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Diff for /mandoc/mdoc.7 between version 1.131 and 1.139

version 1.131, 2010/07/05 13:12:32

version 1.139, 2010/07/19 15:43:10

Line 27 The

language is used to format

.Bx

.Ux

manuals. In this reference document, we describe its syntax, structure,

manuals.

and usage. Our reference implementation is mandoc; the

In this reference document, we describe its syntax, structure, and

usage.

Our reference implementation is mandoc; the

.Sx COMPATIBILITY

section describes compatibility with other troff \-mdoc implementations.

.Pp

Line 37 An

Line 39 An

document follows simple rules: lines beginning with the control

character

.Sq \.

are parsed for macros. Other lines are interpreted within the scope of

are parsed for macros.

Other lines are interpreted within the scope of

prior macros:

.Bd -literal -offset indent

\&.Sh Macro lines change control state.

Line 46 Other lines are interpreted within the current state.

Line 49 Other lines are interpreted within the current state.

.Sh LANGUAGE SYNTAX

.Nm

documents may contain only graphable 7-bit ASCII characters, the space

character, and, in certain circumstances, the tab character. All

character, and, in certain circumstances, the tab character.

manuals must have

All manuals must have

.Ux

line terminators.

.Ss Comments

Text following a

.Sq \e" ,

.Sq \e\*q ,

whether in a macro or free-form text line, is ignored to the end of

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

line.

.Sq \&.\e" ,

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

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

.Sq \&.\e\*q ,

whitespace are stripped from input.

is also ignored.

Macro lines with only a control character and optionally whitespace are

stripped from input.

.Ss Reserved Characters

Within a macro line, the following characters are reserved:

.Pp

Line 135 If

Line 140 If

is specified outside of any font scope, such as in unenclosed, free-form

text, it will affect the remainder of the document.

.Pp

Text may also be sized with the

Note this form is

.Sq \es

escape, whose syntax is one of

.Sq \es+-n

for one-digit numerals;

.Sq \es(+-nn

.Sq \es+-(nn

for two-digit numerals; and

.Sq \es[+-N] ,

.Sq \es+-[N] ,

.Sq \es'+-N' ,

.Sq \es+-'N'

for arbitrary-digit numerals:

.Pp

.D1 \es+1bigger\es-1

.D1 \es[+10]much bigger\es[-10]

.D1 \es+(10much bigger\es-(10

.D1 \es+'100'much much bigger\es-'100'

.Pp

Note these forms are

.Em not

recommended for

.Nm ,

Line 466 section, particularly

Line 450 section, particularly

.Sx \&Vt ,

and

.Sx \&Ft .

All of these macros are output on their own line. If two such

All of these macros are output on their own line.

dissimilar macros are pair-wise invoked (except for

If two such dissimilar macros are pair-wise invoked (except for

.Sx \&Ft

before

.Sx \&Fo

Line 879 For the scoping of individual macros, see

Line 863 For the scoping of individual macros, see

.Ss \&%A

Author name of an

.Sx \&Rs

block. Multiple authors should each be accorded their own

block.

Multiple authors should each be accorded their own

.Sx \%%A

line. Author names should be ordered with full or abbreviated

line.

forename(s) first, then full surname.

Author names should be ordered with full or abbreviated forename(s)

first, then full surname.

.Ss \&%B

Book title of an

.Sx \&Rs

block. This macro may also be used in a non-bibliographic context when

block.

This macro may also be used in a non-bibliographic context when

referring to book titles.

.Ss \&%C

Publication city or location of an

Line 899 this macro is not implemented in

Line 886 this macro is not implemented in

.Ss \&%D

Publication date of an

.Sx \&Rs

block. This should follow the reduced or canonical form syntax

block.

described in

This should follow the reduced or canonical form syntax described in

.Sx Dates .

.Ss \&%I

Publisher or issuer name of an

Line 925 block.

Line 912 block.

