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groff_mdoc

Section: Environments, Tables, and Troff Macros (7)
Index Return to Main Contents

BSD mandoc
groff 1.23.0

Name

groff_mdoc - compose BS-style manual (man) pages with GNU roff

Synopsis

groff -m doc file ...

Description

The GNU implementation of the mdoc macro package is part of the groff(1) document formatting system. mdoc is a structurall- and semanticall-oriented package for writing UNIX manual pages with troff1. Its predecessor, the man(7) package, primarily addressed page layout and presentational concerns, leaving the selection of fonts and other typesetting details to the individual author. This discretion has led to divergent styling practices among authors using it.

mdoc organizes its macros into domains The page structure domain lays out the page and comprises titles, section headings, displays, and lists. The general text domain supplies macros to quote or style text, or to interpolate common noun phrases. The manual domain offers semantic macros corresponding to the terminology used by practitioners in discussion of UNIX commands, routines, and files. Manual domain macros distinguish comman-line arguments and options, function names, function parameters, pathnames, variables, cross references to other manual pages, and so on. These terms are meaningful both to the author and the readers of a manual page. It is hoped that the resulting increased consistency of the man page corpus will enable easier translation to future documentation tools.

Throughout UNIX documentation, a manual entry is referred to simply as a ``man page'' regardless of its length, without gendered implication, and irrespective of the macro package selected for its composition.

Getting started

The mdoc package attempts to simplify man page authorship and maintenance without requiring mastery of the roff language. This document presents only essential facts about roff. For further background, including a discussion of basic typographical concepts like ``breaking'' ``filling'' and ``adjustment'' see roff(7). Specialized units of measurement also arise, namely ens, vees, inches, and points, abbreviated ``n'' ``v'' ``i'' and ``p'' respectively; see section Sx Measurements of groff(7).

For brief examples, we employ an arrow notation illustrating a transformation of input on the left to rendered output on the right. Consider the . ``macro,'' which doubl-quotes its arguments.

.``man page'': [->] ``man page''

Usage

An mdoc macro is called by placing the roff control character, `.' (dot) at the beginning of a line followed by its name. In this document, we often discuss a macro name with this leading dot to identify it clearly, but the dot is not part of its name. Space or tab characters can separate the dot from the macro name. Arguments may follow, separated from the macro name and each other by spaces, but not tabs. The dot at the beginning of the line prepares the formatter to expect a macro name. A dot followed immediately by a newline is ignored; this is called the empty request To begin an input line with a dot (or a neutral apostrophe `[aq]' ) in some context other than a macro call, precede it with the `&' escape sequence; this is a dummy character, not formatted for output. The backslash is the roff escape character; it can appear anywhere and it always followed by at least one more character. If followed by a newline, the backslash escapes the input line break; you can thus keep input lines to a reasonable length without affecting their interpretation.

Macros in GNU troff accept an unlimited number of arguments, in contrast to other troffNsNos that often can't handle more than nine. In limited cases, arguments may be continued or extended on the next input line without resort to the `[rs]' Ns Em newline escape sequence; see subsection Sx Extended arguments below. Neutral double quotes [dq] can be used to group multiple words into an argument; see subsection Sx Passing space characters in an argument below.

Most of mdocNsNo's general text and manual domain macros parse their argument lists for callable macro names. This means that an argument in the list matching a general text or manual domain macro name (and defined to be callable) will be called with the remaining arguments when it is encountered. In such cases, the argument, although the name of a macro, is not preceded by a dot. Macro calls can thus be nested. This approach to macro argument processing is a unique characteristic of the mdoc package, not a general feature of roff syntax.

For example, the option macro, . [,] may call the flag and argument macros, . - and . file ... to specify an optional flag with an argument.

.[-s bytes ]: [->] [-s bytes ]

To prevent a word from being interpreted as a macro name, precede it with the dummy character.

.[&-s &bytes ]: [->] [-s bytes ]

In this document, macros whose argument lists are parsed for callable arguments are referred to as parsed and those that may be called from an argument list are referred to as callable This usage is a technical faux pas since all mdoc macros are in fact interpreted (unless prevented with `&' ) , but as it is cumbersome to constantly refer to macros as ``being able to call other macros'' we employ the term ``parsed'' instead. Except where explicitly stated, all mdoc macros are parsed and callable.

In the following, we term an mdoc macro that starts a line (with a leading dot) a command if a distinction from those appearing as arguments of other macros is necessary.

Passing space characters in an argument

Sometimes it is desirable to give a macro an argument containing one or more space characters, for instance to specify a particular arrangement of arguments demanded by the macro. Additionally, quoting mult-word arguments that are to be treated the same makes mdoc work faster; macros that parse arguments do so once (at most) for each. For example, the function command . Fn expects its first argument to be the name of a function and any remaining arguments to be function parameters. Because C language standards mandate the inclusion of types and identifiers in the parameter lists of function definitions, each `Fn parameter ' after the first will be at least two words in length, as in ``int foo ''

There are a few ways to embed a space in a macro argument. One is to use the unadjustable space escape sequence [rs] space The formatter treats this escape sequence as if it were any other printable character, and will not break a line there as it would a word space when the output line is full. This method is useful for macro arguments that are not expected to straddle an output line boundary, but has a drawback: this space does not adjust as others do when the output line is formatted. An alternative is to use the unbreakable space escape sequence, `[rs][ti]' , which cannot break but does adjust. This groff extension is widely but not perfectly portable. Another method is to enclose the string in double quotes.

.Fn fetch char *str: [->] Fn fetch char *str
.Fn fetch char[ti]*str: [->] Fn fetch char~*str
.Fn fetch [dq]char *str[dq]: [->] Fn fetch char *str

If the `[rs]' before the space in the first example or the double quotes in the third example were omitted, `.Fn would ' see three arguments, and the result would contain an undesired comma.

.Fn fetch char *str: [->] Fn fetch char *str

Trailing space characters

It is wise to remove trailing spaces from the ends of input lines. Should the need arise to put a formattable space at the end of a line, do so with the unadjustable or unbreakable space escape sequences.

Formatting the backslash glyph

When you need the roff escape character `[rs]' to appear in the output, use `[rs]e' or `[rs](rs' instead. Technically, `[rs]e' formats the current escape character; it works reliably as long as no roff request is used to change it, which should never happen in man pages. `[rs](rs' is a groff special character escape sequence that explicitly formats the ``reverse solidus'' (backslash) glyph.

Other possible pitfalls

groffmdoc warns when an empty input line is found outside of a display a topic presented in subsection Sx Examples and displays below. Use empty requests to space the source document for maintenance.

Leading spaces cause a break and are formatted. Avoid this behaviour if possible. Similarly, do not put more than one space between words in an ordinary text line; they are not ``normalized'' to a single space as other text formatters might do.

Don't try to use the neutral double quote character `[dq]' to represent itself in an argument. Use the special character escape sequence `[rs](dq' to format it. Further, this glyph should not be used for conventional quotation; mdoc offers several quotation macros. See subsection Sx Enclosure and quoting macros below.

The formatter attempts to detect the ends of sentences and by default puts the equivalent of two spaces between sentences on the same output line; see roff(7). To defeat this detection in a parsed list of macro arguments, put `&' before the punctuation mark. Thus,

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 output. As can be seen in the first and third output lines, mdoc handles punctuation characters specially in macro arguments. This will be explained in section Sx General syntax below.

