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version 1.48, 2009/11/09 05:11:46 version 1.147, 2020/10/28 15:31:37
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 .\"     $Id$  .\"     $Id$
 .\"  .\"
 .\" Copyright (c) 2009 Kristaps Dzonsons <kristaps@kth.se>  .\" Copyright (c) 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 Kristaps Dzonsons <kristaps@bsd.lv>
   .\" Copyright (c) 2011-2015, 2017-2020 Ingo Schwarze <schwarze@openbsd.org>
   .\" Copyright (c) 2017 Anthony Bentley <bentley@openbsd.org>
   .\" Copyright (c) 2010 Joerg Sonnenberger <joerg@netbsd.org>
 .\"  .\"
 .\" 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 above  .\" purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above
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 .Dd $Mdocdate$  .Dd $Mdocdate$
 .Dt MAN 7  .Dt MAN 7
 .Os  .Os
 .  
 .  
 .Sh NAME  .Sh NAME
 .Nm man  .Nm man
 .Nd man language reference  .Nd legacy formatting language for manual pages
 .  
 .  
 .Sh DESCRIPTION  .Sh DESCRIPTION
 The  The
 .Nm man  .Nm man
 language was historically used to format  language was the standard formatting language for
 .Ux  .At
 manuals.  This reference document describes its syntax, structure, and  manual pages from 1979 to 1989.
 usage.  Do not use it to write new manual pages: it is a purely presentational
 .  language and lacks support for semantic markup.
 .Pp  
 .Bf -emphasis  
 Do not use  
 .Nm  
 to write your manuals.  
 .Ef  
 Use the  Use the
 .Xr mdoc 7  .Xr mdoc 7
 language, instead.  language, instead.
 .  
 .Pp  .Pp
 An  In a
 .Nm  .Nm
 document follows simple rules:  lines beginning with the control  document, lines beginning with the control character
 character  
 .Sq \&.  .Sq \&.
 are parsed for macros.  Other lines are interpreted within the scope of  are called
 prior macros:  .Dq macro lines .
   The first word is the macro name.
   It usually consists of two capital letters.
   For a list of portable macros, see
   .Sx MACRO OVERVIEW .
   The words following the macro name are arguments to the macro.
   .Pp
   Lines not beginning with the control character are called
   .Dq text lines .
   They provide free-form text to be printed; the formatting of the text
   depends on the respective processing context:
 .Bd -literal -offset indent  .Bd -literal -offset indent
 \&.SH Macro lines change control state.  \&.SH Macro lines change control state.
 Other lines are interpreted within the current state.  Text lines are interpreted within the current state.
 .Ed  .Ed
 .  
 .  
 .Sh INPUT ENCODING  
 .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  .Pp
 Blank lines are acceptable; where found, the output will assert a  Many aspects of the basic syntax of the
 vertical space.  
 .  
 .Pp  
 The  
 .Sq \ec  
 escape is common in historical  
 .Nm  .Nm
 documents; if encountered at the end of a word, it ensures that the  language are based on the
 subsequent word isn't off-set by whitespace.  .Xr roff 7
 .  language; see the
 .  .Em LANGUAGE SYNTAX
 .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 character 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  
 .Sq \&[  
 for n-character sequences (terminated at a close-bracket  
 .Sq \&] ) ;  
 or a single one-character sequence.  See  
 .Xr mandoc_char 7  
 for a complete list.  Examples include  
 .Sq \e(em  
 .Pq em-dash  
 and  and
 .Sq \ee  .Em MACRO SYNTAX
 .Pq back-slash .  sections in the
 .  .Xr roff 7
 .  manual for details, in particular regarding
 .Ss Text Decoration  comments, escape sequences, whitespace, and quoting.
 Terms may be text-decorated using the  
 .Sq \ef  
 escape followed by an indicator: B (bold), I, (italic), R (Roman), or P  
 (revert to previous mode):  
 .Pp  .Pp
 .D1 \efBbold\efR \efIitalic\efP  
 .Pp  
 A numerical representation 3, 2, or 1 (bold, italic, and Roman,  
 respectively) may be used instead.  
 .Pp  
 Text may also be sized with the  
 .Sq \es  
 escape, whose syntax is one of  
 .Sq \es+-n  
 for one-digit numerals;  
 .Sq \es(+-nn  
 or  
 .Sq \es+-(nn  
 for two-digit numerals; and  
 .Sq \es[+-N] ,  
 .Sq \es+-[N] ,  
 .Sq \es'+-N' ,  
 or  
 .Sq \es+-'N'  
 for arbitrary-digit numerals:  
 .Pp  
 .D1 \es+1bigger\es-1  
 .D1 \es[+10]much bigger\es[-10]  
 .D1 \es+(10much bigger\es-(10  
 .D1 \es+'100'much much bigger\es-'100'  
 .  
