version 1.4, 2009/03/22 14:35:16 |
version 1.11, 2009/04/03 13:17:26 |
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.\" $Id$ |
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.\" |
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.\" Copyright (c) 2009 Kristaps Dzonsons <kristaps@openbsd.org> |
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.\" |
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.\" Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any |
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.\" purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the |
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.\" above copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all |
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.\" copies. |
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.\" |
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.\" THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL |
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.\" WARRANTIES WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED |
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.\" WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE |
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.\" AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL |
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.\" DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR |
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.\" PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER |
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.\" TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR |
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.\" PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE. |
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.\" |
.Dd $Mdocdate$ |
.Dd $Mdocdate$ |
.Dt manuals 7 |
.Dt manuals 7 |
.Os |
.Os |
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.Pp |
.Pp |
A system component's documentation describes the utility of that |
A system component's documentation describes the utility of that |
component, whether it's a device driver, an executable or, most |
component, whether it's a device driver, an executable or, most |
importantly, a game. Although there are plenty of documents available |
importantly, a game. |
on how to read |
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.Ux |
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documents, or where to find them, few focus on composition. |
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.\" PARAGRAPH |
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.Pp |
.Pp |
This document serves as a tutorial to writing |
This document serves as a tutorial to writing |
.Ux |
.Ux |
documentation |
documentation |
.Pq Dq manuals . |
.Pq Dq manuals . |
If you add something to your operating system, whether it's a new file |
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format or directory structure or device driver, it needs documentation. |
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.\" SECTION |
.\" SECTION |
.Sh CLASSIFICATION |
.Sh COMPOSITION |
Classify your system component. In |
First, copy over the manual template from |
.Ux , |
.Pa /usr/share/misc/mdoc.template |
each component has a manual section , which categorises the component's |
into your source directory. |
function. The section of a manual is usually listed in parenthesis next |
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to the component name, such as |
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.Xr ps 1 , |
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section 1. You can query a manual explicitly by its section: |
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.Bd -literal -offset XXXX |
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% man \-s 1 ps |
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% apropos ps |
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.Ed |
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.Pp |
.Pp |
The following table lists classifications and the applicable manual |
.Dl % cp /usr/share/misc/mdoc.template \. |
sections: |
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.Pp |
.Pp |
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.Em \&Do not |
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start afresh or by copying another manual unless you know exactly what |
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you're doing! If the template doesn't exist, bug your administrator. |
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.\" SUBSECTION |
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.Ss Section Numbering |
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Find an appropriate section for your manual. There may exist multiple |
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manual names per section, so be specific: |
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.Pp |
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.\" LIST |
.Bl -tag -width "XXXXXXXXXXXX" -offset indent -compact |
.Bl -tag -width "XXXXXXXXXXXX" -offset indent -compact |
.It Em Section |
.It Em Section |
.Em Description |
.Em Description |
Line 62 administrator utilities |
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Line 74 administrator utilities |
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in-kernel routines |
in-kernel routines |
.El |
.El |
.Pp |
.Pp |
Some examples in regular name/section form: |
If your manual falls into multiple categories, choose the most |
.Pp |
widely-used or, better, re-consider the topic of your manual to be more |
.\" LIST |
specific. You can list all manuals per section by invoking |
.Bl -tag -width "File-formatX" -offset indent -compact |
.Xr apropos 1 , |
.It Em Manual |
then provide the |
.Em Description |
.Fl s |
.It Xr dc 4 |
flag to |
DEC/Intel 10/100 Ethernet device |
.Xr man 1 |
.It Xr usermod 8 |
