=================================================================== RCS file: /cvs/mandoc/mdoc.7,v retrieving revision 1.13 retrieving revision 1.41 diff -u -p -r1.13 -r1.41 --- mandoc/mdoc.7 2009/03/22 08:52:27 1.13 +++ mandoc/mdoc.7 2009/07/12 19:34:51 1.41 @@ -1,28 +1,26 @@ -.\" $Id: mdoc.7,v 1.13 2009/03/22 08:52:27 kristaps Exp $ +.\" $Id: mdoc.7,v 1.41 2009/07/12 19:34:51 kristaps Exp $ .\" -.\" Copyright (c) 2009 Kristaps Dzonsons +.\" Copyright (c) 2009 Kristaps Dzonsons .\" .\" Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any -.\" purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the -.\" above copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all -.\" copies. +.\" purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above +.\" copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies. .\" -.\" THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL -.\" WARRANTIES WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED -.\" WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE -.\" AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL -.\" DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR -.\" PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER -.\" TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR -.\" PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE. +.\" THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES +.\" WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF +.\" MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR +.\" ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES +.\" WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN +.\" ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF +.\" OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE. .\" -.Dd $Mdocdate: March 22 2009 $ -.Dt mdoc 7 +.Dd $Mdocdate: July 12 2009 $ +.Dt MDOC 7 .Os .\" SECTION .Sh NAME .Nm mdoc -.Nd mdoc macro reference +.Nd mdoc language reference .\" SECTION .Sh DESCRIPTION The @@ -30,10 +28,15 @@ The language is used to format .Bx .Ux -manuals. In this reference document, we describe the syntax, ontology -and structure of the +manuals. In this reference document, we describe the syntax and +structure of the .Nm -language. +language. Our reference implementation is +.Xr mandoc 1 . +The +.Sx COMPATIBILITY +section describes compatibility with +.Xr groff 1 . .\" PARAGRAPH .Pp An @@ -43,15 +46,10 @@ character .Sq \. are parsed for macros. Other lines are interpreted within the scope of prior macros: -.Bd -literal -offset XXX +.Bd -literal -offset indent \&.Sh Macro lines change control state. Other lines are interpreted within the current state. .Ed -.\" PARAGRAPH -.Pp -Macros are two- or three-character sequences whose scope rules, rules -that dictate handling of subsequent-line or same-line arguments, are -governed by one of five classifications described in this document. .\" SECTION .Sh INPUT ENCODING .Nm @@ -66,23 +64,33 @@ line termination. .Pp The only time a blank line is acceptable is within the context of -.Sq \&Bd \-literal +.Sq \&.Bd \-literal or -.Sq \&Bd \-unfilled . +.Sq \&.Bd \-unfilled . .Pp Tab characters .Pq \et are only acceptable when delimiting -.Sq \&Bl \-column +.Sq \&.Bl \-column and in -.Sq \&Bd \-literal +.Sq \&.Bd \-literal or -.Sq \&Bd \-unfilled +.Sq \&.Bd \-unfilled contexts. .\" SUB-SECTION +.Ss Comments +Anything following a +.Sq \e" +delimiter is considered a comment (unless the +.Sq \e +itself has been escaped) and is ignored to the end of line. +Furthermore, a macro line with only a control character +.Sq \. , +optionally followed by whitespace, is ignored. +.\" SUB-SECTION .Ss Reserved Characters Within a macro line, the following characters are reserved: -.Bl -tag -width 12n -offset XXXX -compact +.Bl -tag -width Ds -offset indent -compact .It \&. .Pq period .It \&, @@ -103,6 +111,8 @@ Within a macro line, the following characters are rese .Pq question .It \&! .Pq exclamation +.It \&| +.Pq vertical bar .El .