NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | GETTING STARTED | TROFF IDIOSYNCRASIES | THE ANATOMY OF A MAN PAGE | TITLE MACROS | INTRODUCTION OF MANUAL AND GENERAL TEXT DOMAINS | MANUAL DOMAIN | GENERAL TEXT DOMAIN | PAGE STRUCTURE DOMAIN | PREDEFINED STRINGS | DIAGNOSTICS | GROFF, TROFF AND NROFF | FILES | BUGS | SEE ALSO | COLOPHON
MDOC.SAMPLES(7) BSD Miscellaneous Information Manual MDOC.SAMPLES(7)
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 predeces-
sor, the -man(7) package, 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 struc-
ture 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 docu-
ment may be impatient. The material presented in the remained 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. TITLE MACROS.
4. INTRODUCTION OF MANUAL AND GENERAL TEXT DOMAINS.
What's in a name....
General Syntax.
5. MANUAL DOMAIN
Addresses.
Author name.
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.
Names.
Options.
Pathnames.
Variables.
Cross References.
6. GENERAL TEXT DOMAIN
AT&T Macro.
BSD Macro.
FreeBSD Macro.
UNIX Macro.
Enclosure/Quoting Macros
Angle Bracket Quote/Enclosure.
Bracket Quotes/Enclosure.
Double Quote macro/Enclosure.
Parenthesis Quote/Enclosure.
Single Quotes/Enclosure.
Prefix Macro.
No-Op or Normal Text Macro.
No Space Macro.
Section Cross References.
References and Citations.
Return Values (sections two and three only)
Trade Names (Acronyms and Type Names).
Extended Arguments.
7. PAGE STRUCTURE DOMAIN
Section Headers.
Paragraphs and Line Spacing.
Keeps.
Displays.
Font Modes (Emphasis, Literal, and Symbolic).
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. Theo-
retically, 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 got-
ten out of the way. And, too, be forewarned, this package is not fast.
As in troff(1), a macro is called by placing a `.' (dot character) at the begin-
ning 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 Extensions). 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, pre-
cede 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.
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 parame-
ters 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
AT&T troff. It is not expensive for groff 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
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 bound-
ary, see the BUGS section.
Troff 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\ \&'.
Special characters like the newline character `\n', are handled by replacing the
`\' with `\e' (e.g. `\en') to preserve the backslash.
The body of a man page is easily constructed from a basic template found in the
file /usr/share/misc/mdoc.template. Several example man pages can also be found
in /usr/share/examples/mdoc.
.\" The following requests are required for all man pages.
.Dd Month day, year
.Os OPERATING_SYSTEM [version/release]
.Dt DOCUMENT_TITLE [section number] [volume]
.Sh NAME
.Nm name
.Nd one line description of name
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Sh DESCRIPTION
.\" The following requests should be uncommented and
.\" used where appropriate. This next request is
.\" for sections 2 and 3 function return values only.
.\" .Sh RETURN VALUE
.\" 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 CONFORMING TO
.\" .Sh HISTORY
.\" .Sh AUTHORS
.\" .Sh BUGS
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 modi-
fied for, and the man page title (in upper case) along with the section of the
manual the page belongs in. 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# [volume]
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, ..., 8,
and if it is specified, the volume title may be omitted. A volume title
may be arbitrary or one of the following:
AMD UNIX Ancestral Manual Documents
SMM UNIX System Manager's Manual
URM UNIX Reference Manual
PRM UNIX Programmer's Manual
The default volume labeling is URM for sections 1, 6, and 7; SMM for
section 8; PRM for sections 2, 3, 4, and 5.
.Os operating_system release#
The name of the operating system should be the common acronym, for exam-
ple, BSD or FreeBSD or ATT. The release should be the standard release
nomenclature for the system specified, for example, 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 4.3BSD
or
.Os FreeBSD 2.2
or for a locally produced set
.Os CS Department
The Berkeley default, `.Os' without an argument, has been defined as BSD
in the site-specific file /usr/share/tmac/mdoc/doc-common. It really
should default to LOCAL. 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
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 argu-
ment 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 argu-
ment 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 exam-
ples 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.
