version 1.2, 2009/03/26 09:55:39 |
version 1.28, 2009/08/18 14:27:16 |
|
|
.\" $Id$ |
.\" $Id$ |
.\" |
.\" |
.\" Copyright (c) 2009 Kristaps Dzonsons <kristaps@openbsd.org> |
.\" Copyright (c) 2009 Kristaps Dzonsons <kristaps@kth.se> |
.\" |
.\" |
.\" Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any |
.\" Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any |
.\" purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the |
.\" purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above |
.\" above copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all |
.\" copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies. |
.\" copies. |
|
.\" |
.\" |
.\" THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL |
.\" THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES |
.\" WARRANTIES WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED |
.\" WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF |
.\" WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE |
.\" MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR |
.\" AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL |
.\" ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES |
.\" DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR |
.\" WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN |
.\" PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER |
.\" ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF |
.\" TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR |
.\" OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE. |
.\" PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE. |
.\" |
.\" |
|
.Dd $Mdocdate$ |
.Dd $Mdocdate$ |
.Dt man 7 |
.Dt MAN 7 |
.Os |
.Os |
.\" SECTION |
. |
|
. |
.Sh NAME |
.Sh NAME |
.Nm man |
. Nm man |
.Nd man language reference |
. Nd man language reference |
.\" SECTION |
. |
|
. |
.Sh DESCRIPTION |
.Sh DESCRIPTION |
The |
The |
.Nm man |
. Nm man |
language was historically used to format |
language was historically used to format |
.Ux |
. Ux |
manuals. In this reference document, we describe the syntax and |
manuals. This reference document describes its syntax, structure, and |
structure of the |
usage. |
.Nm |
. Pp |
language. |
. Bf -emphasis |
.Pp |
Do not use |
.Em \&Do not |
. Nm |
use |
to write your manuals. |
.Nm |
. Ef |
to write your manuals. Use the |
Use the |
.Xr mdoc 7 |
. Xr mdoc 7 |
language, instead. |
language, instead. |
.\" PARAGRAPH |
. Pp |
.Pp |
|
An |
An |
.Nm |
. Nm |
document follows simple rules: lines beginning with the control |
document follows simple rules: lines beginning with the control |
character |
character |
.Sq \&. |
. Sq \&. |
are parsed for macros. Other lines are interpreted within the scope of |
are parsed for macros. Other lines are interpreted within the scope of |
prior macros: |
prior macros: |
.Bd -literal -offset XXX |
. Bd -literal -offset indent |
\&.SH Macro lines change control state. |
\&.SH Macro lines change control state. |
Other lines are interpreted within the current state. |
Other lines are interpreted within the current state. |
.Ed |
. Ed |
.\" PARAGRAPH |
. |
.Pp |
. |
Macros are character sequences whose structural rules are described |
|
later in this document. |
|
.\" SECTION |
|
.Sh INPUT ENCODING |
.Sh INPUT ENCODING |
.Nm |
. Nm |
documents may contain only graphable 7-bit ASCII characters and the |
documents may contain only graphable 7-bit ASCII characters, the |
space character |
space character, and the tabs character. All manuals must have |
.Sq \ . |
. Ux |
