Annotation of mandoc/man.7, Revision 1.121
1.121 ! schwarze 1: .\" $Id: man.7,v 1.120 2013/09/16 22:58:57 schwarze Exp $
1.1 kristaps 2: .\"
1.115 schwarze 3: .\" Copyright (c) 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 Kristaps Dzonsons <kristaps@bsd.lv>
1.121 ! schwarze 4: .\" Copyright (c) 2011, 2012, 2013 Ingo Schwarze <schwarze@openbsd.org>
1.1 kristaps 5: .\"
6: .\" Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any
1.10 kristaps 7: .\" purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above
8: .\" copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies.
9: .\"
10: .\" THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES
11: .\" WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
12: .\" MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR
13: .\" ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES
14: .\" WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN
15: .\" ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF
16: .\" OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
1.1 kristaps 17: .\"
1.121 ! schwarze 18: .Dd $Mdocdate: September 16 2013 $
1.9 kristaps 19: .Dt MAN 7
1.1 kristaps 20: .Os
21: .Sh NAME
1.32 kristaps 22: .Nm man
1.111 schwarze 23: .Nd legacy formatting language for manual pages
1.1 kristaps 24: .Sh DESCRIPTION
1.111 schwarze 25: Traditionally, the
1.32 kristaps 26: .Nm man
1.111 schwarze 27: language has been used to write
1.32 kristaps 28: .Ux
1.111 schwarze 29: manuals for the
30: .Xr man 1
31: utility.
32: It supports limited control of presentational details like fonts,
33: indentation and spacing.
34: This reference document describes the structure of manual pages
35: and the syntax and usage of the man language.
1.32 kristaps 36: .Pp
37: .Bf -emphasis
1.20 kristaps 38: Do not use
1.32 kristaps 39: .Nm
1.111 schwarze 40: to write your manuals:
1.32 kristaps 41: .Ef
1.111 schwarze 42: It lacks support for semantic markup.
1.19 kristaps 43: Use the
1.32 kristaps 44: .Xr mdoc 7
1.1 kristaps 45: language, instead.
1.32 kristaps 46: .Pp
1.111 schwarze 47: In a
1.32 kristaps 48: .Nm
1.111 schwarze 49: document, lines beginning with the control character
1.32 kristaps 50: .Sq \&.
1.111 schwarze 51: are called
52: .Dq macro lines .
53: The first word is the macro name.
54: It usually consists of two capital letters.
55: For a list of available macros, see
56: .Sx MACRO OVERVIEW .
57: The words following the macro name are arguments to the macro.
58: .Pp
59: Lines not beginning with the control character are called
60: .Dq text lines .
61: They provide free-form text to be printed; the formatting of the text
62: depends on the respective processing context:
1.32 kristaps 63: .Bd -literal -offset indent
1.1 kristaps 64: \&.SH Macro lines change control state.
1.106 kristaps 65: Text lines are interpreted within the current state.
1.32 kristaps 66: .Ed
1.103 kristaps 67: .Pp
1.111 schwarze 68: Many aspects of the basic syntax of the
1.103 kristaps 69: .Nm
1.111 schwarze 70: language are based on the
71: .Xr roff 7
72: language; see the
73: .Em LANGUAGE SYNTAX
1.106 kristaps 74: and
1.111 schwarze 75: .Em MACRO SYNTAX
76: sections in the
77: .Xr roff 7
78: manual for details, in particular regarding
79: comments, escape sequences, whitespace, and quoting.
1.22 kristaps 80: .Sh MANUAL STRUCTURE
1.16 kristaps 81: Each
1.32 kristaps 82: .Nm
1.80 kristaps 83: document must contain the
1.39 kristaps 84: .Sx \&TH
1.68 kristaps 85: macro describing the document's section and title.
1.80 kristaps 86: It may occur anywhere in the document, although conventionally it
1.68 kristaps 87: appears as the first macro.
1.32 kristaps 88: .Pp
1.22 kristaps 89: Beyond
1.39 kristaps 90: .Sx \&TH ,
1.111 schwarze 91: at least one macro or text line must appear in the document.
1.100 kristaps 92: .Pp
93: The following is a well-formed skeleton
94: .Nm
95: file for a utility
96: .Qq progname :
1.32 kristaps 97: .Bd -literal -offset indent
1.100 kristaps 98: \&.TH PROGNAME 1 2009-10-10
1.22 kristaps 99: \&.SH NAME
1.100 kristaps 100: \efBprogname\efR \e(en a description goes here
1.106 kristaps 101: \&.\e\(dq .SH LIBRARY
102: \&.\e\(dq For sections 2 & 3 only.
103: \&.\e\(dq Not used in OpenBSD.
1.22 kristaps 104: \&.SH SYNOPSIS
1.100 kristaps 105: \efBprogname\efR [\efB\e-options\efR] arguments...
1.22 kristaps 106: \&.SH DESCRIPTION
1.33 kristaps 107: The \efBfoo\efR utility processes files...
1.106 kristaps 108: \&.\e\(dq .SH IMPLEMENTATION NOTES
109: \&.\e\(dq Not used in OpenBSD.
