-.\" $OpenBSD: man.7,v 1.51 2018/08/18 02:03:41 schwarze Exp $
+.\" $OpenBSD: man.7,v 1.52 2018/08/18 04:32:04 schwarze Exp $
.\"
.\" Copyright (c) 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 Kristaps Dzonsons <kristaps@bsd.lv>
.\" Copyright (c) 2011-2015, 2017, 2018 Ingo Schwarze <schwarze@openbsd.org>
.Nm man
.Nd legacy formatting language for manual pages
.Sh DESCRIPTION
-Traditionally, the
+The
.Nm man
-language has been used to write
-.Ux
-manuals for the
-.Xr man 1
-utility.
-It supports limited control of presentational details like fonts,
-indentation and spacing.
-This reference document describes the structure of manual pages
-and the syntax and usage of the man language.
-.Pp
-.Bf -emphasis
-Do not use
-.Nm
-to write your manuals:
-.Ef
-It lacks support for semantic markup.
+language was the standard formatting language for
+.At
+manual pages from 1979 to 1989.
+Do not use it to write new manual pages: it is a purely presentational
+language and lacks support for semantic markup.
Use the
.Xr mdoc 7
language, instead.
.Dq macro lines .
The first word is the macro name.
It usually consists of two capital letters.
-For a list of available macros, see
+For a list of portable macros, see
.Sx MACRO OVERVIEW .
The words following the macro name are arguments to the macro.
.Pp
.Xr roff 7
manual for details, in particular regarding
comments, escape sequences, whitespace, and quoting.
-.Sh MANUAL STRUCTURE
+.Pp
Each
.Nm
-document must contain the
+document starts with the
.Sx \&TH
-macro describing the document's section and title.
-It may occur anywhere in the document, although conventionally it
-appears as the first macro.
-.Pp
-Beyond
-.Sx \&TH ,
-at least one macro or text line must appear in the document.
-.Pp
-The following is a well-formed skeleton
-.Nm
-file for a utility
-.Qq progname :
+macro specifying the document's name and section, followed by the
+.Sx NAME
+section formatted as follows:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
-\&.TH PROGNAME 1 2009-10-10
+\&.TH PROGNAME 1 1979-01-10
\&.SH NAME
\efBprogname\efR \e(en one line about what it does
-\&.\e\(dq .SH LIBRARY
-\&.\e\(dq For sections 2, 3, and 9 only.
-\&.\e\(dq Not used in OpenBSD.
-\&.SH SYNOPSIS
-\efBprogname\efR [\efB\e-options\efR] \efIfile ...\efR
-\&.SH DESCRIPTION
-The \efBfoo\efR utility processes files ...
-\&.\e\(dq .Sh CONTEXT
-\&.\e\(dq For section 9 functions only.
-\&.\e\(dq .SH IMPLEMENTATION NOTES
-\&.\e\(dq Not used in OpenBSD.
-\&.\e\(dq .SH RETURN VALUES
-\&.\e\(dq For sections 2, 3, and 9 function return values only.
-\&.\e\(dq .SH ENVIRONMENT
-\&.\e\(dq For sections 1, 6, 7, and 8 only.
-\&.\e\(dq .SH FILES
-\&.\e\(dq .SH EXIT STATUS
-\&.\e\(dq For sections 1, 6, and 8 only.
-\&.\e\(dq .SH EXAMPLES
-\&.\e\(dq .SH DIAGNOSTICS
-\&.\e\(dq For sections 1, 4, 6, 7, 8, and 9 printf/stderr messages only.
-\&.\e\(dq .SH ERRORS
-\&.\e\(dq For sections 2, 3, 4, and 9 errno settings only.
-\&.\e\(dq .SH SEE ALSO
-\&.\e\(dq .BR foobar ( 1 )
-\&.\e\(dq .SH STANDARDS
-\&.\e\(dq .SH HISTORY
-\&.\e\(dq .SH AUTHORS
-\&.\e\(dq .SH CAVEATS
-\&.\e\(dq .SH BUGS
-\&.\e\(dq .SH SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
-\&.\e\(dq Not used in OpenBSD.
.Ed
-.Pp
-The sections in a
-.Nm
-document are conventionally ordered as they appear above.
-Sections should be composed as follows:
-.Bl -ohang -offset indent
-.It Em NAME
-The name(s) and a short description of the documented material.
