path: root/index.sgml

                                                                                          

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		<TITLE>mdocml | UNIX manpage compiler</TITLE>
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		<P CLASS="head">
			<B>mdocml</B> &#8211; UNIX manpage compiler, current version @VERSION@ (@VDATE@)
		</P>
		<P CLASS="subhead">
			Sources: <A HREF="/snapshots/mdocml.tar.gz">current</A>,
			<A HREF="/cgi-bin/cvsweb/?cvsroot=mdocml">cvsweb</A>
			(<A HREF="/snapshots/">archives</A>)
		</P>
		<H1>
			<A NAME="description">Description</A>
		</H1>
		<P>
			<SPAN CLASS="nm">mdocml</SPAN> is a suite of tools compiling <I><A HREF="mdoc.7.html">mdoc</A></I>, the roff macro
			package of choice for BSD manual pages, and <I><A HREF="man.7.html">man</A></I>, the predominant historical package for
			UNIX manuals.  The mission of <SPAN CLASS="nm">mdocml</SPAN> is to deprecate <A
			HREF="http://www.gnu.org/software/groff/" CLASS="external">groff</A>, the GNU troff implementation, for displaying <I>mdoc</I>
			pages whilst providing token support for <I>man</I>.
		</P>
		<P>
			Why?  groff amounts to over 5 MB of source code, most of which is C++ and GPL version 3.  It runs slowly, produces
			uncertain output, and varies in operation from system to system.  mdocml strives to fix this (respectively small, C, <A
			CLASS="external" HREF="http://www.isc.org/software/license">ISC</A>-licensed, fast and regular).
		</P>
		<P>
			<SPAN CLASS="nm">mdocml</SPAN> consists of the <A HREF="mandoc.3.html">libmandoc</A> validating compiler and <A
			HREF="mandoc.1.html">mandoc</A>, which interfaces with the compiler library to format output for UNIX terminals (with
			support for wide-character locales), XHTML, HTML, PostScript, and PDF.  
			It also includes <A HREF="preconv.1.html">preconv</A>, for recoding multibyte manuals; 
			<A HREF="demandoc.1.html">demandoc</A>, for emitting only text parts of manuals;
			<A HREF="mandocdb.8.html">mandocdb</A>, for indexing manuals; and
			<A HREF="apropos.1.html">apropos</A>, <A HREF="whatis.1.html">whatis</A>, and
			<A HREF="man.cgi.7.html">man.cgi</A> (via <A HREF="catman.8.html">catman</A>) for semantic search of manual content.
			It is a <A CLASS="external" HREF="http://bsd.lv/">BSD.lv</A> project.  
		</P>
		<P>
			<I>Disambiguation</I>: <SPAN CLASS="nm">mdocml</SPAN> is often referred to by its installed binary, <Q>mandoc</Q>.
		</P>
		<H2>
			<A NAME="sources">Sources</A>
		</H2>
		<P>
			<SPAN CLASS="nm">mdocml</SPAN> is in plain-old ANSI C and should build and run on any modern system; however, you'll
			need <A HREF="http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/berkeleydb/overview/index.html">libdb</A> to build <A
			HREF="apropos.1.html">apropos</A>, <A HREF="whatis.1.html">whatis</A>, <A HREF="man.cgi.7.html">man.cgi</A>, <A
			HREF="catman.8.html">catman</A>, and <A HREF="mandocdb.8.html">mandocdb</A> (this is installed by default on BSD UNIX
			systems &mdash; see the <I>Makefile</I> if you're running Linux).  To build and install into <I>/usr/local/</I>, just
			run <CODE>make install</CODE>.  Be careful: the <B>preconv</B>, <B>apropos</B>, and <B>whatis</B> binary names are
			usually taken by existing utilities.
		</P>
		<H2>
			Downstream
		</H2>
		<P>
			Several systems come bundled with <SPAN CLASS="nm">mdocml</SPAN> utilities.
			If your system does not appear below, the maintainers have not contacted me and it should not be considered
			<Q>official</Q>.
			Please <A HREF="#contact">contact us</A> if you plan on maintaining a downstream version!
