'\" t .\" groff_mdoc.man .\" .\" A complete reference of the mdoc macro package for GNU troff. .\" .\" Based on NetBSD's mdoc.samples.7, version 1.21. .\" .\" .\" Warning: You can't format this file with the old mdoc macros! .\" .\" .\" 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. [Deleted. See .\" ftp://ftp.cs.berkeley.edu/pub/4bsd/README.Impt.License.Change] .\" 4. 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 reference invokes every macro in the package several times and .\" is guaranteed to give worst-case performance for an already .\" extremely slow package. . . .\" Save and disable compatibility mode (for, e.g., Solaris 10/11). .do nr *groff_groff_mdoc_7_man_C \n[.cp] .cp 0 . . .Dd 4 October 2023 .Dt groff_mdoc 7 .Os groff 1.23.0 . . .Sh Name . .Nm groff_mdoc .Nd compose BSD-style manual (man) pages with GNU .Xr roff . . .Sh Synopsis . .Nm groff Fl m Ns Cm doc Ar file No ... . . .Sh Description . The GNU implementation of the .Xr mdoc macro package is part of the .Xr groff 1 document formatting system. . .Xr mdoc is a structurally- and semantically-oriented package for writing .Ux manual pages with .Xr \%troff 1 . . Its predecessor, the .Xr man 7 package, primarily addressed page layout and presentational concerns, leaving the selection of fonts and other typesetting details to the individual author. . This discretion has led to divergent styling practices among authors using it. . . .Pp .Xr mdoc organizes its macros into .Em domains . . The .Em "page structure domain" lays out the page and comprises titles, section headings, displays, and lists. . The .Em "general text domain" supplies macros to quote or style text, or to interpolate common noun phrases. . The .Em "manual domain" offers semantic macros corresponding to the terminology used by practitioners in discussion of .Ux commands, routines, and files. . Manual domain macros distinguish command-line arguments and options, function names, function parameters, pathnames, variables, cross references to other manual pages, and so on. . These terms are meaningful both to the author and the readers of a manual page. . It is hoped that the resulting increased consistency of the man page corpus will enable easier translation to future documentation tools. . . .Pp Throughout .Ux documentation, a manual entry is referred to simply as a .Dq "man page" , regardless of its length, without gendered implication, and irrespective of the macro package selected for its composition. . . .Sh "Getting started" . The .Xr mdoc package attempts to simplify man page authorship and maintenance without requiring mastery of the .Xr roff language. . This document presents only essential facts about .Xr roff. . For further background, including a discussion of basic typographical concepts like .Dq breaking , .Dq filling , and .Dq adjustment , see .Xr roff 7 . . Specialized units of measurement also arise, namely ens, vees, inches, and points, abbreviated .Dq n , .Dq v , .Dq i , and .Dq p , respectively; see section .Sx Measurements of .Xr groff 7 . . . .Pp For brief examples, we employ an arrow notation illustrating a transformation of input on the left to rendered output on the right. . Consider the .Pf . Ic \&Dq macro, which double-quotes its arguments. . .Bl -tag -width ".Dq\ man page" -offset indent -compact .It Li ".Dq man page" \[->] .Dq man page .El . . .Ss Usage . An .Xr mdoc .Em macro is .Em called by placing the .Xr roff control character, .Ql .\& (dot) at the beginning of a line followed by its name. .\" XXX; All mdoc macro names except Brq, Bro, Brc are 2 characters long .\" and thus portable to old troffs. Why the innovation here, when .\" `Cq`, `Co`, and `Cc` were available? Try to sell this reform to .\" Ingo Schwarze. . In this document, we often discuss a macro name with this leading dot to identify it clearly, but the dot is .Em not part of its name. . Space or tab characters can separate the dot from the macro name. . Arguments may follow, separated from the macro name and each other by spaces, but .Em not tabs. . The dot at the beginning of the line prepares the formatter to expect a macro name. . A dot followed immediately by a newline is ignored; this is called the .Em "empty request" . . To begin an input line with a dot (or a neutral apostrophe .Ql \[aq] ) in some context other than a macro call, precede it with the .Ql \e& escape sequence; this is a dummy character, not formatted for output. . The backslash is the .Xr roff escape character; it can appear anywhere and it always followed by at least one more character. . If followed by a newline, the backslash escapes the input line break; you can thus keep input lines to a reasonable length without affecting their interpretation. . . .Pp Macros in GNU .Xr troff accept an unlimited number of arguments, in contrast to other .Xr troff Ns No s that often can't handle more than nine. . In limited cases, arguments may be continued or extended on the next input line without resort to the .Ql \[rs] Ns Em newline escape sequence; see subsection .Sx "Extended arguments" below. . Neutral double quotes .Li \[dq] can be used to group multiple words into an argument; see subsection .Sx "Passing space characters in an argument" below. . . .Pp Most of .Xr mdoc Ns No 's general text and manual domain macros .Em parse their argument lists for .Em callable macro names. . This means that an argument in the list matching a general text or manual domain macro name (and defined to be callable) will be called with the remaining arguments when it is encountered. . In such cases, the argument, although the name of a macro, is not preceded by a dot. . Macro calls can thus be nested. . This approach to macro argument processing is a unique characteristic of the .Xr mdoc package, not a general feature of .Xr roff syntax. . . .Pp For example, the option macro, .Pf . Ic \&Op , may call the flag and argument macros, .Pf . Ic \&Fl and .Pf . Ic \&Ar , to specify an optional flag with an argument. . .\" Use width of second example below. .Bl -tag -width ".Op\ \e&Fl\ s\ \e&Ar bytes" -offset indent -compact .It Li ".Op Fl s Ar bytes" \[->] .Op Fl s Ar bytes .El . To prevent a word from being interpreted as a macro name, precede it with the dummy character. . .Bl -tag -width ".Op\ \e&Fl\ s\ \e&Ar bytes" -offset indent -compact .It Li ".Op \e&Fl s \e&Ar bytes" \[->] .Op \&Fl s \&Ar bytes .El . . .Pp In this document, macros whose argument lists are parsed for callable arguments are referred to as .Em parsed , and those that may be called from an argument list are referred to as .Em callable . . This usage is a technical .Em "faux pas" , since all .Xr mdoc macros are in fact interpreted (unless prevented with .Ql \e& ) , but as it is cumbersome to constantly refer to macros as .Dq "being able to call other macros" , we employ the term .Dq parsed instead. . Except where explicitly stated, all .Xr mdoc macros are parsed and callable. . . .Pp In the following, we term an .Xr mdoc macro that starts a line (with a leading dot) a .Em command if a distinction from those appearing as arguments of other macros is necessary. . . .Ss "Passing space characters in an argument" . Sometimes it is desirable to give a macro an argument containing one or more space characters, for instance to specify a particular arrangement of arguments demanded by the macro. . Additionally, quoting multi-word arguments that are to be treated the same makes .Xr mdoc work faster; macros that parse arguments do so once (at most) for each. . For example, the function command .Pf . Ic \&Fn expects its first argument to be the name of a function and any remaining arguments to be function parameters. . Because C language standards mandate the inclusion of types .Em and identifiers in the parameter lists of function definitions, each .Ql \&Fn parameter after the first will be at least two words in length, as in .Dq Ar "int foo" . . . .Pp There are a few ways to embed a space in a macro argument. . One is to use the unadjustable space escape sequence .Li \[rs] Ns Em space . . The formatter treats this escape sequence as if it were any other printable character, and will not break a line there as it would a word space when the output line is full. . This method is useful for macro arguments that are not expected to straddle an output line boundary, but has a drawback: this space does not adjust as others do when the output line is formatted. . An alternative is to use the unbreakable space escape sequence, .Ql \[rs]\[ti] , which cannot break but does adjust. . This .Xr groff extension is widely but not perfectly portable. . Another method is to enclose the string in double quotes. . .Bl -tag -width ".Fn\ fetch\ \[dq]char\ *str\[dq]" -offset indent \ -compact .It Li ".Fn fetch char\e *str" \[->] .Fn fetch char\ *str .It Li ".Fn fetch char\e\[ti]*str" \[->] .Fn fetch char\~*str .It Li ".Fn fetch \[dq]char *str\[dq]" \[->] .Fn fetch "char *str" .El . If the .Ql \[rs] before the space in the first example or the double quotes in the third example were omitted, .Ql .Fn would see three arguments, and the result would contain an undesired comma. . .\" Use same width as before so it's easier to see the discrepancy. .Bl -tag -width ".Fn\ fetch\ \[dq]char\ *str\[dq]" -offset indent \ -compact .It Li ".Fn fetch char *str" \[->] .Fn fetch char *str .El . . .\".Pp .\" For an example of what happens when the parameter list overlaps a .\" newline boundary, .\" see the .\" .Sx Bugs .\" section. . . .Ss "Trailing space characters" . .\" XXX: This claim of confusion is nonsense. The formatter ignores .\" them. If mdoc doesn't, that's a bug or design flaw. It's still .\" good style not to have them. Whitespace churn makes diff(1) and .\" revision control users unhappy. .\" .\".Xr \%troff .\"can be confused by space characters at the end of a line. . It is wise to remove trailing spaces from the ends of input lines. . Should the need arise to put a formattable space at the end of a line, do so with the unadjustable or unbreakable space escape sequences. . . .Ss "Formatting the backslash glyph" . When you need the .Xr roff escape character .Ql \[rs] to appear in the output, use .Ql \[rs]e or .Ql \[rs](rs instead. . Technically, .Ql \[rs]e formats the current escape character; it works reliably as long as no .Xr roff request is used to change it, which should never happen in man pages. . .Ql \[rs](rs is a .Xr groff special character escape sequence that explicitly formats the .Dq "reverse solidus" (backslash) glyph. . . .Ss "Other possible pitfalls" . .Xr "groff mdoc" warns when an empty input line is found outside of a .Em display , a topic presented in subsection .Sx "Examples and displays" below. . Use empty requests to space the source document for maintenance. . . .Pp Leading spaces cause a break and are formatted. . Avoid this behaviour if possible. . Similarly, do not put more than one space between words in an ordinary text line; they are not .Dq normalized to a single space as other text formatters might do. . . .Pp Don't try to use the neutral double quote character .Ql \[dq] to represent itself in an argument. . Use the special character escape sequence .Ql \[rs](dq to format it. .\" That's NOT a groffism, but showed up in the "post" and "Latin1" .