-.\" $Id: mdoc.7,v 1.44 2009/07/17 12:08:08 kristaps Exp $
+.\" $Id: mdoc.7,v 1.50 2009/07/20 13:45:11 kristaps Exp $
.\"
.\" Copyright (c) 2009 Kristaps Dzonsons <kristaps@kth.se>
.\"
.\" 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 17 2009 $
+.\"
+.Dd $Mdocdate: July 20 2009 $
.Dt MDOC 7
.Os
.\" SECTION---------------------------------------------
.Sh DESCRIPTION
The
.Nm mdoc
-language is used to format
-.Bx
+language is used to format
+.Bx
.Ux
manuals. In this reference document, we describe its syntax, structure,
and usage. Our reference implementation is
.Xr mandoc 1 .
The
.Sx COMPATIBILITY
-section describes compatibility with
+section describes compatibility with
.Xr groff 1 .
.\" PARAGRAPH------------
.Pp
An
.Nm
document follows simple rules: lines beginning with the control
-character
+character
.Sq \.
are parsed for macros. Other lines are interpreted within the scope of
prior macros:
Other lines are interpreted within the current state.
.Ed
.\" SECTION---------------------------------------------
-.Sh INPUT ENCODING
+.Sh LANGUAGE SYNTAX
.Nm
documents may contain only graphable 7-bit ASCII characters, the space
character, and, in certain circumstances, the tab character. All
manuals must have
.Ux
-line termination.
+line terminators.
.\" SUB-SECTION----------------------
.Ss Comments
Text following a
.It \&?
.Pq question
.It \&!
-.Pq exclamation
+.Pq exclamation
.It \&|
-.Pq vertical bar
+.Pq vertical bar
.El
.\" PARAGRAPH------------
.Pp
For general use in macro lines, these characters must either be escaped
with a non-breaking space
.Pq Sq \e&
-or, if applicable, an appropriate escape sequence used.
+or, if applicable, an appropriate escape sequence used.
.\" SUB-SECTION----------------------
.Ss Special Characters
Special characters may occur in both macro and free-form lines.
Sequences begin with the escape character
.Sq \e
-followed by either an open-parenthesis
+followed by either an open-parenthesis
.Sq \&(
for two-character sequences; an open-bracket
.Sq \&[
.Sq \&] ) ;
or a single one-character sequence. See
.Xr mandoc_char 1
-for a complete list. Examples include
-.Sq \e(em
-.Pq em-dash
-and
+for a complete list. Examples include
+.Sq \e(em
+.Pq em-dash
+and
.Sq \ee
.Pq back-slash .
.\" PARAGRAPH------------
(Roman, or reset). This form is not recommended.
.\" SUB-SECTION----------------------
.Ss Whitespace
-In general, consecutive blocks of whitespace are pruned from input.
-These are later re-added, when applicable, by
-.Xr mandoc 1 .
+In non-literal free-form lines, consecutive blocks of whitespace are
+pruned from input and added later in the output filter, if applicable:
+.Bd -literal -offset indent
+These spaces are pruned from input.
+\&.Bd \-literal
+These are not.
+\&.Ed
+.Ed
+.\" PARAGRAPH------------
+.Pp
+In macro lines, whitespace delimits arguments and is discarded. If
+arguments are quoted, whitespace within the quotes is retained.
.\" PARAGRAPH------------
.Pp
-Blank lines are permitted within
-.Sq \&Bd \-literal
-or
-.Sq \&Bd \-unfilled
-contexts. Tab characters are only acceptable when delimiting
+Blank lines are only permitted within literal contexts, as are lines
+containing only whitespace. Tab characters are only acceptable when
+delimiting
.Sq \&Bl \-column
-and in
-.Sq \&Bd \-literal
-or
-.Sq \&Bd \-unfilled
-contexts.
+or when in a literal context.
+.\" SUB-SECTION----------------------
+.Ss Quotation
+Macro arguments may be quoted with a double-quote to group
+space-delimited terms or to retain blocks of whitespace. A quoted
+argument begins with a double-quote preceded by whitespace. The next
+double-quote not pair-wise adjacent to another double-quote terminates
+the literal, regardless of surrounding whitespace.
+.\" PARAGRAPH------------
+.Pp
+This produces tokens
+.Sq a" ,
+.Sq b c ,
+.Sq de ,
+and
+.Sq fg" .
+Note that any quoted term, be it argument or macro, is indiscriminately
+considered literal text. Thus, the following produces
+.Sq \&Em a :
+.Bd -literal -offset indent
+\&.Em "Em a"
+.Ed
+.\" PARAGRAPH------------
+.Pp
+In free-form mode, quotes are regarded as opaque text.
