The
-mdoc
package is a set of content-based and domain-based macros
used to format the
BSD
man pages.
The macro names and their meanings are
listed below for quick reference; for
a detailed explanation on using the package,
see the tutorial sampler
groff_mdoc(7).
Note that this is not the usual macro package for Linux documentation,
although it is used for documentation of several widely used programs;
see
man(7).
The macros are described in two groups, the first
includes the structural and physical page layout macros.
The second contains the manual and general text domain
macros which differentiate the
-mdoc
package from other
troff
formatting packages.
Section headers, paragraph breaks, lists and displays.
.Sh
Section Headers.
Valid headers, in the order of presentation:
NAME
Name section, should include the
‘.Nm’
or
‘.Fn’
and the
‘.Nd’
macros.
SYNOPSIS
Usage.
DESCRIPTION
General description, should include
options and parameters.
RETURN VALUE
Sections two and three function calls.
ENVIRONMENT
Describe environment variables.
FILES
Files associated with the subject.
EXAMPLES
Examples and suggestions.
DIAGNOSTICS
Normally used for section four device interface diagnostics.
ERRORS
Sections two and three error and signal
handling.
SEE ALSO
Cross references and citations.
CONFORMING TO
Conformance to standards if applicable.
HISTORY
If a standard is not applicable, the history
of the subject should be given.
BUGS
Gotchas and caveats.
other
Customized headers may be added at
the authors discretion.
.Ss
Subsection Headers.
.Pp
Paragraph Break.
Vertical space (one line).
.D1
(D-one) Display-one
Indent and display one text line.
.Dl
(D-ell) Display-one literal.
Indent and display one line of literal text.
.Bd
Begin-display block.
Display options:
-ragged
Unjustified (ragged edges).
-filled
Justified.
-literal
Literal text or code.
-file name
Read in named
file
and display.
-offset string
Offset display.
Acceptable
string
values:
left
Align block on left (default).
center
Approximate center margin.
indent
Six constant width spaces (a tab).
indent-two
Two tabs.
right
Left aligns block 2 inches from
right.
xx n
Where
xx
is a number from
4 n
to
99 n.
Aa
Where
Aa
is a callable macro name.
string
The width of
string
is used.
.Ed
End-display (matches .Bd).
.Bl
Begin-list.
Create lists or columns.
Options:
List-types
-bullet Bullet Item List
-item Unlabeled List
-enum Enumerated List
-tag Tag Labeled List
-diag Diagnostic List
-hang Hanging Labeled List
-ohang Overhanging Labeled List
-inset Inset or Run-on Labeled List
The manual and general text domain macros are special in that
most of them are parsed for callable macros
for example:
.Op Fl s Ar file
Produces
[-s file]
In this example, the option enclosure macro
‘.Op’
is parsed, and calls the callable content macro
‘Fl’
which operates on the argument
‘s’
and then calls the callable content macro
‘Ar’
which operates on the argument
‘file’.
Some macros may be callable, but are not parsed and vice versa.
These macros are indicated in the
parsed
and
callable
columns below.
Unless stated, manual domain macros share a common syntax:
.Va argument [ . , ; : ( ) [ ] argument ... ]
Note:
Opening and closing
punctuation characters are only recognized as such if they are presented
one at a time.
The string
‘),’
is not recognized as punctuation and will be output with a leading white
space and in what ever font the calling macro uses.
The
argument list
‘] ) ,’
is recognized as three sequential closing punctuation characters
and a leading white space is not output between the characters
and the previous argument (if any).
The special meaning of a punctuation character may be escaped
with the string
‘\&’.
For example the following string,
Name Parsed Callable Description
Ad Yes Yes Address. (This macro may be deprecated.)
An Yes Yes Author name.
Ar Yes Yes Command-line argument.
Cd No No Configuration declaration (section four only).
Cm Yes Yes Command-line argument modifier.
Dv Yes Yes Defined variable (source code).
Er Yes Yes Error number (source code).
Ev Yes Yes Environment variable.
Fa Yes Yes Function argument.
Fd Yes Yes Function declaration.
Fn Yes Yes Function call (also .Fo and .Fc).
Ic Yes Yes Interactive command.
Li Yes Yes Literal text.
Nm Yes Yes Command name.
Op Yes Yes Option (also .Oo and .Oc).
Ot Yes Yes Old style function type (Fortran only).
Pa Yes Yes Pathname or filename.
St Yes Yes Standards (-p1003.2, -p1003.1 or -ansiC)
Va Yes Yes Variable name.
Vt Yes Yes Variable type (Fortran only).
Xr Yes Yes Manual Page Cross Reference.
Name Parsed Callable Description
%A Yes No Reference author.
%B Yes Yes Reference book title.
%C No No Reference place of publishing (city).
%D No No Reference date.
%J Yes Yes Reference journal title.
%N No No Reference issue number.
%O No No Reference optional information.
%P No No Reference page number(s).
%R No No Reference report Name.
%T Yes Yes Reference article title.
%V No No Reference volume.
Ac Yes Yes Angle close quote.
Ao Yes Yes Angle open quote.
Ap Yes Yes Apostrophe.
Aq Yes Yes Angle quote.
At No No AT&T UNIX
Bc Yes Yes Bracket close quote.
Bf No No Begin font mode.
Bo Yes Yes Bracket open quote.
Bq Yes Yes Bracket quote.
Bx Yes Yes Bx.
Db No No Debug (default is "off")
Dc Yes Yes Double close quote.
Do Yes Yes Double open quote.
Dq Yes Yes Double quote.
Ec Yes Yes Enclose string close quote.
Ef No No End font mode.
Em Yes Yes Emphasis (traditional English).
Eo Yes Yes Enclose string open quote.
Fx No No FreeBSD operating system
No Yes Yes Normal text (no-op).
Ns Yes Yes No space.
Pc Yes Yes Parenthesis close quote.
Pf Yes No Prefix string.
Po Yes Yes Parenthesis open quote.
Pq Yes Yes Parentheses quote.
Qc Yes Yes Straight Double close quote.
Ql Yes Yes Quoted literal.
Qo Yes Yes Straight Double open quote.
Qq Yes Yes Straight Double quote.
Re No No Reference end.
Rs No No Reference start.
Rv No No Return values (sections two and three only).
Sc Yes Yes Single close quote.
So Yes Yes Single open quote.
Sq Yes Yes Single quote.
Sm No No Space mode (default is "on")
Sx Yes Yes Section Cross Reference.
Sy Yes Yes Symbolic (traditional English).
Tn Yes Yes Trade or type name (small Caps).
Ux Yes Yes Ux
Xc Yes Yes Extend argument list close.
Xo Yes Yes Extend argument list open.
Macro names ending in
‘q’
quote remaining items on the argument list.
Macro names ending in
‘o’
begin a quote which may span more than one line of input and
are close quoted with the matching macro name ending in
‘c’.
Enclosure macros may be nested and are limited to
eight arguments.
Note: the extended argument list macros
(‘.Xo’,
‘.Xc’)
and the function enclosure macros
(‘.Fo’,
‘.Fc’)
are irregular.
The extended list macros are used when the number of macro arguments
would exceed the
troff
limitation of nine arguments.
The macros UR (starting a URI/URL hypertext reference), UE (ending one),
and UN (identifying a target for a reference) are also available.
See
man(7)
for more information on these macros.
This page is part of release 3.44 of the Linux
man-pages
project.
A description of the project,
and information about reporting bugs,
can be found at
http://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.