-.\" $Id: mandoc_char.7,v 1.36 2010/04/13 05:26:49 kristaps Exp $
+.\" $Id: mandoc_char.7,v 1.42 2011/02/09 22:53:20 schwarze Exp $
.\"
.\" Copyright (c) 2009 Kristaps Dzonsons <kristaps@bsd.lv>
.\"
.\" 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 13 2010 $
+.Dd $Mdocdate: February 9 2011 $
.Dt MANDOC_CHAR 7
.Os
.Sh NAME
.El
.Pp
Brackets:
-.Bl -column -compact -offset indent "x[bracketrightbp]" Rendered Description
+.Bl -column -compact -offset indent "xxbracketrightbpx" Rendered Description
.It Em Input Ta Em Rendered Ta Em Description
.It \e(lB Ta \(lB Ta left bracket
.It \e(rB Ta \(rB Ta right bracket
.El
.Pp
Mathematical:
-.Bl -column -compact -offset indent "\[coproduct]X" "Rendered" "Description"
+.Bl -column -compact -offset indent "xxcoproductxx" "Rendered" "Description"
.It Em Input Ta Em Rendered Ta Em Description
.It \e(pl Ta \(pl Ta plus
.It \e(mi Ta \(mi Ta minus
.It \e*(aa Ta \*(aa Ta acute
.It \e*(ga Ta \*(ga Ta grave
.El
-.Sh COMPATIBILITY
-This section documents compatibility of
-.Nm
-with older or existing versions of
-.Xr groff 1 .
+.Sh NUMBERED CHARACTERS
+For backward compatibility with existing manuals,
+.Xr mandoc 1
+also supports the
.Pp
-The following render differently in
-.Fl T Ns Ar ascii
-output mode:
-.Bd -ragged -offset indent
-\e(ss, \e(nm, \e(nb, \e(nc, \e(ib, \e(ip, \e(pp, \e[sum], \e[product],
-\e[coproduct], \e(gr, \e(-h, \e(a.
-.Ed
+.Dl \eN\(aq Ns Ar number Ns \(aq
.Pp
-The following render differently in
-.Fl T Ns Ar html
-output mode:
-.Bd -ragged -offset indent
-\e(~=, \e(nb, \e(nc
-.Ed
+escape sequence, inserting the character
+.Ar number
+from the current character set into the output.
+Of course, this is inherently non-portable and is already marked
+as deprecated in the Heirloom roff manual.
+For example, do not use \eN'34', use \e(dq, or even the plain
+.Sq \(dq
+character where possible.
+.Sh COMPATIBILITY
+This section documents compatibility between mandoc and other other
+troff implementations, at this time limited to GNU troff
+.Pq Qq groff .
.Pp
-Finally, the following have been omitted by being poorly documented or
-having no known representation:
-.Bd -ragged -offset indent
-\e[radicalex], \e[sqrtex], \e(ru
-.Ed
+.Bl -dash -compact
+.It
+In
+.Fl T Ns Cm ascii ,
+the
+\e(ss, \e(nm, \e(nb, \e(nc, \e(ib, \e(ip, \e(pp, \e[sum], \e[product],
+\e[coproduct], \e(gr, \e(\-h, and \e(a. special characters render
+differently between mandoc and groff.
+.It
+In
+.Fl T Ns Cm html
+and
+.Fl T Ns Cm xhtml ,
+the \e(~=, \e(nb, and \e(nc special characters render differently
+between mandoc and groff.
+.It
+The
+.Fl T Ns Cm ps
+and
+.Fl T Ns Cm pdf
+modes format like
+.Fl T Ns Cm ascii
+instead of rendering glyphs as in groff.
+.It
+The \e[radicalex], \e[sqrtex], and \e(ru special characters have been omitted
+from mandoc either because they are poorly documented or they have no
+known representation.
+.El
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr mandoc 1
.Sh AUTHORS
.Nm
manual page was written by
.An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq kristaps@bsd.lv .
+.Sh CAVEATS
+The
+.Sq \e*(Ba
+escape mimics the behaviour of the
+.Sq \&|
+character in
+.Xr mdoc 7 ;
+thus, if you wish to render a vertical bar with no side effects, use
+the
+.Sq \e(ba
+escape.