\" PARAGRAPH .Pp @@ -115,7 +125,7 @@ or, if applicable, an appropriate escape-sequence used .\" SUB-SECTION .Ss Special Characters Special character sequences begin with the escape character -.Sq \\ +.Sq \e followed by either an open-parenthesis .Sq \&( for two-character sequences; an open-bracket @@ -125,430 +135,42 @@ for n-character sequences (terminated at a close-brack or a single one-character sequence. .Pp Characters may alternatively be escaped by a slash-asterisk, -.Sq \\* , -with the same combinations as described above. This form is deprecated. +.Sq \e* , +with the same combinations as described above. .Pp -The following is a table of all available escapes. -.Pp -Grammatic: -.Bl -tag -width 12n -offset "XXXX" -compact -.It \\(em -.Pq em-dash -.It \\(en -.Pq en-dash -.It \e- -.Pq hyphen -.It \\\\ -.Pq back-slash -.It \e' -.Pq apostrophe -.It \e` -.Pq back-tick -.It \\ -.Pq space -.It \\. -.Pq period -.It \\(r! -.Pq upside-down exclamation -.It \\(r? -.Pq upside-down question -.El -.\" PARAGRAPH -.Pp -Enclosures: -.Bl -tag -width 12n -offset "XXXX" -compact -.It \\(lh -.Pq left hand -.It \\(rh -.Pq right hand -.It \\(Fo -.Pq left guillemet -.It \\(Fc -.Pq right guillemet -.It \\(fo -.Pq left guilsing -.It \\(fc -.Pq right guilsing -.It \\(rC -.Pq right brace -.It \\(lC -.Pq left brace -.It \\(ra -.Pq right angle -.It \\(la -.Pq left angle -.It \\(rB -.Pq right bracket -.It \\(lB -.Pq left bracket -.It \\q -.Pq double-quote -.It \\(lq -.Pq left double-quote -.It \\(Lq -.Pq left double-quote, deprecated -.It \\(rq -.Pq right double-quote -.It \\(Rq -.Pq right double-quote, deprecated -.It \\(oq -.Pq left single-quote -.It \\(aq -.Pq right single-quote -.It \\(Bq -.Pq right low double-quote -.It \\(bq -.Pq right low single-quote -.El -.\" PARAGRAPH -.Pp -Indicatives: -.Bl -tag -width 12n -offset "XXXX" -compact -.It \\(<- -.Pq left arrow -.It \\(-> -.Pq right arrow -.It \\(ua -.Pq up arrow -.It \\(da -.Pq down arrow -.It \\(<> -.Pq left-right arrow -.It \\(lA -.Pq left double-arrow -.It \\(rA -.Pq right double-arrow -.It \\(uA -.Pq up double-arrow -.It \\(dA -.Pq down double-arrow -.It \\(hA -.Pq left-right double-arrow -.El -.\" PARAGRAPH -.Pp -Mathematical: -.Bl -tag -width 12n -offset "XXXX" -compact -.It \\(es -.Pq empty set -.It \\(ca -.Pq intersection -.It \\(cu -.Pq union -.It \\(gr -.Pq gradient -.It \\(pd -.Pq partial differential -.It \\(ap -.Pq similarity -.It \\(=) -.Pq proper superset -.It \\((= -.Pq proper subset -.It \\(eq -.Pq equals -.It \\(di -.Pq division -.It \\(mu -.Pq multiplication -.It \\(pl -.Pq addition -.It \\(nm -.Pq not element -.It \\(mo -.Pq element -.It \\(Im -.Pq imaginary -.It \\(Re -.Pq real -.It \\(Ah -.Pq aleph -.It \\(te -.Pq existential quantifier -.It \\(fa -.Pq universal quantifier -.It \\(AN -.Pq logical AND -.It \\(OR -.Pq logical OR -.It \\(no -.Pq logical NOT -.It \\(st -.Pq such that -.It \\(tf -.Pq therefore -.It \\(~~ -.Pq approximate -.It \\(~= -.Pq approximately equals -.It \\(=~ -.Pq congruent -.It \\(Gt -.Pq greater-than, deprecated -.It \\(Lt -.Pq less-than, deprecated -.It \\(<= -.Pq less-than-equal -.It \\(Le -.Pq less-than-equal, deprecated -.It \\(>= -.Pq greater-than-equal -.It \\(Ge -.Pq greater-than-equal -.It \\(== -.Pq equal -.It \\(!= -.Pq not equal -.It \\(Ne -.Pq not equal, deprecated -.It \\(if -.Pq infinity -.It \\(If -.Pq infinity, deprecated -.It \\(na -.Pq NaN , an extension -.It \\(Na -.Pq NaN, deprecated -.It \\(+- -.Pq plus-minus -.It \\(Pm -.Pq plus-minus, deprecated -.It \\(** -.Pq asterisk -.El -.