-.\" $Id: man.7,v 1.41 2009/10/26 10:36:46 kristaps Exp $
+.\" $Id: man.7,v 1.43 2009/11/02 06:22:45 kristaps Exp $
.\"
.\" Copyright (c) 2009 Kristaps Dzonsons <kristaps@kth.se>
.\"
.\" ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF
.\" OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
.\"
-.Dd $Mdocdate: October 26 2009 $
+.Dd $Mdocdate: November 2 2009 $
.Dt MAN 7
.Os
.
utility such as
.Xr mandoc 1 .
.
+.Ss Dates
+The
+.Sx \&TH
+macro is the only
+.Nm
+macro that requires a date. The form for this date is the ISO-8601
+standard
+.Cm YYYY-MM-DD .
+.
+.Ss Scaling Widths
+Many macros support scaled widths for their arguments, such as
+stipulating a two-inch list indentation with the following:
+.Bd -literal -offset indent
+\&.Bl -tag -width 2i
+.Ed
+.
+.
.Ss Scaling Widths
Many macros support scaled widths for their arguments, such as
stipulating a two-inch paragraph indentation with the following:
at least one macro or text node must appear in the document. Documents
are generally structured as follows:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
-\&.TH FOO 1 "13 Aug 2009"
+\&.TH FOO 1 2009-10-10
\&.
\&.SH NAME
\efBfoo\efR \e(en a description goes here
\&.\e\*q The next is for sections 2, 3, & 9 only.
\&.\e\*q .SH ERRORS
\&.\e\*q .SH SEE ALSO
-\&.\e\*q \efBbar\efR(1)
+\&.\e\*q .BR foo ( 1 )
\&.\e\*q .SH STANDARDS
\&.\e\*q .SH HISTORY
\&.\e\*q .SH AUTHORS
.Nm
document are conventionally ordered as they appear above. Sections
should be composed as follows:
-.Bl -tag -width Ds -offset Ds
-.It NAME
+.Bl -ohang -offset indent
+.It Em NAME
The name(s) and a short description of the documented material. The
syntax for this is generally as follows:
.Pp
.D1 \efBname\efR \e(en description
-.It LIBRARY
+.It Em LIBRARY
The name of the library containing the documented material, which is
assumed to be a function in a section 2 or 3 manual. For functions in
the C library, this may be as follows:
.Pp
.D1 Standard C Library (libc, -lc)
-.It SYNOPSIS
+.It Em SYNOPSIS
Documents the utility invocation syntax, function call syntax, or device
configuration.
.Pp
.Pp
.D1 \. Ns Sx \&B No name* at cardbus ? function ?
.Pp
-Manuals not in these sections generally don't need a SYNOPSIS.
-.It DESCRIPTION
-This expands upon the brief, one-line description in NAME. It usually
-contains a break-down of the options (if documenting a command).
-.It IMPLEMENTATION NOTES
+Manuals not in these sections generally don't need a
+.Em SYNOPSIS .
+.It Em DESCRIPTION
+This expands upon the brief, one-line description in
+.Em NAME .
+It usually contains a break-down of the options (if documenting a
+command).
+.It Em IMPLEMENTATION NOTES
Implementation-specific notes should be kept here. This is useful when
implementing standard functions that may have side effects or notable
algorithmic implications.
-.It EXIT STATUS
-.It RETURN VALUES
-.It ENVIRONMENT
-.It FILES
-.It EXAMPLES
-.It DIAGNOSTICS
-.It ERRORS
-.It SEE ALSO
-.It STANDARDS
-.It HISTORY
-.It AUTHORS
-.It CAVEATS
-.It BUGS
-.It SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
+.It Em EXIT STATUS
+Command exit status for section 1, 6, and 8 manuals. This section is
+the dual of
+.Em RETURN VALUES ,
+which is used for functions. Historically, this information was
+described in
+.Em DIAGNOSTICS ,
+a practise that is now discouraged.
+.
+.It Em RETURN VALUES
+This section is the dual of
+.Em EXIT STATUS ,
+which is used for commands. It documents the return values of functions
+in sections 2, 3, and 9.
+.
+.It Em ENVIRONMENT
+Documents any usages of environment variables, e.g.,
+.Xr environ 7 .
+.
+.It Em FILES
+Documents files used. It's helpful to document both the file and a
+short description of how the file is used (created, modified, etc.).
+.
+.It Em EXAMPLES
+Example usages. This often contains snippets of well-formed,
+well-tested invocations. Make doubly sure that your examples work
+properly! Assume that users will skip to this section and use your
+example verbatim.
+.
+.It Em DIAGNOSTICS
+Documents error conditions. This is most useful in section 4 manuals.
+Historically, this section was used in place of
+.Em EXIT STATUS
+for manuals in sections 1, 6, and 8; however, this practise is
+discouraged.
+.
+.It Em ERRORS
+Documents error handling in sections 2, 3, and 9.
+.
+.It Em SEE ALSO
+References other manuals with related topics. This section should exist
+for most manuals. Cross-references should conventionally be ordered
+first by section, then alphabetically.
+.Pp
+.D1 \. Ns Sx \&BR No bar \&( 1 \&),
+.D1 \. Ns Sx \&BR No foo \&( 1 \&),
+.D1 \. Ns Sx \&BR No baz \&( 2 \&).
+.
+.It Em STANDARDS
+References any standards implemented or used, such as
+.Pp
+.D1 IEEE Std 1003.2 (\e(lqPOSIX.2\e(rq)
+.Pp
+If not adhering to any standards, the
+.Em HISTORY
+section should be used.
+.
+.It Em HISTORY
+The history of any manual without a
+.Em STANDARDS
+section should be described in this section.
+.
+.It Em AUTHORS
+Credits to authors, if applicable, should appear in this section.
+Authors should generally be noted by both name and an e-mail address.
+.
+.It Em CAVEATS
+Explanations of common misuses and misunderstandings should be explained
+in this section.
+.
+.It Em BUGS
+Extant bugs should be described in this section.
+.
+.It Em SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
+Documents any security precautions that operators should consider.
+.
.El
.
.
left-margin width is re-set to the default.
.Ss \&TH
Sets the title of the manual page with the following syntax:
-.Bd -literal -offset indent
-\&.TH title section [date [source [volume]]]
-.Ed
-.
.Pp
-At least the
-.Va title
-and
-.Va section
+.D1 \. Ns Sx \&TH No Cm title msec Op Cm date Op Cm src Op Cm vol
+.Pp
+At least the upper-case document title
+.Cm title
+and numeric manual section
+.Cm msec
arguments must be provided. The
-.Va date
-argument should be formatted as
-.Qq %b [%d] %Y
-format, described in
-.Xr strptime 3 .
-The
-.Va source
+.Cm date
+argument should be formatted as described in
+.Sx Dates :
+if it does not conform, the current date is used instead. The
+.Cm src
string specifies the organisation providing the utility. The
-.Va volume
-replaces the default rendered volume as dictated by the manual section.
+.Cm vol
+string replaces the default rendered volume, which is dictated by the
+manual section.
+.Pp
+Examples:
+.Bd -literal -offset indent
+\&.TH CVS 5 "1992-02-12" GNU
+.Ed
+.
.Ss \&TP
Begin a paragraph where the head, if exceeding the indentation width, is
followed by a newline; if not, the body follows on the same line after a
git.ckatri.com / mandoc.git / blobdiff