Annotation of mandoc/man.7, Revision 1.91
1.91 ! kristaps 1: .\" $Id: man.7,v 1.90 2010/12/05 16:14:16 kristaps Exp $
1.1 kristaps 2: .\"
1.78 schwarze 3: .\" Copyright (c) 2009, 2010 Kristaps Dzonsons <kristaps@bsd.lv>
1.1 kristaps 4: .\"
5: .\" Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any
1.10 kristaps 6: .\" purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above
7: .\" copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies.
8: .\"
9: .\" THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES
10: .\" WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
11: .\" MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR
12: .\" ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES
13: .\" WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN
14: .\" ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF
15: .\" OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
1.1 kristaps 16: .\"
1.91 ! kristaps 17: .Dd $Mdocdate: December 5 2010 $
1.9 kristaps 18: .Dt MAN 7
1.1 kristaps 19: .Os
20: .Sh NAME
1.32 kristaps 21: .Nm man
22: .Nd man language reference
1.1 kristaps 23: .Sh DESCRIPTION
24: The
1.32 kristaps 25: .Nm man
1.20 kristaps 26: language was historically used to format
1.32 kristaps 27: .Ux
1.68 kristaps 28: manuals.
29: This reference document describes its syntax, structure, and usage.
1.32 kristaps 30: .Pp
31: .Bf -emphasis
1.20 kristaps 32: Do not use
1.32 kristaps 33: .Nm
1.20 kristaps 34: to write your manuals.
1.32 kristaps 35: .Ef
1.19 kristaps 36: Use the
1.32 kristaps 37: .Xr mdoc 7
1.1 kristaps 38: language, instead.
1.32 kristaps 39: .Pp
1.78 schwarze 40: A
1.32 kristaps 41: .Nm
1.1 kristaps 42: document follows simple rules: lines beginning with the control
1.20 kristaps 43: character
1.32 kristaps 44: .Sq \&.
1.68 kristaps 45: are parsed for macros.
46: Other lines are interpreted within the scope of
1.1 kristaps 47: prior macros:
1.32 kristaps 48: .Bd -literal -offset indent
1.1 kristaps 49: \&.SH Macro lines change control state.
50: Other lines are interpreted within the current state.
1.32 kristaps 51: .Ed
1.1 kristaps 52: .Sh INPUT ENCODING
1.32 kristaps 53: .Nm
1.14 kristaps 54: documents may contain only graphable 7-bit ASCII characters, the
1.78 schwarze 55: space character, and the tab character.
1.68 kristaps 56: All manuals must have
1.32 kristaps 57: .Ux
1.20 kristaps 58: line termination.
1.32 kristaps 59: .Pp
1.5 kristaps 60: Blank lines are acceptable; where found, the output will assert a
1.1 kristaps 61: vertical space.
1.32 kristaps 62: .Ss Comments
1.21 kristaps 63: Text following a
1.75 kristaps 64: .Sq \e\*q ,
1.21 kristaps 65: whether in a macro or free-form text line, is ignored to the end of
1.68 kristaps 66: line.
67: A macro line with only a control character and comment escape,
1.75 kristaps 68: .Sq \&.\e\*q ,
1.68 kristaps 69: is also ignored.
70: Macro lines with only a control character and optionally whitespace are
71: stripped from input.
1.32 kristaps 72: .Ss Special Characters
1.21 kristaps 73: Special characters may occur in both macro and free-form lines.
74: Sequences begin with the escape character
1.32 kristaps 75: .Sq \e
1.20 kristaps 76: followed by either an open-parenthesis
1.32 kristaps 77: .Sq \&(
1.1 kristaps 78: for two-character sequences; an open-bracket
1.32 kristaps 79: .Sq \&[
1.1 kristaps 80: for n-character sequences (terminated at a close-bracket
1.32 kristaps 81: .Sq \&] ) ;
1.68 kristaps 82: or a single one-character sequence.
83: See
1.32 kristaps 84: .Xr mandoc_char 7
1.68 kristaps 85: for a complete list.
86: Examples include
1.32 kristaps 87: .Sq \e(em
88: .Pq em-dash
1.21 kristaps 89: and
1.32 kristaps 90: .Sq \ee
91: .Pq back-slash .
92: .Ss Text Decoration
1.21 kristaps 93: Terms may be text-decorated using the
1.32 kristaps 94: .Sq \ef
1.78 schwarze 95: escape followed by an indicator: B (bold), I (italic), R (Roman), or P
1.55 kristaps 96: (revert to previous mode):
1.48 kristaps 97: .Pp
98: .D1 \efBbold\efR \efIitalic\efP
99: .Pp
100: A numerical representation 3, 2, or 1 (bold, italic, and Roman,
1.68 kristaps 101: respectively) may be used instead.
102: A text decoration is only valid, if specified in free-form text, until
103: the next macro invocation; if specified within a macro, it's only valid
104: until the macro closes scope.
1.54 kristaps 105: Note that macros like
106: .Sx \&BR
107: open and close a font scope with each argument.
1.48 kristaps 108: .Pp
1.76 kristaps 109: The
1.49 kristaps 110: .Sq \ef
1.76 kristaps 111: attribute is forgotten when entering or exiting a macro block.
