===================================================================
RCS file: /cvs/mandoc/man.7,v
retrieving revision 1.39
retrieving revision 1.58
diff -u -p -r1.39 -r1.58
--- mandoc/man.7	2009/10/19 07:44:30	1.39
+++ mandoc/man.7	2010/03/25 07:28:16	1.58
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-.\"	$Id: man.7,v 1.39 2009/10/19 07:44:30 kristaps Exp $
+.\"	$Id: man.7,v 1.58 2010/03/25 07:28:16 kristaps Exp $
 .\"
 .\" Copyright (c) 2009 Kristaps Dzonsons <kristaps@kth.se>
 .\"
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 .\" ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF
 .\" OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
 .\"
-.Dd $Mdocdate: October 19 2009 $
+.Dd $Mdocdate: March 25 2010 $
 .Dt MAN 7
 .Os
 .
@@ -67,22 +67,14 @@ line termination.
 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.
 .
-.
 .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
+is also ignored.  Macro lines with only a control character and
 optionally whitespace are stripped from input.
 .
 .
@@ -109,8 +101,45 @@ and
 .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 (Roman), or P
+(revert to previous mode):
+.Pp
+.D1 \efBbold\efR \efIitalic\efP
+.Pp
+A numerical representation 3, 2, or 1 (bold, italic, and Roman,
+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
+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'
+.Pp
+Both
+.Sq \es
+and
+.Sq \ef
+attributes are forgotten when entering or exiting a macro block.
 .
 .
 .Ss Whitespace
@@ -119,6 +148,17 @@ from input.  These are later re-added, if applicable, 
 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:
@@ -170,8 +210,7 @@ Using anything other than
 .Sq u ,
 or
 .Sq v
-is necessarily non-portable across output media.  See 
-.Sx COMPATIBILITY .
+is necessarily non-portable across output media.
 .
 .Pp
 If a scaling unit is not provided, the numerical value is interpreted
@@ -202,7 +241,7 @@ Beyond
 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"
+\&.TH FOO 1 2009-10-10
 \&.
 \&.SH NAME
 \efBfoo\efR \e(en a description goes here
@@ -229,7 +268,7 @@ The \efBfoo\efR utility processes files...
 \&.\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 .BR foo ( 1 )
 \&.\e\*q .SH STANDARDS
 \&.\e\*q .SH HISTORY
 \&.\e\*q .SH AUTHORS
@@ -237,8 +276,129 @@ The \efBfoo\efR utility processes files...
 \&.\e\*q .SH BUGS
 \&.\e\*q .SH SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
 .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 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
+.
+.
 .Sh MACRO SYNTAX
 Macros are one to three three characters in length and begin with a
 control character ,
@@ -263,8 +423,8 @@ 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:
+line and the line arguments are empty, the next line, which must be
+text, is used instead.  Thus:
 .Bd -literal -offset indent
 \&.I
 foo
@@ -274,59 +434,68 @@ foo
 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 (unless in the case of
+.Sx \&br ,
+.Sx \&sp ,
+.Sx \&Sp ,
+or
+.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 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 \&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
+.Bl -column -compact -offset indent "MacroX" "ArgumentsX" "ScopeXXXXX" "CompatX"
+.It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments Ta Em Scope     Ta Em Notes
+.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 \&PD  Ta    n         Ta    current   Ta    compat
+.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    n         Ta    current   Ta    compat
+.It Sx \&br  Ta    0         Ta    current   Ta    compat
+.It Sx \&fi  Ta    0         Ta    current   Ta    compat
+.It Sx \&i   Ta    n         Ta    current   Ta    compat
+.It Sx \&na  Ta    0         Ta    current   Ta    compat
+.It Sx \&nf  Ta    0         Ta    current   Ta    compat
+.It Sx \&r   Ta    0         Ta    current   Ta    compat
+.It Sx \&sp  Ta    1         Ta    current   Ta    compat
+.\" .It Sx \&Sp  Ta    0         Ta    current   Ta    compat
+.\" .It Sx \&Vb  Ta    <1        Ta    current   Ta    compat
+.\" .It Sx \&Ve  Ta    0         Ta    current   Ta    compat
 .El
 .
 .Pp
-The
-.Sx \&RS ,
-.Sx \&RE ,
-.Sx \&UC ,
-.Sx \&br ,
-.Sx \&fi ,
-.Sx \&i ,
-.Sx \&na ,
-.Sx \&nf ,
-.Sx \&r ,
-and
-.Sx \&sp
-macros should not be used.  They're included for compatibility.
+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
+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.
+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
@@ -341,7 +510,7 @@ 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, 
+or paragraph, closed by a section, sub-section, part,
 .Sx \&HP ,
 .Sx \&IP ,
 .Sx \&LP ,
@@ -352,32 +521,34 @@ or
 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
+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.
+.
