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Diff for /mandoc/mdoc.7 between version 1.114 and 1.185

version 1.114, 2010/06/03 14:29:52

version 1.185, 2011/04/06 11:39:25

Line 1

.\" $Id$

.\"

.\" Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any

.\" purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above

Line 26 The

Line 27 The

language is used to format

.Bx

.Ux

manuals. In this reference document, we describe its syntax, structure,

manuals.

and usage. Our reference implementation is mandoc; the

This reference document describes its syntax, structure, and

usage.

The reference implementation is

.Xr mandoc 1 ;

the

.Sx COMPATIBILITY

section describes compatibility with other troff \-mdoc implementations.

.Pp

.Nm

document follows simple rules: lines beginning with the control

character

.Sq \.

.Sq \&.

are parsed for macros. Other lines are interpreted within the scope of

are parsed for macros.

prior macros:

Text lines, those not beginning with the control character, are

interpreted within the scope of prior macros:

.Bd -literal -offset indent

\&.Sh Macro lines change control state.

Other lines are interpreted within the current state.

Text lines are interpreted within the current state.

.Ed

.Sh LANGUAGE SYNTAX

.Nm

documents may contain only graphable 7-bit ASCII characters, the space

character, and, in certain circumstances, the tab character. All

character, and, in certain circumstances, the tab character.

manuals must have

.Pp

.Ux

If the first character of a text line is a space, that line is printed

line terminators.

with a leading newline.

.Ss Comments

Text following a

.Sq \e" ,

.Sq \e\*q ,

whether in a macro or free-form text line, is ignored to the end of

whether in a macro or text line, is ignored to the end of

line. A macro line with only a control character and comment escape,

line.

.Sq \&.\e" ,

A macro line with only a control character and comment escape,

is also ignored. Macro lines with only a control charater and optionally

.Sq \&.\e\*q ,

whitespace are stripped from input.

is also ignored.

.Ss Reserved Characters

Macro lines with only a control character and optional whitespace are

Within a macro line, the following characters are reserved:

stripped from input.

.Ss Reserved Terms

Within a macro line, the following terms are reserved:

.Pp

.Bl -tag -width Ds -offset indent -compact

.It \&.

.Pq period

.It \e.

.Pq escaped period

.It \&,

.Pq comma

.It \&:

Line 83 Within a macro line, the following characters are rese

Line 93 Within a macro line, the following characters are rese

.Pq exclamation

.It \&|

.Pq vertical bar

.It \e*(Ba

.Pq reserved-word vertical bar

.El

.Pp

Use of reserved characters is described in

Use of reserved terms is described in

.Sx MACRO SYNTAX .

For general use in macro lines, these characters must either be escaped

For general use in macro lines, these can be escaped with a non-breaking

with a non-breaking space

space

.Pq Sq \e&

.Pq Sq \e& .

or, if applicable, an appropriate escape sequence used.

In text lines, these may be used as normal punctuation.

.Ss Special Characters

Special characters may occur in both macro and free-form lines.

Special characters may occur in both macro and text lines.

Sequences begin with the escape character

.Sq \e

followed by either an open-parenthesis

Line 101 for two-character sequences; an open-bracket

Line 113 for two-character sequences; an open-bracket

.Sq \&[

for n-character sequences (terminated at a close-bracket

.Sq \&] ) ;

or a single one-character sequence.

or a single one character sequence.

See

.Xr mandoc_char 7

for a complete list.

Line 114 and

Line 126 and

.Ss Text Decoration

Terms may be text-decorated using the

.Sq \ef

escape followed by an indicator: B (bold), I, (italic), R (Roman), or P

escape followed by an indicator: B (bold), I (italic), R (Roman), or P

(revert to previous mode):

.Pp

.D1 \efBbold\efR \efIitalic\efP

.Dl \efBbold\efR \efIitalic\efP

.Pp

A numerical representation 3, 2, or 1 (bold, italic, and Roman,

respectively) may be used instead.

A text decoration is valid within

If a macro opens a font scope after calling

the current font scope only: if a macro opens a font scope alongside

.Sq \ef ,

its own scope, such as

such as with

.Sx \&Bf

.Sx \&Bf ,

.Cm \&Sy ,

the

in-scope invocations of

.Sq \ef

are only valid within the font scope of the macro.

mode will be restored upon exiting the

.Sx \&Bf

.Sq \ef

scope.

is specified outside of any font scope, such as in unenclosed, free-form

text, it will affect the remainder of the document.

.Pp

Text may also be sized with the

Note this form is

.Sq \es

escape, whose syntax is one of

.Sq \es+-n

for one-digit numerals;

.Sq \es(+-nn

.Sq \es+-(nn

for two-digit numerals; and

.Sq \es[+-N] ,

.Sq \es+-[N] ,

.Sq \es'+-N' ,

.Sq \es+-'N'

for arbitrary-digit numerals:

.Pp

.D1 \es+1bigger\es-1

.D1 \es[+10]much bigger\es[-10]

.D1 \es+(10much bigger\es-(10

.D1 \es+'100'much much bigger\es-'100'

.Pp

Note these forms are

.Em not

recommended for

.Nm ,

which encourages semantic annotation.

.Ss Predefined Strings

Historically,

.Xr groff 1

troff

also defined a set of package-specific

.Dq predefined strings ,

which, like

.Sx Special Characters ,

demark special output characters and strings by way of input codes.

mark special output characters and strings by way of input codes.

Predefined strings are escaped with the slash-asterisk,

.Sq \e* :

single-character

Line 187 and

Line 175 and

.Pq vertical bar .

.Ss Whitespace

Whitespace consists of the space character.

In free-form lines, whitespace is preserved within a line; un-escaped

In text lines, whitespace is preserved within a line; unescaped

trailing spaces are stripped from input (unless in a literal context).

Blank free-form lines, which may include whitespace, are only permitted

Blank text lines, which may include whitespace, are only permitted

within literal contexts.

.Pp

In macro lines, whitespace delimits arguments and is discarded.

If arguments are quoted, whitespace within the quotes is retained.

.Ss Quotation

Macro arguments may be quoted with a double-quote to group

Macro arguments may be quoted with double-quotes to group

space-delimited terms or to retain blocks of whitespace.

A quoted argument begins with a double-quote preceded by whitespace.

The next double-quote not pair-wise adjacent to another double-quote

The next double-quote not pairwise adjacent to another double-quote

terminates the literal, regardless of surrounding whitespace.

.Pp

This produces tokens

Note that any quoted text, even if it would cause a macro invocation

.Sq a" ,

when unquoted, is considered literal text.

.Sq b c ,

.Sq de ,

and

.Sq fg" .

Note that any quoted term, be it argument or macro, is indiscriminately

considered literal text.

Thus, the following produces

.Sq \&Em a :

.Sq Op "Fl a" :

.Bd -literal -offset indent

\&.Em "Em a"

\&.Op "Fl a"

.Ed

.Pp

In free-form mode, quotes are regarded as opaque text.

In text lines, quotes are regarded as opaque text.

.Ss Dates

There are several macros in

.Nm

that require a date argument.

The canonical form for dates is the American format:

.Pp

.D1 Cm Month Day , Year

.Pp

The

.Cm Day

value is an optionally zero-padded numeral.

The

.Cm Month

value is the full month name.

The

.Cm Year

value is the full four-digit year.

.Pp

Reduced form dates are broken-down canonical form dates:

.Pp

.D1 Cm Month , Year

.D1 Cm Year

.Pp

Some examples of valid dates follow:

.Pp

.D1 "May, 2009" Pq reduced form

.D1 "2009" Pq reduced form

.D1 "May 20, 2009" Pq canonical form

.Ss Scaling Widths

Many macros support scaled widths for their arguments, such as

stipulating a two-inch list indentation with the following:

Line 297 is necessarily non-portable across output media.

Line 251 is necessarily non-portable across output media.

See

.Sx COMPATIBILITY .

.Ss Sentence Spacing

When composing a manual, make sure that your sentences end at the end of

When composing a manual, make sure that sentences end at the end of

a line.

By doing so, front-ends will be able to apply the proper amount of

spacing after the end of sentence (unescaped) period, exclamation mark,

or question mark followed by zero or more non-sentence closing

delimiters (

delimiters

.Ns Sq \&) ,

.Po

.Sq \&) ,

.Sq \&] ,

.Sq \&' ,

.Sq \&" ) .

.Sq \&"

.Pc .

.Pp

The proper spacing is also intelligently preserved if a sentence ends at

the boundary of a macro line, e.g.,

the boundary of a macro line.

For example:

.Pp

.D1 \&Xr mandoc 1 \.

.Dl \&.Xr mandoc 1 \&.

.D1 \&Fl T \&Ns \&Cm ascii \.

.Dl \&.Fl T \&Ns \&Cm ascii \&.

.Sh MANUAL STRUCTURE

A well-formed

.Nm

document consists of a document prologue followed by one or more

sections.

.Pp

The prologue, which consists of (in order) the

The prologue, which consists of the

.Sx \&Dd ,

.Sx \&Dt ,

and

.Sx \&Os

macros, is required for every document.

macros in that order, is required for every document.

.Pp

The first section (sections are denoted by

.Sx \&Sh )

Line 333 must be the NAME section, consisting of at least one

Line 290 must be the NAME section, consisting of at least one

followed by

.Sx \&Nd .

.Pp

Following that, convention dictates specifying at least the SYNOPSIS and

Following that, convention dictates specifying at least the

DESCRIPTION sections, although this varies between manual sections.

.Em SYNOPSIS

and

.Em DESCRIPTION

sections, although this varies between manual sections.

.Pp

The following is a well-formed skeleton

.Nm

Line 346 file:

Line 306 file:

\&.Sh NAME

\&.Nm foo

\&.Nd a description goes here

\&.\e\*q The next is for sections 2, 3, & 9 only.

\&.\e\*q .Sh LIBRARY

\&.\e\*q For sections 2, 3, & 9 only.

\&.\e\*q Not used in OpenBSD.

\&.Sh SYNOPSIS

\&.Nm foo

\&.Op Fl options

Line 357 The

Line 318 The

\&.Nm

utility processes files ...

\&.\e\*q .Sh IMPLEMENTATION NOTES

\&.\e\*q The next is for sections 2, 3, & 9 only.

\&.\e\*q Not used in OpenBSD.