.Ss \&%Q

Institutional author (school, government, etc.) of an

.Sx \&Rs

block. Multiple institutional authors should each be accorded their own

block.

Multiple institutional authors should each be accorded their own

.Sx \&%Q

line.

.Ss \&%R

Line 935 block.

Line 923 block.

.Ss \&%T

Article title of an

.Sx \&Rs

block. This macro may also be used in a non-bibliographical context

block.

when referring to article titles.

This macro may also be used in a non-bibliographical context when

referring to article titles.

.Ss \&%U

URI of reference document.

.Ss \&%V

Line 946 block.

Line 935 block.

.Ss \&Ac

Closes an

.Sx \&Ao

block. Does not have any tail arguments.

block.

Does not have any tail arguments.

.Ss \&Ad

Address construct: usually in the context of an computational address in

memory, not a physical (post) address.

Line 997 Examples:

Line 987 Examples:

See also

.Sx \&Aq .

.Ss \&Ap

Inserts an apostrophe without any surrounding white-space.

Inserts an apostrophe without any surrounding whitespace.

This is generally used as a grammatical device when referring to the verb

form of a function:

.Bd -literal -offset indent

Line 1061 and

Line 1051 and

.Ss \&Bc

Closes a

.Sx \&Bo

block. Does not have any tail arguments.

block.

Does not have any tail arguments.

.Ss \&Bd

Begins a display block.

Its syntax is as follows:

Line 1178 See also

Line 1169 See also

and

.Sx \&Sy .

.Ss \&Bk

Begins a keep block, containing a collection of macros or text

Begins a collection of macros or text not breaking the line.

to be kept together in the output.

Its syntax is as follows:

.Pp

.D1 Pf \. Sx \&Bk Fl words

.Pp

Currently, the only argument implemented is

.Fl words ,

requesting to keep together all words of the contained text

on the same output line.

Subsequent arguments are ignored.

The

.Fl words

argument is required.

.Pp

Examples:

Each line within a keep block is kept intact, so the following example

will not break within each

.Sx \&Op

macro line:

.Bd -literal -offset indent

\&.Bk \-words

\&.Op o Ar output_file

\&.Op Fl f Ar flags

\&.Op Fl o Ar output

\&.Ek

.Ed

.Pp

See also

Be careful in using over-long lines within a keep block!

.Sx \&Ek .

Doing so will clobber the right margin.

.Ss \&Bl

Begins a list composed of one or more list entries.

Its syntax is as follows:

Line 1308 The

Line 1301 The

.Fl width

argument is ignored.

.It Fl tag

A list offset by list entry heads. List entry bodies are positioned

A list offset by list entry heads.

after the head as specified by the

List entry bodies are positioned after the head as specified by the

.Fl width

argument.

.El

Line 1347 See also

Line 1340 See also

.Ss \&Brc

Closes a

.Sx \&Bro

block. Does not have any tail arguments.

block.

Does not have any tail arguments.

.Ss \&Bro

Begins a block enclosed by curly braces.

Does not have any head arguments.

Line 1415 Examples:

Line 1409 Examples:

.Pp

.Em Remarks :

this macro is commonly abused by using quoted literals to retain

white-space and align consecutive

whitespace and align consecutive

.Sx \&Cd

declarations.

This practise is discouraged.

Line 1451 Its syntax is as follows:

Line 1445 Its syntax is as follows:

.Ss \&Dc

Closes a

.Sx \&Do

block. Does not have any tail arguments.

block.

Does not have any tail arguments.

.Ss \&Dd

Document date.

This is the mandatory first macro of any

Line 1494 See also

Line 1489 See also

and

.Sx \&D1 .

.Ss \&Do

Begins a block enclosed by double quotes. Does not have any head

Begins a block enclosed by double quotes.

arguments.

Does not have any head arguments.

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.D1 \&Do April is the cruellest month \&Dc \e(em T.S. Eliot

Line 1503 Examples:

Line 1498 Examples:

See also

.Sx \&Dq .

