man.7

   1 .\"     $Id: man.7,v 1.37 2009/09/05 10:37:09 kristaps Exp $
   2 .\"
   3 .\" Copyright (c) 2009 Kristaps Dzonsons <kristaps@kth.se>
   4 .\"
   5 .\" Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any
   6 .\" purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above
   7 .\" copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies.
   8 .\"
   9 .\" THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES
  10 .\" WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
  11 .\" MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR
  12 .\" ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES
  13 .\" WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN
  14 .\" ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF
  15 .\" OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
  16 .\"
  17 .Dd $Mdocdate: September 5 2009 $
  18 .Dt MAN 7
  19 .Os
  20 .
  21 .
  22 .Sh NAME
  23 .Nm man
  24 .Nd man language reference
  25 .
  26 .
  27 .Sh DESCRIPTION
  28 The
  29 .Nm man
  30 language was historically used to format
  31 .Ux
  32 manuals.  This reference document describes its syntax, structure, and
  33 usage.
  34 .
  35 .Pp
  36 .Bf -emphasis
  37 Do not use
  38 .Nm
  39 to write your manuals.
  40 .Ef
  41 Use the
  42 .Xr mdoc 7
  43 language, instead.
  44 .
  45 .Pp
  46 An
  47 .Nm
  48 document follows simple rules:  lines beginning with the control
  49 character
  50 .Sq \&.
  51 are parsed for macros.  Other lines are interpreted within the scope of
  52 prior macros:
  53 .Bd -literal -offset indent
  54 \&.SH Macro lines change control state.
  55 Other lines are interpreted within the current state.
  56 .Ed
  57 .
  58 .
  59 .Sh INPUT ENCODING
  60 .Nm
  61 documents may contain only graphable 7-bit ASCII characters, the
  62 space character, and the tabs character.  All manuals must have
  63 .Ux
  64 line termination.
  65 .
  66 .Pp
  67 Blank lines are acceptable; where found, the output will assert a
  68 vertical space.
  69 .
  70 .Pp
  71 The
  72 .Sq \ec
  73 escape is common in historical
  74 .Nm
  75 documents; if encountered at the end of a word, it ensures that the
  76 subsequent word isn't off-set by whitespace.
  77 .
  78 .
  79 .Ss Comments
  80 Text following a
  81 .Sq \e\*" ,
  82 whether in a macro or free-form text line, is ignored to the end of
  83 line.  A macro line with only a control character and comment escape,
  84 .Sq \&.\e" ,
  85 is also ignored.  Macro lines with only a control charater and
  86 optionally whitespace are stripped from input.
  87 .
  88 .
  89 .Ss Special Characters
  90 Special characters may occur in both macro and free-form lines.
  91 Sequences begin with the escape character
  92 .Sq \e
  93 followed by either an open-parenthesis
  94 .Sq \&(
  95 for two-character sequences; an open-bracket
  96 .Sq \&[
  97 for n-character sequences (terminated at a close-bracket
  98 .Sq \&] ) ;
  99 or a single one-character sequence.  See
 100 .Xr mandoc_char 7
 101 for a complete list.  Examples include
 102 .Sq \e(em
 103 .Pq em-dash
 104 and
 105 .Sq \ee
 106 .Pq back-slash .
 107 .
 108 .
 109 .Ss Text Decoration
 110 Terms may be text-decorated using the
 111 .Sq \ef
 112 escape followed by an indicator: B (bold), I, (italic), or P and R
 113 (Roman, or reset).
 114 .
 115 .
 116 .Ss Whitespace
 117 Unless specifically escaped, consecutive blocks of whitespace are pruned
 118 from input.  These are later re-added, if applicable, by a front-end
 119 utility such as
 120 .Xr mandoc 1 .
 121 .
 122 .
 123 .Sh MANUAL STRUCTURE
 124 Each
 125 .Nm
 126 document must contain contains at least the
 127 .Sq TH
 128 macro describing the document's section and title.  It may occur
 129 anywhere in the document, although conventionally, it appears as the
 130 first macro.
 131 .
 132 .Pp
 133 Beyond
 134 .Sq TH ,
 135 at least one macro or text node must appear in the document.  Documents
 136 are generally structured as follows:
 137 .Bd -literal -offset indent
 138 \&.TH FOO 1 "13 Aug 2009"
 139 \&.
 140 \&.SH NAME
 141 \efBfoo\efR \e(en a description goes here
 142 \&.\e\*q The next is for sections 2 & 3 only.
 143 \&.\e\*q .SH LIBRARY
 144 \&.
 145 \&.SH SYNOPSIS
 146 \efBfoo\efR [\efB\e-options\efR] arguments...
 147 \&.
