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MDOC.SAMPLES(7) UNIX Reference Manual MDOC.SAMPLES(7) NNAAMMEE mmddoocc..ssaammpplleess - tutorial sampler for writing BSD UNIX manuals with --mmddoocc SSYYNNOOPPSSIISS mmaann mmddoocc..ssaammpplleess DDEESSCCRRIIPPTTIIOONN A tutorial sampler for writing BSD UNIX manual pages with the --mmddoocc macro package, a _c_o_n_t_e_n_t-based and _d_o_m_a_i_n-based formatting package for troff(1). Its predecessor, the -man(7) package, addressed page layout leaving the manipulation of fonts and other typesetting details to the individual author. In --mmddoocc, page layout macros make up the _p_a_g_e _s_t_r_u_c_t_u_r_e _d_o_m_a_i_n which consists of macros for titles, section headers, displays and lists. Essentially items which affect the physical position of text on a formatted page. In addition to the page structure domain, there are two more domains, the manual domain and the general text do- main. The general text domain is defined as macros which perform tasks such as quoting or emphasizing pieces of text. The manual domain is de- fined as macros that are a subset of the day to day informal language used to describe commands, routines and related BSD UNIX files. Macros in the manual domain handle command names, command line arguments and op- tions, function names, function parameters, pathnames, variables, cross references to other manual pages, and so on. These domain items have value for both the author and the future user of the manual page. It is hoped the consistency gained across the manual set will provide easier translation to future documentation tools. Throughout the UNIX manual pages, a manual entry is simply referred to as a man page, regardless of actual length and without sexist intention. GGEETTTTIINNGG SSTTAARRTTEEDD Since a tutorial document is normally read when a person desires to use the material immediately, the assumption has been made that the user of this document may be impatient. The material presented in the remained of this document is outlined as follows: 1. TROFF IDIOSYNCRASIES Macro Usage. Passing Space Characters in an Argument. Trailing Blank Space Characters (a warning). Escaping Special Characters. 2. THE ANATOMY OF A MAN PAGE A manual page template. 3. INTRODUCTION OF TITLE MACROS. 4. INTRODUCTION OF MANUAL AND GENERAL TEXT DOMAINS. What's in a name.... General Syntax. 5. MANUAL DOMAIN Addresses. Arguments. Configuration Declarations (section four only). Command Modifier . Defined Variables. Errno's (Section two only). Environment Variables. Function Argument. Function Declaration. Flags. Functions (library routines). Function Types. Interactive Commands. Literals. Names. Options. Pathnames. Variables. Cross References. 6. GENERAL TEXT DOMAIN AT&T Macro. BSD Macro. UNIX Macro. Emphasis Macro. Enclosure/Quoting Macros Angle Bracket Quote/Enclosure. Bracket Quotes/Enclosure. Double Quote macro/Enclosure. Parenthesis Quote/Enclosure. Single Quotes/Enclosure. Prefix Macro. Extended Arguments. No-Op or Normal Text Macro. No Space Macro. Section Cross References. Symbolic Macro. References and Citations. Trade Names (Acronyms and Type Names). 7. PAGE STRUCTURE DOMAIN Section Headers. Paragraphs and Line Spacing. Keeps. Displays. Lists and Columns. 8. PREDEFINED STRINGS 9. DIAGNOSTICS 10. FORMATTING WITH GROFF, TROFF AND NROFF 11. BUGS TTRROOFFFF IIDDIIOOSSYYNNCCRRAASSIIEESS The --mmddoocc package attempts to simplify the process of writing a man page. Theoretically, one should not have to learn the dirty details of troff(1) to use --mmddoocc; however, there are a few limitations which are unavoidable and best gotten out of the way. And, too, be forewarned, this package is _n_o_t fast. MMaaccrroo UUssaaggee As in troff(1), a macro is called by placing a `.' (dot character) at the beginning of a line followed by the two character name for the macro. Arguments may follow the macro separated by spaces. It is the dot char- acter at the beginning of the line which causes troff(1) to interpret the next two characters as a macro name. To place a `.' (dot character) at the beginning of a line in some context other than a macro invocation, precede the `.' (dot) with the `\&' escape sequence. The `\&' translates literally to a zero width space, and is never displayed in the output. In general, troff(1) macros accept up to nine arguments, any extra argu- ments are ignored. Most macros in --mmddoocc accept nine arguments and, in limited cases, arguments may be continued or extended on the next line (See _E_x_t_e_n_s_i_o_n_s). A few macros handle quoted arguments (see _P_a_s_s_i_n_g _S_p_a_c_e _C_h_a_r_a_c_t_e_r_s _i_n _a_n _A_r_g_u_m_e_n_t below). Most of the --mmddoocc general text domain and manual domain macros are spe- cial in that their argument lists are _p_a_r_s_e_d for callable macro names. This means an argument on the argument list which matches a general text or manual domain macro name and is determined to be callable will be exe- cuted or called when it is processed. In this case the argument, al- though the name of a macro, is not preceded by a `.' (dot). It is in this manner that many macros are nested; for example the option macro, `.Op', may _c_a_l_l the flag and argument macros, `Fl' and `Ar', to specify an optional flag with an argument: [--ss _b_y_t_e_s] is produced by .Op Fl s Ar bytes To prevent a two character string from being interpreted as a macro name, precede the string with the escape sequence `\&': [Fl s Ar bytes] is produced by .Op \&Fl s \&Ar bytes Here the strings `Fl' and `Ar' are not interpreted as macros. Macros whose argument lists are parsed for callable arguments are referred to as parsed and macros which may be called from an argument list are referred to as callable throughout this document and in the companion quick refer- ence manual mdoc(7). This is a technical _f_a_u_x _p_a_s as almost all of the macros in --mmddoocc are parsed, but as it was cumbersome to constantly refer to macros as being callable and being able to call other macros, the term parsed has been used. PPaassssiinngg SSppaaccee CChhaarraacctteerrss iinn aann AArrgguummeenntt Sometimes it is desirable to give as one argument a string containing one or more blank space characters. This may be necessary to defeat the nine argument limit or to specify arguments to macros which expect particular arrangement of items in the argument list. For example, the function macro `.Fn' expects the first argument to be the name of a function and any remaining arguments to be function parameters. As ANSI C stipulates the declaration of function