=================================================================== RCS file: /cvs/mandoc/man.7,v retrieving revision 1.66 retrieving revision 1.121 diff -u -p -r1.66 -r1.121 --- mandoc/man.7 2010/05/08 22:26:39 1.66 +++ mandoc/man.7 2013/12/31 15:17:51 1.121 @@ -1,6 +1,7 @@ -.\" $Id: man.7,v 1.66 2010/05/08 22:26:39 kristaps Exp $ +.\" $Id: man.7,v 1.121 2013/12/31 15:17:51 schwarze Exp $ .\" -.\" Copyright (c) 2009 Kristaps Dzonsons +.\" Copyright (c) 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 Kristaps Dzonsons +.\" Copyright (c) 2011, 2012, 2013 Ingo Schwarze .\" .\" Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any .\" purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above @@ -14,260 +15,135 @@ .\" ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF .\" OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE. .\" -.Dd $Mdocdate: May 8 2010 $ +.Dd $Mdocdate: December 31 2013 $ .Dt MAN 7 .Os .Sh NAME .Nm man -.Nd man language reference +.Nd legacy formatting language for manual pages .Sh DESCRIPTION -The +Traditionally, the .Nm man -language was historically used to format +language has been used to write .Ux -manuals. This reference document describes its syntax, structure, and -usage. +manuals for the +.Xr man 1 +utility. +It supports limited control of presentational details like fonts, +indentation and spacing. +This reference document describes the structure of manual pages +and the syntax and usage of the man language. .Pp .Bf -emphasis Do not use .Nm -to write your manuals. +to write your manuals: .Ef +It lacks support for semantic markup. Use the .Xr mdoc 7 language, instead. .Pp -An +In a .Nm -document follows simple rules: lines beginning with the control -character +document, lines beginning with the control character .Sq \&. -are parsed for macros. Other lines are interpreted within the scope of -prior macros: +are called +.Dq macro lines . +The first word is the macro name. +It usually consists of two capital letters. +For a list of available macros, see +.Sx MACRO OVERVIEW . +The words following the macro name are arguments to the macro. +.Pp +Lines not beginning with the control character are called +.Dq text lines . +They provide free-form text to be printed; the formatting of the text +depends on the respective processing context: .Bd -literal -offset indent \&.SH Macro lines change control state. -Other lines are interpreted within the current state. +Text lines are interpreted within the current state. .Ed -.Sh INPUT ENCODING -.Nm -documents may contain only graphable 7-bit ASCII characters, the -space character, and the tabs character. All manuals must have -.Ux -line termination. .Pp -Blank lines are acceptable; where found, the output will assert a -vertical space. -.Ss Comments -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. Macro lines with only a control character and -optionally whitespace are stripped from input. -.Ss Special Characters -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 -.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. See -.Xr mandoc_char 7 -for a complete list. Examples include -.Sq \e(em -.Pq em-dash -and -.Sq \ee -.Pq back-slash . -.Ss Text Decoration -Terms may be text-decorated using the -.Sq \ef -escape followed by an indicator: B (bold), I, (italic), R (Roman), or P -(revert to previous mode): -.Pp -.D1 \efBbold\efR \efIitalic\efP -.Pp -A numerical representation 3, 2, or 1 (bold, italic, and Roman, -respectively) may be used instead. A text decoration is only valid, if -specified in free-form text, until the next macro invocation; if -specified within a macro, it's only valid until the macro closes scope. -Note that macros like -.Sx \&BR -open and close a font scope with each argument. -.Pp -Text may also be sized with the -.Sq \es -escape, whose syntax is one of -.Sq \es+-n -for one-digit numerals; -.Sq \es(+-nn -or -.Sq \es+-(nn -for two-digit numerals; and -.Sq \es[+-N] , -.Sq \es+-[N] , -.Sq \es'+-N' , -or -.Sq \es+-'N' -for arbitrary-digit numerals: -.Pp -.D1 \es+1bigger\es-1 -.D1 \es[+10]much bigger\es[-10] -.D1 \es+(10much bigger\es-(10 -.D1 \es+'100'much much bigger\es-'100' -.Pp -Both -.Sq \es -and -.Sq \ef -attributes are forgotten when entering or exiting a macro block. -.Ss Whitespace -Whitespace consists of the space character. -In free-form lines, whitespace is preserved within a line; un-escaped -trailing spaces are stripped from input (unless in a literal context). -Blank free-form lines, which may include spaces, are permitted and -rendered as an empty line. -.Pp -In macro lines, whitespace delimits arguments and is discarded. If -arguments are quoted, whitespace within the quotes is retained. -.Ss Dates -The -.Sx \&TH -macro is the only +Many aspects of the basic syntax of the .Nm -macro that requires a date. The form for this date is the ISO-8601 -standard -.Cm YYYY-MM-DD . -.Ss Scaling Widths -Many macros support scaled widths for their arguments, such as -stipulating a two-inch paragraph indentation with the following: -.Bd -literal -offset indent -\&.HP 2i -.Ed -.Pp -The syntax for scaled widths is -.Sq Li [+-]?