'\" t
.TH GROFF_MAN 7 "7 February 2022" "groff 1.22.4"
.SH NAME
groff_man \- GNU roff macro package for formatting man pages
.
.
.\" Save and disable compatibility mode (for, e.g., Solaris 10/11).
.do nr groff_man_C \n[.C]
.cp 0
.
.
.\" ====================================================================
.\" Legal Terms
.\" ====================================================================
.\"
.\" Copyright (C) 1999-2018 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
.\"
.\" Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this
.\" manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are
.\" preserved on all copies.
.\"
.\" Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of
.\" this manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that
.\" the entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of
.\" a permission notice identical to this one.
.\"
.\" Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this
.\" manual into another language, under the above conditions for
.\" modified versions, except that this permission notice may be
.\" included in translations approved by the Free Software Foundation
.\" instead of in the original English.
.
.
.\" ====================================================================
.SH SYNOPSIS
.\" ====================================================================
.
.SY "groff \-man"
.RI [ option
\&.\|.\|.\&]
.RI [ input-file
\&.\|.\|.\&]
.SY "groff \-m man"
.RI [ option
\&.\|.\|.\&]
.RI [ input-file
\&.\|.\|.\&]
.YS
.
.
.\" ====================================================================
.SH DESCRIPTION
.\" ====================================================================
.
The
.I man
macro package for
.I groff
is used to produce manual pages
.\" We use an unbreakable space \~ here to keep the phrase intact for
.\" its introduction; in subsequent discussion, that is not important.
(\(lqman\~pages\(rq)
like the one you are reading.
.
GNU
.IR roff 's
implementation was written by James Clark.
.
.
.PP
This document presents the macros thematically to aid learners;
for those needing only a quick reference,
the following table lists them alphabetically,
with cross-references to appropriate subsections below.
.
.
.PP
.TS
l l l.
Macro	Meaning	Subsection
.T&
lB l l.
_
\&.B	Bold	Font style macros
\&.BI	Bold, italic alternating	Font style macros
\&.BR	Bold, roman alternating	Font style macros
\&.EE	Example end	Document structure macros
\&.EX	Example begin	Document structure macros
\&.I	Italic	Font style macros
\&.IB	Italic, bold alternating	Font style macros
\&.IP	Indented paragraph	Paragraph macros
\&.IR	Italic, roman alternating	Font style macros
\&.LP	(Left) paragraph	Paragraph macros
\&.ME	Mail-to end	Hyperlink and email macros
\&.MT	Mail-to start	Hyperlink and email macros
\&.OP	(Command-line) option	Command synopsis macros
\&.P	Paragraph	Paragraph macros
\&.PP	Paragraph	Paragraph macros
\&.RB	Roman, bold alternating	Font style macros
\&.RE	Relative-indent end	Document structure macros
\&.RI	Roman, italic alternating	Font style macros
\&.RS	Relative-indent start	Document structure macros
\&.SB	Small bold	Font style macros
\&.SH	Section heading	Document structure macros
\&.SM	Small	Font style macros
\&.SS	Subection heading	Document structure macros
\&.SY	Synopsis start	Command synopsis macros
\&.TH	Title heading	Document structure macros
\&.TP	Tagged paragraph	Paragraph macros
\&.TQ	Tagged paragraph continuation	Paragraph macros
\&.UE	URL end	Hyperlink and email macros
\&.UR	URL start	Hyperlink and email macros
\&.YS	Synopsis end	Command synopsis macros
.TE
.
.
.PP
Macros whose use we discourage
.RB ( .AT ,
.BR .BT ,
.BR .DT ,
.BR .HP ,
.BR .PD ,
.BR .PT ,
and
.BR .UC )
are described in subsection \(lqDeprecated features\(rq, below.
.
.
.\" ====================================================================
.SS "Macro reference preliminaries"
.\" ====================================================================
.
Each macro is described in a tagged paragraph.
.
Closely related macros,
such as
.B .EX
and
.BR .EE ,
are grouped together.
.
.
.PP
Optional macro arguments are indicated by surrounding them with square
brackets.
.
If a macro accepts multiple arguments,
arguments containing whitespace must be double-quoted ("one two"),
to be interpreted correctly.
.
Most macro arguments are strings that will be output as text;
exceptions are noted.
.
.
.PP
Bear in mind that
.I groff
is fundamentally a programming system for typesetting.
.
Consequently,
the verb \(lqto set\(rq is frequently used below in the sense \(lqto
typeset\(rq.
.
.
.\" ====================================================================
.SS "Document structure macros"
.\" ====================================================================
.
The highest level of organization of a man page is determined by this
group of macros.
.
.B .TH
(title heading) identifies the document as a man page and defines
information enabling its indexing by
.IR mandb (8)
or a similar tool.
.
.
Sections
.RB ( .SH ),
one of which is mandatory and many of which are standardized,
facilitate quick location of relevant material by the reader and aid
the man page writer to discuss all essential aspects of the topic.
.
Subsections
.RB ( .SS )
are optional and permit sections that grow long to develop in a
controlled way.
.
Many technical discussions require examples;
lengthy ones,
especially those reflecting multiple lines of input to or output from
the system,
are usefully bracketed by
.B .EX
and
.BR .EE .
.
When none of the foregoing meets a structural demand,
a section of the discussion can be manually indented within
.B .RS
and
.B .RE
macros.
.
.
.TP
.BI .TH " title section"\c
.RI " [" footer-middle ]\c
.RI " [" footer-outside ]\c
.RI " [" header-middle ]
Define the title of the man page as
.I title
and the section as
.IR section .
.
See
.IR man (1)
for details on the section numbers and suffixes applicable to your
system.
.
.I title
and
.I section
are positioned together at the left and right in the header line
(with
.I section
in parentheses immediately appended to
.IR title ).
.
.I footer-middle
is centered in the footer line.
.
.I footer-outside
is positioned at the left in the footer line (or at the left on
even pages and at the right on odd pages if double-sided printing is
active).
.
.I header-middle
is centered in the header line.
.
If
.I section
is a simple integer between 1 and\~9 (inclusive),
or is exactly \(lq3p\(rq,
there is no need to specify
.IR header-middle ;
the macro package will supply text for it.
.
.
.IP
For HTML output, headers and footers are completely suppressed.
.
.
.IP
Additionally, this macro starts a new page; the page number is reset
to\~1
(unless the
.B \-rC1
option is given on the command line).
.
This feature is intended only for formatting multiple man pages.
.
.
.IP
A man page should contain exactly one
.B .TH
call at or near the beginning of the file,
prior to any other macro calls.
.
.
.IP
By convention,
.I footer-middle
is the most recent modification date of the man page source document,
and
.I footer-outside
is the name and version or release of the project providing it.
.
.
.TP
.BR .SH " ["\c
.IR heading-text ]
Set
.I heading-text
as a section heading flush left.
.
The text following
.B .SH
up to the end of the line,
or the text on the next input line if
.B .SH
is given no arguments,
is set in bold
(or the font specified by the string register
.BR HF )
slightly larger than the base font size.
