- NAME
- SYNOPSIS
- DESCRIPTION
- GETTING STARTED
- TROFF IDIOSYNCRASIES
- A MANUAL PAGE TEMPLATE
- CONVENTIONS
- TITLE MACROS
- INTRODUCTION OF MANUAL AND GENERAL TEXT DOMAINS
- MANUAL DOMAIN
- GENERAL TEXT DOMAIN
- PAGE STRUCTURE DOMAIN
- MISCELLANEOUS MACROS
- PREDEFINED STRINGS
- DIAGNOSTICS
- FORMATTING WITH GROFF, TROFF, AND NROFF
- FILES
- SEE ALSO
- BUGS
groff_mdoc
.
.
.
/usr/share
.
-susv2
-svid4
-xbd5
-xcu5
-xcurses4.2
-xns5
-xns5.2
-xpg3
-xpg4
-xpg4.2
-xsh5
mdoc/doc-common
Common strings, definitions, stuff related typographic output.
mdoc/doc-nroff
Definitions used for a
output device.
mdoc/doc-ditroff
Definitions used for all other devices.
mdoc.local
Local additions and customizations.
andoc.tmac
This file checks whether the
or the
package should be used.
.
.
NAME
.
.
.
SYNOPSIS
.
.
.
DESCRIPTION
.
A complete reference for writing
manual pages with the
macro package; a
and
formatting package for
troff(1)
Its predecessor, the
\-man(7)
package, addressed page layout leaving the manipulation of fonts and other
typesetting details to the individual author.
In
page layout macros make up the
which consists of macros for titles, section headers, displays and lists
- essentially items which affect the physical position of text on a
formatted page.
In addition to the page structure domain, there are two more domains, the
domain and the
text domain.
The general text domain is defined as macros which perform tasks such as
quoting or emphasizing pieces of text.
The manual domain is defined as macros that are a subset of the day to day
informal language used to describe commands, routines and related
files.
Macros in the manual domain handle command names, command line arguments and
options, function names, function parameters, pathnames, variables, cross
references to other manual pages, and so on.
These domain items have value for both the author and the future user of the
manual page.
Hopefully, the consistency gained across the manual set will provide easier
translation to future documentation tools.
Throughout the
manual pages, a manual entry is simply referred to as a man page, regardless
of actual length and without sexist intention.
.
.
GETTING STARTED
.
The material presented in the remainder of this document is outlined
as follows:
.
- .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
TROFF IDIOSYNCRASIES
.
The
package attempts to simplify the process of writing a man page.
Theoretically, one should not have to learn the tricky details of
troff(1)
to use
however, there are a few limitations which are unavoidable and best gotten
out of the way.
And, too, be forewarned, this package is
fast.
.
.
As in
troff(1)
a macro is called by placing a
(dot character) at the beginning of a line followed by the two-character
(or three-character) name for the macro.
There can be space or tab characters between the dot and the macro name.
Arguments may follow the macro separated by spaces (but
tabs).
It is the dot character at the beginning of the line which causes
troff(1)
to interpret the next two (or more) characters as a macro name.
A single starting dot followed by nothing is ignored.
To place a
(dot character) at the beginning of an input line in some context other than
a macro invocation, precede the
(dot) with the
escape sequence which translates literally to a zero-width space, and is
never displayed in the output.
In general,
troff(1)
macros accept an unlimited number of arguments (contrary to other versions
of troff which can't handle more than nine arguments).
In limited cases, arguments may be continued or extended on the next
line (See
below).
Almost all macros handle quoted arguments (see
below).
Most of the
general text domain and manual domain macros are special in that their
argument lists are
for callable macro names.
This means an argument on the argument list which matches a general text or
manual domain macro name (and which is defined to be callable) will be
executed or called when it is processed.
In this case the argument, although the name of a macro, is not preceded by
a
(dot).
This makes it possible to nest macros; for example the option macro,
may
the flag and argument macros,
and
to specify an optional flag with an argument:
.
- bytes is produced by
To prevent a string from being interpreted as a macro name, precede the
string with the escape sequence
.
- bytes is produced by
Here the strings
and
are not interpreted as macros.
Macros whose argument lists are parsed for callable arguments are referred
to as
and macros which may be called from an argument list are referred to as
throughout this document.
This is a technical
as almost all of the macros in
are parsed, but as it was cumbersome to constantly refer to macros as
being callable and being able to call other macros, the term parsed
has been used.
.
In the following, we call an
macro which starts a line (with a leading dot) a
if this distinction is necessary.
.
.
Sometimes it is desirable to give as an argument a string containing one or
more blank space characters, say, to specify arguments to commands which
expect particular arrangement of items in the argument list.
Additionally, it makes
working faster.
For example, the function command
expects the first argument to be the name of a function and any remaining
arguments to be function parameters.
As
stipulates the declaration of function parameters in the parenthesized
parameter list, each parameter is guaranteed to be at minimum a two word
string.
For example,
There are two possible ways to pass an argument which contains
an embedded space.
One way of passing a string containing blank spaces is to use the hard or
unpaddable space character
that is, a blank space preceded by the escape character
This method may be used with any macro but has the side effect of
interfering with the adjustment of text over the length of a line.
sees the hard space as if it were any other printable character and cannot
split the string into blank or newline separated pieces as one would expect.
This method is useful for strings which are not expected to overlap a line
boundary.
An alternative is to use
a paddable (i.e. stretchable), unbreakable space (this is a
troff(1)
extension).
The second method is to enclose the string with double quotes.
For example:
.
- *str is created by
- *str can also be created by
If the
before the space in the first example
or double quotes in the second example
were omitted,
would see three arguments, and the result would be:
.
.
can be confused by blank space characters at the end of a line.
It is a wise preventive measure to globally remove all blank spaces
from
character sequences.
