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version 1.97, 2011/01/25 00:40:14

Line 1

.\" $Id$

.\"

.\" Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any

.\" purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above

Line 17

.Dd $Mdocdate$

.Dt MAN 7

.Os

.Sh NAME

.Nm man

.Nd man language reference

.Sh DESCRIPTION

The

.Nm man

language was historically used to format

.Ux

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

manuals.

usage.

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

.Pp

.Bf -emphasis

Do not use

Line 41 to write your manuals.

Line 36 to write your manuals.

Use the

.Xr mdoc 7

language, instead.

.Pp

.Nm

document follows simple rules: lines beginning with the control

character

.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:

.Bd -literal -offset indent

\&.SH Macro lines change control state.

Other 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

space character, and the tab character.

.Ux

line termination.

.Pp

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

vertical space.

.Pp

If the first character of a line is a space, that line is printed

with a leading newline.

.Ss Comments

Text following a

.Sq \e\*" ,

.Sq \e\*q ,

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,

line.

.Sq \&.\e" ,

A macro line with only a control character and comment escape,

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

.Sq \&.\e\*q ,

optionally whitespace are stripped from input.

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

Line 88 for two-character sequences; an open-bracket

Line 79 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

or a single one-character sequence.

See

.Xr mandoc_char 7

for a complete list. Examples include

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

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

respectively) may be used instead.

specified in free-form text, until the next macro invocation; if

A text decoration is only valid, if specified in free-form text, until

specified within a macro, it's only valid until the macro closes scope.

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

The

.Sq \es

escape, whose syntax is one of

.Sq \es+-n

for one-digit numerals;

.Sq \es(+-nn

.Sq \es+-(nn

for two-digit numerals; and

.Sq \es[+-N] ,

.Sq \es+-[N] ,

.Sq \es'+-N' ,

.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.

attribute is forgotten when entering or exiting a macro block.

.Ss Whitespace

Unless specifically escaped, consecutive blocks of whitespace are pruned

Whitespace consists of the space character.

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

In free-form lines, whitespace is preserved within a line; unescaped

utility such as

trailing spaces are stripped from input (unless in a literal context).

.Xr mandoc 1 .

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

macro that requires a date. The form for this date is the ISO-8601

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

Negative numbers, while accepted, are truncated to zero.

scaling units are accepted:

The following scaling units are accepted:

.Pp

.Bl -tag -width Ds -offset indent -compact

.It c

Line 211 Using anything other than

Line 177 Using anything other than

.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

Line 224 this differs from

Line 189 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

document must contain contains at least the

document must contain the

.Sx \&TH

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

macro describing the document's section and title.

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

It may occur anywhere in the document, although conventionally it

first macro.

appears as the first macro.

.Pp

Beyond

.Sx \&TH ,

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

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

are generally structured as follows:

Documents are generally structured as follows:

.Bd -literal -offset indent

\&.TH FOO 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

\&.

\&.\e\*q For sections 2 & 3 only.

\&.\e\*q Not used in OpenBSD.

\&.SH SYNOPSIS

\efBfoo\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 Not used in OpenBSD.

\&.\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 For sections 2, 3, & 9 only.

\&.\e\*q .SH ENVIRONMENT

\&.\e\*q For sections 1, 6, 7, & 8 only.

\&.\e\*q .SH FILES

\&.\e\*q .SH EXIT STATUS

\&.\e\*q For sections 1, 6, & 8 only.

\&.\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 For sections 1, 4, 6, 7, & 8 only.

\&.\e\*q .SH ERRORS

\&.\e\*q For sections 2, 3, & 9 only.

\&.\e\*q .SH SEE ALSO

\&.\e\*q .BR foo ( 1 )

\&.\e\*q .SH STANDARDS

Line 275 The \efBfoo\efR utility processes files...

Line 248 The \efBfoo\efR utility processes files...

\&.\e\*q .SH CAVEATS

\&.\e\*q .SH BUGS

\&.\e\*q .SH SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS

\&.\e\*q Not used in OpenBSD.

.Ed

.Pp

The sections in a

.Nm

document are conventionally ordered as they appear above. Sections

document are conventionally ordered as they appear above.

should be composed as follows:

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

The name(s) and a short description of the documented material.

syntax for this is generally as follows:

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

assumed to be a function in a section 2 or 3 manual.

the C library, this may be as follows:

For functions in the C library, this may be as follows:

.Pp

.D1 Standard C Library (libc, -lc)

.It Em SYNOPSIS

Line 318 This expands upon the brief, one-line description in

Line 292 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

Implementation-specific notes should be kept here.

implementing standard functions that may have side effects or notable

This is useful when implementing standard functions that may have side

algorithmic implications.