.
Additionally,
the left margin and indentation affecting subsequent text are reset to
their default values.
.
Text on input lines after
.I heading-text
is set as a normal paragraph
.RB ( .PP ).
.
.
.IP
The content of
.I heading-text
and ordering of sections has been standardized by common practice,
as has much of the layout of material within sections.
.
For example,
a section called \(lqName\(rq or \(lqNAME\(rq must exist,
must be the first section after the
.B .TH
call,
and must contain only a line of the form
.RS \" Invisibly move left margin to current .IP indent.
.RS \" Now indent further, visibly.
.IR page-topic [\c
.BR , " \&.\|.\|.\&]"
.B \e\-\ \c
.I summary-description
.RE \" Move left margin back to .IP indentation.
for a man page to be properly indexed.
.
See
.IR man (7)
for the conventions prevailing on your system.
.RE \" Move left margin back to standard position.
.
.
.TP
.BR .SS " ["\c
.IR subheading-text ]
Set
.I subheading-text
as a subsection heading indented (by default) partway between a section
heading and a normally-indented paragraph
.RB ( .PP ).
.
The text following
.B .SS
up to the end of the line,
or the text on the next input line if
.B .SS
is given no arguments,
is set in bold
(or the font specified by the string register
.BR HF )
at the base font size.
.
Additionally,
the left margin and indentation affecting subsequent text are reset to
their default values.
.
Text on input lines after
.I subheading-text
is set as a normal paragraph
.RB ( .PP ).
.
.
.TP
.B .EX
.TQ
.B .EE
Begin and end example.
.
After
.BR .EX ,
filling and hyphenation are disabled and a constant-width (monospaced)
font is selected.
.
Calling
.B .EE
enables filling and restores the previous hyphenation setting and font.
.
.
.\" BEGIN EXAMPLE (TODO: move to tutorial/style guide when we have it)
.IP
Example regions are useful for formatting code,
shell sessions,
and text file contents.
.
.
.\" END EXAMPLE (TODO: move to tutorial/style guide when we have it)
.IP
These macros are defined on many (but not all) legacy Unix systems
running classic
.IR troff .
.
To be certain your page will be portable to those systems, copy
their definitions from the
.I \%an\-ext.tmac
file of a
.I groff
installation.
.
.
.TP
.BR .RS " ["\c
.IR indent ]
Move the left margin to the right by the value
.IR indent ,
if specified,
and by a default amount otherwise;
see subsection \(lqHorizontal and vertical spacing\(rq below.
.
Calls to
.B .RS
can be nested;
each call increments by\~1 the indentation level used by
.BR .RE .
.
The indentation level prior to any
.B .RS
calls is\~1.
.
.
.TP
.BR .RE " ["\c
.IR level ]
Move the left margin back to that corresponding to indentation level
.IR level .
.
If no argument is given, move the left margin one level back.
.
.
.\" ====================================================================
.SS "Paragraph macros"
.\" ====================================================================
.
A typical paragraph
.RB ( .PP )
is set at the current left margin,
which by default is indented from the left margin of the output device.
.
In man pages and other technical literature,
definition lists are frequently encountered;
these can be set as \(lqtagged paragraphs\(rq
.RB ( .TP
and
.BR .TQ ),
which have one or more leading tags followed by a paragraph that has an
additional left indent.
.
The indented paragraph
.RB ( .IP )
macro is useful to continue the indented content of a narrative started
with
.BR .TP ,
or to present an itemized or ordered list.
.
.
.TP
.B .LP
.TQ
.B .PP
.TQ
.B .P
Begin a new paragraph;
these macros are synonymous.
.
They break the output line at the current position,
followed by a vertical space downward by a default amount
(which can be changed by the deprecated
.B .PD
macro).
.
The font size and style are reset to defaults;
see subsection \(lqFont style macros\(rq below.
.
Finally, the left margin and indentation are reset to default values.
.
.
.TP
.BR .TP " ["\c
.IR indent ]
Set a tagged, indented paragraph.
.
The input line following this macro,
known as the
.IR tag ,
is printed at the current left margin.
.
Subsequent text is indented by
.IR indent ,
if specified,
and by a default amount otherwise;
see subsection \(lqHorizontal and vertical spacing\(rq below.
.
.
.IP
If the tag is not as wide as the indentation,
the paragraph starts on the same line as the tag,
at the applicable indentation,
and continues on the following lines.
.
Otherwise,
the descriptive part of the paragraph begins on the line following the
tag,
entirely indented.
.
The line containing the tag can include a macro call,
for instance to set the tag in bold with
.BR .B .
.
.
.IP
.B .TP
was used to write the first paragraph of this description of
.BR .TP ,
and
.B .IP
the subsequent ones.
.
.
.TP
.B .TQ
Set an additional tag for a paragraph tagged with
.BR .TP .
.
The pending output line is broken.
.
The tag on the input line following this macro and subsequent lines are
handled as with
.BR .TP .
.
.
.IP
This macro is not defined on legacy Unix systems running classic
.IR troff .
.
To be certain your page will be portable to those systems,
copy its definition from the
.I \%an\-ext.tmac
file of a
.I groff
installation.
.
.
.IP
The descriptions of
.BR .LP ,
.BR .PP ,
and
.B .P
above were written using
.B .TP
and
.BR .TQ .
.
.
.TP
.BR .IP " ["\c
.IR tag "] "\c
.RI [ indent ]
Set an indented paragraph with an optional tag.
.
The
.I tag
and
.I indent
arguments,
if present,
are handled as with
.BR .TP ,
with the exception that the
.I tag
argument to
.B .IP
cannot include a macro call.
.
.
.\" BEGIN EXAMPLE (TODO: move to tutorial/style guide when we have it)
.IP
Two convenient use cases for
.B .IP
are
.
.
.RS \" Invisibly move left margin to current .IP indent.
.RS \" Now indent further, visibly.
.IP (1) 4n
to start a new paragraph with the same indentation as the previous
.B .IP
or
.B .TP
paragraph,
if no
.I indent
argument is given;
and
.
.
.IP (2)
to set a paragraph with a short
.I tag
that is not semantically important,
such as a bullet (\(bu)\(emobtained with the \(oq\e(bu\(cq character
escape\(emor list enumerator,
as seen in this very paragraph.
.RE \" Move left margin back to .IP indentation.
.RE \" Move left margin back to standard position.
.
.
.\" END EXAMPLE (TODO: move to tutorial/style guide when we have it)
.\" ====================================================================
.SS "Command synopsis macros"
.\" ====================================================================
.
Command synopses are a staple of section\~1 and\~8 man pages.
.
These macros aid you to construct one that has the classical Unix
appearance.
.
Furthermore,
some tools are able to interpret these macros semantically and treat
them appropriately for localization and/or presentation.
.
A command synopsis is wrapped in
.BR .SY / .YS
calls,
with command-line options of some formats indicated by
.BR .OP .
.
.