		</P>
		<TABLE WIDTH="100%" SUMMARY="Downstream Sources">
			<COL WIDTH="175">
			<COL>
			<TBODY>
				<TR>
					<TD>DragonFly BSD</TD>
					<TD>
					<A HREF="http://gitweb.dragonflybsd.org/dragonfly.git/tree/HEAD:/contrib/mdocml" CLASS="external">contrib/mdocml</A> (1.12.1 sources)
					<A HREF="http://gitweb.dragonflybsd.org/dragonfly.git/tree/HEAD:/lib/libmandoc" CLASS="external">lib/libmandoc</A>
					<A HREF="http://gitweb.dragonflybsd.org/dragonfly.git/tree/HEAD:/usr.bin/mandoc" CLASS="external">usr.bin/mandoc</A> (build system)
					</TD>
				</TR>
				<TR>
					<TD>FreeBSD 10.0, -CURRENT</TD>
					<TD>
					<A HREF="http://svnweb.freebsd.org/base/head/contrib/mdocml/" CLASS="external">contrib/mdocml</A> (1.12.1 sources)
					<A HREF="http://svnweb.freebsd.org/base/head/usr.bin/mandoc/" CLASS="external">usr.bin/mandoc</A> (build system)
					</TD>
				</TR>
				<TR>
					<TD>FreeBSD 9.x, 8.x</TD>
					<TD>
					<A HREF="http://svnweb.freebsd.org/ports/textproc/mdocml/" CLASS="external">ports/textproc/mdocml</A> (1.12.1 port)
					</TD>
				</TR>
				<TR>
					<TD>NetBSD</TD>
					<TD>
					<A HREF="http://cvsweb.netbsd.org/bsdweb.cgi/src/external/bsd/mdocml/" CLASS="external">src/external/bsd/mdocml</A> (1.12.1 sources plus patches and build system)
					</TD>
				</TR>
				<TR>
					<TD>OpenBSD</TD>
					<TD>
					<A HREF="http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb/src/usr.bin/mandoc/" CLASS="external">src/usr.bin/mandoc</A> (1.12.2 sources and build system)
					</TD>
				</TR>
				<TR>
					<TD>pkgsrc</TD>
					<TD>
					<A HREF="http://pkgsrc.se/textproc/mdocml" CLASS="external">textproc/mdocml</A> (1.12.0 port)
					</TD>
				</TR>
				<TR>
					<TD>Minix3</TD>
					<TD>
					<A HREF="http://git.minix3.org/?p=minix.git;a=tree;f=external/bsd/mdocml" CLASS="external">external/bsd/mdocml</A> (1.10.9 sources and build system)
					</TD>
				</TR>
			</TBODY>
		</TABLE>
		<H1>
			<A NAME="documentation">Documentation</A>
		</H1>
		<P>
			These manuals are generated automatically and refer to the current release.
			They are the authoritative documentation for the <SPAN CLASS="nm">mdocml</SPAN> system.
		</P>

		<TABLE WIDTH="100%" SUMMARY="Documentation">
			<COL WIDTH="175">
			<COL>
			<TBODY>
				<TR>
					<TD VALIGN="top"><A HREF="apropos.1.html">apropos(1)</A></TD>
					<TD VALIGN="top">
						search the manual page database
					</TD>
				</TR>
				<TR>
					<TD VALIGN="top"><A HREF="demandoc.1.html">demandoc(1)</A></TD>
					<TD VALIGN="top">
						emit only text of UNIX manuals
					</TD>
				</TR>
				<TR>
					<TD VALIGN="top"><A HREF="mandoc.1.html">mandoc(1)</A></TD>
					<TD VALIGN="top">
						format and display UNIX manuals
					</TD>
				</TR>
				<TR>
					<TD VALIGN="top"><A HREF="preconv.1.html">preconv(1)</A></TD>
					<TD VALIGN="top">
						recode multibyte UNIX manuals
					</TD>
				</TR>
				<TR>
					<TD VALIGN="top"><A HREF="whatis.1.html">whatis(1)</A></TD>
					<TD VALIGN="top">
						search the manual page database
					</TD>
				</TR>
				<TR>
					<TD VALIGN="top"><A HREF="mandoc.3.html">mandoc(3)</A></TD>
					<TD VALIGN="top">
						mandoc macro compiler library
					</TD>
				</TR>
				<TR>
					<TD VALIGN="top"><A HREF="tbl.3.html">tbl(3)</A></TD>
					<TD VALIGN="top">
						roff table parser library for mandoc
					</TD>
				</TR>
