Annotation of mandoc/man.7, Revision 1.113
1.113 ! kristaps 1: .\" $Id: man.7,v 1.112 2011/12/02 01:37:14 schwarze Exp $
1.1 kristaps 2: .\"
1.111 schwarze 3: .\" Copyright (c) 2009, 2010, 2011 Kristaps Dzonsons <kristaps@bsd.lv>
4: .\" Copyright (c) 2011 Ingo Schwarze <schwarze@openbsd.org>
1.1 kristaps 5: .\"
6: .\" Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any
1.10 kristaps 7: .\" purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above
8: .\" copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies.
9: .\"
10: .\" THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES
11: .\" WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
12: .\" MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR
13: .\" ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES
14: .\" WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN
15: .\" ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF
16: .\" OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
1.1 kristaps 17: .\"
1.113 ! kristaps 18: .Dd $Mdocdate: December 2 2011 $
1.9 kristaps 19: .Dt MAN 7
1.1 kristaps 20: .Os
21: .Sh NAME
1.32 kristaps 22: .Nm man
1.111 schwarze 23: .Nd legacy formatting language for manual pages
1.1 kristaps 24: .Sh DESCRIPTION
1.111 schwarze 25: Traditionally, the
1.32 kristaps 26: .Nm man
1.111 schwarze 27: language has been used to write
1.32 kristaps 28: .Ux
1.111 schwarze 29: manuals for the
30: .Xr man 1
31: utility.
32: It supports limited control of presentational details like fonts,
33: indentation and spacing.
34: This reference document describes the structure of manual pages
35: and the syntax and usage of the man language.
1.32 kristaps 36: .Pp
37: .Bf -emphasis
1.20 kristaps 38: Do not use
1.32 kristaps 39: .Nm
1.111 schwarze 40: to write your manuals:
1.32 kristaps 41: .Ef
1.111 schwarze 42: It lacks support for semantic markup.
1.19 kristaps 43: Use the
1.32 kristaps 44: .Xr mdoc 7
1.1 kristaps 45: language, instead.
1.32 kristaps 46: .Pp
1.111 schwarze 47: In a
1.32 kristaps 48: .Nm
1.111 schwarze 49: document, lines beginning with the control character
1.32 kristaps 50: .Sq \&.
1.111 schwarze 51: are called
52: .Dq macro lines .
53: The first word is the macro name.
54: It usually consists of two capital letters.
55: For a list of available macros, see
56: .Sx MACRO OVERVIEW .
57: The words following the macro name are arguments to the macro.
58: .Pp
59: Lines not beginning with the control character are called
60: .Dq text lines .
61: They provide free-form text to be printed; the formatting of the text
62: depends on the respective processing context:
1.32 kristaps 63: .Bd -literal -offset indent
1.1 kristaps 64: \&.SH Macro lines change control state.
1.106 kristaps 65: Text lines are interpreted within the current state.
1.32 kristaps 66: .Ed
1.103 kristaps 67: .Pp
1.111 schwarze 68: Many aspects of the basic syntax of the
1.103 kristaps 69: .Nm
1.111 schwarze 70: language are based on the
71: .Xr roff 7
72: language; see the
73: .Em LANGUAGE SYNTAX
1.106 kristaps 74: and
1.111 schwarze 75: .Em MACRO SYNTAX
76: sections in the
77: .Xr roff 7
78: manual for details, in particular regarding
79: comments, escape sequences, whitespace, and quoting.
1.22 kristaps 80: .Sh MANUAL STRUCTURE
1.16 kristaps 81: Each
1.32 kristaps 82: .Nm
1.80 kristaps 83: document must contain the
1.39 kristaps 84: .Sx \&TH
1.68 kristaps 85: macro describing the document's section and title.
1.80 kristaps 86: It may occur anywhere in the document, although conventionally it
1.68 kristaps 87: appears as the first macro.
1.32 kristaps 88: .Pp
1.22 kristaps 89: Beyond
1.39 kristaps 90: .Sx \&TH ,
1.111 schwarze 91: at least one macro or text line must appear in the document.
1.100 kristaps 92: .Pp
93: The following is a well-formed skeleton
94: .Nm
95: file for a utility
96: .Qq progname :
1.32 kristaps 97: .Bd -literal -offset indent
1.100 kristaps 98: \&.TH PROGNAME 1 2009-10-10
1.22 kristaps 99: \&.SH NAME
1.100 kristaps 100: \efBprogname\efR \e(en a description goes here
1.106 kristaps 101: \&.\e\(dq .SH LIBRARY
102: \&.\e\(dq For sections 2 & 3 only.
103: \&.\e\(dq Not used in OpenBSD.
1.22 kristaps 104: \&.SH SYNOPSIS
1.100 kristaps 105: \efBprogname\efR [\efB\e-options\efR] arguments...
