xref: /freebsd/share/man/man5/style.mdoc.5 (revision e7ff917057eaf209c003660f02decb64ccb811da)

.\"-
.\" SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-2-Clause
.\"
.\" Copyright (c) 2018-2022 Mateusz Piotrowski <0mp@FreeBSD.org>
.\"
.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
.\" are met:
.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
.\"    documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
.\"
.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
.\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
.\" ARE DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
.\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
.\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
.\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
.\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
.\" SUCH DAMAGE.
.\"
.Dd April 12, 2024
.Dt STYLE.MDOC 5
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm style.mdoc
.Nd
.Fx
.Xr mdoc 7
manual page style guide
.Sh DESCRIPTION
This file specifies the preferred style for manual pages in the
.Fx
source tree.
.Ss Code Examples
.Bl -dash -width ""
.It
Use literal formatting for examples and literal shell commands, e.g.:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
Then run
\&.Ql make install clean .
.Ed
.Pp
which renders as:
.Bd -filled -offset indent
Then run
.Ql make install clean .
.Ed
.Pp
The incorrect way would be to use macros like
.Sy \&Nm
to stylize the command invocation:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
Then run
\&.Ql Nm make Cm install Cm clean .
.Ed
.Pp
which renders as:
.Bd -filled -offset indent
Then run
.Ql Nm make Cm install Cm clean .
.Ed
.It
The
.Sy \&Ql
macro is the preferred macro for formatting literal inline fragments.
Historically,
.Sy \&Dq \&Li
was the preferred way before the deprecation of
.Sy \&Li .
.El
.Ss EXAMPLES Section
.Bl -dash -width ""
.It
Format the
.Sx EXAMPLES
section in the following way:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
\&.Bl -tag -width 0n
\&.It Sy Example 1\\&: Doing Something
\&.Pp
The following command does something.
\&.Bd -literal -offset 2n
\&.Ic # make -VLEGAL
\&.Ed
\&.It Sy Example 2\\&: Doing Something Different
\&.Pp
The following command does something different.
\&.Bd -literal -offset 2n
\&.Ic # bectl list
\&.Ed
\&.Pp
It is good to know this command.
\&.El
.Ed
.Pp
which renders as:
.Bl -tag -width 0n
.It Sy Example 1\&: Doing Something
.Pp
The following command does something.
.Bd -literal -offset 2n
.Ic # make -VLEGAL
.Ed
.It Sy Example 2\&: Doing Something Different
.Pp
The following command does something different.
.Bd -literal -offset 2n
.Ic # bectl list
.Ed
.Pp
It is good to know this command.
.El
.El
.Ss Lists
.Bl -dash -width ""
.It
The
.Fl width
argument to the
.Sy \&.Bl
macro should match the length of the longest item in the list, e.g.:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
\&.Bl -tag -width "-a address"
\&.It Fl a Ar address
Set the address.
\&.It Fl v
Print the version.
\&.El
.Ed
.Pp
In case the longest item is too long and hurts readability,
the recommendation is to set
the
.Fl width
argument
to
.Ql indent ,
e.g.:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
\&.Bl -tag -width "indent"
\&.It Cm build
Build the port.
\&.It Cm install
Install the port.
\&.It Fl install-missing-packages
Install the missing packages.
\&.El
.Ed
.El
.Ss Synopsis Formatting
.Bl -dash -width ""
.It
Do not put whitespace between alternative parameters separated with a pipe
.Pq Dq | ,
e.g.:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
\&.Cm compression Cm on Ns | Ns Cm off
\&.Cm install Fl -all Ns | Ns Ar portname Ar ...
.Ed
.Pp
which in the SYNOPSIS section is rendered as:
.Bd -unfilled -offset indent
.Cm compression Cm on Ns | Ns Cm off
.Cm install Fl -all Ns | Ns Ar portname Ar ...
.Ed
.It
Use
.Sy \&Cm
to stylize characters that are command modifiers
.Po e.g.,
.Dq \&, ,
.Dq @
or
.Dq "="
.Pc .
For example:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
\&.Sm off
\&.Fl -meet Cm = Ar who Oo Cm \&, Ar who " " Ar "..." Oc Cm @ Ar where
\&.Sm on
.Ed
.Pp
which renders as:
.Bd -filled -offset indent
.Sm off
.Fl -meet Cm = Ar who Oo Cm \&, Ar who " " Ar "..." Oc Cm @ Ar where
.Sm on
.Ed
.Pp
instead of:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
\&.Sm off
\&.Fl -meet No = Ar who Oo , Ar who " " Ar "..." Oc @ Ar where
\&.Sm on
.Ed
.Pp
which would render as:
.Bd -filled -offset indent
.Sm off
.Fl -meet No = Ar who Oo , Ar who " " Ar "..." Oc @ Ar where
.Sm on
.Ed
.Pp
It is important to realize that in the correct example,
.Dq \&, ,
.Dq @
and
.Dq =
are stylized with
.Sy \&Cm .
At the same time, the square brackets
.Pq Dq "[]"
are not stylized as they do not belong to the syntax of the
.Fl -meet
flag.
.El
.Ss Quoting
.Bl -dash -width ""
.It
Use the
.Sy \&Dq
.Pq Do Dc
macro
for quoting.
Use the
.Sy \&Sq
.Pq So Sc
macro for quoting inside quotes.
The use of the
.Sy \&Qq
.Pq Qo Qc
macro is usually not necessary.
.El
.Ss Variables
.Bl -dash -width ""
.It
Use
.Sy \&Va
instead of
.Sy \&Dv
for
.Xr sysctl 8
variables like
.Va kdb.enter.panic .
.It
Use the angle brackets
.Sy \&Aq
.Pq Dq "<>"
macro
for arguments
.Pq Sy \&Ar
when they are mixed with similarly stylized macros like
.Sy \&Pa
or
.Sy \&Va ,
e.g.:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
\&.Va critical_filesystems_ Ns Aq Ar type
.Ed
.Pp
which renders as:
.Bd -filled -offset indent
.Va critical_filesystems_ Ns Aq Ar type
.Ed
.Pp
instead of:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
\&.Va critical_filesystems_ Ns Ar type
.Ed
.Pp
that would be rendered as:
.Bd -filled -offset indent
.Va critical_filesystems_ Ns Ar type
.Ed
.El
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr man 1 ,
.Xr mandoc 1 ,
.Xr mdoc 7 ,
.Xr roff 7 ,
.Xr style 9
.Sh HISTORY
This manual page first appeared in
.Fx 13.0 .
.Sh AUTHORS
.An Mateusz Piotrowski Aq Mt 0mp@FreeBSD.org