Annotation of mandoc/mdoc.7, Revision 1.54
1.54 ! kristaps 1: .\" $Id: mdoc.7,v 1.53 2009/07/26 19:30:50 kristaps Exp $
1.1 kristaps 2: .\"
1.23 kristaps 3: .\" Copyright (c) 2009 Kristaps Dzonsons <kristaps@kth.se>
1.1 kristaps 4: .\"
5: .\" Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any
1.22 kristaps 6: .\" purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above
7: .\" copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies.
1.1 kristaps 8: .\"
1.22 kristaps 9: .\" THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES
10: .\" WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
11: .\" MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR
12: .\" ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES
13: .\" WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN
14: .\" ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF
15: .\" OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
1.50 kristaps 16: .\"
1.1 kristaps 17: .Dd $Mdocdate$
1.20 kristaps 18: .Dt MDOC 7
1.1 kristaps 19: .Os
1.43 kristaps 20: .\" SECTION---------------------------------------------
1.1 kristaps 21: .Sh NAME
22: .Nm mdoc
1.15 kristaps 23: .Nd mdoc language reference
1.43 kristaps 24: .\" SECTION---------------------------------------------
1.1 kristaps 25: .Sh DESCRIPTION
26: The
27: .Nm mdoc
1.50 kristaps 28: language is used to format
29: .Bx
1.1 kristaps 30: .Ux
1.43 kristaps 31: manuals. In this reference document, we describe its syntax, structure,
32: and usage. Our reference implementation is
1.28 kristaps 33: .Xr mandoc 1 .
34: The
35: .Sx COMPATIBILITY
1.50 kristaps 36: section describes compatibility with
1.28 kristaps 37: .Xr groff 1 .
1.43 kristaps 38: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
1.13 kristaps 39: .Pp
40: An
1.1 kristaps 41: .Nm
42: document follows simple rules: lines beginning with the control
1.50 kristaps 43: character
1.1 kristaps 44: .Sq \.
45: are parsed for macros. Other lines are interpreted within the scope of
1.13 kristaps 46: prior macros:
1.39 kristaps 47: .Bd -literal -offset indent
1.13 kristaps 48: \&.Sh Macro lines change control state.
49: Other lines are interpreted within the current state.
50: .Ed
1.43 kristaps 51: .\" SECTION---------------------------------------------
1.46 kristaps 52: .Sh LANGUAGE SYNTAX
1.1 kristaps 53: .Nm
1.13 kristaps 54: documents may contain only graphable 7-bit ASCII characters, the space
1.43 kristaps 55: character, and, in certain circumstances, the tab character. All
56: manuals must have
57: .Ux
1.50 kristaps 58: line terminators.
1.43 kristaps 59: .\" SUB-SECTION----------------------
1.29 kristaps 60: .Ss Comments
1.43 kristaps 61: Text following a
62: .Sq \e" ,
63: whether in a macro or free-form text line, is ignored to the end of
64: line. A macro line with only a control character and comment escape,
65: .Sq \&.\e" ,
66: is also ignored.
67: .\" SUB-SECTION----------------------
1.2 kristaps 68: .Ss Reserved Characters
69: Within a macro line, the following characters are reserved:
1.39 kristaps 70: .Bl -tag -width Ds -offset indent -compact
1.1 kristaps 71: .It \&.
1.2 kristaps 72: .Pq period
1.1 kristaps 73: .It \&,
1.2 kristaps 74: .Pq comma
1.1 kristaps 75: .It \&:
1.2 kristaps 76: .Pq colon
1.1 kristaps 77: .It \&;
1.2 kristaps 78: .Pq semicolon
1.1 kristaps 79: .It \&(
1.2 kristaps 80: .Pq left-parenthesis
1.1 kristaps 81: .It \&)
1.2 kristaps 82: .Pq right-parenthesis
1.1 kristaps 83: .It \&[
1.2 kristaps 84: .Pq left-bracket
1.1 kristaps 85: .It \&]
1.2 kristaps 86: .Pq right-bracket
1.1 kristaps 87: .It \&?