110: \&.\e\(dq .SH RETURN VALUES
111: \&.\e\(dq For sections 2, 3, & 9 only.
112: \&.\e\(dq .SH ENVIRONMENT
113: \&.\e\(dq For sections 1, 6, 7, & 8 only.
114: \&.\e\(dq .SH FILES
115: \&.\e\(dq .SH EXIT STATUS
116: \&.\e\(dq For sections 1, 6, & 8 only.
117: \&.\e\(dq .SH EXAMPLES
118: \&.\e\(dq .SH DIAGNOSTICS
119: \&.\e\(dq For sections 1, 4, 6, 7, & 8 only.
120: \&.\e\(dq .SH ERRORS
121: \&.\e\(dq For sections 2, 3, & 9 only.
122: \&.\e\(dq .SH SEE ALSO
123: \&.\e\(dq .BR foo ( 1 )
124: \&.\e\(dq .SH STANDARDS
125: \&.\e\(dq .SH HISTORY
126: \&.\e\(dq .SH AUTHORS
127: \&.\e\(dq .SH CAVEATS
128: \&.\e\(dq .SH BUGS
129: \&.\e\(dq .SH SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
130: \&.\e\(dq Not used in OpenBSD.
1.32 kristaps 131: .Ed
1.41 kristaps 132: .Pp
133: The sections in a
134: .Nm
1.68 kristaps 135: document are conventionally ordered as they appear above.
136: Sections should be composed as follows:
1.42 kristaps 137: .Bl -ohang -offset indent
138: .It Em NAME
1.68 kristaps 139: The name(s) and a short description of the documented material.
140: The syntax for this is generally as follows:
1.41 kristaps 141: .Pp
142: .D1 \efBname\efR \e(en description
1.42 kristaps 143: .It Em LIBRARY
1.41 kristaps 144: The name of the library containing the documented material, which is
1.68 kristaps 145: assumed to be a function in a section 2 or 3 manual.
146: For functions in the C library, this may be as follows:
1.41 kristaps 147: .Pp
148: .D1 Standard C Library (libc, -lc)
1.42 kristaps 149: .It Em SYNOPSIS
1.41 kristaps 150: Documents the utility invocation syntax, function call syntax, or device
1.55 kristaps 151: configuration.
1.41 kristaps 152: .Pp
153: For the first, utilities (sections 1, 6, and 8), this is
154: generally structured as follows:
155: .Pp
156: .D1 \efBname\efR [-\efBab\efR] [-\efBc\efR\efIarg\efR] \efBpath\efR...
157: .Pp
158: For the second, function calls (sections 2, 3, 9):
159: .Pp
1.44 kristaps 160: .D1 \&.B char *name(char *\efIarg\efR);
1.41 kristaps 161: .Pp
162: And for the third, configurations (section 4):
163: .Pp
1.44 kristaps 164: .D1 \&.B name* at cardbus ? function ?
1.41 kristaps 165: .Pp
1.55 kristaps 166: Manuals not in these sections generally don't need a
1.42 kristaps 167: .Em SYNOPSIS .
168: .It Em DESCRIPTION
1.55 kristaps 169: This expands upon the brief, one-line description in
1.42 kristaps 170: .Em NAME .
171: It usually contains a break-down of the options (if documenting a
172: command).
173: .It Em IMPLEMENTATION NOTES
1.68 kristaps 174: Implementation-specific notes should be kept here.
175: This is useful when implementing standard functions that may have side
176: effects or notable algorithmic implications.
1.42 kristaps 177: .It Em RETURN VALUES
1.80 kristaps 178: This section documents the return values of functions in sections 2, 3, and 9.
1.42 kristaps 179: .It Em ENVIRONMENT
180: Documents any usages of environment variables, e.g.,
181: .Xr environ 7 .
182: .It Em FILES
1.68 kristaps 183: Documents files used.
1.78 schwarze 184: It's helpful to document both the file name and a short description of how
1.68 kristaps 185: the file is used (created, modified, etc.).
1.67 kristaps 186: .It Em EXIT STATUS
1.80 kristaps 187: This section documents the command exit status for
188: section 1, 6, and 8 utilities.
1.68 kristaps 189: Historically, this information was described in
1.67 kristaps 190: .Em DIAGNOSTICS ,
191: a practise that is now discouraged.
1.42 kristaps 192: .It Em EXAMPLES
1.68 kristaps 193: Example usages.
194: This often contains snippets of well-formed,
195: well-tested invocations.
1.80 kristaps 196: Make sure that examples work properly!
1.42 kristaps 197: .It Em DIAGNOSTICS
1.68 kristaps 198: Documents error conditions.
199: This is most useful in section 4 manuals.
1.42 kristaps 200: Historically, this section was used in place of
201: .Em EXIT STATUS
202: for manuals in sections 1, 6, and 8; however, this practise is
203: discouraged.
204: .It Em ERRORS
205: Documents error handling in sections 2, 3, and 9.
206: .It Em SEE ALSO
1.68 kristaps 207: References other manuals with related topics.