\&.\e\*q .Sh RETURN VALUES

\&.\e\*q The next is for sections 1, 6, 7, & 8 only.

\&.\e\*q For sections 2, 3, & 9 only.

\&.\e\*q .Sh ENVIRONMENT

\&.\e\*q For sections 1, 6, 7, & 8 only.

\&.\e\*q .Sh FILES

\&.\e\*q The next is for sections 1 & 8 only.

\&.\e\*q .Sh EXIT STATUS

\&.\e\*q For sections 1, 6, & 8 only.

\&.\e\*q .Sh EXAMPLES

\&.\e\*q The next is for sections 1, 4, 6, 7, & 8 only.

\&.\e\*q .Sh DIAGNOSTICS

\&.\e\*q The next is for sections 2, 3, & 9 only.

\&.\e\*q For sections 1, 4, 6, 7, & 8 only.

\&.\e\*q .Sh ERRORS

\&.\e\*q For sections 2, 3, & 9 only.

\&.\e\*q .Sh SEE ALSO

\&.\e\*q .Xr foobar 1

\&.\e\*q .Sh STANDARDS

Line 377 utility processes files ...

Line 339 utility processes files ...

\&.\e\*q .Sh CAVEATS

\&.\e\*q .Sh BUGS

\&.\e\*q .Sh SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS

\&.\e\*q Not used in OpenBSD.

.Ed

.Pp

The sections in a

The sections in an

.Nm

document are conventionally ordered as they appear above.

Sections should be composed as follows:

.Bl -ohang -offset Ds

.It Em NAME

The name(s) and a short description of the documented material.

The name(s) and a one line description of the documented material.

The syntax for this as follows:

.Bd -literal -offset indent

\&.Nm name0

\&.Nm name0 ,

\&.Nm name1

\&.Nm name1 ,

\&.Nm name2

\&.Nd a short description

\&.Nd a one line description

.Ed

.Pp

Multiple

.Sq \&Nm

names should be separated by commas.

.Pp

The

.Sx \&Nm

macro(s) must precede the

Line 421 configuration.

Line 388 configuration.

For the first, utilities (sections 1, 6, and 8), this is

generally structured as follows:

.Bd -literal -offset indent

\&.Nm foo

\&.Nm bar

\&.Op Fl v

\&.Op Fl o Ar file

\&.Op Ar

\&.Nm bar

\&.Nm foo

\&.Op Fl v

\&.Op Fl o Ar file

\&.Op Ar

.Ed

.Pp

Commands should be ordered alphabetically.

.Pp

For the second, function calls (sections 2, 3, 9):

.Bd -literal -offset indent

\&.Vt extern const char *global;

\&.In header.h

\&.Vt extern const char *global;

\&.Ft "char *"

\&.Fn foo "const char *src"

\&.Ft "char *"

\&.Fn bar "const char *src"

.Ed

.Pp

Ordering of

.Sx \&In ,

.Sx \&Vt ,

.Sx \&Fn ,

and

.Sx \&Fo

macros should follow C header-file conventions.

.Pp

And for the third, configurations (section 4):

.Bd -literal -offset indent

\&.Cd \*qit* at isa? port 0x2e\*q

Line 450 And for the third, configurations (section 4):

Line 427 And for the third, configurations (section 4):

Manuals not in these sections generally don't need a

.Em SYNOPSIS .

.Pp

See

Some macros are displayed differently in the

.Sx \&Op ,

.Em SYNOPSIS

section, particularly

.Sx \&Nm ,

.Sx \&Cd ,

.Sx \&Fd ,

.Sx \&Fn ,

.Sx \&Ft ,

.Sx \&Fo ,

.Sx \&In ,

.Sx \&Vt ,

and

.Sx \&Vt .

.Sx \&Ft .

All of these macros are output on their own line.

If two such dissimilar macros are pairwise invoked (except for

.Sx \&Ft

before

.Sx \&Fo

.Sx \&Fn ) ,

they are separated by a vertical space, unless in the case of

.Sx \&Fo ,

.Sx \&Fn ,

and

.Sx \&Ft ,

which are always separated by vertical space.

.Pp

When text and macros following an

.Sx \&Nm

macro starting an input line span multiple output lines,

all output lines but the first will be indented to align

with the text immediately following the

.Sx \&Nm

macro, up to the next

.Sx \&Nm ,

.Sx \&Sh ,

.Sx \&Ss

macro or the end of an enclosing block, whichever comes first.

.It Em DESCRIPTION

This expands upon the brief, one-line description in

This begins with an expansion of the brief, one line description in

.Em NAME .

.Em NAME :

It usually contains a break-down of the options (if documenting a

.Bd -literal -offset indent

The

\&.Nm

utility does this, that, and the other.

.Ed

.Pp

It usually follows with a breakdown of the options (if documenting a

command), such as:

.Bd -literal -offset indent

The arguments are as follows:

Line 476 Implementation-specific notes should be kept here.

Line 490 Implementation-specific notes should be kept here.

This is useful when implementing standard functions that may have side

effects or notable algorithmic implications.

.It Em RETURN VALUES

This section is the dual of

This section documents the

.Em EXIT STATUS ,

return values of functions in sections 2, 3, and 9.

which is used for commands.

It documents the return values of functions in sections 2, 3, and 9.

.Pp

See

.Sx \&Rv .

.It Em ENVIRONMENT

Documents any usages of environment variables, e.g.,

Lists the environment variables used by the utility,

.Xr environ 7 .

and explains the syntax and semantics of their values.

The

.Xr environ 7

manual provides examples of typical content and formatting.

.Pp

See

.Sx \&Ev .

.It Em FILES

Documents files used.

It's helpful to document both the file and a short description of how

It's helpful to document both the file name and a short description of how

the file is used (created, modified, etc.).

.Pp

See

.Sx \&Pa .

.It Em EXIT STATUS

Command exit status for section 1, 6, and 8 manuals.

This section documents the

This section is the dual of

command exit status for section 1, 6, and 8 utilities.

.Em RETURN VALUES ,

which is used for functions.

Historically, this information was described in

.Em DIAGNOSTICS ,

a practise that is now discouraged.

Line 510 See

Line 523 See

.It Em EXAMPLES

Example usages.

This often contains snippets of well-formed, well-tested invocations.

Make doubly sure that your examples work properly!

Make sure that examples work properly!

.It Em DIAGNOSTICS

Documents error conditions.

This is most useful in section 4 manuals.

Line 544 section should be used instead.

Line 557 section should be used instead.

See

.Sx \&St .

.It Em HISTORY

The history of any manual without a

A brief history of the subject, including where support first appeared.

.Em STANDARDS

section should be described in this section.

.It Em AUTHORS

Credits to authors, if applicable, should appear in this section.

Credits to the person or persons who wrote the code and/or documentation.

Authors should generally be noted by both name and an e-mail address.

Authors should generally be noted by both name and email address.

.Pp

See

.Sx \&An .

.It Em CAVEATS

Explanations of common misuses and misunderstandings should be explained

Common misuses and misunderstandings should be explained

in this section.

.It Em BUGS

Extant bugs should be described in this section.

Known bugs, limitations, and work-arounds should be described

in this section.

.It Em SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS

Documents any security precautions that operators should consider.

.El

.Sh MACRO SYNTAX

Macros are one to three three characters in length and begin with a

control character ,

control character,

.Sq \&. ,

at the beginning of the line.

An arbitrary amount of whitespace may sit between the control character

Line 587 closes it out.

Line 599 closes it out.

.Pp

The

.Em Callable

column indicates that the macro may be called subsequent to the initial

column indicates that the macro may also be called by passing its name

line-macro.

as an argument to another macro.

If a macro is not callable, then its invocation after the initial line

If a macro is not callable but its name appears as an argument

macro is interpreted as opaque text, such that

to another macro, it is interpreted as opaque text.

For example,

.Sq \&.Fl \&Sh

produces

.Sq Fl \&Sh .

.Pp

The

.Em Parsable

.Em Parsed

column indicates whether the macro may be followed by further

column indicates whether the macro may call other macros by receiving

(ostensibly callable) macros.

their names as arguments.

If a macro is not parsable, subsequent macro invocations on the line

If a macro is not parsed but the name of another macro appears

will be interpreted as opaque text.

as an argument, it is interpreted as opaque text.

.Pp

The

.Em Scope

Line 609 column, if applicable, describes closure rules.

Line 622 column, if applicable, describes closure rules.

Multi-line scope closed by an explicit closing macro.

All macros contains bodies; only

.Sx \&Bf

contains a head.

and

.Pq optionally

.Sx \&Bl

contain a head.

.Bd -literal -offset indent

\&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBparm...\(rB\(rB \(lBhead...\(rB

\(lBbody...\(rB

\&.Yc

.Ed

.Pp

.Bl -column -compact -offset indent "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsableX" "closed by XXX"

.Bl -column -compact -offset indent "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsedX" "closed by XXX"

.It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsable Ta Em Scope

.It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsed Ta Em Scope

.It Sx \&Bd Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by Sx \&Ed

.It Sx \&Bf Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by Sx \&Ef

.It Sx \&Bk Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by Sx \&Ek

Line 639 All macros have bodies; some

Line 655 All macros have bodies; some

.Pc

don't have heads; only one

.Po

.Sx \&It Fl column

.Sx \&It

.Sx \&Bl Fl column

.Pc

has multiple heads.

.Bd -literal -offset indent

Line 647 has multiple heads.

Line 665 has multiple heads.

\(lBbody...\(rB

.Ed

.Pp

.Bl -column -compact -offset indent "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsableX" "closed by XXXXXXXXXXX"

.Bl -column -compact -offset indent "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsedX" "closed by XXXXXXXXXXX"

.It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsable Ta Em Scope

.It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsed Ta Em Scope

.It Sx \&It Ta \&No Ta Yes Ta closed by Sx \&It , Sx \&El

.It Sx \&Nd Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by Sx \&Sh

.It Sx \&Nm Ta \&No Ta Yes Ta closed by Sx \&Nm , Sx \&Sh , Sx \&Ss

.It Sx \&Sh Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by Sx \&Sh

.It Sx \&Ss Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by Sx \&Sh , Sx \&Ss

.El

.Pp

Note that the

.Sx \&Nm

macro is a

.Sx Block full-implicit

macro only when invoked as the first macro

in a

.Em SYNOPSIS

section line, else it is

.Sx In-line .

