groff_mdoc
GROFF_MDOC(7) BSD Miscellaneous Information Manual GROFF_MDOC(7)
NAME
groff_mdoc - reference for groff's mdoc implementation
SYNOPSIS
groff -mdoc file ...
DESCRIPTION
A complete reference for writing UNIX manual pages with the -mdoc macro
package; a content-based and domain-based formatting package for GNU
troff(1). Its predecessor, 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 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 UNIX 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. Hope-
fully, 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.
GETTING STARTED
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
Escaping Special Characters
Other Possible Pitfalls
2. A MANUAL PAGE TEMPLATE
3. CONVENTIONS
4. TITLE MACROS
5. INTRODUCTION OF MANUAL AND GENERAL TEXT DOMAINS
What's in a Name...
General Syntax
6. MANUAL DOMAIN
Addresses
Author Name
Arguments
Configuration Declarations (Section Four Only)
Command Modifiers
Defined Variables
Errno's
Environment Variables
Flags
Function Declarations
Function Types
Functions (Library Routines)
Function Arguments
Return Values
Exit Status
Interactive Commands
Library Names
Literals
Names
Options
Pathnames
Standards
Variable Types
Variables
Manual Page Cross References
7. GENERAL TEXT DOMAIN
AT&T Macro
BSD Macro
NetBSD Macro
FreeBSD Macro
OpenBSD Macro
BSD/OS Macro
UNIX Macro
Emphasis Macro
Font Mode
Enclosure and Quoting Macros
No-Op or Normal Text Macro
No-Space Macro
Section Cross References
Symbolics
Mathematical Symbols
References and Citations
Trade Names (or Acronyms and Type Names)
Extended Arguments
8. PAGE STRUCTURE DOMAIN
Section Headers
Subsection Headers
Paragraphs and Line Spacing
Keeps
Examples and Displays
Lists and Columns
9. MISCELLANEOUS MACROS
10. PREDEFINED STRINGS
11. DIAGNOSTICS
12. FORMATTING WITH GROFF, TROFF, AND NROFF
13. FILES
14. SEE ALSO
15. BUGS
TROFF IDIOSYNCRASIES
The -mdoc package attempts to simplify the process of writing a man page.
Theoretically, one should not have to learn the tricky details of GNU
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
As in GNU troff(1), a macro is called by placing a '.' (dot character) at
the beginning of a line followed by the two-character (or three-charac-
ter) name for the macro. There can be space or tab characters between
the dot and the macro name. Arguments may follow the macro separated by
spaces (but no tabs). It is the dot character at the beginning of the
line which causes GNU troff(1) to interpret the next two (or more) char-
acters as a macro name. A single starting dot followed by nothing is
ignored. To place a '.' (dot character) at the beginning of an input
line in some context other than a macro invocation, precede the '.' (dot)
with the '\&' escape sequence which translates literally to a zero-width
space, and is never displayed in the output.
In general, GNU troff(1) macros accept an unlimited number of arguments
(contrary to other versions of troff which can't handle more than nine
arguments). In limited cases, arguments may be continued or extended on
the next line (See Extended Arguments below). Almost all macros handle
quoted arguments (see Passing Space Characters in an Argument below).
Most of the -mdoc general text domain and manual domain macros are spe-
cial 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 which is defined 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). This makes
it possible to nest macros; 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 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. 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.
In the following, we call an -mdoc macro which starts a line (with a
leading dot) a command if this distinction is necessary.
Passing Space Characters in an Argument
Sometimes it is desirable to give as an argument a string containing one
or more blank space characters, say, to specify arguments to commands
which expect particular arrangement of items in the argument list. Addi-
tionally, it makes -mdoc working faster. For example, the function com-
mand '.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 embed-
ded space. One way of passing a string containing blank spaces is to use
the hard or unpaddable space character '\ ', that is, a blank space pre-
ceded 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 new-
line separated pieces as one would expect. This method is useful for
strings which are not expected to overlap a line boundary. An alterna-
tive is to use '\~', a paddable (i.e. stretchable), unbreakable space
(this is a GNU troff(1) extension). The second method is to enclose the
string with double quotes.
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 '\' before the space in the first example or double quotes in the
second example were omitted, '.Fn' would see three arguments, and the
result would be:
fetch(char, *str)
Trailing Blank Space Characters
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
use 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
Special characters like the newline character '\n' are handled by replac-
ing the '\' with '\e' (e.g. '\en') to preserve the backslash.
Other Possible Pitfalls
A warning is emitted when an empty input line is found outside of dis-
plays (see below). Use '.sp' instead. (Well, it is even better to use
-mdoc macros to avoid the usage of low-level commands.)
Leading spaces will cause a break and are output directly. Avoid this
behaviour if possible. Similarly, do not use more than one space charac-
ter between words in an ordinary text line; contrary to other text for-
matters, they are not replaced with a single space.
You can't pass '"' directly as an argument. Use '\*[q]' (or '\*q')
instead.
By default, troff(1) inserts two space characters after a punctuation
mark closing a sentence; characters like ')' or ''' are treated transpar-
ently, not influencing the sentence-ending behaviour. To change this,
insert '\&' before or after the dot:
The
.Ql .
character.
.Pp
The
.Ql \&.
character.
.Pp
.No test .
test
.Pp
.No test.
test
gives
The ''. character
The '.' character.
test. test
test. test
As can be seen in the first and third line, -mdoc handles punctuation
characters specially in macro arguments. This will be explained in sec-
tion General Syntax below. In the same way, you have to protect trailing
full stops of abbreviations with a trailing zero-width space: 'e.g.\&'.
A comment in the source file of a man page can be either started with
'.\"' on a single line, '\"' after some input, or '\#' anywhere (the lat-
ter is a GNU troff(1) extension); the rest of such a line is ignored.
A MANUAL PAGE TEMPLATE
The body of a man page is easily constructed from a basic template:
.\" The following commands are required for all man pages.
.Dd Month day, year
.Os [OPERATING_SYSTEM] [version/release]
.Dt DOCUMENT_TITLE [section number] [architecture/volume]
.Sh NAME
.Nm name
.Nd one line description of name
.\" This next command is for sections 2 and 3 only.