 .  
 .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 .  
 .  
 .  
 .Ss Dates  
 The  
 .Sx \&TH  
 macro is the only  
 .Nm  
 macro that requires a date.  The form for this date is the ISO-8601  
 standard  
 .Cm YYYY-MM-DD .  
 .  
 .  
 .Ss Scaling Widths  
 Many macros support scaled widths for their arguments, such as  
 stipulating a two-inch paragraph indentation with the following:  
 .Bd -literal -offset indent  
 \&.HP 2i  
 .Ed  
 .  
 .Pp  
 The syntax for scaled widths 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.  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.  
 .  
 .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.  
 .Em Note :  
 this differs from  
 .Xr mdoc 7 ,  
 which, if a unit is not provided, will instead interpret the string as  
 literal text.  
 .  
 .  
 .Sh MANUAL STRUCTURE  
 Each  Each
 .Nm  .Nm
 document must contain contains at least the  document starts with the
 .Sx \&TH  .Ic TH
 macro describing the document's section and title.  It may occur  macro specifying the document's name and section, followed by the
 anywhere in the document, although conventionally, it appears as the  .Sx NAME
 first macro.  section formatted as follows:
 .  
 .Pp  
 Beyond  
 .Sx \&TH ,  
 at least one macro or text node must appear in the document.  Documents  
 are generally structured as follows:  
 .Bd -literal -offset indent  .Bd -literal -offset indent
 \&.TH FOO 1 2009-10-10  \&.TH PROGNAME 1 1979-01-10
 \&.  
 \&.SH NAME  \&.SH NAME
 \efBfoo\efR \e(en a description goes here  \efBprogname\efR \e(en one line about what it does
 \&.\e\*q The next is for sections 2 & 3 only.  
 \&.\e\*q .SH LIBRARY  
 \&.  
 \&.SH SYNOPSIS  
 \efBfoo\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 .BR foo ( 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  
 .Ed  .Ed
 .Pp  .Sh MACRO OVERVIEW
 The sections in a  This overview is sorted such that macros of similar purpose are listed
 .Nm  together.
 document are conventionally ordered as they appear above.  Sections  Deprecated and non-portable macros are not included in the overview,
 should be composed as follows:  but can be found in the alphabetical reference below.
 .Bl -ohang -offset indent  .Ss Page header and footer meta-data
 .It Em NAME  .Bl -column "RS, RE" description
 The name(s) and a short description of the documented material.  The  .It Ic TH Ta set the title: Ar name section date Op Ar source Op Ar volume
 syntax for this is generally as follows:  .It Ic AT Ta display AT&T UNIX version in the page footer (<= 1 argument)
 .Pp  .It Ic UC Ta display BSD version in the page footer (<= 1 argument)
 .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 EXIT STATUS  
 Command exit status for section 1, 6, and 8 manuals.  This section is  
 the dual of  
 .Em RETURN VALUES ,  
 which is used for functions.  Historically, this information was  
 described in  
 .Em DIAGNOSTICS ,  
 a practise that is now discouraged.  
 .  
 .It Em RETURN VALUES  
 This section is the dual of  
 .Em EXIT STATUS ,  
 which is used for commands.  It 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 and a  
 short description of how the file is used (created, modified, etc.).  
 .  
 .It Em EXAMPLES  
 Example usages.  This often contains snippets of well-formed,  
 well-tested invocations.  Make doubly sure that your 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  
 The history of any manual without a  
 .Em STANDARDS  
 section should be described in this section.  
 .  
 .It Em AUTHORS  
 Credits to authors, if applicable, should appear in this section.  
 Authors should generally be noted by both name and an e-mail address.  
 .  
 .It Em CAVEATS  
 Explanations of common misuses and misunderstandings should be explained  
 in this section.  
 .  
 .It Em BUGS  
 Extant bugs should be described in this section.  
 .  
 .It Em SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS  
 Documents any security precautions that operators should consider.  
 .  
 .El  .El
 .  .Ss Sections and paragraphs
 .  .Bl -column "RS, RE" description
 .Sh MACRO SYNTAX  .It Ic SH Ta section header (one line)
 Macros are one to three three characters in length and begin with a  .It Ic SS Ta subsection header (one line)
 control character ,  .It Ic PP Ta start an undecorated paragraph (no arguments)
 .Sq \&. ,  .It Ic RS , RE Ta reset the left margin: Op Ar width
 at the beginning of the line.  An arbitrary amount of whitespace may  .It Ic IP Ta indented paragraph: Op Ar head Op Ar width
 sit between the control character and the macro name.  Thus, the  .It Ic TP Ta tagged paragraph: Op Ar width
 following are equivalent:  .It Ic PD Ta set vertical paragraph distance: Op Ar height
 .Bd -literal -offset indent  .It Ic in Ta additional indent: Op Ar width
 \&.PP  
 \&.\ \ \ PP  
 .Ed  
 .  
