mdoc.samples - tutorial sampler for writing BSD manuals with -mdoc
man mdoc.samples
A tutorial sampler for writing BSD manual pages with the -mdoc macro
package, a content-based and domain-based formatting package for
troff(1). Its predecessor, the -man package (see groff_man(7)),
addressed page layout leaving the manipulation of fonts and other typesetting
details to the individual author. In -mdoc, page layout macros
make up the PAGE STRUCTURE DOMAIN which consists of macros for titles,
section headers, displays and lists. Essentially items which affect the
physical position of text on a formatted page. In addition to the page
structure domain, there are two more domains, the manual domain and the
general text domain. The general text domain is defined as macros which
perform tasks such as quoting or emphasizing pieces of text. The manual
domain is defined as macros that are a subset of the day to day informal
language used to describe commands, routines and related BSD files.
Macros in the manual domain handle command names, command line arguments
and options, function names, function parameters, pathnames, variables,
cross references to other manual pages, and so on. These domain items
have value for both the author and the future user of the manual page.
It is hoped the consistency gained across the manual set will provide
easier translation to future documentation tools.
Throughout the UNIX manual pages, a manual entry is simply referred to as
a man page, regardless of actual length and without sexist intention.
Since a tutorial document is normally read when a person desires to use
the material immediately, the assumption has been made that the user of
this document may be impatient. The material presented in the remainder
of this document is outlined as follows:
1. TROFF IDIOSYNCRASIES
Macro Usage.
Passing Space Characters in an Argument.
Trailing Blank Space Characters (a warning).
Escaping Special Characters.
2. THE ANATOMY OF A MAN PAGE
A manual page template.
3. INTRODUCTION OF TITLE MACROS.
4. INTRODUCTION OF MANUAL AND GENERAL TEXT DOMAINS.
What's in a name....
General Syntax.
5. MANUAL DOMAIN
Addresses.
Arguments.
Configuration Declarations (section four only).
Command Modifier.
Defined Variables.
Errno's (Section two only).
Environment Variables.
Function Argument.
Function Declaration.
Flags.
Functions (library routines).
Function Types.
Interactive Commands.
Literals.
Names.
Options.
Pathnames.
Variables.
Cross References.
6. GENERAL TEXT DOMAIN
ATT Macro.
BSD Macro.
BSD/OS Macro.
FreeBSD Macro.
NetBSD Macro.
OpenBSD Macro.
UNIX Macro.
Emphasis Macro.
Enclosure/Quoting Macros
Angle Bracket Quote/Enclosure.
Bracket Quotes/Enclosure.
Double Quote macro/Enclosure.
Parenthesis Quote/Enclosure.
Single Quotes/Enclosure.
Prefix Macro.
Extended Arguments.
No-Op or Normal Text Macro.
No Space Macro.
Section Cross References.
Symbolic Macro.
References and Citations.
Trade Names (Acronyms and Type Names).
7. PAGE STRUCTURE DOMAIN
Section Headers.
Paragraphs and Line Spacing.
Keeps.
Displays.
Lists and Columns.
8. PREDEFINED STRINGS
9. DIAGNOSTICS
10. FORMATTING WITH GROFF, TROFF AND NROFF
11. BUGS
The -mdoc package attempts to simplify the process of writing a man page.
Theoretically, one should not have to learn the dirty details of troff(1)
to use -mdoc; however, there are a few limitations which are unavoidable
and best gotten out of the way. And, too, be forewarned, this package is
not fast.
Macro Usage [Toc] [Back]
As in troff(1), a macro is called by placing a `.' (dot character) at the
beginning of a line followed by the two character name for the macro.
Arguments may follow the macro separated by spaces. It is the dot character
at the beginning of the line which causes troff(1) to interpret the
next two characters as a macro name. To place a `.' (dot character) at
the beginning of a line in some context other than a macro invocation,
precede the `.' (dot) with the `\' escape sequence. The `\' translates
literally to a zero width space, and is never displayed in the output.
In general, troff(1) macros accept up to nine arguments, any extra arguments
are ignored. Most macros in -mdoc accept nine arguments and, in
limited cases, arguments may be continued or extended on the next line
(See Extended Arguments). A few macros handle quoted arguments (see
Passing Space Characters in an Argument below).
Most of the -mdoc general text domain and manual domain macros are special
in that their argument lists are parsed for callable macro names.
This means an argument on the argument list which matches a general text
or manual domain macro name and is determined to be callable will be executed
or called when it is processed. In this case the argument,
although the name of a macro, is not preceded by a `.' (dot). It is in
this manner that many macros are nested; for example the option macro,
`.Op', may call the flag and argument macros, `Fl' and `Ar', to specify
an optional flag with an argument:
[-s bytes] is produced by .Op Fl s Ar bytes
To prevent a two character string from being interpreted as a macro name,
precede the string with the escape sequence `\':
[Fl s Ar bytes] is produced by .Op \Fl s \Ar bytes
Here the strings `Fl' and `Ar' are not interpreted as macros. Macros
whose argument lists are parsed for callable arguments are referred to as
parsed and macros which may be called from an argument list are referred
to as callable throughout this document and in the companion quick reference
manual mdoc(7). This is a technical faux pas as almost all of the
macros in -mdoc are parsed, but as it was cumbersome to constantly refer
to macros as being callable and being able to call other macros, the term
parsed has been used.
