1GROFF_MDOC(7) BSD Miscellaneous Information Manual GROFF_MDOC(7)
2
4 groff_mdoc — reference for groff's mdoc implementation
5
7 groff -mdoc file ...
8
10 A complete reference for writing UNIX manual pages with the -mdoc macro
11 package; a content-based and domain-based formatting package for GNU
12 troff(1). Its predecessor, the -man(7) package, addressed page layout
13 leaving the manipulation of fonts and other typesetting details to the
14 individual author. In -mdoc, page layout macros make up the page
15 structure domain which consists of macros for titles, section headers,
16 displays and lists – essentially items which affect the physical position
17 of text on a formatted page. In addition to the page structure domain,
18 there are two more domains, the manual domain and the general text
19 domain. The general text domain is defined as macros which perform tasks
20 such as quoting or emphasizing pieces of text. The manual domain is
21 defined as macros that are a subset of the day to day informal language
22 used to describe commands, routines and related UNIX files. Macros in
23 the manual domain handle command names, command line arguments and
24 options, function names, function parameters, pathnames, variables, cross
25 references to other manual pages, and so on. These domain items have
26 value for both the author and the future user of the manual page. Hope‐
27 fully, the consistency gained across the manual set will provide easier
28 translation to future documentation tools.
29 Throughout the UNIX manual pages, a manual entry is simply referred to as
31 a man page, regardless of actual length and without sexist intention.
32
34 The material presented in the remainder of this document is outlined as
35 follows:
36 1. TROFF IDIOSYNCRASIES
38 Macro Usage
39 Passing Space Characters in an Argument
40 Trailing Blank Space Characters
41 Escaping Special Characters
42 Other Possible Pitfalls
43 2. A MANUAL PAGE TEMPLATE
45 3. CONVENTIONS
47 4. TITLE MACROS
49 5. INTRODUCTION OF MANUAL AND GENERAL TEXT DOMAINS
51 What's in a Name...
52 General Syntax
53 6. MANUAL DOMAIN
55 Addresses
56 Author Name
57 Arguments
58 Configuration Declarations (Section Four Only)
59 Command Modifiers
60 Defined Variables
61 Errno's
62 Environment Variables
63 Flags
64 Function Declarations
65 Function Types
66 Functions (Library Routines)
67 Function Arguments
68 Return Values
69 Exit Status
70 Interactive Commands
71 Library Names
72 Literals
73 Names
74 Options
75 Pathnames
76 Standards
77 Variable Types
78 Variables
79 Manual Page Cross References
80 7. GENERAL TEXT DOMAIN
82 AT&T Macro
83 BSD Macro
84 NetBSD Macro
85 FreeBSD Macro
86 DragonFly Macro
87 OpenBSD Macro
88 BSD/OS Macro
89 UNIX Macro
90 Emphasis Macro
91 Font Mode
92 Enclosure and Quoting Macros
93 No-Op or Normal Text Macro
94 No-Space Macro
95 Section Cross References
96 Symbolics
97 Mathematical Symbols
98 References and Citations
99 Trade Names (or Acronyms and Type Names)
100 Extended Arguments
101 8. PAGE STRUCTURE DOMAIN
103 Section Headers
104 Subsection Headers
105 Paragraphs and Line Spacing
106 Keeps
107 Examples and Displays
108 Lists and Columns
109 9. MISCELLANEOUS MACROS
111 10. PREDEFINED STRINGS
113 11. DIAGNOSTICS
115 12. FORMATTING WITH GROFF, TROFF, AND NROFF
117 13. FILES
119 14. SEE ALSO
121 15. BUGS
123
125 The -mdoc package attempts to simplify the process of writing a man page.
126 Theoretically, one should not have to learn the tricky details of GNU
127 troff(1) to use -mdoc; however, there are a few limitations which are
128 unavoidable and best gotten out of the way. And, too, be forewarned,
129 this package is not fast.
130 Macro Usage
132 As in GNU troff(1), a macro is called by placing a ‘.’ (dot character) at
133 the beginning of a line followed by the two-character (or three-charac‐
134 ter) name for the macro. There can be space or tab characters between
135 the dot and the macro name. Arguments may follow the macro separated by
136 spaces (but no tabs). It is the dot character at the beginning of the
137 line which causes GNU troff(1) to interpret the next two (or more) char‐
138 acters as a macro name. A single starting dot followed by nothing is
139 ignored. To place a ‘.’ (dot character) at the beginning of an input
140 line in some context other than a macro invocation, precede the ‘.’ (dot)
141 with the ‘\&’ escape sequence which translates literally to a zero-width
142 space, and is never displayed in the output.
143 In general, GNU troff(1) macros accept an unlimited number of arguments
145 (contrary to other versions of troff which can't handle more than nine
146 arguments). In limited cases, arguments may be continued or extended on
147 the next line (See Extended Arguments below). Almost all macros handle
148 quoted arguments (see Passing Space Characters in an Argument below).
149 Most of the -mdoc general text domain and manual domain macros are spe‐
151 cial in that their argument lists are parsed for callable macro names.
152 This means an argument on the argument list which matches a general text
153 or manual domain macro name (and which is defined to be callable) will be
154 executed or called when it is processed. In this case the argument,
155 although the name of a macro, is not preceded by a ‘.’ (dot). This makes
156 it possible to nest macros; for example the option macro, ‘.Op’, may call
157 the flag and argument macros, ‘Fl’ and ‘Ar’, to specify an optional flag
158 with an argument:
159 [-s bytes] is produced by ‘.Op Fl s Ar bytes’
161 To prevent a string from being interpreted as a macro name, precede the
163 string with the escape sequence ‘\&’:
164 [Fl s Ar bytes] is produced by ‘.Op \&Fl s \&Ar bytes’
166 Here the strings ‘Fl’ and ‘Ar’ are not interpreted as macros. Macros
168 whose argument lists are parsed for callable arguments are referred to as
169 parsed and macros which may be called from an argument list are referred
170 to as callable throughout this document. This is a technical faux pas as
171 almost all of the macros in -mdoc are parsed, but as it was cumbersome to
172 constantly refer to macros as being callable and being able to call other
173 macros, the term parsed has been used.
174 In the following, we call an -mdoc macro which starts a line (with a
176 leading dot) a command if this distinction is necessary.
177 Passing Space Characters in an Argument
179 Sometimes it is desirable to give as an argument a string containing one
180 or more blank space characters, say, to specify arguments to commands
181 which expect particular arrangement of items in the argument list. Addi‐
182 tionally, it makes -mdoc working faster. For example, the function com‐
183 mand ‘.Fn’ expects the first argument to be the name of a function and
184 any remaining arguments to be function parameters. As ANSI C stipulates
185 the declaration of function parameters in the parenthesized parameter
186 list, each parameter is guaranteed to be at minimum a two word string.
187 For example, int foo.
188 There are two possible ways to pass an argument which contains an embed‐
190 ded space. One way of passing a string containing blank spaces is to use
191 the hard or unpaddable space character ‘\ ’, that is, a blank space pre‐
192 ceded by the escape character ‘\’. This method may be used with any
193 macro but has the side effect of interfering with the adjustment of text
194 over the length of a line. Troff sees the hard space as if it were any
195 other printable character and cannot split the string into blank or new‐
196 line separated pieces as one would expect. This method is useful for
197 strings which are not expected to overlap a line boundary. An alterna‐
198 tive is to use ‘\~’, a paddable (i.e. stretchable), unbreakable space
199 (this is a GNU troff(1) extension). The second method is to enclose the
200 string with double quotes.
201 For example:
203 fetch(char *str) is created by ‘.Fn fetch char\ *str’
205 fetch(char *str) can also be created by ‘.Fn fetch "char *str"’
207 If the ‘\’ before the space in the first example or double quotes in the
209 second example were omitted, ‘.Fn’ would see three arguments, and the
210 result would be:
211 fetch(char, *str)
213 Trailing Blank Space Characters
215 Troff can be confused by blank space characters at the end of a line. It
216 is a wise preventive measure to globally remove all blank spaces from
217 ⟨blank-space⟩⟨end-of-line⟩ character sequences. Should the need arise to
218 use a blank character at the end of a line, it may be forced with an
219 unpaddable space and the ‘\&’ escape character. For example,
220 ‘string\ \&’.
221 Escaping Special Characters
223 Special characters like the newline character ‘\n’ are handled by replac‐
224 ing the ‘\’ with ‘\e’ (e.g. ‘\en’) to preserve the backslash.
225 Other Possible Pitfalls
227 A warning is emitted when an empty input line is found outside of dis‐
228 plays (see below). Use ‘.sp’ instead. (Well, it is even better to use
229 -mdoc macros to avoid the usage of low-level commands.)
230 Leading spaces will cause a break and are output directly. Avoid this
232 behaviour if possible. Similarly, do not use more than one space charac‐
233 ter between words in an ordinary text line; contrary to other text for‐
234 matters, they are not replaced with a single space.
235 You can't pass ‘"’ directly as an argument. Use ‘\*[q]’ (or ‘\*q’)
237 instead.
238 By default, troff(1) inserts two space characters after a punctuation
240 mark closing a sentence; characters like ‘)’ or ‘'’ are treated transpar‐
241 ently, not influencing the sentence-ending behaviour. To change this,
242 insert ‘\&’ before or after the dot:
243 The
245 .Ql .
246 character.
247 .Pp
248 The
249 .Ql \&.
250 character.
251 .Pp
252 .No test .
253 test
254 .Pp
255 .No test.
256 test
257 gives
259 The ‘’. character
261 The ‘.’ character.
263 test. test
265 test. test
267 As can be seen in the first and third line, -mdoc handles punctuation
269 characters specially in macro arguments. This will be explained in sec‐
270 tion General Syntax below. In the same way, you have to protect trailing
271 full stops of abbreviations with a trailing zero-width space: ‘e.g.\&’.
272 A comment in the source file of a man page can be either started with
274 ‘.\"’ on a single line, ‘\"’ after some input, or ‘\#’ anywhere (the lat‐
275 ter is a GNU troff(1) extension); the rest of such a line is ignored.
276
278 The body of a man page is easily constructed from a basic template:
279 .\" The following commands are required for all man pages.
281 .Dd Month day, year
282 .Dt DOCUMENT_TITLE [section number] [architecture/volume]
283 .Os [OPERATING_SYSTEM] [version/release]
284 .Sh NAME
285 .Nm name
286 .Nd one line description of name
287 .\" This next command is for sections 2 and 3 only.
288 .\" .Sh LIBRARY
289 .Sh SYNOPSIS
290 .Sh DESCRIPTION
291 .\" The following commands should be uncommented and
292 .\" used where appropriate.
293 .\" .Sh IMPLEMENTATION NOTES
294 .\" This next command is for sections 2, 3, and 9 only
295 .\" (function return values).
296 .\" .Sh RETURN VALUES
297 .\" This next command is for sections 1, 6, 7, and 8 only.
298 .\" .Sh ENVIRONMENT
299 .\" .Sh FILES
300 .\" This next command is for sections 1, 6, and 8 only
301 .\" (command return values to the shell).
