xref: /openbsd-src/share/man/man7/mdoc.7 (revision 53555c846a0a6f917dbd0a191f826da995ab1c42)
1.\" $OpenBSD: mdoc.7,v 1.187 2025/01/02 13:52:17 schwarze Exp $
2.\"
3.\" Copyright (c) 2009, 2010, 2011 Kristaps Dzonsons <kristaps@bsd.lv>
4.\" Copyright (c) 2010, 2011, 2013-2020 Ingo Schwarze <schwarze@openbsd.org>
5.\"
6.\" Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any
7.\" purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above
8.\" copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies.
9.\"
10.\" THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES
11.\" WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
12.\" MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR
13.\" ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES
14.\" WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN
15.\" ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF
16.\" OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
17.\"
18.Dd $Mdocdate: January 2 2025 $
19.Dt MDOC 7
20.Os
21.Sh NAME
22.Nm mdoc
23.Nd semantic markup language for formatting manual pages
24.Sh DESCRIPTION
25The
26.Nm mdoc
27language supports authoring of manual pages for the
28.Xr man 1
29utility by allowing semantic annotations of words, phrases,
30page sections and complete manual pages.
31Such annotations are used by formatting tools to achieve a uniform
32presentation across all manuals written in
33.Nm ,
34and to support hyperlinking if supported by the output medium.
35.Pp
36This reference document describes the structure of manual pages
37and the syntax and usage of the
38.Nm
39language.
40The reference implementation of a parsing and formatting tool is
41.Xr mandoc 1 ;
42the
43.Sx COMPATIBILITY
44section describes compatibility with other implementations.
45.Pp
46In an
47.Nm
48document, lines beginning with the control character
49.Sq \&.
50are called
51.Dq macro lines .
52The first word is the macro name.
53It consists of two or three letters.
54Most macro names begin with a capital letter.
55For a list of available macros, see
56.Sx MACRO OVERVIEW .
57The words following the macro name are arguments to the macro, optionally
58including the names of other, callable macros; see
59.Sx MACRO SYNTAX
60for details.
61.Pp
62Lines not beginning with the control character are called
63.Dq text lines .
64They provide free-form text to be printed; the formatting of the text
65depends on the respective processing context:
66.Bd -literal -offset indent
67\&.Sh Macro lines change control state.
68Text lines are interpreted within the current state.
69.Ed
70.Pp
71Many aspects of the basic syntax of the
72.Nm
73language are based on the
74.Xr roff 7
75language; see the
76.Em LANGUAGE SYNTAX
77and
78.Em MACRO SYNTAX
79sections in the
80.Xr roff 7
81manual for details, in particular regarding
82comments, escape sequences, whitespace, and quoting.
83However, using
84.Xr roff 7
85requests in
86.Nm
87documents is discouraged;
88.Xr mandoc 1
89supports some of them merely for backward compatibility.
90.Sh MANUAL STRUCTURE
91A well-formed
92.Nm
93document consists of a document prologue followed by one or more
94sections.
95.Pp
96The prologue, which consists of the
97.Ic \&Dd ,
98.Ic \&Dt ,
99and
100.Ic \&Os
101macros in that order, is required for every document.
102.Pp
103The first section (sections are denoted by
104.Ic \&Sh )
105must be the NAME section, consisting of at least one
106.Ic \&Nm
107followed by
108.Ic \&Nd .
109.Pp
110Following that, convention dictates specifying at least the
111.Em SYNOPSIS
112and
113.Em DESCRIPTION
114sections, although this varies between manual sections.
115.Pp
116The following is a well-formed skeleton
117.Nm
118file for a utility
119.Qq progname :
120.Bd -literal -offset indent
121\&.Dd $\&Mdocdate$
122\&.Dt PROGNAME section
123\&.Os
124\&.Sh NAME
125\&.Nm progname
126\&.Nd one line about what it does
127\&.\e\(dq .Sh LIBRARY
128\&.\e\(dq For sections 2, 3, and 9 only.
129\&.\e\(dq Not used in OpenBSD.
130\&.Sh SYNOPSIS
131\&.Nm progname
132\&.Op Fl options
133\&.Ar
134\&.Sh DESCRIPTION
135The
136\&.Nm
137utility processes files ...
138\&.\e\(dq .Sh CONTEXT
139\&.\e\(dq For section 9 functions only.
140\&.\e\(dq .Sh IMPLEMENTATION NOTES
141\&.\e\(dq Not used in OpenBSD.
142\&.\e\(dq .Sh RETURN VALUES
143\&.\e\(dq For sections 2, 3, and 9 function return values only.
144\&.\e\(dq .Sh ENVIRONMENT
145\&.\e\(dq For sections 1, 6, 7, and 8 only.
146\&.\e\(dq .Sh FILES
147\&.\e\(dq .Sh EXIT STATUS
148\&.\e\(dq For sections 1, 6, and 8 only.
149\&.\e\(dq .Sh EXAMPLES
150\&.\e\(dq .Sh DIAGNOSTICS
151\&.\e\(dq For sections 1, 4, 6, 7, 8, and 9 printf/stderr messages only.
152\&.\e\(dq .Sh ERRORS
153\&.\e\(dq For sections 2, 3, 4, and 9 errno settings only.
154\&.\e\(dq .Sh SEE ALSO
155\&.\e\(dq .Xr foobar 1
156\&.\e\(dq .Sh STANDARDS
157\&.\e\(dq .Sh HISTORY
158\&.\e\(dq .Sh AUTHORS
159\&.\e\(dq .Sh CAVEATS
160\&.\e\(dq .Sh BUGS
161\&.\e\(dq .Sh SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
162\&.\e\(dq Not used in OpenBSD.
163.Ed
164.Pp
165The sections in an
166.Nm
167document are conventionally ordered as they appear above.
168Sections should be composed as follows:
169.Bl -ohang -offset Ds
170.It Em NAME
171The name(s) and a one line description of the documented material.
172The syntax for this as follows:
173.Bd -literal -offset indent
174\&.Nm name0 ,
175\&.Nm name1 ,
176\&.Nm name2
177\&.Nd a one line description
178.Ed
179.Pp
180Multiple
181.Sq \&Nm
182names should be separated by commas.
183.Pp
184The
185.Ic \&Nm
186macro(s) must precede the
187.Ic \&Nd
188macro.
189.Pp
190See
191.Ic \&Nm
192and
193.Ic \&Nd .
194.It Em LIBRARY
195The name of the library containing the documented material, which is
196assumed to be a function in a section 2, 3, or 9 manual.
197The syntax for this is as follows:
198.Bd -literal -offset indent
199\&.Lb libarm
200.Ed
201.Pp
202See
203.Ic \&Lb .
204.It Em SYNOPSIS
205Documents the utility invocation syntax, function call syntax, or device
206configuration.
207.Pp
208For the first, utilities (sections 1, 6, and 8), this is
209generally structured as follows:
210.Bd -literal -offset indent
211\&.Nm bar
212\&.Op Fl v
213\&.Op Fl o Ar file
214\&.Op Ar
215\&.Nm foo
216\&.Op Fl v
217\&.Op Fl o Ar file
218\&.Op Ar
219.Ed
220.Pp
221Commands should be ordered alphabetically.
222.Pp
223For the second, function calls (sections 2, 3, 9):
224.Bd -literal -offset indent
225\&.In header.h
226\&.Vt extern const char *global;
227\&.Ft "char *"
228\&.Fn foo "const char *src"
229\&.Ft "char *"
230\&.Fn bar "const char *src"
231.Ed
232.Pp
233Ordering of
234.Ic \&In ,
235.Ic \&Vt ,
236.Ic \&Fn ,
237and
238.Ic \&Fo
239macros should follow C header-file conventions.
240.Pp
241And for the third, configurations (section 4):
242.Bd -literal -offset indent
243\&.Cd \(dqit* at isa? port 0x2e\(dq
244\&.Cd \(dqit* at isa? port 0x4e\(dq
245.Ed
246.Pp
247Manuals not in these sections generally don't need a
248.Em SYNOPSIS .