Passing Space Characters in an Argument [Toc] [Back]
Sometimes it is desirable to give as one argument a string containing one
or more blank space characters. This may be necessary to defeat the nine
argument limit or to specify arguments to macros which expect particular
arrangement of items in the argument list. For example, the function
macro `.Fn' expects the first argument to be the name of a function and
any remaining arguments to be function parameters. As ANSI C stipulates
the declaration of function parameters in the parenthesized parameter
list, each parameter is guaranteed to be at minimum a two word string.
For example, int foo.
There are two possible ways to pass an argument which contains an embedded
space. Implementation note: Unfortunately, the most convenient way
of passing spaces in between quotes by reassigning individual arguments
before parsing was fairly expensive speed wise and space wise to implement
in all the macros for ATT troff(1). It is not expensive for
groff(1) but for the sake of portability, has been limited to the following
macros which need it the most:
Cd Configuration declaration (section 4 SYNOPSIS)
Bl Begin list (for the width specifier).
Em Emphasized text.
Fn Functions (sections two and four).
It List items.
Li Literal text.
Sy Symbolic text.
%B Book titles.
%J Journal names.
%O Optional notes for a reference.
%R Report title (in a reference).
%T Title of article in a book or journal.
One way of passing a string containing blank spaces is to use the hard or
unpaddable space character `\ ', that is, a blank space preceded by the
escape character `\'. This method may be used with any macro but has the
side effect of interfering with the adjustment of text over the length of
a line. troff(1) sees the hard space as if it were any other printable
character and cannot split the string into blank or newline separated
pieces as one would expect. The method is useful for strings which are
not expected to overlap a line boundary. For example:
fetch(char *str) is created by `.Fn fetch char\ *str'
fetch(char *str) can also be created by `.Fn fetch "*char *str"'
If the `\' or quotes were omitted, `.Fn' would see three arguments and
the result would be:
fetch(char, *str)
For an example of what happens when the parameter list overlaps a newline
boundary, see the BUGS section.
Trailing Blank Space Characters [Toc] [Back]
troff(1) can be confused by blank space characters at the end of a line.
It is a wise preventive measure to globally remove all blank spaces from
<blank-space><end-of-line> character sequences. Should the need arise to
force a blank character at the end of a line, it may be forced with an
unpaddable space and the `\' escape character. For example, `string\ \'.
Escaping Special Characters [Toc] [Back]
Special characters like the newline character `\n', are handled by
replacing the `\' with `\e' (e.g. `\en') to preserve the backslash.
THE ANATOMY OF A MAN PAGE [Toc] [Back] The body of a man page is easily constructed from a basic template found
in the file:
.\" /usr/share/misc/mdoc.template:
.\" The following six lines are required.
.Dd Month day, year
.Os
.Dt DOCUMENT_TITLE SECTION_NUMBER [MACHINE]
.Sh NAME
.\" This next request is for sections 2 and 3 only; see next comment.
.Sh LIBRARY
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Sh DESCRIPTION
.\" The following requests should be uncommented and
.\" used where appropriate. This next request is for
.\" sections 1 and 8 exit statuses only.
.\" .Sh EXIT STATUS
.\" This next request is for sections 2 and 3 function return
.\" values only.
.\" .Sh RETURN VALUES
.\" This next request is for sections 1, 6, 7 8 only
.\" .Sh ENVIRONMENT
.\" .Sh FILES
.\" .Sh EXAMPLES
.\" This next request is for sections 1, 6, 7 8 only
.\" (command return values (to shell) and
.\" fprintf/stderr type diagnostics)
.\" .Sh DIAGNOSTICS
.\" The next request is for sections 2 and 3 error
.\" and signal handling only.
.\" .Sh ERRORS
.\" .Sh SEE ALSO
.\" .Sh STANDARDS
.\" .Sh HISTORY
.\" .Sh AUTHORS
.\" .Sh BUGS
.\" .Sh SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
The first items in the template are the macros (.Dd, .Os, .Dt); the document
date, the operating system the man page or subject source is developed
or modified for (should have no argument by default), and the man
page title (in upper case) along with the section of the manual the page
belongs in, and optionally the machine if it is machine specific. These
macros identify the page, and are discussed below in TITLE MACROS.
The remaining items in the template are section headers (.Sh); of which
NAME, SYNOPSIS and DESCRIPTION are mandatory. The headers are discussed
in PAGE STRUCTURE DOMAIN, after presentation of MANUAL DOMAIN. Several
content macros are used to demonstrate page layout macros; reading about
content macros before page layout macros is recommended.