302 .\" .Sh EXIT STATUS
303 .\" .Sh EXAMPLES
304 .\" This next command is for sections 1, 4, 6, 7, 8, and 9 only
305 .\" (fprintf/stderr type diagnostics).
306 .\" .Sh DIAGNOSTICS
307 .\" .Sh COMPATIBILITY
308 .\" This next command is for sections 2, 3, 4, and 9 only
309 .\" (settings of the errno variable).
310 .\" .Sh ERRORS
311 .\" .Sh SEE ALSO
312 .\" .Sh STANDARDS
313 .\" .Sh HISTORY
314 .\" .Sh AUTHORS
315 .\" .Sh CAVEATS
316 .\" .Sh BUGS
317 The first items in the template are the commands ‘.Dd’, ‘.Dt’, and ‘.Os’;
319 the document date, the operating system the man page or subject source is
320 developed or modified for, and the man page title (in upper case) along
321 with the section of the manual the page belongs in. These commands iden‐
322 tify the page and are discussed below in TITLE MACROS.
323 The remaining items in the template are section headers (.Sh); of which
325 NAME, SYNOPSIS, and DESCRIPTION are mandatory. The headers are discussed
326 in PAGE STRUCTURE DOMAIN, after presentation of MANUAL DOMAIN. Several
327 content macros are used to demonstrate page layout macros; reading about
328 content macros before page layout macros is recommended.
329
331 In the description of all macros below, optional arguments are put into
332 brackets. An ellipsis (‘...’) represents zero or more additional argu‐
333 ments. Alternative values for a parameter are separated with ‘|’. If
334 there are alternative values for a mandatory parameter, braces are used
335 (together with ‘|’) to enclose the value set. Meta-variables are speci‐
336 fied within angles.
337 Example:
339 .Xx ⟨foo⟩ {bar1 | bar2} [-test1 [-test2 | -test3]] ...
341 Except stated explicitly, all macros are parsed and callable.
343 Note that a macro takes effect up to the next nested macro. For example,
345 ‘.Ic foo Aq bar’ doesn't produce ‘foo <bar>’ but ‘foo ⟨bar⟩’. Conse‐
346 quently, a warning message is emitted for most commands if the first
347 argument is a macro itself since it cancels the effect of the calling
348 command completely. Another consequence is that quoting macros never
349 insert literal quotes; ‘foo <bar>’ has been produced by ‘.Ic "foo
350 <bar>"’.
351 Most macros have a default width value which can be used to specify a
353 label width (-width) or offset (-offset) for the ‘.Bl’ and ‘.Bd’ macros.
354 It is recommended not to use this rather obscure feature to avoid depen‐
355 dencies on local modifications of the -mdoc package.
356
358 The title macros are part of the page structure domain but are presented
359 first and separately for someone who wishes to start writing a man page
360 yesterday. Three header macros designate the document title or manual
361 page title, the operating system, and the date of authorship. These
362 macros are called once at the very beginning of the document and are used
363 to construct headers and footers only.
364 .Dt [⟨document title⟩] [⟨section number⟩] [⟨volume⟩]
366 The document title is the subject of the man page and must be in
367 CAPITALS due to troff limitations. If omitted, ‘UNTITLED’ is
368 used. The section number may be a number in the range 1, ..., 9
369 or ‘unass’, ‘draft’, or ‘paper’. If it is specified, and no vol‐
370 ume name is given, a default volume name is used.
371 Under BSD, the following sections are defined:
373 1 BSD General Commands Manual
375 2 BSD System Calls Manual
376 3 BSD Library Functions Manual
377 4 BSD Kernel Interfaces Manual
378 5 BSD File Formats Manual
379 6 BSD Games Manual
380 7 BSD Miscellaneous Information Manual
381 8 BSD System Manager's Manual
382 9 BSD Kernel Developer's Manual
383 A volume name may be arbitrary or one of the following:
385 USD User's Supplementary Documents
387 PS1 Programmer's Supplementary Documents
388 AMD Ancestral Manual Documents
389 SMM System Manager's Manual
390 URM User's Reference Manual
391 PRM Programmer's Manual
392 KM Kernel Manual
393 IND Manual Master Index
394 LOCAL Local Manual
395 CON Contributed Software Manual
396 For compatibility, ‘MMI’ can be used for ‘IND’, and ‘LOC’ for
398 ‘LOCAL’. Values from the previous table will specify a new vol‐
399 ume name. If the third parameter is a keyword designating a com‐
400 puter architecture, its value is prepended to the default volume
401 name as specified by the second parameter. By default, the fol‐
402 lowing architecture keywords are defined:
403 acorn26, acorn32, algor, alpha, amd64, amiga, amigappc,
405 arc, arm, arm26, arm32, armish, atari, aviion, beagle,
406 bebox, cats, cesfic, cobalt, dreamcast, emips, evbarm,
407 evbmips, evbppc, evbsh3, ews4800mips, hp300, hp700, hpcarm,
408 hpcmips, hpcsh, hppa, hppa64, i386, ia64, ibmnws, iyonix,
409 landisk, loongson, luna68k, luna88k, m68k, mac68k, macppc,
410 mips, mips64, mipsco, mmeye, mvme68k, mvme88k, mvmeppc,
411 netwinder, news68k, newsmips, next68k, ofppc, palm, pc532,
412 playstation2, pmax, pmppc, powerpc, prep, rs6000,
413 sandpoint, sbmips, sgi, sgimips, sh3, shark, socppc,
414 solbourne, sparc, sparc64, sun2, sun3, tahoe, vax, x68k,
415 x86_64, xen, zaurus
416 If the section number is neither a numeric expression in the
418 range 1 to 9 nor one of the above described keywords, the third
419 parameter is used verbatim as the volume name.
420 In the following examples, the left (which is identical to the
422 right) and the middle part of the manual page header strings are
423 shown. Note how ‘\&’ prevents the digit 7 from being a valid
424 numeric expression.
425 .Dt FOO 7 ‘FOO(7)’ ‘BSD Miscellaneous Information
427 Manual’
428 .Dt FOO 7 bar ‘FOO(7)’ ‘BSD Miscellaneous Information
429 Manual’
430 .Dt FOO \&7 bar
431 ‘FOO(7)’ ‘bar’
432 .Dt FOO 2 i386 ‘FOO(2)’ ‘BSD/i386 System Calls Manual’
433 .Dt FOO "" bar ‘FOO’ ‘bar’
434 Local, OS-specific additions might be found in the file
436 mdoc.local; look for strings named ‘volume-ds-XXX’ (for the for‐
437 mer type) and ‘volume-as-XXX’ (for the latter type); ‘XXX’ then
438 denotes the keyword to be used with the ‘.Dt’ macro.
439 This macro is neither callable nor parsed.
441 .Os [⟨operating system⟩] [⟨release⟩]
443 If the first parameter is empty, the default ‘BSD’ is used. This
444 may be overridden in the local configuration file, mdoc.local.
445 In general, the name of the operating system should be the common
446 acronym, e.g. BSD or ATT. The release should be the standard
447 release nomenclature for the system specified. In the following
448 table, the possible second arguments for some predefined operat‐
449 ing systems are listed. Similar to ‘.Dt’, local additions might
450 be defined in mdoc.local; look for strings named
451 ‘operating-system-XXX-YYY’, where ‘XXX’ is the acronym for the
452 operating system and ‘YYY’ the release ID.
453 ATT 7th, 7, III, 3, V, V.2, V.3, V.4
455 BSD 3, 4, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.3t, 4.3T, 4.3r, 4.3R, 4.4
457 NetBSD 0.8, 0.8a, 0.9, 0.9a, 1.0, 1.0a, 1.1, 1.2, 1.2a,
459 1.2b, 1.2c, 1.2d, 1.2e, 1.3, 1.3a, 1.4, 1.4.1,
460 1.4.2, 1.4.3, 1.5, 1.5.1, 1.5.2, 1.5.3, 1.6,
461 1.6.1, 1.6.2, 1.6.3, 2.0, 2.0.1, 2.0.2, 2.0.3,
462 2.1, 3.0, 3.0.1, 3.0.2, 3.0.3, 3.1, 3.1.1, 4.0,
463 4.0.1, 5.0, 5.0.1, 5.0.2, 5.1, 5.1.2, 5.1.3,
464 5.1.4, 5.2, 5.2.1, 5.2.2, 6.0, 6.0.1, 6.0.2,
465 6.0.3, 6.0.4, 6.0.5, 6.1, 6.1.1, 6.1.2, 6.1.3,
466 6.1.4
467 FreeBSD 1.0, 1.1, 1.1.5, 1.1.5.1, 2.0, 2.0.5, 2.1,
469 2.1.5, 2.1.6, 2.1.7, 2.2, 2.2.1, 2.2.2, 2.2.5,
470 2.2.6, 2.2.7, 2.2.8, 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4,
471 3.5, 4.0, 4.1, 4.1.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6,
472 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.8, 4.9, 4.10, 4.11, 5.0, 5.1, 5.2,
473 5.2.1, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 6.0, 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 6.4,
474 7.0, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3,
475 8.4, 9.0, 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 10.0
476 OpenBSD 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 2.7, 2.8,
478 2.9, 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7,
479 3.8, 3.9, 4.0, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6,
480 4.7, 4.8, 4.9, 5.0, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 5.6
481 DragonFly 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.8, 1.8.1,
483 1.9, 1.10, 1.12, 1.12.2, 1.13, 2.0, 2.2, 2.3,
484 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 2.7, 2.8, 2.9, 2.9.1, 2.10,
485 2.10.1, 2.11, 2.12, 2.13, 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3,
486 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7, 3.8
487 Darwin 8.0.0, 8.1.0, 8.2.0, 8.3.0, 8.4.0, 8.5.0, 8.6.0,
489 8.7.0, 8.8.0, 8.9.0, 8.10.0, 8.11.0, 9.0.0,
490 9.1.0, 9.2.0, 9.3.0, 9.4.0, 9.5.0, 9.6.0, 9.7.0,
491 9.8.0, 10.1.0, 10.2.0, 10.3.0, 10.4.0, 10.5.0,
492 10.6.0, 10.7.0, 10.8.0, 11.0.0, 11.1.0, 11.2.0,
493 11.3.0, 11.4.0, 11.5.0, 12.0.0, 12.1.0, 12.2.0,
494 13.0.0, 13.1.0, 13.2.0, 13.3.0, 13.4.0, 14.0.0
495 For ATT, an unknown second parameter will be replaced with the
497 string UNIX; for the other predefined acronyms it will be ignored
498 and a warning message emitted. Unrecognized arguments are dis‐
499 played as given in the page footer. For instance, a typical
500 footer might be:
501 .Os BSD 4.3
503 giving ‘4.3 Berkeley Distribution’, or for a locally produced set
505 .Os CS Department
507 which will produce ‘CS Department’.
509 If the ‘.Os’ macro is not present, the bottom left corner of the
511 manual page will be ugly.
