Annotation of mandoc/man.7, Revision 1.95
1.95 ! kristaps 1: .\" $Id: man.7,v 1.94 2011/01/04 23:32:21 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: .\"
1.95 ! kristaps 17: .Dd $Mdocdate: January 4 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
1.1 kristaps 52: .Sh INPUT ENCODING
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.
1.68 kristaps 56: All manuals must have
1.32 kristaps 57: .Ux
1.20 kristaps 58: line termination.
1.32 kristaps 59: .Pp
1.5 kristaps 60: Blank lines are acceptable; where found, the output will assert a
1.1 kristaps 61: vertical space.
1.95 ! kristaps 62: .Pp
! 63: If the first character of a line is a space, that line is printed
! 64: with a leading newline.
1.32 kristaps 65: .Ss Comments
1.21 kristaps 66: Text following a
1.75 kristaps 67: .Sq \e\*q ,
1.21 kristaps 68: whether in a macro or free-form text line, is ignored to the end of
1.68 kristaps 69: line.
70: A macro line with only a control character and comment escape,
1.75 kristaps 71: .Sq \&.\e\*q ,
1.68 kristaps 72: is also ignored.
73: Macro lines with only a control character and optionally whitespace are
74: stripped from input.
1.32 kristaps 75: .Ss Special Characters
1.21 kristaps 76: Special characters may occur in both macro and free-form lines.
77: Sequences begin with the escape character
1.32 kristaps 78: .Sq \e
1.20 kristaps 79: followed by either an open-parenthesis
1.32 kristaps 80: .Sq \&(
1.1 kristaps 81: for two-character sequences; an open-bracket
1.32 kristaps 82: .Sq \&[
1.1 kristaps 83: for n-character sequences (terminated at a close-bracket
1.32 kristaps 84: .Sq \&] ) ;
1.68 kristaps 85: or a single one-character sequence.
86: See
1.32 kristaps 87: .Xr mandoc_char 7
1.68 kristaps 88: for a complete list.
89: Examples include
1.32 kristaps 90: .Sq \e(em
91: .Pq em-dash
1.21 kristaps 92: and
1.32 kristaps 93: .Sq \ee
94: .Pq back-slash .
95: .Ss Text Decoration
1.21 kristaps 96: Terms may be text-decorated using the
1.32 kristaps 97: .Sq \ef
1.78 schwarze 98: escape followed by an indicator: B (bold), I (italic), R (Roman), or P
1.55 kristaps 99: (revert to previous mode):
1.48 kristaps 100: .Pp
101: .D1 \efBbold\efR \efIitalic\efP
102: .Pp
103: A numerical representation 3, 2, or 1 (bold, italic, and Roman,
1.68 kristaps 104: respectively) may be used instead.
105: A text decoration is only valid, if specified in free-form text, until
106: the next macro invocation; if specified within a macro, it's only valid
107: until the macro closes scope.
1.54 kristaps 108: Note that macros like
109: .Sx \&BR
110: open and close a font scope with each argument.
1.48 kristaps 111: .Pp
1.76 kristaps 112: The
1.49 kristaps 113: .Sq \ef
1.76 kristaps 114: attribute is forgotten when entering or exiting a macro block.
1.32 kristaps 115: .Ss Whitespace
1.66 kristaps 116: Whitespace consists of the space character.
1.80 kristaps 117: In free-form lines, whitespace is preserved within a line; unescaped
1.64 kristaps 118: trailing spaces are stripped from input (unless in a literal context).
119: Blank free-form lines, which may include spaces, are permitted and
120: rendered as an empty line.
121: .Pp
1.68 kristaps 122: In macro lines, whitespace delimits arguments and is discarded.
123: If arguments are quoted, whitespace within the quotes is retained.
1.43 kristaps 124: .Ss Dates
125: The
126: .Sx \&TH
127: macro is the only
128: .Nm
1.68 kristaps 129: macro that requires a date.
130: The form for this date is the ISO-8601
1.43 kristaps 131: standard
132: .Cm YYYY-MM-DD .
1.38 kristaps 133: .Ss Scaling Widths
134: Many macros support scaled widths for their arguments, such as
135: stipulating a two-inch paragraph indentation with the following:
136: .Bd -literal -offset indent
137: \&.HP 2i
138: .Ed
139: .Pp
140: The syntax for scaled widths is
141: .Sq Li [+-]?[0-9]*.[0-9]*[:unit:]? ,
142: where a decimal must be preceded or proceeded by at least one digit.
1.68 kristaps 143: Negative numbers, while accepted, are truncated to zero.
