-.\" $Id: man.7,v 1.18 2009/07/04 09:00:41 kristaps Exp $
+.\" $Id: man.7,v 1.58 2010/03/25 07:28:16 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: July 4 2009 $
+.Dd $Mdocdate: March 25 2010 $
.Dt MAN 7
.Os
-.\" SECTION
+.
+.
.Sh NAME
.Nm man
.Nd man language reference
-.\" SECTION
+.
+.
.Sh DESCRIPTION
The
.Nm man
-language was historically used to format
+language was historically used to format
.Ux
-manuals. This reference document describes the syntax and structure of
-this language.
+manuals. This reference document describes its syntax, structure, and
+usage.
+.
.Pp
-.Em \&Do not
-use
+.Bf -emphasis
+Do not use
.Nm
-to write your manuals. Use the
+to write your manuals.
+.Ef
+Use the
.Xr mdoc 7
language, instead.
-.\" 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:
\&.SH Macro lines change control state.
Other lines are interpreted within the current state.
.Ed
-.\" SECTION
+.
+.
.Sh INPUT ENCODING
.Nm
documents may contain only graphable 7-bit ASCII characters, the
-space character
-.Sq \ ,
-and tabs
-.Sq \et .
-All manuals must have
+space character, and the tabs character. All manuals must have
.Ux
-.Sq \en
-line termination.
+line termination.
+.
.Pp
Blank lines are acceptable; where found, the output will assert a
vertical space.
-.Pp
-The
-.Sq \ec
-escape is common in historical
-.Nm
-documents; if encountered at the end of a word, it ensures that the
-subsequent word isn't off-set by whitespace.
-.\" SUB-SECTION
+.
+.
.Ss Comments
-Anything following a
-.Sq \e"
-delimiter is considered a comment (unless the
-.Sq \e
-itself has been escaped) and is ignored to the end of line.
-Furthermore, a macro line with only a control character
-.Sq \. ,
-optionally followed by whitespace, is ignored.
-.\" SUB-SECTION
+Text following a
+.Sq \e\*" ,
+whether in a macro or free-form text line, is ignored to the end of
+line. A macro line with only a control character and comment escape,
+.Sq \&.\e" ,
+is also ignored. Macro lines with only a control character and
+optionally whitespace are stripped from input.
+.
+.
.Ss Special Characters
-Special character sequences begin with the escape character
+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 \&[
for n-character sequences (terminated at a close-bracket
.Sq \&] ) ;
-or a single one-character sequence.
+or a single one-character sequence. See
+.Xr mandoc_char 7
+for a complete list. Examples include
+.Sq \e(em
+.Pq em-dash
+and
+.Sq \ee
+.Pq back-slash .
+.
+.
+.Ss Text Decoration
+Terms may be text-decorated using the
+.Sq \ef
+escape followed by an indicator: B (bold), I, (italic), R (Roman), or P
+(revert to previous mode):
+.Pp
+.D1 \efBbold\efR \efIitalic\efP
+.Pp
+A numerical representation 3, 2, or 1 (bold, italic, and Roman,
+respectively) may be used instead. A text decoration is only valid, if
+specified in free-form text, until the next macro invocation; if
+specified within a macro, it's only valid until the macro closes scope.
+Note that macros like
+.Sx \&BR
+open and close a font scope with each argument.
.Pp
-Characters may alternatively be escaped by a slash-asterisk,
-.Sq \e* ,
-with the same combinations as described above.
+Text may also be sized with the
+.Sq \es
+escape, whose syntax is one of
+.Sq \es+-n
+for one-digit numerals;
+.Sq \es(+-nn
+or
+.Sq \es+-(nn
+for two-digit numerals; and
+.Sq \es[+-N] ,
+.Sq \es+-[N] ,
+.Sq \es'+-N' ,
+or
+.Sq \es+-'N'
+for arbitrary-digit numerals:
.Pp
-Terms may also be text-decorated using the
+.D1 \es+1bigger\es-1
+.D1 \es[+10]much bigger\es[-10]
+.D1 \es+(10much bigger\es-(10
+.D1 \es+'100'much much bigger\es-'100'
+.Pp
+Both
+.Sq \es
+and
.Sq \ef
-escape followed by a text-decoration letter: B (bold), I, (italic), or P
-and R (Roman, or reset).
