1.\" $OpenBSD: man.7,v 1.14 2011/01/16 02:56:47 schwarze Exp $ 2.\" 3.\" Copyright (c) 2009, 2010 Kristaps Dzonsons <kristaps@bsd.lv> 4.\" 5.\" Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any 6.\" purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above 7.\" copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies. 8.\" 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. 16.\" 17.Dd $Mdocdate: January 16 2011 $ 18.Dt MAN 7 19.Os 20.Sh NAME 21.Nm man 22.Nd man language reference 23.Sh DESCRIPTION 24The 25.Nm man 26language was historically used to format 27.Ux 28manuals. 29This reference document describes its syntax, structure, and usage. 30.Pp 31.Bf -emphasis 32Do not use 33.Nm 34to write your manuals. 35.Ef 36Use the 37.Xr mdoc 7 38language, instead. 39.Pp 40A 41.Nm 42document follows simple rules: lines beginning with the control 43character 44.Sq \&. 45are parsed for macros. 46Other lines are interpreted within the scope of 47prior macros: 48.Bd -literal -offset indent 49\&.SH Macro lines change control state. 50Other lines are interpreted within the current state. 51.Ed 52.Sh INPUT ENCODING 53.Nm 54documents may contain only graphable 7-bit ASCII characters, the 55space character, and the tab character. 56All manuals must have 57.Ux 58line termination. 59.Pp 60Blank lines are acceptable; where found, the output will assert a 61vertical space. 62.Pp 63If the first character of a line is a space, that line is printed 64with a leading newline. 65.Ss Comments 66Text following a 67.Sq \e\*q , 68whether in a macro or free-form text line, is ignored to the end of 69line. 70A macro line with only a control character and comment escape, 71.Sq \&.\e\*q , 72is also ignored. 73Macro lines with only a control character and optionally whitespace are 74stripped from input. 75.Ss Special Characters 76Special characters may occur in both macro and free-form lines. 77Sequences begin with the escape character 78.Sq \e 79followed by either an open-parenthesis 80.Sq \&( 81for two-character sequences; an open-bracket 82.Sq \&[ 83for n-character sequences (terminated at a close-bracket 84.Sq \&] ) ; 85or a single one-character sequence. 86See 87.Xr mandoc_char 7 88for a complete list. 89Examples include 90.Sq \e(em 91.Pq em-dash 92and 93.Sq \ee 94.Pq back-slash . 95.Ss Text Decoration 96Terms may be text-decorated using the 97.Sq \ef 98escape followed by an indicator: B (bold), I (italic), R (Roman), or P 99(revert to previous mode): 100.Pp 101.D1 \efBbold\efR \efIitalic\efP 102.Pp 103A numerical representation 3, 2, or 1 (bold, italic, and Roman, 104respectively) may be used instead. 105A text decoration is only valid, if specified in free-form text, until 106the next macro invocation; if specified within a macro, it's only valid 107until the macro closes scope. 108Note that macros like 109.Sx \&BR 110open and close a font scope with each argument. 111.Pp 112The 113.Sq \ef 114attribute is forgotten when entering or exiting a macro block. 115.Ss Whitespace 116Whitespace consists of the space character. 117In free-form lines, whitespace is preserved within a line; unescaped 118trailing spaces are stripped from input (unless in a literal context). 119Blank free-form lines, which may include spaces, are permitted and 120rendered as an empty line. 121.Pp 122In macro lines, whitespace delimits arguments and is discarded. 123If arguments are quoted, whitespace within the quotes is retained. 124.Ss Dates 125The 126.Sx \&TH 127macro is the only 128.Nm 129macro that requires a date. 130The form for this date is the ISO-8601 131standard 132.Cm YYYY-MM-DD . 