\" PARAGRAPH -.Pp -Ligatures: -.Bl -tag -width 12n -offset "XXXX" -compact -.It \\(ss -.Pq German eszett -.It \\(AE -.Pq upper-case AE -.It \\(ae -.Pq lower-case AE -.It \\(OE -.Pq upper-case OE -.It \\(oe -.Pq lower-case OE -.It \\(ff -.Pq ff ligature -.It \\(fi -.Pq fi ligature -.It \\(fl -.Pq fl ligature -.It \\(Fi -.Pq ffi ligature -.It \\(Fl -.Pq ffl ligature -.El -.\" PARAGRAPH -.Pp -Diacritics and letters: -.Bl -tag -width 12n -offset "XXXX" -compact -.It \\(ga -.Pq grave accent -.It \\(aa -.Pq accute accent -.It \\(a" -.Pq umlaut accent -.It \\(ad -.Pq dieresis accent -.It \\(a~ -.Pq tilde accent -.It \\(a^ -.Pq circumflex accent -.It \\(ac -.Pq cedilla accent -.It \\(ad -.Pq dieresis accent -.It \\(ah -.Pq caron accent -.It \\(ao -.Pq ring accent -.It \\(ho -.Pq hook accent -.It \\(ab -.Pq breve accent -.It \\(a- -.Pq macron accent -.It \\(-D -.Pq upper-case eth -.It \\(Sd -.Pq lower-case eth -.It \\(TP -.Pq upper-case thorn -.It \\(Tp -.Pq lower-case thorn -.It \\('A -.Pq upper-case acute A -.It \\('E -.Pq upper-case acute E -.It \\('I -.Pq upper-case acute I -.It \\('O -.Pq upper-case acute O -.It \\('U -.Pq upper-case acute U -.It \\('a -.Pq lower-case acute a -.It \\('e -.Pq lower-case acute e -.It \\('i -.Pq lower-case acute i -.It \\('o -.Pq lower-case acute o -.It \\('u -.Pq lower-case acute u -.It \\(`A -.Pq upper-case grave A -.It \\(`E -.Pq upper-case grave E -.It \\(`I -.Pq upper-case grave I -.It \\(`O -.Pq upper-case grave O -.It \\(`U -.Pq upper-case grave U -.It \\(`a -.Pq lower-case grave a -.It \\(`e -.Pq lower-case grave e -.It \\(`i -.Pq lower-case grave i -.It \\(`o -.Pq lower-case grave o -.It \\(`u -.Pq lower-case grave u -.It \\(~A -.Pq upper-case tilde A -.It \\(~N -.Pq upper-case tilde N -.It \\(~O -.Pq upper-case tilde O -.It \\(~a -.Pq lower-case tilde a -.It \\(~n -.Pq lower-case tilde n -.It \\(~o -.Pq lower-case tilde o -.It \\(:A -.Pq upper-case dieresis A -.It \\(:E -.Pq upper-case dieresis E -.It \\(:I -.Pq upper-case dieresis I -.It \\(:O -.Pq upper-case dieresis O -.It \\(:U -.Pq upper-case dieresis U -.It \\(:a -.Pq lower-case dieresis a -.It \\(:e -.Pq lower-case dieresis e -.It \\(:i -.Pq lower-case dieresis i -.It \\(:o -.Pq lower-case dieresis o -.It \\(:u -.Pq lower-case dieresis u -.It \\(:y -.Pq lower-case dieresis y -.It \\(^A -.Pq upper-case circumflex A -.It \\(^E -.Pq upper-case circumflex E -.It \\(^I -.Pq upper-case circumflex I -.It \\(^O -.Pq upper-case circumflex O -.It \\(^U -.Pq upper-case circumflex U -.It \\(^a -.Pq lower-case circumflex a -.It \\(^e -.Pq lower-case circumflex e -.It \\(^i -.Pq lower-case circumflex i -.It \\(^o -.Pq lower-case circumflex o -.It \\(^u -.Pq lower-case circumflex u -.It \\(,C -.Pq upper-case cedilla C -.It \\(,c -.Pq lower-case cedilla c -.It \\(/L -.Pq upper-case stroke L -.It \\(/l -.Pq lower-case stroke l -.It \\(/O -.Pq upper-case stroke O -.It \\(/o -.Pq lower-case stroke o -.It \\(oA -.Pq upper-case ring A -.It \\(oa -.Pq lower-case ring a -.El -.\" PARAGRAPH -.Pp -Monetary: -.Bl -tag -width 12n -offset "XXXX" -compact -.It \\(Cs -.Pq Scandinavian -.It \\(Do -.Pq dollar -.It \\(Po -.Pq pound -.It \\(Ye -.Pq yen -.It \\(Fn -.Pq florin -.It \\(ct -.Pq cent -.El -.\" PARAGRAPH -.Pp -Special symbols: -.Bl -tag -width 12n -offset "XXXX" -compact -.It \\(de -.Pq degree -.It \\(ps -.Pq paragraph -.It \\(sc -.Pq section -.It \\(dg -.Pq dagger -.It \\(dd -.Pq double dagger -.It \\(ci -.Pq circle -.It \\(ba -.Pq bar -.It \\(bb -.Pq broken bar -.It \\(Ba -.Pq bar, deprecated -.It \\(co -.Pq copyright -.It \\(rg -.Pq registered -.It \\(tm -.Pq trademarked -.It \\& -.Pq non-breaking space -.It \\e -.Pq escape -.It \\(Am -.Pq ampersand, deprecated -.El +Terms may also be text-decorated using the +.Sq \ef +escape followed by a text-decoration letter: B (bold), I, (italic), or P +and R (Roman, or reset). This form is not recommended. +.\" SUB-SECTION +.Ss Whitespace +Unless in literal mode or specifically escaped, consecutive blocks of +whitespace are pruned from input. These are later re-added, if +applicable, by a front-end utility such as +.Xr mandoc 1 . .\" SECTION -.Sh ONTOLOGY -Macros are classified in an ontology described by their scope rules. -Some macros are allowed to deviate from their classifications to -preserve backward-compatibility with old macro combinations still found -in the manual corpus. These are specifically noted on a per-macro -basis. +.Sh STRUCTURE +Each +.Nm +document must begin with the document prologue, containing, in order, +.Sq \&.Dd , +.Sq \&.Dt , +and +.Sq \&.Os . +Following these, the document body must begin with the NAME section +containing at least one +.Sq \&.Nm +followed by a +.Sq \&.Nd +macro. +.Pp +At least one free-form or macro line must follow this prologue. +.\" +.Ss Classification +Macros are classified by their scope rules. Some macros are allowed to +deviate from their classifications to preserve backward-compatibility +with old macro combinations still found in the manual corpus. These are +specifically noted on a per-macro basis. .\" SUB-SECTION .Ss Scope .Bl -inset @@ -556,7 +178,7 @@ basis. .It Em Block macros enclose other block macros, in-line macros or text, and may span multiple lines. -.Bl -inset -offset XXXX +.Bl -inset -offset indent .\" LIST-ITEM .It Em Full-block macros always span multiple lines. They consist of zero or @@ -591,7 +213,7 @@ on whether it's parsable. In this table, refers to block full-explicit and so on. .\" PARAGRAPH .Pp -.Bl -tag -width 12n -offset XXXX -compact +.Bl -tag -width 12n -offset indent -compact .It BPE , BFE corresponding explicit closure macro .It BFI @@ -609,7 +231,7 @@ If a macro (block or in-line) is parsable, it may also one of the following scenarios (unless specifically noted otherwise): .\" PARAGRAPH .Pp -.Bl -dash -offset XXXX -compact +.Bl -dash -offset indent -compact .It a sequence of >0 space-separated .Sx Reserved Characters , @@ -630,8 +252,8 @@ subsequent tokens are interpreted as if the scope had In other circumstances, scope is simply closed out. .\" SECTION .Sh SYNTAX -Macros are generally two and at times three characters in length. The -syntax of macro invocation depends on its classification. +Macros are two or three characters in length. The syntax of macro +invocation depends on its classification. .Qq \-arg refers to the macro arguments (which may contain zero or more values). In these illustrations, @@ -642,7 +264,7 @@ closes it out (closure may be implicit at end-of-line .\" PARAGRAPH .Pp Block full-explicit (may contain head, body, tail). -.Bd -literal -offset XXXX +.Bd -literal -offset indent \&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB \(lBhead...\(rB \(lBbody...\(rB \&.Yc \(lBtail...\(rB @@ -650,7 +272,7 @@ Block full-explicit (may contain head, body, tail). .\" PARAGRAPH .Pp Block full-implicit (may contain zero or more heads, body, no tail). -.Bd -literal -offset XXXX +.Bd -literal -offset indent \&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB \(lBhead... \(lBTa head...\(rB\(rB \(lBbody...\(rB \&.Yc @@ -658,7 +280,7 @@ Block full-implicit (may contain zero or more heads, b .\" PARAGRAPH .Pp Block partial-explicit (may contain head, multi-line body, tail). -.Bd -literal -offset XXXX +.Bd -literal -offset indent \&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB \(lBhead...\(rB \(lBbody...\(rB \&.Yc \(lBtail...\(rB @@ -672,24 +294,24 @@ Block partial-implicit (no head, body, no tail). Note section may be followed by zero or more .Sx Reserved Words . These are in the block scope, but not in the body scope. -.Bd -literal -offset XXXX +.Bd -literal -offset indent \&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB \(lBbody...\(rB \(lBreserved...\(rB .Ed .\" PARAGRAPH .Pp In-lines have \(>=0 scoped arguments. -.Bd -literal -offset XXX +.Bd -literal -offset indent \&.Yy \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB \(lBargs...\(rB \&.Yy \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB arg0 arg1 argN .Ed -.\" +.\" SECTION .Sh MACROS This section contains a complete list of all .Nm -macros, arranged ontologically. A +macros, arranged by classification. A .Qq callable -macro is may be invoked subsequent to the initial macro-line macro. A +macro is invoked subsequent to the initial macro-line macro. A .Qq parsable macro may be followed by further (ostensibly callable) macros. .\" SUB-SECTION @@ -698,7 +320,7 @@ The head of these macros follows invocation; the body subsequent lines prior to closure. None of these macros have tails; some .Po -.Sq \&It \-bullet , +.Sq \&.It \-bullet , .Sq \-hyphen , .Sq \-dash , .Sq \-enum , @@ -706,8 +328,9 @@ some .Pc don't have heads. .Pp -.Bl -column "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsableX" "Closing" -compact -offset XXXX +.Bl -column -compact -offset indent "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsableX" "Closing" .It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsable Ta Em Closing +.It \&.Nd Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta \&.Sh .It \&.Sh Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta \&.Sh .It \&.Ss Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta \&.Sh, \&.Ss .It \&.It Ta \&No Ta Yes Ta \&.It, \&.El @@ -718,7 +341,7 @@ None of these macros are callable or parsed. The last the explicit scope rules. All contains bodies, some may contain heads .Pq So \&Bf Sc . .Pp -.Bl -column "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsableX" "closed by XXX" -compact -offset XXXX +.Bl -column -compact -offset indent "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsableX" "closed by XXX" .It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsable Ta Em Scope .It \&.Bd Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by \&.Ed .It \&.Ed Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta opened by \&.Bd @@ -734,7 +357,7 @@ the explicit scope rules. All contains bodies, some m All of these are callable and parsed for further macros. Their scopes close at the invocation's end-of-line. .Pp -.Bl -column "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsableX" -compact -offset XXXX +.Bl -column "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsableX" -compact -offset indent .It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsable .It \&.Aq Ta Yes Ta Yes .It \&.Op Ta Yes Ta Yes @@ -751,28 +374,30 @@ close at the invocation's end-of-line. .\" PARAGRAPH .Pp The -.Sq \&Op -may be broken by \&Oc as in the following example: -.Bd -literal -offset XXXX +.Sq \&.Op +may be broken by +.Sq \&.Oc +as in the following example: +.Bd -literal -offset indent \&.Oo \&.Op Fl a Oc .Ed .Pp In the above example, the scope of -.Sq \&Op +.Sq \&.Op is technically broken by -.Sq \&Oc , +.Sq \&.Oc , however, due to the overwhelming existence of this sequence, it's allowed. .\" SUB-SECTION .Ss Block partial-explicit Each of these contains at least a body and, in limited circumstances, a head -.Pq So \&Fo Sc , So \&Eo Sc +.Pq So \&.Fo Sc , So \&.Eo Sc and/or tail -.Pq So \&Ec Sc . +.Pq So \&.Ec Sc . .Pp -.Bl -column "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsableX" "closed by XXXX" -compact -offset XXXX +.Bl -column "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsableX" "closed by XXXX" -compact -offset indent .It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsable Ta Em Scope .It \&.Ao Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta closed by \&.Ac .It \&.Ac Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&.Ao @@ -806,14 +431,14 @@ arguments is .Pq n , then the macro accepts an arbitrary number of arguments. .Pp -.Bl -column "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsableX" "Arguments" -compact -offset XXXX +.Bl -column "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsableX" "Arguments" -compact -offset indent .It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsable Ta Em Arguments .It \&.Dd Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0 .It \&.Dt Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta n .It \&.Os Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta n .It \&.Pp Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0 .It \&.Ad Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n -.It \&.An Ta \&No Ta Yes Ta n +.It \&.An Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n .It \&.Ar Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n .It \&.Cd Ta Yes Ta \&No Ta >0 .It \&.Cm Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n @@ -825,11 +450,10 @@ then the macro accepts an arbitrary number of argument .It \&.Fd Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0 .It \&.Fl Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n .It \&.Fn Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0 -.It \&.Ft Ta \&No Ta Yes Ta n +.It \&.Ft Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n .It \&.Ic Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0 .It \&.In Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta n .It \&.Li Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n -.It \&.Nd Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta n .It \&.Nm Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n .It \&.Ot Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta n .It \&.Pa Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n @@ -854,9 +478,9 @@ then the macro accepts an arbitrary number of argument .It \&.Bsx Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n .It \&.Bx Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n .It \&.Db Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 1 -.It \&.Em Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n +.It \&.Em Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0 .It \&.Fx Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n -.It \&.Ms Ta \&No Ta Yes Ta >0 +.It \&.Ms Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0 .It \&.No Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta 0 .It \&.Ns Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta 0 .It \&.Nx Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n @@ -875,145 +499,177 @@ then the macro accepts an arbitrary number of argument .It \&.Lb Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 1 .It \&.Ap Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta 0 .It \&.Lp Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0 -.It \&.Lk Ta \&No Ta Yes Ta >0 -.It \&.Mt Ta \&No Ta Yes Ta >0 +.It \&.Lk Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n +.It \&.Mt Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0 .It \&.Es Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0 .It \&.En Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0 .El .Pp The -.Sq \&Ot , -.Sq \&Fr , -.Sq \&Es +.Sq \&.Ot , +.Sq \&.Fr , +.Sq \&.Es and -.Sq \&En , +.Sq \&.En , macros are obsolete. .\" SECTION .Sh COMPATIBILITY -The mdoc language was traditionally a -.Qq roff -macro package; most existing manuals were written with mdoc syntax -dictated by system-dependent roff installations. This section documents -compatibility with these systems. +This section documents compatibility with other roff implementations, at +this time limited to +.Xr groff 1 . +The term +.Qq historic groff +refers to those versions before the +.Pa doc.tmac +file re-write +.Pq somewhere between 1.15 and 1.19 . .Pp .Bl -dash -compact .