The title macros are the first portion of the page structure domain, but
are presented first and separate for someone who wishes to start writing
a man page yesterday. Three header macros designate the document title
or manual page title, the operating system, and the date of authorship.
These macros are one called once at the very beginning of the document
and are used to construct the headers and footers only.
.Dt DOCUMENT_TITLE SECTION_NUMBER [MACHINE]
The document title is the subject of the man page and must be in
CAPITALS due to troff limitations. The section number may be
1, ..., 9, and the machine should be the machine the man page is
for (that is, the NetBSD port to which it applies).
.Os operating_system release#
This should have no argument on NetBSD man pages by default.
Otherwise, the name of the operating system should be the common
acronym, e.g. BSD or ATT. The release should be the standard
release nomenclature for the system specified, e.g. 4.3,
4.3+Tahoe, V.3, V.4. Unrecognized arguments are displayed as
given in the page footer. For instance, a typical footer might
be:
.Os BSD 4.3
or for a locally produced set
.Os CS Department
The Berkeley default, `.Os' without an argument, has been defined
as the current NetBSD version, see
/usr/share/tmac/tmac.doc-common. Note, if the `.Os' macro is not
present, the bottom left corner of the page will be ugly.
.Dd month day, year
The date should be written formally:
January 25, 1989
Note that the date must not be placed in quotes!
What's in a name...
The manual domain macro names are derived from the day to day informal
language used to describe commands, subroutines and related files.
Slightly different variations of this language are used to describe the
three different aspects of writing a man page. First, there is the
description of -mdoc macro request usage. Second is the description of a
UNIX command with -mdoc macros and third, the description of a command to
a user in the verbal sense; that is, discussion of a command in the text
of a man page.
In the first case, troff(1) macros are themselves a type of command; the
general syntax for a troff command is:
.Va argument1 argument2 ... argument9
The `.Va' is a macro command or request, and anything following it is an
argument to be processed. In the second case, the description of a UNIX
command using the content macros is a bit more involved; a typical
SYNOPSIS command line might be displayed as:
filter [-flag] infile outfile
Here, filter is the command name and the bracketed string -flag is a flag
argument designated as optional by the option brackets. In -mdoc terms,
infile and outfile are called arguments. The macros which formatted the
above example:
.Nm filter
.Op Fl flag
.Ar infile outfile
In the third case, discussion of commands and command syntax includes
both examples above, but may add more detail. The arguments infile and
outfile from the example above might be referred to as operands or file
arguments. Some command line argument lists are quite long:
make [-eiknqrstv] [-D variable] [-d flags] [-f makefile]
[-I directory] [-j max_jobs] [variable=value] [target ...]
Here one might talk about the command make and qualify the argument
makefile, as an argument to the flag, -f, or discuss the optional file
operand target. In the verbal context, such detail can prevent confusion,
however the -mdoc package does not have a macro for an argument to
a flag. Instead the `Ar' argument macro is used for an operand or file
argument like target as well as an argument to a flag like variable. The
make command line was produced from:
.Nm make
.Op Fl eiknqrstv
.Op Fl D Ar variable
.Op Fl d Ar flags
.Op Fl f Ar makefile
.Op Fl I Ar directory
.Op Fl j Ar max_jobs
.Op Ar variable=value
.Bk -words
.Op Ar target ...
.Ek
The `.Bk' and `.Ek' macros are explained in Keeps.
General Syntax [Toc] [Back]
The manual domain and general text domain macros share a similar syntax
with a few minor deviations: `.Ar', `.Fl', `.Nm', and `.Pa' differ only
when called without arguments; `.Fn' and `.Xr' impose an order on their
argument lists and the `.Op' and `.Fn' macros have nesting limitations.
All content macros are capable of recognizing and properly handling punctuation,
provided each punctuation character is separated by a leading
space. If a request is given:
.Li sptr, ptr),
The result is:
sptr, ptr),
The punctuation is not recognized and all is output in the literal font.
If the punctuation is separated by a leading white space:
.Li sptr , ptr ) ,
The result is:
sptr, ptr),
The punctuation is now recognized and is output in the default font distinguishing
it from the strings in literal font.
To remove the special meaning from a punctuation character escape it with
`\'. troff(1) is limited as a macro language, and has difficulty when
presented with a string containing a member of the mathematical, logical
or quotation set:
{+,-,/,*,%,<,>,<=,>=,=,==,,`,',"}
The problem is that troff(1) may assume it is supposed to actually perform
the operation or evaluation suggested by the characters. To prevent
the accidental evaluation of these characters, escape them with `\'.
Typical syntax is shown in the first content macro displayed below,
`.Ad'.
Address Macro [Toc] [Back]
The address macro identifies an address construct of the form
addr1[,addr2[,addr3]].
Usage: .Ad address ...
.Ad addr1 addr1
.Ad addr1 . addr1.
