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version 1.19, 2009/07/14 15:56:44 version 1.31, 2009/08/20 11:51:07
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 .Dd $Mdocdate$  .Dd $Mdocdate$
 .Dt MAN 7  .Dt MAN 7
 .Os  .Os
 .\" SECTION  .
   .
 .Sh NAME  .Sh NAME
 .Nm man  . Nm man
 .Nd man language reference  . Nd man language reference
 .\" SECTION  .
   .
 .Sh DESCRIPTION  .Sh DESCRIPTION
 The  The
 .Nm man  . Nm man
 language was historically used to format  language was historically used to format
 .Ux  . Ux
 manuals.  This reference document describes its syntax, structure, and  manuals.  This reference document describes its syntax, structure, and
 usage.  usage.
 .Pp  . Pp
 .Bf Em  . Bf -emphasis
 Do not use  Do not use
 .Nm  .  Nm
 to write your manuals.  to write your manuals.
 .Ef  . Ef
 Use the  Use the
 .Xr mdoc 7  . Xr mdoc 7
 language, instead.  language, instead.
 .\" PARAGRAPH  . Pp
 .Pp  
 An  An
 .Nm  . Nm
 document follows simple rules:  lines beginning with the control  document follows simple rules:  lines beginning with the control
 character  character
 .Sq \&.  . Sq \&.
 are parsed for macros.  Other lines are interpreted within the scope of  are parsed for macros.  Other lines are interpreted within the scope of
 prior macros:  prior macros:
 .Bd -literal -offset indent  . Bd -literal -offset indent
 \&.SH Macro lines change control state.  \&.SH Macro lines change control state.
 Other lines are interpreted within the current state.  Other lines are interpreted within the current state.
 .Ed  . Ed
 .\" SECTION  .
   .
 .Sh INPUT ENCODING  .Sh INPUT ENCODING
 .Nm  . Nm
 documents may contain only graphable 7-bit ASCII characters, the  documents may contain only graphable 7-bit ASCII characters, the
 space character, and the tabs character.  All manuals must have  space character, and the tabs character.  All manuals must have
 .Ux  . Ux
 line termination.  line termination.
 .Pp  . Pp
 Blank lines are acceptable; where found, the output will assert a  Blank lines are acceptable; where found, the output will assert a
 vertical space.  vertical space.
 .Pp  . Pp
 The  The
 .Sq \ec  . Sq \ec
 escape is common in historical  escape is common in historical
 .Nm  . Nm
 documents; if encountered at the end of a word, it ensures that the  documents; if encountered at the end of a word, it ensures that the
 subsequent word isn't off-set by whitespace.  subsequent word isn't off-set by whitespace.
 .\" SUB-SECTION  .
 .Ss Comments  .
 Anything following a  . Ss Comments
 .Sq \e"  Text following a
 delimiter is considered a comment (unless the  .  Sq \e\*" ,
 .Sq \e  whether in a macro or free-form text line, is ignored to the end of
 itself has been escaped) and is ignored to the end of line.  line.  A macro line with only a control character and comment escape,
 Furthermore, a macro line with only a control character  .  Sq \&.\e" ,
 .Sq \. ,  is also ignored.  Macro lines with only a control charater and
 optionally followed by whitespace, is ignored.  optionally whitespace are stripped from input.
 .\" SUB-SECTION  .
 .Ss Special Characters  .
 Special character sequences begin with the escape character  . Ss Special Characters
 .Sq \e  Special characters may occur in both macro and free-form lines.
 followed by either an open-parenthesis  Sequences begin with the escape character
 .Sq \&(  .  Sq \e
   followed by either an open-parenthesis
   .  Sq \&(
 for two-character sequences; an open-bracket  for two-character sequences; an open-bracket
 .Sq \&[  .  Sq \&[
 for n-character sequences (terminated at a close-bracket  for n-character sequences (terminated at a close-bracket
 .Sq \&] ) ;  .  Sq \&] ) ;
 or a single one-character sequence.  or a single one-character sequence.  See
 .Pp  .  Xr mandoc_char 7
 Characters may alternatively be escaped by a slash-asterisk,  for a complete list.  Examples include
 .Sq \e* ,  .  Sq \e(em
 with the same combinations as described above.  .  Pq em-dash
 .Pp  and
 Terms may also be text-decorated using the  .  Sq \ee
 .Sq \ef  .  Pq back-slash .
 escape followed by a text-decoration letter: B (bold), I, (italic), or P  .
 and R (Roman, or reset).  .
 .\" SUB-SECTION  . Ss Text Decoration
 .Ss Whitespace  Terms may be text-decorated using the
   .  Sq \ef
   escape followed by an indicator: B (bold), I, (italic), or P and R
   (Roman, or reset).
   .
   .
   . Ss Whitespace
 Unless specifically escaped, consecutive blocks of whitespace are pruned  Unless specifically escaped, consecutive blocks of whitespace are pruned
 from input.  These are later re-added, if applicable, by a front-end  from input.  These are later re-added, if applicable, by a front-end
 utility such as  utility such as
 .Xr mandoc 1 .  .  Xr mandoc 1 .
 .\" SECTION  .
 .Sh STRUCTURE  .
   .Sh MANUAL STRUCTURE
 Each  Each
 .Nm  . Nm
 document must contain contains at least the  document must contain contains at least the
 .Sq \&.TH  . Sq TH
 macro describing the document's section and title.  It may occur  macro describing the document's section and title.  It may occur
 anywhere in the document, although conventionally, it appears as the  anywhere in the document, although conventionally, it appears as the
 first macro.  first macro.
 .Pp  . Pp
 Beyond the  Beyond
 .Sq \&.TH ,  . Sq TH ,
 at least one macro or text node must appear in the document.  at least one macro or text node must appear in the document.  Documents
 .\" SECTION  are generally structured as follows:
 .Sh SYNTAX  . Bd -literal -offset indent
   \&.TH FOO 1 "13 Aug 2009"
   \&.
   \&.SH NAME
   \efBfoo\efR \e(en a description goes here
   \&.
   \&.SH SYNOPSIS
   \efBfoo\efR [\efB\e-options\efR] arguments...
   \&.
   \&.SH DESCRIPTION
   The \efBfoo\efR utility does...
   \&.
   \&.\e\*q .SH RETURN VALUES
   \&.\e\*q .SH ENVIRONMENT
   \&.\e\*q .SH FILES
   \&.\e\*q .SH EXAMPLES
   \&.\e\*q .SH DIAGNOSTICS
   \&.\e\*q .SH ERRORS
   \&.\e\*q .SH SEE ALSO
   \&.\e\*q \efBbar\efR(1)
   \&.\e\*q .SH STANDARDS
   \&.\e\*q .SH HISTORY
   \&.\e\*q .SH AUTHORS
   \&.\e\*q .SH CAVEATS
   \&.\e\*q .SH BUGS
   . Ed
   .
   .
   .Sh MACRO SYNTAX
 Macros are one to three three characters in length and begin with a  Macros are one to three three characters in length and begin with a
 control character ,  control character ,
 .Sq \&. ,  . Sq \&. ,
 at the beginning of the line.  An arbitrary amount of whitespace may  at the beginning of the line.  An arbitrary amount of whitespace may
 sit between the control character and the macro name.  Thus,  sit between the control character and the macro name.  Thus,
 .Sq \&.PP  . Sq .PP
 and  and
 .Sq \&.\ \ \ \&PP  . Sq \&.\ \ \ PP
 are equivalent.  are equivalent.
 .Pp  . Pp
 All  
 .Nm  
 macros follow the same structural rules:  
 .Bd -literal -offset indent  
 \&.YO \(lBbody...\(rB  
 .Ed  
 .Pp  
 The  The
 .Dq body  . Nm
 consists of zero or more arguments to the macro.  macros are classified by scope: line scope or block scope.  Line
 .Pp  macros are only scoped to the current line (and, in some situations,
 .Nm  the subsequent line).  Block macros are scoped to the current line and
 has a primitive notion of multi-line scope for the following macros:  subsequent lines until closed by another block macro.
 .Sq \&.TM ,  .
 .Sq \&.SM ,  .
