version 1.5, 2014/08/18 13:27:47 |
version 1.14, 2016/07/07 23:46:36 |
Line 5 About mdocml, the portable mandoc distribution |
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Line 5 About mdocml, the portable mandoc distribution |
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The mandoc manpage compiler toolset is a suite of tools compiling |
The mandoc manpage compiler toolset is a suite of tools compiling |
mdoc(7), the roff(7) macro language of choice for BSD manual pages, |
mdoc(7), the roff(7) macro language of choice for BSD manual pages, |
and man(7), the predominant historical language for UNIX manuals. |
and man(7), the predominant historical language for UNIX manuals. |
The toolset does not yet implement man(1); that is only scheduled |
It includes a man(1) manual viewer and additional tools. |
for the next release, 1.13.2. It can, however, already serve to |
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translate source manpages to the output displayed by man(1). |
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For general information, see <http://mdocml.bsd.lv/>. |
For general information, see <http://mdocml.bsd.lv/>. |
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In this document, we describe the installation and deployment of |
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mandoc(1), first as a simple, standalone formatter, and then as part of |
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the man(1) system. |
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In case you have questions or want to provide feedback, read |
In case you have questions or want to provide feedback, read |
<http://mdocml.bsd.lv/contact.html>. Consider subscribing to the |
<http://mdocml.bsd.lv/contact.html>. Consider subscribing to the |
discuss@ mailing list mentioned on that page. If you intend to |
discuss@ mailing list mentioned on that page. If you intend to |
Line 22 tech@ mailing list, too. |
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Line 16 tech@ mailing list, too. |
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Enjoy using the mandoc toolset! |
Enjoy using the mandoc toolset! |
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Ingo Schwarze, Karlsruhe, August 2014 |
Ingo Schwarze, Karlsruhe, March 2015 |
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Installation |
Installation |
Line 33 or available via a binary package or a ports system. |
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Line 27 or available via a binary package or a ports system. |
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latest bundled and ported versions of mandoc for various operating |
latest bundled and ported versions of mandoc for various operating |
systems is maintained at <http://mdocml.bsd.lv/ports.html>. |
systems is maintained at <http://mdocml.bsd.lv/ports.html>. |
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If mandoc is installed, you can check the version by running "mandoc -V". |
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You can find the version contained in this distribution tarball |
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by running "./configure". |
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Regarding how packages and ports are maintained for your operating |
Regarding how packages and ports are maintained for your operating |
system, please consult your operating system documentation. |
system, please consult your operating system documentation. |
To install mandoc manually, the following steps are needed: |
To install mandoc manually, the following steps are needed: |
Line 52 generates. If anything looks wrong or different from |
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Line 42 generates. If anything looks wrong or different from |
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wish, read the file "configure.local.example", create and edit |
wish, read the file "configure.local.example", create and edit |
a file "configure.local", and re-run "./configure" until the |
a file "configure.local", and re-run "./configure" until the |
result seems right to you. |
result seems right to you. |
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On Solaris 10 and earlier, you may have to run "ksh ./configure" |
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because the native /bin/sh lacks some POSIX features. |
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3. Run "make". |
3. Run "make". |
Any POSIX-compatible make, in particular both BSD make and GNU make, |
Any POSIX-compatible make, in particular both BSD make and GNU make, |
Line 59 should work. If the build fails, look at "configure.l |
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Line 51 should work. If the build fails, look at "configure.l |
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and go back to step 2. |
and go back to step 2. |
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4. Run "make -n install" and check whether everything will be |
4. Run "make -n install" and check whether everything will be |
installed to the intended places. Otherwise, put some *DIR variables |
installed to the intended places. Otherwise, put some *DIR or *NM* |
into "configure.local" and go back to step 2. |
variables into "configure.local" and go back to step 2. |
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5. Run "sudo make install". If you intend to build a binary |
5. Run "sudo make install". If you intend to build a binary |
package using some kind of fake root mechanism, you may need a |
package using some kind of fake root mechanism, you may need a |
command like "make DESTDIR=... install". Read the *-install targets |
command like "make DESTDIR=... install". Read the *-install targets |
in the "Makefile" to understand how DESTDIR is used. |
in the "Makefile" to understand how DESTDIR is used. |
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6. To set up a man.cgi(8) server, read its manual page. |
6. If you want to use the integrated man(1) and your system uses |
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manpath(1), make sure it is configured correctly, in particular, |
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it returns all directory trees where manual pages are installed. |
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Otherwise, if your system uses man.conf(5), make sure it contains |
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a "manpath" line for each directory tree, and the order of these |
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lines meets your wishes. |
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7. To use mandoc(1) as your man(1) formatter, read the "Deployment" |
7. If you compiled with database support, run the command "sudo |
section below. |
makewhatis" to build mandoc.db(5) databases in all the directory |
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trees configured in step 6. Whenever installing new manual pages, |
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re-run makewhatis(8) to update the databases, or apropos(1) will |
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not find the new pages. |
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8. To set up a man.cgi(8) server, read its manual page. |
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Note that some man(7) pages may contain low-level roff(7) markup |
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that mandoc does not yet understand. On some BSD systems using |
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mandoc, third-party software is vetted on whether it may be formatted |
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with mandoc. If not, groff(1) is pulled in as a dependency and |
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used to install a pre-formatted "catpage" instead of directly as |
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manual page source. |
