.\" $OpenBSD: mdoc.samples.7,v 1.47 2003/10/04 14:50:45 jmc Exp $ .\" $NetBSD: mdoc.samples.7,v 1.5 1996/04/03 20:17:34 jtc Exp $ .\" .\" Copyright (c) 1990, 1993 .\" The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. .\" .\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without .\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions .\" are met: .\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright .\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer. .\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright .\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the .\" documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution. .\" 3. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors .\" may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software .\" without specific prior written permission. .\" .\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND .\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE .\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE .\" ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE .\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL .\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS .\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) .\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT .\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY .\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF .\" SUCH DAMAGE. .\" .\" @(#)mdoc.samples.7 8.2 (Berkeley) 12/30/93 .\" .\" This tutorial sampler invokes every macro in the package several .\" times and is guaranteed to give a worst case performance .\" for an already extremely slow package. .\" .Dd December 30, 1993 .Dt MDOC.SAMPLES 7 .Os .Sh NAME .Nm mdoc.samples .Nd tutorial sampler for writing .Ox manuals with .Nm \-mdoc .Sh SYNOPSIS .Nm nroff .Fl T Ns Ar Name .Fl mandoc .Ar file .Sh DESCRIPTION A tutorial sampler for writing .Ox manual pages with the .Nm \-mdoc macro package, a .Em content Ns \-based and .Em domain Ns \-based formatting package for .Xr troff 1 . Its predecessor, the \-man package (see .Xr man 7 ) addressed page layout, leaving the manipulation of fonts and other typesetting details to the individual author. .Pp In .Nm \-mdoc , page layout macros make up the .Em page structure domain 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 manual domain and the general text domain. .Pp 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 .Ox 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. It is hoped the consistency gained across the manual set will provide easier translation to future documentation tools. .Pp Throughout the .Ux manual pages, a manual entry is simply referred to as a man page, regardless of actual length and without sexist intention. .Sh GETTING STARTED Since a tutorial document is normally read when a person desires to use the material immediately, the assumption has been made that the user of this document may be impatient. The material presented in the remainder of this document is outlined as follows: .Bl -enum -offset indent .It .Tn "TROFF IDIOSYNCRASIES" .Bl -tag -width flag -compact -offset indent .It "Macro Usage" . .It "Passing Space Characters in an Argument" . .It "Trailing Blank Space Characters (a warning)" . .It "Escaping Special Characters" . .It "Dashes and Hyphens" . .El .It .Tn "THE ANATOMY OF A MAN PAGE" .Bl -tag -width flag -compact -offset indent .It "A manual page template" . .El .It .Tn "TITLE MACROS" .It .Tn "INTRODUCTION TO MANUAL AND GENERAL TEXT DOMAINS" .Bl -tag -width flag -compact -offset indent .It "What's in a name..." . .It "General Syntax" . .El .It .Tn "MANUAL DOMAIN" .Bl -tag -width flag -compact -offset indent .It "Addresses" . .It "Arguments" . .It "Authors" . .It "Command Modifier" . .It "Configuration Declarations (section four only)" . .It "Defined Variables" . .It "Environment Variables" . .It "Errno (section two only)" . .It "Flags" . .It "Functions (library routines)" . .It "Function Argument" . .It "Function Declaration" . .It "Function Types" . .It "Interactive Commands" . .It "Literals" . .It "Names" . .It "Options" . .It "Pathnames" . .It "Standards" . .It "Variables" . .It "Cross References" . .El .It .Tn "GENERAL TEXT DOMAIN" .Bl -tag -width flag -compact -offset indent .It "AT&T Macro" . .It "BSD Macro" . .It "BSDI Macro" . .It "OpenBSD/FreeBSD/NetBSD Macros" . .It "UNIX Macro" . .It "Emphasis Macro" . .It "Font mode" . .It "Enclosure/Quoting Macros" .Bl -tag -width flag -compact -offset indent .It "Angle Bracket Quote/Enclosure" . .It "Bracket Quote/Enclosure" . .It "Double Quote macro/Enclosure" . .It "Parenthesis Quote/Enclosure" . .It "Single Quote/Enclosure" . .It "Prefix Macro" . .El .It "Extended Arguments" . .It "No\-Op or Normal Text Macro" . .It "No Space Macro" . .It "Section Cross References" . .It "Symbolic Macro" . .It "Mathematical Symbols" . .It "References and Citations" . .It "Trade Names (Acronyms and Type Names)" . .It "Extended Arguments" . .It "Miscellaneous Macros" . .El .It .Tn "PAGE STRUCTURE DOMAIN" .Bl -tag -width flag -compact -offset indent .It "Section Headers" . .It "Paragraphs and Line Spacing" . .It "Keeps" . .It "Displays" . .It "Lists and Columns" . .El .It .Tn "PREDEFINED STRINGS" .It .Tn "DIAGNOSTICS" .It .Tn "FORMATTING WITH GROFF, TROFF AND NROFF" .It .Tn "FILES" .It .Tn "SEE ALSO" .It .Tn "BUGS" .El .Sh TROFF IDIOSYNCRASIES The .Nm \-mdoc package attempts to simplify the process of writing a man page. Theoretically, one should not have to learn the dirty details of .Xr troff 1 to use .Nm \-mdoc ; however, there are a few limitations which are unavoidable and best gotten out of the way. And, too, be forewarned, this package is .Em not fast. .Ss Macro Usage As in .Xr troff 1 , a macro is called by placing a .Ql \&. (dot character) at the beginning of a line followed by the two-character name for the macro. Arguments may follow the macro separated by spaces. It is the dot character at the beginning of the line which causes .Xr troff 1 to interpret the next two characters as a macro name. To place a .Ql \&. (dot character) at the beginning of a line in some context other than a macro invocation, precede the .Ql \&. (dot) with the .Ql \e& escape sequence. The .Ql \e& translates literally to a zero-width space, and is never displayed in the output. .Pp In general, .Xr troff 1 macros accept up to nine arguments; any extra arguments are ignored. Most macros in .Nm \-mdoc accept nine arguments and, in limited cases, arguments may be continued or extended on the next line (See .Sx Extended Arguments ) . A few macros handle quoted arguments (see .Sx Passing Space Characters in an Argument below). .Pp Most of the .Nm \-mdoc general text domain and manual domain macros are special in that their argument lists are .Em parsed for callable macro names. This means an argument on the argument list which matches a general text or manual domain macro name and is determined 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 .Ql \&. (dot). It is in this manner that many macros are nested; for example the option macro, .Ql \&.Op , may .Em call the flag and argument macros, .Ql \&Fl and .Ql \&Ar , to specify an optional flag with an argument: .Bl -tag -width "\&.Op \&Fl s \&Ar bytes" -offset indent .It Op Fl s Ar bytes is produced by .Li \&.Op \&Fl s \&Ar bytes .El .Pp To prevent a two-character string from being interpreted as a macro name, precede the string with the escape sequence .Ql \e& : .Bl -tag -width "\&.Op \&Fl s \&Ar bytes" -offset indent .It Op \&Fl s \&Ar bytes is produced by .Li \&.Op \e&Fl s \e&Ar bytes .El .Pp Here the strings .Ql \&Fl and .Ql \&Ar are not interpreted as macros. Macros whose argument lists are parsed for callable arguments are referred to as parsed and macros which may be called from an argument list are referred to as callable throughout this document and in the companion quick reference manual .Xr mdoc 7 . This is a technical .Em faux pas as almost all of the macros in .Nm \-mdoc 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. .Ss Passing Space Characters in an Argument Sometimes it is desirable to give as one argument a string containing one or more blank space characters. This may be necessary to defeat the nine argument limit or to specify arguments to macros which expect particular arrangement of items in the argument list. For example, the function macro .Ql \&.Fn expects the first argument to be the name of a function and any remaining arguments to be function parameters. As .Tn "ANSI C" 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, .Fa int foo . .Pp There are two possible ways to pass an argument which contains an embedded space. .Em Implementation note : Unfortunately, the most convenient way of passing spaces in between quotes by reassigning individual arguments before parsing was fairly expensive speed wise and space wise to implement in all the macros for .Tn AT&T .Xr troff 1 . It is not expensive for .Xr groff 1 but for the sake of portability, has been limited to the following macros which need it the most: .Pp .Bl -tag -width 4n -offset indent -compact .It Li \&Bl Begin list (for the width specifier). .It Li \&Cd Configuration declaration (section 4 .Sx SYNOPSIS ) . .It Li \&Em Emphasized text. .It Li \&Fn Functions (sections two and four). .It Li \&It List items. .It Li \&Li Literal text. .It Li \&Sy Symbolic text. .It Li \&%B Book titles. .It Li \&%J Journal names. .It Li \&%O Optional notes for a reference. .It Li \&%R Report title (in a reference). .It Li \&%T Title of article in a book or journal. .El .Pp One way of passing a string containing blank spaces is to use the hard or unpaddable space character .Ql \e\ , that is, a blank space preceded by the escape character .Ql \e . 