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version 1.14, 2009/06/18 10:32:00 version 1.84, 2010/08/24 13:07:01
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 .\"     $Id$  .\"     $Id$
 .\"  .\"
 .\" Copyright (c) 2009 Kristaps Dzonsons <kristaps@kth.se>  .\" Copyright (c) 2009, 2010 Kristaps Dzonsons <kristaps@bsd.lv>
 .\"  .\"
 .\" Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any  .\" Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any
 .\" purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above  .\" purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above
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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 the syntax and structure of  manuals.
 this language.  This reference document describes its syntax, structure, and usage.
 .Pp  .Pp
 .Em \&Do not  .Bf -emphasis
 use  Do not use
 .Nm  .Nm
 to write your manuals.  Use the  to write your manuals.
   .Ef
   Use the
 .Xr mdoc 7  .Xr mdoc 7
 language, instead.  language, instead.
 .\" PARAGRAPH  
 .Pp  .Pp
 An  A
 .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  space character, and the tab character.
 .Sq \  ,  
 and tabs  
 .Sq \et .  
 All manuals must have  All manuals must have
 .Ux  .Ux
 .Sq \en  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  
 The  
 .Sq \ec  
 escape is common in historical  
 .Nm  
 documents; if encountered at the end of a word, it ensures that the  
 subsequent word isn't off-set by whitespace.  
 .\" SUB-SECTION  
 .Ss Comments  .Ss Comments
 Anything following a  Text following a
 .Sq \e"  .Sq \e\*q ,
 delimiter is considered a comment (unless the  whether in a macro or free-form text line, is ignored to the end of
 .Sq \e  line.
 itself has been escaped) and is ignored to the end of line.  A macro line with only a control character and comment escape,
 Furthermore, a macro line with only a control character  .Sq \&.\e\*q ,
 .Sq \. ,  is also ignored.
 optionally followed by whitespace, is ignored.  Macro lines with only a control character and optionally whitespace are
 .\" SUB-SECTION  stripped from input.
 .Ss Special Characters  .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  .Sq \e
 followed by either an open-parenthesis  followed by either an open-parenthesis
 .Sq \&(  .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.
 .Pp  See
 Characters may alternatively be escaped by a slash-asterisk,  .Xr mandoc_char 7
 .Sq \e* ,  for a complete list.
 with the same combinations as described above.  This form is deprecated.  Examples include
 .\" SECTION  .Sq \e(em
 .Sh STRUCTURE  .Pq em-dash
 Macros are one to three three characters in length and begin with a  
 control character ,  
 .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  
 and  and
 .Sq \&.\ \ \ \&PP  .Sq \ee
 are equivalent.  .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  .Pp
 All  .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
   The
   .Sq \ef
   attribute is 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; unescaped
   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
 .Nm  .Nm
 macros follow the same structural rules:  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  .Bd -literal -offset indent
 \&.YO \(lBbody...\(rB  \&.HP 2i
 .Ed  .Ed
 .Pp  .Pp
 The  The syntax for scaled widths is
 .Dq body  .Sq Li [+-]?[0-9]*.[0-9]*[:unit:]? ,
 consists of zero or more arguments to the macro.  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  .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.
   .Ss Sentence Spacing
   When composing a manual, make sure that sentences end at the end of
   a line.
   By doing so, front-ends will be able to apply the proper amount of
   spacing after the end of sentence (unescaped) period, exclamation mark,
   or question mark followed by zero or more non-sentence closing
   delimiters
   .Po
   .Sq \&) ,
   .Sq \&] ,
   .Sq \&' ,
   .Sq \&"
   .Pc .
   .Sh MANUAL STRUCTURE
   Each
 .Nm  .Nm
 has a primitive notion of multi-line scope for the following macros:  document must contain the
 .Sq \&.TM ,  .Sx \&TH
 .Sq \&.SM ,  macro describing the document's section and title.
 .Sq \&.SB ,  It may occur anywhere in the document, although conventionally it
 .Sq \&.BI ,  appears as the first macro.
 .Sq \&.IB ,  .Pp
 .Sq \&.BR ,  Beyond
 .Sq \&.RB ,  .Sx \&TH ,
 .Sq \&.R ,  at least one macro or text node must appear in the document.