.Ss \&Dq

Encloses its arguments in double quotes.

Encloses its arguments in

.Dq typographic

double-quotes.

.Pp

Examples:

.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact

Line 1512 Examples:

Line 1509 Examples:

.Ed

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Qq ,

.Sx \&Sq ,

and

.Sx \&Do .

.Ss \&Dt

Document title.

Line 1534 Its arguments are as follows:

.Bl -tag -width Ds -offset Ds

.It Cm title

The document's title (name), defaulting to

.Qq UNKNOWN

.Dq UNKNOWN

if unspecified.

It should be capitalised.

.It Cm section

Line 1574 or

.Ar paper

.Pq paper .

It should correspond to the manual's filename suffix and defaults to

.Qq 1

.Dq 1

if unspecified.

.It Cm volume

This overrides the volume inferred from

Line 1715 stylistically decorating technical terms.

Examples:

.D1 \&.Em Warnings!

.D1 \&.Em Remarks :

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Bf ,

.Sx \&Sy ,

and

.Sx \&Li .

.Ss \&En

This macro is obsolete and not implemented.

.Ss \&Eo

An arbitrary enclosure.

Its syntax is as follows:

Line 1737 Examples:

Line 1744 Examples:

See also

.Sx \&Dv .

.Ss \&Es

This macro is obsolete and not implemented.

.Ss \&Ev

Environmental variables such as those specified in

.Xr environ 7 .

Line 1745 Examples:

Line 1753 Examples:

.D1 \&.Ev DISPLAY

.D1 \&.Ev PATH

.Ss \&Ex

Inserts text regarding a utility's exit values.

Inserts text regarding a utility's exit value.

This macro must have first the

This macro must consist of the

.Fl std

argument specified, then an optional

argument followed by an optional

.Ar utility .

.Ar utility

is not provided, the document's name as stipulated in

.Sx \&Nm

is provided.

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Rv .

.Ss \&Fa

Function argument.

Its syntax is as follows:

Line 1874 See also

Line 1885 See also

.Sx \&Fa ,

.Sx \&Fc ,

and

.Sx \&Ft .

.Ss \&Ft

A function type.

Its syntax is as follows:

Line 1910 See also

Line 1922 See also

and

.Sx \&Ux .

.Ss \&Hf

This macro is obsolete and not implemented.

.Ss \&Ic

Designate an internal or interactive command.

This is similar to

.Sx \&Cm

but used for instructions rather than values.

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.Ic hash

.D1 \&.Ic alias

.Pp

Note that using

.Sx \&Bd No Fl literal

.Sx \&D1

is preferred for displaying code; the

.Sx \&Ic

macro is used when referring to specific instructions.

.Ss \&In

.Qq include

.Dq include

file.

In the

.Em SYNOPSIS

section (only if invoked as the line macro), the first argument is

preceded by

.Qq #include ,

.Dq #include ,

the arguments is enclosed in angled braces.

.Pp

Examples:

Line 1991 are interpreted within the scope of the last phrase.

Line 2020 are interpreted within the scope of the last phrase.

Calling the pseudo-macro

.Sq \&Ta

will open a new phrase scope (this must occur on a macro line to be

interpreted as a macro). Note that the tab phrase delimiter may only be

interpreted as a macro).

used within the

Note that the tab phrase delimiter may only be used within the

.Sx \&It

line itself.

Subsequent this, only the

Line 2036 Examples:

Line 2065 Examples:

Denotes text that should be in a literal font mode.

Note that this is a presentation term and should not be used for

stylistically decorating technical terms.

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Bf ,

.Sx \&Sy ,

and

.Sx \&Em .

.Ss \&Lk

Format a hyperlink.

Its syntax is as follows:

Line 2049 Examples:

Line 2084 Examples:

See also

.Sx \&Mt .

.Ss \&Lp

Synonym for

.Sx \&Pp .

.Ss \&Ms

Display a mathematical symbol.

