xref: /freebsd/contrib/mandoc/mdoc.7 (revision 0bf48626aaa33768078f5872b922b1487b3a9296)
1.\"	$Id: mdoc.7,v 1.279 2019/07/15 19:20:30 schwarze Exp $
2.\"
3.\" Copyright (c) 2009, 2010, 2011 Kristaps Dzonsons <kristaps@bsd.lv>
4.\" Copyright (c) 2010, 2011, 2013-2018 Ingo Schwarze <schwarze@openbsd.org>
5.\"
6.\" Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any
7.\" purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above
8.\" copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies.
9.\"
10.\" THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES
11.\" WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
12.\" MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR
13.\" ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES
14.\" WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN
15.\" ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF
16.\" OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
17.\"
18.Dd $Mdocdate: July 15 2019 $
19.Dt MDOC 7
20.Os
21.Sh NAME
22.Nm mdoc
23.Nd semantic markup language for formatting manual pages
24.Sh DESCRIPTION
25The
26.Nm mdoc
27language supports authoring of manual pages for the
28.Xr man 1
29utility by allowing semantic annotations of words, phrases,
30page sections and complete manual pages.
31Such annotations are used by formatting tools to achieve a uniform
32presentation across all manuals written in
33.Nm ,
34and to support hyperlinking if supported by the output medium.
35.Pp
36This reference document describes the structure of manual pages
37and the syntax and usage of the
38.Nm
39language.
40The reference implementation of a parsing and formatting tool is
41.Xr mandoc 1 ;
42the
43.Sx COMPATIBILITY
44section describes compatibility with other implementations.
45.Pp
46In an
47.Nm
48document, lines beginning with the control character
49.Sq \&.
50are called
51.Dq macro lines .
52The first word is the macro name.
53It consists of two or three letters.
54Most macro names begin with a capital letter.
55For a list of available macros, see
56.Sx MACRO OVERVIEW .
57The words following the macro name are arguments to the macro, optionally
58including the names of other, callable macros; see
59.Sx MACRO SYNTAX
60for details.
61.Pp
62Lines not beginning with the control character are called
63.Dq text lines .
64They provide free-form text to be printed; the formatting of the text
65depends on the respective processing context:
66.Bd -literal -offset indent
67\&.Sh Macro lines change control state.
68Text lines are interpreted within the current state.
69.Ed
70.Pp
71Many aspects of the basic syntax of the
72.Nm
73language are based on the
74.Xr roff 7
75language; see the
76.Em LANGUAGE SYNTAX
77and
78.Em MACRO SYNTAX
79sections in the
80.Xr roff 7
81manual for details, in particular regarding
82comments, escape sequences, whitespace, and quoting.
83However, using
84.Xr roff 7
85requests in
86.Nm
87documents is discouraged;
88.Xr mandoc 1
89supports some of them merely for backward compatibility.
90.Sh MANUAL STRUCTURE
91A well-formed
92.Nm
93document consists of a document prologue followed by one or more
94sections.
95.Pp
96The prologue, which consists of the
97.Ic \&Dd ,
98.Ic \&Dt ,
99and
100.Ic \&Os
101macros in that order, is required for every document.
102.Pp
103The first section (sections are denoted by
104.Ic \&Sh )
105must be the NAME section, consisting of at least one
106.Ic \&Nm
107followed by
108.Ic \&Nd .
109.Pp
110Following that, convention dictates specifying at least the
111.Em SYNOPSIS
112and
113.Em DESCRIPTION
114sections, although this varies between manual sections.
115.Pp
116The following is a well-formed skeleton
117.Nm
118file for a utility
119.Qq progname :
120.Bd -literal -offset indent
121\&.Dd $\&Mdocdate$
122\&.Dt PROGNAME section
123\&.Os
124\&.Sh NAME
125\&.Nm progname
126\&.Nd one line about what it does
127\&.\e\(dq .Sh LIBRARY
128\&.\e\(dq For sections 2, 3, and 9 only.
129\&.\e\(dq Not used in OpenBSD.
130\&.Sh SYNOPSIS
131\&.Nm progname
132\&.Op Fl options
133\&.Ar
134\&.Sh DESCRIPTION
135The
136\&.Nm
137utility processes files ...
138\&.\e\(dq .Sh CONTEXT
139\&.\e\(dq For section 9 functions only.
140\&.\e\(dq .Sh IMPLEMENTATION NOTES
141\&.\e\(dq Not used in OpenBSD.
142\&.\e\(dq .Sh RETURN VALUES
143\&.\e\(dq For sections 2, 3, and 9 function return values only.
144\&.\e\(dq .Sh ENVIRONMENT
145\&.\e\(dq For sections 1, 6, 7, and 8 only.
146\&.\e\(dq .Sh FILES
147\&.\e\(dq .Sh EXIT STATUS
148\&.\e\(dq For sections 1, 6, and 8 only.
149\&.\e\(dq .Sh EXAMPLES
150\&.\e\(dq .Sh DIAGNOSTICS
151\&.\e\(dq For sections 1, 4, 6, 7, 8, and 9 printf/stderr messages only.
152\&.\e\(dq .Sh ERRORS
153\&.\e\(dq For sections 2, 3, 4, and 9 errno settings only.
154\&.\e\(dq .Sh SEE ALSO
155\&.\e\(dq .Xr foobar 1
156\&.\e\(dq .Sh STANDARDS
157\&.\e\(dq .Sh HISTORY
158\&.\e\(dq .Sh AUTHORS
159\&.\e\(dq .Sh CAVEATS
160\&.\e\(dq .Sh BUGS
161\&.\e\(dq .Sh SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
162\&.\e\(dq Not used in OpenBSD.
163.Ed
164.Pp
165The sections in an
166.Nm
167document are conventionally ordered as they appear above.
168Sections should be composed as follows:
169.Bl -ohang -offset Ds
170.It Em NAME
171The name(s) and a one line description of the documented material.
172The syntax for this as follows:
173.Bd -literal -offset indent
174\&.Nm name0 ,
175\&.Nm name1 ,
176\&.Nm name2
177\&.Nd a one line description
178.Ed
179.Pp
180Multiple
181.Sq \&Nm
182names should be separated by commas.
183.Pp
184The
185.Ic \&Nm
186macro(s) must precede the
187.Ic \&Nd
188macro.
189.Pp
190See
191.Ic \&Nm
192and
193.Ic \&Nd .
194.It Em LIBRARY
195The name of the library containing the documented material, which is
196assumed to be a function in a section 2, 3, or 9 manual.
197The syntax for this is as follows:
198.Bd -literal -offset indent
199\&.Lb libarm
200.Ed
201.Pp
202See
203.Ic \&Lb .
204.It Em SYNOPSIS
205Documents the utility invocation syntax, function call syntax, or device
206configuration.
207.Pp
208For the first, utilities (sections 1, 6, and 8), this is
209generally structured as follows:
210.Bd -literal -offset indent
211\&.Nm bar
212\&.Op Fl v
213\&.Op Fl o Ar file
214\&.Op Ar
215\&.Nm foo
216\&.Op Fl v
217\&.Op Fl o Ar file
218\&.Op Ar
219.Ed
220.Pp
221Commands should be ordered alphabetically.
222.Pp
223For the second, function calls (sections 2, 3, 9):
224.Bd -literal -offset indent
225\&.In header.h
226\&.Vt extern const char *global;
227\&.Ft "char *"
228\&.Fn foo "const char *src"
229\&.Ft "char *"
230\&.Fn bar "const char *src"
231.Ed
232.Pp
233Ordering of
234.Ic \&In ,
235.Ic \&Vt ,
236.Ic \&Fn ,
237and
238.Ic \&Fo
239macros should follow C header-file conventions.
240.Pp
241And for the third, configurations (section 4):
242.Bd -literal -offset indent
243\&.Cd \(dqit* at isa? port 0x2e\(dq
244\&.Cd \(dqit* at isa? port 0x4e\(dq
245.Ed
246.Pp
247Manuals not in these sections generally don't need a
248.Em SYNOPSIS .
249.Pp
250Some macros are displayed differently in the
251.Em SYNOPSIS
252section, particularly
253.Ic \&Nm ,
254.Ic \&Cd ,
255.Ic \&Fd ,
256.Ic \&Fn ,
257.Ic \&Fo ,
258.Ic \&In ,
259.Ic \&Vt ,
260and
261.Ic \&Ft .
262All of these macros are output on their own line.
263If two such dissimilar macros are pairwise invoked (except for
264.Ic \&Ft
265before
266.Ic \&Fo
267or
268.Ic \&Fn ) ,
269they are separated by a vertical space, unless in the case of
270.Ic \&Fo ,
271.Ic \&Fn ,
272and
273.Ic \&Ft ,
274which are always separated by vertical space.
275.Pp
276When text and macros following an
277.Ic \&Nm
278macro starting an input line span multiple output lines,
279all output lines but the first will be indented to align
280with the text immediately following the
281.Ic \&Nm
282macro, up to the next
283.Ic \&Nm ,
284.Ic \&Sh ,
285or
286.Ic \&Ss
287macro or the end of an enclosing block, whichever comes first.
288.It Em DESCRIPTION
289This begins with an expansion of the brief, one line description in
290.Em NAME :
291.Bd -literal -offset indent
292The
293\&.Nm
294utility does this, that, and the other.
295.Ed
296.Pp
297It usually follows with a breakdown of the options (if documenting a
298command), such as:
299.Bd -literal -offset indent
300The arguments are as follows:
301\&.Bl \-tag \-width Ds
302\&.It Fl v
303Print verbose information.
304\&.El
305.Ed
306.Pp
307List the options in alphabetical order,
308uppercase before lowercase for each letter and
309with no regard to whether an option takes an argument.
310Put digits in ascending order before all letter options.
311.Pp
312Manuals not documenting a command won't include the above fragment.
313.Pp
314Since the
315.Em DESCRIPTION
316section usually contains most of the text of a manual, longer manuals
317often use the
318.Ic \&Ss
319macro to form subsections.
320In very long manuals, the
321.Em DESCRIPTION
322may be split into multiple sections, each started by an
323.Ic \&Sh
324macro followed by a non-standard section name, and each having
325several subsections, like in the present
326.Nm
327manual.
328.It Em CONTEXT
329This section lists the contexts in which functions can be called in section 9.
330The contexts are autoconf, process, or interrupt.
331.It Em IMPLEMENTATION NOTES
332Implementation-specific notes should be kept here.
333This is useful when implementing standard functions that may have side
334effects or notable algorithmic implications.
335.It Em RETURN VALUES
336This section documents the
337return values of functions in sections 2, 3, and 9.
338.Pp
339See
340.Ic \&Rv .
341.It Em ENVIRONMENT
342Lists the environment variables used by the utility,
343and explains the syntax and semantics of their values.
344The
345.Xr environ 7
346manual provides examples of typical content and formatting.
347.Pp
348See
349.Ic \&Ev .
350.It Em FILES
351Documents files used.
352It's helpful to document both the file name and a short description of how
353the file is used (created, modified, etc.).
354.Pp
355See
356.Ic \&Pa .
357.It Em EXIT STATUS
358This section documents the
359command exit status for section 1, 6, and 8 utilities.
360Historically, this information was described in
361.Em DIAGNOSTICS ,
362a practise that is now discouraged.
363.Pp
364See
365.Ic \&Ex .
366.It Em EXAMPLES
367Example usages.
368This often contains snippets of well-formed, well-tested invocations.
369Make sure that examples work properly!
370.It Em DIAGNOSTICS
371Documents error messages.
372In section 4 and 9 manuals, these are usually messages printed by the
373kernel to the console and to the kernel log.
374In section 1, 6, 7, and 8, these are usually messages printed by
375userland programs to the standard error output.
376.Pp
377Historically, this section was used in place of
378.Em EXIT STATUS
379for manuals in sections 1, 6, and 8; however, this practise is
380discouraged.
381.Pp
382See
383.Ic \&Bl
384.Fl diag .
385.It Em ERRORS
386Documents
387.Xr errno 2
388settings in sections 2, 3, 4, and 9.
389.Pp
390See
391.Ic \&Er .
392.It Em SEE ALSO
393References other manuals with related topics.
394This section should exist for most manuals.
395Cross-references should conventionally be ordered first by section, then
396alphabetically (ignoring case).
397.Pp
398References to other documentation concerning the topic of the manual page,
399for example authoritative books or journal articles, may also be
400provided in this section.