144: The following scaling units are accepted:
1.38 kristaps 145: .Pp
146: .Bl -tag -width Ds -offset indent -compact
147: .It c
148: centimetre
149: .It i
150: inch
151: .It P
152: pica (~1/6 inch)
153: .It p
154: point (~1/72 inch)
155: .It f
156: synonym for
157: .Sq u
158: .It v
159: default vertical span
160: .It m
161: width of rendered
162: .Sq m
163: .Pq em
164: character
165: .It n
166: width of rendered
167: .Sq n
168: .Pq en
169: character
170: .It u
171: default horizontal span
172: .It M
173: mini-em (~1/100 em)
174: .El
175: .Pp
176: Using anything other than
177: .Sq m ,
178: .Sq n ,
179: .Sq u ,
180: or
181: .Sq v
1.44 kristaps 182: is necessarily non-portable across output media.
1.38 kristaps 183: .Pp
184: If a scaling unit is not provided, the numerical value is interpreted
185: under the default rules of
186: .Sq v
187: for vertical spaces and
188: .Sq u
189: for horizontal ones.
190: .Em Note :
191: this differs from
192: .Xr mdoc 7 ,
193: which, if a unit is not provided, will instead interpret the string as
194: literal text.
1.69 kristaps 195: .Ss Sentence Spacing
1.80 kristaps 196: When composing a manual, make sure that sentences end at the end of
1.69 kristaps 197: a line.
198: By doing so, front-ends will be able to apply the proper amount of
1.71 kristaps 199: spacing after the end of sentence (unescaped) period, exclamation mark,
200: or question mark followed by zero or more non-sentence closing
1.80 kristaps 201: delimiters
202: .Po
203: .Sq \&) ,
1.71 kristaps 204: .Sq \&] ,
205: .Sq \&' ,
1.80 kristaps 206: .Sq \&"
207: .Pc .
1.22 kristaps 208: .Sh MANUAL STRUCTURE
1.16 kristaps 209: Each
1.32 kristaps 210: .Nm
1.80 kristaps 211: document must contain the
1.39 kristaps 212: .Sx \&TH
1.68 kristaps 213: macro describing the document's section and title.
1.80 kristaps 214: It may occur anywhere in the document, although conventionally it
1.68 kristaps 215: appears as the first macro.
1.32 kristaps 216: .Pp
1.22 kristaps 217: Beyond
1.39 kristaps 218: .Sx \&TH ,
1.68 kristaps 219: at least one macro or text node must appear in the document.
220: Documents are generally structured as follows:
1.32 kristaps 221: .Bd -literal -offset indent
1.43 kristaps 222: \&.TH FOO 1 2009-10-10
1.22 kristaps 223: \&.SH NAME
1.29 kristaps 224: \efBfoo\efR \e(en a description goes here
1.33 kristaps 225: \&.\e\*q .SH LIBRARY
1.86 kristaps 226: \&.\e\*q For sections 2 & 3 only.
227: \&.\e\*q Not used in OpenBSD.
1.22 kristaps 228: \&.SH SYNOPSIS
229: \efBfoo\efR [\efB\e-options\efR] arguments...
230: \&.SH DESCRIPTION
1.33 kristaps 231: The \efBfoo\efR utility processes files...
232: \&.\e\*q .SH IMPLEMENTATION NOTES
1.89 schwarze 233: \&.\e\*q Not used in OpenBSD.
1.22 kristaps 234: \&.\e\*q .SH RETURN VALUES
1.86 kristaps 235: \&.\e\*q For sections 2, 3, & 9 only.
1.22 kristaps 236: \&.\e\*q .SH ENVIRONMENT
1.86 kristaps 237: \&.\e\*q For sections 1, 6, 7, & 8 only.
1.22 kristaps 238: \&.\e\*q .SH FILES
1.67 kristaps 239: \&.\e\*q .SH EXIT STATUS
1.89 schwarze 240: \&.\e\*q For sections 1, 6, & 8 only.
1.22 kristaps 241: \&.\e\*q .SH EXAMPLES
242: \&.\e\*q .SH DIAGNOSTICS
1.86 kristaps 243: \&.\e\*q For sections 1, 4, 6, 7, & 8 only.
1.22 kristaps 244: \&.\e\*q .SH ERRORS
1.86 kristaps 245: \&.\e\*q For sections 2, 3, & 9 only.
1.22 kristaps 246: \&.\e\*q .SH SEE ALSO
1.42 kristaps 247: \&.\e\*q .BR foo ( 1 )
1.22 kristaps 248: \&.\e\*q .SH STANDARDS
249: \&.\e\*q .SH HISTORY
250: \&.\e\*q .SH AUTHORS
251: \&.\e\*q .SH CAVEATS
252: \&.\e\*q .SH BUGS
1.33 kristaps 253: \&.\e\*q .SH SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
1.86 kristaps 254: \&.\e\*q Not used in OpenBSD.
1.32 kristaps 255: .Ed
1.41 kristaps 256: .Pp
257: The sections in a
258: .Nm
1.68 kristaps 259: document are conventionally ordered as they appear above.