\" devices of Tenth Edition Research Unix. . Further, this glyph should not be used for conventional quotation; .Xr mdoc offers several quotation macros. . See subsection .Sx "Enclosure and quoting macros" below. . . .Pp The formatter attempts to detect the ends of sentences and by default puts the equivalent of two spaces between sentences on the same output line; see .Xr roff 7 . . To defeat this detection in a parsed list of macro arguments, put .Ql \e& before the punctuation mark. . Thus, . .Bd -literal -offset indent -compact The \&.Ql . character. \&.Pp The \&.Ql \e&. character. \&.Pp \&.No test . test \&.Pp \&.No test. test .Ed . gives . .Bd -filled -offset indent -compact The .Ql . character . . .Pp The .Ql \&. character. . . .Pp .No test . test . . .Pp .No test. test .Ed . as output. . As can be seen in the first and third output lines, .Xr mdoc handles punctuation characters specially in macro arguments. . This will be explained in section .Sx "General syntax" below. . . .Pp A comment in the source file of a man page can begin with .Sq Li .\e" at the start of an input line, .Sq Li \e" after other input, or .Sq Li \e# anywhere (the last is a .Xr groff extension); the remainder of any such line is ignored. . . .Sh "A man page template" . Use .Xr mdoc to construct a man page from the following template. . .Bd -literal -offset indent \&.\e" The following three macro calls are required. \&.Dd date \&.Dt topic [section-identifier [section-keyword-or-title]] \&.Os [package-or-operating system [version-or-release]] \&.Sh Name \&.Nm topic \&.Nd summary-description \&.\e" The next heading is used in sections 2 and 3. \&.\e" .Sh Library \&.\e" The next heading is used in sections 1-4, 6, 8, and 9. \&.Sh Synopsis \&.Sh Description \&.\e" Uncomment and populate the following sections as needed. \&.\e" .Sh \[dq]Implementation notes\[dq] \&.\e" The next heading is used in sections 2, 3, and 9. \&.\e" .Sh \[dq]Return values\[dq] \&.\e" The next heading is used in sections 1, 3, 6, and 8. \&.\e" .Sh Environment \&.\e" .Sh Files \&.\e" The next heading is used in sections 1, 6, and 8. \&.\e" .Sh \[dq]Exit status\[dq] \&.\e" .Sh Examples \&.\e" The next heading is used in sections 1, 4, 6, 8, and 9. \&.\e" .Sh Diagnostics \&.\e" .Sh Compatibility \&.\e" The next heading is used in sections 2, 3, 4, and 9. \&.\e" .Sh Errors \&.\e" .Sh \[dq]See also\[dq] \&.\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 commands .Pf . Ic \&Dd , .Pf . Ic \&Dt , and .Pf . Ic \&Os . . They identify the page and are discussed below in section .Sx "Title macros" . . . .Pp The remaining items in the template are section headings .Pf ( Pf . Ic \&Sh ) ; of which .Sx Name and .Sx Description are mandatory. . These headings are discussed in section .Sx "Page structure domain" , which follows section .Sx "Manual domain" . . Familiarize yourself with manual domain macros first; we use them to illustrate the use of page structure domain macros. . . .Sh Conventions . In the descriptions of macros below, square brackets surround optional arguments. . An ellipsis .Pf ( Sq ... ) represents repetition of the preceding argument zero or more times. . Alternative values of a parameter are separated with .Ql | . . If a mandatory parameter can take one of several alternative values, use braces to enclose the set, with spaces and .Ql | separating the items. . .\" XXX: Angle brackets should only be necessary when space doesn't .\" separate parameters. .\" . .\" Metasyntactic variables are specified within angle brackets. .\"Bl -tag -width 6n -offset indent -compact .Bl -tag -offset indent -compact .It Nm ztar Xo .Brq Cm c | Cm x .Op Fl w Op Fl y | Fl z .Op Fl f Ar archive .Ar member No ... .Xc .El . An alternative to using braces is to separately synopsize distinct operation modes, particularly if the list of valid optional arguments is dependent on the user's choice of a mandatory parameter. . .Bl -tag -offset indent -compact .It Nm ztar Xo .Cm c .Op Fl w Op Fl y | Fl z .Op Fl f Ar archive .Ar member No ... .Xc .It Nm ztar Xo .Cm x .Op Fl w Op Fl y | Fl z .Op Fl f Ar archive .Ar member No ... .Xc .El . . .Pp Most macros affect subsequent arguments until another macro or a newline is encountered. . For example, .Sq Li ".Li ls Bq Ar file" doesn't produce .Sq Li "ls [file]" , but .Sq Li ls Bq Ar file . . Consequently, a warning message is emitted for many commands if the first argument is itself a macro, since it cancels the effect of the preceding one. .\" XXX: I don't think it is made clear which macros eat only one .\" argument and which ones devour tokens until another macro is .\" encountered. -- GBR . On rare occasions, you might want to format a word along with surrounding brackets as a literal. . .\" XXX: Why do we need the extra "\ " for the width parameter? Without .\" it, the line breaks before the arrow on a 78n terminal. But there .\" should be room anyway...bug? .\" .\" XXX: Arguably, Bq should respect the altered font family in a `Bl`, .\" but it sets the brackets and argument in Times roman. Maybe all the .\" enclosures work this way. .Bl -tag -width "Li\ \[dq]ls\ [file]\[dq]\ " -offset indent -compact .It Li ".Li \[dq]ls [file]\[dq]" \[->] .Li "ls [file]" .Em "# list any files named e, f, i, or l" .El . . .Pp Many macros possess an implicit width, used when they are contained in lists and displays. . If you avoid relying on these default measurements, you escape potential conflicts with site-local modifications of the .Xr mdoc package. . Explicit .Fl width and .Fl offset arguments to the .Pf . Ic \&Bl and .Pf . Ic \&Bd macros are preferable. . . .Sh "Title macros" . We present the .Sy mandatory title macros first due to their importance even though they formally belong to the page structure domain macros. .\" XXX: This was formerly "...for someone who wishes to start writing a .\" man page yesterday." .\" .\" Cute joke, but we're 800+ lines into this page source and four pages .\" into the document when formatted for U.S. letter paper. We lost .\" that kind of reader last _week_. . They designate the topic, date of last revision, and the operating system or software project associated with the page. . Call each once at the beginning of the document. . They populate the page headers and footers, which are in .Xr roff parlance termed .Dq titles . . . .Bl -tag -width 6n .It Li .Dd Xo .Ar date .Xc This first macro of any .Xr mdoc manual records the last modification date of the document source. . Arguments are concatenated and separated with space characters. . . .Pp Historically, .Ar date was written in U.S.\& traditional format, .Do .\" XXX: Em -> Ar when we de-Courierize .Ar. .Em Month day Li , Em year .Dc where .Em Month is the full month name in English, .Em day an integer without a leading zero, and .Em year the four-digit year. . This localism is not enforced, however. . You may prefer ISO 8601 format, .Em YYYY-MM-DD. . A .Ar date of the form .Sq Li $Mdocdate: Ar Month day year Li $ is also recognized. . It is used in .Ox manuals to automatically insert the current date when committing. . . .Pp This macro is neither callable nor parsed. . . .br .ne 5v .It Li .Dt Ar topic Op Ar section-identifier \ Op Ar section-keyword-or-title . .Ar topic is the subject of the man page. . A .Ar section-identifier that begins with an integer in the range 1\[en]9 or is one of the words .Ql unass , .Ql draft , or .Ql paper selects a predefined section title. . This use of .Dq section has nothing to do with the section headings otherwise discussed in this page; it arises from the organizational scheme of printed and bound Unix manuals. . . .br .ne 3v .Pp In this implementation, the following titles are defined for integral section numbers. . . .Bd -unfilled -offset indent .TS Lf(CR) L. 1 \*[doc-volume-ds-1] 2 \*[doc-volume-ds-2] 3 \*[doc-volume-ds-3] 4 \*[doc-volume-ds-4] 5 \*[doc-volume-ds-5] 6 \*[doc-volume-ds-6] 7 \*[doc-volume-ds-7] 8 \*[doc-volume-ds-8] 9 \*[doc-volume-ds-9] .TE .Ed . . .Pp A section title may be arbitrary or one of the following abbreviations. . . .Bd -unfilled -offset indent .TS Lf(CR) L. USD \*[doc-volume-ds-USD] PS1 \*[doc-volume-ds-PS1] AMD \*[doc-volume-ds-AMD] SMM \*[doc-volume-ds-SMM] URM \*[doc-volume-ds-URM] PRM \*[doc-volume-ds-PRM] KM \*[doc-volume-ds-KM] IND \*[doc-volume-ds-IND] LOCAL \*[doc-volume-ds-LOCAL] CON \*[doc-volume-ds-CON] .TE .Ed . . .Pp For compatibility, .Ql MMI can be used for .Ql IND , and .Ql LOC for .Ql LOCAL . . Values from the previous table will specify a new section title. . If .Ar section-keyword-or-title designates a computer architecture recognized by .Xr "groff mdoc" , its value is prepended to the default section title as specified by the second parameter. .\" mandoc(1) appears to put the architecture string after (or in place .\" of) the section title, in parentheses. . By default, the following architecture keywords are defined. . \# we use 'No' to avoid hyphenation .\" Resort to ps/vs violence if necessary because this macro package is .\" obsessed with dumping gigantic piles of identifiers on users, and I .\" need the space to keep this macro description to a single page in .\" PS/PDF(!). Lists of information like this simply beg to bit-rot. .\" -- GBR .br .ps -2 .vs -2 .Bd -ragged -offset 4n .No acorn26 , acorn32 , algor , alpha , amd64 , amiga , amigappc , .No arc , arm , arm26 , arm32 , armish , atari , aviion , .No beagle , bebox , cats , cesfic , cobalt , dreamcast , .No emips , evbarm , evbmips , evbppc , evbsh3 , ews4800mips , .No hp300 , hp700 , hpcarm , hpcmips , hpcsh , hppa , hppa64 , .No i386 , ia64 , ibmnws , iyonix , landisk , loongson , luna68k , .No luna88k , m68k , mac68k , macppc , mips , mips64 , mipsco , mmeye , .No mvme68k , mvme88k , mvmeppc , netwinder , news68k , newsmips , .No next68k , ofppc , palm , pc532 , playstation2 , pmax , pmppc , .No powerpc , prep , rs6000 , sandpoint , sbmips , sgi , sgimips , sh3 , .No shark , socppc , solbourne , sparc , sparc64 , sun2 , sun3 , .No tahoe , vax , x68k , x86_64 , xen , zaurus .Ed .vs .ps . . .Pp If a section title is not determined after the above matches have been attempted, .Ar section-keyword-or-title is used. . . .br .ne 10v \" Keep explanatory paragraph with the following table. .Pp The effects of varying .Ql .Dt arguments on the page header content are shown below. . Observe how .Ql \[rs]& prevents the numeral\~2 from being used to look up a predefined section title. . . .Pp .\" On terminals, 2n is as far as we can offset without overrunning a .