A comment in the source file of a man page can begin with `. ' at the start of an input line, ` ' after other input, or `# ' anywhere (the last is a groff extension); the remainder of any such line is ignored.

A man page template

Use mdoc to construct a man page from the following template.

." The following three macro calls are required.
.Dd date
.Dt topic [sectio-identifier [sectio-keywor-o-title]]
.Os [packag-o-operating system [versio-o-release]]
.Sh Name
.Nm topic
.Nd summar-description
." The next heading is used in sections 2 and 3.
." .Sh Library
." The next heading is used in sections -4, 6, 8, and 9.
.Sh Synopsis
.Sh Description
." Uncomment and populate the following sections as needed.
." .Sh [dq]Implementation notes[dq]
." The next heading is used in sections 2, 3, and 9.
." .Sh [dq]Return values[dq]
." The next heading is used in sections 1, 3, 6, and 8.
." .Sh Environment
." .Sh Files
." The next heading is used in sections 1, 6, and 8.
." .Sh [dq]Exit status[dq]
." .Sh Examples
." The next heading is used in sections 1, 4, 6, 8, and 9.
." .Sh Diagnostics
." .Sh Compatibility
." The next heading is used in sections 2, 3, 4, and 9.
." .Sh Errors
." .Sh [dq]See also[dq]
." .Sh Standards
." .Sh History
." .Sh Authors
." .Sh Caveats
." .Sh Bugs

The first items in the template are the commands . , . and . They identify the page and are discussed below in section Sx Title macros .

The remaining items in the template are section headings ( .

)

of which Sx Name and Sx Description are mandatory. These headings are discussed in section Sx Page structure domain , which follows section Sx Manual domain . Familiarize yourself with manual domain macros first; we use them to illustrate the use of page structure domain macros.

Conventions

In the descriptions of macros below, square brackets surround optional arguments. An ellipsis ( `...' represents repetition of the preceding argument zero or more times. Alternative values of a parameter are separated with `|' If a mandatory parameter can take one of several alternative values, use braces to enclose the set, with spaces and `|' separating the items.

ztar Br q Cm c | Cm x [-w [-y | -z ] ] [-f archive ] member ...

An alternative to using braces is to separately synopsize distinct operation modes, particularly if the list of valid optional arguments is dependent on the user's choice of a mandatory parameter.

ztar c [-w [-y | -z ] ] [-f archive ] member ...
ztar x [-w [-y | -z ] ] [-f archive ] member ...

Most macros affect subsequent arguments until another macro or a newline is encountered. For example, `.ls Bq file ' doesn't produce `ls [file] ' but `ls Bq file ' Consequently, a warning message is emitted for many commands if the first argument is itself a macro, since it cancels the effect of the preceding one. On rare occasions, you might want to format a word along with surrounding brackets as a literal.

.[dq]ls [file][dq]: [->] ls [file] # list any files named e, f, i, or l

Many macros possess an implicit width, used when they are contained in lists and displays. If you avoid relying on these default measurements, you escape potential conflicts with sit-local modifications of the mdoc package. Explicit -width and -offset arguments to the .

and . macros are preferable.

Title macros

We present the mandatory title macros first due to their importance even though they formally belong to the page structure domain macros. They designate the topic, date of last revision, and the operating system or software project associated with the page. Call each once at the beginning of the document. They populate the page headers and footers, which are in roff parlance termed ``titles''

. date

This first macro of any mdoc manual records the last modification date of the document source. Arguments are concatenated and separated with space characters.

Historically, date was written in U.S. traditional format, Do Month day , year Dc where Month is the full month name in English, day an integer without a leading zero, and year the fou-digit year. This localism is not enforced, however. You may prefer ISO 8601 format, YYY-M-DD. A date of the form `$Mdocdate: Month day year $ ' is also recognized. It is used in Ox manuals to automatically insert the current date when committing.

This macro is neither callable nor parsed.

.

Op Ar sectio-keywor-o-title topic is the subject of the man page. A sectio-identifier that begins with an integer in the range 1[en]9 or is one of the words `unass' , `draft' , or `paper' selects a predefined section title. This use of ``section'' has nothing to do with the section headings otherwise discussed in this page; it arises from the organizational scheme of printed and bound Unix manuals.

In this implementation, the following titles are defined for integral section numbers.

1 do-volum-d-1]

2 do-volum-d-2]

3 do-volum-d-3]

4 do-volum-d-4]

5 do-volum-d-5]

6 do-volum-d-6]

7 do-volum-d-7]

8 do-volum-d-8]

9 do-volum-d-9]

A section title may be arbitrary or one of the following abbreviations.

USD do-volum-d-USD]

PS1 do-volum-d-PS1]

AMD do-volum-d-AMD]

SMM do-volum-d-SMM]

URM do-volum-d-URM]

PRM do-volum-d-PRM]

KM do-volum-d-KM]

IND do-volum-d-IND]

LOCAL do-volum-d-LOCAL]

CON do-volum-d-CON]

For compatibility, `MMI' can be used for `IND' , and `LOC' for `LOCAL' Values from the previous table will specify a new section title. If sectio-keywor-o-title designates a computer architecture recognized by groffmdoc, its value is prepended to the default section title as specified by the second parameter. By default, the following architecture keywords are defined. # we use 'No' to avoid hyphenation
acorn26 , acorn32 , algor , alpha , amd64 , amiga , amigappc arc , arm , arm26 , arm32 , armish , atari , aviion beagle , bebox , cats , cesfic , cobalt , dreamcast emips , evbarm , evbmips , evbppc , evbsh3 , ews4800mips hp300 , hp700 , hpcarm , hpcmips , hpcsh , hppa , hppa64 i386 , ia64 , ibmnws , iyonix , landisk , loongson , luna68k luna88k , m68k , mac68k , macppc , mips , mips64 , mipsco , mmeye mvme68k , mvme88k , mvmeppc , netwinder , news68k , newsmips next68k , ofppc , palm , pc532 , playstation2 , pmax , pmppc powerpc , prep , rs6000 , sandpoint , sbmips , sgi , sgimips , sh3 shark , socppc , solbourne , sparc , sparc64 , sun2 , sun3 tahoe , vax , x68k , x86_64 , xen , zaurus

If a section title is not determined after the above matches have been attempted, sectio-keywor-o-title is used.

The effects of varying `. ' arguments on the page header content are shown below. Observe how `[rs]&' prevents the numeral~2 from being used to look up a predefined section title.

.Dt foo 2	->]	foo(2)	System Calls Manual	foo(2)
.Dt foo 2 m68k	->]	foo(2)	m68k System Calls Manual	foo(2)
.Dt foo 2 baz	->]	foo(2)	System Calls Manual	foo(2)
.Dt foo [rs]&2 baz	->]	foo(2)	baz	foo(2)
.Dt foo [dq][dq] baz	->]	foo	baz	foo
.Dt foo M Z80	->]	foo(M)	Z80	foo(M)

roff strings define section titles and architecture identifiers. Sit-specific additions might be found in the file mdoc.local see section Sx Files below.

This macro is neither callable nor parsed.