1.32 kristaps 112: .Ss Whitespace
1.66 kristaps 113: Whitespace consists of the space character.
1.80 kristaps 114: In free-form lines, whitespace is preserved within a line; unescaped
1.64 kristaps 115: trailing spaces are stripped from input (unless in a literal context).
116: Blank free-form lines, which may include spaces, are permitted and
117: rendered as an empty line.
118: .Pp
1.68 kristaps 119: In macro lines, whitespace delimits arguments and is discarded.
120: If arguments are quoted, whitespace within the quotes is retained.
1.43 kristaps 121: .Ss Dates
122: The
123: .Sx \&TH
124: macro is the only
125: .Nm
1.68 kristaps 126: macro that requires a date.
127: The form for this date is the ISO-8601
1.43 kristaps 128: standard
129: .Cm YYYY-MM-DD .
1.38 kristaps 130: .Ss Scaling Widths
131: Many macros support scaled widths for their arguments, such as
132: stipulating a two-inch paragraph indentation with the following:
133: .Bd -literal -offset indent
134: \&.HP 2i
135: .Ed
136: .Pp
137: The syntax for scaled widths is
138: .Sq Li [+-]?[0-9]*.[0-9]*[:unit:]? ,
139: where a decimal must be preceded or proceeded by at least one digit.
1.68 kristaps 140: Negative numbers, while accepted, are truncated to zero.
141: The following scaling units are accepted:
1.38 kristaps 142: .Pp
143: .Bl -tag -width Ds -offset indent -compact
144: .It c
145: centimetre
146: .It i
147: inch
148: .It P
149: pica (~1/6 inch)
150: .It p
151: point (~1/72 inch)
152: .It f
153: synonym for
154: .Sq u
155: .It v
156: default vertical span
157: .It m
158: width of rendered
159: .Sq m
160: .Pq em
161: character
162: .It n
163: width of rendered
164: .Sq n
165: .Pq en
166: character
167: .It u
168: default horizontal span
169: .It M
170: mini-em (~1/100 em)
171: .El
172: .Pp
173: Using anything other than
174: .Sq m ,
175: .Sq n ,
176: .Sq u ,
177: or
178: .Sq v
1.44 kristaps 179: is necessarily non-portable across output media.
1.38 kristaps 180: .Pp
181: If a scaling unit is not provided, the numerical value is interpreted
182: under the default rules of
183: .Sq v
184: for vertical spaces and
185: .Sq u
186: for horizontal ones.
187: .Em Note :
188: this differs from
189: .Xr mdoc 7 ,
190: which, if a unit is not provided, will instead interpret the string as
191: literal text.
1.69 kristaps 192: .Ss Sentence Spacing
1.80 kristaps 193: When composing a manual, make sure that sentences end at the end of
1.69 kristaps 194: a line.
195: By doing so, front-ends will be able to apply the proper amount of
1.71 kristaps 196: spacing after the end of sentence (unescaped) period, exclamation mark,
197: or question mark followed by zero or more non-sentence closing
1.80 kristaps 198: delimiters
199: .Po
200: .Sq \&) ,
1.71 kristaps 201: .Sq \&] ,
202: .Sq \&' ,
1.80 kristaps 203: .Sq \&"
204: .Pc .
1.22 kristaps 205: .Sh MANUAL STRUCTURE
1.16 kristaps 206: Each
1.32 kristaps 207: .Nm
1.80 kristaps 208: document must contain the
1.39 kristaps 209: .Sx \&TH
1.68 kristaps 210: macro describing the document's section and title.
1.80 kristaps 211: It may occur anywhere in the document, although conventionally it
1.68 kristaps 212: appears as the first macro.
1.32 kristaps 213: .Pp
1.22 kristaps 214: Beyond
1.39 kristaps 215: .Sx \&TH ,
1.68 kristaps 216: at least one macro or text node must appear in the document.
217: Documents are generally structured as follows:
1.32 kristaps 218: .Bd -literal -offset indent
1.43 kristaps 219: \&.TH FOO 1 2009-10-10
1.22 kristaps 220: \&.SH NAME
1.29 kristaps 221: \efBfoo\efR \e(en a description goes here
1.33 kristaps 222: \&.\e\*q .SH LIBRARY
1.86 kristaps 223: \&.\e\*q For sections 2 & 3 only.
224: \&.\e\*q Not used in OpenBSD.
1.22 kristaps 225: \&.SH SYNOPSIS
226: \efBfoo\efR [\efB\e-options\efR] arguments...
227: \&.SH DESCRIPTION
1.33 kristaps 228: The \efBfoo\efR utility processes files...
229: \&.\e\*q .SH IMPLEMENTATION NOTES
1.89 schwarze 230: \&.\e\*q Not used in OpenBSD.
1.22 kristaps 231: \&.\e\*q .SH RETURN VALUES
1.86 kristaps 232: \&.\e\*q For sections 2, 3, & 9 only.
1.22 kristaps 233: \&.\e\*q .SH ENVIRONMENT
1.86 kristaps 234: \&.\e\*q For sections 1, 6, 7, & 8 only.
