Annotation of mandoc/mdoc.7, Revision 1.46
1.46 ! kristaps 1: .\" $Id: mdoc.7,v 1.45 2009/07/17 12:40:48 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
1.43 kristaps 20: .\" SECTION---------------------------------------------
1.1 kristaps 21: .Sh NAME
22: .Nm mdoc
1.15 kristaps 23: .Nd mdoc language reference
1.43 kristaps 24: .\" SECTION---------------------------------------------
1.1 kristaps 25: .Sh DESCRIPTION
26: The
27: .Nm mdoc
28: language is used to format
29: .Bx
30: .Ux
1.43 kristaps 31: manuals. In this reference document, we describe its syntax, structure,
32: and usage. Our reference implementation is
1.28 kristaps 33: .Xr mandoc 1 .
34: The
35: .Sx COMPATIBILITY
36: section describes compatibility with
37: .Xr groff 1 .
1.43 kristaps 38: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
1.13 kristaps 39: .Pp
40: An
1.1 kristaps 41: .Nm
42: document follows simple rules: lines beginning with the control
1.13 kristaps 43: character
1.1 kristaps 44: .Sq \.
45: are parsed for macros. Other lines are interpreted within the scope of
1.13 kristaps 46: prior macros:
1.39 kristaps 47: .Bd -literal -offset indent
1.13 kristaps 48: \&.Sh Macro lines change control state.
49: Other lines are interpreted within the current state.
50: .Ed
1.43 kristaps 51: .\" SECTION---------------------------------------------
1.46 ! kristaps 52: .Sh LANGUAGE SYNTAX
1.1 kristaps 53: .Nm
1.13 kristaps 54: documents may contain only graphable 7-bit ASCII characters, the space
1.43 kristaps 55: character, and, in certain circumstances, the tab character. All
56: manuals must have
57: .Ux
1.46 ! kristaps 58: line terminators.
1.43 kristaps 59: .\" SUB-SECTION----------------------
1.29 kristaps 60: .Ss Comments
1.43 kristaps 61: Text following a
62: .Sq \e" ,
63: whether in a macro or free-form text line, is ignored to the end of
64: line. A macro line with only a control character and comment escape,
65: .Sq \&.\e" ,
66: is also ignored.
67: .\" SUB-SECTION----------------------
1.2 kristaps 68: .Ss Reserved Characters
69: Within a macro line, the following characters are reserved:
1.39 kristaps 70: .Bl -tag -width Ds -offset indent -compact
1.1 kristaps 71: .It \&.
1.2 kristaps 72: .Pq period
1.1 kristaps 73: .It \&,
1.2 kristaps 74: .Pq comma
1.1 kristaps 75: .It \&:
1.2 kristaps 76: .Pq colon
1.1 kristaps 77: .It \&;
1.2 kristaps 78: .Pq semicolon
1.1 kristaps 79: .It \&(
1.2 kristaps 80: .Pq left-parenthesis
1.1 kristaps 81: .It \&)
1.2 kristaps 82: .Pq right-parenthesis
1.1 kristaps 83: .It \&[
1.2 kristaps 84: .Pq left-bracket
1.1 kristaps 85: .It \&]
1.2 kristaps 86: .Pq right-bracket
1.1 kristaps 87: .It \&?
1.2 kristaps 88: .Pq question
1.1 kristaps 89: .It \&!
1.5 kristaps 90: .Pq exclamation
1.28 kristaps 91: .It \&|
92: .Pq vertical bar
1.1 kristaps 93: .El
1.43 kristaps 94: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
1.1 kristaps 95: .Pp
1.5 kristaps 96: Use of reserved characters is described in
1.43 kristaps 97: .Sx MACRO SYNTAX .
98: For general use in macro lines, these characters must either be escaped
99: with a non-breaking space
1.1 kristaps 100: .Pq Sq \e&
1.43 kristaps 101: or, if applicable, an appropriate escape sequence used.
102: .\" SUB-SECTION----------------------
1.1 kristaps 103: .Ss Special Characters
1.43 kristaps 104: Special characters may occur in both macro and free-form lines.