\" 78n width. .Bd -unfilled -offset 2n .TS tab(@); Lf(CR)1 L2 L C R. \&.Dt foo 2@\[->]@foo(2)@System Calls Manual@foo(2) \&.Dt foo 2 m68k@\[->]@foo(2)@m68k System Calls Manual@foo(2) \&.Dt foo 2 baz@\[->]@foo(2)@System Calls Manual@foo(2) \&.Dt foo \[rs]&2 baz@\[->]@foo(2)@baz@foo(2) \&.Dt foo \[dq]\[dq] baz@\[->]@foo@baz@foo \&.Dt foo M Z80@\[->]@foo(M)@Z80@foo(M) .TE .Ed . . .Pp .Xr roff strings define section titles and architecture identifiers. . Site-specific additions might be found in the file .Pa mdoc.local ; see section .Sx Files below. . . .Pp This macro is neither callable nor parsed. . . .It Li .Os Op Ar operating-system-or-package-name \ Op Ar version-or-release . This macro associates the document with a software distribution. . When composing a man page to be included in the base installation of an operating system, do not provide an argument; .Xr mdoc will supply it. . In this implementation, that default is .Dq "\*[doc-default-operating-system]" . . It may be overridden in the site configuration file, .Pa mdoc.local ; see section .Sx Files below. . A portable software package maintaining its own man pages can supply its name and version number or release identifier as optional arguments. . A .Em version-or-release argument should use the standard nomenclature for the software specified. . In the following table, recognized .Em version-or-release arguments for some predefined operating systems are listed. . As with .Pf . Ic \&Dt , site additions might be defined in .Pa mdoc.local . . .Bd -ragged -compact .Bl -tag -width ".No DragonFly" -offset indent .It ATT 7th, 7, III, 3, V, V.2, V.3, V.4 .It BSD 3, 4, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.3t, 4.3T, 4.3r, 4.3R, 4.4 .It NetBSD 0.8, 0.8a, 0.9, 0.9a, 1.0, 1.0a, 1.1, 1.2, 1.2a, 1.2b, 1.2c, 1.2d, 1.2e, 1.3, 1.3a, 1.4, 1.4.1, 1.4.2, 1.4.3, 1.5, 1.5.1, 1.5.2, 1.5.3, 1.6, 1.6.1, 1.6.2, 1.6.3, 2.0, 2.0.1, 2.0.2, 2.0.3, 2.1, 3.0, 3.0.1, 3.0.2, 3.0.3, 3.1, 3.1.1, 4.0, 4.0.1, 5.0, 5.0.1, 5.0.2, 5.1, 5.1.2, 5.1.3, 5.1.4, 5.2, 5.2.1, 5.2.2, 6.0, 6.0.1, 6.0.2, 6.0.3, 6.0.4, 6.0.5, 6.0.6, 6.1, 6.1.1, 6.1.2, 6.1.3, 6.1.4, 6.1.5, 7.0, 7.0.1, 7.0.2, 7.1, 7.1.1, 7.1.2, 7.2, 8.0, 8.1 .It FreeBSD 1.0, 1.1, 1.1.5, 1.1.5.1, 2.0, 2.0.5, 2.1, 2.1.5, 2.1.6, 2.1.7, 2.2, 2.2.1, 2.2.2, 2.2.5, 2.2.6, 2.2.7, 2.2.8, 2.2.9, 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 4.0, 4.1, 4.1.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.8, 4.9, 4.10, 4.11, 5.0, 5.1, 5.2, 5.2.1, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 6.0, 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 6.4, 7.0, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 9.0, 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 10.0, 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4, 11.0, 11.1, 11.2, 11.3, 12.0, 12.1 .It OpenBSD 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 2.7, 2.8, 2.9, 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7, 3.8, 3.9, 4.0, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 4.7, 4.8, 4.9, 5.0, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 5.6, 5.7, 5.8, 5.9, 6.0, 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 6.4, 6.5, 6.6 .It DragonFly 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, 1.8, 1.8.1, 1.9, 1.10, 1.11, 1.12, 1.12.2, 1.13, 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 2.7, 2.8, 2.9, 2.9.1, 2.10, 2.10.1, 2.11, 2.12, 2.13, 3.0, 3.0.1, 3.0.2, 3.1, 3.2, 3.2.1, 3.2.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.4.1, 3.4.2, 3.4.3, 3.5, 3.6, 3.6.1, 3.6.2, 3.7, 3.8, 3.8.1, 3.8.2, 4.0, 4.0.1, 4.0.2, 4.0.3, 4.0.4, 4.0.5, 4.0.6, 4.1, 4.2, 4.2.1, 4.2.2, 4.2.3, 4.2.4, 4.3, 4.4, 4.4.1, 4.4.2, 4.4.3, 4.5, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.8, 4.8.1, 4.9, 5.0, 5.0.1, 5.0.2, 5.1, 5.2, 5.2.1, 5.2.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.4.1, 5.4.2, 5.4.3, 5.5, 5.6, 5.6.1, 5.6.2 .It Darwin 8.0.0, 8.1.0, 8.2.0, 8.3.0, 8.4.0, 8.5.0, 8.6.0, 8.7.0, 8.8.0, 8.9.0, 8.10.0, 8.11.0, 9.0.0, 9.1.0, 9.2.0, 9.3.0, 9.4.0, 9.5.0, 9.6.0, 9.7.0, 9.8.0, 10.0.0, 10.1.0, 10.2.0, 10.3.0, 10.4.0, 10.5.0, 10.6.0, 10.7.0, 10.8.0, 11.0.0, 11.1.0, 11.2.0, 11.3.0, 11.4.0, 11.5.0, 12.0.0, 12.1.0, 12.2.0, 13.0.0, 13.1.0, 13.2.0, 13.3.0, 13.4.0, 14.0.0, 14.1.0, 14.2.0, 14.3.0, 14.4.0, 14.5.0, 15.0.0, 15.1.0, 15.2.0, 15.3.0, 15.4.0, 15.5.0, 15.6.0, 16.0.0, 16.1.0, 16.2.0, 16.3.0, 16.4.0, 16.5.0, 16.6.0, 17.0.0, 17.1.0, 17.2.0, 17.3.0, 17.4.0, 17.5.0, 17.6.0, 17.7.0, 18.0.0, 18.1.0, 18.2.0, 18.3.0, 18.4.0, 18.5.0, 18.6.0, 18.7.0, 19.0.0, 19.1.0, 19.2.0 .El .Ed . . .Pp Historically, the first argument used with .Pf . Ic \&Dt was .Li BSD or .Li ATT . . An unrecognized version argument after .Li ATT is replaced with .Dq Ux ; for other predefined abbreviations, it is ignored and a warning diagnostic emitted. . Otherwise, unrecognized arguments are displayed verbatim in the page footer. . For instance, this page uses .Dq Li .Os groff 1.23.0 whereas a locally produced page might employ .Dq Li .Os \[dq]UXYZ CS Department\[dq] , omitting versioning. . . .Pp This macro is neither callable nor parsed. .El . . .br .ne 4v .Sh "Introduction to manual and general text domains" . . .Ss "What's in a Name" Ns ... \" XXX: Ns not scrubbed for PDF bookmark . 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 .Xr mdoc macro command usage. Second is the description of a .Ux command .Em with .Xr 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 macros are themselves a type of command; the general syntax for a .Xr troff command is: . .Bd -filled -offset indent .Li ".Xx argument1 argument2" ... .Ed . . .Pp . .Ql .Xx is a macro command, and anything following it are arguments to be processed. In the second case, the description of a .Ux command using the manual domain 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 .Ao Ar infile Ac Ao Ar outfile Ac .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 .Xr mdoc terms, .Ao Ar infile Ac and .Ao Ar outfile Ac are called .Em meta arguments ; in this example, the user has to replace the meta expressions given in angle brackets with real file names. Note that in this document meta arguments are used to describe .Xr mdoc commands; in most man pages, meta variables are not specifically written with angle brackets. . The macros that formatted the above example: . .Bd -literal -offset indent \&.Nm filter \&.Op Fl flag \&.Ao Ar infile Ac Ao Ar outfile Ac .Ed . . .Pp In the third case, discussion of commands and command syntax includes both examples above, but may add more detail. . The arguments .Ao Ar infile Ac and .Ao Ar outfile Ac from the example above might be referred to as .Em operands or .Em file arguments . . Some command-line argument lists are quite long: . .Bd -ragged .Bl -tag -width ".Nm make" -offset indent -compact .It Nm make .Op Fl eiknqrstv .Op Fl D Ar variable .Op Fl d Ar flags .Op Fl f Ar makefile .Op Fl I Ar directory .Op Fl j Ar max_jobs .Op Ar variable Ns = Ns Ar value .Bk .Op Ar target No ... .Ek .El .Ed . . .Pp Here one might talk about the command .Xr 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 .Xr 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 \&.Op Fl I Ar directory \&.Op Fl j Ar max_jobs \&.Op Ar variable Ns = Ns Ar value \&.Bk \&.Op Ar target ... \&.Ek .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; most notably, .Ql .Ar , .Ql .Fl , .Ql .Nm , and .Ql .Pa differ only when called without arguments; and .Ql .Fn and .Ql .Xr impose an order on their argument lists. . All manual domain macros are capable of recognizing and properly handling punctuation, provided each punctuation character is separated by a leading space. . If a command is given: . . .Pp .Dl \&.Ar sptr, ptr), . . .Pp The result is: . . .Pp .Dl Ar sptr, ptr), . . .Pp The punctuation is not recognized and all is output in the font used by .Ql .Ar . If the punctuation is separated by a leading white space: . . .Pp .Dl \&.Ar "sptr , ptr ) ," . . .Pp The result is: . . .Pp .Dl Ar sptr , ptr ) , . . .Pp The punctuation is now recognized and output in the default font distinguishing it from the argument strings. . To remove the special meaning from a punctuation character, escape it with .Ql \e& . . . .Pp The following punctuation characters are recognized by .Xr mdoc : . .Bl -column -offset indent-two XXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXX .It Li .\& Ta Li ,\& Ta Li :\& Ta Li ;\& Ta Li (\& .It Li )\& Ta Li [\& Ta Li ]\& Ta Li ?\& Ta Li !\& .El . . .Pp . .Xr troff is limited as a macro language, and has difficulty when presented with a string containing certain mathematical, logical, or quotation character sequences: . .Bd -literal -offset indent-two {+,\-,/,*,%,<,>,<=,>=,=,==,&,\[ga],\[aq],"} .Ed . . .Pp The problem is that .Xr troff 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 manual domain macro displayed below, .Ql .Ad . . . .Sh "Manual domain" . . .Ss Addresses . The address macro identifies an address construct. . . .Pp .Dl Usage: .Ad Ao address Ac ... . . .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li .Ad\ f1\ ,\ f2\ ,\ f3\ :" -compact -offset 15n .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 The default width is 12n. . .Ss "Author Name" . The .Ql .An macro is used to specify the name of the author of the item being documented, or the name of the author of the actual manual page. . . .Pp .Dl Usage: .An Ao author name Ac ... . . .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li .An\ \[dq]Joe\ Author\[dq]\ )\ )\ ," -offset 15n .It Li ".An \[dq]Joe Author\[dq]" .An "Joe Author" .It Li ".An \[dq]Joe Author\[dq] ," .An "Joe Author" , .It Li ".An \[dq]Joe Author\[dq] Aq nobody@FreeBSD.org" .An "Joe Author" Aq nobody@FreeBSD.org .It Li ".An \[dq]Joe Author\[dq] ) ) ," .An "Joe Author" ) ) , .El . . .Pp The default width is 12n. . . .Pp In a section titled .Dq Authors , .Ql \&An causes a break, allowing each new name to appear on its own line. . If this is not desirable, . .Bd -literal -offset indent \&.An \-nosplit .Ed . . .Pp . call will turn this off. To turn splitting back on, write . .Bd -literal -offset indent \&.An \-split .Ed . . .Ss Arguments . The .Li .Ar argument macro may be used whenever an argument is referenced. . If called without arguments, .Sq Ar is output. . This places the ellipsis in italics, which is ugly and incorrect, and will be noticed on terminals that underline text instead of using an oblique typeface. . We recommend using .Ql ".Ar file \&No ..." instead. . . .Pp .Dl Usage: .Ar Oo Ao argument Ac Oc No ... . . .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li .Ar\ file1\ file2" -compact -offset 15n .It Li .Ar .Ar .It Li .Ar file \&No ... .Ar file No ... .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 . The default width is 12n. . . .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. . . .Pp .Dl Usage: .Cd Ao argument Ac ... . . .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li .Cd\ Xdevice\ le0\ at\ scode?X" -offset 15n .It Li ".Cd \[dq]device le0 at scode?\[dq]" .Cd "device le0 at scode?" .El . . .Pp In a section titled .Dq Synopsis , .Ql \&Cd causes a break before and after its arguments. . . .Pp The default width is 12n. . . .Ss "Command Modifiers" . 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, however, some commands or subsets of commands do not use them. Command modifiers may also be specified in conjunction with interactive commands such as editor commands. See .Sx Flags . . . .Pp The default width is 10n. . . .Ss "Defined Variables" . A variable (or constant) that is defined in an include file is specified by the macro .Ql .Dv . . . .Pp .Dl Usage: .Dv Ao defined-variable Ac ... . . .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li .Dv\ MAXHOSTNAMELEN" -compact -offset 15n .It Li ".Dv MAXHOSTNAMELEN" .Dv MAXHOSTNAMELEN .It Li ".Dv TIOCGPGRP )" .Dv TIOCGPGRP ) .El . . .Pp . The default width is 12n. . . .Ss Errnos . The .Ql .Er errno macro specifies the error return value for section 2, 3, and\~9 library routines. . The second 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 Ao errno type Ac ... .