1.22 kristaps 235: \&.\e\*q .SH FILES
1.67 kristaps 236: \&.\e\*q .SH EXIT STATUS
1.89 schwarze 237: \&.\e\*q For sections 1, 6, & 8 only.
1.22 kristaps 238: \&.\e\*q .SH EXAMPLES
239: \&.\e\*q .SH DIAGNOSTICS
1.86 kristaps 240: \&.\e\*q For sections 1, 4, 6, 7, & 8 only.
1.22 kristaps 241: \&.\e\*q .SH ERRORS
1.86 kristaps 242: \&.\e\*q For sections 2, 3, & 9 only.
1.22 kristaps 243: \&.\e\*q .SH SEE ALSO
1.42 kristaps 244: \&.\e\*q .BR foo ( 1 )
1.22 kristaps 245: \&.\e\*q .SH STANDARDS
246: \&.\e\*q .SH HISTORY
247: \&.\e\*q .SH AUTHORS
248: \&.\e\*q .SH CAVEATS
249: \&.\e\*q .SH BUGS
1.33 kristaps 250: \&.\e\*q .SH SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
1.86 kristaps 251: \&.\e\*q Not used in OpenBSD.
1.32 kristaps 252: .Ed
1.41 kristaps 253: .Pp
254: The sections in a
255: .Nm
1.68 kristaps 256: document are conventionally ordered as they appear above.
257: Sections should be composed as follows:
1.42 kristaps 258: .Bl -ohang -offset indent
259: .It Em NAME
1.68 kristaps 260: The name(s) and a short description of the documented material.
261: The syntax for this is generally as follows:
1.41 kristaps 262: .Pp
263: .D1 \efBname\efR \e(en description
1.42 kristaps 264: .It Em LIBRARY
1.41 kristaps 265: The name of the library containing the documented material, which is
1.68 kristaps 266: assumed to be a function in a section 2 or 3 manual.
267: For functions in the C library, this may be as follows:
1.41 kristaps 268: .Pp
269: .D1 Standard C Library (libc, -lc)
1.42 kristaps 270: .It Em SYNOPSIS
1.41 kristaps 271: Documents the utility invocation syntax, function call syntax, or device
1.55 kristaps 272: configuration.
1.41 kristaps 273: .Pp
274: For the first, utilities (sections 1, 6, and 8), this is
275: generally structured as follows:
276: .Pp
277: .D1 \efBname\efR [-\efBab\efR] [-\efBc\efR\efIarg\efR] \efBpath\efR...
278: .Pp
279: For the second, function calls (sections 2, 3, 9):
280: .Pp
1.44 kristaps 281: .D1 \&.B char *name(char *\efIarg\efR);
1.41 kristaps 282: .Pp
283: And for the third, configurations (section 4):
284: .Pp
1.44 kristaps 285: .D1 \&.B name* at cardbus ? function ?
1.41 kristaps 286: .Pp
1.55 kristaps 287: Manuals not in these sections generally don't need a
1.42 kristaps 288: .Em SYNOPSIS .
289: .It Em DESCRIPTION
1.55 kristaps 290: This expands upon the brief, one-line description in
1.42 kristaps 291: .Em NAME .
292: It usually contains a break-down of the options (if documenting a
293: command).
294: .It Em IMPLEMENTATION NOTES
1.68 kristaps 295: Implementation-specific notes should be kept here.
296: This is useful when implementing standard functions that may have side
297: effects or notable algorithmic implications.
1.42 kristaps 298: .It Em RETURN VALUES
1.80 kristaps 299: This section documents the return values of functions in sections 2, 3, and 9.
1.42 kristaps 300: .It Em ENVIRONMENT
301: Documents any usages of environment variables, e.g.,
302: .Xr environ 7 .
303: .It Em FILES
1.68 kristaps 304: Documents files used.
1.78 schwarze 305: It's helpful to document both the file name and a short description of how
1.68 kristaps 306: the file is used (created, modified, etc.).
1.67 kristaps 307: .It Em EXIT STATUS
1.80 kristaps 308: This section documents the command exit status for
309: section 1, 6, and 8 utilities.
1.68 kristaps 310: Historically, this information was described in
1.67 kristaps 311: .Em DIAGNOSTICS ,
312: a practise that is now discouraged.
1.42 kristaps 313: .It Em EXAMPLES
1.68 kristaps 314: Example usages.
315: This often contains snippets of well-formed,
316: well-tested invocations.
1.80 kristaps 317: Make sure that examples work properly!
1.42 kristaps 318: .It Em DIAGNOSTICS
1.68 kristaps 319: Documents error conditions.
320: This is most useful in section 4 manuals.
1.42 kristaps 321: Historically, this section was used in place of
322: .Em EXIT STATUS
323: for manuals in sections 1, 6, and 8; however, this practise is
324: discouraged.
325: .It Em ERRORS
326: Documents error handling in sections 2, 3, and 9.
327: .It Em SEE ALSO
1.68 kristaps 328: References other manuals with related topics.
329: This section should exist for most manuals.
1.44 kristaps 330: .Pp
331: .D1 \&.BR bar \&( 1 \&),
332: .Pp
333: Cross-references should conventionally be ordered
1.42 kristaps 334: first by section, then alphabetically.