.\" .Sh LIBRARY
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Sh DESCRIPTION
.\" The following commands should be uncommented and
.\" used where appropriate.
.\" .Sh IMPLEMENTATION NOTES
.\" This next command is for sections 2, 3 and 9 function
.\" return values only.
.\" .Sh RETURN VALUES
.\" This next command is for sections 1, 6, 7 and 8 only.
.\" .Sh ENVIRONMENT
.\" .Sh FILES
.\" .Sh EXAMPLES
.\" This next command is for sections 1, 6, 7, 8 and 9 only
.\" (command return values (to shell) and
.\" fprintf/stderr type diagnostics).
.\" .Sh DIAGNOSTICS
.\" .Sh COMPATIBILITY
.\" This next command is for sections 2, 3 and 9 error
.\" and signal handling only.
.\" .Sh ERRORS
.\" .Sh SEE ALSO
.\" .Sh STANDARDS
.\" .Sh HISTORY
.\" .Sh AUTHORS
.\" .Sh BUGS
The first items in the template are the commands '.Dd', '.Os', and '.Dt';
the document date, the operating system the man page or subject source is
developed or modified for, and the man page title (in upper case) along
with the section of the manual the page belongs in. These commands iden-
tify 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.
CONVENTIONS
In the description of all macros below, optional arguments are put into
brackets. An ellipsis ('...') represents zero or more additional argu-
ments. Alternative values for a parameter are separated with '|'. If
there are alternative values for a mandatory parameter, braces are used
(together with '|') to enclose the value set. Meta-variables are speci-
fied within angles.
Example:
.Xx <foo> {bar1 | bar2} [-test1 [-test2 | -test3]] ...
Except stated explicitly, all macros are parsed and callable.
Note that a macro takes effect up to the next nested macro. For example,
'.Ic foo Aq bar' doesn't produce 'foo <bar>' but 'foo <bar>'. Conse-
quently, a warning message is emitted for most commands if the first
argument is a macro itself since it cancels the effect of the calling
command completely. Another consequence is that quoting macros never
insert literal quotes; 'foo <bar>' has been produced by '.Ic "foo
<bar>"'.
Most macros have a default width value which can be used to specify a
label width (-width) or offset (-offset) for the '.Bl' and '.Bd' macros.
It is recommended not to use this rather obscure feature to avoid depen-
dencies on local modifications of the -mdoc package.
TITLE MACROS
The title macros are part of the page structure domain but are presented
first and separately 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 called once at the very beginning of the document and are used
to construct headers and footers only.
.Dt [<document title>] [<section number>] [<volume>]
The document title is the subject of the man page and must be in
CAPITALS due to troff limitations. If omitted, 'UNTITLED' is
used. The section number may be a number in the range 1, ..., 9
or 'unass', 'draft', or 'paper'. If it is specified, and no vol-
ume name is given, a default volume name is used.
Under BSD, the following sections are defined:
1 BSD General Commands Manual
2 BSD System Calls Manual
3 BSD Library Functions Manual
4 BSD Kernel Interfaces Manual
5 BSD File Formats Manual
6 BSD Games Manual
7 BSD Miscellaneous Information Manual
8 BSD System Manager's Manual
9 BSD Kernel Developer's Manual
A volume name may be arbitrary or one of the following:
USD User's Supplementary Documents
PS1 Programmer's Supplementary Documents
AMD Ancestral Manual Documents
SMM System Manager's Manual
URM User's Reference Manual
PRM Programmer's Manual
KM Kernel Manual
IND Manual Master Index
LOCAL Local Manual
CON Contributed Software Manual
For compatibility, 'MMI' can be used for 'IND', and 'LOC' for
'LOCAL'. Values from the previous table will specify a new vol-
ume name. If the third parameter is a keyword designating a com-
puter architecture, its value is prepended to the default volume
name as specified by the second parameter. By default, the fol-
lowing architecture keywords are defined:
alpha, amiga, arc, arm26, arm32, atari, bebox, cobalt,
evbsh3, hp300, hpcmips, i386, luna68k, m68k, mac68k,
macppc, mips, mmeye, mvme68k, news68k, newsmips, next68k,
ofppc, pc532, pmax, powerpc, prep, sgimips, sh3, sparc,
sparc64, sun3, tahoe, vax, x68k
In the following examples, the left (which is identical to the
right) and the middle part of the manual page header strings are
shown.
.Dt FOO 7 'FOO(7)' 'BSD Miscellaneous Information
Manual'
.Dt FOO 2 i386 'FOO(2)' 'BSD/i386 System Calls Manual'
.Dt FOO "" bar 'FOO' 'bar'
Local, OS-specific additions might be found in the file
mdoc.local; look for strings named 'volume-ds-XXX' (for the for-
mer type) and 'volume-as-XXX' (for the latter type); 'XXX' then
denotes the keyword to be used with the '.Dt' macro.
This macro is neither callable nor parsed.
.Os [<operating system>] [<release>]
If the first parameter is empty, the default 'BSD' is used. This
may be overridden in the local configuration file, mdoc.local.
In general, 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. In the following
table, the possible second arguments for some predefined operat-
ing systems are listed. Similar to '.Dt', local additions might
be defined in mdoc.local; look for strings named
'operating-system-XXX-YYY', where 'XXX' is the acronym for the
operating system and 'YYY' the release ID.
ATT 7th, 7, III, 3, V, V.2, V.3, V.4
BSD 3, 4, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.3t, 4.3T, 4.3r, 4.3R, 4.4
NetBSD 0.8, 0.8a, 0.9, 0.9a, 1.0, 1.0a, 1.1, 1.2, 1.2a,
1.2b, 1.2c, 1.2d, 1.2e, 1.3, 1.3a, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6
FreeBSD 1.0, 1.1, 1.1.5, 1.1.5.1, 2.0, 2.0.5, 2.1, 2.1.5,
2.1.6, 2.1.7, 2.2, 2.2.1, 2.2.2, 2.2.5, 2.2.6,
2.2.7, 2.2.8, 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 4.0,
4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 5.0
For ATT, an unknown second parameter will be replaced with the
string UNIX; for the other predefined acronyms it will be ignored
and a warning message emitted. Unrecognized arguments are dis-
played as given in the page footer. For instance, a typical
footer might be:
.Os BSD 4.3
giving '4.3 Berkeley Distribution', or for a locally produced set
.Os CS Department
which will produce 'CS Department'.