1.2 kristaps 88: .Pq question
1.1 kristaps 89: .It \&!
1.50 kristaps 90: .Pq exclamation
1.28 kristaps 91: .It \&|
1.50 kristaps 92: .Pq vertical bar
1.1 kristaps 93: .El
1.43 kristaps 94: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
1.1 kristaps 95: .Pp
1.5 kristaps 96: Use of reserved characters is described in
1.43 kristaps 97: .Sx MACRO SYNTAX .
98: For general use in macro lines, these characters must either be escaped
99: with a non-breaking space
1.1 kristaps 100: .Pq Sq \e&
1.50 kristaps 101: or, if applicable, an appropriate escape sequence used.
1.43 kristaps 102: .\" SUB-SECTION----------------------
1.1 kristaps 103: .Ss Special Characters
1.43 kristaps 104: Special characters may occur in both macro and free-form lines.
105: Sequences begin with the escape character
1.16 kristaps 106: .Sq \e
1.50 kristaps 107: followed by either an open-parenthesis
1.1 kristaps 108: .Sq \&(
109: for two-character sequences; an open-bracket
110: .Sq \&[
111: for n-character sequences (terminated at a close-bracket
112: .Sq \&] ) ;
1.43 kristaps 113: or a single one-character sequence. See
1.54 ! kristaps 114: .Xr mandoc_char 7
1.50 kristaps 115: for a complete list. Examples include
116: .Sq \e(em
117: .Pq em-dash
118: and
1.43 kristaps 119: .Sq \ee
120: .Pq back-slash .
1.54 ! kristaps 121: .\" SUB-SECTION----------------------
! 122: .Ss Text Decoration
! 123: Terms may be text-decorated using the
1.35 kristaps 124: .Sq \ef
1.43 kristaps 125: escape followed by an indicator: B (bold), I, (italic), or P and R
1.54 ! kristaps 126: (Roman, or reset). This form is not recommended for
! 127: .Nm ,
! 128: which encourages semantic, not presentation, annotation.
! 129: .\" SUB-SECTION----------------------
! 130: .Ss Predefined Strings
! 131: Historically,
! 132: .Xr groff 1
! 133: also defined a set of package-specific
! 134: .Dq predefined strings ,
! 135: which, like
! 136: .Sx Special Characters ,
! 137: demark special output characters and strings by way of input codes.
! 138: Predefined strings are escaped with the slash-asterisk,
! 139: .Sq \e* :
! 140: single-character
! 141: .Sq \e*X ,
! 142: two-character
! 143: .Sq \e*(XX ,
! 144: and N-character
! 145: .Sq \e*[N] .
! 146: See
! 147: .Xr mandoc_char 7
! 148: for a complete list. Examples include
! 149: .Sq \e*(Am
! 150: .Pq ampersand
! 151: and
! 152: .Sq \e*(Ba
! 153: .Pq vertical bar .
1.43 kristaps 154: .\" SUB-SECTION----------------------
1.34 kristaps 155: .Ss Whitespace
1.46 kristaps 156: In non-literal free-form lines, consecutive blocks of whitespace are
157: pruned from input and added later in the output filter, if applicable:
158: .Bd -literal -offset indent
159: These spaces are pruned from input.
1.50 kristaps 160: \&.Bd \-literal
1.46 kristaps 161: These are not.
162: \&.Ed
163: .Ed
164: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
165: .Pp
166: In macro lines, whitespace delimits arguments and is discarded. If
1.47 kristaps 167: arguments are quoted, whitespace within the quotes is retained.
1.43 kristaps 168: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
169: .Pp
1.46 kristaps 170: Blank lines are only permitted within literal contexts, as are lines
171: containing only whitespace. Tab characters are only acceptable when
1.50 kristaps 172: delimiting
1.43 kristaps 173: .Sq \&Bl \-column
1.46 kristaps 174: or when in a literal context.