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.

.It Em RETURN VALUES

This section is the dual of

This section documents the return values of functions in sections 2, 3, and 9.

.Em EXIT STATUS ,

which is used for commands. It 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

Documents files used.

short description of how the file is used (created, modified, etc.).

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,

Example usages.

well-tested invocations. Make doubly sure that your examples work

This often contains snippets of well-formed,

properly!

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

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

References other manuals with related topics.

for most manuals.

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

Line 376 References any standards implemented or used, such as

Line 340 References any standards implemented or used, such as

If not adhering to any standards, the

.Em HISTORY

section should be used.

.It Em HISTORY

The history of any manual without a

A brief history of the subject, including where support first appeared.

.Em STANDARDS

section should be described in this section.

.It Em AUTHORS

Credits to authors, if applicable, should appear in this section.

Credits to the person or persons who wrote the code and/or documentation.

Authors should generally be noted by both name and an e-mail address.

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

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

control character ,

control character,

.Sq \&. ,

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

at the beginning of the line.

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

The

following are equivalent:

.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

To include space characters in macro arguments, arguments may be quoted;

see the

.Sq MACRO SYNTAX

section in the

.Xr roff 7

manual for details.

.Pp

The

.Nm

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

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

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

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

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

situations, the subsequent line).

subsequent lines until closed by another block macro.

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

consisting of zero or more arguments.

line and the line arguments are empty, the next line, which must be

If a macro is scoped to the next line and the line arguments are empty,

text, is used instead. Thus:

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

raised, except for

.Sx \&br ,

.Sx \&sp ,

.Sx \&Sp ,

and

.Sx \&na .

.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 \&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 \&

Line 458 The syntax is as follows:

Line 421 The syntax is as follows:

.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 \&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 \&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 \&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

.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

manuals that mix dialects of roff.

portable manuals.

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,

Block macros comprise a head and body.

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

As with in-line macros, the head is scoped to the current line and, in

next line (the next-line stipulations as in

one circumstance, the next line (the next-line stipulations as in

.Sx Line Macros

apply here as well).

.Pp

Line 499 The syntax is as follows:

Line 457 The syntax is as follows:

\(lBhead...\(rB

\(lBbody...\(rB

.Ed

.Pp

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

Line 517 or paragraph, closed by a section, sub-section, part,

Line 474 or paragraph, closed by a section, sub-section, part,

.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 \&

Line 533 No closure refers to an explicit block closing macro.

Line 493 No closure refers to an explicit block closing macro.

.It Sx \&TP Ta n Ta next-line Ta paragraph Ta \&

.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

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 \&I

.Sx \&R ,

.Sx \&b ,

.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

Line 573 to render in bold face, while

Line 529 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

Line 592 See also

Line 549 See also

.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.

Line 609 See also

Line 564 See also

.Sx \&RI ,

and

.Sx \&IR .

.Ss \&DT

Has no effect. Included for compatibility.

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:

Line 637 See also

Line 589 See also

.Sx \&PP ,

and

.Sx \&TP .

.Ss \&I

Text is rendered in italics.

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&B ,

.Sx \&B

.Sx \&R ,

.Sx \&b ,

.Sx \&i ,

and

.Sx \&r .

.Sx \&R .

.Ss \&IB

Text is rendered alternately in italics and bold face. Whitespace

Text is rendered alternately in italics and bold face.

between arguments is omitted in output.

Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.

.Pp

See

.Sx \&BI

Line 666 See also

Line 611 See also

.Sx \&RI ,

and

.Sx \&IR .

.Ss \&IP

Begin an indented paragraph with the following syntax:

.Bd -filled -offset indent

Line 678 Begin an indented paragraph with the following syntax:

Line 621 Begin an indented paragraph with the following syntax:

The

.Cm width

argument defines the width of the left margin and is defined by

.Sx Scaling Widths ,

.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

argument is used as a leading term, flushed to the left margin.

useful for bulleted paragraphs and so on.

This is useful for bulleted paragraphs and so on.

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&HP ,

Line 694 See also

Line 637 See also

.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.

Line 711 See also

Line 652 See also

.Sx \&RB ,

and

.Sx \&RI .