to see the specific section manual (section 1, in this example): |
modify user login information |
.\" DISPLAY |
.It Xr cc 1 |
.Bd -literal -offset indent |
the C compiler |
% apropos myname |
.It Xr fortune 6 |
myname (1) - utility description |
print a random adage |
myname (3) - library description |
.It Xr open 2 |
% man \-s 1 myname |
open or create a file for reading or writing |
.Ed |
.It Xr isspace 3 |
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whitespace character test |
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.It Xr Pod::Man 3p |
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convert POD data to formatted roff |
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.It Xr tsleep 9 |
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process context sleep |
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.It Xr passwd 5 |
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format of the password file |
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.It Xr symlink 7 |
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symbolic link handling |
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.El |
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.\" SECTION |
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.Sh COMPOSITION |
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Prepare your composition environment by copying over the manual template |
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from |
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.Pa /usr/share/misc/mdoc.template . |
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.Em \&Do not |
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start afresh or by copying another manual unless you know exactly what |
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you're doing! |
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.\" SUBSECTION |
.\" SUBSECTION |
.Ss Naming |
.Ss Naming |
Your component will need a name by which to query its contents via |
Name your component. Be terse, erring on the side of clarity. Look for |
.Xr man 1 . |
other manuals by that same name before committing: |
Keep it simple. You may want to look for other manuals by that same |
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name before committing: |
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.Pp |
.Pp |
.Dl % apropos myname |
.Dl % apropos myname |
.Pp |
.Pp |
Conventionally, manual files are named |
Manual files are named |
.Pa myname.section , |
.Pa myname.mysection , |
such as |
such as |
.Pa manuals.7 |
.Pa manuals.7 |
for this document. |
for this document. Rename the template file: |
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.Pp |
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.Dl % mv mdoc.template myname.mysection |
.\" SUBSECTION |
.\" SUBSECTION |
.Ss Input Language |
.Ss Input Language |
Manuals should |
Manuals should |
Line 121 formatting language. |
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Line 114 formatting language. |
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.Pp |
.Pp |
There exist other documentation-specific languages, such as the |
There exist other documentation-specific languages, such as the |
historical |
historical |
.Xr me 7 , |
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.Xr ms 7 |
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and |
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.Xr man 7 |
.Xr man 7 |
packages of |
package of |
.Xr roff 7 ; |
.Xr roff 7 ; |
newer languages such as DocBook, texinfo or schema-driven XML; or even |
newer languages such as DocBook or texinfo; or even ad-hoc conventions |
ad-hoc conventions such as README files. |
such as README files. |
.Em Stay away from these methods! |
.Em Avoid these formats . |
Historical formats fail to capture a manual's semantic content, instead |
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only modelling its style. Newer methods requires special, |
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system-specific tools and may change or become obsolete over the |
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life-time of your component. |
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.Pp |
.Pp |
There are two canonical references for writing mdoc manuals: |
There are two canonical references for writing mdoc. Read them. |
.Pp |
.Pp |
.\" LIST |
.\" LIST |
.Bl -tag -width XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX -offset indent -compact |
.Bl -tag -width XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX -offset indent -compact |
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.El |
.El |
.Pp |
.Pp |
Open the template you've copied into |
Open the template you've copied into |
.Pa name.section |
.Pa myname.mysection |
and begin editing. |
and begin editing. |
.\" SUBSECTION |
.\" SUBSECTION |
.Ss Development Tools |
.Ss Development Tools |
Line 157 While writing, make sure that your manual is correctly |
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Line 143 While writing, make sure that your manual is correctly |
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You may spell-check your work as follows: |
You may spell-check your work as follows: |
.Pp |
.Pp |
.Dl % deroff name.1 | spell |
.Dl % deroff name.1 | spell |
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.Pp |
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If |
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.Xr ispell 1 |
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is installed, it has a special mode for manuals: |
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.Pp |
.Dl % ispell \-n name.1 |
.Dl % ispell \-n name.1 |
.Pp |
.Pp |
Use |
Use |
.Xr cvs 1 |
.Xr cvs 1 |
or, if not available, |
or |
.Xr rcs 1 |
.Xr rcs 1 |
to version-control your work. If you wish the last check-in to effect |
to version-control your work. If you wish the last check-in to effect |
your document's date, use the following RCS tag for the date macro: |