[0-9]*.[0-9]*[:unit:]? , -where a decimal must be preceded or proceeded by at least one digit. -Negative numbers, while accepted, are truncated to zero. The following -scaling units are accepted: -.Pp -.Bl -tag -width Ds -offset indent -compact -.It c -centimetre -.It i -inch -.It P -pica (~1/6 inch) -.It p -point (~1/72 inch) -.It f -synonym for -.Sq u -.It v -default vertical span -.It m -width of rendered -.Sq m -.Pq em -character -.It n -width of rendered -.Sq n -.Pq en -character -.It u -default horizontal span -.It M -mini-em (~1/100 em) -.El -.Pp -Using anything other than -.Sq m , -.Sq n , -.Sq u , -or -.Sq v -is necessarily non-portable across output media. -.Pp -If a scaling unit is not provided, the numerical value is interpreted -under the default rules of -.Sq v -for vertical spaces and -.Sq u -for horizontal ones. -.Em Note : -this differs from -.Xr mdoc 7 , -which, if a unit is not provided, will instead interpret the string as -literal text. +language are based on the +.Xr roff 7 +language; see the +.Em LANGUAGE SYNTAX +and +.Em MACRO SYNTAX +sections in the +.Xr roff 7 +manual for details, in particular regarding +comments, escape sequences, whitespace, and quoting. .Sh MANUAL STRUCTURE Each .Nm -document must contain contains at least the +document must contain the .Sx \&TH -macro describing the document's section and title. It may occur -anywhere in the document, although conventionally, it appears as the -first macro. +macro describing the document's section and title. +It may occur anywhere in the document, although conventionally it +appears as the first macro. .Pp Beyond .Sx \&TH , -at least one macro or text node must appear in the document. Documents -are generally structured as follows: +at least one macro or text line must appear in the document. +.Pp +The following is a well-formed skeleton +.Nm +file for a utility +.Qq progname : .Bd -literal -offset indent -\&.TH FOO 1 2009-10-10 -\&. +\&.TH PROGNAME 1 2009-10-10 \&.SH NAME -\efBfoo\efR \e(en a description goes here -\&.\e\*q The next is for sections 2 & 3 only. -\&.\e\*q .SH LIBRARY -\&. +\efBprogname\efR \e(en a description goes here +\&.\e\(dq .SH LIBRARY +\&.\e\(dq For sections 2 & 3 only. +\&.\e\(dq Not used in OpenBSD. \&.SH SYNOPSIS -\efBfoo\efR [\efB\e-options\efR] arguments... -\&. +\efBprogname\efR [\efB\e-options\efR] arguments... \&.SH DESCRIPTION The \efBfoo\efR utility processes files... -\&. -\&.\e\*q .SH IMPLEMENTATION NOTES -\&.\e\*q The next is for sections 1 & 8 only. -\&.\e\*q .SH EXIT STATUS -\&.\e\*q The next is for sections 2, 3, & 9 only. -\&.\e\*q .SH RETURN VALUES -\&.\e\*q The next is for sections 1, 6, 7, & 8 only. -\&.\e\*q .SH ENVIRONMENT -\&.\e\*q .SH FILES -\&.\e\*q .SH EXAMPLES -\&.\e\*q The next is for sections 1, 4, 6, 7, & 8 only. -\&.\e\*q .SH DIAGNOSTICS -\&.\e\*q The next is for sections 2, 3, & 9 only. -\&.\e\*q .SH ERRORS -\&.\e\*q .SH SEE ALSO -\&.\e\*q .BR foo ( 1 ) -\&.\e\*q .SH STANDARDS -\&.\e\*q .SH HISTORY -\&.\e\*q .SH AUTHORS -\&.\e\*q .SH CAVEATS -\&.\e\*q .SH BUGS -\&.\e\*q .SH SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS +\&.\e\(dq .SH IMPLEMENTATION NOTES +\&.\e\(dq Not used in OpenBSD. +\&.\e\(dq .SH RETURN VALUES +\&.\e\(dq For sections 2, 3, & 9 only. +\&.\e\(dq .SH ENVIRONMENT +\&.\e\(dq For sections 1, 6, 7, & 8 only. +\&.\e\(dq .SH FILES +\&.\e\(dq .SH EXIT STATUS +\&.\e\(dq For sections 1, 6, & 8 only. +\&.\e\(dq .SH EXAMPLES +\&.\e\(dq .SH DIAGNOSTICS +\&.\e\(dq For sections 1, 4, 6, 7, & 8 only. +\&.\e\(dq .SH ERRORS +\&.\e\(dq For sections 2, 3, & 9 only. +\&.\e\(dq .SH SEE ALSO +\&.\e\(dq .BR foo ( 1 ) +\&.\e\(dq .SH STANDARDS +\&.\e\(dq .SH HISTORY +\&.\e\(dq .SH AUTHORS +\&.\e\(dq .SH CAVEATS +\&.\e\(dq .SH BUGS +\&.\e\(dq .SH SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS +\&.