Annotation of mandoc/man.7, Revision 1.103
1.103 ! kristaps 1: .\" $Id: man.7,v 1.102 2011/07/08 09:35:06 kristaps Exp $
1.1 kristaps 2: .\"
1.78 schwarze 3: .\" Copyright (c) 2009, 2010 Kristaps Dzonsons <kristaps@bsd.lv>
1.1 kristaps 4: .\"
5: .\" Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any
1.10 kristaps 6: .\" purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above
7: .\" copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies.
8: .\"
9: .\" THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES
10: .\" WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
11: .\" MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR
12: .\" ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES
13: .\" WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN
14: .\" ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF
15: .\" OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
1.1 kristaps 16: .\"
1.103 ! kristaps 17: .Dd $Mdocdate: July 8 2011 $
1.9 kristaps 18: .Dt MAN 7
1.1 kristaps 19: .Os
20: .Sh NAME
1.32 kristaps 21: .Nm man
22: .Nd man language reference
1.1 kristaps 23: .Sh DESCRIPTION
24: The
1.32 kristaps 25: .Nm man
1.20 kristaps 26: language was historically used to format
1.32 kristaps 27: .Ux
1.68 kristaps 28: manuals.
29: This reference document describes its syntax, structure, and usage.
1.32 kristaps 30: .Pp
31: .Bf -emphasis
1.20 kristaps 32: Do not use
1.32 kristaps 33: .Nm
1.20 kristaps 34: to write your manuals.
1.32 kristaps 35: .Ef
1.19 kristaps 36: Use the
1.32 kristaps 37: .Xr mdoc 7
1.1 kristaps 38: language, instead.
1.32 kristaps 39: .Pp
1.78 schwarze 40: A
1.32 kristaps 41: .Nm
1.1 kristaps 42: document follows simple rules: lines beginning with the control
1.20 kristaps 43: character
1.32 kristaps 44: .Sq \&.
1.68 kristaps 45: are parsed for macros.
46: Other lines are interpreted within the scope of
1.1 kristaps 47: prior macros:
1.32 kristaps 48: .Bd -literal -offset indent
1.1 kristaps 49: \&.SH Macro lines change control state.
50: Other lines are interpreted within the current state.
1.32 kristaps 51: .Ed
1.103 ! kristaps 52: .Sh LANGUAGE SYNTAX
1.32 kristaps 53: .Nm
1.14 kristaps 54: documents may contain only graphable 7-bit ASCII characters, the
1.78 schwarze 55: space character, and the tab character.
1.103 ! kristaps 56: The back-space character
! 57: .Sq \e
! 58: indicates the start of an escape sequence for
! 59: .Sx Comments ,
! 60: .Sx Predefined Strings ,
! 61: and
! 62: .Sx Special Characters .
1.32 kristaps 63: .Ss Comments
1.103 ! kristaps 64: Text following an escaped double-quote
1.75 kristaps 65: .Sq \e\*q ,
1.103 ! kristaps 66: whether in a macro or text line, is ignored to the end of
1.68 kristaps 67: line.
1.103 ! kristaps 68: A macro line beginning with a control character and comment escape
! 69: .Sq \&.\e\*q
1.68 kristaps 70: is also ignored.
1.103 ! kristaps 71: Furthermore,
! 72: macro lines with only a control character and optional trailing
! 73: whitespace are
1.68 kristaps 74: stripped from input.
1.32 kristaps 75: .Ss Special Characters
1.103 ! kristaps 76: Special characters are used to encode special glyphs and are rendered
! 77: differently across output media.
! 78: They may occur in both macro and text lines.
1.21 kristaps 79: Sequences begin with the escape character
1.32 kristaps 80: .Sq \e
1.20 kristaps 81: followed by either an open-parenthesis
1.32 kristaps 82: .Sq \&(
1.1 kristaps 83: for two-character sequences; an open-bracket
1.32 kristaps 84: .Sq \&[
1.1 kristaps 85: for n-character sequences (terminated at a close-bracket
1.32 kristaps 86: .Sq \&] ) ;
1.103 ! kristaps 87: or a single one character sequence.
! 88: .Pp
! 89: Examples:
! 90: .Bl -tag -width Ds -offset indent -compact
! 91: .It \e(em
! 92: em dash
! 93: .It \ee
! 94: backslash
! 95: .El
! 96: .Pp
1.68 kristaps 97: See
1.32 kristaps 98: .Xr mandoc_char 7
1.68 kristaps 99: for a complete list.
1.32 kristaps 100: .Ss Text Decoration
1.21 kristaps 101: Terms may be text-decorated using the
1.32 kristaps 102: .Sq \ef
1.103 ! kristaps 103: escape followed by an indicator: B (bold), I (italic), R (regular), or P
1.55 kristaps 104: (revert to previous mode):
1.103 ! kristaps 105: A numerical representation 3, 2, or 1 (bold, italic, and regular,
1.68 kristaps 106: respectively) may be used instead.
107: A text decoration is only valid, if specified in free-form text, until
108: the next macro invocation; if specified within a macro, it's only valid
109: until the macro closes scope.
1.54 kristaps 110: Note that macros like
111: .Sx \&BR
112: open and close a font scope with each argument.
1.48 kristaps 113: .Pp
1.76 kristaps 114: The
1.49 kristaps 115: .Sq \ef
1.76 kristaps 116: attribute is forgotten when entering or exiting a macro block.