260: Sections should be composed as follows:
1.42 kristaps 261: .Bl -ohang -offset indent
262: .It Em NAME
1.68 kristaps 263: The name(s) and a short description of the documented material.
264: The syntax for this is generally as follows:
1.41 kristaps 265: .Pp
266: .D1 \efBname\efR \e(en description
1.42 kristaps 267: .It Em LIBRARY
1.41 kristaps 268: The name of the library containing the documented material, which is
1.68 kristaps 269: assumed to be a function in a section 2 or 3 manual.
270: For functions in the C library, this may be as follows:
1.41 kristaps 271: .Pp
272: .D1 Standard C Library (libc, -lc)
1.42 kristaps 273: .It Em SYNOPSIS
1.41 kristaps 274: Documents the utility invocation syntax, function call syntax, or device
1.55 kristaps 275: configuration.
1.41 kristaps 276: .Pp
277: For the first, utilities (sections 1, 6, and 8), this is
278: generally structured as follows:
279: .Pp
280: .D1 \efBname\efR [-\efBab\efR] [-\efBc\efR\efIarg\efR] \efBpath\efR...
281: .Pp
282: For the second, function calls (sections 2, 3, 9):
283: .Pp
1.44 kristaps 284: .D1 \&.B char *name(char *\efIarg\efR);
1.41 kristaps 285: .Pp
286: And for the third, configurations (section 4):
287: .Pp
1.44 kristaps 288: .D1 \&.B name* at cardbus ? function ?
1.41 kristaps 289: .Pp
1.55 kristaps 290: Manuals not in these sections generally don't need a
1.42 kristaps 291: .Em SYNOPSIS .
292: .It Em DESCRIPTION
1.55 kristaps 293: This expands upon the brief, one-line description in
1.42 kristaps 294: .Em NAME .
295: It usually contains a break-down of the options (if documenting a
296: command).
297: .It Em IMPLEMENTATION NOTES
1.68 kristaps 298: Implementation-specific notes should be kept here.
299: This is useful when implementing standard functions that may have side
300: effects or notable algorithmic implications.
1.42 kristaps 301: .It Em RETURN VALUES
1.80 kristaps 302: This section documents the return values of functions in sections 2, 3, and 9.
1.42 kristaps 303: .It Em ENVIRONMENT
304: Documents any usages of environment variables, e.g.,
305: .Xr environ 7 .
306: .It Em FILES
1.68 kristaps 307: Documents files used.
1.78 schwarze 308: It's helpful to document both the file name and a short description of how
1.68 kristaps 309: the file is used (created, modified, etc.).
1.67 kristaps 310: .It Em EXIT STATUS
1.80 kristaps 311: This section documents the command exit status for
312: section 1, 6, and 8 utilities.
1.68 kristaps 313: Historically, this information was described in
1.67 kristaps 314: .Em DIAGNOSTICS ,
315: a practise that is now discouraged.
1.42 kristaps 316: .It Em EXAMPLES
1.68 kristaps 317: Example usages.
318: This often contains snippets of well-formed,
319: well-tested invocations.
1.80 kristaps 320: Make sure that examples work properly!
1.42 kristaps 321: .It Em DIAGNOSTICS
1.68 kristaps 322: Documents error conditions.
323: This is most useful in section 4 manuals.
1.42 kristaps 324: Historically, this section was used in place of
325: .Em EXIT STATUS
326: for manuals in sections 1, 6, and 8; however, this practise is
327: discouraged.
328: .It Em ERRORS
329: Documents error handling in sections 2, 3, and 9.
330: .It Em SEE ALSO
1.68 kristaps 331: References other manuals with related topics.
332: This section should exist for most manuals.
1.44 kristaps 333: .Pp
334: .D1 \&.BR bar \&( 1 \&),
335: .Pp
336: Cross-references should conventionally be ordered
1.42 kristaps 337: first by section, then alphabetically.
338: .It Em STANDARDS
339: References any standards implemented or used, such as
340: .Pp
341: .D1 IEEE Std 1003.2 (\e(lqPOSIX.2\e(rq)
342: .Pp
343: If not adhering to any standards, the
344: .Em HISTORY
345: section should be used.
346: .It Em HISTORY
1.81 schwarze 347: A brief history of the subject, including where support first appeared.
1.42 kristaps 348: .It Em AUTHORS
1.81 schwarze 349: Credits to the person or persons who wrote the code and/or documentation.
1.78 schwarze 350: Authors should generally be noted by both name and email address.
1.42 kristaps 351: .It Em CAVEATS
1.78 schwarze 352: Common misuses and misunderstandings should be explained
1.42 kristaps 353: in this section.
354: .It Em BUGS
1.80 kristaps 355: Known bugs, limitations, and work-arounds should be described
1.78 schwarze 356: in this section.
1.42 kristaps 357: .It Em SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
358: Documents any security precautions that operators should consider.
