1MDOC(7)              BSD Miscellaneous Information Manual              MDOC(7)
2

NAME

4     mdoc — quick reference guide for the -mdoc macro package
5

SYNOPSIS

7     groff -mdoc files ...
8

DESCRIPTION

10     The -mdoc package is a set of content-based and domain-based macros used
11     to format the BSD man pages.  The macro names and their meanings are
12     listed below for quick reference; for a detailed explanation on using the
13     package, see the tutorial sampler mdoc.samples(7).
14
15     Note that this is not the usual macro package for Linux documentation,
16     although it is used for documentation of several widely-used programs;
17     see man(7).
18
19     The macros are described in two groups, the first includes the structural
20     and physical page layout macros.  The second contains the manual and gen‐
21     eral text domain macros which differentiate the -mdoc package from other
22     troff formatting packages.
23

PAGE STRUCTURE DOMAIN

25   Title Macros
26     To create a valid manual page, these three macros, in this order, are
27     required:
28     .Dd   Month day, year                       Document date.
29     .Dt   DOCUMENT_TITLE [section] [volume]     Title, in upper case.
30     .Os   OPERATING_SYSTEM [version/release]    Operating system (BSD).
31
32   Page Layout Macros
33     Section headers, paragraph breaks, lists and displays.
34     .Sh   Section Headers.  Valid headers, in the order of presentation:
35           NAME           Name section, should include the ‘.Nm’ or ‘.Fn’ and
36                          the ‘.Nd’ macros.
37           SYNOPSIS       Usage.
38           DESCRIPTION    General description, should include options and
39                          parameters.
40           RETURN VALUES  Sections two and three function calls.
41           ENVIRONMENT    Describe environment variables.
42           FILES          Files associated with the subject.
43           EXAMPLES       Examples and suggestions.
44           DIAGNOSTICS    Normally used for section four device interface
45                          diagnostics.
46           ERRORS         Sections two and three error and signal handling.
47           SEE ALSO       Cross references and citations.
48           CONFORMING TO  Conformance to standards if applicable.
49           HISTORY        If a standard is not applicable, the history of the
50                          subject should be given.
51           BUGS           Gotchas and caveats.
52           other          Customized headers may be added at the authors dis‐
53                          cretion.
54     .Ss   Subsection Headers.
55     .Pp   Paragraph Break.  Vertical space (one line).
56     .D1   (D-one) Display-one Indent and display one text line.
57     .Dl   (D-ell) Display-one literal.  Indent and display one line of lit‐
58           eral text.
59     .Bd   Begin-display block.  Display options:
60           -ragged          Unjustified (ragged edges).
61           -filled          Justified.
62           -literal         Literal text or code.
63           -file name       Read in named file and display.
64           -offset string   Offset display.  Acceptable string values:
65                            left        Align block on left (default).
66                            center      Approximate center margin.
67                            indent      Six constant width spaces (a tab).
68                            indent-two  Two tabs.
69                            right       Left aligns block 2 inches from right.
70                            xxn         Where xx is a number from 4n to 99n.
71                            Aa          Where Aa is a callable macro name.
72                            string      The width of string is used.
73     .Ed   End-display (matches .Bd).
74     .Bl   Begin-list.  Create lists or columns. Options:
75           List-types
76                 -bullet    Bullet Item List
77                 -item      Unlabeled List
78                 -enum      Enumerated List
79                 -tag       Tag Labeled List
80                 -diag      Diagnostic List
81                 -hang      Hanging Labeled List
82                 -ohang     Overhanging Labeled List
83                 -inset     Inset or Run-on Labeled List
84           List-parameters
85                 -offset    (All lists.) See ‘.Bd’ begin-display above.
86                 -width     (-tag and -hang lists only.)  See ‘.Bd’.
87                 -compact   (All lists.)  Suppresses blank lines.
88     .El   End-list.
89     .It   List item.
90