.[operatin-syste-o-packag-name ]

Op Ar versio-o-release This macro associates the document with a software distribution. When composing a man page to be included in the base installation of an operating system, do not provide an argument; mdoc will supply it. In this implementation, that default is ``do-defaul-operatin-system]'' It may be overridden in the site configuration file, mdoc.local see section Sx Files below. A portable software package maintaining its own man pages can supply its name and version number or release identifier as optional arguments. A versio-o-release argument should use the standard nomenclature for the software specified. In the following table, recognized versio-o-release arguments for some predefined operating systems are listed. As with . site additions might be defined in mdoc.local

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, 1.4.1, 1.4.2, 1.4.3, 1.5, 1.5.1, 1.5.2, 1.5.3, 1.6, 1.6.1, 1.6.2, 1.6.3, 2.0, 2.0.1, 2.0.2, 2.0.3, 2.1, 3.0, 3.0.1, 3.0.2, 3.0.3, 3.1, 3.1.1, 4.0, 4.0.1, 5.0, 5.0.1, 5.0.2, 5.1, 5.1.2, 5.1.3, 5.1.4, 5.2, 5.2.1, 5.2.2, 6.0, 6.0.1, 6.0.2, 6.0.3, 6.0.4, 6.0.5, 6.0.6, 6.1, 6.1.1, 6.1.2, 6.1.3, 6.1.4, 6.1.5, 7.0, 7.0.1, 7.0.2, 7.1, 7.1.1, 7.1.2, 7.2, 8.0, 8.1
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, 2.2.9, 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 4.0, 4.1, 4.1.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.8, 4.9, 4.10, 4.11, 5.0, 5.1, 5.2, 5.2.1, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 6.0, 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 6.4, 7.0, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 9.0, 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 10.0, 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4, 11.0, 11.1, 11.2, 11.3, 12.0, 12.1
OpenBSD: 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 2.7, 2.8, 2.9, 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7, 3.8, 3.9, 4.0, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 4.7, 4.8, 4.9, 5.0, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 5.6, 5.7, 5.8, 5.9, 6.0, 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 6.4, 6.5, 6.6
DragonFly: 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, 1.8, 1.8.1, 1.9, 1.10, 1.11, 1.12, 1.12.2, 1.13, 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 2.7, 2.8, 2.9, 2.9.1, 2.10, 2.10.1, 2.11, 2.12, 2.13, 3.0, 3.0.1, 3.0.2, 3.1, 3.2, 3.2.1, 3.2.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.4.1, 3.4.2, 3.4.3, 3.5, 3.6, 3.6.1, 3.6.2, 3.7, 3.8, 3.8.1, 3.8.2, 4.0, 4.0.1, 4.0.2, 4.0.3, 4.0.4, 4.0.5, 4.0.6, 4.1, 4.2, 4.2.1, 4.2.2, 4.2.3, 4.2.4, 4.3, 4.4, 4.4.1, 4.4.2, 4.4.3, 4.5, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.8, 4.8.1, 4.9, 5.0, 5.0.1, 5.0.2, 5.1, 5.2, 5.2.1, 5.2.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.4.1, 5.4.2, 5.4.3, 5.5, 5.6, 5.6.1, 5.6.2
Darwin: 8.0.0, 8.1.0, 8.2.0, 8.3.0, 8.4.0, 8.5.0, 8.6.0, 8.7.0, 8.8.0, 8.9.0, 8.10.0, 8.11.0, 9.0.0, 9.1.0, 9.2.0, 9.3.0, 9.4.0, 9.5.0, 9.6.0, 9.7.0, 9.8.0, 10.0.0, 10.1.0, 10.2.0, 10.3.0, 10.4.0, 10.5.0, 10.6.0, 10.7.0, 10.8.0, 11.0.0, 11.1.0, 11.2.0, 11.3.0, 11.4.0, 11.5.0, 12.0.0, 12.1.0, 12.2.0, 13.0.0, 13.1.0, 13.2.0, 13.3.0, 13.4.0, 14.0.0, 14.1.0, 14.2.0, 14.3.0, 14.4.0, 14.5.0, 15.0.0, 15.1.0, 15.2.0, 15.3.0, 15.4.0, 15.5.0, 15.6.0, 16.0.0, 16.1.0, 16.2.0, 16.3.0, 16.4.0, 16.5.0, 16.6.0, 17.0.0, 17.1.0, 17.2.0, 17.3.0, 17.4.0, 17.5.0, 17.6.0, 17.7.0, 18.0.0, 18.1.0, 18.2.0, 18.3.0, 18.4.0, 18.5.0, 18.6.0, 18.7.0, 19.0.0, 19.1.0, 19.2.0

Historically, the first argument used with . was BSD or ATT An unrecognized version argument after ATT is replaced with ``UNIX '' for other predefined abbreviations, it is ignored and a warning diagnostic emitted. Otherwise, unrecognized arguments are displayed verbatim in the page footer. For instance, this page uses ``.groff 1.23.0 '' whereas a locally produced page might employ ``.[dq]UXYZ CS Department[dq] '' omitting versioning.

This macro is neither callable nor parsed.

Introduction to 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 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 manual domain macros is a bit more involved; a typical Sx Synopsis command line might be displayed as:

filter [-flag ] Ao Ar infile Ac Ao Ar outfile Ac

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, Ao Ar infile Ac and Ao Ar outfile Ac 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 that 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 Ao Ar infile Ac and Ao Ar outfile Ac from the example above might be referred to as operands or file arguments Some comman-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 `file ... ' 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 `.and ' `.macros ' are explained in Sx Keeps .

General Syntax

The manual domain and general text domain macros share a similar syntax with a few minor deviations; most notably, `.file ... ' `.- ' `. ' and `.differ ' only when called without arguments; and `.Fn and ' `.impose ' an order on their argument lists. All manual domain macros are capable of recognizing and properly handling punctuation, provided each punctuation character is separated by a leading space. If a command is given:

.sptr, ptr),

The result is:

sptr, ptr),

The punctuation is not recognized and all is output in the font used by `.file ... ' If the punctuation is separated by a leading white space:

.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 character, escape it with `&'

The following punctuation characters are recognized by mdoc:

. Ta , Ta : Ta ; Ta (
) Ta [ Ta ] Ta ? Ta !

troff is limited as a macro language, and has difficulty when presented with a string containing certain mathematical, logical, or quotation character sequences:

{+,-,/,*,%,<,>,<=,>=,=,==,&,[ga],[aq],"}

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 manual domain macro displayed below, `. '

Manual domain

Addresses

The address macro identifies an address construct.

Usage: .Ao address Ac ...

.addr1: addr1
.addr1 .: addr1
.addr1 , file2: addr1 , file2
.f1 , f2 , f3 :: f1 , f2 , f3
.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 Ao author name Ac ...

.An [dq]Joe Author[dq]: An Joe Author
.An [dq]Joe Author[dq] ,: An Joe Author ,
.An [dq]Joe Author[dq] Aq nobody@FreeBSD.org: An Joe Author Aq nobody@FreeBSD.org
.An [dq]Joe Author[dq] ) ) ,: An Joe Author ) ) ,

The default width is 12n.

In a section titled ``Authors'' `An causes ' a 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 .file ... argument macro may be used whenever an argument is referenced. If called without arguments, `file ... ' is output. This places the ellipsis in italics, which is ugly and incorrect, and will be noticed on terminals that underline text instead of using an oblique typeface. We recommend using `.file ' No ... instead.

Usage: .[Ao argument Ac ... ]

.file ...: file ...
.file ...: file ...
.file1: file1
.file1 .: file1
.file1 file2: file1 file2
.f1 f2 f3 :: f1 f2 f3
.file ) ) ,: file ) )

The default width is 12n.

Configuration Declaration (Section Four Only)

The `.macro ' is used to demonstrate a config(8) declaration for a device interface in a section four manual.

