Lint-check (removed unused variable).

[mandoc.git] / man.7

diff --git a/man.7 b/man.7
index fd65da30e6f3f592342e9774711b25b643efa9db..d99cf7218f01725173eaec9fcf75a902f13df3b5 100644 (file)
--- a/man.7
+++ b/man.7
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
-.\"    $Id: man.7,v 1.10 2009/04/12 19:45:26 kristaps Exp $
+.\"    $Id: man.7,v 1.19 2009/07/14 15:56:44 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
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 .\" 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 $
+.Dd $Mdocdate: July 14 2009 $
 .Dt MAN 7
 .Os
 .\" SECTION
@@ -27,13 +27,15 @@ The
 .Nm man
 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 Em
+Do not use 
 .Nm
-to write your manuals.  Use the
+to write your manuals.  
+.Ef
+Use the
 .Xr mdoc 7
 language, instead.
 .\" PARAGRAPH
@@ -52,12 +54,9 @@ Other lines are interpreted within the current state.
 .\" SECTION
 .Sh INPUT ENCODING
 .Nm
-documents may contain only graphable 7-bit ASCII characters and the
-space character
-.Sq \  .
-All manuals must have
+documents may contain only graphable 7-bit ASCII characters, the
+space character, and the tabs character.  All manuals must have
 .Ux
-.Sq \en
 line termination.  
 .Pp
 Blank lines are acceptable; where found, the output will assert a
@@ -70,6 +69,16 @@ escape is common in historical
 documents; if encountered at the end of a word, it ensures that the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
 .Ss Special Characters
 Special character sequences begin with the escape character
 .Sq \e
@@ -83,9 +92,33 @@ or a single one-character sequence.
 .Pp
 Characters may alternatively be escaped by a slash-asterisk,
 .Sq \e* ,
-with the same combinations as described above.  This form is deprecated.  
+with the same combinations as described above.
+.Pp
+Terms may also be text-decorated using the
+.Sq \ef
+escape followed by a text-decoration letter: B (bold), I, (italic), or P
+and R (Roman, or reset).
+.\" SUB-SECTION
+.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
+Each
+.Nm
+document must contain contains at least the
+.Sq \&.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 the 
+.Sq \&.TH ,
+at least one macro or text node must appear in the document.
+.\" SECTION
+.Sh SYNTAX
 Macros are one to three three characters in length and begin with a
 control character ,
 .Sq \&. ,
@@ -143,7 +176,7 @@ The
 .Sq \&.TP
 macro is similar, but does not need an empty argument line to trigger
 the behaviour.
-.\" PARAGRAPH
+.\" SECTION
 .Sh MACROS
 This section contains a complete list of all 
 .Nm
@@ -187,6 +220,11 @@ These follow the same calling conventions as the above
 .Nm
 macros.
 .\" SECTION
+.Sh COMPATIBILITY
+See
+.Xr mdoc 7
+for groff compatibility notes.
+.\" SECTION
 .Sh SEE ALSO
 .Xr mandoc 1 ,
 .Xr mandoc_char 7
@@ -195,7 +233,7 @@ macros.
 The
 .Nm
 utility was written by 
-.An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq kristaps@openbsd.org .
+.An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq kristaps@kth.se .
 .\" SECTION
 .Sh CAVEATS
 Do not use this language.  Use