401.Pp
402See
403.Ic \&Rs
404and
405.Ic \&Xr .
406.It Em STANDARDS
407References any standards implemented or used.
408If not adhering to any standards, the
409.Em HISTORY
410section should be used instead.
411.Pp
412See
413.Ic \&St .
414.It Em HISTORY
415A brief history of the subject, including where it was first implemented,
416and when it was ported to or reimplemented for the operating system at hand.
417.It Em AUTHORS
418Credits to the person or persons who wrote the code and/or documentation.
419Authors should generally be noted by both name and email address.
420.Pp
421See
422.Ic \&An .
423.It Em CAVEATS
424Common misuses and misunderstandings should be explained
425in this section.
426.It Em BUGS
427Known bugs, limitations, and work-arounds should be described
428in this section.
429.It Em SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
430Documents any security precautions that operators should consider.
431.El
432.Sh MACRO OVERVIEW
433This overview is sorted such that macros of similar purpose are listed
434together, to help find the best macro for any given purpose.
435Deprecated macros are not included in the overview, but can be found below
436in the alphabetical
437.Sx MACRO REFERENCE .
438.Ss Document preamble and NAME section macros
439.Bl -column "Brq, Bro, Brc" description
440.It Ic \&Dd Ta document date: Cm $\&Mdocdate$ | Ar month day , year
441.It Ic \&Dt Ta document title: Ar TITLE section Op Ar arch
442.It Ic \&Os Ta operating system version: Op Ar system Op Ar version
443.It Ic \&Nm Ta document name (one argument)
444.It Ic \&Nd Ta document description (one line)
445.El
446.Ss Sections and cross references
447.Bl -column "Brq, Bro, Brc" description
448.It Ic \&Sh Ta section header (one line)
449.It Ic \&Ss Ta subsection header (one line)
450.It Ic \&Sx Ta internal cross reference to a section or subsection
451.It Ic \&Xr Ta cross reference to another manual page: Ar name section
452.It Ic \&Pp Ta start a text paragraph (no arguments)
453.El
454.Ss Displays and lists
455.Bl -column "Brq, Bro, Brc" description
456.It Ic \&Bd , \&Ed Ta display block:
457.Fl Ar type
458.Op Fl offset Ar width
459.Op Fl compact
460.It Ic \&D1 Ta indented display (one line)
461.It Ic \&Dl Ta indented literal display (one line)
462.It Ic \&Ql Ta in-line literal display: Ql text
463.It Ic \&Bl , \&El Ta list block:
464.Fl Ar type
465.Op Fl width Ar val
466.Op Fl offset Ar val
467.Op Fl compact
468.It Ic \&It Ta list item (syntax depends on Fl Ar type )
469.It Ic \&Ta Ta table cell separator in Ic \&Bl Fl column No lists
470.It Ic \&Rs , \&%* , \&Re Ta bibliographic block (references)
471.El
472.Ss Spacing control
473.Bl -column "Brq, Bro, Brc" description
474.It Ic \&Pf Ta prefix, no following horizontal space (one argument)
475.It Ic \&Ns Ta roman font, no preceding horizontal space (no arguments)
476.It Ic \&Ap Ta apostrophe without surrounding whitespace (no arguments)
477.It Ic \&Sm Ta switch horizontal spacing mode: Op Cm on | off
478.It Ic \&Bk , \&Ek Ta keep block: Fl words
479.El
480.Ss Semantic markup for command line utilities
481.Bl -column "Brq, Bro, Brc" description
482.It Ic \&Nm Ta start a SYNOPSIS block with the name of a utility
483.It Ic \&Fl Ta command line options (flags) (>=0 arguments)
484.It Ic \&Cm Ta command modifier (>0 arguments)
485.It Ic \&Ar Ta command arguments (>=0 arguments)
486.It Ic \&Op , \&Oo , \&Oc Ta optional syntax elements (enclosure)
487.It Ic \&Ic Ta internal or interactive command (>0 arguments)
488.It Ic \&Ev Ta environmental variable (>0 arguments)
489.It Ic \&Pa Ta file system path (>=0 arguments)
490.El
491.Ss Semantic markup for function libraries
492.Bl -column "Brq, Bro, Brc" description
493.It Ic \&Lb Ta function library (one argument)
494.It Ic \&In Ta include file (one argument)
495.It Ic \&Fd Ta other preprocessor directive (>0 arguments)
496.It Ic \&Ft Ta function type (>0 arguments)
497.It Ic \&Fo , \&Fc Ta function block: Ar funcname
498.It Ic \&Fn Ta function name: Ar funcname Op Ar argument ...
499.It Ic \&Fa Ta function argument (>0 arguments)
500.It Ic \&Vt Ta variable type (>0 arguments)
501.It Ic \&Va Ta variable name (>0 arguments)
502.It Ic \&Dv Ta defined variable or preprocessor constant (>0 arguments)
503.It Ic \&Er Ta error constant (>0 arguments)
504.It Ic \&Ev Ta environmental variable (>0 arguments)
505.El
506.Ss Various semantic markup
507.Bl -column "Brq, Bro, Brc" description
508.It Ic \&An Ta author name (>0 arguments)
509.It Ic \&Lk Ta hyperlink: Ar uri Op Ar display_name
510.It Ic \&Mt Ta Do mailto Dc hyperlink: Ar localpart Ns @ Ns Ar domain
511.It Ic \&Cd Ta kernel configuration declaration (>0 arguments)
512.It Ic \&Ad Ta memory address (>0 arguments)
513.It Ic \&Ms Ta mathematical symbol (>0 arguments)
514.El
515.Ss Physical markup
516.Bl -column "Brq, Bro, Brc" description
517.It Ic \&Em Ta italic font or underline (emphasis) (>0 arguments)
518.It Ic \&Sy Ta boldface font (symbolic) (>0 arguments)
519.It Ic \&No Ta return to roman font (normal) (>0 arguments)
520.It Ic \&Bf , \&Ef Ta font block: Fl Ar type | Cm \&Em | \&Li | \&Sy
521.El
522.Ss Physical enclosures
523.Bl -column "Brq, Bro, Brc" description
524.It Ic \&Dq , \&Do , \&Dc Ta enclose in typographic double quotes: Dq text
525.It Ic \&Qq , \&Qo , \&Qc Ta enclose in typewriter double quotes: Qq text
526.It Ic \&Sq , \&So , \&Sc Ta enclose in single quotes: Sq text
527.It Ic \&Pq , \&Po , \&Pc Ta enclose in parentheses: Pq text
528.It Ic \&Bq , \&Bo , \&Bc Ta enclose in square brackets: Bq text
529.It Ic \&Brq , \&Bro , \&Brc Ta enclose in curly braces: Brq text
530.It Ic \&Aq , \&Ao , \&Ac Ta enclose in angle brackets: Aq text
531.It Ic \&Eo , \&Ec Ta generic enclosure
532.El
533.Ss Text production
534.Bl -column "Brq, Bro, Brc" description
535.It Ic \&Ex Fl std Ta standard command exit values: Op Ar utility ...
536.It Ic \&Rv Fl std Ta standard function return values: Op Ar function ...
537.It Ic \&St Ta reference to a standards document (one argument)
538.It Ic \&At Ta At
539.It Ic \&Bx Ta Bx
540.It Ic \&Bsx Ta Bsx
541.It Ic \&Nx Ta Nx
542.It Ic \&Fx Ta Fx
543.It Ic \&Ox Ta Ox
544.It Ic \&Dx Ta Dx
545.El
546.Sh MACRO REFERENCE
547This section is a canonical reference of all macros, arranged
548alphabetically.
549For the scoping of individual macros, see
550.Sx MACRO SYNTAX .
551.Bl -tag -width 3n
552.It Ic \&%A Ar first_name ... last_name
553Author name of an
554.Ic \&Rs
555block.
556Multiple authors should each be accorded their own
557.Ic \%%A
558line.
559Author names should be ordered with full or abbreviated forename(s)
560first, then full surname.
561.It Ic \&%B Ar title
562Book title of an
563.Ic \&Rs
564block.
565This macro may also be used in a non-bibliographic context when
566referring to book titles.
567.It Ic \&%C Ar location
568Publication city or location of an
569.Ic \&Rs
570block.
571.It Ic \&%D Oo Ar month day , Oc Ar year
572Publication date of an
573.Ic \&Rs
574block.
575Provide the full English name of the
576.Ar month
577and all four digits of the
578.Ar year .
579.It Ic \&%I Ar name
580Publisher or issuer name of an
581.Ic \&Rs
582block.
583.It Ic \&%J Ar name
584Journal name of an
585.Ic \&Rs
586block.
587.It Ic \&%N Ar number
588Issue number (usually for journals) of an
589.Ic \&Rs
590block.
591.It Ic \&%O Ar line
592Optional information of an
593.Ic \&Rs
594block.
595.It Ic \&%P Ar number
596Book or journal page number of an
597.Ic \&Rs
598block.
599Conventionally, the argument starts with
600.Ql p.\&
601for a single page or
602.Ql pp.\&
603for a range of pages, for example:
604.Pp
605.Dl .%P pp. 42\e(en47
606.It Ic \&%Q Ar name
607Institutional author (school, government, etc.) of an
608.Ic \&Rs
609block.
610Multiple institutional authors should each be accorded their own
611.Ic \&%Q
612line.
613.It Ic \&%R Ar name
614Technical report name of an
615.Ic \&Rs
616block.
617.It Ic \&%T Ar title
618Article title of an
619.Ic \&Rs
620block.
621This macro may also be used in a non-bibliographical context when
622referring to article titles.
623.It Ic \&%U Ar protocol Ns :// Ns Ar path
624URI of reference document.
625.It Ic \&%V Ar number
626Volume number of an
627.Ic \&Rs
628block.
629.It Ic \&Ac
630Close an
631.Ic \&Ao
632block.
633Does not have any tail arguments.
634.It Ic \&Ad Ar address
635Memory address.
636Do not use this for postal addresses.
637.Pp
638Examples:
639.Dl \&.Ad [0,$]
640.Dl \&.Ad 0x00000000
641.It Ic \&An Fl split | nosplit | Ar first_name ... last_name
642Author name.
643Can be used both for the authors of the program, function, or driver
644documented in the manual, or for the authors of the manual itself.
645Requires either the name of an author or one of the following arguments:
646.Pp
647.Bl -tag -width "-nosplitX" -offset indent -compact
648.It Fl split
649Start a new output line before each subsequent invocation of
650.Ic \&An .
651.It Fl nosplit
652The opposite of
653.Fl split .
654.El
655.Pp
656The default is
657.Fl nosplit .
658The effect of selecting either of the
659.Fl split
660modes ends at the beginning of the
661.Em AUTHORS
662section.
663In the
664.Em AUTHORS
665section, the default is
666.Fl nosplit
667for the first author listing and
668.Fl split
669for all other author listings.
670.Pp
671Examples:
672.Dl \&.An -nosplit
673.Dl \&.An Kristaps Dzonsons \&Aq \&Mt kristaps@bsd.lv
674.It Ic \&Ao Ar block
675Begin a block enclosed by angle brackets.
676Does not have any head arguments.
677This macro is almost never useful.
678See
679.Ic \&Aq
680for more details.
681.It Ic \&Ap
682Inserts an apostrophe without any surrounding whitespace.
683This is generally used as a grammatical device when referring to the verb
684form of a function.
685.Pp
686Examples:
687.Dl \&.Fn execve \&Ap d
688.It Ic \&Aq Ar line
689Enclose the rest of the input line in angle brackets.
690The only important use case is for email addresses.
691See
692.Ic \&Mt
693for an example.
694.Pp
695Occasionally, it is used for names of characters and keys, for example:
696.Bd -literal -offset indent
697Press the
698\&.Aq escape
699key to ...
700.Ed
701.Pp
702For URIs, use
703.Ic \&Lk
704instead, and
705.Ic \&In
706for
707.Dq #include
708directives.
709Never wrap
710.Ic \&Ar
711in
712.Ic \&Aq .
713.Pp
714Since
715.Ic \&Aq
716usually renders with non-ASCII characters in non-ASCII output modes,
717do not use it where the ASCII characters
718.Sq <
719and
720.Sq >
721are required as syntax elements.
722Instead, use these characters directly in such cases, combining them
723with the macros
724.Ic \&Pf ,
725.Ic \&Ns ,
726or
727.Ic \&Eo
728as needed.
729.Pp
730See also
731.Ic \&Ao .
732.It Ic \&Ar Op Ar placeholder ...
733Command arguments.