 .Sq \&.SB ,  . Ss Line Macros
 .Sq \&.BI ,  Line macros are generally scoped to the current line, with the body
 .Sq \&.IB ,  consisting of zero or more arguments.  If a macro is scoped to the next
 .Sq \&.BR ,  line and the line arguments are empty, the next line is used instead,
 .Sq \&.RB ,  else the general syntax is used.  Thus:
 .Sq \&.R ,  .  Bd -literal -offset indent
 .Sq \&.B ,  \&.I
 .Sq \&.I ,  
 .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  
 foo  foo
 .Ed  .  Ed
 .Pp  .  Pp
 is equivalent to  is equivalent to
 .Sq \&.RI foo .  .  Sq \&.I foo .
 If two consecutive lines exhibit the latter behaviour,  .\" PARAGRAPH
 an error is raised.  Thus, the following is not acceptable:  Consecutive next-line scope invocations are disallowed.
 .Bd -literal -offset indent  .  Bd -literal -offset indent
 \&.RI  \&.YO \(lBbody...\(rB
 \&.I  \(lBbody...\(rB
 Hello, world.  .  Ed
 .Ed  .  Pp
 .Pp  It is considered an error when next-line scope is open at the end of
   file.
   .  Pp
   .  Bl -column -compact -offset indent "MacroX" "ArgumentsX" "ScopeXXXXX"
   .   It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments Ta Em Scope
   .   It    B     Ta    n         Ta    next-line
   .   It    BI    Ta    n         Ta    current
   .   It    BR    Ta    n         Ta    current
   .   It    DT    Ta    0         Ta    current
   .   It    I     Ta    n         Ta    next-line
   .   It    IB    Ta    n         Ta    current
   .   It    IR    Ta    n         Ta    current
   .   It    R     Ta    n         Ta    next-line
   .   It    RB    Ta    n         Ta    current
   .   It    RI    Ta    n         Ta    current
   .   It    SB    Ta    n         Ta    next-line
   .   It    SM    Ta    n         Ta    next-line
   .   It    TH    Ta    >1, <6    Ta    current
   .   It    br    Ta    0         Ta    current
   .   It    fi    Ta    0         Ta    current
   .   It    i     Ta    n         Ta    current
   .   It    na    Ta    0         Ta    current
   .   It    nf    Ta    0         Ta    current
   .   It    r     Ta    0         Ta    current
   .   It    sp    Ta    1         Ta    current
   .  El
   .  Pp
 The  The
 .Sq \&.TP  .  Sq RS ,
 macro is similar, but does not need an empty argument line to trigger  .  Sq RE ,
 the behaviour.  .  Sq br ,
 .\" SECTION  .  Sq fi ,
 .Sh MACROS  .  Sq i ,
 This section contains a complete list of all  .  Sq na ,
 .Nm  .  Sq nf ,
 macros and corresponding number of arguments.  .  Sq r ,
 .Pp  and
 .Bl -column "MacroX" "Arguments" -compact -offset indent  .  Sq sp
 .It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments  macros aren't historically part of
 .It \&.TH    Ta    >1, <6  .  Nm
 .It \&.SH    Ta    >0  and should not be used.  They're included for compatibility.
 .It \&.SS    Ta    >0  .
 .It \&.TP    Ta    n  .
 .It \&.LP    Ta    0  . Ss Block Macros
 .It \&.PP    Ta    0  Block macros are comprised of a head and body.  Like for in-line macros,
 .It \&.P     Ta    0  the head is scoped to the current line and, in one circumstance, the
 .It \&.IP    Ta    <3  next line; the body is scoped to subsequent lines and is closed out by a
 .It \&.HP    Ta    <2  subsequent block macro invocation.
 .It \&.SM    Ta    n  .  Bd -literal -offset indent
 .It \&.SB    Ta    n  \&.YO \(lBhead...\(rB
 .It \&.BI    Ta    n  \(lBhead...\(rB
 .It \&.IB    Ta    n  \(lBbody...\(rB
 .It \&.BR    Ta    n  .  Ed
 .It \&.RB    Ta    n  .  Pp
 .It \&.R     Ta    n  The closure of body scope may be to the section, where a macro is closed
 .It \&.B     Ta    n  by
 .It \&.I     Ta    n  .  Sq SH ;
 .It \&.IR    Ta    n  sub-section, closed by a section or
 .It \&.RI    Ta    n  .  Sq SS ;
 .El  part, closed by a section, sub-section, or
 .Pp  .  Sq RE ;
 Although not historically part of the  or paragraph, closed by a section, sub-section, part,
 .Nm  .  Sq HP ,
 system, the following macros are also supported:  .  Sq IP ,
 .Pp  .  Sq LP ,
 .Bl -column "MacroX" "Arguments" -compact -offset indent  .  Sq P ,
 .It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments  .  Sq PP ,
 .It \&.br    Ta    0  or
 .It \&.i     Ta    n  .  Sq TP .