If the '.Os' macro is not present, the bottom left corner of the
manual page will be ugly.
This macro is neither callable nor parsed.
.Dd [<month> <day>, <year>]
If 'Dd' has no arguments, 'Epoch' is used for the date string.
If it has exactly three arguments, they are concatenated, sepa-
rated with unbreakable space:
.Dd January 25, 2001
Otherwise, the current date is used, ignoring the parameters.
This macro is neither callable nor parsed.
INTRODUCTION OF MANUAL AND GENERAL TEXT DOMAINS
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 command 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:
.Xx argument1 argument2 ...
'.Xx' is a macro command, and anything following it are arguments 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 meta arguments; in this example, the
user has to replace the meta expressions given in angle brackets with
real file names. Note that in this document meta arguments are used to
describe -mdoc commands; in most man pages, meta variables are not
specifically written with angle brackets. The macros which formatted the
above example:
.Nm filter
.Op Fl flag
.Ao Ar infile Ac Ao Ar outfile Ac
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 confu-
sion, 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 Ns = Ns Ar value
.Bk
.Op Ar target ...
.Ek
The '.Bk' and '.Ek' macros are explained in Keeps.
General Syntax
The manual domain and general text domain macros share a similar syntax
with a few minor deviations; most notably, '.Ar', '.Fl', '.Nm', and '.Pa'
differ only when called without arguments; and '.Fn' and '.Xr' impose an
order on their argument lists. All content macros are capable of recog-
nizing and properly handling punctuation, provided each punctuation char-
acter is separated by a leading space. If a command is given:
.Ar sptr, ptr),
The result is:
sptr, ptr),
The punctuation is not recognized and all is output in the font used by
'.Ar'. If the punctuation is separated by a leading white space:
.Ar sptr , ptr ) ,
The result is:
sptr, ptr),
The punctuation is now recognized and output in the default font distin-
guishing it from the argument strings. 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 quota-
tion 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 '\&'. Typi-
cal syntax is shown in the first content macro displayed below, '.Ad'.
MANUAL DOMAIN
Addresses
The address macro identifies an address construct.
Usage: .Ad <address> ...
.Ad addr1 addr1
.Ad addr1 . addr1.
.Ad addr1 , file2 addr1, file2
.Ad f1 , f2 , f3 : f1, f2, f3:
.Ad addr ) ) , addr)),
The default width is 12n.
Author Name
The '.An' macro is used to specify the name of the author of the item
being documented, or the name of the author of the actual manual page.
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 default width is 12n.
In the AUTHORS section, the '.An' command causes a line break allowing
each new name to appear on its own line. If this is not desirable,
.An -nosplit
call will turn this off. To turn splitting back on, write
.An -split
Arguments
The .Ar argument macro may be used whenever an argument is referenced.
If called without arguments, the 'file ...' string is output.
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)),
The default width is 12n.
Configuration Declaration (Section Four Only)
The '.Cd' macro is used to demonstrate a config(8) declaration for a
device interface in a section four manual.
Usage: .Cd <argument> ...
.Cd "device le0 at scode?" device le0 at scode?
In the SYNOPSIS section a '.Cd' command causes a line break before and
after its arguments are printed.
The default width is 12n.
Command Modifiers
The command modifier is identical to the '.Fl' (flag) command with the
exception that the '.Cm' macro does not assert a dash in front of every
argument. Traditionally flags are marked by the preceding dash, however,
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.
The default width is 10n.
Defined Variables
A variable (or constant) which is defined in an include file is specified
by the macro '.Dv'.
Usage: .Dv <defined variable> ...
.Dv MAXHOSTNAMELEN MAXHOSTNAMELEN
.Dv TIOCGPGRP ) TIOCGPGRP)
The default width is 12n.
Errno's
The '.Er' errno macro specifies the error return value for section 2, 3,
and 9 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 <errno type> ...
.Er ENOENT ENOENT
.Er ENOENT ) ; ENOENT);
.Bq Er ENOTDIR [ENOTDIR]
The default width is 17n.
Environment Variables
The '.Ev' macro specifies an environment variable.
Usage: .Ev <argument> ...
.Ev DISPLAY DISPLAY
.Ev PATH . PATH.
.Ev PRINTER ) ) , PRINTER)),
The default width is 15n.
Flags
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.
.Cm cfv . cfv.
.Fl s v t -s -v -t
.Fl - , --,
.Fl xyz ) , -xyz),
.Fl | - |
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 default width is 12n.
Function Declarations
The '.Fd' macro is used in the SYNOPSIS section with section two or three
functions. It is neither callable nor parsed.
Usage: .Fd <argument> ...
.Fd "#include <sys/types.h>" #include <sys/types.h>
In the SYNOPSIS section a '.Fd' command 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 decla-
ration for the next function.
The '.In' (#include statement) macro is the short form of the above exam-
ple. It specifies the C header file as being included in a C program.
It also causes a line break, and is neither callable nor parsed.
Usage: .In <header file>
.In stdio.h #include <stdio.h>
Function Types
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 line break, allowing the function name to appear
on the next line).
Usage: .Ft <type> ...
.Ft struct stat struct stat
Functions (Library Routines)
The '.Fn' macro is modeled on ANSI C conventions.
Usage: .Fn <function> [<parameter>] ...
.Fn getchar getchar()
.Fn strlen ) , strlen()),
.Fn align "char *ptr" , align(char *ptr),
Note that any call to another macro signals the end of the '.Fn' call (it
will insert a closing parenthesis at that point).
For functions with many parameters (which is rare), the macros '.Fo'
(function open) and '.Fc' (function close) may be used with '.Fa' (func-
tion argument).
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)
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.
The default width values of '.Fn' and '.Fo' are 12n and 16n, respec-
tively.