Should the need arise to use a blank character at the end of a line, it
may be forced with an unpaddable space and the
escape character.
For example,
.
.
Special characters like the newline character
are handled by replacing the
with
(e.g.
to preserve the backslash.
.
.
A warning is emitted when an empty input line is found outside of displays
(see below).
Use
instead.
(Well, it is even better to use
macros to avoid the usage of low-level commands.)
Leading spaces will cause a break and are output directly.
Avoid this behaviour if possible.
Similarly, do not use more than one space character between words in an
ordinary text line; contrary to other text formatters, they are
replaced with a single space.
You can't pass
directly as an argument.
Use
(or
instead.
By default,
troff(1)
inserts two space characters after a punctuation mark closing a sentence;
characters like
or
are treated transparently, not influencing the sentence-ending behaviour.
To change this, insert
before or after the dot:
.
The .Ql . character. .Pp The .Ql \&. character. .Pp .No test . test .Pp .No test. test
.
gives
.
The character
The
character.
test
test
.
As can be seen in the first and third line,
handles punctuation characters specially in macro arguments.
This will be explained in section
below.
In the same way, you have to protect trailing full stops of abbreviations
with a trailing zero-width space:
A comment in the source file of a man page can be either started with
on a single line,
after some input, or
anywhere (the latter is a
troff(1)
extension); the rest of such a line is ignored.
.
.
A MANUAL PAGE TEMPLATE
.
The body of a man page is easily constructed from a basic template:
.
.\" The following commands are required for all man pages. .Dd Month day, year .Os [OPERATING_SYSTEM] [version/release] .Dt DOCUMENT_TITLE [section number] [architecture/volume] .Sh NAME .Nm name .Nd one line description of name .\" This next command is for sections 2 and 3 only. .\" .Sh LIBRARY .Sh SYNOPSIS .Sh DESCRIPTION .\" The following commands should be uncommented and .\" used where appropriate. .\" .Sh IMPLEMENTATION NOTES .\" This next command is for sections 2, 3 and 9 function .\" return values only. .\" .Sh RETURN VALUES .\" This next command is for sections 1, 6, 7 and 8 only. .\" .Sh ENVIRONMENT .\" .Sh FILES .\" .Sh EXAMPLES .\" This next command is for sections 1, 6, 7, 8 and 9 only .\" (command return values (to shell) and .\" fprintf/stderr type diagnostics). .\" .Sh DIAGNOSTICS .\" .Sh COMPATIBILITY .\" This next command is for sections 2, 3 and 9 error .\" and signal handling only. .\" .Sh ERRORS .\" .Sh SEE ALSO .\" .Sh STANDARDS .\" .Sh HISTORY .\" .Sh AUTHORS .\" .Sh BUGS
.
The first items in the template are the commands
and
the document date, the operating system the man page or subject source is
developed or modified for, and the man page title (in
along with the section of the manual the page belongs in.
These commands identify the page and are discussed below in
The remaining items in the template are section headers
of which
and
are mandatory.
The headers are discussed in
after presentation of
Several content macros are used to demonstrate page layout macros; reading
about content macros before page layout macros is recommended.
.
.
CONVENTIONS
.
In the description of all macros below, optional arguments are put into
brackets.
An ellipsis
represents zero or more additional arguments.
Alternative values for a parameter are separated with
If there are alternative values for a mandatory parameter, braces are used
(together with
to enclose the value set.
Meta-variables are specified within angles.
Example:
.
- Xo rq bar1 | bar2
Except stated explicitly, all macros are parsed and callable.
Note that a macro takes effect up to the next nested macro.
For example,
doesn't produce
but
Consequently, a warning message is emitted for most commands if the first
argument is a macro itself since it cancels the effect of the calling
command completely.
Another consequence is that quoting macros never insert literal quotes;
has been produced by
Most macros have a default width value which can be used to specify a label
width
or offset
for the
and
macros.
It is recommended not to use this rather obscure feature to avoid
dependencies on local modifications of the
package.
.
.
TITLE MACROS
.
The title macros are part of the page structure domain but are presented
first and separately for someone who wishes to start writing a man page
yesterday.
Three header macros designate the document title or manual page title, the
operating system, and the date of authorship.
These macros are called once at the very beginning of the document and are
used to construct headers and footers only.
.
- Xo The document title is the subject of the man page and must be in due to troff limitations. If omitted, is used. The section number may be a number in the range or or If it is specified, and no volume name is given, a default volume name is used. .
Under
the following sections are defined:
- \*[volume-ds-1]
- \*[volume-ds-2]
- \*[volume-ds-3]
- \*[volume-ds-4]
- \*[volume-ds-5]
- \*[volume-ds-6]
- \*[volume-ds-7]
- \*[volume-ds-8]
- \*[volume-ds-9]
.
A volume name may be arbitrary or one of the following:
.
- \*[volume-ds-USD]
- \*[volume-ds-PS1]
- \*[volume-ds-AMD]
- \*[volume-ds-SMM]
- \*[volume-ds-URM]
- \*[volume-ds-PRM]
- \*[volume-ds-KM]
- \*[volume-ds-IND]
- \*[volume-ds-LOCAL]
- \*[volume-ds-CON]
.
For compatibility,
can be used for
and
for
Values from the previous table will specify a new volume name.
If the third parameter is a keyword designating a computer architecture,
its value is prepended to the default volume name as specified by the
second parameter.
By default, the following architecture keywords are defined:
.
\# we use `No' to avoid hyphenation
.
In the following examples, the left (which is identical to the right) and
the middle part of the manual page header strings are shown.
.
- 7
- i386
- bar
.
Local, OS-specific additions might be found in the file
look for strings named
(for the former type) and
(for the latter type);
then denotes the keyword to be used with the
macro.
This macro is neither callable nor parsed.
.