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.Ms sigma

.D1 \&.Ms aleph

.Ss \&Mt

Format a

.Qq mailto:

.Dq mailto:

hyperlink.

Its syntax is as follows:

.Pp

Line 2061 Its syntax is as follows:

Line 2103 Its syntax is as follows:

Examples:

.D1 \&.Mt discuss@manpages.bsd.lv

.Ss \&Nd

A one-line description of the manual's content.

This may only be invoked in the

.Em SYNOPSIS

section subsequent the

.Sx \&Nm

macro.

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.Sx \&Nd mdoc language reference

.D1 \&.Sx \&Nd format and display UNIX manuals

.Pp

The

.Sx \&Nd

macro technically accepts child macros and terminates with a subsequent

.Sx \&Sh

invocation.

Do not assume this behaviour: some

.Xr whatis 1

database generators are not smart enough to parse more than the line

arguments and will display macros verbatim.

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Nm .

.Ss \&Nm

The name of the manual page, or \(em in particular in section 1, 6,

and 8 pages \(em of an additional command or feature documented in

Line 2099 macro rather than

Line 2164 macro rather than

.Sx \&Nm

to mark up the name of the manual page.

.Ss \&No

.Dq noop

macro used to terminate prior macro contexts.

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.Sx \&Fl ab \&No cd \&Fl ef

.Ss \&Ns

Suppress a space.

Following invocation, text is interpreted as free-form text until a

macro is encountered.

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.Fl o \&Ns \&Ar output

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&No

and

.Sx \&Sm .

.Ss \&Nx

Format the NetBSD version provided as an argument, or a default value if

no argument is provided.

Line 2118 See also

Line 2200 See also

and

.Sx \&Ux .

.Ss \&Oc

Closes multi-line

.Sx \&Oo

context.

.Ss \&Oo

Multi-line version of

.Sx \&Op .

.Pp

Examples:

.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact

\&.Oo

\&.Op Fl flag Ns Ar value

\&.Oc

.Ed

.Ss \&Op

Command-line option.

Used when listing options to command-line utilities.

Prints the argument(s) in brackets.

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.Op \&Fl a \&Ar b

.D1 \&.Op \&Ar a | b

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Oo .

.Ss \&Os

Document operating system version.

This is the mandatory third macro of

Line 2168 See also

Line 2272 See also

and

.Sx \&Ux .

.Ss \&Pa

A file-system path.

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.Pa /usr/bin/mandoc

.D1 \&.Pa /usr/share/man/man7/mdoc.7

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Lk .

.Ss \&Pc

Close parenthesised context opened by

.Sx \&Po .

.Ss \&Pf

Removes the space

.Pq Dq prefix

between its arguments.

Its syntax is as follows:

.Pp

.D1 Pf \. \&Pf Cm prefix suffix

.Pp

The

.Cm suffix

argument may be a macro.

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.Pf \e. \&Sx \&Pf \&Cm prefix suffix

.Ss \&Po

Multi-line version of

.Sx \&Pq .

.Ss \&Pp

Break a paragraph.

This will assert vertical space between prior and subsequent macros

and/or text.

.Ss \&Pq

Parenthesised enclosure.

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Po .

.Ss \&Qc

Close quoted context opened by

.Sx \&Qo .

.Ss \&Ql

Format a single-quoted literal.

See also

.Sx \&Qq

and

.Sx \&Sq .

.Ss \&Qo

Multi-line version of

.Sx \&Qq .

.Ss \&Qq

Encloses its arguments in

.Dq typewriter

double-quotes.

Consider using

.Sx \&Dq .

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Dq ,

.Sx \&Sq ,

and

.Sx \&Qo .

.Ss \&Re

Closes a

.Sx \&Rs

Line 2223 block is used within a SEE ALSO section, a vertical sp

Line 2379 block is used within a SEE ALSO section, a vertical sp

before the rendered output, else the block continues on the current

line.