.Ss \&LP

Begin an undecorated paragraph. The scope of a paragraph is closed by a

Begin an undecorated paragraph.

subsequent paragraph, sub-section, section, or end of file. The saved

The scope of a paragraph is closed by a subsequent paragraph,

paragraph left-margin width is re-set to the default.

sub-section, section, or end of file.

The saved paragraph left-margin width is reset to the default.

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&HP ,

Line 725 See also

Line 665 See also

.Sx \&PP ,

and

.Sx \&TP .

.Ss \&P

Synonym for

.Sx \&LP .

Line 738 See also

Line 676 See also

.Sx \&PP ,

and

.Sx \&TP .

.Ss \&PP

Synonym for

.Sx \&LP .

Line 751 See also

Line 687 See also

.Sx \&P ,

and

.Sx \&TP .

.Ss \&R

Text is rendered in roman (the default font).

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&I ,

.Sx \&I

.Sx \&B ,

.Sx \&b ,

.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.

Line 780 See also

Line 709 See also

.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.

Line 802 See also

Line 727 See also

.Sx \&RB ,

and

.Sx \&IR .

.Ss \&RS

Begin a part setting the left margin. The left margin controls the

Begin a part setting the left margin.

offset, following an initial indentation, to un-indented text such as

The left margin controls the offset, following an initial indentation,

that of

to un-indented text such as that of

.Sx \&PP .

This has the following syntax:

.Bd -filled -offset indent

Line 820 The

Line 743 The

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

Begin a section.

section or the end of file. The paragraph left-margin width is re-set

The scope of a section is only closed by another section or the end of

to the default.

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

Begin a sub-section.

subsequent sub-section, section, or end of file. The paragraph

The scope of a sub-section is closed by a subsequent sub-section,

left-margin width is re-set to the default.

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

Line 852 Sets the title of the manual page with the following s

Line 767 Sets the title of the manual page with the following s

.Op Cm date Op Cm source Op Cm volume

.Ed

.Pp

At least the upper-case document title

At least the upper-case document

.Cm title

and numeric manual section

and the manual

.Cm section

arguments must be provided. The

arguments must be provided.

The

.Cm date

argument should be formatted as described in

.Sx Dates :

.Sx Dates ,

if it does not conform, the current date is used instead. The

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

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

.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

Line 896 See also

Line 814 See also

.Sx \&P ,

and

.Sx \&PP .

.Ss \&PD

Has no effect. Included for compatibility.

.Ss \&UC

Has no effect. Included for compatibility.

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.

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 \&ft

Change the current font mode.

.Ss \&i

See

Italicise arguments. Synonym for

.Sx Text Decoration

.Sx \&I .

for a listing of available font modes.

.Ss \&in

Indent relative to the current indentation:

.Pp

See also

.D1 Pf \. Sx \&in Op Cm width

.Sx \&B ,

.Pp

.Sx \&I ,

.Sx \&R .

.Cm width

.Sx \&b ,

is signed, the new offset is relative.

and

Otherwise, it is absolute.

.Sx \&r .

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 .

.Ss \&sp

Insert vertical spaces into output with the following syntax:

.Bd -filled -offset indent

Line 966 spaces, which must conform to

Line 862 spaces, which must conform to

.Sx Scaling Widths .

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 COMPATIBILITY

This section documents compatibility with other roff implementations, at

This section documents areas of questionable portability between

this time limited to

implementations of the

.Xr groff 1 .

.Nm

language.

.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

.Xr groff 1

.Sq \eh

.Sx \&i

.Pq horizontal position ,

macro will italicise all subsequent text if a line argument is not

.Sq \ev

provided. This behaviour is not implemented.

.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

In quoted literals, groff allowed pair-wise double-quotes to produce a

The

standalone double-quote in formatted output. This idiosyncratic

.Sq \ef

behaviour is no longer applicable.

scaling unit is accepted by mandoc, but rendered as the default unit.

.It

The

.Sx \&sp

macro does not accept negative numbers.

macro does not accept negative values in mandoc.

.It

In GNU troff, this would result in strange behaviour.

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

.Xr man 1 ,

.Xr mandoc 1 ,

.Xr mandoc_char 7

.Xr mandoc_char 7 ,

.Xr mdoc 7 ,

.Xr roff 7 ,

.Sh AUTHORS

.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.

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@kth.se .

.An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq kristaps@bsd.lv .

.Sh CAVEATS

Do not use this language. Use

Do not use this language.

Use

.Xr mdoc 7 ,

instead.

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