Annotation of src/usr.bin/mandoc/mdoc.7, Revision 1.12
1.12 ! schwarze 1: .\" $Id: mdoc.7,v 1.11 2009/08/09 21:59:41 schwarze Exp $
1.1 kristaps 2: .\"
1.2 schwarze 3: .\" Copyright (c) 2009 Kristaps Dzonsons <kristaps@kth.se>
1.1 kristaps 4: .\"
5: .\" Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any
1.2 schwarze 6: .\" purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above
7: .\" copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies.
1.1 kristaps 8: .\"
1.2 schwarze 9: .\" THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES
10: .\" WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
11: .\" MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR
12: .\" ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES
13: .\" WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN
14: .\" ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF
15: .\" OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
1.9 schwarze 16: .\"
1.11 schwarze 17: .Dd $Mdocdate: August 9 2009 $
1.2 schwarze 18: .Dt MDOC 7
1.1 kristaps 19: .Os
1.8 schwarze 20: .\" SECTION---------------------------------------------
1.1 kristaps 21: .Sh NAME
22: .Nm mdoc
23: .Nd mdoc language reference
1.8 schwarze 24: .\" SECTION---------------------------------------------
1.1 kristaps 25: .Sh DESCRIPTION
26: The
27: .Nm mdoc
1.9 schwarze 28: language is used to format
29: .Bx
1.1 kristaps 30: .Ux
1.8 schwarze 31: manuals. In this reference document, we describe its syntax, structure,
32: and usage. Our reference implementation is
1.3 schwarze 33: .Xr mandoc 1 .
34: The
35: .Sx COMPATIBILITY
1.9 schwarze 36: section describes compatibility with
1.3 schwarze 37: .Xr groff 1 .
1.8 schwarze 38: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
1.1 kristaps 39: .Pp
40: An
41: .Nm
42: document follows simple rules: lines beginning with the control
1.9 schwarze 43: character
1.1 kristaps 44: .Sq \.
45: are parsed for macros. Other lines are interpreted within the scope of
46: prior macros:
1.8 schwarze 47: .Bd -literal -offset indent
1.1 kristaps 48: \&.Sh Macro lines change control state.
49: Other lines are interpreted within the current state.
50: .Ed
1.8 schwarze 51: .\" SECTION---------------------------------------------
1.9 schwarze 52: .Sh LANGUAGE SYNTAX
1.1 kristaps 53: .Nm
54: documents may contain only graphable 7-bit ASCII characters, the space
1.8 schwarze 55: character, and, in certain circumstances, the tab character. All
56: manuals must have
57: .Ux
1.9 schwarze 58: line terminators.
1.8 schwarze 59: .\" SUB-SECTION----------------------
1.4 schwarze 60: .Ss Comments
1.8 schwarze 61: Text following a
62: .Sq \e" ,
63: whether in a macro or free-form text line, is ignored to the end of
64: line. A macro line with only a control character and comment escape,
65: .Sq \&.\e" ,
66: is also ignored.
67: .\" SUB-SECTION----------------------
1.1 kristaps 68: .Ss Reserved Characters
69: Within a macro line, the following characters are reserved:
1.8 schwarze 70: .Bl -tag -width Ds -offset indent -compact
1.1 kristaps 71: .It \&.
72: .Pq period
73: .It \&,
74: .Pq comma
75: .It \&:
76: .Pq colon
77: .It \&;
78: .Pq semicolon
79: .It \&(
80: .Pq left-parenthesis
81: .It \&)
82: .Pq right-parenthesis
83: .It \&[
84: .Pq left-bracket
85: .It \&]
86: .Pq right-bracket
87: .It \&?
88: .Pq question
89: .It \&!
1.9 schwarze 90: .Pq exclamation
1.3 schwarze 91: .It \&|
1.9 schwarze 92: .Pq vertical bar
1.1 kristaps 93: .El
1.8 schwarze 94: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
1.1 kristaps 95: .Pp
96: Use of reserved characters is described in
1.8 schwarze 97: .Sx MACRO SYNTAX .