208: This section should exist for most manuals.
1.44 kristaps 209: .Pp
210: .D1 \&.BR bar \&( 1 \&),
211: .Pp
212: Cross-references should conventionally be ordered
1.42 kristaps 213: first by section, then alphabetically.
214: .It Em STANDARDS
215: References any standards implemented or used, such as
216: .Pp
217: .D1 IEEE Std 1003.2 (\e(lqPOSIX.2\e(rq)
218: .Pp
219: If not adhering to any standards, the
220: .Em HISTORY
221: section should be used.
222: .It Em HISTORY
1.81 schwarze 223: A brief history of the subject, including where support first appeared.
1.42 kristaps 224: .It Em AUTHORS
1.81 schwarze 225: Credits to the person or persons who wrote the code and/or documentation.
1.78 schwarze 226: Authors should generally be noted by both name and email address.
1.42 kristaps 227: .It Em CAVEATS
1.78 schwarze 228: Common misuses and misunderstandings should be explained
1.42 kristaps 229: in this section.
230: .It Em BUGS
1.80 kristaps 231: Known bugs, limitations, and work-arounds should be described
1.78 schwarze 232: in this section.
1.42 kristaps 233: .It Em SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
234: Documents any security precautions that operators should consider.
1.41 kristaps 235: .El
1.110 schwarze 236: .Sh MACRO OVERVIEW
237: This overview is sorted such that macros of similar purpose are listed
238: together, to help find the best macro for any given purpose.
239: Deprecated macros are not included in the overview, but can be found
240: in the alphabetical reference below.
241: .Ss Page header and footer meta-data
242: .Bl -column "PP, LP, P" description
243: .It Sx TH Ta set the title: Ar title section date Op Ar source Op Ar volume
244: .It Sx AT Ta display AT&T UNIX version in the page footer (<= 1 argument)
245: .It Sx UC Ta display BSD version in the page footer (<= 1 argument)
246: .El
247: .Ss Sections and paragraphs
248: .Bl -column "PP, LP, P" description
249: .It Sx SH Ta section header (one line)
250: .It Sx SS Ta subsection header (one line)
251: .It Sx PP , LP , P Ta start an undecorated paragraph (no arguments)
252: .It Sx RS , RE Ta reset the left margin: Op Ar width
253: .It Sx IP Ta indented paragraph: Op Ar head Op Ar width
254: .It Sx TP Ta tagged paragraph: Op Ar width
255: .It Sx HP Ta hanged paragraph: Op Ar width
1.118 schwarze 256: .It Sx PD Ta set vertical paragraph distance: Op Ar height
1.110 schwarze 257: .It Sx \&br Ta force output line break in text mode (no arguments)
258: .It Sx \&sp Ta force vertical space: Op Ar height
259: .It Sx fi , nf Ta fill mode and no-fill mode (no arguments)
260: .It Sx in Ta additional indent: Op Ar width
261: .El
262: .Ss Physical markup
263: .Bl -column "PP, LP, P" description
264: .It Sx B Ta boldface font
265: .It Sx I Ta italic font
266: .It Sx R Ta roman (default) font
267: .It Sx SB Ta small boldface font
268: .It Sx SM Ta small roman font
269: .It Sx BI Ta alternate between boldface and italic fonts
270: .It Sx BR Ta alternate between boldface and roman fonts
271: .It Sx IB Ta alternate between italic and boldface fonts
272: .It Sx IR Ta alternate between italic and roman fonts
273: .It Sx RB Ta alternate between roman and boldface fonts
274: .It Sx RI Ta alternate between roman and italic fonts
275: .El
1.111 schwarze 276: .Sh MACRO REFERENCE
1.22 kristaps 277: This section is a canonical reference to all macros, arranged
1.68 kristaps 278: alphabetically.
279: For the scoping of individual macros, see
1.32 kristaps 280: .Sx MACRO SYNTAX .
1.72 joerg 281: .Ss \&AT
282: Sets the volume for the footer for compatibility with man pages from
283: .Tn AT&T UNIX
284: releases.
285: The optional arguments specify which release it is from.
1.39 kristaps 286: .Ss \&B
1.22 kristaps 287: Text is rendered in bold face.
1.44 kristaps 288: .Pp
289: See also
1.92 kristaps 290: .Sx \&I
1.44 kristaps 291: and
1.92 kristaps 292: .Sx \&R .
1.39 kristaps 293: .Ss \&BI
1.68 kristaps 294: Text is rendered alternately in bold face and italic.
295: Thus,
1.32 kristaps 296: .Sq .BI this word and that
1.22 kristaps 297: causes
1.32 kristaps 298: .Sq this
1.22 kristaps 299: and
1.32 kristaps 300: .Sq and
1.55 kristaps 301: to render in bold face, while
1.32 kristaps 302: .Sq word
1.22 kristaps 303: and
1.32 kristaps 304: .Sq that
1.68 kristaps 305: render in italics.