.\" SECTION---------------------------------------------
.Sh MANUAL STRUCTURE
Each
.Nm
-document must begin with a document prologue, containing, in order,
+document must begin with a document prologue, containing, in order,
.Sq \&Dd ,
.Sq \&Dt ,
and
-.Sq \&Os
-(using this manual as an example):
+.Sq \&Os ,
+then the NAME section containing at least one
+.Sq \&Nm
+followed by
+.Sq \&Nd :
.Bd -literal -offset indent
\&.Dd $\&Mdocdate$
\&.Dt mdoc 7
\&.Nm mdoc
\&.Nd mdoc language reference
.Ed
-.Pp
-Following these, the document body must begin with the NAME section
-containing at least one
-.Sq \&Nm
-followed by
-.Sq \&Nd .
.\" PARAGRAPH------------
.Pp
Subsequent SYNOPSIS and DESCRIPTION sections are strongly encouraged,
-but non-compulsory.
+but non-compulsory.
.\" SECTION---------------------------------------------
.Sh MACRO SYNTAX
-Every line beginning with the control character
+Every line beginning with the control character
.Sq \.
-is processed for macros, two- or three-character semantic annotations.
+is processed for macros, two- or three-character sequences.
.\" PARAGRAPH------------
.Pp
-The syntax of macro depends on its classification. In this section,
-.Sq \-arg
+The syntax of a macro depends on its classification. In this section,
+.Sq \-arg
refers to macro arguments, which may be followed by zero or more
.Sq parm
parameters;
The
.Em Callable
column indicates that the macro may be called subsequent to the initial
-line-macro. The
-.Qq Parsable
+line-macro. The
+.Em Parsable
column indicates whether the macro may be followed by further
(ostensibly callable) macros. The
.Em Scope
.Pq Sq \&Bf
contains a head.
.Bd -literal -offset indent
-\&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBparm...\(rB\(rB \(lBhead...\(rB
-\(lBbody...\(rB
+\&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBparm...\(rB\(rB \(lBhead...\(rB
+\(lBbody...\(rB
\&.Yc
.Ed
.\" PARAGRAPH------------
.\" SUB-SECTION----------------------
.Ss Block full-implicit
Multi-line scope closed by end-of-file or implicitly by another macro.
-All macros have bodies; some
+All macros have bodies; some
.Po
-.Sq \&It \-bullet ,
-.Sq \-hyphen ,
+.Sq \&It \-bullet ,
+.Sq \-hyphen ,
.Sq \-dash ,
.Sq \-enum ,
-.Sq \-item
+.Sq \-item
.Pc
-don't have heads, while
+don't have heads, while
.Sq \&It \-column
may have multiple heads.
.Bd -literal -offset indent
-\&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBparm...\(rB\(rB \(lBhead... \(lBTa head...\(rB\(rB
-\(lBbody...\(rB
+\&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBparm...\(rB\(rB \(lBhead... \(lBTa head...\(rB\(rB
+\(lBbody...\(rB
.Ed
.\" PARAGRAPH------------
.Pp
.\" SUB-SECTION----------------------
.Ss Block partial-explicit
Like block full-explicit, but also with single-line scope. Each
-has at least a body and, in limited circumstances, a head
+has at least a body and, in limited circumstances, a head
.Pq So \&Fo Sc , So \&Eo Sc
-and/or tail
+and/or tail
.Pq So \&Ec Sc .
.Bd -literal -offset indent
-\&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBparm...\(rB\(rB \(lBhead...\(rB
-\(lBbody...\(rB
-\&.Yc \(lBtail...\(rB
+\&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBparm...\(rB\(rB \(lBhead...\(rB
+\(lBbody...\(rB
+\&.Yc \(lBtail...\(rB
\&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBparm...\(rB\(rB \(lBhead...\(rB \
-\(lBbody...\(rB \&Yc \(lBtail...\(rB
+\(lBbody...\(rB \&Yc \(lBtail...\(rB
.Ed
.\" PARAGRAPH------------
.Pp
.El
.\" SUB-SECTION----------------------
.Ss Block partial-implicit
-Like block full-implicit, but with single-line scope closed by
-.Sx Reserved Characters
+Like block full-implicit, but with single-line scope closed by
+.Sx Reserved Characters
or end of line.
.Bd -literal -offset indent
\&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB \(lBbody...\(rB \(lBres...\(rB
.El
.\" SUB-SECTION----------------------
.Ss In-line
-Closed by
+Closed by
.Sx Reserved Characters ,
end of line, fixed argument lengths, and/or subsequent macros. In-line
macros have only text children. If a number (or inequality) of
arguments is
-.Pq n ,
+.Pq n ,
then the macro accepts an arbitrary number of arguments.
.Bd -literal -offset indent
\&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB \(lBargs...\(rB \(lbres...\(rb
.It \&Bsx Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
.It \&Bt Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0
.It \&Bx Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
-.It \&Cd Ta Yes Ta \&No Ta >0
+.It \&Cd Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
.It \&Cm Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
.It \&Db Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 1
.It \&Dd Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
.It \&Vt Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
.It \&Xr Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0, <3
.It \&br Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0
+.It \&sp Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 1
.El
.\" SECTION---------------------------------------------
.Sh COMPATIBILITY
This section documents compatibility with other roff implementations, at
-this time limited to
+this time limited to
.Xr groff 1 .
