-.\" $OpenBSD: mdoc.7,v 1.45 2010/08/01 20:47:52 schwarze Exp $
+.\" $OpenBSD: mdoc.7,v 1.46 2010/08/03 00:07:57 schwarze Exp $
.\"
.\" Copyright (c) 2009, 2010 Kristaps Dzonsons <kristaps@bsd.lv>
.\" Copyright (c) 2010 Ingo Schwarze <schwarze@openbsd.org>
.\" ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF
.\" OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
.\"
-.Dd $Mdocdate: August 1 2010 $
+.Dd $Mdocdate: August 3 2010 $
.Dt MDOC 7
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Bx
.Ux
manuals.
-In this reference document, we describe its syntax, structure, and
+This reference document describes its syntax, structure, and
usage.
-Our reference implementation is mandoc; the
+The reference implementation is
+.Xr mandoc 1 ;
+the
.Sx COMPATIBILITY
section describes compatibility with other troff \-mdoc implementations.
.Pp
A macro line with only a control character and comment escape,
.Sq \&.\e\*q ,
is also ignored.
-Macro lines with only a control character and optionally whitespace are
+Macro lines with only a control character and optional whitespace are
stripped from input.
.Ss Reserved Characters
Within a macro line, the following characters are reserved:
.Sq \&[
for n-character sequences (terminated at a close-bracket
.Sq \&] ) ;
-or a single one-character sequence.
+or a single one character sequence.
See
.Xr mandoc_char 7
for a complete list.
.Ss Text Decoration
Terms may be text-decorated using the
.Sq \ef
-escape followed by an indicator: B (bold), I, (italic), R (Roman), or P
+escape followed by an indicator: B (bold), I (italic), R (Roman), or P
(revert to previous mode):
.Pp
.D1 \efBbold\efR \efIitalic\efP
.Pq vertical bar .
.Ss Whitespace
Whitespace consists of the space character.
-In free-form lines, whitespace is preserved within a line; un-escaped
+In free-form lines, whitespace is preserved within a line; unescaped
trailing spaces are stripped from input (unless in a literal context).
Blank free-form lines, which may include whitespace, are only permitted
within literal contexts.
Macro arguments may be quoted with double-quotes to group
space-delimited terms or to retain blocks of whitespace.
A quoted argument begins with a double-quote preceded by whitespace.
-The next double-quote not pair-wise adjacent to another double-quote
+The next double-quote not pairwise adjacent to another double-quote
terminates the literal, regardless of surrounding whitespace.
.Pp
Note that any quoted text, even if it would cause a macro invocation
See
.Sx COMPATIBILITY .
.Ss Sentence Spacing
-When composing a manual, make sure that your sentences end at the end of
+When composing a manual, make sure that sentences end at the end of
a line.
By doing so, front-ends will be able to apply the proper amount of
spacing after the end of sentence (unescaped) period, exclamation mark,
.Sq \&" ) .
.Pp
The proper spacing is also intelligently preserved if a sentence ends at
-the boundary of a macro line, e.g.,
+the boundary of a macro line.
+For example:
.Pp
.D1 \&Xr mandoc 1 \.
.D1 \&Fl T \&Ns \&Cm ascii \.
\&.\e\*q .Sh SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
.Ed
.Pp
-The sections in a
+The sections in an
.Nm
document are conventionally ordered as they appear above.
Sections should be composed as follows:
.Bl -ohang -offset Ds
.It Em NAME
-The name(s) and a one-line description of the documented material.
+The name(s) and a one line description of the documented material.
The syntax for this as follows:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
-\&.Nm name0
-\&.Nm name1
+\&.Nm name0 ,
+\&.Nm name1 ,
\&.Nm name2
-\&.Nd a one-line description
+\&.Nd a one line description
.Ed
.Pp
The
and
.Sx \&Ft .
All of these macros are output on their own line.
-If two such dissimilar macros are pair-wise invoked (except for
+If two such dissimilar macros are pairwise invoked (except for
.Sx \&Ft
before
.Sx \&Fo
.Sx \&Ss
macro or the end of an enclosing block, whichever comes first.
.It Em DESCRIPTION
-This expands upon the brief, one-line description in
+This expands upon the brief, one line description in
.Em NAME .
-It usually contains a break-down of the options (if documenting a
+It usually contains a breakdown of the options (if documenting a
command), such as:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
The arguments are as follows:
This is useful when implementing standard functions that may have side
effects or notable algorithmic implications.
.It Em RETURN VALUES
-This section is the dual of
-.Em EXIT STATUS ,
-which is used for commands.
-It documents the return values of functions in sections 2, 3, and 9.
+This section documents the
+return values of functions in sections 2, 3, and 9.
.Pp
See
.Sx \&Rv .
See
.Sx \&Pa .
.It Em EXIT STATUS
-Command exit status for section 1, 6, and 8 manuals.
-This section is the dual of
-.Em RETURN VALUES ,
-which is used for functions.
+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 doubly sure that your examples work properly!
+Make sure that examples work properly!
.It Em DIAGNOSTICS
Documents error conditions.
This is most useful in section 4 manuals.
.Pq n ,
then the macro accepts an arbitrary number of arguments.
.Bd -literal -offset indent
-\&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB \(lBargs...\(rB \(lbres...\(rb
+\&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB \(lBargs...\(rB \(lBres...\(rB
\&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB \(lBargs...\(rB Yc...
argument are equivalent, as are
.Fl symbolic
and
-.Cm \&Sy,
+.Cm \&Sy ,
and
.Fl literal
and
.Sx \&Ux .
.Ss \&Bt
Prints
-.Dq is currently in beta test.
+.Dq is currently in beta test .
.Ss \&Bx
Format the BSD version provided as an argument, or a default value if no
argument is provided.
and
.Sx \&Fo .
.Ss \&Fx
-Format the FreeBSD version provided as an argument, or a default value
+Format the
+.Fx
+version provided as an argument, or a default value
if no argument is provided.
.Pp
Examples:
.D1 \&.Ic alias
.Pp
Note that using
-.Sx \&Bd No Fl literal
+.Sx \&Bd Fl literal
or
.Sx \&D1
is preferred for displaying code; the
Examples:
.D1 \&.Mt discuss@manpages.bsd.lv
.Ss \&Nd
-A one-line description of the manual's content.
+A one line description of the manual's content.
This may only be invoked in the
.Em SYNOPSIS
section subsequent the
and
.Sx \&Sm .
.Ss \&Nx
-Format the NetBSD version provided as an argument, or a default value if
+Format the
+.Nx
+version provided as an argument, or a default value if
no argument is provided.
.Pp
Examples:
.Em Remarks :
this macro has been deprecated.
.Ss \&Ox
-Format the OpenBSD version provided as an argument, or a default value
+Format the
+.Ox
+version provided as an argument, or a default value
if no argument is provided.
.Pp
Examples:
.D1 \&.Tn IBM
.Ss \&Ud
Prints out
-.Dq currently under development.
+.Dq currently under development .
.Ss \&Ux
Format the UNIX name.
Accepts no argument.
.Sq f
scaling unit, while accepted, is rendered as the default unit.
.It
-In quoted literals, groff allowed pair-wise double-quotes to produce a
+In quoted literals, groff allowed pairwise double-quotes to produce a
standalone double-quote in formatted output.
This idiosyncratic behaviour is not applicable in mandoc.
.It
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