1.22 kristaps 106: \&.SH DESCRIPTION
1.33 kristaps 107: The \efBfoo\efR utility processes files...
1.106 kristaps 108: \&.\e\(dq .SH IMPLEMENTATION NOTES
109: \&.\e\(dq Not used in OpenBSD.
110: \&.\e\(dq .SH RETURN VALUES
111: \&.\e\(dq For sections 2, 3, & 9 only.
112: \&.\e\(dq .SH ENVIRONMENT
113: \&.\e\(dq For sections 1, 6, 7, & 8 only.
114: \&.\e\(dq .SH FILES
115: \&.\e\(dq .SH EXIT STATUS
116: \&.\e\(dq For sections 1, 6, & 8 only.
117: \&.\e\(dq .SH EXAMPLES
118: \&.\e\(dq .SH DIAGNOSTICS
119: \&.\e\(dq For sections 1, 4, 6, 7, & 8 only.
120: \&.\e\(dq .SH ERRORS
121: \&.\e\(dq For sections 2, 3, & 9 only.
122: \&.\e\(dq .SH SEE ALSO
123: \&.\e\(dq .BR foo ( 1 )
124: \&.\e\(dq .SH STANDARDS
125: \&.\e\(dq .SH HISTORY
126: \&.\e\(dq .SH AUTHORS
127: \&.\e\(dq .SH CAVEATS
128: \&.\e\(dq .SH BUGS
129: \&.\e\(dq .SH SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
130: \&.\e\(dq Not used in OpenBSD.
1.32 kristaps 131: .Ed
1.41 kristaps 132: .Pp
133: The sections in a
134: .Nm
1.68 kristaps 135: document are conventionally ordered as they appear above.
136: Sections should be composed as follows:
1.42 kristaps 137: .Bl -ohang -offset indent
138: .It Em NAME
1.68 kristaps 139: The name(s) and a short description of the documented material.
140: The syntax for this is generally as follows:
1.41 kristaps 141: .Pp
142: .D1 \efBname\efR \e(en description
1.42 kristaps 143: .It Em LIBRARY
1.41 kristaps 144: The name of the library containing the documented material, which is
1.68 kristaps 145: assumed to be a function in a section 2 or 3 manual.
146: For functions in the C library, this may be as follows:
1.41 kristaps 147: .Pp
148: .D1 Standard C Library (libc, -lc)
1.42 kristaps 149: .It Em SYNOPSIS
1.41 kristaps 150: Documents the utility invocation syntax, function call syntax, or device
1.55 kristaps 151: configuration.
1.41 kristaps 152: .Pp
153: For the first, utilities (sections 1, 6, and 8), this is
154: generally structured as follows:
155: .Pp
156: .D1 \efBname\efR [-\efBab\efR] [-\efBc\efR\efIarg\efR] \efBpath\efR...
157: .Pp
158: For the second, function calls (sections 2, 3, 9):
159: .Pp
1.44 kristaps 160: .D1 \&.B char *name(char *\efIarg\efR);
1.41 kristaps 161: .Pp
162: And for the third, configurations (section 4):
163: .Pp
1.44 kristaps 164: .D1 \&.B name* at cardbus ? function ?
1.41 kristaps 165: .Pp
1.55 kristaps 166: Manuals not in these sections generally don't need a
1.42 kristaps 167: .Em SYNOPSIS .
168: .It Em DESCRIPTION
1.55 kristaps 169: This expands upon the brief, one-line description in
1.42 kristaps 170: .Em NAME .
171: It usually contains a break-down of the options (if documenting a
172: command).
173: .It Em IMPLEMENTATION NOTES
1.68 kristaps 174: Implementation-specific notes should be kept here.
175: This is useful when implementing standard functions that may have side
176: effects or notable algorithmic implications.
1.42 kristaps 177: .It Em RETURN VALUES
1.80 kristaps 178: This section documents the return values of functions in sections 2, 3, and 9.
1.42 kristaps 179: .It Em ENVIRONMENT
180: Documents any usages of environment variables, e.g.,
181: .Xr environ 7 .
182: .It Em FILES
1.68 kristaps 183: Documents files used.
1.78 schwarze 184: It's helpful to document both the file name and a short description of how
1.68 kristaps 185: the file is used (created, modified, etc.).
1.67 kristaps 186: .It Em EXIT STATUS
1.80 kristaps 187: This section documents the command exit status for
188: section 1, 6, and 8 utilities.
1.68 kristaps 189: Historically, this information was described in
1.67 kristaps 190: .Em DIAGNOSTICS ,
191: a practise that is now discouraged.
1.42 kristaps 192: .It Em EXAMPLES
1.68 kristaps 193: Example usages.
194: This often contains snippets of well-formed,
195: well-tested invocations.