.Ss Block partial-explicit

Like block full-explicit, but also with single-line scope.

Each has at least a body and, in limited circumstances, a head

Line 672 and/or tail

Line 701 and/or tail

\(lBbody...\(rB \&Yc \(lBtail...\(rB

.Ed

.Pp

.Bl -column "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsableX" "closed by XXXX" -compact -offset indent

.Bl -column "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsedX" "closed by XXXX" -compact -offset indent

.It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsable Ta Em Scope

.It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsed Ta Em Scope

.It Sx \&Ac Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by Sx \&Ao

.It Sx \&Ao Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta closed by Sx \&Ac

.It Sx \&Bc Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta closed by Sx \&Bo

Line 701 and/or tail

Line 730 and/or tail

.El

.Ss Block partial-implicit

Like block full-implicit, but with single-line scope closed by

.Sx Reserved Characters

.Sx Reserved Terms

or end of line.

.Bd -literal -offset indent

\&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB \(lBbody...\(rB \(lBres...\(rB

.Ed

.Pp

.Bl -column "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsableX" -compact -offset indent

.Bl -column "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsedX" -compact -offset indent

.It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsable

.It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsed

.It Sx \&Aq Ta Yes Ta Yes

.It Sx \&Bq Ta Yes Ta Yes

.It Sx \&Brq Ta Yes Ta Yes

Line 734 section line, else it is

Line 763 section line, else it is

.Sx In-line .

.Ss In-line

Closed by

.Sx Reserved Characters ,

.Sx Reserved Terms ,

end of line, fixed argument lengths, and/or subsequent macros.

In-line macros have only text children.

If a number (or inequality) of arguments is

.Pq n ,

then the macro accepts an arbitrary number of arguments.

.Bd -literal -offset indent

\&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB \(lBargs...\(rB \(lbres...\(rb

\&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB \(lBargs...\(rB \(lBres...\(rB

\&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB \(lBargs...\(rB Yc...

\&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB arg0 arg1 argN

.Ed

.Pp

.Bl -column "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsableX" "Arguments" -compact -offset indent

.Bl -column "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsedX" "Arguments" -compact -offset indent

.It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsable Ta Em Arguments

.It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsed Ta Em Arguments

.It Sx \&%A Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0

.It Sx \&%B Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0

.It Sx \&%C Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0

Line 764 then the macro accepts an arbitrary number of argument

Line 793 then the macro accepts an arbitrary number of argument

.It Sx \&%T Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0

.It Sx \&%U Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0

.It Sx \&%V Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0

.It Sx \&Ad Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n

.It Sx \&Ad Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0

.It Sx \&An Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n

.It Sx \&An Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0

.It Sx \&Ap Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta 0

.It Sx \&Ar Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n

.It Sx \&At Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta 1

Line 773 then the macro accepts an arbitrary number of argument

Line 802 then the macro accepts an arbitrary number of argument

.It Sx \&Bt Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0

.It Sx \&Bx Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n

.It Sx \&Cd Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0

.It Sx \&Cm Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n

.It Sx \&Cm Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0

.It Sx \&Db Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 1

.It Sx \&Dd Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0

.It Sx \&Dd Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta n

.It Sx \&Dt Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta n

.It Sx \&Dv Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n

.It Sx \&Dv Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0

.It Sx \&Dx Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n

.It Sx \&Em Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0

.It Sx \&En Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0

.It Sx \&Er Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0

.It Sx \&Es Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0

.It Sx \&Ev Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n

.It Sx \&Ev Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0

.It Sx \&Ex Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta n

.It Sx \&Fa Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n

.It Sx \&Fa Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0

.It Sx \&Fd Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0

.It Sx \&Fl Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n

.It Sx \&Fn Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0

.It Sx \&Fr Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta n

.It Sx \&Ft Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n

.It Sx \&Ft Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0

.It Sx \&Fx Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n

.It Sx \&Hf Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta n

.It Sx \&Ic Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0

.It Sx \&In Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta n

.It Sx \&In Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 1

.It Sx \&Lb Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 1

.It Sx \&Li Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n

.It Sx \&Li Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0

.It Sx \&Lk Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n

.It Sx \&Lk Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0

.It Sx \&Lp Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0

.It Sx \&Ms Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0

.It Sx \&Mt Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0

Line 833 For the scoping of individual macros, see

Line 862 For the scoping of individual macros, see

.Ss \&%A

Author name of an

.Sx \&Rs

block. Multiple authors should each be accorded their own

block.

Multiple authors should each be accorded their own

.Sx \%%A

line. Author names should be ordered with full or abbreviated

line.

forename(s) first, then full surname.

Author names should be ordered with full or abbreviated forename(s)

first, then full surname.

.Ss \&%B

Book title of an

.Sx \&Rs

block. This macro may also be used in a non-bibliographic context when

block.

This macro may also be used in a non-bibliographic context when

referring to book titles.

.Ss \&%C

Publication city or location of an

.Sx \&Rs

block.

.Pp

.Em Remarks :

this macro is not implemented in

.Xr groff 1 .

.Ss \&%D

Publication date of an

.Sx \&Rs

block. This should follow the reduced or canonical form syntax

block.

described in

Recommended formats of arguments are

.Sx Dates .

.Ar month day , year

or just

.Ar year .

.Ss \&%I

Publisher or issuer name of an

.Sx \&Rs

Line 879 block.

Line 909 block.

.Ss \&%Q

Institutional author (school, government, etc.) of an

.Sx \&Rs

block. Multiple institutional authors should each be accorded their own

block.

Multiple institutional authors should each be accorded their own

.Sx \&%Q

line.

.Ss \&%R

Line 889 block.

Line 920 block.

.Ss \&%T

Article title of an

.Sx \&Rs

block. This macro may also be used in a non-bibliographical context

block.

when referring to article titles.

This macro may also be used in a non-bibliographical context when

referring to article titles.

.Ss \&%U

URI of reference document.

.Ss \&%V

Line 898 Volume number of an

Line 930 Volume number of an

.Sx \&Rs

block.

.Ss \&Ac

Closes an

Close an

.Sx \&Ao

block. Does not have any tail arguments.

block.

Does not have any tail arguments.

.Ss \&Ad

Address construct: usually in the context of an computational address in

Memory address.

memory, not a physical (post) address.

Do not use this for postal addresses.

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.Ad [0,$]

.Dl \&.Ad [0,$]

.D1 \&.Ad 0x00000000

.Dl \&.Ad 0x00000000

.Ss \&An

Author name.

This macro may alternatively accepts the following arguments, although

Requires either the name of an author or one of the following arguments:

these may not be specified along with a parameter:

.Pp

.Bl -tag -width 12n -offset indent

.Bl -tag -width "-nosplitX" -offset indent -compact

.It Fl split

Renders a line break before each author listing.

Start a new output line before each subsequent invocation of

.Sx \&An .

.It Fl nosplit

The opposite of

.Fl split .

.El

.Pp

In the AUTHORS section, the default is not to split the first author

The default is

listing, but all subsequent author listings, whether or not they're

.Fl nosplit .

interspersed by other macros or text, are split.

The effect of selecting either of the

Thus, specifying

.Fl split

will cause the first listing also to be split.

modes ends at the beginning of the

If not in the AUTHORS section, the default is not to split.

.Em AUTHORS

section.

In the

.Em AUTHORS

section, the default is

.Fl nosplit

for the first author listing and

.Fl split

for all other author listings.

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.An -nosplit

.Dl \&.An -nosplit

.D1 \&.An J. D. Ullman .

.Dl \&.An Kristaps Dzonsons \&Aq kristaps@bsd.lv

.Pp

.Em Remarks :

the effects of

.Fl split

.Fl nosplit

are re-set when entering the AUTHORS section, so if one specifies

.Sx \&An Fl nosplit

in the general document body, it must be re-specified in the AUTHORS

section.

.Ss \&Ao

Begins a block enclosed by angled brackets.

Begin a block enclosed by angle brackets.

Does not have any head arguments.

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.Fl -key= \&Ns \&Ao \&Ar val \&Ac

.Dl \&.Fl -key= \&Ns \&Ao \&Ar val \&Ac

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Aq .

.Ss \&Ap

Inserts an apostrophe without any surrounding white-space.

Inserts an apostrophe without any surrounding whitespace.

This is generally used as a grammatic device when referring to the verb

This is generally used as a grammatical device when referring to the verb

form of a function:

form of a function.

.Bd -literal -offset indent

.Pp

\&.Fn execve Ap d

Examples:

.Ed

.Dl \&.Fn execve \&Ap d

.Ss \&Aq

Encloses its arguments in angled brackets.

Encloses its arguments in angle brackets.

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.Fl -key= \&Ns \&Aq \&Ar val

.Dl \&.Fl -key= \&Ns \&Aq \&Ar val

.Pp

.Em Remarks :

this macro is often abused for rendering URIs, which should instead use

Line 978 See also

Line 1009 See also

.Ss \&Ar

Command arguments.

If an argument is not provided, the string

.Dq file ...

.Dq file ...\&

is used as a default.

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.Fl o \&Ns \&Ar file1

.Dl \&.Fl o \&Ns \&Ar file1

.D1 \&.Ar

.Dl \&.Ar

.D1 \&.Ar arg1 , arg2 .

.Dl \&.Ar arg1 , arg2 .

.Ss \&At

Formats an AT&T version.

Accepts at most one parameter:

Accepts one optional argument:

.Bl -tag -width 12n -offset indent

.Pp

.Bl -tag -width "v[1-7] | 32vX" -offset indent -compact

.It Cm v[1-7] | 32v

A version of

.At .

.It Cm V[.[1-4]]?

A system version of

A version of

.At .

.At V .

.El

.Pp

Note that these parameters do not begin with a hyphen.

Note that these arguments do not begin with a hyphen.

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.At

.Dl \&.At

.D1 \&.At V.1

.Dl \&.At V.1

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Bsx ,

Line 1013 See also

Line 1045 See also

and

.Sx \&Ux .

.Ss \&Bc

Closes a

Close a

.Sx \&Bo

block. Does not have any tail arguments.

block.

Does not have any tail arguments.

.Ss \&Bd

Begins a display block.

Begin a display block.

A display is collection of macros or text which may be collectively

Its syntax is as follows:

offset or justified in a manner different from that

.Bd -ragged -offset indent

of the enclosing context.

.Pf \. Sx \&Bd

By default, the block is preceded by a vertical space.

