version 1.24, 2009/06/11 07:26:35 |
version 1.33, 2009/06/25 10:51:21 |
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language is used to format |
language is used to format |
.Bx |
.Bx |
.Ux |
.Ux |
manuals. In this reference document, we describe the syntax, ontology |
manuals. In this reference document, we describe the syntax and |
and structure of the |
structure of the |
.Nm |
.Nm |
language. |
language. Our reference implementation is |
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.Xr mandoc 1 . |
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The |
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.Sx COMPATIBILITY |
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section describes compatibility with |
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.Xr groff 1 . |
.\" PARAGRAPH |
.\" PARAGRAPH |
.Pp |
.Pp |
An |
An |
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.Sq \&.Bd \-unfilled |
.Sq \&.Bd \-unfilled |
contexts. |
contexts. |
.\" SUB-SECTION |
.\" SUB-SECTION |
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.Ss Comments |
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Anything following a |
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.Sq \e" |
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delimiter is considered a comment (unless the |
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.Sq \e |
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itself has been escaped) and is ignored to the end of line. |
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Furthermore, a macro line with only a control character |
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.Sq \. , |
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optionally followed by whitespace, is ignored. |
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.\" SUB-SECTION |
.Ss Reserved Characters |
.Ss Reserved Characters |
Within a macro line, the following characters are reserved: |
Within a macro line, the following characters are reserved: |
.Bl -tag -width 12n -offset XXXX -compact |
.Bl -tag -width Ds -offset XXXX -compact |
.It \&. |
.It \&. |
.Pq period |
.Pq period |
.It \&, |
.It \&, |
Line 96 Within a macro line, the following characters are rese |
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Line 111 Within a macro line, the following characters are rese |
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.Pq question |
.Pq question |
.It \&! |
.It \&! |
.Pq exclamation |
.Pq exclamation |
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.It \&| |
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.Pq vertical bar |
.El |
.El |
.\" PARAGRAPH |
.\" PARAGRAPH |
.Pp |
.Pp |
Line 122 Characters may alternatively be escaped by a slash-ast |
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Line 139 Characters may alternatively be escaped by a slash-ast |
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with the same combinations as described above. This form is deprecated. |
with the same combinations as described above. This form is deprecated. |
.\" SECTION |
.\" SECTION |
.Sh STRUCTURE |
.Sh STRUCTURE |
Macros are classified in an ontology described by their scope rules. |
Each |
Some macros are allowed to deviate from their classifications to |
.Nm |
preserve backward-compatibility with old macro combinations still found |
document must begin with the document prologue, containing, in order, |
in the manual corpus. These are specifically noted on a per-macro |
.Sq \&.Dd , |
basis. |
.Sq \&.Dt , |
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and |
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.Sq \&.Os . |
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Following these, the document body must begin with the NAME section |
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containing at least one |
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.Sq \&.Nm |
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followed by a |
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.Sq \&.Nd |
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macro. |
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.Pp |
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At least one free-form or macro line must follow this prologue. |
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.\" |
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.Ss Classification |
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Macros are classified by their scope rules. Some macros are allowed to |
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deviate from their classifications to preserve backward-compatibility |
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with old macro combinations still found in the manual corpus. These are |
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specifically noted on a per-macro basis. |
.\" SUB-SECTION |
.\" SUB-SECTION |
.Ss Scope |
.Ss Scope |
.Bl -inset |
.Bl -inset |
Line 261 In-lines have \(>=0 scoped arguments. |
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Line 294 In-lines have \(>=0 scoped arguments. |
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\&.Yy \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB arg0 arg1 argN |
\&.Yy \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB arg0 arg1 argN |
.Ed |
.Ed |
.\" |
.\" SECTION |
.Sh MACROS |
.Sh MACROS |
This section contains a complete list of all |
This section contains a complete list of all |
.Nm |
.Nm |
macros, arranged ontologically. A |
macros, arranged by classification. A |
.Qq callable |
.Qq callable |
macro is invoked subsequent to the initial macro-line macro. A |
macro is invoked subsequent to the initial macro-line macro. A |