734If an argument is not provided, the string
735.Dq file ...\&
736is used as a default.
737.Pp
738Examples:
739.Dl ".Fl o Ar file"
740.Dl ".Ar"
741.Dl ".Ar arg1 , arg2 ."
742.Pp
743The arguments to the
744.Ic \&Ar
745macro are names and placeholders for command arguments;
746for fixed strings to be passed verbatim as arguments, use
747.Ic \&Fl
748or
749.Ic \&Cm .
750.It Ic \&At Op Ar version
751Formats an
752.At
753version.
754Accepts one optional argument:
755.Pp
756.Bl -tag -width "v[1-7] | 32vX" -offset indent -compact
757.It Cm v[1-7] | 32v
758A version of
759.At .
760.It Cm III
761.At III .
762.It Cm V | V.[1-4]
763A version of
764.At V .
765.El
766.Pp
767Note that these arguments do not begin with a hyphen.
768.Pp
769Examples:
770.Dl \&.At
771.Dl \&.At III
772.Dl \&.At V.1
773.Pp
774See also
775.Ic \&Bsx ,
776.Ic \&Bx ,
777.Ic \&Dx ,
778.Ic \&Fx ,
779.Ic \&Nx ,
780and
781.Ic \&Ox .
782.It Ic \&Bc
783Close a
784.Ic \&Bo
785block.
786Does not have any tail arguments.
787.It Ic \&Bd Fl Ns Ar type Oo Fl offset Ar width Oc Op Fl compact
788Begin a display block.
789Display blocks are used to select a different indentation and
790justification than the one used by the surrounding text.
791They may contain both macro lines and text lines.
792By default, a display block is preceded by a vertical space.
793.Pp
794The
795.Ar type
796must be one of the following:
797.Bl -tag -width 13n -offset indent
798.It Fl centered
799Produce one output line from each input line, and center-justify each line.
800Using this display type is not recommended; many
801.Nm
802implementations render it poorly.
803.It Fl filled
804Change the positions of line breaks to fill each line, and left- and
805right-justify the resulting block.
806.It Fl literal
807Produce one output line from each input line,
808and do not justify the block at all.
809Preserve white space as it appears in the input.
810Always use a constant-width font.
811Use this for displaying source code.
812.It Fl ragged
813Change the positions of line breaks to fill each line, and left-justify
814the resulting block.
815.It Fl unfilled
816The same as
817.Fl literal ,
818but using the same font as for normal text, which is a variable width font
819if supported by the output device.
820.El
821.Pp
822The
823.Ar type
824must be provided first.
825Additional arguments may follow:
826.Bl -tag -width 13n -offset indent
827.It Fl offset Ar width
828Indent the display by the
829.Ar width ,
830which may be one of the following:
831.Bl -item
832.It
833One of the pre-defined strings
834.Cm indent ,
835the width of a standard indentation (six constant width characters);
836.Cm indent-two ,
837twice
838.Cm indent ;
839.Cm left ,
840which has no effect;
841.Cm right ,
842which justifies to the right margin; or
843.Cm center ,
844which aligns around an imagined center axis.
845.It
846A macro invocation, which selects a predefined width
847associated with that macro.
848The most popular is the imaginary macro
849.Ar \&Ds ,
850which resolves to
851.Sy 6n .
852.It
853A scaling width as described in
854.Xr roff 7 .
855.It
856An arbitrary string, which indents by the length of this string.
857.El
858.Pp
859When the argument is missing,
860.Fl offset
861is ignored.
862.It Fl compact
863Do not assert vertical space before the display.
864.El
865.Pp
866Examples:
867.Bd -literal -offset indent
868\&.Bd \-literal \-offset indent \-compact
869   Hello       world.
870\&.Ed
871.Ed
872.Pp
873See also
874.Ic \&D1
875and
876.Ic \&Dl .
877.It Ic \&Bf Fl emphasis | literal | symbolic | Cm \&Em | \&Li | \&Sy
878Change the font mode for a scoped block of text.
879The
880.Fl emphasis
881and
882.Cm \&Em
883argument are equivalent, as are
884.Fl symbolic
885and
886.Cm \&Sy ,
887and
888.Fl literal
889and
890.Cm \&Li .
891Without an argument, this macro does nothing.
892The font mode continues until broken by a new font mode in a nested
893scope or
894.Ic \&Ef
895is encountered.
896.Pp
897See also
898.Ic \&Li ,
899.Ic \&Ef ,
900.Ic \&Em ,
901and
902.Ic \&Sy .
903.It Ic \&Bk Fl words
904For each macro, keep its output together on the same output line,
905until the end of the macro or the end of the input line is reached,
906whichever comes first.
907Line breaks in text lines are unaffected.
908.Pp
909The
910.Fl words
911argument is required; additional arguments are ignored.
912.Pp
913The following example will not break within each
914.Ic \&Op
915macro line:
916.Bd -literal -offset indent
917\&.Bk \-words
918\&.Op Fl f Ar flags
919\&.Op Fl o Ar output
920\&.Ek
921.Ed
922.Pp
923Be careful in using over-long lines within a keep block!
924Doing so will clobber the right margin.
925.It Xo
926.Ic \&Bl
927.Fl Ns Ar type
928.Op Fl width Ar val
929.Op Fl offset Ar val
930.Op Fl compact
931.Op Ar col ...
932.Xc
933Begin a list.
934Lists consist of items specified using the
935.Ic \&It
936macro, containing a head or a body or both.
937.Pp
938The list
939.Ar type
940is mandatory and must be specified first.
941The
942.Fl width
943and
944.Fl offset
945arguments accept macro names as described for
946.Ic \&Bd
947.Fl offset ,
948scaling widths as described in
949.Xr roff 7 ,
950or use the length of the given string.
951The
952.Fl offset
953is a global indentation for the whole list, affecting both item heads
954and bodies.
955For those list types supporting it, the
956.Fl width
957argument requests an additional indentation of item bodies,
958to be added to the
959.Fl offset .
960Unless the
961.Fl compact
962argument is specified, list entries are separated by vertical space.
963.Pp
964A list must specify one of the following list types:
965.Bl -tag -width 12n -offset indent
966.It Fl bullet
967No item heads can be specified, but a bullet will be printed at the head
968of each item.
969Item bodies start on the same output line as the bullet
970and are indented according to the
971.Fl width
972argument.
973.It Fl column
974A columnated list.
975The
976.Fl width
977argument has no effect; instead, the string length of each argument
978specifies the width of one column.
979If the first line of the body of a
980.Fl column
981list is not an
982.Ic \&It
983macro line,
984.Ic \&It
985contexts spanning one input line each are implied until an
986.Ic \&It
987macro line is encountered, at which point items start being interpreted as
988described in the
989.Ic \&It
990documentation.
991.It Fl dash
992Like
993.Fl bullet ,
994except that dashes are used in place of bullets.
995.It Fl diag
996Like
997.Fl inset ,
998except that item heads are not parsed for macro invocations.
999Most often used in the
1000.Em DIAGNOSTICS
1001section with error constants in the item heads.
1002.It Fl enum
1003A numbered list.
1004No item heads can be specified.
1005Formatted like
1006.Fl bullet ,
1007except that cardinal numbers are used in place of bullets,
1008starting at 1.
1009.It Fl hang
1010Like
1011.Fl tag ,
1012except that the first lines of item bodies are not indented, but follow
1013the item heads like in
1014.Fl inset
1015lists.
1016.It Fl hyphen
1017Synonym for
1018.Fl dash .
1019.It Fl inset
1020Item bodies follow items heads on the same line, using normal inter-word
1021spacing.
1022Bodies are not indented, and the
1023.Fl width
1024argument is ignored.
1025.It Fl item
1026No item heads can be specified, and none are printed.
1027Bodies are not indented, and the
1028.Fl width
1029argument is ignored.
1030.It Fl ohang
1031Item bodies start on the line following item heads and are not indented.
1032The
1033.Fl width
1034argument is ignored.
1035.It Fl tag
1036Item bodies are indented according to the
1037.Fl width
1038argument.
1039When an item head fits inside the indentation, the item body follows
1040this head on the same output line.
1041Otherwise, the body starts on the output line following the head.
1042.El
1043.Pp
1044Lists may be nested within lists and displays.
1045Nesting of
1046.Fl column
1047and
1048.Fl enum
1049lists may not be portable.
1050.Pp
1051See also
1052.Ic \&El
1053and
1054.Ic \&It .
1055.It Ic \&Bo Ar block
1056Begin a block enclosed by square brackets.
1057Does not have any head arguments.
1058.Pp
1059Examples:
1060.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact
1061\&.Bo 1 ,
1062\&.Dv BUFSIZ \&Bc
1063.Ed
1064.Pp
1065See also
1066.Ic \&Bq .
1067.It Ic \&Bq Ar line
1068Encloses its arguments in square brackets.
1069.Pp
1070Examples:
1071.Dl \&.Bq 1 , \&Dv BUFSIZ
1072.Pp
1073.Em Remarks :
1074this macro is sometimes abused to emulate optional arguments for
1075commands; the correct macros to use for this purpose are
1076.Ic \&Op ,
1077.Ic \&Oo ,
1078and
1079.Ic \&Oc .
1080.Pp
1081See also
1082.Ic \&Bo .
1083.It Ic \&Brc
1084Close a
1085.Ic \&Bro
1086block.
1087Does not have any tail arguments.
1088.It Ic \&Bro Ar block
1089Begin a block enclosed by curly braces.
1090Does not have any head arguments.
1091.Pp
1092Examples:
1093.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact
1094\&.Bro 1 , ... ,
1095\&.Va n \&Brc
1096.Ed
1097.Pp
1098See also
1099.Ic \&Brq .
1100.It Ic \&Brq Ar line
1101Encloses its arguments in curly braces.
1102.Pp
1103Examples:
1104.Dl \&.Brq 1 , ... , \&Va n
1105.Pp
1106See also
1107.Ic \&Bro .
1108.It Ic \&Bsx Op Ar version
1109Format the
1110.Bsx
1111version provided as an argument, or a default value if
1112no argument is provided.
1113.Pp
1114Examples:
1115.Dl \&.Bsx 1.0
1116.Dl \&.Bsx
1117.Pp
1118See also
1119.Ic \&At ,
1120.Ic \&Bx ,
1121.Ic \&Dx ,
1122.Ic \&Fx ,
1123.Ic \&Nx ,
1124and
1125.Ic \&Ox .
1126.It Ic \&Bt
1127Supported only for compatibility, do not use this in new manuals.
1128Prints
1129.Dq is currently in beta test.
1130.It Ic \&Bx Op Ar version Op Ar variant
1131Format the
1132.Bx
1133version provided as an argument, or a default value if no
1134argument is provided.
1135.Pp
1136Examples:
1137.Dl \&.Bx 4.3 Tahoe
1138.Dl \&.Bx 4.4
1139.Dl \&.Bx
1140.Pp
1141See also
1142.Ic \&At ,
1143.Ic \&Bsx ,
1144.Ic \&Dx ,
1145.Ic \&Fx ,
1146.Ic \&Nx ,
1147and
1148.Ic \&Ox .
1149.It Ic \&Cd Ar line
1150Kernel configuration declaration.
1151This denotes strings accepted by
1152.Xr config 8 .
1153It is most often used in section 4 manual pages.
1154.Pp
1155Examples:
1156.Dl \&.Cd device le0 at scode?
1157.Pp
1158.Em Remarks :
1159this macro is commonly abused by using quoted literals to retain
1160whitespace and align consecutive
1161.Ic \&Cd
1162declarations.
1163This practise is discouraged.
1164.It Ic \&Cm Ar keyword ...
1165Command modifiers.
1166Typically used for fixed strings passed as arguments to interactive
1167commands, to commands in interpreted scripts, or to configuration
1168file directives, unless
1169.Ic \&Fl
1170is more appropriate.
1171.Pp
1172Examples:
1173.Dl ".Nm mt Fl f Ar device Cm rewind"
1174.Dl ".Nm ps Fl o Cm pid , Ns Cm command"
1175.Dl ".Nm dd Cm if= Ns Ar file1 Cm of= Ns Ar file2"
1176.Dl ".Ic set Fl o Cm vi"
1177.Dl ".Ic lookup Cm file bind"
1178.Dl ".Ic permit Ar identity Op Cm as Ar target"
1179.It Ic \&D1 Ar line
1180One-line indented display.
1181This is formatted by the default rules and is useful for simple indented
1182statements.