175: .\" SUB-SECTION----------------------
176: .Ss Quotation
177: Macro arguments may be quoted with a double-quote to group
178: space-delimited terms or to retain blocks of whitespace. A quoted
179: argument begins with a double-quote preceded by whitespace. The next
1.48 kristaps 180: double-quote not pair-wise adjacent to another double-quote terminates
1.50 kristaps 181: the literal, regardless of surrounding whitespace.
1.47 kristaps 182: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
183: .Pp
1.50 kristaps 184: This produces tokens
1.47 kristaps 185: .Sq a" ,
186: .Sq b c ,
187: .Sq de ,
188: and
189: .Sq fg" .
190: Note that any quoted term, be it argument or macro, is indiscriminately
1.50 kristaps 191: considered literal text. Thus, the following produces
1.47 kristaps 192: .Sq \&Em a :
193: .Bd -literal -offset indent
194: \&.Em "Em a"
195: .Ed
1.46 kristaps 196: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
197: .Pp
198: In free-form mode, quotes are regarded as opaque text.
1.43 kristaps 199: .\" SECTION---------------------------------------------
200: .Sh MANUAL STRUCTURE
1.33 kristaps 201: Each
202: .Nm
1.50 kristaps 203: document must begin with a document prologue, containing, in order,
1.43 kristaps 204: .Sq \&Dd ,
205: .Sq \&Dt ,
1.33 kristaps 206: and
1.46 kristaps 207: .Sq \&Os ,
208: then the NAME section containing at least one
209: .Sq \&Nm
1.50 kristaps 210: followed by
1.46 kristaps 211: .Sq \&Nd :
1.43 kristaps 212: .Bd -literal -offset indent
213: \&.Dd $\&Mdocdate$
214: \&.Dt mdoc 7
215: \&.Os
216: \&.Sh NAME
217: \&.Nm mdoc
218: \&.Nd mdoc language reference
219: .Ed
220: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
221: .Pp
222: Subsequent SYNOPSIS and DESCRIPTION sections are strongly encouraged,
1.50 kristaps 223: but non-compulsory.
1.43 kristaps 224: .\" SECTION---------------------------------------------
225: .Sh MACRO SYNTAX
1.50 kristaps 226: Every line beginning with the control character
1.43 kristaps 227: .Sq \.
1.46 kristaps 228: is processed for macros, two- or three-character sequences.
1.43 kristaps 229: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
1.4 kristaps 230: .Pp
1.46 kristaps 231: The syntax of a macro depends on its classification. In this section,
1.50 kristaps 232: .Sq \-arg
1.43 kristaps 233: refers to macro arguments, which may be followed by zero or more
234: .Sq parm
235: parameters;
236: .Sq \&Yo
237: opens the scope of a macro; and if specified,
238: .Sq \&Yc
239: closes it out.
240: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
1.2 kristaps 241: .Pp
1.43 kristaps 242: The
243: .Em Callable
244: column indicates that the macro may be called subsequent to the initial
1.50 kristaps 245: line-macro. The
1.46 kristaps 246: .Em Parsable
1.43 kristaps 247: column indicates whether the macro may be followed by further
248: (ostensibly callable) macros. The
249: .Em Scope
250: column, if applicable, describes closure rules.
251: .\" SUB-SECTION----------------------
252: .Ss Block full-explicit
253: Multi-line scope closed by an explicit closing macro. All macros
254: contains bodies; only
255: .Pq Sq \&Bf
256: contains a head.
1.39 kristaps 257: .Bd -literal -offset indent
1.50 kristaps 258: \&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBparm...\(rB\(rB \(lBhead...\(rB
259: \(lBbody...\(rB
1.43 kristaps 260: \&.Yc
1.2 kristaps 261: .Ed
1.43 kristaps 262: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
1.2 kristaps 263: .Pp
1.43 kristaps 264: .Bl -column -compact -offset indent "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsableX" "closed by XXX"
265: .It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsable Ta Em Scope
266: .It \&Bd Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by \&Ed
1.44 kristaps 267: .It \&Bf Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by \&Ef
268: .It \&Bk Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by \&Ek
269: .It \&Bl Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by \&El
1.43 kristaps 270: .It \&Ed Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta opened by \&Bd
271: .It \&Ef Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta opened by \&Bf
272: .It \&Ek Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta opened by \&Bk
1.44 kristaps 273: .It \&El Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta opened by \&Bl
1.43 kristaps 274: .El
275: .\" SUB-SECTION----------------------
276: .Ss Block full-implicit
277: Multi-line scope closed by end-of-file or implicitly by another macro.