.Fl Ns Ar type

.Op Fl offset Ar width

.Op Fl compact

.Ed

.Pp

Each display is associated with a type, which must be one of the

Display blocks are used to select a different indentation and

following arguments:

justification than the one used by the surrounding text.

.Bl -tag -width 12n -offset indent

They may contain both macro lines and text lines.

.It Fl ragged

By default, a display block is preceded by a vertical space.

Only left-justify the block.

.Pp

.It Fl unfilled

The

Do not justify the block at all.

.Ar type

must be one of the following:

.Bl -tag -width 13n -offset indent

.It Fl centered

Centre-justify each line.

Using this display type is not recommended; many

.Nm

implementations render it poorly.

.It Fl filled

Left- and right-justify the block.

.It Fl literal

Alias for

Do not justify the block at all.

.Fl unfilled .

Preserve white space as it appears in the input.

.It Fl centered

.It Fl ragged

Centre-justify each line.

Only left-justify the block.

.It Fl unfilled

An alias for

.Fl literal .

.El

.Pp

The type must be provided first.

The

Secondary arguments are as follows:

.Ar type

.Bl -tag -width 12n -offset indent

must be provided first.

Additional arguments may follow:

.Bl -tag -width 13n -offset indent

.It Fl offset Ar width

Offset by the value of

Indent the display by the

.Ar width ,

which is interpreted as one of the following, specified in order:

which may be one of the following:

.Bl -item

.It

As one of the pre-defined strings

One of the pre-defined strings

.Ar indent ,

.Cm indent ,

the width of standard indentation;

.Ar indent-two ,

.Cm indent-two ,

twice

.Ar indent ;

.Cm indent ;

.Ar left ,

.Cm left ,

which has no effect ;

which has no effect;

.Ar right ,

.Cm right ,

which justifies to the right margin; and

which justifies to the right margin; or

.Ar center ,

.Cm center ,

which aligns around an imagined centre axis.

.It

As a precalculated width for a named macro.

A macro invocation, which selects a predefined width

associated with that macro.

The most popular is the imaginary macro

.Ar \&Ds ,

which resolves to

.Ar 6n .

.Sy 6n .

.It

As a scaling unit following the syntax described in

A width using the syntax described in

.Sx Scaling Widths .

.It

As the calculated string length of the opaque string.

An arbitrary string, which indents by the length of this string.

.El

.Pp

If unset, it will revert to the value of

When the argument is missing,

.Ar 8n

.Fl offset

as described in

is ignored.

.Sx Scaling Widths .

.It Fl compact

Do not assert a vertical space before the block.

Do not assert vertical space before the display.

.It Fl file Ar file

Prepend the file

.Ar file

before any text or macros within the block.

.El

.Pp

Examples:

.Bd -literal -offset indent

\&.Bd \-unfilled \-offset two-indent \-compact

\&.Bd \-literal \-offset indent \-compact

Hello world.

\&.Ed

.Ed

Line 1097 See also

Line 1141 See also

and

.Sx \&Dl .

.Ss \&Bf

Change the font mode for a scoped block of text.

Its syntax is as follows:

.Bd -ragged -offset indent

.Pf \. Sx \&Bf

.Oo

.Fl emphasis | literal | symbolic |

.Cm \&Em | \&Li | \&Sy

.Oc

.Ed

.Pp

The

.Fl emphasis

and

.Cm \&Em

argument are equivalent, as are

.Fl symbolic

and

.Cm \&Sy ,

and

.Fl literal

and

.Cm \&Li .

Without an argument, this macro does nothing.

The font mode continues until broken by a new font mode in a nested

scope or

.Sx \&Ef

is encountered.

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Li ,

.Sx \&Ef ,

.Sx \&Em ,

and

.Sx \&Sy .

.Ss \&Bk

Keep the output generated from each macro input line together

on one single output line.

Line breaks in text lines are unaffected.

The syntax is as follows:

.Pp

.D1 Pf \. Sx \&Bk Fl words

.Pp

The

.Fl words

argument is required; additional arguments are ignored.

.Pp

The following example will not break within each

.Sx \&Op

macro line:

.Bd -literal -offset indent

\&.Bk \-words

\&.Op Fl f Ar flags

\&.Op Fl o Ar output

\&.Ek

.Ed

.Pp

Be careful in using over-long lines within a keep block!

Doing so will clobber the right margin.

.Ss \&Bl

Begins a list composed of one or more list entries.

Begin a list.

A list is associated with a type, which is a required argument.

Lists consist of items specified using the

Other arguments are

.Fl width ,

defined per-type as accepting a literal or

.Sx Scaling Widths

value;

.Fl offset ,

also accepting a literal or

.Sx Scaling Widths

value setting the list's global offset; and

.Fl compact ,

suppressing the default vertical space printed before each list entry.

A list entry is specified by the

.Sx \&It

macro, which consists of a head and optional body (depending on the list

macro, containing a head or a body or both.

type).

The list syntax is as follows:

.Bd -ragged -offset indent

.Pf \. Sx \&Bl

.Fl Ns Ar type

.Op Fl width Ar val

.Op Fl offset Ar val

.Op Fl compact

.Op HEAD ...

.Ed

.Pp

The list

.Ar type

is mandatory and must be specified first.

The

.Fl width

and

.Fl offset

arguments accept

.Sx Scaling Widths

or use the length of the given string.

The

.Fl offset

is a global indentation for the whole list, affecting both item heads

and bodies.

For those list types supporting it, the

.Fl width

argument requests an additional indentation of item bodies,

to be added to the

.Fl offset .

Unless the

.Fl compact

argument is specified, list entries are separated by vertical space.

.Pp

A list must specify one of the following list types:

.Bl -tag -width 12n -offset indent

.It Fl bullet

A list offset by a bullet.

No item heads can be specified, but a bullet will be printed at the head

The head of list entries must be empty.

of each item.

List entry bodies are positioned after the bullet.

Item bodies start on the same output line as the bullet

The

and are indented according to the

.Fl width

argument varies the width of list bodies' left-margins.

argument.

.It Fl column

A columnated list.

The

.Fl width

argument has no effect.

argument has no effect; instead, each argument specifies the width

The number of columns is specified as parameters to the

of one column, using either the

.Sx \&Bl

macro.

These dictate the width of columns either as

.Sx Scaling Widths

or literal text.

syntax or the string length of the argument.

If the initial macro of a

If the first line of the body of a

.Fl column

list is not an

.Sx \&It ,

.Sx \&It

context spanning each line is implied until an

macro line,

.Sx \&It

line macro is encountered, at which point list bodies are interpreted as

contexts spanning one input line each are implied until an

.Sx \&It

macro line is encountered, at which point items start being interpreted as

described in the

.Sx \&It

documentation.

.It Fl dash

A list offset by a dash (hyphen).

The head of list entries must be empty.

.Fl bullet ,

List entry bodies are positioned past the dash.

except that dashes are used in place of bullets.

The

.Fl width

argument varies the width of list bodies' left-margins.

.It Fl diag

.Fl inset ,

but with additional formatting to the head.

except that item heads are not parsed for macro invocations.

The

.\" but with additional formatting to the head.

.Fl width

argument varies the width of list bodies' left-margins.

.It Fl enum

An enumerated list offset by the enumeration from 1.

A numbered list.

The head of list entries must be empty.

Formatted like

List entry bodies are positioned after the enumeration.

.Fl bullet ,

The

except that cardinal numbers are used in place of bullets,

.Fl width

starting at 1.

argument varies the width of list bodies' left-margins.

.It Fl hang

.Fl tag ,

but instead of list bodies positioned after the head, they trail the

except that the first lines of item bodies are not indented, but follow

head text.

the item heads like in

The

.Fl inset

.Fl width

lists.

argument varies the width of list bodies' left-margins.

.It Fl hyphen

Synonym for

.Fl dash .

.It Fl inset

List bodies follow the list head.

Item bodies follow items heads on the same line, using normal inter-word

The

spacing.

Bodies are not indented, and the

.Fl width

argument is ignored.

.It Fl item

This produces blocks of text.

No item heads can be specified, and none are printed.

The head of list entries must be empty.

Bodies are not indented, and the

The

.Fl width

argument is ignored.

.It Fl ohang

List bodies are positioned on the line following the head.

Item bodies start on the line following item heads and are not indented.

The

.Fl width

argument is ignored.

.It Fl tag

A list offset by list entry heads. List entry bodies are positioned

Item bodies are indented according to the

after the head as specified by the

.Fl width

argument.

When an item head fits inside the indentation, the item body follows

this head on the same output line.

Otherwise, the body starts on the output line following the head.

.El

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&El

and

.Sx \&It .

.Ss \&Bo

Begins a block enclosed by square brackets.

Begin a block enclosed by square brackets.

Does not have any head arguments.

.Pp

Examples:

.Bd -literal -offset indent

.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact

\&.Bo 1 ,

\&.Dv BUFSIZ \&Bc

.Ed

Line 1221 See also

Line 1336 See also

Encloses its arguments in square brackets.

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.Bq 1 , \&Dv BUFSIZ

.Dl \&.Bq 1 , \&Dv BUFSIZ

.Pp

.Em Remarks :

this macro is sometimes abused to emulate optional arguments for

Line 1234 and

Line 1349 and

See also

.Sx \&Bo .

.Ss \&Brc

Closes a

Close a

.Sx \&Bro

block. Does not have any tail arguments.

block.

Does not have any tail arguments.

.Ss \&Bro

Begins a block enclosed by curly braces.

Begin a block enclosed by curly braces.

Does not have any head arguments.

.Pp

Examples:

.Bd -literal -offset indent

.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact

\&.Bro 1 , ... ,

\&.Va n \&Brc

.Ed

Line 1253 See also

Line 1369 See also

Encloses its arguments in curly braces.

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.Brq 1 , ... , \&Va n

.Dl \&.Brq 1 , ... , \&Va n

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Bro .

Line 1262 Format the BSD/OS version provided as an argument, or

Line 1378 Format the BSD/OS version provided as an argument, or

no argument is provided.

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.Bsx 1.0

.Dl \&.Bsx 1.0

.D1 \&.Bsx

.Dl \&.Bsx

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&At ,

Line 1276 and

Line 1392 and

.Sx \&Ux .

.Ss \&Bt

Prints

.Dq is currently in beta test.

.Dq is currently in beta test .

.Ss \&Bx

Format the BSD version provided as an argument, or a default value if no

argument is provided.