1183It is followed by a newline.
1184.Pp
1185Examples:
1186.Dl \&.D1 \&Fl abcdefgh
1187.Pp
1188See also
1189.Ic \&Bd
1190and
1191.Ic \&Dl .
1192.It Ic \&Db
1193This macro is obsolete.
1194No replacement is needed.
1195It is ignored by
1196.Xr mandoc 1
1197and groff including its arguments.
1198It was formerly used to toggle a debugging mode.
1199.It Ic \&Dc
1200Close a
1201.Ic \&Do
1202block.
1203Does not have any tail arguments.
1204.It Ic \&Dd Cm $\&Mdocdate$ | Ar month day , year
1205Document date for display in the page footer.
1206This is the mandatory first macro of any
1207.Nm
1208manual.
1209.Pp
1210The
1211.Ar month
1212is the full English month name, the
1213.Ar day
1214is an integer number, and the
1215.Ar year
1216is the full four-digit year.
1217.Pp
1218Other arguments are not portable; the
1219.Xr mandoc 1
1220utility handles them as follows:
1221.Bl -dash -offset 3n -compact
1222.It
1223To have the date automatically filled in by the
1224.Ox
1225version of
1226.Xr cvs 1 ,
1227the special string
1228.Dq $\&Mdocdate$
1229can be given as an argument.
1230.It
1231The traditional, purely numeric
1232.Xr man 7
1233format
1234.Ar year Ns \(en Ns Ar month Ns \(en Ns Ar day
1235is accepted, too.
1236.It
1237If a date string cannot be parsed, it is used verbatim.
1238.It
1239If no date string is given, the current date is used.
1240.El
1241.Pp
1242Examples:
1243.Dl \&.Dd $\&Mdocdate$
1244.Dl \&.Dd $\&Mdocdate: July 2 2018$
1245.Dl \&.Dd July 2, 2018
1246.Pp
1247See also
1248.Ic \&Dt
1249and
1250.Ic \&Os .
1251.It Ic \&Dl Ar line
1252One-line indented display.
1253This is formatted as literal text and is useful for commands and
1254invocations.
1255It is followed by a newline.
1256.Pp
1257Examples:
1258.Dl \&.Dl % mandoc mdoc.7 \e(ba less
1259.Pp
1260See also
1261.Ic \&Ql ,
1262.Ic \&Bd Fl literal ,
1263and
1264.Ic \&D1 .
1265.It Ic \&Do Ar block
1266Begin a block enclosed by double quotes.
1267Does not have any head arguments.
1268.Pp
1269Examples:
1270.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact
1271\&.Do
1272April is the cruellest month
1273\&.Dc
1274\e(em T.S. Eliot
1275.Ed
1276.Pp
1277See also
1278.Ic \&Dq .
1279.It Ic \&Dq Ar line
1280Encloses its arguments in
1281.Dq typographic
1282double-quotes.
1283.Pp
1284Examples:
1285.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact
1286\&.Dq April is the cruellest month
1287\e(em T.S. Eliot
1288.Ed
1289.Pp
1290See also
1291.Ic \&Qq ,
1292.Ic \&Sq ,
1293and
1294.Ic \&Do .
1295.It Ic \&Dt Ar TITLE section Op Ar arch
1296Document title for display in the page header.
1297This is the mandatory second macro of any
1298.Nm
1299file.
1300.Pp
1301Its arguments are as follows:
1302.Bl -tag -width section -offset 2n
1303.It Ar TITLE
1304The document's title (name), defaulting to
1305.Dq UNTITLED
1306if unspecified.
1307To achieve a uniform appearance of page header lines,
1308it should by convention be all caps.
1309.It Ar section
1310The manual section.
1311This may be one of
1312.Cm 1
1313.Pq General Commands ,
1314.Cm 2
1315.Pq System Calls ,
1316.Cm 3
1317.Pq Library Functions ,
1318.Cm 3p
1319.Pq Perl Library ,
1320.Cm 4
1321.Pq Device Drivers ,
1322.Cm 5
1323.Pq File Formats ,
1324.Cm 6
1325.Pq Games ,
1326.Cm 7
1327.Pq Miscellaneous Information ,
1328.Cm 8
1329.Pq System Manager's Manual ,
1330or
1331.Cm 9
1332.Pq Kernel Developer's Manual .
1333It should correspond to the manual's filename suffix and defaults to
1334the empty string if unspecified.
1335.It Ar arch
1336This specifies the machine architecture a manual page applies to,
1337where relevant, for example
1338.Cm alpha ,
1339.Cm amd64 ,
1340.Cm i386 ,
1341or
1342.Cm sparc64 .
1343The list of valid architectures varies by operating system.
1344.El
1345.Pp
1346Examples:
1347.Dl \&.Dt FOO 1
1348.Dl \&.Dt FOO 9 i386
1349.Pp
1350See also
1351.Ic \&Dd
1352and
1353.Ic \&Os .
1354.It Ic \&Dv Ar identifier ...
1355Defined variables such as preprocessor constants, constant symbols,
1356enumeration values, and so on.
1357.Pp
1358Examples:
1359.Dl \&.Dv NULL
1360.Dl \&.Dv BUFSIZ
1361.Dl \&.Dv STDOUT_FILENO
1362.Pp
1363See also
1364.Ic \&Er
1365and
1366.Ic \&Ev
1367for special-purpose constants,
1368.Ic \&Va
1369for variable symbols, and
1370.Ic \&Fd
1371for listing preprocessor variable definitions in the
1372.Em SYNOPSIS .
1373.It Ic \&Dx Op Ar version
1374Format the
1375.Dx
1376version provided as an argument, or a default
1377value if no argument is provided.
1378.Pp
1379Examples:
1380.Dl \&.Dx 2.4.1
1381.Dl \&.Dx
1382.Pp
1383See also
1384.Ic \&At ,
1385.Ic \&Bsx ,
1386.Ic \&Bx ,
1387.Ic \&Fx ,
1388.Ic \&Nx ,
1389and
1390.Ic \&Ox .
1391.It Ic \&Ec Op Ar closing_delimiter
1392Close a scope started by
1393.Ic \&Eo .
1394.Pp
1395The
1396.Ar closing_delimiter
1397argument is used as the enclosure tail, for example, specifying \e(rq
1398will emulate
1399.Ic \&Dc .
1400.It Ic \&Ed
1401End a display context started by
1402.Ic \&Bd .
1403.It Ic \&Ef
1404End a font mode context started by
1405.Ic \&Bf .
1406.It Ic \&Ek
1407End a keep context started by
1408.Ic \&Bk .
1409.It Ic \&El
1410End a list context started by
1411.Ic \&Bl .
1412See also
1413.Ic \&It .
1414.It Ic \&Em Ar word ...
1415Request an italic font.
1416If the output device does not provide that, underline.
1417.Pp
1418This is most often used for stress emphasis (not to be confused with
1419importance, see
1420.Ic \&Sy ) .
1421In the rare cases where none of the semantic markup macros fit,
1422it can also be used for technical terms and placeholders, except
1423that for syntax elements,
1424.Ic \&Sy
1425and
1426.Ic \&Ar
1427are preferred, respectively.
1428.Pp
1429Examples:
1430.Bd -literal -compact -offset indent
1431Selected lines are those
1432\&.Em not
1433matching any of the specified patterns.
1434Some of the functions use a
1435\&.Em hold space
1436to save the pattern space for subsequent retrieval.
1437.Ed
1438.Pp
1439See also
1440.Ic \&No ,
1441.Ic \&Ql ,
1442and
1443.Ic \&Sy .
1444.It Ic \&En Ar word ...
1445This macro is obsolete.
1446Use
1447.Ic \&Eo
1448or any of the other enclosure macros.
1449.Pp
1450It encloses its argument in the delimiters specified by the last
1451.Ic \&Es
1452macro.
1453.It Ic \&Eo Op Ar opening_delimiter
1454An arbitrary enclosure.
1455The
1456.Ar opening_delimiter
1457argument is used as the enclosure head, for example, specifying \e(lq
1458will emulate
1459.Ic \&Do .
1460.It Ic \&Er Ar identifier ...
1461Error constants for definitions of the
1462.Va errno
1463libc global variable.
1464This is most often used in section 2 and 3 manual pages.
1465.Pp
1466Examples:
1467.Dl \&.Er EPERM
1468.Dl \&.Er ENOENT
1469.Pp
1470See also
1471.Ic \&Dv
1472for general constants.
1473.It Ic \&Es Ar opening_delimiter closing_delimiter
1474This macro is obsolete.
1475Use
1476.Ic \&Eo
1477or any of the other enclosure macros.
1478.Pp
1479It takes two arguments, defining the delimiters to be used by subsequent
1480.Ic \&En
1481macros.
1482.It Ic \&Ev Ar identifier ...
1483Environmental variables such as those specified in
1484.Xr environ 7 .
1485.Pp
1486Examples:
1487.Dl \&.Ev DISPLAY
1488.Dl \&.Ev PATH
1489.Pp
1490See also
1491.Ic \&Dv
1492for general constants.
1493.It Ic \&Ex Fl std Op Ar utility ...
1494Insert a standard sentence regarding command exit values of 0 on success
1495and >0 on failure.
1496This is most often used in section 1, 6, and 8 manual pages.
1497.Pp
1498If
1499.Ar utility
1500is not specified, the document's name set by
1501.Ic \&Nm
1502is used.
1503Multiple
1504.Ar utility
1505arguments are treated as separate utilities.
1506.Pp
1507See also
1508.Ic \&Rv .
1509.It Ic \&Fa Ar argument ...
1510Function argument or parameter.
1511Each argument may be a name and a type (recommended for the
1512.Em SYNOPSIS
1513section), a name alone (for function invocations),
1514or a type alone (for function prototypes).
1515If both a type and a name are given or if the type consists of multiple
1516words, all words belonging to the same function argument have to be
1517given in a single argument to the
1518.Ic \&Fa
1519macro.
1520.Pp
1521This macro is also used to specify the field name of a structure.
1522.Pp
1523Most often, the
1524.Ic \&Fa
1525macro is used in the
1526.Em SYNOPSIS
1527within
1528.Ic \&Fo
1529blocks when documenting multi-line function prototypes.
1530If invoked with multiple arguments, the arguments are separated by a
1531comma.
1532Furthermore, if the following macro is another
1533.Ic \&Fa ,
1534the last argument will also have a trailing comma.
1535.Pp
1536Examples:
1537.Dl \&.Fa \(dqconst char *p\(dq
1538.Dl \&.Fa \(dqint a\(dq \(dqint b\(dq \(dqint c\(dq
1539.Dl \&.Fa \(dqchar *\(dq size_t
1540.Pp
1541See also
1542.Ic \&Fo .
1543.It Ic \&Fc
1544End a function context started by
1545.Ic \&Fo .
1546.It Ic \&Fd Pf # Ar directive Op Ar argument ...
1547Preprocessor directive, in particular for listing it in the
1548.Em SYNOPSIS .
1549Historically, it was also used to document include files.
1550The latter usage has been deprecated in favour of
1551.Ic \&In .
1552.Pp
1553Examples:
1554.Dl \&.Fd #define sa_handler __sigaction_u.__sa_handler
1555.Dl \&.Fd #define SIO_MAXNFDS
1556.Dl \&.Fd #ifdef FS_DEBUG
1557.Dl \&.Ft void
1558.Dl \&.Fn dbg_open \(dqconst char *\(dq
1559.Dl \&.Fd #endif
1560.Pp
1561See also
1562.Sx MANUAL STRUCTURE ,
1563.Ic \&In ,
1564and
1565.Ic \&Dv .
1566.It Ic \&Fl Op Ar word ...
1567Command-line flag or option.
1568Used when listing arguments to command-line utilities.
1569Prints a fixed-width hyphen
1570.Sq \-
1571directly followed by each argument.
1572If no arguments are provided, a hyphen is printed followed by a space.
1573If the argument is a macro, a hyphen is prefixed to the subsequent macro
1574output.
1575.Pp
1576Examples:
1577.Dl ".Fl R Op Fl H | L | P"
1578.Dl ".Op Fl 1AaCcdFfgHhikLlmnopqRrSsTtux"
1579.Dl ".Fl type Cm d Fl name Pa CVS"
1580.Dl ".Fl Ar signal_number"
1581.Dl ".Fl o Fl"
1582.Pp
1583See also
1584.Ic \&Cm .
1585.It Ic \&Fn Ar funcname Op Ar argument ...
1586A function name.
