Annotation of mandoc/mdoc.7, Revision 1.33
1.33 ! kristaps 1: .\" $Id: mdoc.7,v 1.32 2009/06/22 13:09:17 kristaps Exp $
1.1 kristaps 2: .\"
1.23 kristaps 3: .\" Copyright (c) 2009 Kristaps Dzonsons <kristaps@kth.se>
1.1 kristaps 4: .\"
5: .\" Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any
1.22 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.
1.1 kristaps 8: .\"
1.22 kristaps 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: .\"
17: .Dd $Mdocdate$
1.20 kristaps 18: .Dt MDOC 7
1.1 kristaps 19: .Os
20: .\" SECTION
21: .Sh NAME
22: .Nm mdoc
1.15 kristaps 23: .Nd mdoc language reference
1.1 kristaps 24: .\" SECTION
25: .Sh DESCRIPTION
26: The
27: .Nm mdoc
28: language is used to format
29: .Bx
30: .Ux
1.33 ! kristaps 31: manuals. In this reference document, we describe the syntax and
! 32: structure of the
1.13 kristaps 33: .Nm
1.28 kristaps 34: language. Our reference implementation is
35: .Xr mandoc 1 .
36: The
37: .Sx COMPATIBILITY
38: section describes compatibility with
39: .Xr groff 1 .
1.13 kristaps 40: .\" PARAGRAPH
41: .Pp
42: An
1.1 kristaps 43: .Nm
44: document follows simple rules: lines beginning with the control
1.13 kristaps 45: character
1.1 kristaps 46: .Sq \.
47: are parsed for macros. Other lines are interpreted within the scope of
1.13 kristaps 48: prior macros:
49: .Bd -literal -offset XXX
50: \&.Sh Macro lines change control state.
51: Other lines are interpreted within the current state.
52: .Ed
1.1 kristaps 53: .\" SECTION
1.13 kristaps 54: .Sh INPUT ENCODING
1.1 kristaps 55: .Nm
1.13 kristaps 56: documents may contain only graphable 7-bit ASCII characters, the space
57: character
1.1 kristaps 58: .Sq \ ,
59: and, in certain circumstances, the tab character
60: .Sq \et .
61: All manuals must have
62: .Sq \en
1.10 kristaps 63: line termination.
64: .Pp
65: The only time a blank line is acceptable is within
66: the context of
1.16 kristaps 67: .Sq \&.Bd \-literal
1.10 kristaps 68: or
1.16 kristaps 69: .Sq \&.Bd \-unfilled .
1.10 kristaps 70: .Pp
71: Tab characters
72: .Pq \et
73: are only acceptable when delimiting
1.16 kristaps 74: .Sq \&.Bl \-column
1.10 kristaps 75: and in
1.16 kristaps 76: .Sq \&.Bd \-literal
1.10 kristaps 77: or
1.16 kristaps 78: .Sq \&.Bd \-unfilled
1.10 kristaps 79: contexts.
1.1 kristaps 80: .\" SUB-SECTION
1.29 kristaps 81: .Ss Comments
82: Anything following a
83: .Sq \e"
84: delimiter is considered a comment (unless the
85: .Sq \e
86: itself has been escaped) and is ignored to the end of line.
87: Furthermore, a macro line with only a control character
88: .Sq \. ,
89: optionally followed by whitespace, is ignored.
90: .\" SUB-SECTION
1.2 kristaps 91: .Ss Reserved Characters
92: Within a macro line, the following characters are reserved:
1.29 kristaps 93: .Bl -tag -width Ds -offset XXXX -compact
1.1 kristaps 94: .It \&.