1.50 kristaps 278: All macros have bodies; some
1.43 kristaps 279: .Po
1.50 kristaps 280: .Sq \&It \-bullet ,
281: .Sq \-hyphen ,
1.43 kristaps 282: .Sq \-dash ,
283: .Sq \-enum ,
1.50 kristaps 284: .Sq \-item
1.43 kristaps 285: .Pc
1.50 kristaps 286: don't have heads, while
1.43 kristaps 287: .Sq \&It \-column
288: may have multiple heads.
1.39 kristaps 289: .Bd -literal -offset indent
1.50 kristaps 290: \&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBparm...\(rB\(rB \(lBhead... \(lBTa head...\(rB\(rB
291: \(lBbody...\(rB
1.2 kristaps 292: .Ed
1.43 kristaps 293: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
1.2 kristaps 294: .Pp
1.43 kristaps 295: .Bl -column -compact -offset indent "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsableX" "closed by XXXXXXXXXXX"
296: .It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsable Ta Em Scope
1.44 kristaps 297: .It \&It Ta \&No Ta Yes Ta closed by \&It, \&El
1.43 kristaps 298: .It \&Nd Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by \&Sh
299: .It \&Sh Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by \&Sh
300: .It \&Ss Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by \&Sh, \&Ss
301: .El
302: .\" SUB-SECTION----------------------
303: .Ss Block partial-explicit
304: Like block full-explicit, but also with single-line scope. Each
1.50 kristaps 305: has at least a body and, in limited circumstances, a head
1.43 kristaps 306: .Pq So \&Fo Sc , So \&Eo Sc
1.50 kristaps 307: and/or tail
1.43 kristaps 308: .Pq So \&Ec Sc .
1.39 kristaps 309: .Bd -literal -offset indent
1.50 kristaps 310: \&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBparm...\(rB\(rB \(lBhead...\(rB
311: \(lBbody...\(rB
312: \&.Yc \(lBtail...\(rB
1.2 kristaps 313:
1.43 kristaps 314: \&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBparm...\(rB\(rB \(lBhead...\(rB \
1.50 kristaps 315: \(lBbody...\(rB \&Yc \(lBtail...\(rB
1.2 kristaps 316: .Ed
1.43 kristaps 317: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
1.2 kristaps 318: .Pp
1.43 kristaps 319: .Bl -column "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsableX" "closed by XXXX" -compact -offset indent
1.1 kristaps 320: .It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsable Ta Em Scope
1.44 kristaps 321: .It \&Ac Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&Ao
1.43 kristaps 322: .It \&Ao Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta closed by \&Ac
323: .It \&Bc Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta closed by \&Bo
324: .It \&Bo Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&Bc
1.44 kristaps 325: .It \&Brc Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&Bro
326: .It \&Bro Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta closed by \&Brc
327: .It \&Dc Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&Do
1.43 kristaps 328: .It \&Do Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta closed by \&Dc
1.44 kristaps 329: .It \&Ec Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&Eo
330: .It \&Eo Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta closed by \&Ec
331: .It \&Fc Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&Fo
332: .It \&Fo Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by \&Fc
1.43 kristaps 333: .It \&Oc Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta closed by \&Oo
334: .It \&Oo Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&Oc
1.44 kristaps 335: .It \&Pc Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta closed by \&Po
336: .It \&Po Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&Pc
1.43 kristaps 337: .It \&Qc Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&Oo
338: .It \&Qo Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta closed by \&Oc
339: .It \&Re Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta opened by \&Rs
340: .It \&Rs Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by \&Re
1.44 kristaps 341: .It \&Sc Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&So
342: .It \&So Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta closed by \&Sc
343: .It \&Xc Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&Xo
344: .It \&Xo Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta closed by \&Xc
1.1 kristaps 345: .El
1.43 kristaps 346: .\" SUB-SECTION----------------------
1.1 kristaps 347: .Ss Block partial-implicit
1.50 kristaps 348: Like block full-implicit, but with single-line scope closed by
349: .Sx Reserved Characters
1.43 kristaps 350: or end of line.
351: .Bd -literal -offset indent
352: \&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB \(lBbody...\(rB \(lBres...\(rB
353: .Ed
354: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
1.1 kristaps 355: .Pp
1.39 kristaps 356: .Bl -column "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsableX" -compact -offset indent
1.1 kristaps 357: .It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsable
1.43 kristaps 358: .It \&Aq Ta Yes Ta Yes
359: .It \&Bq Ta Yes Ta Yes
1.44 kristaps 360: .It \&Brq Ta Yes Ta Yes
361: .It \&D1 Ta \&No Ta \&Yes
362: .It \&Dl Ta \&No Ta Yes
1.43 kristaps 363: .It \&Dq Ta Yes Ta Yes
1.44 kristaps 364: .It \&Op Ta Yes Ta Yes
1.43 kristaps 365: .It \&Pq Ta Yes Ta Yes
1.44 kristaps 366: .It \&Ql Ta Yes Ta Yes
1.43 kristaps 367: .It \&Qq Ta Yes Ta Yes
368: .It \&Sq Ta Yes Ta Yes
369: .El
370: .\" SUB-SECTION----------------------
371: .Ss In-line
1.50 kristaps 372: Closed by
1.43 kristaps 373: .Sx Reserved Characters ,
374: end of line, fixed argument lengths, and/or subsequent macros. In-line
375: macros have only text children. If a number (or inequality) of
1.3 kristaps 376: arguments is
1.50 kristaps 377: .Pq n ,
1.3 kristaps 378: then the macro accepts an arbitrary number of arguments.
1.43 kristaps 379: .Bd -literal -offset indent
380: \&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB \(lBargs...\(rB \(lbres...\(rb
381:
382: \&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB \(lBargs...\(rB Yc...
383:
384: \&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB arg0 arg1 argN
385: .Ed
386: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
1.2 kristaps 387: .Pp
1.39 kristaps 388: .Bl -column "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsableX" "Arguments" -compact -offset indent
1.2 kristaps 389: .It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsable Ta Em Arguments
1.43 kristaps 390: .It \&%A Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
391: .It \&%B Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
392: .It \&%C Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
393: .It \&%D Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
394: .It \&%I Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
395: .It \&%J Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
396: .It \&%N Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
397: .It \&%O Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
398: .It \&%P Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
399: .It \&%R Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
400: .It \&%T Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
401: .It \&%V Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
1.44 kristaps 402: .It \&Ad Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
403: .It \&An Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
404: .It \&Ap Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta 0
405: .It \&Ar Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.43 kristaps 406: .It \&At Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta 1
407: .It \&Bsx Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.44 kristaps 408: .It \&Bt Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0
1.43 kristaps 409: .It \&Bx Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.49 kristaps 410: .It \&Cd Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
1.44 kristaps 411: .It \&Cm Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.43 kristaps 412: .It \&Db Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 1
1.44 kristaps 413: .It \&Dd Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
414: .It \&Dt Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta n
415: .It \&Dv Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
416: .It \&Dx Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.43 kristaps 417: .It \&Em Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
1.44 kristaps 418: .It \&En Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0
419: .It \&Er Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
420: .It \&Es Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0
421: .It \&Ev Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
422: .It \&Ex Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0
423: .It \&Fa Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
424: .It \&Fd Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
425: .It \&Fl Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
426: .It \&Fn Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
427: .It \&Fr Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta n
428: .It \&Ft Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.43 kristaps 429: .It \&Fx Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.44 kristaps 430: .It \&Hf Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta n
431: .It \&Ic Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
432: .It \&In Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta n
433: .It \&Lb Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 1
434: .It \&Li Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
435: .It \&Lk Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
436: .It \&Lp Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0
1.43 kristaps 437: .It \&Ms Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
1.44 kristaps 438: .It \&Mt Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
439: .It \&Nm Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.43 kristaps 440: .It \&No Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta 0
441: .It \&Ns Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta 0
442: .It \&Nx Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.44 kristaps 443: .It \&Os Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta n
444: .It \&Ot Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta n
1.43 kristaps 445: .It \&Ox Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.44 kristaps 446: .It \&Pa Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.43 kristaps 447: .It \&Pf Ta \&No Ta Yes Ta 1
1.44 kristaps 448: .It \&Pp Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0
449: .It \&Rv Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0
1.43 kristaps 450: .It \&Sm Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 1
1.44 kristaps 451: .It \&St Ta \&No Ta Yes Ta 1
1.43 kristaps 452: .It \&Sx Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
453: .It \&Sy Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
454: .It \&Tn Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
1.44 kristaps 455: .It \&Ud Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0
1.43 kristaps 456: .It \&Ux Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.44 kristaps 457: .It \&Va Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
458: .It \&Vt Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
459: .It \&Xr Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0, <3
460: .It \&br Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0
1.45 kristaps 461: .It \&sp Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 1
1.1 kristaps 462: .El
1.43 kristaps 463: .\" SECTION---------------------------------------------
1.4 kristaps 464: .Sh COMPATIBILITY
1.28 kristaps 465: This section documents compatibility with other roff implementations, at
1.50 kristaps 466: this time limited to
1.28 kristaps 467: .Xr groff 1 .
1.50 kristaps 468: The term
1.28 kristaps 469: .Qq historic groff
1.50 kristaps 470: refers to those versions before the
1.28 kristaps 471: .Pa doc.tmac
1.50 kristaps 472: file re-write
1.28 kristaps 473: .Pq somewhere between 1.15 and 1.19 .
1.43 kristaps 474: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
1.4 kristaps 475: .Pp
476: .Bl -dash -compact
477: .\" LIST-ITEM
478: .It
1.51 kristaps 479: The
480: .Sq \-split
481: or
482: .Sq \-nosplit
483: argument to
484: .Sq \&An
485: applies to the whole document, not just to the current section as it
486: does in groff.
487: .\" LIST-ITEM
488: .It
1.48 kristaps 489: In quoted literals, groff allowed pair-wise double-quotes to produce a
490: standalone double-quote in formatted output. This idiosyncratic
491: behaviour is no longer applicable.
492: .\" LIST-ITEM
493: .It
1.50 kristaps 494: The
1.45 kristaps 495: .Sq \&sp
496: macro does not accept negative numbers.
497: .\" LIST-ITEM
498: .It
1.35 kristaps 499: Blocks of whitespace are stripped from both macro and free-form text
500: lines (except when in literal mode), while groff would retain whitespace
501: in free-form text lines.
502: .\" LIST-ITEM
503: .It
1.28 kristaps 504: Historic groff has many un-callable macros. Most of these (excluding
505: some block-level macros) are now callable, conforming to the
506: non-historic groff version.
507: .\" LIST-ITEM
508: .It
1.50 kristaps 509: The vertical bar
1.35 kristaps 510: .Sq \(ba
1.28 kristaps 511: made historic groff
512: .Qq go orbital
513: but is a proper delimiter in this implementation.
1.5 kristaps 514: .\" LIST-ITEM
515: .It
1.45 kristaps 516: .Sq \&It \-nested
1.28 kristaps 517: is assumed for all lists (it wasn't in historic groff): any list may be
518: nested and
1.4 kristaps 519: .Sq \-enum
520: lists will restart the sequence only for the sub-list.
521: .\" LIST-ITEM
522: .It
1.45 kristaps 523: .Sq \&It \-column
1.21 kristaps 524: syntax where column widths may be preceded by other arguments (instead
1.4 kristaps 525: of proceeded) is not supported.
526: .\" LIST-ITEM
527: .It
1.50 kristaps 528: The
1.45 kristaps 529: .Sq \&At
1.4 kristaps 530: macro only accepts a single parameter.
531: .\" LIST-ITEM
532: .It
533: Some manuals use
1.45 kristaps 534: .Sq \&Li
1.4 kristaps 535: incorrectly by following it with a reserved character and expecting the
536: delimiter to render. This is not supported.
537: .\" LIST-ITEM
538: .It
1.50 kristaps 539: In groff, the
1.45 kristaps 540: .Sq \&Fo
1.41 kristaps 541: macro only produces the first parameter. This is no longer the case.
1.4 kristaps 542: .El
1.43 kristaps 543: .\" SECTION---------------------------------------------
1.2 kristaps 544: .Sh SEE ALSO
1.19 kristaps 545: .Xr mandoc 1 ,
546: .Xr mandoc_char 7
1.43 kristaps 547: .\" SECTION---------------------------------------------
1.2 kristaps 548: .Sh AUTHORS
549: The
550: .Nm
1.50 kristaps 551: reference was written by
1.24 kristaps 552: .An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq kristaps@kth.se .
1.43 kristaps 553: .\" SECTION---------------------------------------------
1.5 kristaps 554: .Sh CAVEATS
1.28 kristaps 555: There are many ambiguous parts of mdoc.
1.43 kristaps 556: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
1.5 kristaps 557: .Pp
558: .Bl -dash -compact
559: .\" LIST-ITEM
560: .It
1.45 kristaps 561: .Sq \&Fa
1.50 kristaps 562: should be
1.45 kristaps 563: .Sq \&Va
1.5 kristaps 564: as function arguments are variables.
565: .\" LIST-ITEM
566: .It
1.45 kristaps 567: .Sq \&Ft
1.5 kristaps 568: should be
1.45 kristaps 569: .Sq \&Vt
1.5 kristaps 570: as function return types are still types. Furthermore, the
1.45 kristaps 571: .Sq \&Ft
1.5 kristaps 572: should be removed and
1.45 kristaps 573: .Sq \&Fo ,
1.5 kristaps 574: which ostensibly follows it, should follow the same convention as
1.45 kristaps 575: .Sq \&Va .
1.5 kristaps 576: .\" LIST-ITEM
577: .It
1.45 kristaps 578: .Sq \&Va
1.5 kristaps 579: should formalise that only one or two arguments are acceptable: a
1.21 kristaps 580: variable name and optional, preceding type.
1.5 kristaps 581: .\" LIST-ITEM
582: .It
1.45 kristaps 583: .Sq \&Fd
1.5 kristaps 584: is ambiguous. It's commonly used to indicate an include file in the
1.50 kristaps 585: synopsis section.
1.45 kristaps 586: .Sq \&In
1.5 kristaps 587: should be used, instead.
588: .\" LIST-ITEM
589: .It
590: Only the
591: .Sq \-literal
592: argument to
1.45 kristaps 593: .Sq \&Bd
1.5 kristaps 594: makes sense. The remaining ones should be removed.
595: .\" LIST-ITEM
596: .It
1.50 kristaps 597: The
1.45 kristaps 598: .Sq \&Xo
1.5 kristaps 599: and
1.45 kristaps 600: .Sq \&Xc
1.5 kristaps 601: macros should be deprecated.
602: .\" LIST-ITEM
603: .It
604: The
1.45 kristaps 605: .Sq \&Dt
1.5 kristaps 606: macro lacks clarity. It should be absolutely clear which title will
607: render when formatting the manual page.
1.6 kristaps 608: .\" LIST-ITEM
609: .It
610: A
1.45 kristaps 611: .Sq \&Lx
1.50 kristaps 612: should be provided for Linux (\(`a la
1.45 kristaps 613: .Sq \&Ox ,
1.50 kristaps 614: .Sq \&Nx
1.6 kristaps 615: etc.).
1.14 kristaps 616: .\" LIST-ITEM
617: .It
618: There's no way to refer to references in
1.45 kristaps 619: .Sq \&Rs/Re
1.14 kristaps 620: blocks.
1.31 kristaps 621: .\" LIST-ITEM
622: .It
1.54 ! kristaps 623: The \-split and \-nosplit dictates via
1.45 kristaps 624: .Sq \&An
1.54 ! kristaps 625: are re-set when entering and leaving the AUTHORS section.
1.5 kristaps 626: .El
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