 .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.  
 .  
 .  
 .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:  
 .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; in  
 other words, if a next-line macro is preceded by a block macro, it is  
 ignored.  
 .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 Sx \&B   Ta    n         Ta    next-line  
 .It Sx \&BI  Ta    n         Ta    current  
 .It Sx \&BR  Ta    n         Ta    current  
 .It Sx \&DT  Ta    0         Ta    current  
 .It Sx \&I   Ta    n         Ta    next-line  
 .It Sx \&IB  Ta    n         Ta    current  
 .It Sx \&IR  Ta    n         Ta    current  
 .It Sx \&PD  Ta    n         Ta    current  
 .It Sx \&R   Ta    n         Ta    next-line  
 .It Sx \&RB  Ta    n         Ta    current  
 .It Sx \&RI  Ta    n         Ta    current  
 .It Sx \&SB  Ta    n         Ta    next-line  
 .It Sx \&SM  Ta    n         Ta    next-line  
 .It Sx \&TH  Ta    >1, <6    Ta    current  
 .It Sx \&UC  Ta    n         Ta    current  
 .It Sx \&br  Ta    0         Ta    current  
 .It Sx \&fi  Ta    0         Ta    current  
 .It Sx \&i   Ta    n         Ta    current  
 .It Sx \&na  Ta    0         Ta    current  
 .It Sx \&nf  Ta    0         Ta    current  
 .It Sx \&r   Ta    0         Ta    current  
 .It Sx \&sp  Ta    1         Ta    current  
 .El  .El
 .  .Ss Physical markup
 .Pp  .Bl -column "RS, RE" description
 The  .It Ic B Ta boldface font
 .Sx \&PD ,  .It Ic I Ta italic font
 .Sx \&RS ,  .It Ic SB Ta small boldface font
 .Sx \&RE ,  .It Ic SM Ta small roman font
 .Sx \&UC ,  .It Ic BI Ta alternate between boldface and italic fonts
 .Sx \&br ,  .It Ic BR Ta alternate between boldface and roman fonts
 .Sx \&fi ,  .It Ic IB Ta alternate between italic and boldface fonts
 .Sx \&i ,  .It Ic IR Ta alternate between italic and roman fonts
 .Sx \&na ,  .It Ic RB Ta alternate between roman and boldface fonts
 .Sx \&nf ,  .It Ic RI Ta alternate between roman and italic fonts
 .Sx \&r ,  
 and  
 .Sx \&sp  
 macros should not be used.  They're included for compatibility.  
 .  
 .  
 .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.  
 .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  
 .Sx \&SH ;  
 sub-section, closed by a section or  
 .Sx \&SS ;  
 part, closed by a section, sub-section, or  
 .Sx \&RE ;  
 or paragraph, closed by a section, sub-section, part,  
 .Sx \&HP ,  
 .Sx \&IP ,  
 .Sx \&LP ,  
 .Sx \&P ,  
 .Sx \&PP ,  
 or  
 .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 Sx \&HP  Ta    <2        Ta    current    Ta    paragraph  
 .It Sx \&IP  Ta    <3        Ta    current    Ta    paragraph  
 .It Sx \&LP  Ta    0         Ta    current    Ta    paragraph  
 .It Sx \&P   Ta    0         Ta    current    Ta    paragraph  
 .It Sx \&PP  Ta    0         Ta    current    Ta    paragraph  
 .It Sx \&RE  Ta    0         Ta    current    Ta    none  
 .It Sx \&RS  Ta    1         Ta    current    Ta    part  
 .It Sx \&SH  Ta    >0        Ta    next-line  Ta    section  
 .It Sx \&SS  Ta    >0        Ta    next-line  Ta    sub-section  
 .It Sx \&TP  Ta    n         Ta    next-line  Ta    paragraph  
 .El  .El
 .  .Sh MACRO REFERENCE
 .Pp  
 If a block macro is next-line scoped, it may only be followed by in-line  
 macros (excluding  
 .Sx \&DT ,  
 .Sx \&PD ,  
 .Sx \&TH ,  
 .Sx \&UC ,  
 .Sx \&br ,  
 .Sx \&na ,  
 .Sx \&sp ,  
 .Sx \&nf ,  
 and  
 .Sx \&fi ) .  
 .  
 .  
 .Sh REFERENCE  
 This section is a canonical reference to all macros, arranged  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 .  .Sx MACRO SYNTAX .
 .  .Bl -tag -width 3n
 .  .It Ic AT
 .Ss \&B  Sets the volume for the footer for compatibility with man pages from
   .At
   releases.