1.2 kristaps 95: .Pq period
1.1 kristaps 96: .It \&,
1.2 kristaps 97: .Pq comma
1.1 kristaps 98: .It \&:
1.2 kristaps 99: .Pq colon
1.1 kristaps 100: .It \&;
1.2 kristaps 101: .Pq semicolon
1.1 kristaps 102: .It \&(
1.2 kristaps 103: .Pq left-parenthesis
1.1 kristaps 104: .It \&)
1.2 kristaps 105: .Pq right-parenthesis
1.1 kristaps 106: .It \&[
1.2 kristaps 107: .Pq left-bracket
1.1 kristaps 108: .It \&]
1.2 kristaps 109: .Pq right-bracket
1.1 kristaps 110: .It \&?
1.2 kristaps 111: .Pq question
1.1 kristaps 112: .It \&!
1.5 kristaps 113: .Pq exclamation
1.28 kristaps 114: .It \&|
115: .Pq vertical bar
1.1 kristaps 116: .El
1.5 kristaps 117: .\" PARAGRAPH
1.1 kristaps 118: .Pp
1.5 kristaps 119: Use of reserved characters is described in
120: .Sx Closure .
121: For general non-reserved use, characters must either be escaped with a
122: non-breaking space
1.1 kristaps 123: .Pq Sq \e&
1.5 kristaps 124: or, if applicable, an appropriate escape-sequence used.
1.1 kristaps 125: .\" SUB-SECTION
126: .Ss Special Characters
127: Special character sequences begin with the escape character
1.16 kristaps 128: .Sq \e
1.4 kristaps 129: followed by either an open-parenthesis
1.1 kristaps 130: .Sq \&(
131: for two-character sequences; an open-bracket
132: .Sq \&[
133: for n-character sequences (terminated at a close-bracket
134: .Sq \&] ) ;
135: or a single one-character sequence.
136: .Pp
137: Characters may alternatively be escaped by a slash-asterisk,
1.16 kristaps 138: .Sq \e* ,
1.4 kristaps 139: with the same combinations as described above. This form is deprecated.
1.1 kristaps 140: .\" SECTION
1.17 kristaps 141: .Sh STRUCTURE
1.33 ! kristaps 142: Each
! 143: .Nm
! 144: document must begin with the document prologue, containing, in order,
! 145: .Sq \&.Dd ,
! 146: .Sq \&.Dt ,
! 147: and
! 148: .Sq \&.Os .
! 149: Following these, the document body must begin with the NAME section
! 150: containing at least one
! 151: .Sq \&.Nm
! 152: followed by a
! 153: .Sq \&.Nd
! 154: macro.
! 155: .Pp
! 156: At least one free-form or macro line must follow this prologue.
! 157: .\"
! 158: .Ss Classification
! 159: Macros are classified by their scope rules. Some macros are allowed to
! 160: deviate from their classifications to preserve backward-compatibility
! 161: with old macro combinations still found in the manual corpus. These are
! 162: specifically noted on a per-macro basis.
1.4 kristaps 163: .\" SUB-SECTION
164: .Ss Scope
1.2 kristaps 165: .Bl -inset
1.1 kristaps 166: .\" LIST-ITEM
167: .It Em Block
1.2 kristaps 168: macros enclose other block macros, in-line macros or text, and
1.4 kristaps 169: may span multiple lines.
1.2 kristaps 170: .Bl -inset -offset XXXX
1.1 kristaps 171: .\" LIST-ITEM
172: .It Em Full-block
1.5 kristaps 173: macros always span multiple lines. They consist of zero or
1.2 kristaps 174: more
1.1 kristaps 175: .Qq heads ,
1.5 kristaps 176: subsequent macros or text on the same line following invocation; an
177: optional
1.1 kristaps 178: .Qq body ,
179: which spans subsequent lines of text or macros; and an optional
180: .Qq tail ,
181: macros or text on the same line following closure.
182: .\" LIST-ITEM
183: .It Em Partial-block
1.5 kristaps 184: macros may span multiple lines. They consists of a optional
1.1 kristaps 185: .Qq head ,
186: text immediately following invocation; always a
187: .Qq body ,
188: text or macros following the head on the same and subsequent lines; and
189: optionally a
190: .Qq tail ,
191: text immediately following closure.