1.103 ! kristaps 117: .Pp
! 118: Examples:
! 119: .Bl -tag -width Ds -offset indent -compact
! 120: .It \efBbold\efR
! 121: write in bold, then switch to regular
! 122: .It \efIitalic\efP
! 123: write in italic, then return to previous
! 124: .El
! 125: .Ss Predefined Strings
! 126: Predefined strings, like
! 127: .Sx Special Characters ,
! 128: mark special output glyphs.
! 129: Predefined strings are escaped with the slash-asterisk,
! 130: .Sq \e* :
! 131: single-character
! 132: .Sq \e*X ,
! 133: two-character
! 134: .Sq \e*(XX ,
! 135: and N-character
! 136: .Sq \e*[N] .
! 137: .Pp
! 138: Examples:
! 139: .Bl -tag -width Ds -offset indent -compact
! 140: .It \e*(Am
! 141: ampersand
! 142: .It \e*(Ba
! 143: vertical bar
! 144: .El
! 145: .Pp
! 146: These strings are set using
! 147: .Xr roff 7 ,
! 148: although
! 149: .Nm
! 150: consists of several pre-set escapes listed in
! 151: .Xr mandoc_char 7 .
1.32 kristaps 152: .Ss Whitespace
1.66 kristaps 153: Whitespace consists of the space character.
1.103 ! kristaps 154: In text lines, whitespace is preserved within a line.
! 155: In macro lines, whitespace delimits arguments and is discarded.
1.64 kristaps 156: .Pp
1.103 ! kristaps 157: Unescaped trailing spaces are stripped from text line input unless in a
! 158: literal context.
! 159: In general, trailing whitespace on any input line is discouraged for
! 160: reasons of portability.
! 161: In the rare case that a blank character is needed at the end of an
! 162: input line, it may be forced by
! 163: .Sq \e\ \e& .
! 164: .Pp
! 165: If the first character of a text line is a space, that line is printed
! 166: with a leading newline.
! 167: .Ss Quotation
! 168: Macro arguments may be quoted with double-quotes; in this case,
! 169: whitespace within the quotes is retained as part of the argument.
! 170: .Pp
! 171: A quoted argument begins with a double-quote preceded by whitespace.
! 172: The next double-quote not pairwise adjacent to another double-quote
! 173: terminates the literal, regardless of surrounding whitespace.
! 174: .Pp
! 175: In unquoted arguments, space characters can alternatively be included
! 176: by preceding them with a backslash
! 177: .Pq Sq \e\~ ,
! 178: but quoting is usually better for clarity.
! 179: .Pp
! 180: Note that any quoted text, even if it would cause a macro invocation
! 181: when unquoted, is considered literal text.
! 182: .Pp
! 183: In text lines, quotes are regarded as opaque text.
1.38 kristaps 184: .Ss Scaling Widths
1.103 ! kristaps 185: Many macros support scaled widths for their arguments.
! 186: The syntax for a scaled width is
! 187: .Sq Li [+-]?[0-9]*.[0-9]*[:unit:] ,
1.38 kristaps 188: where a decimal must be preceded or proceeded by at least one digit.
1.68 kristaps 189: Negative numbers, while accepted, are truncated to zero.
1.103 ! kristaps 190: .Pp
1.68 kristaps 191: The following scaling units are accepted:
1.38 kristaps 192: .Pp
193: .Bl -tag -width Ds -offset indent -compact
194: .It c
195: centimetre
196: .It i
197: inch
198: .It P
199: pica (~1/6 inch)
200: .It p
201: point (~1/72 inch)
202: .It f
203: synonym for
204: .Sq u
205: .It v
206: default vertical span
207: .It m
208: width of rendered
209: .Sq m
210: .Pq em
211: character
212: .It n
213: width of rendered
214: .Sq n
215: .Pq en
216: character
217: .It u
218: default horizontal span
219: .It M
220: mini-em (~1/100 em)
221: .El
222: .Pp
223: Using anything other than
224: .Sq m ,
225: .Sq n ,
226: .Sq u ,
227: or
228: .Sq v
1.44 kristaps 229: is necessarily non-portable across output media.
1.103 ! kristaps 230: See
! 231: .Sx COMPATIBILITY .
1.38 kristaps 232: .Pp
233: If a scaling unit is not provided, the numerical value is interpreted
234: under the default rules of
235: .Sq v
236: for vertical spaces and
237: .Sq u
238: for horizontal ones.
1.103 ! kristaps 239: .Pp
! 240: Examples:
! 241: .Bl -tag -width Ds -offset indent -compact
! 242: .It \&.HP 2i
! 243: two-inch tagged list indentation
! 244: .Pq see Sx \&HP
! 245: .It \&.sp 2v
! 246: two vertical spaces
! 247: .Pq see Sx \&sp
! 248: .El
1.69 kristaps 249: .Ss Sentence Spacing
1.103 ! kristaps 250: Sentences should terminate at the end of an input line.
! 251: By doing this, a formatter will be able to apply the proper amount of
1.71 kristaps 252: spacing after the end of sentence (unescaped) period, exclamation mark,
253: or question mark followed by zero or more non-sentence closing
1.80 kristaps 254: delimiters
255: .Po
256: .Sq \&) ,
1.71 kristaps 257: .Sq \&] ,
258: .Sq \&' ,
1.80 kristaps 259: .Sq \&"
260: .Pc .
1.103 ! kristaps 261: .Pp
! 262: Examples:
! 263: .Bd -literal -offset indent -compact
! 264: Do not end sentences mid-line like this. Instead,
! 265: end a sentence like this.
! 266: A new sentence gets a new line.