.Ss \&Rv

Inserts text regarding a function call's return value.

This macro must consist of the

.Fl std

argument followed by an optional

.Ar function .

.Ar function

is not provided, the document's name as stipulated by the first

.Sx \&Nm

is provided.

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Ex .

.Ss \&Sc

Close single-quoted context opened by

.Sx \&So .

.Ss \&Sh

Begin a new section.

For a list of conventional manual sections, see

.Sx MANUAL STRUCTURE .

These sections should be used unless it's absolutely necessary that

custom sections be used.

.Pp

Section names should be unique so that they may be keyed by

.Sx \&Sx .

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Pp ,

.Sx \&Ss ,

and

.Sx \&Sx .

.Ss \&Sm

Switches the spacing mode for output generated from macros.

Its syntax is as follows:

.Pp

.D1 Pf \. Sx \&Sm Cm on | off

.Pp

By default, spacing is

.Cm on .

When switched

.Cm off ,

no white space is inserted between macro arguments and between the

output generated from adjacent macros, but free-form text lines

still get normal spacing between words and sentences.

.Ss \&So

Multi-line version of

.Sx \&Sq .

.Ss \&Sq

Encloses its arguments in

.Dq typewriter

single-quotes.

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Dq ,

.Sx \&Qq ,

and

.Sx \&So .

.Ss \&Ss

Begin a new sub-section.

Unlike with

.Sx \&Sh ,

there's no convention for sub-sections.

Conventional sections, as described in

.Sx MANUAL STRUCTURE ,

rarely have sub-sections.

.Pp

Sub-section names should be unique so that they may be keyed by

.Sx \&Sx .

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Pp ,

.Sx \&Sh ,

and

.Sx \&Sx .

.Ss \&St

Replace an abbreviation for a standard with the full form.

The following standards are recognised:

.Pp

.Bl -tag -width "-p1003.1g-2000X" -compact

.It \-p1003.1-88

.St -p1003.1-88

.It \-p1003.1-90

.St -p1003.1-90

.It \-p1003.1-96

.St -p1003.1-96

.It \-p1003.1-2001

.St -p1003.1-2001

.It \-p1003.1-2004

.St -p1003.1-2004

.It \-p1003.1-2008

.St -p1003.1-2008

.It \-p1003.1

.St -p1003.1

.It \-p1003.1b

.St -p1003.1b

.It \-p1003.1b-93

.St -p1003.1b-93

.It \-p1003.1c-95

.St -p1003.1c-95

.It \-p1003.1g-2000

.St -p1003.1g-2000

.It \-p1003.1i-95

.St -p1003.1i-95

.It \-p1003.2-92

.St -p1003.2-92

.It \-p1003.2a-92

.St -p1003.2a-92

.It \-p1387.2-95

.St -p1387.2-95

.It \-p1003.2

.St -p1003.2

.It \-p1387.2

.St -p1387.2

.It \-isoC

.St -isoC

.It \-isoC-90

.St -isoC-90

.It \-isoC-amd1

.St -isoC-amd1

.It \-isoC-tcor1

.St -isoC-tcor1

.It \-isoC-tcor2

.St -isoC-tcor2

.It \-isoC-99

.St -isoC-99

.It \-iso9945-1-90

.St -iso9945-1-90

.It \-iso9945-1-96

.St -iso9945-1-96

.It \-iso9945-2-93

.St -iso9945-2-93

.It \-ansiC

.St -ansiC

.It \-ansiC-89

.St -ansiC-89

.It \-ansiC-99

.St -ansiC-99

.It \-ieee754

.St -ieee754

.It \-iso8802-3

.St -iso8802-3

.It \-ieee1275-94

.St -ieee1275-94

.It \-xpg3

.St -xpg3

.It \-xpg4

.St -xpg4

.It \-xpg4.2

.St -xpg4.2

.St -xpg4.3

.It \-xbd5

.St -xbd5

.It \-xcu5

.St -xcu5

.It \-xsh5

.St -xsh5

.It \-xns5

.St -xns5

.It \-xns5.2

.St -xns5.2

.It \-xns5.2d2.0

.St -xns5.2d2.0

.It \-xcurses4.2

.St -xcurses4.2

.It \-susv2

.St -susv2

.It \-susv3

.St -susv3

.It \-svid4

.St -svid4

.El

.Ss \&Sx

Reference a section or sub-section.