335: .It Em STANDARDS
336: References any standards implemented or used, such as
337: .Pp
338: .D1 IEEE Std 1003.2 (\e(lqPOSIX.2\e(rq)
339: .Pp
340: If not adhering to any standards, the
341: .Em HISTORY
342: section should be used.
343: .It Em HISTORY
1.81 schwarze 344: A brief history of the subject, including where support first appeared.
1.42 kristaps 345: .It Em AUTHORS
1.81 schwarze 346: Credits to the person or persons who wrote the code and/or documentation.
1.78 schwarze 347: Authors should generally be noted by both name and email address.
1.42 kristaps 348: .It Em CAVEATS
1.78 schwarze 349: Common misuses and misunderstandings should be explained
1.42 kristaps 350: in this section.
351: .It Em BUGS
1.80 kristaps 352: Known bugs, limitations, and work-arounds should be described
1.78 schwarze 353: in this section.
1.42 kristaps 354: .It Em SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
355: Documents any security precautions that operators should consider.
1.41 kristaps 356: .El
1.22 kristaps 357: .Sh MACRO SYNTAX
1.80 kristaps 358: Macros are one to three characters in length and begin with a
1.78 schwarze 359: control character,
1.32 kristaps 360: .Sq \&. ,
1.68 kristaps 361: at the beginning of the line.
362: The
1.59 kristaps 363: .Sq \(aq
1.68 kristaps 364: macro control character is also accepted.
365: An arbitrary amount of whitespace (spaces or tabs) may sit between the
366: control character and the macro name.
367: Thus, the following are equivalent:
1.39 kristaps 368: .Bd -literal -offset indent
369: \&.PP
370: \&.\ \ \ PP
371: .Ed
1.32 kristaps 372: .Pp
1.1 kristaps 373: The
1.32 kristaps 374: .Nm
1.68 kristaps 375: macros are classified by scope: line scope or block scope.
376: Line macros are only scoped to the current line (and, in some
377: situations, the subsequent line).
378: Block macros are scoped to the current line and subsequent lines until
379: closed by another block macro.
1.32 kristaps 380: .Ss Line Macros
1.30 kristaps 381: Line macros are generally scoped to the current line, with the body
1.68 kristaps 382: consisting of zero or more arguments.
383: If a macro is scoped to the next line and the line arguments are empty,
384: the next line, which must be text, is used instead.
385: Thus:
1.32 kristaps 386: .Bd -literal -offset indent
1.30 kristaps 387: \&.I
1.4 kristaps 388: foo
1.32 kristaps 389: .Ed
390: .Pp
1.20 kristaps 391: is equivalent to
1.32 kristaps 392: .Sq \&.I foo .
1.56 kristaps 393: If next-line macros are invoked consecutively, only the last is used.
394: If a next-line macro is followed by a non-next-line macro, an error is
1.78 schwarze 395: raised, except for
1.56 kristaps 396: .Sx \&br ,
397: .Sx \&sp ,
1.78 schwarze 398: and
399: .Sx \&na .
1.56 kristaps 400: .Pp
401: The syntax is as follows:
1.32 kristaps 402: .Bd -literal -offset indent
1.22 kristaps 403: \&.YO \(lBbody...\(rB
404: \(lBbody...\(rB
1.32 kristaps 405: .Ed
406: .Pp
1.57 kristaps 407: .Bl -column -compact -offset indent "MacroX" "ArgumentsX" "ScopeXXXXX" "CompatX"
408: .It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments Ta Em Scope Ta Em Notes
1.73 kristaps 409: .It Sx \&AT Ta <=1 Ta current Ta \&
1.57 kristaps 410: .It Sx \&B Ta n Ta next-line Ta \&
411: .It Sx \&BI Ta n Ta current Ta \&
412: .It Sx \&BR Ta n Ta current Ta \&
413: .It Sx \&DT Ta 0 Ta current Ta \&
414: .It Sx \&I Ta n Ta next-line Ta \&
415: .It Sx \&IB Ta n Ta current Ta \&
416: .It Sx \&IR Ta n Ta current Ta \&
417: .It Sx \&R Ta n Ta next-line Ta \&
418: .It Sx \&RB Ta n Ta current Ta \&
419: .It Sx \&RI Ta n Ta current Ta \&
420: .It Sx \&SB Ta n Ta next-line Ta \&
421: .It Sx \&SM Ta n Ta next-line Ta \&
422: .It Sx \&TH Ta >1, <6 Ta current Ta \&
1.73 kristaps 423: .It Sx \&UC Ta <=1 Ta current Ta \&
1.57 kristaps 424: .It Sx \&br Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat
425: .It Sx \&fi Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat
1.91 ! kristaps 426: .It Sx \&ft Ta 1 Ta current Ta compat
1.57 kristaps 427: .It Sx \&i Ta n Ta current Ta compat
1.79 kristaps 428: .It Sx \&in Ta 1 Ta current Ta compat
1.57 kristaps 429: .It Sx \&na Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat
430: .It Sx \&nf Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat
431: .It Sx \&r Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat
432: .It Sx \&sp Ta 1 Ta current Ta compat
1.32 kristaps 433: .El
434: .Pp
1.57 kristaps 435: Macros marked as
436: .Qq compat
437: are included for compatibility with the significant corpus of existing
1.68 kristaps 438: manuals that mix dialects of roff.