1587.Pp
1588Function arguments are surrounded in parenthesis and
1589are delimited by commas.
1590If no arguments are specified, blank parenthesis are output.
1591In the
1592.Em SYNOPSIS
1593section, this macro starts a new output line,
1594and a blank line is automatically inserted between function definitions.
1595.Pp
1596Examples:
1597.Dl \&.Fn \(dqint funcname\(dq \(dqint arg0\(dq \(dqint arg1\(dq
1598.Dl \&.Fn funcname \(dqint arg0\(dq
1599.Dl \&.Fn funcname arg0
1600.Bd -literal -offset indent
1601\&.Ft functype
1602\&.Fn funcname
1603.Ed
1604.Pp
1605When referring to a function documented in another manual page, use
1606.Ic \&Xr
1607instead.
1608See also
1609.Sx MANUAL STRUCTURE ,
1610.Ic \&Fo ,
1611and
1612.Ic \&Ft .
1613.It Ic \&Fo Ar funcname
1614Begin a function block.
1615This is a multi-line version of
1616.Ic \&Fn .
1617.Pp
1618Invocations usually occur in the following context:
1619.Bd -ragged -offset indent
1620.Pf \. Ic \&Ft Ar functype
1621.br
1622.Pf \. Ic \&Fo Ar funcname
1623.br
1624.Pf \. Ic \&Fa Qq Ar argtype Ar argname
1625.br
1626\&.\.\.
1627.br
1628.Pf \. Ic \&Fc
1629.Ed
1630.Pp
1631A
1632.Ic \&Fo
1633scope is closed by
1634.Ic \&Fc .
1635.Pp
1636See also
1637.Sx MANUAL STRUCTURE ,
1638.Ic \&Fa ,
1639.Ic \&Fc ,
1640and
1641.Ic \&Ft .
1642.It Ic \&Fr Ar number
1643This macro is obsolete.
1644No replacement markup is needed.
1645.Pp
1646It was used to show numerical function return values in an italic font.
1647.It Ic \&Ft Ar functype
1648A function type.
1649.Pp
1650In the
1651.Em SYNOPSIS
1652section, a new output line is started after this macro.
1653.Pp
1654Examples:
1655.Dl \&.Ft int
1656.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact
1657\&.Ft functype
1658\&.Fn funcname
1659.Ed
1660.Pp
1661See also
1662.Sx MANUAL STRUCTURE ,
1663.Ic \&Fn ,
1664and
1665.Ic \&Fo .
1666.It Ic \&Fx Op Ar version
1667Format the
1668.Fx
1669version provided as an argument, or a default value
1670if no argument is provided.
1671.Pp
1672Examples:
1673.Dl \&.Fx 7.1
1674.Dl \&.Fx
1675.Pp
1676See also
1677.Ic \&At ,
1678.Ic \&Bsx ,
1679.Ic \&Bx ,
1680.Ic \&Dx ,
1681.Ic \&Nx ,
1682and
1683.Ic \&Ox .
1684.It Ic \&Hf Ar filename
1685This macro is not implemented in
1686.Xr mandoc 1 .
1687It was used to include the contents of a (header) file literally.
1688.It Ic \&Ic Ar keyword ...
1689Internal or interactive command, or configuration instruction
1690in a configuration file.
1691See also
1692.Ic \&Cm .
1693.Pp
1694Examples:
1695.Dl \&.Ic :wq
1696.Dl \&.Ic hash
1697.Dl \&.Ic alias
1698.Pp
1699Note that using
1700.Ic \&Ql ,
1701.Ic \&Dl ,
1702or
1703.Ic \&Bd Fl literal
1704is preferred for displaying code samples; the
1705.Ic \&Ic
1706macro is used when referring to an individual command name.
1707.It Ic \&In Ar filename
1708The name of an include file.
1709This macro is most often used in section 2, 3, and 9 manual pages.
1710.Pp
1711When invoked as the first macro on an input line in the
1712.Em SYNOPSIS
1713section, the argument is displayed in angle brackets
1714and preceded by
1715.Qq #include ,
1716and a blank line is inserted in front if there is a preceding
1717function declaration.
1718In other sections, it only encloses its argument in angle brackets
1719and causes no line break.
1720.Pp
1721Examples:
1722.Dl \&.In sys/types.h
1723.Pp
1724See also
1725.Sx MANUAL STRUCTURE .
1726.It Ic \&It Op Ar head
1727A list item.
1728The syntax of this macro depends on the list type.
1729.Pp
1730Lists
1731of type
1732.Fl hang ,
1733.Fl ohang ,
1734.Fl inset ,
1735and
1736.Fl diag
1737have the following syntax:
1738.Pp
1739.D1 Pf \. Ic \&It Ar args
1740.Pp
1741Lists of type
1742.Fl bullet ,
1743.Fl dash ,
1744.Fl enum ,
1745.Fl hyphen
1746and
1747.Fl item
1748have the following syntax:
1749.Pp
1750.D1 Pf \. Ic \&It
1751.Pp
1752with subsequent lines interpreted within the scope of the
1753.Ic \&It
1754until either a closing
1755.Ic \&El
1756or another
1757.Ic \&It .
1758.Pp
1759The
1760.Fl tag
1761list has the following syntax:
1762.Pp
1763.D1 Pf \. Ic \&It Op Cm args
1764.Pp
1765Subsequent lines are interpreted as with
1766.Fl bullet
1767and family.
1768The line arguments correspond to the list's left-hand side; body
1769arguments correspond to the list's contents.
1770.Pp
1771The
1772.Fl column
1773list is the most complicated.
1774Its syntax is as follows:
1775.Pp
1776.D1 Pf \. Ic \&It Ar cell Op Ic \&Ta Ar cell ...
1777.D1 Pf \. Ic \&It Ar cell Op <TAB> Ar cell ...
1778.Pp
1779The arguments consist of one or more lines of text and macros
1780representing a complete table line.
1781Cells within the line are delimited by the special
1782.Ic \&Ta
1783block macro or by literal tab characters.
1784.Pp
1785Using literal tabs is strongly discouraged because they are very
1786hard to use correctly and
1787.Nm
1788code using them is very hard to read.
1789In particular, a blank character is syntactically significant
1790before and after the literal tab character.
1791If a word precedes or follows the tab without an intervening blank,
1792that word is never interpreted as a macro call, but always output
1793literally.
1794.Pp
1795The tab cell delimiter may only be used within the
1796.Ic \&It
1797line itself; on following lines, only the
1798.Ic \&Ta
1799macro can be used to delimit cells, and portability requires that
1800.Ic \&Ta
1801is called by other macros: some parsers do not recognize it when
1802it appears as the first macro on a line.
1803.Pp
1804Note that quoted strings may span tab-delimited cells on an
1805.Ic \&It
1806line.
1807For example,
1808.Pp
1809.Dl .It \(dqcol1 ,\& <TAB> col2 ,\(dq \&;
1810.Pp
1811will preserve the whitespace before both commas,
1812but not the whitespace before the semicolon.
1813.Pp
1814See also
1815.Ic \&Bl .
1816.It Ic \&Lb Cm lib Ns Ar name
1817Specify a library.
1818.Pp
1819The
1820.Ar name
1821parameter may be a system library, such as
1822.Cm z
1823or
1824.Cm pam ,
1825in which case a small library description is printed next to the linker
1826invocation; or a custom library, in which case the library name is
1827printed in quotes.
1828This is most commonly used in the
1829.Em SYNOPSIS
1830section as described in
1831.Sx MANUAL STRUCTURE .
1832.Pp
1833Examples:
1834.Dl \&.Lb libz
1835.Dl \&.Lb libmandoc
1836.It Ic \&Li Ar word ...
1837Request a typewriter (literal) font.
1838Deprecated because on terminal output devices, this is usually
1839indistinguishable from normal text.
1840For literal displays, use
1841.Ic \&Ql Pq in-line ,
1842.Ic \&Dl Pq single line ,
1843or
1844.Ic \&Bd Fl literal Pq multi-line
1845instead.
1846.It Ic \&Lk Ar uri Op Ar display_name
1847Format a hyperlink.
1848.Pp
1849Examples:
1850.Dl \&.Lk http://bsd.lv \(dqThe BSD.lv Project\(dq
1851.Dl \&.Lk http://bsd.lv
1852.Pp
1853See also
1854.Ic \&Mt .
1855.It Ic \&Lp
1856Deprecated synonym for
1857.Ic \&Pp .
1858.It Ic \&Ms Ar name
1859Display a mathematical symbol.
1860.Pp
1861Examples:
1862.Dl \&.Ms sigma
1863.Dl \&.Ms aleph
1864.It Ic \&Mt Ar localpart Ns @ Ns Ar domain
1865Format a
1866.Dq mailto:
1867hyperlink.
1868.Pp
1869Examples:
1870.Dl \&.Mt discuss@manpages.bsd.lv
1871.Dl \&.An Kristaps Dzonsons \&Aq \&Mt kristaps@bsd.lv
1872.It Ic \&Nd Ar line
1873A one line description of the manual's content.
1874This is the mandatory last macro of the
1875.Em NAME
1876section and not appropriate for other sections.
1877.Pp
1878Examples:
1879.Dl Pf . Ic \&Nd mdoc language reference
1880.Dl Pf . Ic \&Nd format and display UNIX manuals
1881.Pp
1882The
1883.Ic \&Nd
1884macro technically accepts child macros and terminates with a subsequent
1885.Ic \&Sh
1886invocation.
1887Do not assume this behaviour: some
1888.Xr whatis 1
1889database generators are not smart enough to parse more than the line
1890arguments and will display macros verbatim.
1891.Pp
1892See also
1893.Ic \&Nm .
1894.It Ic \&Nm Op Ar name
1895The name of the manual page, or \(em in particular in section 1, 6,
1896and 8 pages \(em of an additional command or feature documented in
1897the manual page.
1898When first invoked, the
1899.Ic \&Nm
1900macro expects a single argument, the name of the manual page.
1901Usually, the first invocation happens in the
1902.Em NAME
1903section of the page.
1904The specified name will be remembered and used whenever the macro is
1905called again without arguments later in the page.
1906The
1907.Ic \&Nm
1908macro uses
1909.Sx Block full-implicit
1910semantics when invoked as the first macro on an input line in the
1911.Em SYNOPSIS
1912section; otherwise, it uses ordinary
1913.Sx In-line
1914semantics.
1915.Pp
1916Examples:
1917.Bd -literal -offset indent
1918\&.Sh SYNOPSIS
1919\&.Nm cat
1920\&.Op Fl benstuv
1921\&.Op Ar
1922.Ed
1923.Pp
1924In the
1925.Em SYNOPSIS
1926of section 2, 3 and 9 manual pages, use the
1927.Ic \&Fn
1928macro rather than
1929.Ic \&Nm
1930to mark up the name of the manual page.
1931.It Ic \&No Ar word ...
1932Normal text.
1933Closes the scope of any preceding in-line macro.
1934When used after physical formatting macros like
1935.Ic \&Em
1936or
1937.Ic \&Sy ,
1938switches back to the standard font face and weight.
1939Can also be used to embed plain text strings in macro lines
1940using semantic annotation macros.
1941.Pp
1942Examples:
1943.Dl ".Em italic , Sy bold , No and roman"
1944.Bd -literal -offset indent
1945\&.Sm off
1946\&.Cm :C No / Ar pattern No / Ar replacement No /
1947\&.Sm on
1948.Ed
1949.Pp
1950See also
1951.Ic \&Em ,
1952.Ic \&Ql ,
1953and
1954.Ic \&Sy .
1955.It Ic \&Ns
1956Suppress a space between the output of the preceding macro
1957and the following text or macro.
1958Following invocation, input is interpreted as normal text
1959just like after an
1960.Ic \&No
1961macro.
1962.Pp
1963This has no effect when invoked at the start of a macro line.
1964.Pp
1965Examples:
1966.Dl ".Ar name Ns = Ns Ar value"
1967.Dl ".Cm :M Ns Ar pattern"
1968.Dl ".Fl o Ns Ar output"
1969.Pp
1970See also
1971.Ic \&No
1972and
1973.Ic \&Sm .
1974.It Ic \&Nx Op Ar version
1975Format the
1976.Nx
1977version provided as an argument, or a default value if
1978no argument is provided.
1979.Pp
1980Examples:
1981.Dl \&.Nx 5.01
1982.Dl \&.Nx
1983.Pp
1984See also
1985.Ic \&At ,
1986.Ic \&Bsx ,
1987.Ic \&Bx ,
1988.Ic \&Dx ,
1989.Ic \&Fx ,
1990and
1991.Ic \&Ox .