 148 \&.SH DESCRIPTION
 149 The \efBfoo\efR utility processes files...
 150 \&.
 151 \&.\e\*q .SH IMPLEMENTATION NOTES
 152 \&.\e\*q The next is for sections 1 & 8 only.
 153 \&.\e\*q .SH EXIT STATUS
 154 \&.\e\*q The next is for sections 2, 3, & 9 only.
 155 \&.\e\*q .SH RETURN VALUES
 156 \&.\e\*q The next is for sections 1, 6, 7, & 8 only.
 157 \&.\e\*q .SH ENVIRONMENT
 158 \&.\e\*q .SH FILES
 159 \&.\e\*q .SH EXAMPLES
 160 \&.\e\*q The next is for sections 1, 4, 6, 7, & 8 only.
 161 \&.\e\*q .SH DIAGNOSTICS
 162 \&.\e\*q The next is for sections 2, 3, & 9 only.
 163 \&.\e\*q .SH ERRORS
 164 \&.\e\*q .SH SEE ALSO
 165 \&.\e\*q \efBbar\efR(1)
 166 \&.\e\*q .SH STANDARDS
 167 \&.\e\*q .SH HISTORY
 168 \&.\e\*q .SH AUTHORS
 169 \&.\e\*q .SH CAVEATS
 170 \&.\e\*q .SH BUGS
 171 \&.\e\*q .SH SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
 172 .Ed
 173 .
 174 .
 175 .Sh MACRO SYNTAX
 176 Macros are one to three three characters in length and begin with a
 177 control character ,
 178 .Sq \&. ,
 179 at the beginning of the line.  An arbitrary amount of whitespace may
 180 sit between the control character and the macro name.  Thus,
 181 .Sq .PP
 182 and
 183 .Sq \&.\ \ \ PP
 184 are equivalent.
 185 .
 186 .Pp
 187 The
 188 .Nm
 189 macros are classified by scope: line scope or block scope.  Line
 190 macros are only scoped to the current line (and, in some situations,
 191 the subsequent line).  Block macros are scoped to the current line and
 192 subsequent lines until closed by another block macro.
 193 .
 194 .
 195 .Ss Line Macros
 196 Line macros are generally scoped to the current line, with the body
 197 consisting of zero or more arguments.  If a macro is scoped to the next
 198 line and the line arguments are empty, the next line is used instead,
 199 else the general syntax is used.  Thus:
 200 .Bd -literal -offset indent
 201 \&.I
 202 foo
 203 .Ed
 204 .
 205 .Pp
 206 is equivalent to
 207 .Sq \&.I foo .
 208 If next-line macros are invoked consecutively, only the last is used.
 209 If a next-line macro is proceded by a block macro, it is ignored.
 210 .Bd -literal -offset indent
 211 \&.YO \(lBbody...\(rB
 212 \(lBbody...\(rB
 213 .Ed
 214 .
 215 .Pp
 216 .Bl -column -compact -offset indent "MacroX" "ArgumentsX" "ScopeXXXXX"
 217 .It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments Ta Em Scope
 218 .It    B     Ta    n         Ta    next-line
 219 .It    BI    Ta    n         Ta    current
 220 .It    BR    Ta    n         Ta    current
 221 .It    DT    Ta    0         Ta    current
 222 .It    I     Ta    n         Ta    next-line
 223 .It    IB    Ta    n         Ta    current
 224 .It    IR    Ta    n         Ta    current
 225 .It    R     Ta    n         Ta    next-line
 226 .It    RB    Ta    n         Ta    current
 227 .It    RI    Ta    n         Ta    current
 228 .It    SB    Ta    n         Ta    next-line
 229 .It    SM    Ta    n         Ta    next-line
 230 .It    TH    Ta    >1, <6    Ta    current
 231 .It    UC    Ta    n         Ta    current
 232 .It    br    Ta    0         Ta    current
 233 .It    fi    Ta    0         Ta    current
 234 .It    i     Ta    n         Ta    current
 235 .It    na    Ta    0         Ta    current
 236 .It    nf    Ta    0         Ta    current
 237 .It    r     Ta    0         Ta    current
 238 .It    sp    Ta    1         Ta    current
 239 .El
 240 .
 241 .Pp
 242 The
 243 .Sq RS ,
 244 .Sq RE ,
 245 .Sq UC ,
 246 .Sq br ,
 247 .Sq fi ,
 248 .Sq i ,
 249 .Sq na ,
 250 .Sq nf ,
 251 .Sq r ,
 252 and
 253 .Sq sp
 254 macros should not be used.  They're included for compatibility.
 255 .
 256 .
 257 .Ss Block Macros
 258 Block macros are comprised of a head and body.  Like for in-line macros,
 259 the head is scoped to the current line and, in one circumstance, the
 260 next line; the body is scoped to subsequent lines and is closed out by a
 261 subsequent block macro invocation.
