xref: /freebsd/share/man/man5/style.mdoc.5 (revision 4d846d260e2b9a3d4d0a701462568268cbfe7a5b)

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.\" SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-2-Clause
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.\" Copyright (c) 2018-2022 Mateusz Piotrowski <0mp@FreeBSD.org>
.\"
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.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
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.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
.\" SUCH DAMAGE.
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.Dd January 29, 2022
.Dt STYLE.MDOC 5
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm style.mdoc
.Nd
.Fx
.Xr mdoc 7
file 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\\&: No Doing Something
\&.Pp
The following command does something.
\&.Bd -literal -offset 2n
\&.Li # Ic make -VLEGAL
\&.Ed
\&.It Sy Example 2\\&: No Doing Something Different
\&.Pp
The following command does something different.
\&.Bd -literal -offset 2n
\&.Li # Ic bectl list
\&.Ed
\&.Pp
It is good to know this command.
\&.El
.Ed
.Pp
which renders as:
.Bd -filled -offset indent
.Bl -tag -width 0n
.It Sy Example 1\&: No Doing Something
.Pp
The following command does something.
.Bd -literal -offset 2n
.Li # Ic make -VLEGAL
.Ed
.It Sy Example 2\&: No Doing Something Different
.Pp
The following command does something different.
.Bd -literal -offset 2n
.Li # Ic bectl list
.Ed
.Pp
It is good to know this command.
.El
.Ed
.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 style 9
.Sh HISTORY
This manual page first appeared in
.Fx 13.0 .
.Sh AUTHORS
.An Mateusz Piotrowski Aq Mt 0mp@FreeBSD.org