98: For general use in macro lines, these characters must either be escaped
99: with a non-breaking space
1.1 kristaps 100: .Pq Sq \e&
1.9 schwarze 101: or, if applicable, an appropriate escape sequence used.
1.8 schwarze 102: .\" SUB-SECTION----------------------
1.1 kristaps 103: .Ss Special Characters
1.8 schwarze 104: Special characters may occur in both macro and free-form lines.
105: Sequences begin with the escape character
1.1 kristaps 106: .Sq \e
1.9 schwarze 107: followed by either an open-parenthesis
1.1 kristaps 108: .Sq \&(
109: for two-character sequences; an open-bracket
110: .Sq \&[
111: for n-character sequences (terminated at a close-bracket
112: .Sq \&] ) ;
1.8 schwarze 113: or a single one-character sequence. See
114: .Xr mandoc_char 1
1.9 schwarze 115: for a complete list. Examples include
116: .Sq \e(em
117: .Pq em-dash
118: and
1.8 schwarze 119: .Sq \ee
120: .Pq back-slash .
121: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
1.1 kristaps 122: .Pp
1.8 schwarze 123: An alternative escape sequence is
124: the slash-asterisk,
1.1 kristaps 125: .Sq \e* ,
1.8 schwarze 126: but this method is discouraged for compatibility reasons.
127: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
1.7 schwarze 128: .Pp
1.8 schwarze 129: Terms may
130: also be text-decorated using the
1.7 schwarze 131: .Sq \ef
1.8 schwarze 132: escape followed by an indicator: B (bold), I, (italic), or P and R
133: (Roman, or reset). This form is not recommended.
134: .\" SUB-SECTION----------------------
1.7 schwarze 135: .Ss Whitespace
1.9 schwarze 136: In non-literal free-form lines, consecutive blocks of whitespace are
137: pruned from input and added later in the output filter, if applicable:
138: .Bd -literal -offset indent
139: These spaces are pruned from input.
140: \&.Bd \-literal
141: These are not.
142: \&.Ed
143: .Ed
144: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
145: .Pp
146: In macro lines, whitespace delimits arguments and is discarded. If
147: arguments are quoted, whitespace within the quotes is retained.
1.8 schwarze 148: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
149: .Pp
1.9 schwarze 150: Blank lines are only permitted within literal contexts, as are lines
151: containing only whitespace. Tab characters are only acceptable when
152: delimiting
1.8 schwarze 153: .Sq \&Bl \-column
1.9 schwarze 154: or when in a literal context.
155: .\" SUB-SECTION----------------------
156: .Ss Quotation
157: Macro arguments may be quoted with a double-quote to group
158: space-delimited terms or to retain blocks of whitespace. A quoted
159: argument begins with a double-quote preceded by whitespace. The next
160: double-quote not pair-wise adjacent to another double-quote terminates
161: the literal, regardless of surrounding whitespace.
162: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
163: .Pp
164: This produces tokens
165: .Sq a" ,
166: .Sq b c ,
167: .Sq de ,
168: and
169: .Sq fg" .
170: Note that any quoted term, be it argument or macro, is indiscriminately
171: considered literal text. Thus, the following produces
172: .Sq \&Em a :
173: .Bd -literal -offset indent
174: \&.Em "Em a"
175: .Ed
176: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
177: .Pp
178: In free-form mode, quotes are regarded as opaque text.