1.41 kristaps 359: .El
1.22 kristaps 360: .Sh MACRO SYNTAX
1.80 kristaps 361: Macros are one to three characters in length and begin with a
1.78 schwarze 362: control character,
1.32 kristaps 363: .Sq \&. ,
1.68 kristaps 364: at the beginning of the line.
365: The
1.59 kristaps 366: .Sq \(aq
1.68 kristaps 367: macro control character is also accepted.
368: An arbitrary amount of whitespace (spaces or tabs) may sit between the
369: control character and the macro name.
370: Thus, the following are equivalent:
1.39 kristaps 371: .Bd -literal -offset indent
372: \&.PP
373: \&.\ \ \ PP
374: .Ed
1.32 kristaps 375: .Pp
1.1 kristaps 376: The
1.32 kristaps 377: .Nm
1.68 kristaps 378: macros are classified by scope: line scope or block scope.
379: Line macros are only scoped to the current line (and, in some
380: situations, the subsequent line).
381: Block macros are scoped to the current line and subsequent lines until
382: closed by another block macro.
1.32 kristaps 383: .Ss Line Macros
1.30 kristaps 384: Line macros are generally scoped to the current line, with the body
1.68 kristaps 385: consisting of zero or more arguments.
386: If a macro is scoped to the next line and the line arguments are empty,
387: the next line, which must be text, is used instead.
388: Thus:
1.32 kristaps 389: .Bd -literal -offset indent
1.30 kristaps 390: \&.I
1.4 kristaps 391: foo
1.32 kristaps 392: .Ed
393: .Pp
1.20 kristaps 394: is equivalent to
1.32 kristaps 395: .Sq \&.I foo .
1.56 kristaps 396: If next-line macros are invoked consecutively, only the last is used.
397: If a next-line macro is followed by a non-next-line macro, an error is
1.78 schwarze 398: raised, except for
1.56 kristaps 399: .Sx \&br ,
400: .Sx \&sp ,
1.78 schwarze 401: and
402: .Sx \&na .
1.56 kristaps 403: .Pp
404: The syntax is as follows:
1.32 kristaps 405: .Bd -literal -offset indent
1.22 kristaps 406: \&.YO \(lBbody...\(rB
407: \(lBbody...\(rB
1.32 kristaps 408: .Ed
409: .Pp
1.57 kristaps 410: .Bl -column -compact -offset indent "MacroX" "ArgumentsX" "ScopeXXXXX" "CompatX"
411: .It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments Ta Em Scope Ta Em Notes
1.73 kristaps 412: .It Sx \&AT Ta <=1 Ta current Ta \&
1.57 kristaps 413: .It Sx \&B Ta n Ta next-line Ta \&
414: .It Sx \&BI Ta n Ta current Ta \&
415: .It Sx \&BR Ta n Ta current Ta \&
416: .It Sx \&DT Ta 0 Ta current Ta \&
417: .It Sx \&I Ta n Ta next-line Ta \&
418: .It Sx \&IB Ta n Ta current Ta \&
419: .It Sx \&IR Ta n Ta current Ta \&
420: .It Sx \&R Ta n Ta next-line Ta \&
421: .It Sx \&RB Ta n Ta current Ta \&
422: .It Sx \&RI Ta n Ta current Ta \&
423: .It Sx \&SB Ta n Ta next-line Ta \&
424: .It Sx \&SM Ta n Ta next-line Ta \&
425: .It Sx \&TH Ta >1, <6 Ta current Ta \&
1.73 kristaps 426: .It Sx \&UC Ta <=1 Ta current Ta \&
1.57 kristaps 427: .It Sx \&br Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat
428: .It Sx \&fi Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat
1.91 kristaps 429: .It Sx \&ft Ta 1 Ta current Ta compat
1.79 kristaps 430: .It Sx \&in Ta 1 Ta current Ta compat
1.57 kristaps 431: .It Sx \&na Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat
432: .It Sx \&nf Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat
433: .It Sx \&sp Ta 1 Ta current Ta compat
1.32 kristaps 434: .El
435: .Pp
1.57 kristaps 436: Macros marked as
437: .Qq compat
438: are included for compatibility with the significant corpus of existing
1.68 kristaps 439: manuals that mix dialects of roff.
440: These macros should not be used for portable
1.58 kristaps 441: .Nm
442: manuals.
1.32 kristaps 443: .Ss Block Macros
1.80 kristaps 444: Block macros comprise a head and body.
445: As with in-line macros, the head is scoped to the current line and, in
1.68 kristaps 446: one circumstance, the next line (the next-line stipulations as in
1.57 kristaps 447: .Sx Line Macros
448: apply here as well).