 .Sq \&.B ,  Documents are generally structured as follows:
 .Sq \&.I ,  .Bd -literal -offset indent
 .Sq \&.IR  \&.TH FOO 1 2009-10-10
 and  \&.SH NAME
 .Sq \&.RI .  \efBfoo\efR \e(en a description goes here
 When these macros are invoked without arguments, the subsequent line is  \&.\e\*q The next is for sections 2 & 3 only.
 considered a continuation of the macro.  Thus:  \&.\e\*q .SH LIBRARY
 .Bd -literal -offset indent  \&.SH SYNOPSIS
 \&.RI  \efBfoo\efR [\efB\e-options\efR] arguments...
 foo  \&.SH DESCRIPTION
   The \efBfoo\efR utility processes files...
   \&.\e\*q .SH IMPLEMENTATION NOTES
   \&.\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 The next is for sections 1 & 8 only.
   \&.\e\*q .SH EXIT STATUS
   \&.\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
 .Ed  .Ed
 .Pp  .Pp
 is equivalent to  The sections in a
 .Sq \&.RI foo .  .Nm
 If two consecutive lines exhibit the latter behaviour,  document are conventionally ordered as they appear above.
 an error is raised.  Thus, the following is not acceptable:  Sections should be composed as follows:
 .Bd -literal -offset indent  .Bl -ohang -offset indent
 \&.RI  .It Em NAME
 \&.I  The name(s) and a short description of the documented material.
 Hello, world.  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:
   .Pp
   .D1 Standard C Library (libc, -lc)
   .It Em SYNOPSIS
   Documents the utility invocation syntax, function call syntax, or device
   configuration.
   .Pp
   For the first, utilities (sections 1, 6, and 8), this is
   generally structured as follows:
   .Pp
   .D1 \efBname\efR [-\efBab\efR] [-\efBc\efR\efIarg\efR] \efBpath\efR...
   .Pp
   For the second, function calls (sections 2, 3, 9):
   .Pp
   .D1 \&.B char *name(char *\efIarg\efR);
   .Pp
   And for the third, configurations (section 4):
   .Pp
   .D1 \&.B name* at cardbus ? function ?
   .Pp
   Manuals not in these sections generally don't need a
   .Em SYNOPSIS .
   .It Em DESCRIPTION
   This expands upon the brief, one-line description in
   .Em NAME .
   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 RETURN VALUES
   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 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 sure that examples work properly!
   .It Em DIAGNOSTICS
   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
   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.
   .Pp
   .D1 \&.BR bar \&( 1 \&),
   .Pp
   Cross-references should conventionally be ordered
   first by section, then alphabetically.
   .It Em STANDARDS
   References any standards implemented or used, such as
   .Pp
   .D1 IEEE Std 1003.2 (\e(lqPOSIX.2\e(rq)
   .Pp
   If not adhering to any standards, the
   .Em HISTORY
   section should be used.
   .It Em HISTORY
   A brief history of the subject, including where support first appeared.
   .It Em AUTHORS
   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
   Common misuses and misunderstandings should be explained
   in this section.
   .It Em BUGS
   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 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  .Ed
 .Pp  .Pp
 The  The
 .Sq \&.TP  
 macro is similar, but does not need an empty argument line to trigger  
 the behaviour.  
 .\" PARAGRAPH  
 .Sh MACROS  
 This section contains a complete list of all  
 .Nm  .Nm
 macros and corresponding number of arguments.  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  .Pp
 .Bl -column "MacroX" "Arguments" -compact -offset indent  is equivalent to
 .It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments  .Sq \&.I foo .
 .It \&.TH    Ta    >1, <6  If next-line macros are invoked consecutively, only the last is used.
 .It \&.SH    Ta    >0  If a next-line macro is followed by a non-next-line macro, an error is
 .It \&.SS    Ta    >0  raised, except for
 .It \&.TP    Ta    n  .Sx \&br ,
 .It \&.LP    Ta    0  .Sx \&sp ,
 .It \&.PP    Ta    0  and
 .It \&.P     Ta    0  .Sx \&na .