192: .\" LIST-ITEM
193: .It Em In-line
1.4 kristaps 194: macros may only enclose text and span at most a single line.
195: .El
196: .El
197: .\" SUB-SECTION
198: .Ss Closure
199: Closure of a macro's scope depends first on its classification, then
200: on whether it's parsable. In this table,
201: .Sq BFE
202: refers to block full-explicit and so on.
203: .\" PARAGRAPH
204: .Pp
205: .Bl -tag -width 12n -offset XXXX -compact
206: .It BPE , BFE
207: corresponding explicit closure macro
208: .It BFI
209: end-of-file or a corresponding implicit closure macro
210: .It BPI
211: end-of-line (body may be closed by >0 space-separated
212: .Sx Reserved Characters ,
213: although block scope will still be open)
214: .It INL
215: end-of-line
1.1 kristaps 216: .El
1.4 kristaps 217: .\" PARAGRAPH
218: .Pp
219: If a macro (block or in-line) is parsable, it may also be closed out by
220: one of the following scenarios (unless specifically noted otherwise):
221: .\" PARAGRAPH
222: .Pp
223: .Bl -dash -offset XXXX -compact
224: .It
225: a sequence of >0 space-separated
226: .Sx Reserved Characters ,
227: .It
228: another macro,
229: .It
230: end-of-line, or
231: .It
232: completion of a set number of arguments.
233: .El
234: .\" PARAGRAPH
235: .Pp
236: If >0 space-separated
237: .Sx Reserved Characters
238: are followed by non-reserved characters, the behaviour differs per
239: macro. In general, scope of the macro is closed and re-opened:
240: subsequent tokens are interpreted as if the scope had just been opened.
241: In other circumstances, scope is simply closed out.
1.1 kristaps 242: .\" SECTION
1.2 kristaps 243: .Sh SYNTAX
1.17 kristaps 244: Macros are two or three characters in length. The syntax of macro
245: invocation depends on its classification.
1.2 kristaps 246: .Qq \-arg
247: refers to the macro arguments (which may contain zero or more values).
248: In these illustrations,
249: .Sq \&.Yo
250: opens the scope of a macro, and if specified,
251: .Sq \&.Yc
252: closes it out (closure may be implicit at end-of-line or end-of-file).
1.4 kristaps 253: .\" PARAGRAPH
1.2 kristaps 254: .Pp
1.4 kristaps 255: Block full-explicit (may contain head, body, tail).
1.2 kristaps 256: .Bd -literal -offset XXXX
1.4 kristaps 257: \&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB \(lBhead...\(rB
258: \(lBbody...\(rB
259: \&.Yc \(lBtail...\(rB
1.2 kristaps 260: .Ed
1.4 kristaps 261: .\" PARAGRAPH
1.2 kristaps 262: .Pp
1.4 kristaps 263: Block full-implicit (may contain zero or more heads, body, no tail).
1.2 kristaps 264: .Bd -literal -offset XXXX
1.4 kristaps 265: \&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB \(lBhead... \(lBTa head...\(rB\(rB
266: \(lBbody...\(rB
1.2 kristaps 267: \&.Yc
268: .Ed
1.4 kristaps 269: .\" PARAGRAPH
1.2 kristaps 270: .Pp
1.4 kristaps 271: Block partial-explicit (may contain head, multi-line body, tail).
1.2 kristaps 272: .Bd -literal -offset XXXX
273: \&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB \(lBhead...\(rB
1.4 kristaps 274: \(lBbody...\(rB
275: \&.Yc \(lBtail...\(rB
1.2 kristaps 276:
277: \&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB \(lBhead...\(rB \
1.4 kristaps 278: \(lBbody...\(rB \&Yc \(lBtail...\(rB
1.2 kristaps 279: .Ed
1.4 kristaps 280: .\" PARAGRAPH
1.2 kristaps 281: .Pp
1.4 kristaps 282: Block partial-implicit (no head, body, no tail). Note that the body
283: section may be followed by zero or more
284: .Sx Reserved Words .