439: These macros should not be used for portable
1.58 kristaps 440: .Nm
441: manuals.
1.32 kristaps 442: .Ss Block Macros
1.80 kristaps 443: Block macros comprise a head and body.
444: As with in-line macros, the head is scoped to the current line and, in
1.68 kristaps 445: one circumstance, the next line (the next-line stipulations as in
1.57 kristaps 446: .Sx Line Macros
447: apply here as well).
1.56 kristaps 448: .Pp
449: The syntax is as follows:
1.32 kristaps 450: .Bd -literal -offset indent
1.22 kristaps 451: \&.YO \(lBhead...\(rB
452: \(lBhead...\(rB
453: \(lBbody...\(rB
1.32 kristaps 454: .Ed
455: .Pp
1.30 kristaps 456: The closure of body scope may be to the section, where a macro is closed
457: by
1.39 kristaps 458: .Sx \&SH ;
1.30 kristaps 459: sub-section, closed by a section or
1.39 kristaps 460: .Sx \&SS ;
1.30 kristaps 461: part, closed by a section, sub-section, or
1.39 kristaps 462: .Sx \&RE ;
1.55 kristaps 463: or paragraph, closed by a section, sub-section, part,
1.39 kristaps 464: .Sx \&HP ,
465: .Sx \&IP ,
466: .Sx \&LP ,
467: .Sx \&P ,
468: .Sx \&PP ,
1.30 kristaps 469: or
1.39 kristaps 470: .Sx \&TP .
1.30 kristaps 471: No closure refers to an explicit block closing macro.
1.32 kristaps 472: .Pp
1.58 kristaps 473: As a rule, block macros may not be nested; thus, calling a block macro
474: while another block macro scope is open, and the open scope is not
475: implicitly closed, is syntactically incorrect.
476: .Pp
1.57 kristaps 477: .Bl -column -compact -offset indent "MacroX" "ArgumentsX" "Head ScopeX" "sub-sectionX" "compatX"
478: .It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments Ta Em Head Scope Ta Em Body Scope Ta Em Notes
479: .It Sx \&HP Ta <2 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \&
480: .It Sx \&IP Ta <3 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \&
481: .It Sx \&LP Ta 0 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \&
482: .It Sx \&P Ta 0 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \&
483: .It Sx \&PP Ta 0 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \&
484: .It Sx \&RE Ta 0 Ta current Ta none Ta compat
485: .It Sx \&RS Ta 1 Ta current Ta part Ta compat
486: .It Sx \&SH Ta >0 Ta next-line Ta section Ta \&
487: .It Sx \&SS Ta >0 Ta next-line Ta sub-section Ta \&
488: .It Sx \&TP Ta n Ta next-line Ta paragraph Ta \&
1.32 kristaps 489: .El
1.57 kristaps 490: .Pp
491: Macros marked
492: .Qq compat
493: are as mentioned in
494: .Sx Line Macros .
1.32 kristaps 495: .Pp
1.22 kristaps 496: If a block macro is next-line scoped, it may only be followed by in-line
1.57 kristaps 497: macros for decorating text.
1.22 kristaps 498: .Sh REFERENCE
499: This section is a canonical reference to all macros, arranged
1.68 kristaps 500: alphabetically.
501: For the scoping of individual macros, see
1.32 kristaps 502: .Sx MACRO SYNTAX .
1.72 joerg 503: .Ss \&AT
504: Sets the volume for the footer for compatibility with man pages from
505: .Tn AT&T UNIX
506: releases.
507: The optional arguments specify which release it is from.
1.39 kristaps 508: .Ss \&B
1.22 kristaps 509: Text is rendered in bold face.
1.44 kristaps 510: .Pp
511: See also
512: .Sx \&I ,
513: .Sx \&R ,
514: .Sx \&b ,
515: .Sx \&i ,
516: and
517: .Sx \&r .
1.39 kristaps 518: .Ss \&BI
1.68 kristaps 519: Text is rendered alternately in bold face and italic.
520: Thus,
1.32 kristaps 521: .Sq .BI this word and that
1.22 kristaps 522: causes
1.32 kristaps 523: .Sq this
1.22 kristaps 524: and
1.32 kristaps 525: .Sq and
1.55 kristaps 526: to render in bold face, while
1.32 kristaps 527: .Sq word
1.22 kristaps 528: and
1.32 kristaps 529: .Sq that
1.68 kristaps 530: render in italics.
531: Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
1.44 kristaps 532: .Pp
533: Examples:
1.46 kristaps 534: .Pp
535: .D1 \&.BI bold italic bold italic
1.44 kristaps 536: .Pp
537: The output of this example will be emboldened
538: .Dq bold
539: and italicised
540: .Dq italic ,
541: with spaces stripped between arguments.
542: .Pp
543: See also
544: .Sx \&IB ,
545: .Sx \&BR ,
546: .Sx \&RB ,
547: .Sx \&RI ,
548: and
549: .Sx \&IR .
1.39 kristaps 550: .Ss \&BR
1.22 kristaps 551: Text is rendered alternately in bold face and roman (the default font).
