===================================================================
RCS file: /cvs/mandoc/mdoc.7,v
retrieving revision 1.236
retrieving revision 1.243
diff -u -p -r1.236 -r1.243
--- mandoc/mdoc.7	2014/08/28 03:51:56	1.236
+++ mandoc/mdoc.7	2014/11/28 18:09:01	1.243
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-.\"	$Id: mdoc.7,v 1.236 2014/08/28 03:51:56 schwarze Exp $
+.\"	$Id: mdoc.7,v 1.243 2014/11/28 18:09:01 schwarze Exp $
 .\"
 .\" Copyright (c) 2009, 2010, 2011 Kristaps Dzonsons <kristaps@bsd.lv>
 .\" Copyright (c) 2010, 2011, 2013 Ingo Schwarze <schwarze@openbsd.org>
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 .\" ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF
 .\" OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
 .\"
-.Dd $Mdocdate: August 28 2014 $
+.Dd $Mdocdate: November 28 2014 $
 .Dt MDOC 7
 .Os
 .Sh NAME
@@ -388,7 +388,7 @@ See
 References other manuals with related topics.
 This section should exist for most manuals.
 Cross-references should conventionally be ordered first by section, then
-alphabetically.
+alphabetically (ignoring case).
 .Pp
 References to other documentation concerning the topic of the manual page,
 for example authoritative books or journal articles, may also be
@@ -937,8 +937,11 @@ The
 .Fl width
 and
 .Fl offset
-arguments accept scaling widths as described in
-.Xr roff 7
+arguments accept macro names as described for
+.Sx \&Bd
+.Fl offset ,
+scaling widths as described in
+.Xr roff 7 ,
 or use the length of the given string.
 The
 .Fl offset
@@ -1182,13 +1185,12 @@ See also
 and
 .Sx \&Dl .
 .Ss \&Db
-Switch debugging mode.
-Its syntax is as follows:
-.Pp
-.D1 Pf \. Sx \&Db Cm on | off
-.Pp
-This macro is ignored by
-.Xr mandoc 1 .
+This macro is obsolete.
+No replacement is needed.
+It is ignored by
+.Xr mandoc 1
+and groff including its arguments.
+It was formerly used to toggle a debugging mode.
 .Ss \&Dc
 Close a
 .Sx \&Do
@@ -1245,7 +1247,7 @@ See also
 and
 .Sx \&Os .
 .Ss \&Dl
-One-line intended display.
+One-line indented display.
 This is formatted as literal text and is useful for commands and
 invocations.
 It is followed by a newline.
@@ -1383,12 +1385,7 @@ where relevant, for example
 .Cm i386 ,
 or
 .Cm sparc64 .
-The list of supported architectures varies by operating system.
-For the full list of all architectures recognized by
-.Xr mandoc 1 ,
-see the file
-.Pa arch.in
-in the source distribution.
+The list of valid architectures varies by operating system.
 .El
 .Pp
 Examples:
@@ -1570,7 +1567,7 @@ arguments are treated as separate utilities.
 See also
 .Sx \&Rv .
 .Ss \&Fa
-Function argument.
+Function argument or parameter.
 Its syntax is as follows:
 .Bd -ragged -offset indent
 .Pf \. Sx \&Fa
@@ -2559,17 +2556,8 @@ The following refer to parts of it.
 .Pp
 .It \-xns5
 .St -xns5
-.It \-xns5.2d2.0
-.St -xns5.2d2.0
 .It \-xns5.2
 .St -xns5.2
-.Pp
-.It \-p1387.2
-.St -p1387.2
-.It \-p1387.2-95
-.St -p1387.2-95
-.br
-POSIX software administration.
 .El
 .It Single UNIX Specification version 3 and related standards
 .Pp
@@ -2579,16 +2567,6 @@ POSIX software administration.
 .br
 Additional real-time extensions.
 .Pp
-.It \-p1003.1j-2000
-.St -p1003.1j-2000
-.br
-Advanced real-time extensions.
-.Pp
-.It \-p1003.1q-2000
-.St -p1003.1q-2000
-.br
-Amendment 7: Tracing [C Language].
-.Pp
 .It \-p1003.1-2001
 .St -p1003.1-2001
 .It \-susv3
@@ -2704,8 +2682,17 @@ A variable name.
 Examples:
 .Dl \&.Va foo
 .Dl \&.Va const char *bar ;
+.Pp
+For function arguments and parameters, use
+.Sx \&Fa
+instead.
+For declarations of global variables in the
+.Em SYNOPSIS
+section, use
+.Sx \&Vt .
 .Ss \&Vt
 A variable type.
+.Pp
 This is also used for indicating global variables in the
 .Em SYNOPSIS
 section, in which case a variable name is also specified.
@@ -2720,18 +2707,21 @@ In the former case, this macro starts a new output lin
 and a blank line is inserted in front if there is a preceding
 function definition or include directive.
 .Pp
-Note that this should not be confused with
-.Sx \&Ft ,
-which is used for function return types.
-.Pp
 Examples:
 .Dl \&.Vt unsigned char
 .Dl \&.Vt extern const char * const sys_signame[] \&;
 .Pp
+For parameters in function prototypes, use
+.Sx \&Fa
+instead, for function return types
+.Sx \&Ft ,
+and for variable names outside the
+.Em SYNOPSIS
+section
+.Sx \&Va ,
+even when including a type with the name.
 See also
-.Sx MANUAL STRUCTURE
-and
-.Sx \&Va .
+.Sx MANUAL STRUCTURE .
 .Ss \&Xc
 Close a scope opened by
 .Sx \&Xo .