285: These are in the block scope, but not in the body scope.
1.2 kristaps 286: .Bd -literal -offset XXXX
1.4 kristaps 287: \&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB \(lBbody...\(rB \(lBreserved...\(rB
1.2 kristaps 288: .Ed
1.4 kristaps 289: .\" PARAGRAPH
1.2 kristaps 290: .Pp
1.4 kristaps 291: In-lines have \(>=0 scoped arguments.
1.2 kristaps 292: .Bd -literal -offset XXX
1.4 kristaps 293: \&.Yy \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB \(lBargs...\(rB
1.2 kristaps 294:
295: \&.Yy \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB arg0 arg1 argN
296: .Ed
1.32 kristaps 297: .\" SECTION
1.1 kristaps 298: .Sh MACROS
299: This section contains a complete list of all
300: .Nm
1.33 ! kristaps 301: macros, arranged by classification. A
1.1 kristaps 302: .Qq callable
1.17 kristaps 303: macro is invoked subsequent to the initial macro-line macro. A
1.1 kristaps 304: .Qq parsable
1.2 kristaps 305: macro may be followed by further (ostensibly callable) macros.
1.1 kristaps 306: .\" SUB-SECTION
307: .Ss Block full-implicit
308: The head of these macros follows invocation; the body is the content of
309: subsequent lines prior to closure. None of these macros have tails;
310: some
311: .Po
1.16 kristaps 312: .Sq \&.It \-bullet ,
1.1 kristaps 313: .Sq \-hyphen ,
314: .Sq \-dash ,
1.2 kristaps 315: .Sq \-enum ,
316: .Sq \-item
1.1 kristaps 317: .Pc
318: don't have heads.
319: .Pp
1.30 kristaps 320: .Bl -column -compact -offset XXXX "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsableX" "Closing"
1.1 kristaps 321: .It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsable Ta Em Closing
322: .It \&.Sh Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta \&.Sh
323: .It \&.Ss Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta \&.Sh, \&.Ss
324: .It \&.It Ta \&No Ta Yes Ta \&.It, \&.El
325: .El
326: .\" SUB-SECTION
327: .Ss Block full-explicit
328: None of these macros are callable or parsed. The last column indicates
329: the explicit scope rules. All contains bodies, some may contain heads
330: .Pq So \&Bf Sc .
331: .Pp
1.30 kristaps 332: .Bl -column -compact -offset XXXX "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsableX" "closed by XXX"
1.1 kristaps 333: .It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsable Ta Em Scope
334: .It \&.Bd Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by \&.Ed
335: .It \&.Ed Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta opened by \&.Bd
336: .It \&.Bl Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by \&.El
337: .It \&.El Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta opened by \&.Bl
338: .It \&.Bf Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by \&.Ef
339: .It \&.Ef Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta opened by \&.Bf
1.2 kristaps 340: .It \&.Bk Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by \&.Ek
341: .It \&.Ek Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta opened by \&.Bk
1.1 kristaps 342: .El
343: .\" SUB-SECTION
344: .Ss Block partial-implicit
345: All of these are callable and parsed for further macros. Their scopes
346: close at the invocation's end-of-line.