1.80 kristaps 196: Make sure that examples work properly!
1.42 kristaps 197: .It Em DIAGNOSTICS
1.68 kristaps 198: Documents error conditions.
199: This is most useful in section 4 manuals.
1.42 kristaps 200: Historically, this section was used in place of
201: .Em EXIT STATUS
202: for manuals in sections 1, 6, and 8; however, this practise is
203: discouraged.
204: .It Em ERRORS
205: Documents error handling in sections 2, 3, and 9.
206: .It Em SEE ALSO
1.68 kristaps 207: References other manuals with related topics.
208: This section should exist for most manuals.
1.44 kristaps 209: .Pp
210: .D1 \&.BR bar \&( 1 \&),
211: .Pp
212: Cross-references should conventionally be ordered
1.42 kristaps 213: first by section, then alphabetically.
214: .It Em STANDARDS
215: References any standards implemented or used, such as
216: .Pp
217: .D1 IEEE Std 1003.2 (\e(lqPOSIX.2\e(rq)
218: .Pp
219: If not adhering to any standards, the
220: .Em HISTORY
221: section should be used.
222: .It Em HISTORY
1.81 schwarze 223: A brief history of the subject, including where support first appeared.
1.42 kristaps 224: .It Em AUTHORS
1.81 schwarze 225: Credits to the person or persons who wrote the code and/or documentation.
1.78 schwarze 226: Authors should generally be noted by both name and email address.
1.42 kristaps 227: .It Em CAVEATS
1.78 schwarze 228: Common misuses and misunderstandings should be explained
1.42 kristaps 229: in this section.
230: .It Em BUGS
1.80 kristaps 231: Known bugs, limitations, and work-arounds should be described
1.78 schwarze 232: in this section.
1.42 kristaps 233: .It Em SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
234: Documents any security precautions that operators should consider.
1.41 kristaps 235: .El
1.110 schwarze 236: .Sh MACRO OVERVIEW
237: This overview is sorted such that macros of similar purpose are listed
238: together, to help find the best macro for any given purpose.
239: Deprecated macros are not included in the overview, but can be found
240: in the alphabetical reference below.
241: .Ss Page header and footer meta-data
242: .Bl -column "PP, LP, P" description
243: .It Sx TH Ta set the title: Ar title section date Op Ar source Op Ar volume
244: .It Sx AT Ta display AT&T UNIX version in the page footer (<= 1 argument)
245: .It Sx UC Ta display BSD version in the page footer (<= 1 argument)
246: .El
247: .Ss Sections and paragraphs
248: .Bl -column "PP, LP, P" description
249: .It Sx SH Ta section header (one line)
250: .It Sx SS Ta subsection header (one line)
251: .It Sx PP , LP , P Ta start an undecorated paragraph (no arguments)
252: .It Sx RS , RE Ta reset the left margin: Op Ar width
253: .It Sx IP Ta indented paragraph: Op Ar head Op Ar width
254: .It Sx TP Ta tagged paragraph: Op Ar width
255: .It Sx HP Ta hanged paragraph: Op Ar width
256: .It Sx \&br Ta force output line break in text mode (no arguments)
257: .It Sx \&sp Ta force vertical space: Op Ar height
258: .It Sx fi , nf Ta fill mode and no-fill mode (no arguments)
259: .It Sx in Ta additional indent: Op Ar width
260: .El
261: .Ss Physical markup
262: .Bl -column "PP, LP, P" description
263: .It Sx B Ta boldface font
264: .It Sx I Ta italic font
265: .It Sx R Ta roman (default) font
266: .It Sx SB Ta small boldface font
267: .It Sx SM Ta small roman font
268: .It Sx BI Ta alternate between boldface and italic fonts
269: .It Sx BR Ta alternate between boldface and roman fonts
270: .It Sx IB Ta alternate between italic and boldface fonts
271: .It Sx IR Ta alternate between italic and roman fonts
272: .It Sx RB Ta alternate between roman and boldface fonts
273: .It Sx RI Ta alternate between roman and italic fonts
274: .El
1.113 ! kristaps 275: .Ss Semantic markup
! 276: .Bl -column "PP, LP, P" description
! 277: .It Sx OP Ta optional arguments
! 278: .El
1.111 schwarze 279: .Sh MACRO REFERENCE
1.22 kristaps 280: This section is a canonical reference to all macros, arranged
1.68 kristaps 281: alphabetically.
282: For the scoping of individual macros, see
1.32 kristaps 283: .Sx MACRO SYNTAX .
1.72 joerg 284: .Ss \&AT
285: Sets the volume for the footer for compatibility with man pages from
286: .Tn AT&T UNIX
287: releases.
288: The optional arguments specify which release it is from.
1.39 kristaps 289: .Ss \&B
1.22 kristaps 290: Text is rendered in bold face.