249.Pp
250Some macros are displayed differently in the
251.Em SYNOPSIS
252section, particularly
253.Ic \&Nm ,
254.Ic \&Cd ,
255.Ic \&Fd ,
256.Ic \&Fn ,
257.Ic \&Fo ,
258.Ic \&In ,
259.Ic \&Vt ,
260and
261.Ic \&Ft .
262All of these macros are output on their own line.
263If two such dissimilar macros are pairwise invoked (except for
264.Ic \&Ft
265before
266.Ic \&Fo
267or
268.Ic \&Fn ) ,
269they are separated by a vertical space, unless in the case of
270.Ic \&Fo ,
271.Ic \&Fn ,
272and
273.Ic \&Ft ,
274which are always separated by vertical space.
275.Pp
276When text and macros following an
277.Ic \&Nm
278macro starting an input line span multiple output lines,
279all output lines but the first will be indented to align
280with the text immediately following the
281.Ic \&Nm
282macro, up to the next
283.Ic \&Nm ,
284.Ic \&Sh ,
285or
286.Ic \&Ss
287macro or the end of an enclosing block, whichever comes first.
288.It Em DESCRIPTION
289This begins with an expansion of the brief, one line description in
290.Em NAME :
291.Bd -literal -offset indent
292The
293\&.Nm
294utility does this, that, and the other.
295.Ed
296.Pp
297It usually follows with a breakdown of the options (if documenting a
298command), such as:
299.Bd -literal -offset indent
300The options are as follows:
301\&.Bl \-tag \-width Ds
302\&.It Fl v
303Print verbose information.
304\&.El
305.Ed
306.Pp
307List the options in alphabetical order,
308uppercase before lowercase for each letter and
309with no regard to whether an option takes an argument.
310Put digits in ascending order before all letter options.
311.Pp
312Manuals not documenting a command won't include the above fragment.
313.Pp
314Since the
315.Em DESCRIPTION
316section usually contains most of the text of a manual, longer manuals
317often use the
318.Ic \&Ss
319macro to form subsections.
320In very long manuals, the
321.Em DESCRIPTION
322may be split into multiple sections, each started by an
323.Ic \&Sh
324macro followed by a non-standard section name, and each having
325several subsections, like in the present
326.Nm
327manual.
328.It Em CONTEXT
329This section lists the contexts in which functions can be called in section 9.
330The contexts are autoconf, process, or interrupt.
331.It Em IMPLEMENTATION NOTES
332Implementation-specific notes should be kept here.
333This is useful when implementing standard functions that may have side
334effects or notable algorithmic implications.
335.It Em RETURN VALUES
336This section documents the
337return values of functions in sections 2, 3, and 9.
338.Pp
339See
340.Ic \&Rv .
341.It Em ENVIRONMENT
342Lists the environment variables used by the utility,
343and explains the syntax and semantics of their values.
344The
345.Xr environ 7
346manual provides examples of typical content and formatting.
347.Pp
348See
349.Ic \&Ev .
350.It Em FILES
351Documents files used.
352It's helpful to document both the file name and a short description of how
353the file is used (created, modified, etc.).
354.Pp
355See
356.Ic \&Pa .
357.It Em EXIT STATUS
358This section documents the
359command exit status for section 1, 6, and 8 utilities.
360Historically, this information was described in
361.Em DIAGNOSTICS ,
362a practise that is now discouraged.
363.Pp
364See
365.Ic \&Ex .
366.It Em EXAMPLES
367Example usages.
368This often contains snippets of well-formed, well-tested invocations.
369Make sure that examples work properly!
370.It Em DIAGNOSTICS
371Documents error messages.
372In section 4 and 9 manuals, these are usually messages printed by the
373kernel to the console and to the kernel log.
374In section 1, 6, 7, and 8, these are usually messages printed by
375userland programs to the standard error output.
376.Pp
377Historically, this section was used in place of
378.Em EXIT STATUS
379for manuals in sections 1, 6, and 8; however, this practise is
380discouraged.
381.Pp
382See
383.Ic \&Bl
384.Fl diag .
385.It Em ERRORS
386Documents
387.Xr errno 2
388settings in sections 2, 3, 4, and 9.
389.Pp
390See
391.Ic \&Er .
392.It Em SEE ALSO
393References other manuals with related topics.
394This section should exist for most manuals.
395Cross-references should conventionally be ordered first by section, then
396alphabetically (ignoring case).
397.Pp
398References to other documentation concerning the topic of the manual page,
399for example authoritative books or journal articles, may also be
400provided in this section.
401.Pp
402See
403.Ic \&Rs
404and
405.Ic \&Xr .
406.It Em STANDARDS
407References any standards implemented or used.
408If not adhering to any standards, the
409.Em HISTORY
410section should be used instead.
411.Pp
412See
413.Ic \&St .
414.It Em HISTORY
415A brief history of the subject, including where it was first implemented,
416and when it was ported to or reimplemented for the operating system at hand.
417.It Em AUTHORS
418Credits to the person or persons who wrote the code and/or documentation.
419Authors should generally be noted by both name and email address.
420.Pp
421See
422.Ic \&An .
423.It Em CAVEATS
424Common misuses and misunderstandings should be explained
425in this section.
426.It Em BUGS
427Known bugs, limitations, and work-arounds should be described
428in this section.
429.It Em SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
430Documents any security precautions that operators should consider.
431.El
432.Sh MACRO OVERVIEW
433This overview is sorted such that macros of similar purpose are listed
434together, to help find the best macro for any given purpose.
435Deprecated macros are not included in the overview, but can be found below
436in the alphabetical
437.Sx MACRO REFERENCE .
438.Ss Document preamble and NAME section macros
439.Bl -column "Brq, Bro, Brc" description
440.It Ic \&Dd Ta document date: Cm $\&Mdocdate$ | Ar month day , year
441.It Ic \&Dt Ta document title: Ar TITLE section Op Ar arch
442.It Ic \&Os Ta operating system footer: Op Ar footer text
443.It Ic \&Nm Ta document name (one argument)
444.It Ic \&Nd Ta document description (one line)
445.El
446.Ss Sections and cross references
447.Bl -column "Brq, Bro, Brc" description
448.It Ic \&Sh Ta section header (one line)
449.It Ic \&Ss Ta subsection header (one line)
450.It Ic \&Sx Ta internal cross reference to a section or subsection
451.It Ic \&Xr Ta cross reference to another manual page: Ar name section
452.It Ic \&Tg Ta tag the definition of a Ar term Pq <= 1 arguments
453.It Ic \&Pp Ta start a text paragraph (no arguments)
454.El
455.Ss Displays and lists
456.Bl -column "Brq, Bro, Brc" description
457.It Ic \&Bd , \&Ed Ta display block:
458.Fl Ar type
459.Op Fl offset Ar width
460.Op Fl compact
461.It Ic \&D1 Ta indented display (one line)
462.It Ic \&Dl Ta indented literal display (one line)
463.It Ic \&Ql Ta in-line literal display: Ql text
464.It Ic \&Bl , \&El Ta list block:
465.Fl Ar type
466.Op Fl width Ar val
467.Op Fl offset Ar val
468.Op Fl compact
469.It Ic \&It Ta list item (syntax depends on Fl Ar type )
470.It Ic \&Ta Ta table cell separator in Ic \&Bl Fl column No lists
471.It Ic \&Rs , \&%* , \&Re Ta bibliographic block (references)
472.El
473.Ss Spacing control
474.Bl -column "Brq, Bro, Brc" description
475.It Ic \&Pf Ta prefix, no following horizontal space (one argument)
476.It Ic \&Ns Ta roman font, no preceding horizontal space (no arguments)
477.It Ic \&Ap Ta apostrophe without surrounding whitespace (no arguments)
478.It Ic \&Sm Ta switch horizontal spacing mode: Op Cm on | off
479.It Ic \&Bk , \&Ek Ta keep block: Fl words
480.El
481.Ss Semantic markup for command line utilities
482.Bl -column "Brq, Bro, Brc" description
483.It Ic \&Nm Ta start a SYNOPSIS block with the name of a utility
484.It Ic \&Fl Ta command line options (flags) (>=0 arguments)
485.It Ic \&Cm Ta command modifier (>0 arguments)
486.It Ic \&Ar Ta command arguments (>=0 arguments)
487.It Ic \&Op , \&Oo , \&Oc Ta optional syntax elements (enclosure)
488.It Ic \&Ic Ta internal or interactive command (>0 arguments)
489.It Ic \&Ev Ta environmental variable (>0 arguments)
490.It Ic \&Pa Ta file system path (>=0 arguments)
491.El
492.Ss Semantic markup for function libraries
493.Bl -column "Brq, Bro, Brc" description
494.It Ic \&Lb Ta function library (one argument)
495.It Ic \&In Ta include file (one argument)
496.It Ic \&Fd Ta other preprocessor directive (>0 arguments)
497.It Ic \&Ft Ta function type (>0 arguments)
498.It Ic \&Fo , \&Fc Ta function block: Ar funcname
499.It Ic \&Fn Ta function name: Ar funcname Op Ar argument ...