552: Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
1.44 kristaps 553: .Pp
554: See
555: .Sx \&BI
556: for an equivalent example.
557: .Pp
558: See also
559: .Sx \&BI ,
560: .Sx \&IB ,
561: .Sx \&RB ,
562: .Sx \&RI ,
563: and
564: .Sx \&IR .
1.39 kristaps 565: .Ss \&DT
1.68 kristaps 566: Has no effect.
567: Included for compatibility.
1.39 kristaps 568: .Ss \&HP
1.23 kristaps 569: Begin a paragraph whose initial output line is left-justified, but
1.27 kristaps 570: subsequent output lines are indented, with the following syntax:
1.44 kristaps 571: .Bd -filled -offset indent
572: .Pf \. Sx \&HP
573: .Op Cm width
1.32 kristaps 574: .Ed
1.44 kristaps 575: .Pp
576: The
577: .Cm width
578: argument must conform to
579: .Sx Scaling Widths .
580: If specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if unspecified, the
581: saved or default width is used.
582: .Pp
583: See also
1.45 kristaps 584: .Sx \&IP ,
585: .Sx \&LP ,
586: .Sx \&P ,
587: .Sx \&PP ,
1.44 kristaps 588: and
1.45 kristaps 589: .Sx \&TP .
1.39 kristaps 590: .Ss \&I
1.22 kristaps 591: Text is rendered in italics.
1.44 kristaps 592: .Pp
593: See also
594: .Sx \&B ,
595: .Sx \&R ,
596: .Sx \&b ,
597: .Sx \&i ,
598: and
599: .Sx \&r .
1.39 kristaps 600: .Ss \&IB
1.80 kristaps 601: Text is rendered alternately in italics and bold face.
602: Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
1.44 kristaps 603: .Pp
604: See
605: .Sx \&BI
606: for an equivalent example.
607: .Pp
608: See also
609: .Sx \&BI ,
610: .Sx \&BR ,
611: .Sx \&RB ,
612: .Sx \&RI ,
613: and
614: .Sx \&IR .
1.39 kristaps 615: .Ss \&IP
1.44 kristaps 616: Begin an indented paragraph with the following syntax:
617: .Bd -filled -offset indent
618: .Pf \. Sx \&IP
619: .Op Cm head Op Cm width
1.32 kristaps 620: .Ed
1.44 kristaps 621: .Pp
622: The
623: .Cm width
624: argument defines the width of the left margin and is defined by
1.80 kristaps 625: .Sx Scaling Widths .
1.44 kristaps 626: It's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if unspecified, the saved or
627: default width is used.
628: .Pp
629: The
630: .Cm head
1.68 kristaps 631: argument is used as a leading term, flushed to the left margin.
632: This is useful for bulleted paragraphs and so on.
1.44 kristaps 633: .Pp
634: See also
1.45 kristaps 635: .Sx \&HP ,
636: .Sx \&LP ,
637: .Sx \&P ,
638: .Sx \&PP ,
1.44 kristaps 639: and
1.45 kristaps 640: .Sx \&TP .
1.39 kristaps 641: .Ss \&IR
1.22 kristaps 642: Text is rendered alternately in italics and roman (the default font).
643: Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
1.44 kristaps 644: .Pp
645: See
646: .Sx \&BI
647: for an equivalent example.
648: .Pp
649: See also
650: .Sx \&BI ,
651: .Sx \&IB ,
652: .Sx \&BR ,
653: .Sx \&RB ,
654: and
655: .Sx \&RI .
1.39 kristaps 656: .Ss \&LP
1.68 kristaps 657: Begin an undecorated paragraph.
658: The scope of a paragraph is closed by a subsequent paragraph,
659: sub-section, section, or end of file.
1.78 schwarze 660: The saved paragraph left-margin width is reset to the default.
1.44 kristaps 661: .Pp
662: See also
1.45 kristaps 663: .Sx \&HP ,
664: .Sx \&IP ,
665: .Sx \&P ,
666: .Sx \&PP ,
1.44 kristaps 667: and
1.45 kristaps 668: .Sx \&TP .
1.39 kristaps 669: .Ss \&P
670: Synonym for
671: .Sx \&LP .
1.44 kristaps 672: .Pp
673: See also
1.45 kristaps 674: .Sx \&HP ,
675: .Sx \&IP ,
676: .Sx \&LP ,
677: .Sx \&PP ,
1.44 kristaps 678: and
1.45 kristaps 679: .Sx \&TP .
1.39 kristaps 680: .Ss \&PP
681: Synonym for
682: .Sx \&LP .
1.44 kristaps 683: .Pp
684: See also
1.45 kristaps 685: .Sx \&HP ,
686: .Sx \&IP ,
687: .Sx \&LP ,
688: .Sx \&P ,
1.44 kristaps 689: and
1.45 kristaps 690: .Sx \&TP .
1.39 kristaps 691: .Ss \&R
1.22 kristaps 692: Text is rendered in roman (the default font).
1.44 kristaps 693: .Pp
694: See also
695: .Sx \&I ,
696: .Sx \&B ,
697: .Sx \&b ,
698: .Sx \&i ,
699: and
700: .Sx \&r .
1.39 kristaps 701: .Ss \&RB
1.22 kristaps 702: Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and bold face.