-.\" SUB-SECTION
+attributes are forgotten when entering or exiting a macro block.
+.
+.
.Ss Whitespace
Unless specifically escaped, consecutive blocks of whitespace are pruned
from input. These are later re-added, if applicable, by a front-end
utility such as
.Xr mandoc 1 .
-.\" SECTION
-.Sh STRUCTURE
+.
+.
+.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 paragraph indentation with the following:
+.Bd -literal -offset indent
+\&.HP 2i
+.Ed
+.
+.Pp
+The syntax for scaled widths is
+.Sq Li [+-]?[0-9]*.[0-9]*[:unit:]? ,
+where a decimal must be preceded or proceeded by at least one digit.
+Negative numbers, while accepted, are truncated to zero. The following
+scaling units are accepted:
+.
+.Pp
+.Bl -tag -width Ds -offset indent -compact
+.It c
+centimetre
+.It i
+inch
+.It P
+pica (~1/6 inch)
+.It p
+point (~1/72 inch)
+.It f
+synonym for
+.Sq u
+.It v
+default vertical span
+.It m
+width of rendered
+.Sq m
+.Pq em
+character
+.It n
+width of rendered
+.Sq n
+.Pq en
+character
+.It u
+default horizontal span
+.It M
+mini-em (~1/100 em)
+.El
+.Pp
+Using anything other than
+.Sq m ,
+.Sq n ,
+.Sq u ,
+or
+.Sq v
+is necessarily non-portable across output media.
+.
+.Pp
+If a scaling unit is not provided, the numerical value is interpreted
+under the default rules of
+.Sq v
+for vertical spaces and
+.Sq u
+for horizontal ones.
+.Em Note :
+this differs from
+.Xr mdoc 7 ,
+which, if a unit is not provided, will instead interpret the string as
+literal text.
+.
+.
+.Sh MANUAL STRUCTURE
Each
.Nm
document must contain contains at least the
-.Sq \&.TH
+.Sx \&TH
macro describing the document's section and title. It may occur
anywhere in the document, although conventionally, it appears as the
first macro.
+.
+.Pp
+Beyond
+.Sx \&TH ,
+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 2009-10-10
+\&.
+\&.SH NAME
+\efBfoo\efR \e(en a description goes here
+\&.\e\*q The next is for sections 2 & 3 only.
+\&.\e\*q .SH LIBRARY
+\&.
+\&.SH SYNOPSIS
+\efBfoo\efR [\efB\e-options\efR] arguments...
+\&.
+\&.SH DESCRIPTION
+The \efBfoo\efR utility processes files...
+\&.
+\&.\e\*q .SH IMPLEMENTATION NOTES
+\&.\e\*q The next is for sections 1 & 8 only.
+\&.\e\*q .SH EXIT STATUS
+\&.\e\*q The next is for sections 2, 3, & 9 only.
+\&.\e\*q .SH RETURN VALUES
+\&.\e\*q The next is for sections 1, 6, 7, & 8 only.
+\&.\e\*q .SH ENVIRONMENT
+\&.\e\*q .SH FILES
+\&.\e\*q .SH EXAMPLES
+\&.\e\*q The next is for sections 1, 4, 6, 7, & 8 only.
+\&.\e\*q .SH DIAGNOSTICS
+\&.\e\*q The next is for sections 2, 3, & 9 only.
+\&.\e\*q .SH ERRORS
+\&.\e\*q .SH SEE ALSO
+\&.\e\*q .BR foo ( 1 )
+\&.\e\*q .SH STANDARDS
+\&.\e\*q .SH HISTORY
+\&.\e\*q .SH AUTHORS
+\&.\e\*q .SH CAVEATS
+\&.\e\*q .SH BUGS
+\&.\e\*q .SH SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
+.Ed
+.Pp
+The sections in a
+.Nm
+document are conventionally ordered as they appear above. Sections
+should be composed as follows:
+.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 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 Em SYNOPSIS
+Documents the utility invocation syntax, function call syntax, or device
+configuration.