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 punctua-
tion 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 distinguish-
ing it from the strings in literal font.
To remove the special meaning from a punctuation character escape it with `\&'.
Troff 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 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'.
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.
The `.An' macro is used to specify the name of the author of the item being doc-
umented, or the name of the author of the actual manual page. Any remaining
arguments after the name information are assumed to be punctuation.
Usage: .An author_name
.An Joe Author
Joe Author
.An Joe Author ,
Joe Author,
.An Joe Author Aq nobody@FreeBSD.ORG
Joe Author <nobody@FreeBSD.ORG>
.An Joe Author ) ) ,
Joe Author)),
The `.An' macro is parsed and is callable. It is an error to call `.An' without
any arguments.
The `.Ar' argument macro may be used whenever a command-line argument is refer-
enced.
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.
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?'.
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. Tradition-
ally flags are marked by the preceding dash, some commands or subsets of com-
mands do not use them. Command modifiers may also be specified in conjunction
with interactive commands such as editor commands. See Flags.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The `.Fd' macro is used in the SYNOPSIS section with section two or three func-
tions. 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 verti-
cal space in between the previous function call and the declaration for the next
function.
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/std-
out. Note that giving `.Fl' a single dash, will result in two dashes. The
`.Fl' macro is parsed and is callable.
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:
.Fo "int 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 sec-
tion, 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.
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 func-
tion type in kernel normal form for the SYNOPSIS of sections two and three (it
causes a line 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.
The `.Ic' macro designates an interactive or internal command.
Usage: .Ic argument ...
.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.
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. Note: a section two or three document function name is addressed with
the `.Nm' in the NAME section, and with `.Fn' in the SYNOPSIS and remaining sec-
tions. 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.sample
mdoc.sample
.Nm \-mdoc -mdoc.
.Nm foo ) ) ,
foo)),
.Nm mdoc.samples
The `.Nm' macro is parsed and is callable.
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.
The `.Pa' macro formats pathnames or filenames.
Usage: .Pa pathname
.Pa /usr/share /usr/share
.Pa /tmp/fooXXXXX ) .
/tmp/fooXXXXX).
The `.Pa' macro is parsed and is callable.
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.
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 punctua-
tion. Any remaining arguments are assumed to be punctuation.
Usage: .Xr man_page [1,...,8]
.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.
Usage: .At [v6 | 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.
Usage: .Bx [Version/release] ...
.Bx BSD
.Bx 4.3 .
4.3BSD.
The `.Bx' macro is parsed and is callable.
Usage: .Fx Version.release ...
.Fx 2.2 . FreeBSD 2.2.
The `.Fx' macro is not parsed and not callable It accepts at most two arguments.
Usage: .Ux ...
.Ux UNIX
The `.Ux' macro is parsed and is callable.
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 pre-
sented 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 than nroff. If
formatted with nroff, 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.
The `.Ns' (no space) macro performs the analogous suffix function.
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'
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.
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.
The `.Sx' macro designates a reference to a section header within the same docu-
ment. It is parsed and is callable.
.Sx FILES FILES
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 refer-
ences.
.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/ditroff output.
The `.Rv' macro generates text for use in the RETURN VALUE section.
Usage: .Rv [-std function]
`.Rv -std atexit' will generate the following text:
The atexit() function returns the value 0 if successful; otherwise the value -1
is returned and the global variable errno is set to indicate the error.
The -std option is valid only for manual page sections 2 and 3.
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.
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 a vari-
able.
.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 unpre-
dictable. 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.
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. Sec-
tion 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 char-
acter `|', so a command line such as:
.Op Fl a | Fl b
will not go orbital. Troff normally interprets a | as a special oper-
ator. See PREDEFINED STRINGS for a usable | character in other situa-
tions.
.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 vari-
ables 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 refer-
ences to other relevant man pages should be placed in the SEE ALSO
section. Cross references are specified using the `.Xr' macro. Cross
references in the SEE ALSO section should be sorted by section number,
and then placed in alphabetical order and comma separated. For exam-
ple:
ls(1), ps(1), group(5), passwd(5).
At this time refer(1) style references are not accommodated.
.Sh CONFORMING TO
If the command, library function or file adheres to a specific imple-
mentation 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
.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).