1.56 kristaps 449: .Pp
450: The syntax is as follows:
1.32 kristaps 451: .Bd -literal -offset indent
1.22 kristaps 452: \&.YO \(lBhead...\(rB
453: \(lBhead...\(rB
454: \(lBbody...\(rB
1.32 kristaps 455: .Ed
456: .Pp
1.30 kristaps 457: The closure of body scope may be to the section, where a macro is closed
458: by
1.39 kristaps 459: .Sx \&SH ;
1.30 kristaps 460: sub-section, closed by a section or
1.39 kristaps 461: .Sx \&SS ;
1.30 kristaps 462: part, closed by a section, sub-section, or
1.39 kristaps 463: .Sx \&RE ;
1.55 kristaps 464: or paragraph, closed by a section, sub-section, part,
1.39 kristaps 465: .Sx \&HP ,
466: .Sx \&IP ,
467: .Sx \&LP ,
468: .Sx \&P ,
469: .Sx \&PP ,
1.30 kristaps 470: or
1.39 kristaps 471: .Sx \&TP .
1.30 kristaps 472: No closure refers to an explicit block closing macro.
1.32 kristaps 473: .Pp
1.58 kristaps 474: As a rule, block macros may not be nested; thus, calling a block macro
475: while another block macro scope is open, and the open scope is not
476: implicitly closed, is syntactically incorrect.
477: .Pp
1.57 kristaps 478: .Bl -column -compact -offset indent "MacroX" "ArgumentsX" "Head ScopeX" "sub-sectionX" "compatX"
479: .It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments Ta Em Head Scope Ta Em Body Scope Ta Em Notes
480: .It Sx \&HP Ta <2 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \&
481: .It Sx \&IP Ta <3 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \&
482: .It Sx \&LP Ta 0 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \&
483: .It Sx \&P Ta 0 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \&
484: .It Sx \&PP Ta 0 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \&
485: .It Sx \&RE Ta 0 Ta current Ta none Ta compat
486: .It Sx \&RS Ta 1 Ta current Ta part Ta compat
487: .It Sx \&SH Ta >0 Ta next-line Ta section Ta \&
488: .It Sx \&SS Ta >0 Ta next-line Ta sub-section Ta \&
489: .It Sx \&TP Ta n Ta next-line Ta paragraph Ta \&
1.32 kristaps 490: .El
1.57 kristaps 491: .Pp
492: Macros marked
493: .Qq compat
494: are as mentioned in
495: .Sx Line Macros .
1.32 kristaps 496: .Pp
1.22 kristaps 497: If a block macro is next-line scoped, it may only be followed by in-line
1.57 kristaps 498: macros for decorating text.
1.22 kristaps 499: .Sh REFERENCE
500: This section is a canonical reference to all macros, arranged
1.68 kristaps 501: alphabetically.
502: For the scoping of individual macros, see
1.32 kristaps 503: .Sx MACRO SYNTAX .
1.72 joerg 504: .Ss \&AT
505: Sets the volume for the footer for compatibility with man pages from
506: .Tn AT&T UNIX
507: releases.
508: The optional arguments specify which release it is from.
1.39 kristaps 509: .Ss \&B
1.22 kristaps 510: Text is rendered in bold face.
1.44 kristaps 511: .Pp
512: See also
1.92 kristaps 513: .Sx \&I
1.44 kristaps 514: and
1.92 kristaps 515: .Sx \&R .
1.39 kristaps 516: .Ss \&BI
1.68 kristaps 517: Text is rendered alternately in bold face and italic.
518: Thus,
1.32 kristaps 519: .Sq .BI this word and that
1.22 kristaps 520: causes
1.32 kristaps 521: .Sq this
1.22 kristaps 522: and
1.32 kristaps 523: .Sq and
1.55 kristaps 524: to render in bold face, while
1.32 kristaps 525: .Sq word
1.22 kristaps 526: and
1.32 kristaps 527: .Sq that
1.68 kristaps 528: render in italics.
529: Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
1.44 kristaps 530: .Pp
531: Examples:
1.46 kristaps 532: .Pp
1.93 kristaps 533: .Dl \&.BI bold italic bold italic
1.44 kristaps 534: .Pp
535: The output of this example will be emboldened
536: .Dq bold
537: and italicised
538: .Dq italic ,
539: with spaces stripped between arguments.
540: .Pp
541: See also
542: .Sx \&IB ,
543: .Sx \&BR ,
544: .Sx \&RB ,
545: .Sx \&RI ,
546: and
547: .Sx \&IR .
1.39 kristaps 548: .Ss \&BR
1.22 kristaps 549: Text is rendered alternately in bold face and roman (the default font).
550: Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
1.44 kristaps 551: .Pp
552: See
553: .Sx \&BI
554: for an equivalent example.
555: .Pp
556: See also
557: .Sx \&BI ,
558: .Sx \&IB ,
559: .Sx \&RB ,
560: .Sx \&RI ,
561: and
562: .Sx \&IR .
1.39 kristaps 563: .Ss \&DT
1.68 kristaps 564: Has no effect.