133.Ss Scaling Widths 134Many macros support scaled widths for their arguments, such as 135stipulating a two-inch paragraph indentation with the following: 136.Bd -literal -offset indent 137\&.HP 2i 138.Ed 139.Pp 140The syntax for scaled widths is 141.Sq Li [+-]?[0-9]*.[0-9]*[:unit:]? , 142where a decimal must be preceded or proceeded by at least one digit. 143Negative numbers, while accepted, are truncated to zero. 144The following scaling units are accepted: 145.Pp 146.Bl -tag -width Ds -offset indent -compact 147.It c 148centimetre 149.It i 150inch 151.It P 152pica (~1/6 inch) 153.It p 154point (~1/72 inch) 155.It f 156synonym for 157.Sq u 158.It v 159default vertical span 160.It m 161width of rendered 162.Sq m 163.Pq em 164character 165.It n 166width of rendered 167.Sq n 168.Pq en 169character 170.It u 171default horizontal span 172.It M 173mini-em (~1/100 em) 174.El 175.Pp 176Using anything other than 177.Sq m , 178.Sq n , 179.Sq u , 180or 181.Sq v 182is necessarily non-portable across output media. 183.Pp 184If a scaling unit is not provided, the numerical value is interpreted 185under the default rules of 186.Sq v 187for vertical spaces and 188.Sq u 189for horizontal ones. 190.Em Note : 191this differs from 192.Xr mdoc 7 , 193which, if a unit is not provided, will instead interpret the string as 194literal text. 195.Ss Sentence Spacing 196When composing a manual, make sure that sentences end at the end of 197a line. 198By doing so, front-ends will be able to apply the proper amount of 199spacing after the end of sentence (unescaped) period, exclamation mark, 200or question mark followed by zero or more non-sentence closing 201delimiters 202.Po 203.Sq \&) , 204.Sq \&] , 205.Sq \&' , 206.Sq \&" 207.Pc . 208.Sh MANUAL STRUCTURE 209Each 210.Nm 211document must contain the 212.Sx \&TH 213macro describing the document's section and title. 214It may occur anywhere in the document, although conventionally it 215appears as the first macro. 216.Pp 217Beyond 218.Sx \&TH , 219at least one macro or text node must appear in the document. 220Documents are generally structured as follows: 221.Bd -literal -offset indent 222\&.TH FOO 1 2009-10-10 223\&.SH NAME 224\efBfoo\efR \e(en a description goes here 225\&.\e\*q .SH LIBRARY 226\&.\e\*q For sections 2 & 3 only. 227\&.\e\*q Not used in OpenBSD. 228\&.SH SYNOPSIS 229\efBfoo\efR [\efB\e-options\efR] arguments... 230\&.SH DESCRIPTION 231The \efBfoo\efR utility processes files... 232\&.\e\*q .SH IMPLEMENTATION NOTES 233\&.\e\*q Not used in OpenBSD. 234\&.\e\*q .SH RETURN VALUES 235\&.\e\*q For sections 2, 3, & 9 only. 236\&.\e\*q .SH ENVIRONMENT 237\&.\e\*q For sections 1, 6, 7, & 8 only. 238\&.\e\*q .SH FILES 239\&.\e\*q .SH EXIT STATUS 240\&.\e\*q For sections 1, 6, & 8 only. 241\&.\e\*q .SH EXAMPLES 242\&.\e\*q .SH DIAGNOSTICS 243\&.\e\*q For sections 1, 4, 6, 7, & 8 only. 244\&.\e\*q .SH ERRORS 245\&.\e\*q For sections 2, 3, & 9 only. 246\&.\e\*q .SH SEE ALSO 247\&.\e\*q .BR foo ( 1 ) 248\&.\e\*q .SH STANDARDS 249\&.\e\*q .SH HISTORY 250\&.\e\*q .SH AUTHORS 251\&.\e\*q .SH CAVEATS 252\&.\e\*q .SH BUGS 253\&.\e\*q .SH SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS 254\&.\e\*q Not used in OpenBSD. 255.Ed 256.Pp 257The sections in a 258.Nm 259document are conventionally ordered as they appear above. 260Sections should be composed as follows: 261.Bl -ohang -offset indent 262.It Em NAME 263The name(s) and a short description of the documented material. 264The syntax for this is generally as follows: 265.Pp 266.D1 \efBname\efR \e(en description 267.It Em LIBRARY 268The name of the library containing the documented material, which is 269assumed to be a function in a section 2 or 3 manual. 