.Ad addr1 , file2 addr1, file2
.Ad f1 , f2 , f3 : f1, f2, f3:
.Ad addr ) ) , addr)),
It is an error to call .Ad without arguments. .Ad is callable by other
macros and is parsed.
Argument Macro [Toc] [Back]
The .Ar argument macro may be used whenever a command line argument is
referenced.
Usage: .Ar argument ...
.Ar file ...
.Ar file1 file1
.Ar file1 . file1.
.Ar file1 file2 file1 file2
.Ar f1 f2 f3 : f1 f2 f3:
.Ar file ) ) , file)),
If .Ar is called without arguments `file ...' is assumed. The .Ar macro
is parsed and is callable.
Configuration Declaration (section four only) [Toc] [Back]
The `.Cd' macro is used to demonstrate a config(8) declaration for a
device interface in a section four manual. This macro accepts quoted
arguments (double quotes only).
device le0 at scode? produced by: `.Cd device le0 at scode?'.
Command Modifier [Toc] [Back]
The command modifier is identical to the `.Fl' (flag) command with the
exception the `.Cm' macro does not assert a dash in front of every argument.
Traditionally flags are marked by the preceding dash, some commands
or subsets of commands do not use them. Command modifiers may also
be specified in conjunction with interactive commands such as editor commands.
See Flags.
Defined Variables [Toc] [Back]
A variable which is defined in an include file is specified by the macro
`.Dv'.
Usage: .Dv defined_variable ...
.Dv MAXHOSTNAMELEN MAXHOSTNAMELEN
.Dv TIOCGPGRP ) TIOCGPGRP)
It is an error to call `.Dv' without arguments. `.Dv' is parsed and is
callable.
Errno's (Section two only)
The `.Er' errno macro specifies the error return value for section two
library routines. The second example below shows `.Er' used with the
`.Bq' general text domain macro, as it would be used in a section two
manual page.
Usage: .Er ERRNOTYPE ...
.Er ENOENT ENOENT
.Er ENOENT ) ; ENOENT);
.Bq Er ENOTDIR [ENOTDIR]
It is an error to call `.Er' without arguments. The `.Er' macro is
parsed and is callable.
Environment Variables [Toc] [Back]
The `.Ev' macro specifies an environment variable.
Usage: .Ev argument ...
.Ev DISPLAY DISPLAY
.Ev PATH . PATH.
.Ev PRINTER ) ) , PRINTER)),
It is an error to call `.Ev' without arguments. The `.Ev' macro is
parsed and is callable.
Function Argument [Toc] [Back]
The `.Fa' macro is used to refer to function arguments (parameters) outside
of the SYNOPSIS section of the manual or inside the SYNOPSIS section
should a parameter list be too long for the `.Fn' macro and the enclosure
macros `.Fo' and `.Fc' must be used. `.Fa' may also be used to refer to
structure members.
Usage: .Fa function_argument ...
.Fa d_namlen ) ) , d_namlen)),
.Fa iov_len iov_len
It is an error to call `.Fa' without arguments. `.Fa' is parsed and is
callable.
Function Declaration [Toc] [Back]
The `.Fd' macro is used in the SYNOPSIS section with section two, three
or nine functions. The `.Fd' macro does not call other macros and is not
callable by other macros.
Usage: .Fd include_file (or defined variable)
In the SYNOPSIS section a `.Fd' request causes a line break if a function
has already been presented and a break has not occurred. This leaves a
nice vertical space in between the previous function call and the declaration
for the next function.
Flags [Toc] [Back]
The `.Fl' macro handles command line flags. It prepends a dash, `-', to
the flag. For interactive command flags, which are not prepended with a
dash, the `.Cm' (command modifier) macro is identical, but without the
dash.
Usage: .Fl argument ...
.Fl -
.Fl cfv -cfv
.Fl cfv . -cfv.
.Fl s v t -s -v -t
.Fl - , --,
.Fl xyz ) , -xyz),
The `.Fl' macro without any arguments results in a dash representing
stdin/stdout. Note that giving `.Fl' a single dash, will result in two
dashes. The `.Fl' macro is parsed and is callable.
Functions (library routines) [Toc] [Back]
The `.Fn' macro is modeled on ANSI C conventions.
Usage: .Fn [type] function [[type] parameters ... ]
.Fn getchar getchar()
.Fn strlen ) , strlen()),
.Fn "int align" "const * char *sptrs", int align(const * char *sptrs),
It is an error to call `.Fn' without any arguments. The `.Fn' macro is
parsed and is callable, note that any call to another macro signals the
end of the `.Fn' call (it will close-parenthesis at that point).