347: .Pp
348: .Bl -column "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsableX" -compact -offset XXXX
349: .It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsable
350: .It \&.Aq Ta Yes Ta Yes
351: .It \&.Op Ta Yes Ta Yes
352: .It \&.Bq Ta Yes Ta Yes
353: .It \&.Dq Ta Yes Ta Yes
354: .It \&.Pq Ta Yes Ta Yes
355: .It \&.Qq Ta Yes Ta Yes
356: .It \&.Sq Ta Yes Ta Yes
357: .It \&.Brq Ta Yes Ta Yes
1.2 kristaps 358: .It \&.D1 Ta \&No Ta \&Yes
359: .It \&.Dl Ta \&No Ta Yes
360: .It \&.Ql Ta Yes Ta Yes
1.1 kristaps 361: .El
1.13 kristaps 362: .\" PARAGRAPH
363: .Pp
364: The
1.16 kristaps 365: .Sq \&.Op
366: may be broken by
367: .Sq \&.Oc
368: as in the following example:
1.13 kristaps 369: .Bd -literal -offset XXXX
370: \&.Oo
371: \&.Op Fl a Oc
372: .Ed
373: .Pp
374: In the above example, the scope of
1.16 kristaps 375: .Sq \&.Op
1.13 kristaps 376: is technically broken by
1.16 kristaps 377: .Sq \&.Oc ,
1.13 kristaps 378: however, due to the overwhelming existence of this sequence, it's
379: allowed.
1.1 kristaps 380: .\" SUB-SECTION
381: .Ss Block partial-explicit
382: Each of these contains at least a body and, in limited circumstances, a
383: head
1.16 kristaps 384: .Pq So \&.Fo Sc , So \&.Eo Sc
1.1 kristaps 385: and/or tail
1.16 kristaps 386: .Pq So \&.Ec Sc .
1.1 kristaps 387: .Pp
388: .Bl -column "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsableX" "closed by XXXX" -compact -offset XXXX
389: .It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsable Ta Em Scope
390: .It \&.Ao Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta closed by \&.Ac
391: .It \&.Ac Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&.Ao
392: .It \&.Bc Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta closed by \&.Bo
393: .It \&.Bo Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&.Bc
394: .It \&.Pc Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta closed by \&.Po
395: .It \&.Po Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&.Pc
396: .It \&.Do Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta closed by \&.Dc
397: .It \&.Dc Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&.Do
398: .It \&.Xo Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta closed by \&.Xc
399: .It \&.Xc Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&.Xo
400: .It \&.Bro Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta closed by \&.Brc
401: .It \&.Brc Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&.Bro
402: .It \&.Oc Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta closed by \&.Oo
403: .It \&.Oo Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&.Oc
404: .It \&.So Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta closed by \&.Sc
405: .It \&.Sc Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&.So
406: .It \&.Fc Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&.Fo
407: .It \&.Fo Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by \&.Fc
408: .It \&.Ec Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&.Eo
409: .It \&.Eo Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta closed by \&.Ec
410: .It \&.Qc Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&.Oo
411: .It \&.Qo Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta closed by \&.Oc
1.2 kristaps 412: .It \&.Re Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta opened by \&.Rs
413: .It \&.Rs Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by \&.Re
1.1 kristaps 414: .El
415: .\" SUB-SECTION
1.2 kristaps 416: .Ss In-line
1.3 kristaps 417: In-line macros have only text children. If a number (or inequality) of
418: arguments is
419: .Pq n ,
420: then the macro accepts an arbitrary number of arguments.