105: Sequences begin with the escape character
1.16 kristaps 106: .Sq \e
1.4 kristaps 107: followed by either an open-parenthesis
1.1 kristaps 108: .Sq \&(
109: for two-character sequences; an open-bracket
110: .Sq \&[
111: for n-character sequences (terminated at a close-bracket
112: .Sq \&] ) ;
1.43 kristaps 113: or a single one-character sequence. See
114: .Xr mandoc_char 1
115: for a complete list. Examples include
116: .Sq \e(em
117: .Pq em-dash
118: and
119: .Sq \ee
120: .Pq back-slash .
121: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
1.1 kristaps 122: .Pp
1.43 kristaps 123: An alternative escape sequence is
124: the slash-asterisk,
1.16 kristaps 125: .Sq \e* ,
1.43 kristaps 126: but this method is discouraged for compatibility reasons.
127: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
1.35 kristaps 128: .Pp
1.43 kristaps 129: Terms may
130: also be text-decorated using the
1.35 kristaps 131: .Sq \ef
1.43 kristaps 132: escape followed by an indicator: B (bold), I, (italic), or P and R
133: (Roman, or reset). This form is not recommended.
134: .\" SUB-SECTION----------------------
1.34 kristaps 135: .Ss Whitespace
1.46 ! kristaps 136: In non-literal free-form lines, consecutive blocks of whitespace are
! 137: pruned from input and added later in the output filter, if applicable:
! 138: .Bd -literal -offset indent
! 139: These spaces are pruned from input.
! 140: \&.Bd \-literal
! 141: These are not.
! 142: \&.Ed
! 143: .Ed
! 144: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
! 145: .Pp
! 146: In macro lines, whitespace delimits arguments and is discarded. If
! 147: arguments are quoted, whitespace is conditionally retained within the
! 148: quotes.
! 149: .\" TODO: which do and which don't?
1.43 kristaps 150: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
151: .Pp
1.46 ! kristaps 152: Blank lines are only permitted within literal contexts, as are lines
! 153: containing only whitespace. Tab characters are only acceptable when
! 154: delimiting
1.43 kristaps 155: .Sq \&Bl \-column
1.46 ! kristaps 156: or when in a literal context.
! 157: .\" SUB-SECTION----------------------
! 158: .Ss Quotation
! 159: Macro arguments may be quoted with a double-quote to group
! 160: space-delimited terms or to retain blocks of whitespace. A quoted
! 161: argument begins with a double-quote preceded by whitespace. The next
! 162: double-quote terminates the term, regardless of surrounding whitespace.
! 163: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
! 164: .Pp
! 165: In free-form mode, quotes are regarded as opaque text.
1.43 kristaps 166: .\" SECTION---------------------------------------------
167: .Sh MANUAL STRUCTURE
1.33 kristaps 168: Each
169: .Nm
1.43 kristaps 170: document must begin with a document prologue, containing, in order,
171: .Sq \&Dd ,
172: .Sq \&Dt ,
1.33 kristaps 173: and
1.46 ! kristaps 174: .Sq \&Os ,
! 175: then the NAME section containing at least one
! 176: .Sq \&Nm
! 177: followed by
! 178: .Sq \&Nd :
1.43 kristaps 179: .Bd -literal -offset indent
180: \&.Dd $\&Mdocdate$
181: \&.Dt mdoc 7
182: \&.Os
183: \&.Sh NAME
184: \&.Nm mdoc
185: \&.Nd mdoc language reference
186: .Ed
187: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
188: .Pp
189: Subsequent SYNOPSIS and DESCRIPTION sections are strongly encouraged,
190: but non-compulsory.
191: .\" SECTION---------------------------------------------
192: .Sh MACRO SYNTAX
193: Every line beginning with the control character
194: .Sq \.
1.46 ! kristaps 195: is processed for macros, two- or three-character sequences.
1.43 kristaps 196: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
1.4 kristaps 197: .Pp
1.46 ! kristaps 198: The syntax of a macro depends on its classification. In this section,
1.43 kristaps 199: .Sq \-arg
200: refers to macro arguments, which may be followed by zero or more
201: .Sq parm
202: parameters;
203: .Sq \&Yo
204: opens the scope of a macro; and if specified,
205: .Sq \&Yc
206: closes it out.