.PP
These macros are not defined on legacy Unix systems running classic
.IR troff .
.
To be certain your page will be portable to those systems, copy
their definitions from the
.I \%an\-ext.tmac
file of a
.I groff
installation.
.
.
.TP
.BI .SY " command"
Begin synopsis.
.
Hyphenation is turned off.
.
The
.I command
argument is set in bold.
.
The output line is filled as normal,
but if a break is required,
subsequent output lines are indented by the width of
.I command
plus a space.
.
.
.TP
.BI .OP " option-name"\/\c
.RI " [" option-argument ]
Indicate an optional command parameter called
.IR option-name ,
which is set in bold.
.
If the option takes an argument, specify
.I option-argument
using a noun, abbreviation, or hyphenated noun phrase.
.
If present,
.I option-argument
is preceded by a space and set in italics.
.
Square brackets (in roman) surround both arguments.
.
.
.TP
.B .YS
End synopsis.
.
Restore indentation and hyphenation to previous values.
.
.
.PP
Multiple
.B .SY/.YS
blocks can be specified,
for instance to distinguish differing modes of operation of a complex
command like
.IR tar (1);
each will be separated by a paragraph space.
.
.
.PP
.B .SY
can also be repeated multiple times before a closing
.BR .YS ,
which is useful to indicate synonymous ways of invoking a particular
mode of operation.
.
.
.\" BEGIN EXAMPLE (TODO: move to tutorial/style guide when we have it)
.PP
For example,
.
.
.IP
.\" from src/roff/groff/groff.1.man
.EX
\&.SY groff
\&.OP \e\-abcegiklpstzCEGNRSUVXZ
\&.OP \e\-d cs
\&.OP \e\-f fam
\&.OP \e\-F dir
\&.OP \e\-I dir
\&.OP \e\-K arg
\&.OP \e\-L arg
\&.OP \e\-m name
\&.OP \e\-M dir
\&.OP \e\-n num
\&.OP \e\-o list
\&.OP \e\-P arg
\&.OP \e\-r cn
\&.OP \e\-T dev
\&.OP \e\-w name
\&.OP \e\-W name
\&.RI [ file
\e&.\e|.\e|.\e&]
\&.YS
\&.
\&.SY groff
\&.B \e\-h
\&.SY groff
\&.B \e\-\e\-help
\&.YS
.
.
.IP

.EE
.
.
.PP
produces the following output.
.
.
.RS
.PP
.SY groff
.OP \-abcegiklpstzCEGNRSUVXZ
.OP \-d cs
.OP \-f fam
.OP \-F dir
.OP \-I dir
.OP \-K arg
.OP \-L arg
.OP \-m name
.OP \-M dir
.OP \-n num
.OP \-o list
.OP \-P arg
.OP \-r cn
.OP \-T dev
.OP \-w name
.OP \-W name
.RI [ file
\&.\|.\|.\&]
.YS
.
.SY groff
.B \-h
.SY groff
.B \-\-help
.YS
.RE
.
.
.PP
Several features of the above example are of note.
.\" END EXAMPLE (TODO: move to tutorial/style guide when we have it)
.\" TODO: Some of the normative discussion below can go there, too.
.
.
.IP \(bu
The empty request (.),
which does nothing,
is used for vertical spacing in the input file for readability by the
document maintainer.
.
Do not put empty lines in a
.I roff
source document.
.
.
.IP \(bu
The command and option names are presented in
.B bold
to cue the user that they should be input literally.
.
.
.IP \(bu
Option dashes are specified with the \(oq\e\-\(cq escape sequence;
this is an important practice to make them clearly visible and to
facilitate cut-and-paste from the rendered man page to a shell prompt or
text file.
.
.
.IP \(bu
Option arguments and command operands are presented in
.I italics
(underlined on some output devices, such as terminals and emulators),
to cue the user that they must be replaced with appropriate text.
.
.
.IP \(bu
Symbols that are neither to be typed literally nor simply replaced
appear in the roman style;
brackets surround optional arguments,
and an ellipsis indicates that the previous syntactical element may be
repeated arbitrarily.
.
.
.IP
Some man pages use a brace-and-pipe notation such as
.RB \(lq{ \-\-diff | \-\-compare }\(rq
to indicate that one and only one of the \(oq|\(cq-separated items
within the braces must be input.
.
If this braced construct is furthermore surrounded by square brackets,
it means that at most one of the items is accepted.
.
.
.IP
Authors of man pages should note the use of the zero-width space
escape sequence \(oq\e&\(cq on both sides of the ellipsis;
this is a good practice to avoid surprises in the event the ellipsis
gets refilled in your text editor.
.
See \(lqPortability\(rq, below.
.
The morbidly curious may consult
.IR groff (7)
regarding the narrow-space escape sequence \(oq\e|\(cq.
.
.
.\" ====================================================================
.SS "Hyperlink and email macros"
.\" ====================================================================
.
Email addresses are bracketed with
.BR .MT / .ME
and URL hyperlinks with
.BR .UR / .UE .
.
.
.PP
These macros are not defined on legacy Unix systems running classic
.IR troff .
.
To be certain your page will be portable to those systems, copy
their definitions from the
.I \%an\-ext.tmac
file of a
.I groff
installation.
.
.
.TP
.BI .MT " address"
.TQ
.BR .ME " ["\c
.IR punctuation ]
Identify
.I address
as an RFC 6068
.I addr-spec
for a \(lqmailto:\(rq URI with the text between the two macro
calls as the link text.
.
A
.I punctuation
argument to
.B .ME
is placed at the end of the link text without intervening space.
.
Note that
.I address
may not be visible in the output text,
particularly if the man page is being viewed as HTML.
.
On a device that is not a browser,
.I address
is set in angle brackets after the link text and before
.IR punctuation .
.
.
.\" BEGIN EXAMPLE (TODO: move to tutorial/style guide when we have it)
.IP
When rendered by
.I groff
to a TTY or PostScript output device,
.RS
.IP
.EX
Contact
\&.MT fred.foonly@\e:fubar.net
Fred Foonly
\&.ME
for more information.
.EE
.RE
.
.
.IP
displays as: \(lqContact Fred Foonly
\(lafred.foonly@\:fubar.net\(ra for more information.\(rq.
.
.
.IP
The use of \(oq\e:\(cq to insert hyphenless discretionary breaks is a
.I groff
extension and can be omitted.
.
.
.\" END EXAMPLE (TODO: move to tutorial/style guide when we have it)
.TP
.BI .UR " URL"
.TQ
.BR .UE " ["\c
.IR punctuation ]
Identify
.I URL
as an RFC 3986 URI hyperlink with the text between the two macro calls
as the link text.
.
A
.I punctuation
argument to
.B .UE
is placed at the end of the link text without intervening space.
.
Note that
.I URL
may not be visible in the output text,
particularly if the man page is being viewed as HTML.
.
On a device that is not a browser,
.I URL
is set in angle brackets after the link text and before
.IR punctuation .
.
.