 .El  No closure refers to an explicit block closing macro.
 .Pp  .  Pp
 These follow the same calling conventions as the above  It is considered an error when part or next-line scope is open at the
 .Nm  end of file.
 macros.  .  Pp
 .\" SECTION  .  Bl -column "MacroX" "ArgumentsX" "Head ScopeX" "sub-sectionX" -compact -offset indent
   .   It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments Ta Em Head Scope Ta Em Body Scope
   .   It   HP     Ta    <2        Ta    current    Ta    paragraph
   .   It   IP     Ta    <3        Ta    current    Ta    paragraph
   .   It   LP     Ta    0         Ta    current    Ta    paragraph
   .   It   P      Ta    0         Ta    current    Ta    paragraph
   .   It   PP     Ta    0         Ta    current    Ta    paragraph
   .   It   RE     Ta    0         Ta    current    Ta    none
   .   It   RS     Ta    1         Ta    current    Ta    part
   .   It   SH     Ta    >0        Ta    current    Ta    section
   .   It   SS     Ta    >0        Ta    current    Ta    sub-section
   .   It   TP     Ta    n         Ta    next-line  Ta    paragraph
   .  El
   .  Pp
   If a block macro is next-line scoped, it may only be followed by in-line
   macros (excluding
   .  Sq DT ,
   .  Sq TH ,
   .  Sq br ,
   .  Sq na ,
   .  Sq sp ,
   .  Sq nf ,
   and
   .  Sq fi ) .
   .
   .
   .Sh REFERENCE
   This section is a canonical reference to all macros, arranged
   alphabetically.  For the scoping of individual macros, see
   . Sx MACRO SYNTAX .
   .
   .
   . Ss Definitions
   In this reference, a numerical width may be either a standalone natural
   number (such as 3, 4, 10, etc.) or a natural number followed by a width
   multiplier
   .  Qq n ,
   corresponding to the width of the formatted letter n, or
   .  Qq m ,
   corresponding to the width of the formatted letter m.  The latter is the
   default, if unspecified.  Thus,
   .  Bd -literal -offset indent
   \&.HP 12n
   .  Ed
   .  Pp
   indicates an offset of 12
   .  Qq n
   .  Ns -sized
   letters.
   .
   .
   . Ss Macro Reference
   .  Bl -tag -width Ds
   .   It B
   Text is rendered in bold face.
   .   It BI
   Text is rendered alternately in bold face and italic.  Thus,
   .    Sq .BI this word and that
   causes
   .    Sq this
   and
   .    Sq and
   to render in bold face, while
   .    Sq word
   and
   .    Sq that
   render in italics.  Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
   .   It BR
   Text is rendered alternately in bold face and roman (the default font).
   Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
   .   It DT
   Re-set the tab spacing to 0.5 inches.
   .   It HP
   Begin a paragraph whose initial output line is left-justified, but
   subsequent output lines are indented, with the following syntax:
   .    Bd -literal -offset indent
   \&.HP [width]
   .    Ed
   .    Pp
   If
   .    Va width
   is specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if
   unspecified, the saved or default width is used.
   .   It I
   Text is rendered in italics.
   .   It IB
   Text is rendered alternately in italics and bold face.  Whitespace
   between arguments is omitted in output.
   .   It IP
   Begin a paragraph with the following syntax:
   .    Bd -literal -offset indent
   \&.IP [head [width]]
   .    Ed
   .    Pp
   This follows the behaviour of the
   .    Sq TP
   except for the macro syntax (all arguments on the line, instead of
   having next-line scope).  If
   .    Va width
   is specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if
   unspecified, the saved or default width is used.
   .   It IR
   Text is rendered alternately in italics and roman (the default font).
   Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
   .   It LP, P, PP
   Begin an undecorated paragraph.  The scope of a paragraph is closed by a
   subsequent paragraph, sub-section, section, or end of file.  The saved
   paragraph left-margin width is re-set to the default.
   .   It R
   Text is rendered in roman (the default font).