				<TR>
					<TD VALIGN="top"><A HREF="eqn.7.html">eqn(7)</A></TD>
					<TD VALIGN="top">
						eqn-mandoc language reference
					</TD>
				</TR>
				<TR>
					<TD VALIGN="top"><A HREF="man.7.html">man(7)</A></TD>
					<TD VALIGN="top">
						man language reference
					</TD>
				</TR>
				<TR>
					<TD VALIGN="top"><A HREF="man.cgi.7.html">man.cgi(7)</A></TD>
					<TD VALIGN="top">
						cgi for manpage query and display
					</TD>
				</TR>
				<TR>
					<TD VALIGN="top"><A HREF="mandoc_char.7.html">mandoc_char(7)</A></TD>
					<TD VALIGN="top">
						mandoc special characters
					</TD>
				</TR>
				<TR>
					<TD VALIGN="top"><A HREF="mdoc.7.html">mdoc(7)</A></TD>
					<TD VALIGN="top">
						mdoc language reference
					</TD>
				</TR>
				<TR>
					<TD VALIGN="top"><A HREF="roff.7.html">roff(7)</A></TD>
					<TD VALIGN="top">
						roff-mandoc language reference
					</TD>
				</TR>
				<TR>
					<TD VALIGN="top"><A HREF="tbl.7.html">tbl(7)</A></TD>
					<TD VALIGN="top">
						tbl-mandoc language reference
					</TD>
				</TR>
				<TR>
					<TD VALIGN="top"><A HREF="catman.8.html">catman(8)</A></TD>
					<TD VALIGN="top">
						update a man.cgi manpage cache
					</TD>
				</TR>
				<TR>
					<TD VALIGN="top"><A HREF="mandocdb.8.html">mandocdb(8)</A></TD>
					<TD VALIGN="top">
						index UNIX manuals
					</TD>
				</TR>
			</TBODY>
		</TABLE>
		<H1>
			<A NAME="contact">Contact</A>
		</H1>
		<P>
			Use the mailing lists for bug-reports, patches, questions, etc.  Please check the
			<A HREF="http://mdocml.bsd.lv/cgi-bin/cvsweb/TODO?cvsroot=mdocml">TODO</A> for known issues
			before posting.  All lists are subscription-only: send a blank e-mail to the listed address to subscribe.  Beyond that,
			contact Kristaps at <A HREF="http://mailhide.recaptcha.net/d?k=01M6h_w7twDp58ZgH57eWC_w==&amp;c=Q2DBUt401ePlSeupJFrq_Q==" TITLE="Reveal
			this e-mail address">kris...</A>@bsd.lv.  Archives are available at <A HREF="http://gmane.org/" CLASS="external">Gmane</A>.
		</P>
		<TABLE WIDTH="100%" SUMMARY="Mailing Lists">
			<COL WIDTH="175">
			<COL>
			<TBODY>
				<TR>
					<TD>
						disc<A CLASS="external" TITLE="Reveal this e-mail address"
						HREF="http://www.google.com/recaptcha/mailhide/d?k=01KQ80PFH5n3BBNpF5Gs4sRg==&amp;c=EV1QytpQqTHSItc2IXvZyocgYLPnG5K0JKw_gwMC9yc=">...</A>@mdocml.bsd.lv
					</TD>
					<TD>
						bug-reports, general questions, and announcements 
					</TD>
				</TR>
				<TR>
					<TD>
						tec<A CLASS="external" TITLE="Reveal this e-mail address"
						HREF="http://www.google.com/recaptcha/mailhide/d?k=01qDX_iV0RlUOarEvb6mR28g==&amp;c=gRXsTjza0NNCFPaYu-Taj2tF0pmYZSc90EZkFkhkxgo=">...</A>@mdocml.bsd.lv
					</TD>
					<TD>
						patches and system discussions 
					</TD>
				</TR>
				<TR>
					<TD>
						sou<A CLASS="external" TITLE="Reveal this e-mail address"
						HREF="http://www.google.com/recaptcha/mailhide/d?k=01prQrAZhhl2EbIwVcRfABsQ==&amp;c=KtTW4Yic9xk-8g40KzJoca4fR3MYXv28g8NC6OQV-T8=">...</A>@mdocml.bsd.lv
					</TD>
					<TD>
						source commit messages 
					</TD>
				</TR>
			</TBODY>
		</TABLE>
		<H1>
			<A NAME="news">News</A>
		</H1>
		<P CLASS="news">
			23-09-2013: version 1.12.2
		</P>
		<P>
			The <A HREF="mdoc.7.html">mdoc(7)</A> to <A HREF="man.7.html">man(7)</A> converter,
			to be called as <CODE>mandoc -Tman</CODE>, is now fully functional.
