=================================================================== RCS file: /cvs/mandoc/man.7,v retrieving revision 1.35 retrieving revision 1.108 diff -u -p -r1.35 -r1.108 --- mandoc/man.7 2009/08/21 12:12:12 1.35 +++ mandoc/man.7 2011/08/30 13:14:01 1.108 @@ -1,6 +1,6 @@ -.\" $Id: man.7,v 1.35 2009/08/21 12:12:12 kristaps Exp $ +.\" $Id: man.7,v 1.108 2011/08/30 13:14:01 kristaps Exp $ .\" -.\" Copyright (c) 2009 Kristaps Dzonsons +.\" Copyright (c) 2009, 2010 Kristaps Dzonsons .\" .\" Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any .\" purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above @@ -14,24 +14,19 @@ .\" ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF .\" OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE. .\" -.Dd $Mdocdate: August 21 2009 $ +.Dd $Mdocdate: August 30 2011 $ .Dt MAN 7 .Os -. -. .Sh NAME .Nm man .Nd man language reference -. -. .Sh DESCRIPTION The .Nm man language was historically used to format .Ux -manuals. This reference document describes its syntax, structure, and -usage. -. +manuals. +This reference document describes its syntax, structure, and usage. .Pp .Bf -emphasis Do not use @@ -41,53 +36,54 @@ to write your manuals. Use the .Xr mdoc 7 language, instead. -. .Pp -An +A .Nm -document follows simple rules: lines beginning with the control +document follows simple rules: lines beginning with the control character .Sq \&. -are parsed for macros. Other lines are interpreted within the scope of -prior macros: +are parsed for macros. +Lines not beginning with the control character are +interpreted within the scope of prior macros: .Bd -literal -offset indent \&.SH Macro lines change control state. -Other lines are interpreted within the current state. +Text lines are interpreted within the current state. .Ed -. -. -.Sh INPUT ENCODING +.Sh LANGUAGE SYNTAX .Nm documents may contain only graphable 7-bit ASCII characters, the -space character, and the tabs character. All manuals must have -.Ux -line termination. -. -.Pp -Blank lines are acceptable; where found, the output will assert a -vertical space. -. -.Pp -The -.Sq \ec -escape is common in historical -.Nm -documents; if encountered at the end of a word, it ensures that the -subsequent word isn't off-set by whitespace. -. -. +space character, and the tab character. +The back-space character +.Sq \e +indicates the start of an escape sequence for +.Sx Comments , +.Sx Predefined Strings , +and +.Sx Special Characters . .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. -. -. +Text following an escaped double-quote +.Sq \e\(dq , +whether in a macro or text line, is ignored to the end of +line. +A macro line beginning with a control character and comment escape +.Sq \&.\e\(dq +is also ignored. +Furthermore, +macro lines with only a control character and optional trailing +whitespace are +stripped from input. +.Pp +Examples: +.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact +\&.\e\(dq This is a comment line. +\&.\e\(dq The next line is ignored: +\&. +\&.Em Emphasis \e\(dq This is also a comment. +.Ed .Ss Special Characters -Special characters may occur in both macro and free-form lines. +Special characters are used to encode special glyphs and are rendered +differently across output media. +They may occur in both macro and text lines. Sequences begin with the escape character .Sq \e followed by either an open-parenthesis @@ -96,443 +92,954 @@ for two-character sequences; an open-bracket .Sq \&[ for n-character sequences (terminated at a close-bracket .Sq \&] ) ; -or a single one-character sequence. See +or a single one character sequence. +.Pp +Examples: +.Bl -tag -width Ds -offset indent -compact +.It Li \e(em +Two-letter em dash escape. +.It Li \ee +One-letter backslash escape. +.El +.Pp +See .Xr mandoc_char 7 -for a complete list. Examples include -.Sq \e(em -.Pq em-dash -and -.Sq \ee -.Pq back-slash . -. -. +for a complete list. .