summaryrefslogtreecommitdiffstats
path: root/man.1
Commit message (Collapse)AuthorAgeFilesLines
* Switch the default pager from "more -s" to "less".Ingo Schwarze2020-07-201-4/+3
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | POSIX explicitly allows using a different default pager if that is documented. Nowadays, the pager provided in most operating systems is less(1). Our man(1) implementation uses less(1) features that traditional more(1) did not provide, in particular tagging. Besides, as noted by deraadt@, the user interface of less(1) is slightly more refined and preferable over the user inferface of more(1). This switch was originally suggested by Ian Ropers. In ./configure, test whether less(1) is available. If not, fall back to more(1). In ./configure.local, support overriding the automatic test by setting BINM_PAGER. As explained by jmc@ and deraadt@, the -s flag was added a very long time ago when an antique version of groff(1) had an annoying bug in terminal output that would randomly display blank lines in the middle of pages. Clearly, -s has no longer been needed for many years, so drop it from the default pager invocation. OK deraadt@ jmc@ martijn@ job@ on the OpenBSD version of this patch.
* Manually tag the section option.Ingo Schwarze2020-06-171-0/+1
| | | | | Automatic tagging does not work because the [-s] flag is optional. Patch from Martin Vahlensieck.
* The man(1) command was already available in AT&T Version 2 UNIX.Ingo Schwarze2020-02-101-1/+1
| | | | | | | | Jonathan Gray found it in the "Combined Table of Contents" in Doug McIlroy's "A Research UNIX Reader", which contains a table of which edition manuals appeared in, and in both the "Table of Contents" (page vi) and the body (page 89) of the printed UNIX Programmer's Manual (June 12, 1972) from bitsavers.
* For compatibility with the man(1) implementations of the man-1.6Ingo Schwarze2020-02-101-1/+4
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | and man-db packages, print the manpath if the -w option is given without a following name argument. This quirk has been in man-1.6 since at least man-1.5e (1998) and in man-db since 2012. Using this feature in portable software is a dubious idea because the internal organization of manual page directories varies in about a dozen respects among operating systems, so even if you get the answer, there is no portable way to use it for looking up anything inside. However, Matej Cepl <mcepl at suse dot cz> made me aware that some software, for example the manual viewing functionality in the newest editors/neovim code, unwisely relies on this feature anyway. No objections were raised when this patch was shown on tech@.
* Improve the description of -m/-M/MANPATH/man.conf in multiple respectsIngo Schwarze2020-01-071-33/+46
| | | | | | after kn@ reported that the descriptions were incomplete and somewhat inaccurate. OK jmc@ kn@
* Mention mandoc.db(5), makewhatis(8), and weekly(8).Ingo Schwarze2019-03-091-0/+12
| | | | Omission noticed by espie@ long ago, and wording tweaked by jmc@.
* In -T locale (the default), -T ascii, and -T utf8 mode, provide a newIngo Schwarze2018-11-221-1/+8
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | output option -O tag[=term] to move right to the definition of "term" when opening the manual page in a pager, effectively porting the -T html fragment name feature - https://man.openbsd.org/ksh#ulimit - to the terminal. Try: $ man -O tag uvm_sysctl $ man -O tag=ulimit ksh $ man -O tag 3 compress Feature development triggered by a question from kn@. Klemens also tested, provided feedback that resulted in improvements, and provided an OK.
* Tweak the description of -l:Ingo Schwarze2018-04-191-2/+3
| | | | | | | | | | | Avoid the misunderstanding that the essential purpose of -l is similar to the purpose of the -a option in mandoc(1), which is not the point: the fact that -l implies -a is merely a minor detail. The point of -l is to make man(1) behave like mandoc(1). Move the mention of -a to the end to de-emphasize it. Nate Bargmann reported that this seriously confused him, and i can see why.
* Delete the lie that $PAGER would only be used with -a or -l; the textIngo Schwarze2017-08-191-5/+0
| | | | was probably copied from mandoc(1) or apropos(1), where it is true.
* Add two EXAMPLES; triggered by a question from jmc@.Ingo Schwarze2017-08-111-0/+10
| | | | Feedback and OK jmc@.
* Explain how to transform markup for the terminal when not using aIngo Schwarze2017-08-091-10/+16
| | | | | | | pager, and how to remove markup. Add related cross references. While here, as suggested by jmc@, replace the excessive cross references to the intro pages by a more relevant one to mandoc(1). Triggered by a question from, using feedback from, and OK jmc@.
* Fix documentation bug:Ingo Schwarze2017-05-171-1/+1
| | | | | man(1) does not ignore manpath directories lacking mandoc.db(5) files; instead, it uses filename lookup to find manuals in such directories.
* simplify the SYNOPSIS as well, just like the option lists;Ingo Schwarze2017-03-271-7/+1
| | | | suggested by and OK jmc@
* Simplify: mention at one place that -fkl override each other,Ingo Schwarze2017-03-271-17/+5
| | | | | rather than stating it separately for each option. Suggested, OKed, and tweaked by jmc@.
* For some options that are rarely needed in apropos(1) and man(1),Ingo Schwarze2017-03-251-64/+5
| | | | | | | delete the verbose descriptions and point to man(1) and mandoc(1), respectively, instead. That shortens the pages and makes them easier to read. Tweaks and OK jmc@, based in part on ideas from tedu@.