 .It \&.IP    Ta    <3  .Pp
 .It \&.HP    Ta    <2  The syntax is as follows:
 .It \&.SM    Ta    n  .Bd -literal -offset indent
 .It \&.SB    Ta    n  \&.YO \(lBbody...\(rB
 .It \&.BI    Ta    n  \(lBbody...\(rB
 .It \&.IB    Ta    n  .Ed
 .It \&.BR    Ta    n  .Pp
 .It \&.RB    Ta    n  .Bl -column -compact -offset indent "MacroX" "ArgumentsX" "ScopeXXXXX" "CompatX"
 .It \&.R     Ta    n  .It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments Ta Em Scope     Ta Em Notes
 .It \&.B     Ta    n  .It Sx \&AT  Ta    <=1       Ta    current   Ta    \&
 .It \&.I     Ta    n  .It Sx \&B   Ta    n         Ta    next-line Ta    \&
 .It \&.IR    Ta    n  .It Sx \&BI  Ta    n         Ta    current   Ta    \&
 .It \&.RI    Ta    n  .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    <=1       Ta    current   Ta    \&
   .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 \&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 \&r   Ta    0         Ta    current   Ta    compat
   .It Sx \&sp  Ta    1         Ta    current   Ta    compat
   .\" .It Sx \&Sp  Ta    <1        Ta    current   Ta    compat
   .\" .It Sx \&Vb  Ta    <1        Ta    current   Ta    compat
   .\" .It Sx \&Ve  Ta    0         Ta    current   Ta    compat
 .El  .El
 .Pp  .Pp
 Although not historically part of the  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  .Nm
 system, the following macros are also supported:  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  .Pp
 .Bl -column "MacroX" "Arguments" -compact -offset indent  The syntax is as follows:
 .It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments  .Bd -literal -offset indent
 .It \&.br    Ta    0  \&.YO \(lBhead...\(rB
 .It \&.i     Ta    n  \(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    \&
 .El  .El
 .Pp  .Pp
 These follow the same calling conventions as the above  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
   This section is a canonical reference to all macros, arranged
   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 ,
   and
   .Sx \&r .
   .Ss \&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.
   .Pp
   Examples:
   .Pp
   .D1 \&.BI bold italic bold italic
   .Pp
   The output of this example will be emboldened
   .Dq bold
   and italicised
   .Dq italic ,
   with spaces stripped between arguments.
   .Pp
   See also
   .Sx \&IB ,
   .Sx \&BR ,
   .Sx \&RB ,
   .Sx \&RI ,
   and
   .Sx \&IR .
   .Ss \&BR
   Text is rendered alternately in bold face and roman (the default font).
   Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
   .Pp
   See
   .Sx \&BI
   for an equivalent example.
   .Pp
   See also
   .Sx \&BI ,
   .Sx \&IB ,
   .Sx \&RB ,
   .Sx \&RI ,
   and
   .Sx \&IR .
   .Ss \&DT
   Has no effect.
   Included for compatibility.
   .Ss \&HP
   Begin a paragraph whose initial output line is left-justified, but
   subsequent output lines are indented, with the following syntax:
   .Bd -filled -offset indent
   .Pf \. Sx \&HP
   .Op Cm width
   .Ed
   .Pp
   The
   .Cm width
   argument must conform to
   .Sx Scaling Widths .
   If specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if unspecified, the
   saved or default width is used.
   .Pp
   See also
   .Sx \&IP ,
   .Sx \&LP ,
   .Sx \&P ,
   .Sx \&PP ,
   and
   .Sx \&TP .
   .Ss \&I
   Text is rendered in italics.
   .Pp
   See also
   .Sx \&B ,
   .Sx \&R ,
   .Sx \&b ,
   .Sx \&i ,
   and
   .Sx \&r .
   .Ss \&IB
   Text is rendered alternately in italics and bold face.
   Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
   .Pp
   See
   .Sx \&BI
   for an equivalent example.
   .Pp
   See also
   .Sx \&BI ,
   .Sx \&BR ,
   .Sx \&RB ,
   .Sx \&RI ,
   and
   .Sx \&IR .
   .Ss \&IP
   Begin an indented paragraph with the following syntax:
   .Bd -filled -offset indent
   .Pf \. Sx \&IP
   .Op Cm head Op Cm width
   .Ed
   .Pp
   The
   .Cm width
   argument defines the width of the left margin and is defined by
   .Sx Scaling Widths .
   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.
   .Pp
   See also
   .Sx \&HP ,
   .Sx \&LP ,
   .Sx \&P ,
   .Sx \&PP ,
   and
   .Sx \&TP .
   .Ss \&IR
   Text is rendered alternately in italics and roman (the default font).
   Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
   .Pp
   See
   .Sx \&BI
   for an equivalent example.
   .Pp
   See also
   .Sx \&BI ,
   .Sx \&IB ,
   .Sx \&BR ,
   .Sx \&RB ,
   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 reset to the default.
   .Pp
   See also
   .Sx \&HP ,
   .Sx \&IP ,
   .Sx \&P ,
   .Sx \&PP ,
   and
   .Sx \&TP .