Function Arguments
The '.Fa' macro is used to refer to function arguments (parameters) out-
side of the SYNOPSIS section of the manual or inside the SYNOPSIS section
if the enclosure macros '.Fo' and '.Fc' instead of '.Fn' are 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
The default width is 12n.
Return Values
The '.Rv' macro generates text for use in the RETURN VALUES section.
Usage: .Rv [-std] [<function> ...]
For example, '.Rv -std atexit' produces:
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. Cur-
rently, this macro does nothing if used without the -std flag.
Exit Status
The '.Ex' macro generates text for use in the DIAGNOSTICS section.
Usage: .Ex [-std] [<utility> ...]
For example, '.Ex -std cat' produces:
The cat utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.
The -std option is valid only for manual page sections 1, 6 and 8. Cur-
rently, this macro does nothing if used without the -std flag.
Interactive Commands
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
The default width is 12n.
Library Names
The '.Lb' macro is used to specify the library where a particular func-
tion is compiled in.
Usage: .Lb <argument> ...
Available arguments to '.Lb' and their results are:
libarm32 ARM32 Architecture Library (libarm32, -larm32)
libc Standard C Library (libc, -lc)
libcompat Compatibility Library (libcompat, -lcompat)
libcrypt Crypt Library (libcrypt, -lcrypt)
libcurses Curses Library (libcurses, -lcurses)
libedit Command Line Editor Library (libedit, -ledit)
libi386 i386 Architecture Library (libi386, -li386)
libipsec IPsec Policy Control Library (libipsec, -lipsec)
libkvm Kernel Data Access Library (libkvm, -lkvm)
libm Math Library (libm, -lm)
libmenu Curses Menu Library (libmenu, -lmenu)
libossaudio OSS Audio Emulation Library (libossaudio, -lossaudio)
libposix POSIX Compatibility Library (libposix, -lposix)
libresolv DNS Resolver Library (libresolv, -lresolv)
libtermcap Termcap Access Library (libtermcap, -ltermcap)
libutil System Utilities Library (libutil, -lutil)
libz Compression Library (libz, -lz)
Local, OS-specific additions might be found in the file mdoc.local; look
for strings named 'str-Lb-XXX'. 'XXX' then denotes the keyword to be
used with the '.Lb' macro.
Literals
The '.Li' literal macro may be used for special characters, variable con-
stants, etc. -- 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 default width is 16n.
Names
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 sections. For interactive commands,
such as the 'while' command keyword in csh(1), the '.Ic' macro should be
used. While '.Ic' is nearly identical to '.Nm', it can not recall the
first argument it was invoked with.
Usage: .Nm [<argument>] ...
.Nm groff_mdoc groff_mdoc
.Nm \-mdoc -mdoc
.Nm foo ) ) , foo)),
.Nm : groff_mdoc:
The default width is 10n.
Options
The '.Op' macro places option brackets around any remaining arguments on
the command line, and places any trailing punctuation outside the brack-
ets. The macros '.Oo' and '.Oc' (which produce an opening and a closing
option bracket respectively) may be used across one or more lines or to
specify the exact position of the closing parenthesis.
Usage: .Op [<option>] ...
.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]
.Li .Op Oo Ao option Ac Oc ... .Op [<options>] ...
Here a typical example of the '.Oo' and '.Oc' macros:
.Oo
.Op Fl k Ar kilobytes
.Op Fl i Ar interval
.Op Fl c Ar count
.Oc
Produces:
[[-k kilobytes] [-i interval] [-c count]]
The default width values of '.Op' and '.Oo' are 14n and 10n, respec-
tively.
Pathnames
The '.Pa' macro formats path or file names. If called without arguments,
the '~' string is output, which represents the current user's home direc-
tory.
Usage: .Pa [<pathname>] ...
.Pa ~
.Pa /usr/share /usr/share
.Pa /tmp/fooXXXXX ) . /tmp/fooXXXXX).
The default width is 32n.
Standards
The '.St' macro replaces standard abbreviations with their formal names.
Usage: .St <abbreviation> ...
Available pairs for ``Abbreviation/Formal Name'' are:
ANSI/ISO C
-ansiC ANSI X3.159-1989 (``ANSI C'')
-ansiC-89 ANSI X3.159-1989 (``ANSI C'')
-isoC ISO/IEC 9899:1990 (``ISO C89'')
-isoC-99 ISO/IEC 9899:1999 (``ISO C99'')
POSIX Part 1: System API
-iso9945-1-90 ISO/IEC 9945-1:1990 (``POSIX.1'')
-iso9945-1-96 ISO/IEC 9945-1:1996 (``POSIX.1'')
-p1003.1 IEEE Std 1003.1 (``POSIX.1'')
-p1003.1-88 IEEE Std 1003.1-1988 (``POSIX.1'')
-p1003.1-90 ISO/IEC 9945-1:1990 (``POSIX.1'')
-p1003.1-96 ISO/IEC 9945-1:1996 (``POSIX.1'')
-p1003.1b-93 IEEE Std 1003.1b-1993 (``POSIX.1'')
-p1003.1c-95 IEEE Std 1003.1c-1995 (``POSIX.1'')
-p1003.1g-2000 IEEE Std 1003.1g-2000 (``POSIX.1'')
-p1003.1i-95 IEEE Std 1003.1i-1995 (``POSIX.1'')
POSIX Part 2: Shell and Utilities
-iso9945-2-93 ISO/IEC 9945-2:1993 (``POSIX.2'')
-p1003.2 IEEE Std 1003.2 (``POSIX.2'')
-p1003.2-92 IEEE Std 1003.2-1992 (``POSIX.2'')
-p1003.2a-92 IEEE Std 1003.2a-1992 (``POSIX.2'')
X/Open
-susv2 Version 2 of the Single UNIX Specification
(``SUSv2'')
-svid4 System V Interface Definition, Fourth Edition
(``SVID4'')
-xbd5 X/Open System Interface Definitions Issue 5
(``XBD5'')
-xcu5 X/Open Commands and Utilities Issue 5 (``XCU5'')
-xcurses4.2 X/Open Curses Issue 4.2 (``XCURSES4.2'')
-xns5 X/Open Networking Services Issue 5 (``XNS5'')
-xns5.2 X/Open Networking Services Issue 5.2 (``XNS5.2'')
-xpg3 X/Open Portability Guide Issue 3 (``XPG3'')
-xpg4 X/Open Portability Guide Issue 4 (``XPG4'')
-xpg4.2 X/Open Portability Guide Issue 4.2 (``XPG4.2'')
-xsh5 X/Open System Interfaces and Headers Issue 5
(``XSH5'')
Miscellaneous
-ieee754 IEEE Std 754-1985
-iso8802-3 ISO/IEC 8802-3:1989
Variable Types
The '.Vt' macro may be used whenever a type is referenced. In the
SYNOPSIS section, it causes a line break (useful for old style variable
declarations).