! 267: .Ed
1.22 kristaps 268: .Sh MANUAL STRUCTURE
1.16 kristaps 269: Each
1.32 kristaps 270: .Nm
1.80 kristaps 271: document must contain the
1.39 kristaps 272: .Sx \&TH
1.68 kristaps 273: macro describing the document's section and title.
1.80 kristaps 274: It may occur anywhere in the document, although conventionally it
1.68 kristaps 275: appears as the first macro.
1.32 kristaps 276: .Pp
1.22 kristaps 277: Beyond
1.39 kristaps 278: .Sx \&TH ,
1.68 kristaps 279: at least one macro or text node must appear in the document.
1.100 kristaps 280: .Pp
281: The following is a well-formed skeleton
282: .Nm
283: file for a utility
284: .Qq progname :
1.32 kristaps 285: .Bd -literal -offset indent
1.100 kristaps 286: \&.TH PROGNAME 1 2009-10-10
1.22 kristaps 287: \&.SH NAME
1.100 kristaps 288: \efBprogname\efR \e(en a description goes here
1.33 kristaps 289: \&.\e\*q .SH LIBRARY
1.86 kristaps 290: \&.\e\*q For sections 2 & 3 only.
291: \&.\e\*q Not used in OpenBSD.
1.22 kristaps 292: \&.SH SYNOPSIS
1.100 kristaps 293: \efBprogname\efR [\efB\e-options\efR] arguments...
1.22 kristaps 294: \&.SH DESCRIPTION
1.33 kristaps 295: The \efBfoo\efR utility processes files...
296: \&.\e\*q .SH IMPLEMENTATION NOTES
1.89 schwarze 297: \&.\e\*q Not used in OpenBSD.
1.22 kristaps 298: \&.\e\*q .SH RETURN VALUES
1.86 kristaps 299: \&.\e\*q For sections 2, 3, & 9 only.
1.22 kristaps 300: \&.\e\*q .SH ENVIRONMENT
1.86 kristaps 301: \&.\e\*q For sections 1, 6, 7, & 8 only.
1.22 kristaps 302: \&.\e\*q .SH FILES
1.67 kristaps 303: \&.\e\*q .SH EXIT STATUS
1.89 schwarze 304: \&.\e\*q For sections 1, 6, & 8 only.
1.22 kristaps 305: \&.\e\*q .SH EXAMPLES
306: \&.\e\*q .SH DIAGNOSTICS
1.86 kristaps 307: \&.\e\*q For sections 1, 4, 6, 7, & 8 only.
1.22 kristaps 308: \&.\e\*q .SH ERRORS
1.86 kristaps 309: \&.\e\*q For sections 2, 3, & 9 only.
1.22 kristaps 310: \&.\e\*q .SH SEE ALSO
1.42 kristaps 311: \&.\e\*q .BR foo ( 1 )
1.22 kristaps 312: \&.\e\*q .SH STANDARDS
313: \&.\e\*q .SH HISTORY
314: \&.\e\*q .SH AUTHORS
315: \&.\e\*q .SH CAVEATS
316: \&.\e\*q .SH BUGS
1.33 kristaps 317: \&.\e\*q .SH SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
1.86 kristaps 318: \&.\e\*q Not used in OpenBSD.
1.32 kristaps 319: .Ed
1.41 kristaps 320: .Pp
321: The sections in a
322: .Nm
1.68 kristaps 323: document are conventionally ordered as they appear above.
324: Sections should be composed as follows:
1.42 kristaps 325: .Bl -ohang -offset indent
326: .It Em NAME
1.68 kristaps 327: The name(s) and a short description of the documented material.
328: The syntax for this is generally as follows:
1.41 kristaps 329: .Pp
330: .D1 \efBname\efR \e(en description
1.42 kristaps 331: .It Em LIBRARY
1.41 kristaps 332: The name of the library containing the documented material, which is
1.68 kristaps 333: assumed to be a function in a section 2 or 3 manual.
334: For functions in the C library, this may be as follows:
1.41 kristaps 335: .Pp
336: .D1 Standard C Library (libc, -lc)
1.42 kristaps 337: .It Em SYNOPSIS
1.41 kristaps 338: Documents the utility invocation syntax, function call syntax, or device
1.55 kristaps 339: configuration.
1.41 kristaps 340: .Pp
341: For the first, utilities (sections 1, 6, and 8), this is
342: generally structured as follows:
343: .Pp
344: .D1 \efBname\efR [-\efBab\efR] [-\efBc\efR\efIarg\efR] \efBpath\efR...
345: .Pp
346: For the second, function calls (sections 2, 3, 9):
347: .Pp
1.44 kristaps 348: .D1 \&.B char *name(char *\efIarg\efR);
1.41 kristaps 349: .Pp
350: And for the third, configurations (section 4):
351: .Pp
1.44 kristaps 352: .D1 \&.B name* at cardbus ? function ?
1.41 kristaps 353: .Pp
1.55 kristaps 354: Manuals not in these sections generally don't need a
1.42 kristaps 355: .Em SYNOPSIS .
356: .It Em DESCRIPTION
1.55 kristaps 357: This expands upon the brief, one-line description in
1.42 kristaps 358: .Em NAME .
359: It usually contains a break-down of the options (if documenting a
360: command).
361: .It Em IMPLEMENTATION NOTES
1.68 kristaps 362: Implementation-specific notes should be kept here.
363: This is useful when implementing standard functions that may have side
364: effects or notable algorithmic implications.
1.42 kristaps 365: .It Em RETURN VALUES
1.80 kristaps 366: This section documents the return values of functions in sections 2, 3, and 9.