+.Pp
+For the first, utilities (sections 1, 6, and 8), this is
+generally structured as follows:
+.Pp
+.D1 \efBname\efR [-\efBab\efR] [-\efBc\efR\efIarg\efR] \efBpath\efR...
+.Pp
+For the second, function calls (sections 2, 3, 9):
+.Pp
+.D1 \&.B char *name(char *\efIarg\efR);
+.Pp
+And for the third, configurations (section 4):
.Pp
-Beyond the
-.Sq \&.TH ,
-at least one macro or text node must appear in the document.
-.\" SECTION
-.Sh SYNTAX
+.D1 \&.B name* at cardbus ? function ?
+.Pp
+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 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!
+.
+.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.
+.Pp
+.D1 \&.BR bar \&( 1 \&),
+.Pp
+Cross-references should conventionally be ordered
+first by section, then alphabetically.
+.
+.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
+.
+.
+.Sh MACRO SYNTAX
Macros are one to three three characters in length and begin with a
control character ,
.Sq \&. ,
at the beginning of the line. An arbitrary amount of whitespace may
-sit between the control character and the macro name. Thus,
-.Sq \&.PP
-and
-.Sq \&.\ \ \ \&PP
-are equivalent.
-.Pp
-All
-.Nm
-macros follow the same structural rules:
+sit between the control character and the macro name. Thus, the
+following are equivalent:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
-\&.YO \(lBbody...\(rB
+\&.PP
+\&.\ \ \ PP
.Ed
+.
.Pp
The
-.Dq body
-consists of zero or more arguments to the macro.
-.Pp
.Nm
-has a primitive notion of multi-line scope for the following macros:
-.Sq \&.TM ,
-.Sq \&.SM ,
-.Sq \&.SB ,
-.Sq \&.BI ,
-.Sq \&.IB ,
-.Sq \&.BR ,
-.Sq \&.RB ,
-.Sq \&.R ,
-.Sq \&.B ,
-.Sq \&.I ,
-.Sq \&.IR
-and
-.Sq \&.RI .
-When these macros are invoked without arguments, the subsequent line is
-considered a continuation of the macro. Thus:
-.Bd -literal -offset indent
-\&.RI
+macros are classified by scope: line scope or block scope. Line
+macros are only scoped to the current line (and, in some situations,
+the subsequent line). Block macros are scoped to the current line and
+subsequent lines until closed by another block macro.
+.
+.
+.Ss Line Macros
+Line macros are generally scoped to the current line, with the body
+consisting of zero or more arguments. If a macro is scoped to the next
+line and the line arguments are empty, the next line, which must be
+text, is used instead. Thus:
+.Bd -literal -offset indent
+\&.I
foo
.Ed
+.
.Pp
-is equivalent to
-.Sq \&.RI foo .
-If two consecutive lines exhibit the latter behaviour,
-an error is raised. Thus, the following is not acceptable:
-.Bd -literal -offset indent
-\&.RI
-\&.I
-Hello, world.
+is equivalent to
+.Sq \&.I foo .
+If next-line macros are invoked consecutively, only the last is used.
+If a next-line macro is followed by a non-next-line macro, an error is
+raised (unless in the case of
+.Sx \&br ,
+.Sx \&sp ,
+.Sx \&Sp ,
+or
+.Sx \&na ) .
+.Pp
+The syntax is as follows:
+.Bd -literal -offset indent
+\&.YO \(lBbody...\(rB
+\(lBbody...\(rB
.Ed
+.
.Pp
-The
-.Sq \&.TP
-macro is similar, but does not need an empty argument line to trigger
-the behaviour.
-.\" SECTION
-.Sh MACROS
-This section contains a complete list of all
-.Nm
-macros and corresponding number of arguments.