For functions that have more than eight parameters (and this is rare),
the macros `.Fo' (function open) and `.Fc' (function close) may be used
with `.Fa' (function argument) to get around the limitation. For example:
.Ft "int"
.Fo "res_mkquery"
.Fa "int op"
.Fa "char *dname"
.Fa "int class"
.Fa "int type"
.Fa "char *data"
.Fa "int datalen"
.Fa "struct rrec *newrr"
.Fa "char *buf"
.Fa "int buflen"
.Fc
Produces:
int res_mkquery(int op, char *dname, int class, int type,
char *data, int datalen, struct rrec *newrr, char *buf, int buflen)
The `.Fo' and `.Fc' macros are parsed and are callable. In the SYNOPSIS
section, the function will always begin at the beginning of line. If
there is more than one function presented in the SYNOPSIS section and a
function type has not been given, a line break will occur, leaving a nice
vertical space between the current function name and the one prior. At
the moment, `.Fn' does not check its word boundaries against troff line
lengths and may split across a newline ungracefully. This will be fixed
in the near future.
Function Type [Toc] [Back]
This macro is intended for the SYNOPSIS section. It may be used anywhere
else in the man page without problems, but its main purpose is to present
the function type in kernel normal form for the SYNOPSIS of sections two
and three (it causes a page break allowing the function name to appear on
the next line).
Usage: .Ft type ...
.Ft struct stat struct stat
The `.Ft' request is not callable by other macros.
Interactive Commands [Toc] [Back]
The `.Ic' macro designates an interactive or internal command.
Usage: .Ic command ...
.Ic :wq :wq
.Ic do while {...} do while {...}
.Ic setenv , unsetenv setenv, unsetenv
It is an error to call `.Ic' without arguments. The `.Ic' macro is
parsed and is callable.
Literals [Toc] [Back]
The `.Li' literal macro may be used for special characters, variable constants,
anything which should be displayed as it would be typed.
Usage: .Li argument ...
.Li \en \n
.Li M1 M2 M3 ; M1 M2 M3;
.Li cntrl-D ) , cntrl-D),
.Li 1024 ... 1024 ...
The `.Li' macro is parsed and is callable.
Name Macro [Toc] [Back]
The `.Nm' macro is used for the document title or subject name. It has
the peculiarity of remembering the first argument it was called with,
which should always be the subject name of the page. When called without
arguments, `.Nm' regurgitates this initial name for the sole purpose of
making less work for the author. If trailing punctuation is required
with this feature, use "" as a first argument to `.Nm'. Note: a section
two, three or nine document function name is addressed with the `.Nm' in
the NAME section, and with `.Fn' in the SYNOPSIS and remaining sections.
For interactive commands, such as the `while' command keyword in csh(1),
the `.Ic' macro should be used. While the `.Ic' is nearly identical to
`.Nm', it can not recall the first argument it was invoked with.
Usage: .Nm argument ...
.Nm mdoc.samples mdoc.samples
.Nm \-mdoc -mdoc
.Nm foo ) ) , foo)),
.Nm mdoc.samples
.Nm "" : :
The `.Nm' macro is parsed and is callable.
Options [Toc] [Back]
The `.Op' macro places option brackets around the any remaining arguments
on the command line, and places any trailing punctuation outside the
brackets. The macros `.Oc' and `.Oo' may be used across one or more
lines.
Usage: .Op options ...
.Op []
.Op Fl k [-k]
.Op Fl k ) . [-k]).
.Op Fl k Ar kookfile [-k kookfile]
.Op Fl k Ar kookfile , [-k kookfile],
.Op Ar objfil Op Ar corfil [objfil [corfil]]
.Op Fl c Ar objfil Op Ar corfil , [-c objfil [corfil]],
.Op word1 word2 [word1 word2]
The `.Oc' and `.Oo' macros:
.Oo
.Op Fl k Ar kilobytes
.Op Fl i Ar interval
.Op Fl c Ar count
.Oc
Produce: [[-k kilobytes] [-i interval] [-c count]]
The macros `.Op', `.Oc' and `.Oo' are parsed and are callable.
Pathnames [Toc] [Back]
The `.Pa' macro formats path or file names.
Usage: .Pa pathname
.Pa /usr/share /usr/share
.Pa /tmp/fooXXXXX ) . /tmp/fooXXXXX).
The `.Pa' macro is parsed and is callable.
Variables [Toc] [Back]
Generic variable reference:
Usage: .Va variable ...
.Va count count
.Va settimer, settimer,
.Va int *prt ) : int *prt):
.Va char s ] ) ) , char s])),
It is an error to call `.Va' without any arguments. The `.Va' macro is
parsed and is callable.
Manual Page Cross References [Toc] [Back]
The `.Xr' macro expects the first argument to be a manual page name, and
the second argument, if it exists, to be either a section page number or
punctuation. Any remaining arguments are assumed to be punctuation.
Usage: .Xr man_page [1,...,9]
.Xr mdoc mdoc
.Xr mdoc , mdoc,
.Xr mdoc 7 mdoc(7)
.Xr mdoc 7 ) ) , mdoc(7))),
The `.Xr' macro is parsed and is callable. It is an error to call `.Xr'
without any arguments.
ATT Macro
Usage: .At [v1 .. v7 | 32v | V.1 | V.4] ...