-The syntax for this is generally as follows:
-.Pp
-.D1 \efBname\efR \e(en description
-.It Em LIBRARY
-The name of the library containing the documented material, which is
-assumed to be a function in a section 2 or 3 manual.
-For functions in the C library, this may be as follows:
-.Pp
-.D1 Standard C Library (libc, -lc)
-.It Em SYNOPSIS
-Documents the utility invocation syntax, function call syntax, or device
-configuration.
-.Pp
-For the first, utilities (sections 1, 6, and 8), this is
-generally structured as follows:
-.Pp
-.D1 \efBname\efR [-\efBab\efR] [-\efBc\efR\efIarg\efR] \efBpath\efR...
-.Pp
-For the second, function calls (sections 2, 3, 9):
-.Pp
-.D1 \&.B char *name(char *\efIarg\efR);
-.Pp
-And for the third, configurations (section 4):
-.Pp
-.D1 \&.B name* at cardbus ? function ?
-.Pp
-Manuals not in these sections generally don't need a
-.Em SYNOPSIS .
-.It Em DESCRIPTION
-This expands upon the brief, one-line description in
-.Em NAME .
-It usually contains a break-down of the options (if documenting a
-command).
-.It Em CONTEXT
-This section lists the contexts in which functions can be called in section 9.
-The contexts are autoconf, process, or interrupt.
-.It Em IMPLEMENTATION NOTES
-Implementation-specific notes should be kept here.
-This is useful when implementing standard functions that may have side
-effects or notable algorithmic implications.
-.It Em RETURN VALUES
-This section documents the return values of functions in sections 2, 3, and 9.
-.It Em ENVIRONMENT
-Documents any usages of environment variables, e.g.,
-.Xr environ 7 .
-.It Em FILES
-Documents files used.
-It's helpful to document both the file name and a short description of how
-the file is used (created, modified, etc.).
-.It Em EXIT STATUS
-This section documents the command exit status for
-section 1, 6, and 8 utilities.
-Historically, this information was described in
-.Em DIAGNOSTICS ,
-a practise that is now discouraged.
-.It Em EXAMPLES
-Example usages.
-This often contains snippets of well-formed,
-well-tested invocations.
-Make sure that examples work properly!
-.It Em DIAGNOSTICS
-Documents error conditions.
-In section 4 and 9 manuals, these are usually messages
-printed by the kernel to the console and to the kernel log.
-In section 1, 6, 7, and 8, these are usually messages
-printed by userland programs to the standard error output.
-.Pp
-Historically, this section was used in place of
-.Em EXIT STATUS
-for manuals in sections 1, 6, and 8; however, this practise is
-discouraged.
-.It Em ERRORS
-Documents
-.Xr errno 2
-settings in sections 2, 3, 4, and 9.
-.It Em SEE ALSO
-References other manuals with related topics.
-This section should exist for most manuals.
-.Pp
-.D1 \&.BR bar \&( 1 \&),
-.Pp
-Cross-references should conventionally be ordered
-first by section, then alphabetically.
-.It Em STANDARDS
-References any standards implemented or used, such as
-.Pp
-.D1 IEEE Std 1003.2 (\e(lqPOSIX.2\e(rq)
-.Pp
-If not adhering to any standards, the
-.Em HISTORY
-section should be used.
-.It Em HISTORY
-A brief history of the subject, including where support first appeared.
-.It Em AUTHORS
-Credits to the person or persons who wrote the code and/or documentation.
-Authors should generally be noted by both name and email address.
-.It Em CAVEATS
-Common misuses and misunderstandings should be explained
-in this section.
-.It Em BUGS
-Known bugs, limitations, and work-arounds should be described
-in this section.
-.It Em SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
-Documents any security precautions that operators should consider.
-.El
.Sh MACRO OVERVIEW
This overview is sorted such that macros of similar purpose are listed
-together, to help find the best macro for any given purpose.
-Deprecated macros are not included in the overview, but can be found
-in the alphabetical reference below.
+together.
+Deprecated and non-portable macros are not included in the overview,
+but can be found in the alphabetical reference below.