-.Pp
-.Bl -column "MacroX" "Arguments" -compact -offset indent
-.It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments
-.It \&.TH Ta >1, <6
-.It \&.SH Ta >0
-.It \&.SS Ta >0
-.It \&.TP Ta n
-.It \&.LP Ta 0
-.It \&.PP Ta 0
-.It \&.P Ta 0
-.It \&.IP Ta <3
-.It \&.HP Ta <2
-.It \&.SM Ta n
-.It \&.SB Ta n
-.It \&.BI Ta n
-.It \&.IB Ta n
-.It \&.BR Ta n
-.It \&.RB Ta n
-.It \&.R Ta n
-.It \&.B Ta n
-.It \&.I Ta n
-.It \&.IR Ta n
-.It \&.RI Ta n
+.Bl -column -compact -offset indent "MacroX" "ArgumentsX" "ScopeXXXXX" "CompatX"
+.It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments Ta Em Scope Ta Em Notes
+.It Sx \&B Ta n Ta next-line Ta \&
+.It Sx \&BI Ta n Ta current Ta \&
+.It Sx \&BR Ta n Ta current Ta \&
+.It Sx \&DT Ta 0 Ta current Ta \&
+.It Sx \&I Ta n Ta next-line Ta \&
+.It Sx \&IB Ta n Ta current Ta \&
+.It Sx \&IR Ta n Ta current Ta \&
+.\" .It Sx \&PD Ta n Ta current Ta compat
+.It Sx \&R Ta n Ta next-line Ta \&
+.It Sx \&RB Ta n Ta current Ta \&
+.It Sx \&RI Ta n Ta current Ta \&
+.It Sx \&SB Ta n Ta next-line Ta \&
+.It Sx \&SM Ta n Ta next-line Ta \&
+.It Sx \&TH Ta >1, <6 Ta current Ta \&
+.\" .It Sx \&UC Ta n Ta current Ta compat
+.It Sx \&br Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat
+.It Sx \&fi Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat
+.It Sx \&i Ta n Ta current Ta compat
+.It Sx \&na Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat
+.It Sx \&nf Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat
+.It Sx \&r Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat
+.It Sx \&sp Ta 1 Ta current Ta compat
+.\" .It Sx \&Sp Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat
+.\" .It Sx \&Vb Ta <1 Ta current Ta compat
+.\" .It Sx \&Ve Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat
.El
+.
.Pp
-Although not historically part of the
+Macros marked as
+.Qq compat
+are included for compatibility with the significant corpus of existing
+manuals that mix dialects of roff. These macros should not be used for
+portable
.Nm
-system, the following macros are also supported:
+manuals.
+.
+.
+.Ss Block Macros
+Block macros are comprised of a head and body. Like for in-line macros,
+the head is scoped to the current line and, in one circumstance, the
+next line (the next-line stipulations as in
+.Sx Line Macros
+apply here as well).
.Pp
-.Bl -column "MacroX" "Arguments" -compact -offset indent
-.It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments
-.It \&.br Ta 0
-.It \&.i Ta n
+The syntax is as follows:
+.Bd -literal -offset indent
+\&.YO \(lBhead...\(rB
+\(lBhead...\(rB
+\(lBbody...\(rB
+.Ed
+.
+.Pp
+The closure of body scope may be to the section, where a macro is closed
+by
+.Sx \&SH ;
+sub-section, closed by a section or
+.Sx \&SS ;
+part, closed by a section, sub-section, or
+.Sx \&RE ;
+or paragraph, closed by a section, sub-section, part,
+.Sx \&HP ,
+.Sx \&IP ,
+.Sx \&LP ,
+.Sx \&P ,
+.Sx \&PP ,
+or
+.Sx \&TP .
+No closure refers to an explicit block closing macro.
+.
+.Pp
+As a rule, block macros may not be nested; thus, calling a block macro
+while another block macro scope is open, and the open scope is not
+implicitly closed, is syntactically incorrect.
+.