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 from placing up the flag and the argument on separate lines.
(Actually, the option macro used to prevent this from occurring, but was dropped
when the decision (religious) was made to force right justified margins in troff
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.)
There are five types of displays, a quickie one line indented display `.D1', a
quickie one line literal display `.Dl', and a block literal, block filled and
block ragged which use the `.Bd' begin-display 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: .Dl -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 recognized other macros. It is not
callable however.
% 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 displays and lists. `.Bd' has the follow-
ing syntax:
.Bd display-type [-offset offset_value] [-compact]
The display-type must be one of the following four types and may have an
offset specifier for indentation: `.Bd'.
-ragged Display a block of text as typed, right (and left) mar-
gin edges are left ragged.
-filled Display a filled (formatted) block. The block of text
is formatted (the edges are filled - not left unjusti-
fied).
-literal Display a literal block, useful for source code or sim-
ple tabbed or spaced text.
-file file_name The filename following the -file flag is read and dis-
played. Literal mode is asserted and tabs are set at 8
constant width character intervals, however any
troff/-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
aligned about an imaginary center margin.
indent Indents by one default indent value or tab.
The default indent value is also used for
the `.D1' display so one is guaranteed the
two types of displays will line up. This
indent is normally set to 6n or about two
thirds of an inch (six constant width char-
acters).
indent-two Indents two times the default indent value.
right This left aligns the block about two inches
from the right side of the page. This
macro needs work and perhaps may never do
the right thing by troff.
.Ed End-display.
There are five macros for changing the appearance of the manual page text:
.Em 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.
.Li The `.Li' literal macro may be used for special characters, variable con-
stants, 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.
.Sy 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.
.Bf Begin font mode. The `.Bf' font mode must be ended with the `.Ef' macro.
Font modes may be nested within other font modes. `.Bf' has the follow-
ing syntax:
.Bf font-mode
The font-mode must be one of the following three types: `.Bf'.
Em | -emphasis Same as if the `.Em' macro was used for the entire
block of text.
Li | -literal Same as if the `.Li' macro was used for the entire
block of text.
Sy | -symbolic Same as if the `.Sy' macro was used for the entire
block of text.
.Ef End font mode.
There are several types of lists which may be initiated with the `.Bl' begin-
list macro. Items within the list are specified with the `.It' item macro and
each list must end with the `.El' macro. Lists may be nested within themselves
and within displays. Columns may be used inside of lists, but lists are
unproven inside of columns.
In addition, several list attributes may be specified such as the width of a
tag, the list offset, and compactness (blank lines between items allowed or dis-
allowed). Most of this document has been formatted with a tag style list
(-tag). For a change of pace, the list-type used to present the list-types is
an over-hanging list (-ohang). This type of list is quite popular with TeX
users, but might look a bit funny after having read many pages of tagged lists.
The following list types are accepted by `.Bl':
-bullet
-item
-enum
These three are the simplest types of lists. Once the `.Bl' macro has been
given, items in the list are merely indicated by a line consisting solely of the
`.It' macro. For example, the source text for a simple enumerated list would
look like:
.Bl -enum -compact
.It
Item one goes here.
.It
And item two here.
.It
Lastly item three goes here.
.El
The results:
1. Item one goes here.
2. And item two here.
3. Lastly item three goes here.
A simple bullet list construction:
.Bl -bullet -compact
.It
Bullet one goes here.
.It
Bullet two here.
.El
Produces:
o Bullet one goes here.
o Bullet two here.
-tag
-diag
-hang
-ohang
-inset
These list-types collect arguments specified with the `.It' macro and create a
label which may be inset into the forthcoming text, hanged from the forthcoming
text, overhanged from above and not indented or tagged. This list was con-
structed with the `-ohang' list-type. The `.It' macro is parsed only for the
inset, hang and tag list-types and is not callable. Here is an example of inset
labels:
Tag The tagged list (also called a tagged paragraph) is the most common
type of list used in the Berkeley manuals.
Diag Diag lists create section four diagnostic lists and are similar to
inset lists except callable macros are ignored.
Hang Hanged labels are a matter of taste.
Ohang Overhanging labels are nice when space is constrained.
