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 groff_mdoc(7) and 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
29     .Dd   Month day, year                       Document date.
30     .Dt   DOCUMENT_TITLE [section] [volume]     Title, in uppercase.
31     .Os   OPERATING_SYSTEM [version/release]    Operating system (BSD).
32
33   Page Layout Macros
34     Section headers, paragraph breaks, lists and displays.
35
36     .Sh   Section Headers.  Valid headers, in the order of presentation:
37           NAME          Name section, should include the ‘.Nm’ or ‘.Fn’ and
38                         the ‘.Nd’ macros.
39           SYNOPSIS      Usage.
40           DESCRIPTION   General description, should include options and
41                         parameters.
42           RETURN VALUE  Sections two and three function calls.
43           ENVIRONMENT   Describe environment variables.
44           FILES         Files associated with the subject.
45           EXAMPLES      Examples and suggestions.
46           DIAGNOSTICS   Normally used for section four device interface diag‐
47                         nostics.
48           ERRORS        Sections two and three error and signal handling.
49           SEE ALSO      Cross references and citations.
50           CONFORMING TO
51                         Conformance to standards if applicable.
52           HISTORY       If a standard is not applicable, the history of the
53                         subject should be given.
54           BUGS          Gotchas and caveats.
55           other         Customized headers may be added at the authors dis‐
56                         cretion.
57     .Ss   Subsection Headers.
58     .Pp   Paragraph Break.  Vertical space (one line).
59     .D1   (D-one) Display-one Indent and display one text line.
60     .Dl   (D-ell) Display-one literal.  Indent and display one line of lit‐
61           eral text.
62     .Bd   Begin-display block.  Display options:
63           -ragged          Unjustified (ragged edges).
64           -filled          Justified.
65           -literal         Literal text or code.
66           -file name       Read in named file and display.
67           -offset string   Offset display.  Acceptable string values:
68                            left        Align block on left (default).
69                            center      Approximate center margin.
70                            indent      Six constant width spaces (a tab).
71                            indent-two  Two tabs.
72                            right       Left aligns block 2 inches from right.
73                            xxn         Where xx is a number from 4n to 99n.
74                            Aa          Where Aa is a callable macro name.
75                            string      The width of string is used.
76     .Ed   End-display (matches .Bd).
77     .Bl   Begin-list.  Create lists or columns.  Options:
78           List-types
79                 -bullet    Bullet Item List
80                 -item      Unlabeled List
81                 -enum      Enumerated List
82                 -tag       Tag Labeled List
83                 -diag      Diagnostic List
84                 -hang      Hanging Labeled List
85                 -ohang     Overhanging Labeled List
86                 -inset     Inset or Run-on Labeled List
87           List-parameters
88                 -offset    (All lists.) See ‘.Bd’ begin-display above.
89                 -width     (-tag and -hang lists only.)  See ‘.Bd’.
90                 -compact   (All lists.)  Suppresses blank lines.
91     .El   End-list.
92     .It   List item.
93

MANUAL AND GENERAL TEXT DOMAIN MACROS

95     The manual and general text domain macros are special in that most of
96     them are parsed for callable macros for example:
97
98           .Op Fl s Ar file
99                       Produces [-s file]
100
101     In this example, the option enclosure macro ‘.Op’ is parsed, and calls
102     the callable content macro ‘Fl’ which operates on the argument ‘s’ and
103     then calls the callable content macro ‘Ar’ which operates on the argument
104     ‘file’.  Some macros may be callable, but are not parsed and vice versa.
105     These macros are indicated in the parsed and callable columns below.
106
107     Unless stated, manual domain macros share a common syntax:
108
109           .Va argument [ . , ; : ( ) [ ] argument ... ]
110
111     Note: Opening and closing punctuation characters are recognized as such
112     only if they are presented one at a time.  The string ‘),’ is not recog‐
113     nized as punctuation and will be output with a leading white space and in
114     what ever font the calling macro uses.  The argument list ‘] ) ,’ is rec‐
115     ognized as three sequential closing punctuation characters and a leading
116     white space is not output between the characters and the previous argu‐
117     ment (if any).  The special meaning of a punctuation character may be
118     escaped with the string ‘\&’.  For example the following string,
119
120           .Ar file1 , file2 , file3 ) .   Produces file1, file2, file3).
121
122   Manual Domain Macros
123     Name    Parsed    Callable     Description
124     Ad      Yes       Yes          Address. (This macro may be deprecated.)
125     An      Yes       Yes          Author name.
126     Ar      Yes       Yes          Command-line argument.
127     Cd      No        No           Configuration declaration (section four
128                                    only).
129     Cm      Yes       Yes          Command-line argument modifier.
130     Dv      Yes       Yes          Defined variable (source code).
131     Er      Yes       Yes          Error number (source code).
132     Ev      Yes       Yes          Environment variable.
133     Fa      Yes       Yes          Function argument.
134     Fd      Yes       Yes          Function declaration.
135     Fn      Yes       Yes          Function call (also .Fo and .Fc).
136     Ic      Yes       Yes          Interactive command.
137     Li      Yes       Yes          Literal text.
138     Nm      Yes       Yes          Command name.
139     Op      Yes       Yes          Option (also .Oo and .Oc).
140     Ot      Yes       Yes          Old style function type (Fortran only).
141     Pa      Yes       Yes          Pathname or filename.
142     St      Yes       Yes          Standards (-p1003.2, -p1003.1 or -ansiC)
143     Va      Yes       Yes          Variable name.
144     Vt      Yes       Yes          Variable type (Fortran only).
145     Xr      Yes       Yes          Manual Page Cross Reference.
146
147   General Text Domain Macros
148     Name    Parsed    Callable     Description
149     %A      Yes       No           Reference author.
150     %B      Yes       Yes          Reference book title.
151     %C      No        No           Reference place of publishing (city).
152     %D      No        No           Reference date.
153     %J      Yes       Yes          Reference journal title.
154     %N      No        No           Reference issue number.
155     %O      No        No           Reference optional information.
156     %P      No        No           Reference page number(s).
157     %R      No        No           Reference report Name.
158     %T      Yes       Yes          Reference article title.
159     %V      No        No           Reference volume.
160     Ac      Yes       Yes          Angle close quote.
161     Ao      Yes       Yes          Angle open quote.
162     Ap      Yes       Yes          Apostrophe.
163     Aq      Yes       Yes          Angle quote.
164     At      No        No           AT&T UNIX
165     Bc      Yes       Yes          Bracket close quote.
166     Bf      No        No           Begin font mode.
167     Bo      Yes       Yes          Bracket open quote.
168     Bq      Yes       Yes          Bracket quote.
169     Bx      Yes       Yes          BSD.
170     Db      No        No           Debug (default is "off")
171     Dc      Yes       Yes          Double close quote.
172     Do      Yes       Yes          Double open quote.
173     Dq      Yes       Yes          Double quote.
174     Ec      Yes       Yes          Enclose string close quote.
175     Ef      No        No           End font mode.
176     Em      Yes       Yes          Emphasis (traditional English).
177     Eo      Yes       Yes          Enclose string open quote.
178     Fx      No        No           FreeBSD operating system
179     No      Yes       Yes          Normal text (no-op).
180     Ns      Yes       Yes          No space.
181     Pc      Yes       Yes          Parenthesis close quote.
182     Pf      Yes       No           Prefix string.
183     Po      Yes       Yes          Parenthesis open quote.
184     Pq      Yes       Yes          Parentheses quote.
185     Qc      Yes       Yes          Straight Double close quote.
186     Ql      Yes       Yes          Quoted literal.
187     Qo      Yes       Yes          Straight Double open quote.
188     Qq      Yes       Yes          Straight Double quote.
189     Re      No        No           Reference end.
190     Rs      No        No           Reference start.
191     Rv      No        No           Return values (sections two and three
192                                    only).
193     Sc      Yes       Yes          Single close quote.
194     So      Yes       Yes          Single open quote.
195     Sq      Yes       Yes          Single quote.
196     Sm      No        No           Space mode (default is "on")
197     Sx      Yes       Yes          Section Cross Reference.
198     Sy      Yes       Yes          Symbolic (traditional English).
199     Tn      Yes       Yes          Trade or type name (small Caps).
200     Ux      Yes       Yes          UNIX
201     Xc      Yes       Yes          Extend argument list close.
202     Xo      Yes       Yes          Extend argument list open.
203
204     Macro names ending in ‘q’ quote remaining items on the argument list.
205     Macro names ending in ‘o’ begin a quote which may span more than one line
206     of input and are close quoted with the matching macro name ending in ‘c’.
207     Enclosure macros may be nested and are limited to eight arguments.
208
209     Note: the extended argument list macros (‘.Xo’, ‘.Xc’) and the function
210     enclosure macros (‘.Fo’, ‘.Fc’) are irregular.  The extended list macros
211     are used when the number of macro arguments would exceed the troff limi‐
212     tation of nine arguments.
213
214     The macros UR (starting a URI/URL hypertext reference), UE (ending one),
215     and UN (identifying a target for a reference) are also available.  See
216     man(7) for more information on these macros.
217

FILES

219     doc.tmac          Manual and general text domain macros.
220     tmac/doc-common   Common structural macros and definitions.
221     tmac/doc-nroff    Site dependent nroff style file.
222     tmac/doc-ditroff  Site dependent troff style file.
223     tmac/doc-syms     Special defines (such as the standards macro).
224

SEE ALSO

226     groff_mdoc(7), man(7), man-pages(7), mdoc.samples(7)
227

COLOPHON

229     This page is part of release 4.16 of the Linux man-pages project.  A
230     description of the project, information about reporting bugs, and the
231     latest version of this page, can be found at
232     https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.
233
234Linux                            July 11, 1999                           Linux
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