565: Included for compatibility.
1.39 kristaps 566: .Ss \&HP
1.23 kristaps 567: Begin a paragraph whose initial output line is left-justified, but
1.27 kristaps 568: subsequent output lines are indented, with the following syntax:
1.44 kristaps 569: .Bd -filled -offset indent
570: .Pf \. Sx \&HP
571: .Op Cm width
1.32 kristaps 572: .Ed
1.44 kristaps 573: .Pp
574: The
575: .Cm width
576: argument must conform to
577: .Sx Scaling Widths .
578: If specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if unspecified, the
579: saved or default width is used.
580: .Pp
581: See also
1.45 kristaps 582: .Sx \&IP ,
583: .Sx \&LP ,
584: .Sx \&P ,
585: .Sx \&PP ,
1.44 kristaps 586: and
1.45 kristaps 587: .Sx \&TP .
1.39 kristaps 588: .Ss \&I
1.22 kristaps 589: Text is rendered in italics.
1.44 kristaps 590: .Pp
591: See also
1.92 kristaps 592: .Sx \&B
1.44 kristaps 593: and
1.92 kristaps 594: .Sx \&R .
1.39 kristaps 595: .Ss \&IB
1.80 kristaps 596: Text is rendered alternately in italics and bold face.
597: Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
1.44 kristaps 598: .Pp
599: See
600: .Sx \&BI
601: for an equivalent example.
602: .Pp
603: See also
604: .Sx \&BI ,
605: .Sx \&BR ,
606: .Sx \&RB ,
607: .Sx \&RI ,
608: and
609: .Sx \&IR .
1.39 kristaps 610: .Ss \&IP
1.44 kristaps 611: Begin an indented paragraph with the following syntax:
612: .Bd -filled -offset indent
613: .Pf \. Sx \&IP
614: .Op Cm head Op Cm width
1.32 kristaps 615: .Ed
1.44 kristaps 616: .Pp
617: The
618: .Cm width
619: argument defines the width of the left margin and is defined by
1.80 kristaps 620: .Sx Scaling Widths .
1.44 kristaps 621: It's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if unspecified, the saved or
622: default width is used.
623: .Pp
624: The
625: .Cm head
1.68 kristaps 626: argument is used as a leading term, flushed to the left margin.
627: This is useful for bulleted paragraphs and so on.
1.44 kristaps 628: .Pp
629: See also
1.45 kristaps 630: .Sx \&HP ,
631: .Sx \&LP ,
632: .Sx \&P ,
633: .Sx \&PP ,
1.44 kristaps 634: and
1.45 kristaps 635: .Sx \&TP .
1.39 kristaps 636: .Ss \&IR
1.22 kristaps 637: Text is rendered alternately in italics and roman (the default font).
638: Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
1.44 kristaps 639: .Pp
640: See
641: .Sx \&BI
642: for an equivalent example.
643: .Pp
644: See also
645: .Sx \&BI ,
646: .Sx \&IB ,
647: .Sx \&BR ,
648: .Sx \&RB ,
649: and
650: .Sx \&RI .
1.39 kristaps 651: .Ss \&LP
1.68 kristaps 652: Begin an undecorated paragraph.
653: The scope of a paragraph is closed by a subsequent paragraph,
654: sub-section, section, or end of file.
1.78 schwarze 655: The saved paragraph left-margin width is reset to the default.
1.44 kristaps 656: .Pp
657: See also
1.45 kristaps 658: .Sx \&HP ,
659: .Sx \&IP ,
660: .Sx \&P ,
661: .Sx \&PP ,
1.44 kristaps 662: and
1.45 kristaps 663: .Sx \&TP .
1.39 kristaps 664: .Ss \&P
665: Synonym for
666: .Sx \&LP .
1.44 kristaps 667: .Pp
668: See also
1.45 kristaps 669: .Sx \&HP ,
670: .Sx \&IP ,
671: .Sx \&LP ,
672: .Sx \&PP ,
1.44 kristaps 673: and
1.45 kristaps 674: .Sx \&TP .
1.39 kristaps 675: .Ss \&PP
676: Synonym for
677: .Sx \&LP .
1.44 kristaps 678: .Pp
679: See also
1.45 kristaps 680: .Sx \&HP ,
681: .Sx \&IP ,
682: .Sx \&LP ,
683: .Sx \&P ,
1.44 kristaps 684: and
1.45 kristaps 685: .Sx \&TP .
1.39 kristaps 686: .Ss \&R
1.22 kristaps 687: Text is rendered in roman (the default font).
1.44 kristaps 688: .Pp
689: See also
1.92 kristaps 690: .Sx \&I
1.44 kristaps 691: and
1.92 kristaps 692: .Sx \&B .
1.39 kristaps 693: .Ss \&RB
1.22 kristaps 694: Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and bold face.