Inset Inset labels are useful for controlling blocks of paragraphs and are
valuable for converting -mdoc manuals to other formats.
Here is the source text which produced the above example:
.Bl -inset -offset indent
.It Em Tag
The tagged list (also called a tagged paragraph) is the
most common type of list used in the Berkeley manuals.
.It Em Diag
Diag lists create section four diagnostic lists
and are similar to inset lists except callable
macros are ignored.
.It Em Hang
Hanged labels are a matter of taste.
.It Em Ohang
Overhanging labels are nice when space is constrained.
.It Em Inset
Inset labels are useful for controlling blocks of
paragraphs and are valuable for converting
.Nm -mdoc
manuals to other formats.
.El
Here is a hanged list with two items:
Hanged labels appear similar to tagged lists when the label is smaller
than the label width.
Longer hanged list labels blend in to the paragraph unlike tagged para-
graph labels.
And the unformatted text which created it:
.Bl -hang -offset indent
.It Em Hanged
labels appear similar to tagged lists when the
label is smaller than the label width.
.It Em Longer hanged list labels
blend in to the paragraph unlike
tagged paragraph labels.
.El
The tagged list which follows uses an optional width specifier to control the
width of the tag.
SL sleep time of the process (seconds blocked)
PAGEIN number of disk I/O's resulting from references by the process to
pages not loaded in core.
UID numerical user-id of process owner
PPID numerical ID of parent of process process priority (non-positive
when in non-interruptible wait)
The raw text:
.Bl -tag -width "PAGEIN" -compact -offset indent
.It SL
sleep time of the process (seconds blocked)
.It PAGEIN
number of disk
.Tn I/O Ns 's
resulting from references
by the process to pages not loaded in core.
.It UID
numerical user ID of process owner
.It PPID
numerical ID of parent of process process priority
(non-positive when in non-interruptible wait)
.El
Acceptable width specifiers:
-width Fl sets the width to the default width for a flag. All
callable macros have a default width value. The `.Fl',
value is presently set to ten constant width characters or
about five sixth of an inch.
-width 24n sets the width to 24 constant width characters or about two
inches. The `n' is absolutely necessary for the scaling to
work correctly.
-width ENAMETOOLONG
sets width to the constant width length of the string given.
-width "int mkfifo"
again, the width is set to the constant width of the string
given.
If a width is not specified for the tag list type, the first time `.It' is
invoked, an attempt is made to determine an appropriate width. If the first
argument to `.It' is a callable macro, the default width for that macro will be
used as if the macro name had been supplied as the width. However, if another
item in the list is given with a different callable macro name, a new and nested
list is assumed.
The following strings are predefined as may be used by preceding with the troff
string interpreting sequence `\*(xx' where xx is the name of the defined string
or as `\*x' where x is the name of the string. The interpreting sequence may be
used any where in the text.
String Nroff Troff
<= <= <=
>= >= >=
Rq '' ''
Lq `` ``
ua ^ ^
aa ' '
ga ` `
q " "
Pi pi pi
Ne != !=
Le <= <=
Ge >= >=
Lt < >
Gt > <
Pm +- +-
If infinity infinity
Na NaN NaN
Ba | |
Note: The string named `q' should be written as `\*q' since it is only one char.
The debugging facilities for -mdoc are limited, but can help detect subtle
errors such as the collision of an argument name with an internal register or
macro name. (A what?) A register is an arithmetic storage class for troff with
a one or two character name. All registers internal to -mdoc for troff and
ditroff are two characters and of the form <upper_case><lower_case> such as
`Ar', <lower_case><upper_case> as `aR' or <upper or lower letter><digit> as
`C1'. And adding to the muddle, troff has its own internal registers all of
which are either two lower case characters or a dot plus a letter or metacharac-
ter character. In one of the introduction examples, it was shown how to prevent
the interpretation of a macro name with the escape sequence `\&'. This is suf-
ficient for the internal register names also.
If a non-escaped register name is given in the argument list of a request unpre-
dictable behavior will occur. In general, any time huge portions of text do not
appear where expected in the output, or small strings such as list tags disap-
pear, chances are there is a misunderstanding about an argument type in the
argument list. Your mother never intended for you to remember this evil stuff -
so here is a way to find out whether or not your arguments are valid: The `.Db'
(debug) macro displays the interpretation of the argument list for most macros.