500.It Ic \&Fa Ta function argument (>0 arguments)
501.It Ic \&Vt Ta variable type (>0 arguments)
502.It Ic \&Va Ta variable name (>0 arguments)
503.It Ic \&Dv Ta defined variable or preprocessor constant (>0 arguments)
504.It Ic \&Er Ta error constant (>0 arguments)
505.It Ic \&Ev Ta environmental variable (>0 arguments)
506.El
507.Ss Various semantic markup
508.Bl -column "Brq, Bro, Brc" description
509.It Ic \&An Ta author name (>0 arguments)
510.It Ic \&Lk Ta hyperlink: Ar uri Op Ar display_name
511.It Ic \&Mt Ta Do mailto Dc hyperlink: Ar localpart Ns @ Ns Ar domain
512.It Ic \&Cd Ta kernel configuration declaration (>0 arguments)
513.It Ic \&Ad Ta memory address (>0 arguments)
514.It Ic \&Ms Ta mathematical symbol (>0 arguments)
515.El
516.Ss Physical markup
517.Bl -column "Brq, Bro, Brc" description
518.It Ic \&Em Ta italic font or underline (emphasis) (>0 arguments)
519.It Ic \&Sy Ta boldface font (symbolic) (>0 arguments)
520.It Ic \&No Ta return to roman font (normal) (>0 arguments)
521.It Ic \&Bf , \&Ef Ta font block: Fl Ar type | Cm \&Em | \&Li | \&Sy
522.El
523.Ss Physical enclosures
524.Bl -column "Brq, Bro, Brc" description
525.It Ic \&Dq , \&Do , \&Dc Ta enclose in typographic double quotes: Dq text
526.It Ic \&Qq , \&Qo , \&Qc Ta enclose in typewriter double quotes: Qq text
527.It Ic \&Sq , \&So , \&Sc Ta enclose in single quotes: Sq text
528.It Ic \&Pq , \&Po , \&Pc Ta enclose in parentheses: Pq text
529.It Ic \&Bq , \&Bo , \&Bc Ta enclose in square brackets: Bq text
530.It Ic \&Brq , \&Bro , \&Brc Ta enclose in curly braces: Brq text
531.It Ic \&Aq , \&Ao , \&Ac Ta enclose in angle brackets: Aq text
532.It Ic \&Eo , \&Ec Ta generic enclosure
533.El
534.Ss Text production
535.Bl -column "Brq, Bro, Brc" description
536.It Ic \&Ex Fl std Ta standard command exit values: Op Ar utility ...
537.It Ic \&Rv Fl std Ta standard function return values: Op Ar function ...
538.It Ic \&St Ta reference to a standards document (one argument)
539.It Ic \&At Ta At
540.It Ic \&Bx Ta Bx
541.It Ic \&Bsx Ta Bsx
542.It Ic \&Nx Ta Nx
543.It Ic \&Fx Ta Fx
544.It Ic \&Ox Ta Ox
545.It Ic \&Dx Ta Dx
546.El
547.Sh MACRO REFERENCE
548This section is a canonical reference of all macros, arranged
549alphabetically.
550For the scoping of individual macros, see
551.Sx MACRO SYNTAX .
552.Bl -tag -width 3n
553.It Ic \&%A Ar first_name ... last_name
554Author name of an
555.Ic \&Rs
556block.
557Multiple authors should each be accorded their own
558.Ic \%%A
559line.
560Author names should be ordered with full or abbreviated forename(s)
561first, then full surname.
562.It Ic \&%B Ar title
563Book title of an
564.Ic \&Rs
565block.
566This macro may also be used in a non-bibliographic context when
567referring to book titles.
568.It Ic \&%C Ar location
569Publication city or location of an
570.Ic \&Rs
571block.
572.It Ic \&%D Oo Ar month day , Oc Ar year
573Publication date of an
574.Ic \&Rs
575block.
576Provide the full English name of the
577.Ar month
578and all four digits of the
579.Ar year .
580.It Ic \&%I Ar name
581Publisher or issuer name of an
582.Ic \&Rs
583block.
584.It Ic \&%J Ar name
585Journal name of an
586.Ic \&Rs
587block.
588.It Ic \&%N Ar number
589Issue number (usually for journals) of an
590.Ic \&Rs
591block.
592.It Ic \&%O Ar line
593Optional information of an
594.Ic \&Rs
595block.
596.It Ic \&%P Ar number
597Book or journal page number of an
598.Ic \&Rs
599block.
600Conventionally, the argument starts with
601.Ql p.\&
602for a single page or
603.Ql pp.\&
604for a range of pages, for example:
605.Pp
606.Dl .%P pp. 42\e(en47
607.It Ic \&%Q Ar name
608Institutional author (school, government, etc.) of an
609.Ic \&Rs
610block.
611Multiple institutional authors should each be accorded their own
612.Ic \&%Q
613line.
614.It Ic \&%R Ar name
615Technical report name of an
616.Ic \&Rs
617block.
618.It Ic \&%T Ar title
619Article title of an
620.Ic \&Rs
621block.
622This macro may also be used in a non-bibliographical context when
623referring to article titles.
624.It Ic \&%U Ar protocol Ns :// Ns Ar path
625URI of reference document.
626.It Ic \&%V Ar number
627Volume number of an
628.Ic \&Rs
629block.
630.It Ic \&Ac
631Close an
632.Ic \&Ao
633block.
634Does not have any tail arguments.
635.Tg Ad
636.It Ic \&Ad Ar address
637Memory address.
638Do not use this for postal addresses.
639.Pp
640Examples:
641.Dl \&.Ad [0,$]
642.Dl \&.Ad 0x00000000
643.Tg An
644.It Ic \&An Fl split | nosplit | Ar first_name ... last_name
645Author name.
646Can be used both for the authors of the program, function, or driver
647documented in the manual, or for the authors of the manual itself.
648Requires either the name of an author or one of the following arguments:
649.Pp
650.Bl -tag -width "-nosplitX" -offset indent -compact
651.It Fl split
652Start a new output line before each subsequent invocation of
653.Ic \&An .
654.It Fl nosplit
655The opposite of
656.Fl split .
657.El
658.Pp
659The default is
660.Fl nosplit .
661The effect of selecting either of the
662.Fl split
663modes ends at the beginning of the
664.Em AUTHORS
665section.
666In the
667.Em AUTHORS
668section, the default is
669.Fl nosplit
670for the first author listing and
671.Fl split
672for all other author listings.
673.Pp
674Examples:
675.Dl \&.An -nosplit
676.Dl \&.An Kristaps Dzonsons \&Aq \&Mt kristaps@bsd.lv
677.It Ic \&Ao Ar block
678Begin a block enclosed by angle brackets.
679Does not have any head arguments.
680This macro is almost never useful.
681See
682.Ic \&Aq
683for more details.
684.Tg Ap
685.It Ic \&Ap
686Inserts an apostrophe without any surrounding whitespace.
687This is generally used as a grammatical device when referring to the verb
688form of a function.
689.Pp
690Examples:
691.Dl \&.Fn execve \&Ap d
692.Tg Aq
693.It Ic \&Aq Ar line
694Enclose the rest of the input line in angle brackets.
695The only important use case is for email addresses.
696See
697.Ic \&Mt
698for an example.
699.Pp
700Occasionally, it is used for names of characters and keys, for example:
701.Bd -literal -offset indent
702Press the
703\&.Aq escape
704key to ...
