- DESCRIPTION + DESCRIPTION

- mdocml is a suite of tools compiling -mdoc, the roff macro package - of choice for BSD manual pages, and -man, the predominant historical package for UNIX - manuals. The mission of mdocml is to deprecate groff, the GNU roff implementation, for - displaying -mdoc pages whilst providing token support for -man. + mdocml is a suite of tools compiling -mdoc, the + roff macro package of choice for BSD manual pages, and -man, the + predominant historical package for UNIX manuals. The mission of mdocml is to + deprecate groff, the GNU troff + implementation, for displaying -mdoc pages whilst providing token support for -man.

Why? groff amounts to over 5 MB of source code, most of which is C++ and all of which is GPL. It runs slowly, produces uncertain output, and varies in operation from system to system. mdocml strives to fix - this (respectively small, C, ISC-licensed, fast and regular). + this (respectively small, C, ISC-licensed, fast and regular).

- The core of mdocml is composed of the libmdoc and libman - validating compiler libraries. Both are simple, fast libraries operating on memory buffers, so they may - be used for a variety of front-ends (terminal-based, CGI and so on). The primary front-end is - mandoc, which formats manuals for display on the terminal. + mdocml consists of the libmdoc, libman, and libroff validating compilers; and mandoc, which interfaces with the compiler libraries to format output for UNIX + terminals, XHTML, HTML, and PostScript. mdocml is a BSD.lv project.

- The mdocml utility is a BSD.lv - Project member. + Disambiguation: mdocml is often referred to by its installed binary, + mandoc.

- SOURCES + SOURCES

- Sources correctly build and install on DragonFly BSD, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, and GNU/Linux operating - systems, tested variously on i386, AMD64, alpha, and others. The most current version is @VERSION@, dated @VDATE@. A full ChangeLog (txt) is written with each release. + mdocml is architecture- and system-neutral, written in plain-old C. The most + current version is @VERSION@, dated @VDATE@. A full + ChangeLog (txt) is written with each release.

@@ -81,7 +82,7 @@

Online source

- cvsweb + cvsweb

- DOCUMENTATION + DOCUMENTATION

- These manuals are generated automatically and refer to the current snapshot. + These manuals are generated automatically and refer to the current snapshot.

@@ -159,85 +160,240 @@ - - + + - - + + + + + + - - + + - - + + - - + + - - + + - - + +

mandoc(1) (text)	format and display UNIX manuals	man(3)	+ man macro compiler library + + (text \| postscript) + +
mandoc_char(7) (text)	mandoc special characters	man(7)	+ man language reference + + (text \| postscript) + +
mandoc(1)	+ format and display UNIX manuals + + (text \| postscript) + +
mdoc(7) (text)	mdoc language reference	mandoc_char(7)	+ mandoc special characters + + (text \| postscript) + +
man(7) (text)	man language reference	mdoc(3)	+ mdoc macro compiler library + + (text \| postscript) + +
manuals(7) (text)	a guide to writing UNIX manuals	mdoc(7)	+ mdoc language reference + + (text \| postscript) + +
mdoc(3) (text)	mdoc macro compiler library	roff(3)	+ roff macro compiler library + + (text \| postscript) + +
man(3) (text)	man macro compiler library	roff(7)	+ roff-mandoc language reference + + (text \| postscript) + +

+ +

+ See Writing UNIX Manual Pages for a general + introduction to manpages and mdoc. +

- CONTACT + CONTACT

- For all issues related to mdocml, contact Kristaps Dzonsons, kris...@bsd.lv. + Please use the mailing lists for bug-reports, patches, questions, etc. Beyond that, contact + Kristaps at kris...@bsd.lv.

- If you want to receive a semi-automated mail-out of new releases, then please write with a message - subject of subscribe mdocml (or unsubscribe mdocml). + You may also subscribe to several mailing lists (these require subscription, which is + moderated). An archive is not yet available on-line, although you may request one once + subscribed.

- NEWS -

- - +

+ + - - + + + + + + + + +

18-02-2010	- Moved to our new BSD.lv home. - Version 1.9.15 highlights: XHTML is now an acceptable - output mode for mandoc(1); Xr made more - compatible with groff; Vt fixed when invoked in SYNOPSIS; \\ - escape removed; end-of-line white-space detected for all lines; subtle bug - fixed in list display for some modes; compatibility layer checked in for - compilation in diverse UNIX systems; and column lengths handled correctly. +	+ disc...@mdocml.bsd.lv	bug-reports, general questions, and announcements
+ tec...@mdocml.bsd.lv +	patches and system discussions
+ sou...@mdocml.bsd.lv +	source commit messages

+ NEWS +

+ 12-07-2010: + version 1.10.4 +

+ Lots of features developed during both Summer of Code and the + OpenBSD c2k10 hackathon: +

minimal ds roff symbols are supported
Bk mdoc support
beautified SYNOPSIS section output
variable font-width and paper-size support in mandoc + -Tps output
acceptance of scope-block breakage in mdoc
clarify error message status
many minor bug-fixes and formatting issues resolved

+ 19-06-2010: + version 1.10.2 +

+ Small release featuring text-decoration in -Tps output, a few + minor relaxations of errors, and some optimisations. +

+ 07-06-2010: + version 1.10.1 +

+ This primarily focusses on the Bl and It macros described in mdoc. Multi-line column support is now fully compatible with + groff, as are implicit list entries for columns. Removed manuals.7 in favour of http://manpages.bsd.lv. The way we + handle the SYNOPSIS section (see the SYNOPSIS documentation in MANUAL STRUCTURE) has also + been considerably simplified compared to groff's method. Furthermore, the -Owidth=width output option has been added to -Tascii (see mandoc). Lastly, initial + PostScript output has been added with the -Tps option to mandoc. It's brutally simple at the moment: fixed-font, with + no font decorations. +

+ 29-05-2010: + version 1.10.0 +

+ Release consisting of the results from the m2k10 hackathon and up-merge from OpenBSD. + This requires a significant note of thanks to Ingo Schwarze (OpenBSD) and Joerg + Sonnenberger (NetBSD) for their hard work, and again to Joerg for hosting m2k10. + Highlights (mostly cribbed from Ingo's m2k10 report) follow in no particular order: +

a libroff preprocessor in front of libmdoc and libman stripping out + roff instructions;
end-of-sentence (EOS) detection in free-form and macro lines;
correct handling of tab-separated columnar lists in -mdoc;
improved main calling routines to optionally use mmap() for better + performance;
cleaned up exiting when invoked as -Tlint or over + multiple files with -fign-errors;
error and warning message handling re-written to be unified for libroff, libmdoc, and libman;
handling of badly-nested explicit-scoped macros;
improved free-form text parsing in libman and libmdoc;
significant GNU troff compatibility improvements in -Tascii, largely in terms of spacing;
a regression framework for making sure the many fragilities of GNU troff + aren't trampled in subsequent work;
support for -Tascii breaking at hyphens + encountered in free-form text;
and many more minor fixes and improvements (no really, consult cvsweb and see + for yourself!).

+ See cvsweb for + historical notes. +