1.2 kristaps 421: .Pp
422: .Bl -column "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsableX" "Arguments" -compact -offset XXXX
423: .It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsable Ta Em Arguments
1.3 kristaps 424: .It \&.Dd Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
425: .It \&.Dt Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta n
426: .It \&.Os Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta n
1.2 kristaps 427: .It \&.Pp Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0
1.3 kristaps 428: .It \&.Ad Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.25 kristaps 429: .It \&.An Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.3 kristaps 430: .It \&.Ar Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
431: .It \&.Cd Ta Yes Ta \&No Ta >0
432: .It \&.Cm Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.11 kristaps 433: .It \&.Dv Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.3 kristaps 434: .It \&.Er Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
1.11 kristaps 435: .It \&.Ev Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.3 kristaps 436: .It \&.Ex Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0
1.12 kristaps 437: .It \&.Fa Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.3 kristaps 438: .It \&.Fd Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
439: .It \&.Fl Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
440: .It \&.Fn Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
1.26 kristaps 441: .It \&.Ft Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.3 kristaps 442: .It \&.Ic Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
443: .It \&.In Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta n
1.11 kristaps 444: .It \&.Li Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.3 kristaps 445: .It \&.Nd Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta n
446: .It \&.Nm Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
447: .It \&.Ot Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta n
448: .It \&.Pa Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
449: .It \&.Rv Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0
450: .It \&.St Ta \&No Ta Yes Ta 1
1.11 kristaps 451: .It \&.Va Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.3 kristaps 452: .It \&.Vt Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
453: .It \&.Xr Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0, <3
454: .It \&.%A Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
455: .It \&.%B Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
456: .It \&.%C Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
457: .It \&.%D Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
458: .It \&.%I Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
459: .It \&.%J Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
460: .It \&.%N Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
461: .It \&.%O Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
462: .It \&.%P Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
463: .It \&.%R Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
464: .It \&.%T Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
465: .It \&.%V Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
466: .It \&.At Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta 1
467: .It \&.Bsx Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
468: .It \&.Bx Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
469: .It \&.Db Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 1
1.19 kristaps 470: .It \&.Em Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
1.3 kristaps 471: .It \&.Fx Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.26 kristaps 472: .It \&.Ms Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
1.3 kristaps 473: .It \&.No Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta 0
474: .It \&.Ns Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta 0
475: .It \&.Nx Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
476: .It \&.Ox Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
477: .It \&.Pf Ta \&No Ta Yes Ta 1
478: .It \&.Sm Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 1
479: .It \&.Sx Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
480: .It \&.Sy Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
481: .It \&.Tn Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
482: .It \&.Ux Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.6 kristaps 483: .It \&.Dx Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.3 kristaps 484: .It \&.Bt Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0
485: .It \&.Hf Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta n
486: .It \&.Fr Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta n
487: .It \&.Ud Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0
488: .It \&.Lb Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 1
489: .It \&.Ap Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta 0
490: .It \&.Lp Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0
1.27 kristaps 491: .It \&.Lk Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
492: .It \&.Mt Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
1.6 kristaps 493: .It \&.Es Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0
494: .It \&.En Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0
1.1 kristaps 495: .El
1.6 kristaps 496: .Pp
497: The
1.16 kristaps 498: .Sq \&.Ot ,
499: .Sq \&.Fr ,
500: .Sq \&.Es
1.6 kristaps 501: and
1.16 kristaps 502: .Sq \&.En ,
1.6 kristaps 503: macros are obsolete.
1.2 kristaps 504: .\" SECTION
1.4 kristaps 505: .Sh COMPATIBILITY
1.28 kristaps 506: This section documents compatibility with other roff implementations, at
507: this time limited to
508: .Xr groff 1 .
509: The term
510: .Qq historic groff
511: refers to those versions before the
512: .Pa doc.tmac
513: file re-write
514: .Pq somewhere between 1.15 and 1.19 .
1.4 kristaps 515: .Pp
516: .Bl -dash -compact
517: .\" LIST-ITEM
518: .It
1.28 kristaps 519: Historic groff has many un-callable macros. Most of these (excluding
520: some block-level macros) are now callable, conforming to the
521: non-historic groff version.
522: .\" LIST-ITEM
523: .It
524: The vertical bar
525: .Sq \(Ba
526: made historic groff
527: .Qq go orbital
528: but is a proper delimiter in this implementation.
1.5 kristaps 529: .\" LIST-ITEM
530: .It
1.16 kristaps 531: .Sq \&.It \-nested
1.28 kristaps 532: is assumed for all lists (it wasn't in historic groff): any list may be
533: nested and
1.4 kristaps 534: .Sq \-enum
535: lists will restart the sequence only for the sub-list.
536: .\" LIST-ITEM
537: .It
1.16 kristaps 538: .Sq \&.It \-column
1.21 kristaps 539: syntax where column widths may be preceded by other arguments (instead
1.4 kristaps 540: of proceeded) is not supported.
541: .\" LIST-ITEM
542: .It
543: The
1.16 kristaps 544: .Sq \&.At
1.4 kristaps 545: macro only accepts a single parameter.