   The optional arguments specify which release it is from.
   This macro is an extension that first appeared in
   .Bx 4.3 .
   .It Ic B
 Text is rendered in bold face.  Text is rendered in bold face.
 .Pp  .It Ic BI
 See also  Text is rendered alternately in bold face and italic.
 .Sx \&I ,  Thus,
 .Sx \&R ,  
 .Sx \&b ,  
 .Sx \&i ,  
 and  
 .Sx \&r .  
 .  
 .  
 .Ss \&BI  
 Text is rendered alternately in bold face and italic.  Thus,  
 .Sq .BI this word and that  .Sq .BI this word and that
 causes  causes
 .Sq this  .Sq this
 and  and
 .Sq and  .Sq and
 to render in bold face, while  to render in bold face, while
 .Sq word  .Sq word
 and  and
 .Sq that  .Sq that
 render in italics.  Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.  render in italics.
   Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
 .Pp  .Pp
 Examples:  Example:
 .Pp  .Pp
 .D1 \&.BI bold italic bold italic  .Dl \&.BI bold italic bold italic
 .Pp  .It Ic BR
 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).  Text is rendered alternately in bold face and roman (the default font).
 Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.  Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
 .Pp  
 See  
 .Sx \&BI  
 for an equivalent example.  
 .Pp  
 See also  See also
 .Sx \&BI ,  .Ic BI .
 .Sx \&IB ,  .It Ic DT
 .Sx \&RB ,  Restore the default tabulator positions.
 .Sx \&RI ,  They are at intervals of 0.5 inches.
 and  This has no effect unless the tabulator positions were changed with the
 .Sx \&IR .  .Xr roff 7
 .  .Ic ta
 .  request.
 .Ss \&DT  .It Ic EE
 Has no effect.  Included for compatibility.  This is a non-standard Version 9
 .  .At
 .  extension later adopted by GNU.
 .Ss \&HP  In
   .Xr mandoc 1 ,
   it does the same as the
   .Xr roff 7
   .Ic fi
   request (switch to fill mode).
   .It Ic EX
   This is a non-standard Version 9
   .At
   extension later adopted by GNU.
   In
   .Xr mandoc 1 ,
   it does the same as the
   .Xr roff 7
   .Ic nf
   request (switch to no-fill mode).
   .It Ic HP
 Begin a paragraph whose initial output line is left-justified, but  Begin a paragraph whose initial output line is left-justified, but
 subsequent output lines are indented, with the following syntax:  subsequent output lines are indented, with the following syntax:
 .Bd -filled -offset indent  
 .Pf \. Sx \&HP  
 .Op Cm width  
 .Ed  
 .Pp  .Pp
   .D1 Pf . Ic HP Op Ar width
   .Pp
 The  The
 .Cm width  .Ar width
 argument must conform to  argument is a
 .Sx Scaling Widths .  .Xr roff 7
 If specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if unspecified, the  scaling width.
 saved or default width is used.  If specified, it's saved for later paragraph left margins;
   if unspecified, the saved or default width is used.
 .Pp  .Pp
 See also  This macro is portable, but deprecated
 .Sx \&IP ,  because it has no good representation in HTML output,
 .Sx \&LP ,  usually ending up indistinguishable from
 .Sx \&P ,  .Ic PP .
 .Sx \&PP ,  .It Ic I
 and  
 .Sx \&TP .  
 .  
 .  
 .Ss \&I  
 Text is rendered in italics.  Text is rendered in italics.
 .Pp  .It Ic IB
   Text is rendered alternately in italics and bold face.
   Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
 See also  See also
 .Sx \&B ,  .Ic BI .
 .Sx \&R ,  .It Ic IP
 .Sx \&b ,  
 .Sx \&i ,  
 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:  Begin an indented paragraph with the following syntax:
 .Bd -filled -offset indent  
 .Pf \. Sx \&IP  
 .Op Cm head Op Cm width  
 .Ed  
 .Pp  .Pp
   .D1 Pf . Ic IP Op Ar head Op Ar width
   .Pp
 The  The
 .Cm width  .Ar width
 argument defines the width of the left margin and is defined by  argument is a
 .Sx Scaling Widths ,  .Xr roff 7
   scaling width defining the left margin.
 It's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if unspecified, the saved or  It's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if unspecified, the saved or
 default width is used.  default width is used.
 .Pp  .Pp
 The  The
 .Cm head  .Ar head
 argument is used as a leading term, flushed to the left margin.  This is  argument is used as a leading term, flushed to the left margin.
 useful for bulleted paragraphs and so on.  This is useful for bulleted paragraphs and so on.
 .Pp  .It Ic IR
 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).  Text is rendered alternately in italics and roman (the default font).
 Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.  Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
   See also
   .Ic BI .
   .It Ic LP
   A synonym for
   .Ic PP .