207: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
1.2 kristaps 208: .Pp
1.43 kristaps 209: The
210: .Em Callable
211: column indicates that the macro may be called subsequent to the initial
212: line-macro. The
1.46 ! kristaps 213: .Em Parsable
1.43 kristaps 214: column indicates whether the macro may be followed by further
215: (ostensibly callable) macros. The
216: .Em Scope
217: column, if applicable, describes closure rules.
218: .\" SUB-SECTION----------------------
219: .Ss Block full-explicit
220: Multi-line scope closed by an explicit closing macro. All macros
221: contains bodies; only
222: .Pq Sq \&Bf
223: contains a head.
1.39 kristaps 224: .Bd -literal -offset indent
1.43 kristaps 225: \&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBparm...\(rB\(rB \(lBhead...\(rB
1.4 kristaps 226: \(lBbody...\(rB
1.43 kristaps 227: \&.Yc
1.2 kristaps 228: .Ed
1.43 kristaps 229: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
1.2 kristaps 230: .Pp
1.43 kristaps 231: .Bl -column -compact -offset indent "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsableX" "closed by XXX"
232: .It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsable Ta Em Scope
233: .It \&Bd Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by \&Ed
1.44 kristaps 234: .It \&Bf Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by \&Ef
235: .It \&Bk Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by \&Ek
236: .It \&Bl Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by \&El
1.43 kristaps 237: .It \&Ed Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta opened by \&Bd
238: .It \&Ef Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta opened by \&Bf
239: .It \&Ek Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta opened by \&Bk
1.44 kristaps 240: .It \&El Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta opened by \&Bl
1.43 kristaps 241: .El
242: .\" SUB-SECTION----------------------
243: .Ss Block full-implicit
244: Multi-line scope closed by end-of-file or implicitly by another macro.
245: All macros have bodies; some
246: .Po
247: .Sq \&It \-bullet ,
248: .Sq \-hyphen ,
249: .Sq \-dash ,
250: .Sq \-enum ,
251: .Sq \-item
252: .Pc
253: don't have heads, while
254: .Sq \&It \-column
255: may have multiple heads.
1.39 kristaps 256: .Bd -literal -offset indent
1.43 kristaps 257: \&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBparm...\(rB\(rB \(lBhead... \(lBTa head...\(rB\(rB
1.4 kristaps 258: \(lBbody...\(rB
1.2 kristaps 259: .Ed
1.43 kristaps 260: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
1.2 kristaps 261: .Pp
1.43 kristaps 262: .Bl -column -compact -offset indent "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsableX" "closed by XXXXXXXXXXX"
263: .It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsable Ta Em Scope
1.44 kristaps 264: .It \&It Ta \&No Ta Yes Ta closed by \&It, \&El
1.43 kristaps 265: .It \&Nd Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by \&Sh
266: .It \&Sh Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by \&Sh
267: .It \&Ss Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by \&Sh, \&Ss
268: .El
269: .\" SUB-SECTION----------------------
270: .Ss Block partial-explicit
271: Like block full-explicit, but also with single-line scope. Each
272: has at least a body and, in limited circumstances, a head
273: .Pq So \&Fo Sc , So \&Eo Sc
274: and/or tail
275: .Pq So \&Ec Sc .