\e\(dq Not used in OpenBSD. .Ed .Pp The sections in a .Nm -document are conventionally ordered as they appear above. Sections -should be composed as follows: +document are conventionally ordered as they appear above. +Sections should be composed as follows: .Bl -ohang -offset indent .It Em NAME -The name(s) and a short description of the documented material. The -syntax for this is generally as follows: +The name(s) and a short description of the documented material. +The syntax for this is generally as follows: .Pp .D1 \efBname\efR \e(en description .It Em LIBRARY The name of the library containing the documented material, which is -assumed to be a function in a section 2 or 3 manual. For functions in -the C library, this may be as follows: +assumed to be a function in a section 2 or 3 manual. +For functions in the C library, this may be as follows: .Pp .D1 Standard C Library (libc, -lc) .It Em SYNOPSIS @@ -295,34 +171,32 @@ This expands upon the brief, one-line description in It usually contains a break-down of the options (if documenting a command). .It Em IMPLEMENTATION NOTES -Implementation-specific notes should be kept here. This is useful when -implementing standard functions that may have side effects or notable -algorithmic implications. -.It Em EXIT STATUS -Command exit status for section 1, 6, and 8 manuals. This section is -the dual of -.Em RETURN VALUES , -which is used for functions. Historically, this information was -described in -.Em DIAGNOSTICS , -a practise that is now discouraged. +Implementation-specific notes should be kept here. +This is useful when implementing standard functions that may have side +effects or notable algorithmic implications. .It Em RETURN VALUES -This section is the dual of -.Em EXIT STATUS , -which is used for commands. It documents the return values of functions -in sections 2, 3, and 9. +This section documents the return values of functions in sections 2, 3, and 9. .It Em ENVIRONMENT Documents any usages of environment variables, e.g., .Xr environ 7 . .It Em FILES -Documents files used. It's helpful to document both the file and a -short description of how the file is used (created, modified, etc.). +Documents files used. +It's helpful to document both the file name and a short description of how +the file is used (created, modified, etc.). +.It Em EXIT STATUS +This section documents the command exit status for +section 1, 6, and 8 utilities. +Historically, this information was described in +.Em DIAGNOSTICS , +a practise that is now discouraged. .It Em EXAMPLES -Example usages. This often contains snippets of well-formed, -well-tested invocations. Make doubly sure that your examples work -properly! +Example usages. +This often contains snippets of well-formed, +well-tested invocations. +Make sure that examples work properly! .It Em DIAGNOSTICS -Documents error conditions. This is most useful in section 4 manuals. +Documents error conditions. +This is most useful in section 4 manuals. Historically, this section was used in place of .Em EXIT STATUS for manuals in sections 1, 6, and 8; however, this practise is @@ -330,8 +204,8 @@ discouraged. .It Em ERRORS Documents error handling in sections 2, 3, and 9. .It Em SEE ALSO -References other manuals with related topics. This section should exist -for most manuals. +References other manuals with related topics. +This section should exist for most manuals. .Pp .D1 \&.BR bar \&( 1 \&), .Pp @@ -346,174 +220,79 @@ If not adhering to any standards, the .Em HISTORY section should be used. .It Em HISTORY -The history of any manual without a -.Em STANDARDS -section should be described in this section. +A brief history of the subject, including where support first appeared. .It Em AUTHORS -Credits to authors, if applicable, should appear in this section. -Authors should generally be noted by both name and an e-mail address. +Credits to the person or persons who wrote the code and/or documentation. +Authors should generally be noted by both name and email address. .It Em CAVEATS -Explanations of common misuses and misunderstandings should be explained +Common misuses and misunderstandings should be explained in this section. .It Em BUGS -Extant bugs should be described in this section. +Known bugs, limitations, and work-arounds should be described +in this section. .It Em SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS Documents any security precautions that operators should consider. .El -.Sh MACRO SYNTAX -Macros are one to three three characters in length and begin with a -control character , -.Sq \&. , -at the beginning of the line. The -.Sq \(aq -macro control character is also accepted. An arbitrary amount of -whitespace (spaces or tabs) may sit between the control character and -the macro name. Thus, the following are equivalent: -.Bd -literal -offset indent -\&.PP -\&.\ \ \ PP -.Ed -.Pp -The -.