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Diffstat (limited to 'man.7')
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1 files changed, 179 insertions, 398 deletions
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@ -.\" $Id: man.7,v 1.110 2011/09/20 22:46:47 schwarze Exp $ +.\" $Id: man.7,v 1.111 2011/09/26 23:07:31 schwarze Exp $ .\" -.\" Copyright (c) 2009, 2010 Kristaps Dzonsons <kristaps@bsd.lv> +.\" Copyright (c) 2009, 2010, 2011 Kristaps Dzonsons <kristaps@bsd.lv> +.\" Copyright (c) 2011 Ingo Schwarze <schwarze@openbsd.org> .\" .\" Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any .\" purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above @@ -14,281 +15,68 @@ .\" ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF .\" OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE. .\" -.Dd $Mdocdate: September 20 2011 $ +.Dd $Mdocdate: September 26 2011 $ .Dt MAN 7 .Os .Sh NAME .Nm man -.Nd man language reference +.Nd legacy formatting language for manual pages .Sh DESCRIPTION -The +Traditionally, the .Nm man -language was historically used to format +language has been used to write .Ux -manuals. -This reference document describes its syntax, structure, and usage. +manuals for the +.Xr man 1 +utility. +It supports limited control of presentational details like fonts, +indentation and spacing. +This reference document describes the structure of manual pages +and the syntax and usage of the man language. .Pp .Bf -emphasis Do not use .Nm -to write your manuals. +to write your manuals: .Ef +It lacks support for semantic markup. Use the .Xr mdoc 7 language, instead. .Pp -A +In a .Nm -document follows simple rules: lines beginning with the control -character +document, lines beginning with the control character .Sq \&. -are parsed for macros. -Lines not beginning with the control character are -interpreted within the scope of prior macros: +are called +.Dq macro lines . +The first word is the macro name. +It usually consists of two capital letters. +For a list of available macros, see +.Sx MACRO OVERVIEW . +The words following the macro name are arguments to the macro. +.Pp +Lines not beginning with the control character are called +.Dq text lines . +They provide free-form text to be printed; the formatting of the text +depends on the respective processing context: .Bd -literal -offset indent \&.SH Macro lines change control state. Text lines are interpreted within the current state. .Ed -.Sh LANGUAGE SYNTAX -.Nm -documents may contain only graphable 7-bit ASCII characters, the -space character, and the tab character. -The back-space character -.Sq \e -indicates the start of an escape sequence for -.Sx Comments , -.Sx Predefined Strings , -and -.Sx Special Characters . -.Ss Comments -Text following an escaped double-quote -.Sq \e\(dq , -whether in a macro or text line, is ignored to the end of -line. -A macro line beginning with a control character and comment escape -.Sq \&.\e\(dq -is also ignored. -Furthermore, -macro lines with only a control character and optional trailing -whitespace are -stripped from input. -.Pp -Examples: -.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact -\&.\e\(dq This is a comment line. -\&.\e\(dq The next line is ignored: -\&. -\&.Em Emphasis \e\(dq This is also a comment. -.Ed -.Ss Special Characters -Special characters are used to encode special glyphs and are rendered -differently across output media. -They may occur in both macro and text lines. -Sequences begin with the escape character -.Sq \e -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. -.Pp -Examples: -.Bl -tag -width Ds -offset indent -compact -.It Li \e(em -Two-letter em dash escape. -.It Li \ee -One-letter backslash escape. -.El -.Pp -See -.Xr mandoc_char 7 -for a complete list. -.Ss Text Decoration -Terms may be text-decorated using the -.Sq \ef -escape followed by an indicator: B (bold), I (italic), R (regular), or P -(revert to previous mode). -A numerical representation 3, 2, or 1 (bold, italic, and regular, -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 -The -.Sq \ef -attribute is forgotten when entering or exiting a macro block. -.Pp -Examples: -.Bl -tag -width Ds -offset indent -compact -.It Li \efBbold\efR -Write in bold, then switch to regular font mode. -.It Li \efIitalic\efP -Write in italic, then return to previous font mode. -.El -.Ss Predefined Strings -Predefined strings, like -.Sx Special Characters , -mark special output glyphs. -Predefined strings are escaped with the slash-asterisk, -.Sq \e* : -single-character -.Sq \e*X , -two-character -.Sq \e*(XX , -and N-character -.Sq \e*[N] . -.Pp -Examples: -.Bl -tag -width Ds -offset indent -compact -.It Li \e*(Am -Two-letter ampersand predefined string. -.It Li \e*q -One-letter double-quote predefined string. -.El .Pp -These strings are set using -.Xr roff 7 , -although +Many aspects of the basic syntax of the .Nm -consists of several pre-set escapes listed in -.Xr mandoc_char 7 . -.Ss Whitespace -Whitespace consists of the space character. -In text lines, whitespace is preserved within a line. -In macro lines, whitespace delimits arguments and is discarded. -.Pp -Unescaped trailing spaces are stripped from text line input unless in a -literal context. -In general, trailing whitespace on any input line is discouraged for -reasons of portability. -In the rare case that a blank character is needed at the end of an -input line, it may be forced by -.Sq \e\ \e& . -.Pp -In general, space characters can be rendered as literal -characters by using non-breaking space escapes or -.Sx Quotation . -If the first character of a text line is a space, that line is printed -with a leading newline. -.Ss Quotation -Macro arguments may be quoted with double-quotes to so that the -enclosed text is one literal term. -Quoted text, even if whitespace or if it would cause a macro invocation -when unquoted, is considered literal text. -.Pp -A quoted argument begins with a double-quote preceded by whitespace. -The next double-quote not pairwise adjacent to another double-quote -terminates the literal, regardless of surrounding whitespace. -.Pp -Examples: -.Bl -tag -width Ds -offset indent -compact -.It Li .BR a \(dqb c\(dq d -Group arguments -.Qq b c -into one un-bolded argument. -If unspecified, -.Qq a -and -.Qq c -will be in bold, -.Qq b -and -.Qq d -in regular font mode. -Furthermore, will be preserved between -.Qq b +language are based on the +.Xr roff 7 +language; see the +.Em LANGUAGE SYNTAX and -.Qq c . -.El -.Ss Scaling Widths -Many macros support scaled widths for their arguments. -The syntax for a scaled width 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. -.Pp -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. -See -.Sx COMPATIBILITY . -.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. -.Pp -Examples: -.Bl -tag -width Ds -offset indent -compact -.It \&.HP 2i -two-inch tagged list indentation -.Pq see Sx \&HP -.It \&.sp 2v -two vertical spaces -.Pq see Sx \&sp -.El -.Ss Sentence Spacing -Sentences should terminate at the end of an input line. -By doing this, a formatter will be able to apply the proper amount of -spacing after the end of sentence (unescaped) period, exclamation mark, -or question mark followed by zero or more non-sentence closing -delimiters -.Po -.Sq \&) , -.Sq \&] , -.Sq \&' , -.Sq \&" -.Pc . -.Pp -Examples: -.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact -Do not end sentences mid-line like this. Instead, -end a sentence like this. -A new sentence gets a new line. -.Ed +.Em MACRO SYNTAX +sections in the +.Xr roff 7 +manual for details, in particular regarding +comments, escape sequences, whitespace, and quoting. .Sh MANUAL STRUCTURE Each .Nm @@ -300,7 +88,7 @@ appears as the first macro. .Pp Beyond .Sx \&TH , -at least one macro or text node must appear in the document. +at least one macro or text line must appear in the document. .Pp The following is a well-formed skeleton .Nm @@ -445,150 +233,6 @@ in this section. .It Em SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS Documents any security precautions that operators should consider. .El -.Sh MACRO SYNTAX -Macros are one to three characters in length and begin with a -control character, -.Sq \&. , -at the beginning of the line. -The -.Sq \(aq -macro control character is also accepted. -An arbitrary amount of whitespace (spaces or tabs) may sit between the -control character and the macro name. -Thus, the following are equivalent: -.Bd -literal -offset indent -\&.PP -\&.