270For functions in the C library, this may be as follows: 271.Pp 272.D1 Standard C Library (libc, -lc) 273.It Em SYNOPSIS 274Documents the utility invocation syntax, function call syntax, or device 275configuration. 276.Pp 277For the first, utilities (sections 1, 6, and 8), this is 278generally structured as follows: 279.Pp 280.D1 \efBname\efR [-\efBab\efR] [-\efBc\efR\efIarg\efR] \efBpath\efR... 281.Pp 282For the second, function calls (sections 2, 3, 9): 283.Pp 284.D1 \&.B char *name(char *\efIarg\efR); 285.Pp 286And for the third, configurations (section 4): 287.Pp 288.D1 \&.B name* at cardbus ? function ? 289.Pp 290Manuals not in these sections generally don't need a 291.Em SYNOPSIS . 292.It Em DESCRIPTION 293This expands upon the brief, one-line description in 294.Em NAME . 295It usually contains a break-down of the options (if documenting a 296command). 297.It Em IMPLEMENTATION NOTES 298Implementation-specific notes should be kept here. 299This is useful when implementing standard functions that may have side 300effects or notable algorithmic implications. 301.It Em RETURN VALUES 302This section documents the return values of functions in sections 2, 3, and 9. 303.It Em ENVIRONMENT 304Documents any usages of environment variables, e.g., 305.Xr environ 7 . 306.It Em FILES 307Documents files used. 308It's helpful to document both the file name and a short description of how 309the file is used (created, modified, etc.). 310.It Em EXIT STATUS 311This section documents the command exit status for 312section 1, 6, and 8 utilities. 313Historically, this information was described in 314.Em DIAGNOSTICS , 315a practise that is now discouraged. 316.It Em EXAMPLES 317Example usages. 318This often contains snippets of well-formed, 319well-tested invocations. 320Make sure that examples work properly! 321.It Em DIAGNOSTICS 322Documents error conditions. 323This is most useful in section 4 manuals. 324Historically, this section was used in place of 325.Em EXIT STATUS 326for manuals in sections 1, 6, and 8; however, this practise is 327discouraged. 328.It Em ERRORS 329Documents error handling in sections 2, 3, and 9. 330.It Em SEE ALSO 331References other manuals with related topics. 332This section should exist for most manuals. 333.Pp 334.D1 \&.BR bar \&( 1 \&), 335.Pp 336Cross-references should conventionally be ordered 337first by section, then alphabetically. 338.It Em STANDARDS 339References any standards implemented or used, such as 340.Pp 341.D1 IEEE Std 1003.2 (\e(lqPOSIX.2\e(rq) 342.Pp 343If not adhering to any standards, the 344.Em HISTORY 345section should be used. 346.It Em HISTORY 347A brief history of the subject, including where support first appeared. 348.It Em AUTHORS 349Credits to the person or persons who wrote the code and/or documentation. 350Authors should generally be noted by both name and email address. 351.It Em CAVEATS 352Common misuses and misunderstandings should be explained 353in this section. 354.It Em BUGS 355Known bugs, limitations, and work-arounds should be described 356in this section. 357.It Em SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS 358Documents any security precautions that operators should consider. 359.El 360.Sh MACRO SYNTAX 361Macros are one to three characters in length and begin with a 362control character, 363.Sq \&. , 364at the beginning of the line. 365The 366.Sq \(aq 367macro control character is also accepted. 