parameters in the parenthesized parameter list, each parameter is guaranteed to be at minimum a two word string. For example, _i_n_t _f_o_o. There are two possible ways to pass an argument which contains an embed- ded space. _I_m_p_l_e_m_e_n_t_a_t_i_o_n _n_o_t_e: Unfortunately, the most convenient way of passing spaces in between quotes by reassigning individual arguments before parsing was fairly expensive speed wise and space wise to imple- ment in all the macros for AT&T troff. It is not expensive for groff but for the sake of portability, has been limited to the following macros which need it the most: Cd Configuration declaration (section 4 _S_Y_N_O_P_S_I_S) Bl Begin list (for the width specifier). Em Emphasized text. Fn Functions (sections two and four). It List items. Li Literal text. Sy Symbolic text. %B Book titles. %J Journal names. %O Optional notes for a reference. %R Report title (in a reference). %T Title of article in a book or journal. One way of passing a string containing blank spaces is to use the hard or unpaddable space character `\ ', that is, a blank space preceded by the escape character `\'. This method may be used with any macro but has the side effect of interfering with the adjustment of text over the length of a line. Troff sees the hard space as if it were any other printable character and cannot split the string into blank or newline separated pieces as one would expect. The method is useful for strings which are not expected to overlap a line boundary. For example: ffeettcchh(_c_h_a_r _*_s_t_r) is created by `.Fn fetch char\ *str' ffeettcchh(_c_h_a_r _*_s_t_r) can also be created by `.Fn fetch "*char *str"' If the `\' or quotes were omitted, `.Fn' would see three arguments and the result would be: ffeettcchh(_c_h_a_r, _*_s_t_r) For an example of what happens when the parameter list overlaps a newline boundary, see the _B_U_G_S section. TTrraaiilliinngg BBllaannkk SSppaaccee CChhaarraacctteerrss Troff can be confused by blank space characters at the end of a line. It is a wise preventive measure to globally remove all blank spaces from <blank-space><end-of-line> character sequences. Should the need arise to force a blank character at the end of a line, it may be forced with an unpaddable space and the `\&' escape character. For example, `string\ \&'. EEssccaappiinngg SSppeecciiaall CChhaarraacctteerrss Special characters like the newline character `\n', are handled by re- placing the `\' with `\e' (e.g. `\en') to preserve the backslash. TTHHEE AANNAATTOOMMYY OOFF AA MMAANN PPAAGGEE The body of a man page is easily constructed from a basic template found in the file: .\" /usr/share/misc/man.template: .\" The following six lines are required. .Dd Month day, year .Os OPERATING_SYSTEM [version/release] .Dt DOCUMENT_TITLE [section number] [volume] .Sh NAME .Sh SYNOPSIS .Sh DESCRIPTION .\" The following requests should be uncommented and .\" used where appropriate. This next request is .\" for sections 2 and 3 function return values only. .\" .Sh RETURN VALUES .\" This next request is for sections 1, 6, 7 & 8 only .\" .Sh ENVIRONMENT .\" .Sh FILES .\" .Sh EXAMPLES .\" This next request is for sections 1, 6, 7 & 8 only .\" (command return values (to shell) and .\" fprintf/stderr type diagnostics) .\" .Sh DIAGNOSTICS .\" The next request is for sections 2 and 3 error .\" and signal handling only. .\" .Sh ERRORS .\" .Sh SEE ALSO .\" .Sh STANDARDS .\" .Sh HISTORY .\" .Sh AUTHORS .\" .Sh BUGS The first items in the template are the macros (.Dd, .Os, .Dt); the docu- ment date, the operating system the man page or subject source is devel- oped or modified for, and the man page title (_i_n _u_p_p_e_r _c_a_s_e) along with the section of the manual the page belongs in. These macros identify the page, and are discussed below in _T_I_T_L_E _M_A_C_R_O_S. The remaining items in the template are section headers (.Sh); of which _N_A_M_E, _S_Y_N_O_P_S_I_S and _D_E_S_C_R_I_P_T_I_O_N are mandatory. The headers are discussed in _P_A_G_E _S_T_R_U_C_T_U_R_E _D_O_M_A_I_N, after presentation of _M_A_N_U_A_L _D_O_M_A_I_N. Several content macros are used to demonstrate page layout macros; reading about content macros before page layout macros is recommended. TTIITTLLEE MMAACCRROOSS The title macros are the first portion of the page structure domain, but are presented first and separate for someone who wishes to start writing a man page yesterday. Three header macros designate the document title or manual page title, the operating system, and the date of authorship. These macros are one called once at the very beginning of the document and are used to construct the headers and footers only. .Dt DOCUMENT_TITLE section# [volume] The document title is the subject of the man page and must be in CAPITALS due to troff limitations. The section number may be 1, ..., 8, and if it is specified, the volume title may be omit- ted. A volume title may be arbitrary or one of the following: AMD UNIX Ancestral Manual Documents SMM UNIX System Manager's Manual URM UNIX Reference Manual PRM UNIX Programmer's Manual The default volume labeling is URM for sections 1, 6, and 7; SMM for section 8; PRM for sections 2, 3, 4, and 5. .Os operating_system release# The name of the operating system should be the common acronym, e.g. BSD or ATT. The release should be the standard release nomenclature for the system specified, e.g. 4.3, 4.3+Tahoe, V.3, V.4. Unrecognized arguments are displayed as given in the page footer. For instance, a typical footer might be: .Os BSD 4.3 or for a locally produced set .Os CS Department The Berkeley default, `.Os' without an argument, has been defined as BSD Experimental in the site specific file _/_u_s_r_/_s_r_c_/_s_h_a_r_e_/_t_m_a_c_/_d_o_c_-_c_o_m_m_o_n. It really should default to LOCAL. Note, if the `.Os' macro is not present, the bottom left corner of the page will be ugly. .Dd month day, year The date should be written formally: January 25, 1989 MMAANNUUAALL DDOOMMAAIINN WWhhaatt''ss iinn aa nnaammee...... The manual domain macro names are derived from the day to day informal language used to describe commands, subroutines and related files. Slightly different variations of this language are used to describe the three different aspects of writing a man page. First, there is the de- scription of --mmddoocc macro request usage. Second is the description of a UNIX command _w_i_t_h --mmddoocc macros and third, the description of a command to a user in the verbal sense; that is, discussion of a command in the text of a man page. In the first case, troff(1) macros are themselves a type of