Macros such as the `.Pp' (paragraph) macro do not contain debugging information.
All of the callable macros do, and it is strongly advised whenever in doubt,
turn on the `.Db' macro.
Usage: .Db [on | off]
An example of a portion of text with the debug macro placed above and below an
artificially created problem (a flag argument `aC' which should be `\&aC' in
order to work):
.Db on
.Op Fl aC Ar file )
.Db off
The resulting output:
DEBUGGING ON
DEBUG(argv) MACRO: `.Op' Line #: 2
Argc: 1 Argv: `Fl' Length: 2
Space: `' Class: Executable
Argc: 2 Argv: `aC' Length: 2
Space: `' Class: Executable
Argc: 3 Argv: `Ar' Length: 2
Space: `' Class: Executable
Argc: 4 Argv: `file' Length: 4
Space: ` ' Class: String
Argc: 5 Argv: `)' Length: 1
Space: ` ' Class: Closing Punctuation or suffix
MACRO REQUEST: .Op Fl aC Ar file )
DEBUGGING OFF
The first line of information tells the name of the calling macro, here `.Op',
and the line number it appears on. If one or more files are involved (espe-
cially if text from another file is included) the line number may be bogus. If
there is only one file, it should be accurate. The second line gives the argu-
ment count, the argument (`Fl') and its length. If the length of an argument is
two characters, the argument is tested to see if it is executable (unfortu-
nately, any register which contains a non-zero value appears executable). The
third line gives the space allotted for a class, and the class type. The prob-
lem here is the argument aC should not be executable. The four types of classes
are string, executable, closing punctuation and opening punctuation. The last
line shows the entire argument list as it was read. In this next example, the
offending `aC' is escaped:
.Db on
.Em An escaped \&aC
.Db off
DEBUGGING ON
DEBUG(fargv) MACRO: `.Em' Line #: 2
Argc: 1 Argv: `An' Length: 2
Space: ` ' Class: String
Argc: 2 Argv: `escaped' Length: 7
Space: ` ' Class: String
Argc: 3 Argv: `aC' Length: 2
Space: ` ' Class: String
MACRO REQUEST: .Em An escaped &aC
DEBUGGING OFF
The argument `\&aC' shows up with the same length of 2 as the `\&' sequence pro-
duces a zero width, but a register named `\&aC' was not found and the type clas-
sified as string.
Other diagnostics consist of usage statements and are self explanatory.
The -mdoc package does not need compatibility mode with groff.
The package inhibits page breaks, and the headers and footers which normally
occur at those breaks with nroff, to make the manual more efficient for viewing
on-line. At the moment, groff with -Tascii does eject the imaginary remainder
of the page at end of file. The inhibiting of the page breaks makes nroff'd
files unsuitable for hardcopy. There is a register named `cR' which can be set
to zero in the site dependent style file /usr/src/share/tmac/doc-nroff to
restore the old style behavior.
/usr/share/tmac/doc.tmac manual macro package
/usr/share/misc/mdoc.template
template for writing a man page
/usr/share/examples/mdoc/* several example man pages
Undesirable hyphenation on the dash of a flag argument is not yet resolved, and
causes occasional mishaps in the DESCRIPTION section. (line break on the
hyphen).
Predefined strings are not declared in documentation.
Section 3f has not been added to the header routines.
`.Nm' font should be changed in NAME section.
`.Fn' needs to have a check to prevent splitting up if the line length is too
short. Occasionally it separates the last parenthesis, and sometimes looks
ridiculous if a line is in fill mode.
The method used to prevent header and footer page breaks (other than the initial
header and footer) when using nroff occasionally places an unsightly partially
filled line (blank) at the would be bottom of the page.
The list and display macros to not do any keeps and certainly should be able to.
man(1), troff(1), groff_mdoc(7), mdoc(7)
This page is part of release 3.23 of the Linux man-pages project. A description
of the project, and information about reporting bugs, can be found at
http://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.
BSD December 30, 1993 BSD