.\" BEGIN EXAMPLE (TODO: move to tutorial/style guide when we have it)
.IP
When rendered by
.I groff
to a TTY or PostScript output device,
.RS
.IP
.EX
The GNU Project of the Free Software Foundation hosts the
\&.UR https://\e:www.gnu.org/\e:software/\e:groff/
Groff home page
\&.UE .
.EE
.RE
.
.
.IP
displays as: \(lqThe GNU Project of the Free Software Foundation hosts
the Groff home page
\(lahttps://\:www.gnu.org/\:software/\:groff/\(ra.\(rq.
.
.
.IP
The use of \(oq\e:\(cq to insert hyphenless discretionary breaks is a
.I groff
extension and can be omitted.
.
.
.\" END EXAMPLE (TODO: move to tutorial/style guide when we have it)
.\" ====================================================================
.SS "Font style macros"
.\" ====================================================================
.
The
.I man
macro package is limited in its font styling options,
offering only
.BR bold \~( .B ),
.I italic\c
.RB \~( .I ),
and roman (the default).
.
Italic text is usually set underscored instead on terminals and other
classical
.IR nroff -style
output devices.
.
The
.B .SM
and
.B .SB
macros set text in roman or bold, respectively, at a smaller point size;
these differ visually from regular-sized roman or bold text only on
.IR troff -style
output devices.
.
The foregoing macros cause word breaks before and after their arguments,
but it is often necessary to set text in different styles without
intervening whitespace.
.
The macros
.BR .BI ,
.BR .BR ,
.BR .IB ,
.BR .IR ,
.BR .RB ,
and
.BR .RI ,
where \(oqB\(cq, \(oqI\(cq, and \(oqR\(cq indicate bold, italic, and
roman, respectively,
set their odd- and even-numbered arguments in alternating styles,
with no whitespace separating them.
.
.
.PP
Because font styles are presentational rather than semantic,
conflicting traditions have arisen regarding which font styles should be
used to mark file or path names,
environment variables,
in-line literals,
and even man page cross-references.
.
.
.PP
The default font size and family (for
.I troff
output devices)
is 10-point Times.
.
The default style is roman.
.
.
.TP
.BR .B \~[\c
.IR text ]
Set
.I text
in bold.
.
If the macro is given no arguments,
the text of the next input line is set in bold.
.
.
.\" BEGIN USAGE (TODO: move to tutorial/style guide when we have it)
.IP
Use bold
for literal portions of syntax synopses,
for command-line options in running text,
and for literals that are major topics of the subject under discussion;
for example,
this page uses bold for macro and register names.
.
In
.BR .EX / .EE
examples of interactive I/O (such as a shell session),
set only the user-typed input in bold.
.
.
.
.\" END USAGE (TODO: move to tutorial/style guide when we have it)
.TP
.BR .I \~[\c
.IR text ]
Set
.I text
in italics.
.
If the macro is given no arguments,
the text of the next input line is set in italics.
.
.
.\" BEGIN USAGE (TODO: move to tutorial/style guide when we have it)
.IP
Use italics
for file and path names,
for environment variables,
for enumeration or preprocessor constants in C,
for variable (user-determined) portions of syntax synopses,
for the first occurrence only of a technical concept being introduced,
for names of works of software
(including commands and functions,
.\" The following is an interesting exception that seems to have arisen
.\" organically and nearly universally.
but excluding names of operating systems or their kernels),
and anywhere a parameter requiring replacement by the user is
encountered.
.
An exception involves variable text in a context that is already marked
up in italics,
such as file or path names with variable components;
in such cases,
follow the convention of mathematical typography:
set the file or path name in italics as usual
(see
.B .IR
below),
but use roman for the variable part,
and italics again in running roman text when referring to the variable
material.
.
.
.\" END USAGE (TODO: move to tutorial/style guide when we have it)
.TP
.BR .SM \~[\c
.IR text ]
Set
.I text
one point size smaller than the default size.
.
If the macro is given no arguments,
the text of the next input line is set smaller.
.
.
.IP
.IR Note :
.IR nroff -style
output devices,
such as terminals,
will render
.I text
at the normal font size instead.
.
Do not rely upon
.B .SM
to communicate semantic information distinct from using roman style at
the normal size;
it will be hidden from readers using such devices.
.
.
.TP
.BR .SB \~[\c
.IR text ]
Set
.I text
in bold,
one point size smaller than the default size.
.
If the macro is given no arguments,
the text of the next input line is set smaller and in bold.
.
.
.IP
.IR Note :
.IR nroff -style
output devices,
such as terminals,
will render
.I text
in bold at the normal font size instead.
.
Do not rely upon
.B .SB
to communicate semantic information distinct from using bold style at
the normal size;
it will be hidden from readers using such devices.
.
.
.\" BEGIN USAGE (TODO: move to tutorial/style guide when we have it)
.PP
Note what is
.I not
prescribed for setting in bold or italics above:
elements of \(lqsynopsis language\(rq such as ellipses and brackets
around options;
proper names and adjectives;
titles of anything other than works of literature or software;
identifiers for standards documents or technical reports such as
CSTR\~#54,
RFC\~1918,
Unicode\~11.0,
or
POSIX.1-2017;
acronyms;
and occurrences after the first of a technical term or piece of jargon.
.
Again,
the names of operating systems and their kernels are,
by practically universal convention,
set in roman.
.
.
.PP
Be frugal with the use of italics for emphasis,
and particularly with the use of bold.
.
Brief runs of literal text,
such as references to individual characters or short strings,
including section and subsection headings of man pages,
are suitable objects for quotation;
see the
\(oq\e(lq\(cq,
\(oq\e(rq\(cq,
\(oq\e(oq\(cq,
and
\(oq\e(cq\(cq
escapes in subsection \(lqPortability\(rq below.
.
.
.\" END USAGE (TODO: move to tutorial/style guide when we have it)
.PP
Unlike the above font style macros,
the font alternation macros below accept only arguments on the same
line as the macro call.
.
If whitespace is required within one of the arguments,
first consider whether the same result could be achieved with as much
clarity by using the single-style macros on separate input lines.
.
When it cannot,
double-quote an argument with one or more embedded space characters.
.
Setting all three different styles within one whitespace-delimited word
presents challenges;
it is possible with the \(oq\ec\(cq and/or \(oq\ef\(cq escapes,
but see subsection \(lqPortability\(rq below for caveats.
.
.
.TP
.BI .BI " bold-text italic-text"\c
\~\&.\|.\|.\&
Set each argument in bold and italics, alternately.
.
.
.\" BEGIN EXAMPLE (TODO: move to tutorial/style guide when we have it)
.RS
.IP
.\" from src/roff/troff/troff.1.man
.EX
\&.BI \e\-r name = n
.EE
.RE
.
.
.\" END EXAMPLE (TODO: move to tutorial/style guide when we have it)
.TP
.BI .BR " bold-text roman-text"\c
\~\&.\|.\|.\&
Set each argument in bold and roman, alternately.
.
.