Usage: .Vt <type> ...
.Vt extern char *optarg ; extern char *optarg;
.Vt FILE * FILE *
Variables
Generic variable reference.
Usage: .Va <variable> ...
.Va count count
.Va settimer , settimer,
.Va "int *prt" ) : int *prt):
.Va "char s" ] ) ) , char s])),
The default width is 12n.
Manual Page Cross References
The '.Xr' macro expects the first argument to be a manual page name. The
optional second argument, if a string (defining the manual section), is
put into parentheses.
Usage: .Xr <man page name> [<section>] ...
.Xr mdoc mdoc
.Xr mdoc , mdoc,
.Xr mdoc 7 mdoc(7)
.Xr xinit 1x ; xinit(1x);
The default width is 10n.
GENERAL TEXT DOMAIN
AT&T Macro
Usage: .At [<version>] ...
.At AT&T UNIX
.At v6 . Version 6 AT&T UNIX.
The following values for <version> are possible:
32v, v1, v2, v3, v4, v5, v6, v7, V, V.1, V.2, V.3, V.4
BSD Macro
Usage: .Bx {-alpha | -beta | -devel} ...
.Bx [<version> [<release>]] ...
.Bx BSD
.Bx 4.3 . 4.3BSD.
.Bx -devel BSD (currently under development)
<version> will be prepended to the string 'BSD'. The following values
for <release> are possible:
Reno, reno, Tahoe, tahoe, Lite, lite, Lite2, lite2
NetBSD Macro
Usage: .Nx [<version>] ...
.Nx NetBSD
.Nx 1.4 . NetBSD 1.4.
For possible values of <version> see the description of the '.Os' command
above in section TITLE MACROS.
FreeBSD Macro
Usage: .Fx [<version>] ...
.Fx FreeBSD
.Fx 2.2 . FreeBSD 2.2.
For possible values of <version> see the description of the '.Os' command
above in section TITLE MACROS.
OpenBSD Macro
Usage: .Ox [<version>] ...
.Ox 1.0 OpenBSD 1.0
BSD/OS Macro
Usage: .Bsx [<version>] ...
.Bsx 1.0 BSD/OS 1.0
UNIX Macro
Usage: .Ux ...
.Ux UNIX
Emphasis Macro
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 default width is 10n.
Font Mode
The '.Bf' font mode must be ended with the '.Ef' macro (the latter takes
no arguments). Font modes may be nested within other font modes.
'.Bf' has the following syntax:
.Bf <font mode>
<font mode> must be one of the following three types:
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.
Both macros are neither callable nor parsed.
Enclosure and Quoting Macros
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 irregu-
larities. For each enclosure macro there is also a pair of open and
close macros which end in small letters 'o' and 'c' respectively.
Quote Open Close Function Result
.Aq .Ao .Ac Angle Bracket Enclosure <string>
.Bq .Bo .Bc Bracket Enclosure [string]
.Brq .Bro .Brc Brace Enclosure {string}
.Dq .Do .Dc Double Quote ``string''
.Eq .Eo .Ec Enclose String (in XX) XXstringXX
.Pq .Po .Pc Parenthesis Enclosure (string)
.Ql Quoted Literal 'string' or string
.Qq .Qo .Qc Straight Double Quote "string"
.Sq .So .Sc Single Quote 'string'
All macros ending with 'q' and 'o' have a default width value of 12n.
.Eo, .Ec These macros expect the first argument to be the opening and
closing strings respectively.
.Es, .En Due to the nine-argument limit in the original troff program
two other macros have been implemented which are now rather
obsolete: '.Es' takes the first and second parameter as the
left and right enclosure string, which are then used to enclose
the arguments of '.En'. The default width value is 12n for
both macros.
.Eq The first and second arguments of this macro are the opening
and closing strings respectively, followed by the arguments to
be enclosed.
.Ql The quoted literal macro behaves differently in troff and nroff
mode. 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.
The default width is 16n.
.Pf The prefix macro suppresses the whitespace between its first
and second argument:
.Pf ( Fa name2 (name2
The default width is 12n.
The '.Ns' macro (see below) performs the analogous suffix func-
tion.
.Ap The '.Ap' macro inserts an apostrophe and exits any special
text modes, continuing in '.No' mode.
Examples of quoting:
.Aq <>
.Aq Pa 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 are discussed below.
No-Op or Normal Text Macro
The '.No' macro can be used in a macro command line for parameters which
should not be formatted. Be careful to add '\&' to the word 'No' if you
really want that English word (and not the macro) as a parameter.
Usage: .No <argument> ...
.No test Ta with Ta tabs test with tabs
The default width is 12n.
No-Space Macro
The '.Ns' macro suppresses insertion of a space between the current posi-
tion and its first parameter. For example, it is useful for old style
argument lists where there is no space between the flag and argument:
Usage: ... <argument> Ns [<argument>] ...
.Ns <argument> ...
.Op Fl I Ns Ar directory [-Idirectory]
Note: The '.Ns' macro always invokes the '.No' macro after eliminating
the space unless another macro name follows it. If used as a command
(i.e., the second form above in the 'Usage' line), '.Ns' is identical to
'.No'.
Section Cross References
The '.Sx' macro designates a reference to a section header within the
same document.
Usage: .Sx <section reference> ...
