version 1.3, 2009/03/22 14:28:08 |
version 1.19, 2009/07/27 19:43:02 |
|
|
|
.\" $Id$ |
|
.\" |
|
.\" Copyright (c) 2009 Kristaps Dzonsons <kristaps@kth.se> |
|
.\" |
|
.\" Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any |
|
.\" purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above |
|
.\" copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies. |
|
.\" |
|
.\" THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES |
|
.\" WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF |
|
.\" MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR |
|
.\" ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES |
|
.\" WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN |
|
.\" ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF |
|
.\" OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE. |
|
.\" |
.Dd $Mdocdate$ |
.Dd $Mdocdate$ |
.Dt manuals 7 |
.Dt MANUALS 7 |
.Os |
.Os |
.\" SECTION |
.\" SECTION |
.Sh NAME |
.Sh NAME |
|
|
.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 |
|
.Ux |
|
documents, or where to find them, few focus on composition. |
|
.\" PARAGRAPH |
|
.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 |
|
format or directory structure or device driver, it needs documentation. |
|
.\" SECTION |
.\" SECTION |
.Sh CLASSIFICATION |
.Sh ENVIRONMENT |
Classify your system component. In |
First, copy over the manual template from |
.Ux , |
.Pa /usr/share/misc/mdoc.template |
each component has a |
into your source directory. |
.Dq manual section , |
|
which categorises the component's function. The section of a manual is |
|
usually listed in parenthesis next to the component name, such as |
|
.Xr ps 1 , |
|
section 1. You can query a manual explicitly by its section: |
|
.Pp |
.Pp |
.Dl % man \-s 1 ps |
.Dl % cp /usr/share/misc/mdoc.template \. |
.Pp |
.Pp |
The following table lists classifications and the applicable manual |
.Em \&Do not |
sections: |
start afresh or by copying another manual unless you know exactly what |
|
you're doing! If the template doesn't exist, bug your administrator. |
|
.\" SUBSECTION |
|
.Ss Section Numbering |
|
Find an appropriate section for your manual. There may exist multiple |
|
manual names per section, so be specific: |
.Pp |
.Pp |
|
.\" 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 55 file and wire protocol formats |
|
Line 66 file and wire protocol formats |
|
games |
games |
.It 7 |
.It 7 |
tutorials, documents and papers |
tutorials, documents and papers |
.It 8 |
.It 8 |
administrator utilities |
administrator utilities |
.It 9 |
.It 9 |
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 |
|
whitespace character test |
|
.It Xr Pod::Man 3p |
|
convert POD data to formatted roff |
|
.It Xr tsleep 9 |
|
process context sleep |
|
.It Xr passwd 5 |
|
format of the password file |
|
.It Xr symlink 7 |
|
symbolic link handling |
|
.El |
|
.\" SECTION |
|
.Sh COMPOSITION |
|
Prepare your composition environment. |
|
.\" 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 |
|
name before committing: |
|
.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: |
.\" SUBSECTION |
|
.Ss Input Language |
|
Manuals should |
|
.Em always |
|
be written in the |
|
.Xr mdoc 7 |
|
formatting language. |
|
.Pp |
.Pp |
There exist other documentation-specific languages, such as the |
.Dl % mv mdoc.template myname.mysection |
historical |
|
.Xr me 7 , |
|
.Xr ms 7 |
|
and |
|
.Xr man 7 |
|
packages of |
|
.Xr roff 7 ; |
|
newer languages such as DocBook, texinfo or schema-driven XML; or even |
|
ad-hoc conventions such as README files. |
|
.Em Stay away from these methods! |
|
Historical formats fail to capture a manual's semantic content, instead |
|
only modelling its style. Newer methods requires special, |
|