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 -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, which must be -text, is used instead. Thus: -.Bd -literal -offset indent -\&.I -foo -.Ed -.Pp -is equivalent to -.Sq \&.I foo . -If next-line macros are invoked consecutively, only the last is used. -If a next-line macro is followed by a non-next-line macro, an error is -raised (unless in the case of -.Sx \&br , -.Sx \&sp , -or -.Sx \&na ) . -.Pp -The syntax is as follows: -.Bd -literal -offset indent -\&.YO \(lBbody...\(rB -\(lBbody...\(rB -.Ed -.Pp -.Bl -column -compact -offset indent "MacroX" "ArgumentsX" "ScopeXXXXX" "CompatX" -.It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments Ta Em Scope Ta Em Notes -.It Sx \&B Ta n Ta next-line Ta \& -.It Sx \&BI Ta n Ta current Ta \& -.It Sx \&BR Ta n Ta current Ta \& -.It Sx \&DT Ta 0 Ta current Ta \& -.It Sx \&I Ta n Ta next-line Ta \& -.It Sx \&IB Ta n Ta current Ta \& -.It Sx \&IR Ta n Ta current Ta \& -.\" .It Sx \&PD Ta n Ta current Ta compat -.It Sx \&R Ta n Ta next-line Ta \& -.It Sx \&RB Ta n Ta current Ta \& -.It Sx \&RI Ta n Ta current Ta \& -.It Sx \&SB Ta n Ta next-line Ta \& -.It Sx \&SM Ta n Ta next-line Ta \& -.It Sx \&TH Ta >1, <6 Ta current Ta \& -.\" .It Sx \&UC Ta n Ta current Ta compat -.It Sx \&br Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat -.It Sx \&fi Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat -.It Sx \&i Ta n Ta current Ta compat -.It Sx \&na Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat -.It Sx \&nf Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat -.It Sx \&r Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat -.It Sx \&sp Ta 1 Ta current Ta compat -.\" .It Sx \&Sp Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat -.\" .It Sx \&Vb Ta <1 Ta current Ta compat -.\" .It Sx \&Ve Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat +.Sh MACRO OVERVIEW +This overview is sorted such that macros of similar purpose are listed +together, to help find the best macro for any given purpose. +Deprecated macros are not included in the overview, but can be found +in the alphabetical reference below. +.Ss Page header and footer meta-data +.Bl -column "PP, LP, P" description +.It Sx TH Ta set the title: Ar title section date Op Ar source Op Ar volume +.It Sx AT Ta display AT&T UNIX version in the page footer (<= 1 argument) +.It Sx UC Ta display BSD version in the page footer (<= 1 argument) .El -.Pp -Macros marked as -.Qq compat -are included for compatibility with the significant corpus of existing -manuals that mix dialects of roff. These macros should not be used for -portable -.Nm -manuals. -.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 next-line stipulations as in -.Sx Line Macros -apply here as well). -.Pp -The syntax is as follows: -.Bd -literal -offset indent -\&.YO \(lBhead...\(rB -\(lBhead...\(rB -\(lBbody...\(rB -.Ed -.Pp -The closure of body scope may be to the section, where a macro is closed -by -.Sx \&SH ; -sub-section, closed by a section or -.Sx \&SS ; -part, closed by a section, sub-section, or -.Sx \&RE ; -or paragraph, closed by a section, sub-section, part, -.Sx \&HP , -.Sx \&IP , -.Sx \&LP , -.Sx \&P , -.Sx \&PP , -or -.Sx \&TP . -No closure refers to an explicit block closing macro. -.Pp -As a rule, block macros may not be nested; thus, calling a block macro -while another block macro scope is open, and the open scope is not -implicitly closed, is syntactically incorrect. -.Pp -.Bl -column -compact -offset indent "MacroX" "ArgumentsX" "Head ScopeX" "sub-sectionX" "compatX" -.It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments Ta Em Head Scope Ta Em Body Scope Ta Em Notes -.It Sx \&HP Ta <2 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \& -.It Sx \&IP Ta <3 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \& -.It Sx \&LP Ta 0 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \& -.It Sx \&P Ta 0 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \& -.It Sx \&PP Ta 0 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \& -.It Sx \&RE Ta 0 Ta current Ta none Ta compat -.It Sx \&RS Ta 1 Ta current Ta part Ta compat -.It Sx \&SH Ta >0 Ta next-line Ta section Ta \& -.It Sx \&SS Ta >0 Ta next-line Ta sub-section Ta \& -.It Sx \&TP Ta n Ta next-line Ta paragraph Ta \& +.Ss Sections and paragraphs +.Bl -column "PP, LP, P" description +.It Sx SH Ta section header (one line) +.It Sx SS Ta subsection header (one line) +.It Sx PP , LP , P Ta start an undecorated paragraph (no arguments) +.It Sx RS , RE Ta reset the left margin: Op Ar width +.It Sx IP Ta indented paragraph: Op Ar