.Sx FILES FILES
The default width is 16n.
Symbolics
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 default width is 6n.
Mathematical Symbols
Use this macro for mathematical symbols and similar things.
Usage: .Ms <math symbol> ...
.Ms sigma sigma
The default width is 6n.
References and Citations
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(1) style references.
.Rs Reference start (does not take arguments). Causes a line
break in the SEE ALSO section and begins collection of ref-
erence information until the reference end macro is read.
.Re Reference end (does not take arguments). The reference is
printed.
.%A Reference author name; one name per invocation.
.%B Book title.
.%C City/place (not implemented yet).
.%D Date.
.%I Issuer/publisher name.
.%J Journal name.
.%N Issue number.
.%O Optional information.
.%P Page number.
.%Q Corporate or foreign author.
.%R Report name.
.%T Title of article.
.%V Volume.
Macros beginning with '%' are not callable but accept multiple arguments
in the usual way. Only the '.Tn' macro is handled properly as a parame-
ter; other macros will cause strange output. '.%B' and '.%T' can be used
outside of the '.Rs/.Re' environment.
Example:
.Rs
.%A "Matthew Bar"
.%A "John Foo"
.%T "Implementation Notes on foobar(1)"
.%R "Technical Report ABC-DE-12-345"
.%Q "Drofnats College, Nowhere"
.%D "April 1991"
.Re
produces
Matthew Bar and John Foo, Implementation Notes on foobar(1),
Technical Report ABC-DE-12-345, Drofnats College, Nowhere, April
1991.
Trade Names (or Acronyms and Type Names)
The trade name macro prints its arguments in a smaller font. Its
intended use is to imitate a small caps fonts for uppercase acronyms.
Usage: .Tn <symbol> ...
.Tn DEC DEC
.Tn ASCII ASCII
The default width is 10n.
Extended Arguments
The .Xo and .Xc macros allow one to extend an argument list on a macro
boundary for the '.It' macro (see below). Note that .Xo and .Xc are
implemented similarly to all other macros opening and closing an enclo-
sure (without inserting characters, of course). This means that the fol-
lowing is true for those macros also.
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 enclosure macros: Test the value of a vari-
able.
.It Xo
.Ic .ifndef
.Oo \&! Oc Ns Ar variable Oo
.Ar operator variable ...
.Oc Xc
produces
.ifndef [!]variable [operator variable ...]
PAGE STRUCTURE DOMAIN
Section Headers
The following '.Sh' section header macros 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 is parsed but not gener-
ally callable. It can be used as an argument in a call to '.Sh' only; it
then reactivates the default font for '.Sh'.
The default width is 8n.
.Sh NAME The '.Sh NAME' macro is mandatory. If not specified,
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.
'.Nd' first prints '-', then all its arguments.
.Sh LIBRARY This section is for section two and three function
calls. It should consist of a single '.Lb' macro
call; see Library Names.
.Sh SYNOPSIS The SYNOPSIS section describes the typical usage of
the subject of a man page. The macros required are
either '.Nm', '.Cd', or '.Fn' (and possibly '.Fo',
'.Fc', '.Fd', and '.Ft'). 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, and 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
.Sh DESCRIPTION In most cases the first text in the DESCRIPTION sec-
tion 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).
.Sh IMPLEMENTATION NOTES
Implementation specific information should be placed
here.
.Sh RETURN VALUES Sections 2, 3 and 9 function return values should go
here. The '.Rv' macro may be used to generate text
for use in the RETURN VALUES section for most section
2 and 3 library functions; see Return Values.
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 FILES Files which are used or created by the man page sub-
ject should be listed via the '.Pa' macro in the FILES
section.
.Sh EXAMPLES There are several ways to create examples. See the
EXAMPLES section below for details.
.Sh DIAGNOSTICS Diagnostic messages from a command should be placed in
this section. The '.Ex' macro may be used to generate
text for use in the DIAGNOSTICS section for most sec-
tion 1, 6 and 8 commands; see Exit Status.
.Sh COMPATIBILITY Known compatibility issues (e.g. deprecated options or
parameters) should be listed here.
.Sh ERRORS Specific error handling, especially from library func-
tions (man page sections 2, 3, and 9) should go here.
The '.Er' macro is used to specify an error (errno).
.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. Currently refer(1)
style references are not accommodated.
It is recommended that the cross references are sorted
on the section number, then alphabetically on the
names within a section, and placed in that order and
comma separated. Example:
ls(1), ps(1), group(5), passwd(5)
.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 sec-
tion.
.Sh AUTHORS Credits should be placed here. The '.An' macro should
be used to specify the name(s) of the person(s).
.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"
Subsection Headers
Subsection headers have exactly the same syntax as section headers: '.Ss'
is parsed but not generally callable. It can be used as an argument in a
call to '.Ss' only; it then reactivates the default font for '.Ss'.
The default width is 8n.
Paragraphs and Line Spacing
.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' or '.Bd' macro (which both assert a vertical
distance unless the -compact flag is given).
The macro is neither callable nor parsed and takes no arguments; an
alternative name is '.Lp'.
Keeps
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 currently is -words (this is also the default if no option is
given) which 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.
Both macros are neither callable nor parsed.
More work needs to be done with the keep macros; specifically, a -line
option should be added.
Examples and Displays
There are seven types of displays.
.D1 (This is D-one.) Display one line of indented text. This macro is
parsed but not callable.
-ldghfstru
The above was produced by: .D1 Fl ldghfstru.
.Dl (This is D-ell.) Display one line of indented literal text. The
'.Dl' example macro has been used throughout this file. It allows
the indentation (display) of one line of text. Its default font is
set to constant width (literal). '.Dl' is parsed but 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. It has the following syntax:
.Bd {-literal | -filled | -unfilled | -ragged | -centered}
[-offset <string>] [-file <file name>] [-compact]
-ragged Fill, but do not adjust the right margin (only
left-justify).
-centered Center lines between the current left and right
margin. Note that each single line is centered.
-unfilled Do not fill; display a block of text as typed,
using line breaks as specified by the user. This
can produce overlong lines without warning mes-
sages.
