.\" $Id$
.\"
.\" Copyright (c) 2009 Kristaps Dzonsons <kristaps@openbsd.org>
.\"
.\" Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any
.\" purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the
.\" above copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all
.\" copies.
.\"
.\" THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL
.\" WARRANTIES WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED
.\" WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
.\" AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
.\" DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR
.\" PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER
.\" TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR
.\" PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
.\"
.Dd $Mdocdate$
.Dt man 7
.Os
.\" SECTION
.Sh NAME
.Nm man
.Nd man language reference
.\" SECTION
.Sh DESCRIPTION
The
.Nm man
language was historically used to format
.Ux
manuals. This reference document describes the syntax and structure of
this language.
.Pp
.Em \&Do not
use
.Nm
to write your manuals. Use the
.Xr mdoc 7
language, instead.
.\" PARAGRAPH
.Pp
An
.Nm
document follows simple rules: lines beginning with the control
character
.Sq \&.
are parsed for macros. Other lines are interpreted within the scope of
prior macros:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
\&.SH Macro lines change control state.
Other lines are interpreted within the current state.
.Ed
.\" SECTION
.Sh INPUT ENCODING
.Nm
documents may contain only graphable 7-bit ASCII characters and the
space character
.Sq \ .
All manuals must have
.Ux
.Sq \en
line termination.
.Pp
Blank lines are acceptable; where found, the output will assert a
vertical space.
.Pp
The
.Sq \ec
escape is common in historical
.Nm
documents; if encountered at the end of a word, it ensures that the
subsequent word isn't off-set by whitespace.
.\" SUB-SECTION
.Ss Special Characters
Special character sequences begin with the escape character
.Sq \e
followed by either an open-parenthesis
.Sq \&(
for two-character sequences; an open-bracket
.Sq \&[
for n-character sequences (terminated at a close-bracket
.Sq \&] ) ;
or a single one-character sequence.
.Pp
Characters may alternatively be escaped by a slash-asterisk,
.Sq \e* ,
with the same combinations as described above. This form is deprecated.
.\" SECTION
.Sh STRUCTURE
Macros are one to three three characters in length and begin with a
control character ,
.Sq \&. ,
at the beginning of the line. An arbitrary amount of whitespace may
sit between the control character and the macro name. Thus,
.Sq \&.PP
and
.Sq \&.\ \ \ \&PP
are equivalent.
.Pp
All
.Nm
macros follow the same structural rules:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
\&.YO \(lBbody...\(rB
.Ed
.Pp
The
.Dq body
consists of zero or more arguments to the macro.
.Pp
.Nm
has a primitive notion of multi-line scope for the following macros:
.Sq \&.TM ,
.Sq \&.SM ,
.Sq \&.SB ,
.Sq \&.BI ,
.Sq \&.IB ,
.Sq \&.BR ,
.Sq \&.RB ,
.Sq \&.R ,
.Sq \&.B ,
.Sq \&.I ,
.Sq \&.IR
and
.Sq \&.RI .
When these macros are invoked without arguments, the subsequent line is
considered a continuation of the macro. Thus:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
\&.RI
foo
.Ed
.Pp
is equivalent to
.Sq \&.RI foo .
If two consecutive lines exhibit the latter behaviour,
an error is raised. Thus, the following is not acceptable:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
\&.RI
\&.I
Hello, world.
.Ed
.Pp
The
.Sq \&.TP
macro is similar, but does not need an empty argument line to trigger
the behaviour.
.\" PARAGRAPH
.Sh MACROS
This section contains a complete list of all
.Nm
macros and corresponding number of arguments.
.Pp
.Bl -column "MacroX" "Arguments" -compact -offset indent
.It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments
.It \&.TH Ta >1, <6
.It \&.SH Ta >0
.It \&.SS Ta >0
.It \&.TP Ta n
.It \&.LP Ta 0
.It \&.PP Ta 0
.It \&.P Ta 0
.It \&.IP Ta <3
.It \&.HP Ta <2
.It \&.SM Ta n
.It \&.SB Ta n
.It \&.BI Ta n
.It \&.IB Ta n
.It \&.BR Ta n
.It \&.RB Ta n
.It \&.R Ta n
.It \&.B Ta n
.It \&.I Ta n
.It \&.IR Ta n
.It \&.RI Ta n
.El
.Pp
Although not historically part of the
.Nm
system, the following macros are also supported:
.Pp
.Bl -column "MacroX" "Arguments" -compact -offset indent
.It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments
.It \&.br Ta 0
.It \&.i Ta n
.El
.Pp
These follow the same calling conventions as the above
.Nm
macros.
.\" SECTION
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr mandoc 1 ,
.Xr mandoc_char 7
.\" SECTION
.Sh AUTHORS
The
.Nm
utility was written by
.An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq kristaps@openbsd.org .
.\" SECTION
.Sh CAVEATS
Do not use this language. Use
.Xr mdoc 7 ,
instead.
