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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 head-
ers, 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, func-
tion names, function parameters, pathnames, variables, cross references to other man-
ual pages, and so on. These domain items have value for both the author and the
future user of the manual page. Hopefully, 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. Theoreti-
cally, 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 begin-
ning of a line followed by the two-character (or three-character) 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) characters 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 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 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 docu-
ment. 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. Additionally, it makes -mdoc working
faster. For example, the function command '.Fn' expects the first argument to be the
name of a function and any remaining arguments to be function parameters. As ANSI C
stipulates the declaration of function parameters in the parenthesized parameter
list, each parameter is guaranteed to be at minimum a two word string. For example,
int foo.
There are two possible ways to pass an argument which contains an embedded space.
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. This method is useful for strings which are
not expected to overlap a line boundary. An alternative 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 exam-
ple 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 replacing 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 displays (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 character between words in an
ordinary text line; contrary to other text formatters, 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 transparently, 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 spe-
cially in macro arguments. This will be explained in section 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 sin-
gle line, '\"' after some input, or '\#' anywhere (the latter 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 docu-
ment 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 commands 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.
CONVENTIONS
In the description of all macros below, optional arguments are put into brackets. An
ellipsis ('...') represents zero or more additional arguments. Alternative values
for a parameter are separated with '|'. If there are alternative values for a manda-
tory parameter, braces are used (together with '|') to enclose the value set. Meta-
variables are specified 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>'. Consequently, 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 dependencies 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 sys-
tem, 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 volume 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'. Val-
ues from the previous table will specify a new volume name. If the third
parameter is a keyword designating a computer architecture, its value is
prepended to the default volume name as specified by the second parameter.
By default, the following 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 former 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
operating 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 displayed 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, separated 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 com-
mand 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 syn-
tax 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 format-
ted 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 exam-
ple 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 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 recognizing and properly handling punctua-
tion, provided each punctuation character is separated by a leading space. If a com-
mand 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 distinguishing it
from the argument strings. To remove the special meaning from a punctuation charac-
ter 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 con-
tent 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 docu-
mented, 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 AT FreeBSD.org
Joe Author <nobody AT 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 inter-
active 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' (com-
mand 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 declaration for the next function.
The '.In' (#include statement) macro is the short form of the above example. 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' (function 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, respectively.
Function Arguments
The '.Fa' macro is used to refer to function arguments (parameters) outside 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 struc-
ture 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. Currently, 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. Currently, 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 function is com-
piled 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 constants, 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 peculiar-
ity 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 sec-
tion two or three document function name is addressed with the '.Nm' in the NAME sec-
tion, and with '.Fn' in the SYNOPSIS and remaining sections. For interactive com-
mands, 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 brackets. 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 paren-
thesis.
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, respectively.
Pathnames
The '.Pa' macro formats path or file names. If called without arguments, the '~'
string is output, which represents the current user's home directory.
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 argu-
ments). 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 irregularities. 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 function.
.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 position 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 reference 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 parameter; other macros will
cause strange output. '.%B' and '.%T' can be used outside of the '.Rs/.Re' environ-
ment.
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 enclosure (without inserting characters, of
course). This means that the following 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 variable.
.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 generally 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 com-
mand 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 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).
.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 subject should be
listed via the '.Pa' macro in the FILES section.
.Sh EXAMPLES There are several ways to create examples. See the EXAMPLES sec-
tion below for details.
.Sh DIAGNOSTICS Diagnostic messages from a command should be placed in this sec-
tion. The '.Ex' macro may be used to generate text for use in the
DIAGNOSTICS section for most section 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 functions (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 ref-
erences 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 sec-
tion 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 section.
.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 prevent-
ing 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 messages.
-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). Use-
ful for source code or simple tabbed or spaced text.
-file <file name> The file whose name follows the -file flag is read and dis-
played before any data enclosed with '.Bd' and '.Ed', using
the selected display type. Any troff/-mdoc commands in the
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 indenta-
tion 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 unfor-
tunately, 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 perhaps 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 indenta-
tion. The most useful scale indicators are 'm' and 'n',
specifying the so-called Em and En square. This is approxi-
mately 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 expres-
sion, 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 dis-
plays. 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:
? Bullet one goes here.
? 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-positive 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 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 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 process 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 com-
mon 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 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
-column This list type generates multiple columns. The number of columns and the
width of each column is determined by the arguments 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 followed 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. How-
ever, boxes (used for enclosures) can't be saved in GNU troff(1);
as a consequence, arguments 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> (type-
set 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 sec-
tions. 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 AT gnu.org (including 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 ? greek pi
Ne != ? not equal
Le <= <= less equal
Ge >= >= greater equal
Lt < < less than
Gt > > greater than
Pm +- ? plus minus
If 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 Uni-
code 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 otherwise.
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
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