368An arbitrary amount of whitespace (spaces or tabs) may sit between the 369control character and the macro name. 370Thus, the following are equivalent: 371.Bd -literal -offset indent 372\&.PP 373\&.\ \ \ PP 374.Ed 375.Pp 376The 377.Nm 378macros are classified by scope: line scope or block scope. 379Line macros are only scoped to the current line (and, in some 380situations, the subsequent line). 381Block macros are scoped to the current line and subsequent lines until 382closed by another block macro. 383.Ss Line Macros 384Line macros are generally scoped to the current line, with the body 385consisting of zero or more arguments. 386If a macro is scoped to the next line and the line arguments are empty, 387the next line, which must be text, is used instead. 388Thus: 389.Bd -literal -offset indent 390\&.I 391foo 392.Ed 393.Pp 394is equivalent to 395.Sq \&.I foo . 396If next-line macros are invoked consecutively, only the last is used. 397If a next-line macro is followed by a non-next-line macro, an error is 398raised, except for 399.Sx \&br , 400.Sx \&sp , 401and 402.Sx \&na . 403.Pp 404The syntax is as follows: 405.Bd -literal -offset indent 406\&.YO \(lBbody...\(rB 407\(lBbody...\(rB 408.Ed 409.Pp 410.Bl -column -compact -offset indent "MacroX" "ArgumentsX" "ScopeXXXXX" "CompatX" 411.It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments Ta Em Scope Ta Em Notes 412.It Sx \&AT Ta <=1 Ta current Ta \& 413.It Sx \&B Ta n Ta next-line Ta \& 414.It Sx \&BI Ta n Ta current Ta \& 415.It Sx \&BR Ta n Ta current Ta \& 416.It Sx \&DT Ta 0 Ta current Ta \& 417.It Sx \&I Ta n Ta next-line Ta \& 418.It Sx \&IB Ta n Ta current Ta \& 419.It Sx \&IR Ta n Ta current Ta \& 420.It Sx \&R Ta n Ta next-line Ta \& 421.It Sx \&RB Ta n Ta current Ta \& 422.It Sx \&RI Ta n Ta current Ta \& 423.It Sx \&SB Ta n Ta next-line Ta \& 424.It Sx \&SM Ta n Ta next-line Ta \& 425.It Sx \&TH Ta >1, <6 Ta current Ta \& 426.It Sx \&UC Ta <=1 Ta current Ta \& 427.It Sx \&br Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat 428.It Sx \&fi Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat 429.It Sx \&in Ta 1 Ta current Ta compat 430.It Sx \&na Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat 431.It Sx \&nf Ta 0 Ta current Ta compat 432.It Sx \&sp Ta 1 Ta current Ta compat 433.El 434.Pp 435Macros marked as 436.Qq compat 437are included for compatibility with the significant corpus of existing 438manuals that mix dialects of roff. 439These macros should not be used for portable 440.Nm 441manuals. 442.Ss Block Macros 443Block macros comprise a head and body. 444As with in-line macros, the head is scoped to the current line and, in 445one circumstance, the next line (the next-line stipulations as in 446.Sx Line Macros 447apply here as well). 448.Pp 449The syntax is as follows: 450.Bd -literal -offset indent 451\&.YO \(lBhead...\(rB 452\(lBhead...\(rB 453\(lBbody...\(rB 454.Ed 455.Pp 456The closure of body scope may be to the section, where a macro is closed 457by 458.Sx \&SH ; 459sub-section, closed by a section or 460.Sx \&SS ; 461part, closed by a section, sub-section, or 462.Sx \&RE ; 463or paragraph, closed by a section, sub-section, part, 464.Sx \&HP , 465.Sx \&IP , 466.Sx \&LP , 467.Sx \&P , 468.Sx \&PP , 469or 470.Sx \&TP . 471No closure refers to an explicit block closing macro. 472.Pp 473As a rule, block macros may not be nested; thus, calling a block macro 474while another block macro scope is open, and the open scope is not 475implicitly closed, is syntactically incorrect. 