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li .Bq\ Er\ ENOTDIR" -compact -offset 15n .It Li ".Er ENOENT" .Er ENOENT .It Li ".Er ENOENT ) ;" .Er ENOENT ) ; .It Li ".Bq Er ENOTDIR" .Bq Er ENOTDIR .El .Pp . The default width is 17n. . . .Ss "Environment Variables" . The .Ql .Ev macro specifies an environment variable. .Pp .Dl Usage: .Ev Ao argument Ac ... .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li .Ev\ PRINTER\ )\ )\ ," -compact -offset 15n .It Li ".Ev DISPLAY" .Ev DISPLAY .It Li ".Ev PATH ." .Ev PATH . .It Li ".Ev PRINTER ) ) ," .Ev PRINTER ) ) , .El .Pp . The default width is 15n. . . .Ss Flags . The .Ql .Fl macro handles command-line flags. It prepends a dash, .Ql \- , to the flag. . For interactive command flags that are not prepended with a dash, the .Ql .Cm (command modifier) macro is identical, but without the dash. . . .Pp .Dl Usage: .Fl Ao argument Ac ... .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li .Fl\ xyz\ )\ ," -compact -offset 15n .It Li .Fl .Fl .It Li ".Fl cfv" .Fl cfv .It Li ".Fl cfv ." .Fl cfv . .It Li ".Cm cfv ." .Cm cfv . .It Li ".Fl s v t" .Fl s v t .It Li ".Fl \- ," .Fl \- , .It Li ".Fl xyz ) ," .Fl xyz ) , .It Li ".Fl |" .Fl | .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. .Pp The default width is 12n. . . .Ss "Function Declarations" . The .Ql .Fd macro is used in the .Sx Synopsis section with section two or three functions. It is neither callable nor parsed. .Pp .Dl Usage: .Fd Ao argument Ac ... .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li .Fd\ X#include\ X" -compact -offset 15n .It Li ".Fd \[dq]#include \[dq]" .Fd "#include " .El . . .Pp In a section titled .Dq Synopsis , .Ql \&Fd causes a break if a function has already been presented and a break has not occurred, leaving vertical space between one function declaration and the next. .\" XXX: that's not what "break" means . . .Pp In a section titled .Dq Synopsis , the .Ql \&In macro represents the .Li #include statement, and is the short form of the above example. . It specifies the C\~header file as being included in a C\~program. . It also causes a break. . . .Pp While not in the .Dq Synopsis section, it represents the header file enclosed in angle brackets. . . .Pp .Dl Usage: .In Ao header file Ac . . .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li .In\ stdio.h" -compact -offset 15n .nr in-synopsis-section 1 .It Li ".In stdio.h" .In stdio.h .nr in-synopsis-section 0 .It Li ".In stdio.h" .In stdio.h .El . . .Ss "Function Types" . This macro is intended for the .Dq Synopsis section. . It may be used anywhere else in the man page without problems, but its main purpose is to present the function type (in BSD kernel normal form) for the .Dq Synopsis of sections two and three. . (It causes a break, allowing the function name to appear on the next line.) . . .Pp .Dl Usage: .Ft Ao type Ac ... .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li .Ft\ struct\ stat" -compact -offset 15n .It Li ".Ft struct stat" .Ft struct stat .El . . .Ss "Functions (Library Routines)" . The .Ql .Fn macro is modeled on .Tn ANSI\~C conventions. .Pp .Dl Usage: .Fn Ao function Ac Oo Ao parameter Ac Oc ... .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li .Fn\ align\ Xchar\ *ptrX\ ," -compact -offset 15n .It Li ".Fn getchar" .Fn getchar .It Li ".Fn strlen ) ," .Fn strlen ) , .It Li ".Fn align \[dq]char *ptr\[dq] ," .Fn align "char *ptr" , .El .Pp Note that any call to another macro signals the end of the .Ql .Fn call (it will insert a closing parenthesis at that point). . . .Pp For functions with many parameters (which is rare), the macros .Ql .Fo (function open) and .Ql .Fc (function close) may be used with .Ql .Fa (function argument). .Pp 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 -ragged -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 Typically, in a .Dq Synopsis section, the function delcaration will begin the line. . If more than one function is presented in the .Dq Synopsis section and a function type has not been given, a break will occur, leaving vertical space between the current and prior function names. .\" XXX: that's not what "break" means . . .Pp The default width values of .Ql .Fn and .Ql .Fo are 12n and 16n, respectively. . . .Ss "Function Arguments" . 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 if the enclosure macros .Ql .Fo and .Ql .Fc instead of .Ql .Fn are used. .Ql .Fa may also be used to refer to structure members. .Pp .Dl Usage: .Fa Ao function argument Ac ... .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li .Fa\ d_namlen\ )\ )\ ," -compact -offset 15n .It Li ".Fa d_namlen ) ) ," .Fa d_namlen ) ) , .It Li ".Fa iov_len" .Fa iov_len .El .Pp . The default width is 12n. . . .Ss "Return Values" . The .Ql .Rv macro generates text for use in the .Sx Return values section. .Pp .Dl Usage: .Rv Oo \-std Oc Op Ao function Ac ... .Pp For example, .Ql ".Rv \-std atexit" produces: . .Bd -ragged -offset indent \# a small hack to suppress a warning message .ds doc-section-old "\*[doc-section] .ds doc-section 3 .Rv -std atexit .ds doc-section "\*[doc-section-old] .Ed .Pp . The .Fl std option is valid only for manual page sections\~2 and\~3. Currently, this macro does nothing if used without the .Fl std flag. . . .Ss "Exit Status" . The .Ql .Ex macro generates text for use in the .Sx Diagnostics section. .Pp .Dl Usage: .Ex Oo \-std Oc Op Ao utility Ac ... .Pp For example, .Ql ".Ex \-std cat" produces: . .Bd -ragged -offset indent \# a small hack to suppress a warning message .ds doc-section-old "\*[doc-section] .ds doc-section 1 .Ex -std cat .ds doc-section "\*[doc-section-old] .Ed .Pp . The .Fl std option is valid only for manual page sections 1, 6 and\~8. Currently, this macro does nothing if used without the .Fl std flag. . . .Ss "Interactive Commands" . The .Ql .Ic macro designates an interactive or internal command. .Pp .Dl Usage: .Ic Ao argument Ac ... .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li .Ic\ setenv\ ,\ unsetenv" -compact -offset 15n .It Li ".Ic :wq" .Ic :wq .It Li ".Ic \[dq]do while {...}\[dq]" .Ic "do while {...}" .It Li ".Ic setenv , unsetenv" .Ic setenv , unsetenv .El .Pp . The default width is 12n. . . .Ss "Library Names" . The .Ql .Lb macro is used to specify the library where a particular function is compiled in. .Pp .Dl Usage: .Lb Ao argument Ac ... .Pp Available arguments to .Ql .Lb and their results are: . .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li librpcsec_gss" -compact -offset indent .It Li libarchive .Lb libarchive .It Li libarm .Lb libarm .It Li libarm32 .Lb libarm32 .It Li libbluetooth .Lb libbluetooth .It Li libbsm .Lb libbsm .It Li libc .Lb libc .It Li libc_r .Lb libc_r .It Li libcalendar .Lb libcalendar .It Li libcam .Lb libcam .It Li libcdk .Lb libcdk .It Li libcipher .Lb libcipher .It Li libcompat .Lb libcompat .It Li libcrypt .Lb libcrypt .It Li libcurses .Lb libcurses .It Li libdevinfo .Lb libdevinfo .It Li libdevstat .Lb libdevstat .It Li libdisk .Lb libdisk .It Li libdwarf .Lb libdwarf .It Li libedit .Lb libedit .It Li libelf .Lb libelf .It Li libevent .Lb libevent .It Li libfetch .Lb libfetch .It Li libform .Lb libform .It Li libgeom .Lb libgeom .It Li libgpib .Lb libgpib .It Li libi386 .Lb libi386 .It Li libintl .Lb libintl .It Li libipsec .Lb libipsec .It Li libipx .Lb libipx .It Li libiscsi .Lb libiscsi .It Li libjail .Lb libjail .It Li libkiconv .Lb libkiconv .It Li libkse .Lb libkse .It Li libkvm .Lb libkvm .It Li libm .Lb libm .It Li libm68k .Lb libm68k .It Li libmagic .Lb libmagic .It Li libmd .Lb libmd .It Li libmemstat .Lb libmemstat .It Li libmenu .Lb libmenu .It Li libnetgraph .Lb libnetgraph .It Li libnetpgp .Lb libnetpgp .It Li libossaudio .Lb libossaudio .It Li libpam .Lb libpam .It Li libpcap .Lb libpcap .It Li libpci .Lb libpci .It Li libpmc .Lb libpmc .It Li libposix .Lb libposix .It Li libprop .Lb libprop .It Li libpthread .Lb libpthread .It Li libpuffs .Lb libpuffs .It Li librefuse .Lb librefuse .It Li libresolv .Lb libresolv .It Li librpcsec_gss .Lb librpcsec_gss .It Li librpcsvc .Lb librpcsvc .It Li librt .Lb librt .It Li libsdp .Lb libsdp .It Li libssp .Lb libssp .It Li libSystem .Lb libSystem .It Li libtermcap .Lb libtermcap .It Li libterminfo .Lb libterminfo .It Li libthr .Lb libthr .It Li libufs .Lb libufs .It Li libugidfw .Lb libugidfw .It Li libulog .Lb libulog .It Li libusbhid .Lb libusbhid .It Li libutil .Lb libutil .It Li libvgl .Lb libvgl .It Li libx86_64 .Lb libx86_64 .It Li libz .Lb libz .El . . .Pp Site-specific additions might be found in the file .Pa mdoc.local ; see section .Sx Files below. . . .Pp In a section titled .Dq Library , .Ql \&Lb causes a break before and after its arguments. . . .Ss Literals . The .Ql \&Li literal macro may be used for special characters, symbolic constants, and other syntactical items that should be typed exactly as displayed. . . .Pp .Dl Usage: .Li Ao argument Ac ... .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li .Li\ cntrl\-D\ )\ ," -compact -offset 15n .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 default width is 16n. . . .Ss Names . The .Ql \&Nm macro is used for the document title or page topic. . Upon its first call, it has the peculiarity of remembering its argument, which should always be the topic of the man page. . When subsequently called without arguments, .Ql \&Nm regurgitates this initial name for the sole purpose of making less work for the author. . Use of .Ql \&Nm is also appropriate when presenting a command synopsis for the topic of a man page in section 1, 6, or 8. . Its behavior changes when presented with arguments of various forms. . . .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li .Nm\ groff_mdoc" -compact -offset 15n .It Li ".Nm groff_mdoc" .Nm groff_mdoc .It Li ".Nm" .Nm .It Li ".Nm \e\-mdoc" .Nm \-mdoc .It Li ".Nm foo ) ) ," .Nm foo ) ) , .It Li ".Nm :" .Nm : .El . . .Pp By default, the topic is set in boldface to reflect its prime importance in the discussion. . Cross references to other man page topics should use .Ql \&Xr ; including a second argument for the section number enables them to be hyperlinked. . By default, cross-referenced topics are set in italics to avoid cluttering the page with boldface. . . .Pp The default width is 10n. . . .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 .Oo and .Ql .Oc (which produce an opening and a closing option bracket, respectively) may be used across one or more lines or to specify the exact position of the closing parenthesis. . . .Pp .Dl Usage: .Op Oo Ao option Ac Oc ... .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li .Op\ Fl\ c\ Ar\ objfil\ Op\ Ar\ corfil\ ," -compact -offset 15n .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 .It Li ".Li .Op Oo Ao option Ac Oc ..." .Li .Op Oo Ao option Ac Oc ... .El .Pp Here a typical example of the .Ql .Oo and .Ql .Oc macros: . .Bd -literal -offset indent \&.Oo \&.Op Fl k Ar kilobytes \&.Op Fl i Ar interval \&.Op Fl c Ar count \&.Oc .Ed .Pp . Produces: . .Bd -filled -offset indent .Oo .Op Fl k Ar kilobytes .Op Fl i Ar interval .Op Fl c Ar count .Oc .Ed .Pp . The default width values of .Ql .Op and .Ql .Oo are 14n and 10n, respectively. . . .Ss Pathnames . The .Ql .Pa macro formats file specifications. . If called without arguments, .Sq Pa (recognized by many shells) is output, representing the user's home directory. . . .Pp .Dl Usage: .Pa Oo Ao pathname Ac Oc ... .