.At AT&T UNIX
.At v6 . Version 6 AT&T UNIX.
The `.At' macro is not parsed and not callable. It accepts at most two
arguments.
BSD Macro [Toc] [Back]
Usage: .Bx [Version/release] ...
.Bx BSD
.Bx 4.3 . 4.3BSD.
The `.Bx' macro is parsed and is callable.
BSD/OS Macro
Usage: .Bsx [Version/release] ...
.Bsx BSD/OS
.Bsx 4.1 . BSD/OS 4.1.
The `.Bsx' macro is parsed and is callable.
FreeBSD Macro [Toc] [Back]
Usage: .Fx [Version/release] ...
.Fx FreeBSD
.Fx 2.2 . FreeBSD 2.2.
The `.Fx' macro is parsed and is callable.
NetBSD Macro [Toc] [Back]
Usage: .Nx [Version/release] ...
.Nx NetBSD
.Nx 1.4 . NetBSD 1.4.
The `.Nx' macro is parsed and is callable.
OpenBSD Macro [Toc] [Back]
Usage: .Ox [Version/release] ...
.Ox OpenBSD
.Ox 2.7 . OpenBSD 2.7.
The `.Ox' macro is parsed and is callable.
UNIX Macro [Toc] [Back]
Usage: .Ux ...
.Ux UNIX
The `.Ux' macro is parsed and is callable.
Emphasis Macro [Toc] [Back]
Text may be stressed or emphasized with the `.Em' macro. The usual font
for emphasis is italic.
Usage: .Em argument ...
.Em does not does not
.Em exceed 1024 . exceed 1024.
.Em vide infra ) ) , vide infra)),
The `.Em' macro is parsed and is callable. It is an error to call `.Em'
without arguments.
Enclosure and Quoting Macros [Toc] [Back]
The concept of enclosure is similar to quoting. The object being to
enclose one or more strings between a pair of characters like quotes or
parentheses. The terms quoting and enclosure are used interchangeably
throughout this document. Most of the one line enclosure macros end in
small letter `q' to give a hint of quoting, but there are a few irregularities.
For each enclosure macro there is also a pair of open and
close macros which end in small letters `o' and `c' respectively. These
can be used across one or more lines of text and while they have nesting
limitations, the one line quote macros can be used inside of them.
Quote Close Open Function Result
.Aq .Ac .Ao Angle Bracket Enclosure <string>
.Bq .Bc .Bo Bracket Enclosure [string]
.Dq .Dc .Do Double Quote ``string''
.Ec .Eo Enclose String (in XX) XXstringXX
.Pq .Pc .Po Parenthesis Enclosure (string)
.Ql Quoted Literal `st' or string
.Qq .Qc .Qo Straight Double Quote "string"
.Sq .Sc .So Single Quote `string'
Except for the irregular macros noted below, all of the quoting macros
are parsed and callable. All handle punctuation properly, as long as it
is presented one character at a time and separated by spaces. The quoting
macros examine opening and closing punctuation to determine whether
it comes before or after the enclosing string. This makes some nesting
possible.
.Ec, .Eo These macros expect the first argument to be the opening and
closing strings respectively.
.Ql The quoted literal macro behaves differently for troff(1) than
nroff(1). If formatted with nroff(1), a quoted literal is
always quoted. If formatted with troff, an item is only quoted
if the width of the item is less than three constant width
characters. This is to make short strings more visible where
the font change to literal (constant width) is less noticeable.
.Pf The prefix macro is not callable, but it is parsed:
.Pf ( Fa name2
becomes (name2.
.Ns The `.Ns' (no space) macro, which is callable, performs the
analogous suffix function.
.Ap The `.Ap' macro inserts an apostrophe and exits any special
text modes, continuing in .No mode.
Examples of quoting:
.Aq <>
.Aq Ar ctype.h ) , <ctype.h>),
.Bq []
.Bq Em Greek , French . [Greek, French].
.Dq ``''
.Dq string abc . ``string abc''.
.Dq '^[A-Z]' ``'^[A-Z]'''
.Ql man mdoc `man mdoc'
.Qq ""
.Qq string ) , "string"),
.Qq string Ns ), "string),"
.Sq `'
.Sq string `string'
.Em or Ap ing or'ing
For a good example of nested enclosure macros, see the `.Op' option
macro. It was created from the same underlying enclosure macros as those
presented in the list above. The `.Xo' and `.Xc' extended argument list
macros were also built from the same underlying routines and are a good
example of -mdoc macro usage at its worst.
No-Op or Normal Text Macro [Toc] [Back]
The macro .No is a hack for words in a macro command line which should
not be formatted and follows the conventional syntax for content macros.
Space Macro
The `.Ns' macro eliminates unwanted spaces in between macro requests. It
is useful for old style argument lists where there is no space between
the flag and argument:
.Op Fl I Ns Ar directory produces [-Idirectory]
Note: the `.Ns' macro always invokes the `.No' macro after eliminating
the space unless another macro name follows it. The macro `.Ns' is
parsed and is callable.