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). -. -. +escape followed by an indicator: B (bold), I (italic), R (regular), or P +(revert to previous mode). +A numerical representation 3, 2, or 1 (bold, italic, and regular, +respectively) may be used instead. +A text decoration is only valid, if specified in free-form text, until +the next macro invocation; if specified within a macro, it's only valid +until the macro closes scope. +Note that macros like +.Sx \&BR +open and close a font scope with each argument. +.Pp +The +.Sq \ef +attribute is forgotten when entering or exiting a macro block. +.Pp +Examples: +.Bl -tag -width Ds -offset indent -compact +.It Li \efBbold\efR +Write in bold, then switch to regular font mode. +.It Li \efIitalic\efP +Write in italic, then return to previous font mode. +.El +.Ss Predefined Strings +Predefined strings, like +.Sx Special Characters , +mark special output glyphs. +Predefined strings are escaped with the slash-asterisk, +.Sq \e* : +single-character +.Sq \e*X , +two-character +.Sq \e*(XX , +and N-character +.Sq \e*[N] . +.Pp +Examples: +.Bl -tag -width Ds -offset indent -compact +.It Li \e*(Am +Two-letter ampersand predefined string. +.It Li \e*q +One-letter double-quote predefined string. +.El +.Pp +These strings are set using +.Xr roff 7 , +although +.Nm +consists of several pre-set escapes listed in +.Xr mandoc_char 7 . .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 . -. -. +Whitespace consists of the space character. +In text lines, whitespace is preserved within a line. +In macro lines, whitespace delimits arguments and is discarded. +.Pp +Unescaped trailing spaces are stripped from text line input unless in a +literal context. +In general, trailing whitespace on any input line is discouraged for +reasons of portability. +In the rare case that a blank character is needed at the end of an +input line, it may be forced by +.Sq \e\ \e& . +.Pp +In general, space characters can be rendered as literal +characters by using non-breaking space escapes or +.Sx Quotation . +If the first character of a text line is a space, that line is printed +with a leading newline. +.Ss Quotation +Macro arguments may be quoted with double-quotes to so that the +enclosed text is one literal term. +Quoted text, even if whitespace or if it would cause a macro invocation +when unquoted, is considered literal text. +.Pp +A quoted argument begins with a double-quote preceded by whitespace. +The next double-quote not pairwise adjacent to another double-quote +terminates the literal, regardless of surrounding whitespace. +.Pp +Examples: +.Bl -tag -width Ds -offset indent -compact +.It Li .BR a \(dqb c\(dq d +Group arguments +.Qq b c +into one un-bolded argument. +If unspecified, +.Qq a +and +.Qq c +will be in bold, +.Qq b +and +.Qq d +in regular font mode. +Furthermore, will be preserved between +.Qq b +and +.Qq c . +.El +.Ss Scaling Widths +Many macros support scaled widths for their arguments. +The syntax for a scaled width is +.Sq Li [+-]?[0-9]*.[0-9]*[:unit:] , +where a decimal must be preceded or proceeded by at least one digit. +Negative numbers, while accepted, are truncated to zero. +.Pp +The following scaling units are accepted: +.Pp +.Bl -tag -width Ds -offset indent -compact +.It c +centimetre +.It i +inch +.It P +pica (~1/6 inch) +.It p +point (~1/72 inch) +.It f +synonym for +.Sq u +.It v +default vertical span +.It m +width of rendered +.Sq m +.Pq em +character +.It n +width of rendered +.Sq n +.Pq en +character +.It u +default horizontal span +.It M +mini-em (~1/100 em) +.El +.Pp +Using anything other than +.Sq m , +.Sq n , +.Sq u , +or +.Sq v +is necessarily non-portable across output media. +See +.Sx COMPATIBILITY . +.Pp +If a scaling unit is not provided, the numerical value is interpreted +under the default rules of +.Sq v +for vertical spaces and +.Sq u +for horizontal ones. +.Pp +Examples: +.Bl -tag -width Ds -offset indent -compact +.It \&.HP 2i +two-inch tagged list indentation +.Pq see Sx \&HP +.It \&.sp 2v +two vertical spaces +.Pq see Sx \&sp +.El +.Ss Sentence Spacing +Sentences should terminate at the end of an input line. +By doing this, a formatter will be able to apply the proper amount of +spacing after the end of sentence (unescaped) period, exclamation mark, +or question mark followed by zero or more non-sentence closing +delimiters +.Po +.Sq \&) , +.Sq \&] , +.Sq \&' , +.Sq \&" +.Pc . +.Pp +Examples: +.