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li .Pa\ /tmp/fooXXXXX\ )\ ." -compact -offset 15n .It Li .Pa .Pa .It Li ".Pa /usr/share" .Pa /usr/share .It Li ".Pa /tmp/fooXXXXX ) ." .Pa /tmp/fooXXXXX ) . .El .Pp . The default width is 32n. . . .Ss Standards . The .Ql .St macro replaces standard abbreviations with their formal names. .Pp .Dl Usage: .St Ao abbreviation Ac ... .Pp Available pairs for .Dq Abbreviation/Formal Name are: . .Pp .Tn ANSI/ISO C .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li \-p1003.1g\-2000" -compact -offset indent .It Li \-ansiC .St -ansiC .It Li \-ansiC\-89 .St -ansiC-89 .It Li \-isoC .St -isoC .It Li \-isoC\-90 .St -isoC-90 .It Li \-isoC\-99 .St -isoC-99 .It Li \-isoC\-2011 .St -isoC-2011 .El .Pp . .Tn POSIX Part 1: System API .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li \-p1003.1g\-2000" -compact -offset indent .It Li \-iso9945\-1\-90 .St -iso9945-1-90 .It Li \-iso9945\-1\-96 .St -iso9945-1-96 .It Li \-p1003.1 .St -p1003.1 .It Li \-p1003.1\-88 .St -p1003.1-88 .It Li \-p1003.1\-90 .St -p1003.1-90 .It Li \-p1003.1\-96 .St -p1003.1-96 .It Li \-p1003.1b\-93 .St -p1003.1b-93 .It Li \-p1003.1c\-95 .St -p1003.1c-95 .It Li \-p1003.1g\-2000 .St -p1003.1g-2000 .It Li \-p1003.1i\-95 .St -p1003.1i-95 .It Li \-p1003.1\-2001 .St -p1003.1-2001 .It Li \-p1003.1\-2004 .St -p1003.1-2004 .It Li \-p1003.1\-2008 .St -p1003.1-2008 .El .Pp . .Tn POSIX Part 2: Shell and Utilities .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li \-p1003.1g\-2000" -compact -offset indent .It Li \-iso9945\-2\-93 .St -iso9945-2-93 .It Li \-p1003.2 .St -p1003.2 .It Li \-p1003.2\-92 .St -p1003.2-92 .It Li \-p1003.2a\-92 .St -p1003.2a-92 .El .Pp . X/Open .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li \-p1003.1g\-2000" -compact -offset indent .It Li \-susv1 .St -susv1 .It Li \-susv2 .St -susv2 .It Li \-susv3 .St -susv3 .It Li \-susv4 .St -susv4 .It Li \-svid4 .St -svid4 .It Li \-xbd5 .St -xbd5 .It Li \-xcu5 .St -xcu5 .It Li \-xcurses4.2 .St -xcurses4.2 .It Li \-xns5 .St -xns5 .It Li \-xns5.2 .St -xns5.2 .It Li \-xpg3 .St -xpg3 .It Li \-xpg4 .St -xpg4 .It Li \-xpg4.2 .St -xpg4.2 .It Li \-xsh5 .St -xsh5 .El .Pp . Miscellaneous .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li \-p1003.1g\-2000" -compact -offset indent .It Li \-ieee754 .St -ieee754 .It Li \-iso8601 .St -iso8601 .It Li \-iso8802\-3 .St -iso8802-3 .El . . .Ss "Variable Types" The .Ql .Vt macro may be used whenever a type is referenced. . In a section titled .Dq Synopsis , .Ql \&Vt causes a break (useful for old-style C variable declarations). . . .Pp .Dl Usage: .Vt Ao type Ac ... .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li .Vt\ extern\ char\ *optarg\ ;" -compact -offset 15n .It Li ".Vt extern char *optarg ;" .Vt extern char *optarg ; .It Li ".Vt FILE *" .Vt FILE * .El . . .Ss Variables . Generic variable reference. .Pp .Dl Usage: .Va Ao variable Ac ... .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li .Va\ Xchar\ sX\ ]\ )\ )\ ," -compact -offset 15n .It Li ".Va count" .Va count .It Li ".Va settimer ," .Va settimer , .It Li ".Va \[dq]int *prt\[dq] ) :" .Va "int *prt" ) : .It Li ".Va \[dq]char s\[dq] ] ) ) ," .Va "char s" ] ) ) , .El .Pp . The default width is 12n. . . .Ss "Manual Page Cross References" . The .Ql .Xr macro expects the first argument to be a manual page name. . The optional second argument, if a string (defining the manual section), is put into parentheses. . . .Pp .Dl Usage: .Xr Ao man page name Ac Oo Ao section Ac Oc ... . . .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li .Xr\ xinit\ 1x\ ;" -compact -offset 15n .It Li ".Xr mdoc" .Xr mdoc .It Li ".Xr mdoc ," .Xr mdoc , .It Li ".Xr mdoc 7" .Xr mdoc 7 .It Li ".Xr xinit 1x ;" .Xr xinit 1x ; .El . . .Pp The default width is 10n. . . .Sh "General text domain" . . .Ss "AT&T Macro" . .Pp .Dl Usage: .At Oo Ao version Ac Oc ... .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li .At\ v6\ ." -compact -offset 15n .It Li .At .At .It Li ".At v6 ." .At v6 . .El .Pp The following values for .Ao version Ac are possible: .Pp .Dl 32v, v1, v2, v3, v4, v5, v6, v7, III, V, V.1, V.2, V.3, V.4 . . .Ss "BSD Macro" . .Pp .Dl "Usage: .Bx" Bro \-alpha | \-beta | \-devel Brc ... .Dl " .Bx" Oo Ao version Ac Oo Ao release Ac Oc Oc ... .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li .Bx\ -devel" -compact -offset 15n .It Li .Bx .Bx .It Li ".Bx 4.3 ." .Bx 4.3 . .It Li ".Bx \-devel" .Bx -devel .El .Pp .Ao version Ac will be prepended to the string .Sq Bx . The following values for .Ao release Ac are possible: .Pp .Dl Reno, reno, Tahoe, tahoe, Lite, lite, Lite2, lite2 . . .Ss "NetBSD Macro" . .Pp .Dl Usage: .Nx Oo Ao version Ac Oc ... .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li .Nx\ 1.4\ ." -compact -offset 15n .It Li .Nx .Nx .It Li ".Nx 1.4 ." .Nx 1.4 . .El .Pp For possible values of .Ao version Ac see the description of the .Ql .Os command above in section .Sx "Title macros" . . . .Ss "FreeBSD Macro" . .Pp .Dl Usage: .Fx Oo Ao version Ac Oc ... .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li .Fx\ 2.2\ ." -compact -offset 15n .It Li .Fx .Fx .It Li ".Fx 2.2 ." .Fx 2.2 . .El .Pp For possible values of .Ao version Ac see the description of the .Ql .Os command above in section .Sx "Title macros" . . . .Ss "DragonFly Macro" . .Pp .Dl Usage: .Dx Oo Ao version Ac Oc ... .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li .Dx\ 1.4\ ." -compact -offset 15n .It Li .Dx .Dx .It Li ".Dx 1.4 ." .Dx 1.4 . .El .Pp For possible values of .Ao version Ac see the description of the .Ql .Os command above in section .Sx "Title macros" . . . .Ss "OpenBSD Macro" . .Pp .Dl Usage: .Ox Oo Ao version Ac Oc ... .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li .Ox\ 1.0" -compact -offset 15n .It Li ".Ox 1.0" .Ox 1.0 .El . . .Ss "BSD/OS Macro" . .Pp .Dl Usage: .Bsx Oo Ao version Ac Oc ... .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li .Bsx\ 1.0" -compact -offset 15n .It Li ".Bsx 1.0" .Bsx 1.0 .El . . .Ss "Unix Macro" . .Pp .Dl Usage: .Ux ... .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li .Ux" -compact -offset 15n .It Li .Ux .Ux .El . . .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 Ao argument Ac ... .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li .Em\ vide\ infra\ )\ )\ ," -compact -offset 15n .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 default width is 10n. . . .Ss "Font Mode" . The .Ql .Bf font mode must be ended with the .Ql .Ef macro (the latter takes no arguments). Font modes may be nested within other font modes. .Pp .Ql .Bf has the following syntax: .Pp .Dl .Bf Ao font mode Ac .Pp .Ao font mode Ac must be one of the following three types: .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Sy \&Sy | Fl symbolic" -compact -offset indent .It Sy \&Em | Fl emphasis Same as if the .Ql .Em macro was used for the entire block of text. .It Sy \&Li | Fl literal Same as if the .Ql .Li macro was used for the entire block of text. .It Sy \&Sy | Fl symbolic Same as if the .Ql .Sy macro was used for the entire block of text. .El .Pp Both macros are neither callable nor parsed. . . .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 a pair of opening and closing macros that end with the lowercase letters .Ql o and .Ql c respectively. .Pp \# XXX .if t \ . ne 10 . .TS lb lb lb lb lb l l l l l. Quote Open Close Function Result \&.Aq .Ao .Ac Angle Bracket Enclosure \&.Bq .Bo .Bc Bracket Enclosure [string] \&.Brq .Bro .Brc Brace Enclosure {string} \&.Dq .Do .Dc Double Quote \[lq]string\[rq] \&.Eq .Eo .Ec Enclose String (in XY) XstringY \&.Pq .Po .Pc Parenthesis Enclosure (string) \&.Ql Quoted Literal \[lq]string\[rq] or string \&.Qq .Qo .Qc Straight Double Quote "string" \&.Sq .So .Sc Single Quote \[oq]string\[cq] .TE .Pp All macros ending with .Sq q and .Sq o have a default width value of 12n. . .Bl -tag -width ".Li .Ec , .Eo" .It Li .Eo , .Ec These macros expect the first argument to be the opening and closing strings, respectively. . .It Li .Es , .En To work around the nine-argument limit in the original .Xr troff \" generic program, .Xr mdoc supports two other macros that are now obsolete. . .Ql .Es uses its first and second parameters as opening and closing marks which are then used to enclose the arguments of .Ql .En . . The default width value is 12n for both macros. . .It Li .Eq The first and second arguments of this macro are the opening and closing strings respectively, followed by the arguments to be enclosed. .It Li .Ql The quoted literal macro behaves differently in .Xr troff \" mode and .Xr nroff \" mode modes. . If formatted with .Xr \%nroff 1 , a quoted literal is always quoted. . If formatted with .Xr \%troff , an item is only quoted if the width of the item is less than three constant-width characters. . This is to make short strings more visible where the font change to literal (constant-width) is less noticeable. . . .Pp The default width is 16n. . .It Li .Pf The prefix macro suppresses the whitespace between its first and second argument: . .Bl -tag -width ".Li .Pf\ (\ Fa\ name2" -offset indent .It Li ".Pf ( Fa name2" .Pf ( Fa name2 .El .Pp . The default width is 12n. .Pp The .Ql .Ns macro (see below) performs the analogous suffix function. .It Li .Ap The .Ql .Ap macro inserts an apostrophe and exits any special text modes, continuing in .Ql .No mode. .El .Pp . Examples of quoting: . .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li .Bq\ Em\ Greek\ ,\ French\ ." -compact -offset indent .It Li .Aq .Aq .It Li ".Aq Pa ctype.h ) ," .Aq Pa 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 \[aq]\[rs][ha][A\-Z]\[aq]" .Dq '\[ha][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 .It Li ".Em or Ap ing" .Em or Ap ing .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 are discussed below. . . .Ss "Normal text macro" . .Ql \&No formats subsequent argument(s) normally, ending the effect of .Ql \&Em and similar. . Parsing is .Em not suppressed, so you must prefix words like .Ql \&No with .Ql \e& to avoid their interpretation as .Xr mdoc macros. . . .Pp .Dl Usage: .No Ar argument No ... . . .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li .Em\ Use\ caution\ No\ here\ ." \ -compact -offset 15n .It Li ".Em Use caution No here ." \[->] .Em Use caution No here . .It Li ".Em No dogs allowed ." \[->] .\" We cheat here to prevent a diagnostic warning. We want to .\" illustrate output that may surprise the novice. .Em \&No No dogs allowed . .It Li ".Em \e&No dogs allowed ." \[->] .Em \&No dogs allowed . .El . . .Pp The default width is 12n. . . .Ss "No-Space Macro" . The .Ql .Ns macro suppresses insertion of a space between the current position and its first parameter. For example, it is useful for old style argument lists where there is no space between the flag and argument: .Pp .Dl "Usage:" ... Ao argument Ac \&Ns Oo Ao argument Ac Oc ... .Dl " " .Ns Ao argument Ac ... .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li .Op\ Fl\ I\ Ns\ Ar\ directory" -compact -offset 15n .It Li ".Op Fl I Ns Ar directory" .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. If used as a command (i.e., the second form above in the .Sq Usage line), .Ql .Ns is identical to .Ql .No . . . .Ss "(Sub)section cross references" . Use the .Ql .Sx macro to cite a (sub)section heading within the given document. . . .Pp .Dl Usage: .Sx Ao section-reference Ac ... . . .