695: Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
1.44 kristaps 696: .Pp
697: See
698: .Sx \&BI
699: for an equivalent example.
700: .Pp
701: See also
702: .Sx \&BI ,
703: .Sx \&IB ,
704: .Sx \&BR ,
705: .Sx \&RI ,
706: and
707: .Sx \&IR .
1.39 kristaps 708: .Ss \&RE
1.30 kristaps 709: Explicitly close out the scope of a prior
1.39 kristaps 710: .Sx \&RS .
711: .Ss \&RI
1.22 kristaps 712: Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and italics.
713: Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
1.44 kristaps 714: .Pp
715: See
716: .Sx \&BI
717: for an equivalent example.
718: .Pp
719: See also
720: .Sx \&BI ,
721: .Sx \&IB ,
722: .Sx \&BR ,
723: .Sx \&RB ,
724: and
725: .Sx \&IR .
1.39 kristaps 726: .Ss \&RS
1.68 kristaps 727: Begin a part setting the left margin.
728: The left margin controls the offset, following an initial indentation,
729: to un-indented text such as that of
1.39 kristaps 730: .Sx \&PP .
1.44 kristaps 731: This has the following syntax:
732: .Bd -filled -offset indent
733: .Pf \. Sx \&Rs
734: .Op Cm width
1.32 kristaps 735: .Ed
1.44 kristaps 736: .Pp
737: The
738: .Cm width
739: argument must conform to
740: .Sx Scaling Widths .
1.55 kristaps 741: If not specified, the saved or default width is used.
1.39 kristaps 742: .Ss \&SB
1.22 kristaps 743: Text is rendered in small size (one point smaller than the default font)
744: bold face.
1.39 kristaps 745: .Ss \&SH
1.68 kristaps 746: Begin a section.
747: The scope of a section is only closed by another section or the end of
748: file.
1.78 schwarze 749: The paragraph left-margin width is reset to the default.
1.39 kristaps 750: .Ss \&SM
1.22 kristaps 751: Text is rendered in small size (one point smaller than the default
752: font).
1.39 kristaps 753: .Ss \&SS
1.68 kristaps 754: Begin a sub-section.
755: The scope of a sub-section is closed by a subsequent sub-section,
756: section, or end of file.
1.78 schwarze 757: The paragraph left-margin width is reset to the default.
1.39 kristaps 758: .Ss \&TH
1.22 kristaps 759: Sets the title of the manual page with the following syntax:
1.44 kristaps 760: .Bd -filled -offset indent
761: .Pf \. Sx \&TH
762: .Cm title section
763: .Op Cm date Op Cm source Op Cm volume
764: .Ed
1.43 kristaps 765: .Pp
1.78 schwarze 766: At least the upper-case document
1.43 kristaps 767: .Cm title
1.78 schwarze 768: and the manual
1.44 kristaps 769: .Cm section
1.68 kristaps 770: arguments must be provided.
771: The
1.43 kristaps 772: .Cm date
773: argument should be formatted as described in
1.74 kristaps 774: .Sx Dates ,
775: but will be printed verbatim if it is not.
776: If the date is not specified, the current date is used.
1.68 kristaps 777: The
1.44 kristaps 778: .Cm source
1.68 kristaps 779: string specifies the organisation providing the utility.
780: The
1.44 kristaps 781: .Cm volume
1.43 kristaps 782: string replaces the default rendered volume, which is dictated by the
783: manual section.
784: .Pp
785: Examples:
1.46 kristaps 786: .Pp
1.93 kristaps 787: .Dl \&.TH CVS 5 "1992-02-12" GNU
1.39 kristaps 788: .Ss \&TP
1.25 kristaps 789: Begin a paragraph where the head, if exceeding the indentation width, is
1.24 kristaps 790: followed by a newline; if not, the body follows on the same line after a
1.68 kristaps 791: buffer to the indentation width.
792: Subsequent output lines are indented.
1.44 kristaps 793: The syntax is as follows:
794: .Bd -filled -offset indent
795: .Pf \. Sx \&TP
796: .Op Cm width
1.32 kristaps 797: .Ed
798: .Pp
1.44 kristaps 799: The
800: .Cm width
801: argument must conform to
802: .Sx Scaling Widths .
803: If specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if
1.27 kristaps 804: unspecified, the saved or default width is used.
1.44 kristaps 805: .Pp
806: See also
1.45 kristaps 807: .Sx \&HP ,
808: .Sx \&IP ,
809: .Sx \&LP ,
810: .Sx \&P ,
1.44 kristaps 811: and
1.45 kristaps 812: .Sx \&PP .
1.72 joerg 813: .Ss \&UC
814: Sets the volume for the footer for compatibility with man pages from
815: BSD releases.
816: The optional first argument specifies which release it is from.
1.39 kristaps 817: .Ss \&br
1.68 kristaps 818: Breaks the current line.
819: Consecutive invocations have no further effect.