306: Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
1.44 kristaps 307: .Pp
308: Examples:
1.46 kristaps 309: .Pp
1.93 kristaps 310: .Dl \&.BI bold italic bold italic
1.44 kristaps 311: .Pp
312: The output of this example will be emboldened
313: .Dq bold
314: and italicised
315: .Dq italic ,
316: with spaces stripped between arguments.
317: .Pp
318: See also
319: .Sx \&IB ,
320: .Sx \&BR ,
321: .Sx \&RB ,
322: .Sx \&RI ,
323: and
324: .Sx \&IR .
1.39 kristaps 325: .Ss \&BR
1.22 kristaps 326: Text is rendered alternately in bold face and roman (the default font).
327: Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
1.44 kristaps 328: .Pp
329: See
330: .Sx \&BI
331: for an equivalent example.
332: .Pp
333: See also
334: .Sx \&BI ,
335: .Sx \&IB ,
336: .Sx \&RB ,
337: .Sx \&RI ,
338: and
339: .Sx \&IR .
1.39 kristaps 340: .Ss \&DT
1.68 kristaps 341: Has no effect.
342: Included for compatibility.
1.116 schwarze 343: .Ss \&EE
344: This is a non-standard GNU extension, included only for compatibility.
345: In
346: .Xr mandoc 1 ,
347: it does the same as
348: .Sx \&fi .
349: .Ss \&EX
350: This is a non-standard GNU extension, included only for compatibility.
351: In
352: .Xr mandoc 1 ,
353: it does the same as
354: .Sx \&nf .
1.39 kristaps 355: .Ss \&HP
1.23 kristaps 356: Begin a paragraph whose initial output line is left-justified, but
1.27 kristaps 357: subsequent output lines are indented, with the following syntax:
1.44 kristaps 358: .Bd -filled -offset indent
359: .Pf \. Sx \&HP
360: .Op Cm width
1.32 kristaps 361: .Ed
1.44 kristaps 362: .Pp
363: The
364: .Cm width
1.117 schwarze 365: argument is a
366: .Xr roff 7
367: scaling width.
1.44 kristaps 368: If specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if unspecified, the
369: saved or default width is used.
370: .Pp
371: See also
1.45 kristaps 372: .Sx \&IP ,
373: .Sx \&LP ,
374: .Sx \&P ,
375: .Sx \&PP ,
1.44 kristaps 376: and
1.45 kristaps 377: .Sx \&TP .
1.39 kristaps 378: .Ss \&I
1.22 kristaps 379: Text is rendered in italics.
1.44 kristaps 380: .Pp
381: See also
1.92 kristaps 382: .Sx \&B
1.44 kristaps 383: and
1.92 kristaps 384: .Sx \&R .
1.39 kristaps 385: .Ss \&IB
1.80 kristaps 386: Text is rendered alternately in italics and bold face.
387: Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
1.44 kristaps 388: .Pp
389: See
390: .Sx \&BI
391: for an equivalent example.
392: .Pp
393: See also
394: .Sx \&BI ,
395: .Sx \&BR ,
396: .Sx \&RB ,
397: .Sx \&RI ,
398: and
399: .Sx \&IR .
1.39 kristaps 400: .Ss \&IP
1.44 kristaps 401: Begin an indented paragraph with the following syntax:
402: .Bd -filled -offset indent
403: .Pf \. Sx \&IP
404: .Op Cm head Op Cm width
1.32 kristaps 405: .Ed
1.44 kristaps 406: .Pp
407: The
408: .Cm width
1.117 schwarze 409: argument is a
410: .Xr roff 7
411: scaling width defining the left margin.
1.44 kristaps 412: It's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if unspecified, the saved or
413: default width is used.
414: .Pp
415: The
416: .Cm head
1.68 kristaps 417: argument is used as a leading term, flushed to the left margin.
418: This is useful for bulleted paragraphs and so on.
1.44 kristaps 419: .Pp
420: See also
1.45 kristaps 421: .Sx \&HP ,
422: .Sx \&LP ,
423: .Sx \&P ,
424: .Sx \&PP ,
1.44 kristaps 425: and
1.45 kristaps 426: .Sx \&TP .
1.39 kristaps 427: .Ss \&IR
1.22 kristaps 428: Text is rendered alternately in italics and roman (the default font).
429: Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
1.44 kristaps 430: .Pp
431: See
432: .Sx \&BI
433: for an equivalent example.
434: .Pp
435: See also
436: .Sx \&BI ,
437: .Sx \&IB ,
438: .Sx \&BR ,
439: .Sx \&RB ,
440: and
441: .Sx \&RI .
1.39 kristaps 442: .Ss \&LP
1.68 kristaps 443: Begin an undecorated paragraph.
444: The scope of a paragraph is closed by a subsequent paragraph,
445: sub-section, section, or end of file.
1.78 schwarze 446: The saved paragraph left-margin width is reset to the default.
1.44 kristaps 447: .Pp
448: See also
1.45 kristaps 449: .Sx \&HP ,
450: .Sx \&IP ,
451: .Sx \&P ,
452: .Sx \&PP ,
1.44 kristaps 453: and
1.45 kristaps 454: .Sx \&TP .
1.113 kristaps 455: .Ss \&OP
456: Optional command-line argument.