512 This macro is neither callable nor parsed.
514 .Dd [⟨month⟩ ⟨day⟩, ⟨year⟩]
516 If ‘Dd’ has no arguments, ‘Epoch’ is used for the date string.
517 If it has exactly three arguments, they are concatenated, sepa‐
518 rated with unbreakable space:
519 .Dd January 25, 2001
521 The month's name shall not be abbreviated.
523 With any other number of arguments, the current date is used,
525 ignoring the parameters.
526 As a special exception, the format
528 .Dd $Mdocdate: ⟨month⟩ ⟨day⟩ ⟨year⟩ $
530 is also recognized. It is used in OpenBSD manuals to automati‐
532 cally insert the current date when committing.
533 This macro is neither callable nor parsed.
535
537 What's in a Name...
538 The manual domain macro names are derived from the day to day informal
539 language used to describe commands, subroutines and related files.
540 Slightly different variations of this language are used to describe the
541 three different aspects of writing a man page. First, there is the
542 description of -mdoc macro command usage. Second is the description of a
543 UNIX command with -mdoc macros, and third, the description of a command
544 to a user in the verbal sense; that is, discussion of a command in the
545 text of a man page.
546 In the first case, troff(1) macros are themselves a type of command; the
548 general syntax for a troff command is:
549 .Xx argument1 argument2 ...
551 ‘.Xx’ is a macro command, and anything following it are arguments to be
553 processed. In the second case, the description of a UNIX command using
554 the content macros is a bit more involved; a typical SYNOPSIS command
555 line might be displayed as:
556 filter [-flag] ⟨infile⟩ ⟨outfile⟩
558 Here, filter is the command name and the bracketed string -flag is a flag
560 argument designated as optional by the option brackets. In -mdoc terms,
561 ⟨infile⟩ and ⟨outfile⟩ are called meta arguments; in this example, the
562 user has to replace the meta expressions given in angle brackets with
563 real file names. Note that in this document meta arguments are used to
564 describe -mdoc commands; in most man pages, meta variables are not
565 specifically written with angle brackets. The macros which formatted the
566 above example:
567 .Nm filter
569 .Op Fl flag
570 .Ao Ar infile Ac Ao Ar outfile Ac
571 In the third case, discussion of commands and command syntax includes
573 both examples above, but may add more detail. The arguments ⟨infile⟩ and
574 ⟨outfile⟩ from the example above might be referred to as operands or file
575 arguments. Some command line argument lists are quite long:
576 make [-eiknqrstv] [-D variable] [-d flags] [-f makefile] [-I
578 directory] [-j max_jobs] [variable=value] [target ...]
579 Here one might talk about the command make and qualify the argument,
581 makefile, as an argument to the flag, -f, or discuss the optional file
582 operand target. In the verbal context, such detail can prevent confu‐
583 sion, however the -mdoc package does not have a macro for an argument to
584 a flag. Instead the ‘Ar’ argument macro is used for an operand or file
585 argument like target as well as an argument to a flag like variable. The
586 make command line was produced from:
587 .Nm make
589 .Op Fl eiknqrstv
590 .Op Fl D Ar variable
591 .Op Fl d Ar flags
592 .Op Fl f Ar makefile
593 .Op Fl I Ar directory
594 .Op Fl j Ar max_jobs
595 .Op Ar variable Ns = Ns Ar value
596 .Bk
597 .Op Ar target ...
598 .Ek
599 The ‘.Bk’ and ‘.Ek’ macros are explained in Keeps.
601 General Syntax
603 The manual domain and general text domain macros share a similar syntax
604 with a few minor deviations; most notably, ‘.Ar’, ‘.Fl’, ‘.Nm’, and ‘.Pa’
605 differ only when called without arguments; and ‘.Fn’ and ‘.Xr’ impose an
606 order on their argument lists. All content macros are capable of recog‐
607 nizing and properly handling punctuation, provided each punctuation char‐
608 acter is separated by a leading space. If a command is given:
609 .Ar sptr, ptr),
611 The result is:
613 sptr, ptr),
615 The punctuation is not recognized and all is output in the font used by
617 ‘.Ar’. If the punctuation is separated by a leading white space:
618 .Ar sptr , ptr ) ,
620 The result is:
622 sptr, ptr),
624 The punctuation is now recognized and output in the default font distin‐
626 guishing it from the argument strings. To remove the special meaning
627 from a punctuation character escape it with ‘\&’.
628 The following punctuation characters are recognized by -mdoc:
630 . , : ; (
632 ) [ ] ? !
633 Troff is limited as a macro language, and has difficulty when presented
635 with a string containing a member of the mathematical, logical or quota‐
636 tion set:
637 {+,-,/,*,%,<,>,<=,>=,=,==,&,`,',"}
639 The problem is that troff may assume it is supposed to actually perform
641 the operation or evaluation suggested by the characters. To prevent the
642 accidental evaluation of these characters, escape them with ‘\&’. Typi‐
643 cal syntax is shown in the first content macro displayed below, ‘.Ad’.
644
646 Addresses
647 The address macro identifies an address construct.
648 Usage: .Ad ⟨address⟩ ...
650 .Ad addr1 addr1
652 .Ad addr1 . addr1.
653 .Ad addr1 , file2 addr1, file2
654 .Ad f1 , f2 , f3 : f1, f2, f3:
655 .Ad addr ) ) , addr)),
656 The default width is 12n.
658 Author Name
660 The ‘.An’ macro is used to specify the name of the author of the item
661 being documented, or the name of the author of the actual manual page.
662 Usage: .An ⟨author name⟩ ...
664 .An "Joe Author" Joe Author
666 .An "Joe Author" , Joe Author,
668 .An "Joe Author" Aq nobody@FreeBSD.org
670 Joe Author <nobody@FreeBSD.org>
671 .An "Joe Author" ) ) , Joe Author)),
673 The default width is 12n.
675 In the AUTHORS section, the ‘.An’ command causes a line break allowing
677 each new name to appear on its own line. If this is not desirable,
678 .An -nosplit
680 call will turn this off. To turn splitting back on, write
682 .An -split
684 Arguments
686 The .Ar argument macro may be used whenever an argument is referenced.
687 If called without arguments, the ‘file ...’ string is output.
688 Usage: .Ar [⟨argument⟩] ...
690 .Ar file ...
692 .Ar file1 file1
693 .Ar file1 . file1.
694 .Ar file1 file2 file1 file2
695 .Ar f1 f2 f3 : f1 f2 f3:
696 .Ar file ) ) , file)),
697 The default width is 12n.
699 Configuration Declaration (Section Four Only)
701 The ‘.Cd’ macro is used to demonstrate a config(8) declaration for a
702 device interface in a section four manual.
703 Usage: .Cd ⟨argument⟩ ...
705 .Cd "device le0 at scode?" device le0 at scode?
707 In the SYNOPSIS section a ‘.Cd’ command causes a line break before and
709 after its arguments are printed.
710 The default width is 12n.
712 Command Modifiers
714 The command modifier is identical to the ‘.Fl’ (flag) command with the
715 exception that the ‘.Cm’ macro does not assert a dash in front of every
716 argument. Traditionally flags are marked by the preceding dash, however,
717 some commands or subsets of commands do not use them. Command modifiers
718 may also be specified in conjunction with interactive commands such as
719 editor commands. See Flags.
720 The default width is 10n.
722 Defined Variables
724 A variable (or constant) which is defined in an include file is specified
725 by the macro ‘.Dv’.
726 Usage: .Dv ⟨defined variable⟩ ...
728 .Dv MAXHOSTNAMELEN MAXHOSTNAMELEN
730 .Dv TIOCGPGRP ) TIOCGPGRP)
731 The default width is 12n.
733 Errno's
735 The ‘.Er’ errno macro specifies the error return value for section 2, 3,
736 and 9 library routines. The second example below shows ‘.Er’ used with
737 the ‘.Bq’ general text domain macro, as it would be used in a section two
738 manual page.
739 Usage: .Er ⟨errno type⟩ ...
741 .Er ENOENT ENOENT
743 .Er ENOENT ) ; ENOENT);
744 .Bq Er ENOTDIR [ENOTDIR]
745 The default width is 17n.
747 Environment Variables
749 The ‘.Ev’ macro specifies an environment variable.
750 Usage: .Ev ⟨argument⟩ ...
752 .Ev DISPLAY DISPLAY
754 .Ev PATH . PATH.
755 .Ev PRINTER ) ) , PRINTER)),
756 The default width is 15n.
758 Flags
760 The ‘.Fl’ macro handles command line flags. It prepends a dash, ‘-’, to
761 the flag. For interactive command flags, which are not prepended with a
762 dash, the ‘.Cm’ (command modifier) macro is identical, but without the
763 dash.
764 Usage: .Fl ⟨argument⟩ ...
766 .Fl -
768 .Fl cfv -cfv
769 .Fl cfv . -cfv.
770 .Cm cfv . cfv.
771 .Fl s v t -s -v -t
772 .Fl - , --,
773 .Fl xyz ) , -xyz),
774 .Fl | - |
775 The ‘.Fl’ macro without any arguments results in a dash representing
777 stdin/stdout. Note that giving ‘.Fl’ a single dash will result in two
778 dashes.
779 The default width is 12n.
781 Function Declarations
783 The ‘.Fd’ macro is used in the SYNOPSIS section with section two or three
784 functions. It is neither callable nor parsed.
785 Usage: .Fd ⟨argument⟩ ...
787 .Fd "#include <sys/types.h>" #include <sys/types.h>
789 In the SYNOPSIS section a ‘.Fd’ command causes a line break if a function
791 has already been presented and a break has not occurred. This leaves a
792 nice vertical space in between the previous function call and the decla‐
793 ration for the next function.
794 The ‘.In’ macro, while in the SYNOPSIS section, represents the #include
796 statement, and is the short form of the above example. It specifies the
797 C header file as being included in a C program. It also causes a line
798 break.
799 While not in the SYNOPSIS section, it represents the header file enclosed
801 in angle brackets.
802 Usage: .In ⟨header file⟩
804 .In stdio.h #include <stdio.h>
806 .In stdio.h <stdio.h>
807 Function Types
809 This macro is intended for the SYNOPSIS section. It may be used anywhere
810 else in the man page without problems, but its main purpose is to present
811 the function type in kernel normal form for the SYNOPSIS of sections two
812 and three (it causes a line break, allowing the function name to appear
813 on the next line).
814 Usage: .Ft ⟨type⟩ ...
816 .Ft struct stat struct stat
818 Functions (Library Routines)
820 The ‘.Fn’ macro is modeled on ANSI C conventions.
821 Usage: .Fn ⟨function⟩ [⟨parameter⟩] ...
823 .Fn getchar getchar()
825 .Fn strlen ) , strlen()),
826 .Fn align "char *ptr" , align(char *ptr),
827 Note that any call to another macro signals the end of the ‘.Fn’ call (it
829 will insert a closing parenthesis at that point).