1.42 kristaps 367: .It Em ENVIRONMENT
368: Documents any usages of environment variables, e.g.,
369: .Xr environ 7 .
370: .It Em FILES
1.68 kristaps 371: Documents files used.
1.78 schwarze 372: It's helpful to document both the file name and a short description of how
1.68 kristaps 373: the file is used (created, modified, etc.).
1.67 kristaps 374: .It Em EXIT STATUS
1.80 kristaps 375: This section documents the command exit status for
376: section 1, 6, and 8 utilities.
1.68 kristaps 377: Historically, this information was described in
1.67 kristaps 378: .Em DIAGNOSTICS ,
379: a practise that is now discouraged.
1.42 kristaps 380: .It Em EXAMPLES
1.68 kristaps 381: Example usages.
382: This often contains snippets of well-formed,
383: well-tested invocations.
1.80 kristaps 384: Make sure that examples work properly!
1.42 kristaps 385: .It Em DIAGNOSTICS
1.68 kristaps 386: Documents error conditions.
387: This is most useful in section 4 manuals.
1.42 kristaps 388: Historically, this section was used in place of
389: .Em EXIT STATUS
390: for manuals in sections 1, 6, and 8; however, this practise is
391: discouraged.
392: .It Em ERRORS
393: Documents error handling in sections 2, 3, and 9.
394: .It Em SEE ALSO
1.68 kristaps 395: References other manuals with related topics.
396: This section should exist for most manuals.
1.44 kristaps 397: .Pp
398: .D1 \&.BR bar \&( 1 \&),
399: .Pp
400: Cross-references should conventionally be ordered
1.42 kristaps 401: first by section, then alphabetically.
402: .It Em STANDARDS
403: References any standards implemented or used, such as
404: .Pp
405: .D1 IEEE Std 1003.2 (\e(lqPOSIX.2\e(rq)
406: .Pp
407: If not adhering to any standards, the
408: .Em HISTORY
409: section should be used.
410: .It Em HISTORY
1.81 schwarze 411: A brief history of the subject, including where support first appeared.
1.42 kristaps 412: .It Em AUTHORS
1.81 schwarze 413: Credits to the person or persons who wrote the code and/or documentation.
1.78 schwarze 414: Authors should generally be noted by both name and email address.
1.42 kristaps 415: .It Em CAVEATS
1.78 schwarze 416: Common misuses and misunderstandings should be explained
1.42 kristaps 417: in this section.
418: .It Em BUGS
1.80 kristaps 419: Known bugs, limitations, and work-arounds should be described
1.78 schwarze 420: in this section.
1.42 kristaps 421: .It Em SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
422: Documents any security precautions that operators should consider.
1.41 kristaps 423: .El
1.22 kristaps 424: .Sh MACRO SYNTAX
1.80 kristaps 425: Macros are one to three characters in length and begin with a
1.78 schwarze 426: control character,
1.32 kristaps 427: .Sq \&. ,
1.68 kristaps 428: at the beginning of the line.
429: The
1.59 kristaps 430: .Sq \(aq
1.68 kristaps 431: macro control character is also accepted.
432: An arbitrary amount of whitespace (spaces or tabs) may sit between the
433: control character and the macro name.
434: Thus, the following are equivalent:
1.39 kristaps 435: .Bd -literal -offset indent
436: \&.PP
437: \&.\ \ \ PP
438: .Ed
1.96 schwarze 439: .Pp
440: To include space characters in macro arguments, arguments may be quoted;
441: see the
442: .Sq MACRO SYNTAX
443: section in the
444: .Xr roff 7
445: manual for details.
1.32 kristaps 446: .Pp
1.1 kristaps 447: The
1.32 kristaps 448: .Nm
1.68 kristaps 449: macros are classified by scope: line scope or block scope.
450: Line macros are only scoped to the current line (and, in some
451: situations, the subsequent line).
452: Block macros are scoped to the current line and subsequent lines until
453: closed by another block macro.
1.32 kristaps 454: .Ss Line Macros
1.30 kristaps 455: Line macros are generally scoped to the current line, with the body
1.68 kristaps 456: consisting of zero or more arguments.
457: If a macro is scoped to the next line and the line arguments are empty,
458: the next line, which must be text, is used instead.
459: Thus:
1.32 kristaps 460: .Bd -literal -offset indent
1.30 kristaps 461: \&.I
1.4 kristaps 462: foo
1.32 kristaps 463: .Ed
464: .Pp
1.20 kristaps 465: is equivalent to
1.32 kristaps 466: .Sq \&.I foo .
1.56 kristaps 467: If next-line macros are invoked consecutively, only the last is used.
468: If a next-line macro is followed by a non-next-line macro, an error is
1.78 schwarze 469: raised, except for
1.56 kristaps 470: .Sx \&br ,
471: .Sx \&sp ,
1.78 schwarze 472: and
473: .Sx \&na .