All manuals must have |
line termination. |
.Sq \en |
. Pp |
line termination. |
Blank lines are acceptable; where found, the output will assert a |
.Pp |
|
Blank lines are acceptable; where found, the output will also assert a |
|
vertical space. |
vertical space. |
.\" SUB-SECTION |
. Pp |
.Ss Special Characters |
The |
Special character sequences begin with the escape character |
. Sq \ec |
.Sq \e |
escape is common in historical |
followed by either an open-parenthesis |
. Nm |
.Sq \&( |
documents; if encountered at the end of a word, it ensures that the |
|
subsequent word isn't off-set by whitespace. |
|
. |
|
. |
|
. Ss Comments |
|
Text following a |
|
. Sq \e\*" , |
|
whether in a macro or free-form text line, is ignored to the end of |
|
line. A macro line with only a control character and comment escape, |
|
. Sq \&.\e" , |
|
is also ignored. Macro lines with only a control charater and |
|
optionally whitespace are stripped from input. |
|
. |
|
. |
|
. Ss Special Characters |
|
Special characters may occur in both macro and free-form lines. |
|
Sequences begin with the escape character |
|
. Sq \e |
|
followed by either an open-parenthesis |
|
. Sq \&( |
for two-character sequences; an open-bracket |
for two-character sequences; an open-bracket |
.Sq \&[ |
. Sq \&[ |
for n-character sequences (terminated at a close-bracket |
for n-character sequences (terminated at a close-bracket |
.Sq \&] ) ; |
. Sq \&] ) ; |
or a single one-character sequence. |
or a single one-character sequence. See |
.Pp |
. Xr mandoc_char 7 |
Characters may alternatively be escaped by a slash-asterisk, |
for a complete list. Examples include |
.Sq \e* , |
. Sq \e(em |
with the same combinations as described above. This form is deprecated. |
. Pq em-dash |
.Pp |
and |
The |
. Sq \ee |
.Xr mdoc 7 |
. Pq back-slash . |
contains a table of all available escapes. |
. |
.\" SECTION |
. |
.Sh STRUCTURE |
. Ss Text Decoration |
|
Terms may be text-decorated using the |
|
. Sq \ef |
|
escape followed by an indicator: B (bold), I, (italic), or P and R |
|
(Roman, or reset). |
|
. |
|
. |
|
. Ss Whitespace |
|
Unless specifically escaped, consecutive blocks of whitespace are pruned |
|
from input. These are later re-added, if applicable, by a front-end |
|
utility such as |
|
. Xr mandoc 1 . |
|
. |
|
. |
|
.Sh MANUAL STRUCTURE |
|
Each |
|
. Nm |
|
document must contain contains at least the |
|
. Sq \&TH |
|
macro describing the document's section and title. It may occur |
|
anywhere in the document, although conventionally, it appears as the |
|
first macro. |
|
. Pp |
|
Beyond |
|
. Sq \&TH , |
|
at least one macro or text node must appear in the document. Documents |
|
are generally structured as follows: |
|
. Bd -literal -offset indent |
|
\&.TH FOO 1 "13 Aug 2009" |
|
\&. |
|
\&.SH NAME |
|
foo \e- a description goes here |
|
\&. |
|
\&.SH SYNOPSIS |
|
\efBfoo\efR [\efB\e-options\efR] arguments... |
|
\&. |
|
\&.SH DESCRIPTION |
|
The \efBfoo\efR utility does... |
|
\&. |
|
\&.\e\*q .SH RETURN VALUES |
|
\&.\e\*q .SH ENVIRONMENT |
|
\&.\e\*q .SH FILES |
|
\&.\e\*q .SH EXAMPLES |
|
\&.\e\*q .SH DIAGNOSTICS |
|
\&.\e\*q .SH ERRORS |
|
\&.\e\*q .SH SEE ALSO |
|
\&.\e\*q \efBbar\efR(1) |
|
\&.\e\*q .SH STANDARDS |
|
\&.\e\*q .SH HISTORY |
|
\&.\e\*q .SH AUTHORS |
|
\&.\e\*q .SH CAVEATS |
|
\&.\e\*q .SH BUGS |
|
. Ed |
|
. |
|
. |
|
.Sh MACRO SYNTAX |
Macros are one to three three characters in length and begin with a |
Macros are one to three three characters in length and begin with a |