Usage: .Ao argument Ac ...

.[dq]device le0 at scode?[dq]: device le0 at scode?

In a section titled ``Synopsis'' `causes ' a break before and after its arguments.

The default width is 12n.

Command Modifiers

The command modifier is identical to the `.- ' (flag) command with the exception that the `.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 Sx Flags .

The default width is 10n.

Defined Variables

A variable (or constant) that is defined in an include file is specified by the macro `. '

Usage: .Ao define-variable Ac ...

.MAXHOSTNAMELEN: MAXHOSTNAMELEN
.TIOCGPGRP ): TIOCGPGRP

The default width is 12n.

Errnos

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 Ao errno type Ac ...

.Er ENOENT: Er ENOENT
.Er ENOENT ) ;: Er ENOENT ) ;
.Bq Er ENOTDIR: Bq Er ENOTDIR

The default width is 17n.

Environment Variables

The `.macro ' specifies an environment variable.

Usage: .Ao argument Ac ...

.DISPLAY: DISPLAY
.PATH .: PATH
.PRINTER ) ) ,: PRINTER ) )

The default width is 15n.

Flags

The `.- ' macro handles comman-line flags. It prepends a dash, `-' , to the flag. For interactive command flags that are not prepended with a dash, the `.(command ' modifier) macro is identical, but without the dash.

Usage: .-Ao argument Ac ...

.-: -
.-cfv: -cfv
.-cfv .: -cfv
.cfv .: cfv
.-s v t: -s v t
.-- ,: --
.-xyz ) ,: -xyz )
.-|: -|

The `.- ' macro without any arguments results in a dash representing stdin/stdout. Note that giving `.- ' a single dash will result in two dashes.

The default width is 12n.

Function Declarations

The `.Fd macro ' is used in the Sx Synopsis section with section two or three functions. It is neither callable nor parsed.

Usage: .Fd Ao argument Ac ...

.Fd [dq]#include <sys/types.h>[dq]: Fd #include <sys/types.h>

In a section titled ``Synopsis'' `Fd causes ' a break if a function has already been presented and a break has not occurred, leaving vertical space between one function declaration and the next.

In a section titled ``Synopsis'' the `In macro ' represents the #include statement, and 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 break.

While not in the ``Synopsis'' section, it represents the header file enclosed in angle brackets.

Usage: .In Ao header file Ac

.In stdio.h: In stdio.h
.In stdio.h: In 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 BSD kernel normal form) for the ``Synopsis'' of sections two and three. (It causes a break, allowing the function name to appear on the next line.)

Usage: .Ft Ao type Ac ...

.Ft struct stat: Ft struct stat

Functions (Library Routines)

The `.Fn macro ' is modeled on ANSI~C conventions.

Usage: .Fn Ao function Ac [Ao parameter Ac ...]

.Fn getchar: Fn getchar
.Fn strlen ) ,: Fn strlen ) ,
.Fn align [dq]char *ptr[dq] ,: Fn 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:

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

Typically, in a ``Synopsis'' section, the function delcaration will begin the line. If more than one function is presented in the ``Synopsis'' section and a function type has not been given, a break will occur, leaving vertical space between the current and prior function names.

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 Sx Synopsis section of the manual or inside the Sx 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 Ao function argument Ac ...

.Fa d_namlen ) ) ,: Fa d_namlen ) ) ,
.Fa iov_len: Fa iov_len

The default width is 12n.

Return Values

The `.Rv macro ' generates text for use in the Sx Return values section.

Usage: .Rv [-std [Ao function Ac ... ] ]

For example, `.Rv -std ' atexit produces:

# a small hack to suppress a warning message Rv -std atexit

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 Sx Diagnostics section.

Usage: .Ex [-std [Ao utility Ac ... ] ]

For example, `.Ex -std ' cat produces:

# a small hack to suppress a warning message Ex -std cat

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 `.macro ' designates an interactive or internal command.

Usage: .Ao argument Ac ...

.:wq: :wq
.[dq]do while {...}[dq]: do while {...}
.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 compiled in.

Usage: .Lb Ao argument Ac ...

Available arguments to `.Lb and ' their results are:

libarchive: Lb libarchive
libarm: Lb libarm
libarm32: Lb libarm32
libbluetooth: Lb libbluetooth
libbsm: Lb libbsm
libc: Lb libc
libc_r: Lb libc_r
libcalendar: Lb libcalendar
libcam: Lb libcam
libcdk: Lb libcdk
libcipher: Lb libcipher
libcompat: Lb libcompat
libcrypt: Lb libcrypt
libcurses: Lb libcurses
libdevinfo: Lb libdevinfo
libdevstat: Lb libdevstat
libdisk: Lb libdisk
libdwarf: Lb libdwarf
libedit: Lb libedit
libelf: Lb libelf
libevent: Lb libevent
libfetch: Lb libfetch
libform: Lb libform
libgeom: Lb libgeom
libgpib: Lb libgpib
libi386: Lb libi386
libintl: Lb libintl
libipsec: Lb libipsec
libipx: Lb libipx
libiscsi: Lb libiscsi
libjail: Lb libjail
libkiconv: Lb libkiconv
libkse: Lb libkse
libkvm: Lb libkvm
libm: Lb libm
libm68k: Lb libm68k
libmagic: Lb libmagic
libmd: Lb libmd
libmemstat: Lb libmemstat
libmenu: Lb libmenu
libnetgraph: Lb libnetgraph
libnetpgp: Lb libnetpgp
libossaudio: Lb libossaudio
libpam: Lb libpam
libpcap: Lb libpcap
libpci: Lb libpci
libpmc: Lb libpmc
libposix: Lb libposix
libprop: Lb libprop
libpthread: Lb libpthread
libpuffs: Lb libpuffs
librefuse: Lb librefuse
libresolv: Lb libresolv
librpcsec_gss: Lb librpcsec_gss
librpcsvc: Lb librpcsvc
librt: Lb librt
libsdp: Lb libsdp
libssp: Lb libssp
libSystem: Lb libSystem
libtermcap: Lb libtermcap
libterminfo: Lb libterminfo
libthr: Lb libthr
libufs: Lb libufs
libugidfw: Lb libugidfw
libulog: Lb libulog
libusbhid: Lb libusbhid
libutil: Lb libutil
libvgl: Lb libvgl
libx86_64: Lb libx86_64
libz: Lb libz

Sit-specific additions might be found in the file mdoc.local see section Sx Files below.

In a section titled ``Library'' `Lb causes ' a break before and after its arguments.

Literals

The `literal ' macro may be used for special characters, symbolic constants, and other syntactical items that should be typed exactly as displayed.

Usage: .Ao argument Ac ...

.en: n
.M1 M2 M3 ;: M1 M2 M3
.cntrl-D ) ,: cntr-D )
.1024 ...: 1024 ...

The default width is 16n.

Names

The ` ' macro is used for the document title or page topic. Upon its first call, it has the peculiarity of remembering its argument, which should always be the topic of the man page. When subsequently called without arguments, ` ' regurgitates this initial name for the sole purpose of making less work for the author. Use of ` ' is also appropriate when presenting a command synopsis for the topic of a man page in section 1, 6, or 8. Its behavior changes when presented with arguments of various forms.

.groff_mdoc: groff_mdoc
.Nm
.-mdoc: -mdoc
.foo ) ) ,: foo ) )
.:: :

By default, the topic is set in boldface to reflect its prime importance in the discussion. Cross references to other man page topics should use `; ' including a second argument for the section number enables them to be hyperlinked. By default, cros-referenced topics are set in italics to avoid cluttering the page with boldface.