830 For functions with many parameters (which is rare), the macros ‘.Fo’
832 (function open) and ‘.Fc’ (function close) may be used with ‘.Fa’ (func‐
833 tion argument).
834 Example:
836 .Ft int
838 .Fo res_mkquery
839 .Fa "int op"
840 .Fa "char *dname"
841 .Fa "int class"
842 .Fa "int type"
843 .Fa "char *data"
844 .Fa "int datalen"
845 .Fa "struct rrec *newrr"
846 .Fa "char *buf"
847 .Fa "int buflen"
848 .Fc
849 Produces:
851 int res_mkquery(int op, char *dname, int class, int type,
853 char *data, int datalen, struct rrec *newrr, char *buf, int buflen)
854 In the SYNOPSIS section, the function will always begin at the beginning
856 of line. If there is more than one function presented in the SYNOPSIS
857 section and a function type has not been given, a line break will occur,
858 leaving a nice vertical space between the current function name and the
859 one prior.
860 The default width values of ‘.Fn’ and ‘.Fo’ are 12n and 16n, respec‐
862 tively.
863 Function Arguments
865 The ‘.Fa’ macro is used to refer to function arguments (parameters) out‐
866 side of the SYNOPSIS section of the manual or inside the SYNOPSIS section
867 if the enclosure macros ‘.Fo’ and ‘.Fc’ instead of ‘.Fn’ are used. ‘.Fa’
868 may also be used to refer to structure members.
869 Usage: .Fa ⟨function argument⟩ ...
871 .Fa d_namlen ) ) , d_namlen)),
873 .Fa iov_len iov_len
874 The default width is 12n.
876 Return Values
878 The ‘.Rv’ macro generates text for use in the RETURN VALUES section.
879 Usage: .Rv [-std] [⟨function⟩ ...]
881 For example, ‘.Rv -std atexit’ produces:
883 The atexit() function returns the value 0 if successful; otherwise
885 the value -1 is returned and the global variable errno is set to
886 indicate the error.
887 The -std option is valid only for manual page sections 2 and 3. Cur‐
889 rently, this macro does nothing if used without the -std flag.
890 Exit Status
892 The ‘.Ex’ macro generates text for use in the DIAGNOSTICS section.
893 Usage: .Ex [-std] [⟨utility⟩ ...]
895 For example, ‘.Ex -std cat’ produces:
897 The cat utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.
899 The -std option is valid only for manual page sections 1, 6 and 8. Cur‐
901 rently, this macro does nothing if used without the -std flag.
902 Interactive Commands
904 The ‘.Ic’ macro designates an interactive or internal command.
905 Usage: .Ic ⟨argument⟩ ...
907 .Ic :wq :wq
909 .Ic "do while {...}" do while {...}
910 .Ic setenv , unsetenv setenv, unsetenv
911 The default width is 12n.
913 Library Names
915 The ‘.Lb’ macro is used to specify the library where a particular func‐
916 tion is compiled in.
917 Usage: .Lb ⟨argument⟩ ...
919 Available arguments to ‘.Lb’ and their results are:
921 libarchive Reading and Writing Streaming Archives Library
923 (libarchive, -larchive)
924 libarm ARM Architecture Library (libarm, -larm)
925 libarm32 ARM32 Architecture Library (libarm32, -larm32)
926 libbluetooth Bluetooth Library (libbluetooth, -lbluetooth)
927 libbsm Basic Security Module Library (libbsm, -lbsm)
928 libc Standard C Library (libc, -lc)
929 libc_r Reentrant C Library (libc_r, -lc_r)
930 libcalendar Calendar Arithmetic Library (libcalendar,
931 -lcalendar)
932 libcam Common Access Method User Library (libcam, -lcam)
933 libcdk Curses Development Kit Library (libcdk, -lcdk)
934 libcipher FreeSec Crypt Library (libcipher, -lcipher)
935 libcompat Compatibility Library (libcompat, -lcompat)
936 libcrypt Crypt Library (libcrypt, -lcrypt)
937 libcurses Curses Library (libcurses, -lcurses)
938 libdevinfo Device and Resource Information Utility Library
939 (libdevinfo, -ldevinfo)
940 libdevstat Device Statistics Library (libdevstat, -ldevstat)
941 libdisk Interface to Slice and Partition Labels Library
942 (libdisk, -ldisk)
943 libdwarf DWARF Access Library (libdwarf, -ldwarf)
944 libedit Command Line Editor Library (libedit, -ledit)
945 libelf ELF Access Library (libelf, -lelf)
946 libevent Event Notification Library (libevent, -levent)
947 libfetch File Transfer Library for URLs (libfetch, -lfetch)
948 libform Curses Form Library (libform, -lform)
949 libgeom Userland API Library for kernel GEOM subsystem
950 (libgeom, -lgeom)
951 libgpib General-Purpose Instrument Bus (GPIB) library
952 (libgpib, -lgpib)
953 libi386 i386 Architecture Library (libi386, -li386)
954 libintl Internationalized Message Handling Library (libintl,
955 -lintl)
956 libipsec IPsec Policy Control Library (libipsec, -lipsec)
957 libipx IPX Address Conversion Support Library (libipx,
958 -lipx)
959 libiscsi iSCSI protocol library (libiscsi, -liscsi)
960 libjail Jail Library (libjail, -ljail)
961 libkiconv Kernel side iconv library (libkiconv, -lkiconv)
962 libkse N:M Threading Library (libkse, -lkse)
963 libkvm Kernel Data Access Library (libkvm, -lkvm)
964 libm Math Library (libm, -lm)
965 libm68k m68k Architecture Library (libm68k, -lm68k)
966 libmagic Magic Number Recognition Library (libmagic, -lmagic)
967 libmd Message Digest (MD4, MD5, etc.) Support Library
968 (libmd, -lmd)
969 libmemstat Kernel Memory Allocator Statistics Library
970 (libmemstat, -lmemstat)
971 libmenu Curses Menu Library (libmenu, -lmenu)
972 libnetgraph Netgraph User Library (libnetgraph, -lnetgraph)
973 libnetpgp Netpgp signing, verification, encryption and
974 decryption (libnetpgp, -lnetpgp)
975 libossaudio OSS Audio Emulation Library (libossaudio,
976 -lossaudio)
977 libpam Pluggable Authentication Module Library (libpam,
978 -lpam)
979 libpcap Packet Capture Library (libpcap, -lpcap)
980 libpci PCI Bus Access Library (libpci, -lpci)
981 libpmc Performance Counters Library (libpmc, -lpmc)
982 libposix POSIX Compatibility Library (libposix, -lposix)
983 libprop Property Container Object Library (libprop, -lprop)
984 libpthread POSIX Threads Library (libpthread, -lpthread)
985 libpuffs puffs Convenience Library (libpuffs, -lpuffs)
986 librefuse File System in Userspace Convenience Library
987 (librefuse, -lrefuse)
988 libresolv DNS Resolver Library (libresolv, -lresolv)
989 librpcsec_gss RPC GSS-API Authentication Library (librpcsec_gss,
990 -lrpcsec_gss)
991 librpcsvc RPC Service Library (librpcsvc, -lrpcsvc)
992 librt POSIX Real-time Library (librt, -lrt)
993 libsdp Bluetooth Service Discovery Protocol User Library
994 (libsdp, -lsdp)
995 libssp Buffer Overflow Protection Library (libssp, -lssp)
996 libSystem System Library (libSystem, -lSystem)
997 libtermcap Termcap Access Library (libtermcap, -ltermcap)
998 libterminfo Terminal Information Library (libterminfo,
999 -lterminfo)
1000 libthr 1:1 Threading Library (libthr, -lthr)
1001 libufs UFS File System Access Library (libufs, -lufs)
1002 libugidfw File System Firewall Interface Library (libugidfw,
1003 -lugidfw)
1004 libulog User Login Record Library (libulog, -lulog)
1005 libusbhid USB Human Interface Devices Library (libusbhid,
1006 -lusbhid)
1007 libutil System Utilities Library (libutil, -lutil)
1008 libvgl Video Graphics Library (libvgl, -lvgl)
1009 libx86_64 x86_64 Architecture Library (libx86_64, -lx86_64)
1010 libz Compression Library (libz, -lz)
1011 Local, OS-specific additions might be found in the file mdoc.local; look
1013 for strings named ‘str-Lb-XXX’. ‘XXX’ then denotes the keyword to be
1014 used with the ‘.Lb’ macro.
1015 In the LIBRARY section an ‘.Lb’ command causes a line break before and
1017 after its arguments are printed.
1018 Literals
1020 The ‘.Li’ literal macro may be used for special characters, variable con‐
1021 stants, etc. - anything which should be displayed as it would be typed.
1022 Usage: .Li ⟨argument⟩ ...
1024 .Li \en \n
1026 .Li M1 M2 M3 ; M1 M2 M3;
1027 .Li cntrl-D ) , cntrl-D),
1028 .Li 1024 ... 1024 ...
1029 The default width is 16n.
1031 Names
1033 The ‘.Nm’ macro is used for the document title or subject name. It has
1034 the peculiarity of remembering the first argument it was called with,
1035 which should always be the subject name of the page. When called without
1036 arguments, ‘.Nm’ regurgitates this initial name for the sole purpose of
1037 making less work for the author. ‘.Nm’ causes a line break within the
1038 SYNOPSIS section.
1039 Note: A section two or three document function name is addressed with the
1041 ‘.Nm’ in the NAME section, and with ‘.Fn’ in the SYNOPSIS and remaining
1042 sections. For interactive commands, such as the ‘while’ command keyword
1043 in csh(1), the ‘.Ic’ macro should be used. While ‘.Ic’ is nearly identi‐
1044 cal to ‘.Nm’, it can not recall the first argument it was invoked with.
1045 Usage: .Nm [⟨argument⟩] ...
1047 .Nm groff_mdoc groff_mdoc
1049 .Nm \-mdoc -mdoc
1050 .Nm foo ) ) , foo)),
1051 .Nm : groff_mdoc:
1052 The default width is 10n.
1054 Options
1056 The ‘.Op’ macro places option brackets around any remaining arguments on
1057 the command line, and places any trailing punctuation outside the brack‐
1058 ets. The macros ‘.Oo’ and ‘.Oc’ (which produce an opening and a closing
1059 option bracket respectively) may be used across one or more lines or to
1060 specify the exact position of the closing parenthesis.
1061 Usage: .Op [⟨option⟩] ...
1063 .Op []
1065 .Op Fl k [-k]
1066 .Op Fl k ) . [-k]).
1067 .Op Fl k Ar kookfile [-k kookfile]
1068 .Op Fl k Ar kookfile , [-k kookfile],
1069 .Op Ar objfil Op Ar corfil [objfil [corfil]]
1070 .Op Fl c Ar objfil Op Ar corfil , [-c objfil [corfil]],
1071 .Op word1 word2 [word1 word2]
1072 .Li .Op Oo Ao option Ac Oc ... .Op [⟨option⟩] ...