705.Ed
706.Pp
707For URIs, use
708.Ic \&Lk
709instead, and
710.Ic \&In
711for
712.Dq #include
713directives.
714Never wrap
715.Ic \&Ar
716in
717.Ic \&Aq .
718.Pp
719Since
720.Ic \&Aq
721usually renders with non-ASCII characters in non-ASCII output modes,
722do not use it where the ASCII characters
723.Sq <
724and
725.Sq >
726are required as syntax elements.
727Instead, use these characters directly in such cases, combining them
728with the macros
729.Ic \&Pf ,
730.Ic \&Ns ,
731or
732.Ic \&Eo
733as needed.
734.Pp
735See also
736.Ic \&Ao .
737.Tg Ar
738.It Ic \&Ar Op Ar placeholder ...
739Command arguments.
740If an argument is not provided, the string
741.Dq file ...\&
742is used as a default.
743.Pp
744Examples:
745.Dl ".Fl o Ar file"
746.Dl ".Ar"
747.Dl ".Ar arg1 , arg2 ."
748.Pp
749The arguments to the
750.Ic \&Ar
751macro are names and placeholders for command arguments;
752for fixed strings to be passed verbatim as arguments, use
753.Ic \&Fl
754or
755.Ic \&Cm .
756.Tg At
757.It Ic \&At Op Ar version
758Formats an
759.At
760version.
761Accepts one optional argument:
762.Pp
763.Bl -tag -width "v[1-7] | 32vX" -offset indent -compact
764.It Cm v[1-7] | 32v
765A version of
766.At .
767.It Cm III
768.At III .
769.It Cm V | V.[1-4]
770A version of
771.At V .
772.El
773.Pp
774Note that these arguments do not begin with a hyphen.
775.Pp
776Examples:
777.Dl \&.At
778.Dl \&.At III
779.Dl \&.At V.1
780.Pp
781See also
782.Ic \&Bsx ,
783.Ic \&Bx ,
784.Ic \&Dx ,
785.Ic \&Fx ,
786.Ic \&Nx ,
787and
788.Ic \&Ox .
789.It Ic \&Bc
790Close a
791.Ic \&Bo
792block.
793Does not have any tail arguments.
794.Tg Bd
795.It Ic \&Bd Fl Ns Ar type Oo Fl offset Ar width Oc Op Fl compact
796Begin a display block.
797Display blocks are used to select a different indentation and
798justification than the one used by the surrounding text.
799They may contain both macro lines and text lines.
800By default, a display block is preceded by a vertical space.
801.Pp
802The
803.Ar type
804must be one of the following:
805.Bl -tag -width 13n -offset indent
806.It Fl centered
807Produce one output line from each input line, and center-justify each line.
808Using this display type is not recommended; many
809.Nm
810implementations render it poorly.
811.It Fl filled
812Change the positions of line breaks to fill each line, and left- and
813right-justify the resulting block.
814.It Fl literal
815Produce one output line from each input line,
816and do not justify the block at all.
817Preserve white space as it appears in the input.
818Always use a constant-width font.
819Use this for displaying source code.
820.It Fl ragged
821Change the positions of line breaks to fill each line, and left-justify
822the resulting block.
823.It Fl unfilled
824The same as
825.Fl literal ,
826but using the same font as for normal text, which is a variable width font
827if supported by the output device.
828.El
829.Pp
830The
831.Ar type
832must be provided first.
833Additional arguments may follow:
834.Bl -tag -width 13n -offset indent
835.It Fl offset Ar width
836Indent the display by the
837.Ar width ,
838which may be one of the following:
839.Bl -item
840.It
841One of the pre-defined strings
842.Cm indent ,
843the width of a standard indentation (six constant width characters);
844.Cm indent-two ,
845twice
846.Cm indent ;
847.Cm left ,
848which has no effect;
849.Cm right ,
850which justifies to the right margin; or
851.Cm center ,
852which aligns around an imagined center axis.
853.It
854A macro invocation, which selects a predefined width
855associated with that macro.
856The most popular is the imaginary macro
857.Ar \&Ds ,
858which resolves to
859.Sy 6n .
860.It
861A scaling width as described in
862.Xr roff 7 .
863.It
864An arbitrary string, which indents by the length of this string.
865.El
866.Pp
867When the argument is missing,
868.Fl offset
869is ignored.
870.It Fl compact
871Do not assert vertical space before the display.
872.El
873.Pp
874Examples:
875.Bd -literal -offset indent
876\&.Bd \-literal \-offset indent \-compact
877   Hello       world.
878\&.Ed
879.Ed
880.Pp
881See also
882.Ic \&D1
883and
884.Ic \&Dl .
885.Tg Bf
886.It Ic \&Bf Fl emphasis | literal | symbolic | Cm \&Em | \&Li | \&Sy
887Change the font mode for a scoped block of text.
888The
889.Fl emphasis
890and
891.Cm \&Em
892argument are equivalent, as are
893.Fl symbolic
894and
895.Cm \&Sy ,
896and
897.Fl literal
898and
899.Cm \&Li .
900Without an argument, this macro does nothing.
901The font mode continues until broken by a new font mode in a nested
902scope or
903.Ic \&Ef
904is encountered.
905.Pp
906See also
907.Ic \&Li ,
908.Ic \&Ef ,
909.Ic \&Em ,
910and
911.Ic \&Sy .
912.Tg Bk
913.It Ic \&Bk Fl words
914For each macro, keep its output together on the same output line,
915until the end of the macro or the end of the input line is reached,
916whichever comes first.
917Line breaks in text lines are unaffected.
918.Pp
919The
920.Fl words
921argument is required; additional arguments are ignored.
922.Pp
923The following example will not break within each
924.Ic \&Op
925macro line:
926.Bd -literal -offset indent
927\&.Bk \-words
928\&.Op Fl f Ar flags
929\&.Op Fl o Ar output
930\&.Ek
931.Ed
932.Pp
933Be careful in using over-long lines within a keep block!
934Doing so will clobber the right margin.
935.Tg Bl
936.It Xo
937.Ic \&Bl
938.Fl Ns Ar type
939.Op Fl width Ar val
940.Op Fl offset Ar val
941.Op Fl compact
942.Op Ar col ...
943.Xc
944Begin a list.
945Lists consist of items specified using the
946.Ic \&It
947macro, containing a head or a body or both.
948.Pp
949The list
950.Ar type
951is mandatory and must be specified first.
952The
953.Fl width
954and
955.Fl offset
956arguments accept macro names as described for
957.Ic \&Bd
958.Fl offset ,
959scaling widths as described in
960.Xr roff 7 ,
961or use the length of the given string.
962The
963.Fl offset
964is a global indentation for the whole list, affecting both item heads
965and bodies.
966For those list types supporting it, the
967.Fl width
968argument requests an additional indentation of item bodies,
969to be added to the
970.Fl offset .
971Unless the
972.Fl compact
973argument is specified, list entries are separated by vertical space.
974.Pp
975A list must specify one of the following list types:
976.Bl -tag -width 12n -offset indent
977.It Fl bullet
978No item heads can be specified, but a bullet will be printed at the head
979of each item.
980Item bodies start on the same output line as the bullet
981and are indented according to the
982.Fl width
983argument.
984.It Fl column
985A columnated list.
986The
987.Fl width
988argument has no effect; instead, the string length of each argument
989specifies the width of one column.
990If the first line of the body of a
991.Fl column
992list is not an
993.Ic \&It
994macro line,
995.Ic \&It
996contexts spanning one input line each are implied until an
997.Ic \&It
998macro line is encountered, at which point items start being interpreted as
999described in the
1000.Ic \&It
1001documentation.
1002.It Fl dash
1003Like
1004.Fl bullet ,
1005except that dashes are used in place of bullets.
1006.It Fl diag
1007Like
1008.Fl inset ,
1009except that item heads are not parsed for macro invocations.
1010Most often used in the
1011.Em DIAGNOSTICS
1012section with error constants in the item heads.
1013.It Fl enum
1014A numbered list.
1015No item heads can be specified.