command; the general syntax for a troff command is: .Va argument1 argument2 ... argument9 The `.Va' is a macro command or request, and anything following it is an argument to be processed. In the second case, the description of a UNIX command using the content macros is a bit more involved; a typical _S_Y_N_O_P_S_I_S command line might be displayed as: ffiilltteerr [--ffllaagg] _i_n_f_i_l_e _o_u_t_f_i_l_e Here, ffiilltteerr is the command name and the bracketed string --ffllaagg is a _f_l_a_g argument designated as optional by the option brackets. In --mmddoocc terms, _i_n_f_i_l_e and _o_u_t_f_i_l_e are called _a_r_g_u_m_e_n_t_s. The macros which formatted the above example: .Nm filter .Op Fl flag .Ar infile outfile In the third case, discussion of commands and command syntax includes both examples above, but may add more detail. The arguments _i_n_f_i_l_e and _o_u_t_f_i_l_e from the example above might be referred to as _o_p_e_r_a_n_d_s or _f_i_l_e _a_r_g_u_m_e_n_t_s. Some command line argument lists are quite long: mmaakkee [--eeiikknnqqrrssttvv] [--DD _v_a_r_i_a_b_l_e] [--dd _f_l_a_g_s] [--ff _m_a_k_e_f_i_l_e] [--II _d_i_r_e_c_t_o_r_y] [--jj _m_a_x___j_o_b_s] [_v_a_r_i_a_b_l_e_=_v_a_l_u_e] [_t_a_r_g_e_t _._._.] Here one might talk about the command mmaakkee and qualify the argument _m_a_k_e_f_i_l_e, as an argument to the flag, --ff, or discuss the optional file operand _t_a_r_g_e_t. In the verbal context, such detail can prevent confusion, however the --mmddoocc package does not have a macro for an argument _t_o a flag. Instead the `Ar' argument macro is used for an operand or file ar- gument like _t_a_r_g_e_t as well as an argument to a flag like _v_a_r_i_a_b_l_e. The make command line was produced from: .Nm make .Op Fl eiknqrstv .Op Fl D Ar variable .Op Fl d Ar flags .Op Fl f Ar makefile .Op Fl I Ar directory .Op Fl j Ar max_jobs .Op Ar variable=value .Bk -words .Op Ar target ... .Ek The `.Bk' and `.Ek' macros are explained in _K_e_e_p_s. GGeenneerraall SSyynnttaaxx The manual domain and general text domain macros share a similar syntax with a few minor deviations: `.Ar', `.Fl', `.Nm', and `.Pa' differ only when called without arguments; `.Fn' and `.Xr' impose an order on their argument lists and the `.Op' and `.Fn' macros have nesting limitations. All content macros are capable of recognizing and properly handling punc- tuation, provided each punctuation character is separated by a leading space. If an request is given: .Li sptr, ptr), The result is: sptr, ptr), The punctuation is not recognized and all is output in the literal font. If the punctuation is separated by a leading white space: .Li sptr , ptr ) , The result is: sptr, ptr), The punctuation is now recognized and is output in the default font dis- tinguishing it from the strings in literal font. To remove the special meaning from a punctuation character escape it with `\&'. Troff is limited as a macro language, and has difficulty when pre- sented with a string containing a member of the mathematical, logical or quotation set: {+,-,/,*,%,<,>,<=,>=,=,==,&,`,',"} The problem is that troff may assume it is supposed to actually perform the operation or evaluation suggested by the characters. To prevent the accidental evaluation of these characters, escape them with `\&'. Typical syntax is shown in the first content macro displayed below, `.Ad'. AAddddrreessss MMaaccrroo The address macro identifies an address construct of the form addr1[,ad- dr2[,addr3]]. Usage: .Ad address ... { . , ; : ( ) [ ]} .Ad addr1 _a_d_d_r_1 .Ad addr1 . _a_d_d_r_1. .Ad addr1 , file2 _a_d_d_r_1, _f_i_l_e_2 .Ad f1 , f2 , f3 : _f_1, _f_2, _f_3: .Ad addr ) ) , _a_d_d_r)), It is an error to call .Ad without arguments. .Ad is callable by other macros and is parsed. AArrgguummeenntt MMaaccrroo The .Ar argument macro may be used whenever a command line argument is referenced. Usage: .Ar argument ... { . , ; : ( ) [ ]} .Ar _f_i_l_e _._._. .Ar file1 _f_i_l_e_1 .Ar file1 . _f_i_l_e_1. .Ar file1 file2 _f_i_l_e_1 _f_i_l_e_2 .Ar f1 f2 f3 : _f_1 _f_2 _f_3: .Ar file ) ) , _f_i_l_e)), If .Ar is called without arguments `_f_i_l_e _._._.' is assumed. The .Ar macro is parsed and is callable. CCoonnffiigguurraattiioonn DDeeccllaarraattiioonn ((sseeccttiioonn ffoouurr oonnllyy)) The `.Cd' macro is used to demonstrate a config(8) declaration for a de- vice interface in a section four manual. This macro accepts quoted argu- ments (double quotes only). ddeevviiccee llee00 aatt ssccooddee?? produced by: `.Cd device le0 at scode?'. CCoommmmaanndd MMooddiiffiieerr The command modifier is identical to the `.Fl' (flag) command with the exception the `.Cm' macro does not assert a dash in front of every argu- ment. Traditionally flags are marked by the preceding dash, some com- mands or subsets of commands do not use them. Command modifiers may also be specified in conjunction with interactive commands such as editor com- mands. See _F_l_a_g_s. DDeeffiinneedd VVaarriiaabblleess A variable which is defined in an include file is specified by the macro `.Dv'. Usage: .Dv defined_variable ... { . , ; : ( ) [ ]} .Dv MAXHOSTNAMELEN MAXHOSTNAMELEN .Dv TIOCGPGRP ) TIOCGPGRP) It is an error to call `.Dv' without arguments. `.Dv' is parsed and is callable. EErrrrnnoo''ss ((SSeeccttiioonn ttwwoo oonnllyy)) The `.Er' errno macro specifies the error return value for section two library routines. The second example below shows `.Er' used with the `.Bq' general text domain macro, as it would be used in a section two manual page. Usage: .Er ERRNOTYPE ... { . , ; : ( ) [ ]} .Er ENOENT ENOENT .Er ENOENT ) ; ENOENT); .Bq Er ENOTDIR [ENOTDIR] It is an error to call `.Er' without arguments. The `.Er' macro is parsed and is callable. EEnnvviirroonnmmeenntt VVaarriiaabblleess The `.Ev' macro specifies an environment variable. Usage: .Ev argument ... { . , ; : ( ) [ ]} .Ev DISPLAY DISPLAY .Ev PATH . PATH. .Ev PRINTER ) ) , PRINTER)), It is an error to call `.Ev' without arguments. The `.Ev' macro is parsed and is callable. FFuunnccttiioonn AArrgguummeenntt The `.Fa' macro is used to refer to function arguments (parameters) out- side of the _S_Y_N_O_P_S_I_S section of the manual or inside the _S_Y_N_O_P_S_I_S section should a parameter list be too long for the `.Fn' macro and the enclosure macros `.Fo' and `.Fc' must be used. `.Fa' may also be used to refer to structure members. Usage: .Fa function_argument ... { . , ; : ( ) [ ]} .Fa d_namlen ) ) , _d___n_a_m_l_e_n)), .Fa iov_len _i_o_v___l_e_n It is an error to call `.Fa' without arguments. `.Fa' is parsed and is callable. FFuunnccttiioonn DDeeccllaarraattiioonn