.Qq parsable |
.Qq parsable |
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.Pc |
.Pc |
don't have heads. |
don't have heads. |
.Pp |
.Pp |
.Bl -column "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsableX" "Closing" -compact -offset XXXX |
.Bl -column -compact -offset XXXX "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsableX" "Closing" |
.It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsable Ta Em Closing |
.It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsable Ta Em Closing |
.It \&.Sh Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta \&.Sh |
.It \&.Sh Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta \&.Sh |
.It \&.Ss Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta \&.Sh, \&.Ss |
.It \&.Ss Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta \&.Sh, \&.Ss |
Line 296 None of these macros are callable or parsed. The last |
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Line 329 None of these macros are callable or parsed. The last |
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the explicit scope rules. All contains bodies, some may contain heads |
the explicit scope rules. All contains bodies, some may contain heads |
.Pq So \&Bf Sc . |
.Pq So \&Bf Sc . |
.Pp |
.Pp |
.Bl -column "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsableX" "closed by XXX" -compact -offset XXXX |
.Bl -column -compact -offset XXXX "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsableX" "closed by XXX" |
.It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsable Ta Em Scope |
.It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsable Ta Em Scope |
.It \&.Bd Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by \&.Ed |
.It \&.Bd Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by \&.Ed |
.It \&.Ed Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta opened by \&.Bd |
.It \&.Ed Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta opened by \&.Bd |
Line 393 then the macro accepts an arbitrary number of argument |
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Line 426 then the macro accepts an arbitrary number of argument |
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.It \&.Os Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta n |
.It \&.Os Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta n |
.It \&.Pp Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0 |
.It \&.Pp Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0 |
.It \&.Ad Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n |
.It \&.Ad Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n |
.It \&.An Ta \&No Ta Yes Ta n |
.It \&.An Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n |
.It \&.Ar Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n |
.It \&.Ar Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n |
.It \&.Cd Ta Yes Ta \&No Ta >0 |
.It \&.Cd Ta Yes Ta \&No Ta >0 |
.It \&.Cm Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n |
.It \&.Cm Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n |
Line 405 then the macro accepts an arbitrary number of argument |
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Line 438 then the macro accepts an arbitrary number of argument |
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.It \&.Fd Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0 |
.It \&.Fd Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0 |
.It \&.Fl Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n |
.It \&.Fl Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n |
.It \&.Fn Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0 |
.It \&.Fn Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0 |
.It \&.Ft Ta \&No Ta Yes Ta n |
.It \&.Ft Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n |
.It \&.Ic Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0 |
.It \&.Ic Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0 |
.It \&.In Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta n |
.It \&.In Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta n |
.It \&.Li Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n |
.It \&.Li Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n |
Line 436 then the macro accepts an arbitrary number of argument |
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Line 469 then the macro accepts an arbitrary number of argument |
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.It \&.Db Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 1 |
.It \&.Db Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 1 |
.It \&.Em Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0 |
.It \&.Em Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0 |
.It \&.Fx Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n |
.It \&.Fx Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n |
.It \&.Ms Ta \&No Ta Yes Ta >0 |
.It \&.Ms Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0 |
.It \&.No Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta 0 |
.It \&.No Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta 0 |
.It \&.Ns Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta 0 |
.It \&.Ns Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta 0 |
.It \&.Nx Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n |
.It \&.Nx Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n |
Line 455 then the macro accepts an arbitrary number of argument |
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Line 488 then the macro accepts an arbitrary number of argument |
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.It \&.Lb Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 1 |
.It \&.Lb Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 1 |
.It \&.Ap Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta 0 |