1.44 kristaps 291: .Pp
292: See also
1.92 kristaps 293: .Sx \&I
1.44 kristaps 294: and
1.92 kristaps 295: .Sx \&R .
1.39 kristaps 296: .Ss \&BI
1.68 kristaps 297: Text is rendered alternately in bold face and italic.
298: Thus,
1.32 kristaps 299: .Sq .BI this word and that
1.22 kristaps 300: causes
1.32 kristaps 301: .Sq this
1.22 kristaps 302: and
1.32 kristaps 303: .Sq and
1.55 kristaps 304: to render in bold face, while
1.32 kristaps 305: .Sq word
1.22 kristaps 306: and
1.32 kristaps 307: .Sq that
1.68 kristaps 308: render in italics.
309: Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
1.44 kristaps 310: .Pp
311: Examples:
1.46 kristaps 312: .Pp
1.93 kristaps 313: .Dl \&.BI bold italic bold italic
1.44 kristaps 314: .Pp
315: The output of this example will be emboldened
316: .Dq bold
317: and italicised
318: .Dq italic ,
319: with spaces stripped between arguments.
320: .Pp
321: See also
322: .Sx \&IB ,
323: .Sx \&BR ,
324: .Sx \&RB ,
325: .Sx \&RI ,
326: and
327: .Sx \&IR .
1.39 kristaps 328: .Ss \&BR
1.22 kristaps 329: Text is rendered alternately in bold face and roman (the default font).
330: Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
1.44 kristaps 331: .Pp
332: See
333: .Sx \&BI
334: for an equivalent example.
335: .Pp
336: See also
337: .Sx \&BI ,
338: .Sx \&IB ,
339: .Sx \&RB ,
340: .Sx \&RI ,
341: and
342: .Sx \&IR .
1.39 kristaps 343: .Ss \&DT
1.68 kristaps 344: Has no effect.
345: Included for compatibility.
1.39 kristaps 346: .Ss \&HP
1.23 kristaps 347: Begin a paragraph whose initial output line is left-justified, but
1.27 kristaps 348: subsequent output lines are indented, with the following syntax:
1.44 kristaps 349: .Bd -filled -offset indent
350: .Pf \. Sx \&HP
351: .Op Cm width
1.32 kristaps 352: .Ed
1.44 kristaps 353: .Pp
354: The
355: .Cm width
356: argument must conform to
357: .Sx Scaling Widths .
358: If specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if unspecified, the
359: saved or default width is used.
360: .Pp
361: See also
1.45 kristaps 362: .Sx \&IP ,
363: .Sx \&LP ,
364: .Sx \&P ,
365: .Sx \&PP ,
1.44 kristaps 366: and
1.45 kristaps 367: .Sx \&TP .
1.39 kristaps 368: .Ss \&I
1.22 kristaps 369: Text is rendered in italics.
1.44 kristaps 370: .Pp
371: See also
1.92 kristaps 372: .Sx \&B
1.44 kristaps 373: and
1.92 kristaps 374: .Sx \&R .
1.39 kristaps 375: .Ss \&IB
1.80 kristaps 376: Text is rendered alternately in italics and bold face.
377: Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
1.44 kristaps 378: .Pp
379: See
380: .Sx \&BI
381: for an equivalent example.
382: .Pp
383: See also
384: .Sx \&BI ,
385: .Sx \&BR ,
386: .Sx \&RB ,
387: .Sx \&RI ,
388: and
389: .Sx \&IR .
1.39 kristaps 390: .Ss \&IP
1.44 kristaps 391: Begin an indented paragraph with the following syntax:
392: .Bd -filled -offset indent
393: .Pf \. Sx \&IP
394: .Op Cm head Op Cm width
1.32 kristaps 395: .Ed
1.44 kristaps 396: .Pp
397: The
398: .Cm width
399: argument defines the width of the left margin and is defined by
1.80 kristaps 400: .Sx Scaling Widths .
1.44 kristaps 401: It's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if unspecified, the saved or
402: default width is used.
403: .Pp
404: The
405: .Cm head
1.68 kristaps 406: argument is used as a leading term, flushed to the left margin.
407: This is useful for bulleted paragraphs and so on.
1.44 kristaps 408: .Pp
409: See also
1.45 kristaps 410: .Sx \&HP ,
411: .Sx \&LP ,
412: .Sx \&P ,
413: .Sx \&PP ,
1.44 kristaps 414: and
1.45 kristaps 415: .Sx \&TP .
1.39 kristaps 416: .Ss \&IR
1.22 kristaps 417: Text is rendered alternately in italics and roman (the default font).
418: Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
1.44 kristaps 419: .Pp
420: See
421: .Sx \&BI
422: for an equivalent example.