1016Formatted like
1017.Fl bullet ,
1018except that ordinal numbers are used in place of bullets,
1019starting at 1.
1020.It Fl hang
1021Like
1022.Fl tag ,
1023except that the first lines of item bodies are not indented, but follow
1024the item heads like in
1025.Fl inset
1026lists.
1027.It Fl hyphen
1028Synonym for
1029.Fl dash .
1030.It Fl inset
1031Item bodies follow items heads on the same line, using normal inter-word
1032spacing.
1033Bodies are not indented, and the
1034.Fl width
1035argument is ignored.
1036.It Fl item
1037No item heads can be specified, and none are printed.
1038Bodies are not indented, and the
1039.Fl width
1040argument is ignored.
1041.It Fl ohang
1042Item bodies start on the line following item heads and are not indented.
1043The
1044.Fl width
1045argument is ignored.
1046.It Fl tag
1047Item bodies are indented according to the
1048.Fl width
1049argument.
1050When an item head fits inside the indentation, the item body follows
1051this head on the same output line.
1052Otherwise, the body starts on the output line following the head.
1053.El
1054.Pp
1055Lists may be nested within lists and displays.
1056Nesting of
1057.Fl column
1058and
1059.Fl enum
1060lists may not be portable.
1061.Pp
1062See also
1063.Ic \&El
1064and
1065.Ic \&It .
1066.It Ic \&Bo Ar block
1067Begin a block enclosed by square brackets.
1068Does not have any head arguments.
1069.Pp
1070Examples:
1071.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact
1072\&.Bo 1 ,
1073\&.Dv BUFSIZ \&Bc
1074.Ed
1075.Pp
1076See also
1077.Ic \&Bq .
1078.Tg Bq
1079.It Ic \&Bq Ar line
1080Encloses its arguments in square brackets.
1081.Pp
1082Examples:
1083.Dl \&.Bq 1 , \&Dv BUFSIZ
1084.Pp
1085.Em Remarks :
1086this macro is sometimes abused to emulate optional arguments for
1087commands; the correct macros to use for this purpose are
1088.Ic \&Op ,
1089.Ic \&Oo ,
1090and
1091.Ic \&Oc .
1092.Pp
1093See also
1094.Ic \&Bo .
1095.It Ic \&Brc
1096Close a
1097.Ic \&Bro
1098block.
1099Does not have any tail arguments.
1100.It Ic \&Bro Ar block
1101Begin a block enclosed by curly braces.
1102Does not have any head arguments.
1103.Pp
1104Examples:
1105.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact
1106\&.Bro 1 , ... ,
1107\&.Va n \&Brc
1108.Ed
1109.Pp
1110See also
1111.Ic \&Brq .
1112.Tg Brq
1113.It Ic \&Brq Ar line
1114Encloses its arguments in curly braces.
1115.Pp
1116Examples:
1117.Dl \&.Brq 1 , ... , \&Va n
1118.Pp
1119See also
1120.Ic \&Bro .
1121.Tg Bsx
1122.It Ic \&Bsx Op Ar version
1123Format the
1124.Bsx
1125version provided as an argument, or a default value if
1126no argument is provided.
1127.Pp
1128Examples:
1129.Dl \&.Bsx 1.0
1130.Dl \&.Bsx
1131.Pp
1132See also
1133.Ic \&At ,
1134.Ic \&Bx ,
1135.Ic \&Dx ,
1136.Ic \&Fx ,
1137.Ic \&Nx ,
1138and
1139.Ic \&Ox .
1140.It Ic \&Bt
1141Supported only for compatibility, do not use this in new manuals.
1142Prints
1143.Dq is currently in beta test.
1144.Tg Bx
1145.It Ic \&Bx Op Ar version Op Ar variant
1146Format the
1147.Bx
1148version provided as an argument, or a default value if no
1149argument is provided.
1150.Pp
1151Examples:
1152.Dl \&.Bx 4.3 Tahoe
1153.Dl \&.Bx 4.4
1154.Dl \&.Bx
1155.Pp
1156See also
1157.Ic \&At ,
1158.Ic \&Bsx ,
1159.Ic \&Dx ,
1160.Ic \&Fx ,
1161.Ic \&Nx ,
1162and
1163.Ic \&Ox .
1164.Tg Cd
1165.It Ic \&Cd Ar line
1166Kernel configuration declaration.
1167This denotes strings accepted by
1168.Xr config 8 .
1169It is most often used in section 4 manual pages.
1170.Pp
1171Examples:
1172.Dl \&.Cd device le0 at scode?
1173.Pp
1174.Em Remarks :
1175this macro is commonly abused by using quoted literals to retain
1176whitespace and align consecutive
1177.Ic \&Cd
1178declarations.
1179This practise is discouraged.
1180.Tg Cm
1181.It Ic \&Cm Ar keyword ...
1182Command modifiers.
1183Typically used for fixed strings passed as arguments to interactive
1184commands, to commands in interpreted scripts, or to configuration
1185file directives, unless
1186.Ic \&Fl
1187is more appropriate.
1188.Pp
1189Examples:
1190.Dl ".Nm mt Fl f Ar device Cm rewind"
1191.Dl ".Nm ps Fl o Cm pid , Ns Cm command"
1192.Dl ".Nm dd Cm if= Ns Ar file1 Cm of= Ns Ar file2"
1193.Dl ".Ic set Fl o Cm vi"
1194.Dl ".Ic lookup Cm file bind"
1195.Dl ".Ic permit Ar identity Op Cm as Ar target"
1196.Tg D1
1197.It Ic \&D1 Ar line
1198One-line indented display.
1199This is formatted by the default rules and is useful for simple indented
1200statements.
1201It is followed by a newline.
1202.Pp
1203Examples:
1204.Dl \&.D1 \&Fl abcdefgh
1205.Pp
1206See also
1207.Ic \&Bd
1208and
1209.Ic \&Dl .
1210.It Ic \&Db
1211This macro is obsolete.
1212No replacement is needed.
1213It is ignored by
1214.Xr mandoc 1
1215and groff including its arguments.
1216It was formerly used to toggle a debugging mode.
1217.It Ic \&Dc
1218Close a
1219.Ic \&Do
1220block.
1221Does not have any tail arguments.
1222.Tg Dd
1223.It Ic \&Dd Cm $\&Mdocdate$ | Ar month day , year
1224Document date for display in the page footer,
1225by convention the date of the last change.
1226This is the mandatory first macro of any
1227.Nm
1228manual.
1229.Pp
1230The
1231.Ar month
1232is the full English month name, the
1233.Ar day
1234is an integer number, and the
1235.Ar year
1236is the full four-digit year.
1237.Pp
1238Other arguments are not portable; the
1239.Xr mandoc 1
1240utility handles them as follows:
1241.Bl -dash -offset 3n -compact
1242.It
1243To have the date automatically filled in by the
1244.Ox
1245version of
1246.Xr cvs 1 ,
1247the special string
1248.Dq $\&Mdocdate$
1249can be given as an argument.
1250.It
1251The traditional, purely numeric
1252.Xr man 7
1253format
1254.Ar year Ns \(en Ns Ar month Ns \(en Ns Ar day
1255is accepted, too.
1256.It
1257If a date string cannot be parsed, it is used verbatim.
1258.It
1259If no date string is given, the current date is used.
1260.El
1261.Pp
1262Examples:
1263.Dl \&.Dd $\&Mdocdate$
1264.Dl \&.Dd $\&Mdocdate: July 2 2018$
1265.Dl \&.Dd July 2, 2018
1266.Pp
1267See also
1268.Ic \&Dt
1269and
1270.Ic \&Os .
1271.Tg Dl
1272.It Ic \&Dl Ar line
1273One-line indented display.
1274This is formatted as literal text and is useful for commands and
1275invocations.
1276It is followed by a newline.
1277.Pp
1278Examples:
1279.Dl \&.Dl % mandoc mdoc.7 \e(ba less
1280.Pp
1281See also
1282.Ic \&Ql ,
1283.Ic \&Bd Fl literal ,
1284and
1285.Ic \&D1 .
1286.It Ic \&Do Ar block
1287Begin a block enclosed by double quotes.
1288Does not have any head arguments.