   .It Ic ME
   End a mailto block started with
   .Ic MT .
   This is a non-standard GNU extension.
   .It Ic MT
   Begin a mailto block.
   This is a non-standard GNU extension.
   It has the following syntax:
   .Bd -unfilled -offset indent
   .Pf . Ic MT Ar address
   link description to be shown
   .Pf . Ic ME
   .Ed
   .It Ic OP
   Optional command-line argument.
   This is a non-standard GNU extension.
   It has the following syntax:
 .Pp  .Pp
 See  .D1 Pf . Ic OP Ar key Op Ar value
 .Sx \&BI  
 for an equivalent example.  
 .Pp  .Pp
 See also  The
 .Sx \&BI ,  .Ar key
 .Sx \&IB ,  is usually a command-line flag and
 .Sx \&BR ,  .Ar value
 .Sx \&RB ,  its argument.
 and  .It Ic P
 .Sx \&RI .  This synonym for
 .  .Ic PP
 .  is an
 .Ss \&LP  .At III
 Begin an undecorated paragraph.  The scope of a paragraph is closed by a  extension later adopted by
 subsequent paragraph, sub-section, section, or end of file.  The saved  .Bx 4.3 .
 paragraph left-margin width is re-set to the default.  .It Ic PD
   Specify the vertical space to be inserted before each new paragraph.
   .br
   The syntax is as follows:
 .Pp  .Pp
 See also  .D1 Pf . Ic PD Op Ar height
 .Sx \&HP ,  
 .Sx \&IP ,  
 .Sx \&P ,  
 .Sx \&PP ,  
 and  
 .Sx \&TP .  
 .  
 .  
 .Ss \&P  
 Synonym for  
 .Sx \&LP .  
 .Pp  .Pp
 See also  The
 .Sx \&HP ,  .Ar height
 .Sx \&IP ,  argument is a
 .Sx \&LP ,  .Xr roff 7
 .Sx \&PP ,  scaling width.
 and  It defaults to
 .Sx \&TP .  .Cm 1v .
 .  If the unit is omitted,
 .  .Cm v
 .Ss \&PP  is assumed.
 Synonym for  
 .Sx \&LP .  
 .Pp  .Pp
 See also  This macro affects the spacing before any subsequent instances of
 .Sx \&HP ,  .Ic HP ,
 .Sx \&IP ,  .Ic IP ,
 .Sx \&LP ,  .Ic LP ,
 .Sx \&P ,  .Ic P ,
   .Ic PP ,
   .Ic SH ,
   .Ic SS ,
   .Ic SY ,
 and  and
 .Sx \&TP .  .Ic TP .
 .  .It Ic PP
 .  Begin an undecorated paragraph.
 .Ss \&R  The scope of a paragraph is closed by a subsequent paragraph,
 Text is rendered in roman (the default font).  sub-section, section, or end of file.
 .Pp  The saved paragraph left-margin width is reset to the default.
 See also  .It Ic RB
 .Sx \&I ,  
 .Sx \&B ,  
 .Sx \&b ,  
 .Sx \&i ,  
 and  
 .Sx \&r .  
 .  
 .  
 .Ss \&RB  
 Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and bold face.  Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and bold face.
 Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.  Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
 .Pp  
 See  
 .Sx \&BI  
 for an equivalent example.  
 .Pp  
 See also  See also
 .Sx \&BI ,  .Ic BI .
 .Sx \&IB ,  .It Ic RE
 .Sx \&BR ,  
 .Sx \&RI ,  
 and  
 .Sx \&IR .  
 .  
 .  
 .Ss \&RE  
 Explicitly close out the scope of a prior  Explicitly close out the scope of a prior
 .Sx \&RS .  .Ic RS .
 .  The default left margin is restored to the state before that
 .  .Ic RS
 .Ss \&RI  invocation.
 Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and italics.  
 Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.  
 .Pp  .Pp
 See  The syntax is as follows:
 .Sx \&BI  
 for an equivalent example.  
 .Pp  .Pp
   .D1 Pf . Ic RE Op Ar level
   .Pp
   Without an argument, the most recent
   .Ic RS
   block is closed out.
   If
   .Ar level
   is 1, all open
   .Ic RS
   blocks are closed out.
   Otherwise,
   .Ar level No \(mi 1
   nested
   .Ic RS
   blocks remain open.
   .It Ic RI
   Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and italics.
   Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
 See also  See also
 .Sx \&BI ,  .Ic BI .
 .Sx \&IB ,  .It Ic RS
 .Sx \&BR ,  Temporarily reset the default left margin.
 .Sx \&RB ,  
 and  
 .Sx \&IR .  
 .  
 .  
 .Ss \&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  
 .Sx \&PP .  