1.114 schwarze 457: This is a non-standard GNU extension, included only for compatibility.
458: It has the following syntax:
1.113 kristaps 459: .Bd -filled -offset indent
460: .Pf \. Sx \&OP
461: .Cm key Op Cm value
462: .Ed
463: .Pp
464: The
465: .Cm key
466: is usually a command-line flag and
467: .Cm value
468: its argument.
1.39 kristaps 469: .Ss \&P
470: Synonym for
471: .Sx \&LP .
1.44 kristaps 472: .Pp
473: See also
1.45 kristaps 474: .Sx \&HP ,
475: .Sx \&IP ,
476: .Sx \&LP ,
477: .Sx \&PP ,
1.118 schwarze 478: and
479: .Sx \&TP .
480: .Ss \&PD
481: Specify the vertical space to be inserted before each new paragraph.
482: .br
483: The syntax is as follows:
484: .Bd -filled -offset indent
485: .Pf \. Sx \&PD
486: .Op Cm height
487: .Ed
488: .Pp
489: The
490: .Cm height
491: argument is a
492: .Xr roff 7
493: scaling width.
494: It defaults to
495: .Cm 1v .
496: If the unit is omitted,
497: .Cm v
498: is assumed.
499: .Pp
500: This macro affects the spacing before any subsequent instances of
501: .Sx \&HP ,
502: .Sx \&IP ,
503: .Sx \&LP ,
504: .Sx \&P ,
505: .Sx \&PP ,
506: .Sx \&SH ,
507: .Sx \&SS ,
1.44 kristaps 508: and
1.45 kristaps 509: .Sx \&TP .
1.39 kristaps 510: .Ss \&PP
511: Synonym for
512: .Sx \&LP .
1.44 kristaps 513: .Pp
514: See also
1.45 kristaps 515: .Sx \&HP ,
516: .Sx \&IP ,
517: .Sx \&LP ,
518: .Sx \&P ,
1.44 kristaps 519: and
1.45 kristaps 520: .Sx \&TP .
1.39 kristaps 521: .Ss \&R
1.22 kristaps 522: Text is rendered in roman (the default font).
1.44 kristaps 523: .Pp
524: See also
1.92 kristaps 525: .Sx \&I
1.44 kristaps 526: and
1.92 kristaps 527: .Sx \&B .
1.39 kristaps 528: .Ss \&RB
1.22 kristaps 529: Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and bold face.
530: Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
1.44 kristaps 531: .Pp
532: See
533: .Sx \&BI
534: for an equivalent example.
535: .Pp
536: See also
537: .Sx \&BI ,
538: .Sx \&IB ,
539: .Sx \&BR ,
540: .Sx \&RI ,
541: and
542: .Sx \&IR .
1.39 kristaps 543: .Ss \&RE
1.30 kristaps 544: Explicitly close out the scope of a prior
1.39 kristaps 545: .Sx \&RS .
1.102 kristaps 546: The default left margin is restored to the state of the original
547: .Sx \&RS
548: invocation.
1.39 kristaps 549: .Ss \&RI
1.22 kristaps 550: Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and italics.
551: Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
1.44 kristaps 552: .Pp
553: See
554: .Sx \&BI
555: for an equivalent example.
556: .Pp
557: See also
558: .Sx \&BI ,
559: .Sx \&IB ,
560: .Sx \&BR ,
561: .Sx \&RB ,
562: and
563: .Sx \&IR .
1.39 kristaps 564: .Ss \&RS
1.102 kristaps 565: Temporarily reset the default left margin.
1.44 kristaps 566: This has the following syntax:
567: .Bd -filled -offset indent
1.102 kristaps 568: .Pf \. Sx \&RS
1.44 kristaps 569: .Op Cm width
1.32 kristaps 570: .Ed
1.44 kristaps 571: .Pp
572: The
573: .Cm width
1.117 schwarze 574: argument is a
575: .Xr roff 7
576: scaling width.
1.55 kristaps 577: If not specified, the saved or default width is used.
1.102 kristaps 578: .Pp
579: See also
580: .Sx \&RE .
1.39 kristaps 581: .Ss \&SB
1.22 kristaps 582: Text is rendered in small size (one point smaller than the default font)
583: bold face.
1.39 kristaps 584: .Ss \&SH
1.68 kristaps 585: Begin a section.
586: The scope of a section is only closed by another section or the end of
587: file.
1.78 schwarze 588: The paragraph left-margin width is reset to the default.
1.39 kristaps 589: .Ss \&SM
1.22 kristaps 590: Text is rendered in small size (one point smaller than the default
591: font).
1.39 kristaps 592: .Ss \&SS
1.68 kristaps 593: Begin a sub-section.
594: The scope of a sub-section is closed by a subsequent sub-section,
595: section, or end of file.
1.78 schwarze 596: The paragraph left-margin width is reset to the default.