-filled Display a filled block. The block of text is
formatted (i.e., the text is justified on both
the left and right side).
-literal Display block with literal font (usually fixed-
width). Useful for source code or simple tabbed
or spaced text.
-file <file name> The file whose name follows the -file flag is
read and displayed before any data enclosed with
'.Bd' and '.Ed', using the selected display type.
Any troff/-mdoc commands in the file will be pro-
cessed.
-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 mar-
gin; 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 Indent by one default indent value or
tab. The default indent value is
also used for the '.D1' and '.Dl'
macros, so one is guaranteed the two
types of displays will line up. The
indentation value is normally set
to 6n or about two thirds of an inch
(six constant width characters).
indent-two Indent 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 per-
haps may never do the right thing
within troff.
If <string> is a valid numeric expression instead
(with a scale indicator other than 'u'), use that
value for indentation. The most useful scale
indicators are 'm' and 'n', specifying the so-
called Em and En square. This is approximately
the width of the letters 'm' and 'n' respectively
of the current font (for nroff output, both scale
indicators give the same values). If <string>
isn't a numeric expression, it is tested whether
it is an -mdoc macro name, and the default offset
value associated with this macro is used.
Finally, if all tests fail, the width of <string>
(typeset with a fixed-width font) is taken as the
offset.
-compact Suppress insertion of vertical space before begin
of display.
.Ed End display (takes no arguments).
Lists and Columns
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. The use of columns inside
of lists or lists inside of columns is unproven.
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 disallowed). Most of this document has been formatted with a
tag style list (-tag).
It has the following syntax forms:
.Bl {-hang | -ohang | -tag | -diag | -inset} [-width <string>]
[-offset <string>] [-compact]
.Bl -column [-offset <string>] <string1> <string2> ...
.Bl {-item | -enum [-nested] | -bullet | -hyphen | -dash} [-offset
<string>] [-compact]
And now a detailed description of the list types.
-bullet A bullet list.
.Bl -bullet -offset indent -compact
.It
Bullet one goes here.
.It
Bullet two here.
.El
Produces:
o Bullet one goes here.
o Bullet two here.
-dash (or -hyphen)
A dash list.
.Bl -dash -offset indent -compact
.It
Dash one goes here.
.It
Dash two here.
.El
Produces:
- Dash one goes here.
- Dash two here.
-enum An enumerated list.
.Bl -enum -offset indent -compact
.It
Item one goes here.
.It
And item two here.
.El
The result:
1. Item one goes here.
2. And item two here.
If you want to nest enumerated lists, use the -nested flag
(starting with the second-level list):
.Bl -enum -offset indent -compact
.It
Item one goes here
.Bl -enum -nested -compact
.It
Item two goes here.
.It
And item three here.
.El
.It
And item four here.
.El
Result:
1. Item one goes here.
1.1. Item two goes here.
1.2. And item three here.
2. And item four here.
-item A list of type -item without list markers.
.Bl -item -offset indent
.It
Item one goes here.
Item one goes here.
Item one goes here.
.It
Item two here.
Item two here.
Item two here.
.El
Produces:
Item one goes here. Item one goes here. Item one goes
here.
Item two here. Item two here. Item two here.
-tag A list with tags. Use -width to specify the tag width.
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 priority (non-pos-
itive when in non-interruptible wait)
The raw text:
.Bl -tag -width "PPID" -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 priority
(non-positive when in non-interruptible wait)
.El
-diag Diag lists create section four diagnostic lists and are similar
to inset lists except callable macros are ignored. The -width
flag is not meaningful in this context.
Example:
.Bl -diag
.It You can't use Sy here.
The message says all.
.El
produces
You can't use Sy here. The message says all.
-hang A list with hanging tags.
Hanged labels appear similar to tagged lists when the
label is smaller than the label width.
Longer hanged list labels blend into the paragraph unlike
tagged paragraph 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 into the paragraph unlike
tagged paragraph labels.
.El
-ohang Lists with overhanging tags do not use indentation for the
items; tags are written to a separate line.
SL
sleep time of the process (seconds blocked)
PAGEIN
number of disk I/O's resulting from references by the pro-
cess to pages not loaded in core.
UID
numerical user-id of process owner
PPID
numerical id of parent of process priority (non-positive
when in non-interruptible wait)
The raw text:
.Bl -ohang -offset indent
.It Sy SL
sleep time of the process (seconds blocked)
.It Sy PAGEIN
number of disk
.Tn I/O Ns 's
resulting from references by the process
to pages not loaded in core.
.It Sy UID
numerical user-id of process owner
.It Sy PPID
numerical id of parent of process priority
(non-positive when in non-interruptible wait)
.El
-inset 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.
Use a -width attribute as described below.
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 con-
strained.
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
-column This list type generates multiple columns. The number of
columns and the width of each column is determined by the argu-
ments to the -column list, <string1>, <string2>, etc. If
<stringN> starts with a '.' (dot) immediately followed by a
valid -mdoc macro name, interpret <stringN> and use the width of
the result. Otherwise, the width of <stringN> (typeset with a
fixed-width font) is taken as the Nth column width.
Each '.It' argument is parsed to make a row, each column within
the row is a separate argument separated by a tab or the '.Ta'
macro.
The table:
String Nroff Troff
<= <= <=
>= >= >=
was produced by:
.Bl -column -offset indent ".Sy String" ".Sy Nroff" ".Sy Troff"
.It Sy String Ta Sy Nroff Ta Sy Troff
.It Li <= Ta <= Ta \*(<=
.It Li >= Ta >= Ta \*(>=
.El
Other keywords:
-width <string> If <string> starts with a '.' (dot) immediately fol-
lowed by a valid -mdoc macro name, interpret <string>
and use the width of the result. Almost all lists in
this document use this option.
Example:
.Bl -tag -width ".Fl test Ao Ar string Ac"
.It Fl test Ao Ar string Ac
This is a longer sentence to show how the
.Fl width
flag works in combination with a tag list.
.El
gives:
-test <string> This is a longer sentence to show how
the -width flag works in combination
with a tag list.