 This has the following syntax:  This has the following syntax:
 .Bd -filled -offset indent  
 .Pf \. Sx \&Rs  
 .Op Cm width  
 .Ed  
 .Pp  .Pp
   .D1 Pf . Ic RS Op Ar width
   .Pp
 The  The
 .Cm width  .Ar width
 argument must conform to  argument is a
 .Sx Scaling Widths .  .Xr roff 7
 If not specified, the saved or default width is used.  scaling width.
 .  If not specified, the saved or default width is used.
 .  .Pp
 .Ss \&SB  See also
   .Ic RE .
   .It Ic SB
 Text is rendered in small size (one point smaller than the default font)  Text is rendered in small size (one point smaller than the default font)
 bold face.  bold face.
 .  This macro is an extension that probably first appeared in SunOS 4.0
 .  and was later adopted by GNU and by
 .Ss \&SH  .Bx 4.4 .
 Begin a section.  The scope of a section is only closed by another  .It Ic SH
 section or the end of file.  The paragraph left-margin width is re-set  Begin a section.
 to the default.  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  .It Ic SM
 Text is rendered in small size (one point smaller than the default  Text is rendered in small size (one point smaller than the default
 font).  font).
 .  .It Ic SS
 .  Begin a sub-section.
 .Ss \&SS  The scope of a sub-section is closed by a subsequent sub-section,
 Begin a sub-section.  The scope of a sub-section is closed by a  section, or end of file.
 subsequent sub-section, section, or end of file.  The paragraph  The paragraph left-margin width is reset to the default.
 left-margin width is re-set to the default.  .It Ic SY
 .  Begin a synopsis block with the following syntax:
 .  .Bd -unfilled -offset indent
 .Ss \&TH  .Pf . Ic SY Ar command
 Sets the title of the manual page with the following syntax:  .Ar arguments
 .Bd -filled -offset indent  .Pf . Ic YS
 .Pf \. Sx \&TH  
 .Cm title section  
 .Op Cm date Op Cm source Op Cm volume  
 .Ed  .Ed
 .Pp  .Pp
 At least the upper-case document title  This is a non-standard GNU extension
 .Cm title  and very rarely used even in GNU manual pages.
 and numeric manual section  Formatting is similar to
 .Cm section  .Ic IP .
 arguments must be provided.  The  .It Ic TH
 .Cm date  Set the name of the manual page for use in the page header
 argument should be formatted as described in  and footer with the following syntax:
 .Sx Dates :  
 if it does not conform, the current date is used instead.  The  
 .Cm source  
 string specifies the organisation providing the utility.  The  
 .Cm volume  
 string replaces the default rendered volume, which is dictated by the  
 manual section.  
 .Pp  .Pp
   .D1 Pf . Ic TH Ar name section date Op Ar source Op Ar volume
   .Pp
   Conventionally, the document
   .Ar name
   is given in all caps.
   The
   .Ar section
   is usually a single digit, in a few cases followed by a letter.
   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.
   When unspecified,
   .Xr mandoc 1
   uses its
   .Fl Ios
   argument.
   The
   .Ar volume
   string replaces the default volume title of the
   .Ar section .
   .Pp
 Examples:  Examples:
 .Pp  .Pp
 .D1 \&.TH CVS 5 "1992-02-12" GNU  .Dl \&.TH CVS 5 "1992-02-12" GNU
 .  .It Ic TP
 .  
 .Ss \&TP  
 Begin a paragraph where the head, if exceeding the indentation width, is  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  followed by a newline; if not, the body follows on the same line after
 buffer to the indentation width.  Subsequent output lines are indented.  advancing to the indentation width.
   Subsequent output lines are indented.
 The syntax is as follows:  The syntax is as follows:
 .Bd -filled -offset indent  .Bd -unfilled -offset indent
 .Pf \. Sx \&TP  .Pf . Ic TP Op Ar width
 .Op Cm width  .Ar head No \e" one line
   .Ar body
 .Ed  .Ed
 .Pp  .Pp
 The  The
 .Cm width  .Ar width
 argument must conform to  argument is a
 .Sx Scaling Widths .  .Xr roff 7
   scaling width.
 If specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if  If specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if
 unspecified, the saved or default width is used.  unspecified, the saved or default width is used.
   .It Ic TQ
   Like
   .Ic TP ,
   except that no vertical spacing is inserted before the paragraph.
   This is a non-standard GNU extension
   and very rarely used even in GNU manual pages.
   .It Ic UC
   Sets the volume for the footer for compatibility with man pages from
   .Bx
   releases.
   The optional first argument specifies which release it is from.
   This macro is an extension that first appeared in
   .Bx 3 .
   .It Ic UE
   End a uniform resource identifier block started with
   .Ic UR .
   This is a non-standard GNU extension.