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Understanding mandoc dependencies |
Understanding mandoc dependencies |
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The mandoc(1), preconv(1), and demandoc(1) utilities have no external |
The mandoc(1), man(1), and demandoc(1) utilities only depend |
dependencies. However, makewhatis(8) and apropos(1) depend on the |
on the zlib library for decompressing gzipped manual pages, |
following software: |
but makewhatis(8) and apropos(1) depend on the following |
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additional software: |
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1. The SQLite database system, see <http://sqlite.org/>. |
1. The SQLite database system, see <http://sqlite.org/>. |
The recommended version of SQLite is 3.8.4.3 or newer. The mandoc |
The recommended version of SQLite is 3.8.4.3 or newer. The mandoc |
Line 89 fails due to the missing sqlite3_errstr() API. Both a |
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Line 99 fails due to the missing sqlite3_errstr() API. Both a |
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problems, apropos(1) is fully usable with SQLite 3.7.5. Versions |
problems, apropos(1) is fully usable with SQLite 3.7.5. Versions |
older than 3.7.5 may or may not work, they have not been tested. |
older than 3.7.5 may or may not work, they have not been tested. |
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1.2. The fts(3) directory traversion functions. |
2. The fts(3) directory traversion functions. |
If your system does not have them, the bundled compatibility version |
If your system does not have them, the bundled compatibility version |
will be used, so you need not worry in that case. But be careful: the |
will be used, so you need not worry in that case. But be careful: the |
glibc version of fts(3) is known to be broken on 32bit platforms, |
glibc version of fts(3) is known to be broken on 32bit platforms, |
see <https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=15838>. |
see <https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=15838>. |
If you run into that problem, set "HAVE_FTS=0" in configure.local. |
If you run into that problem, set "HAVE_FTS=0" in configure.local. |
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1.3. Marc Espie's ohash(3) library. |
3. Marc Espie's ohash(3) library. |
If your system does not have it, the bundled compatibility version |
If your system does not have it, the bundled compatibility version |
will be used, so you probably need not worry about it. |
will be used, so you probably need not worry about it. |
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One of the chief design goals of the mandoc toolbox is to make |
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sure that nothing related to documentation requires C++. |
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Consequently, linking mandoc against any kind of C++ program |
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would defeat the purpose and is not supported. |
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Checking autoconfiguration quality |
Checking autoconfiguration quality |
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---------------------------------- |
If you want to check whether automatic configuration works well |
If you want to check whether automatic configuration works well |
Line 143 for unexpected failures. Those are most likely to hap |
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Line 158 for unexpected failures. Those are most likely to hap |
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or libraries are installed in unusual places or interfaces defined |
or libraries are installed in unusual places or interfaces defined |
in unusual headers. You can also look at the file "config.h" and |
in unusual headers. You can also look at the file "config.h" and |
check that no "#define HAVE_*" differ from your expectations. |
check that no "#define HAVE_*" differ from your expectations. |
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Deployment |
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---------- |
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If you want to integrate the mandoc(1) tools with your existing |
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man(1) system as a formatter, then contact us first: on systems without |
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mandoc(1) as the default, you may have your work cut out for you! |
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Usually, you can have your default installation and mandoc(1) work right |
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alongside each other by using user-specific versions of the files |
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mentioned below. |
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0. Back up each file you want to change! |
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1. First see whether your system has "/etc/man.conf" or "/etc/manpath.conf" |
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(if it has neither, but man(1) is functional, then let us know) or, |
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if running as your own user, a per-user override file. In either |
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case, find where man(1) is executing nroff(1) or groff(1) to format |
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manuals. Replace these calls with mandoc(1). |
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2. Then make sure that man(1) isn't running preprocessors, so you may |
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need to replace tbl(1), eqn(1), and similar references with cat(1). |
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Some man(1) implementations, like that on Mac OSX, let you run "man -d" |
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to see how the formatter is invoked. Use this to test your changes. On |
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Mac OS X, for instance, man(1) will prepend all files with ".ll" and |
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".nr" to set the terminal size, so you need to pass "tail -n+2 | |
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mandoc(1)" to disregard them. |
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3. Finally, make sure that mandoc(1) is actually being invoked instead |
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of cached pages being pulled up. You can usually do this by commenting |
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out NOCACHE or similar. |
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mandoc(1) still has a long way to go in understanding non-trivial |
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low-level roff(7) markup embedded in some man(7) pages. On the BSD |
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systems using mandoc(1), third-party software is generally vetted |
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on whether it may be formatted with mandoc(1). If not, groff(1) |
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is pulled in as a dependency and used to install a pre-formatted |
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"catpage" intead of directly as manual page source. |
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For more background on switching operating systems to use mandoc(1) |
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instead of groff(1) to format manuals, see the two BSDCan presentations |
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by Ingo Schwarze: |
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<http://www.openbsd.org/papers/bsdcan11-mandoc-openbsd.html> |
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<http://www.openbsd.org/papers/bsdcan14-mandoc.pdf> |
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