.It \&.Ap Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta 0 |
.It \&.Lp Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0 |
.It \&.Lp Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0 |
.It \&.Lk Ta \&No Ta Yes Ta >0 |
.It \&.Lk Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n |
.It \&.Mt Ta \&No Ta Yes Ta >0 |
.It \&.Mt Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0 |
.It \&.Es Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0 |
.It \&.Es Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0 |
.It \&.En Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0 |
.It \&.En Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0 |
.El |
.El |
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macros are obsolete. |
macros are obsolete. |
.\" SECTION |
.\" SECTION |
.Sh COMPATIBILITY |
.Sh COMPATIBILITY |
The mdoc language was traditionally a |
This section documents compatibility with other roff implementations, at |
.Qq roff |
this time limited to |
macro package; most existing manuals were written with mdoc syntax |
.Xr groff 1 . |
dictated by system-dependent roff installations. This section documents |
The term |
compatibility with these systems. |
.Qq historic groff |
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refers to those versions before the |
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.Pa doc.tmac |
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file re-write |
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.Pq somewhere between 1.15 and 1.19 . |
.Pp |
.Pp |
.Bl -dash -compact |
.Bl -dash -compact |
.\" LIST-ITEM |
.\" LIST-ITEM |
.It |
.It |
.Sq \&.Fo |
Historic groff has many un-callable macros. Most of these (excluding |
and |
some block-level macros) are now callable, conforming to the |
.Sq \&.St |
non-historic groff version. |
historically weren't always callable. Both are now correctly callable. |
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.\" LIST-ITEM |
.\" LIST-ITEM |
.It |
.It |
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The vertical bar |
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.Sq \(Ba |
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made historic groff |
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.Qq go orbital |
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but is a proper delimiter in this implementation. |
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.\" LIST-ITEM |
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.It |
.Sq \&.It \-nested |
.Sq \&.It \-nested |
is assumed for all lists: any list may be nested and |
is assumed for all lists (it wasn't in historic groff): any list may be |
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nested and |
.Sq \-enum |
.Sq \-enum |
lists will restart the sequence only for the sub-list. |
lists will restart the sequence only for the sub-list. |
.\" LIST-ITEM |
.\" LIST-ITEM |
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macro only accepts a single parameter. |
macro only accepts a single parameter. |
.\" LIST-ITEM |
.\" LIST-ITEM |
.It |
.It |
The system-name macros ( |
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.Ns Sq \&.At , |
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.Sq \&.Bsx , |
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.Sq \&.Bx , |
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.Sq \&.Fx , |
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.Sq \&.Nx , |
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.Sq \&.Ox , |
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and |
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.Sq \&.Ux ) |
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are callable. |
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.\" LIST-ITEM |
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.It |
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Some manuals use |
Some manuals use |
.Sq \&.Li |
.Sq \&.Li |
incorrectly by following it with a reserved character and expecting the |
incorrectly by following it with a reserved character and expecting the |
delimiter to render. This is not supported. |
delimiter to render. This is not supported. |
.\" LIST-ITEM |
.\" LIST-ITEM |
.It |
.It |
.Sq \&.Cd |
If an special-character control character |
is callable. |
.Sq \e |
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is escaped, it will |
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obviously not render the sequence. Even newer versions of groff seem to |
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dither on this. |
.El |
.El |
.\" SECTION |
.\" SECTION |
.Sh SEE ALSO |
.Sh SEE ALSO |
Line 534 utility was written by |
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Line 569 utility was written by |
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.An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq kristaps@kth.se . |
.An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq kristaps@kth.se . |
.\" SECTION |
.\" SECTION |
.Sh CAVEATS |
.Sh CAVEATS |
There are several ambiguous parts of mdoc. |
There are many ambiguous parts of mdoc. |
.Pp |
.Pp |
.Bl -dash -compact |
.Bl -dash -compact |
.\" LIST-ITEM |
.\" LIST-ITEM |
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There's no way to refer to references in |
There's no way to refer to references in |
.Sq \&.Rs/.Re |
.Sq \&.Rs/.Re |
blocks. |
blocks. |
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.\" LIST-ITEM |
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.It |
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The \-split and \-nosplit arguments to |
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.Sq \&.An |
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are inane. |
.El |
.El |