 262 .Bd -literal -offset indent
 263 \&.YO \(lBhead...\(rB
 264 \(lBhead...\(rB
 265 \(lBbody...\(rB
 266 .Ed
 267 .
 268 .Pp
 269 The closure of body scope may be to the section, where a macro is closed
 270 by
 271 .Sq SH ;
 272 sub-section, closed by a section or
 273 .Sq SS ;
 274 part, closed by a section, sub-section, or
 275 .Sq RE ;
 276 or paragraph, closed by a section, sub-section, part,
 277 .Sq HP ,
 278 .Sq IP ,
 279 .Sq LP ,
 280 .Sq P ,
 281 .Sq PP ,
 282 or
 283 .Sq TP .
 284 No closure refers to an explicit block closing macro.
 285 .
 286 .Pp
 287 .Bl -column "MacroX" "ArgumentsX" "Head ScopeX" "sub-sectionX" -compact -offset indent
 288 .It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments Ta Em Head Scope Ta Em Body Scope
 289 .It   HP     Ta    <2        Ta    current    Ta    paragraph
 290 .It   IP     Ta    <3        Ta    current    Ta    paragraph
 291 .It   LP     Ta    0         Ta    current    Ta    paragraph
 292 .It   P      Ta    0         Ta    current    Ta    paragraph
 293 .It   PP     Ta    0         Ta    current    Ta    paragraph
 294 .It   RE     Ta    0         Ta    current    Ta    none
 295 .It   RS     Ta    1         Ta    current    Ta    part
 296 .It   SH     Ta    >0        Ta    next-line  Ta    section
 297 .It   SS     Ta    >0        Ta    next-line  Ta    sub-section
 298 .It   TP     Ta    n         Ta    next-line  Ta    paragraph
 299 .El
 300 .
 301 .Pp
 302 If a block macro is next-line scoped, it may only be followed by in-line
 303 macros (excluding
 304 .Sq DT ,
 305 .Sq TH ,
 306 .Sq UC ,
 307 .Sq br ,
 308 .Sq na ,
 309 .Sq sp ,
 310 .Sq nf ,
 311 and
 312 .Sq fi ) .
 313 .
 314 .
 315 .Sh REFERENCE
 316 This section is a canonical reference to all macros, arranged
 317 alphabetically.  For the scoping of individual macros, see
 318 .Sx MACRO SYNTAX .
 319 .
 320 .
 321 .Ss Definitions
 322 In this reference, a numerical width may be either a standalone natural
 323 number (such as 3, 4, 10, etc.) or a natural number followed by a width
 324 multiplier
 325 .Qq n ,
 326 corresponding to the width of the formatted letter n, or
 327 .Qq m ,
 328 corresponding to the width of the formatted letter m.  The latter is the
 329 default, if unspecified.  Thus,
 330 .Bd -literal -offset indent
 331 \&.HP 12n
 332 .Ed
 333 .
 334 .Pp
 335 indicates an offset of 12
 336 .Qq n
 337 .Ns -sized
 338 letters.
 339 .
 340 .
 341 .Ss Macro Reference
 342 .Bl -tag -width Ds
 343 .It B
 344 Text is rendered in bold face.
 345 .It BI
 346 Text is rendered alternately in bold face and italic.  Thus,
 347 .Sq .BI this word and that
 348 causes
 349 .Sq this
 350 and
 351 .Sq and
 352 to render in bold face, while
 353 .Sq word
 354 and
 355 .Sq that
 356 render in italics.  Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
 357 .It BR
 358 Text is rendered alternately in bold face and roman (the default font).
 359 Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
 360 .It DT
 361 Has no effect.  Included for compatibility.
 362 .It HP
 363 Begin a paragraph whose initial output line is left-justified, but
 364 subsequent output lines are indented, with the following syntax:
 365 .Bd -literal -offset indent
 366 \&.HP [width]
 367 .Ed
 368 .
 369 .Pp
 370 If
 371 .Va width
 372 is specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if
 373 unspecified, the saved or default width is used.
 374 .It I
 375 Text is rendered in italics.
 376 .It IB
 377 Text is rendered alternately in italics and bold face.  Whitespace
 378 between arguments is omitted in output.
 379 .It IP
 380 Begin a paragraph with the following syntax:
 381 .Bd -literal -offset indent
 382 \&.IP [head [width]]
 383 .Ed
 384 .
 385 .Pp
 386 This follows the behaviour of the
 387 .Sq TP
 388 except for the macro syntax (all arguments on the line, instead of
 389 having next-line scope).  If
 390 .Va width
 391 is specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if
 392 unspecified, the saved or default width is used.