head Op Ar width +.It Sx TP Ta tagged paragraph: Op Ar width +.It Sx HP Ta hanged paragraph: Op Ar width +.It Sx PD Ta set vertical paragraph distance: Op Ar height +.It Sx \&br Ta force output line break in text mode (no arguments) +.It Sx \&sp Ta force vertical space: Op Ar height +.It Sx fi , nf Ta fill mode and no-fill mode (no arguments) +.It Sx in Ta additional indent: Op Ar width .El -.Pp -Macros marked -.Qq compat -are as mentioned in -.Sx Line Macros . -.Pp -If a block macro is next-line scoped, it may only be followed by in-line -macros for decorating text. -.Sh REFERENCE +.Ss Physical markup +.Bl -column "PP, LP, P" description +.It Sx B Ta boldface font +.It Sx I Ta italic font +.It Sx R Ta roman (default) font +.It Sx SB Ta small boldface font +.It Sx SM Ta small roman font +.It Sx BI Ta alternate between boldface and italic fonts +.It Sx BR Ta alternate between boldface and roman fonts +.It Sx IB Ta alternate between italic and boldface fonts +.It Sx IR Ta alternate between italic and roman fonts +.It Sx RB Ta alternate between roman and boldface fonts +.It Sx RI Ta alternate between roman and italic fonts +.El +.Sh MACRO REFERENCE This section is a canonical reference to all macros, arranged -alphabetically. For the scoping of individual macros, see +alphabetically. +For the scoping of individual macros, see .Sx MACRO SYNTAX . +.Ss \&AT +Sets the volume for the footer for compatibility with man pages from +.Tn AT&T UNIX +releases. +The optional arguments specify which release it is from. .Ss \&B Text is rendered in bold face. .Pp See also -.Sx \&I , -.Sx \&R , -.Sx \&b , -.Sx \&i , +.Sx \&I and -.Sx \&r . +.Sx \&R . .Ss \&BI -Text is rendered alternately in bold face and italic. Thus, +Text is rendered alternately in bold face and italic. +Thus, .Sq .BI this word and that causes .Sq this @@ -523,11 +302,12 @@ to render in bold face, while .Sq word and .Sq that -render in italics. Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output. +render in italics. +Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output. .Pp Examples: .Pp -.D1 \&.BI bold italic bold italic +.Dl \&.BI bold italic bold italic .Pp The output of this example will be emboldened .Dq bold @@ -558,7 +338,20 @@ See also and .Sx \&IR . .Ss \&DT -Has no effect. Included for compatibility. +Has no effect. +Included for compatibility. +.Ss \&EE +This is a non-standard GNU extension, included only for compatibility. +In +.Xr mandoc 1 , +it does the same as +.Sx \&fi . +.Ss \&EX +This is a non-standard GNU extension, included only for compatibility. +In +.Xr mandoc 1 , +it does the same as +.Sx \&nf . .Ss \&HP Begin a paragraph whose initial output line is left-justified, but subsequent output lines are indented, with the following syntax: @@ -569,8 +362,9 @@ subsequent output lines are indented, with the followi .Pp The .Cm width -argument must conform to -.Sx Scaling Widths . +argument is a +.Xr roff 7 +scaling width. If specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if unspecified, the saved or default width is used. .Pp @@ -585,15 +379,12 @@ and Text is rendered in italics. .Pp See also -.Sx \&B , -.Sx \&R , -.Sx \&b , -.Sx \&i , +.Sx \&B and -.Sx \&r . +.Sx \&R . .Ss \&IB -Text is rendered alternately in italics and bold face. Whitespace -between arguments is omitted in output. +Text is rendered alternately in italics and bold face. +Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output. .Pp See .Sx \&BI @@ -615,15 +406,16 @@ Begin an indented paragraph with the following syntax: .Pp The .Cm width -argument defines the width of the left margin and is defined by -.Sx Scaling Widths , +argument is a +.Xr roff 7 +scaling width defining the left margin. It's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if unspecified, the saved or default width is used. .Pp The .Cm head -argument is used as a leading term, flushed to the left margin. This is -useful for bulleted paragraphs and so on. +argument is used as a leading term, flushed to the left margin. +This is useful for bulleted paragraphs and so on. .Pp See also .Sx \&HP , @@ -648,9 +440,10 @@ See also and .Sx \&RI . .Ss \&LP -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. +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 reset to the default. .Pp See also .Sx \&HP , @@ -659,6 +452,20 @@ See also .Sx \&PP , and .Sx \&TP . +.Ss \&OP +Optional command-line argument. +This is a non-standard GNU extension, included only for compatibility. +It has the following syntax: +.Bd -filled -offset indent +.Pf \. Sx \&OP +.Cm key Op Cm value +.Ed +.Pp +The +.Cm key +is