diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'man.7')
| -rw-r--r-- | man.7 | 443 |
1 files changed, 228 insertions, 215 deletions
@@ -17,112 +17,119 @@ .Dd $Mdocdate$ .Dt MAN 7 .Os -.\" SECTION +. +. .Sh NAME -.Nm man -.Nd man language reference -.\" SECTION +. Nm man +. Nd man language reference +. +. .Sh DESCRIPTION The -.Nm man +. Nm man language was historically used to format -.Ux +. Ux manuals. This reference document describes its syntax, structure, and usage. -.Pp -.Bf -emphasis +. Pp +. Bf -emphasis Do not use -.Nm +. Nm to write your manuals. -.Ef +. Ef Use the -.Xr mdoc 7 +. Xr mdoc 7 language, instead. -.\" PARAGRAPH -.Pp +. Pp An -.Nm +. Nm document follows simple rules: lines beginning with the control character -.Sq \&. +. Sq \&. are parsed for macros. Other lines are interpreted within the scope of prior macros: -.Bd -literal -offset indent +. Bd -literal -offset indent \&.SH Macro lines change control state. Other lines are interpreted within the current state. -.Ed -.\" SECTION +. Ed +. +. .Sh INPUT ENCODING -.Nm +. Nm documents may contain only graphable 7-bit ASCII characters, the space character, and the tabs character. All manuals must have -.Ux +. Ux line termination. -.Pp +. Pp Blank lines are acceptable; where found, the output will assert a vertical space. -.Pp +. Pp The -.Sq \ec +. Sq \ec escape is common in historical -.Nm +. 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 Comments +. +. +. Ss Comments Text following a -.Sq \e\*" , +. Sq \e\*" , whether in a macro or free-form text line, is ignored to the end of line. A macro line with only a control character and comment escape, -.Sq \&.\e" , +. Sq \&.\e" , is also ignored. Macro lines with only a control charater and optionally whitespace are stripped from input. -.\" SUB-SECTION -.Ss Special Characters +. +. +. Ss Special Characters Special characters may occur in both macro and free-form lines. Sequences begin with the escape character -.Sq \e +. Sq \e followed by either an open-parenthesis -.Sq \&( +. Sq \&( for two-character sequences; an open-bracket -.Sq \&[ +. Sq \&[ for n-character sequences (terminated at a close-bracket -.Sq \&] ) ; +. Sq \&] ) ; or a single one-character sequence. See -.Xr mandoc_char 7 +. Xr mandoc_char 7 for a complete list. Examples include -.Sq \e(em -.Pq em-dash +. Sq \e(em +. Pq em-dash and -.Sq \ee -.Pq back-slash . -.\" SUB-SECTION---------------------- -.Ss Text Decoration +. Sq \ee +. Pq back-slash . +. +. +. Ss Text Decoration Terms may be text-decorated using the -.Sq \ef +. Sq \ef escape followed by an indicator: B (bold), I, (italic), or P and R (Roman, or reset). -.\" SUB-SECTION---------------------- -.Ss Whitespace +. +. +. Ss Whitespace Unless specifically escaped, consecutive blocks of whitespace are pruned from input. These are later re-added, if applicable, by a front-end utility such as -.Xr mandoc 1 . -.\" SECTION +. Xr mandoc 1 . +. +. .Sh MANUAL STRUCTURE Each -.Nm +. Nm document must contain contains at least the -.Sq \&TH +. Sq \&TH macro describing the document's section and title. It may occur anywhere in the document, although conventionally, it appears as the first macro. -.Pp +. Pp Beyond -.Sq \&TH , +. Sq \&TH , at least one macro or text node must appear in the document. Documents are generally structured as follows: -.Bd -literal -offset indent +. Bd -literal -offset indent \&.TH FOO 1 "13 Aug 2009" \&. \&.SH NAME @@ -147,308 +154,314 @@ The \efBfoo\efR utility does... \&.\e\*q .SH AUTHORS \&.\e\*q .SH CAVEATS \&.\e\*q .SH BUGS -.Ed -.\" SECTION +. Ed +. +. .Sh MACRO SYNTAX Macros are one to three three characters in length and begin with a control character , -.Sq \&. , +. 