Section Cross References [Toc] [Back]
The `.Sx' macro designates a reference to a section header within the
same document. It is parsed and is callable.
.Sx FILES FILES
Symbolic [Toc] [Back]
The symbolic emphasis macro is generally a boldface macro in either the
symbolic sense or the traditional English usage.
Usage: .Sy symbol ...
.Sy Important Notice Important Notice
The `.Sy' macro is parsed and is callable. Arguments to `.Sy' may be
quoted.
References and Citations [Toc] [Back]
The following macros make a modest attempt to handle references. At
best, the macros make it convenient to manually drop in a subset of refer
style references.
.Rs Reference Start. Causes a line break and begins collection
of reference information until the reference end macro is
read.
.Re Reference End. The reference is printed.
.%A Reference author name, one name per invocation.
.%B Book title.
.%C City/place.
.%D Date.
.%J Journal name.
.%N Issue number.
.%O Optional information.
.%P Page number.
.%R Report name.
.%T Title of article.
.%V Volume(s).
The macros beginning with `%' are not callable, and are parsed only for
the trade name macro which returns to its caller. (And not very predictably
at the moment either.) The purpose is to allow trade names to
be pretty printed in troff(1)/ditroff output.
Trade Names (or Acronyms and Type Names) [Toc] [Back]
The trade name macro is generally a small caps macro for all upper case
words longer than two characters.
Usage: .Tn symbol ...
.Tn DEC DEC
.Tn ASCII ASCII
The `.Tn' macro is parsed and is callable by other macros.
Extended Arguments [Toc] [Back]
The .Xo and .Xc macros allow one to extend an argument list on a macro
boundary. Argument lists cannot be extended within a macro which expects
all of its arguments on one line such as `.Op'.
Here is an example of `.Xo' using the space mode macro to turn spacing
off:
.Sm off
.It Xo Sy I Ar operation
.No \en Ar count No \en
.Xc
.Sm on
Produces
Ioperation\ncount\n
Another one:
.Sm off
.It Cm S No / Ar old_pattern Xo
.No / Ar new_pattern
.No / Op Cm g
.Xc
.Sm on
Produces
S/old_pattern/new_pattern/[g]
Another example of `.Xo' and using enclosure macros: Test the value of an
variable.
.It Xo
.Ic .ifndef
.Oo \! Oc Ns Ar variable
.Op Ar operator variable ...
.Xc
Produces
.ifndef [!]variable [operator variable ...]
All of the above examples have used the `.Xo' macro on the argument list
of the `.It' (list-item) macro. The extend macros are not used very
often, and when they are it is usually to extend the list-item argument
list. Unfortunately, this is also where the extend macros are the most
finicky. In the first two examples, spacing was turned off; in the
third, spacing was desired in part of the output but not all of it. To
make these macros work in this situation make sure the `.Xo' and `.Xc'
macros are placed as shown in the third example. If the `.Xo' macro is
not alone on the `.It' argument list, spacing will be unpredictable. The
`.Ns' (no space macro) must not occur as the first or last macro on a
line in this situation. Out of 900 manual pages (about 1500 actual
pages) currently released with BSD only fifteen use the `.Xo' macro.
PAGE STRUCTURE DOMAIN [Toc] [Back] Section Headers
The first three `.Sh' section header macros list below are required in
every man page. The remaining section headers are recommended at the
discretion of the author writing the manual page. The `.Sh' macro can
take up to nine arguments. It is parsed and but is not callable.
.Sh NAME The `.Sh NAME' macro is mandatory. If not specified, the
headers, footers and page layout defaults will not be set
and things will be rather unpleasant. The NAME section
consists of at least three items. The first is the `.Nm'
name macro naming the subject of the man page. The second
is the Name Description macro, `.Nd', which separates the
subject name from the third item, which is the description.
The description should be the most terse and lucid possible,
as the space available is small.
.Sh SYNOPSIS The SYNOPSIS section describes the typical usage of the
subject of a man page. The macros required are either
`.Nm', `.Cd', `.Fn', (and possibly `.Fo', `.Fc', `.Fd',
`.Ft' macros). The function name macro `.Fn' is required
for manual page sections 2 and 3, the command and general
name macro `.Nm' is required for sections 1, 5, 6, 7, 8.
Section 4 manuals require a `.Nm, .Fd' or a `.Cd' configuration
device usage macro. Several other macros may be
necessary to produce the synopsis line as shown below:
cat [-benstuv] [-] file ...
The following macros were used:
.Nm cat
.Op Fl benstuv
.Op Fl
.Ar
Note: The macros `.Op', `.Fl', and `.Ar' recognize the pipe
bar character `|', so a command line such as:
.Op Fl a | Fl b
will not go orbital. troff(1) normally interprets a | as a
special operator. See PREDEFINED STRINGS for a usable |
character in other situations.