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.Bx 4.4

.Dl \&.Bx 4.4

.D1 \&.Bx

.Dl \&.Bx

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&At ,

Line 1295 See also

Line 1411 See also

and

.Sx \&Ux .

.Ss \&Cd

Configuration declaration.

Kernel configuration declaration.

This denotes strings accepted by

.Xr config 8 .

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.Cd device le0 at scode?

.Dl \&.Cd device le0 at scode?

.Pp

.Em Remarks :

this macro is commonly abused by using quoted literals to retain

white-space and align consecutive

whitespace and align consecutive

.Sx \&Cd

declarations.

This practise is discouraged.

Line 1313 Command modifiers.

Line 1429 Command modifiers.

Useful when specifying configuration options or keys.

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.Cm ControlPath

.Dl \&.Cm ControlPath

.D1 \&.Cm ControlMaster

.Dl \&.Cm ControlMaster

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Fl .

Line 1325 statements.

Line 1441 statements.

It is followed by a newline.

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.D1 \&Fl abcdefgh

.Dl \&.D1 \&Fl abcdefgh

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Bd

and

.Sx \&Dl .

.Ss \&Db

Switch debugging mode.

Its syntax is as follows:

.Pp

.D1 Pf \. Sx \&Db Cm on | off

.Pp

This macro is ignored by

.Xr mandoc 1 .

.Ss \&Dc

Closes a

Close a

.Sx \&Do

block. Does not have any tail arguments.

block.

Does not have any tail arguments.

.Ss \&Dd

Document date.

This is the mandatory first macro of any

.Nm

manual.

Its calling syntax is as follows:

Its syntax is as follows:

.Pp

.D1 \. Ns Sx \&Dd Cm date

.D1 Pf \. Sx \&Dd Ar month day , year

.Pp

The

.Cm date

.Ar month

field may be either

is the full English month name, the

.Ar $\&Mdocdate$ ,

.Ar day

which signifies the current manual revision date dictated by

is an optionally zero-padded numeral, and the

.Ar year

is the full four-digit year.

.Pp

Other arguments are not portable; the

.Xr mandoc 1

utility handles them as follows:

.Bl -dash -offset 3n -compact

.It

To have the date automatically filled in by the

.Ox

version of

.Xr cvs 1 ,

or instead a valid canonical date as specified by

the special string

.Sx Dates .

.Dq $\&Mdocdate$

If a date does not conform, the current date is used instead.

can be given as an argument.

.It

A few alternative date formats are accepted as well

and converted to the standard form.

.It

If a date string cannot be parsed, it is used verbatim.

.It

If no date string is given, the current date is used.

.El

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.Dd $\&Mdocdate$

.Dl \&.Dd $\&Mdocdate$

.D1 \&.Dd $\&Mdocdate: July 21 2007$

.Dl \&.Dd $\&Mdocdate: July 21 2007$

.D1 \&.Dd July 21, 2007

.Dl \&.Dd July 21, 2007

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Dt

Line 1371 invocations.

Line 1514 invocations.

It is followed by a newline.

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.Dl % mandoc mdoc.7 | less

.Dl \&.Dl % mandoc mdoc.7 \e(ba less

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Bd

and

.Sx \&D1 .

.Ss \&Do

Begins a block enclosed by double quotes. Does not have any head

Begin a block enclosed by double quotes.

arguments.

Does not have any head arguments.

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.D1 \&Do April is the cruellest month \&Dc \e(em T.S. Eliot

.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact

\&.Do

April is the cruellest month

\&.Dc

\e(em T.S. Eliot

.Ed

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Dq .

.Ss \&Dq

Encloses its arguments in double quotes.

Encloses its arguments in

.Dq typographic

double-quotes.

.Pp

Examples:

.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact

Line 1396 Examples:

Line 1546 Examples:

.Ed

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Qq ,

.Sx \&Sq ,

and

.Sx \&Do .

.Ss \&Dt

Document title.

This is the mandatory second macro of any

.Nm

file.

Its calling syntax is as follows:

Its syntax is as follows:

.Bd -ragged -offset indent

.Pf \. Sx \&Dt

.Oo

.Ar title

.Oo

.Ar section

.Op Ar volume | arch

.Oc

.Ed

.Pp

.D1 \. Ns Sx \&Dt Op Cm title Op Cm section Op Cm volume | arch

.Pp

Its arguments are as follows:

.Bl -tag -width Ds -offset Ds

.It Cm title

.It Ar title

The document's title (name), defaulting to

.Qq UNKNOWN

.Dq UNKNOWN

if unspecified.

It should be capitalised.

.It Cm section

.It Ar section

The manual section.

This may be one of

.Ar 1

Line 1450 or

Line 1611 or

.Ar paper

.Pq paper .

It should correspond to the manual's filename suffix and defaults to

.Qq 1

.Dq 1

if unspecified.

.It Cm volume

.It Ar volume

This overrides the volume inferred from

.Ar section .

This field is optional, and if specified, must be one of

Line 1481 This field is optional, and if specified, must be one

Line 1642 This field is optional, and if specified, must be one

.Ar CON

.Pq contributed manuals .

.It Cm arch

.It Ar arch

This specifies a specific relevant architecture.

.Cm volume

.Ar volume

is not provided, it may be used in its place, else it may be used

subsequent that.

It, too, is optional.

Line 1505 It must be one of

Line 1666 It must be one of

.Ar luna88k ,

.Ar mac68k ,

.Ar macppc ,

.Ar mips64 ,

.Ar mvme68k ,

.Ar mvme88k ,

.Ar mvmeppc ,

Line 1520 or

Line 1682 or

.El

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.Dt FOO 1

.Dl \&.Dt FOO 1

.D1 \&.Dt FOO 4 KM

.Dl \&.Dt FOO 4 KM

.D1 \&.Dt FOO 9 i386

.Dl \&.Dt FOO 9 i386

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Dd

Line 1532 and

Line 1694 and

Defined variables such as preprocessor constants.

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.Dv BUFSIZ

.Dl \&.Dv BUFSIZ

.D1 \&.Dv STDOUT_FILENO

.Dl \&.Dv STDOUT_FILENO

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Er .

Line 1542 Format the DragonFly BSD version provided as an argume

Line 1704 Format the DragonFly BSD version provided as an argume

value if no argument is provided.

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.Dx 2.4.1

.Dl \&.Dx 2.4.1

.D1 \&.Dx

.Dl \&.Dx

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&At ,

Line 1555 See also

Line 1717 See also

and

.Sx \&Ux .

.Ss \&Ec

Close a scope started by

.Sx \&Eo .

Its syntax is as follows:

.Pp

.D1 Pf \. Sx \&Ec Op Ar TERM

.Pp

The

.Ar TERM

argument is used as the enclosure tail, for example, specifying \e(rq

will emulate

.Sx \&Dc .

.Ss \&Ed

End a display context started by

.Sx \&Bd .

.Ss \&Ef

End a font mode context started by

.Sx \&Bf .

.Ss \&Ek

End a keep context started by

.Sx \&Bk .

.Ss \&El

End a list context started by

.Sx \&Bl .

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Bl

and

.Sx \&It .

.Ss \&Em

Denotes text that should be emphasised.

Note that this is a presentation term and should not be used for

stylistically decorating technical terms.

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.Em Warnings!

.Dl \&.Em Warnings!

.D1 \&.Em Remarks :

.Dl \&.Em Remarks :

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Bf ,

.Sx \&Sy ,

and

.Sx \&Li .

.Ss \&En

This macro is obsolete and not implemented in

.Xr mandoc 1 .

.Ss \&Eo

An arbitrary enclosure.

Its syntax is as follows:

.Pp

.D1 Pf \. Sx \&Eo Op Ar TERM

.Pp

The

.Ar TERM

argument is used as the enclosure head, for example, specifying \e(lq

will emulate

.Sx \&Do .

.Ss \&Er

Display error constants.

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.Er EPERM

.Dl \&.Er EPERM

.D1 \&.Er ENOENT

.Dl \&.Er ENOENT

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Dv .

.Ss \&Es

This macro is obsolete and not implemented.

.Ss \&Ev

Environmental variables such as those specified in

.Xr environ 7 .

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.Ev DISPLAY

.Dl \&.Ev DISPLAY

.D1 \&.Ev PATH

.Dl \&.Ev PATH

.Ss \&Ex

Inserts text regarding a utility's exit values.

Insert a standard sentence regarding exit values.

This macro must have first the

Its syntax is as follows:

.Fl std

.Pp

argument specified, then an optional

.D1 Pf \. Sx \&Ex Fl std Op Ar utility

.Ar utility .

.Pp

When

.Ar utility

is not provided, the document's name as stipulated in

is not specified, the document's name set by

.Sx \&Nm

is provided.

is used.

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Rv .

.Ss \&Fa

Function argument.

Its syntax is as follows:

.Bd -ragged -offset indent

.Pf \. Sx \&Fa

.Op Cm argtype

.Cm argname

.Ed

.Pp

This may be invoked for names with or without the corresponding type.

It is also used to specify the field name of a structure.

Most often, the

.Sx \&Fa

macro is used in the

.Em SYNOPSIS

within

.Sx \&Fo

section when documenting multi-line function prototypes.

If invoked with multiple arguments, the arguments are separated by a

comma.

Furthermore, if the following macro is another

.Sx \&Fa ,

the last argument will also have a trailing comma.

.Pp

Examples:

.Dl \&.Fa \(dqconst char *p\(dq

.Dl \&.Fa \(dqint a\(dq \(dqint b\(dq \(dqint c\(dq

.Dl \&.Fa foo

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Fo .

.Ss \&Fc

End a function context started by

.Sx \&Fo .

.Ss \&Fd

Historically used to document include files.

This usage has been deprecated in favour of

.Sx \&In .

Do not use this macro.

.Pp

See also

.Sx MANUAL STRUCTURE

and

.Sx \&In .

.Ss \&Fl

Command-line flag.

Used when listing arguments to command-line utilities.

Line 1611 If the argument is a macro, a hyphen is prefixed to th

Line 1860 If the argument is a macro, a hyphen is prefixed to th

output.

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.Fl a b c

.Dl \&.Fl a b c

.D1 \&.Fl \&Pf a b

.Dl \&.Fl \&Pf a b

.D1 \&.Fl

.Dl \&.Fl

.D1 \&.Op \&Fl o \&Ns \&Ar file

.Dl \&.Op \&Fl o \&Ns \&Ar file

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Cm .