The `.Fd' macro is used in the _S_Y_N_O_P_S_I_S section with section two or three functions. The `.Fd' macro does not call other macros and is not callable by other macros. Usage: .Fd include_file (or defined variable) In the _S_Y_N_O_P_S_I_S section a `.Fd' request causes a line break if a function has already been presented and a break has not occurred. This leaves a nice vertical space in between the previous function call and the decla- ration for the next function. FFllaaggss The `.Fl' macro handles command line flags. It prepends a dash, `-', to the flag. For interactive command flags, which are not prepended with a dash, the `.Cm' (command modifier) macro is identical, but without the dash. Usage: .Fl argument ... { . , ; : ( ) [ ]} .Fl -- .Fl cfv --ccffvv .Fl cfv . --ccffvv. .Fl s v t --ss --vv --tt .Fl - , ----, .Fl xyz ) , --xxyyzz), The `.Fl' macro without any arguments results in a dash representing stdin/stdout. Note that giving `.Fl' a single dash, will result in two dashes. The `.Fl' macro is parsed and is callable. FFuunnccttiioonnss ((lliibbrraarryy rroouuttiinneess)) The .Fn macro is modeled on ANSI C conventions. Usage: .Fn [type] function [[type] parameters ... { . , ; : ( ) [ ]}] .Fn getchar ggeettcchhaarr() .Fn strlen ) , ssttrrlleenn()), .Fn "int align" "const * char *sptrs", iinntt aalliiggnn(_c_o_n_s_t _* _c_h_a_r _*_s_p_t_r_s), It is an error to call `.Fn' without any arguments. The `.Fn' macro is parsed and is callable, note that any call to another macro signals the end of the `.Fn' call (it will close-parenthesis at that point). For functions that have more than eight parameters (and this is rare), the macros `.Fo' (function open) and `.Fc' (function close) may be used with `.Fa' (function argument) to get around the limitation. For example: .Fo "int res_mkquery" .Fa "int op" .Fa "char *dname" .Fa "int class" .Fa "int type" .Fa "char *data" .Fa "int datalen" .Fa "struct rrec *newrr" .Fa "char *buf" .Fa "int buflen" .Fc Produces: iinntt rreess__mmkkqquueerryy(_i_n_t _o_p, _c_h_a_r _*_d_n_a_m_e, _i_n_t _c_l_a_s_s, _i_n_t _t_y_p_e, _c_h_a_r _*_d_a_t_a, _i_n_t _d_a_t_a_l_e_n, _s_t_r_u_c_t _r_r_e_c _*_n_e_w_r_r, _c_h_a_r _*_b_u_f, _i_n_t _b_u_f_l_e_n) The `.Fo' and `.Fc' macros are parsed and are callable. In the _S_Y_N_O_P_S_I_S section, the function will always begin at the beginning of line. If there is more than one function presented in the _S_Y_N_O_P_S_I_S section and a function type has not been given, a line break will occur, leaving a nice vertical space between the current function name and the one prior. At the moment, `.Fn' does not check its word boundaries against troff line lengths and may split across a newline ungracefully. This will be fixed in the near future. FFuunnccttiioonn TTyyppee This macro is intended for the _S_Y_N_O_P_S_I_S section. It may be used anywhere else in the man page without problems, but its main purpose is to present the function type in kernel normal form for the _S_Y_N_O_P_S_I_S of sections two and three (it causes a page break allowing the function name to appear on the next line). Usage: .Ft type ... { . , ; : ( ) [ ]} .Ft struct stat _s_t_r_u_c_t _s_t_a_t The `.Ft' request is not callable by other macros. IInntteerraaccttiivvee CCoommmmaannddss The `.Ic' macro designates an interactive or internal command. Usage: .Li argument ... { . , ; : ( ) [ ]} .Ic :wq ::wwqq .Ic do while {...} ddoo wwhhiillee {{......}} .Ic setenv , unsetenv sseetteennvv, uunnsseetteennvv It is an error to call `.Ic' without arguments. The `.Ic' macro is parsed and is callable. LLiitteerraallss The `.Li' literal macro may be used for special characters, variable con- stants, anything which should be displayed as it would be typed. Usage: .Li argument ... { . , ; : ( ) [ ]} .Li \en \n .Li M1 M2 M3 ; M1 M2 M3; .Li cntrl-D ) , cntrl-D), .Li 1024 ... 1024 ... The `.Li' macro is parsed and is callable. NNaammee MMaaccrroo The `.Nm' macro is used for the document title or subject name. It has the peculiarity of remembering the first argument it was called with, which should always be the subject name of the page. When called without arguments, `.Nm' regurgitates this initial name for the sole purpose of making less work for the author. Note: a section two or three document function name is addressed with the `.Nm' in the _N_A_M_E section, and with `.Fn' in the _S_Y_N_O_P_S_I_S and remaining sections. For interactive commands, such as the `while' command keyword in csh(1), the `.Ic' macro should be used. While the `.Ic' is nearly identical to `.Nm', it can not recall the first argument it was invoked with. Usage: .Nm argument ... { . , ; : ( ) [ ]} .Nm mdoc.samples mmddoocc..ssaammpplleess .Nm \-mdoc --mmddoocc. .Nm foo ) ) , ffoooo)), .Nm mmddoocc..ssaammpplleess The `.Nm' macro is parsed and is callable. OOppttiioonnss The `.Op' macro places option brackets around the any remaining arguments on the command line, and places any trailing punctuation outside the brackets. The macros `.Oc' and `.Oo' may be used across one or more lines. Usage: .Op options ... { . , ; : ( ) [ ]} .Op [] .Op Fl k [--kk] .Op Fl k ) . [--kk]). .Op Fl k Ar kookfile [--kk _k_o_o_k_f_i_l_e] .Op Fl k Ar kookfile , [--kk _k_o_o_k_f_i_l_e], .Op Ar objfil Op Ar corfil [_o_b_j_f_i_l [_c_o_r_f_i_l]] .Op Fl c Ar objfil Op Ar corfil , [--cc _o_b_j_f_i_l [_c_o_r_f_i_l]], .Op word1 word2 [word1 word2] The `.Oc' and `.Oo' macros: .Oo .Op Fl k Ar kilobytes .Op Fl i Ar interval .Op Fl c Ar count .Oc Produce: [[--kk _k_i_l_o_b_y_t_e_s] [--ii _i_n_t_e_r_v_a_l] [--cc _c_o_u_n_t]] The macros `.Op', `.Oc' and `.Oo' are parsed and are callable. PPaatthhnnaammeess The `.Pa' macro formats path or file names. Usage: .Pa pathname { . , ; : ( ) [ ]} .Pa /usr/share _/_u_s_r_/_s_h_a_r_e .Pa /tmp/fooXXXXX ) . _/_t_m_p_/_f_o_o_X_X_X_X_X). The `.Pa' macro is parsed and is callable. VVaarriiaabblleess Generic variable reference: Usage: .Va variable ... { . , ; : ( ) [ ]} .Va count _c_o_u_n_t .Va settimer, _s_e_t_t_i_m_e_r, .Va int *prt ) : _i_n_t _*_p_r_t): .Va char s ] ) ) , _c_h_a_r _s])), It is an error to call `.Va' without any arguments. The `.Va' macro is parsed and is callable. MMaannuuaall PPaaggee CCrroossss RReeffeerreenncceess The `.Xr' macro expects the first argument to be a manual page name, and the second argument, if it exists, to be either a section page number or punctuation. Any remaining arguments are assumed to be punctuation. Usage: .Xr man_page [1,...,8] { . , ; : ( ) [ ]} .Xr mdoc mdoc .Xr mdoc , mdoc, .Xr mdoc 7 mdoc(7) .Xr mdoc 7 ) ) , mdoc(7))), The `.Xr' macro is parsed and is callable. It is an error to call `.Xr' without any arguments. GGEENNEERRAALL TTEEXXTT DDOOMMAAIINN AATT&&TT MMaaccrroo Usage: .At [v6 | v7 | 32v | V.1 | V.4] ... { . , ; : ( ) [ ]} .At .At v6 . Version 6 AT&T UNIX. The `.At' macro is _n_o_t parsed and _n_o_t callable. It accepts at most two arguments. BBSSDD MMaaccrroo Usage: .Bx [Version/release] ... { . , ; : ( ) [ ]} .Bx BSD UNIX .Bx 4.3 . 4.3BSD. The `.Bx' macro is parsed and is callable. UUNNIIXX MMaaccrroo Usage: .Ux ... { . , ; : ( ) [ ]} .Ux UNIX The `.Ux' macro is parsed and is callable. EEmmpphhaassiiss MMaaccrroo Text may be stressed or emphasized with the `.Em' macro. The usual font for emphasis is italic. Usage: .Em argument ... { . , ; : ( ) [ ]} .Em does not _d_o_e_s _n_o_t .Em exceed 1024 . _e_x_c_e_e_d _1_0_2_4. .Em vide infra ) ) , _v_i_d_e _i_n_f_r_a)), The `.Em' macro is parsed and is callable. It is an error to call `.Em' without arguments. EEnncclloossuurree aanndd QQuuoottiinngg MMaaccrrooss The concept of enclosure is similar to quoting. The object being to en- close one or more strings between a pair of characters like quotes or parentheses. The terms quoting and enclosure are used interchangeably throughout this document. Most of the one line enclosure macros end in small letter `q' to give a hint of quoting, but there are a few irregu- larities. For each enclosure macro there is also a pair of open and close macros which end in small letters `o' and `c' respectively. These can be used across one or more lines of text and while they have nesting limitations, the one line quote macros can be used inside of them. _Q_u_o_t_e _C_l_o_s_e _O_p_e_n _F_u_n_c_t_i_o_n _R_e_s_u_l_t .Aq .Ac .Ao Angle Bracket Enclosure <string> .Bq .Bc .Bo Bracket Enclosure [string] .Dq .Dc .Do Double Quote ``string'' .Ec .Eo Enclose String (in XX) XXstringXX .Pq .Pc .Po Parenthesis Enclosure (string) .Ql Quoted Literal `st' or string .Qq .Qc .Qo Straight Double Quote "string" .Sq .Sc .So Single Quote `string' Except for the irregular macros noted below, all of the quoting macros are parsed and callable. All handle punctuation properly, as long as it is presented one character at a time and separated by spaces. The quot- ing macros examine opening and closing punctuation to determine whether it comes before or after the enclosing string. This makes some nesting possible. .Ec, .Eo These macros expect the first argument to be the opening and closing strings respectively. .Ql The quoted literal macro behaves differently for troff than nroff. If formatted with nroff, a quoted literal is always quoted. If formatted with troff, an item is only quoted if the width of the item is less than three constant width characters. This is to make short strings more visible where the font change to literal (constant width) is less noticeable. .Pf The prefix macro is not callable, but it is parsed: .Pf ( Fa name2 becomes (_n_a_m_e_2. The `.Ns' (no space) macro performs the analogous suffix func- tion. Examples of quoting: .Aq <> .Aq Ar ctype.h ) , <_c_t_y_p_e_._h>), .Bq [] .Bq Em Greek , French . [_G_r_e_e_k, _F_r_e_n_c_h]. .Dq ``'' .Dq string abc . ``string abc''. .Dq '^[A-Z]' ``'^[A-Z]''' .Ql man mdoc `man mdoc' .Qq "" .Qq string ) , "string"), .Qq string Ns ), "string)," .Sq `' .Sq string `string' For a good example of nested enclosure macros, see the `.Op' option macro. It was created from the same underlying enclosure macros as those presented in the list above. The `.Xo' and `.Xc' extended argument list macros were also built from the same underlying routines and are a good example of --mmddoocc macro usage at its worst. NNoo--OOpp oorr NNoorrmmaall TTeexxtt MMaaccrroo The macro .No is a hack for words in a macro command line which should _n_o_t be formatted and follows the conventional syntax for content macros. NNoo SSppaaccee MMaaccrroo The `.Ns' macro eliminates unwanted spaces in between macro requests. It is useful for old style argument lists where there is no space between the flag and argument: .Op Fl I Ns Ar directory produces [--II_d_i_r_e_c_t_o_r_y] Note: the `.Ns' macro always invokes the `.No' macro after eliminating the space unless another macro name follows it. The macro `.Ns' is parsed and is callable. SSeeccttiioonn CCrroossss RReeffeerreenncceess The `.Sx' macro designates a reference to a section header within the same document. It is parsed and is callable. .Sx FILES _F_I_L_E_S SSyymmbboolliicc The symbolic emphasis macro is generally a boldface macro in either the symbolic sense or the traditional English usage. Usage: .Sy symbol ... { . , ; : ( ) [ ]} .Sy Important Notice IImmppoorrttaanntt NNoottiiccee The `.Sy' macro is parsed and is callable. Arguments to `.Sy' may be quoted. RReeffeerreenncceess aanndd CCiittaattiioonnss The following macros make a modest attempt to handle references. At best, the macros make it convenient to manually drop in a subset of refer style references. .Rs Reference Start. Causes a line break and begins collection of reference information until the reference end macro is read. .Re Reference End. The reference is printed. .%A Reference author name, one name per invocation. .%B Book title. .%C City/place. .%D Date. .%J Journal name. .%N Issue number. .%O Optional information. .%P Page number. .%R Report name. .%T Title of article. .%V Volume(s). The macros beginning with `%' are not callable, and are parsed only for the trade name macro which returns to its caller. (And not very pre- dictably at the moment either.) The purpose is to allow trade names to be pretty printed in troff/ditroff output. TTrraaddee NNaammeess ((oorr AAccrroonnyymmss aanndd TTyyppee NNaammeess)) The trade name macro is generally a small caps macro for all upper case words longer than two characters. Usage: .Tn symbol ... { . , ; : ( ) [ ]} .Tn DEC DEC .Tn ASCII ASCII The `.Tn' macro is parsed and is callable by other macros. EExxtteennddeedd AArrgguummeennttss The .Xo and .Xc macros allow one to extend an argument list on a macro boundary. Argument lists cannot be extended within a macro which expects all of its arguments on one line such as `.Op'. Here is an example of `.Xo' using the space mode macro to turn spacing off: .Sm off .It Xo Sy I Ar operation .No \en Ar count No \en .Xc .Sm on Produces II_o_p_e_r_a_t_i_o_n\n_c_o_u_n_t\n Another one: .Sm off .It Cm S No / Ar old_pattern Xo .No / Ar new_pattern .No / Op Cm g .Xc .Sm on Produces SS/_o_l_d___p_a_t_t_e_r_n/_n_e_w___p_a_t_t_e_r_n/[gg] Another example of `.Xo' and using enclosure macros: Test the value of an variable. .It Xo .Ic .ifndef .Oo \&! Oc Ns Ar variable .Op Ar operator variable ... .Xc Produces ..iiffnnddeeff [!]_v_a_r_i_a_b_l_e [_o_p_e_r_a_t_o_r _v_a_r_i_a_b_l_e _._._.] All of the above examples have used the `.Xo' macro on the argument list of the `.It' (list-item) macro. The extend macros are not used very of- ten, and when they are it is usually to extend the list-item argument list. Unfortunately, this is also where the extend macros are the most finicky. In the first two examples, spacing was turned off; in the third, spacing was desired in part of the output but not all of it. To make these macros work in this situation make sure the `.Xo' and `.Xc' macros are placed as shown in the third example. If the `.Xo' macro is not alone on the `.It' argument list, spacing will be unpredictable. The `.Ns' (no space macro) must not occur as the first or last macro on a line in this situation. Out of 900 manual pages (about 1500 actual pages) currently released with BSD UNIX only fifteen use the `.Xo' macro. PPAAGGEE SSTTRRUUCCTTUURREE DDOOMMAAIINN SSeeccttiioonn HHeeaaddeerrss The first three `.Sh' section header macros list below are required in every man page. The remaining section headers are recommended at the discretion of the author writing the manual page. The `.Sh' macro can take up to nine arguments. It is parsed and but is not callable. .Sh NAME The `.Sh NAME' macro is mandatory. If not specified, the headers, footers and page layout defaults will not be set and things will be rather unpleasant. The _N_A_M_E section consists of at least three items. The first is the `.Nm' name macro naming the subject of the man page. The second is the Name Description macro, `.Nd', which separates the subject name from the third item, which is the description. The description should be the most terse and lucid possi- ble, as the space available is small. .Sh SYNOPSIS The _S_Y_N_O_P_S_I_S section describes the typical usage of the subject of a man page. The macros required are either `.Nm', `.Cd', `.Fn', (and possibly `.Fo', `.Fc', `.Fd', `.Ft' macros). The function name macro `.Fn' is required for manual page sections 2 and 3, the command and general name macro `.Nm' is required for sections 1, 5, 6, 7, 8. Section 4 manuals require a `.Nm, .Fd' or a `.Cd' configu- ration device usage macro. Several other macros may be necessary to produce the synopsis line as shown below: ccaatt [--bbeennssttuuvv] [--] _f_i_l_e _._._. The following macros were used: .Nm cat .Op Fl benstuv .Op Fl .Ar NNoottee: The macros `.Op', `.Fl', and `.Ar' recognize the pipe bar character `|', so a command line such as: .Op Fl a | Fl b will not go orbital. Troff normally interprets a | as a special operator. See _P_R_E_D_E_F_I_N_E_D _S_T_R_I_N_G_S for a usable | character in other situations. .Sh DESCRIPTION In most cases the first text in the _D_E_S_C_R_I_P_T_I_O_N section is a brief paragraph on the command, function or file, fol- lowed by a lexical list of options and respective explana- tions. To create such a list, the `.Bl' begin-list, `.It' list-item and `.El' end-list macros are used (see _L_i_s_t_s _a_n_d _C_o_l_u_m_n_s below). The following `.Sh' section headers are part of the preferred manual page layout and must be used appropriately to maintain consistency. They are listed in the order in which they would be used. .Sh ENVIRONMENT The _E_N_V_I_R_O_N_M_E_N_T section should reveal any related environment variables and clues to their behavior and/or usage. .Sh EXAMPLES There are several ways to create examples. See the _E_X_A_M_P_L_E_S section below for details. .Sh FILES Files which are used or created by the man page subject should be listed via the `.Pa' macro in the _F_I_L_E_S section. .Sh SEE ALSO References to other material on the man page topic and cross references to other relevant man pages should be placed in the _S_E_E _A_L_S_O section. Cross references are specified using the `.Xr' macro. At this time refer(1) style references are not accommodated. .Sh STANDARDS If the command, library function or file adheres to a specific implementation such as IEEE Std1003.2 (``POSIX'') or ANSI C3.159-1989 (``ANSI C'') this should be noted here. If the command does not adhere to any standard, its history should be noted in the _H_I_S_T_O_R_Y section. .Sh HISTORY Any command which does not adhere to any specific standards should be outlined historically in this section. .Sh AUTHORS Credits, if need be, should be placed here. .Sh DIAGNOSTICS Diagnostics from a command should be placed in this section. .Sh ERRORS Specific error handling, especially from library functions (man page sections 2 and 3) should go here. The `.Er' macro is used to specify an errno. .Sh BUGS Blatant problems with the topic go here... User specified `.Sh' sections may be added, for example, this section was set with: .Sh PAGE LAYOUT MACROS PPaarraaggrraapphhss aanndd LLiinnee SSppaacciinngg.. .Pp The .Pp paragraph command may be used to specify a line space where necessary. The macro is not necessary after a `.Sh' or `.Ss' macro or before a `.Bl' macro. (The `.Bl' macro asserts a vertical distance unless the -compact flag is given). KKeeeeppss The only keep that is implemented at this time is for words. The macros are `.Bk' (begin-keep) and `.Ek' (end-keep). The only option that `.Bl' accepts is --wwoorrddss and is useful for preventing line breaks in the middle of options. In the example for the make command line arguments (see _W_h_a_t_'_s _i_n _a _n_a_m_e), the keep prevented nroff from placing up the flag and the argument on separate lines. (Actually, the option macro used to pre- vent this from occurring, but was dropped when the decision (religious) was made to force right justified margins in troff as options in general look atrocious when spread across a sparse line. More work needs to be done with the keep macros, a --lliinnee option needs to be added.) EExxaammpplleess aanndd DDiissppllaayyss There are five types of displays, a quickie one line indented display `.D1', a quickie one line literal display `.Dl', and a block literal, block filled and block ragged which use the `.Bd' begin-display and `.Ed' end-display macros. .D1 (D-one) Display one line of indented text. This macro is parsed, but it is not callable. --llddgghhffssttrruu The above was produced by: .Dl --llddgghhffssttrruu. .Dl (D-ell) Display one line of indented _l_i_t_e_r_a_l text. The `.Dl' ex- ample macro has been used throughout this file. It allows the in- dent (display) of one line of text. Its default font is set to constant width (literal) however it is parsed and will recognized other macros. It is not callable however. % ls -ldg /usr/local/bin The above was produced by .Dl % ls -ldg /usr/local/bin. .Bd Begin-display. The `.Bd' display must be ended with the `.Ed' macro. Displays may be nested within displays and lists. `.Bd' has the following syntax: .Bd display-type [-offset offset_value] [-compact] The display-type must be one of the following four types and may have an offset specifier for indentation: `.Bd'. --rraaggggeedd Display a block of text as typed, right (and left) margin edges are left ragged. --ffiilllleedd Display a filled (formatted) block. The block of text is formatted (the edges are filled - not left unjustified). --lliitteerraall Display a literal block, useful for source code or simple tabbed or spaced text. --ffiillee _f_i_l_e___n_a_m_e The file name following the --ffiillee flag is read and displayed. Literal mode is asserted and tabs are set at 8 constant width character in- tervals, however any troff/--mmddoocc commands in file will be processed. --ooffffsseett _s_t_r_i_n_g If --ooffffsseett is specified with one of the follow- ing strings, the string is interpreted to indi- cate the level of indentation for the forthcom- ing block of text: _l_e_f_t Align block on the current left mar- gin, this is the default mode of `.Bd'. _c_e_n_t_e_r Supposedly center the block. At this time unfortunately, the block merely gets left aligned about an imaginary center margin. _i_n_d_e_n_t Indents by one default indent value or tab. The default indent value is also used for the `.D1' display so one is guaranteed the two types of displays will line up. This indent is normally set to 6n or about two thirds of an inch (six constant width characters). _i_n_d_e_n_t_-_t_w_o Indents two times the default indent value. _r_i_g_h_t This _l_e_f_t aligns the block about two inches from the right side of the page. This macro needs work and perhaps may never do the right thing by troff. .Ed End-display. TTaaggggeedd LLiissttss aanndd CCoolluummnnss There are several types of lists which may be initiated with the `.Bl' begin-list macro. Items within the list are specified with the `.It' item macro and each list must end with the `.El' macro. Lists may be nested within themselves and within displays. Columns may be used inside of lists, but lists are unproven inside of columns. In addition, several list attributes may be specified such as the width of a tag, the list offset, and compactness (blank lines between items al- lowed or disallowed). Most of this document has been formatted with a tag style list (--ttaagg). For a change of pace, the list-type used to pre- sent the list-types is an over-hanging list (--oohhaanngg). This type of list is quite popular with TeX users, but might look a bit funny after having read many pages of tagged lists. The following list types are accepted by `.Bl': --bbuulllleett --iitteemm --eennuumm These three are the simplest types of lists. Once the `.Bl' macro has been given, items in the list are merely indicated by a line consisting solely of the `.It' macro. For example, the source text for a simple enumerated list would look like: .Bl -enum -compact .It Item one goes here. .It And item two here. .It Lastly item three goes here. .El The results: 1. Item one goes here. 2. And item two here. 3. Lastly item three goes here. A simple bullet list construction: .Bl -bullet -compact .It Bullet one goes here. .It Bullet two here. .El Produces: ++oo Bullet one goes here. ++oo Bullet two here. --ttaagg --ddiiaagg --hhaanngg --oohhaanngg --iinnsseett These list-types collect arguments specified with the `.It' macro and create a label which may be _i_n_s_e_t into the forthcoming text, _h_a_n_g_e_d from the forthcoming text, _o_v_e_r_h_a_n_g_e_d from above and not indented or _t_a_g_g_e_d. This list was constructed with the `--oohhaanngg' list-type. The `.It' macro is parsed only for the inset, hang and tag list-types and is not callable. Here is an example of inset labels: _T_a_g The tagged list (also called a tagged paragraph) is the most common type of list used in the Berkeley manuals. _D_i_a_g Diag lists create section four diagnostic lists and are simi- lar to inset lists except callable macros are ignored. _H_a_n_g Hanged labels are a matter of taste. _O_h_a_n_g Overhanging labels are nice when space is constrained. _I_n_s_e_t Inset labels are useful for controlling blocks of paragraphs and are valuable for converting --mmddoocc manuals to other formats. Here is the source text which produced the above example: .Bl -inset -offset indent .It Em Tag The tagged list (also called a tagged paragraph) is the most common type of list used in the Berkeley manuals. .It Em Diag Diag lists create section four diagnostic lists and are similar to inset lists except callable macros are ignored. .It Em Hang Hanged labels are a matter of taste. .It Em Ohang Overhanging labels are nice when space is constrained. .It Em Inset Inset labels are useful for controlling blocks of paragraphs and are valuable for converting .Nm -mdoc manuals to other formats. .El Here is a hanged list with just one item: _H_a_n_g_e_d labels appear similar to tagged lists when the label is smaller than the label width. _L_o_n_g_e_r _h_a_n_g_e_d _l_i_s_t _l_a_b_e_l_s blend in to the paragraph unlike tagged paragraph labels. And the unformatted text which created it: .Bl -hang -offset indent .It Em Hanged labels appear similar to tagged lists when the label is smaller than the label width. .It Em Longer hanged list labels blend in to the paragraph unlike tagged paragraph labels. .El The tagged list which follows uses an optional width specifier to control the width of the tag. SL sleep time of the process (seconds blocked) PAGEIN number of disk I/O's resulting from references by the pro- cess to pages not loaded in core. UID numerical user-id of process owner PPID numerical id of parent of process process priority (non- positive when in non-interruptible wait) The raw text: .Bl -tag -width "PAGEIN" -compact -offset indent .It SL sleep time of the process (seconds blocked) .It PAGEIN number of disk .Tn I/O Ns 's resulting from references by the process to pages not loaded in core. .It UID numerical user-id of process owner .It PPID numerical id of parent of process process priority (non-positive when in non-interruptible wait) .El Acceptable width specifiers: --wwiiddtthh _F_l sets the width to the default width for a flag. All callable macros have a default width value. The `.Fl', value is presently set to ten constant width characters or about five sixth of an inch. --wwiiddtthh _2_4_n sets the width to 24 constant width characters or about two inches. The `n' is absolutely necessary for the scaling to work correctly. --wwiiddtthh _E_N_A_M_E_T_O_O_L_O_N_G sets width to the constant width length of the string given. --wwiiddtthh _"_i_n_t _m_k_f_i_f_o_" again, the width is set to the constant width of the string given. If a width is not specified for the tag list type, the first time `.It' is invoked, an attempt is made to determine an appropriate width. If the first argument to `.It' is a callable macro, the default width for that macro will be used as if the macro name had been supplied as the width. However, if another item in the list is given with a different callable macro name, a new and nested list is assumed. PPRREEDDEEFFIINNEEDD SSTTRRIINNGGSS The following strings are predefined as may be used by preceding with the troff string interpreting sequence `\*(xx' where _x_x is the name of the defined string or as `\*x' where _x is the name of the string. The inter- preting sequence may be used any where in the text. SSttrriinngg NNrrooffff TTrrooffff <= <= <= >= >= >= Rq '' '' Lq `` `` ua ^ ^ aa ' ga ` ` q " " Pi pi pi Ne != != Le <= <= Ge >= >= Lt < > Gt > < Pm +- +- If infinity infinity Na _N_a_N _N_a_N Ba | | NNoottee: The string named `q' should be written as `\*q' since it is only one char. DDIIAAGGNNOOSSTTIICCSS The debugging facilities for --mmddoocc are limited, but can help detect sub- tle errors such as the collision of an argument name with an internal register or macro name. (A what?) A register is an arithmetic storage class for troff with a one or two character name. All registers internal to --mmddoocc for troff and ditroff are two characters and of the form <up- per_case><lower_case> such as `Ar', <lower_case><upper_case> as `aR' or <upper or lower letter><digit> as `C1'. And adding to the muddle, troff has its own internal registers all of which are either two lower case characters or a dot plus a letter or meta-character character. In one of the introduction examples, it was shown how to prevent the interpretation of a macro name with the escape sequence `\&'. This is sufficient for the internal register names also. If a non-escaped register name is given in the argument list of a request unpredictable behavior will occur. In general, any time huge portions of text do not appear where expected in the output, or small strings such as list tags disappear, chances are there is a misunderstanding about an ar- gument type in the argument list. Your mother never intended for you to remember this evil stuff - so here is a way to find out whether or not your arguments are valid: The `.Db' (debug) macro displays the interpre- tation of the argument list for most macros. Macros such as the `.Pp' (paragraph) macro do not contain debugging information. All of the callable macros do, and it is strongly advised whenever in doubt, turn on the `.Db' macro. Usage: .Db [on | off] An example of a portion of text with the debug macro placed above and be- low an artificially created problem (a flag argument `aC' which should be `\&aC' in order to work): .Db on .Op Fl aC Ar file ) .Db off The resulting output: DEBUGGING ON DEBUG(argv) MACRO: `.Op' Line #: 2 Argc: 1 Argv: `Fl' Length: 2 Space: `' Class: Executable Argc: 2 Argv: `aC' Length: 2 Space: `' Class: Executable Argc: 3 Argv: `Ar' Length: 2 Space: `' Class: Executable Argc: 4 Argv: `file' Length: 4 Space: ` ' Class: String Argc: 5 Argv: `)' Length: 1 Space: ` ' Class: Closing Punctuation or suffix MACRO REQUEST: .Op Fl aC Ar file ) DEBUGGING OFF The first line of information tells the name of the calling macro, here `.Op', and the line number it appears on. If one or more files are in- volved (especially if text from another file is included) the line number may be bogus. If there is only one file, it should be accurate. The second line gives the argument count, the argument (`Fl') and its length. If the length of an argument is two characters, the argument is tested to see if it is executable (unfortunately, any register which contains a non-zero value appears executable). The third line gives the space al- lotted for a class, and the class type. The problem here is the argument aC should not be executable. The four types of classes are string, exe- cutable, closing punctuation and opening punctuation. The last line shows the entire argument list as it was read. In this next example, the offending `aC' is escaped: .Db on .Em An escaped \&aC .Db off DEBUGGING ON DEBUG(fargv) MACRO: `.Em' Line #: 2 Argc: 1 Argv: `An' Length: 2 Space: ` ' Class: String Argc: 2 Argv: `escaped' Length: 7 Space: ` ' Class: String Argc: 3 Argv: `aC' Length: 2 Space: ` ' Class: String MACRO REQUEST: .Em An escaped &aC DEBUGGING OFF The argument `\&aC' shows up with the same length of 2 as the `\&' se- quence produces a zero width, but a register named `\&aC' was not found and the type classified as string. Other diagnostics consist of usage statements and are self explanatory. GGRROOFFFF,, TTRROOFFFF AANNDD NNRROOFFFF The --mmddoocc package does not need compatibility mode with groff. The package inhibits page breaks, and the headers and footers which nor- mally occur at those breaks with nroff, to make the manual more effi- cient for viewing on-line. At the moment, groff with --TT_a_s_c_i_i does eject the imaginary remainder of the page at end of file. The inhibiting of the page breaks makes nroff'd files unsuitable for hardcopy. There is a register named `cR' which can be set to zero in the site dependent style file _/_u_s_r_/_s_r_c_/_s_h_a_r_e_/_t_m_a_c_/_d_o_c_-_n_r_o_f_f to restore the old style behavior. FFIILLEESS /usr/share/tmac/tmac.doc manual macro package /usr/share/man0/template.doc template for writing a man page SSEEEE AALLSSOO mdoc(7), man(1), troff(1) BBUUGGSS Undesirable hyphenation on the dash of a flag argument is not yet re- solved, and causes occasional mishaps in the _D_E_S_C_R_I_P_T_I_O_N section. (line break on the hyphen). Predefined strings are not declared in documentation. Section 3f has not been added to the header routines. `.Nm' font should be changed in _N_A_M_E section. `.Fn' needs to have a check to prevent splitting up if the line length is too short. Occasionally it separates the last parenthesis, and sometimes looks ridiculous if a line is in fill mode. The method used to prevent header and footer page breaks (other than the initial header and footer) when using nroff occasionally places an un- sightly partially filled line (blank) at the would be bottom of the page. The list and display macros to not do any keeps and certainly should be able to. BSD Experimental December 30, 1993 23