-.\" $Id: manuals.7,v 1.12 2009/04/12 19:19:57 kristaps Exp $
+.\" $Id: manuals.7,v 1.17 2009/07/20 13:45:11 kristaps Exp $
.\"
-.\" Copyright (c) 2009 Kristaps Dzonsons <kristaps@openbsd.org>
+.\" Copyright (c) 2009 Kristaps Dzonsons <kristaps@kth.se>
.\"
.\" Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any
-.\" purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the
-.\" above copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all
-.\" copies.
+.\" purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above
+.\" copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies.
.\"
-.\" THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL
-.\" WARRANTIES WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED
-.\" WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
-.\" AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
-.\" DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR
-.\" PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER
-.\" TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR
-.\" PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
-.\"
-.Dd $Mdocdate: April 12 2009 $
+.\" THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES
+.\" WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
+.\" MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR
+.\" ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES
+.\" WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN
+.\" ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF
+.\" OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
+.\"
+.Dd $Mdocdate: July 20 2009 $
.Dt MANUALS 7
.Os
.\" SECTION
.Pp
A system component's documentation describes the utility of that
component, whether it's a device driver, an executable or, most
-importantly, a game.
+importantly, a game.
.Pp
-This document serves as a tutorial to writing
-.Ux
+This document serves as a tutorial to writing
+.Ux
documentation
.Pq Dq manuals .
.\" SECTION
-.Sh COMPOSITION
-First, copy over the manual template from
+.Sh ENVIRONMENT
+First, copy over the manual template from
.Pa /usr/share/misc/mdoc.template
into your source directory.
.Pp
games
.It 7
tutorials, documents and papers
-.It 8
+.It 8
administrator utilities
.It 9
in-kernel routines
.Pp
.Dl % apropos myname
.Pp
-Manual files are named
+Manual files are named
.Pa myname.mysection ,
such as
.Pa manuals.7
.Pp
.Dl % mv mdoc.template myname.mysection
.\" SUBSECTION
-.Ss Input Language
-Manuals should
-.Em always
-be written in the
-.Xr mdoc 7
-formatting language.
-.Pp
-There exist other documentation-specific languages, such as the
-historical
-.Xr man 7
-package of
-.Xr roff 7 ;
-newer languages such as DocBook or texinfo; or even ad-hoc conventions
-such as README files.
-.Em Avoid these formats .
-.Pp
-There are two canonical references for writing mdoc. Read them.
-.Pp
-.\" LIST
-.Bl -tag -width XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX -offset indent -compact
-.It Xr mdoc 7
-formal language reference
-.It Xr mdoc.samples 7
-macro reference
-.El
-.Pp
-Open the template you've copied into
-.Pa myname.mysection
-and begin editing.
-.\" SUBSECTION
.Ss Development Tools
While writing, make sure that your manual is correctly structured:
.Pp
.Pp
.Dl % deroff name.1 | spell
.Pp
-If
+If
.Xr ispell 1
is installed, it has a special mode for manuals:
.Pp
.Dl % ispell \-n name.1
.Pp
-Use
+Use
.Xr cvs 1
or
.Xr rcs 1
to version-control your work. If you wish the last check-in to effect
your document's date, use the following RCS tag for the date macro:
.Pp
-.Dl \&.Dd $Mdocdate: April 12 2009 $
+.Dl \&.Dd $Mdocdate: July 20 2009 $
.\" SUBSECTION
.Ss Viewing
-mdoc documents may be paged to your terminal with
+mdoc documents may be paged to your terminal with
.Xr mandoc 1 .
If you plan on distributing your work to systems without this tool,
check it against
.Ed
.\" SUBSECTION
.Ss Automation
-Consider adding your mdoc documents to
+Consider adding your mdoc documents to
.Xr make 1
Makefiles in order to automatically check your input:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
Your manual must have a license. It should be listed at the start of
your document, just as in source code.
.\" SECTION
-.Sh BEST PRACTICES
-The
+.Sh COMPOSITION
+Manuals should
+.Em always
+be written in the
.Xr mdoc 7
-and
-.Xr mdoc.samples 7
-files are indispensable in guiding composition. In this section, we
-introduce some
-.Ux
-manual best practices:
+formatting language.
+.\" PARAGRAPH
+.Pp
+Open the template you've copied into
+.Pa myname.mysection
+and begin editing.
.\" SUBSECTION
.Ss Language
-.Bl -enum
+.Bl -enum
.It
Use clear, concise language. Favour simplicity.
.It
.Ss Style
The structure of the mdoc language makes it very hard to have any
particular format style. Keep your lines under 72 characters in length.
-If you must have long option lines, use
+If you must have long option lines, use
.Sq \&Oo/Oc .
The same goes for function prototypes.
.Em \&Do not
-use
+use
.Sq \&Xo/Xc .
Find another way to structure your line.
.\" SUBSECTION
-.Ss References
+.Ss References
Other components may be referenced with the
.Sq \&Xr
and
git.ckatri.com / mandoc.git / blobdiff