The default width is 10n.

Options

The `.[macro] ' places option brackets around any remaining arguments on the command line, and places any trailing punctuation outside the brackets. The macros `.[and ' `.] ' (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: .[[Ao option Ac ...] ]

.[[
.[-k ]: ] ]; [-k ]
.[-k ) . ]: [-k ]
.[-k kookfile ]: [-k kookfile ]
.[-k kookfile , ]: [-k kookfile ]
.[objfil [corfil ] ]: [objfil [corfil ] ]
.[-c objfil [corfil , ] ]: [-c objfil [corfil ] ]
.[word1 word2]: [word1 word2]
..[[Ao option Ac ...] ]: .[[Ao option Ac ...] ]

Here a typical example of the `.[and ' `.] ' 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 `.[and] ' `.[are ' 14n and 10n, respectively.

Pathnames

The `.macro ' formats file specifications. If called without arguments, `(recognized by many shells) ' is output, representing the user's home directory.

Usage: .[Ao pathname Ac ...]

.
./usr/share: /usr/share
./tmp/fooXXXXX ) .: /tmp/fooXXXXX )

The default width is 32n.

Standards

The `.St macro ' replaces standard abbreviations with their formal names.

Usage: .St Ao abbreviation Ac ...

Available pairs for ``Abbreviation/Formal Name'' are:

ANSI/ISO C

-ansiC: St -ansiC
-ansiC-89: St -ansi-89
-isoC: St -isoC
-isoC-90: St -iso-90
-isoC-99: St -iso-99
-isoC-2011: St -iso-2011

POSIX Part 1: System API

-iso9945-1-90: St -iso994--90
-iso9945-1-96: St -iso994--96
-p1003.1: St -p1003.1
-p1003.1-88: St -p1003.-88
-p1003.1-90: St -p1003.-90
-p1003.1-96: St -p1003.-96
-p1003.1b-93: St -p1003.1-93
-p1003.1c-95: St -p1003.1-95
-p1003.1g-2000: St -p1003.1-2000
-p1003.1i-95: St -p1003.1-95
-p1003.1-2001: St -p1003.-2001
-p1003.1-2004: St -p1003.-2004
-p1003.1-2008: St -p1003.-2008

POSIX Part 2: Shell and Utilities

-iso9945-2-93: St -iso994--93
-p1003.2: St -p1003.2
-p1003.2-92: St -p1003.-92
-p1003.2a-92: St -p1003.2-92

X/Open

-susv1: St -susv1
-susv2: St -susv2
-susv3: St -susv3
-susv4: St -susv4
-svid4: St -svid4
-xbd5: St -xbd5
-xcu5: St -xcu5
-xcurses4.2: St -xcurses4.2
-xns5: St -xns5
-xns5.2: St -xns5.2
-xpg3: St -xpg3
-xpg4: St -xpg4
-xpg4.2: St -xpg4.2
-xsh5: St -xsh5

Miscellaneous

-ieee754: St -ieee754
-iso8601: St -iso8601
-iso8802-3: St -iso880-3

Variable Types

The `.Vt macro ' may be used whenever a type is referenced. In a section titled ``Synopsis'' `Vt causes ' a break (useful for ol-style C variable declarations).

Usage: .Vt Ao type Ac ...

.Vt extern char *optarg ;: Vt extern char *optarg ;
.Vt FILE *: Vt FILE *

Variables

Generic variable reference.

Usage: .Ao variable Ac ...

.count: count
.settimer ,: settimer
.[dq]int *prt[dq] ) :: int *prt )
.[dq]char s[dq] ] ) ) ,: char s ] ) )

The default width is 12n.

Manual Page Cross References

The `.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: .AomanpagenameAcOoAosectionAcOc...

.mdoc: mdoc
.mdoc,: mdoc,
.mdoc(7): mdoc(7)
.xinit(1x);: xinit(1x);

The default width is 10n.

General text domain

AT&T Macro

Usage: .AT&T System[Ao version Ac ...]

.AT&T System: AT&T System
.AT&T System v6 .: AT&T System v6 .

The following values for Ao version Ac are possible:

32v, v1, v2, v3, v4, v5, v6, v7, III, V, V.1, V.2, V.3, V.4

BSD Macro

"Usage: .Bx" Bro -alpha | -beta | -devel Brc ...

" .Bx" [Ao version Ac [Ao release Ac ...] ]

.BSD BSD
.BSD 4.3 .: BSD 4.3
.BSD -devel: BSD -devel

Ao version Ac will be prepended to the string `BSD ' The following values for Ao release Ac are possible:

Reno, reno, Tahoe, tahoe, Lite, lite, Lite2, lite2

NetBSD Macro

Usage: .Nx [Ao version Ac ...]

.Nx Nx
.Nx 1.4 .: Nx 1.4 .

For possible values of Ao version Ac see the description of the `.command ' above in section Sx Title macros .

FreeBSD Macro

Usage: .Fx [Ao version Ac ...]

.Fx Fx
.Fx 2.2 .: Fx 2.2 .

For possible values of Ao version Ac see the description of the `.command ' above in section Sx Title macros .

DragonFly Macro

Usage: .Dx [Ao version Ac ...]

.Dx Dx
.Dx 1.4 .: Dx 1.4 .

For possible values of Ao version Ac see the description of the `.command ' above in section Sx Title macros .

OpenBSD Macro

Usage: .Ox [Ao version Ac ...]

.Ox 1.0: Ox 1.0

BSD/OS Macro

Usage: .Bsx [Ao version Ac ...]

.Bsx 1.0: Bs x 1.0

Unix Macro

Usage: .UNIX

.UNIX: UNIX

Emphasis Macro

Text may be stressed or emphasized with the `.macro. ' The usual font for emphasis is italic.

Usage: .Ao argument Ac ...

.does not: does not
.exceed 1024 .: exceed 1024
.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 Ao font mode Ac

Ao font mode Ac must be one of the following three types:

| -emphasis: Same as if the `.macro ' was used for the entire block of text.
| -literal: Same as if the `.macro ' was used for the entire block of text.
| -symbolic: Same as if the `.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 on-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 a pair of opening and closing macros that end with the lowercase letters `o' and `c' respectively.

# XXX

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	[lq]string[rq]
.Eq	.Eo	.Ec	Enclose String (in XY)	XstringY
.Pq	.Po	.Pc	Parenthesis Enclosure	(string)
.Ql			Quoted Literal	[lq]string[rq] or string
.Qq	.Qo	.Qc	Straight Double Quote	"string"
.Sq	.So	.Sc	Single Quote	[oq]string[cq]

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 To work around the nin-argument limit in the original

troff program, mdoc supports two other macros that are now obsolete. `.Es uses ' its first and second parameters as opening and closing marks 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.

.`The'

quoted literal macro behaves differently in troff and nroff modes. If formatted with nroff1, 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 constan-width characters. This is to make short strings more visible where the font change to literal (constan-width) is less noticeable.

The default width is 16n.

.The prefix macro suppresses the whitespace between its first and second

argument:

.( Fa name2: ( Fa name2

The default width is 12n.

The `.macro ' (see below) performs the analogous suffix function.