703: Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
1.44 kristaps 704: .Pp
705: See
706: .Sx \&BI
707: for an equivalent example.
708: .Pp
709: See also
710: .Sx \&BI ,
711: .Sx \&IB ,
712: .Sx \&BR ,
713: .Sx \&RI ,
714: and
715: .Sx \&IR .
1.39 kristaps 716: .Ss \&RE
1.30 kristaps 717: Explicitly close out the scope of a prior
1.39 kristaps 718: .Sx \&RS .
719: .Ss \&RI
1.22 kristaps 720: Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and italics.
721: Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
1.44 kristaps 722: .Pp
723: See
724: .Sx \&BI
725: for an equivalent example.
726: .Pp
727: See also
728: .Sx \&BI ,
729: .Sx \&IB ,
730: .Sx \&BR ,
731: .Sx \&RB ,
732: and
733: .Sx \&IR .
1.39 kristaps 734: .Ss \&RS
1.68 kristaps 735: Begin a part setting the left margin.
736: The left margin controls the offset, following an initial indentation,
737: to un-indented text such as that of
1.39 kristaps 738: .Sx \&PP .
1.44 kristaps 739: This has the following syntax:
740: .Bd -filled -offset indent
741: .Pf \. Sx \&Rs
742: .Op Cm width
1.32 kristaps 743: .Ed
1.44 kristaps 744: .Pp
745: The
746: .Cm width
747: argument must conform to
748: .Sx Scaling Widths .
1.55 kristaps 749: If not specified, the saved or default width is used.
1.39 kristaps 750: .Ss \&SB
1.22 kristaps 751: Text is rendered in small size (one point smaller than the default font)
752: bold face.
1.39 kristaps 753: .Ss \&SH
1.68 kristaps 754: Begin a section.
755: The scope of a section is only closed by another section or the end of
756: file.
1.78 schwarze 757: The paragraph left-margin width is reset to the default.
1.39 kristaps 758: .Ss \&SM
1.22 kristaps 759: Text is rendered in small size (one point smaller than the default
760: font).
1.39 kristaps 761: .Ss \&SS
1.68 kristaps 762: Begin a sub-section.
763: The scope of a sub-section is closed by a subsequent sub-section,
764: section, or end of file.
1.78 schwarze 765: The paragraph left-margin width is reset to the default.
1.39 kristaps 766: .Ss \&TH
1.22 kristaps 767: Sets the title of the manual page with the following syntax:
1.44 kristaps 768: .Bd -filled -offset indent
769: .Pf \. Sx \&TH
770: .Cm title section
771: .Op Cm date Op Cm source Op Cm volume
772: .Ed
1.43 kristaps 773: .Pp
1.78 schwarze 774: At least the upper-case document
1.43 kristaps 775: .Cm title
1.78 schwarze 776: and the manual
1.44 kristaps 777: .Cm section
1.68 kristaps 778: arguments must be provided.
779: The
1.43 kristaps 780: .Cm date
781: argument should be formatted as described in
1.74 kristaps 782: .Sx Dates ,
783: but will be printed verbatim if it is not.
784: If the date is not specified, the current date is used.
1.68 kristaps 785: The
1.44 kristaps 786: .Cm source
1.68 kristaps 787: string specifies the organisation providing the utility.
788: The
1.44 kristaps 789: .Cm volume
1.43 kristaps 790: string replaces the default rendered volume, which is dictated by the
791: manual section.
792: .Pp
793: Examples:
1.46 kristaps 794: .Pp
795: .D1 \&.TH CVS 5 "1992-02-12" GNU
1.39 kristaps 796: .Ss \&TP
1.25 kristaps 797: Begin a paragraph where the head, if exceeding the indentation width, is
1.24 kristaps 798: followed by a newline; if not, the body follows on the same line after a
1.68 kristaps 799: buffer to the indentation width.
800: Subsequent output lines are indented.
1.44 kristaps 801: The syntax is as follows:
802: .Bd -filled -offset indent
803: .Pf \. Sx \&TP
804: .Op Cm width
1.32 kristaps 805: .Ed
806: .Pp
1.44 kristaps 807: The
808: .Cm width
809: argument must conform to
810: .Sx Scaling Widths .
811: If specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if
1.27 kristaps 812: unspecified, the saved or default width is used.
1.44 kristaps 813: .Pp
814: See also
1.45 kristaps 815: .Sx \&HP ,
816: .Sx \&IP ,
817: .Sx \&LP ,
818: .Sx \&P ,
1.44 kristaps 819: and
1.45 kristaps 820: .Sx \&PP .
1.72 joerg 821: .Ss \&UC
822: Sets the volume for the footer for compatibility with man pages from
823: BSD releases.
824: The optional first argument specifies which release it is from.
1.39 kristaps 825: .Ss \&br
1.68 kristaps 826: Breaks the current line.
827: Consecutive invocations have no further effect.
1.44 kristaps 828: .Pp
829: See also
830: .Sx \&sp .
1.39 kristaps 831: .Ss \&fi
1.22 kristaps 832: End literal mode begun by
1.39 kristaps 833: .Sx \&nf .
1.91 ! kristaps 834: .Ss \&ft
! 835: Change the current font mode.