1.44 kristaps 820: .Pp
821: See also
822: .Sx \&sp .
1.39 kristaps 823: .Ss \&fi
1.22 kristaps 824: End literal mode begun by
1.39 kristaps 825: .Sx \&nf .
1.91 kristaps 826: .Ss \&ft
827: Change the current font mode.
828: See
829: .Sx Text Decoration
830: for a listing of available font modes.
1.79 kristaps 831: .Ss \&in
832: Indent relative to the current indentation:
833: .Pp
834: .D1 Pf \. Sx \&in Op Cm width
835: .Pp
836: If
837: .Cm width
838: is signed, the new offset is relative.
839: Otherwise, it is absolute.
840: This value is reset upon the next paragraph, section, or sub-section.
1.39 kristaps 841: .Ss \&na
1.36 kristaps 842: Don't align to the right margin.
1.39 kristaps 843: .Ss \&nf
1.22 kristaps 844: Begin literal mode: all subsequent free-form lines have their end of
1.68 kristaps 845: line boundaries preserved.
846: May be ended by
1.39 kristaps 847: .Sx \&fi .
848: .Ss \&sp
1.44 kristaps 849: Insert vertical spaces into output with the following syntax:
850: .Bd -filled -offset indent
851: .Pf \. Sx \&sp
852: .Op Cm height
853: .Ed
854: .Pp
1.55 kristaps 855: Insert
1.44 kristaps 856: .Cm height
857: spaces, which must conform to
858: .Sx Scaling Widths .
859: If 0, this is equivalent to the
1.39 kristaps 860: .Sx \&br
1.68 kristaps 861: macro.
862: Defaults to 1, if unspecified.
1.44 kristaps 863: .Pp
864: See also
865: .Sx \&br .
1.18 kristaps 866: .Sh COMPATIBILITY
1.58 kristaps 867: This section documents areas of questionable portability between
868: implementations of the
869: .Nm
870: language.
1.51 kristaps 871: .Pp
872: .Bl -dash -compact
1.77 kristaps 873: .It
1.58 kristaps 874: In quoted literals, GNU troff allowed pair-wise double-quotes to produce
1.68 kristaps 875: a standalone double-quote in formatted output.
876: It is not known whether this behaviour is exhibited by other formatters.
1.32 kristaps 877: .It
1.82 kristaps 878: troff suppresses a newline before
879: .Sq \(aq
880: macro output; in mandoc, it is an alias for the standard
881: .Sq \&.
882: control character.
883: .It
884: The
885: .Sq \eh
886: .Pq horizontal position ,
887: .Sq \ev
888: .Pq vertical position ,
889: .Sq \em
890: .Pq text colour ,
891: .Sq \eM
892: .Pq text filling colour ,
1.83 kristaps 893: .Sq \ez
894: .Pq zero-length character ,
1.84 kristaps 895: .Sq \ew
896: .Pq string length ,
1.85 kristaps 897: .Sq \ek
898: .Pq horizontal position marker ,
1.87 kristaps 899: .Sq \eo
900: .Pq text overstrike ,
1.82 kristaps 901: and
902: .Sq \es
903: .Pq text size
1.84 kristaps 904: escape sequences are all discarded in mandoc.
1.82 kristaps 905: .It
906: The
907: .Sq \ef
908: scaling unit is accepted by mandoc, but rendered as the default unit.
909: .It
1.23 kristaps 910: The
1.51 kristaps 911: .Sx \&sp
1.68 kristaps 912: macro does not accept negative values in mandoc.
913: In GNU troff, this would result in strange behaviour.
1.32 kristaps 914: .El
1.1 kristaps 915: .Sh SEE ALSO
1.89 schwarze 916: .Xr man 1 ,
1.32 kristaps 917: .Xr mandoc 1 ,
1.89 schwarze 918: .Xr mandoc_char 7 ,
1.94 kristaps 919: .Xr mdoc 7 ,
920: .Xr roff 7 ,
921: .Xr tbl 7
1.78 schwarze 922: .Sh HISTORY
923: The
924: .Nm
925: language first appeared as a macro package for the roff typesetting
926: system in
927: .At v7 .
928: It was later rewritten by James Clark as a macro package for groff.
929: The stand-alone implementation that is part of the
930: .Xr mandoc 1
931: utility written by Kristaps Dzonsons appeared in
1.80 kristaps 932: .Ox 4.6 .
1.1 kristaps 933: .Sh AUTHORS
1.78 schwarze 934: This
1.32 kristaps 935: .Nm
1.23 kristaps 936: reference was written by
1.62 kristaps 937: .An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq kristaps@bsd.lv .
1.1 kristaps 938: .Sh CAVEATS
1.68 kristaps 939: Do not use this language.
940: Use
1.32 kristaps 941: .Xr mdoc 7 ,
1.1 kristaps 942: instead.
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