423: .Pp
424: See also
425: .Sx \&BI ,
426: .Sx \&IB ,
427: .Sx \&BR ,
428: .Sx \&RB ,
429: and
430: .Sx \&RI .
1.39 kristaps 431: .Ss \&LP
1.68 kristaps 432: Begin an undecorated paragraph.
433: The scope of a paragraph is closed by a subsequent paragraph,
434: sub-section, section, or end of file.
1.78 schwarze 435: The saved paragraph left-margin width is reset to the default.
1.44 kristaps 436: .Pp
437: See also
1.45 kristaps 438: .Sx \&HP ,
439: .Sx \&IP ,
440: .Sx \&P ,
441: .Sx \&PP ,
1.44 kristaps 442: and
1.45 kristaps 443: .Sx \&TP .
1.113 ! kristaps 444: .Ss \&OP
! 445: Optional command-line argument.
! 446: This has the following syntax:
! 447: .Bd -filled -offset indent
! 448: .Pf \. Sx \&OP
! 449: .Cm key Op Cm value
! 450: .Ed
! 451: .Pp
! 452: The
! 453: .Cm key
! 454: is usually a command-line flag and
! 455: .Cm value
! 456: its argument.
1.39 kristaps 457: .Ss \&P
458: Synonym for
459: .Sx \&LP .
1.44 kristaps 460: .Pp
461: See also
1.45 kristaps 462: .Sx \&HP ,
463: .Sx \&IP ,
464: .Sx \&LP ,
465: .Sx \&PP ,
1.44 kristaps 466: and
1.45 kristaps 467: .Sx \&TP .
1.39 kristaps 468: .Ss \&PP
469: Synonym for
470: .Sx \&LP .
1.44 kristaps 471: .Pp
472: See also
1.45 kristaps 473: .Sx \&HP ,
474: .Sx \&IP ,
475: .Sx \&LP ,
476: .Sx \&P ,
1.44 kristaps 477: and
1.45 kristaps 478: .Sx \&TP .
1.39 kristaps 479: .Ss \&R
1.22 kristaps 480: Text is rendered in roman (the default font).
1.44 kristaps 481: .Pp
482: See also
1.92 kristaps 483: .Sx \&I
1.44 kristaps 484: and
1.92 kristaps 485: .Sx \&B .
1.39 kristaps 486: .Ss \&RB
1.22 kristaps 487: Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and bold face.
488: Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
1.44 kristaps 489: .Pp
490: See
491: .Sx \&BI
492: for an equivalent example.
493: .Pp
494: See also
495: .Sx \&BI ,
496: .Sx \&IB ,
497: .Sx \&BR ,
498: .Sx \&RI ,
499: and
500: .Sx \&IR .
1.39 kristaps 501: .Ss \&RE
1.30 kristaps 502: Explicitly close out the scope of a prior
1.39 kristaps 503: .Sx \&RS .
1.102 kristaps 504: The default left margin is restored to the state of the original
505: .Sx \&RS
506: invocation.
1.39 kristaps 507: .Ss \&RI
1.22 kristaps 508: Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and italics.
509: Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
1.44 kristaps 510: .Pp
511: See
512: .Sx \&BI
513: for an equivalent example.
514: .Pp
515: See also
516: .Sx \&BI ,
517: .Sx \&IB ,
518: .Sx \&BR ,
519: .Sx \&RB ,
520: and
521: .Sx \&IR .
1.39 kristaps 522: .Ss \&RS
1.102 kristaps 523: Temporarily reset the default left margin.
1.44 kristaps 524: This has the following syntax:
525: .Bd -filled -offset indent
1.102 kristaps 526: .Pf \. Sx \&RS
1.44 kristaps 527: .Op Cm width
1.32 kristaps 528: .Ed
1.44 kristaps 529: .Pp
530: The
531: .Cm width
532: argument must conform to
533: .Sx Scaling Widths .
1.55 kristaps 534: If not specified, the saved or default width is used.
1.102 kristaps 535: .Pp
536: See also
537: .Sx \&RE .
1.39 kristaps 538: .Ss \&SB
1.22 kristaps 539: Text is rendered in small size (one point smaller than the default font)
540: bold face.
1.39 kristaps 541: .Ss \&SH
1.68 kristaps 542: Begin a section.
543: The scope of a section is only closed by another section or the end of
544: file.
1.78 schwarze 545: The paragraph left-margin width is reset to the default.
1.39 kristaps 546: .Ss \&SM
1.22 kristaps 547: Text is rendered in small size (one point smaller than the default
548: font).
1.39 kristaps 549: .Ss \&SS
1.68 kristaps 550: Begin a sub-section.
551: The scope of a sub-section is closed by a subsequent sub-section,
552: section, or end of file.
1.78 schwarze 553: The paragraph left-margin width is reset to the default.