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. .Em Troff 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. The method is useful for strings which are not expected to overlap a line boundary. .Bl -tag -width "fetch(char *str)" -offset indent .It Fn fetch char\ *str is created by .Ql \&.Fn fetch char\e *str .It Fn fetch "char *str" can also be created by .Ql \&.Fn fetch "\\*qchar *str\\*q" .El .Pp If the .Ql \e or quotes were omitted, .Ql \&.Fn would see three arguments and the result would be: .Pp .Dl Fn fetch char *str .Pp For an example of what happens when the parameter list overlaps a newline boundary, see the .Sx BUGS section. .Ss Trailing Blank Space Characters .Em Troff 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 force a blank character at the end of a line, it may be forced with an unpaddable space and the .Ql \e& escape character. For example, .Ql string\e\ \e& . .Ss Escaping Special Characters Special characters like the newline character .Ql \en , are handled by replacing the .Ql \e with .Ql \ee (e.g., .Ql \een ) to preserve the backslash. .Ss Dashes and Hyphens In typography there are three types of dashes of various width: the hyphen (-), the en-dash (\-), and the em-dash (\(em). Hyphens are used for adjectives; to separate the two parts of a compound word; or to separate a word across two successive lines of text. The hyphen does not need to be escaped: .Bd -unfilled -offset indent blue-eyed lorry-driver .Ed .Pp The en-dash is used to separate the two elements of a range, or can be used the same way as colons, semi-colons or parentheses. It is also used as the mathematical minus symbol. It should be escaped with the .Sq \e character: .Bd -unfilled -offset indent pp. 95\e\-97. Go away \e\- or else! \e\-2 .Ed .Pp Note: hyphens and en-dashes will look identical under normal ASCII output. Other formats, such as PostScript, render them correctly, with differing widths. .Pp The em-dash is used to mark a parenthesis \(em like this \(em or an interruption. It should be written as .Pp .Dl \e(em .Sh THE ANATOMY OF A MAN PAGE The body of a man page is easily constructed from a basic template found in the file .Pa /usr/share/misc/mdoc.template . .Bd -literal -offset indent \&.\e" The following requests are required for all man pages. \&.Dd Month DD, YYYY \&.Dt NAME SECTION# \&.Os \&.Sh NAME \&.Nm program \&.Nd one line about what it does \&.Sh SYNOPSIS \&.\e" For a program: program [-abc] file ... \&.Nm program \&.Op Fl abc \&.Ar \&.Sh DESCRIPTION The \&.Nm utility processes files ... \&.\e" The following requests should be uncommented \&.\e" and used where appropriate. \&.\e" This next request is for sections 2 and 3 \&.\e" function return values only. \&.\e" .Sh RETURN VALUES \&.\e" This next request is for sections 1, 6, 7 & 8 only. \&.\e" .Sh ENVIRONMENT \&.\e" .Sh FILES \&.\e" .Sh EXAMPLES \&.\e" This next request is for section 4 only. \&.\e" .Sh DIAGNOSTICS \&.\e" The next request is for sections 2 and 3 \&.\e" error and signal handling only. \&.\e" .Sh ERRORS \&.\e" .Sh SEE ALSO \&.\e" .Xr foobar 1 \&.\e" .Sh STANDARDS \&.\e" .Sh HISTORY \&.\e" .Sh AUTHORS \&.\e" .Sh CAVEATS \&.\e" .Sh BUGS .Ed .Pp The first items in the template are the macros .Pq Li \&.Dd , \&.Dt , \&.Os ; the document date, the man page title .Pq Em in upper case along with the section of the manual the page belongs in, and the operating system the man page or subject source is developed or modified for. These macros identify the page, and are discussed below in .Sx TITLE MACROS . .Pp The remaining items in the template are section headers .Pq Li \&.Sh ; of which .Sx NAME , .Sx SYNOPSIS and .Sx DESCRIPTION are mandatory. The headers are discussed in .Sx PAGE STRUCTURE DOMAIN , after presentation of .Sx MANUAL DOMAIN . Several content macros are used to demonstrate page layout macros; reading about content macros before page layout macros is recommended. .Sh TITLE MACROS The title macros are the first portion of the page structure domain, but are presented first and separate 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 the headers and footers only. .Bl -tag -width 6n .It Li \&.Dd month day, year The date should be written formally: .Pp .Dl January 25, 1989 .It Li \&.Dt DOCUMENT_TITLE section# [volume] The document title is the subject of the man page and must be in .Tn CAPITALS due to troff limitations. The section number may be 1,\ ...,\ 9. The volume title is optional; if specified, it should be one of the following: .Pp .Bl -column SMM -offset indent -compact .It Li AMD OpenBSD Ancestral Manual Documents .It Li KM OpenBSD Kernel Manual .It Li PRM OpenBSD Programmer's Manual .It Li PS1 OpenBSD Programmer's Supplementary Documents .It Li SMM OpenBSD System Manager's Manual .It Li URM OpenBSD Reference Manual .It Li USD OpenBSD User's Supplementary Documents .El .Pp The default volume labeling is .Li URM for sections 1, 6, and 7; .Li SMM for section 8; .Li PRM for sections 2, 3, 4, and 5; .Li KM for section 9. .It Li \&.Os operating_system release# The name of the operating system should be a common acronym, e.g., .Tn OpenBSD or .Tn ATT . The release should be the standard release nomenclature for the system specified, e.g., 4.3, 4.3+Tahoe, V.3, V.4. Unrecognized arguments are displayed as given in the page footer. For instance, a typical footer might be: .Pp .Dl \&.Os OpenBSD 3.4 .Pp or for a locally produced set .Pp .Dl \&.Os \&"CS Department\&" .Pp The .Ox default, .Ql \&.Os without an argument, is defined as .Ox .Aq latest release# in the site specific file .Pa /usr/share/tmac/mdoc/doc-common . It really should default to .Tn LOCAL . Note, if the .Ql \&.Os macro is not present, the bottom left corner of the page will be ugly. .El .Sh INTRODUCTION TO MANUAL AND GENERAL TEXT DOMAINS .Ss What's in a name... 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 .Nm \-mdoc macro request usage. Second is the description of a .Ux command .Em with .Nm \-mdoc 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. .Pp In the first case, .Xr troff 1 macros are themselves a type of command; the general syntax for a .Xr troff 1 command is: .Bd -literal -offset indent \&.Va argument1 argument2 ... argument9 .Ed .Pp The .Ql \&.Va is a macro command or request, and anything following it is an argument to be processed. In the second case, the description of a .Ux command using the content macros is a bit more involved; a typical .Sx SYNOPSIS command line might be displayed as: .Bd -filled -offset indent .Nm filter .Op Fl flag .Ar infile outfile .Ed .Pp Here, .Nm filter is the command name and the bracketed string .Fl flag is a .Em flag argument designated as optional by the option brackets. In .Nm \-mdoc terms, .Ar infile and .Ar outfile are called .Em arguments . The macros which formatted the above example: .Bd -literal -offset indent \&.Nm filter \&.Op \&Fl flag \&.Ar infile outfile .Ed .Pp In the third case, discussion of commands and command syntax includes both examples above, but may add more detail. The arguments .Ar infile and .Ar outfile from the example above might be referred to as .Em operands or .Em file arguments . Some command line argument lists are quite long: .Bl -tag -width make -offset indent .It Nm make .Op Fl eiknqrstv .Op Fl D Ar variable .Op Fl d Ar flags .Op Fl f Ar makefile .Bk -words .Op Fl I Ar directory .Ek .Op Fl j Ar max_jobs .Op Ar variable=value .Op Ar target ... .El .Pp Here one might talk about the command .Nm make and qualify the argument .Ar makefile , as an argument to the flag .Fl f , or discuss the optional file operand .Ar target . In the verbal context, such detail can prevent confusion; however, the .Nm \-mdoc package does not have a macro for an argument .Em to a flag. Instead the .Ql \&Ar argument macro is used for an operand or file argument like .Ar target as well as an argument to a flag like .Ar variable . The make command line was produced from: .Bd -literal -offset indent \&.Nm make \&.Op Fl eiknqrstv \&.Op Fl D Ar variable \&.Op Fl d Ar flags \&.Op Fl f Ar makefile \&.Bk -words \&.Op Fl I Ar directory \&.Ek \&.Op Fl j Ar max_jobs \&.Op Ar variable=value \&.Op Ar target ... .Ed .Pp The .Ql \&.Bk and .Ql \&.Ek macros are explained in .Sx Keeps . .Ss General Syntax The manual domain and general text domain macros share a similar syntax with a few minor deviations: .Ql \&.Ar , .Ql \&.Fl , .Ql \&.Nm , and .Ql \&.Pa differ only when called without arguments; .Ql \&.Fn and .Ql \&.Xr impose an order on their argument lists and the .Ql \&.Op and .Ql \&.Fn macros have nesting limitations. All content macros are capable of recognizing and properly handling punctuation, provided each punctuation character is separated by a leading space. If a request is given: .Pp .D1 \&.Ar sptr, ptr), .Pp The result is: .Pp .D1 Ar sptr, ptr), .Pp The punctuation is not recognized and everything is output in the font used by .Sq \&.Ar . If the punctuation is separated by a leading whitespace: .Pp .D1 \&.Ar "sptr , ptr ) ," .Pp The result is: .Pp .D1 Ar sptr , ptr ) , .Pp The punctuation is now recognized and is output in the default font distinguishing it from the argument strings. To remove the special meaning from a punctuation character escape it with .Ql \e& . The following punctuation characters are recognised by .Nm \-mdoc : .Bd -literal -offset indent-two \*(Pu .Ed .Pp .Em Troff is limited as a macro language, and has difficulty when presented with a string containing a member of the mathematical, logical or quotation set: .Bd -literal -offset indent-two {+ \- / * % < > <= >= = == & ` ' "} .Ed .Pp The problem is that .Xr troff 1 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 .Ql \e& . Typical syntax is shown in the first content macro displayed below, .Ql \&.Ad . .Sh MANUAL DOMAIN .Ss Address Macro The address macro identifies an address construct of the form addr1[,addr2[,addr3]]. .Pp .Dl Usage: .Ad address ... \*(Pu .Bl -tag -width ".Ad f1 , f2 , f3 :" -compact -offset 14n .It Li \&.Ad addr1 .Ad addr1 .It Li \&.Ad addr1\ . .Ad addr1 . .It Li \&.Ad addr1\ , file2 .Ad addr1 , file2 .It Li \&.Ad f1\ , f2\ , f3\ : .Ad f1 , f2 , f3 : .It Li \&.Ad addr\ )\ )\ , .Ad addr ) ) , .El .Pp It is an error to call .Ql \&.Ad without arguments. .Ql \&.Ad is callable by other macros and is parsed. .Ss Argument Macro The .Ql \&.Ar argument macro may be used whenever a command line argument is referenced. .Pp .Dl Usage: .Ar argument ... \*(Pu .Bl -tag -width ".Ar file1 file2" -compact -offset 15n .It Li \&.Ar .Ar .It Li \&.Ar file1 .Ar file1 .It Li \&.Ar file1\ . .Ar file1 . .It Li \&.Ar file1 file2 .Ar file1 file2 .It Li \&.Ar f1 f2 f3\ : .Ar f1 f2 f3 : .It Li \&.Ar file\ )\ )\ , .Ar file ) ) , .El .Pp If .Ql \&.Ar is called without arguments, .Sq Ar is assumed. The .Ql \&.Ar macro is parsed and is callable. .Ss Author Name The .Ql \&.An macro is used to specify the name of the author of the utility, or the name of the author of the man page. .Pp .Dl Usage: .An author ... \*(Pu .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".An John Smith ) ) ," -offset indent -compact .It Li "\&.An John Smith" .An John Smith .It Li "\&.An John Smith ," .An John Smith , .It Li "\&.An John Smith \&Aq john@email.address" .An John Smith Aq john@email.address .El .Pp The .Ql \&.An macro is parsed, but is not callable. .Ss Command Modifier The command modifier is identical to the .Ql \&.Fl (flag) command with the exception that the .Ql \&.Cm macro does not assert a dash in front of every argument. Traditionally, flags are marked by the preceding dash; 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 .Sx Flags . .Ss Configuration Declaration (section four only) The .Ql \&.Cd macro is used to demonstrate a .Xr config 8 declaration for a device interface in a section four manual. This macro accepts quoted arguments (double quotes only). .Bl -tag -width "device le0 at scode?" -offset indent .It Cd "device le0 at scode?" produced by: .Ql ".Cd device le0 at scode?" . .El .Ss Defined Variables A variable which is defined in an include file is specified by the macro .Ql \&.Dv . .Pp .Dl Usage: .Dv defined_variable ... \*(Pu .Bl -tag -width ".Dv MAXHOSTNAMELEN" -compact -offset 14n .It Li ".Dv MAXHOSTNAMELEN" .Dv MAXHOSTNAMELEN .It Li ".Dv TIOCGPGRP )" .Dv TIOCGPGRP ) .El .Pp It is an error to call .Ql \&.Dv without arguments. .Ql \&.Dv is parsed and is callable. .Ss Environment Variables The .Ql \&.Ev macro specifies an environment variable. .Pp .Dl Usage: .Ev argument ... \*(Pu .Bl -tag -width ".Ev PRINTER ) ) ," -compact -offset 14n .It Li \&.Ev DISPLAY .Ev DISPLAY .It Li \&.Ev PATH\ . .Ev PATH . .It Li \&.Ev PRINTER\ )\ )\ , .Ev PRINTER ) ) , .El .Pp It is an error to call .Ql \&.Ev without arguments. The .Ql \&.Ev macro is parsed and is callable. .Ss Errno (Section two only) The .Ql \&.Er errno macro specifies the error return value for section two library routines. The third example below shows .Ql \&.Er used with the .Ql \&.Bq general text domain macro, as it would be used in a section two manual page. .Pp .Dl Usage: .Er ERRNOTYPE ... \*(Pu .Bl -tag -width ".Bq Er ENOTDIR" -compact -offset 14n .It Li \&.Er ENOENT .Er ENOENT .It Li \&.Er ENOENT\ )\ ; .Er ENOENT ) ; .It Li \&.Bq \&Er ENOTDIR .Bq Er ENOTDIR .El .Pp It is an error to call .Ql \&.Er without arguments. The .Ql \&.Er macro is parsed and is callable. .Ss Flags The .Ql \&.Fl macro handles command line flags. It prepends a dash, .Ql \- , to the flag. For interactive command flags, which are not prepended with a dash, the .Ql \&.Cm (command modifier) macro is identical, but without the dash. .Pp .Dl Usage: .Fl argument ... \*(Pu .Bl -tag -width ".Fl \-s \-t \-v" -compact -offset 14n .It Li \&.Fl .Fl .It Li \&.Fl cfv .Fl cfv .It Li \&.Fl cfv\ . .Fl cfv . .It Li \&.Fl s v t .Fl s v t .It Li \&.Fl -\ , .Fl - , .It Li \&.Fl xyz\ )\ , .Fl xyz ) , .El .Pp The .Ql \&.Fl macro without any arguments results in a dash representing stdin/stdout. Note that giving .Ql \&.Fl a single dash will result in two dashes. The .Ql \&.Fl macro is parsed and is callable. .Ss Functions (library routines) The .Ql \&.Fn macro is modeled on ANSI C conventions. .Bd -literal Usage: .Fn [type] function [[type] parameters ... \*(Pu] .Ed .Bl -tag -width ".Fn .int align. .const * char *sptrsxx" -compact .It Li "\&.Fn getchar" .Fn getchar .It Li "\&.Fn strlen ) ," .Fn strlen ) , .It Li \&.Fn "\\*qint align\\*q" "\\*qconst * char *sptrs\\*q" , .Fn "int align" "const * char *sptrs" , .El .Pp It is an error to call .Ql \&.Fn without any arguments. The .Ql \&.Fn macro is parsed and is callable. Note that any call to another macro signals the end of the .Ql \&.Fn call (it will close-parenthesis at that point). .Pp For functions that have more than eight parameters (and this is rare), the macros .Ql \&.Fo (function open) and .Ql \&.Fc (function close) may be used with .Ql \&.Fa (function argument) to get around the limitation. For example: .Bd -literal -offset indent \&.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 .Ed .Pp Produces: .Bd -filled -offset indent .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 .Ed .Pp The .Ql \&.Fo and .Ql \&.Fc macros are parsed and are callable. In the .Sx SYNOPSIS section, the function will always begin at the beginning of line. If there is more than one function presented in the .Sx SYNOPSIS 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. At the moment, .Ql \&.Fn does not check its word boundaries against .Xr troff 1 line lengths and may split across a newline ungracefully. This will be fixed in the near future. .Ss Function Argument The .Ql \&.Fa macro is used to refer to function arguments (parameters) outside of the .Sx SYNOPSIS section of the manual or inside the .Sx SYNOPSIS section should a parameter list be too long for the .Ql \&.Fn macro and the enclosure macros .Ql \&.Fo and .Ql \&.Fc must be used. .Ql \&.Fa may also be used to refer to structure members. .Pp .Dl Usage: .Fa function_argument ... \*(Pu .Bl -tag -width ".Fa d_namlen\ )\ )\ ," -compact -offset 14n .It Li \&.Fa d_namlen\ )\ )\ , .Fa d_namlen ) ) , .It Li \&.Fa iov_len .Fa iov_len .El .Pp It is an error to call .Ql \&.Fa without arguments. .Ql \&.Fa is parsed and is callable. .Ss Function Declaration The .Ql \&.Fd macro is used in the .Sx SYNOPSIS section with section two or three functions. The .Ql \&.Fd macro does not call other macros and is not callable by other macros. .Pp .Dl Usage: .Fd include_file (or defined variable) .Pp In the .Sx SYNOPSIS section a .Ql \&.Fd request 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. .Ss Function Type This macro is intended for the .Sx SYNOPSIS section. It may be used anywhere else in the man page without problems, but in the .Sx SYNOPSIS section it causes a line break after its use. Its main purpose is to present the function type in kernel normal form of a section two or three man page by forcing the function name to appear on the next line. .Pp .Dl Usage: .Ft type ... \*(Pu .Bl -tag -width "\&.Ft struct stat" -offset 14n -compact .It Li \&.Ft struct stat .Ft struct stat .El .Pp The .Ql \&.Ft request is not callable by other macros. .Ss Interactive Commands The .Ql \&.Ic macro designates an interactive or internal command. .Pp .Dl Usage: .Ic command ... \*(Pu .Bl -tag -width ".Ic setenv , unsetenvxx" -compact -offset 14n .It Li \&.Ic :wq .Ic :wq .It Li \&.Ic do while {...} .Ic do while {...} .It Li \&.Ic setenv\ , unsetenv .Ic setenv , unsetenv .El .Pp It is an error to call .Ql \&.Ic without arguments. The .Ql \&.Ic macro is parsed and is callable. .Ss Literals The .Ql \&.Li literal macro may be used for special characters, variable constants, anything which should be displayed as it would be typed. .Pp .Dl Usage: .Li argument ... \*(Pu .Bl -tag -width ".Li cntrl-D ) ," -compact -offset 14n .It Li \&.Li \een .Li \en .It Li \&.Li M1 M2 M3\ ; .Li M1 M2 M3 ; .It Li \&.Li cntrl-D\ )\ , .Li cntrl-D ) , .It Li \&.Li 1024\ ... .Li 1024 ... .El .Pp The .Ql \&.Li macro is parsed and is callable. .Ss Name Macro The .Ql \&.Nm 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, .Ql \&.Nm regurgitates this initial name for the sole purpose of making less work for the author. However, .Ql \&.Nm should .Em always be given an argument when used in the .Sx SYNOPSIS section. .Pp Note: a section two or three document function name is addressed with .Ql \&.Nm in the .Sx NAME section, and with .Ql \&.Fn in the .Sx SYNOPSIS and remaining sections. For interactive commands, such as the .Ql while command keyword in .Xr csh 1 , the .Ql \&.Ic macro should be used. While .Ql \&.Ic is nearly identical to .Ql \&.Nm , it can not recall the first argument it was invoked with. .Pp .Dl Usage: .Nm argument ... \*(Pu .Bl -tag -width ".Nm mdoc.samples ." -compact -offset 14n .It Li \&.Nm mdoc.samples .Nm mdoc.samples .It Li \&.Nm .Nm .It Li \&.Nm \&. .Nm . .It Li \&.Nm \e-mdoc .Nm \-mdoc .It Li \&.Nm foo\ )\ )\ , .Nm foo ) ) , .El .Pp The .Ql \&.Nm macro is parsed and is callable. .Ss Options The .Ql \&.Op macro places option brackets around any remaining arguments on the command line, and places any trailing punctuation outside the brackets. The macros .Ql \&.Oc and .Ql \&.Oo may be used across one or more lines. .Pp .Dl Usage: .Op options ... \*(Pu .Bl -tag -width ".Op Fl c Ar objfil Op Ar corfil ," -compact -offset indent .It Li \&.Op .Op .It Li ".Op Fl k" .Op Fl k .It Li ".Op Fl k ) ." .Op Fl k ) . .It Li ".Op Fl k Ar kookfile" .Op Fl k Ar kookfile .It Li ".Op Fl k Ar kookfile ," .Op Fl k Ar kookfile , .It Li ".Op Ar objfil Op Ar corfil" .Op Ar objfil Op Ar corfil .It Li ".Op Fl c Ar objfil Op Ar corfil ," .Op Fl c Ar objfil Op Ar corfil , .It Li \&.Op word1 word2 .Op word1 word2 .El .Pp The .Ql \&.Oc and .Ql \&.Oo macros: .Bd -literal -offset indent \&.Oo \&.Op \&Fl k \&Ar kilobytes \&.Op \&Fl i \&Ar interval \&.Op \&Fl c \&Ar count \&.Oc .Ed .Pp Produce: .Oo .Op Fl k Ar kilobytes .Op Fl i Ar interval .Op Fl c Ar count .Oc .Pp The macros .Ql \&.Op , .Ql \&.Oc and .Ql \&.Oo are parsed and are callable. .Ss Pathnames The .Ql \&.Pa macro formats path or file names. .Pp .Dl Usage: .Pa pathname \*(Pu .Bl -tag -width ".Pa /tmp/fooXXXXX ) ." -compact -offset 14n .It Li \&.Pa /usr/share .Pa /usr/share .It Li \&.Pa /tmp/fooXXXXX\ )\ . .Pa /tmp/fooXXXXX ) . .El .Pp The .Ql \&.Pa macro is parsed and is callable. .Ss Standards The .Ql \&.St macro replaces standard abbreviature with its formal name. .Pp .Dl Usage: .St abbreviature .Pp Available pairs for .Dq Abbreviature/Formal Name are: .Pp .Bl -tag -width "-p1003.2-92XX." -compact -offset indent .It Li "-p1003.1-88" .St -p1003.1-88 .It Li "-p1003.1-90" .St -p1003.1-90 .It Li "-p1003.1-01" .St -p1003.1-01 .It Li "-p1003.1" .St -p1003.1 .It Li "-p1003.1b" .St -p1003.1b .It Li "-p1003.1b-93" .St -p1003.1b-93 .It Li "-p1003.1c-95" .St -p1003.1c-95 .It Li "-p1003.1-96" .St -p1003.1-96 .It Li "-p1003.2-92" .St -p1003.2-92 .It Li "-p1003.2" .St -p1003.2 .It Li "-p1387.2-95" .St -p1387.2-95 .It Li "-p1387.2" .St -p1387.2 .It Li "-ansiC" .St -ansiC .It Li "-ansiC-89" .St -ansiC-89 .It Li "-ieee754" .St -ieee754 .It Li "-iso8802-3" .St -iso8802-3 .It Li "-xpg3" .St -xpg3 .It Li "-xpg4" .St -xpg4 .It Li "-xpg4.2" .St -xpg4.2 .It Li "-xpg4.3" .St -xpg4.3 .It Li "-xbd5" .St -xbd5 .It Li "-xcu5" .St -xcu5 .It Li "-xsh5" .St -xsh5 .It Li "-xns5" .St -xns5 .It Li "-xns5.2d2.0" .St -xns5.2d2.0 .It Li "-xcurses4.2" .St -xcurses4.2 .It Li "-susv2" .St -susv2 .It Li "-susv3" .St -susv3 .El .Ss Variables Generic variable reference: .Pp .Dl Usage: .Va variable ... \*(Pu .Bl -tag -width ".Va char s ] ) ) ," -compact -offset 14n .It Li \&.Va count .Va count .It Li \&.Va settimer , .Va settimer , .It Li \&.Va int\ *prt\ )\ : .Va int\ *prt ) : .It Li \&.Va char\ s\ ]\ )\ )\ , .Va char\ s ] ) ) , .El .Pp It is an error to call .Ql \&.Va without any arguments. The .Ql \&.Va macro is parsed and is callable. .Ss Manual Page Cross References The .Ql \&.Xr macro expects the first argument to be a manual page name, and the second argument, if it exists, to be either a section page number or punctuation. Any remaining arguments are assumed to be punctuation. .Pp .Dl Usage: .Xr man_page [1,...,9] \*(Pu .Bl -tag -width ".Xr mdoc 7 ) ) ," -compact -offset 14n .It Li \&.Xr mdoc .Xr mdoc .It Li \&.Xr mdoc\ , .Xr mdoc , .It Li \&.Xr mdoc 7 .Xr mdoc 7 .It Li \&.Xr mdoc 7\ )\ )\ , .Xr mdoc 7 ) ) , .El .Pp The .Ql \&.Xr macro is parsed and is callable. It is an error to call .Ql \&.Xr without any arguments. .Sh GENERAL TEXT DOMAIN .Ss AT&T Macro .Bd -literal -offset indent -compact Usage: .At [v6 | v7 | 32v | V.1 | V.4] ... \" \*(Pu .Ed .Bl -tag -width ".At v6 ) ," -compact -offset 14n .It Li ".At" .At .It Li ".At v6" \"." .At v6 \". .El .Pp The .Ql \&.At macro is .Em not parsed and .Em not callable. It accepts at most two arguments. It cannot currently handle punctuation. .Ss BSD Macro .Dl Usage: .Bx [Version/release] ... \*(Pu .Bl -tag -width ".Bx 4.3 ) ," -compact -offset 14n .It Li ".Bx" .Bx .It Li ".Bx 4.3 ." .Bx 4.3 . .El .Pp The .Ql \&.Bx macro is parsed, but is .Em not callable. .Ss BSDI Macro .Dl Usage: .Bsx [Version/release] ... \*(Pu .Bl -tag -width ".Bsx 3.0 ) ," -compact -offset 14n .It Li ".Bsx" .Bsx .It Li ".Bsx 3.0 ." .Bsx 3.0 . .El .Pp The .Ql \&.Bsx macro is parsed, but is .Em not callable. .Ss OpenBSD/FreeBSD/NetBSD Macros .Dl Usage: .Ox [Version/release] ... \*(Pu .Bl -tag -width ".Ox 2.7 ) ," -compact -offset 14n .It Li ".Ox" .Ox .It Li ".Ox 2.7 ." .Ox 2.7 . .El .Pp .Dl Usage: .Fx [Version/release] ... \*(Pu .Bl -tag -width ".Fx 4.0 ) ," -compact -offset 14n .It Li ".Fx" .Fx .It Li ".Fx 4.0 ." .Fx 4.0 . .El .Pp .Dl Usage: .Nx [Version/release] ... \*(Pu .Bl -tag -width ".Nx 1.5 ) ," -compact -offset 14n .It Li ".Nx" .Nx .It Li ".Nx 1.5 ." .Nx 1.5 . .El .Pp The .Ql \&.Ox , .Ql \&.Fx , and .Ql \&.Nx macros are .Em not parsed and are .Em not callable. .Ss UNIX Macro .Dl Usage: .Ux ... \*(Pu .Bl -tag -width ".Ux 4.3 ) ," -compact -offset 14n .It Li ".Ux" .Ux .El .Pp The .Ql \&.Ux macro is parsed, but is .Em not callable. .Ss Emphasis Macro Text may be stressed or emphasized with the .Ql \&.Em macro. The usual font for emphasis is italic. .Pp .Dl Usage: .Em argument ... \*(Pu .Bl -tag -width ".Em vide infra ) ) ," -compact -offset 14n .It Li ".Em does not" .Em does not .It Li ".Em exceed 1024 ." .Em exceed 1024 . .It Li ".Em vide infra ) ) ," .Em vide infra ) ) , .El .\" .Pp .\" The emphasis can be forced across several lines of text by using .\" the .\" .Ql \&.Bf .\" macro discussed in .\" .Sx Modes .\" under .\" .Sx PAGE STRUCTURE DOMAIN . .\" .Pp .\" .Bf -emphasis .\" We are certain the reason most people desire a Harvard MBA .\" so they can become to be successful philanthropists. Only .\" mathematicians and physicists go to graduate school strictly .\" to acquire infinite wealthy and fame. Its that infinity .\" word that does it to them. Ruins them. .\" .Ef .Pp The .Ql \&.Em macro is parsed and is callable. It is an error to call .Ql \&.Em without arguments. .Ss Font Mode The .Ql \&.Bf font mode must end with the .Ql \&.Ef macro (which takes no arguments). Font modes may be nested within other font modes. .Pp .Dl Usage: \&.Bf font mode .Pp Font mode must be one of the following: .Pp .Bl -tag -width "Em | -emphasis" -offset indent -compact .It Cm \&Em | Fl emphasis Same as if the .Ql \&.Em macro was used for the entire block of text. .It Cm \&Li | Fl literal Same as if the .Ql \&.Li macro was used for the entire block of text. .It Cm \&Sy | Fl symbolic Same as if the .Ql \&.Sy macro was used for the entire block of text. .El .Ss Enclosure and Quoting Macros 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 .Ql q 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 .Ql o and .Ql c respectively. These can be used across one or more lines of text and while they have nesting limitations, the one line quote macros can be used inside of them. .Bd -filled -offset indent .Bl -column "quote " "close " "open " "Enclose Stringx(in XX) " XXstringXX .Em " Quote Close Open Function Result" .It Li ".Aq .Ac .Ao" Ta No Angle Bracket Enclosure .It Li ".Bq .Bc .Bo" Ta No Bracket Enclosure [string] .It Li ".Dq .Dc .Do" Ta No Double Quote ``string'' .It Li " .Ec .Eo" Ta No Enclose String (in XX) XXstringXX .It Li ".Pq .Pc .Po" Ta No Parenthesis Enclosure (string) .It Li ".Ql " Ta No Quoted Literal `st' or string .It Li ".Qq .Qc .Qo" Ta No Straight Double Quote "string" .It Li ".Sq .Sc .So" Ta No Single Quote `string' .El .Ed .Pp Except for the irregular macros noted below, all of the quoting macros are parsed and callable. All handle punctuation properly, as long as it is presented one character at a time and separated by spaces. The quoting macros examine opening and closing punctuation to determine whether it comes before or after the enclosing string. This makes some nesting possible. .Bl -tag -width xxx,xxxx .It Li \&.Eo , \&.Ec These macros expect the first argument to be the opening and closing strings respectively. .It Li \&.Ql The quoted literal macro behaves differently for .Xr troff 1 than .Xr nroff 1 . If formatted with .Xr nroff 1 , a quoted literal is always quoted. If formatted with .Xr troff 1 , 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. .It Li \&.Pf The prefix macro is not callable, but it is parsed: .Bl -tag -width "(namexx" -offset indent .It Li ".Pf ( Fa name2" becomes .Pf ( Fa name2 . .El .It Li \&.Ns The .Ql \&.Ns (no space) macro, which .Em is callable, performs the analogous suffix function. It implies .Dq \&.No . .El .Pp Examples of quoting: .Bl -tag -width ".Aq Pa ctype.h ) ,xxxxxxxx" -compact -offset indent .It Li \&.Aq .Aq .It Li \&.Aq \&Ar ctype.h\ )\ , .Aq Ar ctype.h ) , .It Li \&.Bq .Bq .It Li \&.Bq \&Em Greek \&, French \&. .Bq Em Greek , French . .It Li \&.Dq .Dq .It Li ".Dq string abc ." .Dq string abc . .It Li ".Dq \'^[A-Z]\'" .Dq \'^[A-Z]\' .It Li "\&.Ql man mdoc" .Ql man mdoc .It Li \&.Qq .Qq .It Li "\&.Qq string ) ," .Qq string ) , .It Li "\&.Qq string Ns )," .Qq string Ns ), .It Li \&.Sq .Sq .It Li "\&.Sq string .Sq string .El .Pp For a good example of nested enclosure macros, see the .Ql \&.Op option macro. It was created from the same underlying enclosure macros as those presented in the list above. The .Ql \&.Xo and .Ql \&.Xc extended argument list macros were also built from the same underlying routines and are a good example of .Nm \-mdoc macro usage at its worst. .Ss No\-Op or Normal Text Macro The macro .Ql \&.No is a hack for words in a macro command line which should .Em not be formatted and follows the conventional syntax for content macros. .Ss No Space Macro The .Ql \&.Ns macro eliminates unwanted spaces in between macro requests. It is useful for old style argument lists where there is no space between the flag and argument: .Bl -tag -width ".Op Fl I Ns Ar directoryxx" -offset indent .It Li ".Op Fl I Ns Ar directory" produces .Op Fl I Ns Ar directory .El .Pp Note: the .Ql \&.Ns macro always invokes the .Ql \&.No macro after eliminating the space unless another macro name follows it. The macro .Ql \&.Ns is parsed and is callable. .Ss Section Cross References The .Ql \&.Sx macro designates a reference to a section header within the same document. It is parsed and is callable. .Bl -tag -width "Li \&.Sx FILES" -offset 14n .It Li \&.Sx FILES .Sx FILES .El .Ss Symbolic The symbolic emphasis macro is generally a boldface macro in either the symbolic sense or the traditional English usage. .Pp .Dl Usage: .Sy symbol ... \*(Pu .Bl -tag -width ".Sy Important Noticex" -compact -offset 14n .It Li \&.Sy Important Notice .Sy Important Notice .El .Pp The .Ql \&.Sy macro is parsed and is callable. Arguments to .Ql \&.Sy may be quoted. .Ss Mathematical Symbols Use this macro for mathematical symbols. .Pp .Dl Usage: .Ms mathematical symbol ... \*(Pu .Bl -tag -width ".Ms sigma" -compact -offset 14n .It Li ".Ms sigma" .Ms sigma .El .Pp The .Ql \&.Ms macro is parsed, but is not callable. .Ss References and Citations The following macros make a modest attempt to handle references. At best, the macros make it convenient to manually drop in a subset of .Xr refer 1 style references. .Pp .Bl -tag -width 6n -offset indent -compact .It Li ".Rs" Reference Start. Causes a line break and begins collection of reference information until the reference end macro is read. .It Li ".Re" Reference End. The reference is printed. .It Li ".%A" Reference author name, one name per invocation. .It Li ".%B" Book title. .It Li ".%D" Date. .It Li ".%I" Issuer/Publisher Name. .It Li ".%J" Journal name. .It Li ".%N" Issue number. .It Li ".%O" Optional information. .It Li ".%P" Page number. .It Li ".%Q" Corporate or Foreign Author. .It Li ".%R" Report name. .It Li ".%T" Title of article. .It Li ".%V" Volume(s). .El .Pp The macros beginning with .Ql % are not callable, and are parsed only for the trade name macro which returns to its caller. (And not very predictably at the moment either.) The purpose is to allow trade names to be pretty printed in .Xr troff 1 Ns / Ns ditroff output. .Ss Trade Names (or Acronyms and Type Names) The trade name macro is generally a small caps macro for all upper case words longer than two characters. .Pp .Dl Usage: .Tn symbol ... \*(Pu .Bl -tag -width ".Tn ASCII" -compact -offset 14n .It Li \&.Tn DEC .Tn DEC .It Li \&.Tn ASCII .Tn ASCII .El .Pp The .Ql \&.Tn macro is parsed and is callable by other macros. .Ss Extended Arguments The .Ql \&.Xo and .Ql \&.Xc macros allow one to extend an argument list on a macro boundary. Argument lists cannot be extended within a macro which expects all of its arguments on one line such as .Ql \&.Op . .Pp Here is an example of .Ql \&.Xo using the space mode macro to turn spacing off: .Bd -literal -offset indent \&.Sm off \&.It Xo Sy I Ar operation \&.No \een Ar count No \een \&.Xc \&.Sm on .Ed .Pp Produces .Bd -filled -offset indent .Bl -tag -width flag -compact .Sm off .It Xo Sy I Ar operation .No \en Ar count No \en .Xc .Sm on .El .Ed .Pp Another one: .Bd -literal -offset indent \&.Sm off \&.It Cm S No \&/ Ar old_pattern Xo \&.No \&/ Ar new_pattern \&.No \&/ Op Cm g \&.Xc \&.Sm on .Ed .Pp Produces .Bd -filled -offset indent .Bl -tag -width flag -compact .Sm off .It Cm S No \&/ Ar old_pattern Xo .No \&/ Ar new_pattern .No \&/ Op Cm g .Xc .Sm on .El .Ed .Pp Another example of .Ql \&.Xo and using enclosure macros: Test the value of an variable. .Bd -literal -offset indent \&.It Xo \&.Ic .ifndef \&.Oo \e&! Oc Ns Ar variable \&.Op Ar operator variable ... \&.Xc .Ed .Pp Produces .Bd -filled -offset indent .Bl -tag -width flag -compact .It Xo .Ic .ifndef .Oo \&! Oc Ns Ar variable .Op Ar operator variable ... .Xc .El .Ed .Pp All of the above examples have used the .Ql \&.Xo macro on the argument list of the .Ql \&.It (list-item) macro. The extend macros are not used very often, and when they are it is usually to extend the list-item argument list. Unfortunately, this is also where the extend macros are the most finicky. In the first two examples, spacing was turned off; in the third, spacing was desired in part of the output but not all of it. To make these macros work in this situation make sure the .Ql \&.Xo and .Ql \&.Xc macros are placed as shown in the third example. If the .Ql \&.Xo macro is not alone on the .Ql \&.It argument list, spacing will be unpredictable. The .Ql \&.Ns (no space macro) must not occur as the first or last macro on a line in this situation. Out of 900 manual pages (about 1500 actual pages) currently released with .Bx only fifteen use the .Ql \&.Xo macro. .Ss Miscellaneous Macros These macros are documented for the sake of completeness. .Bl -tag -width Ds .It \&.Bt Prints .Dq is currently in beta test. .It \&.Hf Includes a (header) file literally. Prints .Dq File: followed by the file name, then the contents of the file. .Pp .Dl Usage: \&.Hf file .It \&.Fr Function return value. Obsolete. .Pp .Dl Usage: \&.Fr return value .It \&.Ot Usage unknown. The .Nm \-mdoc macro package describes it as .Dq old function type (fortran) . .It \&.Sm Toggles spacing on or off. .Pp .Dl Usage: \&.Sm [on | off] .It \&.Ud Prints .Dq currently under development. .It \&.Vt Variable type .Pq Fortran only . .El .Sh PAGE STRUCTURE DOMAIN .Ss Section Headers The first three .Ql \&.Sh section header macros listed below are required in every man page. The remaining section headers are recommended at the discretion of the author writing the manual page. The .Ql \&.Sh macro can take up to nine arguments. It is parsed but is not callable. .Bl -tag -width ".Sh SYNOPSIS" .It Li \&.Sh NAME The .Ql \&.Sh NAME macro is mandatory. If not specified, the headers, footers and page layout defaults will not be set and things will be rather unpleasant. The .Sx NAME section consists of at least three items. The first is the .Ql \&.Nm name macro naming the subject of the man page. The second is the Name Description macro, .Ql \&.Nd , 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. .It Li \&.Sh SYNOPSIS The .Sx SYNOPSIS section describes the typical usage of the subject of a man page. The macros required are either .Ql \&.Nm , .Ql \&.Cd , .Ql \&.Fn , (and possibly .Ql \&.Fo , .Ql \&.Fc , .Ql \&.Fd , .Ql \&.Ft macros). The function name macro .Ql \&.Fn is required for manual page sections 2 and 3; the command and general name macro .Ql \&.Nm is required for sections 1, 5, 6, 7, 8. Section 4 manuals require a .Ql \&.Nm , .Ql \&.Fd , or a .Ql \&.Cd configuration device usage macro. Several other macros may be necessary to produce the synopsis line as shown below: .Bd -filled -offset indent .Nm cat .Op Fl benstuv .Op Fl .Ar .Ed .Pp The following macros were used: .Pp .Dl \&.Nm cat .Dl \&.Op \&Fl benstuv .Dl \&.Op \&Fl .Dl \&.Ar .Pp .Sy Note : The macros .Ql \&.Op , .Ql \&.Fl , and .Ql \&.Ar recognize the pipe bar character .Ql \*(Ba , so a command line such as: .Pp .Dl ".Op Fl a | Fl b" .Pp will not go orbital. .Em Troff normally interprets a \*(Ba as a special operator. See .Sx PREDEFINED STRINGS for a usable \*(Ba character in other situations. .It Li \&.Sh DESCRIPTION In most cases the first text in the .Sx DESCRIPTION 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 .Ql \&.Bl begin-list, .Ql \&.It list-item and .Ql \&.El end-list macros are used (see .Sx Lists and Columns below). .El .Pp The following .Ql \&.Sh 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. .Bl -tag -width SYNOPSIS .It Li \&.Sh RETURN VALUES Sections 2 and 3 function return values. .It Li \&.Sh ENVIRONMENT The .Sx ENVIRONMENT section should reveal any related environment variables and clues to their behavior and/or usage. .It Li \&.Sh FILES Files which are used or created by the man page subject should be listed via the .Ql \&.Pa macro in the .Sx FILES section. .It Li \&.Sh EXAMPLES There are several ways to create examples. See the .Sx EXAMPLES section below for details. .It Li \&.Sh DIAGNOSTICS Diagnostics from a command should be placed in this section. .It Li \&.Sh ERRORS Specific error handling, especially from library functions (man page sections 2 and 3) should go here. The .Ql \&.Er macro is used to specify an errno. .It Li \&.Sh SEE ALSO References to other material on the man page topic and cross references to other relevant man pages should be placed in the .Sx SEE ALSO section. Cross references are specified using the .Ql \&.Xr macro. Cross references in the .Sx SEE ALSO section should be sorted by section number, and then placed in alphabetical order and comma separated. For example: .Pp .Xr ls 1 , .Xr ps 1 , .Xr group 5 , .Xr passwd 5 .Pp At this time .Xr refer 1 style references are not accommodated. .It Li \&.Sh STANDARDS If the command, library function or file adheres to a specific implementation such as .St -p1003.2 or .St -ansiC this should be noted here. If the command does not adhere to any standard, its history should be noted in the .Sx HISTORY section. .It Li \&.Sh HISTORY Any command which does not adhere to any specific standards should be outlined historically in this section. .It Li \&.Sh AUTHORS Credits, if need be, should be placed here. .It Li \&.Sh CAVEATS Explanations of common misuses, e.g. security considerations for certain library functions. .It Li \&.Sh BUGS Blatant problems with the topic go here... .El .Pp User specified .Ql \&.Sh sections may be added, for example, this section was set with: .Bd -literal -offset 14n \&.Sh PAGE STRUCTURE DOMAIN .Ed .Ss Paragraphs and Line Spacing. .Bl -tag -width 6n .It Li \&.Pp The .Ql \&.Pp paragraph command may be used to specify a line space where necessary. The macro is not necessary before or after .Ql \&.Sh macros, before or after a .Ql \&.Ss macro, or before a .Ql \&.Bl or .Ql \&.Bd macro. (The .Ql \&.Bl and .Ql \&.Bd macros assert a vertical distance unless the .Fl compact flag is given). .El .\" This worked with version one, need to redo for version three .\" .Pp .\" .Ds I .\" .Cw (ax+bx+c) \ is\ produced\ by\ \& .\" .\".Cw (ax+bx+c) \&.Va_by_) \&_and_\& \&[?/]m_b1_e1_f1[?/]\& .\" .Cl Cx \t\t .\" .Li \&.Cx\ ( .\" .Cx .\" .Cl Cx \t\t .\" .Li \&.Va ax .\" .Cx .\" .Cl Cx \t\t .\" .Li \&.Sy \+ .\" .Cx .\" .Cl Cx \&(\& .\" .Va ax .\" .Cx + .\" .Va by .\" .Cx + .\" .Va c ) .\" .Cx \t .\" .Em is produced by .\" .Cx \t .\" .Li \&.Va by .\" .Cx .\" .Cl Cx \t\t .\" .Li \&.Sy \+ .\" .Cx .\" .Cl Cx \t\t .\" .Li \&.Va c ) .\" .Cx .\" .Cl Cx \t\t .\" .Li \&.Cx .\" .Cx .\" .Cw .\" .De .\" .Pp .\" This example shows the same equation in a different format. .\" The spaces .\" around the .\" .Li \&+ .\" signs were forced with .\" .Li \e : .\" .Pp .\" .Ds I .\" .Cw (ax\ +\ bx\ +\ c) \ is\ produced\ by\ \& .\" .\".Cw (ax+bx+c) \&.Va_by_) \&_and_\& \&[?/]m_b1_e1_f1[?/]\& .\" .Cl Cx \t\t .\" .Li \&.Cx\ ( .\" .Cx .\" .Cl Cx \t\t .\" .Li \&.Va a .\" .Cx .\" .Cl Cx \t\t .\" .Li \&.Sy x .\" .Cx .\" .Cl Cx \t\t .\" .Li \&.Cx \e\ +\e\ \e& .\" .Cx .\" .Cl Cx \&(\& .\" .Va a .\" .Sy x .\" .Cx \ +\ \& .\" .Va b .\" .Sy y .\" .Cx \ +\ \& .\" .Va c ) .\" .Cx \t .\" .Em is produced by .\" .Cl Cx \t\t .\" .Li \&.Va b .\" .Cx .\" .Cl Cx \t\t .\" .Li \&.Sy y .\" .Cx .\" .Cl Cx \t\t .\" .Li \&.Cx \e\ +\e\ \e& .\" .Cx .\" .Cl Cx \t\t .\" .Li \&.Va c ) .\" .Cx .\" .Cl Cx \t\t .\" .Li \&.Cx .\" .Cx .\" .Cw .\" .De .\" .Pp .\" The incantation below was .\" lifted from the .\" .Xr adb 1 .\" manual page: .\" .Pp .\" .Ds I .\" .Cw \&[?/]m_b1_e1_f1[?/]\& is\ produced\ by .\" .Cl Cx \t\t .\" .Li \&.Cx Op Sy ?/ .\" .Cx .\" .Cl Cx \t\t .\" .Li \&.Nm m .\" .Cx .\" .Cl Cx Op Sy ?/ .\" .Nm m .\" .Ad \ b1 e1 f1 .\" .Op Sy ?/ .\" .Cx \t .\" .Em is produced by .\" .Cx \t .\" .Li \&.Ar \e\ b1 e1 f1 .\" .Cx .\" .Cl Cx \t\t .\" .Li \&.Op Sy ?/ .\" .Cx .\" .Cl Cx \t\t .\" .Li \&.Cx .\" .Cx .\" .Cw .\" .De .\" .Pp .Ss Keeps The only keep that is implemented at this time is for words. The macros are .Ql \&.Bk (begin-keep) and .Ql \&.Ek (end-keep). The only option that .Ql \&.Bk accepts is .Fl words and is useful for preventing line breaks in the middle of options. In the example for the make command line arguments (see .Sx What's in a name ) , the keep prevented .Xr nroff 1 from placing the flag and the argument on separate lines. (Actually, the option macro used to prevent this from occurring, but was dropped when the decision (religious) was made to force right justified margins in .Xr troff 1 as options in general look atrocious when spread across a sparse line. More work needs to be done with the keep macros; a .Fl line option needs to be added.) .Ss Examples and Displays There are six types of displays: a quickie, one-line indented display .Ql \&.D1 ; a quickie one-line literal display .Ql \&.Dl ; and a block-ragged, block-unfilled, block-filled, and block-literal which use the .Ql \&.Bd begin-display and .Ql \&.Ed end-display macros. .Bl -tag -width \&.Dlxx .It Li \&.D1 (D-one) Display one line of indented text. This macro is parsed, but it is not callable. .Pp .Dl Fl ldghfstru .Pp The above was produced by: .Li \&.Dl \&Fl ldghfstru . .It Li \&.Dl (D-ell) Display one line of indented .Em literal text. The .Ql \&.Dl example macro has been used throughout this file. It allows the indent (display) of one line of text. Its default font is set to constant width (literal). It is parsed, however, and will recognize other macros. It is not callable. .Pp .Dl % ls -ldg /usr/local/bin .Pp The above was produced by: .Li \&.Dl % ls -ldg /usr/local/bin . .It Li \&.Bd Begin-display. The .Ql \&.Bd display must end with the .Ql \&.Ed macro. Displays may be nested within displays and lists, but may .Em not contain other displays; this also prohibits nesting of .Ql \&.D1 and .Ql \&.Dl one-line displays. .Ql \&.Bd has the following syntax: .Pp .Dl ".Bd display-type [-offset offset_value] [-compact]" .Pp The display-type must be one of the following four types and may have an offset specifier for indentation: .Pp .Bl -tag -width "file file_name " -compact .It Fl ragged Fill, but do not adjust the right margin. .It Fl unfilled Do not fill. Display a block of text as typed. The right (and left) margin edges are left ragged. .It Fl filled Display a filled (formatted) block. The block of text is formatted (the edges are filled, not left unjustified). .It Fl literal Display a literal block, useful for source code or simple tabbed or spaced text. .It Fl file Ar file_name The file name following the .Fl file flag is read and displayed. Literal mode is asserted and tabs are set at 8 constant width character intervals, however any .Xr troff 1 Ns / Ns Nm \-mdoc commands in file will be processed. .It Fl offset Ar string If .Fl offset is specified with one of the following strings, the string is interpreted to indicate the level of indentation for the forthcoming block of text: .Pp .Bl -tag -width "indent-two" -compact .It Ar left Align block on the current left margin. This is the default mode of .Ql \&.Bd . .It Ar center Supposedly center the block. At this time, unfortunately, the block merely gets left aligned about an imaginary center margin. .It Ar indent Indents by one default indent value or tab. The default indent value is also used for the .Ql \&.D1 display so one is guaranteed the two types of displays will line up. This indent is normally set to 6n or about two thirds of an inch (six constant width characters). .It Ar indent-two Indents two times the default indent value. .It Ar right This .Em left 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 by .Xr troff 1 . .El .El .It Li ".Ed" End-display. .El .Ss Tagged Lists and Columns There are several types of lists which may be initiated with the .Ql \&.Bl begin-list macro. Items within the list are specified with the .Ql \&.It item macro and each list must end with the .Ql \&.El macro. Lists other than .Fl enum may be nested within themselves and within displays. The use of columns inside of lists or lists inside of columns is unproven. .Pp 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 .Pq Fl tag . For a change of pace, the list-type used to present the list-types is an over-hanging list .Pq Fl ohang . This type of list is quite popular with .Tn TeX users, but might look a bit funny after having read many pages of tagged lists. The following list types are accepted by .Ql \&.Bl : .Pp .Bl -ohang -compact .It Xo Fl bullet , Fl dash , .Fl enum , Fl hyphen , Fl item .Xc .El These five are the simplest types of lists. Once the .Ql \&.Bl macro has been given, items in the list are merely indicated by a line consisting solely of the .Ql \&.It macro. .Pp Examples of the different types: .Pp .Fl bullet \ \&\ \&A bullet list. .Bd -literal -offset indent-two \&.Bl -bullet -compact \&.It \&Bullet one goes here. \&.It \&Bullet two here. \&.El .Ed .Pp Produces: .Bl -bullet -offset 12n -compact .It Bullet one goes here. .It Bullet two here. .El .Pp .Fl dash \ \&\ \&A dash (or .Fl hyphen ) list. .Bd -literal -offset indent-two \&.Bl -dash -compact \&.It \&Item one goes here. \&.It \&Item two here. \&.El .Ed .Pp Produces: .Bl -dash -offset 12n -compact .It Item one goes here. .It Item two here. .El .Pp .Fl enum \ \&\ \&An enumerated list. .Bd -literal -offset indent-two \&.Bl -enum -compact \&.It \&Item one goes here. \&.It \&And item two here. \&.It \&Lastly item three goes here. \&.El .Ed .Pp The results: .Pp .Bl -enum -offset 12n -compact .It Item one goes here. .It And item two here. .It Lastly item three goes here. .El .Pp .Fl item \ \&\ \&An item list. .Bd -literal -offset indent-two \&.Bl -item -compact \&.It \&Item one goes here. \&Item one goes here. \&Item one goes here. \&.It \&Item two goes here. \&Item two goes here. \&Item two goes here. \&.El .Ed .Pp Produces: .Bl -item -offset 12n -compact .It Item one goes here. Item one goes here. Item one goes here. .It Item two goes here. Item two goes here. Item two goes here. .El .Pp .Bl -ohang -compact .It Xo Fl tag , Fl diag , .Fl hang , Fl ohang , Fl inset .Xc .El These list types collect arguments specified with the .Ql \&.It macro and create a label which may be .Em inset into the forthcoming text, .Em hanged from the forthcoming text, .Em overhanged from above and not indented or .Em tagged . This list was constructed with the .Sq Fl ohang list-type. The .Ql \&.It macro is parsed only for the inset, hang and tag list-types and is not callable. Here is an example of inset labels: .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. Use a .Fl width attribute as described below. .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 .Pp Here is the source text which produced the above example: .Bd -literal -offset indent \&.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 \¯os 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 \¶graphs and are valuable for converting \&.Nm \-mdoc \&manuals to other formats. \&.El .Ed .Pp Here is a hanged list with just two items: .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 in to the paragraph unlike tagged paragraph labels. .El .Pp And the unformatted text which created it: .Bd -literal -offset indent \&.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 in to the paragraph unlike \&tagged paragraph labels. \&.El .Ed .Pp Here is an overhanged list: .Bl -ohang -offset indent .It Sy SL Sleep time of the process (seconds blocked). .It Sy PAGEIN Number of disk I/O's resulting from references by the process to pages not loaded in core. .El .Pp And the unformatted text which created it: .Bd -literal -offset indent \&.Bl -ohang \&.It Sy SL \&Sleep time of the process. \&.It Sy PAGEIN \&Number of disk I/O's resulting from references by the process \&to pages not in core. \&.El .Ed .Pp Diag lists create section four diagnostic lists and are similar to inset lists except callable macros are ignored. The .Fl width flag is not meaningful in this context. .Bd -literal -offset indent \&.Bl -diag \&.It "xl%d: couldn't map memory" \&A fatal initialization error has occurred. \&.It "xl%d: couldn't map interrupt" \&A fatal initialization error has occurred. \&.El .Ed .Pp produces: .Bl -diag .It "xl%d: couldn't map memory" A fatal initialization error has occurred. .It "xl%d: couldn't map interrupt" A fatal initialization error has occurred. .El .Pp The tagged list which follows uses a width specifier to control the width of the tag. .Pp .Bl -tag -width "PAGEIN" -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 .Pp The raw text: .Bd -literal -offset indent \&.Bl -tag -width "PAGEIN" -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 .Ed .Pp Acceptable width specifiers: .Bl -tag -width Ar -offset indent .It Fl width Ar "\&Fl" sets the width to the default width for a flag. All callable macros have a default width value. The .Ql \&.Fl , value is presently set to ten constant width characters or about five-sixths of an inch. .It Fl width Ar "24n" sets the width to 24 constant width characters or about two inches. The .Ql n is absolutely necessary for the scaling to work correctly. .It Fl width Ar "ENAMETOOLONG" sets width to the constant width length of the string given. .It Fl width Ar "\\*qint mkfifo\\*q" again, the width is set to the constant width of the string given. .El .Pp If a width is not specified for the tag list type, the first time .Ql \&.It is invoked, an attempt is made to determine an appropriate width. If the first argument to .Ql \&.It is a callable macro, the default width for that macro will be used as if the macro name had been supplied as the width. However, if another item in the list is given with a different callable macro name, a new and nested list is assumed. This effectively means that .Fl width is required for the tag list type. .Pp .Bl -ohang -compact .It Fl column .El This list type generates multiple columns. The number of columns and the width of each column is determined by the arguments to the .Fl column list. Each .Ql \&.It argument is parsed to make a row and each column within the row is a separate argument separated by a tab or the .Ql \&.Ta macro. .Pp The table: .Bl -column "String" "Nroff" "Troff" -offset indent .It Sy "String" Ta Sy "Nroff" Ta Sy "Troff" .It Li "<=" Ta \&<\&= Ta \*(<= .It Li ">=" Ta \&>\&= Ta \*(>= .El .Pp was produced by: .Bd -literal -offset indent \&.Bl -column "String" "Nroff" "Troff" -offset indent \&.It Sy "String" Ta Sy "Nroff" Ta Sy "Troff" \&.It Li "<=" Ta \e&<\e&= Ta \e*(<= \&.It Li ">=" Ta \e&>\e&= Ta \e*(>= \&.El .Ed .Sh PREDEFINED STRINGS The following strings are predefined and may be used by preceding them with the .Xr troff 1 string interpreting sequence .Ql \&\e*(xx where .Em xx is the name of the defined string or as .Ql \&\e*x where .Em x is the name of the string. The interpreting sequence may be used any where in the text. .Bl -column "String " "Nroff " "Troff " -offset indent .It Sy "String Nroff Troff" .It Li "<=" Ta \&<\&= Ta \*(<= .It Li ">=" Ta \&>\&= Ta \*(>= .It Li "Rq" Ta "''" Ta \*(Rq .It Li "Lq" Ta "``" Ta \*(Lq .It Li "ua" Ta ^ Ta \*(ua .It Li "aa" Ta ' Ta \*(aa .It Li "ga" Ta \` Ta \*(ga .\" .It Li "sL" Ta ` Ta \*(sL .\" .It Li "sR" Ta ' Ta \*(sR .It Li "q" Ta \&" Ta \*q .It Li "Pi" Ta pi Ta \*(Pi .It Li "Ne" Ta != Ta \*(Ne .It Li "Le" Ta <= Ta \*(Le .It Li "Ge" Ta >= Ta \*(Ge .It Li "Lt" Ta < Ta \*(Gt .It Li "Gt" Ta > Ta \*(Lt .It Li "Pm" Ta +- Ta \*(Pm .It Li "If" Ta infinity Ta \*(If .It Li "Na" Ta \fINaN\fP Ta \*(Na .It Li "Ba" Ta \fR\&|\fP Ta \*(Ba .El .Pp .Sy Note : The string named .Ql q should be written as .Ql \e*q since it is only one char. .Sh DIAGNOSTICS The debugging facilities for .Nm \-mdoc are limited, but can help detect subtle errors such as the collision of an argument name with an internal register or macro name. (A what?) A register is an arithmetic storage class for .Xr troff 1 with a one or two-character name. All registers internal to .Nm \-mdoc for .Xr troff 1 and .Em ditroff are two characters and of the form such as .Ql \&Ar , as .Ql \&aR or as .Ql \&C\&1 . And adding to the muddle, .Xr troff has its own internal registers all of which are either two lower case characters or a dot plus a letter or meta-character character. In one of the introduction examples, it was shown how to prevent the interpretation of a macro name with the escape sequence .Ql \e& . This is sufficient for the internal register names also. .Pp .\" Every callable macro name has a corresponding register .\" of the same name (). .\" There are also specific registers which have .\" been used for stacks and arrays and are listed in the .\" .Sx Appendix . .\" .Bd -ragged -offset 4n .\" [A-Z][a-z] registers corresponding to macro names (example ``Ar'') .\" [a-z][A-Z] registers corresponding to macro names (example ``aR'') .\" C[0-9] argument types (example C1) .\" O[0-9] offset stack (displays) .\" h[0-9] horizontal spacing stack (lists) .\" o[0-9] offset (stack) (lists) .\" t[0-9] tag stack (lists) .\" v[0-9] vertical spacing stack (lists) .\" w[0-9] width tag/label stack .\" .Ed .\" .Pp If a non-escaped register name is given in the argument list of a request, unpredictable behavior will occur. In general, any time huge portions of text do not appear where expected in the output, or small strings such as list tags disappear, chances are there is a misunderstanding about an argument type in the argument list. Your mother never intended for you to remember this evil stuff - so here is a way to find out whether or not your arguments are valid: The .Ql \&.Db (debug) macro displays the interpretation of the argument list for most macros. Macros such as the .Ql \&.Pp (paragraph) macro do not contain debugging information. All of the callable macros do, and it is strongly advised whenever in doubt, turn on the .Ql \&.Db macro. .Pp .Dl Usage: \&.Db [on | off] .Pp An example of a portion of text with the debug macro placed above and below an artificially created problem (a flag argument .Ql \&aC which should be .Ql \e&aC in order to work): .Bd -literal -offset indent \&.Db on \&.Op Fl aC Ar file ) \&.Db off .Ed .Pp The resulting output: .Bd -literal -offset indent DEBUGGING ON DEBUG(argv) MACRO: `.Op' Line #: 2 Argc: 1 Argv: `Fl' Length: 2 Space: `' Class: Executable Argc: 2 Argv: `aC' Length: 2 Space: `' Class: Executable Argc: 3 Argv: `Ar' Length: 2 Space: `' Class: Executable Argc: 4 Argv: `file' Length: 4 Space: ` ' Class: String Argc: 5 Argv: `)' Length: 1 Space: ` ' Class: Closing Punctuation or suffix MACRO REQUEST: .Op Fl aC Ar file ) DEBUGGING OFF .Ed .Pp The first line of information tells the name of the calling macro, here .Ql \&.Op , and the line number it appears on. If one or more files are involved (especially if text from another file is included) the line number may be bogus. If there is only one file, it should be accurate. The second line gives the argument count, the argument .Pq Li \&Fl and its length. If the length of an argument is two characters, the argument is tested to see if it is executable (unfortunately, any register which contains a non-zero value appears executable). The third line gives the space allotted for a class, and the class type. The problem here is the argument .Ql \&aC should not be executable. The four types of classes are string, executable, closing punctuation and opening punctuation. The last line shows the entire argument list as it was read. In this next example, the offending .Ql \&aC is escaped: .Bd -literal -offset indent \&.Db on \&.Em An escaped \e&aC \&.Db off .Ed .Bd -literal -offset indent DEBUGGING ON DEBUG(fargv) MACRO: `.Em' Line #: 2 Argc: 1 Argv: `An' Length: 2 Space: ` ' Class: String Argc: 2 Argv: `escaped' Length: 7 Space: ` ' Class: String Argc: 3 Argv: `aC' Length: 2 Space: ` ' Class: String MACRO REQUEST: .Em An escaped &aC DEBUGGING OFF .Ed .Pp The argument .Ql \e&aC shows up with the same length of 2 as the .Ql \e& sequence produces a zero width, but a register named .Ql \e&aC was not found and the type classified as string. .Pp Other diagnostics consist of usage statements and are self explanatory. .Sh GROFF, TROFF AND NROFF The .Nm \-mdoc package does not need compatibility mode with .Xr groff 1 . .Pp The package inhibits page breaks, and the headers and footers which normally occur at those breaks with .Xr nroff 1 , to make the manual more efficient for viewing on-line. At the moment, .Xr groff 1 with .Fl T Ns Ar ascii does eject the imaginary remainder of the page at end of file. The inhibiting of the page breaks makes .Xr nroff 1 Ns 'd files unsuitable for hardcopy. There is a register named .Ql \&cR which can be set to zero in the site dependent style file .Pa /usr/share/tmac/mdoc/doc-nroff to restore the old style behavior. .Sh FILES .Bl -tag -width /usr/share/misc/mdoc.template -compact .It Pa tmac.doc manual macro package .It Pa tmac.doc-common common structural macros and definitions .It Pa tmac.doc-ditroff site dependent .Xr troff 1 style file .It Pa tmac.doc-nroff site dependent .Xr nroff 1 style file .It Pa tmac.doc-syms special defines .It Pa /usr/share/misc/mdoc.template template for writing a man page .El .Sh SEE ALSO .Xr groff 1 , .Xr man 1 , .Xr nroff 1 , .Xr troff 1 , .Xr mdoc 7 .Sh BUGS Undesirable hyphenation on the dash of a macro argument is not yet resolved, and can cause line break on the hyphen. .Pp A .Ql \&.Pp before a display causes a double vertical space in PostScript output. .Pp No macro yet exists to cause a line break without inserting a vertical space (such as troff's .Ql \&.br macro). .Pp .Ql \&.Dt does not allow arbitrary arguments, and certainly should. .Pp Arbitrary arguments to .Ql \&.Os must be double quoted. .Pp The .Ql \&.At macro cannot handle punctuation. .Pp .Ql \&.Fn 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. .Pp If the outer-most list definition does not have a .Fl width argument, the .Ql \&.It elements of inner lists may not work (producing a list where each successive element .Dq walks to the right). .Pp The list and display macros do not do any keeps and certainly should be able to. .Pp Section 3f has not been added to the header routines. .\" Note what happens if the parameter list overlaps a newline .\" boundary. .\" to make sure a line boundary is crossed: .\" .Bd -literal .\" \&.Fn struct\e\ dictionarytable\e\ *dictionarylookup struct\e\ dictionarytable\e\ *tab[] .\" .Ed .\" .Pp .\" produces, nudge nudge, .\" .Fn struct\ dictionarytable\ *dictionarylookup char\ *h struct\ dictionarytable\ *tab[] , .\" .Fn struct\ dictionarytable\ *dictionarylookup char\ *h struct\ dictionarytable\ *tab[] , .\" nudge .\" .Fn struct\ dictionarytable\ *dictionarylookup char\ *h struct\ dictionarytable\ *tab[] . .\" .Pp .\" If double quotes are used, for example: .\" .Bd -literal .\" \&.Fn \*qstruct dictionarytable *dictionarylookup\*q \*qchar *h\*q \*qstruct dictionarytable *tab[]\*q .\" .Ed .\" .Pp .\" produces, nudge nudge, .\" .Fn "struct dictionarytable *dictionarylookup" "char *h" "struct dictionarytable *tab[]" , .\" nudge .\" .Fn "struct dictionarytable *dictionarylookup" "char *h" "struct dictionarytable *tab[]" , .\" nudge .\" .Fn "struct dictionarytable *dictionarylookup" "char *h" "struct dictionarytable *tab[]" . .\" .Pp .\" Not a pretty sight... .\" In a paragraph, a long parameter containing unpaddable spaces as .\" in the former example will cause .\" .Xr troff .\" to break the line and spread .\" the remaining words out. .\" The latter example will adjust nicely to .\" justified margins, but may break in between an argument and its .\" declaration. .\" In .\" .Xr nroff .\" the right margin adjustment is normally ragged and the problem is .\" not as severe.