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li .Sx\ Files" -offset 15n .It Li ".Sx Files" \[->] .Sx Files .El . . .Pp The default width is 16n. . . .Ss Symbolics . The symbolic emphasis macro is generally a boldface macro in either the symbolic sense or the traditional English usage. . . .Pp .Dl Usage: .Sy Ao symbol Ac ... . . .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li .Sy\ Important\ Notice" -compact -offset 15n .It Li ".Sy Important Notice" \[->] .Sy Important Notice .El . . .Pp The default width is 6n. . . .Ss "Mathematical Symbols" . Use this macro for mathematical symbols and similar things. . . .Pp .Dl Usage: .Ms Ao math symbol Ac ... . . .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li .Ms\ sigma" -compact -offset 15n .It Li ".Ms sigma" \[->] .Ms sigma .El . . .Pp The default width is 6n. . . .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 (does not take arguments). . In a section titled .Dq "See also" , it causes a break and begins collection of reference information until the reference end macro is read. . .It Li .Re Reference end (does not take arguments). The reference is printed. .It Li .%A Reference author name; one name per invocation. .It Li .%B Book title. .It Li .%C City/place. .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 .%U Optional hypertext reference. .It Li .%V Volume. .El .Pp Macros beginning with .Ql % are not callable but accept multiple arguments in the usual way. Only the .Ql .Tn macro is handled properly as a parameter; other macros will cause strange output. .Ql .%B and .Ql .%T can be used outside of the .Ql .Rs/.Re environment. .Pp Example: . .Bd -literal -offset indent \&.Rs \&.%A "Matthew Bar" \&.%A "John Foo" \&.%T "Implementation Notes on foobar(1)" \&.%R "Technical Report ABC\-DE\-12\-345" \&.%Q "Drofnats College" \&.%C "Nowhere" \&.%D "April 1991" \&.Re .Ed .Pp produces . .Bd -ragged -offset indent .Rs .%A "Matthew Bar" .%A "John Foo" .%T "Implementation Notes on foobar(1)" .%R "Technical Report ABC-DE-12-345" .%Q "Drofnats College" .%C "Nowhere" .%D "April 1991" .Re .Ed . .Ss "Trade Names or Acronyms" . The trade name macro prints its arguments at a smaller type size. . It is intended to imitate a small caps fonts for fully capitalized acronyms. . . .Pp .Dl Usage: .Tn Ao symbol Ac ... .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li .Tn\ ASCII" -compact -offset 15n .It Li ".Tn DEC" .Tn DEC .It Li ".Tn ASCII" .Tn ASCII .El .Pp . The default width is 10n. . . .Ss "Extended Arguments" . The .Li .Xo and .Li .Xc macros allow one to extend an argument list on a macro boundary for the .Ql .It macro (see below). Note that .Li .Xo and .Li .Xc are implemented similarly to all other macros opening and closing an enclosure (without inserting characters, of course). This means that the following is true for those macros also. .Pp Here is an example of .Ql .Xo using the space mode macro to turn spacing off: . .Bd -literal -offset indent \&.Bd \-literal \-offset indent \&.Sm off \&.It Xo Sy I Ar operation \&.No \een Ar count No \een \&.Xc \&.Sm on \&.Ed .Ed .Pp . produces . .Bd -filled -offset indent .Bl -tag -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 \&.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 .Ed .Pp . produces . .Bd -filled -offset indent .Bl -tag -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 enclosure macros: Test the value of a variable. . .Bd -literal -offset indent \&.Bd \-literal \-offset indent \&.It Xo \&.Ic .ifndef \&.Oo \e&! Oc Ns Ar variable Oo \&.Ar operator variable No ... \&.Oc Xc \&.Ed .Ed .Pp . produces . .Bd -filled -offset indent .Bl -tag -width flag -compact .It Xo .Ic .ifndef .Oo \&! Oc Ns Ar variable Oo .Ar operator variable No ... .Oc Xc .El .Ed .Pp . . .Sh "Page structure domain" . . .Ss "Section headings" . The following .Ql .Sh section heading macros are required in every man page. . The remaining section headings are recommended at the discretion of the author writing the manual page. The .Ql .Sh macro is parsed but not generally callable. It can be used as an argument in a call to .Ql .Sh only; it then reactivates the default font for .Ql .Sh . .Pp The default width is 8n. . .Bl -tag -width ".Li .Sh\ Return\ values" .It Li ".Sh Name" The .Ql ".Sh Name" macro is mandatory. . If not specified, headers, footers, and page layout defaults will not be set and things will be rather unpleasant. . The .Em 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. .Pp .Ql .Nd first prints .Ql \- , then all its arguments. . .It Li ".Sh Library" This section is for section two and three function calls. It should consist of a single .Ql .Lb macro call; see .Sx "Library Names" . . .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 , or .Ql .Fn (and possibly .Ql .Fo , .Ql .Fc , .Ql .Fd , and .Ql .Ft ) . 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, and\~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 file No ... .Ed .Pp . The following macros were used: .Pp .Dl ".Nm cat" .Dl ".Op Fl benstuv" .Dl ".Op Fl" .Dl ".Ar file No ..." . .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). . .It Li ".Sh Implementation notes" Implementation specific information should be placed here. . .It Li ".Sh Return values" Sections 2, 3 and\~9 function return values should go here. The .Ql .Rv macro may be used to generate text for use in the .Sx Return values section for most section 2 and 3 library functions; see .Sx "Return Values" . .El .Pp . The following .Ql .Sh section headings 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 ".Li .Sh\ Compatibility" .It Li ".Sh Environment" The .Em 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 subsection .Sx "Examples and Displays" below for details. . .It Li ".Sh Diagnostics" Diagnostic messages from a command should be placed in this section. The .Ql .Ex macro may be used to generate text for use in the .Sx Diagnostics section for most section 1, 6 and\~8 commands; see .Sx "Exit Status" . . .It Li ".Sh Compatibility" Known compatibility issues (e.g.\& deprecated options or parameters) should be listed here. . .It Li ".Sh Errors" Specific error handling, especially from library functions (man page sections 2, 3, and\~9) should go here. The .Ql .Er macro is used to specify an error (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. . Currently .Xr \%refer 1 style references are not accommodated. . . .Pp It is recommended that the cross references be sorted by section number, then alphabetically by name within each section, then separated by commas. . Example: . . .Pp .Xr ls 1 , .Xr ps 1 , .Xr group 5 , .Xr passwd 5 . .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 .Em 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 should be placed here. . Use the .Ql .An macro for names and the .Ql .Aq macro for email addresses within optional contact information. . Explicitly indicate whether the person authored the initial manual page or the software or whatever the person is being credited for. .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 15n \&.Sh "Page structure domain" .Ed . . .Ss "Subsection headings" . Subsection headings have exactly the same syntax as section headings: .Ql .Ss is parsed but not generally callable. It can be used as an argument in a call to .Ql .Ss only; it then reactivates the default font for .Ql .Ss . .Pp The default width is 8n. . . .Ss "Paragraphs and Line Spacing" . .Bl -tag -width ".Li .Pp" .It Li .Pp The .Ql .Pp paragraph command may be used to specify a line space where necessary. The macro is not necessary after a .Ql .Sh or .Ql .Ss macro or before a .Ql .Bl or .Ql .Bd macro (which both assert a vertical distance unless the .Fl compact flag is given). .Pp The macro is neither callable nor parsed and takes no arguments; an alternative name is .Ql .Lp . .El . .\" XXX . .\" 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 currently accepts is .Fl words (also the default); this prevents breaks in the middle of options. . In the example for .Nm make command-line arguments (see .Sx What's in a Name ) , the keep prevents .Xr \%nroff from placing the flag and the argument on separate lines. . . .Pp Neither macro is callable or parsed. . . .Pp More work needs to be done on the keep macros; specifically, a .Fl line option should be added. . . .Ss "Examples and Displays" . There are seven types of displays. . . .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Li .D1" .It Li .D1 (This is D-one.) Display one line of indented text. This macro is parsed but not callable. . . .Pp .D1 Fl ldghfstru . . .Pp The above was produced by: .Li ".D1 Fl ldghfstru" . . .It Li .Dl (This is D-ell.) Display one line of indented .Em literal text. The .Ql .Dl example macro has been used throughout this file. It allows the indentation (display) of one line of text. Its default font is set to constant width (literal). .Ql .Dl is parsed but not callable. . . .Pp .Dl % ls \-ldg /usr/local/bin . . .Pp The above was produced by: .Li ".Dl % ls \e\-ldg /usr/local/bin" . . .It Li .Bd Begin display. The .Ql .Bd display must be ended with the .Ql .Ed macro. It has the following syntax: . . .Pp .Bd -ragged -compact .Bl -tag -width ".Li .Bd" -offset indent .It Li .Bd Xo .Bro \-literal | \-filled | \-unfilled | \-ragged | \-centered Brc .Oo \-offset Ao string Ac Oc Oo \-file Ao file name Ac Oc Oo \-compact Oc Xc .El .Ed . . .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Fl file Ao Ar file name Ac " -compact .It Fl ragged Fill, but do not adjust the right margin (only left-justify). . .It Fl centered Center lines between the current left and right margin. . Note that each single line is centered. . .It Fl unfilled Do not fill; break lines where their input lines are broken. . This can produce overlong lines without warning messages. . .It Fl filled Display a filled block. The block of text is formatted (i.e., the text is justified on both the left and right side). . .It Fl literal Display block with literal font (usually fixed-width). . Useful for source code or simple tabbed or spaced text. . .It Fl file Ao Ar file name Ac The file whose name follows the .Fl file flag is read and displayed before any data enclosed with .Ql .Bd and .Ql .Ed , using the selected display type. . Any .Xr \%troff/ Ns Xr mdoc commands in the file will be processed. . .It Fl offset Ao Ar string Ac 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 ".Ar 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 Indent by one default indent value or tab. The default indent value is also used for the .Ql .D1 and .Ql .Dl macros, so one is guaranteed the two types of displays will line up. The indentation value is normally set to\~6n or about two thirds of an inch (six constant width characters). .It Ar indent\-two Indent 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 within .Xr \%troff . .El . . .Pp If .Ao string Ac is a valid numeric expression instead .Pf ( Em with a scaling indicator other than .Sq Em u ) , use that value for indentation. The most useful scaling indicators are .Sq m and .Sq n , specifying the so-called .Em \&Em and .Em "En square" . . This is approximately the width of the letters .Sq m and .Sq n respectively of the current font (for .Xr nroff output, both scaling indicators give the same values). . If .Ao string Ac isn't a numeric expression, it is tested whether it is an .Xr mdoc macro name, and the default offset value associated with this macro is used. Finally, if all tests fail, the width of .Ao string Ac (typeset with a fixed-width font) is taken as the offset. .It Fl compact Suppress insertion of vertical space before begin of display. .El . .It Li .Ed End display (takes no arguments). .El . . .Ss "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 may be nested within themselves and within displays. . The use of columns inside of lists or lists inside of columns is untested. . . .