1.8 schwarze 179: .\" SECTION---------------------------------------------
180: .Sh MANUAL STRUCTURE
1.6 schwarze 181: Each
182: .Nm
1.9 schwarze 183: document must begin with a document prologue, containing, in order,
1.8 schwarze 184: .Sq \&Dd ,
185: .Sq \&Dt ,
1.6 schwarze 186: and
1.9 schwarze 187: .Sq \&Os ,
188: then the NAME section containing at least one
189: .Sq \&Nm
190: followed by
191: .Sq \&Nd :
1.8 schwarze 192: .Bd -literal -offset indent
193: \&.Dd $\&Mdocdate$
194: \&.Dt mdoc 7
195: \&.Os
196: \&.Sh NAME
197: \&.Nm mdoc
198: \&.Nd mdoc language reference
199: .Ed
200: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
201: .Pp
202: Subsequent SYNOPSIS and DESCRIPTION sections are strongly encouraged,
1.9 schwarze 203: but non-compulsory.
1.8 schwarze 204: .\" SECTION---------------------------------------------
205: .Sh MACRO SYNTAX
1.9 schwarze 206: Every line beginning with the control character
1.8 schwarze 207: .Sq \.
1.9 schwarze 208: is processed for macros, two- or three-character sequences.
1.8 schwarze 209: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
1.6 schwarze 210: .Pp
1.9 schwarze 211: The syntax of a macro depends on its classification. In this section,
212: .Sq \-arg
1.8 schwarze 213: refers to macro arguments, which may be followed by zero or more
214: .Sq parm
215: parameters;
216: .Sq \&Yo
217: opens the scope of a macro; and if specified,
218: .Sq \&Yc
219: closes it out.
220: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
1.1 kristaps 221: .Pp
1.8 schwarze 222: The
223: .Em Callable
224: column indicates that the macro may be called subsequent to the initial
1.9 schwarze 225: line-macro. The
226: .Em Parsable
1.8 schwarze 227: column indicates whether the macro may be followed by further
228: (ostensibly callable) macros. The
229: .Em Scope
230: column, if applicable, describes closure rules.
231: .\" SUB-SECTION----------------------
232: .Ss Block full-explicit
233: Multi-line scope closed by an explicit closing macro. All macros
234: contains bodies; only
235: .Pq Sq \&Bf
236: contains a head.
237: .Bd -literal -offset indent
1.9 schwarze 238: \&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBparm...\(rB\(rB \(lBhead...\(rB
239: \(lBbody...\(rB
1.1 kristaps 240: \&.Yc
241: .Ed
1.8 schwarze 242: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
1.1 kristaps 243: .Pp
1.8 schwarze 244: .Bl -column -compact -offset indent "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsableX" "closed by XXX"
245: .It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsable Ta Em Scope
246: .It \&Bd Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by \&Ed
1.9 schwarze 247: .It \&Bf Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by \&Ef
248: .It \&Bk Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by \&Ek
249: .It \&Bl Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by \&El
1.8 schwarze 250: .It \&Ed Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta opened by \&Bd
251: .It \&Ef Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta opened by \&Bf
252: .It \&Ek Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta opened by \&Bk
1.9 schwarze 253: .It \&El Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta opened by \&Bl
1.8 schwarze 254: .El
255: .\" SUB-SECTION----------------------
1.1 kristaps 256: .Ss Block full-implicit
1.8 schwarze 257: Multi-line scope closed by end-of-file or implicitly by another macro.
1.9 schwarze 258: All macros have bodies; some
1.1 kristaps 259: .Po
1.9 schwarze 260: .Sq \&It \-bullet ,
261: .Sq \-hyphen ,
1.1 kristaps 262: .Sq \-dash ,
263: .Sq \-enum ,
1.9 schwarze 264: .Sq \-item
1.1 kristaps 265: .Pc
1.9 schwarze 266: don't have heads, while
1.8 schwarze 267: .Sq \&It \-column
268: may have multiple heads.