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 +. Sq \&.PP and -.Sq \&.\ \ \ \&PP +. Sq \&.\ \ \ \&PP are equivalent. -.Pp +. Pp The -.Nm +. Nm macros are classified by scope: line scope or block scope. Line-scoped macros are only scoped to the current line (and, in some situations, the subsequent line). Block macros are scoped to the current line and subsequent lines until closed by another block macro. -.\" SUBSECTION -.Ss Line Macros +. +. +. Ss Line Macros Line-macros are scoped to the current line, with the body consisting of zero or more arguments. If a macro is next-line scoped and the line arguments are empty, the next line is used instead. Thus: -.Bd -literal -offset indent +. Bd -literal -offset indent \&.RI foo -.Ed -.\" PARAGRAPH -.Pp +. Ed +. Pp is equivalent to -.Sq \&.RI foo . +. Sq \&.RI foo . .\" PARAGRAPH Consecutive next-line invocations are disallowed. -.Bd -literal -offset indent +. Bd -literal -offset indent \&.YO \(lBbody...\(rB \(lBbody...\(rB -.Ed -.\" PARAGRAPH -.Pp -.Bl -column -compact -offset indent "MacroX" "ArgumentsX" "ScopeXXXXX" -.It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments Ta Em Scope -.It \&B Ta n Ta next-line -.It \&BI Ta n Ta current -.It \&BR Ta n Ta current -.It \&I Ta n Ta next-line -.It \&IB Ta n Ta current -.It \&IR Ta n Ta current -.It \&R Ta n Ta next-line -.It \&RB Ta n Ta current -.It \&RI Ta n Ta current -.It \&SB Ta n Ta next-line -.It \&SM Ta n Ta next-line -.It \&TH Ta >1, <6 Ta current -.It \&br Ta 0 Ta current -.It \&fi Ta 0 Ta current -.It \&i Ta n Ta current -.It \&na Ta 0 Ta current -.It \&nf Ta 0 Ta current -.It \&r Ta 0 Ta current -.It \&sp Ta 1 Ta current -.El -.\" PARAGRAPH -.Pp +. Ed +. Pp +. Bl -column -compact -offset indent "MacroX" "ArgumentsX" "ScopeXXXXX" +. It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments Ta Em Scope +. It \&B Ta n Ta next-line +. It \&BI Ta n Ta current +. It \&BR Ta n Ta current +. It \&I Ta n Ta next-line +. It \&IB Ta n Ta current +. It \&IR Ta n Ta current +. It \&R Ta n Ta next-line +. It \&RB Ta n Ta current +. It \&RI Ta n Ta current +. It \&SB Ta n Ta next-line +. It \&SM Ta n Ta next-line +. It \&TH Ta >1, <6 Ta current +. It \&br Ta 0 Ta current +. It \&fi Ta 0 Ta current +. It \&i Ta n Ta current +. It \&na Ta 0 Ta current +. It \&nf Ta 0 Ta current +. It \&r Ta 0 Ta current +. It \&sp Ta 1 Ta current +. El +. Pp The lower-case -.Sq \&br , -.Sq \&fi , -.Sq \&i , -.Sq \&na , -.Sq \&nf , -.Sq \&r , +. Sq \&br , +. Sq \&fi , +. Sq \&i , +. Sq \&na , +. Sq \&nf , +. Sq \&r , and -.Sq \&sp +. Sq \&sp macros aren't historically part of -.Nm +. Nm and should not be used. They're included for compatibility. -.\" SUBSECTION -.Ss Block Macros +. +. +. Ss Block Macros Block macros are comprised of a head and body. The head is scoped to the current line and, in one circumstance, the next line; the body is scoped to subsequent lines and is closed out by a subsequent block macro invocation. -.Bd -literal -offset indent +. Bd -literal -offset indent \&.YO \(lBhead...\(rB \(lBhead...\(rB \(lBbody...\(rB -.Ed -.\" PARAGRAPH -.Pp +. Ed +. Pp If a block macro is next-line scoped, it may only be followed by in-line macros (excluding -.Sq br , -.Sq na , -.Sq sp , -.Sq nf , -.Sq fi , +. Sq br , +. Sq na , +. Sq sp , +. Sq nf , +. Sq fi , and -.Sq TH ) . -.\" PARAGRAPH -.Pp -.Bl -column "MacroX" "Arguments" "ScopeXXXX" -compact -offset indent -.It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments Ta Em Scope -.It \&HP Ta <2 Ta current -.It \&IP Ta <3 Ta current -.It \&LP Ta 0 Ta current -.It \&P Ta 0 Ta current -.It \&PP Ta 0 Ta current -.It \&SH Ta >0 Ta current -.It \&SS Ta >0 Ta current -.It \&TP Ta n Ta next-line -.El -.