-The term
+The term
.Qq historic groff
-refers to those versions before the
+refers to those versions before the
.Pa doc.tmac
-file re-write
+file re-write
.Pq somewhere between 1.15 and 1.19 .
.\" PARAGRAPH------------
.Pp
.Bl -dash -compact
.\" LIST-ITEM
.It
+In quoted literals, groff allowed pair-wise double-quotes to produce a
+standalone double-quote in formatted output. This idiosyncratic
+behaviour is no longer applicable.
+.\" LIST-ITEM
+.It
+The
+.Sq \&sp
+macro does not accept negative numbers.
+.\" LIST-ITEM
+.It
Some character sequences in groff are not handled depending on escape
-style, e.g.,
+style, e.g.,
.Sq \e(ba
and
.Sq \e*(Ba
non-historic groff version.
.\" LIST-ITEM
.It
-The vertical bar
+The vertical bar
.Sq \(ba
made historic groff
.Qq go orbital
but is a proper delimiter in this implementation.
.\" LIST-ITEM
.It
-.Sq \&.It \-nested
+.Sq \&It \-nested
is assumed for all lists (it wasn't in historic groff): any list may be
nested and
.Sq \-enum
lists will restart the sequence only for the sub-list.
.\" LIST-ITEM
.It
-.Sq \&.It \-column
+.Sq \&It \-column
syntax where column widths may be preceded by other arguments (instead
of proceeded) is not supported.
.\" LIST-ITEM
.It
-The
-.Sq \&.At
+The
+.Sq \&At
macro only accepts a single parameter.
.\" LIST-ITEM
.It
Some manuals use
-.Sq \&.Li
+.Sq \&Li
incorrectly by following it with a reserved character and expecting the
delimiter to render. This is not supported.
.\" LIST-ITEM
versions of groff seem to dither on this.
.\" LIST-ITEM
.It
-In groff, the
-.Sq \&.Fo
+In groff, the
+.Sq \&Fo
macro only produces the first parameter. This is no longer the case.
.El
.\" SECTION---------------------------------------------
.Sh AUTHORS
The
.Nm
-utility was written by
+reference was written by
.An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq kristaps@kth.se .
.\" SECTION---------------------------------------------
.Sh CAVEATS
.Bl -dash -compact
.\" LIST-ITEM
.It
-.Sq \&.Fa
-should be
-.Sq \&.Va
+.Sq \&Fa
+should be
+.Sq \&Va
as function arguments are variables.
.\" LIST-ITEM
.It
-.Sq \&.Ft
+.Sq \&Ft
should be
-.Sq \&.Vt
+.Sq \&Vt
as function return types are still types. Furthermore, the
-.Sq \&.Ft
+.Sq \&Ft
should be removed and
-.Sq \&.Fo ,
+.Sq \&Fo ,
which ostensibly follows it, should follow the same convention as
-.Sq \&.Va .
+.Sq \&Va .
.\" LIST-ITEM
.It
-.Sq \&.Va
+.Sq \&Va
should formalise that only one or two arguments are acceptable: a
variable name and optional, preceding type.
.\" LIST-ITEM
.It
-.Sq \&.Fd
+.Sq \&Fd
is ambiguous. It's commonly used to indicate an include file in the
-synopsis section.
-.Sq \&.In
+synopsis section.
+.Sq \&In
should be used, instead.
.\" LIST-ITEM
.It
Only the
.Sq \-literal
argument to
-.Sq \&.Bd
+.Sq \&Bd
makes sense. The remaining ones should be removed.
.\" LIST-ITEM
.It
-The
-.Sq \&.Xo
+The
+.Sq \&Xo
and
-.Sq \&.Xc
+.Sq \&Xc
macros should be deprecated.
.\" LIST-ITEM
.It
The
-.Sq \&.Dt
+.Sq \&Dt
macro lacks clarity. It should be absolutely clear which title will
render when formatting the manual page.
.\" LIST-ITEM
.It
A
-.Sq \&.Lx
-should be provided for Linux (\(`a la
-.Sq \&.Ox ,
-.Sq \&.Nx
+.Sq \&Lx
+should be provided for Linux (\(`a la
+.Sq \&Ox ,
+.Sq \&Nx
etc.).
.\" LIST-ITEM
.It
There's no way to refer to references in
-.Sq \&.Rs/.Re
+.Sq \&Rs/Re
blocks.
.\" LIST-ITEM
.It
-The \-split and \-nosplit arguments to
-.Sq \&.An
+The \-split and \-nosplit arguments to
+.Sq \&An
are inane.
.El
git.ckatri.com / mandoc.git / blobdiff