\" LIST-ITEM .It -.Sq \&Fo +Some character sequences in groff are not handled depending on escape +style, e.g., +.Sq \e(ba and -.Sq \&St -historically weren't always callable. Both are now correctly callable. +.Sq \e*(Ba +may not be interchanged. This is no longer the case: all character +sequences resolve to the same symbol, regardless the escape style. .\" LIST-ITEM .It -.Sq \&It \-nested -is assumed for all lists: any list may be nested and +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. +.\" LIST-ITEM +.It +Historic groff has many un-callable macros. Most of these (excluding +some block-level macros) are now callable, conforming to the +non-historic groff version. +.\" LIST-ITEM +.It +The vertical bar +.Sq \(ba +made historic groff +.Qq go orbital +but is a proper delimiter in this implementation. +.\" LIST-ITEM +.It +.Sq \&.It \-nested +is assumed for all lists (it wasn't in historic groff): any list may be +nested and .Sq \-enum lists will restart the sequence only for the sub-list. .\" LIST-ITEM .It -.Sq \&It \-column -syntax where column widths may be preceeded by other arguments (instead +.Sq \&.It \-column +syntax where column widths may be preceded by other arguments (instead of proceeded) is not supported. .\" LIST-ITEM .It The -.Sq \&At +.Sq \&.At macro only accepts a single parameter. .\" LIST-ITEM .It -The system-name macros ( -.Ns Sq \&At , -.Sq \&Bsx , -.Sq \&Bx , -.Sq \&Fx , -.Sq \&Nx , -.Sq \&Ox , -and -.Sq \&Ux ) -are callable. -.\" LIST-ITEM -.It Some manuals use -.Sq \&Li +.Sq \&.Li incorrectly by following it with a reserved character and expecting the delimiter to render. This is not supported. .\" LIST-ITEM .It -.Sq \&Cd -is callable. +If an special-character control character is escaped +.Sq \e\e , +it will obviously not render the subsequent sequence. Even newer +versions of groff seem to dither on this. +.\" LIST-ITEM +.It +In groff, the +.Sq \&.Fo +macro only produces the first parameter. This is no longer the case. .El .\" SECTION .Sh SEE ALSO -.Xr mdoctree 1 , -.Xr mdoclint 1 , -.Xr mdocterm 1 , -.Xr mdoc 3 +.Xr mandoc 1 , +.Xr mandoc_char 7 .\" SECTION .Sh AUTHORS The .Nm utility was written by -.An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq kristaps@openbsd.org . +.An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq kristaps@kth.se . .\" SECTION .Sh CAVEATS -There are several ambiguous parts of mdoc. +There are many ambiguous parts of mdoc. .Pp .Bl -dash -compact .\" LIST-ITEM .It -.Sq \&Fa +.Sq \&.Fa should be -.Sq \&Va +.Sq \&.Va as function arguments are variables. .\" LIST-ITEM .It -.Sq \&Ft +.Sq \&.Ft should be -.Sq \&Vt +.Sq \&.Vt as function return types are still types. Furthermore, the -.Sq \&Ft +.Sq \&.Ft should be removed and -.Sq \&Fo , +.Sq \&.Fo , which ostensibly follows it, should follow the same convention as -.Sq \&Va . +.Sq \&.Va . .\" LIST-ITEM .It -.Sq \&Va +.Sq \&.Va should formalise that only one or two arguments are acceptable: a -variable name and optional, preceeding type. +variable name and optional, preceding type. .\" LIST-ITEM .It -.Sq \&Fd +.Sq \&.Fd is ambiguous. It's commonly used to indicate an include file in the synopsis section. -.Sq \&In +.Sq \&.In should be used, instead. .\" LIST-ITEM .It Only the .Sq \-literal argument to -.Sq \&Bd +.Sq \&.Bd makes sense. The remaining ones should be removed. .\" LIST-ITEM .It The -.Sq \&Xo +.Sq \&.Xo and -.Sq \&Xc +.Sq \&.Xc macros should be deprecated. .\" LIST-ITEM .It The -.Sq \&Dt +.Sq \&.Dt macro lacks clarity. It should be absolutely clear which title will render when formatting the manual page. .\" LIST-ITEM .It A -.Sq \&Lx +.Sq \&.Lx should be provided for Linux (\(`a la -.Sq \&Ox , -.Sq \&Nx +.Sq \&.Ox , +.Sq \&.Nx etc.). +.\" LIST-ITEM +.It +There's no way to refer to references in +.Sq \&.Rs/.Re +blocks. +.\" LIST-ITEM +.It +The \-split and \-nosplit arguments to +.Sq \&.An +are inane. +.\" LIST-ITEM +.It +The end-of-line whitespace warnings are superfluous holdovers from +historic groff. .El