269: .Bd -literal -offset indent
1.9 schwarze 270: \&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBparm...\(rB\(rB \(lBhead... \(lBTa head...\(rB\(rB
271: \(lBbody...\(rB
1.8 schwarze 272: .Ed
273: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
1.1 kristaps 274: .Pp
1.8 schwarze 275: .Bl -column -compact -offset indent "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsableX" "closed by XXXXXXXXXXX"
276: .It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsable Ta Em Scope
1.9 schwarze 277: .It \&It Ta \&No Ta Yes Ta closed by \&It, \&El
1.8 schwarze 278: .It \&Nd Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by \&Sh
279: .It \&Sh Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by \&Sh
280: .It \&Ss Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by \&Sh, \&Ss
1.1 kristaps 281: .El
1.8 schwarze 282: .\" SUB-SECTION----------------------
283: .Ss Block partial-explicit
284: Like block full-explicit, but also with single-line scope. Each
1.9 schwarze 285: has at least a body and, in limited circumstances, a head
1.8 schwarze 286: .Pq So \&Fo Sc , So \&Eo Sc
1.9 schwarze 287: and/or tail
1.8 schwarze 288: .Pq So \&Ec Sc .
289: .Bd -literal -offset indent
1.9 schwarze 290: \&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBparm...\(rB\(rB \(lBhead...\(rB
291: \(lBbody...\(rB
292: \&.Yc \(lBtail...\(rB
1.8 schwarze 293:
294: \&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBparm...\(rB\(rB \(lBhead...\(rB \
1.9 schwarze 295: \(lBbody...\(rB \&Yc \(lBtail...\(rB
1.8 schwarze 296: .Ed
297: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
1.1 kristaps 298: .Pp
1.8 schwarze 299: .Bl -column "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsableX" "closed by XXXX" -compact -offset indent
1.1 kristaps 300: .It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsable Ta Em Scope
1.9 schwarze 301: .It \&Ac Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&Ao
1.8 schwarze 302: .It \&Ao Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta closed by \&Ac
303: .It \&Bc Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta closed by \&Bo
304: .It \&Bo Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&Bc
1.9 schwarze 305: .It \&Brc Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&Bro
306: .It \&Bro Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta closed by \&Brc
307: .It \&Dc Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&Do
1.8 schwarze 308: .It \&Do Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta closed by \&Dc
1.9 schwarze 309: .It \&Ec Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&Eo
310: .It \&Eo Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta closed by \&Ec
311: .It \&Fc Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&Fo
312: .It \&Fo Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by \&Fc
1.8 schwarze 313: .It \&Oc Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta closed by \&Oo
314: .It \&Oo Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&Oc
1.9 schwarze 315: .It \&Pc Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta closed by \&Po
316: .It \&Po Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&Pc
1.8 schwarze 317: .It \&Qc Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&Oo
318: .It \&Qo Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta closed by \&Oc
319: .It \&Re Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta opened by \&Rs
320: .It \&Rs Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by \&Re
1.9 schwarze 321: .It \&Sc Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&So
322: .It \&So Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta closed by \&Sc
323: .It \&Xc Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta opened by \&Xo
324: .It \&Xo Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta closed by \&Xc
1.1 kristaps 325: .El
1.8 schwarze 326: .\" SUB-SECTION----------------------
1.1 kristaps 327: .Ss Block partial-implicit
1.9 schwarze 328: Like block full-implicit, but with single-line scope closed by
329: .Sx Reserved Characters
1.8 schwarze 330: or end of line.