   .It Ic UR
   Begin a uniform resource identifier block.
   This is a non-standard GNU extension.
   It has the following syntax:
   .Bd -unfilled -offset indent
   .Pf . Ic UR Ar uri
   link description to be shown
   .Pf . Ic UE
   .Ed
   .It Ic YS
   End a synopsis block started with
   .Ic SY .
   This is a non-standard GNU extension.
   .It Ic in
   Indent relative to the current indentation:
 .Pp  .Pp
 See also  .D1 Pf . Ic in Op Ar width
 .Sx \&HP ,  
 .Sx \&IP ,  
 .Sx \&LP ,  
 .Sx \&P ,  
 and  
 .Sx \&PP .  
 .  
 .  
 .Ss \&PD  
 Has no effect.  Included for compatibility.  
 .  
 .  
 .Ss \&UC  
 Has no effect.  Included for compatibility.  
 .  
 .  
 .Ss \&br  
 Breaks the current line.  Consecutive invocations have no further effect.  
 .Pp  .Pp
 See also  If
 .Sx \&sp .  .Ar width
 .  is signed, the new offset is relative.
 .  Otherwise, it is absolute.
 .Ss \&fi  This value is reset upon the next paragraph, section, or sub-section.
 End literal mode begun by  .El
 .Sx \&nf .  .Sh MACRO SYNTAX
 .  The
 .  .Nm
 .Ss \&i  macros are classified by scope: line scope or block scope.
 Italicise arguments.  If no arguments are specified, all subsequent text  Line macros are only scoped to the current line (and, in some
 is italicised.  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, which must be text, is used instead.
   Thus:
   .Bd -literal -offset indent
   \&.I
   foo
   .Ed
 .Pp  .Pp
 See also  is equivalent to
 .Sx \&B ,  .Sq .I foo .
 .Sx \&I ,  If next-line macros are invoked consecutively, only the last is used.
 .Sx \&R .  If a next-line macro is followed by a non-next-line macro, an error is
 .Sx \&b ,  raised.
 and  
 .Sx \&r .  
 .  
 .  
 .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  
 .Sx \&fi .  
 .  
 .  
 .Ss \&r  
 Fonts and styles (bold face, italics) reset to roman (default font).  
 .Pp  .Pp
 See also  The syntax is as follows:
 .Sx \&B ,  .Bd -literal -offset indent
 .Sx \&I ,  \&.YO \(lBbody...\(rB
 .Sx \&R ,  \(lBbody...\(rB
 .Sx \&b ,  
 and  
 .Sx \&i .  
 .  
 .  
 .Ss \&sp  
 Insert vertical spaces into output with the following syntax:  
 .Bd -filled -offset indent  
 .Pf \. Sx \&sp  
 .Op Cm height  
 .Ed  .Ed
   .Bl -column "MacroX" "ArgumentsX" "ScopeXXXXX" "CompatX" -offset indent
   .It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments Ta Em Scope     Ta Em Notes
   .It Ic AT  Ta    <=1       Ta    current   Ta    \&
   .It Ic B   Ta    n         Ta    next-line Ta    \&
   .It Ic BI  Ta    n         Ta    current   Ta    \&
   .It Ic BR  Ta    n         Ta    current   Ta    \&
   .It Ic DT  Ta    0         Ta    current   Ta    \&
   .It Ic EE  Ta    0         Ta    current   Ta    Version 9 At
   .It Ic EX  Ta    0         Ta    current   Ta    Version 9 At
   .It Ic I   Ta    n         Ta    next-line Ta    \&
   .It Ic IB  Ta    n         Ta    current   Ta    \&
   .It Ic IR  Ta    n         Ta    current   Ta    \&
   .It Ic OP  Ta    >=1       Ta    current   Ta    GNU
   .It Ic PD  Ta    1         Ta    current   Ta    \&
   .It Ic RB  Ta    n         Ta    current   Ta    \&
   .It Ic RI  Ta    n         Ta    current   Ta    \&
   .It Ic SB  Ta    n         Ta    next-line Ta    \&
   .It Ic SM  Ta    n         Ta    next-line Ta    \&
   .It Ic TH  Ta    >1, <6    Ta    current   Ta    \&
   .It Ic UC  Ta    <=1       Ta    current   Ta    \&
   .It Ic in  Ta    1         Ta    current   Ta    Xr roff 7
   .El
   .Ss Block Macros
   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  .Pp
 Insert  The syntax is as follows:
 .Cm height  .Bd -literal -offset indent
 spaces, which must conform to  \&.YO \(lBhead...\(rB
 .Sx Scaling Widths .  \(lBhead...\(rB
 If 0, this is equivalent to the  \(lBbody...\(rB
 .Sx \&br  .Ed
 macro.  Defaults to 1, if unspecified.  