1.56 kristaps 474: .Pp
475: The syntax is as follows:
1.32 kristaps 476: .Bd -literal -offset indent
1.22 kristaps 477: \&.YO \(lBbody...\(rB
478: \(lBbody...\(rB
1.32 kristaps 479: .Ed
480: .Pp
1.57 kristaps 481: .Bl -column -compact -offset indent "MacroX" "ArgumentsX" "ScopeXXXXX" "CompatX"
482: .It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments Ta Em Scope Ta Em Notes
1.73 kristaps 483: .It Sx \&AT Ta <=1 Ta current Ta \&
1.57 kristaps 484: .It Sx \&B Ta n Ta next-line Ta \&
485: .It Sx \&BI Ta n Ta current Ta \&
486: .It Sx \&BR Ta n Ta current Ta \&
487: .It Sx \&DT Ta 0 Ta current Ta \&
488: .It Sx \&I Ta n Ta next-line Ta \&
489: .It Sx \&IB Ta n Ta current Ta \&
490: .It Sx \&IR Ta n Ta current Ta \&
491: .It Sx \&R Ta n Ta next-line Ta \&
492: .It Sx \&RB Ta n Ta current Ta \&
493: .It Sx \&RI Ta n Ta current Ta \&
494: .It Sx \&SB Ta n Ta next-line Ta \&
495: .It Sx \&SM Ta n Ta next-line Ta \&
496: .It Sx \&TH Ta >1, <6 Ta current Ta \&
1.73 kristaps 497: .It Sx \&UC Ta <=1 Ta current Ta \&
1.57 kristaps 498: .It Sx \&br Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat
499: .It Sx \&fi Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat
1.91 kristaps 500: .It Sx \&ft Ta 1 Ta current Ta compat
1.79 kristaps 501: .It Sx \&in Ta 1 Ta current Ta compat
1.57 kristaps 502: .It Sx \&na Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat
503: .It Sx \&nf Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat
504: .It Sx \&sp Ta 1 Ta current Ta compat
1.32 kristaps 505: .El
506: .Pp
1.57 kristaps 507: Macros marked as
508: .Qq compat
509: are included for compatibility with the significant corpus of existing
1.68 kristaps 510: manuals that mix dialects of roff.
511: These macros should not be used for portable
1.58 kristaps 512: .Nm
513: manuals.
1.32 kristaps 514: .Ss Block Macros
1.80 kristaps 515: Block macros comprise a head and body.
516: As with in-line macros, the head is scoped to the current line and, in
1.68 kristaps 517: one circumstance, the next line (the next-line stipulations as in
1.57 kristaps 518: .Sx Line Macros
519: apply here as well).
1.56 kristaps 520: .Pp
521: The syntax is as follows:
1.32 kristaps 522: .Bd -literal -offset indent
1.22 kristaps 523: \&.YO \(lBhead...\(rB
524: \(lBhead...\(rB
525: \(lBbody...\(rB
1.32 kristaps 526: .Ed
527: .Pp
1.30 kristaps 528: The closure of body scope may be to the section, where a macro is closed
529: by
1.39 kristaps 530: .Sx \&SH ;
1.30 kristaps 531: sub-section, closed by a section or
1.39 kristaps 532: .Sx \&SS ;
1.30 kristaps 533: part, closed by a section, sub-section, or
1.39 kristaps 534: .Sx \&RE ;
1.55 kristaps 535: or paragraph, closed by a section, sub-section, part,
1.39 kristaps 536: .Sx \&HP ,
537: .Sx \&IP ,
538: .Sx \&LP ,
539: .Sx \&P ,
540: .Sx \&PP ,
1.30 kristaps 541: or
1.39 kristaps 542: .Sx \&TP .
1.30 kristaps 543: No closure refers to an explicit block closing macro.
1.32 kristaps 544: .Pp
1.58 kristaps 545: As a rule, block macros may not be nested; thus, calling a block macro
546: while another block macro scope is open, and the open scope is not
547: implicitly closed, is syntactically incorrect.
548: .Pp
1.57 kristaps 549: .Bl -column -compact -offset indent "MacroX" "ArgumentsX" "Head ScopeX" "sub-sectionX" "compatX"
550: .It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments Ta Em Head Scope Ta Em Body Scope Ta Em Notes
551: .It Sx \&HP Ta <2 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \&
552: .It Sx \&IP Ta <3 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \&
553: .It Sx \&LP Ta 0 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \&
554: .It Sx \&P Ta 0 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \&
555: .It Sx \&PP Ta 0 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \&
556: .It Sx \&RE Ta 0 Ta current Ta none Ta compat
557: .It Sx \&RS Ta 1 Ta current Ta part Ta compat
558: .It Sx \&SH Ta >0 Ta next-line Ta section Ta \&
559: .It Sx \&SS Ta >0 Ta next-line Ta sub-section Ta \&
560: .It Sx \&TP Ta n Ta next-line Ta paragraph Ta \&
1.32 kristaps 561: .El
1.57 kristaps 562: .Pp
563: Macros marked
564: .Qq compat
565: are as mentioned in
566: .Sx Line Macros .
1.32 kristaps 567: .Pp
1.22 kristaps 568: If a block macro is next-line scoped, it may only be followed by in-line
1.57 kristaps 569: macros for decorating text.
1.22 kristaps 570: .Sh REFERENCE
571: This section is a canonical reference to all macros, arranged
1.68 kristaps 572: alphabetically.
573: For the scoping of individual macros, see
1.32 kristaps 574: .Sx MACRO SYNTAX .
1.72 joerg 575: .Ss \&AT
576: Sets the volume for the footer for compatibility with man pages from
577: .Tn AT&T UNIX
578: releases.
579: The optional arguments specify which release it is from.
1.39 kristaps 580: .Ss \&B
1.22 kristaps 581: Text is rendered in bold face.
1.44 kristaps 582: .Pp
583: See also
1.92 kristaps 584: .Sx \&I
1.44 kristaps 585: and
1.92 kristaps 586: .Sx \&R .
1.39 kristaps 587: .Ss \&BI
1.68 kristaps 588: Text is rendered alternately in bold face and italic.