1.39 kristaps 276: .Bd -literal -offset indent
1.43 kristaps 277: \&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBparm...\(rB\(rB \(lBhead...\(rB
1.4 kristaps 278: \(lBbody...\(rB
279: \&.Yc \(lBtail...\(rB
1.2 kristaps 280:
1.43 kristaps 281: \&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBparm...\(rB\(rB \(lBhead...\(rB \
1.4 kristaps 282: \(lBbody...\(rB \&Yc \(lBtail...\(rB
1.2 kristaps 283: .Ed
1.43 kristaps 284: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
1.2 kristaps 285: .Pp
1.43 kristaps 286: .Bl -column "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsableX" "closed by XXXX" -compact -offset indent
1.1 kristaps 287: .It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsable Ta Em Scope
1.44 kristaps 288: .It \&Ac Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&Ao
1.43 kristaps 289: .It \&Ao Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta closed by \&Ac
290: .It \&Bc Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta closed by \&Bo
291: .It \&Bo Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&Bc
1.44 kristaps 292: .It \&Brc Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&Bro
293: .It \&Bro Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta closed by \&Brc
294: .It \&Dc Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&Do
1.43 kristaps 295: .It \&Do Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta closed by \&Dc
1.44 kristaps 296: .It \&Ec Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&Eo
297: .It \&Eo Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta closed by \&Ec
298: .It \&Fc Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&Fo
299: .It \&Fo Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by \&Fc
1.43 kristaps 300: .It \&Oc Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta closed by \&Oo
301: .It \&Oo Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&Oc
1.44 kristaps 302: .It \&Pc Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta closed by \&Po
303: .It \&Po Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&Pc
1.43 kristaps 304: .It \&Qc Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&Oo
305: .It \&Qo Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta closed by \&Oc
306: .It \&Re Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta opened by \&Rs
307: .It \&Rs Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by \&Re
1.44 kristaps 308: .It \&Sc Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&So
309: .It \&So Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta closed by \&Sc
310: .It \&Xc Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&Xo
311: .It \&Xo Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta closed by \&Xc
1.1 kristaps 312: .El
1.43 kristaps 313: .\" SUB-SECTION----------------------
1.1 kristaps 314: .Ss Block partial-implicit
1.43 kristaps 315: Like block full-implicit, but with single-line scope closed by
316: .Sx Reserved Characters
317: or end of line.
318: .Bd -literal -offset indent
319: \&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB \(lBbody...\(rB \(lBres...\(rB
320: .Ed
321: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
1.1 kristaps 322: .Pp
1.39 kristaps 323: .Bl -column "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsableX" -compact -offset indent
1.1 kristaps 324: .It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsable
1.43 kristaps 325: .It \&Aq Ta Yes Ta Yes
326: .It \&Bq Ta Yes Ta Yes
1.44 kristaps 327: .It \&Brq Ta Yes Ta Yes
328: .It \&D1 Ta \&No Ta \&Yes
329: .It \&Dl Ta \&No Ta Yes
1.43 kristaps 330: .It \&Dq Ta Yes Ta Yes
1.44 kristaps 331: .It \&Op Ta Yes Ta Yes
1.43 kristaps 332: .It \&Pq Ta Yes Ta Yes
1.44 kristaps 333: .It \&Ql Ta Yes Ta Yes
1.43 kristaps 334: .It \&Qq Ta Yes Ta Yes
335: .It \&Sq Ta Yes Ta Yes
336: .El
337: .\" SUB-SECTION----------------------
338: .Ss In-line
339: Closed by
340: .Sx Reserved Characters ,
341: end of line, fixed argument lengths, and/or subsequent macros. In-line
342: macros have only text children. If a number (or inequality) of
1.3 kristaps 343: arguments is
344: .Pq n ,
345: then the macro accepts an arbitrary number of arguments.
1.43 kristaps 346: .Bd -literal -offset indent
347: \&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB \(lBargs...\(rB \(lbres...\(rb
348:
349: \&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB \(lBargs...\(rB Yc...
350:
351: \&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB arg0 arg1 argN
352: .Ed
353: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
1.2 kristaps 354: .Pp
1.39 kristaps 355: .Bl -column "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsableX" "Arguments" -compact -offset indent
1.2 kristaps 356: .It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsable Ta Em Arguments
1.43 kristaps 357: .It \&%A Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
358: .It \&%B Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
359: .It \&%C Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
360: .It \&%D Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
361: .It \&%I Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
362: .It \&%J Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
363: .It \&%N Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
364: .It \&%O Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
365: .It \&%P Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
366: .It \&%R Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
367: .It \&%T Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
368: .It \&%V Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
1.44 kristaps 369: .It \&Ad Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
370: .It \&An Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
371: .It \&Ap Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta 0
372: .It \&Ar Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.43 kristaps 373: .It \&At Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta 1
374: .It \&Bsx Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.44 kristaps 375: .It \&Bt Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0