.\" BEGIN EXAMPLE (TODO: move to tutorial/style guide when we have it)
.RS
.IP
.\" from tmac/groff_ms.7.man
.EX
Any such change becomes effective with the first use of
\&.BR .NH ,
\&.I after
the new alias is defined.
.EE
.RE
.
.
.\" END EXAMPLE (TODO: move to tutorial/style guide when we have it)
.TP
.BI .IB " italic-text bold-text"\c
\~\&.\|.\|.\&
Set each argument in italics and bold, alternately.
.
.
.\" BEGIN EXAMPLE (TODO: move to tutorial/style guide when we have it)
.RS
.IP
.\" from man/groff_tmac.5.man
.EX
All macro package files must be named
\&.IB name .tmac
to fully use the
\&.I tmac
mechanism.
.EE
.RE
.
.
.\" END EXAMPLE (TODO: move to tutorial/style guide when we have it)
.TP
.BI .IR " italic-text roman-text"\c
\~\&.\|.\|.\&
Set each argument in italics and roman, alternately.
.
.
.\" BEGIN EXAMPLE (TODO: move to tutorial/style guide when we have it)
.RS
.IP
.\" from man/groff_out.5.man
.EX
This is the first command of the
\&.IR prologue .
.EE
.RE
.
.
.\" END EXAMPLE (TODO: move to tutorial/style guide when we have it)
.TP
.BI .RB " roman-text bold-text"\c
\~\&.\|.\|.\&
Set each argument in roman and bold, alternately.
.
.
.\" BEGIN EXAMPLE (TODO: move to tutorial/style guide when we have it)
.RS
.IP
.\" from src/preproc/eqn/eqn.1.man
.EX
Also, the statement
\&.RB \e(oq "delim on" \e(cq
is not handled specially.
.RE
.EE
.
.
.\" END EXAMPLE (TODO: move to tutorial/style guide when we have it)
.TP
.BI .RI " roman-text italic-text"\c
\~\&.\|.\|.\&
Set each argument in roman and italics, alternately.
.
.
.\" BEGIN EXAMPLE (TODO: move to tutorial/style guide when we have it)
.RS
.IP
.\" from contrib/mm/groff_mm.7.man
.EX
\&.RI [ file
\e&.\e|.\e|.\e&]
.EE
.RE
.
.
.\" END EXAMPLE (TODO: move to tutorial/style guide when we have it)
.\" ====================================================================
.SS "Horizontal and vertical spacing"
.\" ====================================================================
.
The
.I indent
argument accepted by
.BR .RS ,
.BR .IP ,
.BR .TP ,
and the deprecated
.B .HP
is a number plus an optional scaling indicator.
.
If no scaling indicator is given,
the
.I man
package assumes \(oqn\(cq;
that is,
the width of a letter \(lqn\(rq in the font current when the macro is
called.
.
See section \(lqNumerical Expressions\(rq in
.IR groff (7)
for further details.
.
An indent specified in a call to
.BR .IP ,
.BR .TP ,
or the deprecated
.B .HP
persists until
(1) another of these macros is called with an explicit indent
argument,
or (2)
.BR .SH ,
.BR .SS ,
or
.B .PP
or its synonyms is called;
these clear the indent entirely.
.
.
.PP
Indents set by
.B .RS
move the left margin and persist until
.BR .RS ,
.BR .RE ,
.BR .SH ,
or
.B .SS
is called.
.
.
The default indentation,
exhibited by ordinary
.B .PP
paragraphs not within an
.BR .RS / .RE
relative indent,
is 7.2n in
.I troff
mode and 7n in
.I nroff
mode.
.
The HTML output device is an exception;
it ignores indentation completely.
.
This same indentation is used again (additively) for the defaults of
.BR .IP ,
.BR .TP ,
.BR .RS ,
and the deprecated
.BR .HP .
.
Section headings
.RB ( .SH )
are set flush with the left margin of the output device,
and subsection headings
.RB ( .SS )
are indented 3n.
.
.
.PP
Resist the temptation to mock up tabular or multi-column output with
ASCII tab characters or the indentation arguments to
.BR .IP ,
.BR .TP ,
.BR .RS ,
or the deprecated
.BR .HP ;
the result may not render comprehensibly on an output device you fail to
check,
or which is developed in the future.
.
The table preprocessor
.IR tbl (1)
can likely meet your needs.
.
.
.PP
The following macros cause a line break with the
insertion of vertical space:
.BR .SH ,
.BR .SS ,
.BR .TP ,
.BR .TQ ,
.B .PP
(and its synonyms),
.BR .IP ,
and the deprecated
.BR .HP .
.
The default inter-section and inter-paragraph spacing is 1\~line in
.I nroff
mode,
and 0.4v in
.I troff
mode.
.
(The deprecated macro
.B .PD
can change this vertical spacing,
but its use is discouraged.)
.
The macros
.BR .RS ,
.BR .RE ,
.BR .EX ,
and
.B .EE
also cause a break but no insertion of vertical space.
.
.
.\" ====================================================================
.SS "Number registers"
.\" ====================================================================
.
Number registers are described in section \(lqOptions\(rq below.
.
.
.\" ====================================================================
.SS "String registers"
.\" ====================================================================
.
The following strings are defined.
.
.
.TP
.B \e*R
expands to the character escape for the \(lqregistered sign\(rq glyph,
\(oq\e(rg\(cq,
if available,
and \(lq(Reg.)\(rq otherwise.
.
.
.
.TP
.B \e*S
expands to an escape setting the font size to the document default.
.
.
.TP
.B \e*(HF
expands to the font identifier used to print headings and subheadings.
.
The default is \(oqB\(cq.
.
.
.TP
.B \e*(lq
.TQ
.B \e*(rq
expand to the character escapes for left and right double-quotation
marks,
\(oq\e(lq\(cq and \(oq\e(rq\(cq, respectively.
.
.
.TP
.B \e*(Tm
expands to the character escape for the \(lqtrade mark sign\(rq glyph,
\(oq\e(tm\(cq,
if available,
and \(lq(TM)\(rq otherwise.
.
.
.\" ====================================================================
.SS "Interaction with preprocessors"
.\" ====================================================================
.
When a preprocessor like
.I tbl
or
.I eqn
is needed,
a hint can be given to the man page formatter by making the first line
of a man page look like this:
.
.
.PP
.RS
.BI "\(aq\e\(dq " word
.RE
.
.
.PP
Note that the line starts with an apostrophe (\(aq),
not a dot,
and that a single space character follows the double quote.
The
.I word
consists of one letter for each needed preprocessor:
\(oqe\(cq for
.IR eqn ,
\(oqr\(cq for
.IR refer ,
and
\(oqt\(cq for
.IR tbl .
.
Modern implementations of the
.I man
program interpret this first line and automatically call the right
preprocessor(s).
.
.
.PP
The usual
.I tbl
and
.I eqn
macros for table and equation inclusion,
.BR .TS ,
.BR .T& ,
.BR .TE ,
.BR .EQ ,
and
.BR .EN ,
may be used freely.