system-specific tools and may change or become obsolete over the |
|
life-time of your component. |
|
.Pp |
|
There are two canonical references for writing mdoc manuals: |
|
.Pp |
|
.\" LIST |
|
.Bl -tag -width XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX -offset indent -compact |
|
.It Xr mdoc 7 |
|
formal language reference |
|
.It Xr mdoc.samples 7 |
|
macro reference |
|
.El |
|
.Pp |
|
Don't merely copy existing manuals! Most systems distribute an mdoc |
|
template to help you get started in |
|
.Pa /usr/share/misc/mdoc.template . |
|
.\" SUBSECTION |
.\" SUBSECTION |
.Ss Development Tools |
.Ss Development Tools |
While writing, make sure that your manual is correctly structured: |
While writing, make sure that your manual is correctly structured: |
.Pp |
.Pp |
.Dl % mandoc \-Tlint \-Wall name.1 |
.Dl % mandoc \-Tlint \-Wall \-fstrict name.1 |
.Pp |
.Pp |
|
The quick-fix feature of |
|
.Xr vim 1 |
|
is useful for checking over many manuals: |
|
.Bd -literal -offset indent |
|
% mandoc \-Wall \-fstrict \-Tlint \-fign-errors \e |
|
./path/to/manuals/* 2>&1 > /tmp/mandoc.errs |
|
% vim -q /tmp/mandoc.errs |
|
.Ed |
|
.Pp |
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 |
|
.Pp |
|
If |
|
.Xr ispell 1 |
|
is installed, it has a special mode for manuals: |
|
.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: |
.Pp |
.Pp |
.Dl \&.Dd $Mdocdate$ |
.Dl \&.Dd $Mdocdate$ |
.Pp |
|
.\" 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 : |
|
.\" DISPLAY |
|
.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 |
|
.Ed |
.Ed |
.Pp |
|
Other output formats are also supported: |
|
.\" DISPLAY |
|
.Bd -literal -offset indent |
|
% groff \-Tps \-mandoc name.1 | less |
|
% mandoc \-Thtml name.1 | less |
|
.Ed |
|
.\" 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: |
|
.Bd -literal -offset indent |
.Bd -literal -offset indent |
\&.SUFFIXES: .html .txt .1 .in |
\&.SUFFIXES: .1 .in |
|
|
\&.in.1: |
\&.in.1: |
mandoc -Wall,error -Tlint $< |
mandoc -Wall,error -Tlint $< |
cp -f $< $@ |
cp -f $< $@ |
|
|
\&.1.html: |
|
mandoc -Thtml $< >$@ |
|
|
|
\&.1.txt: |
|
mandoc -Tascii $< | col -b >$@ |
|
.Ed |
.Ed |
|
.\" SUBSECTION |
|
.Ss Licensing |
|
Your manual must have a license. It should be listed at the start of |
|
your document, just as in source code. |
.\" SECTION |
.\" SECTION |
.Sh BEST PRACTICES |
.Sh COMPOSITION |
The |
Manuals should |
|
.Em always |
|
be written in the |
.Xr mdoc 7 |
.Xr mdoc 7 |
and |
formatting language. |
.Xr mdoc.samples 7 |
.\" PARAGRAPH |
files will be indispensable in guiding composition. In this section, we |
.Pp |
introduce some |
Open the template you've copied into |
.Ux |
.Pa myname.mysection |
manual best practices: |
and begin editing. |
.\" SUBSECTION |
.\" SUBSECTION |
.Ss Language |
.Ss Language |
.Bl -enum |
.Bl -enum |
.It |
.It |
Use clear, concise language. Favour simplicity. |
Use clear, concise language. Favour simplicity. |
.It |
.It |
Line 231 symbols and so on), use the escapes dictated in |
|
Line 193 symbols and so on), use the escapes dictated in |
|
.Xr mdoc 7 . |
.Xr mdoc 7 . |
.El |
.El |
.\" SUBSECTION |
.\" SUBSECTION |
.Ss References |
.Ss Style |
|
The structure of the mdoc language makes it very hard to have any |
|
particular format style. Keep your lines under 72 characters in length. |
|
If you must have long option lines, use |
|
.Sq \&Oo/Oc . |
|
The same goes for function prototypes. |
|
.Em \&Do not |
|
use |
|
.Sq \&Xo/Xc . |
|
Find another way to structure your line. |
|
.\" SUBSECTION |
|
.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 250 publications, please use the |
|
Line 223 publications, please use the |
|
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 |
|
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 |
|