The referenced section or sub-section name must be identical to the

enclosed argument, including whitespace.

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.Sx MANUAL STRUCTURE

.Ss \&Sy

Format enclosed arguments in symbolic

.Pq Dq boldface .

Note that this is a presentation term and should not be used for

stylistically decorating technical terms.

.Pp

See also

.Sx \&Bf ,

.Sx \&Li ,

and

.Sx \&Em .

.Ss \&Tn

Format a tradename.

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.Tn IBM

.Ss \&Ud

Prints out

.Dq currently under development.

Line 2253 See also

Line 2593 See also

and

.Sx \&Ox .

.Ss \&Va

A variable name.

.Pp

Examples:

.D1 \&.Va foo

.D1 \&.Va const char *bar ;

.Ss \&Vt

A variable type.

This is also used for indicating global variables in the

Line 2327 Heirloom troff, the other significant troff implementa

Line 2672 Heirloom troff, the other significant troff implementa

.Pp

.Bl -dash -compact

.It

The \es (font size), \em (font colour), and \eM (font filling colour)

font decoration escapes are all discarded in mandoc.

.It

Old groff fails to assert a newline before

.Sx \&Bd Fl ragged compact .

.It

Line 2374 pseudo-macro as a line macro.

Line 2722 pseudo-macro as a line macro.

mandoc does.

.It

The comment syntax

.Sq \e."

.Sq \e\."

is no longer accepted.

.It

In groff, the

Line 2466 The

Line 2814 The

.Nm

reference was written by

.An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq kristaps@bsd.lv .

.\"

.\" XXX: this really isn't the place for these caveats.

.\" .

.\" .Sh CAVEATS

.\" There are many ambiguous parts of mdoc.

.\" .

.\" .Pp

.\" .Bl -dash -compact

.\" .It

.\" .Sq \&Fa

.\" should be

.\" .Sq \&Va

.\" as function arguments are variables.

.\" .It

.\" .Sq \&Ft

.\" should be

.\" .Sq \&Vt

.\" as function return types are still types. Furthermore, the

.\" .Sq \&Ft

.\" should be removed and

.\" .Sq \&Fo ,

.\" which ostensibly follows it, should follow the same convention as

.\" .Sq \&Va .

.\" .It

.\" .Sq \&Va

.\" should formalise that only one or two arguments are acceptable: a

.\" variable name and optional, preceding type.

.\" .It

.\" .Sq \&Fd

.\" is ambiguous. It's commonly used to indicate an include file in the

.\" synopsis section.

.\" .Sq \&In

.\" should be used, instead.

.\" .It

.\" Only the

.\" .Sq \-literal

.\" argument to

.\" .Sq \&Bd

.\" makes sense. The remaining ones should be removed.

.\" .It

.\" The

.\" .Sq \&Xo

.\" and

.\" .Sq \&Xc

.\" macros should be deprecated.

.\" .It

.\" The

.\" .Sq \&Dt

.\" macro lacks clarity. It should be absolutely clear which title will

.\" render when formatting the manual page.

.\" .It

.\" A

.\" .Sq \&Lx

.\" should be provided for Linux (\(`a la

.\" .Sq \&Ox ,

.\" .Sq \&Nx

.\" etc.).

.\" .It

.\" There's no way to refer to references in

.\" .Sq \&Rs/Re

.\" blocks.

.\" .It

.\" The \-split and \-nosplit dictates via

.\" .Sq \&An

.\" are re-set when entering and leaving the AUTHORS section.

.\" .El

.\" .

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