1073 Here a typical example of the ‘.Oo’ and ‘.Oc’ macros:
1075 .Oo
1077 .Op Fl k Ar kilobytes
1078 .Op Fl i Ar interval
1079 .Op Fl c Ar count
1080 .Oc
1081 Produces:
1083 [[-k kilobytes] [-i interval] [-c count]]
1085 The default width values of ‘.Op’ and ‘.Oo’ are 14n and 10n, respec‐
1087 tively.
1088 Pathnames
1090 The ‘.Pa’ macro formats path or file names. If called without arguments,
1091 the ‘~’ string is output, which represents the current user's home direc‐
1092 tory.
1093 Usage: .Pa [⟨pathname⟩] ...
1095 .Pa ~
1097 .Pa /usr/share /usr/share
1098 .Pa /tmp/fooXXXXX ) . /tmp/fooXXXXX).
1099 The default width is 32n.
1101 Standards
1103 The ‘.St’ macro replaces standard abbreviations with their formal names.
1104 Usage: .St ⟨abbreviation⟩ ...
1106 Available pairs for “Abbreviation/Formal Name” are:
1108 ANSI/ISO C
1110 -ansiC ANSI X3.159-1989 (“ANSI C89”)
1112 -ansiC-89 ANSI X3.159-1989 (“ANSI C89”)
1113 -isoC ISO/IEC 9899:1990 (“ISO C90”)
1114 -isoC-90 ISO/IEC 9899:1990 (“ISO C90”)
1115 -isoC-99 ISO/IEC 9899:1999 (“ISO C99”)
1116 -isoC-2011 ISO/IEC 9899:2011 (“ISO C11”)
1117 POSIX Part 1: System API
1119 -iso9945-1-90 ISO/IEC 9945-1:1990 (“POSIX.1”)
1121 -iso9945-1-96 ISO/IEC 9945-1:1996 (“POSIX.1”)
1122 -p1003.1 IEEE Std 1003.1 (“POSIX.1”)
1123 -p1003.1-88 IEEE Std 1003.1-1988 (“POSIX.1”)
1124 -p1003.1-90 ISO/IEC 9945-1:1990 (“POSIX.1”)
1125 -p1003.1-96 ISO/IEC 9945-1:1996 (“POSIX.1”)
1126 -p1003.1b-93 IEEE Std 1003.1b-1993 (“POSIX.1”)
1127 -p1003.1c-95 IEEE Std 1003.1c-1995 (“POSIX.1”)
1128 -p1003.1g-2000 IEEE Std 1003.1g-2000 (“POSIX.1”)
1129 -p1003.1i-95 IEEE Std 1003.1i-1995 (“POSIX.1”)
1130 -p1003.1-2001 IEEE Std 1003.1-2001 (“POSIX.1”)
1131 -p1003.1-2004 IEEE Std 1003.1-2004 (“POSIX.1”)
1132 -p1003.1-2008 IEEE Std 1003.1-2008 (“POSIX.1”)
1133 POSIX Part 2: Shell and Utilities
1135 -iso9945-2-93 ISO/IEC 9945-2:1993 (“POSIX.2”)
1137 -p1003.2 IEEE Std 1003.2 (“POSIX.2”)
1138 -p1003.2-92 IEEE Std 1003.2-1992 (“POSIX.2”)
1139 -p1003.2a-92 IEEE Std 1003.2a-1992 (“POSIX.2”)
1140 X/Open
1142 -susv2 Version 2 of the Single UNIX Specification
1144 (“SUSv2”)
1145 -susv3 Version 3 of the Single UNIX Specification
1146 (“SUSv3”)
1147 -svid4 System V Interface Definition, Fourth Edition
1148 (“SVID4”)
1149 -xbd5 X/Open Base Definitions Issue 5 (“XBD5”)
1150 -xcu5 X/Open Commands and Utilities Issue 5 (“XCU5”)
1151 -xcurses4.2 X/Open Curses Issue 4, Version 2 (“XCURSES4.2”)
1152 -xns5 X/Open Networking Services Issue 5 (“XNS5”)
1153 -xns5.2 X/Open Networking Services Issue 5.2 (“XNS5.2”)
1154 -xpg3 X/Open Portability Guide Issue 3 (“XPG3”)
1155 -xpg4 X/Open Portability Guide Issue 4 (“XPG4”)
1156 -xpg4.2 X/Open Portability Guide Issue 4, Version 2
1157 (“XPG4.2”)
1158 -xsh5 X/Open System Interfaces and Headers Issue 5
1159 (“XSH5”)
1160 Miscellaneous
1162 -ieee754 IEEE Std 754-1985
1164 -iso8601
1165 -iso8802-3 ISO/IEC 8802-3:1989
1166 Variable Types
1168 The ‘.Vt’ macro may be used whenever a type is referenced. In the
1169 SYNOPSIS section, it causes a line break (useful for old style variable
1170 declarations).
1171 Usage: .Vt ⟨type⟩ ...
1173 .Vt extern char *optarg ; extern char *optarg;
1175 .Vt FILE * FILE *
1176 Variables
1178 Generic variable reference.
1179 Usage: .Va ⟨variable⟩ ...
1181 .Va count count
1183 .Va settimer , settimer,
1184 .Va "int *prt" ) : int *prt):
1185 .Va "char s" ] ) ) , char s])),
1186 The default width is 12n.
1188 Manual Page Cross References
1190 The ‘.Xr’ macro expects the first argument to be a manual page name. The
1191 optional second argument, if a string (defining the manual section), is
1192 put into parentheses.
1193 Usage: .Xr ⟨man page name⟩ [⟨section⟩] ...
1195 .Xr mdoc mdoc
1197 .Xr mdoc , mdoc,
1198 .Xr mdoc 7 mdoc(7)
1199 .Xr xinit 1x ; xinit(1x);
1200 The default width is 10n.
1202
1204 AT&T Macro
1205 Usage: .At [⟨version⟩] ...
1206 .At AT&T UNIX
1208 .At v6 . Version 6 AT&T UNIX.
1209 The following values for ⟨version⟩ are possible:
1211 32v, v1, v2, v3, v4, v5, v6, v7, III, V, V.1, V.2, V.3, V.4
1213 BSD Macro
1215 Usage: .Bx {-alpha | -beta | -devel} ...
1216 .Bx [⟨version⟩ [⟨release⟩]] ...
1217 .Bx BSD
1219 .Bx 4.3 . 4.3BSD.
1220 .Bx -devel BSD (currently under development)
1221 ⟨version⟩ will be prepended to the string ‘BSD’. The following values
1223 for ⟨release⟩ are possible:
1224 Reno, reno, Tahoe, tahoe, Lite, lite, Lite2, lite2
1226 NetBSD Macro
1228 Usage: .Nx [⟨version⟩] ...
1229 .Nx NetBSD
1231 .Nx 1.4 . NetBSD 1.4.
1232 For possible values of ⟨version⟩ see the description of the ‘.Os’ command
1234 above in section TITLE MACROS.
1235 FreeBSD Macro
1237 Usage: .Fx [⟨version⟩] ...
1238 .Fx FreeBSD
1240 .Fx 2.2 . FreeBSD 2.2.
1241 For possible values of ⟨version⟩ see the description of the ‘.Os’ command
1243 above in section TITLE MACROS.
1244 DragonFly Macro
1246 Usage: .Dx [⟨version⟩] ...
1247 .Dx DragonFly
1249 .Dx 1.4 . DragonFly 1.4.
1250 For possible values of ⟨version⟩ see the description of the ‘.Os’ command
1252 above in section TITLE MACROS.
1253 OpenBSD Macro
1255 Usage: .Ox [⟨version⟩] ...
1256 .Ox 1.0 OpenBSD 1.0
1258 BSD/OS Macro
1260 Usage: .Bsx [⟨version⟩] ...
1261 .Bsx 1.0 BSD/OS 1.0
1263 UNIX Macro
1265 Usage: .Ux ...
1266 .Ux UNIX
1268 Emphasis Macro
1270 Text may be stressed or emphasized with the ‘.Em’ macro. The usual font
1271 for emphasis is italic.
1272 Usage: .Em ⟨argument⟩ ...
1274 .Em does not does not
1276 .Em exceed 1024 . exceed 1024.
1277 .Em vide infra ) ) , vide infra)),
1278 The default width is 10n.
1280 Font Mode
1282 The ‘.Bf’ font mode must be ended with the ‘.Ef’ macro (the latter takes
1283 no arguments). Font modes may be nested within other font modes.
1284 ‘.Bf’ has the following syntax:
1286 .Bf ⟨font mode⟩
1288 ⟨font mode⟩ must be one of the following three types:
1290 Em | -emphasis Same as if the ‘.Em’ macro was used for the entire
1292 block of text.
1293 Li | -literal Same as if the ‘.Li’ macro was used for the entire
1294 block of text.
1295 Sy | -symbolic Same as if the ‘.Sy’ macro was used for the entire
1296 block of text.
1297 Both macros are neither callable nor parsed.
1299 Enclosure and Quoting Macros
1301 The concept of enclosure is similar to quoting. The object being to
1302 enclose one or more strings between a pair of characters like quotes or
1303 parentheses. The terms quoting and enclosure are used interchangeably
1304 throughout this document. Most of the one-line enclosure macros end in
1305 small letter ‘q’ to give a hint of quoting, but there are a few irregu‐
1306 larities. For each enclosure macro there is also a pair of open and
1307 close macros which end in small letters ‘o’ and ‘c’ respectively.
1308 Quote Open Close Function Result
1310 .Aq .Ao .Ac Angle Bracket Enclosure <string>
1311 .Bq .Bo .Bc Bracket Enclosure [string]
1312 .Brq .Bro .Brc Brace Enclosure {string}
1313 .Dq .Do .Dc Double Quote "string"
1314 .Eq .Eo .Ec Enclose String (in XX) XXstring
1315 .Pq .Po .Pc Parenthesis Enclosure (string)
1316 .Ql Quoted Literal “string” or string
1317 .Qq .Qo .Qc Straight Double Quote "string"
1318 .Sq .So .Sc Single Quote 'string'
1319 All macros ending with ‘q’ and ‘o’ have a default width value of 12n.
1321 .Eo, .Ec These macros expect the first argument to be the opening and
1323 closing strings respectively.
1324 .Es, .En Due to the nine-argument limit in the original troff program
1326 two other macros have been implemented which are now rather
1327 obsolete: ‘.Es’ takes the first and second parameter as the
1328 left and right enclosure string, which are then used to enclose
1329 the arguments of ‘.En’. The default width value is 12n for
1330 both macros.
1331 .Eq The first and second arguments of this macro are the opening
1333 and closing strings respectively, followed by the arguments to
1334 be enclosed.
1335 .Ql The quoted literal macro behaves differently in troff and nroff
1337 mode. If formatted with nroff, a quoted literal is always
1338 quoted. If formatted with troff, an item is only quoted if the
1339 width of the item is less than three constant width characters.
1340 This is to make short strings more visible where the font
1341 change to literal (constant width) is less noticeable.
1342 The default width is 16n.
1344 .Pf The prefix macro suppresses the whitespace between its first
1346 and second argument:
1347 .Pf ( Fa name2 (name2
1349 The default width is 12n.
1351 The ‘.Ns’ macro (see below) performs the analogous suffix func‐
1353 tion.
1354 .Ap The ‘.Ap’ macro inserts an apostrophe and exits any special
1356 text modes, continuing in ‘.No’ mode.
1357 Examples of quoting:
1359 .Aq ⟨⟩
1361 .Aq Pa ctype.h ) , ⟨ctype.h⟩),
1362 .Bq []
1363 .Bq Em Greek , French . [Greek, French].
1364 .Dq “”
1365 .Dq string abc . “string abc”.
1366 .Dq ´^[A-Z]´ “´^[A-Z]´”
1367 .Ql man mdoc ‘man mdoc’
1368 .Qq ""
1369 .Qq string ) , "string"),
1370 .Qq string Ns ), "string),"
1371 .Sq ‘’
1372 .Sq string ‘string’
1373 .Em or Ap ing or'ing
1374 For a good example of nested enclosure macros, see the ‘.Op’ option
1376 macro. It was created from the same underlying enclosure macros as those
1377 presented in the list above. The ‘.Xo’ and ‘.Xc’ extended argument list
1378 macros are discussed below.
1379 No-Op or Normal Text Macro
1381 The ‘.No’ macro can be used in a macro command line for parameters which
1382 should not be formatted. Be careful to add ‘\&’ to the word ‘No’ if you
1383 really want that English word (and not the macro) as a parameter.
1384 Usage: .No ⟨argument⟩ ...
1386 .No test Ta with Ta tabs test with tabs
1388 The default width is 12n.
1390 No-Space Macro
1392 The ‘.Ns’ macro suppresses insertion of a space between the current posi‐
1393 tion and its first parameter. For example, it is useful for old style
1394 argument lists where there is no space between the flag and argument:
1395 Usage: ... ⟨argument⟩ Ns [⟨argument⟩] ...
1397 .Ns ⟨argument⟩ ...
1398 .Op Fl I Ns Ar directory [-Idirectory]
1400 Note: The ‘.Ns’ macro always invokes the ‘.No’ macro after eliminating
1402 the space unless another macro name follows it. If used as a command
1403 (i.e., the second form above in the ‘Usage’ line), ‘.Ns’ is identical to
1404 ‘.No’.
1405 Section Cross References
1407 The ‘.Sx’ macro designates a reference to a section header within the
1408 same document.
1409 Usage: .Sx ⟨section reference⟩ ...
1411 .Sx FILES FILES
1413 The default width is 16n.
1415 Symbolics
1417 The symbolic emphasis macro is generally a boldface macro in either the
1418 symbolic sense or the traditional English usage.
1419 Usage: .Sy ⟨symbol⟩ ...
1421 .Sy Important Notice Important Notice
1423 The default width is 6n.
1425 Mathematical Symbols
1427 Use this macro for mathematical symbols and similar things.
1428 Usage: .Ms ⟨math symbol⟩ ...
1430 .Ms sigma sigma
1432 The default width is 6n.
1434 References and Citations
1436 The following macros make a modest attempt to handle references. At
1437 best, the macros make it convenient to manually drop in a subset of
1438 refer(1) style references.
1439 .Rs Reference start (does not take arguments). Causes a line
1441 break in the SEE ALSO section and begins collection of ref‐
1442 erence information until the reference end macro is read.
1443 .Re Reference end (does not take arguments). The reference is
1444 printed.
1445 .%A Reference author name; one name per invocation.
1446 .%B Book title.
1447 .%C City/place.
1448 .%D Date.
1449 .%I Issuer/publisher name.
1450 .%J Journal name.
1451 .%N Issue number.
1452 .%O Optional information.
1453 .%P Page number.
1454 .%Q Corporate or foreign author.
1455 .%R Report name.
1456 .%T Title of article.
1457 .%U Optional hypertext reference.
1458 .%V Volume.
1459 Macros beginning with ‘%’ are not callable but accept multiple arguments
1461 in the usual way. Only the ‘.Tn’ macro is handled properly as a parame‐
1462 ter; other macros will cause strange output. ‘.%B’ and ‘.%T’ can be used
1463 outside of the ‘.Rs/.Re’ environment.
1464 Example:
1466 .Rs
1468 .%A "Matthew Bar"
1469 .%A "John Foo"
1470 .%T "Implementation Notes on foobar(1)"
1471 .%R "Technical Report ABC-DE-12-345"
1472 .%Q "Drofnats College"
1473 .%C "Nowhere"
1474 .%D "April 1991"
1475 .Re
1476 produces
1478 Matthew Bar and John Foo, Implementation Notes on foobar(1),
1480 Technical Report ABC-DE-12-345, Drofnats College, April 1991.
1481 Trade Names (or Acronyms and Type Names)
1483 The trade name macro prints its arguments in a smaller font. Its
1484 intended use is to imitate a small caps fonts for uppercase acronyms.
1485 Usage: .Tn ⟨symbol⟩ ...
1487 .Tn DEC DEC
1489 .Tn ASCII ASCII
1490 The default width is 10n.
1492 Extended Arguments
1494 The .Xo and .Xc macros allow one to extend an argument list on a macro
1495 boundary for the ‘.It’ macro (see below). Note that .Xo and .Xc are
1496 implemented similarly to all other macros opening and closing an enclo‐
1497 sure (without inserting characters, of course). This means that the fol‐
1498 lowing is true for those macros also.
1499 Here is an example of ‘.Xo’ using the space mode macro to turn spacing
1501 off:
1502 .Sm off
1504 .It Xo Sy I Ar operation
1505 .No \en Ar count No \en
1506 .Xc
1507 .Sm on
1508 produces
1510 Ioperation\ncount\n
1512 Another one:
1514 .Sm off
1516 .It Cm S No / Ar old_pattern Xo
1517 .No / Ar new_pattern
1518 .No / Op Cm g
1519 .Xc
1520 .Sm on
1521 produces
1523 S/old_pattern/new_pattern/[g]
1525 Another example of ‘.Xo’ and enclosure macros: Test the value of a vari‐
1527 able.
1528 .It Xo
1530 .Ic .ifndef
1531 .Oo \&! Oc Ns Ar variable Oo
1532 .Ar operator variable ...
1533 .Oc Xc
1534 produces
1536 .ifndef [!]variable [operator variable ...]
1538
1540 Section Headers
1541 The following ‘.Sh’ section header macros are required in every man page.
1542 The remaining section headers are recommended at the discretion of the
1543 author writing the manual page. The ‘.Sh’ macro is parsed but not gener‐
1544 ally callable. It can be used as an argument in a call to ‘.Sh’ only; it
1545 then reactivates the default font for ‘.Sh’.
1546 The default width is 8n.
1548 .Sh NAME The ‘.Sh NAME’ macro is mandatory. If not specified,
1550 headers, footers and page layout defaults will not be
1551 set and things will be rather unpleasant. The NAME
1552 section consists of at least three items. The first
1553 is the ‘.Nm’ name macro naming the subject of the man
1554 page. The second is the name description macro,
1555 ‘.Nd’, which separates the subject name from the third
1556 item, which is the description. The description
1557 should be the most terse and lucid possible, as the
1558 space available is small.
1559 ‘.Nd’ first prints ‘-’, then all its arguments.
1561 .Sh LIBRARY This section is for section two and three function
1563 calls. It should consist of a single ‘.Lb’ macro
1564 call; see Library Names.
1565 .Sh SYNOPSIS The SYNOPSIS section describes the typical usage of
1567 the subject of a man page. The macros required are
1568 either ‘.Nm’, ‘.Cd’, or ‘.Fn’ (and possibly ‘.Fo’,
1569 ‘.Fc’, ‘.Fd’, and ‘.Ft’). The function name macro
1570 ‘.Fn’ is required for manual page sections 2 and 3;
1571 the command and general name macro ‘.Nm’ is required
1572 for sections 1, 5, 6, 7, and 8. Section 4 manuals
1573 require a ‘.Nm’, ‘.Fd’ or a ‘.Cd’ configuration device
1574 usage macro. Several other macros may be necessary to
1575 produce the synopsis line as shown below:
1576 cat [-benstuv] [-] file ...
1578 The following macros were used:
1580 .Nm cat
1582 .Op Fl benstuv
1583 .Op Fl
1584 .Ar
1585 .Sh DESCRIPTION In most cases the first text in the DESCRIPTION sec‐
1587 tion is a brief paragraph on the command, function or
1588 file, followed by a lexical list of options and
1589 respective explanations. To create such a list, the
1590 ‘.Bl’ (begin list), ‘.It’ (list item) and ‘.El’ (end
1591 list) macros are used (see Lists and Columns below).
1592 .Sh IMPLEMENTATION NOTES
1594 Implementation specific information should be placed
1595 here.
1596 .Sh RETURN VALUES Sections 2, 3 and 9 function return values should go
1598 here. The ‘.Rv’ macro may be used to generate text
1599 for use in the RETURN VALUES section for most section
1600 2 and 3 library functions; see Return Values.
1601 The following ‘.Sh’ section headers are part of the preferred manual page
1603 layout and must be used appropriately to maintain consistency. They are
1604 listed in the order in which they would be used.
1605 .Sh ENVIRONMENT The ENVIRONMENT section should reveal any related
1607 environment variables and clues to their behavior
1608 and/or usage.
1609 .Sh FILES Files which are used or created by the man page sub‐
1611 ject should be listed via the ‘.Pa’ macro in the FILES
1612 section.
1613 .Sh EXAMPLES There are several ways to create examples. See the
1615 EXAMPLES section below for details.
1616 .Sh DIAGNOSTICS Diagnostic messages from a command should be placed in
1618 this section. The ‘.Ex’ macro may be used to generate
1619 text for use in the DIAGNOSTICS section for most sec‐
1620 tion 1, 6 and 8 commands; see Exit Status.
1621 .Sh COMPATIBILITY Known compatibility issues (e.g. deprecated options or
1623 parameters) should be listed here.
1624 .Sh ERRORS Specific error handling, especially from library func‐
1626 tions (man page sections 2, 3, and 9) should go here.
1627 The ‘.Er’ macro is used to specify an error (errno).
1628 .Sh SEE ALSO References to other material on the man page topic and
1630 cross references to other relevant man pages should be
1631 placed in the SEE ALSO section. Cross references are
1632 specified using the ‘.Xr’ macro. Currently refer(1)
1633 style references are not accommodated.
1634 It is recommended that the cross references are sorted
1636 on the section number, then alphabetically on the
1637 names within a section, and placed in that order and
1638 comma separated. Example:
1639 ls(1), ps(1), group(5), passwd(5)
1641 .Sh STANDARDS If the command, library function or file adheres to a
1643 specific implementation such as IEEE Std 1003.2
1644 (“POSIX.2”) or ANSI X3.159-1989 (“ANSI C89”) this
1645 should be noted here. If the command does not adhere
1646 to any standard, its history should be noted in the
1647 HISTORY section.
1648 .Sh HISTORY Any command which does not adhere to any specific
1650 standards should be outlined historically in this sec‐
1651 tion.
1652 .Sh AUTHORS Credits should be placed here. Use the ‘.An’ macro
1654 for names and the ‘.Aq’ macro for e-mail addresses
1655 within optional contact information. Explicitly indi‐
1656 cate whether the person authored the initial manual
1657 page or the software or whatever the person is being
1658 credited for.
1659 .Sh BUGS Blatant problems with the topic go here.
1661 User-specified ‘.Sh’ sections may be added; for example, this section was
1663 set with:
1664 .Sh "PAGE STRUCTURE DOMAIN"
1666 Subsection Headers
1668 Subsection headers have exactly the same syntax as section headers: ‘.Ss’
1669 is parsed but not generally callable. It can be used as an argument in a
1670 call to ‘.Ss’ only; it then reactivates the default font for ‘.Ss’.
1671 The default width is 8n.
1673 Paragraphs and Line Spacing
1675 .Pp The ‘.Pp’ paragraph command may be used to specify a line space
1676 where necessary. The macro is not necessary after a ‘.Sh’ or ‘.Ss’
1677 macro or before a ‘.Bl’ or ‘.Bd’ macro (which both assert a vertical
1678 distance unless the -compact flag is given).
1679 The macro is neither callable nor parsed and takes no arguments; an
1681 alternative name is ‘.Lp’.
1682 Keeps
1684 The only keep that is implemented at this time is for words. The macros
1685 are ‘.Bk’ (begin keep) and ‘.Ek’ (end keep). The only option that ‘.Bk’
1686 accepts currently is -words (this is also the default if no option is
1687 given) which is useful for preventing line breaks in the middle of
1688 options. In the example for the make command line arguments (see What's
1689 in a Name), the keep prevented nroff from placing up the flag and the
1690 argument on separate lines.
1691 Both macros are neither callable nor parsed.
1693 More work needs to be done with the keep macros; specifically, a -line
1695 option should be added.
1696 Examples and Displays
1698 There are seven types of displays.
1699 .D1 (This is D-one.) Display one line of indented text. This macro is
1701 parsed but not callable.
1702 -ldghfstru
1704 The above was produced by: .D1 Fl ldghfstru.
1706 .Dl (This is D-ell.) Display one line of indented literal text. The
1708 ‘.Dl’ example macro has been used throughout this file. It allows
1709 the indentation (display) of one line of text. Its default font is
1710 set to constant width (literal). ‘.Dl’ is parsed but not callable.
1711 % ls -ldg /usr/local/bin
1713 The above was produced by: .Dl % ls \-ldg /usr/local/bin.
1715 .Bd Begin display. The ‘.Bd’ display must be ended with the ‘.Ed’
1717 macro. It has the following syntax:
1718 .Bd {-literal | -filled | -unfilled | -ragged | -centered}
1720 [-offset ⟨string⟩] [-file ⟨file name⟩] [-compact]
1721 -ragged Fill, but do not adjust the right margin (only
1723 left-justify).
1724 -centered Center lines between the current left and right
1725 margin. Note that each single line is centered.
1726 -unfilled Do not fill; display a block of text as typed,
1727 using line breaks as specified by the user. This
1728 can produce overlong lines without warning mes‐
1729 sages.
1730 -filled Display a filled block. The block of text is
1731 formatted (i.e., the text is justified on both
1732 the left and right side).
1733 -literal Display block with literal font (usually fixed-
1734 width). Useful for source code or simple tabbed
1735 or spaced text.
1736 -file ⟨file name⟩ The file whose name follows the -file flag is
1737 read and displayed before any data enclosed with
1738 ‘.Bd’ and ‘.Ed’, using the selected display type.
1739 Any troff/-mdoc commands in the file will be pro‐
1740 cessed.
1741 -offset ⟨string⟩ If -offset is specified with one of the following
1742 strings, the string is interpreted to indicate
1743 the level of indentation for the forthcoming
1744 block of text:
1745 left Align block on the current left mar‐
1747 gin; this is the default mode of
1748 ‘.Bd’.
1749 center Supposedly center the block. At this
1750 time unfortunately, the block merely
1751 gets left aligned about an imaginary
1752 center margin.
1753 indent Indent by one default indent value or
1754 tab. The default indent value is
1755 also used for the ‘.D1’ and ‘.Dl’
1756 macros, so one is guaranteed the two
1757 types of displays will line up. The
1758 indentation value is normally set
1759 to 6n or about two thirds of an inch
1760 (six constant width characters).
1761 indent-two Indent two times the default indent
1762 value.
1763 right This left aligns the block about two
1764 inches from the right side of the
1765 page. This macro needs work and per‐
1766 haps may never do the right thing
1767 within troff.
1768 If ⟨string⟩ is a valid numeric expression instead
1770 (with a scale indicator other than ‘u’), use that
1771 value for indentation. The most useful scale
1772 indicators are ‘m’ and ‘n’, specifying the so-
1773 called Em and En square. This is approximately
1774 the width of the letters ‘m’ and ‘n’ respectively
1775 of the current font (for nroff output, both scale
1776 indicators give the same values). If ⟨string⟩
1777 isn't a numeric expression, it is tested whether
1778 it is an -mdoc macro name, and the default offset
1779 value associated with this macro is used.
1780 Finally, if all tests fail, the width of ⟨string⟩
1781 (typeset with a fixed-width font) is taken as the
1782 offset.
1783 -compact Suppress insertion of vertical space before begin
1784 of display.
1785 .Ed End display (takes no arguments).
1787 Lists and Columns
1789 There are several types of lists which may be initiated with the ‘.Bl’
1790 begin-list macro. Items within the list are specified with the ‘.It’
1791 item macro, and each list must end with the ‘.El’ macro. Lists may be
1792 nested within themselves and within displays. The use of columns inside
1793 of lists or lists inside of columns is unproven.
1794 In addition, several list attributes may be specified such as the width
1796 of a tag, the list offset, and compactness (blank lines between items
1797 allowed or disallowed). Most of this document has been formatted with a
1798 tag style list (-tag).
1799 It has the following syntax forms:
1801 .Bl {-hang | -ohang | -tag | -diag | -inset} [-width ⟨string⟩]
1803 [-offset ⟨string⟩] [-compact]
1804 .Bl -column [-offset ⟨string⟩] ⟨string1⟩ ⟨string2⟩ ...
1805 .Bl {-item | -enum [-nested] | -bullet | -hyphen | -dash} [-offset
1806 ⟨string⟩] [-compact]
1807 And now a detailed description of the list types.
1809 -bullet A bullet list.
1811 .Bl -bullet -offset indent -compact
1813 .It
1814 Bullet one goes here.
1815 .It
1816 Bullet two here.
1817 .El
1818 Produces:
1820 · Bullet one goes here.
1822 · Bullet two here.
1823 -dash (or -hyphen)
1825 A dash list.
1826 .Bl -dash -offset indent -compact
1828 .It
1829 Dash one goes here.
1830 .It
1831 Dash two here.
1832 .El
1833 Produces:
1835 - Dash one goes here.
1837 - Dash two here.
1838 -enum An enumerated list.
1840 .Bl -enum -offset indent -compact
1842 .It
1843 Item one goes here.
1844 .It
1845 And item two here.
1846 .El
1847 The result:
1849 1. Item one goes here.
1851 2. And item two here.
1852 If you want to nest enumerated lists, use the -nested flag
1854 (starting with the second-level list):
1855 .Bl -enum -offset indent -compact
1857 .It
1858 Item one goes here
1859 .Bl -enum -nested -compact
1860 .It
1861 Item two goes here.
1862 .It
1863 And item three here.
1864 .El
1865 .It
1866 And item four here.
1867 .El
1868 Result:
1870 1. Item one goes here.
1872 1.1. Item two goes here.
1873 1.2. And item three here.
1874 2. And item four here.
1875 -item A list of type -item without list markers.
1877 .Bl -item -offset indent
1879 .It
1880 Item one goes here.
1881 Item one goes here.
1882 Item one goes here.
1883 .It
1884 Item two here.
1885 Item two here.
1886 Item two here.
1887 .El
1888 Produces:
1890 Item one goes here. Item one goes here. Item one goes
1892 here.
1893 Item two here. Item two here. Item two here.
1895 -tag A list with tags. Use -width to specify the tag width.
1897 SL sleep time of the process (seconds blocked)
1899 PAGEIN
1900 number of disk I/O's resulting from references by
1901 the process to pages not loaded in core.
1902 UID numerical user-id of process owner
1903 PPID numerical id of parent of process priority (non-pos‐
1904 itive when in non-interruptible wait)
1905 The raw text:
1907 .Bl -tag -width "PPID" -compact -offset indent
1909 .It SL
1910 sleep time of the process (seconds blocked)
1911 .It PAGEIN
1912 number of disk
1913 .Tn I/O Ns 's
1914 resulting from references by the process
1915 to pages not loaded in core.
1916 .It UID
1917 numerical user-id of process owner
1918 .It PPID
1919 numerical id of parent of process priority
1920 (non-positive when in non-interruptible wait)
1921 .El
1922 -diag Diag lists create section four diagnostic lists and are similar
1924 to inset lists except callable macros are ignored. The -width
1925 flag is not meaningful in this context.
1926 Example:
1928 .Bl -diag
1930 .It You can't use Sy here.
1931 The message says all.
1932 .El
1933 produces
1935 You can't use Sy here. The message says all.
1937 -hang A list with hanging tags.
1939 Hanged labels appear similar to tagged lists when the
1941 label is smaller than the label width.
1942 Longer hanged list labels blend into the paragraph unlike
1944 tagged paragraph labels.
1945 And the unformatted text which created it:
1947 .Bl -hang -offset indent
1949 .It Em Hanged
1950 labels appear similar to tagged lists when the
1951 label is smaller than the label width.
1952 .It Em Longer hanged list labels
1953 blend into the paragraph unlike
1954 tagged paragraph labels.
1955 .El
1956 -ohang Lists with overhanging tags do not use indentation for the
1958 items; tags are written to a separate line.
1959 SL
1961 sleep time of the process (seconds blocked)
1962 PAGEIN
1964 number of disk I/O's resulting from references by the
1965 process to pages not loaded in core.
1966 UID
1968 numerical user-id of process owner
1969 PPID
1971 numerical id of parent of process priority (non-positive
1972 when in non-interruptible wait)
1973 The raw text:
1975 .Bl -ohang -offset indent
1977 .It Sy SL
1978 sleep time of the process (seconds blocked)
1979 .It Sy PAGEIN
1980 number of disk
1981 .Tn I/O Ns 's
1982 resulting from references by the process
1983 to pages not loaded in core.
1984 .It Sy UID
1985 numerical user-id of process owner
1986 .It Sy PPID
1987 numerical id of parent of process priority
1988 (non-positive when in non-interruptible wait)
1989 .El
1990 -inset Here is an example of inset labels:
1992 Tag The tagged list (also called a tagged paragraph) is
1994 the most common type of list used in the Berkeley manuals.
1995 Use a -width attribute as described below.
1996 Diag Diag lists create section four diagnostic lists and
1998 are similar to inset lists except callable macros are
1999 ignored.
2000 Hang Hanged labels are a matter of taste.
2002 Ohang Overhanging labels are nice when space is con‐
2004 strained.
2005 Inset Inset labels are useful for controlling blocks of
2007 paragraphs and are valuable for converting -mdoc manuals
2008 to other formats.
2009 Here is the source text which produced the above example:
2011 .Bl -inset -offset indent
2013 .It Em Tag
2014 The tagged list (also called a tagged paragraph)
2015 is the most common type of list used in the
2016 Berkeley manuals.
2017 .It Em Diag
2018 Diag lists create section four diagnostic lists
2019 and are similar to inset lists except callable
2020 macros are ignored.
2021 .It Em Hang
2022 Hanged labels are a matter of taste.
2023 .It Em Ohang
2024 Overhanging labels are nice when space is constrained.
2025 .It Em Inset
2026 Inset labels are useful for controlling blocks of
2027 paragraphs and are valuable for converting
2028 .Nm -mdoc
2029 manuals to other formats.
2030 .El
2031 -column This list type generates multiple columns. The number of col‐
2033 umns and the width of each column is determined by the arguments
2034 to the -column list, ⟨string1⟩, ⟨string2⟩, etc. If ⟨stringN⟩
2035 starts with a ‘.’ (dot) immediately followed by a valid -mdoc
2036 macro name, interpret ⟨stringN⟩ and use the width of the result.
2037 Otherwise, the width of ⟨stringN⟩ (typeset with a fixed-width
2038 font) is taken as the Nth column width.
2039 Each ‘.It’ argument is parsed to make a row, each column within
2041 the row is a separate argument separated by a tab or the ‘.Ta’
2042 macro.
2043 The table:
2045 String Nroff Troff
2047 <= <= ≤
2048 >= >= ≥
2049 was produced by:
2051 .Bl -column -offset indent ".Sy String" ".Sy Nroff" ".Sy Troff"
2053 .It Sy String Ta Sy Nroff Ta Sy Troff
2054 .It Li <= Ta <= Ta \*(<=
2055 .It Li >= Ta >= Ta \*(>=
2056 .El
2057 Don't abuse this list type! For more complicated cases it might
2059 be far better and easier to use tbl(1), the table preprocessor.
2060 Other keywords:
2062 -width ⟨string⟩ If ⟨string⟩ starts with a ‘.’ (dot) immediately fol‐
2064 lowed by a valid -mdoc macro name, interpret ⟨string⟩
2065 and use the width of the result. Almost all lists in
2066 this document use this option.
2067 Example:
2069 .Bl -tag -width ".Fl test Ao Ar string Ac"
2071 .It Fl test Ao Ar string Ac
2072 This is a longer sentence to show how the
2073 .Fl width
2074 flag works in combination with a tag list.
2075 .El
2076 gives:
2078 -test ⟨string⟩ This is a longer sentence to show how
2080 the -width flag works in combination
2081 with a tag list.
2082 (Note that the current state of -mdoc is saved before
2084 ⟨string⟩ is interpreted; afterwards, all variables are
2085 restored again. However, boxes (used for enclosures)
2086 can't be saved in GNU troff(1); as a consequence, argu‐
2087 ments must always be balanced to avoid nasty errors.
2088 For example, do not write ‘.Ao Ar string’ but ‘.Ao Ar
2089 string Xc’ instead if you really need only an opening
2090 angle bracket.)
2091 Otherwise, if ⟨string⟩ is a valid numeric expression
2093 (with a scale indicator other than ‘u’), use that value
2094 for indentation. The most useful scale indicators are
2095 ‘m’ and ‘n’, specifying the so-called Em and En square.
2096 This is approximately the width of the letters ‘m’ and
2097 ‘n’ respectively of the current font (for nroff output,
2098 both scale indicators give the same values). If
2099 ⟨string⟩ isn't a numeric expression, it is tested
2100 whether it is an -mdoc macro name, and the default
2101 width value associated with this macro is used.
2102 Finally, if all tests fail, the width of ⟨string⟩
2103 (typeset with a fixed-width font) is taken as the
2104 width.
2105 If a width is not specified for the tag list type,
2107 every time ‘.It’ is invoked, an attempt is made to
2108 determine an appropriate width. If the first argument
2109 to ‘.It’ is a callable macro, the default width for
2110 that macro will be used; otherwise, the default width
2111 of ‘.No’ is used.
2112 -offset ⟨string⟩ If ⟨string⟩ is indent, a default indent value (normally
2114 set to 6n, similar to the value used in ‘.Dl’ or ‘.Bd’)
2115 is used. If ⟨string⟩ is a valid numeric expression
2116 instead (with a scale indicator other than ‘u’), use
2117 that value for indentation. The most useful scale
2118 indicators are ‘m’ and ‘n’, specifying the so-called Em
2119 and En square. This is approximately the width of the
2120 letters ‘m’ and ‘n’ respectively of the current font
2121 (for nroff output, both scale indicators give the same
2122 values). If ⟨string⟩ isn't a numeric expression, it is
2123 tested whether it is an -mdoc macro name, and the
2124 default offset value associated with this macro is
2125 used. Finally, if all tests fail, the width of
2126 ⟨string⟩ (typeset with a fixed-width font) is taken as
2127 the offset.
2128 -compact Suppress insertion of vertical space before the list
2130 and between list items.
2131
2133 Here a list of the remaining macros which do not fit well into one of the
2134 above sections. We couldn't find real examples for the following macros:
2135 ‘.Me’ and ‘.Ot’. They are documented here for completeness - if you know
2136 how to use them properly please send a mail to bug-groff@gnu.org (includ‐
2137 ing an example).
2138 .Bt prints
2140 is currently in beta test.
2142 It is neither callable nor parsed and takes no arguments.
2144 .Fr
2146 Usage: .Fr ⟨function return value⟩ ...
2148 Don't use this macro. It allows a break right before the return
2150 value (usually a single digit) which is bad typographical behaviour.
2151 Use ‘\~’ to tie the return value to the previous word.
2152 .Hf Use this macro to include a (header) file literally. It first
2154 prints ‘File:’ followed by the file name, then the contents of
2155 ⟨file⟩.
2156 Usage: .Hf ⟨file⟩
2158 It is neither callable nor parsed.
2160 .Lk To be written.
2162 .Me Exact usage unknown. The documentation in the -mdoc source file
2164 describes it as a macro for “menu entries”.
2165 Its default width is 6n.
2167 .Mt To be written.
2169 .Ot Exact usage unknown. The documentation in the -mdoc source file
2171 describes it as “old function type (fortran)”.
2172 .Sm Activate (toggle) space mode.
2174 Usage: .Sm [on | off] ...
2176 If space mode is off, no spaces between macro arguments are
2178 inserted. If called without a parameter (or if the next parameter
2179 is neither ‘on’ nor ‘off’, ‘.Sm’ toggles space mode.
2180 .Ud prints
2182 currently under development.
2184 It is neither callable nor parsed and takes no arguments.
2186
2188 The following strings are predefined:
2189 String Nroff Troff Meaning
2191 <= <= ≤ less equal
2192 >= >= ≥ greater equal
2193 Rq '' ” right double quote
2194 Lq `` “ left double quote
2195 ua ^ ↑ upwards arrow
2196 aa ´ ´ acute accent
2197 ga ` ` grave accent
2198 q " " straight double quote
2199 Pi pi π greek pi
2200 Ne != ≠ not equal
2201 Le <= ≤ less equal
2202 Ge >= ≥ greater equal
2203 Lt < < less than
2204 Gt > > greater than
2205 Pm +- ± plus minus
2206 If infinity ∞ infinity
2207 Am & & ampersand
2208 Na NaN NaN not a number
2209 Ba | | vertical bar
2210 The names of the columns Nroff and Troff are a bit misleading; Nroff
2212 shows the ASCII representation, while Troff gives the best glyph form
2213 available. For example, a Unicode enabled TTY-device will have proper
2214 glyph representations for all strings, whereas the enhancement for a
2215 Latin1 TTY-device is only the plus-minus sign.
2216 String names which consist of two characters can be written as ‘\*(xx’;
2218 string names which consist of one character can be written as ‘\*x’. A
2219 generic syntax for a string name of any length is ‘\*[xxx]’ (this is a
2220 GNU troff(1) extension).
2221
2223 The debugging macro ‘.Db’ available in previous versions of -mdoc has
2224 been removed since GNU troff(1) provides better facilities to check
2225 parameters; additionally, many error and warning messages have been added
2226 to this macro package, making it both more robust and verbose.
2227 The only remaining debugging macro is ‘.Rd’ which yields a register dump
2229 of all global registers and strings. A normal user will never need it.
2230
2232 By default, the package inhibits page breaks, headers, and footers if
2233 displayed with a TTY device like ‘latin1’ or ‘unicode’, to make the man‐
2234 ual more efficient for viewing on-line. This behaviour can be changed
2235 (e.g. to create a hardcopy of the TTY output) by setting the register
2236 ‘cR’ to zero while calling groff(1), resulting in multiple pages instead
2237 of a single, very long page:
2238 groff -Tlatin1 -rcR=0 -mdoc foo.man > foo.txt
2240 For double-sided printing, set register ‘D’ to 1:
2242 groff -Tps -rD1 -mdoc foo.man > foo.ps
2244 To change the document font size to 11pt or 12pt, set register ‘S’
2246 accordingly:
2247 groff -Tdvi -rS11 -mdoc foo.man > foo.dvi
2249 Register ‘S’ is ignored for TTY devices.
2251 The line and title length can be changed by setting the registers ‘LL’
2253 and ‘LT’, respectively:
2254 groff -Tutf8 -rLL=100n -rLT=100n -mdoc foo.man | less
2256 If not set, both registers default to 78n for TTY devices and 6.5i other‐
2258 wise.
2259
2261 doc.tmac The main manual macro package.
2262 mdoc.tmac A wrapper file to call doc.tmac.
2263 mdoc/doc-common Common strings, definitions, stuff related typographic
2264 output.
2265 mdoc/doc-nroff Definitions used for a TTY output device.
2266 mdoc/doc-ditroff Definitions used for all other devices.
2267 mdoc.local Local additions and customizations.
2268 andoc.tmac Use this file if you don't know whether the -mdoc or
2269 the -man package should be used. Multiple man pages
2270 (in either format) can be handled.
2271
2273 groff(1), man(1), troff(1), groff_man(7)
2274
2276 Section 3f has not been added to the header routines.
2277 ‘.Nm’ font should be changed in NAME section.
2279 ‘.Fn’ needs to have a check to prevent splitting up if the line length is
2281 too short. Occasionally it separates the last parenthesis, and sometimes
2282 looks ridiculous if a line is in fill mode.
2283 The list and display macros do not do any keeps and certainly should be
2285 able to.
2286BSD November 2, 2010 BSD