   .Ss \&P
   Synonym for
   .Sx \&LP .
   .Pp
   See also
   .Sx \&HP ,
   .Sx \&IP ,
   .Sx \&LP ,
   .Sx \&PP ,
   and
   .Sx \&TP .
   .Ss \&PP
   Synonym for
   .Sx \&LP .
   .Pp
   See also
   .Sx \&HP ,
   .Sx \&IP ,
   .Sx \&LP ,
   .Sx \&P ,
   and
   .Sx \&TP .
   .Ss \&R
   Text is rendered in roman (the default font).
   .Pp
   See also
   .Sx \&I ,
   .Sx \&B ,
   .Sx \&b ,
   .Sx \&i ,
   and
   .Sx \&r .
   .Ss \&RB
   Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and bold face.
   Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
   .Pp
   See
   .Sx \&BI
   for an equivalent example.
   .Pp
   See also
   .Sx \&BI ,
   .Sx \&IB ,
   .Sx \&BR ,
   .Sx \&RI ,
   and
   .Sx \&IR .
   .Ss \&RE
   Explicitly close out the scope of a prior
   .Sx \&RS .
   .Ss \&RI
   Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and italics.
   Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
   .Pp
   See
   .Sx \&BI
   for an equivalent example.
   .Pp
   See also
   .Sx \&BI ,
   .Sx \&IB ,
   .Sx \&BR ,
   .Sx \&RB ,
   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 .
   This has the following syntax:
   .Bd -filled -offset indent
   .Pf \. Sx \&Rs
   .Op Cm width
   .Ed
   .Pp
   The
   .Cm width
   argument must conform to
   .Sx Scaling Widths .
   If not specified, the saved or default width is used.
   .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 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 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
   .Ed
   .Pp
   At least the upper-case document
   .Cm title
   and the manual
   .Cm section
   arguments must be provided.
   The
   .Cm date
   argument should be formatted as described in
   .Sx Dates ,
   but will be printed verbatim if it is not.
   If the date is not specified, the current date is used.
   The
   .Cm source
   string specifies the organisation providing the utility.
   The
   .Cm 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
   .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.
   The syntax is as follows:
   .Bd -filled -offset indent
   .Pf \. Sx \&TP
   .Op Cm width
   .Ed
   .Pp
   The
   .Cm width
   argument must conform to
   .Sx Scaling Widths .
   If specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if
   unspecified, the saved or default width is used.
   .Pp
   See also
   .Sx \&HP ,
   .Sx \&IP ,
   .Sx \&LP ,
   .Sx \&P ,
   and
   .Sx \&PP .
   .\" .
   .\" .
   .\" .Ss \&PD
   .\" Has no effect.  Included for compatibility.
   .\" .
   .\" .
   .Ss \&UC
   Sets the volume for the footer for compatibility with man pages from
   BSD releases.
   The optional first argument specifies which release it is from.
   .Ss \&br
   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 .
   .Pp
   See also
   .Sx \&B ,
   .Sx \&I ,
   .Sx \&R .
   .Sx \&b ,
   and
   .Sx \&r .
   .Ss \&in
   Indent relative to the current indentation:
   .Pp
   .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
   .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 .
   .Ss \&sp
   Insert vertical spaces into output with the following syntax:
   .Bd -filled -offset indent
   .Pf \. Sx \&sp
   .Op Cm height
   .Ed
   .Pp
   Insert
   .Cm height
   spaces, which must conform to
   .Sx Scaling Widths .
   If 0, this is equivalent to the
   .Sx \&br
   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 COMPATIBILITY
   This section documents areas of questionable portability between
   implementations of the
 .Nm  .Nm
 macros.  language.
 .\" SECTION  .Pp
   .Bl -dash -compact
   .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.
   .It
   troff suppresses a newline before
   .Sq \(aq
   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 ,
   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.
   .El
 .Sh SEE ALSO  .Sh SEE ALSO
 .Xr mandoc 1 ,  .Xr mandoc 1 ,
 .Xr mandoc_char 7  .Xr mandoc_char 7
 .\" SECTION  .Sh HISTORY
 .Sh AUTHORS  
 The  The
 .Nm  .Nm
 utility was written by  language first appeared as a macro package for the roff typesetting
 .An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq kristaps@kth.se .  system in
 .\" SECTION  .At v7 .
   It was later rewritten by James Clark as a macro package for groff.
   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 .
 .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.1.14  
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  Added in v.1.84
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