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 .Pf ( Fl tag ) . . . .Pp It has the following syntax forms: . . .Pp .Bd -ragged -compact .Bl -tag -width ".Li .Bl" -offset indent -compact .It Li .Bl Xo .Bro \-hang | \-ohang | \-tag | \-diag | \-inset Brc .Oo \-width Ao string Ac Oc .Oo \-offset Ao string Ac Oc Oo \-compact Oc Xc .It Li .Bl Xo .No \-column Oo \-offset Ao string Ac Oc .Ao string1 Ac Ao string2 Ac ... Xc .It Li .Bl Xo .Bro \-item | \-enum Oo \-nested Oc | \-bullet | \-hyphen | \-dash Brc .Oo \-offset Ao string Ac Oc Oo \-compact Oc Xc .El .Ed . . .Pp And now a detailed description of the list types. . . .Pp .Bl -tag -width ".Fl column" -compact .It Fl bullet A bullet list. . .Bd -literal -offset indent \&.Bl \-bullet \-offset indent \-compact \&.It Bullet one goes here. \&.It Bullet two here. \&.El .Ed . . .Pp Produces: . . .Pp .Bl -bullet -offset indent -compact .It Bullet one goes here. .It Bullet two here. .El . . .Pp . .It Fl dash No ( or Fl hyphen ) A dash list. . .Bd -literal -offset indent \&.Bl \-dash \-offset indent \-compact \&.It Dash one goes here. \&.It Dash two here. \&.El .Ed . . .Pp Produces: . . .Pp .Bl -dash -offset indent -compact .It Dash one goes here. .It Dash two here. .El . . .Pp .It Fl enum An enumerated list. . .Bd -literal -offset indent \&.Bl \-enum \-offset indent \-compact \&.It Item one goes here. \&.It And item two here. \&.El .Ed . . .Pp The result: . . .Pp .Bl -enum -offset indent -compact .It Item one goes here. .It And item two here. .El . . .Pp If you want to nest enumerated lists, use the .Fl nested flag (starting with the second-level list): . .Bd -literal -offset indent \&.Bl \-enum \-offset indent \-compact \&.It Item one goes here \&.Bl \-enum \-nested \-compact \&.It Item two goes here. \&.It And item three here. \&.El \&.It And item four here. \&.El .Ed . . .Pp Result: . . .Pp .Bl -enum -offset indent -compact .It Item one goes here. .Bl -enum -nested -compact .It Item two goes here. .It And item three here. .El .It And item four here. .El . . .Pp . .It Fl item A list of type .Fl item without list markers. . .Bd -literal -offset indent \&.Bl \-item \-offset indent \&.It Item one goes here. Item one goes here. Item one goes here. \&.It Item two here. Item two here. Item two here. \&.El .Ed . . .Pp Produces: . . .Pp .Bl -item -offset indent .It Item one goes here. Item one goes here. Item one goes here. .It Item two here. Item two here. Item two here. .El . . .Pp .It Fl tag A list with tags. Use .Fl width to specify the tag width. . . .Pp .Bl -tag -width "PPID" -compact -offset indent .It SL sleep time of the process (seconds blocked) .It PAGEIN number of disk I/O operations 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 "PPID" \-compact \-offset indent \&.It SL sleep time of the process (seconds blocked) \&.It PAGEIN number of disk I/O operations 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 .It Fl diag 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. . . .Pp Example: . .Bd -literal -offset indent \&.Bl \-diag \&.It You can't use Sy here. The message says all. \&.El .Ed . . .Pp produces . .Bl -diag .It You can't use Sy here. The message says all. .El . . .Pp .It Fl hang A list with hanging tags. . .Bl -hang -offset indent .It Em Hanged labels appear similar to tagged lists when the label is smaller than the label width. .It Em Longer hanged list labels blend into the paragraph unlike tagged paragraph labels. .El . . .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 into the paragraph unlike tagged paragraph labels. \&.El .Ed . . .Pp .It Fl ohang Lists with overhanging tags do not use indentation for the items; tags are written to a separate line. . . .Pp .Bl -ohang -offset indent .It Sy SL sleep time of the process (seconds blocked) .It Sy PAGEIN number of disk I/O operations resulting from references by the process to pages not loaded in core. .It Sy UID numerical user-id of process owner .It Sy PPID numerical id of parent of process priority (non-positive when in non-interruptible wait) .El . . .Pp The raw text: . .Bd -literal -offset indent \&.Bl \-ohang \-offset indent \&.It Sy SL sleep time of the process (seconds blocked) \&.It Sy PAGEIN number of disk I/O operations resulting from references by the process to pages not loaded in core. \&.It Sy UID numerical user\-id of process owner \&.It Sy PPID numerical id of parent of process priority (non\-positive when in non\-interruptible wait) \&.El .Ed . . .Pp .It Fl inset 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 .Xr 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 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 \&.Xr mdoc manuals to other formats. \&.El .Ed . . .Pp . .It Fl column 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, .Aq Ar string1 , .Aq Ar string2 , etc. If .Aq Ar stringN starts with a .Ql .\& (dot) immediately followed by a valid .Xr mdoc macro name, interpret .Aq Ar stringN and use the width of the result. Otherwise, the width of .Aq Ar stringN (typeset with a fixed-width font) is taken as the .Ar N Ns th column width. . . .Pp Each .Ql .It argument is parsed to make a row, each column within the row is a separate argument separated by a tab or the .Ql .Ta macro. . . .Pp The table: . .Bl -column -offset indent ".Sy String" ".Sy Nroff" ".Sy Troff" .It Sy String Ta Sy Nroff Ta Sy Troff .It Li <= Ta <= Ta \*(<= .It Li >= Ta >= Ta \*(>= .El . . .Pp was produced by: . .Bd -literal \&.Bl \-column \-offset indent ".Sy String" ".Sy Nroff" ".Sy Troff" \&.It Sy String Ta Sy Nroff Ta Sy Troff \&.It Li <= Ta <= Ta \e*(<= \&.It Li >= Ta >= Ta \e*(>= \&.El .Ed . . .Pp Don't abuse this list type! . For more complicated cases it might be far better and easier to use .Xr \%tbl 1 , the table preprocessor. .El . . .Pp Other keywords: . .Bl -tag -width ".Fl indent Ao Ar string Ac" .It Fl width Ao Ar string Ac If .Aq Ar string starts with a .Ql .\& (dot) immediately followed by a valid .Xr mdoc macro name, interpret .Aq Ar string and use the width of the result. . Almost all lists in this document use this option. . . .Pp Example: . .Bd -literal -offset indent \&.Bl \-tag \-width ".Fl test Ao Ar string Ac" \&.It Fl test Ao Ar string Ac This is a longer sentence to show how the \&.Fl width flag works in combination with a tag list. \&.El .Ed . . .Pp gives: . .Bl -tag -width ".Fl test Ao Ar string Ac" .It Fl test Ao Ar string Ac This is a longer sentence to show how the .Fl width flag works in combination with a tag list. .El . . .Pp (Note that the current state of .Xr mdoc is saved before .Aq Ar string is interpreted; afterwards, all variables are restored again. . However, boxes (used for enclosures) can't be saved in .Tn GNU .Xr \%troff 1 ; as a consequence, arguments must always be .Em balanced to avoid nasty errors. . For example, do not write .Ql ".Ao Ar string" but .Ql ".Ao Ar string Xc" instead if you really need only an opening angle bracket.) . . .Pp Otherwise, if .Aq Ar string is a valid numeric expression .Em ( with a scaling indicator other than .Sq Em u ) , use that value for indentation. The most useful scaling indicators are .Sq m and .Sq n , specifying the so-called .Em \&Em and .Em "En square" . This is approximately the width of the letters .Sq m and .Sq n respectively of the current font (for .Xr \%nroff output, both scaling indicators give the same values). . If .Aq Ar string isn't a numeric expression, it is tested whether it is an .Xr mdoc macro name, and the default width value associated with this macro is used. Finally, if all tests fail, the width of .Aq Ar string (typeset with a fixed-width font) is taken as the width. . . .Pp If a width is not specified for the tag list type, .Sq 6n is used. .It Fl offset Ao Ar string Ac If .Aq Ar string is .Ar indent , a default indent value (normally set to\~6n, similar to the value used in .Ql .Dl or .Ql .Bd ) is used. If .Aq Ar string is a valid numeric expression instead .Pf ( Em with a scaling indicator other than .Sq Em u ) , use that value for indentation. The most useful scaling indicators are .Sq m and .Sq n , specifying the so-called .Em \&Em and .Em "En square" . . This is approximately the width of the letters .Sq m and .Sq n respectively of the current font (for .Xr nroff output, both scaling indicators give the same values). . If .Aq Ar string isn't a numeric expression, it is tested whether it is an .Xr mdoc macro name, and the default offset value associated with this macro is used. Finally, if all tests fail, the width of .Aq Ar string (typeset with a fixed-width font) is taken as the offset. .It Fl compact Suppress insertion of vertical space before the list and between list items. .El . . .Sh "Miscellaneous macros" . A double handful of macros fit only uncomfortably into one of the above sections. . Of these, we couldn't find attested examples for .Ql \&Me or .Ql \&Ot . . They are documented here for completeness\[em]if you know their proper usage, please send a mail to .Mt groff@gnu.org and include a specimen with its provenance. . . .Bl -tag -width ".Li .Bt" .It Li .Bt formats boilerplate text. . .\" XXX: .Bt gets parsed (i.e., called) _and_ measured even _with_ a .\" leading dot. See Savannah #63672. .Bl -tag -width \&.Bt -offset indent .It Li .Bt \[->] .Bt .El . . .Pp It is neither callable nor parsed and takes no arguments. . Its default width is 6n. . . .It Li .Fr is an obsolete means of specifying a function return value. . . .Pp .D1 Usage: Pf . Ic \&Fr Ar return-value No ... . . .Pp .Ql \&Fr allows a break right before the return value (usually a single digit) which is bad typographical behaviour. . Instead, set the return value with the rest of the code, using .Ql \[rs]\[ti] to tie the return value to the previous word. . . .Pp Its default width is 12n. . . .It Li .Hf Inlines the contents of a (header) file into the document. . . .Pp .D1 Usage: Pf . Ic \&Hf Ar file . . .Pp It first prints .Ql File: followed by the file name, then the contents of .Ar file . . It is neither callable nor parsed. . . .It Li .Lk Embed hyperlink. . . .Pp .D1 Usage: Pf . Ic \&Lk Ar uri Op Ar link-text . . .Pp Its default width is 6n. . . .It Li .Me Usage unknown. . The .Xr mdoc sources describe it as a macro for .Dq "menu entries" . . . .Pp Its default width is 6n. . . .It Li .Mt Embed email address. . . .Pp .D1 Usage: Pf . Ic \&Mt Ar email-address . . .Pp Its default width is 6n. . . .It Li .Ot Usage unknown. The .Xr mdoc sources describe it as .Dq "old function type (fortran)" . . . .It Li .Sm Manipulate or toggle argument-spacing mode. . . .Pp .D1 Usage: Pf . Ic \&Sm Oo Li on | Li off Oc ... . . .Pp If argument-spacing mode is off, no spaces between macro arguments are inserted. . If called without a parameter (or if the next parameter is neither .Ql on nor .Ql off ) , .Ql \&Sm toggles argument-spacing mode. . . .Pp Its default width is 8n. .