476.Pp 477.Bl -column -compact -offset indent "MacroX" "ArgumentsX" "Head ScopeX" "sub-sectionX" "compatX" 478.It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments Ta Em Head Scope Ta Em Body Scope Ta Em Notes 479.It Sx \&HP Ta <2 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \& 480.It Sx \&IP Ta <3 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \& 481.It Sx \&LP Ta 0 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \& 482.It Sx \&P Ta 0 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \& 483.It Sx \&PP Ta 0 Ta current Ta paragraph Ta \& 484.It Sx \&RE Ta 0 Ta current Ta none Ta compat 485.It Sx \&RS Ta 1 Ta current Ta part Ta compat 486.It Sx \&SH Ta >0 Ta next-line Ta section Ta \& 487.It Sx \&SS Ta >0 Ta next-line Ta sub-section Ta \& 488.It Sx \&TP Ta n Ta next-line Ta paragraph Ta \& 489.El 490.Pp 491Macros marked 492.Qq compat 493are as mentioned in 494.Sx Line Macros . 495.Pp 496If a block macro is next-line scoped, it may only be followed by in-line 497macros for decorating text. 498.Sh REFERENCE 499This section is a canonical reference to all macros, arranged 500alphabetically. 501For the scoping of individual macros, see 502.Sx MACRO SYNTAX . 503.Ss \&AT 504Sets the volume for the footer for compatibility with man pages from 505.Tn AT&T UNIX 506releases. 507The optional arguments specify which release it is from. 508.Ss \&B 509Text is rendered in bold face. 510.Pp 511See also 512.Sx \&I 513and 514.Sx \&R . 515.Ss \&BI 516Text is rendered alternately in bold face and italic. 517Thus, 518.Sq .BI this word and that 519causes 520.Sq this 521and 522.Sq and 523to render in bold face, while 524.Sq word 525and 526.Sq that 527render in italics. 528Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output. 529.Pp 530Examples: 531.Pp 532.Dl \&.BI bold italic bold italic 533.Pp 534The output of this example will be emboldened 535.Dq bold 536and italicised 537.Dq italic , 538with spaces stripped between arguments. 539.Pp 540See also 541.Sx \&IB , 542.Sx \&BR , 543.Sx \&RB , 544.Sx \&RI , 545and 546.Sx \&IR . 547.Ss \&BR 548Text is rendered alternately in bold face and roman (the default font). 549Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output. 550.Pp 551See 552.Sx \&BI 553for an equivalent example. 554.Pp 555See also 556.Sx \&BI , 557.Sx \&IB , 558.Sx \&RB , 559.Sx \&RI , 560and 561.Sx \&IR . 562.Ss \&DT 563Has no effect. 564Included for compatibility. 565.Ss \&HP 566Begin a paragraph whose initial output line is left-justified, but 567subsequent output lines are indented, with the following syntax: 568.Bd -filled -offset indent 569.Pf \. Sx \&HP 570.Op Cm width 571.Ed 572.Pp 573The 574.Cm width 575argument must conform to 576.Sx Scaling Widths . 577If specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if unspecified, the 578saved or default width is used. 579.Pp 580See also 581.Sx \&IP , 582.Sx \&LP , 583.Sx \&P , 584.Sx \&PP , 585and 586.Sx \&TP . 587.Ss \&I 588Text is rendered in italics. 589.Pp 590See also 591.Sx \&B 592and 593.Sx \&R . 594.Ss \&IB 595Text is rendered alternately in italics and bold face. 596Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output. 597.Pp 598See 599.Sx \&BI 600for an equivalent example. 601.Pp 602See also 603.Sx \&BI , 604.Sx \&BR , 605.Sx \&RB , 606.Sx \&RI , 607and 608.Sx \&IR . 609.Ss \&IP 610Begin an indented paragraph with the following syntax: 611.Bd -filled -offset indent 612.Pf \. Sx \&IP 613.Op Cm head Op Cm width 614.Ed 615.Pp 616The 617.Cm width 618argument defines the width of the left margin and is defined by 619.Sx Scaling Widths . 620It's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if unspecified, the saved or 621default width is used. 622.Pp 623The 624.Cm head 625argument is used as a leading term, flushed to the left margin. 