.
Note that
.I nroff
output devices are extremely limited in presentation of mathematical
equations.
.
.
.\" TODO BEGIN: move subsection to tutorial/style guide when we have it
.\" ====================================================================
.SS Portability
.\" ====================================================================
.
The two major syntactical categories of
.I roff
languages are requests and escapes.
.
Since the
.I man
macros are implemented in terms of
.I groff
requests and escapes,
one can,
in principle,
supplement the functionality of
.I man
with these lower-level elements where necessary.
.
.
.PP
Note,
however,
that using raw
.I groff
requests is likely to make your page render poorly on the class of
viewers that transform it to HTML.
.
Some requests make implicit assumptions about things like character
and page sizes that may not hold in an HTML environment;
also,
many of these viewers don't interpret the full
.I groff
vocabulary,
a problem that can lead to portions of your text being silently dropped.
.
.
.PP
For portability to modern viewers,
it is best to write your page entirely with the macros described in this
page
(except for the ones identified as deprecated,
which should be avoided).
.
The macros we have described as extensions
.RB ( .EX / .EE ,
.BR .SY / .OP / .YS ,
.BR .UR / .UE ,
and
.BR .MT / .ME )
should be used with caution, as they may not yet be built in to
some viewer that is important to your audience.
.
If in doubt, copy the implementation into your page\(emafter the
.B .TH
call and the \(lqName\(rq section,
to accommodate timid
.I mandb
implementations.
.
.
.PP
Similar caveats apply to escapes.
.
Some escape sequences are however required for correct typesetting
even in man pages and usually do not cause portability problems:
.
.
.TP
.B \e\(dq
Comment.
.
Everything after the double-quote to the end of the input line is
ignored.
.
Whole-line comments are frequently placed immediately after the empty
request \(oq.\(cq.
.
.
.TP
.BI \e newline
Join the next input line to the current one.
.
Except for the update of the input line counter (used for diagnostic
messages and related purposes),
a series of lines ending in backslash-newline is transparent to
.IR groff .
.
Use this escape to break excessively input long lines for document
maintenance.
.
.
.TP
.B \e\(ti
Adjustable, non-breaking space character.
.
Use this escape to prevent a break inside a short phrase or between a
numerical quantity and its corresponding unit(s).
.
.
.RS
.IP
.EX
Before starting the motor, set the output speed to\e\(ti1.
There are 1,024\e\(tibytes in 1\e\(tikiB.
CSTR\e\(ti#8 documents the B language.
.EE
.RE
.
.
.TP
.B \e&
Zero-width space.
.
Append to an input line to prevent an end-of-sentence punctuation
sequence from being recognized as such, or insert at the beginning of an
input line to prevent a dot or apostrophe from being interpreted as the
beginning of a
.I roff
request.
.
.
.TP
.B \e(aq
ASCII apostrophe.
.
Use for syntax elements of programming languages because some
output devices might replace unescaped apostrophes with right single
quotation marks.
.
.
.TP
.B \e(oq
Opening single quotation mark.
.
.TQ
.B \e(cq
Closing single quotation mark.
.
.
.IP
Use these for paired directional single quotes, \(oqlike this\(cq.
.
.
.TP
.B \e(dq
ASCII double-quote.
.
Sometimes needed after macro calls to prevent the interpretation of the
ASCII quotation mark character \(oq\(dq\(cq as the beginning or end
of a macro argument.
.
.
.TP
.B \e(lq
Left double quotation mark.
.
.TQ
.B \e(rq
Right double quotation mark.
.
.
.IP
Use these for paired directional double quotes, \(lqlike this\(rq.
.
.
.TP
.B \e(em
Em-dash.
.
Use for an interruption in a sentence\(emsuch as this one.
.
.
.TP
.B \e(en
En-dash.
.
Use to separate the two ends of a range,
in particular between numbers,
for example: the digits 1\(en9.
.
.
.TP
.B \e(ga
ASCII grave accent.
.
Use for syntax elements of programming languages,
for example shell command substitutions,
because some output devices might replace unescaped grave accents with
left single quotation marks.
.
.
.TP
.B \e(ha
ASCII circumflex accent.
.
Use for syntax elements of programming languages because some output
devices might replace unescaped circumflex accents with non-ASCII glyphs
like the Unicode U+02C6 modifier letter circumflex.
.
.
.TP
.B \e(ti
ASCII tilde.
.
Use for syntax elements of programming languages because some output
devices might replace unescaped tildes with non-ASCII glyphs like the
Unicode U+02DC small tilde.
.
.
.TP
.B \e\-
Minus sign.
.
Also use this to display syntax elements that require the ASCII
hyphen-minus character,
for example command-line options and C language operators.
.
The unescaped \(oq\-\(cq input character is not appropriate for
these cases because it may render as a hyphen on some output devices.
.
.
.TP
.B \ec
.
If this escape sequence occurs at the end of an input line, no white
space is inserted between the last glyph on it and the first glyph
resulting from the next input line.
.
This is occasionally useful when three different fonts are needed
in a single word.
.
.
.RS
.IP
.\" contrib/pdfmark/pdfroff.1.man
.EX
Normally, the final output file should be named
\&.IB file .pdf\ec
\e&.
.EE
.RE
.
.
.IP
Note that when using this trick with the
.B .BI
or
.B .RI
macros, you will need to manually add an italic correction escape
\(oq\e/\(cq before the \(oq\ec\(cq due to way macros expand their
arguments.
.
.
.RS
.IP
.\" from contrib/mom/groff_mom.7.man
.EX
Files processed with
\&.B groff \e\-mom
(or
\&.BI "\e\-m " mom\e/\ec
) produce PostScript output by default.
.EE
.RE
.
.
.IP
Alternatively,
and perhaps with better portability,
the \(oq\ef\(cq font escape sequence can be used;
see below.
.
Using \(oq\ec\(cq to include the output from more than one input line
into the next-line argument of a
.B .TP
macro will render incorrectly with
.I groff
1.22.3,
.I mandoc
1.14.1,
older versions of these programs,
and perhaps with some other formatters.
.
.
.TP
.B \ee
Widely used in man pages to represent a backslash output glyph.
.
It works reliably as long as the
.B .ec
request is not used,
which should never happen in man pages,
and it is slightly more portable than the more exact \(oq\e(rs\(cq
(\(lqreverse solidus\(rq) escape sequence.
.
.
.TP
.BR \efB ,\  \efI ,\  \efR ,\  \efP
Switch to bold, italic, roman, or back to the previous font,
respectively.
.
Either these or \(oq\ec\(cq is needed when three different fonts are
required in a single whitespace-delimited word.
.
.
.RS
.IP
.\" second example from contrib/pdfmark/pdfroff.1.man
.EX
\&.RB [ \e\-\e\-reference\e\-dictionary=\efI\e,name\e/\efP ]
.IP
\&.RB [ \e\-\e\-reference\e\-dictionary=\ec
\&.IR name ]
.EE
.RE
.