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact +Do not end sentences mid-line like this. Instead, +end a sentence like this. +A new sentence gets a new line. +.Ed .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. -. +document must contain the +.Sx \&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: +.Sx \&TH , +at least one macro or text node must appear in the document. +.Pp +The following is a well-formed skeleton +.Nm +file for a utility +.Qq progname : .Bd -literal -offset indent -\&.TH FOO 1 "13 Aug 2009" -\&. +\&.TH PROGNAME 1 2009-10-10 \&.SH NAME -\efBfoo\efR \e(en a description goes here -\&.\e\*q The next is for sections 2 & 3 only. -\&.\e\*q .SH LIBRARY -\&. +\efBprogname\efR \e(en a description goes here +\&.\e\(dq .SH LIBRARY +\&.\e\(dq For sections 2 & 3 only. +\&.\e\(dq Not used in OpenBSD. \&.SH SYNOPSIS -\efBfoo\efR [\efB\e-options\efR] arguments... -\&. +\efBprogname\efR [\efB\e-options\efR] arguments... \&.SH DESCRIPTION The \efBfoo\efR utility processes files... -\&. -\&.\e\*q .SH IMPLEMENTATION NOTES -\&.\e\*q The next is for sections 1 & 8 only. -\&.\e\*q .SH EXIT STATUS -\&.\e\*q The next is for sections 2, 3, & 9 only. -\&.\e\*q .SH RETURN VALUES -\&.\e\*q The next is for sections 1, 6, 7, & 8 only. -\&.\e\*q .SH ENVIRONMENT -\&.\e\*q .SH FILES -\&.\e\*q .SH EXAMPLES -\&.\e\*q The next is for sections 1, 4, 6, 7, & 8 only. -\&.\e\*q .SH DIAGNOSTICS -\&.\e\*q The next is for sections 2, 3, & 9 only. -\&.\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 -\&.\e\*q .SH SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS +\&.\e\(dq .SH IMPLEMENTATION NOTES +\&.\e\(dq Not used in OpenBSD. +\&.\e\(dq .SH RETURN VALUES +\&.\e\(dq For sections 2, 3, & 9 only. +\&.\e\(dq .SH ENVIRONMENT +\&.\e\(dq For sections 1, 6, 7, & 8 only. +\&.\e\(dq .SH FILES +\&.\e\(dq .SH EXIT STATUS +\&.\e\(dq For sections 1, 6, & 8 only. +\&.\e\(dq .SH EXAMPLES +\&.\e\(dq .SH DIAGNOSTICS +\&.\e\(dq For sections 1, 4, 6, 7, & 8 only. +\&.\e\(dq .SH ERRORS +\&.\e\(dq For sections 2, 3, & 9 only. +\&.\e\(dq .SH SEE ALSO +\&.\e\(dq .BR foo ( 1 ) +\&.\e\(dq .SH STANDARDS +\&.\e\(dq .SH HISTORY +\&.\e\(dq .SH AUTHORS +\&.\e\(dq .SH CAVEATS +\&.\e\(dq .SH BUGS +\&.\e\(dq .SH SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS +\&.\e\(dq Not used in OpenBSD. .Ed -. -. +.Pp +The sections in a +.Nm +document are conventionally ordered as they appear above. +Sections should be composed as follows: +.Bl -ohang -offset indent +.It Em NAME +The name(s) and a short description of the documented material. +The syntax for this is generally as follows: +.Pp +.D1 \efBname\efR \e(en description +.It Em LIBRARY +The name of the library containing the documented material, which is +assumed to be a function in a section 2 or 3 manual. +For functions in the C library, this may be as follows: +.Pp +.D1 Standard C Library (libc, -lc) +.It Em SYNOPSIS +Documents the utility invocation syntax, function call syntax, or device +configuration. +.Pp +For the first, utilities (sections 1, 6, and 8), this is +generally structured as follows: +.Pp +.D1 \efBname\efR [-\efBab\efR] [-\efBc\efR\efIarg\efR] \efBpath\efR... +.Pp +For the second, function calls (sections 2, 3, 9): +.Pp +.D1 \&.B char *name(char *\efIarg\efR); +.Pp +And for the third, configurations (section 4): +.Pp +.D1 \&.B name* at cardbus ? function ? +.Pp +Manuals not in these sections generally don't need a +.Em SYNOPSIS . +.It Em DESCRIPTION +This expands upon the brief, one-line description in +.Em NAME . +It usually contains a break-down of the options (if documenting a +command). +.It Em IMPLEMENTATION NOTES +Implementation-specific notes should be kept here. +This is useful when implementing standard functions that may have side +effects or notable algorithmic implications. +.It Em RETURN VALUES +This section documents the return values of functions in sections 2, 3, and 9. +.It Em ENVIRONMENT +Documents any usages of environment variables, e.g., +.Xr environ 7 . +.It Em FILES +Documents files used. +It's helpful to document both the file name and a short description of how +the file is used (created, modified, etc.). +.It Em EXIT STATUS +This section documents the command exit status for +section 1, 6, and 8 utilities. +Historically, this information was described in +.Em DIAGNOSTICS , +a practise that is now discouraged. +.It Em EXAMPLES +Example usages. +This often contains snippets of well-formed, +well-tested invocations. +Make sure that examples work properly! +.It Em DIAGNOSTICS +Documents error conditions. +This is most useful in section 4 manuals. +Historically, this section was used in place of +.Em EXIT STATUS +for manuals in sections 1, 6, and 8; however, this practise is +discouraged. +.It Em ERRORS +Documents error handling in sections 2, 3, and 9. +.It Em SEE ALSO +References other manuals with related topics. +This section should exist for most manuals. +.Pp +.D1 \&.BR bar \&( 1 \&), +.Pp +Cross-references should conventionally be ordered +first by section, then alphabetically. +.It Em STANDARDS +References any standards implemented or used, such as +.Pp +.D1 IEEE Std 1003.2 (\e(lqPOSIX.2\e(rq) +.Pp +If not adhering to any standards, the +.Em HISTORY +section should be used. +.It Em HISTORY +A brief history of the subject, including where support first appeared. +.It Em AUTHORS +Credits to the person or persons who wrote the code and/or documentation. +Authors should generally be noted by both name and email address. +.It Em CAVEATS +Common misuses and misunderstandings should be explained +in this section. +.It Em BUGS +Known bugs, limitations, and work-arounds should be described +in this section. +.It Em SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS +Documents any security precautions that operators should consider. +.El .Sh MACRO SYNTAX -Macros are one to three three characters in length and begin with a -control character , +Macros are one to three characters in length and begin with a +control character, .Sq \&. , -at the beginning of the line. An arbitrary amount of whitespace may -sit between the control character and the macro name. Thus, -.Sq .PP -and -.Sq \&.\ \ \ PP -are equivalent. -. +at the beginning of the line. +The +.Sq \(aq +macro control character is also accepted. +An arbitrary amount of whitespace (spaces or tabs) may sit between the +control character and the macro name. +Thus, the following are equivalent: +.Bd -literal -offset indent +\&.PP +\&.\ \ \ PP +.Ed .Pp +To include space characters in macro arguments, arguments may be quoted; +see the +.Sq MACRO SYNTAX +section in the +.Xr roff 7 +manual for details. +.Pp The .Nm -macros are classified by scope: line scope or block scope. Line -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. -. -. +macros are classified by scope: line scope or block scope. +Line 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 generally scoped to the current line, with the body -consisting of zero or more arguments. If a macro is scoped to the next -line and the line arguments are empty, the next line is used instead, -else the general syntax is used. Thus: +consisting of zero or more arguments. +If a macro is scoped to the next line and the line arguments are empty, +the next line, which must be text, is used instead. +Thus: .Bd -literal -offset indent \&.I foo .Ed -. .Pp is equivalent to .Sq \&.I foo . If next-line macros are invoked consecutively, only the last is used. -If a next-line macro is proceded by a block macro, it is ignored. +If a next-line macro is followed by a non-next-line macro, an error is +raised, except for +.Sx \&br , +.Sx \&sp , +and +.Sx \&na . +.Pp +The syntax is as follows: .Bd -literal -offset indent \&.YO \(lBbody...