+.Pp
+.Bl -column -compact -offset indent "MacroX" "ArgumentsX" "Head ScopeX" "sub-sectionX" "compatX"
+.It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments Ta Em Head Scope Ta Em Body Scope Ta Em Notes
+.It Sx \&HP Ta <2 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \&
+.It Sx \&IP Ta <3 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \&
+.It Sx \&LP Ta 0 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \&
+.It Sx \&P Ta 0 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \&
+.It Sx \&PP Ta 0 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \&
+.It Sx \&RE Ta 0 Ta current Ta none Ta compat
+.It Sx \&RS Ta 1 Ta current Ta part Ta compat
+.It Sx \&SH Ta >0 Ta next-line Ta section Ta \&
+.It Sx \&SS Ta >0 Ta next-line Ta sub-section Ta \&
+.It Sx \&TP Ta n Ta next-line Ta paragraph Ta \&
.El
.Pp
-These follow the same calling conventions as the above
-.Nm
-macros.
-.\" SECTION
-.Sh COMPATIBILITY
+.
+Macros marked
+.Qq compat
+are as mentioned in
+.Sx Line Macros .
+.
+.Pp
+If a block macro is next-line scoped, it may only be followed by in-line
+macros for decorating text.
+.
+.
+.Sh REFERENCE
+This section is a canonical reference to all macros, arranged
+alphabetically. For the scoping of individual macros, see
+.Sx MACRO SYNTAX .
+.
+.
+.Ss \&B
+Text is rendered in bold face.
+.Pp
+See also
+.Sx \&I ,
+.Sx \&R ,
+.Sx \&b ,
+.Sx \&i ,
+and
+.Sx \&r .
+.
+.
+.Ss \&BI
+Text is rendered alternately in bold face and italic. Thus,
+.Sq .BI this word and that
+causes
+.Sq this
+and
+.Sq and
+to render in bold face, while
+.Sq word
+and
+.Sq that
+render in italics. Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
+.Pp
+Examples:
+.Pp
+.D1 \&.BI bold italic bold italic
+.Pp
+The output of this example will be emboldened
+.Dq bold
+and italicised
+.Dq italic ,
+with spaces stripped between arguments.
+.Pp
+See also
+.Sx \&IB ,
+.Sx \&BR ,
+.Sx \&RB ,
+.Sx \&RI ,
+and
+.Sx \&IR .
+.
+.
+.Ss \&BR
+Text is rendered alternately in bold face and roman (the default font).
+Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
+.Pp
See
-.Xr mdoc 7
-for groff compatibility notes.
-.\" SECTION
+.Sx \&BI
+for an equivalent example.
+.Pp
+See also
+.Sx \&BI ,
+.Sx \&IB ,
+.Sx \&RB ,
+.Sx \&RI ,
+and
+.Sx \&IR .
+.
+.
+.Ss \&DT
+Has no effect. Included for compatibility.
+.
+.
+.Ss \&HP
+Begin a paragraph whose initial output line is left-justified, but
+subsequent output lines are indented, with the following syntax:
+.Bd -filled -offset indent
+.Pf \. Sx \&HP
+.Op Cm width
+.Ed
+.Pp
+The
+.Cm width
+argument must conform to
+.Sx Scaling Widths .
+If specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if unspecified, the
+saved or default width is used.
+.Pp
+See also
+.Sx \&IP ,
+.Sx \&LP ,
+.Sx \&P ,
+.Sx \&PP ,
+and
+.Sx \&TP .
+.
+.
+.Ss \&I
+Text is rendered in italics.
+.Pp
+See also
+.Sx \&B ,
+.Sx \&R ,
+.Sx \&b ,
+.Sx \&i ,
+and
+.Sx \&r .
+.
+.
+.Ss \&IB
+Text is rendered alternately in italics and bold face. Whitespace
+between arguments is omitted in output.
+.Pp
+See
+.Sx \&BI
+for an equivalent example.
+.Pp
+See also
+.Sx \&BI ,
+.Sx \&BR ,
+.Sx \&RB ,
+.Sx \&RI ,
+and
+.Sx \&IR .
+.
+.
+.Ss \&IP
+Begin an indented paragraph with the following syntax:
+.Bd -filled -offset indent
+.Pf \. Sx \&IP
+.Op Cm head Op Cm width
+.Ed
+.Pp
+The
+.Cm width
+argument defines the width of the left margin and is defined by
+.Sx Scaling Widths ,
+It's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if unspecified, the saved or
+default width is used.