(Note that the current state of -mdoc is saved before
<string> is interpreted; afterwards, all variables are
restored again. However, boxes (used for enclosures)
can't be saved in GNU troff(1); as a consequence, argu-
ments must always be balanced to avoid nasty errors.
For example, do not write '.Ao Ar string' but '.Ao Ar
string Xc' instead if you really need only an opening
angle bracket.)
Otherwise, if <string> is a valid numeric expression
(with a scale indicator other than 'u'), use that value
for indentation. The most useful scale indicators are
'm' and 'n', specifying the so-called Em and En square.
This is approximately the width of the letters 'm' and
'n' respectively of the current font (for nroff output,
both scale indicators give the same values). If
<string> isn't a numeric expression, it is tested
whether it is an -mdoc macro name, and the default
width value associated with this macro is used.
Finally, if all tests fail, the width of <string>
(typeset with a fixed-width font) is taken as the
width.
If a width is not specified for the tag list type,
every 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; otherwise, the default width
of '.No' is used.
-offset <string> If <string> is indent, a default indent value (normally
set to 6n, similar to the value used in '.Dl' or '.Bd')
is used. If <string> is a valid numeric expression
instead (with a scale indicator other than 'u'), use
that value for indentation. The most useful scale
indicators are 'm' and 'n', specifying the so-called Em
and En square. This is approximately the width of the
letters 'm' and 'n' respectively of the current font
(for nroff output, both scale indicators give the same
values). If <string> isn't a numeric expression, it is
tested whether it is an -mdoc macro name, and the
default offset value associated with this macro is
used. Finally, if all tests fail, the width of
<string> (typeset with a fixed-width font) is taken as
the offset.
-compact Suppress insertion of vertical space before the list
and between list items.
MISCELLANEOUS MACROS
Here a list of the remaining macros which do not fit well into one of the
above sections. We couldn't find real examples for the following macros:
'.Me' and '.Ot'. They are documented here for completeness - if you know
how to use them properly please send a mail to bug-groff@gnu.org (includ-
ing an example).
.Bt prints
is currently in beta test.
It is neither callable nor parsed and takes no arguments.
.Fr
Usage: .Fr <function return value> ...
Don't use this macro. It allows a break right before the return
value (usually a single digit) which is bad typographical behaviour.
Use '\~' to tie the return value to the previous word.
.Hf Use this macro to include a (header) file literally. It first
prints 'File:' followed by the file name, then the contents of
<file>.
Usage: .Hf <file>
It is neither callable nor parsed.
.Lk To be written.
.Me Exact usage unknown. The documentation in the -mdoc source file
describes it as a macro for ``menu entries''.
Its default width is 6n.
.Mt To be written.
.Ot Exact usage unknown. The documentation in the -mdoc source file
describes it as ``old function type (fortran)''.
.Sm Activate (toggle) space mode.
Usage: .Sm [on | off] ...
If space mode is off, no spaces between macro arguments are
inserted. If called without a parameter (or if the next parameter
is neither 'on' nor 'off', '.Sm' toggles space mode.
.Ud prints
currently under development.
It is neither callable nor parsed and takes no arguments.
PREDEFINED STRINGS
The following strings are predefined:
String Nroff Troff Meaning
<= <= <= less equal
>= >= >= greater equal
Rq '' '' right double quote
Lq `` `` left double quote
ua ^ ^ upwards arrow
aa ' ' acute accent
ga ` ` grave accent
q " " straight double quote
Pi pi pi greek pi
Ne != != not equal
Le <= <= less equal
Ge >= >= greater equal
Lt < < less than
Gt > > greater than
Pm +- +- plus minus
If infinity infinity infinity
Am & & ampersand
Na NaN NaN not a number
Ba | | vertical bar
The names of the columns Nroff and Troff are a bit misleading; Nroff
shows the ASCII representation, while Troff gives the best glyph form
available. For example, a Unicode enabled TTY-device will have proper
glyph representations for all strings, whereas the enhancement for a
Latin1 TTY-device is only the plus-minus sign.
String names which consist of two characters can be written as '\*(xx';
string names which consist of one character can be written as '\*x'. A
generic syntax for a string name of any length is '\*[xxx]' (this is a
GNU troff(1) extension).
DIAGNOSTICS
The debugging macro '.Db' available in previous versions of -mdoc has
been removed since GNU troff(1) provides better facilities to check
parameters; additionally, many error and warning messages have been added
to this macro package, making it both more robust and verbose.
The only remaining debugging macro is '.Rd' which yields a register dump
of all global registers and strings. A normal user will never need it.
FORMATTING WITH GROFF, TROFF, AND NROFF
By default, the package inhibits page breaks, headers, and footers if
displayed with a TTY device like 'latin1' or 'unicode' to make the manual
more efficient for viewing on-line. This behaviour can be changed (e.g.
to create a hardcopy of the TTY output) by setting the register 'cR' to
zero while calling groff:
groff -Tlatin1 -rcR=0 -mdoc foo.man > foo.txt
For double-sided printing, set register 'D' to 1:
groff -Tps -rD1 -mdoc foo.man > foo.ps
To change the document font size to 11pt or 12pt, set register 'S'
accordingly:
groff -Tdvi -rS11 -mdoc foo.man > foo.dvi
Register 'S' is ignored for TTY devices.
The line and title length can be changed by setting the registers 'LL'
and 'LT', respectively:
groff -Tutf8 -rLL=100n -rLT=100n -mdoc foo.man | less
If not set, both registers default to 78n for TTY devices and 6.5i other-
wise.
FILES
doc.tmac The main manual macro package.
mdoc.tmac A wrapper file to call doc.tmac.
mdoc/doc-common Common strings, definitions, stuff related typographic
output.
mdoc/doc-nroff Definitions used for a TTY output device.
mdoc/doc-ditroff Definitions used for all other devices.
mdoc.local Local additions and customizations.
andoc.tmac This file checks whether the -mdoc or the -man package
should be used.
SEE ALSO
groff(1), man(1), troff(1), groff_man(7)
BUGS
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 list and display macros do not do any keeps and certainly should be
able to.
BSD October 07, 2002 BSD