1.43 kristaps 376: .It \&Bx Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.44 kristaps 377: .It \&Cd Ta Yes Ta \&No Ta >0
378: .It \&Cm Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.43 kristaps 379: .It \&Db Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 1
1.44 kristaps 380: .It \&Dd Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
381: .It \&Dt Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta n
382: .It \&Dv Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
383: .It \&Dx Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.43 kristaps 384: .It \&Em Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
1.44 kristaps 385: .It \&En Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0
386: .It \&Er Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
387: .It \&Es Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0
388: .It \&Ev Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
389: .It \&Ex Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0
390: .It \&Fa Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
391: .It \&Fd Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
392: .It \&Fl Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
393: .It \&Fn Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
394: .It \&Fr Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta n
395: .It \&Ft Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.43 kristaps 396: .It \&Fx Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.44 kristaps 397: .It \&Hf Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta n
398: .It \&Ic Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
399: .It \&In Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta n
400: .It \&Lb Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 1
401: .It \&Li Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
402: .It \&Lk Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
403: .It \&Lp Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0
1.43 kristaps 404: .It \&Ms Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
1.44 kristaps 405: .It \&Mt Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
406: .It \&Nm Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.43 kristaps 407: .It \&No Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta 0
408: .It \&Ns Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta 0
409: .It \&Nx Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.44 kristaps 410: .It \&Os Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta n
411: .It \&Ot Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta n
1.43 kristaps 412: .It \&Ox Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.44 kristaps 413: .It \&Pa Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.43 kristaps 414: .It \&Pf Ta \&No Ta Yes Ta 1
1.44 kristaps 415: .It \&Pp Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0
416: .It \&Rv Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0
1.43 kristaps 417: .It \&Sm Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 1
1.44 kristaps 418: .It \&St Ta \&No Ta Yes Ta 1
1.43 kristaps 419: .It \&Sx Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
420: .It \&Sy Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
421: .It \&Tn Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
1.44 kristaps 422: .It \&Ud Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0
1.43 kristaps 423: .It \&Ux Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.44 kristaps 424: .It \&Va Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
425: .It \&Vt Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
426: .It \&Xr Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0, <3
427: .It \&br Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0
1.45 kristaps 428: .It \&sp Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 1
1.1 kristaps 429: .El
1.43 kristaps 430: .\" SECTION---------------------------------------------
1.4 kristaps 431: .Sh COMPATIBILITY
1.28 kristaps 432: This section documents compatibility with other roff implementations, at
433: this time limited to
434: .Xr groff 1 .
435: The term
436: .Qq historic groff
437: refers to those versions before the
438: .Pa doc.tmac
439: file re-write
440: .Pq somewhere between 1.15 and 1.19 .
1.43 kristaps 441: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
1.4 kristaps 442: .Pp
443: .Bl -dash -compact
444: .\" LIST-ITEM
445: .It
1.45 kristaps 446: The
447: .Sq \&sp
448: macro does not accept negative numbers.
449: .\" LIST-ITEM
450: .It
1.35 kristaps 451: Some character sequences in groff are not handled depending on escape
452: style, e.g.,
453: .Sq \e(ba
454: and
455: .Sq \e*(Ba
456: may not be interchanged. This is no longer the case: all character
457: sequences resolve to the same symbol, regardless the escape style.
458: .\" LIST-ITEM
459: .It
460: Blocks of whitespace are stripped from both macro and free-form text
461: lines (except when in literal mode), while groff would retain whitespace
462: in free-form text lines.
463: .\" LIST-ITEM
464: .It
1.28 kristaps 465: Historic groff has many un-callable macros. Most of these (excluding
466: some block-level macros) are now callable, conforming to the
467: non-historic groff version.
468: .\" LIST-ITEM
469: .It
470: The vertical bar
1.35 kristaps 471: .Sq \(ba
1.28 kristaps 472: made historic groff
473: .Qq go orbital
474: but is a proper delimiter in this implementation.
1.5 kristaps 475: .\" LIST-ITEM
476: .It
1.45 kristaps 477: .Sq \&It \-nested
1.28 kristaps 478: is assumed for all lists (it wasn't in historic groff): any list may be
479: nested and
1.4 kristaps 480: .Sq \-enum
481: lists will restart the sequence only for the sub-list.
482: .\" LIST-ITEM
483: .It
1.45 kristaps 484: .Sq \&It \-column
1.21 kristaps 485: syntax where column widths may be preceded by other arguments (instead
1.4 kristaps 486: of proceeded) is not supported.
487: .\" LIST-ITEM
488: .It
489: The
1.45 kristaps 490: .Sq \&At
1.4 kristaps 491: macro only accepts a single parameter.
492: .\" LIST-ITEM
493: .It
494: Some manuals use
1.45 kristaps 495: .Sq \&Li
1.4 kristaps 496: incorrectly by following it with a reserved character and expecting the
497: delimiter to render. This is not supported.
