=================================================================== RCS file: /cvs/mandoc/Attic/manuals.7,v retrieving revision 1.5 retrieving revision 1.15 diff -u -p -r1.5 -r1.15 --- mandoc/Attic/manuals.7 2009/03/22 19:01:11 1.5 +++ mandoc/Attic/manuals.7 2009/06/25 10:55:40 1.15 @@ -1,5 +1,21 @@ -.Dd $Mdocdate: March 22 2009 $ -.Dt manuals 7 +.\" $Id: manuals.7,v 1.15 2009/06/25 10:55:40 kristaps Exp $ +.\" +.\" Copyright (c) 2009 Kristaps Dzonsons +.\" +.\" 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: June 25 2009 $ +.Dt MANUALS 7 .Os .\" SECTION .Sh NAME @@ -12,31 +28,27 @@ .Pp A system component's documentation describes the utility of that component, whether it's a device driver, an executable or, most -importantly, a game. Although there are plenty of documents available -on how to read -.Ux -documents, or where to find them, few focus on composition. -.\" PARAGRAPH +importantly, a game. .Pp This document serves as a tutorial to writing .Ux documentation .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 .Sh COMPOSITION -Prepare your composition environment by copying over the manual template -from -.Pa /usr/share/misc/mdoc.template . +First, copy over the manual template from +.Pa /usr/share/misc/mdoc.template +into your source directory. +.Pp +.Dl % cp /usr/share/misc/mdoc.template \. +.Pp .Em \&Do not start afresh or by copying another manual unless you know exactly what -you're doing! +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. A table of all available -manual sections follows: +manual names per section, so be specific: .Pp .\" LIST .Bl -tag -width "XXXXXXXXXXXX" -offset indent -compact @@ -72,13 +84,14 @@ to see the specific section manual (section 1, in this .\" DISPLAY .Bd -literal -offset indent % apropos myname -myname (1) - some description here +myname (1) - utility description +myname (3) - library description % man \-s 1 myname .Ed .\" SUBSECTION .Ss Naming -Name your component. Be terse, erring on the side of clarity. You may -want to look for other manuals by that same name before committing: +Name your component. Be terse, erring on the side of clarity. Look for +other manuals by that same name before committing: .Pp .Dl % apropos myname .Pp @@ -86,7 +99,9 @@ Manual files are named .Pa myname.mysection , such as .Pa manuals.7 -for this document. +for this document. Rename the template file: +.Pp +.Dl % mv mdoc.template myname.mysection .\" SUBSECTION .Ss Input Language Manuals should @@ -97,19 +112,12 @@ formatting language. .Pp There exist other documentation-specific languages, such as the historical -.Xr me 7 , -.Xr ms 7 -and .Xr man 7 -packages of +package of .Xr roff 7 ; -newer languages such as DocBook, texinfo or schema-driven XML; or even -ad-hoc conventions such as README files. +newer languages such as DocBook or texinfo; or even ad-hoc conventions +such as README files. .Em Avoid these formats . -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. Read them. .Pp @@ -122,7 +130,7 @@ macro reference .El .Pp Open the template you've copied into -.Pa name.section +.Pa myname.mysection and begin editing. .\" SUBSECTION .Ss Development Tools @@ -133,54 +141,48 @@ While writing, make sure that your manual is correctly You may spell-check your work as follows: .Pp .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 .Pp Use .Xr cvs 1 -or, if not available, +or .Xr rcs 1 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: .Pp -.Dl \&.Dd $Mdocdate: March 22 2009 $ +.Dl \&.Dd $Mdocdate: June 25 2009 $ .\" SUBSECTION .Ss Viewing -mdoc documents may be paged to your terminal with traditional -tools such as -.Xr nroff 1 , -.Xr groff 1 , -or with newer, more powerful tools such as -.Xr mandoc 1 : -.\" DISPLAY +mdoc documents may be paged to your terminal with +.Xr mandoc 1 . +If you plan on distributing your work to systems without this tool, +check it against +.Xr groff 1 : .Bd -literal -offset indent -% nroff \-mandoc name.1 | less -% groff \-Tascii \-mandoc name.1 | less -% mandoc name.1 | less +% mandoc \-Wall name.1 2>&1 | less +% groff -mandoc name.1 2>&1 | less .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 .Ss Automation Consider adding your mdoc documents to .Xr make 1 -Makefiles in order to automatically check your input and generate -output: +Makefiles in order to automatically check your input: .Bd -literal -offset indent -\&.SUFFIXES: .html .txt .1 .in +\&.SUFFIXES: .1 .in \&.in.1: mandoc -Wall,error -Tlint $< cp -f $< $@ -\&.1.html: - mandoc -Thtml $< >$@ -\&.1.txt: - mandoc -Tascii $< | col -b >$@ .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 .Sh BEST PRACTICES The @@ -190,7 +192,7 @@ and files are indispensable in guiding composition. In this section, we introduce some .Ux -manual best practices: +manual best practises: .\" SUBSECTION .Ss Language .Bl -enum @@ -210,6 +212,17 @@ symbols and so on), use the escapes dictated in .Xr mdoc 7 . .El .\" SUBSECTION +.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 .Sq \&Xr @@ -229,20 +242,14 @@ publications, please use the block macros. .\" SUBSECTION .Ss Formatting -Let the front-ends worry about formatting for you, but if you must think -about formatting (at times necessary, especially for tagged and columnar -lists), assume that your output device is a fixed-width terminal window: -.Bd -literal -offset indent -\&.Bl \-tag \-width "-o outfile" -\&.It \&Fl \&Ar outfile -.Ed -.Pp -You may assume that the width calculated by the string literal -.Qq Fl o Ar outfile -will be covered by the \-width argument. +.Em Don't style your manual . +Give it meaningful content. The front-end will worry about formatting +and style. .\" SECTION .Sh MAINTENANCE As your component changes and bugs are fixed, your manual may become out -of date. You may be tempted to use automation tools like Doxygen to -smooth the development of your manuals. Don't. Source documentation is -different from a component manual. +of date. You may be tempted to use tools like Doxygen to automate the +development of your manuals. Don't. +.Pp +.Em Manuals are part of a system component : +if you modify your code or specifications, modify the documentation.