! 836: See
! 837: .Sx Text Decoration
! 838: for a listing of available font modes.
1.39 kristaps 839: .Ss \&i
1.68 kristaps 840: Italicise arguments.
841: Synonym for
1.51 kristaps 842: .Sx \&I .
1.44 kristaps 843: .Pp
844: See also
845: .Sx \&B ,
846: .Sx \&I ,
847: .Sx \&R .
848: .Sx \&b ,
849: and
850: .Sx \&r .
1.79 kristaps 851: .Ss \&in
852: Indent relative to the current indentation:
853: .Pp
854: .D1 Pf \. Sx \&in Op Cm width
855: .Pp
856: If
857: .Cm width
858: is signed, the new offset is relative.
859: Otherwise, it is absolute.
860: This value is reset upon the next paragraph, section, or sub-section.
1.39 kristaps 861: .Ss \&na
1.36 kristaps 862: Don't align to the right margin.
1.39 kristaps 863: .Ss \&nf
1.22 kristaps 864: Begin literal mode: all subsequent free-form lines have their end of
1.68 kristaps 865: line boundaries preserved.
866: May be ended by
1.39 kristaps 867: .Sx \&fi .
868: .Ss \&r
1.22 kristaps 869: Fonts and styles (bold face, italics) reset to roman (default font).
1.44 kristaps 870: .Pp
871: See also
872: .Sx \&B ,
873: .Sx \&I ,
874: .Sx \&R ,
875: .Sx \&b ,
876: and
877: .Sx \&i .
1.39 kristaps 878: .Ss \&sp
1.44 kristaps 879: Insert vertical spaces into output with the following syntax:
880: .Bd -filled -offset indent
881: .Pf \. Sx \&sp
882: .Op Cm height
883: .Ed
884: .Pp
1.55 kristaps 885: Insert
1.44 kristaps 886: .Cm height
887: spaces, which must conform to
888: .Sx Scaling Widths .
889: If 0, this is equivalent to the
1.39 kristaps 890: .Sx \&br
1.68 kristaps 891: macro.
892: Defaults to 1, if unspecified.
1.44 kristaps 893: .Pp
894: See also
895: .Sx \&br .
1.18 kristaps 896: .Sh COMPATIBILITY
1.58 kristaps 897: This section documents areas of questionable portability between
898: implementations of the
899: .Nm
900: language.
1.51 kristaps 901: .Pp
902: .Bl -dash -compact
1.77 kristaps 903: .It
1.58 kristaps 904: In quoted literals, GNU troff allowed pair-wise double-quotes to produce
1.68 kristaps 905: a standalone double-quote in formatted output.
906: It is not known whether this behaviour is exhibited by other formatters.
1.32 kristaps 907: .It
1.82 kristaps 908: troff suppresses a newline before
909: .Sq \(aq
910: macro output; in mandoc, it is an alias for the standard
911: .Sq \&.
912: control character.
913: .It
914: The
915: .Sq \eh
916: .Pq horizontal position ,
917: .Sq \ev
918: .Pq vertical position ,
919: .Sq \em
920: .Pq text colour ,
921: .Sq \eM
922: .Pq text filling colour ,
1.83 kristaps 923: .Sq \ez
924: .Pq zero-length character ,
1.84 kristaps 925: .Sq \ew
926: .Pq string length ,
1.85 kristaps 927: .Sq \ek
928: .Pq horizontal position marker ,
1.87 kristaps 929: .Sq \eo
930: .Pq text overstrike ,
1.82 kristaps 931: and
932: .Sq \es
933: .Pq text size
1.84 kristaps 934: escape sequences are all discarded in mandoc.
1.82 kristaps 935: .It
936: The
937: .Sq \ef
938: scaling unit is accepted by mandoc, but rendered as the default unit.
939: .It
1.23 kristaps 940: The
1.51 kristaps 941: .Sx \&sp
1.68 kristaps 942: macro does not accept negative values in mandoc.
943: In GNU troff, this would result in strange behaviour.
1.32 kristaps 944: .El
1.1 kristaps 945: .Sh SEE ALSO
1.89 schwarze 946: .Xr man 1 ,
1.32 kristaps 947: .Xr mandoc 1 ,
1.89 schwarze 948: .Xr mandoc_char 7 ,
949: .Xr mdoc 7
1.78 schwarze 950: .Sh HISTORY
951: The
952: .Nm
953: language first appeared as a macro package for the roff typesetting
954: system in
955: .At v7 .
956: It was later rewritten by James Clark as a macro package for groff.
957: The stand-alone implementation that is part of the
958: .Xr mandoc 1
959: utility written by Kristaps Dzonsons appeared in
1.80 kristaps 960: .Ox 4.6 .
1.1 kristaps 961: .Sh AUTHORS
1.78 schwarze 962: This
1.32 kristaps 963: .Nm
1.23 kristaps 964: reference was written by
1.62 kristaps 965: .An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq kristaps@bsd.lv .
1.1 kristaps 966: .Sh CAVEATS
1.68 kristaps 967: Do not use this language.
968: Use
1.32 kristaps 969: .Xr mdoc 7 ,
1.1 kristaps 970: instead.
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