.Ss Page header and footer meta-data
-.Bl -column "PP, LP, P" description
-.It Sx TH Ta set the title: Ar title section date Op Ar source Op Ar volume
+.Bl -column "RS, RE" description
+.It Sx TH Ta set the title: Ar name section date Op Ar source Op Ar volume
.It Sx AT Ta display AT&T UNIX version in the page footer (<= 1 argument)
.It Sx UC Ta display BSD version in the page footer (<= 1 argument)
.El
.Ss Sections and paragraphs
-.Bl -column "PP, LP, P" description
+.Bl -column "RS, RE" description
.It Sx SH Ta section header (one line)
.It Sx SS Ta subsection header (one line)
-.It Sx PP , LP , P Ta start an undecorated paragraph (no arguments)
+.It Sx PP Ta start an undecorated paragraph (no arguments)
.It Sx RS , RE Ta reset the left margin: Op Ar width
.It Sx IP Ta indented paragraph: Op Ar head Op Ar width
.It Sx TP Ta tagged paragraph: Op Ar width
.It Sx in Ta additional indent: Op Ar width
.El
.Ss Physical markup
-.Bl -column "PP, LP, P" description
+.Bl -column "RS, RE" description
.It Sx B Ta boldface font
.It Sx I Ta italic font
.It Sx SB Ta small boldface font
The optional arguments specify which release it is from.
.Ss \&B
Text is rendered in bold face.
-.Pp
-See also
-.Sx \&I .
.Ss \&BI
Text is rendered alternately in bold face and italic.
Thus,
render in italics.
Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
.Pp
-Examples:
+Example:
.Pp
.Dl \&.BI bold italic bold italic
-.Pp
-The output of this example will be emboldened
-.Dq bold
-and italicised
-.Dq italic ,
-with spaces stripped between arguments.
-.Pp
-See also
-.Sx \&IB ,
-.Sx \&BR ,
-.Sx \&RB ,
-.Sx \&RI ,
-and
-.Sx \&IR .
.Ss \&BR
Text is rendered alternately in bold face and roman (the default font).
Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
-.Pp
-See
-.Sx \&BI
-for an equivalent example.
-.Pp
See also
-.Sx \&BI ,
-.Sx \&IB ,
-.Sx \&RB ,
-.Sx \&RI ,
-and
-.Sx \&IR .
+.Sx \&BI .
.Ss \&DT
Restore the default tabulator positions.
They are at intervals of 0.5 inches.
.Ic \&ta
request.
.Ss \&EE
-This is a non-standard GNU extension, included only for compatibility.
+This is a non-standard GNU extension.
In
.Xr mandoc 1 ,
it does the same as
.Sx \&fi .
.Ss \&EX
-This is a non-standard GNU extension, included only for compatibility.
+This is a non-standard GNU extension.
In
.Xr mandoc 1 ,
it does the same as
scaling width.
If specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if unspecified, the
saved or default width is used.
-.Pp
-See also
-.Sx \&IP ,
-.Sx \&LP ,
-.Sx \&P ,
-.Sx \&PP ,
-and
-.Sx \&TP .
.Ss \&I
Text is rendered in italics.
-.Pp
-See also
-.Sx \&B .
.Ss \&IB
Text is rendered alternately in italics and bold face.
Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
-.Pp
-See
-.Sx \&BI
-for an equivalent example.
-.Pp
See also
-.Sx \&BI ,
-.Sx \&BR ,
-.Sx \&RB ,
-.Sx \&RI ,
-and
-.Sx \&IR .
+.Sx \&BI .
.Ss \&IP
Begin an indented paragraph with the following syntax:
.Bd -filled -offset indent
.Ar head
argument is used as a leading term, flushed to the left margin.
This is useful for bulleted paragraphs and so on.
-.Pp
-See also
-.Sx \&HP ,
-.Sx \&LP ,
-.Sx \&P ,
-.Sx \&PP ,
-and
-.Sx \&TP .
.Ss \&IR
Text is rendered alternately in italics and roman (the default font).
Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
-.Pp
-See
-.Sx \&BI
-for an equivalent example.
-.Pp
See also
-.Sx \&BI ,
-.Sx \&IB ,
-.Sx \&BR ,
-.Sx \&RB ,
-and
-.Sx \&RI .
+.Sx \&BI .
.Ss \&LP
-Begin an undecorated paragraph.
-The scope of a paragraph is closed by a subsequent paragraph,
-sub-section, section, or end of file.
-The saved paragraph left-margin width is reset to the default.
-.Pp
-See also
-.Sx \&HP ,
-.Sx \&IP ,
-.Sx \&P ,
-.Sx \&PP ,
-and
-.Sx \&TP .