+.Pp
+The
+.Cm head
+argument is used as a leading term, flushed to the left margin. This is
+useful for bulleted paragraphs and so on.
+.Pp
+See also
+.Sx \&HP ,
+.Sx \&LP ,
+.Sx \&P ,
+.Sx \&PP ,
+and
+.Sx \&TP .
+.
+.
+.Ss \&IR
+Text is rendered alternately in italics and roman (the default font).
+Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
+.Pp
+See
+.Sx \&BI
+for an equivalent example.
+.Pp
+See also
+.Sx \&BI ,
+.Sx \&IB ,
+.Sx \&BR ,
+.Sx \&RB ,
+and
+.Sx \&RI .
+.
+.
+.Ss \&LP
+Begin an undecorated paragraph. The scope of a paragraph is closed by a
+subsequent paragraph, sub-section, section, or end of file. The saved
+paragraph left-margin width is re-set to the default.
+.Pp
+See also
+.Sx \&HP ,
+.Sx \&IP ,
+.Sx \&P ,
+.Sx \&PP ,
+and
+.Sx \&TP .
+.
+.
+.Ss \&P
+Synonym for
+.Sx \&LP .
+.Pp
+See also
+.Sx \&HP ,
+.Sx \&IP ,
+.Sx \&LP ,
+.Sx \&PP ,
+and
+.Sx \&TP .
+.
+.
+.Ss \&PP
+Synonym for
+.Sx \&LP .
+.Pp
+See also
+.Sx \&HP ,
+.Sx \&IP ,
+.Sx \&LP ,
+.Sx \&P ,
+and
+.Sx \&TP .
+.
+.
+.Ss \&R
+Text is rendered in roman (the default font).
+.Pp
+See also
+.Sx \&I ,
+.Sx \&B ,
+.Sx \&b ,
+.Sx \&i ,
+and
+.Sx \&r .
+.
+.
+.Ss \&RB
+Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and bold face.
+Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
+.Pp
+See
+.Sx \&BI
+for an equivalent example.
+.Pp
+See also
+.Sx \&BI ,
+.Sx \&IB ,
+.Sx \&BR ,
+.Sx \&RI ,
+and
+.Sx \&IR .
+.
+.
+.Ss \&RE
+Explicitly close out the scope of a prior
+.Sx \&RS .
+.
+.
+.Ss \&RI
+Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and italics.
+Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
+.Pp
+See
+.Sx \&BI
+for an equivalent example.
+.Pp
+See also
+.Sx \&BI ,
+.Sx \&IB ,
+.Sx \&BR ,
+.Sx \&RB ,
+and
+.Sx \&IR .
+.
+.
+.Ss \&RS
+Begin a part setting the left margin. The left margin controls the
+offset, following an initial indentation, to un-indented text such as
+that of
+.Sx \&PP .
+This has the following syntax:
+.Bd -filled -offset indent
+.Pf \. Sx \&Rs
+.Op Cm width
+.Ed
+.Pp
+The
+.Cm width
+argument must conform to
+.Sx Scaling Widths .
+If not specified, the saved or default width is used.
+.
+.
+.Ss \&SB
+Text is rendered in small size (one point smaller than the default font)
+bold face.
+.
+.
+.Ss \&SH
+Begin a section. The scope of a section is only closed by another
+section or the end of file. The paragraph left-margin width is re-set
+to the default.
+.
+.
+.Ss \&SM
+Text is rendered in small size (one point smaller than the default
+font).
+.
+.
+.Ss \&SS
+Begin a sub-section. The scope of a sub-section is closed by a
+subsequent sub-section, section, or end of file. The paragraph
+left-margin width is re-set to the default.
+.
+.
+.Ss \&TH
+Sets the title of the manual page with the following syntax:
+.Bd -filled -offset indent
+.Pf \. Sx \&TH
+.Cm title section
+.Op Cm date Op Cm source Op Cm volume
+.Ed
+.Pp
+At least the upper-case document title
+.Cm title
+and numeric manual section
+.Cm section
+arguments must be provided. The
+.Cm date
+argument should be formatted as described in
+.Sx Dates :
+if it does not conform, the current date is used instead. The
+.Cm source
+string specifies the organisation providing the utility. The
+.Cm volume
+string replaces the default rendered volume, which is dictated by the
+manual section.