.Ss \&Fn

A function name.

Its syntax is as follows:

.Bd -ragged -offset indent

.Pf \. Ns Sx \&Fn

.Op Ar functype

.Ar funcname

.Op Oo Ar argtype Oc Ar argname

.Ed

.Pp

Function arguments are surrounded in parenthesis and

are delimited by commas.

If no arguments are specified, blank parenthesis are output.

.Pp

Examples:

.Dl \&.Fn \*qint funcname\*q \*qint arg0\*q \*qint arg1\*q

.Dl \&.Fn funcname \*qint arg0\*q

.Dl \&.Fn funcname arg0

.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact

\&.Ft functype

\&.Fn funcname

.Ed

.Pp

When referring to a function documented in another manual page, use

.Sx \&Xr

instead.

See also

.Sx MANUAL STRUCTURE

and

.Sx \&Ft .

.Ss \&Fo

.Ss \&Fr

Begin a function block.

This is a multi-line version of

.Sx \&Fn .

Its syntax is as follows:

.Pp

.D1 Pf \. Sx \&Fo Ar funcname

.Pp

Invocations usually occur in the following context:

.Bd -ragged -offset indent

.Pf \. Sx \&Ft Ar functype

.br

.Pf \. Sx \&Fo Ar funcname

.br

.Pf \. Sx \&Fa Oo Ar argtype Oc Ar argname

.br

\&.\.\.

.br

.Pf \. Sx \&Fc

.Ed

.Pp

.Sx \&Fo

scope is closed by

.Pp

See also

.Sx MANUAL STRUCTURE ,

.Sx \&Fa ,

.Sx \&Fc ,

and

.Sx \&Ft .

.Ss \&Ft

A function type.

Its syntax is as follows:

.Pp

.D1 Pf \. Sx \&Ft Ar functype

.Pp

Examples:

.Dl \&.Ft int

.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact

\&.Ft functype

\&.Fn funcname

.Ed

.Pp

See also

.Sx MANUAL STRUCTURE ,

.Sx \&Fn ,

and

.Sx \&Fo .

.Ss \&Fx

Format the FreeBSD version provided as an argument, or a default value

Format the

.Fx

version provided as an argument, or a default value

if no argument is provided.

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.Fx 7.1

.Dl \&.Fx 7.1

.D1 \&.Fx

.Dl \&.Fx

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&At ,

Line 1640 See also

Line 1966 See also

and

.Sx \&Ux .

.Ss \&Hf

This macro is obsolete and not implemented.

.Ss \&Ic

Designate an internal or interactive command.

This is similar to

.Sx \&Cm

but used for instructions rather than values.

.Pp

Examples:

.Dl \&.Ic hash

.Dl \&.Ic alias

.Pp

Note that using

.Sx \&Bd Fl literal

.Sx \&D1

is preferred for displaying code; the

.Sx \&Ic

macro is used when referring to specific instructions.

.Ss \&In

.Dq include

file.

In the

.Em SYNOPSIS

section (only if invoked as the line macro), the first argument is

preceded by

.Dq #include ,

the arguments is enclosed in angle brackets.

.Pp

Examples:

.Dl \&.In sys/types

.Pp

See also

.Sx MANUAL STRUCTURE .

.Ss \&It

A list item. The syntax of this macro depends on the list type.

A list item.

The syntax of this macro depends on the list type.

.Pp

Lists

of type

Line 1652 of type

Line 2011 of type

.Fl inset ,

and

.Fl diag

have the following calling syntax:

have the following syntax:

.Pp

.D1 \. Ns Sx \&It Cm args

.D1 Pf \. Sx \&It Ar args

.Pp

Lists of type

.Fl bullet ,

Line 1663 Lists of type

Line 2022 Lists of type

.Fl hyphen

and

.Fl item

have the following calling syntax:

have the following syntax:

.Pp

.D1 \. Ns Sx \&It

.D1 Pf \. Sx \&It

.Pp

with subsequent lines interpreted within the scope of the

.Sx \&It

Line 1676 or another

Line 2035 or another

.Pp

The

.Fl tag

list has syntax

list has the following syntax:

.Pp

.D1 \. Ns Sx \&It Op Cm args

.D1 Pf \. Sx \&It Op Cm args

.Pp

with subsequent lines interpreted as with

Subsequent lines are interpreted as with

.Fl bullet

and family.

The line arguments correspond to the list's left-hand side; body

Line 1689 arguments correspond to the list's contents.

Line 2048 arguments correspond to the list's contents.

The

.Fl column

list is the most complicated.

Its syntax is

Its syntax is as follows:

.Pp

.D1 \. Ns Sx \&It Op Cm args

.D1 Pf \. Sx \&It Op Cm args

.Pp

where

The

.Cm args

are phrases, a mix of macros and text corresponding to a line column,

delimited by tabs or the special

Line 1705 are interpreted within the scope of the last phrase.

Line 2064 are interpreted within the scope of the last phrase.

Calling the pseudo-macro

.Sq \&Ta

will open a new phrase scope (this must occur on a macro line to be

interpreted as a macro). Note that the tab phrase delimiter may only be

interpreted as a macro).

used within the

Note that the tab phrase delimiter may only be used within the

.Sx \&It

line itself.

Subsequent this, only the

.Sq \&Ta

pseudo-macro may be used to delimit phrases.

Furthermore, note that quoted sections propogate over tab-delimited

Furthermore, note that quoted sections propagate over tab-delimited

phrases on an

.Sx \&It ,

for example,

.Pp

.D1 .It \(dqcol1 ; <TAB> col2 ;\(dq ;

.Dl .It \(dqcol1 ; <TAB> col2 ;\(dq \&;

.Pp

will preserve the semicolon whitespace except for the last.

.Pp

Line 1725 See also

Line 2084 See also

.Sx \&Bl .

.Ss \&Lb

Specify a library.

The calling syntax is as follows:

The syntax is as follows:

.Pp

.D1 \. Ns Sx \&Lb Cm library

.D1 Pf \. Sx \&Lb Ar library

.Pp

The

.Cm library

.Ar library

parameter may be a system library, such as

.Cm libz

.Ar libz

.Cm libpam ,

.Ar libpam ,

in which case a small library description is printed next to the linker

invocation; or a custom library, in which case the library name is

printed in quotes.

Line 1744 section as described in

Line 2103 section as described in

.Sx MANUAL STRUCTURE .

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.Lb libz

.Dl \&.Lb libz

.D1 \&.Lb mdoc

.Dl \&.Lb mdoc

.Ss \&Li

Denotes text that should be in a literal font mode.

Note that this is a presentation term and should not be used for

stylistically decorating technical terms.

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Bf ,

.Sx \&Sy ,

and

.Sx \&Em .

.Ss \&Lk

Format a hyperlink.

The calling syntax is as follows:

Its syntax is as follows:

.Pp

.D1 \. Ns Sx \&Lk Cm uri Op Cm name

.D1 Pf \. Sx \&Lk Ar uri Op Ar name

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.Lk http://bsd.lv "The BSD.lv Project"

.Dl \&.Lk http://bsd.lv \*qThe BSD.lv Project\*q

.D1 \&.Lk http://bsd.lv

.Dl \&.Lk http://bsd.lv

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Mt .

.Ss \&Lp

Synonym for

.Sx \&Pp .

.Ss \&Ms

Display a mathematical symbol.

Its syntax is as follows:

.Pp

.D1 Pf \. Sx \&Ms Ar symbol

.Pp

Examples:

.Dl \&.Ms sigma

.Dl \&.Ms aleph

.Ss \&Mt

Format a

.Dq mailto:

hyperlink.

Its syntax is as follows:

.Pp

.D1 Pf \. Sx \&Mt Ar address

.Pp

Examples:

.Dl \&.Mt discuss@manpages.bsd.lv

.Ss \&Nd

A one line description of the manual's content.

This may only be invoked in the

.Em SYNOPSIS

section subsequent the

.Sx \&Nm

macro.

.Pp

Examples:

.Dl \&.Sx \&Nd mdoc language reference

.Dl \&.Sx \&Nd format and display UNIX manuals

.Pp

The

.Sx \&Nd

macro technically accepts child macros and terminates with a subsequent

.Sx \&Sh

invocation.

Do not assume this behaviour: some

.Xr whatis 1

database generators are not smart enough to parse more than the line

arguments and will display macros verbatim.

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Nm .

.Ss \&Nm

The name of the manual page, or \(em in particular in section 1, 6,

and 8 pages \(em of an additional command or feature documented in

the manual page.

When first invoked, the

.Sx \&Nm

macro expects a single argument, the name of the manual page.

Usually, the first invocation happens in the

.Em NAME

section of the page.

The specified name will be remembered and used whenever the macro is

called again without arguments later in the page.

The

.Sx \&Nm

macro uses

.Sx Block full-implicit

semantics when invoked as the first macro on an input line in the

.Em SYNOPSIS

section; otherwise, it uses ordinary

.Sx In-line

semantics.

.Pp

Examples:

.Bd -literal -offset indent

\&.Sh SYNOPSIS

\&.Nm cat

\&.Op Fl benstuv

\&.Op Ar

.Ed

.Pp

In the

.Em SYNOPSIS

of section 2, 3 and 9 manual pages, use the

.Sx \&Fn

macro rather than

.Sx \&Nm

to mark up the name of the manual page.

.Ss \&No

.Dq noop

macro used to terminate prior macro contexts.

.Pp

Examples:

.Dl \&.Sx \&Fl ab \&No cd \&Fl ef

.Ss \&Ns

Suppress a space.

Following invocation, text is interpreted as free-form text until a

macro is encountered.

.Pp

This has no effect when invoked at the start of a macro line.

.Pp

Examples:

.Dl \&.Fl o \&Ns \&Ar output

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&No

and

.Sx \&Sm .

.Ss \&Nx

Format the NetBSD version provided as an argument, or a default value if

Format the

.Nx

version provided as an argument, or a default value if

no argument is provided.

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.Nx 5.01

.Dl \&.Nx 5.01

.D1 \&.Nx

.Dl \&.Nx

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&At ,

Line 1784 See also

Line 2251 See also

and

.Sx \&Ux .

.Ss \&Oc

Close multi-line

.Sx \&Oo

context.

.Ss \&Oo

Multi-line version of

.Sx \&Op .

