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.Sh NAME

. Nm man

.Nm man

. Nd man language reference

.Nd man language reference

.Sh DESCRIPTION

The

. Nm man

.Nm man

language was historically used to format

. Ux

.Ux

manuals. This reference document describes its syntax, structure, and

usage.

. Pp

. Bf -emphasis

.Pp

.Bf -emphasis

Do not use

. Nm

.Nm

to write your manuals.

. Ef

.Ef

Use the

. Xr mdoc 7

.Xr mdoc 7

language, instead.

. Pp

.Pp

. Nm

.Nm

document follows simple rules: lines beginning with the control

character

. Sq \&.

.Sq \&.

are parsed for macros. Other lines are interpreted within the scope of

prior macros:

. Bd -literal -offset indent

.Bd -literal -offset indent

\&.SH Macro lines change control state.

Other lines are interpreted within the current state.

. Ed

.Ed

.Sh INPUT ENCODING

. Nm

.Nm

documents may contain only graphable 7-bit ASCII characters, the

space character, and the tabs character. All manuals must have

. Ux

.Ux

line termination.

. Pp

.Pp

Blank lines are acceptable; where found, the output will assert a

vertical space.

. Pp

.Pp

The

. Sq \ec

.Sq \ec

escape is common in historical

. Nm

.Nm

documents; if encountered at the end of a word, it ensures that the

subsequent word isn't off-set by whitespace.

. Ss Comments

.Ss Comments

Text following a

. Sq \e\*" ,

.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" ,

.Sq \&.\e" ,

is also ignored. Macro lines with only a control charater and

optionally whitespace are stripped from input.

. Ss Special Characters

.Ss Special Characters

Special characters may occur in both macro and free-form lines.

Sequences begin with the escape character

. Sq \e

.Sq \e

followed by either an open-parenthesis

. Sq \&(

.Sq \&(

for two-character sequences; an open-bracket

. Sq \&[

.Sq \&[

for n-character sequences (terminated at a close-bracket

. Sq \&] ) ;

.Sq \&] ) ;

or a single one-character sequence. See

. Xr mandoc_char 7

.Xr mandoc_char 7

for a complete list. Examples include

. Sq \e(em

.Sq \e(em

. Pq em-dash

.Pq em-dash

and

. Sq \ee

.Sq \ee

. Pq back-slash .

.Pq back-slash .

. Ss Text Decoration

.Ss Text Decoration

Terms may be text-decorated using the

. Sq \ef

.Sq \ef

escape followed by an indicator: B (bold), I, (italic), or P and R

(Roman, or reset).

. Ss Whitespace

.Ss Whitespace

Unless specifically escaped, consecutive blocks of whitespace are pruned

from input. These are later re-added, if applicable, by a front-end

utility such as

. Xr mandoc 1 .

.Xr mandoc 1 .

.Sh MANUAL STRUCTURE

Each

. Nm

.Nm

document must contain contains at least the

. Sq TH

.Sq TH

macro describing the document's section and title. It may occur

anywhere in the document, although conventionally, it appears as the

first macro.

. Pp

.Pp

Beyond

. Sq TH ,

.Sq TH ,

at least one macro or text node must appear in the document. Documents

are generally structured as follows:

. Bd -literal -offset indent

.Bd -literal -offset indent

\&.TH FOO 1 "13 Aug 2009"

\&.

\&.SH NAME

Line 154 The \efBfoo\efR utility does...

Line 159 The \efBfoo\efR utility does...

\&.\e\*q .SH AUTHORS

\&.\e\*q .SH CAVEATS

\&.\e\*q .SH BUGS

. Ed

.Ed

.Sh MACRO SYNTAX

Macros are one to three three characters in length and begin with a

control character ,

. Sq \&. ,

.Sq \&. ,

at the beginning of the line. An arbitrary amount of whitespace may

sit between the control character and the macro name. Thus,

. Sq .PP

.Sq .PP

and

. Sq \&.\ \ \ PP

.Sq \&.\ \ \ PP

are equivalent.

. Pp

.Pp

The

. Nm

.Nm

macros are classified by scope: line scope or block scope. Line

macros are only scoped to the current line (and, in some situations,

the subsequent line). Block macros are scoped to the current line and

subsequent lines until closed by another block macro.

. Ss Line Macros

.Ss Line Macros

Line macros are generally scoped to the current line, with the body

consisting of zero or more arguments. If a macro is scoped to the next

line and the line arguments are empty, the next line is used instead,

else the general syntax is used. Thus:

. Bd -literal -offset indent

.Bd -literal -offset indent

\&.I

foo

. Ed

.Ed

. Pp

.Pp

is equivalent to

. Sq \&.I foo .

.Sq \&.I foo .

.\" PARAGRAPH

Consecutive next-line scope invocations are disallowed.