\ \ \ PP -.Ed -.Pp -To include space characters in macro arguments, arguments may be quoted; -see the -.Sq MACRO SYNTAX -section in the -.Xr roff 7 -manual for details. -.Pp -The -.Nm -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 \&.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, except for -.Sx \&br , -.Sx \&sp , -and -.Sx \&na . -.Pp -The syntax is as follows: -.Bd -literal -offset indent -\&.YO \(lBbody...\(rB -\(lBbody...\(rB -.Ed -.Bl -column "MacroX" "ArgumentsX" "ScopeXXXXX" "CompatX" -offset indent -.It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments Ta Em Scope Ta Em Notes -.It Sx \&AT Ta <=1 Ta current Ta \& -.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 \&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 <=1 Ta current Ta \& -.It Sx \&br Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat -.It Sx \&fi Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat -.It Sx \&ft Ta 1 Ta current Ta compat -.It Sx \&in Ta 1 Ta current Ta compat -.It Sx \&na Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat -.It Sx \&nf Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat -.It Sx \&sp Ta 1 Ta current Ta compat -.El -.Pp -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 -manuals. -.Ss Block Macros -Block macros comprise a head and body. -As with 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 -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. -.Bl -column "MacroX" "ArgumentsX" "Head ScopeX" "sub-sectionX" "compatX" -offset indent -.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 -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 MACRO OVERVIEW This overview is sorted such that macros of similar purpose are listed together, to help find the best macro for any given purpose. @@ -628,7 +272,7 @@ in the alphabetical reference below. .It Sx RB Ta alternate between roman and boldface fonts .It Sx RI Ta alternate between roman and italic fonts .El -.Sh REFERENCE +.Sh MACRO REFERENCE This section is a canonical reference to all macros, arranged alphabetically. For the scoping of individual macros, see @@ -1003,6 +647,143 @@ Defaults to 1, if unspecified. .Pp See also .Sx \&br . +.Sh MACRO SYNTAX +The +.Nm +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 \&.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, except for +.Sx \&br , +.Sx \&sp , +and +.Sx \&na . +.Pp +The syntax is as follows: +.Bd -literal -offset indent +\&.YO \(lBbody...\(rB +\(lBbody...\(rB +.Ed +.Bl -column "MacroX" "ArgumentsX" "ScopeXXXXX" "CompatX" -offset indent +.It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments Ta Em Scope Ta Em Notes +.It Sx \&AT Ta <=1 Ta current Ta \& +.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 \&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 <=1 Ta current Ta \& +.It Sx \&br Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat +.It Sx \&fi Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat +.It Sx \&ft Ta 1 Ta current Ta compat +.It Sx \&in Ta 1 Ta current Ta compat +.It Sx \&na Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat +.It Sx \&nf Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat +.It Sx \&sp Ta 1 Ta current Ta compat +.El +.Pp +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 +manuals. +.Ss Block Macros +Block macros comprise a head and body. +As with 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 +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. +.Bl -column "MacroX" "ArgumentsX" "Head ScopeX" "sub-sectionX" "compatX" -offset indent +.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 +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. +.Ss Font handling +In +.Nm +documents, both +.Sx Physical markup +macros and +.Xr roff 7 +.Ql \ef +font escape sequences can be used to choose fonts. +In text lines, the effect of manual font selection by escape sequences +only lasts until the next macro invocation; in macro lines, it only lasts +until the end of the macro scope. +Note that macros like +.Sx \&BR +open and close a font scope for each argument. .Sh COMPATIBILITY This section documents areas of questionable portability between implementations of the |