===================================================================
RCS file: /cvs/mandoc/man.7,v
retrieving revision 1.19
retrieving revision 1.21
diff -u -p -r1.19 -r1.21
--- mandoc/man.7	2009/07/14 15:56:44	1.19
+++ mandoc/man.7	2009/07/27 12:35:53	1.21
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-.\"	$Id: man.7,v 1.19 2009/07/14 15:56:44 kristaps Exp $
+.\"	$Id: man.7,v 1.21 2009/07/27 12:35:53 kristaps Exp $
 .\"
 .\" Copyright (c) 2009 Kristaps Dzonsons <kristaps@kth.se>
 .\"
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 .\" ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF
 .\" OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
 .\"
-.Dd $Mdocdate: July 14 2009 $
+.Dd $Mdocdate: July 27 2009 $
 .Dt MAN 7
 .Os
 .\" SECTION
@@ -25,15 +25,15 @@
 .Sh DESCRIPTION
 The
 .Nm man
-language was historically used to format 
+language was historically used to format
 .Ux
 manuals.  This reference document describes its syntax, structure, and
 usage.
 .Pp
-.Bf Em
-Do not use 
+.Bf -emphasis
+Do not use
 .Nm
-to write your manuals.  
+to write your manuals.
 .Ef
 Use the
 .Xr mdoc 7
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ language, instead.
 An
 .Nm
 document follows simple rules:  lines beginning with the control
-character 
+character
 .Sq \&.
 are parsed for macros.  Other lines are interpreted within the scope of
 prior macros:
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ Other lines are interpreted within the current state.
 documents may contain only graphable 7-bit ASCII characters, the
 space character, and the tabs character.  All manuals must have
 .Ux
-line termination.  
+line termination.
 .Pp
 Blank lines are acceptable; where found, the output will assert a
 vertical space.
@@ -70,35 +70,38 @@ documents; if encountered at the end of a word, it ens
 subsequent word isn't off-set by whitespace.
 .\" SUB-SECTION
 .Ss Comments
-Anything following a
-.Sq \e" 
-delimiter is considered a comment (unless the 
-.Sq \e
-itself has been escaped) and is ignored to the end of line.
-Furthermore, a macro line with only a control character
-.Sq \. ,
-optionally followed by whitespace, is ignored.
+Text following a
+.Sq \e" ,
+whether in a macro or free-form text line, is ignored to the end of
+line.  A macro line with only a control character and comment escape,
+.Sq \&.\e" ,
+is also ignored.
 .\" SUB-SECTION
 .Ss Special Characters
-Special character sequences begin with the escape character
+Special characters may occur in both macro and free-form lines.
+Sequences begin with the escape character
 .Sq \e
-followed by either an open-parenthesis 
+followed by either an open-parenthesis
 .Sq \&(
 for two-character sequences; an open-bracket
 .Sq \&[
 for n-character sequences (terminated at a close-bracket
 .Sq \&] ) ;
-or a single one-character sequence.
-.Pp
-Characters may alternatively be escaped by a slash-asterisk,
-.Sq \e* ,
-with the same combinations as described above.
-.Pp
-Terms may also be text-decorated using the
+or a single one-character sequence.  See
+.Xr mandoc_char 7
+for a complete list.  Examples include
+.Sq \e(em
+.Pq em-dash
+and
+.Sq \ee
+.Pq back-slash .
+.\" SUB-SECTION----------------------
+.Ss Text Decoration
+Terms may be text-decorated using the
 .Sq \ef
-escape followed by a text-decoration letter: B (bold), I, (italic), or P
-and R (Roman, or reset).
-.\" SUB-SECTION
+escape followed by an indicator: B (bold), I, (italic), or P and R
+(Roman, or reset).
+.\" SUB-SECTION----------------------
 .Ss Whitespace
 Unless specifically escaped, consecutive blocks of whitespace are pruned
 from input.  These are later re-added, if applicable, by a front-end
@@ -114,7 +117,7 @@ macro describing the document's section and title.  It
 anywhere in the document, although conventionally, it appears as the
 first macro.
 .Pp
-Beyond the 
+Beyond the
 .Sq \&.TH ,
 at least one macro or text node must appear in the document.
 .\" SECTION
@@ -129,11 +132,11 @@ and
 .Sq \&.\ \ \ \&PP
 are equivalent.
 .Pp
-All 
+All
 .Nm
 macros follow the same structural rules:
 .Bd -literal -offset indent
-\&.YO \(lBbody...\(rB 
+\&.YO \(lBbody...\(rB
 .Ed
 .Pp
 The
@@ -141,7 +144,7 @@ The
 consists of zero or more arguments to the macro.
 .Pp
 .Nm
-has a primitive notion of multi-line scope for the following macros: 
+has a primitive notion of multi-line scope for the following macros:
 .Sq \&.TM ,
 .Sq \&.SM ,
 .Sq \&.SB ,
@@ -152,23 +155,23 @@ has a primitive notion of multi-line scope for the fol
 .Sq \&.R ,
 .Sq \&.B ,
 .Sq \&.I ,
-.Sq \&.IR 
+.Sq \&.IR
 and
 .Sq \&.RI .
 When these macros are invoked without arguments, the subsequent line is
 considered a continuation of the macro.  Thus:
-.Bd -literal -offset indent 
-\&.RI 
+.Bd -literal -offset indent
+\&.RI
 foo
 .Ed
 .Pp
-is equivalent to 
+is equivalent to
 .Sq \&.RI foo .
 If two consecutive lines exhibit the latter behaviour,
 an error is raised.  Thus, the following is not acceptable:
-.Bd -literal -offset indent 
-\&.RI 
-\&.I 
+.Bd -literal -offset indent
+\&.RI
+\&.I
 Hello, world.
 .Ed
 .Pp
@@ -178,7 +181,7 @@ macro is similar, but does not need an empty argument 
 the behaviour.
 .\" SECTION
 .Sh MACROS
-This section contains a complete list of all 
+This section contains a complete list of all
 .Nm
 macros and corresponding number of arguments.
 .Pp
@@ -232,7 +235,7 @@ for groff compatibility notes.
 .Sh AUTHORS
 The
 .Nm
-utility was written by 
+utility was written by
 .An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq kristaps@kth.se .
 .\" SECTION
 .Sh CAVEATS