331: .Bd -literal -offset indent
332: \&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB \(lBbody...\(rB \(lBres...\(rB
333: .Ed
334: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
1.1 kristaps 335: .Pp
1.8 schwarze 336: .Bl -column "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsableX" -compact -offset indent
1.1 kristaps 337: .It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsable
1.8 schwarze 338: .It \&Aq Ta Yes Ta Yes
339: .It \&Bq Ta Yes Ta Yes
1.9 schwarze 340: .It \&Brq Ta Yes Ta Yes
341: .It \&D1 Ta \&No Ta \&Yes
342: .It \&Dl Ta \&No Ta Yes
1.8 schwarze 343: .It \&Dq Ta Yes Ta Yes
1.9 schwarze 344: .It \&Op Ta Yes Ta Yes
1.8 schwarze 345: .It \&Pq Ta Yes Ta Yes
1.9 schwarze 346: .It \&Ql Ta Yes Ta Yes
1.8 schwarze 347: .It \&Qq Ta Yes Ta Yes
348: .It \&Sq Ta Yes Ta Yes
349: .El
350: .\" SUB-SECTION----------------------
351: .Ss In-line
1.9 schwarze 352: Closed by
1.8 schwarze 353: .Sx Reserved Characters ,
354: end of line, fixed argument lengths, and/or subsequent macros. In-line
355: macros have only text children. If a number (or inequality) of
1.1 kristaps 356: arguments is
1.9 schwarze 357: .Pq n ,
1.1 kristaps 358: then the macro accepts an arbitrary number of arguments.
1.8 schwarze 359: .Bd -literal -offset indent
360: \&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB \(lBargs...\(rB \(lbres...\(rb
361:
362: \&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB \(lBargs...\(rB Yc...
363:
364: \&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB arg0 arg1 argN
365: .Ed
366: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
1.1 kristaps 367: .Pp
1.8 schwarze 368: .Bl -column "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsableX" "Arguments" -compact -offset indent
1.1 kristaps 369: .It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsable Ta Em Arguments
1.8 schwarze 370: .It \&%A Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
371: .It \&%B Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
372: .It \&%C Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
373: .It \&%D Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
374: .It \&%I Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
375: .It \&%J Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
376: .It \&%N Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
377: .It \&%O Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
378: .It \&%P Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
379: .It \&%R Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
380: .It \&%T Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
381: .It \&%V Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
1.9 schwarze 382: .It \&Ad Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
383: .It \&An Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
384: .It \&Ap Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta 0
385: .It \&Ar Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.8 schwarze 386: .It \&At Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta 1
387: .It \&Bsx Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.9 schwarze 388: .It \&Bt Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0
1.8 schwarze 389: .It \&Bx Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.10 schwarze 390: .It \&Cd Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
1.9 schwarze 391: .It \&Cm Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.8 schwarze 392: .It \&Db Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 1
1.9 schwarze 393: .It \&Dd Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
394: .It \&Dt Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta n
395: .It \&Dv Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
396: .It \&Dx Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.8 schwarze 397: .It \&Em Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
1.9 schwarze 398: .It \&En Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0
399: .It \&Er Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
400: .It \&Es Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0
401: .It \&Ev Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
402: .It \&Ex Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0
403: .It \&Fa Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
404: .It \&Fd Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta >0
405: .It \&Fl Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
406: .It \&Fn Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
407: .It \&Fr Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta n
408: .It \&Ft Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.8 schwarze 409: .It \&Fx Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.9 schwarze 410: .It \&Hf Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta n
411: .It \&Ic Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
412: .It \&In Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta n
413: .It \&Lb Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 1
414: .It \&Li Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
415: .It \&Lk Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
416: .It \&Lp Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0
1.8 schwarze 417: .It \&Ms Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
1.9 schwarze 418: .It \&Mt Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
419: .It \&Nm Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.8 schwarze 420: .It \&No Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta 0
421: .It \&Ns Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta 0
422: .It \&Nx Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.9 schwarze 423: .It \&Os Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta n
424: .It \&Ot Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta n
1.8 schwarze 425: .It \&Ox Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.9 schwarze 426: .It \&Pa Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.8 schwarze 427: .It \&Pf Ta \&No Ta Yes Ta 1
1.9 schwarze 428: .It \&Pp Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0
429: .It \&Rv Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0
1.8 schwarze 430: .It \&Sm Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 1
1.9 schwarze 431: .It \&St Ta \&No Ta Yes Ta 1
1.8 schwarze 432: .It \&Sx Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
433: .It \&Sy Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
434: .It \&Tn Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
1.9 schwarze 435: .It \&Ud Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0
1.8 schwarze 436: .It \&Ux Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
1.9 schwarze 437: .It \&Va Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta n
438: .It \&Vt Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0
439: .It \&Xr Ta Yes Ta Yes Ta >0, <3
440: .It \&br Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 0
441: .It \&sp Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta 1
1.1 kristaps 442: .El
1.8 schwarze 443: .\" SECTION---------------------------------------------
1.1 kristaps 444: .Sh COMPATIBILITY
1.3 schwarze 445: This section documents compatibility with other roff implementations, at
1.9 schwarze 446: this time limited to
1.3 schwarze 447: .Xr groff 1 .
1.9 schwarze 448: The term
1.3 schwarze 449: .Qq historic groff
1.9 schwarze 450: refers to those versions before the
1.3 schwarze 451: .Pa doc.tmac
1.9 schwarze 452: file re-write
1.3 schwarze 453: .Pq somewhere between 1.15 and 1.19 .
1.8 schwarze 454: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
1.1 kristaps 455: .Pp
456: .Bl -dash -compact
1.12 ! schwarze 457: .\" LIST-ITEM
! 458: .It
! 459: The POSIX.1
! 460: .Sq \&St
! 461: macro produce
! 462: .Dq POSIX
! 463: instead of
! 464: .Dq POSIX.1 .
1.11 schwarze 465: .\" LIST-ITEM
466: .It
467: The
468: .Sq \-split
469: or
470: .Sq \-nosplit
471: argument to
472: .Sq \&An
473: applies to the whole document, not just to the current section as it
474: does in groff.
1.1 kristaps 475: .\" LIST-ITEM
476: .It
1.9 schwarze 477: In quoted literals, groff allowed pair-wise double-quotes to produce a
478: standalone double-quote in formatted output. This idiosyncratic
479: behaviour is no longer applicable.
480: .\" LIST-ITEM
481: .It
482: The
483: .Sq \&sp
484: macro does not accept negative numbers.
485: .\" LIST-ITEM
486: .It
1.7 schwarze 487: Some character sequences in groff are not handled depending on escape
1.9 schwarze 488: style, e.g.,
1.7 schwarze 489: .Sq \e(ba
490: and
491: .Sq \e*(Ba
492: may not be interchanged. This is no longer the case: all character
493: sequences resolve to the same symbol, regardless the escape style.
494: .\" LIST-ITEM
495: .It
496: Blocks of whitespace are stripped from both macro and free-form text
497: lines (except when in literal mode), while groff would retain whitespace
498: in free-form text lines.
499: .\" LIST-ITEM
500: .It
1.3 schwarze 501: Historic groff has many un-callable macros. Most of these (excluding
502: some block-level macros) are now callable, conforming to the
503: non-historic groff version.
504: .\" LIST-ITEM
505: .It
1.9 schwarze 506: The vertical bar
1.7 schwarze 507: .Sq \(ba
1.3 schwarze 508: made historic groff
509: .Qq go orbital
510: but is a proper delimiter in this implementation.
1.1 kristaps 511: .\" LIST-ITEM
512: .It
1.9 schwarze 513: .Sq \&It \-nested
1.3 schwarze 514: is assumed for all lists (it wasn't in historic groff): any list may be
515: nested and
1.1 kristaps 516: .Sq \-enum
517: lists will restart the sequence only for the sub-list.
518: .\" LIST-ITEM
519: .It
1.9 schwarze 520: .Sq \&It \-column
1.3 schwarze 521: syntax where column widths may be preceded by other arguments (instead
1.1 kristaps 522: of proceeded) is not supported.
523: .\" LIST-ITEM
524: .It
1.9 schwarze 525: The
526: .Sq \&At
1.1 kristaps 527: macro only accepts a single parameter.
528: .\" LIST-ITEM
529: .It
530: Some manuals use
1.9 schwarze 531: .Sq \&Li
1.1 kristaps 532: incorrectly by following it with a reserved character and expecting the
533: delimiter to render. This is not supported.
534: .\" LIST-ITEM
535: .It
1.7 schwarze 536: If an special-character control character is escaped
537: .Sq \e\e ,
538: it will obviously not render the subsequent sequence. Even newer
539: versions of groff seem to dither on this.
1.8 schwarze 540: .\" LIST-ITEM
541: .It
1.9 schwarze 542: In groff, the
543: .Sq \&Fo
1.8 schwarze 544: macro only produces the first parameter. This is no longer the case.
1.1 kristaps 545: .El
1.8 schwarze 546: .\" SECTION---------------------------------------------
1.1 kristaps 547: .Sh SEE ALSO
548: .Xr mandoc 1 ,
549: .Xr mandoc_char 7
1.8 schwarze 550: .\" SECTION---------------------------------------------
1.1 kristaps 551: .Sh AUTHORS
552: The
553: .Nm
1.9 schwarze 554: reference was written by
1.2 schwarze 555: .An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq kristaps@kth.se .
1.8 schwarze 556: .\" SECTION---------------------------------------------
1.1 kristaps 557: .Sh CAVEATS
1.2 schwarze 558: There are many ambiguous parts of mdoc.
1.8 schwarze 559: .\" PARAGRAPH------------
1.1 kristaps 560: .Pp
561: .Bl -dash -compact
562: .\" LIST-ITEM
563: .It
1.9 schwarze 564: .Sq \&Fa
565: should be
566: .Sq \&Va
1.1 kristaps 567: as function arguments are variables.
568: .\" LIST-ITEM
569: .It
1.9 schwarze 570: .Sq \&Ft
1.1 kristaps 571: should be
1.9 schwarze 572: .Sq \&Vt
1.1 kristaps 573: as function return types are still types. Furthermore, the
1.9 schwarze 574: .Sq \&Ft
1.1 kristaps 575: should be removed and
1.9 schwarze 576: .Sq \&Fo ,
1.1 kristaps 577: which ostensibly follows it, should follow the same convention as
1.9 schwarze 578: .Sq \&Va .
1.1 kristaps 579: .\" LIST-ITEM
580: .It
1.9 schwarze 581: .Sq \&Va
1.1 kristaps 582: should formalise that only one or two arguments are acceptable: a
1.2 schwarze 583: variable name and optional, preceding type.
1.1 kristaps 584: .\" LIST-ITEM
585: .It
1.9 schwarze 586: .Sq \&Fd
1.1 kristaps 587: is ambiguous. It's commonly used to indicate an include file in the
1.9 schwarze 588: synopsis section.
589: .Sq \&In
1.1 kristaps 590: should be used, instead.
591: .\" LIST-ITEM
592: .It
593: Only the
594: .Sq \-literal
595: argument to
1.9 schwarze 596: .Sq \&Bd
1.1 kristaps 597: makes sense. The remaining ones should be removed.
598: .\" LIST-ITEM
599: .It
1.9 schwarze 600: The
601: .Sq \&Xo
1.1 kristaps 602: and
1.9 schwarze 603: .Sq \&Xc
1.1 kristaps 604: macros should be deprecated.
605: .\" LIST-ITEM
606: .It
607: The
1.9 schwarze 608: .Sq \&Dt
1.1 kristaps 609: macro lacks clarity. It should be absolutely clear which title will
610: render when formatting the manual page.
611: .\" LIST-ITEM
612: .It
613: A
1.9 schwarze 614: .Sq \&Lx
615: should be provided for Linux (\(`a la
616: .Sq \&Ox ,
617: .Sq \&Nx
1.1 kristaps 618: etc.).
619: .\" LIST-ITEM
620: .It
621: There's no way to refer to references in
1.9 schwarze 622: .Sq \&Rs/Re
1.1 kristaps 623: blocks.
1.6 schwarze 624: .\" LIST-ITEM
625: .It
1.9 schwarze 626: The \-split and \-nosplit arguments to
627: .Sq \&An
1.6 schwarze 628: are inane.
1.1 kristaps 629: .El
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