498: .\" LIST-ITEM
499: .It
1.35 kristaps 500: If an special-character control character is escaped
501: .Sq \e\e ,
502: it will obviously not render the subsequent sequence. Even newer
503: versions of groff seem to dither on this.
1.41 kristaps 504: .\" LIST-ITEM
505: .It
506: In groff, the
1.45 kristaps 507: .Sq \&Fo
1.41 kristaps 508: macro only produces the first parameter. This is no longer the case.
1.4 kristaps 509: .El
1.43 kristaps 510: .\" SECTION---------------------------------------------
1.2 kristaps 511: .Sh SEE ALSO
1.19 kristaps 512: .Xr mandoc 1 ,
513: .Xr mandoc_char 7
1.43 kristaps 514: .\" SECTION---------------------------------------------
1.2 kristaps 515: .Sh AUTHORS
516: The
517: .Nm
1.46 ! kristaps 518: reference was written by
1.24 kristaps 519: .An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq kristaps@kth.se .
1.43 kristaps 520: .\" SECTION---------------------------------------------
1.5 kristaps 521: .Sh CAVEATS
1.28 kristaps 522: There are many ambiguous parts of mdoc.
1.43 kristaps 523: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
1.5 kristaps 524: .Pp
525: .Bl -dash -compact
526: .\" LIST-ITEM
527: .It
1.45 kristaps 528: .Sq \&Fa
1.5 kristaps 529: should be
1.45 kristaps 530: .Sq \&Va
1.5 kristaps 531: as function arguments are variables.
532: .\" LIST-ITEM
533: .It
1.45 kristaps 534: .Sq \&Ft
1.5 kristaps 535: should be
1.45 kristaps 536: .Sq \&Vt
1.5 kristaps 537: as function return types are still types. Furthermore, the
1.45 kristaps 538: .Sq \&Ft
1.5 kristaps 539: should be removed and
1.45 kristaps 540: .Sq \&Fo ,
1.5 kristaps 541: which ostensibly follows it, should follow the same convention as
1.45 kristaps 542: .Sq \&Va .
1.5 kristaps 543: .\" LIST-ITEM
544: .It
1.45 kristaps 545: .Sq \&Va
1.5 kristaps 546: should formalise that only one or two arguments are acceptable: a
1.21 kristaps 547: variable name and optional, preceding type.
1.5 kristaps 548: .\" LIST-ITEM
549: .It
1.45 kristaps 550: .Sq \&Fd
1.5 kristaps 551: is ambiguous. It's commonly used to indicate an include file in the
552: synopsis section.
1.45 kristaps 553: .Sq \&In
1.5 kristaps 554: should be used, instead.
555: .\" LIST-ITEM
556: .It
557: Only the
558: .Sq \-literal
559: argument to
1.45 kristaps 560: .Sq \&Bd
1.5 kristaps 561: makes sense. The remaining ones should be removed.
562: .\" LIST-ITEM
563: .It
564: The
1.45 kristaps 565: .Sq \&Xo
1.5 kristaps 566: and
1.45 kristaps 567: .Sq \&Xc
1.5 kristaps 568: macros should be deprecated.
569: .\" LIST-ITEM
570: .It
571: The
1.45 kristaps 572: .Sq \&Dt
1.5 kristaps 573: macro lacks clarity. It should be absolutely clear which title will
574: render when formatting the manual page.
1.6 kristaps 575: .\" LIST-ITEM
576: .It
577: A
1.45 kristaps 578: .Sq \&Lx
1.6 kristaps 579: should be provided for Linux (\(`a la
1.45 kristaps 580: .Sq \&Ox ,
581: .Sq \&Nx
1.6 kristaps 582: etc.).
1.14 kristaps 583: .\" LIST-ITEM
584: .It
585: There's no way to refer to references in
1.45 kristaps 586: .Sq \&Rs/Re
1.14 kristaps 587: blocks.
1.31 kristaps 588: .\" LIST-ITEM
589: .It
590: The \-split and \-nosplit arguments to
1.45 kristaps 591: .Sq \&An
1.31 kristaps 592: are inane.
1.5 kristaps 593: .El
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