\" SECTION +. Sq TH ) . +. Pp +. Bl -column "MacroX" "Arguments" "ScopeXXXX" -compact -offset indent +. It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments Ta Em Scope +. It \&HP Ta <2 Ta current +. It \&IP Ta <3 Ta current +. It \&LP Ta 0 Ta current +. It \&P Ta 0 Ta current +. It \&PP Ta 0 Ta current +. It \&SH Ta >0 Ta current +. It \&SS Ta >0 Ta current +. It \&TP Ta n Ta next-line +. El +. +. .Sh REFERENCE This section is a canonical reference to all macros, arranged alphabetically. For the scoping of individual macros, see -.Sx MACRO SYNTAX . -.\" SUBSECTION -.Ss Terms +. Sx MACRO SYNTAX . +. +. +. Ss Terms In this reference, a numerical width may be either a standalone natural number (such as 3, 4, 10, etc.) or a natural number followed by a width multiplier -.Qq n , +. Qq n , corresponding to the width of the formatted letter n, or -.Qq m , +. Qq m , corresponding to the width of the formatted letter m. The latter is the default, if unspecified. Thus, -.Bd -literal -offset indent +. Bd -literal -offset indent \&.HP 12n -.Ed -.Pp +. Ed +. Pp indicates an offset of 12 -.Qq n -.Ns -sized +. Qq n +. Ns -sized letters. -.\" SUBSECTION -.Ss Macro Reference -.Bl -tag -width Ds -.It \&B +. +. +. Ss Macro Reference +. Bl -tag -width Ds +. It \&B Text is rendered in bold face. -.It \&BI +. It \&BI Text is rendered alternately in bold face and italic. Thus, -.Sq \&.BI this word and that +. Sq \&.BI this word and that causes -.Sq this +. Sq this and -.Sq and +. Sq and to render in bold face, while -.Sq word +. Sq word and -.Sq that +. Sq that render in italics. Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output. -.It \&BR +. It \&BR Text is rendered alternately in bold face and roman (the default font). Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output. -.It \&HP +. It \&HP Begin a paragraph whose initial output line is left-justified, but subsequent output lines are indented, with the following syntax: -.Bd -literal -offset indent +. Bd -literal -offset indent \&.HP [width] -.Ed -.Pp +. Ed +. Pp If -.Va width +. Va width is specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if unspecified, the saved or default width is used. -.It \&I +. It \&I Text is rendered in italics. -.It \&IB +. It \&IB Text is rendered alternately in italics and bold face. Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output. -.It \&IP +. It \&IP Begin a paragraph with the following syntax: -.Bd -literal -offset indent +. Bd -literal -offset indent \&.IP [head [width]] -.Ed -.Pp +. Ed +. Pp This follows the behaviour of the -.Sq \&TP +. Sq \&TP except for the macro syntax (all arguments on the line, instead of having next-line scope). If -.Va width +. Va width is specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if unspecified, the saved or default width is used. -.It \&IR +. It \&IR Text is rendered alternately in italics and roman (the default font). Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output. -.It \&LP, \&P, \&PP +. It \&LP, \&P, \&PP Begin an undecorated paragraph. The scope of a paragraph is closed by a subsequent paragraph, sub-section, section, or end of file. The saved paragraph left-margin width is re-set to the default. -.It \&R +. It \&R Text is rendered in roman (the default font). -.It \&RB +. It \&RB Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and bold face. Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output. -.It \&RI +. It \&RI Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and italics. Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output. -.It \&SB +. It \&SB Text is rendered in small size (one point smaller than the default font) bold face. -.It \&SH +. It \&SH Begin a section. The scope of a section is only closed by another section or the end of file. The paragraph left-margin width is re-set to the default. -.It \&SM +. It \&SM Text is rendered in small size (one point smaller than the default font). -.It \&SS +. It \&SS Begin a sub-section. The scope of a sub-section is closed by a subsequent sub-section, section, or end of file. The paragraph left-margin width is re-set to the default. -.It \&TH +. It \&TH Sets the title of the manual page with the following syntax: -.Bd -literal -offset indent +. Bd -literal -offset indent \&.TH title section date source volume -.Ed -.Pp +. Ed +. Pp At least the -.Va title +. Va title and -.Va section +. Va section arguments must be provided. The -.Va date +. Va date argument should be formatted as -.Qq %b [%d] %Y +. Qq %b [%d] %Y format, described in -.Xr strptime 3 . +. Xr strptime 3 . The -.Va source +. Va source string specifies the organisation providing the utility. The -.Va volume +. Va volume replaces the default rendered volume as dictated by the manual section. -.It \&TP +. It \&TP Begin a paragraph where the head, if exceeding the indentation width, is followed by a newline; if not, the body follows on the same line after a buffer to the indentation width. Subsequent output lines are indented. -.Pp +. Pp The indentation width may be set as follows: -.Bd -literal -offset indent +. Bd -literal -offset indent \&.TP [width] -.Ed -.Pp +. Ed +. Pp Where -.Va width +. Va width must be a properly-formed numeric width. If -.Va width +. Va width is specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if unspecified, the saved or default width is used. -.It \&br +. It \&br Breaks the current line. Consecutive invocations have no further effect. -.It \&fi +. It \&fi End literal mode begun by -.Sq \&nf . -.It \&i +. Sq \&nf . +. It \&i Italicise arguments. If no arguments are specified, all subsequent text is italicised. -.It \&na +. It \&na No alignment to the right margin. -.It \&nf +. It \&nf Begin literal mode: all subsequent free-form lines have their end of line boundaries preserved. May be ended by -.Sq \&fi . -.It \&r +. Sq \&fi . +. It \&r Fonts and styles (bold face, italics) reset to roman (default font). -.It \&sp +. It \&sp Insert n spaces, where n is the macro's positive numeric argument. If 0, this is equivalent to the -.Sq br +. Sq br macro. -.El -.\" SECTION +. El +. +. .Sh COMPATIBILITY This section documents compatibility with other roff implementations, at this time limited to -.Xr groff 1 . -.Bl -hyphen -.It +. Xr groff 1 . +. Bl -hyphen +. It In quoted literals, groff allowed pair-wise double-quotes to produce a standalone double-quote in formatted output. This idiosyncratic behaviour is no longer applicable. -.It +. It The -.Sq \&sp +. Sq \&sp macro does not accept negative numbers. -.It +. It Blocks of whitespace are stripped from both macro and free-form text lines (except when in literal mode), while groff would retain whitespace in free-form text lines. -.El -.\" SECTION +. El +. +. .Sh SEE ALSO -.Xr mandoc 1 , -.Xr mandoc_char 7 -.\" SECTION +. Xr mandoc 1 , +. Xr mandoc_char 7 +. +. .Sh AUTHORS The -.Nm +. Nm reference was written by -.An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq kristaps@kth.se . -.\" SECTION +. An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq kristaps@kth.se . +. +. .Sh CAVEATS Do not use this language. Use -.Xr mdoc 7 , +. Xr mdoc 7 , instead. +. |