 393 .It IR
 394 Text is rendered alternately in italics and roman (the default font).
 395 Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
 396 .It LP, P, PP
 397 Begin an undecorated paragraph.  The scope of a paragraph is closed by a
 398 subsequent paragraph, sub-section, section, or end of file.  The saved
 399 paragraph left-margin width is re-set to the default.
 400 .It R
 401 Text is rendered in roman (the default font).
 402 .It RB
 403 Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and bold face.
 404 Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
 405 .It RE
 406 Explicitly close out the scope of a prior
 407 .Sq RS .
 408 .It RI
 409 Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and italics.
 410 Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
 411 .It RS
 412 Begin a part setting the left margin.  The left margin controls the
 413 offset, following an initial indentation, to un-indented text such as
 414 that of
 415 .Sq PP .
 416 The width may be specified as following:
 417 .Bd -literal -offset indent
 418 \&.RS [width]
 419 .Ed
 420 .
 421 .Pp
 422 If
 423 .Va width
 424 is not specified, the saved or default width is used.
 425 .It SB
 426 Text is rendered in small size (one point smaller than the default font)
 427 bold face.
 428 .It SH
 429 Begin a section.  The scope of a section is only closed by another
 430 section or the end of file.  The paragraph left-margin width is re-set
 431 to the default.
 432 .It SM
 433 Text is rendered in small size (one point smaller than the default
 434 font).
 435 .It SS
 436 Begin a sub-section.  The scope of a sub-section is closed by a
 437 subsequent sub-section, section, or end of file.  The paragraph
 438 left-margin width is re-set to the default.
 439 .It TH
 440 Sets the title of the manual page with the following syntax:
 441 .Bd -literal -offset indent
 442 \&.TH title section [date [source [volume]]]
 443 .Ed
 444 .
 445 .Pp
 446 At least the
 447 .Va title
 448 and
 449 .Va section
 450 arguments must be provided.  The
 451 .Va date
 452 argument should be formatted as
 453 .Qq %b [%d] %Y
 454 format, described in
 455 .Xr strptime 3 .
 456 The
 457 .Va source
 458 string specifies the organisation providing the utility.  The
 459 .Va volume
 460 replaces the default rendered volume as dictated by the manual section.
 461 .It TP
 462 Begin a paragraph where the head, if exceeding the indentation width, is
 463 followed by a newline; if not, the body follows on the same line after a
 464 buffer to the indentation width.  Subsequent output lines are indented.
 465 .
 466 .Pp
 467 The indentation width may be set as follows:
 468 .Bd -literal -offset indent
 469 \&.TP [width]
 470 .Ed
 471 .
 472 .Pp
 473 Where
 474 .Va width
 475 must be a properly-formed numeric width.  If
 476 .Va width
 477 is specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if
 478 unspecified, the saved or default width is used.
 479 .It UC
 480 Has no effect.  Included for compatibility.
 481 .It br
 482 Breaks the current line.  Consecutive invocations have no further effect.
 483 .It fi
 484 End literal mode begun by
 485 .Sq nf .
 486 .It i
 487 Italicise arguments.  If no arguments are specified, all subsequent text
 488 is italicised.
 489 .It na
 490 Don't align to the right margin.
 491 .It nf
 492 Begin literal mode: all subsequent free-form lines have their end of
 493 line boundaries preserved.  May be ended by
 494 .Sq fi .
 495 .It r
 496 Fonts and styles (bold face, italics) reset to roman (default font).
 497 .It sp
 498 Insert n spaces, where n is the macro's positive numeric argument.  If
 499 0, this is equivalent to the
 500 .Sq br
 501 macro.
 502 .El
 503 .
 504 .
 505 .Sh COMPATIBILITY
 506 This section documents compatibility with other roff implementations, at
 507 this time limited to
 508 .Xr groff 1 .
 509 .Bl -hyphen
 510 .It
 511 In quoted literals, groff allowed pair-wise double-quotes to produce a
 512 standalone double-quote in formatted output.  This idiosyncratic
 513 behaviour is no longer applicable.
 514 .It
 515 The
 516 .Sq sp
 517 macro does not accept negative numbers.
 518 .It
 519 Blocks of whitespace are stripped from both macro and free-form text
 520 lines (except when in literal mode), while groff would retain whitespace
 521 in free-form text lines.
 522 .El
 523 .
 524 .
 525 .Sh SEE ALSO
 526 .Xr mandoc 1 ,
 527 .Xr mandoc_char 7
 528 .
 529 .
 530 .Sh AUTHORS
 531 The
 532 .Nm
 533 reference was written by
 534 .An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq kristaps@kth.se .
 535 .
 536 .
 537 .Sh CAVEATS
 538 Do not use this language.  Use
 539 .Xr mdoc 7 ,
 540 instead.
 541 .