.
.IP
Font escapes may be more portable than \(oq\ec\(cq.
.
As shown above,
it is up to you to account for italic corrections with \(oq\e/\(cq and
\(oq\e,\(cq, which are themselves
.I groff
extensions,
if desired and if supported by your implementation.
.
.
.IP
Note that
\(oq\efP\(cq reliably returns to the style in use immediately preceding
the previous \(oq\ef\(cq escape only if no
sectioning,
paragraph,
or font face macro calls have intervened.
.
.
.IP
As long as only two fonts are needed in any single whitespace-delimited
word,
font alternation macros like
.B .BI
usually result in more readable source code than \(oq\ef\(cq escapes do.
.
.
.PP
For maximum portability, escape sequences and special characters
not listed above are better avoided in man pages.
.
.
.\" TODO END: move subsection to tutorial/style guide when we have it
.\" ====================================================================
.SS "Deprecated features"
.\" ====================================================================
.
Use of the following is discouraged.
.
.
.TP
.BR .AT " ["\c
.IR system " [" release ]]
Alter the footer for use with AT&T man pages,
overriding any definition of the
.I footer-outside
argument to
.BR .TH .
.
This macro exists only for compatibility; don't use it.
.
.
.IP
The first argument
.I system
can be:
.
.
.RS \" Invisibly move left margin to current .IP indent.
.RS \" Now indent further, visibly.
.TP
3
7th edition
.I (default)
.
.
.TP
4
System III
.
.
.TP
5
System V
.RE \" Move left margin back to .IP indentation.
.RE \" Move left margin back to standard position.
.
.
.IP
The optional second argument
.I release
specifies the release number,
such as in \(lqSystem V Release 3\(rq.
.
.
.TP
.B .BT
Set the page footer.
.
Redefine this macro to get control of the footer.
.
.
.TP
.B .DT
Set tabs every 0.5\~inches.
.
Since this macro is always called during a
.B .TH
macro, it makes sense to call it only if the tab positions have been
changed.
.
.
.IP
Use of this presentation-level macro is deprecated.
.
It translates poorly to HTML, under which exact whitespace control
and tabbing are not readily available.
.
Thus, information or distinctions that you use
.B .DT
to express are likely to be lost.
.
If you feel tempted to use it, you should probably be composing a
table using
.IR tbl (1)
markup instead.
.
.
.TP
.BR .HP " ["\c
.IR indent ]
Set up a paragraph with a hanging left indentation.
.
The
.I indent
argument,
if present,
is handled as with
.BR .TP .
.
.
.IP
Use of this presentation-level macro is deprecated.
.
While it is universally portable to legacy Unix systems, a hanging
indentation cannot be expressed naturally under HTML, and many
HTML-based manual viewers simply interpret it as a starter for a
normal paragraph.
.
Thus, any information or distinction you tried to express with the
indentation may be lost.
.
.
.TP
.BR .PD " ["\c
.IR vertical-space ]
Define the vertical space between paragraphs or (sub)sections.
.
The optional argument
.I vertical-space
specifies the amount of space;
the default scaling is \(oqv\(cq).
.
Without an argument,
the spacing is reset to its default value;
see \(lqHorizontal and vertical spacing\(rq above.
.
.
.IP
Use of this presentation-level macro is deprecated.
.
It translates poorly to HTML, under which exact control of
inter-paragraph spacing is not readily available.
.
Thus, information or distinctions that you use
.B .PD
to express are likely to be lost.
.
.
.TP
.B .PT
Set the page header.
.
Redefine this macro to get control of the header.
.
.
.TP
.BR .UC " ["\c
.IR version ]
Alter the footer for use with BSD man pages,
overriding any definition of the
.I footer-outside
argument to
.BR .TH .
.
This macro exists only for compatibility; don't use it.
.
.
.IP
The argument
.I version
can be:
.
.
.RS \" Invisibly move left margin to current .IP indent.
.RS \" Now indent further, visibly.
.TP
3
3rd Berkeley Distribution
.I (default)
.
.
.TP
4
4th Berkeley Distribution
.
.
.TP
5
4.2 Berkeley Distribution
.
.
.TP
6
4.3 Berkeley Distribution
.
.
.TP
7
4.4 Berkeley Distribution
.RE \" Move left margin back to .IP indentation.
.RE \" Move left margin back to standard position.
.
.
.\" ====================================================================
.SS "History"
.\" ====================================================================
.
According to its own
.IR man (7)
page,
Version 7 Unix (1979) supported all of the macros described in this page
not listed as GNU extensions,
except
.BR .P ,
.BR .SB ,
.BR .SS ,
and the deprecated
.BR .AT ,
.BR .BT ,
.BR .PT ,
and
.BR .UC .
.
The only string registers defined were
.B R
and
.BR S ;
no number registers were documented.
.
.
.\" ====================================================================
.SH OPTIONS
.\" ====================================================================
.
The following
.I groff
options set number registers recognized and used by the
.I man
macro package.
.
.
.TP
.B \-rcR=1
Continuous rendering.
.
Create a single,
very long page instead of multiple pages.
.
This is the default in
.I nroff
mode.
.
Use
.B \-rcR=0
to disable it.
.
.
.TP
.B \-rC1
Number pages continuously.
.
If more than one man page is given on the command line, number the
pages continuously, rather than starting each at\~1.
.
.
.TP
.B \-rD1
Enable double-sided printing.
.
Footers for even and odd pages are formatted differently;
see the description of
.B .TH
in \(lqDocument structure macros\(rq,
above.
.
.
.TP
.BI \-rFT= footer-distance
Set distance of the footer,
relative to the bottom of the page if negative or relative to the top if
positive,
to
.IR footer-distance .
.
The default is \-0.5i.
.
.
.TP
.BI \-rHY= flags
Set hyphenation flags.
.
Permissible values of
.I flags
are documented in section \(lqHyphenation\(rq of
.IR groff (7).
.
The default is\~4 if continuous rendering is enabled
.RB ( \-rcR=1
above),
and\~6 otherwise.
.
.
.TP
.BI \-rIN= indent
Set the body text indentation (for normal paragraphs) to
.IR indent .
.
See \(lqHorizontal and vertical spacing\(rq above for the default
indentation value.
.
For
.IR nroff ,
.I indent
should always be an integer multiple of unit \(oqn\(cq to get consistent
indentation.
.
.
.TP
.BI \-rLL= line-length
Set line length.
.
If this option is not given, the line length is set to respect any
value set by a prior \(lq.ll\(rq request (which
.I must
be in effect when the
.B .TH
macro is invoked),
if this differs from the built-in default for the formatter;
otherwise it defaults to 78n in
.I nroff
mode and 6.5i in
.I troff
mode.
.
.
.IP
Note that the use of a \(lq.ll\(rq request to initialize the line
length is supported for backward compatibility with some versions of
the
.I man
program;
direct initialization of the
.B LL
register should
.I always
be preferred to the use of such a request.
.
In particular, note that a \(lq.ll\~65n\(rq request does
.I not
preserve the normal
.I nroff
default line length
(the
.I man
default initialization to 78n prevails),
whereas the
.B \-rLL=65n
option,
or an equivalent \(lq.nr\~LL\~65n\(rq request preceding the use of the
.B .TH
macro,
.I does
set a line length of 65n.
.
.
.TP
.BI \-rLT= title-length
Set title length.
.
If this option is not given, the title length defaults to the line
length.
.
.
.TP
.BI \-rP n
Start enumeration of pages at
.I n
rather than\~1.
.
.
.TP
.BI \-rS point-size
Use
.I point-size
as the base document font size.
.
Acceptable values are 10, 11, or 12.
.
See subsection \(lqFont style macros\(rq above for the default.
.
.
.TP
.BI \-rSN= subsection-indent
Set subsection indentation to
.IR subsection-indent .
.
See \(lqHorizontal and vertical spacing\(rq above for the default
indentation value.
.
.
.TP
.BI \-rX p
After
.RI page " p" ,
number pages as
.IR p a,
.IR p b,
.IR p c,
and so forth.
.
For example, the option
.B \-rX2
produces the following page
numbers: 1, 2, 2a, 2b, 2c, and so on.
.
.
.\" ====================================================================
.SH FILES
.\" ====================================================================
.
.TP
.I /usr/\:share/\:groff/\:1.22.4/\:tmac/\:man.tmac
.TQ
.I /usr/\:share/\:groff/\:1.22.4/\:tmac/\:an.tmac
These are wrapper files to call
.IR andoc.tmac .
.
.
.TP
.I /usr/\:share/\:groff/\:1.22.4/\:tmac/\:andoc.tmac
This brief
.I groff
program detects whether the
.I man
or
.I mdoc
macro package is being used by a document and loads the correct macro
definitions,
taking advantage of the fact that pages using them must call
.B .TH
or
.BR .Dd ,
respectively,
as their first macro.
.
Because the wrappers above load this file,
a
.I man
program or user typing,
for example,
\(lqgroff \-man page.1\(rq,
need not know which package the file
.I page.1
uses.
.
Multiple man pages, in either format, can be handled.
.
.
.TP
.I /usr/\:share/\:groff/\:1.22.4/\:tmac/\:an\-old.tmac
Most
.I man
macros are contained in this file.
.
It also loads the GNU extensions from
.I an\-ext.tmac
(see below).
.
.
.TP
.I /usr/\:share/\:groff/\:1.22.4/\:tmac/\:an\-ext.tmac
The extension macro definitions for
.BR .SY ,
.BR .OP ,
.BR .YS ,
.BR .TQ ,
.BR .EX / .EE ,
.BR .UR / .UE ,
and
.BR .MT / .ME
are contained in this file,
which is written in classic
.I troff
and permissively licensed\(emnot copylefted.
.
Man page authors concerned about portability to legacy Unix systems are
encouraged to copy these definitions into their pages,
and maintainers of
.I troff
implementations or work-alike systems that format man pages are
encouraged to re-use them.
.
.
.IP
Note that the definitions for these macros are read after the call of
.BR .TH ,
so they will replace any macros of the same names preceding it in your
file.
.
If you use your own implementations of these macros,
they must be defined after calling
.B .TH
to have any effect.
.
.
.TP
.I /usr/\:share/\:groff/\:site\-tmac/\:man.local
Local changes and customizations should be put into this file.
.
.
.\" ====================================================================
.SH NOTES
.\" ====================================================================
.
Some tips on troubleshooting your man pages follow.
.
.
.TP
.RB \(bu " .RS" " doesn't indent relative to my indented paragraph"
The
.B .RS
macro sets the indentation relative to the amount of a
.I normal
paragraph
.RB ( .PP
and its synonyms).
.
The same default indentation amount is used for
.BR .RS ,
.BR .IP ,
.BR .TP ,
and the deprecated
.BR .HP .
.
If you need to start an indent relative to an indented paragraph,
call
.B .RS
repeatedly until an acceptable indentation is achieved,
or give
.B .RS
an indentation argument that is at least as much as the paragraph's
indentation amount relative to an adjacent
.B .PP
paragraph.
.
See \(lqHorizontal and vertical spacing\(rq above for the values.
.
.
.TP
.RB \(bu " .RE" " doesn't reset the indent to the expected level"
.TQ
\(bu warning: scale indicator invalid in this context
.TQ
\(bu warning: number register \(aqan\-saved\-margin\c
.IR n "\(aq not defined"
.TQ
\(bu warning: number register 'an\-saved\-prevailing\-indent\c
.IR n "\(aq not defined"
The
.B .RS
macro takes an indentation
.I amount
as an argument;
the
.B .RE
macro's argument is a specific indentation
.IR level .
.B .RE\~1
goes to the level before any
.B .RS
macros were called,
.B .RE\~2
goes to the level of the first
.B .RS
call you made,
and so forth.
.
If you desire symmetry in your macro calls,
simply issue one
.B .RE
without an argument
for each
.B .RS
that precedes it.
.
.
.IP
After calls to the
.B .SH
and
.B .SS
sectioning macros,
all relative indents are cleared and calls to
.B .RE
have no effect.
.
.
.\" ====================================================================
.SH AUTHORS
.\" ====================================================================
.
The GNU version of the
.I man
macro package was written by James Clark and contributors.
.
The extension macros were written by
.MT wl@\:gnu.org
Werner Lemberg
.ME
and
.MT esr@\:thyrsus.com
Eric S.\& Raymond
.ME .
.
.
.PP
This document was originally written for the Debian GNU/Linux system by
.MT sgk@\:debian.org
Susan G.\& Kleinmann
.ME .
.
It was corrected and updated by Werner Lemberg and G.\& Branden
Robinson.
.
The extension macros were documented by Eric S.\& Raymond;
he also originated the portability section,
to which Ingo Schwarze contributed most of the material on escape
sequences.
.
.
.\" ====================================================================
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.\" ====================================================================
.
.IR "Groff: The GNU Implementation of troff" ,
by Trent A.\& Fisher and Werner Lemberg,
is the main
.I groff
documentation.
.
You can browse it interactively with \(lqinfo groff\(rq.
.
.
.PP
.IR tbl (1),
.IR eqn (1),
and
.IR refer (1)
are preprocessors used with man pages.
.
.
.PP
.IR man (1)
describes the man page formatter on your system.
.
.
.PP
.IR groff_mdoc (7)
describes the
.I groff
version of the BSD-originated alternative macro package for man pages.
.
.
.PP
.IR groff (7),
.IR groff_char (7),
.IR man (7)
.
.
.\" Restore compatibility mode (for, e.g., Solaris 10/11).
.cp \n[groff_man_C]
.
.
.\" ====================================================================
.\" ### Emacs settings:
.\" Local Variables:
.\" mode: nroff
.\" fill-column: 72
.\" End:
.\" vim: set filetype=groff textwidth=72: