- mdocml is a suite of tools that compile “mdoc”, the roff macro - package of the BSD manual pages. The mission of mdocml is to deprecate mdocml is a suite of tools compiling “-mdoc”, the roff macro package + of choice for BSD manual pages, and “-man”, the predominant historical package for UNIX + manuals. The mission of mdocml is to deprecate groff, the GNU roff implementation, for - displaying BSD mdoc pages. groff amounts to over 60 000 lines of GPL C++ source, which is a - considerable encumbrance to BSD operating system. + displaying -mdoc pages whilst providing token support for -man.
- The core of mdocml is the libmdoc library, a validating scanner-parser producing - intermediate-form output from mdoc input. libmdoc is a simple, fast library operating on memory buffers - of mdoc input. Its intermediate output, an abstract syntax tree, is fully documented in the mdoc(3) reference manual. + Why? groff amounts to over 5 MB of source code, most of which is C++ and all of which is GPL. It runs + slowly, produces uncertain output, and varies in operation from system to system. mdocml strives to fix + this (respectively small, C, ISC-licensed, fast and regular).
- There are three utilities implementing mdoc(3): + The core of mdocml is composed of the libmdoc and libman + validating compiler libraries. Both are simple, fast libraries operating on memory buffers, so they may + be used for a variety of front-ends (terminal-based, CGI and so on). The primary front-end is + mandoc, which formats manuals for display on the terminal.
- -- The mdocterm(1) utility is intended to deprecate usage of groff for displaying BSD manuals to the - terminal, either directly or cached as a “catman” page. -
- -- Please submit patches! Although a significant implementation exists, work - remains for the backend library and especially the front-end utilities. See the contact information below to submit patches and bug reports. -
- Sources correctly build and install on OpenBSD, NetBSD and Linux operating systems, tested variously on - i386, AMD64 and Alpha. + Sources correctly build and install on FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD and Linux operating systems, tested + variously on i386, AMD64, alpha and others. The most current version is @VERSION@, dated @VDATE@.
- CVS sources are checkedout and snapshotted nightly. These may be found in the /snapshots/ directory. + CVS sources are checkedout and snapshotted with version updates. These (and all historical snapshots) + may be found in the /snapshots/ directory. A full ChangeLog is written with each new snapshot.
% cd /tmp
- % ftp -V -o- http://mdocml.bsd.lv/snapshots/mdocml.tgz | tar -zxf -
+ % ftp -V -o-
+ http://mdocml.bsd.lv/snapshots/mdocml.tar.gz | tar -zvxf -
% cd mdocml
- % make
- % make regress
- % make install
+ % make all
+ # make install
- The nightly snapshot is automatically converted into an OpenBSD port (ports for other BSD systems not - yet available). These may be found in the /ports-openbsd/ directory. + The source snapshot is automatically converted into OpenBSD, NetBSD and FreeBSD ports at /ports-openbsd/, /ports-netbsd/ and /ports-freebsd/, respectively. Please read the OpenBSD Ports FAQ, the NetBSD pkgsrc guide or the FreeBSD ports + guide, first.
+- If installing for the first time (you must have the ports tree installed): + Note: the mdocml utility is part of OpenBSD's base system at usr.bin/mandoc. Please use this + instead of the provided port.
- % cd /usr/ports/devel/
- % ftp -V -o- http://mdocml.bsd.lv/ports-openbsd/mdocml.tgz | tar -zxf -
- % cd mdocml
- % sudo make
- % sudo make install
+ # pkg_delete mdocml
+ # cd /usr/ports/textproc/
+ # rm -rf mdocml
+ # ftp -V -o-
+ http://mdocml.bsd.lv/ports-openbsd/mdocml.tar.gz | tar -zvxf -
+ # cd mdocml
+ # make build
+ # make install
- Subsequent installations: + Note: a pkgsrc port is maintained in-tree at textproc/mdocml. Please use this + instead of the provided pkgsrc.
- % sudo pkg_add -r mdocml
+ # pkg_delete mdocml
+ # cd /usr/pkgsrc/textproc/
+ # rm -rf mdocml
+ # ftp -V -o-
+ http://mdocml.bsd.lv/ports-netbsd/mdocml.tar.gz | tar -zvxf -
+ # cd mdocml
+ # make build
+ # make install
+ Note: a port is maintained in-tree at textproc/mdocml. Please use + this instead of the provided port. +
+ +
+ # pkg_delete -x mdocml
+ # cd /tmp
+ # ftp -V -o-
+ http://mdocml.bsd.lv/ports-freebsd/mdocml.tar.gz | tar -zvxf -
+ # cd mdocml
+ # make
+ # make install
+
| mandoc(1) | ++ | format and display UNIX manuals | +
| mandoc_char(7) | ++ | mandoc special characters | +
| mdoc(7) | ++ | mdoc language reference | +
| man(7) | ++ | man language reference | +
| manuals(7) | ++ | a guide to writing UNIX manuals | +
| mdoc(3) | ++ | mdoc macro compiler library | +
| man(3) | ++ | man macro compiler library | +
- Please contact Kristaps, krismdocml, contact Kristaps, kris...@kth.se, with questions, bug reports, patches, and so on. + false;" title="Reveal this e-mail address">...@kth.se.
- +- If you'd like to submit patches, please contact us beforehand in case larger changes are pending but not - checked in. If making a bug report, please make sure it's repeatable on the most current snapshot. + If you want to receive a semi-automated mail-out of new versions, then please write with a message + subject of “subscribe mdocml” (or, symmetrically, “unsubscribe mdocml”).