Xo
If the first parameter is empty,
the default
is used.
This may be overridden in the local configuration file,
In general, the name of the operating system should be the common acronym,
e.g.
or
The release should be the standard release nomenclature for the system
specified.
In the following table, the possible second arguments for some predefined
operating systems are listed.
Similar to
local additions might be defined in
look for strings named
where
is the acronym for the operating system and
the release ID.
.
- ATT 7th, 7, III, 3, V, V.2, V.3, V.4
- BSD 3, 4, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.3t, 4.3T, 4.3r, 4.3R, 4.4
- NetBSD 0.8, 0.8a, 0.9, 0.9a, 1.0, 1.0a, 1.1, 1.2, 1.2a, 1.2b, 1.2c, 1.2d, 1.2e, 1.3, 1.3a, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6
- FreeBSD 1.0, 1.1, 1.1.5, 1.1.5.1, 2.0, 2.0.5, 2.1, 2.1.5, 2.1.6, 2.1.7, 2.2, 2.2.1, 2.2.2, 2.2.5, 2.2.6, 2.2.7, 2.2.8, 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 4.0, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 5.0
.
For
an unknown second parameter will be replaced with the string
for the other predefined acronyms it will be ignored and a warning message
emitted.
Unrecognized arguments are displayed as given in the page footer.
For instance, a typical footer might be:
giving
or for a locally produced set
which will produce
If the
macro is not present, the bottom left corner of the manual page will be
ugly.
This macro is neither callable nor parsed.
.
Oo
If
has no arguments,
is used for the date string.
If it has exactly three arguments, they are concatenated, separated with
unbreakable space:
Otherwise, the current date is used, ignoring the parameters.
This macro is neither callable nor parsed.
.
.
INTRODUCTION OF MANUAL AND GENERAL TEXT DOMAINS
.
.
The manual domain macro names are derived from the day to day informal
language used to describe commands, subroutines and related files.
Slightly different variations of this language are used to describe the
three different aspects of writing a man page.
First, there is the description of
macro command usage.
Second is the description of a
command
macros, and third, the description of a command to a user in the verbal
sense; that is, discussion of a command in the text of a man page.
In the first case,
troff(1)
macros are themselves a type of command; the general syntax for a troff
command is:
.
.
is a macro command, and anything following it are arguments to
be processed.
In the second case, the description of a
command using the content macros is a bit more involved; a typical
command line might be displayed as:
.
.
Here,
is the command name and the
bracketed string
is a
argument designated as optional by the option brackets.
In
terms,
and
are called
in this example, the user has to replace the meta expressions given in angle
brackets with real file names.
Note that in this document meta arguments are used to describe
commands; in most man pages, meta variables are not specifically written
with angle brackets.
The macros which formatted the above example:
.
.Nm filter .Op Fl flag .Ao Ar infile Ac Ao Ar outfile Ac
.
In the third case, discussion of commands and command syntax includes both
examples above, but may add more detail.
The arguments
and
from the example above might be referred to as
or
Some command line argument lists are quite long:
.
- make k
.
Here one might talk about the command
and qualify the argument,
as an argument to the flag,
or discuss the optional file operand
In the verbal context, such detail can prevent confusion, however the
package does not have a macro for an argument
a flag.
Instead the
argument macro is used for an operand or file argument like
as well as an argument to a flag like
The make command line was produced from:
.
.Nm make .Op Fl eiknqrstv .Op Fl D Ar variable .Op Fl d Ar flags .Op Fl f Ar makefile .Op Fl I Ar directory .Op Fl j Ar max_jobs .Op Ar variable Ns = Ns Ar value .Bk .Op Ar target ... .Ek
.
The
and
macros are explained in
.
.
The manual domain and general text domain macros share a similar syntax with
a few minor deviations; most notably,
and
differ only when called without arguments; and
and
impose an order on their argument lists.
All content macros are capable of recognizing and properly handling
punctuation, provided each punctuation character is separated by a leading
space.
If a command is given:
The result is:
The punctuation is not recognized and all is output in the
font used by
If the punctuation is separated by a leading white space:
The result is:
The punctuation is now recognized and output in the default font
distinguishing it from the argument strings.
To remove the special meaning from a punctuation character escape it with
is limited as a macro language, and has difficulty when presented with a
string containing a member of the mathematical, logical or quotation set:
.
{+,-,/,*,%,<,>,<=,>=,=,==,&,`,',"}
.
The problem is that
may assume it is supposed to actually perform the operation or evaluation
suggested by the characters.
To prevent the accidental evaluation of these characters, escape them with
Typical syntax is shown in the first content macro displayed below,
.
.
MANUAL DOMAIN
.
.
The address macro identifies an address construct.
- addr1
- .
- file2
- :
- ,
.
The default width is 12n.
.
.
The
macro is used to specify the name of the author of the item being
documented, or the name of the author of the actual manual page.
- Author\*[q]
- ,
- nobody@FreeBSD.org
- ,
.
The default width is 12n.
In the
section, the
command causes a line break allowing each new name to appear on its own
line.
If this is not desirable,
.
.An -nosplit
.
call will turn this off.
To turn splitting back on, write
.
.An -split . . The argument macro may be used whenever an argument is referenced. If called without arguments, the string is output.
- .Ar
- file1
- .
- file2
- :
- ,
.
The default width is 12n.
.
.
The
macro is used to demonstrate a
config(8)
declaration for a device interface in a section four manual.
- scode?\*[q]
In the
section a
command causes a line break before and after its arguments are printed.
.
The default width is 12n.
.
.
The command modifier is identical to the
(flag) command with the exception that the
macro does not assert a dash in front of every argument.
Traditionally flags are marked by the preceding dash, however, some commands
or subsets of commands do not use them.
Command modifiers may also be specified in conjunction with interactive
commands such as editor commands.