589: Thus,
1.32 kristaps 590: .Sq .BI this word and that
1.22 kristaps 591: causes
1.32 kristaps 592: .Sq this
1.22 kristaps 593: and
1.32 kristaps 594: .Sq and
1.55 kristaps 595: to render in bold face, while
1.32 kristaps 596: .Sq word
1.22 kristaps 597: and
1.32 kristaps 598: .Sq that
1.68 kristaps 599: render in italics.
600: Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
1.44 kristaps 601: .Pp
602: Examples:
1.46 kristaps 603: .Pp
1.93 kristaps 604: .Dl \&.BI bold italic bold italic
1.44 kristaps 605: .Pp
606: The output of this example will be emboldened
607: .Dq bold
608: and italicised
609: .Dq italic ,
610: with spaces stripped between arguments.
611: .Pp
612: See also
613: .Sx \&IB ,
614: .Sx \&BR ,
615: .Sx \&RB ,
616: .Sx \&RI ,
617: and
618: .Sx \&IR .
1.39 kristaps 619: .Ss \&BR
1.22 kristaps 620: Text is rendered alternately in bold face and roman (the default font).
621: Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
1.44 kristaps 622: .Pp
623: See
624: .Sx \&BI
625: for an equivalent example.
626: .Pp
627: See also
628: .Sx \&BI ,
629: .Sx \&IB ,
630: .Sx \&RB ,
631: .Sx \&RI ,
632: and
633: .Sx \&IR .
1.39 kristaps 634: .Ss \&DT
1.68 kristaps 635: Has no effect.
636: Included for compatibility.
1.39 kristaps 637: .Ss \&HP
1.23 kristaps 638: Begin a paragraph whose initial output line is left-justified, but
1.27 kristaps 639: subsequent output lines are indented, with the following syntax:
1.44 kristaps 640: .Bd -filled -offset indent
641: .Pf \. Sx \&HP
642: .Op Cm width
1.32 kristaps 643: .Ed
1.44 kristaps 644: .Pp
645: The
646: .Cm width
647: argument must conform to
648: .Sx Scaling Widths .
649: If specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if unspecified, the
650: saved or default width is used.
651: .Pp
652: See also
1.45 kristaps 653: .Sx \&IP ,
654: .Sx \&LP ,
655: .Sx \&P ,
656: .Sx \&PP ,
1.44 kristaps 657: and
1.45 kristaps 658: .Sx \&TP .
1.39 kristaps 659: .Ss \&I
1.22 kristaps 660: Text is rendered in italics.
1.44 kristaps 661: .Pp
662: See also
1.92 kristaps 663: .Sx \&B
1.44 kristaps 664: and
1.92 kristaps 665: .Sx \&R .
1.39 kristaps 666: .Ss \&IB
1.80 kristaps 667: Text is rendered alternately in italics and bold face.
668: Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
1.44 kristaps 669: .Pp
670: See
671: .Sx \&BI
672: for an equivalent example.
673: .Pp
674: See also
675: .Sx \&BI ,
676: .Sx \&BR ,
677: .Sx \&RB ,
678: .Sx \&RI ,
679: and
680: .Sx \&IR .
1.39 kristaps 681: .Ss \&IP
1.44 kristaps 682: Begin an indented paragraph with the following syntax:
683: .Bd -filled -offset indent
684: .Pf \. Sx \&IP
685: .Op Cm head Op Cm width
1.32 kristaps 686: .Ed
1.44 kristaps 687: .Pp
688: The
689: .Cm width
690: argument defines the width of the left margin and is defined by
1.80 kristaps 691: .Sx Scaling Widths .
1.44 kristaps 692: It's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if unspecified, the saved or
693: default width is used.
694: .Pp
695: The
696: .Cm head
1.68 kristaps 697: argument is used as a leading term, flushed to the left margin.
698: This is useful for bulleted paragraphs and so on.
1.44 kristaps 699: .Pp
700: See also
1.45 kristaps 701: .Sx \&HP ,
702: .Sx \&LP ,
703: .Sx \&P ,
704: .Sx \&PP ,
1.44 kristaps 705: and
1.45 kristaps 706: .Sx \&TP .
1.39 kristaps 707: .Ss \&IR
1.22 kristaps 708: Text is rendered alternately in italics and roman (the default font).
709: Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
1.44 kristaps 710: .Pp
711: See
712: .Sx \&BI
713: for an equivalent example.
714: .Pp
715: See also
716: .Sx \&BI ,
717: .Sx \&IB ,
718: .Sx \&BR ,
719: .Sx \&RB ,
720: and
721: .Sx \&RI .
1.39 kristaps 722: .Ss \&LP
1.68 kristaps 723: Begin an undecorated paragraph.
724: The scope of a paragraph is closed by a subsequent paragraph,
725: sub-section, section, or end of file.
1.78 schwarze 726: The saved paragraph left-margin width is reset to the default.
1.44 kristaps 727: .Pp
728: See also
1.45 kristaps 729: .Sx \&HP ,
730: .Sx \&IP ,
731: .Sx \&P ,
732: .Sx \&PP ,
1.44 kristaps 733: and
1.45 kristaps 734: .Sx \&TP .
1.39 kristaps 735: .Ss \&P
736: Synonym for
737: .Sx \&LP .
1.44 kristaps 738: .Pp
739: See also
1.45 kristaps 740: .Sx \&HP ,
741: .Sx \&IP ,
742: .Sx \&LP ,
743: .Sx \&PP ,
1.44 kristaps 744: and
1.45 kristaps 745: .Sx \&TP .