546: .\" LIST-ITEM
547: .It
548: Some manuals use
1.16 kristaps 549: .Sq \&.Li
1.4 kristaps 550: incorrectly by following it with a reserved character and expecting the
551: delimiter to render. This is not supported.
552: .\" LIST-ITEM
553: .It
1.28 kristaps 554: If an special-character control character
555: .Sq \e
556: is escaped, it will
557: obviously not render the sequence. Even newer versions of groff seem to
558: dither on this.
1.4 kristaps 559: .El
560: .\" SECTION
1.2 kristaps 561: .Sh SEE ALSO
1.19 kristaps 562: .Xr mandoc 1 ,
563: .Xr mandoc_char 7
1.2 kristaps 564: .\" SECTION
565: .Sh AUTHORS
566: The
567: .Nm
568: utility was written by
1.24 kristaps 569: .An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq kristaps@kth.se .
1.5 kristaps 570: .\" SECTION
571: .Sh CAVEATS
1.28 kristaps 572: There are many ambiguous parts of mdoc.
1.5 kristaps 573: .Pp
574: .Bl -dash -compact
575: .\" LIST-ITEM
576: .It
1.16 kristaps 577: .Sq \&.Fa
1.5 kristaps 578: should be
1.16 kristaps 579: .Sq \&.Va
1.5 kristaps 580: as function arguments are variables.
581: .\" LIST-ITEM
582: .It
1.16 kristaps 583: .Sq \&.Ft
1.5 kristaps 584: should be
1.16 kristaps 585: .Sq \&.Vt
1.5 kristaps 586: as function return types are still types. Furthermore, the
1.16 kristaps 587: .Sq \&.Ft
1.5 kristaps 588: should be removed and
1.16 kristaps 589: .Sq \&.Fo ,
1.5 kristaps 590: which ostensibly follows it, should follow the same convention as
1.16 kristaps 591: .Sq \&.Va .
1.5 kristaps 592: .\" LIST-ITEM
593: .It
1.16 kristaps 594: .Sq \&.Va
1.5 kristaps 595: should formalise that only one or two arguments are acceptable: a
1.21 kristaps 596: variable name and optional, preceding type.
1.5 kristaps 597: .\" LIST-ITEM
598: .It
1.16 kristaps 599: .Sq \&.Fd
1.5 kristaps 600: is ambiguous. It's commonly used to indicate an include file in the
601: synopsis section.
1.16 kristaps 602: .Sq \&.In
1.5 kristaps 603: should be used, instead.
604: .\" LIST-ITEM
605: .It
606: Only the
607: .Sq \-literal
608: argument to
1.16 kristaps 609: .Sq \&.Bd
1.5 kristaps 610: makes sense. The remaining ones should be removed.
611: .\" LIST-ITEM
612: .It
613: The
1.16 kristaps 614: .Sq \&.Xo
1.5 kristaps 615: and
1.16 kristaps 616: .Sq \&.Xc
1.5 kristaps 617: macros should be deprecated.
618: .\" LIST-ITEM
619: .It
620: The
1.16 kristaps 621: .Sq \&.Dt
1.5 kristaps 622: macro lacks clarity. It should be absolutely clear which title will
623: render when formatting the manual page.
1.6 kristaps 624: .\" LIST-ITEM
625: .It
626: A
1.16 kristaps 627: .Sq \&.Lx
1.6 kristaps 628: should be provided for Linux (\(`a la
1.16 kristaps 629: .Sq \&.Ox ,
630: .Sq \&.Nx
1.6 kristaps 631: etc.).
1.14 kristaps 632: .\" LIST-ITEM
633: .It
634: There's no way to refer to references in
1.16 kristaps 635: .Sq \&.Rs/.Re
1.14 kristaps 636: blocks.
1.31 kristaps 637: .\" LIST-ITEM
638: .It
639: The \-split and \-nosplit arguments to
640: .Sq \&.An
641: are inane.
1.5 kristaps 642: .El
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