See
The default width is 10n.
.
.
A variable (or constant) which is defined in an include file
is specified by the macro
- MAXHOSTNAMELEN
- )
.
The default width is 12n.
.
.
The
errno macro specifies the error return value for section 2, 3, and\~9 library
routines.
The second example below shows
used with the
general text domain macro, as it would be used in a section two manual page.
- ENOENT
- ;
- ENOTDIR q Er ENOTDIR
.
The default width is 17n.
.
.
The
macro specifies an environment variable.
- DISPLAY
- .
- ,
.
The default width is 15n.
.
.
The
macro handles command line flags.
It prepends a dash,
to the flag.
For interactive command flags, which are not prepended with a dash, the
(command modifier)
macro is identical, but without the dash.
- .Fl
- cfv
- .
- .
- t
- ,
- ,
- |
The
macro without any arguments results in a dash representing stdin/stdout.
Note that giving
a single dash will result in two dashes.
The default width is 12n.
.
.
The
macro is used in the
section with section two or three functions.
It is neither callable nor parsed.
- <sys/types.h>\*[q]
In the
section a
command causes a line break if a function has already been presented and a
break has not occurred.
This leaves a nice vertical space in between the previous function call and
the declaration for the next function.
.
The
statement)
macro is the short form of the above example.
It specifies the C\~header file as being included in a C\~program.
It also causes a line break, and is neither callable nor parsed.
- stdio.h n stdio.h
- stat
- getchar
- ,
- ,
Note that any call to another macro signals the end of the
call (it will insert a closing parenthesis at that point).
For functions with many parameters (which is rare), the macros
(function open)
and
(function close)
may be used with
(function argument).
Example:
.
.Ft int .Fo res_mkquery .Fa "int op" .Fa "char *dname" .Fa "int class" .Fa "int type" .Fa "char *data" .Fa "int datalen" .Fa "struct rrec *newrr" .Fa "char *buf" .Fa "int buflen" .Fc
.
Produces:
.
.
In the
section, the function will always begin at the beginning of line.
If there is more than one function presented in the
section and a function type has not been given, a line break will occur,
leaving a nice vertical space between the current function name and the one
prior.
The default width values of
and
are 12n and 16n, respectively.
.
.
The
macro is used to refer to function arguments (parameters) outside of the
section of the manual or inside the
section if the enclosure macros
and
instead of
are used.
may also be used to refer to structure members.
- ,
- iov_len
.
The default width is 12n.
.
.
The
macro generates text for use in the
section.
For example,
produces:
.
\# a small hack to suppress a warning message
.
The
option is valid only for manual page sections\~2 and\~3.
Currently, this macro does nothing if used without the
flag.
.
.
The
macro generates text for use in the
section.
For example,
produces:
.
\# a small hack to suppress a warning message
.
The
option is valid only for manual page sections 1, 6 and\~8.
Currently, this macro does nothing if used without the
flag.
.
.
The
macro designates an interactive or internal command.
- :wq c :wq
- {...}\*[q] c do while {...}
- unsetenv c setenv , unsetenv
.
The default width is 12n.
.
.
The
macro is used to specify the library where a particular function is compiled
in.
Available arguments to
and their results are:
.
- libarm32
- libc
- libcompat
- libcrypt
- libcurses
- libedit
- libi386
- libipsec
- libkvm
- libm
- libmenu
- libossaudio
- libposix
- libresolv
- libtermcap
- libutil
- libz
.
Local, OS-specific additions might be found in the file
look for strings named
then denotes the keyword to be used with the
macro.
.
.
The
literal macro may be used for special characters, variable constants, etc.
-- anything which should be displayed as it would be typed.
- \en
- ;
- ,
- ...
.
The default width is 16n.
.
.
The
macro is used for the document title or subject name.
It has the peculiarity of remembering the first argument it was called with,
which should always be the subject name of the page.
When called without arguments,
regurgitates this initial name for the sole purpose of making less work for
the author.
Note: A section two or three document function name is addressed with the
in the
section, and with
in the
and remaining sections.
For interactive commands, such as the
command keyword in
csh(1)
the
macro should be used.
While
is nearly identical
to
it can not recall the first argument it was invoked with.
- groff_mdoc
- \-mdoc
- ,
- :
.
The default width is 10n.
.
.
The
macro places option brackets around any remaining arguments on the
command line, and places any trailing punctuation outside the brackets.
The macros
and
(which produce an opening and a closing option bracket respectively) may be used
across one or more lines or to specify the exact position of the closing
parenthesis.
- .Op
- k
- .
- kookfile
- ,
- corfil
- ,
- word2
- ...
Here a typical example of the
and
macros:
.
.Oo .Op Fl k Ar kilobytes .Op Fl i Ar interval .Op Fl c Ar count .Oc
.
Produces:
.
.
The default width values of
and
are 14n and 10n, respectively.
.
.
The
macro formats path or file names.
If called without arguments, the
string is output, which represents the current user's home directory.
- .Pa
.
The default width is 32n.
.
.
The
macro replaces standard abbreviations with their formal names.
Available pairs for
are:
.
- -ansiC
- -ansiC-89
- -isoC
- -isoC-99
.
Part 1: System API
- -iso9945-1-90
- -iso9945-1-96
- -p1003.1
- -p1003.1-88
- -p1003.1-90
- -p1003.1-96
- -p1003.1b-93
- -p1003.1c-95
- -p1003.1g-2000
- -p1003.1i-95
.
Part 2: Shell and Utilities
- -iso9945-2-93
- -p1003.2
- -p1003.2-92
- -p1003.2a-92
.
X/Open
.
Miscellaneous
- -ieee754
- -iso8802-3
- ;
- *
- count
- ,
- :
- ,
.
The default width is 12n.
.
.
The
macro expects the first argument to be a manual page name.