1.39 kristaps 746: .Ss \&PP
747: Synonym for
748: .Sx \&LP .
1.44 kristaps 749: .Pp
750: See also
1.45 kristaps 751: .Sx \&HP ,
752: .Sx \&IP ,
753: .Sx \&LP ,
754: .Sx \&P ,
1.44 kristaps 755: and
1.45 kristaps 756: .Sx \&TP .
1.39 kristaps 757: .Ss \&R
1.22 kristaps 758: Text is rendered in roman (the default font).
1.44 kristaps 759: .Pp
760: See also
1.92 kristaps 761: .Sx \&I
1.44 kristaps 762: and
1.92 kristaps 763: .Sx \&B .
1.39 kristaps 764: .Ss \&RB
1.22 kristaps 765: Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and bold face.
766: Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
1.44 kristaps 767: .Pp
768: See
769: .Sx \&BI
770: for an equivalent example.
771: .Pp
772: See also
773: .Sx \&BI ,
774: .Sx \&IB ,
775: .Sx \&BR ,
776: .Sx \&RI ,
777: and
778: .Sx \&IR .
1.39 kristaps 779: .Ss \&RE
1.30 kristaps 780: Explicitly close out the scope of a prior
1.39 kristaps 781: .Sx \&RS .
1.102 kristaps 782: The default left margin is restored to the state of the original
783: .Sx \&RS
784: invocation.
1.39 kristaps 785: .Ss \&RI
1.22 kristaps 786: Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and italics.
787: Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
1.44 kristaps 788: .Pp
789: See
790: .Sx \&BI
791: for an equivalent example.
792: .Pp
793: See also
794: .Sx \&BI ,
795: .Sx \&IB ,
796: .Sx \&BR ,
797: .Sx \&RB ,
798: and
799: .Sx \&IR .
1.39 kristaps 800: .Ss \&RS
1.102 kristaps 801: Temporarily reset the default left margin.
1.44 kristaps 802: This has the following syntax:
803: .Bd -filled -offset indent
1.102 kristaps 804: .Pf \. Sx \&RS
1.44 kristaps 805: .Op Cm width
1.32 kristaps 806: .Ed
1.44 kristaps 807: .Pp
808: The
809: .Cm width
810: argument must conform to
811: .Sx Scaling Widths .
1.55 kristaps 812: If not specified, the saved or default width is used.
1.102 kristaps 813: .Pp
814: See also
815: .Sx \&RE .
1.39 kristaps 816: .Ss \&SB
1.22 kristaps 817: Text is rendered in small size (one point smaller than the default font)
818: bold face.
1.39 kristaps 819: .Ss \&SH
1.68 kristaps 820: Begin a section.
821: The scope of a section is only closed by another section or the end of
822: file.
1.78 schwarze 823: The paragraph left-margin width is reset to the default.
1.39 kristaps 824: .Ss \&SM
1.22 kristaps 825: Text is rendered in small size (one point smaller than the default
826: font).
1.39 kristaps 827: .Ss \&SS
1.68 kristaps 828: Begin a sub-section.
829: The scope of a sub-section is closed by a subsequent sub-section,
830: section, or end of file.
1.78 schwarze 831: The paragraph left-margin width is reset to the default.
1.39 kristaps 832: .Ss \&TH
1.22 kristaps 833: Sets the title of the manual page with the following syntax:
1.44 kristaps 834: .Bd -filled -offset indent
835: .Pf \. Sx \&TH
1.99 schwarze 836: .Ar title section date
837: .Op Ar source Op Ar volume
1.44 kristaps 838: .Ed
1.43 kristaps 839: .Pp
1.99 schwarze 840: Conventionally, the document
841: .Ar title
842: is given in all caps.
843: The recommended
844: .Ar date
845: format is
846: .Sy YYYY-MM-DD
847: as specified in the ISO-8601 standard;
848: if the argument does not conform, it is printed verbatim.
849: If the
850: .Ar date
851: is empty or not specified, the current date is used.
852: The optional
853: .Ar source
1.68 kristaps 854: string specifies the organisation providing the utility.
855: The
1.99 schwarze 856: .Ar volume
1.43 kristaps 857: string replaces the default rendered volume, which is dictated by the
858: manual section.
859: .Pp
860: Examples:
1.46 kristaps 861: .Pp
1.93 kristaps 862: .Dl \&.TH CVS 5 "1992-02-12" GNU
1.39 kristaps 863: .Ss \&TP
1.25 kristaps 864: Begin a paragraph where the head, if exceeding the indentation width, is
1.24 kristaps 865: followed by a newline; if not, the body follows on the same line after a
1.68 kristaps 866: buffer to the indentation width.
867: Subsequent output lines are indented.
1.44 kristaps 868: The syntax is as follows:
869: .Bd -filled -offset indent
870: .Pf \. Sx \&TP
871: .Op Cm width
1.32 kristaps 872: .Ed
873: .Pp
1.44 kristaps 874: The
875: .Cm width
876: argument must conform to
877: .Sx Scaling Widths .
878: If specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if
1.27 kristaps 879: unspecified, the saved or default width is used.
1.44 kristaps 880: .Pp
881: See also
1.45 kristaps 882: .Sx \&HP ,
883: .Sx \&IP ,
884: .Sx \&LP ,
885: .Sx \&P ,
1.44 kristaps 886: and
1.45 kristaps 887: .Sx \&PP .
1.72 joerg 888: .Ss \&UC
889: Sets the volume for the footer for compatibility with man pages from
890: BSD releases.
891: The optional first argument specifies which release it is from.