usually a command-line flag and +.Cm value +its argument. .Ss \&P Synonym for .Sx \&LP . @@ -670,6 +477,36 @@ See also .Sx \&PP , and .Sx \&TP . +.Ss \&PD +Specify the vertical space to be inserted before each new paragraph. +.br +The syntax is as follows: +.Bd -filled -offset indent +.Pf \. Sx \&PD +.Op Cm height +.Ed +.Pp +The +.Cm height +argument is a +.Xr roff 7 +scaling width. +It defaults to +.Cm 1v . +If the unit is omitted, +.Cm v +is assumed. +.Pp +This macro affects the spacing before any subsequent instances of +.Sx \&HP , +.Sx \&IP , +.Sx \&LP , +.Sx \&P , +.Sx \&PP , +.Sx \&SH , +.Sx \&SS , +and +.Sx \&TP . .Ss \&PP Synonym for .Sx \&LP . @@ -685,12 +522,9 @@ and Text is rendered in roman (the default font). .Pp See also -.Sx \&I , -.Sx \&B , -.Sx \&b , -.Sx \&i , +.Sx \&I and -.Sx \&r . +.Sx \&B . .Ss \&RB Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and bold face. Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output. @@ -709,6 +543,9 @@ and .Ss \&RE Explicitly close out the scope of a prior .Sx \&RS . +The default left margin is restored to the state of the original +.Sx \&RS +invocation. .Ss \&RI Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and italics. Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output. @@ -725,65 +562,74 @@ See also and .Sx \&IR . .Ss \&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 -.Sx \&PP . +Temporarily reset the default left margin. This has the following syntax: .Bd -filled -offset indent -.Pf \. Sx \&Rs +.Pf \. Sx \&RS .Op Cm width .Ed .Pp The .Cm width -argument must conform to -.Sx Scaling Widths . +argument is a +.Xr roff 7 +scaling width. If not specified, the saved or default width is used. +.Pp +See also +.Sx \&RE . .Ss \&SB Text is rendered in small size (one point smaller than the default font) bold face. .Ss \&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. +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 reset to the default. .Ss \&SM Text is rendered in small size (one point smaller than the default font). .Ss \&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. +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 reset to the default. .Ss \&TH Sets the title of the manual page with the following syntax: .Bd -filled -offset indent .Pf \. Sx \&TH -.Cm title section -.Op Cm date Op Cm source Op Cm volume +.Ar title section date +.Op Ar source Op Ar volume .Ed .Pp -At least the upper-case document title -.Cm title -and numeric manual section -.Cm section -arguments must be provided. The -.Cm date -argument should be formatted as described in -.Sx Dates : -if it does not conform, the current date is used instead. The -.Cm source -string specifies the organisation providing the utility. The -.Cm volume +Conventionally, the document +.Ar title +is given in all caps. +The recommended +.Ar date +format is +.Sy YYYY-MM-DD +as specified in the ISO-8601 standard; +if the argument does not conform, it is printed verbatim. +If the +.Ar date +is empty or not specified, the current date is used. +The optional +.Ar source +string specifies the organisation providing the utility. +The +.Ar volume string replaces the default rendered volume, which is dictated by the manual section. .Pp Examples: .Pp -.D1 \&.TH CVS 5 "1992-02-12" GNU +.Dl \&.TH CVS 5 "1992-02-12" GNU .Ss \&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. +buffer to the indentation width. +Subsequent output lines are indented. The syntax is as follows: .Bd -filled -offset indent .Pf \. Sx \&TP @@ -792,8 +638,9 @@ The syntax is as follows: .Pp The .Cm width -argument must conform to -.Sx Scaling Widths . +argument is a +.Xr roff 7 +scaling width. If specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if unspecified, the saved or default width is used. .Pp @@ -804,49 +651,60 @@ See also .Sx \&P , and .Sx \&PP . -.\" . -.\" . -.\" .Ss \&PD -.\" Has no effect. Included for compatibility. -.\" . -.\" . -.\" .Ss \&UC -.