your document's date, use the following RCS tag for the date macro: |
Line 169 your document's date, use the following RCS tag for th |
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Line 160 your document's date, use the following RCS tag for th |
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.Dl \&.Dd $Mdocdate$ |
.Dl \&.Dd $Mdocdate$ |
.\" SUBSECTION |
.\" SUBSECTION |
.Ss Viewing |
.Ss Viewing |
mdoc documents may be paged to your terminal with traditional |
mdoc documents may be paged to your terminal with |
tools such as |
.Xr mandoc 1 . |
.Xr nroff 1 , |
If you plan on distributing your work to systems without this tool, |
.Xr groff 1 , |
check it against |
or with newer, more powerful tools such as |
.Xr groff 1 : |
.Xr mandoc 1 : |
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.\" DISPLAY |
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.Bd -literal -offset indent |
.Bd -literal -offset indent |
% nroff \-mandoc name.1 | less |
% mandoc \-Wall name.1 2>&1 | less |
% groff \-Tascii \-mandoc name.1 | less |
% groff -mandoc name.1 2>&1 | less |
% mandoc name.1 | less |
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.Ed |
.Ed |
.Pp |
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Other output formats are also supported: |
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.\" DISPLAY |
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.Bd -literal -offset indent |
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% groff \-Tps \-mandoc name.1 | less |
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% mandoc \-Thtml name.1 | less |
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.Ed |
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.\" SUBSECTION |
.\" SUBSECTION |
.Ss Automation |
.Ss Automation |
Consider adding your mdoc documents to |
Consider adding your mdoc documents to |
.Xr make 1 |
.Xr make 1 |
Makefiles in order to automatically check your input and generate |
Makefiles in order to automatically check your input: |
output: |
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.Bd -literal -offset indent |
.Bd -literal -offset indent |
\&.SUFFIXES: .html .txt .1 .in |
\&.SUFFIXES: .1 .in |
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\&.in.1: |
\&.in.1: |
mandoc -Wall,error -Tlint $< |
mandoc -Wall,error -Tlint $< |
cp -f $< $@ |
cp -f $< $@ |
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\&.1.html: |
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mandoc -Thtml $< >$@ |
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\&.1.txt: |
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mandoc -Tascii $< | col -b >$@ |
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.Ed |
.Ed |
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.\" SUBSECTION |
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.Ss Licensing |
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Your manual must have a license. It should be listed at the start of |
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your document, just as in source code. |
.\" SECTION |
.\" SECTION |
.Sh BEST PRACTICES |
.Sh BEST PRACTICES |
The |
The |
Line 236 symbols and so on), use the escapes dictated in |
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Line 214 symbols and so on), use the escapes dictated in |
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.Xr mdoc 7 . |
.Xr mdoc 7 . |
.El |
.El |
.\" SUBSECTION |
.\" SUBSECTION |
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.Ss Style |
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The structure of the mdoc language makes it very hard to have any |
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particular format style. Keep your lines under 72 characters in length. |
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If you must have long option lines, use |
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.Sq \&Oo/Oc . |
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The same goes for function prototypes. |
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.Em \&Do not |
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use |
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.Sq \&Xo/Xc . |
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Find another way to structure your line. |
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.\" SUBSECTION |
.Ss References |
.Ss References |
Other components may be referenced with the |
Other components may be referenced with the |
.Sq \&Xr , |
.Sq \&Xr |
and |
and |
.Sq \&Sx |
.Sq \&Sx |
macros. Make sure that these exist. If you intend to distribute your |
macros. Make sure that these exist. If you intend to distribute your |
Line 255 publications, please use the |
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Line 244 publications, please use the |
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block macros. |
block macros. |
.\" SUBSECTION |
.\" SUBSECTION |
.Ss Formatting |
.Ss Formatting |
Let the front-ends worry about formatting for you, but if you must think |
.Em Don't style your manual . |
about formatting (at times necessary, especially for tagged and columnar |
Give it meaningful content. The front-end will worry about formatting |
lists), assume that your output device is a fixed-width terminal window: |
and style. |
.Bd -literal -offset indent |
.\" SECTION |
\&.Bl \-tag \-width "-o outfile" |
.Sh MAINTENANCE |
\&.It \&Fl \&Ar outfile |
As your component changes and bugs are fixed, your manual may become out |
.Ed |
of date. You may be tempted to use tools like Doxygen to automate the |
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development of your manuals. Don't. |
.Pp |
.Pp |
You may assume that the width calculated by the string literal |
.Em Manuals are part of a system component : |
.Qq Fl o Ar outfile |
if you modify your code or specifications, modify the documentation. |
will be covered by the \-width argument. |
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