\(rB \(lBbody...\(rB .Ed -. -.Pp -.Bl -column -compact -offset indent "MacroX" "ArgumentsX" "ScopeXXXXX" -.It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments Ta Em Scope -.It B Ta n Ta next-line -.It BI Ta n Ta current -.It BR Ta n Ta current -.It DT Ta 0 Ta current -.It I Ta n Ta next-line -.It IB Ta n Ta current -.It IR Ta n Ta current -.It R Ta n Ta next-line -.It RB Ta n Ta current -.It RI Ta n Ta current -.It SB Ta n Ta next-line -.It SM Ta n Ta next-line -.It TH Ta >1, <6 Ta current -.It br Ta 0 Ta current -.It fi Ta 0 Ta current -.It i Ta n Ta current -.It na Ta 0 Ta current -.It nf Ta 0 Ta current -.It r Ta 0 Ta current -.It sp Ta 1 Ta current +.Bl -column "MacroX" "ArgumentsX" "ScopeXXXXX" "CompatX" -offset indent +.It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments Ta Em Scope Ta Em Notes +.It Sx \&AT Ta <=1 Ta current Ta \& +.It Sx \&B Ta n Ta next-line Ta \& +.It Sx \&BI Ta n Ta current Ta \& +.It Sx \&BR Ta n Ta current Ta \& +.It Sx \&DT Ta 0 Ta current Ta \& +.It Sx \&I Ta n Ta next-line Ta \& +.It Sx \&IB Ta n Ta current Ta \& +.It Sx \&IR Ta n Ta current Ta \& +.It Sx \&R Ta n Ta next-line Ta \& +.It Sx \&RB Ta n Ta current Ta \& +.It Sx \&RI Ta n Ta current Ta \& +.It Sx \&SB Ta n Ta next-line Ta \& +.It Sx \&SM Ta n Ta next-line Ta \& +.It Sx \&TH Ta >1, <6 Ta current Ta \& +.It Sx \&UC Ta <=1 Ta current Ta \& +.It Sx \&br Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat +.It Sx \&fi Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat +.It Sx \&ft Ta 1 Ta current Ta compat +.It Sx \&in Ta 1 Ta current Ta compat +.It Sx \&na Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat +.It Sx \&nf Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat +.It Sx \&sp Ta 1 Ta current Ta compat .El -. .Pp -The -.Sq RS , -.Sq RE , -.Sq br , -.Sq fi , -.Sq i , -.Sq na , -.Sq nf , -.Sq r , -and -.Sq sp -macros aren't historically part of +Macros marked as +.Qq compat +are included for compatibility with the significant corpus of existing +manuals that mix dialects of roff. +These macros should not be used for portable .Nm -and should not be used. They're included for compatibility. -. -. +manuals. .Ss Block Macros -Block macros are comprised of a head and body. Like for in-line macros, -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. +Block macros comprise a head and body. +As with in-line macros, the head is scoped to the current line and, in +one circumstance, the next line (the next-line stipulations as in +.Sx Line Macros +apply here as well). +.Pp +The syntax is as follows: .Bd -literal -offset indent \&.YO \(lBhead...\(rB \(lBhead...\(rB \(lBbody...\(rB .Ed -. .Pp The closure of body scope may be to the section, where a macro is closed by -.Sq SH ; +.Sx \&SH ; sub-section, closed by a section or -.Sq SS ; +.Sx \&SS ; part, closed by a section, sub-section, or -.Sq RE ; -or paragraph, closed by a section, sub-section, part, -.Sq HP , -.Sq IP , -.Sq LP , -.Sq P , -.Sq PP , +.Sx \&RE ; +or paragraph, closed by a section, sub-section, part, +.Sx \&HP , +.Sx \&IP , +.Sx \&LP , +.Sx \&P , +.Sx \&PP , or -.Sq TP . +.Sx \&TP . No closure refers to an explicit block closing macro. -. .Pp -.Bl -column "MacroX" "ArgumentsX" "Head ScopeX" "sub-sectionX" -compact -offset indent -.It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments Ta Em Head Scope Ta Em Body Scope -.It HP Ta <2 Ta current