.It Device |
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4 |
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.It Executable |
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1, 6, 8 |
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.It Function |
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2, 3, 9 |
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.It File-format |
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5 |
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.It Other |
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7 |
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.El |
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.\" 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. A table of all available |
.Em Note : |
manual sections follows: |
these manuals are necessarily system- and architecture-specific. |
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.Pp |
.Pp |
Example: |
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.Pp |
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.\" LIST |
.\" LIST |
.Bl -tag -width "File-formatX" -offset indent -compact |
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.It Em Manual |
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.Em Description |
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.It Xr dc 4 |
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DEC/Intel 10/100 Ethernet device |
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.El |
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.\" SUBSECTION |
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.Ss Executables |
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Executables consist of runnable binaries. They're further classified by |
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operator utility: |
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.Pp |
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.\" LIST |
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.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 |
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administrator utilities |
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.It 6 |
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games |
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.El |
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.Pp |
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Examples: |
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.Pp |
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.\" LIST |
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.Bl -tag -width "XXXXXXXXXXXX" -offset indent -compact |
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.It Em Manual |
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.Em Description |
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.It Xr usermod 8 |
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modify user login information |
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.It Xr cc 1 |
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the C compiler |
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.It Xr fortune 6 |
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print a random adage |
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.El |
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.\" SUBSECTION |
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.Ss Functions |
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Function documentation describes programme source code, whether in the |
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form of libraries, modules or standalone sources. They're further |
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classified by context: |
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.Pp |
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.\" LIST |
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.Bl -tag -width "XXXXXXXXXXXX" -offset indent -compact |
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.It Em Section |
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.Em Description |
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.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) |
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.It 5 |
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file and wire protocol formats |
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.It 6 |
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games |
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.It 7 |
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tutorials, documents and papers |
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.It 8 |
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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) - some description here |
convert POD data to formatted roff |
% man \-s 1 myname |
.It Xr tsleep 9 |
.Ed |
process context sleep |
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.El |
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.\" SUBSECTION |
.\" SUBSECTION |
.Ss File-formats |
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A file format usually describes the format of on-disc binary or text |
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data, although it can also be used to describe wire protocols (this is |
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usually best left to RFC). These manuals are unilaterally classified in |
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section 5. |
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.Pp |
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Example: |
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.Pp |
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.\" LIST |
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.Bl -tag -width "XXXXXXXXXXXX" -offset indent -compact |
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.It Em Manual |
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.Em Description |
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.It Xr passwd 5 |
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format of the password file |
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.El |
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.\" SUBSECTION |
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.Ss Other |
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Documents with no other classification are relegated to section 7. This |
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constitutes reference tutorials (such as this document) and other |
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miscellaneous information. |
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.Pp |
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Examples: |
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.Pp |
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.\" LIST |
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.Bl -tag -width "XXXXXXXXXXXX" -offset indent -compact |
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.It Em Manual |
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.Em Description |
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.It Xr ascii 7 |
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ASCII character sets |
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.It Xr symlink 7 |
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symbolic link handling |
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.El |
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.\" SECTION |
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.Sh COMPOSITION |
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Prepare your composition environment. |
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.\" SUBSECTION |
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.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. You may |
.Xr man 1 . |
want to look for other manuals by that same name before committing: |
Keep it simple. You may want to look for other manuals by that same |
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name before committing: |
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.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. |
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.Xr roff 7 ; |
.Xr roff 7 ; |
newer languages such as DocBook, texinfo or schema-driven XML; or even |
newer languages such as DocBook, texinfo or schema-driven XML; or even |
ad-hoc conventions such as README files. |
ad-hoc conventions 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 |
Historical formats fail to capture a manual's semantic content, instead |
only modelling its style. Newer methods requires special, |
only modelling its style. Newer methods requires special, |
system-specific tools and may change or become obsolete over the |
system-specific tools and may change or become obsolete over the |
life-time of your component. |
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 |
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Line 121 formal language reference |
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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 name.section |
.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 242 to version-control your work. If you wish the last ch |
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Line 143 to version-control your work. If you wish the last ch |
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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 |
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.\" 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 traditional |
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\&.in.1: |
\&.in.1: |
mandoc -Wall,error -Tlint $< |
mandoc -Wall,error -Tlint $< |
cp -f $< $@ |
cp -f $< $@ |
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\&.1.html: |
\&.1.html: |
mandoc -Thtml $< >$@ |
mandoc -Thtml $< >$@ |
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\&.1.txt: |
\&.1.txt: |
mandoc -Tascii $< | col -b >$@ |
mandoc -Tascii $< | col -b >$@ |
.Ed |
.Ed |
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.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 314 symbols and so on), use the escapes dictated in |
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Line 212 symbols and so on), use the escapes dictated in |
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.\" SUBSECTION |
.\" 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 |
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Line 228 publications, please use the |
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.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. |
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.\" SECTION |
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.Sh MAINTENANCE |
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As your component changes and bugs are fixed, your manual may become out |
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of date. You may be tempted to use automation tools like Doxygen to |
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smooth the development of your manuals. Don't. Source documentation is |
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different from a component manual. |