+.Pp
+Examples:
+.Pp
+.D1 \&.TH CVS 5 "1992-02-12" GNU
+.
+.
+.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
+buffer to the indentation width. Subsequent output lines are indented.
+The syntax is as follows:
+.Bd -filled -offset indent
+.Pf \. Sx \&TP
+.Op Cm width
+.Ed
+.Pp
+The
+.Cm width
+argument must conform to
+.Sx Scaling Widths .
+If specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if
+unspecified, the saved or default width is used.
+.Pp
+See also
+.Sx \&HP ,
+.Sx \&IP ,
+.Sx \&LP ,
+.Sx \&P ,
+and
+.Sx \&PP .
+.\" .
+.\" .
+.\" .Ss \&PD
+.\" Has no effect. Included for compatibility.
+.\" .
+.\" .
+.\" .Ss \&UC
+.\" Has no effect. Included for compatibility.
+.
+.
+.Ss \&br
+Breaks the current line. Consecutive invocations have no further effect.
+.Pp
+See also
+.Sx \&sp .
+.
+.
+.Ss \&fi
+End literal mode begun by
+.Sx \&nf .
+.
+.
+.Ss \&i
+Italicise arguments. Synonym for
+.Sx \&I .
+.Pp
+See also
+.Sx \&B ,
+.Sx \&I ,
+.Sx \&R .
+.Sx \&b ,
+and
+.Sx \&r .
+.
+.
+.Ss \&na
+Don't align to the right margin.
+.
+.
+.Ss \&nf
+Begin literal mode: all subsequent free-form lines have their end of
+line boundaries preserved. May be ended by
+.Sx \&fi .
+.
+.
+.Ss \&r
+Fonts and styles (bold face, italics) reset to roman (default font).
+.Pp
+See also
+.Sx \&B ,
+.Sx \&I ,
+.Sx \&R ,
+.Sx \&b ,
+and
+.Sx \&i .
+.
+.
+.Ss \&sp
+Insert vertical spaces into output with the following syntax:
+.Bd -filled -offset indent
+.Pf \. Sx \&sp
+.Op Cm height
+.Ed
+.Pp
+Insert
+.Cm height
+spaces, which must conform to
+.Sx Scaling Widths .
+If 0, this is equivalent to the
+.Sx \&br
+macro. Defaults to 1, if unspecified.
+.Pp
+See also
+.Sx \&br .
+.
+.\" .Ss \&Sp
+.\" A synonym for
+.\" .Sx \&sp
+.\" .Cm 0.5v .
+.\" .
+.\" .Ss \&Vb
+.\" A synonym for
+.\" .Sx \&nf .
+.\" Accepts an argument (the height of the formatted space) which is
+.\" disregarded.
+.\" .
+.\" .Ss \&Ve
+.\" A synonym for
+.\" .Sx \&fi .
+.\" .
+.
+.Sh COMPATIBILITY
+This section documents areas of questionable portability between
+implementations of the
+.Nm
+language.
+.Pp
+.Bl -dash -compact
+.It
+In quoted literals, GNU troff allowed pair-wise double-quotes to produce
+a standalone double-quote in formatted output. It is not known whether
+this behaviour is exhibited by other formatters.
+.It
+Blocks of whitespace are stripped from macro and free-form text lines
+(except when in literal mode) in mandoc. This is not the case for GNU
+troff: for maximum portability, whitespace sensitive blocks should be
+enclosed in literal contexts.
+.It
+The
+.Sx \&sp
+macro does not accept negative values in mandoc. In GNU troff, this
+would result in strange behaviour.
+.El
+.
+.
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr mandoc 1 ,
.Xr mandoc_char 7
-.\" SECTION
+.
+.
.Sh AUTHORS
The
.Nm
-utility was written by
+reference was written by
.An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq kristaps@kth.se .
-.\" SECTION
+.
+.
.Sh CAVEATS
Do not use this language. Use
.Xr mdoc 7 ,
instead.
+.