1289.Pp
1290Examples:
1291.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact
1292\&.Do
1293April is the cruellest month
1294\&.Dc
1295\e(em T.S. Eliot
1296.Ed
1297.Pp
1298See also
1299.Ic \&Dq .
1300.Tg Dq
1301.It Ic \&Dq Ar line
1302Encloses its arguments in
1303.Dq typographic
1304double-quotes.
1305.Pp
1306Examples:
1307.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact
1308\&.Dq April is the cruellest month
1309\e(em T.S. Eliot
1310.Ed
1311.Pp
1312See also
1313.Ic \&Qq ,
1314.Ic \&Sq ,
1315and
1316.Ic \&Do .
1317.Tg Dt
1318.It Ic \&Dt Ar TITLE section Op Ar arch
1319Document title for display in the page header.
1320This is the mandatory second macro of any
1321.Nm
1322file.
1323.Pp
1324Its arguments are as follows:
1325.Bl -tag -width section -offset 2n
1326.It Ar TITLE
1327The document's title (name), defaulting to
1328.Dq UNTITLED
1329if unspecified.
1330To achieve a uniform appearance of page header lines,
1331it should by convention be all caps.
1332.It Ar section
1333The manual section.
1334This may be one of
1335.Cm 1
1336.Pq General Commands ,
1337.Cm 2
1338.Pq System Calls ,
1339.Cm 3
1340.Pq Library Functions ,
1341.Cm 3p
1342.Pq Perl Library ,
1343.Cm 4
1344.Pq Device Drivers ,
1345.Cm 5
1346.Pq File Formats ,
1347.Cm 6
1348.Pq Games ,
1349.Cm 7
1350.Pq Miscellaneous Information ,
1351.Cm 8
1352.Pq System Manager's Manual ,
1353or
1354.Cm 9
1355.Pq Kernel Developer's Manual .
1356It should correspond to the manual's filename suffix and defaults to
1357the empty string if unspecified.
1358.It Ar arch
1359This specifies the machine architecture a manual page applies to,
1360where relevant.
1361For
1362.Ox ,
1363the following are valid architectures:
1364.Cm alpha ,
1365.Cm amd64 ,
1366.Cm armv7 ,
1367.Cm arm64 ,
1368.Cm hppa ,
1369.Cm i386 ,
1370.Cm landisk ,
1371.Cm loongson ,
1372.Cm luna88k ,
1373.Cm macppc ,
1374.Cm mips64 ,
1375.Cm octeon ,
1376.Cm powerpc64 ,
1377.Cm riscv64 ,
1378and
1379.Cm sparc64 .
1380.El
1381.Pp
1382Examples:
1383.Dl \&.Dt FOO 1
1384.Dl \&.Dt FOO 9 i386
1385.Pp
1386See also
1387.Ic \&Dd
1388and
1389.Ic \&Os .
1390.Tg Dv
1391.It Ic \&Dv Ar identifier ...
1392Defined variables such as preprocessor constants, constant symbols,
1393enumeration values, and so on.
1394.Pp
1395Examples:
1396.Dl \&.Dv NULL
1397.Dl \&.Dv BUFSIZ
1398.Dl \&.Dv STDOUT_FILENO
1399.Pp
1400See also
1401.Ic \&Er
1402and
1403.Ic \&Ev
1404for special-purpose constants,
1405.Ic \&Va
1406for variable symbols, and
1407.Ic \&Fd
1408for listing preprocessor variable definitions in the
1409.Em SYNOPSIS .
1410.Tg Dx
1411.It Ic \&Dx Op Ar version
1412Format the
1413.Dx
1414version provided as an argument, or a default
1415value if no argument is provided.
1416.Pp
1417Examples:
1418.Dl \&.Dx 2.4.1
1419.Dl \&.Dx
1420.Pp
1421See also
1422.Ic \&At ,
1423.Ic \&Bsx ,
1424.Ic \&Bx ,
1425.Ic \&Fx ,
1426.Ic \&Nx ,
1427and
1428.Ic \&Ox .
1429.It Ic \&Ec Op Ar closing_delimiter
1430Close a scope started by
1431.Ic \&Eo .
1432.Pp
1433The
1434.Ar closing_delimiter
1435argument is used as the enclosure tail, for example, specifying \e(rq
1436will emulate
1437.Ic \&Dc .
1438.It Ic \&Ed
1439End a display context started by
1440.Ic \&Bd .
1441.It Ic \&Ef
1442End a font mode context started by
1443.Ic \&Bf .
1444.It Ic \&Ek
1445End a keep context started by
1446.Ic \&Bk .
1447.It Ic \&El
1448End a list context started by
1449.Ic \&Bl .
1450See also
1451.Ic \&It .
1452.Tg Em
1453.It Ic \&Em Ar word ...
1454Request an italic font.
1455If the output device does not provide that, underline.
1456.Pp
1457This is most often used for stress emphasis (not to be confused with
1458importance, see
1459.Ic \&Sy ) .
1460In the rare cases where none of the semantic markup macros fit,
1461it can also be used for technical terms and placeholders, except
1462that for syntax elements,
1463.Ic \&Sy
1464and
1465.Ic \&Ar
1466are preferred, respectively.
1467.Pp
1468Examples:
1469.Bd -literal -compact -offset indent
1470Selected lines are those
1471\&.Em not
1472matching any of the specified patterns.
1473Some of the functions use a
1474\&.Em hold space
1475to save the pattern space for subsequent retrieval.
1476.Ed
1477.Pp
1478See also
1479.Ic \&No ,
1480.Ic \&Ql ,
1481and
1482.Ic \&Sy .
1483.It Ic \&En Ar word ...
1484This macro is obsolete.
1485Use
1486.Ic \&Eo
1487or any of the other enclosure macros.
1488.Pp
1489It encloses its argument in the delimiters specified by the last
1490.Ic \&Es
1491macro.
1492.Tg Eo
1493.It Ic \&Eo Op Ar opening_delimiter
1494An arbitrary enclosure.
1495The
1496.Ar opening_delimiter
1497argument is used as the enclosure head, for example, specifying \e(lq
1498will emulate
1499.Ic \&Do .
1500.Tg Er
1501.It Ic \&Er Ar identifier ...
1502Error constants for definitions of the
1503.Va errno
1504libc global variable.
1505This is most often used in section 2 and 3 manual pages.
1506.Pp
1507Examples:
1508.Dl \&.Er EPERM
1509.Dl \&.Er ENOENT
1510.Pp
1511See also
1512.Ic \&Dv
1513for general constants.
1514.It Ic \&Es Ar opening_delimiter closing_delimiter
1515This macro is obsolete.
1516Use
1517.Ic \&Eo
1518or any of the other enclosure macros.
1519.Pp
1520It takes two arguments, defining the delimiters to be used by subsequent
1521.Ic \&En
1522macros.
1523.Tg Ev
1524.It Ic \&Ev Ar identifier ...
1525Environmental variables such as those specified in
1526.Xr environ 7 .
1527.Pp
1528Examples:
1529.Dl \&.Ev DISPLAY
1530.Dl \&.Ev PATH
1531.Pp
1532See also
1533.Ic \&Dv
1534for general constants.
1535.Tg Ex
1536.It Ic \&Ex Fl std Op Ar utility ...
1537Insert a standard sentence regarding command exit values of 0 on success
1538and >0 on failure.
1539This is most often used in section 1, 6, and 8 manual pages.
1540.Pp
1541If
1542.Ar utility
1543is not specified, the document's name set by
1544.Ic \&Nm
1545is used.
1546Multiple
1547.Ar utility
1548arguments are treated as separate utilities.
1549.Pp
1550See also
1551.Ic \&Rv .
1552.Tg Fa
1553.It Ic \&Fa Ar argument ...
1554Function argument or parameter.
1555Each argument may be a name and a type (recommended for the
1556.Em SYNOPSIS
1557section), a name alone (for function invocations),
1558or a type alone (for function prototypes).
1559If both a type and a name are given or if the type consists of multiple
1560words, all words belonging to the same function argument have to be
1561given in a single argument to the
1562.Ic \&Fa
1563macro.
1564.Pp
1565This macro is also used to specify the field name of a structure.