MANUAL AND GENERAL TEXT DOMAIN MACROS

92     The manual and general text domain macros are special in that most of
93     them are parsed for callable macros for example:
94
95           .Op Fl s Ar file
96                       Produces [-s file]
97
98     In this example, the option enclosure macro ‘.Op’ is parsed, and calls
99     the callable content macro ‘Fl’ which operates on the argument ‘s’ and
100     then calls the callable content macro ‘Ar’ which operates on the argument
101     ‘file’.  Some macros may be callable, but are not parsed and vice versa.
102     These macros are indicated in the parsed and callable columns below.
103
104     Unless stated, manual domain macros share a common syntax:
105
106           .Va argument [ . , ; : ( ) [ ] argument ... ]
107
108     Note: Opening and closing punctuation characters are only recognized as
109     such if they are presented one at a time.  The string ‘),’ is not recog‐
110     nized as punctuation and will be output with a leading white space and in
111     what ever font the calling macro uses.  The argument list ‘] ) ,’ is rec‐
112     ognized as three sequential closing punctuation characters and a leading
113     white space is not output between the characters and the previous argu‐
114     ment (if any).  The special meaning of a punctuation character may be
115     escaped with the string ‘\&’.  For example the following string,
116
117           .Ar file1 , file2 , file3 ) .   Produces file1, file2, file3).
118
119   Manual Domain Macros
120     Name    Parsed    Callable     Description
121     Ad      Yes       Yes          Address. (This macro may be deprecated.)
122     An      Yes       Yes          Author name.
123     Ar      Yes       Yes          Command line argument.
124     Cd      No        No           Configuration declaration (section four
125                                    only).
126     Cm      Yes       Yes          Command line argument modifier.
127     Dv      Yes       Yes          Defined variable (source code).
128     Er      Yes       Yes          Error number (source code).
129     Ev      Yes       Yes          Environment variable.
130     Fa      Yes       Yes          Function argument.
131     Fd      Yes       Yes          Function declaration.
132     Fn      Yes       Yes          Function call (also .Fo and .Fc).
133     Ic      Yes       Yes          Interactive command.
134     Li      Yes       Yes          Literal text.
135     Nm      Yes       Yes          Command name.
136     Op      Yes       Yes          Option (also .Oo and .Oc).
137     Ot      Yes       Yes          Old style function type (Fortran only).
138     Pa      Yes       Yes          Pathname or filename.
139     St      Yes       Yes          Standards (-p1003.2, -p1003.1 or -ansiC)
140     Va      Yes       Yes          Variable name.
141     Vt      Yes       Yes          Variable type (Fortran only).
142     Xr      Yes       Yes          Manual Page Cross Reference.
143
144   General Text Domain Macros
145     Name    Parsed    Callable     Description
146     %A      Yes       No           Reference author.
147     %B      Yes       Yes          Reference book title.
148     %C      No        No           Reference place of publishing (city).
149     %D      No        No           Reference date.
150     %J      Yes       Yes          Reference journal title.
151     %N      No        No           Reference issue number.
152     %O      No        No           Reference optional information.
153     %P      No        No           Reference page number(s).
154     %R      No        No           Reference report Name.
155     %T      Yes       Yes          Reference article title.
156     %V      No        No           Reference volume.
157     Ac      Yes       Yes          Angle close quote.
158     Ao      Yes       Yes          Angle open quote.
159     Ap      Yes       Yes          Apostrophe.
160     Aq      Yes       Yes          Angle quote.
161     At      No        No           AT&T UNIX
162     Bc      Yes       Yes          Bracket close quote.
163     Bf      No        No           Begin font mode.
164     Bo      Yes       Yes          Bracket open quote.
165     Bq      Yes       Yes          Bracket quote.
166     Bx      Yes       Yes          BSD.
167     Db      No        No           Debug (default is "off")
168     Dc      Yes       Yes          Double close quote.
169     Do      Yes       Yes          Double open quote.
170     Dq      Yes       Yes          Double quote.
171     Ec      Yes       Yes          Enclose string close quote.
172     Ef      No        No           End font mode.
173     Em      Yes       Yes          Emphasis (traditional English).
174     Eo      Yes       Yes          Enclose string open quote.
175     Fx      No        No           FreeBSD operating system
176     No      Yes       Yes          Normal text (no-op).
177     Ns      Yes       Yes          No space.
178     Pc      Yes       Yes          Parenthesis close quote.
179     Pf      Yes       No           Prefix string.
180     Po      Yes       Yes          Parenthesis open quote.
181     Pq      Yes       Yes          Parentheses quote.
182     Qc      Yes       Yes          Straight Double close quote.
183     Ql      Yes       Yes          Quoted literal.
184     Qo      Yes       Yes          Straight Double open quote.
185     Qq      Yes       Yes          Straight Double quote.
186     Re      No        No           Reference end.
187     Rs      No        No           Reference start.
188     Rv      No        No           Return values (sections two and three
189                                    only).
190     Sc      Yes       Yes          Single close quote.
191     So      Yes       Yes          Single open quote.
192     Sq      Yes       Yes          Single quote.
193     Sm      No        No           Space mode (default is "on")
194     Sx      Yes       Yes          Section Cross Reference.
195     Sy      Yes       Yes          Symbolic (traditional English).
196     Tn      Yes       Yes          Trade or type name (small Caps).
197     Ux      Yes       Yes          UNIX
198     Xc      Yes       Yes          Extend argument list close.
199     Xo      Yes       Yes          Extend argument list open.
200
201     Macro names ending in ‘q’ quote remaining items on the argument list.
202     Macro names ending in ‘o’ begin a quote which may span more than one line
203     of input and are close quoted with the matching macro name ending in ‘c’.
204     Enclosure macros may be nested and are limited to eight arguments.
205
206     Note: the extended argument list macros (‘.Xo’, ‘.Xc’) and the function
207     enclosure macros (‘.Fo’, ‘.Fc’) are irregular.  The extended list macros
208     are used when the number of macro arguments would exceed the troff limi‐
209     tation of nine arguments.
210
211     The macros UR (starting a URI/URL hypertext reference), UE (ending one),
212     and UN (identifying a target for a reference) are also available.  See
213     man(7) for more information on these macros.
214

FILES

216     tmac.doc          Manual and general text domain macros.
217     tmac.doc-common   Common structural macros and definitions.
218     tmac.doc-nroff    Site dependent nroff style file.
219     tmac.doc-ditroff  Site dependent troff style file.
220     tmac.doc-syms     Special defines (such as the standards macro).
221

SEE ALSO

223     mdoc.samples(7), man(7)
224
225Linux                            July 11, 1999                           Linux
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