1.39 kristaps 597: .Ss \&TH
1.22 kristaps 598: Sets the title of the manual page with the following syntax:
1.44 kristaps 599: .Bd -filled -offset indent
600: .Pf \. Sx \&TH
1.99 schwarze 601: .Ar title section date
602: .Op Ar source Op Ar volume
1.44 kristaps 603: .Ed
1.43 kristaps 604: .Pp
1.99 schwarze 605: Conventionally, the document
606: .Ar title
607: is given in all caps.
608: The recommended
609: .Ar date
610: format is
611: .Sy YYYY-MM-DD
612: as specified in the ISO-8601 standard;
613: if the argument does not conform, it is printed verbatim.
614: If the
615: .Ar date
616: is empty or not specified, the current date is used.
617: The optional
618: .Ar source
1.68 kristaps 619: string specifies the organisation providing the utility.
620: The
1.99 schwarze 621: .Ar volume
1.43 kristaps 622: string replaces the default rendered volume, which is dictated by the
623: manual section.
624: .Pp
625: Examples:
1.46 kristaps 626: .Pp
1.93 kristaps 627: .Dl \&.TH CVS 5 "1992-02-12" GNU
1.39 kristaps 628: .Ss \&TP
1.25 kristaps 629: Begin a paragraph where the head, if exceeding the indentation width, is
1.24 kristaps 630: followed by a newline; if not, the body follows on the same line after a
1.68 kristaps 631: buffer to the indentation width.
632: Subsequent output lines are indented.
1.44 kristaps 633: The syntax is as follows:
634: .Bd -filled -offset indent
635: .Pf \. Sx \&TP
636: .Op Cm width
1.32 kristaps 637: .Ed
638: .Pp
1.44 kristaps 639: The
640: .Cm width
1.117 schwarze 641: argument is a
642: .Xr roff 7
643: scaling width.
1.44 kristaps 644: If specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if
1.27 kristaps 645: unspecified, the saved or default width is used.
1.44 kristaps 646: .Pp
647: See also
1.45 kristaps 648: .Sx \&HP ,
649: .Sx \&IP ,
650: .Sx \&LP ,
651: .Sx \&P ,
1.44 kristaps 652: and
1.45 kristaps 653: .Sx \&PP .
1.72 joerg 654: .Ss \&UC
655: Sets the volume for the footer for compatibility with man pages from
1.120 schwarze 656: .Bx
657: releases.
1.72 joerg 658: The optional first argument specifies which release it is from.
1.121 ! schwarze 659: .Ss \&UE
! 660: End a uniform resource identifier block.
! 661: This is a non-standard GNU extension, included only for compatibility.
! 662: See
! 663: .Sx \&UE .
! 664: .Ss \&UR
! 665: Begin a uniform resource identifier block.
! 666: This is a non-standard GNU extension, included only for compatibility.
! 667: It has the following syntax:
! 668: .Bd -literal -offset indent
! 669: .Pf \. Sx \&UR Ar uri
! 670: link description to be shown
! 671: .Pf \. Sx UE
! 672: .Ed
1.39 kristaps 673: .Ss \&br
1.68 kristaps 674: Breaks the current line.
675: Consecutive invocations have no further effect.
1.44 kristaps 676: .Pp
677: See also
678: .Sx \&sp .
1.39 kristaps 679: .Ss \&fi
1.22 kristaps 680: End literal mode begun by
1.39 kristaps 681: .Sx \&nf .
1.91 kristaps 682: .Ss \&ft
683: Change the current font mode.
684: See
685: .Sx Text Decoration
686: for a listing of available font modes.
1.79 kristaps 687: .Ss \&in
688: Indent relative to the current indentation:
689: .Pp
690: .D1 Pf \. Sx \&in Op Cm width
691: .Pp
692: If
693: .Cm width
694: is signed, the new offset is relative.
695: Otherwise, it is absolute.
696: This value is reset upon the next paragraph, section, or sub-section.
1.39 kristaps 697: .Ss \&na
1.36 kristaps 698: Don't align to the right margin.
1.39 kristaps 699: .Ss \&nf
1.22 kristaps 700: Begin literal mode: all subsequent free-form lines have their end of
1.68 kristaps 701: line boundaries preserved.
702: May be ended by
1.39 kristaps 703: .Sx \&fi .
1.101 kristaps 704: Literal mode is implicitly ended by
705: .Sx \&SH
706: or
707: .Sx \&SS .
1.39 kristaps 708: .Ss \&sp
1.44 kristaps 709: Insert vertical spaces into output with the following syntax:
710: .Bd -filled -offset indent
711: .Pf \. Sx \&sp
712: .Op Cm height
713: .Ed
714: .Pp
1.117 schwarze 715: The
1.44 kristaps 716: .Cm height
1.117 schwarze 717: argument is a scaling width as described in
718: .Xr roff 7 .
1.44 kristaps 719: If 0, this is equivalent to the
1.39 kristaps 720: .Sx \&br
1.68 kristaps 721: macro.
722: Defaults to 1, if unspecified.
1.44 kristaps 723: .Pp
724: See also
725: .Sx \&br .
1.111 schwarze 726: .Sh MACRO SYNTAX
727: The
728: .Nm
729: macros are classified by scope: line scope or block scope.