+A synonym for
+.Sx \&PP .
.Ss \&ME
-End a mailto block.
-This is a non-standard GNU extension, included only for compatibility.
-See
+End a mailto block started with
.Sx \&MT .
+This is a non-standard GNU extension.
.Ss \&MT
Begin a mailto block.
-This is a non-standard GNU extension, included only for compatibility.
+This is a non-standard GNU extension.
It has the following syntax:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
.Pf \. Sx \&MT Ar address
.Ed
.Ss \&OP
Optional command-line argument.
-This is a non-standard GNU extension, included only for compatibility.
+This is a non-standard GNU extension.
It has the following syntax:
.Bd -filled -offset indent
.Pf \. Sx \&OP
.Ar value
its argument.
.Ss \&P
-Synonym for
-.Sx \&LP .
-.Pp
-See also
-.Sx \&HP ,
-.Sx \&IP ,
-.Sx \&LP ,
-.Sx \&PP ,
-and
-.Sx \&TP .
+A synonym for
+.Sx \&PP .
.Ss \&PD
Specify the vertical space to be inserted before each new paragraph.
.br
.Sx \&PP ,
.Sx \&SH ,
.Sx \&SS ,
+.Sx \&SY ,
and
.Sx \&TP .
.Ss \&PP
-Synonym for
-.Sx \&LP .
-.Pp
-See also
-.Sx \&HP ,
-.Sx \&IP ,
-.Sx \&LP ,
-.Sx \&P ,
-and
-.Sx \&TP .
+Begin an undecorated paragraph.
+The scope of a paragraph is closed by a subsequent paragraph,
+sub-section, section, or end of file.
+The saved paragraph left-margin width is reset to the default.
.Ss \&RB
Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and bold face.
Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
-.Pp
-See
-.Sx \&BI
-for an equivalent example.
-.Pp
See also
-.Sx \&BI ,
-.Sx \&IB ,
-.Sx \&BR ,
-.Sx \&RI ,
-and
-.Sx \&IR .
+.Sx \&BI .
.Ss \&RE
Explicitly close out the scope of a prior
.Sx \&RS .
.Ss \&RI
Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and italics.
Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
-.Pp
-See
-.Sx \&BI
-for an equivalent example.
-.Pp
See also
-.Sx \&BI ,
-.Sx \&IB ,
-.Sx \&BR ,
-.Sx \&RB ,
-and
-.Sx \&IR .
+.Sx \&BI .
.Ss \&RS
Temporarily reset the default left margin.
This has the following syntax:
Formatting is similar to
.Sx \&IP .
.Ss \&TH
-Sets the title of the manual page for use in the page header
+Set the name of the manual page for use in the page header
and footer with the following syntax:
.Bd -filled -offset indent
.Pf \. Sx \&TH
-.Ar title section date
+.Ar name section date
.Op Ar source Op Ar volume
.Ed
.Pp
Conventionally, the document
-.Ar title
+.Ar name
is given in all caps.
The recommended
.Ar date
scaling width.
If specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if
unspecified, the saved or default width is used.
-.Pp
-See also
-.Sx \&HP ,
-.Sx \&IP ,
-.Sx \&LP ,
-.Sx \&P ,
-and
-.Sx \&PP .
.Ss \&TQ
Like
.Sx \&TP ,
except that no vertical spacing is inserted before the paragraph.
-This is a non-standard GNU extension and rarely used even by GNU
-manual pages.
+This is a non-standard GNU extension
+and very rarely used even in GNU manual pages.
.Ss \&UC
Sets the volume for the footer for compatibility with man pages from
.Bx
releases.
The optional first argument specifies which release it is from.
.Ss \&UE
-End a uniform resource identifier block.
-This is a non-standard GNU extension, included only for compatibility.
-See
-.Sx \&UE .
+End a uniform resource identifier block started with
+.Sx \&UR .
+This is a non-standard GNU extension.
.Ss \&UR
Begin a uniform resource identifier block.
-This is a non-standard GNU extension, included only for compatibility.
+This is a non-standard GNU extension.
It has the following syntax:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
.Pf \. Sx \&UR Ar uri
.Pf \. Sx UE
.Ed
.Ss \&YS
-End a synopsis block started by
-.Pf \. Sx SY .
+End a synopsis block started with
+.Sx \&SY .
This is a non-standard GNU extension.
.Ss \&fi
-End literal mode begun by
+End literal mode started with
.Sx \&nf .
.Ss \&in
Indent relative to the current indentation:
.It Sx \&BI Ta n Ta current Ta \&
.It Sx \&BR Ta n Ta current Ta \&
.It Sx \&DT Ta 0 Ta current Ta \&
-.It Sx \&EE Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat
-.It Sx \&EX Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat
+.It Sx \&EE Ta 0 Ta current Ta GNU
+.It Sx \&EX Ta 0 Ta current Ta GNU
.It Sx \&I Ta n Ta next-line Ta \&
.It Sx \&IB Ta n Ta current Ta \&
.It Sx \&IR Ta n Ta current Ta \&
-.It Sx \&OP Ta 0, 1 Ta current Ta compat
+.It Sx \&OP Ta >=1 Ta current Ta GNU
.It Sx \&PD Ta 1 Ta current Ta \&
.It Sx \&RB Ta n Ta current Ta \&
.It Sx \&RI Ta n Ta current Ta \&
.It Sx \&SM Ta n Ta next-line Ta \&
.It Sx \&TH Ta >1, <6 Ta current Ta \&
.It Sx \&UC Ta <=1 Ta current Ta \&
-.It Sx \&fi Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat
-.It Sx \&in Ta 1 Ta current Ta compat
-.It Sx \&nf Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat
+.It Sx \&fi Ta 0 Ta current Ta Xr roff 7
+.It Sx \&in Ta 1 Ta current Ta Xr roff 7
+.It Sx \&nf Ta 0 Ta current Ta Xr roff 7
.El
-.Pp
-Macros marked as
-.Qq compat
-are included for compatibility with the significant corpus of existing
-manuals that mix dialects of roff.
-These macros should not be used for portable
-.Nm
-manuals.
.Ss Block Macros
Block macros comprise a head and body.
As with in-line macros, the head is scoped to the current line and, in
.Sx \&SH ;
sub-section, closed by a section or
.Sx \&SS ;
-part, closed by a section, sub-section, or
-.Sx \&RE ;
-or paragraph, closed by a section, sub-section, part,
+or paragraph, closed by a section, sub-section,
.Sx \&HP ,
.Sx \&IP ,
.Sx \&LP ,
.Sx \&P ,
.Sx \&PP ,
+.Sx \&RE ,
+.Sx \&SY ,
or
.Sx \&TP .
No closure refers to an explicit block closing macro.
.It Sx \&HP Ta <2 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \&
.It Sx \&IP Ta <3 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \&
.It Sx \&LP Ta 0 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \&
+.It Sx \&ME Ta 0 Ta none Ta none Ta GNU
+.It Sx \&MT Ta 1 Ta current Ta to \&ME Ta GNU
.It Sx \&P Ta 0 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \&
.It Sx \&PP Ta 0 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \&
-.It Sx \&RE Ta 0 Ta current Ta none Ta compat
-.It Sx \&RS Ta 1 Ta current Ta part Ta compat
+.It Sx \&RE Ta <=1 Ta current Ta none Ta \&
+.It Sx \&RS Ta 1 Ta current Ta to \&RE Ta \&
.It Sx \&SH Ta >0 Ta next-line Ta section Ta \&
.It Sx \&SS Ta >0 Ta next-line Ta sub-section Ta \&
+.It Sx \&SY Ta 1 Ta current Ta to \&YS Ta GNU
.It Sx \&TP Ta n Ta next-line Ta paragraph Ta \&
-.It Sx \&UE Ta 0 Ta current Ta none Ta compat
-.It Sx \&UR Ta 1 Ta current Ta part Ta compat
+.It Sx \&TQ Ta n Ta next-line Ta paragraph Ta GNU
+.It Sx \&UE Ta 0 Ta current Ta none Ta GNU
+.It Sx \&UR Ta 1 Ta current Ta part Ta GNU
+.It Sx \&YS Ta 0 Ta none Ta none Ta GNU
.El
.Pp
-Macros marked
-.Qq compat
-are as mentioned in
-.Sx Line Macros .
-.Pp
If a block macro is next-line scoped, it may only be followed by in-line
macros for decorating text.
.Ss Font handling
.Nm
reference was written by
.An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq Mt kristaps@bsd.lv .
-.Sh CAVEATS
-Do not use this language.
-Use
-.Xr mdoc 7 ,
-instead.
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