1.39 kristaps 554: .Ss \&TH
1.22 kristaps 555: Sets the title of the manual page with the following syntax:
1.44 kristaps 556: .Bd -filled -offset indent
557: .Pf \. Sx \&TH
1.99 schwarze 558: .Ar title section date
559: .Op Ar source Op Ar volume
1.44 kristaps 560: .Ed
1.43 kristaps 561: .Pp
1.99 schwarze 562: Conventionally, the document
563: .Ar title
564: is given in all caps.
565: The recommended
566: .Ar date
567: format is
568: .Sy YYYY-MM-DD
569: as specified in the ISO-8601 standard;
570: if the argument does not conform, it is printed verbatim.
571: If the
572: .Ar date
573: is empty or not specified, the current date is used.
574: The optional
575: .Ar source
1.68 kristaps 576: string specifies the organisation providing the utility.
577: The
1.99 schwarze 578: .Ar volume
1.43 kristaps 579: string replaces the default rendered volume, which is dictated by the
580: manual section.
581: .Pp
582: Examples:
1.46 kristaps 583: .Pp
1.93 kristaps 584: .Dl \&.TH CVS 5 "1992-02-12" GNU
1.39 kristaps 585: .Ss \&TP
1.25 kristaps 586: Begin a paragraph where the head, if exceeding the indentation width, is
1.24 kristaps 587: followed by a newline; if not, the body follows on the same line after a
1.68 kristaps 588: buffer to the indentation width.
589: Subsequent output lines are indented.
1.44 kristaps 590: The syntax is as follows:
591: .Bd -filled -offset indent
592: .Pf \. Sx \&TP
593: .Op Cm width
1.32 kristaps 594: .Ed
595: .Pp
1.44 kristaps 596: The
597: .Cm width
598: argument must conform to
599: .Sx Scaling Widths .
600: If specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if
1.27 kristaps 601: unspecified, the saved or default width is used.
1.44 kristaps 602: .Pp
603: See also
1.45 kristaps 604: .Sx \&HP ,
605: .Sx \&IP ,
606: .Sx \&LP ,
607: .Sx \&P ,
1.44 kristaps 608: and
1.45 kristaps 609: .Sx \&PP .
1.72 joerg 610: .Ss \&UC
611: Sets the volume for the footer for compatibility with man pages from
612: BSD releases.
613: The optional first argument specifies which release it is from.
1.39 kristaps 614: .Ss \&br
1.68 kristaps 615: Breaks the current line.
616: Consecutive invocations have no further effect.
1.44 kristaps 617: .Pp
618: See also
619: .Sx \&sp .
1.39 kristaps 620: .Ss \&fi
1.22 kristaps 621: End literal mode begun by
1.39 kristaps 622: .Sx \&nf .
1.91 kristaps 623: .Ss \&ft
624: Change the current font mode.
625: See
626: .Sx Text Decoration
627: for a listing of available font modes.
1.79 kristaps 628: .Ss \&in
629: Indent relative to the current indentation:
630: .Pp
631: .D1 Pf \. Sx \&in Op Cm width
632: .Pp
633: If
634: .Cm width
635: is signed, the new offset is relative.
636: Otherwise, it is absolute.
637: This value is reset upon the next paragraph, section, or sub-section.
1.39 kristaps 638: .Ss \&na
1.36 kristaps 639: Don't align to the right margin.
1.39 kristaps 640: .Ss \&nf
1.22 kristaps 641: Begin literal mode: all subsequent free-form lines have their end of
1.68 kristaps 642: line boundaries preserved.
643: May be ended by
1.39 kristaps 644: .Sx \&fi .
1.101 kristaps 645: Literal mode is implicitly ended by
646: .Sx \&SH
647: or
648: .Sx \&SS .
1.39 kristaps 649: .Ss \&sp
1.44 kristaps 650: Insert vertical spaces into output with the following syntax:
651: .Bd -filled -offset indent
652: .Pf \. Sx \&sp
653: .Op Cm height
654: .Ed
655: .Pp
1.55 kristaps 656: Insert
1.44 kristaps 657: .Cm height
658: spaces, which must conform to
659: .Sx Scaling Widths .
660: If 0, this is equivalent to the
1.39 kristaps 661: .Sx \&br
1.68 kristaps 662: macro.
663: Defaults to 1, if unspecified.
1.44 kristaps 664: .Pp
665: See also
666: .Sx \&br .
1.111 schwarze 667: .Sh MACRO SYNTAX
668: The
669: .Nm
670: macros are classified by scope: line scope or block scope.
671: Line macros are only scoped to the current line (and, in some
672: situations, the subsequent line).
673: Block macros are scoped to the current line and subsequent lines until
674: closed by another block macro.
675: .Ss Line Macros
676: Line macros are generally scoped to the current line, with the body
677: consisting of zero or more arguments.