 .Pp  .Pp
 See also  The closure of body scope may be to the section, where a macro is closed
 .Sx \&br .  by
 .  .Ic SH ;
 .  sub-section, closed by a section or
 .Sh COMPATIBILITY  .Ic SS ;
 This section documents compatibility with other roff implementations, at  or paragraph, closed by a section, sub-section,
 this time limited to  .Ic HP ,
 .Xr groff 1 .  .Ic IP ,
 .Bl -hyphen  .Ic LP ,
 .It  .Ic P ,
 In quoted literals, groff allowed pair-wise double-quotes to produce a  .Ic PP ,
 standalone double-quote in formatted output.  This idiosyncratic  .Ic RE ,
 behaviour is no longer applicable.  .Ic SY ,
 .It  or
 The  .Ic TP .
 .Sq sp  No closure refers to an explicit block closing macro.
 macro does not accept negative numbers.  .Pp
 .It  As a rule, block macros may not be nested; thus, calling a block macro
 Blocks of whitespace are stripped from both macro and free-form text  while another block macro scope is open, and the open scope is not
 lines (except when in literal mode), while groff would retain whitespace  implicitly closed, is syntactically incorrect.
 in free-form text lines.  .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 Ic HP  Ta    <2        Ta    current    Ta    paragraph   Ta    \&
   .It Ic IP  Ta    <3        Ta    current    Ta    paragraph   Ta    \&
   .It Ic LP  Ta    0         Ta    current    Ta    paragraph   Ta    \&
   .It Ic ME  Ta    0         Ta    none       Ta    none        Ta    GNU
   .It Ic MT  Ta    1         Ta    current    Ta    to \&ME     Ta    GNU
   .It Ic P   Ta    0         Ta    current    Ta    paragraph   Ta    \&
   .It Ic PP  Ta    0         Ta    current    Ta    paragraph   Ta    \&
   .It Ic RE  Ta    <=1       Ta    current    Ta    none        Ta    \&
   .It Ic RS  Ta    1         Ta    current    Ta    to \&RE     Ta    \&
   .It Ic SH  Ta    >0        Ta    next-line  Ta    section     Ta    \&
   .It Ic SS  Ta    >0        Ta    next-line  Ta    sub-section Ta    \&
   .It Ic SY  Ta    1         Ta    current    Ta    to \&YS     Ta    GNU
   .It Ic TP  Ta    n         Ta    next-line  Ta    paragraph   Ta    \&
   .It Ic TQ  Ta    n         Ta    next-line  Ta    paragraph   Ta    GNU
   .It Ic UE  Ta    0         Ta    current    Ta    none        Ta    GNU
   .It Ic UR  Ta    1         Ta    current    Ta    part        Ta    GNU
   .It Ic YS  Ta    0         Ta    none       Ta    none        Ta    GNU
 .El  .El
 .  .Pp
 .  If a block macro is next-line scoped, it may only be followed by in-line
   macros for decorating text.
   .Ss Font handling
   In
   .Nm
   documents, both
   .Sx Physical markup
   macros and
   .Xr roff 7
   .Ql \ef
   font escape sequences can be used to choose fonts.
   In text lines, the effect of manual font selection by escape sequences
   only lasts until the next macro invocation; in macro lines, it only lasts
   until the end of the macro scope.
   Note that macros like
   .Ic BR
   open and close a font scope for each argument.
 .Sh SEE ALSO  .Sh SEE ALSO
   .Xr man 1 ,
 .Xr mandoc 1 ,  .Xr mandoc 1 ,
 .Xr mandoc_char 7  .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 .
   .Pp
   The stand-alone implementation that is part of the
   .Xr mandoc 1
   utility first appeared in
   .Ox 4.6 .
 .Sh AUTHORS  .Sh AUTHORS
   .An -nosplit
   .An Douglas McIlroy Aq Mt m.douglas.mcilroy@dartmouth.edu
   designed and implemented the original version of these macros,
   wrote the original version of this manual page,
   and was the first to use them when he edited volume 1 of the
   .At v7
   manual pages.
   .Pp
   .An James Clark
   later rewrote the macros for groff.
   .An Eric S. Raymond Aq Mt esr@thyrsus.com
   and
   .An Werner Lemberg Aq Mt wl@gnu.org
   added the extended
   .Nm
   macros to groff in 2007.
   .Pp
 The  The
   .Xr mandoc 1
   program and this
 .Nm  .Nm
 reference was written by  reference were written by
 .An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq kristaps@kth.se .  .An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq Mt kristaps@bsd.lv .
 .  
 .  
 .Sh CAVEATS  
 Do not use this language.  Use  
 .Xr mdoc 7 ,  
 instead.  
 .  
Legend:
Removed from v.1.48  
changed lines
  Added in v.1.147
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