* simplify description of -S and -w, point from EXIT STATUSIngo Schwarze2017-03-221-11/+6
| | | | | to mandoc(1) for details, and remove duplicate .Xr to whatis(1); OK jmc@
* delete documentation of a hack that was removed years agoIngo Schwarze2017-03-211-7/+1
|
* Correct description of MANPATH, and a few more improvementsIngo Schwarze2017-03-181-5/+24
| | | | to the ENVIRONMENT section; OK jmc@
* Document man(1) section selection priority,Ingo Schwarze2017-03-171-1/+5
| | | | | and correct description of apropos(1) output search order. Suggested by tb@.
* add missing HISTORY informationIngo Schwarze2017-01-311-2/+16
|
* sort options list; from jmc@Ingo Schwarze2017-01-061-6/+6
|
* document improved tagging functionalityIngo Schwarze2016-11-081-1/+13
|
* Avoid the confusion that -a might require a section argument; it does not.Ingo Schwarze2016-10-191-6/+2
| | | | | Triggered by a question from <jmates at ee dot washington at edu>. OK jmc@.
* Update and simplify the documentation of the -s option,Ingo Schwarze2016-07-011-29/+5
| | | | | | | which was forgotten when implementing the new man.conf(5) format. The outdated information was originally pointed out by Andy Bradford <amb dash openbsd at bradfords dot org> on misc@. OK jmc@
* no more _subdir; Jan Stary <hans at stare dot cz>Ingo Schwarze2015-09-211-18/+0
|
* Initial, still somewhat experimental implementation to leverageIngo Schwarze2015-07-171-0/+7
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | less(1) -T and :t ctags(1)-like functionality to jump to the definitions of various terms inside manual pages. To be polished in the tree, so bear with me and report issues. Technically, if less(1) is used as a pager, information is collected by the mdoc(7) terminal formatter, first stored using the ohash library, then ultimately written to a temporary file which is passed to less via -T. No change intended for other output formatters or when running without a pager. Based on an idea from Kristaps using feedback from many, in particular phessler@ nicm@ millert@ halex@ doug@ kspillner@ deraadt@.
* No need to hardcode /usr/bin/ as the path to more(1); helps portability.Ingo Schwarze2015-04-031-1/+2
| | | | | We don't hardcode the paths to gunzip(1) and cmp(1) either. Discussed with ajacoutot@.
* Delete the -V option. It serves no purpose but keeps confusing people.Ingo Schwarze2015-02-161-4/+2
| | | | | | | | Keeping track of the versions of installed software is the job of the package manager, not of the individual binaries. If individual binaries include version numbers, that tends to goad people into writing broken configuration tests that inspect version numbers instead of properly testing for features.
* Split the -Werror message level into -Werror (broken manual, probablyIngo Schwarze2015-01-201-2/+3
| | | | | | | | | | | | | using mandoc is better than using groff) and -Wunsupp (manual using unsupported low-level roff(7) feature, probably using groff is better than using mandoc). Once this feature is complete, it is intended to help porting, making the decision whether to USE_GROFF easier. As a first step, distinguish four classes of roff(7) requests: 1. Supported (currently 24 requests) 2. Currently ignored because unimportant (120) -> no message 3. Ignored for good because insecure (14) -> -Werror 4. Currently unsupported (68) -> these trigger the new -Wunsupp messages
* Fatal errors no longer exist.Ingo Schwarze2015-01-151-6/+6
| | | | | | If a file can be opened, mandoc will produce some output; at worst, the output may be almost empty. Simplifies error handling and frees a message type for future use.
* mdoc(7) already uses the mandoc(1) -Ios argument in the footer lineIngo Schwarze2014-12-281-0/+3
| | | | | | when .Os has no argument, so do the same for man(7) when .TH has less than four arguments; there is no reason to treat both differently. Issue found following a question from Thomas Klausner <wiz at NetBSD>.
* update usage() and the list of non-standard (i.e. non-posix) options;Ingo Schwarze2014-12-181-1/+1
| | | | from jmc@
* minimally document -IOKTW; requested by naddy@Ingo Schwarze2014-12-171-8/+65
|
* Let -h imply -c (that is, not use the pager).Ingo Schwarze2014-11-111-1/+3
| | | | | | Usually, -h output is short, so the pager is just a nuisance. Also, traditional man(1) does not use a pager for -h. Triggered by a remark of deraadt@ on ICB.
* integrate preconv(1) into mandoc(1);Ingo Schwarze2014-10-251-1/+1
| | | | enhances functionality and reduces code and docs by more than 300 lines
* Implement the traditional -h option for man(1): show the SYNOPSIS only.Ingo Schwarze2014-09-031-4/+3
| | | | | | | As usual, we get mandoc -h and apropos -h for free. Try stuff like "apropos -h In=dirent" or "apropos -h Fa=timespec". Only useful for terminal output, so -Tps, -Tpdf, -Thtml ignore -h for now.
* Introduce a man(1) -l option as an alias for mandoc -a.Ingo Schwarze2014-08-301-1/+33
| | | | | | | | | | | | | Basically, this does the same as man -l in Linux man-db. The point is that now all functionality of the combined tool is reachable from the man(1) command name: apropos = man -k, whatis = man -f, mandoc = man -cl. Originally suggested by Carsten dot Kunze at arcor dot de, current maintainer of the Heirloom Documentation Tools. While here, add various missing information to the usage() and to the manuals.
* man -I -O -T -W now work, tooIngo Schwarze2014-08-211-0/+8
|
* * remove pointless separate -f and -k synopses, they take almost all argsIngo Schwarze2014-08-211-50/+17
| | | | | | | * fix up descriptions of -f and -k * remove excessive example for -k * remove explicit BSD references * add CVS Id
* Now that we have man(1) functionality, add a man(1) manual page.Ingo Schwarze2014-08-211-0/+394
I'm importing the totally unchanged OpenBSD version such that all changes can easily be tracked in CVS.