.Ap The

`.Ap macro ' inserts an apostrophe and exits any special text modes, continuing in `.mode. '

Examples of quoting:

.Aq Aq
.Aq ctype.h ) ,: Aq Pa ctype.h ) ,
.Bq Bq
.Bq Greek , French .: Bq Em Greek , French .
.````
.``string abc .'': '' ''; ``string abc''
.``[aq][rs][ha][A-Z][aq]'': ``'[ha][-Z]'''
.`man': mdoc `man' mdoc
.Qq Qq
.Qq string ) ,: Qq string ) ,
.Qq string ),: Qq string Ns ),
.``
.`string': ' '; `string'
.or Ap ing: or Ap ing

For a good example of nested enclosure macros, see the `.[option] ' macro. It was created from the same underlying enclosure macros as those presented in the list above. The `. ' and `. ' extended argument list macros are discussed below.

Normal text macro

`formats ' subsequent argument(s) normally, ending the effect of `and ' similar. Parsing is not suppressed, so you must prefix words like `with ' `&' to avoid their interpretation as mdoc macros.

Usage: .argument ...

.Use caution here .: [->] Use caution here
.dogs allowed .: [->] dogs allowed
.&dogs allowed .: [->] dogs allowed

The default width is 12n.

N-Space Macro

The `.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:" ... Ao argument Ac [Ao argument Ac ...]

" " .Ao argument Ac ...

.[-I directory ]: [-I directory ]

Note: The `.macro ' always invokes the `.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), `.is ' identical to `. '

(Sub)section cross references

Use the `.Sx macro ' to cite a (sub)section heading within the given document.

Usage: .Sx Ao sectio-reference Ac ...

.Sx Files: [->] Sx 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: .Ao symbol Ac ...

.Important Notice: [->] Important Notice

The default width is 6n.

Mathematical Symbols

Use this macro for mathematical symbols and similar things.

Usage: .Ao math symbol Ac ...

.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 refer1 style references.

. Reference start (does not take arguments). In a section titled ``See also'' it causes a break and begins collection of reference information until the reference end macro is read. Li .Re Reference end (does not take arguments). The reference is printed. Li .%A Reference author name; one name per invocation. Li .%B Book title. Li .%C City/place. Li .%D Date. Li .%I Issuer/publisher name. Li .%J Journal name. Li .%N Issue number. Li .%O Optional information. Li .%P Page number. Li .%Q Corporate or foreign author. Li .%R Report name. Li .%T Title of article. Li .%U Optional hypertext reference. Li .%V Volume. Macros beginning with `%' are not callable but accept multiple arguments in the usual way. Only the `.macro ' is handled properly as a parameter; other macros will cause strange output. `.%B' and `.%T' can be used outside of the `.Rs/.

' 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"
.%C "Nowhere"
.%D "April 1991"
.Re

produces

"Matthew Bar" "John Foo" "Implementation Notes on foobar(1)" "Technical Report AB-D-1-345" "Drofnats College" "April 1991"

Trade Names or Acronyms

The trade name macro prints its arguments at a smaller type size. It is intended to imitate a small caps fonts for fully capitalized acronyms.

Usage: .Ao symbol Ac ...

.DEC: DEC
.ASCII: ASCII

The default width is 10n.

Extended Arguments

The . and . macros allow one to extend an argument list on a macro boundary for the `. ' macro (see below). Note that . and . 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 `. ' using the space mode macro to turn spacing off:

.Bd -literal -offset indent
.Sm off
.It Xo Sy I Ar operation
.No en Ar count No en
.Xc
.Sm on
.Ed

produces

I operation n count n

Another one:

.Bd -literal -offset indent
.Sm off
.It Cm S No / Ar old_pattern Xo
.No / Ar new_pattern
.No / Op Cm g
.Xc
.Sm on
.Ed

produces

S / old_pattern / new_pattern / [g ]

Another example of `. ' and enclosure macros: Test the value of a variable.

.Bd -literal -offset indent
.It Xo
.Ic .ifndef
.Oo &! Oc Ns Ar variable Oo
.Ar operator variable No ...
.Oc Xc
.Ed

produces

.ifndef [! variable [operator variable ... ]
]

Page structure domain

Section headings

The following `.

section

' heading macros are required in every man page. The remaining section headings are recommended at the discretion of the author writing the manual page. The `.

macro

' is parsed but not generally callable. It can be used as an argument in a call to `.

only;

' it then reactivates the default font for `.

The default width is 8n.

.

Name

The `.

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 `. ' name macro naming the subject of the man page. The second is the name description macro, `.- , ' 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.

`.- first ' prints `-' , then all its arguments. Li ".Sh Library" This section is for section two and three function calls. It should consist of a single `.Lb macro ' call; see Sx Library Names . Li ".Sh Synopsis" The Sx Synopsis section describes the typical usage of the subject of a man page. The macros required are either `. ' `., ' 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 `. ' is required for sections 1, 5, 6, 7, and~8. Section~4 manuals require a `. ' `.Fd or ' a `.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:

".cat

".[-benstuv ]

".[Fl]

".file ...

Li ".Sh Description" In most cases the first text in the Sx 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 `.

(list: ' item) and `.

' (end list) macros are used (see Sx Lists and Columns below). Li ".Sh Implementation notes" Implementation specific information should be placed here. Li ".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 Sx Return values section for most section 2 and 3 library functions; see Sx Return Values .

The following `.

section

' headings 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.

.

Environment

The Environment section should reveal any related environment variables and clues to their behavior and/or usage. Li ".Sh Files" Files which are used or created by the man page subject should be listed via the `.macro ' in the Sx Files section. Li ".Sh Examples" There are several ways to create examples. See subsection Sx Examples and Displays below for details. Li ".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 Sx Diagnostics section for most section 1, 6 and~8 commands; see Sx Exit Status . Li ".Sh Compatibility" Known compatibility issues (e.g. deprecated options or parameters) should be listed here. Li ".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). Li ".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 Sx See also section. Cross references are specified using the `.macro. ' Currently refer1 style references are not accommodated.

It is recommended that the cross references be sorted by section number, then alphabetically by name within each section, then separated by commas. Example:

ls(1), ps(1), group(5), passwd(5) Li ".Sh Standards" If the command, library function, or file adheres to a specific implementation such as St -p1003.2 or St -ansiC this should be noted here. If the command does not adhere to any standard, its history should be noted in the History section. Li ".Sh History" Any command which does not adhere to any specific standards should be outlined historically in this section. Li ".Sh Authors" Credits should be placed here. Use the `.An macro ' for names and the `.Aq macro ' for email addresses within optional contact information. Explicitly indicate whether the person authored the initial manual page or the software or whatever the person is being credited for. Li ".Sh Bugs" Blatant problems with the topic go here.

Use-specified `.

sections

' may be added; for example, this section was set with:

.Sh "Page structure domain"

Subsection headings

Subsection headings have exactly the same syntax as section headings: `.

is

' parsed but not generally callable. It can be used as an argument in a call to `.

only;

' it then reactivates the default font for `.

The default width is 8n.

Paragraphs and Line Spacing

.: The `.
' paragraph command may be used to specify a line space where necessary. The macro is not necessary after a `.

or

' `.

macro

' or before a `.

' or `. ' 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 `.(begin ' keep) and `.(end ' keep). The only option that `.currently ' accepts is -words (also the default); this prevents breaks in the middle of options. In the example for make comman-line arguments (see Sx What's in a Name ) , the keep prevents nroff from placing the flag and the argument on separate lines.

Neither macro is callable or parsed.