1992.It Ic \&Oc
1993Close multi-line
1994.Ic \&Oo
1995context.
1996.It Ic \&Oo Ar block
1997Multi-line version of
1998.Ic \&Op .
1999.Pp
2000Examples:
2001.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact
2002\&.Oo
2003\&.Op Fl flag Ns Ar value
2004\&.Oc
2005.Ed
2006.It Ic \&Op Ar line
2007Optional part of a command line.
2008Prints the argument(s) in brackets.
2009This is most often used in the
2010.Em SYNOPSIS
2011section of section 1 and 8 manual pages.
2012.Pp
2013Examples:
2014.Dl \&.Op \&Fl a \&Ar b
2015.Dl \&.Op \&Ar a | b
2016.Pp
2017See also
2018.Ic \&Oo .
2019.It Ic \&Os Op Ar system Op Ar version
2020Operating system version for display in the page footer.
2021This is the mandatory third macro of
2022any
2023.Nm
2024file.
2025.Pp
2026The optional
2027.Ar system
2028parameter specifies the relevant operating system or environment.
2029It is suggested to leave it unspecified, in which case
2030.Xr mandoc 1
2031uses its
2032.Fl Ios
2033argument or, if that isn't specified either,
2034.Fa sysname
2035and
2036.Fa release
2037as returned by
2038.Xr uname 3 .
2039.Pp
2040Examples:
2041.Dl \&.Os
2042.Dl \&.Os KTH/CSC/TCS
2043.Dl \&.Os BSD 4.3
2044.Pp
2045See also
2046.Ic \&Dd
2047and
2048.Ic \&Dt .
2049.It Ic \&Ot Ar functype
2050This macro is obsolete.
2051Use
2052.Ic \&Ft
2053instead; with
2054.Xr mandoc 1 ,
2055both have the same effect.
2056.Pp
2057Historical
2058.Nm
2059packages described it as
2060.Dq "old function type (FORTRAN)" .
2061.It Ic \&Ox Op Ar version
2062Format the
2063.Ox
2064version provided as an argument, or a default value
2065if no argument is provided.
2066.Pp
2067Examples:
2068.Dl \&.Ox 4.5
2069.Dl \&.Ox
2070.Pp
2071See also
2072.Ic \&At ,
2073.Ic \&Bsx ,
2074.Ic \&Bx ,
2075.Ic \&Dx ,
2076.Ic \&Fx ,
2077and
2078.Ic \&Nx .
2079.It Ic \&Pa Ar name ...
2080An absolute or relative file system path, or a file or directory name.
2081If an argument is not provided, the character
2082.Sq \(ti
2083is used as a default.
2084.Pp
2085Examples:
2086.Dl \&.Pa /usr/bin/mandoc
2087.Dl \&.Pa /usr/share/man/man7/mdoc.7
2088.Pp
2089See also
2090.Ic \&Lk .
2091.It Ic \&Pc
2092Close parenthesised context opened by
2093.Ic \&Po .
2094.It Ic \&Pf Ar prefix macro Op Ar argument ...
2095Removes the space between its argument and the following macro.
2096It is equivalent to:
2097.Pp
2098.D1 Ic \&No Pf \e& Ar prefix Ic \&Ns Ar macro Op Ar argument ...
2099.Pp
2100The
2101.Ar prefix
2102argument is not parsed for macro names or delimiters,
2103but used verbatim as if it were escaped.
2104.Pp
2105Examples:
2106.Dl ".Pf $ Ar variable_name"
2107.Dl ".Pf . Ar macro_name"
2108.Dl ".Pf 0x Ar hex_digits"
2109.Pp
2110See also
2111.Ic \&Ns
2112and
2113.Ic \&Sm .
2114.It Ic \&Po Ar block
2115Multi-line version of
2116.Ic \&Pq .
2117.It Ic \&Pp
2118Break a paragraph.
2119This will assert vertical space between prior and subsequent macros
2120and/or text.
2121.Pp
2122Paragraph breaks are not needed before or after
2123.Ic \&Sh
2124or
2125.Ic \&Ss
2126macros or before displays
2127.Pq Ic \&Bd Ar line
2128or lists
2129.Pq Ic \&Bl
2130unless the
2131.Fl compact
2132flag is given.
2133.It Ic \&Pq Ar line
2134Parenthesised enclosure.
2135.Pp
2136See also
2137.Ic \&Po .
2138.It Ic \&Qc
2139Close quoted context opened by
2140.Ic \&Qo .
2141.It Ic \&Ql Ar line
2142In-line literal display.
2143This can be used for complete command invocations and for multi-word
2144code examples when an indented display is not desired.
2145.Pp
2146See also
2147.Ic \&Dl
2148and
2149.Ic \&Bd
2150.Fl literal .
2151.It Ic \&Qo Ar block
2152Multi-line version of
2153.Ic \&Qq .
2154.It Ic \&Qq Ar line
2155Encloses its arguments in
2156.Qq typewriter
2157double-quotes.
2158Consider using
2159.Ic \&Dq .
2160.Pp
2161See also
2162.Ic \&Dq ,
2163.Ic \&Sq ,
2164and
2165.Ic \&Qo .
2166.It Ic \&Re
2167Close an
2168.Ic \&Rs
2169block.
2170Does not have any tail arguments.
2171.It Ic \&Rs
2172Begin a bibliographic
2173.Pq Dq reference
2174block.
2175Does not have any head arguments.
2176The block macro may only contain
2177.Ic \&%A ,
2178.Ic \&%B ,
2179.Ic \&%C ,
2180.Ic \&%D ,
2181.Ic \&%I ,
2182.Ic \&%J ,
2183.Ic \&%N ,
2184.Ic \&%O ,
2185.Ic \&%P ,
2186.Ic \&%Q ,
2187.Ic \&%R ,
2188.Ic \&%T ,
2189.Ic \&%U ,
2190and
2191.Ic \&%V
2192child macros (at least one must be specified).
2193.Pp
2194Examples:
2195.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact
2196\&.Rs
2197\&.%A J. E. Hopcroft
2198\&.%A J. D. Ullman
2199\&.%B Introduction to Automata Theory, Languages, and Computation
2200\&.%I Addison-Wesley
2201\&.%C Reading, Massachusetts
2202\&.%D 1979
2203\&.Re
2204.Ed
2205.Pp
2206If an
2207.Ic \&Rs
2208block is used within a SEE ALSO section, a vertical space is asserted
2209before the rendered output, else the block continues on the current
2210line.
2211.It Ic \&Rv Fl std Op Ar function ...
2212Insert a standard sentence regarding a function call's return value of 0
2213on success and \-1 on error, with the
2214.Va errno
2215libc global variable set on error.
2216.Pp
2217If
2218.Ar function
2219is not specified, the document's name set by
2220.Ic \&Nm
2221is used.
2222Multiple
2223.Ar function
2224arguments are treated as separate functions.
2225.Pp
2226See also
2227.Ic \&Ex .
2228.It Ic \&Sc
2229Close single-quoted context opened by
2230.Ic \&So .
2231.It Ic \&Sh Ar TITLE LINE
2232Begin a new section.
2233For a list of conventional manual sections, see
2234.Sx MANUAL STRUCTURE .
2235These sections should be used unless it's absolutely necessary that
2236custom sections be used.
2237.Pp
2238Section names should be unique so that they may be keyed by
2239.Ic \&Sx .
2240Although this macro is parsed, it should not consist of child node or it
2241may not be linked with
2242.Ic \&Sx .
2243.Pp
2244See also
2245.Ic \&Pp ,
2246.Ic \&Ss ,
2247and
2248.Ic \&Sx .
2249.It Ic \&Sm Op Cm on | off
2250Switches the spacing mode for output generated from macros.
2251.Pp
2252By default, spacing is
2253.Cm on .
2254When switched
2255.Cm off ,
2256no white space is inserted between macro arguments and between the
2257output generated from adjacent macros, but text lines
2258still get normal spacing between words and sentences.
2259.Pp
2260When called without an argument, the
2261.Ic \&Sm
2262macro toggles the spacing mode.
2263Using this is not recommended because it makes the code harder to read.
2264.It Ic \&So Ar block
2265Multi-line version of
2266.Ic \&Sq .
2267.It Ic \&Sq Ar line
2268Encloses its arguments in
2269.Sq typewriter
2270single-quotes.
2271.Pp
2272See also
2273.Ic \&Dq ,
2274.Ic \&Qq ,
2275and
2276.Ic \&So .
2277.It Ic \&Ss Ar Title line
2278Begin a new subsection.
2279Unlike with
2280.Ic \&Sh ,
2281there is no convention for the naming of subsections.
2282Except
2283.Em DESCRIPTION ,
2284the conventional sections described in
2285.Sx MANUAL STRUCTURE
2286rarely have subsections.
2287.Pp
2288Sub-section names should be unique so that they may be keyed by
2289.Ic \&Sx .
2290Although this macro is parsed, it should not consist of child node or it
2291may not be linked with
2292.Ic \&Sx .
2293.Pp
2294See also
2295.Ic \&Pp ,
2296.Ic \&Sh ,
2297and
2298.Ic \&Sx .
2299.It Ic \&St Fl Ns Ar abbreviation
2300Replace an abbreviation for a standard with the full form.
2301The following standards are recognised.
2302Where multiple lines are given without a blank line in between,
2303they all refer to the same standard, and using the first form
2304is recommended.
2305.Bl -tag -width 1n
2306.It C language standards
2307.Pp
2308.Bl -tag -width "-p1003.1g-2000" -compact
2309.It \-ansiC
2310.St -ansiC
2311.It \-ansiC-89
2312.St -ansiC-89
2313.It \-isoC
2314.St -isoC
2315.It \-isoC-90
2316.St -isoC-90
2317.br
2318The original C standard.
2319.Pp
2320.It \-isoC-amd1
2321.St -isoC-amd1
2322.Pp
2323.It \-isoC-tcor1
2324.St -isoC-tcor1
2325.Pp
2326.It \-isoC-tcor2
2327.St -isoC-tcor2
2328.Pp
2329.It \-isoC-99
2330.St -isoC-99
2331.br
2332The second major version of the C language standard.
2333.Pp
2334.It \-isoC-2011
2335.St -isoC-2011
2336.br
2337The third major version of the C language standard.
2338.El
2339.It POSIX.1 before the Single UNIX Specification
2340.Pp
2341.Bl -tag -width "-p1003.1g-2000" -compact
2342.It \-p1003.1-88
2343.St -p1003.1-88
2344.It \-p1003.1
2345.St -p1003.1
2346.br
2347The original POSIX standard, based on ANSI C.
2348.Pp
2349.It \-p1003.1-90
2350.St -p1003.1-90
2351.It \-iso9945-1-90
2352.St -iso9945-1-90
2353.br
2354The first update of POSIX.1.
2355.Pp
2356.It \-p1003.1b-93
2357.St -p1003.1b-93
2358.It \-p1003.1b
2359.St -p1003.1b
2360.br
2361Real-time extensions.
2362.Pp
2363.It \-p1003.1c-95
2364.St -p1003.1c-95
2365.br
2366POSIX thread interfaces.
2367.Pp
2368.It \-p1003.1i-95
2369.St -p1003.1i-95
2370.br
2371Technical Corrigendum.
2372.Pp
2373.It \-p1003.1-96
2374.St -p1003.1-96
2375.It \-iso9945-1-96
2376.St -iso9945-1-96
2377.br
2378Includes POSIX.1-1990, 1b, 1c, and 1i.
2379.El
2380.It X/Open Portability Guide version 4 and related standards
2381.Pp
2382.Bl -tag -width "-p1003.1g-2000" -compact
2383.It \-xpg3
2384.St -xpg3
2385.br
2386An XPG4 precursor, published in 1989.
2387.Pp
2388.It \-p1003.2
2389.St -p1003.2
2390.It \-p1003.2-92
2391.St -p1003.2-92
2392.It \-iso9945-2-93
2393.St -iso9945-2-93
2394.br
2395An XCU4 precursor.
2396.Pp
2397.It \-p1003.2a-92
2398.St -p1003.2a-92
2399.br
2400Updates to POSIX.2.
2401.Pp
2402.It \-xpg4
2403.St -xpg4
2404.br
2405Based on POSIX.1 and POSIX.2, published in 1992.
2406.El
2407.It Single UNIX Specification version 1 and related standards
2408.Pp
2409.Bl -tag -width "-p1003.1g-2000" -compact
2410.It \-susv1
2411.St -susv1
2412.It \-xpg4.2
2413.St -xpg4.2
2414.br
2415This standard was published in 1994.
2416It was used as the basis for UNIX 95 certification.
2417The following three refer to parts of it.
2418.Pp
2419.It \-xsh4.2
2420.St -xsh4.2
2421.Pp
2422.It \-xcurses4.2
2423.St -xcurses4.2
2424.Pp
2425.It \-p1003.1g-2000
2426.St -p1003.1g-2000
2427.br
2428Networking APIs, including sockets.
2429.Pp
2430.It \-svid4
2431.St -svid4 ,
2432.br
2433Published in 1995.
2434.El
2435.It Single UNIX Specification version 2 and related standards
2436.Pp
2437.Bl -tag -width "-p1003.1g-2000" -compact
2438.It \-susv2
2439.St -susv2
2440This Standard was published in 1997
2441and is also called X/Open Portability Guide version 5.
2442It was used as the basis for UNIX 98 certification.
2443The following refer to parts of it.
2444.Pp
2445.It \-xbd5
2446.St -xbd5
2447.Pp
2448.It \-xsh5
2449.St -xsh5
2450.Pp
2451.It \-xcu5
2452.St -xcu5
2453.Pp
2454.It \-xns5
2455.St -xns5
2456.It \-xns5.2
2457.St -xns5.2
2458.El
2459.It Single UNIX Specification version 3
2460.Pp
2461.Bl -tag -width "-p1003.1-2001" -compact
2462.It \-p1003.1-2001
2463.St -p1003.1-2001
2464.It \-susv3
2465.St -susv3
2466.br
2467This standard is based on C99, SUSv2, POSIX.1-1996, 1d, and 1j.
2468It is also called X/Open Portability Guide version 6.
2469It is used as the basis for UNIX 03 certification.
2470.Pp
2471.It \-p1003.1-2004
2472.St -p1003.1-2004
2473.br
2474The second and last Technical Corrigendum.
2475.El
2476.It Single UNIX Specification version 4
2477.Pp
2478.Bl -tag -width "-p1003.1g-2000" -compact
2479.It \-p1003.1-2008
2480.St -p1003.1-2008
2481.It \-susv4
2482.St -susv4
2483.br
2484This standard is also called
2485X/Open Portability Guide version 7.
2486.El
2487.It Other standards
2488.Pp
2489.Bl -tag -width "-p1003.1g-2000" -compact
2490.It \-ieee754
2491.St -ieee754
2492.br
2493Floating-point arithmetic.
2494.Pp
2495.It \-iso8601
2496.St -iso8601
2497.br
2498Representation of dates and times, published in 1988.
2499.Pp
2500.It \-iso8802-3
2501.St -iso8802-3
2502.br
2503Ethernet local area networks.
2504.Pp
2505.It \-ieee1275-94
2506.St -ieee1275-94
2507.El
2508.El
2509.It Ic \&Sx Ar Title line
2510Reference a section or subsection in the same manual page.
2511The referenced section or subsection name must be identical to the
2512enclosed argument, including whitespace.
2513.Pp
2514Examples:
2515.Dl \&.Sx MANUAL STRUCTURE
2516.Pp
2517See also
2518.Ic \&Sh
2519and
2520.Ic \&Ss .
2521.It Ic \&Sy Ar word ...
2522Request a boldface font.
2523.Pp
2524This is most often used to indicate importance or seriousness (not to be
2525confused with stress emphasis, see
2526.Ic \&Em ) .
2527When none of the semantic macros fit, it is also adequate for syntax
2528elements that have to be given or that appear verbatim.
2529.Pp
2530Examples:
2531.Bd -literal -compact -offset indent
2532\&.Sy Warning :
2533If
2534\&.Sy s
2535appears in the owner permissions, set-user-ID mode is set.
2536This utility replaces the former
2537\&.Sy dumpdir
2538program.
2539.Ed
2540.Pp
2541See also
2542.Ic \&Em ,
2543.Ic \&No ,
2544and
2545.Ic \&Ql .
2546.It Ic \&Ta
2547Table cell separator in
2548.Ic \&Bl Fl column
2549lists; can only be used below
2550.Ic \&It .
2551.It Ic \&Tn Ar word ...
2552Supported only for compatibility, do not use this in new manuals.
2553Even though the macro name
2554.Pq Dq tradename
2555suggests a semantic function, historic usage is inconsistent, mostly
2556using it as a presentation-level macro to request a small caps font.
2557.It Ic \&Ud
2558Supported only for compatibility, do not use this in new manuals.
2559Prints out
2560.Dq currently under development.
2561.It Ic \&Ux
2562Supported only for compatibility, do not use this in new manuals.
2563Prints out
2564.Dq Ux .
2565.It Ic \&Va Oo Ar type Oc Ar identifier ...
2566A variable name.
2567.Pp
2568Examples:
2569.Dl \&.Va foo
2570.Dl \&.Va const char *bar ;
2571.Pp
2572For function arguments and parameters, use
2573.Ic \&Fa
2574instead.
2575For declarations of global variables in the
2576.Em SYNOPSIS
2577section, use
2578.Ic \&Vt .
2579.It Ic \&Vt Ar type Op Ar identifier
2580A variable type.
2581.Pp
2582This is also used for indicating global variables in the
2583.Em SYNOPSIS
2584section, in which case a variable name is also specified.
2585Note that it accepts
2586.Sx Block partial-implicit
2587syntax when invoked as the first macro on an input line in the
2588.Em SYNOPSIS
2589section, else it accepts ordinary
2590.Sx In-line
2591syntax.
2592In the former case, this macro starts a new output line,
2593and a blank line is inserted in front if there is a preceding
2594function definition or include directive.
2595.Pp
2596Examples:
2597.Dl \&.Vt unsigned char
2598.Dl \&.Vt extern const char * const sys_signame[] \&;
2599.Pp
2600For parameters in function prototypes, use
2601.Ic \&Fa
2602instead, for function return types
2603.Ic \&Ft ,
2604and for variable names outside the
2605.Em SYNOPSIS
2606section
2607.Ic \&Va ,
2608even when including a type with the name.
2609See also
2610.Sx MANUAL STRUCTURE .
2611.It Ic \&Xc
2612Close a scope opened by
2613.Ic \&Xo .
2614.It Ic \&Xo Ar block
2615Extend the header of an
2616.Ic \&It
2617macro or the body of a partial-implicit block macro
2618beyond the end of the input line.
2619This macro originally existed to work around the 9-argument limit
2620of historic
2621.Xr roff 7 .
2622.It Ic \&Xr Ar name section
2623Link to another manual
2624.Pq Qq cross-reference .
2625.Pp
2626Cross reference the
2627.Ar name
2628and
2629.Ar section
2630number of another man page.
2631.Pp
2632Examples:
2633.Dl \&.Xr mandoc 1
2634.Dl \&.Xr mandoc 1 \&;
2635.Dl \&.Xr mandoc 1 \&Ns s behaviour
2636.El
2637.Sh MACRO SYNTAX
2638The syntax of a macro depends on its classification.
2639In this section,
2640.Sq \-arg
2641refers to macro arguments, which may be followed by zero or more
2642.Sq parm
2643parameters;
2644.Sq \&Yo
2645opens the scope of a macro; and if specified,
2646.Sq \&Yc
2647closes it out.
2648.Pp
2649The
2650.Em Callable
2651column indicates that the macro may also be called by passing its name
2652as an argument to another macro.
2653For example,
2654.Sq \&.Op \&Fl O \&Ar file
2655produces
2656.Sq Op Fl O Ar file .
2657To prevent a macro call and render the macro name literally,
2658escape it by prepending a zero-width space,
2659.Sq \e& .
2660For example,
2661.Sq \&Op \e&Fl O
2662produces
2663.Sq Op \&Fl O .
2664If a macro is not callable but its name appears as an argument
2665to another macro, it is interpreted as opaque text.
2666For example,
2667.Sq \&.Fl \&Sh
2668produces
2669.Sq Fl \&Sh .
2670.Pp
2671The
2672.Em Parsed
2673column indicates whether the macro may call other macros by receiving
2674their names as arguments.
2675If a macro is not parsed but the name of another macro appears
2676as an argument, it is interpreted as opaque text.
2677.Pp
2678The
2679.Em Scope
2680column, if applicable, describes closure rules.
2681.Ss Block full-explicit
2682Multi-line scope closed by an explicit closing macro.
2683All macros contains bodies; only
2684.Ic \s&Bf
2685and
2686.Pq optionally
2687.Ic \&Bl
2688contain a head.
2689.Bd -literal -offset indent
2690\&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBparm...\(rB\(rB \(lBhead...\(rB
2691\(lBbody...\(rB
2692\&.Yc
2693.Ed
2694.Bl -column "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsedX" "closed by XXX" -offset indent
2695.It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsed Ta Em Scope
2696.It Ic \&Bd  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    closed by Ic \&Ed
2697.It Ic \&Bf  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    closed by Ic \&Ef
2698.It Ic \&Bk  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    closed by Ic \&Ek
2699.It Ic \&Bl  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    closed by Ic \&El
2700.It Ic \&Ed  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    opened by Ic \&Bd
2701.It Ic \&Ef  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    opened by Ic \&Bf
2702.It Ic \&Ek  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    opened by Ic \&Bk
2703.It Ic \&El  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    opened by Ic \&Bl
2704.El
2705.Ss Block full-implicit
2706Multi-line scope closed by end-of-file or implicitly by another macro.
2707All macros have bodies; some
2708.Po
2709.Ic \&It Fl bullet ,
2710.Fl hyphen ,
2711.Fl dash ,
2712.Fl enum ,
2713.Fl item
2714.Pc
2715don't have heads; only one
2716.Po
2717.Ic \&It
2718in
2719.Ic \&Bl Fl column
2720.Pc
2721has multiple heads.
2722.Bd -literal -offset indent
2723\&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBparm...\(rB\(rB \(lBhead... \(lBTa head...\(rB\(rB
2724\(lBbody...\(rB
2725.Ed
2726.Bl -column "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsedX" "closed by XXXXXXXXXXX" -offset indent
2727.It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsed Ta Em Scope
2728.It Ic \&It Ta \&No Ta Yes  Ta closed by Ic \&It , Ic \&El
2729.It Ic \&Nd Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by Ic \&Sh
2730.It Ic \&Nm Ta \&No Ta Yes  Ta closed by Ic \&Nm , Ic \&Sh , Ic \&Ss
2731.It Ic \&Sh Ta \&No Ta Yes  Ta closed by Ic \&Sh
2732.It Ic \&Ss Ta \&No Ta Yes  Ta closed by Ic \&Sh , Ic \&Ss
2733.El
2734.Pp
2735Note that the
2736.Ic \&Nm
2737macro is a
2738.Sx Block full-implicit
2739macro only when invoked as the first macro
2740in a
2741.Em SYNOPSIS
2742section line, else it is
2743.Sx In-line .
2744.Ss Block partial-explicit
2745Like block full-explicit, but also with single-line scope.
2746Each has at least a body and, in limited circumstances, a head
2747.Po
2748.Ic \&Fo ,
2749.Ic \&Eo
2750.Pc
2751and/or tail
2752.Pq Ic \&Ec .
2753.Bd -literal -offset indent
2754\&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBparm...\(rB\(rB \(lBhead...\(rB
2755\(lBbody...\(rB
2756\&.Yc \(lBtail...\(rB
2757
2758\&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBparm...\(rB\(rB \(lBhead...\(rB \
2759\(lBbody...\(rB \&Yc \(lBtail...\(rB
2760.Ed
2761.Bl -column "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsedX" "closed by XXXX" -offset indent
2762.It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsed Ta Em Scope
2763.It Ic \&Ac  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    opened by Ic \&Ao
2764.It Ic \&Ao  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    closed by Ic \&Ac
2765.It Ic \&Bc  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    closed by Ic \&Bo
2766.It Ic \&Bo  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    opened by Ic \&Bc
2767.It Ic \&Brc Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    opened by Ic \&Bro
2768.It Ic \&Bro Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    closed by Ic \&Brc
2769.It Ic \&Dc  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    opened by Ic \&Do
2770.It Ic \&Do  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    closed by Ic \&Dc
2771.It Ic \&Ec  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    opened by Ic \&Eo
2772.It Ic \&Eo  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    closed by Ic \&Ec
2773.It Ic \&Fc  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    opened by Ic \&Fo
2774.It Ic \&Fo  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    closed by Ic \&Fc
2775.It Ic \&Oc  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    closed by Ic \&Oo
2776.It Ic \&Oo  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    opened by Ic \&Oc
2777.It Ic \&Pc  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    closed by Ic \&Po
2778.It Ic \&Po  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    opened by Ic \&Pc
2779.It Ic \&Qc  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    opened by Ic \&Oo
2780.It Ic \&Qo  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    closed by Ic \&Oc
2781.It Ic \&Re  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    opened by Ic \&Rs
2782.It Ic \&Rs  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    closed by Ic \&Re
2783.It Ic \&Sc  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    opened by Ic \&So
2784.It Ic \&So  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    closed by Ic \&Sc
2785.It Ic \&Xc  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    opened by Ic \&Xo
2786.It Ic \&Xo  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    closed by Ic \&Xc
2787.El
2788.Ss Block partial-implicit
2789Like block full-implicit, but with single-line scope closed by the
2790end of the line.
2791.Bd -literal -offset indent
2792\&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB \(lBbody...\(rB \(lBres...\(rB
2793.Ed
2794.Bl -column "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsedX" -offset indent
2795.It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsed
2796.It Ic \&Aq  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes
2797.It Ic \&Bq  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes
2798.It Ic \&Brq Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes
2799.It Ic \&D1  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&Yes
2800.It Ic \&Dl  Ta    \&No     Ta    Yes
2801.It Ic \&Dq  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes
2802.It Ic \&En  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes
2803.It Ic \&Op  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes
2804.It Ic \&Pq  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes
2805.It Ic \&Ql  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes
2806.It Ic \&Qq  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes
2807.It Ic \&Sq  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes
2808.It Ic \&Vt  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes
2809.El
2810.Pp
2811Note that the
2812.Ic \&Vt
2813macro is a
2814.Sx Block partial-implicit
2815only when invoked as the first macro
2816in a
2817.Em SYNOPSIS
2818section line, else it is
2819.Sx In-line .
2820.Ss Special block macro
2821The
2822.Ic \&Ta
2823macro can only be used below
2824.Ic \&It
2825in
2826.Ic \&Bl Fl column
2827lists.
2828It delimits blocks representing table cells;
2829these blocks have bodies, but no heads.
2830.Bl -column "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsedX" "closed by XXXX" -offset indent
2831.It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsed Ta Em Scope
2832.It Ic \&Ta  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes    Ta closed by Ic \&Ta , Ic \&It
2833.El
2834.Ss In-line
2835Closed by the end of the line, fixed argument lengths,
2836and/or subsequent macros.
2837In-line macros have only text children.
2838If a number (or inequality) of arguments is
2839.Pq n ,
2840then the macro accepts an arbitrary number of arguments.
2841.Bd -literal -offset indent
2842\&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB \(lBargs...\(rB \(lBres...\(rB
2843
2844\&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB \(lBargs...\(rB Yc...
2845
2846\&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB arg0 arg1 argN
2847.Ed
2848.Bl -column "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsedX" "Arguments" -offset indent
2849.It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsed Ta Em Arguments
2850.It Ic \&%A  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    >0
2851.It Ic \&%B  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    >0
2852.It Ic \&%C  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    >0
2853.It Ic \&%D  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    >0
2854.It Ic \&%I  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    >0
2855.It Ic \&%J  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    >0
2856.It Ic \&%N  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    >0
2857.It Ic \&%O  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    >0
2858.It Ic \&%P  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    >0
2859.It Ic \&%Q  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    >0
2860.It Ic \&%R  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    >0
2861.It Ic \&%T  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    >0
2862.It Ic \&%U  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    >0
2863.It Ic \&%V  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    >0
2864.It Ic \&Ad  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
2865.It Ic \&An  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
2866.It Ic \&Ap  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    0
2867.It Ic \&Ar  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    n
2868.It Ic \&At  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    1
2869.It Ic \&Bsx Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    n
2870.It Ic \&Bt  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    0
2871.It Ic \&Bx  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    n
2872.It Ic \&Cd  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
2873.It Ic \&Cm  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
2874.It Ic \&Db  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    1
2875.It Ic \&Dd  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    n
2876.It Ic \&Dt  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    n
2877.It Ic \&Dv  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
2878.It Ic \&Dx  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    n
2879.It Ic \&Em  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
2880.It Ic \&Er  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
2881.It Ic \&Es  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    2
2882.It Ic \&Ev  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
2883.It Ic \&Ex  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    n
2884.It Ic \&Fa  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
2885.It Ic \&Fd  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    >0
2886.It Ic \&Fl  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    n
2887.It Ic \&Fn  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
2888.It Ic \&Fr  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
2889.It Ic \&Ft  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
2890.It Ic \&Fx  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    n
2891.It Ic \&Hf  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    n
2892.It Ic \&Ic  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
2893.It Ic \&In  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    1
2894.It Ic \&Lb  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    1
2895.It Ic \&Li  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
2896.It Ic \&Lk  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
2897.It Ic \&Lp  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    0
2898.It Ic \&Ms  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
2899.It Ic \&Mt  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
2900.It Ic \&Nm  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    n
2901.It Ic \&No  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
2902.It Ic \&Ns  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    0
2903.It Ic \&Nx  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    n
2904.It Ic \&Os  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    n
2905.It Ic \&Ot  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
2906.It Ic \&Ox  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    n
2907.It Ic \&Pa  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    n
2908.It Ic \&Pf  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    1
2909.It Ic \&Pp  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    0
2910.It Ic \&Rv  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    n
2911.It Ic \&Sm  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    <2
2912.It Ic \&St  Ta    \&No     Ta    Yes      Ta    1
2913.It Ic \&Sx  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
2914.It Ic \&Sy  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
2915.It Ic \&Tn  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
2916.It Ic \&Ud  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    0
2917.It Ic \&Ux  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    n
2918.It Ic \&Va  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    n
2919.It Ic \&Vt  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
2920.It Ic \&Xr  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    2
2921.El
2922.Ss Delimiters
2923When a macro argument consists of one single input character
2924considered as a delimiter, the argument gets special handling.
2925This does not apply when delimiters appear in arguments containing
2926more than one character.
2927Consequently, to prevent special handling and just handle it
2928like any other argument, a delimiter can be escaped by prepending
2929a zero-width space
2930.Pq Sq \e& .
2931In text lines, delimiters never need escaping, but may be used
2932as normal punctuation.
2933.Pp
2934For many macros, when the leading arguments are opening delimiters,
2935these delimiters are put before the macro scope,
2936and when the trailing arguments are closing delimiters,
2937these delimiters are put after the macro scope.
2938Spacing is suppressed after opening delimiters
2939and before closing delimiters.
2940For example,
2941.Pp
2942.D1 Pf \. \&Aq "( [ word ] ) ."
2943.Pp
2944renders as:
2945.Pp
2946.D1 Aq ( [ word ] ) .
2947.Pp
2948Opening delimiters are:
2949.Pp
2950.Bl -tag -width Ds -offset indent -compact
2951.It \&(
2952left parenthesis
2953.It \&[
2954left bracket
2955.El
2956.Pp
2957Closing delimiters are:
2958.Pp
2959.Bl -tag -width Ds -offset indent -compact
2960.It \&.
2961period
2962.It \&,
2963comma
2964.It \&:
2965colon
2966.It \&;
2967semicolon
2968.It \&)
2969right parenthesis
2970.It \&]
2971right bracket
2972.It \&?
2973question mark
2974.It \&!
2975exclamation mark
2976.El
2977.Pp
2978Note that even a period preceded by a backslash
2979.Pq Sq \e.\&
2980gets this special handling; use
2981.Sq \e&.\&
2982to prevent that.
2983.Pp
2984Many in-line macros interrupt their scope when they encounter
2985delimiters, and resume their scope when more arguments follow that
2986are not delimiters.
2987For example,
2988.Pp
2989.D1 Pf \. \&Fl "a ( b | c \e*(Ba d ) e"
2990.Pp
2991renders as:
2992.Pp
2993.D1 Fl a ( b | c \*(Ba d ) e
2994.Pp
2995This applies to both opening and closing delimiters,
2996and also to the middle delimiter, which does not suppress spacing:
2997.Pp
2998.Bl -tag -width Ds -offset indent -compact
2999.It \&|
3000vertical bar
3001.El
3002.Pp
3003As a special case, the predefined string \e*(Ba is handled and rendered
3004in the same way as a plain
3005.Sq \&|
3006character.
3007Using this predefined string is not recommended in new manuals.
3008.Pp
3009Appending a zero-width space
3010.Pq Sq \e&
3011to the end of an input line is also useful to prevent the interpretation
3012of a trailing period, exclamation or question mark as the end of a
3013sentence, for example when an abbreviation happens to occur
3014at the end of a text or macro input line.
3015.Ss Font handling
3016In
3017.Nm
3018documents, usage of semantic markup is recommended in order to have
3019proper fonts automatically selected; only when no fitting semantic markup
3020is available, consider falling back to
3021.Sx Physical markup
3022macros.
3023Whenever any
3024.Nm
3025macro switches the
3026.Xr roff 7
3027font mode, it will automatically restore the previous font when exiting
3028its scope.
3029Manually switching the font using the
3030.Xr roff 7
3031.Ql \ef
3032font escape sequences is never required.
3033.Sh COMPATIBILITY
3034This section provides an incomplete list of compatibility issues
3035between mandoc and GNU troff
3036.Pq Qq groff .
3037.Pp
3038The following problematic behaviour is found in groff:
3039.Pp
3040.Bl -dash -compact
3041.It
3042.Ic \&Dd
3043with non-standard arguments behaves very strangely.
3044When there are three arguments, they are printed verbatim.
3045Any other number of arguments is replaced by the current date,
3046but without any arguments the string
3047.Dq Epoch
3048is printed.
3049.It
3050.Ic \&Lk
3051only accepts a single link-name argument; the remainder is misformatted.
3052.It
3053.Ic \&Pa
3054does not format its arguments when used in the FILES section under
3055certain list types.
3056.It
3057.Ic \&Ta
3058can only be called by other macros, but not at the beginning of a line.
3059.It
3060.Ic \&%C
3061is not implemented (up to and including groff-1.22.2).
3062.It
3063.Sq \ef
3064.Pq font face
3065and
3066.Sq \eF
3067.Pq font family face
3068.Sx Text Decoration
3069escapes behave irregularly when specified within line-macro scopes.
3070.It
3071Negative scaling units return to prior lines.
3072Instead, mandoc truncates them to zero.
3073.El
3074.Pp
3075The following features are unimplemented in mandoc:
3076.Pp
3077.Bl -dash -compact
3078.It
3079.Ic \&Bd Fl file Ar file
3080is unsupported for security reasons.
3081.It
3082.Ic \&Bd
3083.Fl filled
3084does not adjust the right margin, but is an alias for
3085.Ic \&Bd
3086.Fl ragged .
3087.It
3088.Ic \&Bd
3089.Fl literal
3090does not use a literal font, but is an alias for
3091.Ic \&Bd
3092.Fl unfilled .
3093.It
3094.Ic \&Bd
3095.Fl offset Cm center
3096and
3097.Fl offset Cm right
3098don't work.
3099Groff does not implement centered and flush-right rendering either,
3100but produces large indentations.
3101.El
3102.Sh SEE ALSO
3103.Xr man 1 ,
3104.Xr mandoc 1 ,
3105.Xr eqn 7 ,
3106.Xr man 7 ,
3107.Xr mandoc_char 7 ,
3108.Xr roff 7 ,
3109.Xr tbl 7
3110.Pp
3111The web page
3112.Lk http://mandoc.bsd.lv/mdoc/ "extended documentation for the mdoc language"
3113provides a few tutorial-style pages for beginners, an extensive style
3114guide for advanced authors, and an alphabetic index helping to choose
3115the best macros for various kinds of content.
3116.Sh HISTORY
3117The
3118.Nm
3119language first appeared as a troff macro package in
3120.Bx 4.4 .
3121It was later significantly updated by Werner Lemberg and Ruslan Ermilov
3122in groff-1.17.
3123The standalone implementation that is part of the
3124.Xr mandoc 1
3125utility written by Kristaps Dzonsons appeared in
3126.Ox 4.6 .
3127.Sh AUTHORS
3128The
3129.Nm
3130reference was written by
3131.An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq Mt kristaps@bsd.lv .
3132