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perlpod.1
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Text File
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1995-07-25
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5KB
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133 lines
PPPPEEEERRRRLLLLPPPPOOOODDDD((((1111)))) UUUUNNNNIIIIXXXX SSSSyyyysssstttteeeemmmm VVVV ((((RRRReeeelllleeeeaaaasssseeee 0000....0000 PPPPaaaattttcccchhhhlllleeeevvvveeeellll 00000000)))) PPPPEEEERRRRLLLLPPPPOOOODDDD((((1111))))
NNNNAAAAMMMMEEEE
pod - plain old documentation
DDDDEEEESSSSCCCCRRRRIIIIPPPPTTTTIIIIOOOONNNN
A pod-to-whatever translator reads a pod file paragraph by
paragraph, and translates it to the appropriate output
format. There are three kinds of paragraphs:
o+ A verbatim paragraph, distinguished by being indented
(that is, it starts with space or tab). It should be
reproduced exactly, with tabs assumed to be on 8-column
boundaries. There are no special formatting escapes, so
you can't italicize or anything like that. A \ means \,
and nothing else.
o+ A command. All command paragraphs start with "=",
followed by an identifier, followed by arbitrary text
that the command can use however it pleases. Currently
recognized commands are
=head1 heading
=head2 heading
=item text
=over N
=back
o+ An ordinary block of text. It will be filled, and maybe
even justified. Certain interior sequences are
recognized both here and in commands:
I<text> italicize text, used for emphasis or variables
B<text> embolden text, used for switches and programs
S<text> text contains non-breaking spaces
C<code> literal code
L<name> A link (cross reference) to name
L<name> manpage
L<name/ident> item in manpage
L<name/"sec"> section in other manpage
L<"sec"> section in this manpage
(the quotes are optional)
F<file> Used for filenames
Z<> A zero-width character
That's it. The intent is simplicity, not power. I
wanted paragraphs to look like paragraphs (block
format), so that they stand out visually, and so that I
could run them through fmt easily to reformat them
(that's F7 in my version of vvvviiii). I wanted the
translator (and not me) to worry about whether " or ' is
a left quote or a right quote within filled text, and I
wanted it to leave the quotes alone dammit in verbatim
Page 1 (printed 6/30/95)
PPPPEEEERRRRLLLLPPPPOOOODDDD((((1111)))) UUUUNNNNIIIIXXXX SSSSyyyysssstttteeeemmmm VVVV ((((RRRReeeelllleeeeaaaasssseeee 0000....0000 PPPPaaaattttcccchhhhlllleeeevvvveeeellll 00000000)))) PPPPEEEERRRRLLLLPPPPOOOODDDD((((1111))))
mode, so I could slurp in a working program, shift it
over 4 spaces, and have it print out, er, verbatim. And
presumably in a constant width font.
In particular, you can leave things like this verbatim
in your text:
Perl
FILEHANDLE
$variable
function()
manpage(3r)
Doubtless a few other commands or sequences will need to
be added along the way, but I've gotten along
surprisingly well with just these.
Note that I'm not at all claiming this to be sufficient
for producing a book. I'm just trying to make an
idiot-proof common source for nroff, TeX, and other
markup languages, as used for online documentation.
Both ppppoooodddd2222hhhhttttmmmmllll and ppppoooodddd2222mmmmaaaannnn translators exist.
AAAAuuuutttthhhhoooorrrr
Larry Wall
Page 2 (printed 6/30/95)