626This is useful for bulleted paragraphs and so on. 627.Pp 628See also 629.Sx \&HP , 630.Sx \&LP , 631.Sx \&P , 632.Sx \&PP , 633and 634.Sx \&TP . 635.Ss \&IR 636Text is rendered alternately in italics and roman (the default font). 637Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output. 638.Pp 639See 640.Sx \&BI 641for an equivalent example. 642.Pp 643See also 644.Sx \&BI , 645.Sx \&IB , 646.Sx \&BR , 647.Sx \&RB , 648and 649.Sx \&RI . 650.Ss \&LP 651Begin an undecorated paragraph. 652The scope of a paragraph is closed by a subsequent paragraph, 653sub-section, section, or end of file. 654The saved paragraph left-margin width is reset to the default. 655.Pp 656See also 657.Sx \&HP , 658.Sx \&IP , 659.Sx \&P , 660.Sx \&PP , 661and 662.Sx \&TP . 663.Ss \&P 664Synonym for 665.Sx \&LP . 666.Pp 667See also 668.Sx \&HP , 669.Sx \&IP , 670.Sx \&LP , 671.Sx \&PP , 672and 673.Sx \&TP . 674.Ss \&PP 675Synonym for 676.Sx \&LP . 677.Pp 678See also 679.Sx \&HP , 680.Sx \&IP , 681.Sx \&LP , 682.Sx \&P , 683and 684.Sx \&TP . 685.Ss \&R 686Text is rendered in roman (the default font). 687.Pp 688See also 689.Sx \&I 690and 691.Sx \&B . 692.Ss \&RB 693Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and bold face. 694Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output. 695.Pp 696See 697.Sx \&BI 698for an equivalent example. 699.Pp 700See also 701.Sx \&BI , 702.Sx \&IB , 703.Sx \&BR , 704.Sx \&RI , 705and 706.Sx \&IR . 707.Ss \&RE 708Explicitly close out the scope of a prior 709.Sx \&RS . 710.Ss \&RI 711Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and italics. 712Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output. 713.Pp 714See 715.Sx \&BI 716for an equivalent example. 717.Pp 718See also 719.Sx \&BI , 720.Sx \&IB , 721.Sx \&BR , 722.Sx \&RB , 723and 724.Sx \&IR . 725.Ss \&RS 726Begin a part setting the left margin. 727The left margin controls the offset, following an initial indentation, 728to un-indented text such as that of 729.Sx \&PP . 730This has the following syntax: 731.Bd -filled -offset indent 732.Pf \. Sx \&Rs 733.Op Cm width 734.Ed 735.Pp 736The 737.Cm width 738argument must conform to 739.Sx Scaling Widths . 740If not specified, the saved or default width is used. 741.Ss \&SB 742Text is rendered in small size (one point smaller than the default font) 743bold face. 744.Ss \&SH 745Begin a section. 746The scope of a section is only closed by another section or the end of 747file. 748The paragraph left-margin width is reset to the default. 749.Ss \&SM 750Text is rendered in small size (one point smaller than the default 751font). 752.Ss \&SS 753Begin a sub-section. 754The scope of a sub-section is closed by a subsequent sub-section, 755section, or end of file. 756The paragraph left-margin width is reset to the default. 757.Ss \&TH 758Sets the title of the manual page with the following syntax: 759.Bd -filled -offset indent 760.Pf \. Sx \&TH 761.Cm title section 762.Op Cm date Op Cm source Op Cm volume 763.Ed 764.Pp 765At least the upper-case document 766.Cm title 767and the manual 768.Cm section 769arguments must be provided. 770The 771.Cm date 772argument should be formatted as described in 773.Sx Dates , 774but will be printed verbatim if it is not. 775If the date is not specified, the current date is used. 776The 777.Cm source 778string specifies the organisation providing the utility. 779The 780.Cm volume 781string replaces the default rendered volume, which is dictated by the 782manual section. 