.Pp

Examples:

.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact

\&.Oo

\&.Op Fl flag Ns Ar value

\&.Oc

.Ed

.Ss \&Op

Command-line option.

Used when listing options to command-line utilities.

Prints the argument(s) in brackets.

.Pp

Examples:

.Dl \&.Op \&Fl a \&Ar b

.Dl \&.Op \&Ar a | b

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Oo .

.Ss \&Os

Document operating system version.

This is the mandatory third macro of

any

.Nm

file. Its calling syntax is as follows:

file.

Its syntax is as follows:

.Pp

.D1 \. Ns Sx \&Os Op Cm system

.D1 Pf \. Sx \&Os Op Ar system Op Ar version

.Pp

The optional

.Cm system

.Ar system

parameter specifies the relevant operating system or environment.

Left unspecified, it defaults to the local operating system version.

This is the suggested form.

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.Os

.Dl \&.Os

.D1 \&.Os KTH/CSC/TCS

.Dl \&.Os KTH/CSC/TCS

.D1 \&.Os BSD 4.3

.Dl \&.Os BSD 4.3

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Dd

Line 1816 Unknown usage.

Line 2306 Unknown usage.

.Em Remarks :

this macro has been deprecated.

.Ss \&Ox

Format the OpenBSD version provided as an argument, or a default value

Format the

.Ox

version provided as an argument, or a default value

if no argument is provided.

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.Ox 4.5

.Dl \&.Ox 4.5

.D1 \&.Ox

.Dl \&.Ox

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&At ,

Line 1833 See also

Line 2325 See also

and

.Sx \&Ux .

.Ss \&Pa

A file-system path.

If an argument is not provided, the string

.Dq \(ti

is used as a default.

.Pp

Examples:

.Dl \&.Pa /usr/bin/mandoc

.Dl \&.Pa /usr/share/man/man7/mdoc.7

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Lk .

.Ss \&Pc

Close parenthesised context opened by

.Sx \&Po .

.Ss \&Pf

Removes the space

.Pq Dq prefix

between its arguments.

Its syntax is as follows:

.Pp

.D1 Pf \. \&Pf Ar prefix suffix

.Pp

The

.Ar suffix

argument may be a macro.

.Pp

Examples:

.Dl \&.Pf \e. \&Sx \&Pf \&Ar prefix suffix

.Ss \&Po

Multi-line version of

.Sx \&Pq .

.Ss \&Pp

Break a paragraph.

This will assert vertical space between prior and subsequent macros

and/or text.

.Ss \&Pq

Parenthesised enclosure.

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Po .

.Ss \&Qc

Close quoted context opened by

.Sx \&Qo .

.Ss \&Ql

Format a single-quoted literal.

See also

.Sx \&Qq

and

.Sx \&Sq .

.Ss \&Qo

Multi-line version of

.Sx \&Qq .

.Ss \&Qq

Encloses its arguments in

.Dq typewriter

double-quotes.

Consider using

.Sx \&Dq .

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Dq ,

.Sx \&Sq ,

and

.Sx \&Qo .

.Ss \&Re

Closes a

Close an

.Sx \&Rs

block.

Does not have any tail arguments.

.Ss \&Rs

Begins a bibliographic

Begin a bibliographic

.Pq Dq reference

block.

Does not have any head arguments.

Line 1865 The block macro may only contain

Line 2412 The block macro may only contain

.Sx \&%Q ,

.Sx \&%R ,

.Sx \&%T ,

.Sx \&%U ,

and

.Sx \&%V

child macros (at least one must be specified).

Line 1887 block is used within a SEE ALSO section, a vertical sp

Line 2435 block is used within a SEE ALSO section, a vertical sp

before the rendered output, else the block continues on the current

line.

.Ss \&Rv

Inserts text regarding a function call's return value.

This macro must consist of the

.Fl std

argument followed by an optional

.Ar function .

.Ar function

is not provided, the document's name as stipulated by the first

.Sx \&Nm

is provided.

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Ex .

.Ss \&Sc

Close single-quoted context opened by

.Sx \&So .

.Ss \&Sh

Begin a new section.

For a list of conventional manual sections, see

.Sx MANUAL STRUCTURE .

These sections should be used unless it's absolutely necessary that

custom sections be used.

.Pp

Section names should be unique so that they may be keyed by

.Sx \&Sx .

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Pp ,

.Sx \&Ss ,

and

.Sx \&Sx .

.Ss \&Sm

Switches the spacing mode for output generated from macros.

Its syntax is as follows:

.Pp

.D1 Pf \. Sx \&Sm Cm on | off

.Pp

By default, spacing is

.Ar on .

When switched

.Ar off ,

no white space is inserted between macro arguments and between the

output generated from adjacent macros, but text lines

still get normal spacing between words and sentences.

.Ss \&So

Multi-line version of

.Sx \&Sq .

.Ss \&Sq

Encloses its arguments in

.Dq typewriter

single-quotes.

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Dq ,

.Sx \&Qq ,

and

.Sx \&So .

.Ss \&Ss

Begin a new sub-section.

Unlike with

.Sx \&Sh ,

there's no convention for sub-sections.

Conventional sections, as described in

.Sx MANUAL STRUCTURE ,

rarely have sub-sections.

.Pp

Sub-section names should be unique so that they may be keyed by

.Sx \&Sx .

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Pp ,

.Sx \&Sh ,

and

.Sx \&Sx .

.Ss \&St

Replace an abbreviation for a standard with the full form.

The following standards are recognised:

.Pp

.Bl -tag -width "-p1003.1g-2000X" -compact

.It \-p1003.1-88

.St -p1003.1-88

.It \-p1003.1-90

.St -p1003.1-90

.It \-p1003.1-96

.St -p1003.1-96

.It \-p1003.1-2001

.St -p1003.1-2001

.It \-p1003.1-2004

.St -p1003.1-2004

.It \-p1003.1-2008

.St -p1003.1-2008

.It \-p1003.1

.St -p1003.1

.It \-p1003.1b

.St -p1003.1b

.It \-p1003.1b-93

.St -p1003.1b-93

.It \-p1003.1c-95

.St -p1003.1c-95

.It \-p1003.1g-2000

.St -p1003.1g-2000

.It \-p1003.1i-95

.St -p1003.1i-95

.It \-p1003.2-92

.St -p1003.2-92

.It \-p1003.2a-92

.St -p1003.2a-92

.It \-p1387.2-95

.St -p1387.2-95

.It \-p1003.2

.St -p1003.2

.It \-p1387.2

.St -p1387.2

.It \-isoC

.St -isoC

.It \-isoC-90

.St -isoC-90

.It \-isoC-amd1

.St -isoC-amd1

.It \-isoC-tcor1

.St -isoC-tcor1

.It \-isoC-tcor2

.St -isoC-tcor2

.It \-isoC-99

.St -isoC-99

.It \-iso9945-1-90

.St -iso9945-1-90

.It \-iso9945-1-96

.St -iso9945-1-96

.It \-iso9945-2-93

.St -iso9945-2-93

.It \-ansiC

.St -ansiC

.It \-ansiC-89

.St -ansiC-89

.It \-ansiC-99

.St -ansiC-99

.It \-ieee754

.St -ieee754

.It \-iso8802-3

.St -iso8802-3

.It \-ieee1275-94

.St -ieee1275-94

.It \-xpg3

.St -xpg3

.It \-xpg4

.St -xpg4

.It \-xpg4.2

.St -xpg4.2

.St -xpg4.3

.It \-xbd5

.St -xbd5

.It \-xcu5

.St -xcu5

.It \-xsh5

.St -xsh5

.It \-xns5

.St -xns5

.It \-xns5.2

.St -xns5.2

.It \-xns5.2d2.0

.St -xns5.2d2.0

.It \-xcurses4.2

.St -xcurses4.2

.It \-susv2

.St -susv2

.It \-susv3

.St -susv3

.It \-svid4

.St -svid4

.El

.Ss \&Sx

Reference a section or sub-section.

The referenced section or sub-section name must be identical to the

enclosed argument, including whitespace.

.Pp

Examples:

.Dl \&.Sx MANUAL STRUCTURE

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Sh

and

.Sx \&Ss .

.Ss \&Sy

Format enclosed arguments in symbolic

.Pq Dq boldface .

Note that this is a presentation term and should not be used for

stylistically decorating technical terms.

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Bf ,

.Sx \&Li ,

and

.Sx \&Em .

.Ss \&Tn

Format a tradename.

.Pp

Examples:

.Dl \&.Tn IBM

.Ss \&Ud

Prints out

.Dq currently under development.

.Dq currently under development .

.Ss \&Ux

Format the UNIX name.

Accepts no argument.

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.Ux

.Dl \&.Ux

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&At ,

Line 1917 See also

Line 2654 See also

and

.Sx \&Ox .

.Ss \&Va

A variable name.

.Pp

Examples:

.Dl \&.Va foo

.Dl \&.Va const char *bar ;

.Ss \&Vt

A variable type.

This is also used for indicating global variables in the SYNOPSIS

This is also used for indicating global variables in the

.Em SYNOPSIS

section, in which case a variable name is also specified.

Note that it accepts

.Sx Block partial-implicit

syntax when invoked as the first macro in the SYNOPSIS section, else it

syntax when invoked as the first macro in the

accepts ordinary

.Em SYNOPSIS

section, else it accepts ordinary

.Sx In-line

syntax.

.Pp

Line 1933 Note that this should not be confused with

Line 2677 Note that this should not be confused with

which is used for function return types.

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.Vt unsigned char

.Dl \&.Vt unsigned char

.D1 \&.Vt extern const char * const sys_signame[] ;

.Dl \&.Vt extern const char * const sys_signame[] \&;

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Ft

.Sx MANUAL STRUCTURE

and

.Sx \&Va .

.Ss \&Xc

Close a scope opened by

.Sx \&Xo .

.Ss \&Xo

Open an extension scope.

Extend the header of an

This macro originally existed to extend the 9-argument limit of troff;

.Sx \&It

since this limit has been lifted, the macro has been deprecated.

macro or the body of a partial-implicit block macro

beyond the end of the input line.

This macro originally existed to work around the 9-argument limit

of historic

.Xr roff 7 .

.Ss \&Xr

Link to another manual

.Pq Qq cross-reference .