678: If a macro is scoped to the next line and the line arguments are empty,
679: the next line, which must be text, is used instead.
680: Thus:
681: .Bd -literal -offset indent
682: \&.I
683: foo
684: .Ed
685: .Pp
686: is equivalent to
687: .Sq \&.I foo .
688: If next-line macros are invoked consecutively, only the last is used.
689: If a next-line macro is followed by a non-next-line macro, an error is
690: raised, except for
691: .Sx \&br ,
692: .Sx \&sp ,
693: and
694: .Sx \&na .
695: .Pp
696: The syntax is as follows:
697: .Bd -literal -offset indent
698: \&.YO \(lBbody...\(rB
699: \(lBbody...\(rB
700: .Ed
701: .Bl -column "MacroX" "ArgumentsX" "ScopeXXXXX" "CompatX" -offset indent
702: .It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments Ta Em Scope Ta Em Notes
703: .It Sx \&AT Ta <=1 Ta current Ta \&
704: .It Sx \&B Ta n Ta next-line Ta \&
705: .It Sx \&BI Ta n Ta current Ta \&
706: .It Sx \&BR Ta n Ta current Ta \&
707: .It Sx \&DT Ta 0 Ta current Ta \&
708: .It Sx \&I Ta n Ta next-line Ta \&
709: .It Sx \&IB Ta n Ta current Ta \&
710: .It Sx \&IR Ta n Ta current Ta \&
1.113 ! kristaps 711: .It Sx \&OP Ta 0, 1 Ta current Ta compat
1.111 schwarze 712: .It Sx \&R Ta n Ta next-line Ta \&
713: .It Sx \&RB Ta n Ta current Ta \&
714: .It Sx \&RI Ta n Ta current Ta \&
715: .It Sx \&SB Ta n Ta next-line Ta \&
716: .It Sx \&SM Ta n Ta next-line Ta \&
717: .It Sx \&TH Ta >1, <6 Ta current Ta \&
718: .It Sx \&UC Ta <=1 Ta current Ta \&
719: .It Sx \&br Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat
720: .It Sx \&fi Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat
721: .It Sx \&ft Ta 1 Ta current Ta compat
722: .It Sx \&in Ta 1 Ta current Ta compat
723: .It Sx \&na Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat
724: .It Sx \&nf Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat
725: .It Sx \&sp Ta 1 Ta current Ta compat
726: .El
727: .Pp
728: Macros marked as
729: .Qq compat
730: are included for compatibility with the significant corpus of existing
731: manuals that mix dialects of roff.
732: These macros should not be used for portable
733: .Nm
734: manuals.
735: .Ss Block Macros
736: Block macros comprise a head and body.
737: As with in-line macros, the head is scoped to the current line and, in
738: one circumstance, the next line (the next-line stipulations as in
739: .Sx Line Macros
740: apply here as well).
741: .Pp
742: The syntax is as follows:
743: .Bd -literal -offset indent
744: \&.YO \(lBhead...\(rB
745: \(lBhead...\(rB
746: \(lBbody...\(rB
747: .Ed
748: .Pp
749: The closure of body scope may be to the section, where a macro is closed
750: by
751: .Sx \&SH ;
752: sub-section, closed by a section or
753: .Sx \&SS ;
754: part, closed by a section, sub-section, or
755: .Sx \&RE ;
756: or paragraph, closed by a section, sub-section, part,
757: .Sx \&HP ,
758: .Sx \&IP ,
759: .Sx \&LP ,
760: .Sx \&P ,
761: .Sx \&PP ,
762: or
763: .Sx \&TP .
764: No closure refers to an explicit block closing macro.
765: .Pp
766: As a rule, block macros may not be nested; thus, calling a block macro
767: while another block macro scope is open, and the open scope is not
768: implicitly closed, is syntactically incorrect.
769: .Bl -column "MacroX" "ArgumentsX" "Head ScopeX" "sub-sectionX" "compatX" -offset indent
770: .It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments Ta Em Head Scope Ta Em Body Scope Ta Em Notes
771: .It Sx \&HP Ta <2 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \&
772: .It Sx \&IP Ta <3 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \&
773: .It Sx \&LP Ta 0 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \&
774: .It Sx \&P Ta 0 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \&
775: .It Sx \&PP Ta 0 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \&
776: .It Sx \&RE Ta 0 Ta current Ta none Ta compat
777: .It Sx \&RS Ta 1 Ta current Ta part Ta compat
778: .It Sx \&SH Ta >0 Ta next-line Ta section Ta \&
779: .It Sx \&SS Ta >0 Ta next-line Ta sub-section Ta \&
780: .It Sx \&TP Ta n Ta next-line Ta paragraph Ta \&
781: .El
782: .Pp
783: Macros marked
784: .Qq compat
785: are as mentioned in
786: .Sx Line Macros .