1566.Pp
1567Most often, the
1568.Ic \&Fa
1569macro is used in the
1570.Em SYNOPSIS
1571within
1572.Ic \&Fo
1573blocks when documenting multi-line function prototypes.
1574If invoked with multiple arguments, the arguments are separated by a
1575comma.
1576Furthermore, if the following macro is another
1577.Ic \&Fa ,
1578the last argument will also have a trailing comma.
1579.Pp
1580Examples:
1581.Dl \&.Fa \(dqconst char *p\(dq
1582.Dl \&.Fa \(dqint a\(dq \(dqint b\(dq \(dqint c\(dq
1583.Dl \&.Fa \(dqchar *\(dq size_t
1584.Pp
1585See also
1586.Ic \&Fo .
1587.It Ic \&Fc
1588End a function context started by
1589.Ic \&Fo .
1590.Tg Fd
1591.It Ic \&Fd Pf # Ar directive Op Ar argument ...
1592Preprocessor directive, in particular for listing it in the
1593.Em SYNOPSIS .
1594Historically, it was also used to document include files.
1595The latter usage has been deprecated in favour of
1596.Ic \&In .
1597.Pp
1598Examples:
1599.Dl \&.Fd #define sa_handler __sigaction_u.__sa_handler
1600.Dl \&.Fd #define SIO_MAXNFDS
1601.Dl \&.Fd #ifdef FS_DEBUG
1602.Dl \&.Ft void
1603.Dl \&.Fn dbg_open \(dqconst char *\(dq
1604.Dl \&.Fd #endif
1605.Pp
1606See also
1607.Sx MANUAL STRUCTURE ,
1608.Ic \&In ,
1609and
1610.Ic \&Dv .
1611.Tg Fl
1612.It Ic \&Fl Op Ar word ...
1613Command-line flag or option.
1614Used when listing arguments to command-line utilities.
1615For each argument, prints an ASCII hyphen-minus character
1616.Sq \- ,
1617immediately followed by the argument.
1618If no arguments are provided, a hyphen-minus is printed followed by a space.
1619If the argument is a macro, a hyphen-minus is prefixed
1620to the subsequent macro output.
1621.Pp
1622Examples:
1623.Dl ".Nm du Op Fl H | L | P"
1624.Dl ".Nm ls Op Fl 1AaCcdFfgHhikLlmnopqRrSsTtux"
1625.Dl ".Nm route Cm add Fl inet Ar destination gateway"
1626.Dl ".Nm locate.updatedb Op Fl \e-fcodes Ns = Ns Ar dbfile"
1627.Dl ".Nm aucat Fl o Fl"
1628.Dl ".Nm kill Fl Ar signal_number"
1629.Pp
1630For GNU-style long options, escaping the additional hyphen-minus is not
1631strictly required, but may be safer with future versions of GNU troff; see
1632.Xr mandoc_char 7
1633for details.
1634.Pp
1635See also
1636.Ic \&Cm .
1637.Tg Fn
1638.It Ic \&Fn Ar funcname Op Ar argument ...
1639A function name.
1640.Pp
1641Function arguments are surrounded in parenthesis and
1642are delimited by commas.
1643If no arguments are specified, blank parenthesis are output.
1644In the
1645.Em SYNOPSIS
1646section, this macro starts a new output line,
1647and a blank line is automatically inserted between function definitions.
1648.Pp
1649Examples:
1650.Dl \&.Fn \(dqint funcname\(dq \(dqint arg0\(dq \(dqint arg1\(dq
1651.Dl \&.Fn funcname \(dqint arg0\(dq
1652.Dl \&.Fn funcname arg0
1653.Bd -literal -offset indent
1654\&.Ft functype
1655\&.Fn funcname
1656.Ed
1657.Pp
1658When referring to a function documented in another manual page, use
1659.Ic \&Xr
1660instead.
1661See also
1662.Sx MANUAL STRUCTURE ,
1663.Ic \&Fo ,
1664and
1665.Ic \&Ft .
1666.Tg Fo
1667.It Ic \&Fo Ar funcname
1668Begin a function block.
1669This is a multi-line version of
1670.Ic \&Fn .
1671.Pp
1672Invocations usually occur in the following context:
1673.Bd -ragged -offset indent
1674.Pf \. Ic \&Ft Ar functype
1675.br
1676.Pf \. Ic \&Fo Ar funcname
1677.br
1678.Pf \. Ic \&Fa Qq Ar argtype Ar argname
1679.br
1680\&.\.\.
1681.br
1682.Pf \. Ic \&Fc
1683.Ed
1684.Pp
1685A
1686.Ic \&Fo
1687scope is closed by
1688.Ic \&Fc .
1689.Pp
1690See also
1691.Sx MANUAL STRUCTURE ,
1692.Ic \&Fa ,
1693.Ic \&Fc ,
1694and
1695.Ic \&Ft .
1696.It Ic \&Fr Ar number
1697This macro is obsolete.
1698No replacement markup is needed.
1699.Pp
1700It was used to show numerical function return values in an italic font.
1701.Tg Ft
1702.It Ic \&Ft Ar functype
1703A function type.
1704.Pp
1705In the
1706.Em SYNOPSIS
1707section, a new output line is started after this macro.
1708.Pp
1709Examples:
1710.Dl \&.Ft int
1711.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact
1712\&.Ft functype
1713\&.Fn funcname
1714.Ed
1715.Pp
1716See also
1717.Sx MANUAL STRUCTURE ,
1718.Ic \&Fn ,
1719and
1720.Ic \&Fo .
1721.Tg Fx
1722.It Ic \&Fx Op Ar version
1723Format the
1724.Fx
1725version provided as an argument, or a default value
1726if no argument is provided.
1727.Pp
1728Examples:
1729.Dl \&.Fx 7.1
1730.Dl \&.Fx
1731.Pp
1732See also
1733.Ic \&At ,
1734.Ic \&Bsx ,
1735.Ic \&Bx ,
1736.Ic \&Dx ,
1737.Ic \&Nx ,
1738and
1739.Ic \&Ox .
1740.It Ic \&Hf Ar filename
1741This macro is not implemented in
1742.Xr mandoc 1 .
1743It was used to include the contents of a (header) file literally.
1744.Tg Ic
1745.It Ic \&Ic Ar keyword ...
1746Internal or interactive command, or configuration instruction
1747in a configuration file.
1748See also
1749.Ic \&Cm .
1750.Pp
1751Examples:
1752.Dl \&.Ic :wq
1753.Dl \&.Ic hash
1754.Dl \&.Ic alias
1755.Pp
1756Note that using
1757.Ic \&Ql ,
1758.Ic \&Dl ,
1759or
1760.Ic \&Bd Fl literal
1761is preferred for displaying code samples; the
1762.Ic \&Ic
1763macro is used when referring to an individual command name.
1764.Tg In
1765.It Ic \&In Ar filename
1766The name of an include file.
1767This macro is most often used in section 2, 3, and 9 manual pages.
1768.Pp
1769When invoked as the first macro on an input line in the
1770.Em SYNOPSIS
1771section, the argument is displayed in angle brackets
1772and preceded by
1773.Qq #include ,
1774and a blank line is inserted in front if there is a preceding
1775function declaration.
1776In other sections, it only encloses its argument in angle brackets
1777and causes no line break.
1778.Pp
1779Examples:
1780.Dl \&.In sys/types.h
1781.Pp
1782See also
1783.Sx MANUAL STRUCTURE .
1784.Tg It
1785.It Ic \&It Op Ar head
1786A list item.
1787The syntax of this macro depends on the list type.
1788.Pp
1789Lists
1790of type
1791.Fl hang ,
1792.Fl ohang ,
1793.Fl inset ,
1794and
1795.Fl diag
1796have the following syntax:
1797.Pp
1798.D1 Pf \. Ic \&It Ar args
1799.Pp
1800Lists of type
1801.Fl bullet ,
1802.Fl dash ,
1803.Fl enum ,
1804.Fl hyphen
1805and
1806.Fl item
1807have the following syntax:
1808.Pp
1809.D1 Pf \. Ic \&It
1810.Pp
1811with subsequent lines interpreted within the scope of the
1812.Ic \&It
1813until either a closing
1814.Ic \&El
1815or another
1816.Ic \&It .