Its calling syntax is

Its syntax is as follows:

.Pp

.D1 \. Ns Sx \&Xr Cm name section

.D1 Pf \. Sx \&Xr Ar name section

.Pp

The

.Cm name

.Ar name

and

.Cm section

.Ar section

are the name and section of the linked manual.

.Cm section

.Ar section

is followed by non-punctuation, an

.Sx \&Ns

is inserted into the token stream.

This behaviour is for compatibility with

.Xr groff 1 .

GNU troff.

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.Xr mandoc 1

.Dl \&.Xr mandoc 1

.D1 \&.Xr mandoc 1 ;

.Dl \&.Xr mandoc 1 \&;

.D1 \&.Xr mandoc 1 \&Ns s behaviour

.Dl \&.Xr mandoc 1 \&Ns s behaviour

.Ss \&br

Emits a line-break.

This macro should not be used; it is implemented for compatibility with

historical manuals.

.Pp

Consider using

.Sx \&Pp

in the event of natural paragraph breaks.

.Ss \&sp

Emits vertical space.

This macro should not be used; it is implemented for compatibility with

historical manuals.

Its syntax is as follows:

.Pp

.D1 Pf \. Sx \&sp Op Ar height

.Pp

The

.Ar height

argument must be formatted as described in

.Sx Scaling Widths .

If unspecified,

.Sx \&sp

asserts a single vertical space.

.Sh COMPATIBILITY

This section documents compatibility between mandoc and other other

troff implementations, at this time limited to GNU troff

.Pq Qq groff .

The term

.Qq historic groff

refers to groff versions before the

refers to groff versions before 1.17,

which featured a significant update of the

.Pa doc.tmac

file re-write

file.

.Pq somewhere between 1.15 and 1.19 .

.Pp

Heirloom troff, the other significant troff implementation accepting

\-mdoc, is similar to historic groff.

.Pp

The following problematic behaviour is found in groff:

.ds hist (Historic groff only.)

.Pp

.Bl -dash -compact

.It

The comment syntax

Display macros

.Sq \e."

.Po

is no longer accepted.

.Sx \&Bd ,

.Sx \&Dl ,

and

.Sx \&D1

.Pc

may not be nested.

\*[hist]

.It

In groff, the

.Sx \&At

.Sx \&Pa

with unknown arguments produces no output at all.

macro does not format its arguments when used in the FILES section under

\*[hist]

certain list types.

Newer groff and mandoc print

mandoc does.

.Qq AT&T UNIX

and the arguments.

.It

Historic groff does not print a dash for empty

.Sx \&Bd Fl column

.Sx \&Fl

does not recognize trailing punctuation characters when they immediately

arguments.

precede tabulator characters, but treats them as normal text and

mandoc and newer groff implementations do.

outputs a space before them.

.It

groff behaves irregularly when specifying

.Sx \&Bd Fl ragged compact

.Sq \ef

does not start a new line.

.Sx Text Decoration

\*[hist]

within line-macro scopes.

mandoc follows a consistent system.

.It

In mandoc, negative scaling units are truncated to zero; groff would

.Sx \&Dd

move to prior lines.

with non-standard arguments behaves very strangely.

Furthermore, the

When there are three arguments, they are printed verbatim.

.Sq f

Any other number of arguments is replaced by the current date,

scaling unit, while accepted, is rendered as the default unit.

but without any arguments the string

.Dq Epoch

is printed.

.It

In quoted literals, groff allowed pair-wise double-quotes to produce a

.Sx \&Fl

standalone double-quote in formatted output.

does not print a dash for an empty argument.

This idiosyncratic behaviour is not applicable in mandoc.

\*[hist]

.It

Display types

.Sx \&Fn

.Sx \&Bd

does not start a new line unless invoked as the line macro in the

.Fl center

.Em SYNOPSIS

and

section.

.Fl right

\*[hist]

are aliases for

.Fl left

in manodc. Furthermore, the

.Fl file Ar file

argument is ignored.

Lastly, since text is not right-justified in mandoc (or even groff),

.Fl ragged

and

.Fl filled

are aliases, as are

.Fl literal

and

.Fl unfilled .

.It

Historic groff has many un-callable macros.

.Sx \&Fo

Most of these (excluding some block-level macros) are now callable.

with

.Pf non- Sx \&Fa

children causes inconsistent spacing between arguments.

In mandoc, a single space is always inserted between arguments.

.It

The vertical bar

.Sx \&Ft

.Sq \(ba

in the

made historic groff

.Em SYNOPSIS

.Qq go orbital

causes inconsistent vertical spacing, depending on whether a prior

but has been a proper delimiter since then.

.Sx \&Fn

has been invoked.

See

.Sx \&Ft

and

.Sx \&Fn

for the normalised behaviour in mandoc.

.It

.Sx \&It Fl nested

.Sx \&In

is assumed for all lists (it wasn't in historic groff): any list may be

ignores additional arguments and is not treated specially in the

nested and

.Em SYNOPSIS .

\*[hist]

.It

.Sx \&It

sometimes requires a

.Fl nested

flag.

\*[hist]

In new groff and mandoc, any list may be nested by default and

.Fl enum

lists will restart the sequence only for the sub-list.

.It

Some manuals use

.Sx \&Li

incorrectly by following it with a reserved character and expecting the

followed by a reserved character is incorrectly used in some manuals

delimiter to render.

instead of properly quoting that character, which sometimes works with

This is not supported in mandoc.

historic groff.

.It

In groff, the

.Sx \&Lk

.Sx \&Fo

only accepts a single link-name argument; the remainder is misformatted.

macro only produces the first parameter.

This is not the case in mandoc.

.It

In groff, the

.Sx \&Pa

.Sx \&Cd ,

does not format its arguments when used in the FILES section under

.Sx \&Er ,

certain list types.

.Sx \&Ex ,

.It

.Sx \&Ta

can only be called by other macros, but not at the beginning of a line.

.It

.Sx \&%C

is not implemented.

.It

Historic groff only allows up to eight or nine arguments per macro input

line, depending on the exact situation.

Providing more arguments causes garbled output.

The number of arguments on one input line is not limited with mandoc.

.It

Historic groff has many un-callable macros.

Most of these (excluding some block-level macros) are callable

in new groff and mandoc.

.It

.Sq \(ba

(vertical bar) is not fully supported as a delimiter.

\*[hist]

.It

.Sq \ef

.Pq font face

and

.Sx \&Rv

.Sq \ef

macros were stipulated only to occur in certain manual sections.

.Pq font family face

mandoc does not have these restrictions.

.Sx Text Decoration

escapes behave irregularly when specified within line-macro scopes.

.It

Newer groff and mandoc print

Negative scaling units return to prior lines.

.Qq AT&T UNIX

Instead, mandoc truncates them to zero.

prior to unknown arguments of

.Sx \&At ;

older groff did nothing.

.El

.Pp

The following features are unimplemented in mandoc:

.Pp

.Bl -dash -compact

.It

.Sx \&Bd

.Fl file Ar file .

.It

.Sx \&Bd

.Fl offset Ar center

and

.Fl offset Ar right .

Groff does not implement centered and flush-right rendering either,

but produces large indentations.

.It

The

.Sq \eh

.Pq horizontal position ,

.Sq \ev

.Pq vertical position ,

.Sq \em

.Pq text colour ,

.Sq \eM

.Pq text filling colour ,

.Sq \ez

.Pq zero-length character ,

.Sq \ew

.Pq string length ,

.Sq \ek

.Pq horizontal position marker ,

.Sq \eo

.Pq text overstrike ,

and

.Sq \es

.Pq text size

escape sequences are all discarded in mandoc.

.It

The

.Sq \ef

scaling unit is accepted by mandoc, but rendered as the default unit.

.It

In quoted literals, groff allows pairwise double-quotes to produce a

standalone double-quote in formatted output.

This is not supported by mandoc.

.El

.Sh SEE ALSO

.Xr man 1 ,

.Xr mandoc 1 ,

.Xr eqn 7 ,

.Xr man 7 ,

.Xr mandoc_char 7

.Xr roff 7 ,

.Xr tbl 7

.Sh HISTORY

The

.Nm

language first appeared as a troff macro package in

.Bx 4.4 .

It was later significantly updated by Werner Lemberg and Ruslan Ermilov

in groff-1.17.

The standalone implementation that is part of the

.Xr mandoc 1

utility written by Kristaps Dzonsons appeared in

.Ox 4.6 .

.Sh AUTHORS

The

.Nm

reference was written by

.An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq kristaps@bsd.lv .

.\"

.\" XXX: this really isn't the place for these caveats.

.\" .

.\" .Sh CAVEATS

.\" There are many ambiguous parts of mdoc.

.\" .

.\" .Pp

.\" .Bl -dash -compact

.\" .It

.\" .Sq \&Fa

.\" should be

.\" .Sq \&Va

.\" as function arguments are variables.

.\" .It

.\" .Sq \&Ft

.\" should be

.\" .Sq \&Vt

.\" as function return types are still types. Furthermore, the

.\" .Sq \&Ft

.\" should be removed and

.\" .Sq \&Fo ,

.\" which ostensibly follows it, should follow the same convention as

.\" .Sq \&Va .

.\" .It

.\" .Sq \&Va

.\" should formalise that only one or two arguments are acceptable: a

.\" variable name and optional, preceding type.

.\" .It

.\" .Sq \&Fd

.\" is ambiguous. It's commonly used to indicate an include file in the

.\" synopsis section.

.\" .Sq \&In

.\" should be used, instead.

.\" .It

.\" Only the

.\" .Sq \-literal

.\" argument to

.\" .Sq \&Bd

.\" makes sense. The remaining ones should be removed.

.\" .It

.\" The

.\" .Sq \&Xo

.\" and

.\" .Sq \&Xc

.\" macros should be deprecated.

.\" .It

.\" The

.\" .Sq \&Dt

.\" macro lacks clarity. It should be absolutely clear which title will

.\" render when formatting the manual page.

.\" .It

.\" A

.\" .Sq \&Lx

.\" should be provided for Linux (\(`a la

.\" .Sq \&Ox ,

.\" .Sq \&Nx

.\" etc.).

.\" .It

.\" There's no way to refer to references in

.\" .Sq \&Rs/Re

.\" blocks.

.\" .It

.\" The \-split and \-nosplit dictates via

.\" .Sq \&An

.\" are re-set when entering and leaving the AUTHORS section.

.\" .El

.\" .

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