787: .Pp
788: If a block macro is next-line scoped, it may only be followed by in-line
789: macros for decorating text.
790: .Ss Font handling
791: In
792: .Nm
793: documents, both
794: .Sx Physical markup
795: macros and
796: .Xr roff 7
797: .Ql \ef
798: font escape sequences can be used to choose fonts.
799: In text lines, the effect of manual font selection by escape sequences
800: only lasts until the next macro invocation; in macro lines, it only lasts
801: until the end of the macro scope.
802: Note that macros like
803: .Sx \&BR
804: open and close a font scope for each argument.
1.18 kristaps 805: .Sh COMPATIBILITY
1.58 kristaps 806: This section documents areas of questionable portability between
807: implementations of the
808: .Nm
809: language.
1.51 kristaps 810: .Pp
811: .Bl -dash -compact
1.109 kristaps 812: .It
813: Do not depend on
814: .Sx \&SH
815: or
816: .Sx \&SS
817: to close out a literal context opened with
818: .Sx \&nf .
819: This behaviour may not be portable.
1.77 kristaps 820: .It
1.58 kristaps 821: In quoted literals, GNU troff allowed pair-wise double-quotes to produce
1.68 kristaps 822: a standalone double-quote in formatted output.
823: It is not known whether this behaviour is exhibited by other formatters.
1.32 kristaps 824: .It
1.82 kristaps 825: troff suppresses a newline before
826: .Sq \(aq
827: macro output; in mandoc, it is an alias for the standard
828: .Sq \&.
829: control character.
830: .It
831: The
832: .Sq \eh
833: .Pq horizontal position ,
834: .Sq \ev
835: .Pq vertical position ,
836: .Sq \em
837: .Pq text colour ,
838: .Sq \eM
839: .Pq text filling colour ,
1.83 kristaps 840: .Sq \ez
841: .Pq zero-length character ,
1.84 kristaps 842: .Sq \ew
843: .Pq string length ,
1.85 kristaps 844: .Sq \ek
845: .Pq horizontal position marker ,
1.87 kristaps 846: .Sq \eo
847: .Pq text overstrike ,
1.82 kristaps 848: and
849: .Sq \es
850: .Pq text size
1.84 kristaps 851: escape sequences are all discarded in mandoc.
1.82 kristaps 852: .It
853: The
854: .Sq \ef
855: scaling unit is accepted by mandoc, but rendered as the default unit.
856: .It
1.23 kristaps 857: The
1.51 kristaps 858: .Sx \&sp
1.68 kristaps 859: macro does not accept negative values in mandoc.
860: In GNU troff, this would result in strange behaviour.
1.112 schwarze 861: .It
862: In page header lines, GNU troff versions up to and including 1.21
863: only print
864: .Ar volume
865: names explicitly specified in the
866: .Sx \&TH
867: macro; mandoc and newer groff print the default volume name
868: corresponding to the
869: .Ar section
870: number when no
871: .Ar volume
872: is given, like in
873: .Xr mdoc 7 .
1.32 kristaps 874: .El
1.113 ! kristaps 875: .Pp
! 876: The
! 877: .Sx OP
! 878: macro is part of the extended
! 879: .Nm
! 880: macro set, and may not be portable to non-GNU troff implementations.
1.1 kristaps 881: .Sh SEE ALSO
1.89 schwarze 882: .Xr man 1 ,
1.32 kristaps 883: .Xr mandoc 1 ,
1.98 kristaps 884: .Xr eqn 7 ,
1.89 schwarze 885: .Xr mandoc_char 7 ,
1.94 kristaps 886: .Xr mdoc 7 ,
887: .Xr roff 7 ,
888: .Xr tbl 7
1.78 schwarze 889: .Sh HISTORY
890: The
891: .Nm
892: language first appeared as a macro package for the roff typesetting
893: system in
894: .At v7 .
895: It was later rewritten by James Clark as a macro package for groff.
1.113 ! kristaps 896: Eric S. Raymond wrote the extended
! 897: .Nm
! 898: macros for groff in 2007.
1.78 schwarze 899: The stand-alone implementation that is part of the
900: .Xr mandoc 1
901: utility written by Kristaps Dzonsons appeared in
1.80 kristaps 902: .Ox 4.6 .
1.1 kristaps 903: .Sh AUTHORS
1.78 schwarze 904: This
1.32 kristaps 905: .Nm
1.23 kristaps 906: reference was written by
1.105 kristaps 907: .An Kristaps Dzonsons ,
908: .Mt kristaps@bsd.lv .
1.1 kristaps 909: .Sh CAVEATS
1.68 kristaps 910: Do not use this language.
911: Use
1.32 kristaps 912: .Xr mdoc 7 ,
1.1 kristaps 913: 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