		</P>
		<P>
			The <A HREF="mandoc.1.html">mandoc(1)</A> utility now supports the <CODE>-Ios</CODE> (default operating system)
			input option, and the <CODE>-Tutf8</CODE> output mode now actually works.
		</P>
		<P>
			The <A HREF="mandocdb.8.html">mandocdb(8)</A> utility no longer truncates existing databases when starting to build new ones,
			but only replaces them when the build actually succeeds.
		</P>
		<P>
			The <A HREF="man.7.html">man(7)</A> parser now supports the <EM>PD</EM> macro (paragraph distance),
			and (for GNU man-ext compatibility only) <EM>EX</EM> (example block) and <EM>EE</EM> (example end).
			Plus several bugfixes regarding indentation, line breaks, and vertical spacing,
			and regarding <EM>RS</EM> following <EM>TP</EM>.
		</P>
		<P>
			The <A HREF="roff.7.html">roff(7)</A> parser now supports the <EM>\f(BI</EM> (bold+italic) font escape,
			the <EM>\z</EM> (zero cursor advance) escape and the <EM>cc</EM> (change control character)
			and <EM>it</EM> (input line trap) requests.
			Plus bugfixes regarding the <EM>\t</EM> (tab) escape, nested escape sequences, and conditional requests.
		</P>
		<P>
			In <A HREF="mdoc.7.html">mdoc(7)</A>, several bugs were fixed related to UTF-8 output of quoting enclosures,
			delimiter handling, list indentation and horizontal and vertical spacing,
			formatting of the <EM>Lk</EM>, <EM>%U</EM>, and <EM>%C</EM> macros,
			plus some bugfixes related to the handling of syntax errors like badly nested font blocks,
			stray <EM>Ta</EM> macros outside column lists, unterminated <EM>It Xo</EM> blocks,
			and non-text children of <EM>Nm</EM> blocks.
		</P>
		<P>
			In <A HREF="tbl.7.html">tbl(7)</A>, the width of horizontal spans and the vertical spacing around tables was corrected,
			and in <A HREF="man.7.html">man(7)</A> files, a crash was fixed that was triggered by some particular unclosed <EM>T{</EM> macros.
		</P>
		<P>
			For mandoc developers, we now provide a <A HREF="tbl.3.html">tbl(3)</A> library manual and <CODE>gmdiff</CODE>,
			a very small, very simplistic groff-versus-mandoc output comparison tool.
		</P>
		<P CLASS="news">
			23-03-2011: version 1.12.1
		</P>
		<P>
			Significant work on <A HREF="apropos.1.html">apropos</A> and <A HREF="mandocdb.8.html">mandocdb</A>.  These tools are
			now much more robust.  
			A <A HREF="whatis.1.html">whatis</A> implementation is now handled as an <A HREF="apropos.1.html">apropos</A> mode.
			These tools are also able to minimally handle pre-formatted pages, that is, those already formatted by another utility
			such as GNU troff.
		</P>
		<P>
			The <A HREF="man.cgi.7.html">man.cgi</A> script is also now available for wider testing.  It interfaces with <A
			HREF="mandocdb.8.html">mandocdb</A> manuals cached by <A HREF="catman.8.html">catman</A>.  HTML output is generated
			on-the-fly by <A HREF="mandoc.3.html">libmandoc</A> or internal methods to convert pre-formatted pages.
		</P>
		<P>
			The mailing list archive for the discuss and tech lists are being hosted by <A CLASS="external"
			HREF="http://www.gmane.org">Gmane</A> at <A HREF="http://dir.gmane.org/gmane.comp.tools.mdocml.user"
			CLASS="external">gmane.comp.tools.mdocml.user</A> and <A HREF="http://dir.gmane.org/gmane.comp.tools.mdocml.devel"
			CLASS="external">gmane.comp.tools.mdocml.devel</A>, respectively.
		</P>
		<P>
			Lastly, I'm no longer providing binaries, as nobody has asked for them.
		</P>
		<P>
			See <A HREF="http://mdocml.bsd.lv/cgi-bin/cvsweb/index.sgml?cvsroot=mdocml">cvsweb</A> for
			historical notes.
		</P>
		<P CLASS="foot">
			<SMALL>
				Copyright &#169; 2008&#8211;2011 
				<A CLASS="external" HREF="http://kristaps.bsd.lv">Kristaps Dzonsons</A>, 
				&#169; 2013 Ingo Schwarze,
				$Date$
			</SMALL>
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