The optional second argument, if a string (defining the manual section), is
put into parentheses.
.
The default width is 10n.
.
.
GENERAL TEXT DOMAIN
.
.
- .At
- .
The following values for
are possible:
.
.
- .Bx x
- . x 4.3 .
- -devel x -devel
will be prepended to the string
The following values for
are possible:
.
.
- .Nx
- .
For possible values of
see the description of the
command above in section
.
.
- .Fx
- .
For possible values of
see the description of the
command above in section
.
.
- 1.0
- 1.0 sx 1.0
- .Ux
- not
- .
- ,
.
The default width is 10n.
.
.
The
font mode must be ended with the
macro (the latter takes no arguments).
Font modes may be nested within other font modes.
has the following syntax:
must be one of the following three types:
- emphasis Same as if the macro was used for the entire block of text.
- literal Same as if the macro was used for the entire block of text.
- symbolic Same as if the macro was used for the entire block of text.
Both macros are neither callable nor parsed.
.
.
The concept of enclosure is similar to quoting.
The object being to enclose one or more strings between a pair of characters
like quotes or parentheses.
The terms quoting and enclosure are used interchangeably throughout this
document.
Most of the one-line enclosure macros end in small letter
to give a hint of quoting, but there are a few irregularities.
For each enclosure macro there is also a pair of open and close macros which
end in small letters
and
respectively.
\# XXX
.
All macros ending with
and
have a default width value of 12n.
.
- .Ec These macros expect the first argument to be the opening and closing strings respectively.
- .En Due to the nine-argument limit in the original troff program two other macros have been implemented which are now rather obsolete: takes the first and second parameter as the left and right enclosure string, which are then used to enclose the arguments of The default width value is 12n for both macros.
- .Eq The first and second arguments of this macro are the opening and closing strings respectively, followed by the arguments to be enclosed.
- .Ql The quoted literal macro behaves differently in troff and nroff mode. If formatted with a quoted literal is always quoted. If formatted with troff, an item is only quoted if the width of the item is less than three constant width characters. This is to make short strings more visible where the font change to literal (constant width) is less noticeable.
The default width is 16n.
.Pf
The prefix macro suppresses the whitespace between its first and second
argument:
.
- name2
.
The default width is 12n.
The
macro (see below) performs the analogous suffix function.
.Ap
The
macro inserts an apostrophe and exits any special text modes, continuing in
mode.
.
Examples of quoting:
.
- .Aq
- ,
- .Bq q
- . q Em Greek , French .
- .Dq
- .
- \'^[A-Z]\'
- mdoc
- ,
- ),
- .Sq
- string
- ing
.
For a good example of nested enclosure macros, see the
option macro.
It was created from the same underlying enclosure macros as those presented
in the list above.
The
and
extended argument list macros are discussed below.
.
.
The
macro can be used in a macro command line for parameters which should
be formatted.
Be careful to add
to the word
if you really want that English word (and not the macro) as a parameter.
- tabs
.
The default width is 12n.
.
.
The
macro suppresses insertion of a space between the current position and its
first parameter.
For example, it is useful for old style argument lists where there is no
space between the flag and argument:
- directory
Note: The
macro always invokes the
macro after eliminating the space unless another macro name follows it.
If used as a command (i.e., the second form above in the
line),
is identical to
.
.
The
macro designates a reference to a section header within the same document.
- FILES
.
The default width is 16n.
.
.
The symbolic emphasis macro is generally a boldface macro in either the
symbolic sense or the traditional English usage.
- Notice
.
The default width is 6n.
.
.
Use this macro for mathematical symbols and similar things.
- sigma
.
The default width is 6n.
.
.
The following macros make a modest attempt to handle references.
At best, the macros make it convenient to manually drop in a subset of
refer(1)
style references.
- .Rs Reference start (does not take arguments). Causes a line break in the section and begins collection of reference information until the reference end macro is read.
- .Re Reference end (does not take arguments). The reference is printed.
- .%A Reference author name; one name per invocation.
- .%B Book title.
- .%C City/place (not implemented yet).
- .%D Date.
- .%I Issuer/publisher name.
- .%J Journal name.
- .%N Issue number.
- .%O Optional information.
- .%P Page number.
- .%Q Corporate or foreign author.
- .%R Report name.
- .%T Title of article.
- .%V Volume.
Macros beginning with
are not callable but accept multiple arguments in the usual way.
Only the
macro is handled properly as a parameter; other macros will cause strange
output.
and
can be used outside of the
environment.
Example:
.
.Rs .%A "Matthew Bar" .%A "John Foo" .%T "Implementation Notes on foobar(1)" .%R "Technical Report ABC-DE-12-345" .%Q "Drofnats College, Nowhere" .%D "April 1991" .Re
produces
.
.%A "Matthew Bar" .%A "John Foo" .%T "Implementation Notes on foobar(1)" .%R "Technical Report ABC-DE-12-345" .%Q "Drofnats College, Nowhere" .%D "April 1991" . . The trade name macro prints its arguments in a smaller font. Its intended use is to imitate a small caps fonts for uppercase acronyms.
- DEC
- ASCII
.
The default width is 10n.
.
.
The
and
macros allow one to extend an argument list on a macro boundary for the
macro (see below).
Note that
and
are implemented similarly to all other macros opening and closing an
enclosure (without inserting characters, of course).
This means that the following is true for those macros also.
Here is an example of
using the space mode macro to turn spacing off:
.
.Sm off .It Xo Sy I Ar operation .No \en Ar count No \en .Xc .Sm on
.
produces
.
- operation
.
Another one:
.
.Sm off .It Cm S No / Ar old_pattern Xo .No / Ar new_pattern .No / Op Cm g .Xc .Sm on
.
produces
.
- Xo
.
Another example of
and enclosure macros: Test the value of a variable.
.
.It Xo .Ic .ifndef .Oo \&! Oc Ns Ar variable Oo .Ar operator variable ... .Oc Xc
.
produces
.
- Xo c .ifndef
.
.
PAGE STRUCTURE DOMAIN
.
.
The following
section header macros are required in every man page.
The remaining section headers are recommended at the discretion of the
author writing the manual page.
The
macro is parsed but not generally callable.
It can be used as an argument in a call to
only; it then reactivates the default font for
The default width is 8n.
.
- NAME The macro is mandatory. If not specified, headers, footers and page layout defaults will not be set and things will be rather unpleasant. The section consists of at least three items. The first is the name macro naming the subject of the man page. The second is the name description macro, which separates the subject name from the third item, which is the description. The description should be the most terse and lucid possible, as the space available is small.
first prints
then all its arguments.
.
LIBRARY
This section is for section two and three function calls.
It should consist of a single
macro call;
see
.
SYNOPSIS
The
section describes the typical usage of the subject of a man page.
The macros required are either
or
(and possibly
and
The function name macro
is required for manual page sections\~2 and\~3; the command and general name
macro
is required for sections 1, 5, 6, 7, and\~8.
Section\~4 manuals require a
or a
configuration device usage macro.
Several other macros may be necessary to produce the synopsis line as shown
below:
.
.
The following macros were used:
.
DESCRIPTION
In most cases the first text in the
section is a brief paragraph on the command, function or file, followed by a
lexical list of options and respective explanations.
To create such a list, the
(begin list),
(list item) and
(end list)
macros are used (see
below).
.
NOTES
Implementation specific information should be placed here.
.
VALUES
Sections 2, 3 and\~9 function return values should go here.
The
macro may be used to generate text for use in the
section for most section 2 and 3 library functions;
see
.
The following
section headers are part of the preferred manual page layout and must be
used appropriately to maintain consistency.
They are listed in the order in which they would be used.
.
- ENVIRONMENT The section should reveal any related environment variables and clues to their behavior and/or usage. .
- FILES Files which are used or created by the man page subject should be listed via the macro in the section. .
- EXAMPLES There are several ways to create examples. See the section below for details. .
- DIAGNOSTICS Diagnostic messages from a command should be placed in this section. The macro may be used to generate text for use in the section for most section 1, 6 and\~8 commands; see .
- COMPATIBILITY Known compatibility issues (e.g. deprecated options or parameters) should be listed here. .
- ERRORS Specific error handling, especially from library functions (man page sections 2, 3, and\~9) should go here. The macro is used to specify an error (errno). .
- ALSO References to other material on the man page topic and cross references to other relevant man pages should be placed in the section. Cross references are specified using the macro. Currently refer(1) style references are not accommodated.
It is recommended that the cross references are sorted on the section
number, then alphabetically on the names within a section, and placed
in that order and comma separated.
Example:
ls(1)
ps(1)
group(5)
passwd(5)
.
STANDARDS
If the command, library function or file adheres to a specific
implementation such as
or
this should be noted here.
If the command does not adhere to any standard, its history should be noted
in the
section.
.
HISTORY
Any command which does not adhere to any specific standards should be
outlined historically in this section.
.
AUTHORS
Credits should be placed here.
The
macro should be used to specify the name(s) of the person(s).
.
BUGS
Blatant problems with the topic go here.
.
User-specified
sections may be added; for example, this section was set with:
.
.Sh "PAGE STRUCTURE DOMAIN" . . Subsection headers have exactly the same syntax as section headers: is parsed but not generally callable. It can be used as an argument in a call to only; it then reactivates the default font for
The default width is 8n.
.
.
- .Pp The paragraph command may be used to specify a line space where necessary. The macro is not necessary after a or macro or before a or macro (which both assert a vertical distance unless the flag is given).
The macro is neither callable nor parsed and takes no arguments; an
alternative name is
.
.
.
.
The only keep that is implemented at this time is for words.
The macros are
(begin keep)
and
(end keep).
The only option that
accepts currently is
(this is also the default if no option is given) which is useful for
preventing line breaks in the middle of options.
In the example for the make command line arguments (see
the keep prevented
from placing up the flag and the argument on separate lines.
Both macros are neither callable nor parsed.
More work needs to be done with the keep macros; specifically, a
option should be added.
.
.
There are seven types of displays.
- .D1 (This is D-one.) Display one line of indented text. This macro is parsed but not callable.
The above was produced by:
.
.Dl
(This is D-ell.)
Display one line of indented
text.
The
example macro has been used throughout this file.
It allows the indentation (display) of one line of text.
Its default font is set to constant width (literal).
is parsed but not callable.
The above was produced by:
.
.Bd
Begin display.
The
display must be ended with the
macro.
It has the following syntax:
- Xo ro -literal | -filled | -unfilled | -ragged | -centered Brc
.
- ragged Fill, but do not adjust the right margin (only left-justify).
- centered Center lines between the current left and right margin. Note that each single line is centered.
- unfilled Do not fill; display a block of text as typed, using line breaks as specified by the user. This can produce overlong lines without warning messages.
- filled Display a filled block. The block of text is formatted (i.e., the text is justified on both the left and right side).
- literal Display block with literal font (usually fixed-width). Useful for source code or simple tabbed or spaced text.
- Ac The file whose name follows the flag is read and displayed before any data enclosed with and using the selected display type. Any commands in the file will be processed.
- Ac If is specified with one of the following strings, the string is interpreted to indicate the level of indentation for the forthcoming block of text: .
- left Align block on the current left margin; this is the default mode of
- center Supposedly center the block. At this time unfortunately, the block merely gets left aligned about an imaginary center margin.
- indent Indent by one default indent value or tab. The default indent value is also used for the and macros, so one is guaranteed the two types of displays will line up. The indentation value is normally set to\~6n or about two thirds of an inch (six constant width characters).
- indent-two Indent two times the default indent value.
- right This aligns the block about two inches from the right side of the page. This macro needs work and perhaps may never do the right thing within
.
If
is a valid numeric expression instead
use that value for indentation.
The most useful scale indicators are
and
specifying the so-called
and
This is approximately the width of the letters
and
respectively
of the current font (for nroff output, both scale indicators give the same
values).
If
isn't a numeric expression, it is tested whether it is an
macro name, and the default offset value associated with this macro is used.
Finally, if all tests fail,
the width of
(typeset with a fixed-width font) is taken as the offset.
compact
Suppress insertion of vertical space before begin of display.
.
.Ed
End display (takes no arguments).
.
.
There are several types of lists which may be initiated with the
begin-list macro.
Items within the list are specified with the
item macro, and each list must end with the
macro.
Lists may be nested within themselves and within displays.
The use of columns inside of lists or lists inside of columns is unproven.
In addition, several list attributes may be specified such as the width of a
tag, the list offset, and compactness (blank lines between items allowed or
disallowed).
Most of this document has been formatted with a tag style list
It has the following syntax forms:
.
- Xo ro -hang | -ohang | -tag | -diag | -inset Brc
- Xo
- Xo ro -item | -enum Oo -nested Oc | -bullet | -hyphen | -dash Brc
.
And now a detailed description of the list types.
.
- bullet A bullet list. .
.Bl -bullet -offset indent -compact .It Bullet one goes here. .It Bullet two here. .El
.
Produces:
.
- t
Bullet one goes here.
t
Bullet two here.
.
)
A dash list.
.
.Bl -dash -offset indent -compact .It Dash one goes here. .It Dash two here. .El
.
Produces:
.
- t
Dash one goes here.
t
Dash two here.
.
enum
An enumerated list.
.
.Bl -enum -offset indent -compact .It Item one goes here. .It And item two here. .El
.
The result:
.
- t
Item one goes here.
t
And item two here.
.
If you want to nest enumerated lists, use the
flag (starting with the second-level list):
.
.Bl -enum -offset indent -compact .It Item one goes here .Bl -enum -nested -compact .It Item two goes here. .It And item three here. .El .It And item four here. .El
.
Result:
.
- t
Item one goes here.
- t
Item two goes here.
t
And item three here.
t
And item four here.
.
item
A list of type
without list markers.
.
.Bl -item -offset indent .It Item one goes here. Item one goes here. Item one goes here. .It Item two here. Item two here. Item two here. .El
.
Produces:
.
- t
Item one goes here.
Item one goes here.
Item one goes here.
t
Item two here.
Item two here.
Item two here.
.
tag
A list with tags.
Use
to specify the tag width.
.
- SL sleep time of the process (seconds blocked)
- PAGEIN number of disk resulting from references by the process to pages not loaded in core.
- UID numerical user-id of process owner
- PPID numerical id of parent of process priority (non-positive when in non-interruptible wait)
.
The raw text:
.
.Bl -tag -width "PPID" -compact -offset indent .It SL sleep time of the process (seconds blocked) .It PAGEIN number of disk .Tn I/O Ns 's resulting from references by the process to pages not loaded in core. .It UID numerical user-id of process owner .It PPID numerical id of parent of process priority (non-positive when in non-interruptible wait) .El
.
diag
Diag lists create section four diagnostic lists and are similar to inset
lists except callable macros are ignored.
The
flag is not meaningful in this context.
Example:
.
.Bl -diag .It You can't use Sy here. The message says all. .El
.
produces
.
- here. The message says all.
.
hang
A list with hanging tags.
.
- Hanged labels appear similar to tagged lists when the label is smaller than the label width.
- labels blend into the paragraph unlike tagged paragraph labels.
And the unformatted text which created it:
.
.Bl -hang -offset indent .It Em Hanged labels appear similar to tagged lists when the label is smaller than the label width. .It Em Longer hanged list labels blend into the paragraph unlike tagged paragraph labels. .El
.
ohang
Lists with overhanging tags do not use indentation for the items; tags are
written to a separate line.
- SL sleep time of the process (seconds blocked)
- PAGEIN number of disk resulting from references by the process to pages not loaded in core.
- UID numerical user-id of process owner
- PPID numerical id of parent of process priority (non-positive when in non-interruptible wait)
.
The raw text:
.
.Bl -ohang -offset indent .It Sy SL sleep time of the process (seconds blocked) .It Sy PAGEIN number of disk .Tn I/O Ns 's resulting from references by the process to pages not loaded in core. .It Sy UID numerical user-id of process owner .It Sy PPID numerical id of parent of process priority (non-positive when in non-interruptible wait) .El
.
inset
Here is an example of inset labels:
- Tag The tagged list (also called a tagged paragraph) is the most common type of list used in the Berkeley manuals. Use a attribute as described below.
- Diag Diag lists create section four diagnostic lists and are similar to inset lists except callable macros are ignored.
- Hang Hanged labels are a matter of taste.
- Ohang Overhanging labels are nice when space is constrained.
- Inset Inset labels are useful for controlling blocks of paragraphs and are valuable for converting manuals to other formats.
Here is the source text which produced the above example:
.
.Bl -inset -offset indent .It Em Tag The tagged list (also called a tagged paragraph) is the most common type of list used in the Berkeley manuals. .It Em Diag Diag lists create section four diagnostic lists and are similar to inset lists except callable macros are ignored. .It Em Hang Hanged labels are a matter of taste. .It Em Ohang Overhanging labels are nice when space is constrained. .It Em Inset Inset labels are useful for controlling blocks of paragraphs and are valuable for converting .Nm -mdoc manuals to other formats. .El
.
column
This list type generates multiple columns.
The number of columns and the width of each column is determined by the
arguments to the
list,
etc.
If
starts with a
(dot) immediately followed by a valid
macro name, interpret
and use the width of the result.
Otherwise, the width of
(typeset with a fixed-width font) is taken as the
column width.
Each
argument is parsed to make a row, each column within the row is a separate
argument separated by a tab or the
macro.
The table:
.
- Troff
- <=
- >=
.
was produced by:
.
.Bl -column -offset indent ".Sy String" ".Sy Nroff" ".Sy Troff" .It Sy String Ta Sy Nroff Ta Sy Troff .It Li <= Ta <= Ta \*(<= .It Li >= Ta >= Ta \*(>= .El
.
Other keywords:
.
- Ac If starts with a (dot) immediately followed by a valid macro name, interpret and use the width of the result. Almost all lists in this document use this option.
Example:
.
.Bl -tag -width ".Fl test Ao Ar string Ac" .It Fl test Ao Ar string Ac This is a longer sentence to show how the .Fl width flag works in combination with a tag list. .El
.
gives:
.
- Ac This is a longer sentence to show how the flag works in combination with a tag list.
.
(Note that the current state of
is saved before
is interpreted; afterwards, all variables are restored again.
However, boxes (used for enclosures) can't be saved in
troff(1)
as a consequence, arguments must always be
to avoid nasty errors.
For example, do not write
but
instead if you really need only an opening angle bracket.)
Otherwise, if
is a valid numeric expression
use that value for indentation.
The most useful scale indicators are
and
specifying the so-called
and
This is approximately the width of the letters
and
respectively
of the current font (for nroff output, both scale indicators give the same
values).
If
isn't a numeric expression, it is tested whether it is an
macro name, and the default width value associated with this macro is used.
Finally, if all tests fail,
the width of
(typeset with a fixed-width font) is taken as the width.
If a width is not specified for the tag list type, every time
is invoked, an attempt is made to determine an appropriate width.
If the first argument to
is a callable macro, the default width for that macro will be used;
otherwise, the default width of
is used.
Ac
If
is
a default indent value (normally set to\~6n, similar to the value used in
or
is used.
If
is a valid numeric expression instead
use that value for indentation.
The most useful scale indicators are
and
specifying the so-called
and
This is approximately the width of the letters
and
respectively
of the current font (for nroff output, both scale indicators give the same
values).
If
isn't a numeric expression, it is tested whether it is an
macro name, and the default offset value associated with this macro is used.
Finally, if all tests fail,
the width of
(typeset with a fixed-width font) is taken as the offset.
compact
Suppress insertion of vertical space before the list and between list items.
.
.
MISCELLANEOUS MACROS
.
Here a list of the remaining macros which do not fit well into one of the
above sections.
We couldn't find real examples for the following macros:
and
They are documented here for completeness - if you know how to use them
properly please send a mail to
(including an example).
.
- .Bt prints .
t
It is neither callable nor parsed and takes no arguments.
.
.Fr
Don't use this macro.
It allows a break right before the return value (usually a single digit)
which is bad typographical behaviour.
Use
to tie the return value to the previous word.
.
.Hf
Use this macro to include a (header) file literally.
It first prints
followed by the file name, then the contents of
It is neither callable nor parsed.
.
.Lk
To be written.
.
.Me
Exact usage unknown.
The documentation in the
source file describes it as a macro for
Its default width is 6n.
.
.Mt
To be written.
.
.Ot
Exact usage unknown.
The documentation in the
source file describes it as
.
.Sm
Activate (toggle) space mode.
If space mode is off, no spaces between macro arguments are inserted.
If called without a parameter (or if the next parameter is neither
nor
toggles space mode.
.
.Ud
prints
.
It is neither callable nor parsed and takes no arguments.
.
.
PREDEFINED STRINGS
.
The following strings are predefined:
- Meaning
- equal
- equal
- quote
- quote
- arrow
- accent
- accent
- quote
- pi
- equal
- equal
- equal
- than
- than
- minus
- infinity
- ampersand
- number
- bar
The names of the columns
and
are a bit misleading;
shows the
representation, while
gives the best glyph form available.
For example, a Unicode enabled
device will have proper glyph representations for all strings, whereas the
enhancement for a Latin1
device is only the plus-minus sign.
String names which consist of two characters can be written as
string names which consist of one character can be written as
A generic syntax for a string name of any length is
(this is a
troff(1)
extension).
.
.
\#
\#=====================================================================
\#
DIAGNOSTICS
.
The debugging macro
available in previous versions of
has been removed since
troff(1)
provides better facilities to check parameters; additionally, many error and
warning messages have been added to this macro package, making it both more
robust and verbose.
The only remaining debugging macro is
which yields a register dump of all global registers and strings.
A normal user will never need it.
.
.
FORMATTING WITH GROFF, TROFF, AND NROFF
.
By default, the package inhibits page breaks, headers, and footers if
displayed with a
device like
or
to make the manual more efficient for viewing on-line.
This behaviour can be changed (e.g. to create a hardcopy of the
output) by setting the register
to zero while calling
For double-sided printing, set register
to\~1:
To change the document font size to 11pt or 12pt, set register
accordingly:
Register
is ignored for
devices.
The line and title length can be changed by setting the registers
and
respectively:
If not set, both registers default to 78n for TTY devices and 6.5i
otherwise.
.
.
FILES
.
- doc.tmac The main manual macro package.
- mdoc.tmac A wrapper file to call
SEE ALSO
BUGS
.
Section 3f has not been added to the header routines.
font should be changed in
section.
needs to have a check to prevent splitting up
if the line length is too short.
Occasionally it
separates the last parenthesis, and sometimes
looks ridiculous if a line is in fill mode.
The list and display macros do not do any keeps
and certainly should be able to.
.
ČLÁNKY DO MAILU