730: Line macros are only scoped to the current line (and, in some
731: situations, the subsequent line).
732: Block macros are scoped to the current line and subsequent lines until
733: closed by another block macro.
734: .Ss Line Macros
735: Line macros are generally scoped to the current line, with the body
736: consisting of zero or more arguments.
737: If a macro is scoped to the next line and the line arguments are empty,
738: the next line, which must be text, is used instead.
739: Thus:
740: .Bd -literal -offset indent
741: \&.I
742: foo
743: .Ed
744: .Pp
745: is equivalent to
746: .Sq \&.I foo .
747: If next-line macros are invoked consecutively, only the last is used.
748: If a next-line macro is followed by a non-next-line macro, an error is
749: raised, except for
750: .Sx \&br ,
751: .Sx \&sp ,
752: and
753: .Sx \&na .
754: .Pp
755: The syntax is as follows:
756: .Bd -literal -offset indent
757: \&.YO \(lBbody...\(rB
758: \(lBbody...\(rB
759: .Ed
760: .Bl -column "MacroX" "ArgumentsX" "ScopeXXXXX" "CompatX" -offset indent
761: .It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments Ta Em Scope Ta Em Notes
762: .It Sx \&AT Ta <=1 Ta current Ta \&
763: .It Sx \&B Ta n Ta next-line Ta \&
764: .It Sx \&BI Ta n Ta current Ta \&
765: .It Sx \&BR Ta n Ta current Ta \&
766: .It Sx \&DT Ta 0 Ta current Ta \&
1.121 ! schwarze 767: .It Sx \&EE Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat
! 768: .It Sx \&EX Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat
1.111 schwarze 769: .It Sx \&I Ta n Ta next-line Ta \&
770: .It Sx \&IB Ta n Ta current Ta \&
771: .It Sx \&IR Ta n Ta current Ta \&
1.113 kristaps 772: .It Sx \&OP Ta 0, 1 Ta current Ta compat
1.121 ! schwarze 773: .It Sx \&PD Ta 1 Ta current Ta \&
1.111 schwarze 774: .It Sx \&R Ta n Ta next-line Ta \&
775: .It Sx \&RB Ta n Ta current Ta \&
776: .It Sx \&RI Ta n Ta current Ta \&
777: .It Sx \&SB Ta n Ta next-line Ta \&
778: .It Sx \&SM Ta n Ta next-line Ta \&
779: .It Sx \&TH Ta >1, <6 Ta current Ta \&
780: .It Sx \&UC Ta <=1 Ta current Ta \&
781: .It Sx \&br Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat
782: .It Sx \&fi Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat
783: .It Sx \&ft Ta 1 Ta current Ta compat
784: .It Sx \&in Ta 1 Ta current Ta compat
785: .It Sx \&na Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat
786: .It Sx \&nf Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat
787: .It Sx \&sp Ta 1 Ta current Ta compat
788: .El
789: .Pp
790: Macros marked as
791: .Qq compat
792: are included for compatibility with the significant corpus of existing
793: manuals that mix dialects of roff.
794: These macros should not be used for portable
795: .Nm
796: manuals.
797: .Ss Block Macros
798: Block macros comprise a head and body.
799: As with in-line macros, the head is scoped to the current line and, in
800: one circumstance, the next line (the next-line stipulations as in
801: .Sx Line Macros
802: apply here as well).
803: .Pp
804: The syntax is as follows:
805: .Bd -literal -offset indent
806: \&.YO \(lBhead...\(rB
807: \(lBhead...\(rB
808: \(lBbody...\(rB
809: .Ed
810: .Pp
811: The closure of body scope may be to the section, where a macro is closed
812: by
813: .Sx \&SH ;
814: sub-section, closed by a section or
815: .Sx \&SS ;
816: part, closed by a section, sub-section, or
817: .Sx \&RE ;
818: or paragraph, closed by a section, sub-section, part,
819: .Sx \&HP ,
820: .Sx \&IP ,
821: .Sx \&LP ,
822: .Sx \&P ,
823: .Sx \&PP ,
824: or
825: .Sx \&TP .
826: No closure refers to an explicit block closing macro.
827: .Pp
828: As a rule, block macros may not be nested; thus, calling a block macro
829: while another block macro scope is open, and the open scope is not
830: implicitly closed, is syntactically incorrect.
831: .Bl -column "MacroX" "ArgumentsX" "Head ScopeX" "sub-sectionX" "compatX" -offset indent
832: .It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments Ta Em Head Scope Ta Em Body Scope Ta Em Notes
833: .It Sx \&HP Ta <2 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \&
834: .It Sx \&IP Ta <3 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \&
835: .It Sx \&LP Ta 0 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \&
836: .It Sx \&P Ta 0 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \&
837: .It Sx \&PP Ta 0 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \&
838: .It Sx \&RE Ta 0 Ta current Ta none Ta compat
839: .It Sx \&RS Ta 1 Ta current Ta part Ta compat
840: .It Sx \&SH Ta >0 Ta next-line Ta section Ta \&
841: .It Sx \&SS Ta >0 Ta next-line Ta sub-section Ta \&
842: .It Sx \&TP Ta n Ta next-line Ta paragraph Ta \&
1.121 ! schwarze 843: .It Sx \&UE Ta 0 Ta current Ta none Ta compat
! 844: .It Sx \&UR Ta 1 Ta current Ta part Ta compat
1.111 schwarze 845: .El
846: .Pp
847: Macros marked
848: .Qq compat
849: are as mentioned in
850: .Sx Line Macros .