control character |
control character , |
.Sq \&. |
. Sq \&. , |
at the beginning of the line. An arbitrary amount of whitespace may |
at the beginning of the line. An arbitrary amount of whitespace may |
sit between the control character and the macro name. Thus, |
sit between the control character and the macro name. Thus, |
.Sq \&PP |
. Sq \&.PP |
and |
and |
.Sq \&.\ \ \ \&PP |
. Sq \&.\ \ \ \&PP |
are equivalent. |
are equivalent. |
.Pp |
. Pp |
All follow the same |
|
structural rules: |
|
.Bd -literal -offset XXXX |
|
\&.Yo \(lBbody...\(rB |
|
.Ed |
|
.Pp |
|
The |
The |
.Dq body |
. Nm |
consists of zero or more arguments to the macro. |
macros are classified by scope: line scope or block scope. Line-scoped |
|
macros are only scoped to the current line (and, in some situations, |
|
the subsequent line). Block macros are scoped to the current line and |
|
subsequent lines until closed by another block macro. |
|
. |
|
. |
|
. Ss Line Macros |
|
Line-macros are scoped to the current line, with the body consisting of |
|
zero or more arguments. If a macro is next-line scoped and the line |
|
arguments are empty, the next line is used instead. Thus: |
|
. Bd -literal -offset indent |
|
\&.RI |
|
foo |
|
. Ed |
|
. Pp |
|
is equivalent to |
|
. Sq \&.RI foo . |
.\" PARAGRAPH |
.\" PARAGRAPH |
.Sh MACROS |
Consecutive next-line invocations are disallowed. |
This section contains a complete list of all |
. Bd -literal -offset indent |
.Nm |
\&.YO \(lBbody...\(rB |
macros, arranged alphabetically, with the number of arguments. |
\(lBbody...\(rB |
.Pp |
. Ed |
.Bl -column "MacroX" "Arguments" -compact -offset XXXX |
. Pp |
.It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments |
. Bl -column -compact -offset indent "MacroX" "ArgumentsX" "ScopeXXXXX" |
.It \&.TH Ta >0 |
. It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments Ta Em Scope |
.It \&.SH Ta n |
. It \&B Ta n Ta next-line |
.It \&.SS Ta n |
. It \&BI Ta n Ta current |
.It \&.TP Ta n |
. It \&BR Ta n Ta current |
.It \&.LP Ta n |
. It \&I Ta n Ta next-line |
.It \&.PP Ta n |
. It \&IB Ta n Ta current |
.It \&.P Ta n |
. It \&IR Ta n Ta current |
.It \&.IP Ta n |
. It \&R Ta n Ta next-line |
.It \&.HP Ta n |
. It \&RB Ta n Ta current |
.It \&.SM Ta n |
. It \&RI Ta n Ta current |
.It \&.SB Ta n |
. It \&SB Ta n Ta next-line |
.It \&.BI Ta n |
. It \&SM Ta n Ta next-line |
.It \&.IB Ta n |
. It \&TH Ta >1, <6 Ta current |
.It \&.BR Ta n |
. It \&br Ta 0 Ta current |
.It \&.RB Ta n |
. It \&fi Ta 0 Ta current |
.It \&.R Ta n |
. It \&i Ta n Ta current |
.It \&.B Ta n |
. It \&na Ta 0 Ta current |
.It \&.I Ta n |
. It \&nf Ta 0 Ta current |
.It \&.IR Ta n |
. It \&r Ta 0 Ta current |
.El |
. It \&sp Ta 1 Ta current |
.\" SECTION |
. El |
|
. Pp |
|
The lower-case |
|
. Sq \&br , |
|
. Sq \&fi , |
|
. Sq \&i , |
|
. Sq \&na , |
|
. Sq \&nf , |
|
. Sq \&r , |
|
and |
|
. Sq \&sp |
|
macros aren't historically part of |
|
. Nm |
|
and should not be used. They're included for compatibility. |
|
. |
|
. |
|
. Ss Block Macros |
|
Block macros are comprised of a head and body. The head is scoped to |
|
the current line and, in one circumstance, the next line; the body is |
|
scoped to subsequent lines and is closed out by a subsequent block macro |
|
invocation. |
|
. Bd -literal -offset indent |
|
\&.YO \(lBhead...\(rB |
|
\(lBhead...\(rB |
|
\(lBbody...\(rB |
|
. Ed |
|
. Pp |
|
If a block macro is next-line scoped, it may only be followed by in-line |
|
macros (excluding |
|
. Sq br , |
|
. Sq na , |
|
. Sq sp , |
|
. Sq nf , |
|
. Sq fi , |
|
and |
|
. Sq TH ) . |
|
. Pp |
|
. Bl -column "MacroX" "Arguments" "ScopeXXXX" -compact -offset indent |
|
. It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments Ta Em Scope |
|
. It \&HP Ta <2 Ta current |
|
. It \&IP Ta <3 Ta current |
|
. It \&LP Ta 0 Ta current |
|
. It \&P Ta 0 Ta current |
|
. It \&PP Ta 0 Ta current |
|
. It \&SH Ta >0 Ta current |
|
. It \&SS Ta >0 Ta current |
|
. It \&TP Ta n Ta next-line |
|
. El |
|
. |
|
. |
|
.Sh REFERENCE |
|
This section is a canonical reference to all macros, arranged |
|
alphabetically. For the scoping of individual macros, see |
|
. Sx MACRO SYNTAX . |
|
. |
|
. |
|
. Ss Terms |
|
In this reference, a numerical width may be either a standalone natural |
|
number (such as 3, 4, 10, etc.) or a natural number followed by a width |
|
multiplier |
|
. Qq n , |
|
corresponding to the width of the formatted letter n, or |
|
. Qq m , |
|
corresponding to the width of the formatted letter m. The latter is the |
|
default, if unspecified. Thus, |
|
. Bd -literal -offset indent |
|
\&.HP 12n |
|
. Ed |
|
. Pp |
|
indicates an offset of 12 |
|
. Qq n |
|
. Ns -sized |
|
letters. |
|
. |
|
. |
|
. Ss Macro Reference |
|
. Bl -tag -width Ds |
|
. It \&B |
|
Text is rendered in bold face. |
|
. It \&BI |
|
Text is rendered alternately in bold face and italic. Thus, |
|
. Sq \&.BI this word and that |
|
causes |
|
. Sq this |
|
and |
|
. Sq and |
|
to render in bold face, while |
|
. Sq word |
|
and |
|
. Sq that |
|
render in italics. Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output. |
|
. It \&BR |
|
Text is rendered alternately in bold face and roman (the default font). |
|
Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output. |
|
. It \&HP |
|
Begin a paragraph whose initial output line is left-justified, but |
|
subsequent output lines are indented, with the following syntax: |
|
. Bd -literal -offset indent |
|
\&.HP [width] |
|
. Ed |
|
. Pp |
|
If |
|
. Va width |
|
is specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if |
|
unspecified, the saved or default width is used. |
|
. It \&I |
|
Text is rendered in italics. |
|
. It \&IB |
|
Text is rendered alternately in italics and bold face. Whitespace |
|
between arguments is omitted in output. |
|
. It \&IP |
|
Begin a paragraph with the following syntax: |
|
. Bd -literal -offset indent |
|
\&.IP [head [width]] |
|
. Ed |
|
. Pp |
|
This follows the behaviour of the |
|
. Sq \&TP |
|
except for the macro syntax (all arguments on the line, instead of |
|
having next-line scope). If |
|
. Va width |
|
is specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if |
|
unspecified, the saved or default width is used. |
|
. It \&IR |
|
Text is rendered alternately in italics and roman (the default font). |
|
Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output. |
|
. It \&LP, \&P, \&PP |
|
Begin an undecorated paragraph. The scope of a paragraph is closed by a |
|
subsequent paragraph, sub-section, section, or end of file. The saved |
|
paragraph left-margin width is re-set to the default. |
|
. It \&R |
|
Text is rendered in roman (the default font). |
|
. It \&RB |
|
Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and bold face. |
|
Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output. |
|
. It \&RI |
|
Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and italics. |
|
Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output. |
|
. It \&SB |
|
Text is rendered in small size (one point smaller than the default font) |