More work needs to be done on the keep macros; specifically, a -line option should be added.

Examples and Displays

There are seven types of displays.

.D1

(This is -one.) Display one line of indented text. This macro is parsed but not callable.

The above was produced by: .D1 -ldghfstru

. (This is -ell.)

Display one line of indented literal text. The `.

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). `.

is

' parsed but not callable.

% ls -ldg /usr/local/bin

The above was produced by: .

% ls -ldg /usr/local/bin

.

Begin display. The `. ' display must be ended with the `. ' macro. It has the following syntax:

.: Br o -literal | -filled | -unfilled | -ragged | -centered Brc [-offset Ao string Ac [-file Ao file name Ac [-compact ] ] ]

-ragged

Fill, but do not adjust the right margin (only lef-justify).

-centered

Center lines between the current left and right margin. Note that each single line is centered.

-unfilled

Do not fill; break lines where their input lines are broken. 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 fixe-width). Useful for source code or simple tabbed or spaced text.

-file Ao file name Ac The file whose name follows the

-file flag is read and displayed before any data enclosed with `. ' and `. ' using the selected display type. Any troff/NsXrmdoc commands in the file will be processed.

-offset Ao string Ac If -offset

is specified with one of the following strings, the string is interpreted to indicate the level of indentation for the forthcoming block of text:

left: Align block on the current left margin; this is the default mode of `. '
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 `.
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 Ao string Ac is a valid numeric expression instead ( with a scaling indicator other than `u ' use that value for indentation. The most useful scaling indicators are `m' and `n' specifying the s-called and En square This is approximately the width of the letters `m' and `n' respectively of the current font (for nroff output, both scaling indicators give the same values). If Ao string Ac 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 Ao string Ac (typeset with a fixe-width font) is taken as the offset.

-compact

Suppress insertion of vertical space before begin of display.

.

End display (takes no arguments).

Lists and Columns

There are several types of lists which may be initiated with the `.

item: ' macro, and each list must end with the `.

' macro. Lists may be nested within themselves and within displays. The use of columns inside of lists or lists inside of columns is untested.

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:

.

Br o -hang | -ohang | -tag | -diag | -inset Brc [-width Ao string Ac ] [-offset Ao string Ac [-compact ] ]
.

-column [-offset Ao string Ac ] Ao string1 Ac Ao string2 Ac ... Xc
.

Br o -item | -enum Oo -nested Oc | -bullet | -hyphen | -dash Brc [-offset Ao string Ac [-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:

Item one goes here.
And item two here.

If you want to nest enumerated lists, use the -nested flag (starting with the secon-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:

Item one goes here.

Item two goes here.
And item three here.

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 operations resulting from references by the process to pages not loaded in core.
UID
numerical use-id of process owner
PPID
numerical id of parent of process priority (no-positive when in no-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 I/O operations 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 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 operations resulting from references by the process to pages not loaded in core.
UID
numerical use-id of process owner
PPID
numerical id of parent of process priority (no-positive when in no-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 I/O operations 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 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 .Xr 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, Aq Ar string1 , Aq Ar string2 , etc. If Aq Ar stringN starts with a `.' (dot) immediately followed by a valid mdoc macro name, interpret Aq Ar stringN and use the width of the result. Otherwise, the width of Aq Ar stringN (typeset with a fixe-width font) is taken as the N th column width.
Each `.
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 Ta Nroff Ta Troff

<= Ta <= Ta

>= Ta >= Ta

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

Don't abuse this list type! For more complicated cases it might be far better and easier to use tbl1, the table preprocessor.

Other keywords:

-width Ao string Ac If Aq string
starts with a `.' (dot) immediately followed by a valid mdoc macro name, interpret Aq Ar 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 Ao string Ac 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 Aq Ar string is interpreted; afterwards, all variables are restored again. However, boxes (used for enclosures) can't be saved in GNU troff1; as a consequence, arguments must always be balanced to avoid nasty errors. For example, do not write `.Ao string ' but `.Ao string ' Xc instead if you really need only an opening angle bracket.)
Otherwise, if Aq Ar string is a valid numeric expression ( with a scaling indicator other than `u ' use that value for indentation. The most useful scaling indicators are `m' and `n' specifying the s-called and En square This is approximately the width of the letters `m' and `n' respectively of the current font (for nroff output, both scaling indicators give the same values). If Aq Ar 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 Aq Ar string (typeset with a fixe-width font) is taken as the width.
If a width is not specified for the tag list type, `6n' is used.
-offset Ao string Ac If Aq string
is indent a default indent value (normally set to~6n, similar to the value used in `.
or
' `. ' is used. If Aq Ar string is a valid numeric expression instead ( with a scaling indicator other than `u ' use that value for indentation. The most useful scaling indicators are `m' and `n' specifying the s-called and En square This is approximately the width of the letters `m' and `n' respectively of the current font (for nroff output, both scaling indicators give the same values). If Aq Ar 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 Aq Ar string (typeset with a fixe-width font) is taken as the offset.
-compact
Suppress insertion of vertical space before the list and between list items.

Miscellaneous macros

A double handful of macros fit only uncomfortably into one of the above sections. Of these, we couldn't find attested examples for `Me or ' `Ot ' They are documented here for completeness[em]if you know their proper usage, please send a mail to Mt groff@gnu.org and include a specimen with its provenance.

. is currently in beta test.

formats boilerplate text.

. is currently in beta test.: [->] is currently in beta test.

It is neither callable nor parsed and takes no arguments. Its default width is 6n.

.is an obsolete means of specifying a function return value.

`allows ' a break right before the return value (usually a single digit) which is bad typographical behaviour. Instead, set the return value with the rest of the code, using `[rs][ti]' to tie the return value to the previous word.

Its default width is 12n.

.Hf Inlines the contents of a (header) file into the document.

It first prints `File:' followed by the file name, then the contents of file It is neither callable nor parsed.

.Lk Embed hyperlink.

Its default width is 6n.

.Me Usage unknown.

The mdoc sources describe it as a macro for ``menu entries''

Its default width is 6n.

.Mt Embed email address.

Its default width is 6n.

.Ot Usage unknown.

The mdoc sources describe it as ``old function type (fortran)''

.

Manipulate or toggle argumen-spacing mode.

If argumen-spacing 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' ) , ` ' toggles argumen-spacing mode.

Its default width is 8n.

.Ud formats boilerplate text.

.Ud [->]: Ud

It is neither callable nor parsed and takes no arguments. Its default width is 8n.

Predefined strings

The following strings are predefined for compatibility with legacy mdoc documents. Contemporary ones should use the alternatives shown in the ``Prefer'' column below. See groff_char7 for a full discussion of these special character escape sequences.