\" XXX: The package demands it, but how is that meaningful? . . .It Li .Ud formats boilerplate text. . .\" XXX: .Ud gets parsed (i.e., called) _and_ measured even _with_ a .\" leading dot. See Savannah #63672. .Bl -tag -width \&.Ud -offset indent .It Li .Ud \[->] .Ud .El . . .Pp It is neither callable nor parsed and takes no arguments. . Its default width is 8n. .El . . .Sh "Predefined strings" . The following strings are predefined for compatibility with legacy .Xr mdoc documents. . Contemporary ones should use the alternatives shown in the .Dq Prefer column below. . See .Xr groff_char 7 for a full discussion of these special character escape sequences. . . .Pp .\" Note: This table pushes 80-column ASCII and Latin-1 terminals to .\" the limits of their capacity. Observe the spacing parameters of the .\" 2nd and 3rd columns; we had to steal a character cell from each (the .\" default is 3) because in the UCS column, the word "infinity" gets .\" written out in full, which in turn pushes the >= and Ge rows past .\" the 78n norm. Update with caution. See Savannah #59424. .TS Cb Lb2 Lb2 Lb Lb Lb Lf(CR) L2 L2 L Lf(CR) L. String 7-bit 8-bit UCS Prefer Meaning \[rs]*(<= <= <= \*[<=] \[rs](<= less than or equal to \[rs]*(>= >= >= \*[>=] \[rs](>= greater than or equal to \[rs]*(Rq " " \*[Rq] \[rs](rq right double quote \[rs]*(Lq " " \*[Lq] \[rs](lq left double quote \[rs]*(ua \[ha] \[ha] \*[ua] \[rs](ua vertical arrow up \[rs]*(aa \[aq] \' \*[aa] \[rs](aa acute accent \[rs]*(ga \` \` \*[ga] \[rs](ga grave accent \[rs]*(q \&" \&" \*[q] \[rs](dq neutral double quote \[rs]*(Pi pi pi \*[Pi] \[rs](*p lowercase pi \[rs]*(Ne != != \*[Ne] \[rs](!= not equals \[rs]*(Le <= <= \*[Le] \[rs](<= less than or equal to \[rs]*(Ge >= >= \*[Ge] \[rs](>= greater than or equal to \[rs]*(Lt < < \*[Lt] < less than \[rs]*(Gt > > \*[Gt] > greater than \[rs]*(Pm +\- \[+-] \*[Pm] \[rs](+\- plus or minus \[rs]*(If infinity infinity \*[If] \[rs](if infinity \[rs]*(Am \*[Am] \*[Am] \*[Am] & ampersand \[rs]*(Na \*[Na] \*[Na] \*[Na] NaN not a number \[rs]*(Ba \*[Ba] \*[Ba] \*[Ba] | bar .TE . . .Pp Some column headings are shorthand for standardized character encodings; \[lq]7-bit\[rq] for ISO 646:1991 IRV (US-ASCII), \[lq]8-bit\[rq] for ISO 8859-1 (Latin-1) and IBM code page 1047, and \[lq]UCS\[rq] for ISO 10646 (Unicode character set). . Historically, \" (\[ti]1989) .Xr mdoc configured the string definitions to fit the capabilities expected of the output device. . Old typesetters \" like the C/A/T lacked directional double quotes, producing repeated directional single quotes \[oq]\[oq]like this\[cq]\[cq]; early versions of .Xr mdoc in fact defined the .Ql Lq and .Ql Rq strings this way. \" thanks to Ingo Schwarze for the research . Nowadays, output drivers \" technically, their macro files or font descriptions take on the responsibility of glyph substitution, as they possess relevant knowledge of their available repertoires. . . .Sh Diagnostics . The debugging macro .Ql .Db offered by previous versions of .Xr mdoc is unavailable in .Tn GNU .Xr \%troff 1 since the latter provides better facilities to check parameters; additionally, .Xr "groff mdoc" implements many error and warning messages, making the package more robust and more verbose. . . .Pp The remaining debugging macro is .Ql .Rd , which dumps the package's global register and string contents to the standard error stream. . A normal user will never need it. . . .Sh Options . The following .Xr groff options set registers (with .Fl r ) and strings (with .Fl d ) recognized and used by the .Xr mdoc macro package. . To ensure rendering consistent with output device capabilities and reader preferences, man pages should never manipulate them. . . .Pp Setting string .Ql AD configures the adjustment mode for most formatted text. . Typical values are .Ql b for adjustment to both margins (the default), or .Ql l for left alignment (ragged right margin). . Any valid argument to .Xr groff Ns 's .Ql ad request may be used. . See .Xr groff 7 for less-common choices. . .Dl groff \-Tutf8 \-dAD=l \-mdoc groff_mdoc.7 | less \-R . . .Pp Setting register .Ql C to\~1 numbers output pages consecutively, rather than resetting the page number to\~1 (or the value of register .Ql P ) with each new .Xr mdoc document. . . .Pp By default, the package inhibits page breaks, headers, and footers in the midst of the document text if it is being displayed with a terminal device such as .Sq latin1 or .Sq utf8 , to enable more efficient viewing of the page. . This behavior can be changed to format the page as if for 66-line Teletype output by setting the continuous rendering register .Ql cR to zero while calling .Xr groff 1 . . .Dl groff \-Tlatin1 \-rcR=0 \-mdoc foo.man > foo.txt . On HTML devices, it cannot be disabled. . . .Pp Section headings (defined with .Ql .Sh ) and page titles in headers (defined with .Ql .Dt ) can be presented in full capitals by setting the registers .Ql CS and .Ql CT , respectively, to 1. . These transformations are off by default because they discard case distinction information. . . .Pp Setting register .Ql D to\~1 enables double-sided page layout, which is only distinct when not continuously rendering. . It places the page number at the bottom right on odd-numbered (recto) pages, and at the bottom left on even-numbered (verso) pages, swapping places with the arguments to .Ql .Os . . .Dl groff \-Tps \-rD1 \-mdoc foo.man > foo.ps . . .Pp The value of the .Ql FT register determines the footer's distance from the page bottom; this amount is always negative and should specify a scaling unit. . At one half-inch above this location, the page text is broken before writing the footer. . It is ignored if continuous rendering is enabled. . The default is \-0.5i. . . .Pp The .Ql HF string sets the font used for section and subsection headings; the default is .Ql B (bold style of the default family). . Any valid argument to .Xr groff Ns 's .Ql ft request may be used. . . .Pp Normally, automatic hyphenation is enabled using a mode appropriate to the .Xr groff locale; see section \[lq]Localization\[lq] of .Xr groff 7 . . It can be disabled by setting the .Ql HY register to zero. . .Dl groff \-Tutf8 \-rHY=0 \-mdoc foo.man | less \-R . . .Pp The paragraph and subsection heading indentation amounts can be changed by setting the registers .Ql IN and .Ql SN . . .Dl groff \-Tutf8 \-rIN=5n \-rSN=2n \-mdoc foo.man | less \-R . The default paragraph indentation is 7.2n on typesetters and 7n on terminals. . The default subsection heading indentation amount is 3n; section headings are set with an indentation of zero. . . .Pp The line and title lengths can be changed by setting the registers .Ql LL and .Ql LT , respectively: . .Dl groff \-Tutf8 \-rLL=100n \-rLT=100n \-mdoc foo.man | less \-R . If not set, both registers default to 78n for terminal devices and 6.5i otherwise. . . .Pp Setting the .Ql P register starts enumeration of pages at its value. . The default is\~1. . . .Pp To change the document font size to 11p or 12p, set register .Ql S accordingly: . .Dl groff \-Tdvi \-rS11 \-mdoc foo.man > foo.dvi . Register .Ql S is ignored when formatting for terminal devices. . . .Pp Setting the .Ql X register to a page number .Ar p numbers its successors as .Ar p Ns Li a , .Ar p Ns Li b , .Ar p Ns Li c , and so forth. . The register tracking the suffixed page letter uses format .Ql a (see the .Ql af request in .Xr groff 7 ) . . . .br .ne 4v .Sh Files . .Bl -tag .It Pa /usr/\:\%share/\:\%groff/\:\%1.23.0/\:\%tmac/\:andoc\:.tmac This brief .Xr groff program detects whether the .Xr man or .Xr 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 .Li TH or .Li Dd , respectively, before any other macros. . A user typing, for example, .Dl groff \-mandoc page.1 need not know which package the file .Pa page.1 uses. . Multiple man pages, in either format, can be handled; .Pa \%andoc\:.tmac reloads each macro package as necessary. . . .It Pa /usr/\:\%share/\:\%groff/\:\%1.23.0/\:\%tmac/\:doc\:.tmac implements the bulk of the .Xr groff Xr mdoc package and loads further components as needed from the .Pa mdoc subdirectory. . . .It Pa /usr/\:\%share/\:\%groff/\:\%1.23.0/\:\%tmac/\:mdoc\:.tmac is a wrapper that loads .Pa doc.tmac . . . .It Pa /usr/\:\%share/\:\%groff/\:\%1.23.0/\:\%tmac/\:mdoc/\:doc\-common defines macros, registers, and strings concerned with the production of formatted output. .\" XXX: This is a weak explanation. The boundary between doc.tmac's .\" concerns and doc-common's is not at all clear to GBR. Should some .\" of these files be merged? . It includes strings of the form .Ql doc\-volume\-ds\- Ns Ar X and .Ql doc\-volume\-as\- Ns Ar X for manual section titles and architecture identifiers, respectively, where .Ar X is an argument recognized by .Pf . Ic \&Dt . . . .It Pa /usr/\:\%share/\:\%groff/\:\%1.23.0/\:\%tmac/\:mdoc/\:doc\-nroff defines parameters appropriate for rendering to terminal devices. . . .It Pa /usr/\:\%share/\:\%groff/\:\%1.23.0/\:\%tmac/\:mdoc/\:doc\-ditroff defines parameters appropriate for rendering to typesetter devices. . . .It Pa /usr/\:\%share/\:\%groff/\:\%1.23.0/\:\%tmac/\:mdoc/\:doc\-syms defines many strings and macros that interpolate formatted text, such as names of operating system releases, *BSD libraries, and standards documents. . The string names are of the form .Ql doc\-str\- Ns Ar O Ns Li \- Ns Ar V , .Ql doc\-str\-St Ns Li \-\- Ns Ar S Ns Li \- Ns Ar I (observe the double dashes), or .Ql doc\-str\-Lb\- Ns Ar L , where .Ar O is one of the operating system macros from section .Sx "General text domain" above, .Ar V is an encoding of an operating system release (sometimes omitted along with the .Ql \- preceding it), .Ar S an identifier for a standards body or committee, .Ar I one for an issue of a standard promulgated by .Ar S , and .Ar L a keyword identifying a *BSD library. . . .It Pa /usr/\:\%share/\:\%groff/\:\%site\-tmac/\:mdoc\:.local This file houses local additions and customizations to the package. . It can be empty. .El . . .Sh "See also" . The .Lk https://mandoc.bsd.lv/ mandoc project maintains an independent implementation of the .Xr mdoc language and a renderer that directly parses its markup as well as that of .Xr man . . . .Pp .Xr groff 1 , .Xr man 1 , .Xr \%troff 1 , .Xr groff_man 7 , .Xr mdoc 7 . . .Sh Bugs . Section 3f has not been added to the header routines. . . .Pp .Ql .Fn needs to have a check to prevent splitting up the line if its length is too short. . Occasionally it separates the last parenthesis, and sometimes looks ridiculous if output lines are being filled. . . .Pp The list and display macros do not do any keeps and certainly should be able to. . . .Pp As of .Xr groff 1.23, .Ql \&Tn no longer changes the type size; this functionality may return in the next release. .\" 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 is normally ragged and the problem is not as .\" severe. . . .\" Restore compatibility mode (for, e.g., Solaris 10/11). .cp \n[*groff_groff_mdoc_7_man_C] .do rr *groff_groff_mdoc_7_man_C . . .\" Local Variables: .\" mode: nroff .\" fill-column: 72 .\" End: .\" vim: set filetype=groff textwidth=72: