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EQN

Section: Environments, Tables, and Troff Macros (7)
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BSD mandoc

NAME

eqn - eqn language reference for mandoc

DESCRIPTION

The eqn language is an equatio-formatting language. It is used within mdoc(7) and man(7) UNIX manual pages. It describes the structure of an equation, not its mathematical meaning. This manual describes the language accepted by the mandoc(1) utility, which corresponds to the Second Edition specification (see Sx SEE ALSO for references).

An equation starts with an input line containing exactly the characters `.EQ' may contain multiple input lines, and ends with an input line containing exactly the characters `.EN' Equivalently, an equation can be given in the middle of a single text input line by surrounding it with the equation delimiters defined with the delim statement.

The equation grammar is as follows, where quoted strings are cas-sensitive literals in the input:

eqn     : box | eqn box
box     : text
        | dq{dq eqn dq}dq
        | dqdefinedq text text
        | dqndefinedq text text
        | dqtdefinedq text text
        | dqgfontdq text
        | dqgsizedq text
        | dqsetdq text text
        | dqundefdq text
        | dqsqrtdq box
        | box pos box
        | box mark
        | dqmatrixdq dq{dq [col dq{dq list dq}dq]* dq}dq
        | pile dq{dq list dq}dq
        | font box
        | dqsizedq text box
        | dqleftdq text eqn [dqrightdq text]
col     : dqlcoldq | dqrcoldq | dqccoldq | dqcoldq
text    : [^spacedq]+ | dq.*dq
pile    : dqlpiledq | dqcpiledq | dqrpiledq | dqpiledq
pos     : dqoverdq | dqsupdq | dqsubdq | dqtodq | dqfromdq
mark    : dqdotdq | dqdotdotdq | dqhatdq | dqtildedq | dqvecdq
        | dqdyaddq | dqbardq | dqunderdq
font    : dqromandq | dqitalicdq | dqbolddq | dqfatdq
list    : eqn
        | list dqabovedq eqn
space   : [^~ t]

Whit-space consists of the space, tab, circumflex, and tilde characters. It is required to delimit tokens consisting of alphabetic characters and it is ignored at other places. Braces and quotes also delimit tokens. If within a quoted string, these space characters are retained. Quoted strings are also not scanned for keywords, glyph names, and expansion of definitions. To print a literal quote character, it can be prepended with a backslash or expressed with the (dq escape sequence.

Subequations can be enclosed in braces to pass them as arguments to operation keywords, overriding standard operation precedence. Braces can be nested. To set a brace verbatim, it needs to be enclosed in quotes.

The following text terms are translated into a rendered glyph, if available: alpha, beta, chi, delta, epsilon, eta, gamma, iota, kappa, lambda, mu, nu, omega, omicron, phi, pi, psi, rho, sigma, tau, theta, upsilon, xi, zeta, DELTA, GAMMA, LAMBDA, OMEGA, PHI, PI, PSI, SIGMA, THETA, UPSILON, XI, inter (intersection), union (union), prod (product), int (integral), sum (summation), grad (gradient), del (vector differential), times (multiply), cdot (cente-dot), nothing (zer-width space), approx (approximately equals), prime (prime), half (on-half), partial (partial differential), inf (infinity), >> (much greater), << (much less), <- (left arrow), -> (right arrow), +- (plu-minus), != (not equal), == (equivalence), <= (les-tha-equal), and >= (mor-tha-equal). The character escape sequences documented in mandoc_char7 can be used, too.

The following control statements are available:

define

Replace all occurrences of a key with a value. Its syntax is as follows:

The first character of the value string, c is used as the delimiter for the value val This allows for arbitrary enclosure of terms (not just quotes), such as

It is an error to have an empty key or val Note that a quoted key causes errors in some implementations and should not be considered portable. It is not expanded for replacements. Definitions may refer to other definitions; these are evaluated recursively when text replacement occurs and not when the definition is created.

Definitions can create arbitrary strings, for example, the following is a legal construction.

define foo aqdefineaq
foo bar aqbazaq

Sel-referencing definitions will raise an error. The ndefine statement is a synonym for define while tdefine is discarded.

delim

This statement takes a string argument consisting of two bytes, to be used as the opening and closing delimiters for equations in the middle of text input lines. Conventionally, the dollar sign is used for both delimiters, as follows:

.EQ
delim $$
.EN
An equation like $sin pi = 0$ can now be entered
in the middle of a text input line.

The special statement delim off temporarily disables previously declared delimiters and delim on reenables them.

gfont

Set the default font of subsequent output. Its syntax is as follows:

In mandoc, this value is discarded.

gsize

Set the default size of subsequent output. Its syntax is as follows:

The size value should be an integer. If prepended by a sign, the font size is changed relative to the current size.

set

Set an equation mode. In mandoc, both arguments are thrown away. Its syntax is as follows:

The key and val are not expanded for replacements. This statement is a GNU extension.

undef

Unset a previousl-defined key. Its syntax is as follows:

Once invoked, the definition for key is discarded. The key is not expanded for replacements. This statement is a GNU extension.

Operation keywords have the following semantics:

above

See pile

bar

Draw a line over the preceding box.

bold

Set the following box using bold font.

ccol

Like cpile but for use in matrix

cpile

Like pile but with slightly increased vertical spacing.

dot

Set a single dot over the preceding box.

dotdot

Set two dots (dieresis) over the preceding box.

dyad

Set a dyad symbol (lef-right arrow) over the preceding box.

fat

A synonym for bold

font

Set the second argument using the font specified by the first argument; currently not recognized by the mandoc(1) parser.

from

Set the following box below the preceding box, using a slightly smaller font. Used for sums, integrals, limits, and the like.

hat

Set a hat (circumflex) over the preceding box.

italic

Set the following box using italic font.

lcol

Like lpile but for use in matrix

left

Set the first argument as a big left delimiter before the second argument. As an optional third argument, right can follow. In that case, the fourth argument is set as a big right delimiter after the second argument.

lpile

Like cpile but subequations are lef-justified.

matrix

Followed by a list of columns enclosed in braces. All columns need to have the same number of subequations. The columns are set as a matrix. The difference compared to multiple subsequent pile operators is that in a matrix corresponding subequations in all columns line up horizontally, while each pile does vertical spacing independently.

over

Set a fraction. The preceding box is the numerator, the following box is the denominator.

pile

Followed by a list of subequations enclosed in braces, the subequations being separated by above keywords. Sets the subequations one above the other, each of them centered. Typically used to represent vectors in coordinate representation.

rcol

Like rpile but for use in matrix

right

See left right cannot be used without left To set a big right delimiter without a big left delimiter, the following construction can be used:

roman

Set the following box using the default font.

rpile

Like cpile but subequations are righ-justified.

size

Set the second argument with the font size specified by the first argument; currently ignored by mandoc(1). By prepending a plus or minus sign to the first argument, the font size can be selected relative to the current size.

sqrt

Set the square root of the following box.

sub

Set the following box as a subscript to the preceding box.

sup

Set the following box as a superscript to the preceding box. As a special case, if a sup clause immediately follows a sub clause as in

both are set with respect to the same mainbox that is, supbox is set above subbox

tilde

Set a tilde over the preceding box.

to

Set the following box above the preceding box, using a slightly smaller font. Used for sums and integrals and the like. As a special case, if a to clause immediately follows a from clause as in

both are set below and above the same mainbox

under

Underline the preceding box.

vec

Set a vector symbol (right arrow) over the preceding box.

The binary operations from to sub and sup group to the right, that is,

is the same as

and different from

By contrast, over groups to the left.

In the following list, earlier operations bind more tightly than later operations:

dyad vec under bar tilde hat dot dotdot
fat roman italic bold size
sub sup
sqrt
over
from to

COMPATIBILITY

This section documents the compatibility of mandoc and the troff implementation (including GNU troff).

The text string: `dq' is interpreted as a literal quote in troff. In mandoc, this is interpreted as a comment.
In troff, The circumflex and tilde whit-space symbols map to: fixe-width spaces. In mandoc, these characters are synonyms for the space character.
The troff implementation of: allows for equation alignment with the mark and lineup tokens. mandoc discards these tokens. The back n fwd n up n and down n commands are also ignored.

HISTORY

The eqn utility, a preprocessor for troff, was originally written by Brian W. Kernighan and Lorinda L. Cherry in 1975. The GNU reimplementation of eqn, part of the GNU troff package, was released in 1989 by James Clark. The eqn component of mandoc(1) was added in 2011.

AUTHORS

This reference was written by An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq Mt kristaps@bsd.lv .