\" Has no effect. Included for compatibility. +.Ss \&UC +Sets the volume for the footer for compatibility with man pages from +.Bx +releases. +The optional first argument specifies which release it is from. +.Ss \&UE +End a uniform resource identifier block. +This is a non-standard GNU extension, included only for compatibility. +See +.Sx \&UE . +.Ss \&UR +Begin a uniform resource identifier block. +This is a non-standard GNU extension, included only for compatibility. +It has the following syntax: +.Bd -literal -offset indent +.Pf \. Sx \&UR Ar uri +link description to be shown +.Pf \. Sx UE +.Ed .Ss \&br -Breaks the current line. Consecutive invocations have no further effect. +Breaks the current line. +Consecutive invocations have no further effect. .Pp See also .Sx \&sp . .Ss \&fi End literal mode begun by .Sx \&nf . -.Ss \&i -Italicise arguments. Synonym for -.Sx \&I . +.Ss \&ft +Change the current font mode. +See +.Sx Text Decoration +for a listing of available font modes. +.Ss \&in +Indent relative to the current indentation: .Pp -See also -.Sx \&B , -.Sx \&I , -.Sx \&R . -.Sx \&b , -and -.Sx \&r . +.D1 Pf \. Sx \&in Op Cm width +.Pp +If +.Cm width +is signed, the new offset is relative. +Otherwise, it is absolute. +This value is reset upon the next paragraph, section, or sub-section. .Ss \&na Don't align to the right margin. .Ss \&nf Begin literal mode: all subsequent free-form lines have their end of -line boundaries preserved. May be ended by +line boundaries preserved. +May be ended by .Sx \&fi . -.Ss \&r -Fonts and styles (bold face, italics) reset to roman (default font). -.Pp -See also -.Sx \&B , -.Sx \&I , -.Sx \&R , -.Sx \&b , -and -.Sx \&i . +Literal mode is implicitly ended by +.Sx \&SH +or +.Sx \&SS . .Ss \&sp Insert vertical spaces into output with the following syntax: .Bd -filled -offset indent @@ -854,31 +712,160 @@ Insert vertical spaces into output with the following .Op Cm height .Ed .Pp -Insert +The .Cm height -spaces, which must conform to -.Sx Scaling Widths . +argument is a scaling width as described in +.Xr roff 7 . If 0, this is equivalent to the .Sx \&br -macro. Defaults to 1, if unspecified. +macro. +Defaults to 1, if unspecified. .Pp See also .Sx \&br . -.\" .Ss \&Sp -.\" A synonym for -.\" .Sx \&sp -.\" .Cm 0.5v . -.\" . -.\" .Ss \&Vb -.\" A synonym for -.\" .Sx \&nf . -.\" Accepts an argument (the height of the formatted space) which is -.\" disregarded. -.\" . -.\" .Ss \&Ve -.\" A synonym for -.\" .Sx \&fi . -.\" . +.Sh MACRO SYNTAX +The +.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 +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, which must be text, is used instead. +Thus: +.Bd -literal -offset indent +\&.I +foo +.Ed +.Pp +is equivalent to +.Sq \&.I foo . +If next-line macros are invoked consecutively, only the last is used. +If a next-line macro is followed by a non-next-line macro, an error is +raised, except for +.Sx \&br , +.Sx \&sp , +and +.Sx \&na . +.Pp +The syntax is as follows: +.Bd -literal -offset indent +\&.YO \(lBbody...\(rB +\(lBbody...\(rB +.Ed +.Bl -column "MacroX" "ArgumentsX" "ScopeXXXXX" "CompatX" -offset indent +.It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments Ta Em Scope Ta Em Notes +.It Sx \&AT Ta <=1 Ta current Ta \& +.It Sx \&B Ta n Ta next-line Ta \& +.It Sx \&BI Ta n Ta current Ta \& +.It Sx \&BR Ta n Ta current Ta \& +.It Sx \&DT Ta 0 Ta current Ta \& +.It Sx \&EE Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat +.It Sx \&EX Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat +.It Sx \&I Ta n Ta next-line Ta \& +.It Sx \&IB Ta n Ta current Ta \& +.It Sx \&IR Ta n Ta current Ta \& +.It Sx \&OP Ta 0, 1 Ta current Ta compat +.It Sx \&PD Ta 1 Ta current Ta \& +.It Sx \&R Ta n Ta next-line Ta \& +.It Sx \&RB Ta n Ta current Ta \& +.It Sx \&RI Ta n Ta current Ta \& +.It Sx \&SB Ta n Ta next-line Ta \& +.It Sx \&SM Ta n Ta next-line Ta \& +.It Sx \&TH Ta >1, <6 Ta current Ta \& +.It Sx \&UC Ta <=1 Ta current Ta \& +.It Sx \&br Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat +.It Sx \&fi Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat +.It Sx \&ft Ta 1 Ta current Ta compat +.It Sx \&in Ta 1 Ta current Ta compat +.It Sx \&na Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat +.It Sx \&nf Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat +.It Sx \&sp Ta 1 Ta current Ta compat +.El +.Pp +Macros marked as +.Qq compat +are included for compatibility with the significant corpus of existing +manuals that mix dialects of roff. +These macros should not be used for portable +.Nm +manuals. +.Ss Block Macros +Block macros comprise a head and body. +As with in-line macros, the head is scoped to the current line and, in +one circumstance, the next line (the next-line stipulations as in +.Sx Line Macros +apply here as well). +.Pp +The syntax is as follows: +.Bd -literal -offset indent +\&.YO \(lBhead...\(rB +\(lBhead...\(rB +\(lBbody...\(rB +.Ed +.Pp +The closure of body scope may be to the section, where a macro is closed +by +.Sx \&SH ; +sub-section, closed by a section or +.Sx \&SS ; +part, closed by a section, sub-section, or +.Sx \&RE ; +or paragraph, closed by a section, sub-section, part, +.Sx \&HP , +.Sx \&IP , +.Sx \&LP , +.Sx \&P , +.Sx \&PP , +or +.Sx \&TP . +No closure refers to an explicit block closing macro. +.Pp +As a rule, block macros may not be nested; thus, calling a block macro +while another block macro scope is open, and the open scope is not +implicitly closed, is syntactically incorrect. +.Bl -column "MacroX" "ArgumentsX" "Head ScopeX" "sub-sectionX" "compatX" -offset indent +.It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments Ta Em Head Scope Ta Em Body Scope Ta Em Notes +.It Sx \&HP Ta <2 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \& +.It Sx \&IP Ta <3 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \& +.It Sx \&LP Ta 0 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \& +.It Sx \&P Ta 0 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \& +.It Sx \&PP Ta 0 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \& +.It Sx \&RE Ta 0 Ta current Ta none Ta compat +.It Sx \&RS Ta 1 Ta current Ta part Ta compat +.It Sx \&SH Ta >0 Ta next-line Ta section Ta \& +.It Sx \&SS Ta >0 Ta next-line Ta sub-section Ta \& +.It Sx \&TP Ta n Ta next-line Ta paragraph Ta \& +.It Sx \&UE Ta 0 Ta current Ta none Ta compat +.It Sx \&UR Ta 1 Ta current Ta part Ta compat +.El +.Pp +Macros marked +.Qq compat +are as mentioned in +.Sx Line Macros . +.Pp +If a block macro is next-line scoped, it may only be followed by in-line +macros for decorating text. +.Ss Font handling +In +.Nm +documents, both +.Sx Physical markup +macros and +.Xr roff 7 +.Ql \ef +font escape sequences can be used to choose fonts. +In text lines, the effect of manual font selection by escape sequences +only lasts until the next macro invocation; in macro lines, it only lasts +until the end of the macro scope. +Note that macros like +.Sx \&BR +open and close a font scope for each argument. .Sh COMPATIBILITY This section documents areas of questionable portability between implementations of the @@ -887,31 +874,103 @@ language. .Pp .Bl -dash -compact .It +Do not depend on +.Sx \&SH +or +.Sx \&SS +to close out a literal context opened with +.Sx \&nf . +This behaviour may not be portable. +.It In quoted literals, GNU troff allowed pair-wise double-quotes to produce -a standalone double-quote in formatted output. It is not known whether -this behaviour is exhibited by other formatters. +a standalone double-quote in formatted output. +It is not known whether this behaviour is exhibited by other formatters. .It -The -.Sx \&sp -macro does not accept negative values in mandoc. In GNU troff, this -would result in strange behaviour. -.It -The +troff suppresses a newline before .Sq \(aq -macro control character, in GNU troff (and prior troffs) suppresses a -newline before macro output; in mandoc, it is an alias for the standard +macro output; in mandoc, it is an alias for the standard .Sq \&. control character. +.It +The +.Sq \eh +.Pq horizontal position , +.Sq \ev +.Pq vertical position , +.Sq \em +.Pq text colour , +.Sq \eM +.Pq text filling colour , +.Sq \ez +.Pq zero-length character , +.Sq \ew +.Pq string length , +.Sq \ek +.Pq horizontal position marker , +.Sq \eo +.Pq text overstrike , +and +.Sq \es +.Pq text size +escape sequences are all discarded in mandoc. +.It +The +.Sq \ef +scaling unit is accepted by mandoc, but rendered as the default unit. +.It +The +.Sx \&sp +macro does not accept negative values in mandoc. +In GNU troff, this would result in strange behaviour. +.It +In page header lines, GNU troff versions up to and including 1.21 +only print +.Ar volume +names explicitly specified in the +.Sx \&TH +macro; mandoc and newer groff print the default volume name +corresponding to the +.Ar section +number when no +.Ar volume +is given, like in +.Xr mdoc 7 . .El +.Pp +The +.Sx OP +macro is part of the extended +.Nm +macro set, and may not be portable to non-GNU troff implementations. .Sh SEE ALSO +.Xr man 1 , .Xr mandoc 1 , -.Xr mandoc_char 7 -.Sh AUTHORS +.Xr eqn 7 , +.Xr mandoc_char 7 , +.Xr mdoc 7 , +.Xr roff 7 , +.Xr tbl 7 +.Sh HISTORY The .Nm +language first appeared as a macro package for the roff typesetting +system in +.At v7 . +It was later rewritten by James Clark as a macro package for groff. +Eric S. Raymond wrote the extended +.Nm +macros for groff in 2007. +The stand-alone implementation that is part of the +.Xr mandoc 1 +utility written by Kristaps Dzonsons appeared in +.Ox 4.6 . +.Sh AUTHORS +This +.Nm reference was written by -.An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq kristaps@bsd.lv . +.An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq Mt kristaps@bsd.lv . .Sh CAVEATS -Do not use this language. Use +Do not use this language. +Use .Xr mdoc 7 , instead.