+.Pp
+.Bl -column -compact -offset indent "MacroX" "ArgumentsX" "Head ScopeX" "sub-sectionX" "compatX"
+.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
-.Sx \&DT ,
-.Sx \&TH ,
-.Sx \&UC ,
-.Sx \&br ,
-.Sx \&na ,
-.Sx \&sp ,
-.Sx \&nf ,
-and
-.Sx \&fi ) .
+macros for decorating text.
 .
 .
 .Sh REFERENCE
@@ -385,188 +556,465 @@ This section is a canonical reference to all macros, a
 alphabetically.  For the scoping of individual macros, see
 .Sx MACRO SYNTAX .
 .
+.
 .Ss \&B
 Text is rendered in bold face.
+.Pp
+See also
+.Sx \&I ,
+.Sx \&R ,
+.Sx \&b ,
+.Sx \&i ,
+and
+.Sx \&r .
+.
+.
 .Ss \&BI
-Text is rendered alternately in bold face and italic.  Thus, 
+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.
+.Pp
+Examples:
+.Pp
+.D1 \&.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.
+.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 scaling width
-.Va width
-is specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if
-unspecified, the saved or default width is used.
+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.
+.Pp
+See also
+.Sx \&B ,
+.Sx \&R ,
+.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 a paragraph with the following syntax:
-.Bd -literal -offset indent
-\&.IP [head [width]]
+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
-.Sx \&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.
+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.
+.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 re-set 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).
+.Pp
+See also
+.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.
 Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
+.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
 .Sx \&RS .
+.
+.
 .Ss \&RI
 Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and italics.
 Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
+.Pp
+See
+.Sx \&BI
+for an equivalent example.
+.Pp
+See also
+.Sx \&BI ,
+.Sx \&IB ,
+.Sx \&BR ,
+.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 .
-A scaling width may be specified as following:
-.Bd -literal -offset indent
-\&.RS [width]
+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. 
+The
+.Cm width
+argument must conform to
+.Sx Scaling Widths .
+If not specified, the saved or default width is used.
+.
+.
 .Ss \&SB
 Text is rendered in small size (one point smaller than the default font)
 bold face.
+.
+.
 .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 re-set
 to the default.
+.
+.
 .Ss \&SM
 Text is rendered in small size (one point smaller than the default
 font).
+.
+.
 .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 re-set 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
+.Cm title section
+.Op Cm date Op Cm source Op Cm volume
 .Ed
-.
 .Pp
-At least the 
-.Va title
-and
-.Va section
+At least the upper-case document title
+.Cm title
+and numeric manual section
+.Cm 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
+.Cm date
+argument should be formatted as described in
+.Sx Dates :
+if it does not conform, the current date is used instead.  The
+.Cm source
 string specifies the organisation providing the utility.  The
-.Va volume
-replaces the default rendered volume as dictated by the manual section.
+.Cm volume
+string replaces the default rendered volume, which is dictated by the
+manual section.
+.Pp
+Examples:
+.Pp
+.D1 \&.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 scaling width may be set as follows:
-.Bd -literal -offset indent
-\&.TP [width]
+The syntax is as follows:
+.Bd -filled -offset indent
+.Pf \. Sx \&TP
+.Op Cm width
 .Ed
-.
 .Pp
-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.
-.Ss \&UC
-Has no effect.  Included for compatibility.
+.Pp
+See also
+.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
+See also
+.Sx \&sp .
+.
+.
 .Ss \&fi
 End literal mode begun by
 .Sx \&nf .
+.
+.
 .Ss \&i
-Italicise arguments.  If no arguments are specified, all subsequent text
-is italicised.
+Italicise arguments.  Synonym for
+.Sx \&I .
+.Pp
+See also
+.Sx \&B ,
+.Sx \&I ,
+.Sx \&R .
+.Sx \&b ,
+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
+See also
+.Sx \&B ,
+.Sx \&I ,
+.Sx \&R ,
+.Sx \&b ,
+and
+.Sx \&i .
+.
+.
 .Ss \&sp
-Insert n spaces, where n is the macro's positive numeric argument.  If
-0, this is equivalent to the
+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.
+macro.  Defaults to 1, if unspecified.
+.Pp
+See also
+.Sx \&br .
 .
+.\" .Ss \&Sp
+.\" A synonym for
+.\" .Sx \&sp
+.\" .Cm 0.5v .
+.\" .
+.\" .Ss \&Vb
+.\" A synonym for
+.\" .Sx \&nf .
+.\" Accepts an argument (the height of the formatted space) which is
+.\" disregarded.
+.\" .
+.\" .Ss \&Ve
+.\" A synonym for
+.\" .Sx \&fi .
+.\" .
 .
 .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
-The
-.Sq sp
-macro does not accept negative numbers.
+Blocks of whitespace are stripped from macro and free-form text lines
+(except when in literal mode) in mandoc.  This is not the case for GNU
+troff: for maximum portability, whitespace sensitive blocks should be
+enclosed in literal contexts.
 .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
+.Sx \&sp
+macro does not accept negative values in mandoc.  In GNU troff, this
+would result in strange behaviour.
 .El
 .
 .