|
bold face. |
|
. It \&SH |
|
Begin a section. The scope of a section is only closed by another |
|
section or the end of file. The paragraph left-margin width is re-set |
|
to the default. |
|
. It \&SM |
|
Text is rendered in small size (one point smaller than the default |
|
font). |
|
. It \&SS |
|
Begin a sub-section. The scope of a sub-section is closed by a |
|
subsequent sub-section, section, or end of file. The paragraph |
|
left-margin width is re-set to the default. |
|
. It \&TH |
|
Sets the title of the manual page with the following syntax: |
|
. Bd -literal -offset indent |
|
\&.TH title section date source volume |
|
. Ed |
|
. Pp |
|
At least the |
|
. Va title |
|
and |
|
. Va section |
|
arguments must be provided. The |
|
. Va date |
|
argument should be formatted as |
|
. Qq %b [%d] %Y |
|
format, described in |
|
. Xr strptime 3 . |
|
The |
|
. Va source |
|
string specifies the organisation providing the utility. The |
|
. Va volume |
|
replaces the default rendered volume as dictated by the manual section. |
|
. It \&TP |
|
Begin a paragraph where the head, if exceeding the indentation width, is |
|
followed by a newline; if not, the body follows on the same line after a |
|
buffer to the indentation width. Subsequent output lines are indented. |
|
. Pp |
|
The indentation width may be set as follows: |
|
. Bd -literal -offset indent |
|
\&.TP [width] |
|
. Ed |
|
. Pp |
|
Where |
|
. Va width |
|
must be a properly-formed numeric width. If |
|
. Va width |
|
is specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if |
|
unspecified, the saved or default width is used. |
|
. It \&br |
|
Breaks the current line. Consecutive invocations have no further effect. |
|
. It \&fi |
|
End literal mode begun by |
|
. Sq \&nf . |
|
. It \&i |
|
Italicise arguments. If no arguments are specified, all subsequent text |
|
is italicised. |
|
. It \&na |
|
No alignment to the right margin. |
|
. It \&nf |
|
Begin literal mode: all subsequent free-form lines have their end of |
|
line boundaries preserved. May be ended by |
|
. Sq \&fi . |
|
. It \&r |
|
Fonts and styles (bold face, italics) reset to roman (default font). |
|
. It \&sp |
|
Insert n spaces, where n is the macro's positive numeric argument. If |
|
0, this is equivalent to the |
|
. Sq br |
|
macro. |
|
. El |
|
. |
|
. |
|
.Sh COMPATIBILITY |
|
This section documents compatibility with other roff implementations, at |
|
this time limited to |
|
. Xr groff 1 . |
|
. Bl -hyphen |
|
. It |
|
In quoted literals, groff allowed pair-wise double-quotes to produce a |
|
standalone double-quote in formatted output. This idiosyncratic |
|
behaviour is no longer applicable. |
|
. It |
|
The |
|
. Sq \&sp |
|
macro does not accept negative numbers. |
|
. It |
|
Blocks of whitespace are stripped from both macro and free-form text |
|
lines (except when in literal mode), while groff would retain whitespace |
|
in free-form text lines. |
|
. El |
|
. |
|
. |
.Sh SEE ALSO |
.Sh SEE ALSO |
.Xr mandoc 1 |
. Xr mandoc 1 , |
.\" SECTION |
. Xr mandoc_char 7 |
|
. |
|
. |
.Sh AUTHORS |
.Sh AUTHORS |
The |
The |
.Nm |
. Nm |
utility was written by |
reference was written by |
.An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq kristaps@openbsd.org . |
. An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq kristaps@kth.se . |
.\" SECTION |
. |
|
. |
.Sh CAVEATS |
.Sh CAVEATS |
Do not use this language. Use |
Do not use this language. Use |
.Xr mdoc 7 , |
. Xr mdoc 7 , |
instead. |
instead. |
|
. |