String	-bit	-bit	UCS	Prefer	Meaning
[rs]*(<=	<=	<=	<=]	[rs](<=	less than or equal to
[rs]*(>=	>=	>=	>=]	[rs](>=	greater than or equal to
[rs]*(Rq	"	"	Rq]	[rs](rq	right double quote
[rs]*(Lq	"	"	Lq]	[rs](lq	left double quote
[rs]*(ua	[ha]	[ha]	ua]	[rs](ua	vertical arrow up
[rs]*(aa	[aq]	'	aa]	[rs](aa	acute accent
[rs]*(ga	`	`	ga]	[rs](ga	grave accent
[rs]*(q	"	"	q]	[rs](dq	neutral double quote
[rs]*(Pi	pi	pi	Pi]	[rs](*p	lowercase pi
[rs]*(Ne	!=	!=	Ne]	[rs](!=	not equals
[rs]*(Le	<=	<=	Le]	[rs](<=	less than or equal to
[rs]*(Ge	>=	>=	Ge]	[rs](>=	greater than or equal to
[rs]*(Lt	<	<	Lt]	<	less than
[rs]*(Gt	>	>	Gt]	>	greater than
[rs]*(Pm	-	[-]	Pm]	[rs](-	plus or minus
[rs]*(If	infinity	infinity	If]	[rs](if	infinity
[rs]*(Am	Am]	Am]	Am]	&	ampersand
[rs]*(Na	Na]	Na]	Na]	NaN	not a number
[rs]*(Ba	Ba]	Ba]	Ba]	\|	bar

Some column headings are shorthand for standardized character encodings; [lq]-bit[rq] for ISO 646:1991 IRV (U-ASCII), [lq]-bit[rq] for ISO 885-1 (Lati-1) and IBM code page 1047, and [lq]UCS[rq] for ISO 10646 (Unicode character set). Historically, mdoc configured the string definitions to fit the capabilities expected of the output device. Old typesetters lacked directional double quotes, producing repeated directional single quotes [oq][oq]like this[cq][cq]; early versions of mdoc in fact defined the `Lq and ' `Rq strings ' this way. Nowadays, output drivers take on the responsibility of glyph substitution, as they possess relevant knowledge of their available repertoires.

Diagnostics

The debugging macro `.Db offered ' by previous versions of mdoc is unavailable in GNU troff1 since the latter provides better facilities to check parameters; additionally, groffmdoc implements many error and warning messages, making the package more robust and more verbose.

The remaining debugging macro is `.Rd , ' which dumps the package's global register and string contents to the standard error stream. A normal user will never need it.

Options

The following groff options set registers (with -r and strings (with -d recognized and used by the mdoc macro package. To ensure rendering consistent with output device capabilities and reader preferences, man pages should never manipulate them.

Setting string `AD' configures the adjustment mode for most formatted text. Typical values are `b' for adjustment to both margins (the default), or `l' for left alignment (ragged right margin). Any valid argument to groffNs's `ad' request may be used. See groff(7) for les-common choices.

groff -Tutf8 -dAD=l -mdoc groff_mdoc.7 | less -R

Setting register `C' to~1 numbers output pages consecutively, rather than resetting the page number to~1 (or the value of register `P' ) with each new mdoc document.

By default, the package inhibits page breaks, headers, and footers in the midst of the document text if it is being displayed with a terminal device such as `latin1' or `utf8' to enable more efficient viewing of the page. This behavior can be changed to format the page as if for 6-line Teletype output by setting the continuous rendering register `cR' to zero while calling groff(1).

groff -Tlatin1 -rcR=0 -mdoc foo.man > foo.txt

On HTML devices, it cannot be disabled.

Section headings (defined with `.

)

' and page titles in headers (defined with `. ' can be presented in full capitals by setting the registers `CS' and `CT' , respectively, to 1. These transformations are off by default because they discard case distinction information.

Setting register `D' to~1 enables doubl-sided page layout, which is only distinct when not continuously rendering. It places the page number at the bottom right on od-numbered (recto) pages, and at the bottom left on eve-numbered (verso) pages, swapping places with the arguments to `. '

groff -Tps -rD1 -mdoc foo.man > foo.ps

The value of the `FT' register determines the footer's distance from the page bottom; this amount is always negative and should specify a scaling unit. At one hal-inch above this location, the page text is broken before writing the footer. It is ignored if continuous rendering is enabled. The default is -0.5i.

The `HF' string sets the font used for section and subsection headings; the default is `B' (bold style of the default family). Any valid argument to groffNs's `ft' request may be used.

Normally, automatic hyphenation is enabled using a mode appropriate to the groff locale; see section [lq]Localization[lq] of groff(7). It can be disabled by setting the `HY' register to zero.

groff -Tutf8 -rHY=0 -mdoc foo.man | less -R

The paragraph and subsection heading indentation amounts can be changed by setting the registers `IN' and `SN'

groff -Tutf8 -rIN=5n -rSN=2n -mdoc foo.man | less -R

The default paragraph indentation is 7.2n on typesetters and 7n on terminals. The default subsection heading indentation amount is 3n; section headings are set with an indentation of zero.

The line and title lengths can be changed by setting the registers `LL' and `LT' , respectively:

groff -Tutf8 -rLL=100n -rLT=100n -mdoc foo.man | less -R

If not set, both registers default to 78n for terminal devices and 6.5i otherwise.

Setting the `P' register starts enumeration of pages at its value. The default is~1.

To change the document font size to 11p or 12p, set register `S' accordingly:

groff -Tdvi -rS11 -mdoc foo.man > foo.dvi

Setting the `X' register to a page number p numbers its successors as p a p b p c and so forth. The register tracking the suffixed page letter uses format `a' (see the `af' request in groff(7)).

Files

/usr/:share/:groff/:1.23.0/:tmac/:andoc:.tmac: This brief groff program detects whether the man or mdoc macro package is being used by a document and loads the correct macro definitions, taking advantage of the fact that pages using them must call TH or , respectively, before any other macros. A user typing, for example,
groff -mandoc page.1
need not know which package the file page.1 uses. Multiple man pages, in either format, can be handled; andoc:.tmac reloads each macro package as necessary.
/usr/:share/:groff/:1.23.0/:tmac/:doc:.tmac: implements the bulk of the groffXrmdoc package and loads further components as needed from the mdoc subdirectory.
/usr/:share/:groff/:1.23.0/:tmac/:mdoc:.tmac: is a wrapper that loads doc.tmac
/usr/:share/:groff/:1.23.0/:tmac/:mdoc/:doc-common: defines macros, registers, and strings concerned with the production of formatted output. It includes strings of the form `doc-volume-ds-' Ns Ar X and `doc-volume-as-' Ns Ar X for manual section titles and architecture identifiers, respectively, where X is an argument recognized by .
/usr/:share/:groff/:1.23.0/:tmac/:mdoc/:doc-nroff: defines parameters appropriate for rendering to terminal devices.
/usr/:share/:groff/:1.23.0/:tmac/:mdoc/:doc-ditroff: defines parameters appropriate for rendering to typesetter devices.
/usr/:share/:groff/:1.23.0/:tmac/:mdoc/:doc-syms: defines many strings and macros that interpolate formatted text, such as names of operating system releases, *BSD libraries, and standards documents. The string names are of the form `doc-str-' Ns Ar O Ns Li - Ns Ar V , `doc-str-St -- ' Ns Ar S Ns Li - Ns Ar I (observe the double dashes), or `doc-str-Lb-' Ns Ar L , where O is one of the operating system macros from section Sx General text domain above, V is an encoding of an operating system release (sometimes omitted along with the `-' preceding it), S an identifier for a standards body or committee, I one for an issue of a standard promulgated by S and L a keyword identifying a *BSD library.
/usr/:share/:groff/:site-tmac/:mdoc:.local: This file houses local additions and customizations to the package. It can be empty.

Bugs

Section 3f has not been added to the header routines.

`.Fn needs ' to have a check to prevent splitting up the line if its length is too short. Occasionally it separates the last parenthesis, and sometimes looks ridiculous if output lines are being filled.

The list and display macros do not do any keeps and certainly should be able to.

As of groff 1.23, `no ' longer changes the type size; this functionality may return in the next release.