783.Pp 784Examples: 785.Pp 786.Dl \&.TH CVS 5 "1992-02-12" GNU 787.Ss \&TP 788Begin a paragraph where the head, if exceeding the indentation width, is 789followed by a newline; if not, the body follows on the same line after a 790buffer to the indentation width. 791Subsequent output lines are indented. 792The syntax is as follows: 793.Bd -filled -offset indent 794.Pf \. Sx \&TP 795.Op Cm width 796.Ed 797.Pp 798The 799.Cm width 800argument must conform to 801.Sx Scaling Widths . 802If specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if 803unspecified, the saved or default width is used. 804.Pp 805See also 806.Sx \&HP , 807.Sx \&IP , 808.Sx \&LP , 809.Sx \&P , 810and 811.Sx \&PP . 812.Ss \&UC 813Sets the volume for the footer for compatibility with man pages from 814BSD releases. 815The optional first argument specifies which release it is from. 816.Ss \&br 817Breaks the current line. 818Consecutive invocations have no further effect. 819.Pp 820See also 821.Sx \&sp . 822.Ss \&fi 823End literal mode begun by 824.Sx \&nf . 825.Ss \&in 826Indent relative to the current indentation: 827.Pp 828.D1 Pf \. Sx \&in Op Cm width 829.Pp 830If 831.Cm width 832is signed, the new offset is relative. 833Otherwise, it is absolute. 834This value is reset upon the next paragraph, section, or sub-section. 835.Ss \&na 836Don't align to the right margin. 837.Ss \&nf 838Begin literal mode: all subsequent free-form lines have their end of 839line boundaries preserved. 840May be ended by 841.Sx \&fi . 842.Ss \&sp 843Insert vertical spaces into output with the following syntax: 844.Bd -filled -offset indent 845.Pf \. Sx \&sp 846.Op Cm height 847.Ed 848.Pp 849Insert 850.Cm height 851spaces, which must conform to 852.Sx Scaling Widths . 853If 0, this is equivalent to the 854.Sx \&br 855macro. 856Defaults to 1, if unspecified. 857.Pp 858See also 859.Sx \&br . 860.Sh COMPATIBILITY 861This section documents areas of questionable portability between 862implementations of the 863.Nm 864language. 865.Pp 866.Bl -dash -compact 867.It 868In quoted literals, GNU troff allowed pair-wise double-quotes to produce 869a standalone double-quote in formatted output. 870It is not known whether this behaviour is exhibited by other formatters. 871.It 872troff suppresses a newline before 873.Sq \(aq 874macro output; in mandoc, it is an alias for the standard 875.Sq \&. 876control character. 877.It 878The 879.Sq \eh 880.Pq horizontal position , 881.Sq \ev 882.Pq vertical position , 883.Sq \em 884.Pq text colour , 885.Sq \eM 886.Pq text filling colour , 887.Sq \ez 888.Pq zero-length character , 889.Sq \ew 890.Pq string length , 891.Sq \ek 892.Pq horizontal position marker , 893.Sq \eo 894.Pq text overstrike , 895and 896.Sq \es 897.Pq text size 898escape sequences are all discarded in mandoc. 899.It 900The 901.Sq \ef 902scaling unit is accepted by mandoc, but rendered as the default unit. 903.It 904The 905.Sx \&sp 906macro does not accept negative values in mandoc. 907In GNU troff, this would result in strange behaviour. 908.El 909.Sh SEE ALSO 910.Xr man 1 , 911.Xr mandoc 1 , 912.Xr mandoc_char 7 , 913.Xr mdoc 7 , 914.Xr roff 7 , 915.Xr tbl 7 916.Sh HISTORY 917The 918.Nm 919language first appeared as a macro package for the roff typesetting 920system in 921.At v7 . 922It was later rewritten by James Clark as a macro package for groff. 923The stand-alone implementation that is part of the 924.Xr mandoc 1 925utility written by Kristaps Dzonsons appeared in 926.Ox 4.6 . 927.Sh AUTHORS 928This 929.Nm 930reference was written by 931.An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq kristaps@bsd.lv . 932.Sh CAVEATS 933Do not use this language. 934Use 935.Xr mdoc 7 , 936instead. 937