. Bd -literal -offset indent

.Bd -literal -offset indent

\&.YO \(lBbody...\(rB

\(lBbody...\(rB

. 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"

.Pp

. It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments Ta Em Scope

.Bl -column -compact -offset indent "MacroX" "ArgumentsX" "ScopeXXXXX"

. It B Ta n Ta next-line

.It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments Ta Em Scope

. It BI Ta n Ta current

.It B Ta n Ta next-line

. It BR Ta n Ta current

.It BI Ta n Ta current

. It DT Ta 0 Ta current

.It BR Ta n Ta current

. It I Ta n Ta next-line

.It DT Ta 0 Ta current

. It IB Ta n Ta current

.It I Ta n Ta next-line

. It IR Ta n Ta current

.It IB Ta n Ta current

. It R Ta n Ta next-line

.It IR Ta n Ta current

. It RB Ta n Ta current

.It R Ta n Ta next-line

. It RI Ta n Ta current

.It RB Ta n Ta current

. It SB Ta n Ta next-line

.It RI Ta n Ta current

. It SM Ta n Ta next-line

.It SB Ta n Ta next-line

. It TH Ta >1, <6 Ta current

.It SM Ta n Ta next-line

. It br Ta 0 Ta current

.It TH Ta >1, <6 Ta current

. It fi Ta 0 Ta current

.It br Ta 0 Ta current

. It i Ta n Ta current

.It fi Ta 0 Ta current

. It na Ta 0 Ta current

.It i Ta n Ta current

. It nf Ta 0 Ta current

.It na Ta 0 Ta current

. It r Ta 0 Ta current

.It nf Ta 0 Ta current

. It sp Ta 1 Ta current

.It r Ta 0 Ta current

. El

.It sp Ta 1 Ta current

. Pp

.El

.Pp

The

. Sq RS ,

.Sq RS ,

. Sq RE ,

.Sq RE ,

. Sq br ,

.Sq br ,

. Sq fi ,

.Sq fi ,

. Sq i ,

.Sq i ,

. Sq na ,

.Sq na ,

. Sq nf ,

.Sq nf ,

. Sq r ,

.Sq r ,

and

. Sq sp

.Sq sp

macros aren't historically part of

. Nm

.Nm

and should not be used. They're included for compatibility.

. Ss Block Macros

.Ss Block Macros

Block macros are comprised of a head and body. Like for in-line macros,

the head is scoped to the current line and, in one circumstance, the

next line; the body is scoped to subsequent lines and is closed out by a

subsequent block macro invocation.

. Bd -literal -offset indent

.Bd -literal -offset indent

\&.YO \(lBhead...\(rB

\(lBhead...\(rB

\(lBbody...\(rB

. Ed

.Ed

. Pp

.Pp

The closure of body scope may be to the section, where a macro is closed

. Sq SH ;

.Sq SH ;

sub-section, closed by a section or

. Sq SS ;

.Sq SS ;

part, closed by a section, sub-section, or

. Sq RE ;

.Sq RE ;

or paragraph, closed by a section, sub-section, part,

. Sq HP ,

.Sq HP ,

. Sq IP ,

.Sq IP ,

. Sq LP ,

.Sq LP ,

. Sq P ,

.Sq P ,

. Sq PP ,

.Sq PP ,

. Sq TP .

.Sq TP .

No closure refers to an explicit block closing macro.

. Pp

.Pp

It is considered an error when part or next-line scope is open at the

end of file.

. Pp

. Bl -column "MacroX" "ArgumentsX" "Head ScopeX" "sub-sectionX" -compact -offset indent

.Pp

. It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments Ta Em Head Scope Ta Em Body Scope

.Bl -column "MacroX" "ArgumentsX" "Head ScopeX" "sub-sectionX" -compact -offset indent

. It HP Ta <2 Ta current Ta paragraph

.It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments Ta Em Head Scope Ta Em Body Scope

. It IP Ta <3 Ta current Ta paragraph

.It HP Ta <2 Ta current Ta paragraph

. It LP Ta 0 Ta current Ta paragraph

.It IP Ta <3 Ta current Ta paragraph

. It P Ta 0 Ta current Ta paragraph

.It LP Ta 0 Ta current Ta paragraph

. It PP Ta 0 Ta current Ta paragraph

.It P Ta 0 Ta current Ta paragraph

. It RE Ta 0 Ta current Ta none

.It PP Ta 0 Ta current Ta paragraph

. It RS Ta 1 Ta current Ta part

.It RE Ta 0 Ta current Ta none

. It SH Ta >0 Ta current Ta section

.It RS Ta 1 Ta current Ta part

. It SS Ta >0 Ta current Ta sub-section

.It SH Ta >0 Ta current Ta section

. It TP Ta n Ta next-line Ta paragraph

.It SS Ta >0 Ta current Ta sub-section

. El

.It TP Ta n Ta next-line Ta paragraph

. Pp

.El

.Pp

If a block macro is next-line scoped, it may only be followed by in-line

macros (excluding

. Sq DT ,

.Sq DT ,

. Sq TH ,

.Sq TH ,

. Sq br ,

.Sq br ,

. Sq na ,

.Sq na ,

. Sq sp ,

.Sq sp ,

. Sq nf ,

.Sq nf ,

and

. Sq fi ) .

.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 .

.Sx MACRO SYNTAX .

. Ss Definitions

.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 ,

.Qq n ,

corresponding to the width of the formatted letter n, or

. Qq m ,

.Qq m ,

corresponding to the width of the formatted letter m. The latter is the

default, if unspecified. Thus,

. Bd -literal -offset indent

.Bd -literal -offset indent

\&.HP 12n

. Ed

.Ed

. Pp

.Pp

indicates an offset of 12

. Qq n

.Qq n

. Ns -sized

.Ns -sized

letters.

. Ss Macro Reference

.Ss Macro Reference

. Bl -tag -width Ds

.Bl -tag -width Ds

. It B

.It B

Text is rendered in bold face.

. It BI

.It BI

Text is rendered alternately in bold face and italic. Thus,

. Sq .BI this word and that

.Sq .BI this word and that

causes

. Sq this

.Sq this

and

. Sq and

.Sq and

to render in bold face, while

. Sq word

.Sq word

and

. Sq that

.Sq that

render in italics. Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.

. It BR

.It BR

Text is rendered alternately in bold face and roman (the default font).

Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.

. It DT

.It DT

Re-set the tab spacing to 0.5 inches.

. It HP

.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

.Bd -literal -offset indent

\&.HP [width]

. Ed

.Ed

. Pp

.Pp

. Va width

.Va width

is specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if

unspecified, the saved or default width is used.

. It I

.It I

Text is rendered in italics.

. It IB

.It IB

Text is rendered alternately in italics and bold face. Whitespace

between arguments is omitted in output.

. It IP

.It IP

Begin a paragraph with the following syntax:

. Bd -literal -offset indent

.Bd -literal -offset indent

\&.IP [head [width]]

. Ed

.Ed

. Pp

.Pp

This follows the behaviour of the

. Sq TP

.Sq TP

except for the macro syntax (all arguments on the line, instead of

having next-line scope). If

. Va width

.Va width

is specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if

unspecified, the saved or default width is used.

. It IR

.It IR

Text is rendered alternately in italics and roman (the default font).

Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.

. It LP, P, PP

.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

.It R

Text is rendered in roman (the default font).

. It RB

.It RB

Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and bold face.

Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.

. It RE

.It RE

Explicitly close out the scope of a prior

. Sq RS .

.Sq RS .

. It RI

.It RI

Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and italics.

Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.

. It RS

.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 .

.Sq PP .

The width may be specified as following:

. Bd -literal -offset indent

.Bd -literal -offset indent

\&.RS [width]

. Ed

.Ed

. Pp

.Pp

. Va width

.Va width

is not specified, the saved or default width is used.

. It SB

.It SB

Text is rendered in small size (one point smaller than the default font)

bold face.

. It SH

.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

.It SM

Text is rendered in small size (one point smaller than the default

font).

. It SS

.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

.It TH

Sets the title of the manual page with the following syntax:

. Bd -literal -offset indent

.Bd -literal -offset indent

\&.TH title section [date [source [volume]]]

. Ed

.Ed

. Pp

.Pp

At least the

. Va title

.Va title

and

. Va section

.Va section

arguments must be provided. The

. Va date

.Va date

argument should be formatted as

. Qq %b [%d] %Y

.Qq %b [%d] %Y

format, described in

. Xr strptime 3 .

.Xr strptime 3 .

The

. Va source

.Va source

string specifies the organisation providing the utility. The

. Va volume

.Va volume

replaces the default rendered volume as dictated by the manual section.

. It TP

.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

.Pp

The indentation width may be set as follows:

. Bd -literal -offset indent

.Bd -literal -offset indent

\&.TP [width]

. Ed

.Ed

. Pp

.Pp

Where

. Va width

.Va width

must be a properly-formed numeric width. If

. Va width

.Va width

is specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if

unspecified, the saved or default width is used.

. It br

.It br

Breaks the current line. Consecutive invocations have no further effect.

. It fi

.It fi

End literal mode begun by

. Sq nf .

.Sq nf .

. It i

.It i

Italicise arguments. If no arguments are specified, all subsequent text

is italicised.

. It na

.It na

Don't alignment the right margin.

. It nf

.It nf

Begin literal mode: all subsequent free-form lines have their end of

line boundaries preserved. May be ended by

. Sq fi .

.Sq fi .

. It r

.It r

Fonts and styles (bold face, italics) reset to roman (default font).

. It sp

.It sp

Insert n spaces, where n is the macro's positive numeric argument. If

0, this is equivalent to the

. Sq br

.Sq br

macro.

. El

.El

.Sh COMPATIBILITY

This section documents compatibility with other roff implementations, at

this time limited to

. Xr groff 1 .

.Xr groff 1 .

. Bl -hyphen

.Bl -hyphen

. It

.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

.It

The

. Sq sp

.Sq sp

macro does not accept negative numbers.

. It

.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

.El

.Sh SEE ALSO

. Xr mandoc 1 ,

.Xr mandoc 1 ,

. Xr mandoc_char 7

.Xr mandoc_char 7

.Sh AUTHORS

The

. Nm

.Nm

reference was written by

. An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq kristaps@kth.se .

.An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq kristaps@kth.se .

.Sh CAVEATS

Do not use this language. Use

. Xr mdoc 7 ,

.Xr mdoc 7 ,

instead.

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