1.39 kristaps 892: .Ss \&br
1.68 kristaps 893: Breaks the current line.
894: Consecutive invocations have no further effect.
1.44 kristaps 895: .Pp
896: See also
897: .Sx \&sp .
1.39 kristaps 898: .Ss \&fi
1.22 kristaps 899: End literal mode begun by
1.39 kristaps 900: .Sx \&nf .
1.91 kristaps 901: .Ss \&ft
902: Change the current font mode.
903: See
904: .Sx Text Decoration
905: for a listing of available font modes.
1.79 kristaps 906: .Ss \&in
907: Indent relative to the current indentation:
908: .Pp
909: .D1 Pf \. Sx \&in Op Cm width
910: .Pp
911: If
912: .Cm width
913: is signed, the new offset is relative.
914: Otherwise, it is absolute.
915: This value is reset upon the next paragraph, section, or sub-section.
1.39 kristaps 916: .Ss \&na
1.36 kristaps 917: Don't align to the right margin.
1.39 kristaps 918: .Ss \&nf
1.22 kristaps 919: Begin literal mode: all subsequent free-form lines have their end of
1.68 kristaps 920: line boundaries preserved.
921: May be ended by
1.39 kristaps 922: .Sx \&fi .
1.101 kristaps 923: Literal mode is implicitly ended by
924: .Sx \&SH
925: or
926: .Sx \&SS .
1.39 kristaps 927: .Ss \&sp
1.44 kristaps 928: Insert vertical spaces into output with the following syntax:
929: .Bd -filled -offset indent
930: .Pf \. Sx \&sp
931: .Op Cm height
932: .Ed
933: .Pp
1.55 kristaps 934: Insert
1.44 kristaps 935: .Cm height
936: spaces, which must conform to
937: .Sx Scaling Widths .
938: If 0, this is equivalent to the
1.39 kristaps 939: .Sx \&br
1.68 kristaps 940: macro.
941: Defaults to 1, if unspecified.
1.44 kristaps 942: .Pp
943: See also
944: .Sx \&br .
1.18 kristaps 945: .Sh COMPATIBILITY
1.58 kristaps 946: This section documents areas of questionable portability between
947: implementations of the
948: .Nm
949: language.
1.51 kristaps 950: .Pp
951: .Bl -dash -compact
1.77 kristaps 952: .It
1.58 kristaps 953: In quoted literals, GNU troff allowed pair-wise double-quotes to produce
1.68 kristaps 954: a standalone double-quote in formatted output.
955: It is not known whether this behaviour is exhibited by other formatters.
1.32 kristaps 956: .It
1.82 kristaps 957: troff suppresses a newline before
958: .Sq \(aq
959: macro output; in mandoc, it is an alias for the standard
960: .Sq \&.
961: control character.
962: .It
963: The
964: .Sq \eh
965: .Pq horizontal position ,
966: .Sq \ev
967: .Pq vertical position ,
968: .Sq \em
969: .Pq text colour ,
970: .Sq \eM
971: .Pq text filling colour ,
1.83 kristaps 972: .Sq \ez
973: .Pq zero-length character ,
1.84 kristaps 974: .Sq \ew
975: .Pq string length ,
1.85 kristaps 976: .Sq \ek
977: .Pq horizontal position marker ,
1.87 kristaps 978: .Sq \eo
979: .Pq text overstrike ,
1.82 kristaps 980: and
981: .Sq \es
982: .Pq text size
1.84 kristaps 983: escape sequences are all discarded in mandoc.
1.82 kristaps 984: .It
985: The
986: .Sq \ef
987: scaling unit is accepted by mandoc, but rendered as the default unit.
988: .It
1.23 kristaps 989: The
1.51 kristaps 990: .Sx \&sp
1.68 kristaps 991: macro does not accept negative values in mandoc.
992: In GNU troff, this would result in strange behaviour.
1.32 kristaps 993: .El
1.1 kristaps 994: .Sh SEE ALSO
1.89 schwarze 995: .Xr man 1 ,
1.32 kristaps 996: .Xr mandoc 1 ,
1.98 kristaps 997: .Xr eqn 7 ,
1.89 schwarze 998: .Xr mandoc_char 7 ,
1.94 kristaps 999: .Xr mdoc 7 ,
1000: .Xr roff 7 ,
1001: .Xr tbl 7
1.78 schwarze 1002: .Sh HISTORY
1003: The
1004: .Nm
1005: language first appeared as a macro package for the roff typesetting
1006: system in
1007: .At v7 .
1008: It was later rewritten by James Clark as a macro package for groff.
1009: The stand-alone implementation that is part of the
1010: .Xr mandoc 1
1011: utility written by Kristaps Dzonsons appeared in
1.80 kristaps 1012: .Ox 4.6 .
1.1 kristaps 1013: .Sh AUTHORS
1.78 schwarze 1014: This
1.32 kristaps 1015: .Nm
1.23 kristaps 1016: reference was written by
1.62 kristaps 1017: .An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq kristaps@bsd.lv .
1.1 kristaps 1018: .Sh CAVEATS
1.68 kristaps 1019: Do not use this language.
1020: Use
1.32 kristaps 1021: .Xr mdoc 7 ,
1.1 kristaps 1022: instead.
CVSweb
![[BACK]](/cvsweb/icons/back.gif){kind=icon}
Return to man.7 CVS log ![[TXT]](/cvsweb/icons/text.gif){kind=icon}
![[DIR]](/cvsweb/icons/dir.gif){kind=icon}
Up to [cvsweb.bsd.lv] / mandoc