.Sh DESCRIPTION
In most cases the first text in the DESCRIPTION section is
a brief paragraph on the command, function or file, followed
by a lexical list of options and respective explanations.
To create such a list, the `.Bl' begin-list, `.It'
list-item and `.El' end-list macros are used (see Lists and
Columns below).
The following `.Sh' section headers are part of the preferred manual page
layout and must be used appropriately to maintain consistency. They are
listed in the order in which they would be used.
.Sh ENVIRONMENT
The ENVIRONMENT section should reveal any related environment
variables and clues to their behavior and/or usage.
.Sh EXAMPLES
There are several ways to create examples. See the EXAMPLES
section below for details.
.Sh FILES
Files which are used or created by the man page subject should
be listed via the `.Pa' macro in the FILES section.
.Sh SEE ALSO
References to other material on the man page topic and cross
references to other relevant man pages should be placed in the
SEE ALSO section. Cross references are specified using the
`.Xr' macro. At this time refer(1) style references are not
accommodated.
It is recommended that the cross references are sorted on the
section number, and then alphabetically on the names within a
section.
.Sh STANDARDS
If the command, library function or file adheres to a specific
implementation such as IEEE Std 1003.2 (``POSIX.2'') or ANSI
X3.159-1989 (``ANSI C'') this should be noted here. If the
command does not adhere to any standard, its history should be
noted in the HISTORY section.
.Sh HISTORY
Any command which does not adhere to any specific standards
should be outlined historically in this section.
.Sh AUTHORS
Credits, if need be, should be placed here.
.Sh DIAGNOSTICS
Diagnostics from a command should be placed in this section.
.Sh ERRORS
Specific error handling, especially from library functions (man
page sections 2 and 3) should go here. The `.Er' macro is used
to specify an errno.
.Sh BUGS Blatant problems with the topic go here...
User specified `.Sh' sections may be added, for example, this section was
set with:
.Sh PAGE STRUCTURE DOMAIN
Paragraphs and Line Spacing. [Toc] [Back]
.Pp The `.Pp' paragraph command may be used to specify a line space
where necessary. The macro is not necessary after a `.Sh' or
`.Ss' macro or before a `.Bl' macro. (The `.Bl' macro asserts a
vertical distance unless the -compact flag is given).
Keeps [Toc] [Back]
The only keep that is implemented at this time is for words. The macros
are `.Bk' (begin-keep) and `.Ek' (end-keep). The only option that `.Bk'
accepts is -words and is useful for preventing line breaks in the middle
of options. In the example for the make command line arguments (see
What's in a name), the keep prevented nroff(1) from placing the flag and
the argument on separate lines. (Actually, the option macro formerly
prevented this from occurring, but was dropped when the decision (religious)
was made to force right justified margins in troff(1) as options
in general look atrocious when spread across a sparse line. More work
needs to be done with the keep macros, a -line option needs to be added.)
Examples and Displays [Toc] [Back]
There are six types of displays: a quickie, one-line indented display
`.D1'; a quickie, one-line literal display `.Dl'; and block-literal,
block-filled, block-unfilled, and block-ragged which use the `.Bd' begindisplay
and `.Ed' end-display macros.
.D1 (D-one) Display one line of indented text. This macro is parsed,
but it is not callable.
-ldghfstru
The above was produced by: .D1 Fl ldghfstru.
.Dl (D-ell) Display one line of indented literal text. The `.Dl'
example macro has been used throughout this file. It allows the
indent (display) of one line of text. Its default font is set to
constant width (literal) however it is parsed and will recognize
other macros. It is however not callable.
% ls -ldg /usr/local/bin
The above was produced by: .Dl % ls -ldg /usr/local/bin.
.Bd Begin-display. The `.Bd' display must be ended with the `.Ed'
macro. Displays may be nested within lists, but may not contain
other displays; this also prohibits nesting of `.D1' and `.Dl'
one-line displays. `.Bd' has the following syntax:
.Bd display-type [-offset offset_value] [-compact]
The display-type must be one of the four types (-ragged,
-unfilled, -filled, -literal) and may have an offset specifier for
indentation: `.Bd'.
-ragged Fill, but do not adjust the right margin.
-unfilled Do not fill: display a block of text as typed,
the right (and left) margin edges are left
ragged.
-filled Display a filled (formatted) block. The block
of text is formatted (the edges are filled - not
left unjustified).
-literal Display a literal block, useful for source code
or simple tabbed or spaced text.
-file file_NAME The file name following the -file flag is read
and displayed. Literal mode is asserted and
tabs are set at 8 constant width character
intervals, however any troff(1)/-mdoc commands
in file will be processed.
-offset string If -offset is specified with one of the following
strings, the string is interpreted to indicate
the level of indentation for the forthcoming
block of text:
left Align block on the current left margin,
this is the default mode of
`.Bd'.
center Supposedly center the block. At
this time unfortunately, the block
merely gets left alig
|