Ta paragraph -.It IP Ta <3 Ta current Ta paragraph -.It LP Ta 0 Ta current Ta paragraph -.It P Ta 0 Ta current Ta paragraph -.It PP Ta 0 Ta current Ta paragraph -.It RE Ta 0 Ta current Ta none -.It RS Ta 1 Ta current Ta part -.It SH Ta >0 Ta next-line Ta section -.It SS Ta >0 Ta next-line Ta sub-section -.It TP Ta n Ta next-line Ta paragraph +As a rule, block macros may not be nested; thus, calling a block macro +while another block macro scope is open, and the open scope is not +implicitly closed, is syntactically incorrect. +.Bl -column "MacroX" "ArgumentsX" "Head ScopeX" "sub-sectionX" "compatX" -offset indent +.It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments Ta Em Head Scope Ta Em Body Scope Ta Em Notes +.It Sx \&HP Ta <2 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \& +.It Sx \&IP Ta <3 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \& +.It Sx \&LP Ta 0 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \& +.It Sx \&P Ta 0 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \& +.It Sx \&PP Ta 0 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \& +.It Sx \&RE Ta 0 Ta current Ta none Ta compat +.It Sx \&RS Ta 1 Ta current Ta part Ta compat +.It Sx \&SH Ta >0 Ta next-line Ta section Ta \& +.It Sx \&SS Ta >0 Ta next-line Ta sub-section Ta \& +.It Sx \&TP Ta n Ta next-line Ta paragraph Ta \& .El -. .Pp +Macros marked +.Qq compat +are as mentioned in +.Sx Line Macros . +.Pp If a block macro is next-line scoped, it may only be followed by in-line -macros (excluding -.Sq DT , -.Sq TH , -.Sq br , -.Sq na , -.Sq sp , -.Sq nf , -and -.Sq fi ) . -. -. +macros for decorating text. .Sh REFERENCE This section is a canonical reference to all macros, arranged -alphabetically. For the scoping of individual macros, see +alphabetically. +For the scoping of individual macros, see .Sx MACRO SYNTAX . -. -. -.Ss Definitions -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 +.Ss \&AT +Sets the volume for the footer for compatibility with man pages from +.Tn AT&T UNIX +releases. +The optional arguments specify which release it is from. +.Ss \&B Text is rendered in bold face. -.It BI -Text is rendered alternately in bold face and italic. Thus, +.Pp +See also +.Sx \&I +and +.Sx \&R . +.Ss \&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 +to render in bold face, while .Sq word and .Sq that -render in italics. Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output. -.It BR +render in italics. +Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output. +.Pp +Examples: +.Pp +.Dl \&.BI bold italic bold italic +.Pp +The output of this example will be emboldened +.Dq bold +and italicised +.Dq italic , +with spaces stripped between arguments. +.Pp +See also +.Sx \&IB , +.Sx \&BR , +.Sx \&RB , +.Sx \&RI , +and +.Sx \&IR . +.Ss \&BR Text is rendered alternately in bold face and roman (the default font). Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output. -.It DT -Re-set the tab spacing to 0.5 inches. -.It HP +.Pp +See +.Sx \&BI +for an equivalent example. +.Pp +See also +.Sx \&BI , +.Sx \&IB , +.Sx \&RB , +.Sx \&RI , +and +.Sx \&IR . +.Ss \&DT +Has no effect. +Included for compatibility. +.Ss \&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] +.Bd -filled -offset indent +.Pf \. Sx \&HP +.Op Cm 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 +The +.Cm width +argument must conform to +.Sx Scaling Widths . +If specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if unspecified, the +saved or default width is used. +.Pp +See also +.Sx \&IP , +.Sx \&LP , +.Sx \&P , +.Sx \&PP , +and +.Sx \&TP . +.Ss \&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]] +.Pp +See also +.Sx \&B +and +.Sx \&R . +.Ss \&IB +Text is rendered alternately in italics and bold face. +Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output. +.Pp +See +.Sx \&BI +for an equivalent example. +.Pp +See also +.Sx \&BI , +.Sx \&BR , +.Sx \&RB , +.Sx \&RI , +and +.Sx \&IR . +.Ss \&IP +Begin an indented paragraph with the following syntax: +.Bd -filled -offset indent +.Pf \. Sx \&IP +.Op Cm head Op Cm 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 +The +.Cm width +argument defines the width of the left margin and is defined by +.Sx Scaling Widths . +It's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if unspecified, the saved or +default width is used. +.Pp +The +.Cm head +argument is used as a leading term, flushed to the left margin. +This is useful for bulleted paragraphs and so on. +.Pp +See also +.Sx \&HP , +.Sx \&LP , +.Sx \&P , +.Sx \&PP , +and +.Sx \&TP . +.Ss \&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 +.Pp +See +.Sx \&BI +for an equivalent example. +.Pp +See also +.Sx \&BI , +.Sx \&IB , +.Sx \&BR , +.Sx \&RB , +and +.Sx \&RI . +.Ss \&LP +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 reset to the default. +.Pp +See also +.Sx \&HP , +.Sx \&IP , +.Sx \&P , +.Sx \&PP , +and +.Sx \&TP . +.Ss \&P +Synonym for +.Sx \&LP . +.Pp +See also +.Sx \&HP , +.Sx \&IP , +.Sx \&LP , +.Sx \&PP , +and +.Sx \&TP . +.Ss \&PP +Synonym for +.Sx \&LP . +.Pp +See also +.Sx \&HP , +.Sx \&IP , +.Sx \&LP , +.Sx \&P , +and +.Sx \&TP . +.Ss \&R Text is rendered in roman (the default font). -.It RB +.Pp +See also +.Sx \&I +and +.Sx \&B . +.Ss \&RB Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and bold face. Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output. -.It RE +.Pp +See +.Sx \&BI +for an equivalent example. +.Pp +See also +.Sx \&BI , +.Sx \&IB , +.Sx \&BR , +.Sx \&RI , +and +.Sx \&IR . +.Ss \&RE Explicitly close out the scope of a prior -.Sq RS . -.It RI +.Sx \&RS . +The default left margin is restored to the state of the original +.Sx \&RS +invocation. +.Ss \&RI Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and italics. Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output. -.It RS -Begin a part setting the left margin. The left margin controls the -offset, following an initial indentation, to un-indented text such as -that of -.Sq PP . -The width may be specified as following: -.Bd -literal -offset indent -\&.RS [width] +.Pp +See +.Sx \&BI +for an equivalent example. +.Pp +See also +.Sx \&BI , +.Sx \&IB , +.Sx \&BR , +.Sx \&RB , +and +.Sx \&IR . +.Ss \&RS +Temporarily reset the default left margin. +This has the following syntax: +.Bd -filled -offset indent +.Pf \. Sx \&RS +.Op Cm width .Ed -. .Pp -If -.Va width -is not specified, the saved or default width is used. -.It SB +The +.Cm width +argument must conform to +.Sx Scaling Widths . +If not specified, the saved or default width is used. +.Pp +See also +.Sx \&RE . +.Ss \&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 +.Ss \&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 reset to the default. +.Ss \&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 +.Ss \&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 reset to the default. +.Ss \&TH Sets the title of the manual page with the following syntax: -.Bd -literal -offset indent -\&.TH title section [date [source [volume]]] +.Bd -filled -offset indent +.Pf \. Sx \&TH +.Ar title section date +.Op Ar source Op Ar 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 . +Conventionally, the document +.Ar title +is given in all caps. +The recommended +.Ar date +format is +.Sy YYYY-MM-DD +as specified in the ISO-8601 standard; +if the argument does not conform, it is printed verbatim. +If the +.Ar date +is empty or not specified, the current date is used. +The optional +.Ar source +string specifies the organisation providing the utility. 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 +.Ar volume +string replaces the default rendered volume, which is dictated by the +manual section. +.Pp +Examples: +.Pp +.Dl \&.TH CVS 5 "1992-02-12" GNU +.Ss \&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] +buffer to the indentation width. +Subsequent output lines are indented. +The syntax is as follows: +.Bd -filled -offset indent +.Pf \. Sx \&TP +.Op Cm 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 +The +.Cm width +argument must conform to +.Sx Scaling Widths . +If 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 +.Pp +See also +.Sx \&HP , +.Sx \&IP , +.Sx \&LP , +.Sx \&P , +and +.Sx \&PP . +.Ss \&UC +Sets the volume for the footer for compatibility with man pages from +BSD releases. +The optional first argument specifies which release it is from. +.Ss \&br +Breaks the current line. +Consecutive invocations have no further effect. +.Pp +See also +.Sx \&sp . +.Ss \&fi End literal mode begun by -.Sq nf . -.It i -Italicise arguments. If no arguments are specified, all subsequent text -is italicised. -.It na -Don't alignment the right margin. -.It nf +.Sx \&nf . +.Ss \&ft +Change the current font mode. +See +.Sx Text Decoration +for a listing of available font modes. +.Ss \&in +Indent relative to the current indentation: +.Pp +.D1 Pf \. Sx \&in Op Cm width +.Pp +If +.Cm width +is signed, the new offset is relative. +Otherwise, it is absolute. +This value is reset upon the next paragraph, section, or sub-section. +.Ss \&na +Don't align to the right margin. +.Ss \&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 +line boundaries preserved. +May be ended by +.Sx \&fi . +Literal mode is implicitly ended by +.Sx \&SH +or +.Sx \&SS . +.Ss \&sp +Insert vertical spaces into output with the following syntax: +.Bd -filled -offset indent +.Pf \. Sx \&sp +.Op Cm height +.Ed +.Pp +Insert +.Cm height +spaces, which must conform to +.Sx Scaling Widths . +If 0, this is equivalent to the +.Sx \&br macro. -.El -. -. +Defaults to 1, if unspecified. +.Pp +See also +.Sx \&br . .Sh COMPATIBILITY -This section documents compatibility with other roff implementations, at -this time limited to -.Xr groff 1 . -.Bl -hyphen +This section documents areas of questionable portability between +implementations of the +.Nm +language. +.Pp +.Bl -dash -compact .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. +In quoted literals, GNU troff allowed pair-wise double-quotes to produce +a standalone double-quote in formatted output. +It is not known whether this behaviour is exhibited by other formatters. .It +troff suppresses a newline before +.Sq \(aq +macro output; in mandoc, it is an alias for the standard +.Sq \&. +control character. +.It The -.Sq sp -macro does not accept negative numbers. +.Sq \eh +.Pq horizontal position , +.Sq \ev +.Pq vertical position , +.Sq \em +.Pq text colour , +.Sq \eM +.Pq text filling colour , +.Sq \ez +.Pq zero-length character , +.Sq \ew +.Pq string length , +.Sq \ek +.Pq horizontal position marker , +.Sq \eo +.Pq text overstrike , +and +.Sq \es +.Pq text size +escape sequences are all discarded in mandoc. .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. +The +.Sq \ef +scaling unit is accepted by mandoc, but rendered as the default unit. +.It +The +.Sx \&sp +macro does not accept negative values in mandoc. +In GNU troff, this would result in strange behaviour. .El -. -. .Sh SEE ALSO +.Xr man 1 , .Xr mandoc 1 , -.Xr mandoc_char 7 -. -. -.Sh AUTHORS +.Xr eqn 7 , +.Xr mandoc_char 7 , +.Xr mdoc 7 , +.Xr roff 7 , +.Xr tbl 7 +.Sh HISTORY The .Nm +language first appeared as a macro package for the roff typesetting +system in +.At v7 . +It was later rewritten by James Clark as a macro package for groff. +The stand-alone implementation that is part of the +.Xr mandoc 1 +utility written by Kristaps Dzonsons appeared in +.Ox 4.6 . +.Sh AUTHORS +This +.Nm reference was written by -.An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq kristaps@kth.se . -. -. +.An Kristaps Dzonsons , +.Mt kristaps@bsd.lv . .Sh CAVEATS -Do not use this language. Use +Do not use this language. +Use .Xr mdoc 7 , instead. -.