851: .Pp
852: If a block macro is next-line scoped, it may only be followed by in-line
853: macros for decorating text.
854: .Ss Font handling
855: In
856: .Nm
857: documents, both
858: .Sx Physical markup
859: macros and
860: .Xr roff 7
861: .Ql \ef
862: font escape sequences can be used to choose fonts.
863: In text lines, the effect of manual font selection by escape sequences
864: only lasts until the next macro invocation; in macro lines, it only lasts
865: until the end of the macro scope.
866: Note that macros like
867: .Sx \&BR
868: open and close a font scope for each argument.
1.18 kristaps 869: .Sh COMPATIBILITY
1.58 kristaps 870: This section documents areas of questionable portability between
871: implementations of the
872: .Nm
873: language.
1.51 kristaps 874: .Pp
875: .Bl -dash -compact
1.109 kristaps 876: .It
877: Do not depend on
878: .Sx \&SH
879: or
880: .Sx \&SS
881: to close out a literal context opened with
882: .Sx \&nf .
883: This behaviour may not be portable.
1.77 kristaps 884: .It
1.58 kristaps 885: In quoted literals, GNU troff allowed pair-wise double-quotes to produce
1.68 kristaps 886: a standalone double-quote in formatted output.
887: It is not known whether this behaviour is exhibited by other formatters.
1.32 kristaps 888: .It
1.82 kristaps 889: troff suppresses a newline before
890: .Sq \(aq
891: macro output; in mandoc, it is an alias for the standard
892: .Sq \&.
893: control character.
894: .It
895: The
896: .Sq \eh
897: .Pq horizontal position ,
898: .Sq \ev
899: .Pq vertical position ,
900: .Sq \em
901: .Pq text colour ,
902: .Sq \eM
903: .Pq text filling colour ,
1.83 kristaps 904: .Sq \ez
905: .Pq zero-length character ,
1.84 kristaps 906: .Sq \ew
907: .Pq string length ,
1.85 kristaps 908: .Sq \ek
909: .Pq horizontal position marker ,
1.87 kristaps 910: .Sq \eo
911: .Pq text overstrike ,
1.82 kristaps 912: and
913: .Sq \es
914: .Pq text size
1.84 kristaps 915: escape sequences are all discarded in mandoc.
1.82 kristaps 916: .It
917: The
918: .Sq \ef
919: scaling unit is accepted by mandoc, but rendered as the default unit.
920: .It
1.23 kristaps 921: The
1.51 kristaps 922: .Sx \&sp
1.68 kristaps 923: macro does not accept negative values in mandoc.
924: In GNU troff, this would result in strange behaviour.
1.112 schwarze 925: .It
926: In page header lines, GNU troff versions up to and including 1.21
927: only print
928: .Ar volume
929: names explicitly specified in the
930: .Sx \&TH
931: macro; mandoc and newer groff print the default volume name
932: corresponding to the
933: .Ar section
934: number when no
935: .Ar volume
936: is given, like in
937: .Xr mdoc 7 .
1.32 kristaps 938: .El
1.113 kristaps 939: .Pp
940: The
941: .Sx OP
942: macro is part of the extended
943: .Nm
944: macro set, and may not be portable to non-GNU troff implementations.
1.1 kristaps 945: .Sh SEE ALSO
1.89 schwarze 946: .Xr man 1 ,
1.32 kristaps 947: .Xr mandoc 1 ,
1.98 kristaps 948: .Xr eqn 7 ,
1.89 schwarze 949: .Xr mandoc_char 7 ,
1.94 kristaps 950: .Xr mdoc 7 ,
951: .Xr roff 7 ,
952: .Xr tbl 7
1.78 schwarze 953: .Sh HISTORY
954: The
955: .Nm
956: language first appeared as a macro package for the roff typesetting
957: system in
958: .At v7 .
959: It was later rewritten by James Clark as a macro package for groff.
1.113 kristaps 960: Eric S. Raymond wrote the extended
961: .Nm
962: macros for groff in 2007.
1.78 schwarze 963: The stand-alone implementation that is part of the
964: .Xr mandoc 1
965: utility written by Kristaps Dzonsons appeared in
1.80 kristaps 966: .Ox 4.6 .
1.1 kristaps 967: .Sh AUTHORS
1.78 schwarze 968: This
1.32 kristaps 969: .Nm
1.23 kristaps 970: reference was written by
1.119 schwarze 971: .An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq Mt kristaps@bsd.lv .
1.1 kristaps 972: .Sh CAVEATS
1.68 kristaps 973: Do not use this language.
974: Use
1.32 kristaps 975: .Xr mdoc 7 ,
1.1 kristaps 976: instead.
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