   .   It RB
   Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and bold face.
   Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
   .   It RE
   Explicitly close out the scope of a prior
   .    Sq RS .
   .   It RI
   Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and italics.
   Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
   .   It RS
   Begin a part setting the left margin.  The left margin controls the
   offset, following an initial indentation, to un-indented text such as
   that of
   .    Sq PP .
   The width may be specified as following:
   .    Bd -literal -offset indent
   \&.RS [width]
   .    Ed
   .    Pp
   If
   .    Va width
   is not specified, the saved or default width is used.
   .   It SB
   Text is rendered in small size (one point smaller than the default font)
   bold face.
   .   It SH
   Begin a section.  The scope of a section is only closed by another
   section or the end of file.  The paragraph left-margin width is re-set
   to the default.
   .   It SM
   Text is rendered in small size (one point smaller than the default
   font).
   .   It SS
   Begin a sub-section.  The scope of a sub-section is closed by a
   subsequent sub-section, section, or end of file.  The paragraph
   left-margin width is re-set to the default.
   .   It TH
   Sets the title of the manual page with the following syntax:
   .    Bd -literal -offset indent
   \&.TH title section [date [source [volume]]]
   .    Ed
   .    Pp
   At least the
   .    Va title
   and
   .    Va section
   arguments must be provided.  The
   .    Va date
   argument should be formatted as
   .    Qq %b [%d] %Y
   format, described in
   .    Xr strptime 3 .
   The
   .    Va source
   string specifies the organisation providing the utility.  The
   .    Va volume
   replaces the default rendered volume as dictated by the manual section.
   .   It TP
   Begin a paragraph where the head, if exceeding the indentation width, is
   followed by a newline; if not, the body follows on the same line after a
   buffer to the indentation width.  Subsequent output lines are indented.
   .    Pp
   The indentation width may be set as follows:
   .    Bd -literal -offset indent
   \&.TP [width]
   .    Ed
   .    Pp
   Where
   .    Va width
   must be a properly-formed numeric width.  If
   .    Va width
   is specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if
   unspecified, the saved or default width is used.
   .   It br
   Breaks the current line.  Consecutive invocations have no further effect.
   .   It fi
   End literal mode begun by
   .    Sq nf .
   .   It i
   Italicise arguments.  If no arguments are specified, all subsequent text
   is italicised.
   .   It na
   Don't alignment the right margin.
   .   It nf
   Begin literal mode: all subsequent free-form lines have their end of
   line boundaries preserved.  May be ended by
   .    Sq fi .
   .   It r
   Fonts and styles (bold face, italics) reset to roman (default font).
   .   It sp
   Insert n spaces, where n is the macro's positive numeric argument.  If
   0, this is equivalent to the
   .    Sq br
   macro.
   .  El
   .
   .
 .Sh COMPATIBILITY  .Sh COMPATIBILITY
 See  This section documents compatibility with other roff implementations, at
 .Xr mdoc 7  this time limited to
 for groff compatibility notes.  . Xr groff 1 .
 .\" SECTION  . Bl -hyphen
   .  It
   In quoted literals, groff allowed pair-wise double-quotes to produce a
   standalone double-quote in formatted output.  This idiosyncratic
   behaviour is no longer applicable.
   .  It
   The
   .   Sq sp
   macro does not accept negative numbers.
   .  It
   Blocks of whitespace are stripped from both macro and free-form text
   lines (except when in literal mode), while groff would retain whitespace
   in free-form text lines.
   . El
   .
   .
 .Sh SEE ALSO  .Sh SEE ALSO
 .Xr mandoc 1 ,  . Xr mandoc 1 ,
 .Xr mandoc_char 7  . Xr mandoc_char 7
 .\" SECTION  .
   .
 .Sh AUTHORS  .Sh AUTHORS
 The  The
 .Nm  . Nm
 utility was written by  reference was written by
 .An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq kristaps@kth.se .  . An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq kristaps@kth.se .
 .\" SECTION  .
   .
 .Sh CAVEATS  .Sh CAVEATS
 Do not use this language.  Use  Do not use this language.  Use
 .Xr mdoc 7 ,  . Xr mdoc 7 ,
 instead.  instead.
   .
Legend:
Removed from v.1.19  
changed lines
  Added in v.1.31
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