1817.Pp
1818The
1819.Fl tag
1820list has the following syntax:
1821.Pp
1822.D1 Pf \. Ic \&It Op Cm args
1823.Pp
1824Subsequent lines are interpreted as with
1825.Fl bullet
1826and family.
1827The line arguments correspond to the list's left-hand side; body
1828arguments correspond to the list's contents.
1829.Pp
1830The
1831.Fl column
1832list is the most complicated.
1833Its syntax is as follows:
1834.Pp
1835.D1 Pf \. Ic \&It Ar cell Op Ic \&Ta Ar cell ...
1836.D1 Pf \. Ic \&It Ar cell Op <TAB> Ar cell ...
1837.Pp
1838The arguments consist of one or more lines of text and macros
1839representing a complete table line.
1840Cells within the line are delimited by the special
1841.Ic \&Ta
1842block macro or by literal tab characters.
1843.Pp
1844Using literal tabs is strongly discouraged because they are very
1845hard to use correctly and
1846.Nm
1847code using them is very hard to read.
1848In particular, a blank character is syntactically significant
1849before and after the literal tab character.
1850If a word precedes or follows the tab without an intervening blank,
1851that word is never interpreted as a macro call, but always output
1852literally.
1853.Pp
1854The tab cell delimiter may only be used within the
1855.Ic \&It
1856line itself; on following lines, only the
1857.Ic \&Ta
1858macro can be used to delimit cells, and portability requires that
1859.Ic \&Ta
1860is called by other macros: some parsers do not recognize it when
1861it appears as the first macro on a line.
1862.Pp
1863Note that quoted strings may span tab-delimited cells on an
1864.Ic \&It
1865line.
1866For example,
1867.Pp
1868.Dl .It \(dqcol1 ,\& <TAB> col2 ,\(dq \&;
1869.Pp
1870will preserve the whitespace before both commas,
1871but not the whitespace before the semicolon.
1872.Pp
1873See also
1874.Ic \&Bl .
1875.Tg Lb
1876.It Ic \&Lb Cm lib Ns Ar name
1877Specify a library.
1878.Pp
1879The
1880.Ar name
1881parameter may be a system library, such as
1882.Cm z
1883or
1884.Cm pam ,
1885in which case a small library description is printed next to the linker
1886invocation; or a custom library, in which case the library name is
1887printed in quotes.
1888This is most commonly used in the
1889.Em SYNOPSIS
1890section as described in
1891.Sx MANUAL STRUCTURE .
1892.Pp
1893Examples:
1894.Dl \&.Lb libz
1895.Dl \&.Lb libmandoc
1896.Tg Li
1897.It Ic \&Li Ar word ...
1898Request a typewriter (literal) font.
1899Deprecated because on terminal output devices, this is usually
1900indistinguishable from normal text.
1901For literal displays, use
1902.Ic \&Ql Pq in-line ,
1903.Ic \&Dl Pq single line ,
1904or
1905.Ic \&Bd Fl literal Pq multi-line
1906instead.
1907.Tg Lk
1908.It Ic \&Lk Ar uri Op Ar display_name
1909Format a hyperlink.
1910.Pp
1911Examples:
1912.Dl \&.Lk https://bsd.lv \(dqThe BSD.lv Project\(dq
1913.Dl \&.Lk https://bsd.lv
1914.Pp
1915See also
1916.Ic \&Mt .
1917.It Ic \&Lp
1918Deprecated synonym for
1919.Ic \&Pp .
1920.Tg Ms
1921.It Ic \&Ms Ar name
1922Display a mathematical symbol.
1923.Pp
1924Examples:
1925.Dl \&.Ms sigma
1926.Dl \&.Ms aleph
1927.Tg Mt
1928.It Ic \&Mt Ar localpart Ns @ Ns Ar domain
1929Format a
1930.Dq mailto:
1931hyperlink.
1932.Pp
1933Examples:
1934.Dl \&.Mt discuss@manpages.bsd.lv
1935.Dl \&.An Kristaps Dzonsons \&Aq \&Mt kristaps@bsd.lv
1936.Tg Nd
1937.It Ic \&Nd Ar line
1938A one line description of the manual's content.
1939This is the mandatory last macro of the
1940.Em NAME
1941section and not appropriate for other sections.
1942.Pp
1943Examples:
1944.Dl Pf . Ic \&Nd mdoc language reference
1945.Dl Pf . Ic \&Nd format and display UNIX manuals
1946.Pp
1947The
1948.Ic \&Nd
1949macro technically accepts child macros and terminates with a subsequent
1950.Ic \&Sh
1951invocation.
1952Do not assume this behaviour: some
1953.Xr whatis 1
1954database generators are not smart enough to parse more than the line
1955arguments and will display macros verbatim.
1956.Pp
1957See also
1958.Ic \&Nm .
1959.Tg Nm
1960.It Ic \&Nm Op Ar name
1961The name of the manual page, or \(em in particular in section 1, 6,
1962and 8 pages \(em of an additional command or feature documented in
1963the manual page.
1964When first invoked, the
1965.Ic \&Nm
1966macro expects a single argument, the name of the manual page.
1967Usually, the first invocation happens in the
1968.Em NAME
1969section of the page.
1970The specified name will be remembered and used whenever the macro is
1971called again without arguments later in the page.
1972The
1973.Ic \&Nm
1974macro uses
1975.Sx Block full-implicit
1976semantics when invoked as the first macro on an input line in the
1977.Em SYNOPSIS
1978section; otherwise, it uses ordinary
1979.Sx In-line
1980semantics.
1981.Pp
1982Examples:
1983.Bd -literal -offset indent
1984\&.Sh SYNOPSIS
1985\&.Nm cat
1986\&.Op Fl benstuv
1987\&.Op Ar
1988.Ed
1989.Pp
1990In the
1991.Em SYNOPSIS
1992of section 2, 3 and 9 manual pages, use the
1993.Ic \&Fn
1994macro rather than
1995.Ic \&Nm
1996to mark up the name of the manual page.
1997.Tg No
1998.It Ic \&No Ar word ...
1999Normal text.
2000Closes the scope of any preceding in-line macro.
2001When used after physical formatting macros like
2002.Ic \&Em
2003or
2004.Ic \&Sy ,
2005switches back to the standard font face and weight.
2006Can also be used to embed plain text strings in macro lines
2007using semantic annotation macros.
2008.Pp
2009Examples:
2010.Dl ".Em italic , Sy bold , No and roman"
2011.Bd -literal -offset indent
2012\&.Sm off
2013\&.Cm :C No / Ar pattern No / Ar replacement No /
2014\&.Sm on
2015.Ed
2016.Pp
2017See also
2018.Ic \&Em ,
2019.Ic \&Ql ,
2020and
2021.Ic \&Sy .
2022.Tg Ns
2023.It Ic \&Ns
2024Suppress a space between the output of the preceding macro
2025and the following text or macro.
2026Following invocation, input is interpreted as normal text
2027just like after an
2028.Ic \&No
2029macro.
2030.Pp
2031This has no effect when invoked at the start of a macro line.
2032.Pp
2033Examples:
2034.Dl ".Ar name Ns = Ns Ar value"
2035.Dl ".Cm :M Ns Ar pattern"
2036.Dl ".Fl o Ns Ar output"
2037.Pp
2038See also
2039.Ic \&No
2040and
2041.Ic \&Sm .
2042.Tg Nx
2043.It Ic \&Nx Op Ar version
2044Format the
2045.Nx
2046version provided as an argument, or a default value if
2047no argument is provided.
2048.Pp
2049Examples:
2050.Dl \&.Nx 5.01
2051.Dl \&.Nx
2052.Pp
2053See also
2054.Ic \&At ,
2055.Ic \&Bsx ,
2056.Ic \&Bx ,
2057.Ic \&Dx ,
2058.Ic \&Fx ,
2059and
2060.Ic \&Ox .
2061.It Ic \&Oc
2062Close multi-line
2063.Ic \&Oo
2064context.
2065.It Ic \&Oo Ar block
2066Multi-line version of
2067.Ic \&Op .
2068.Pp
2069Examples:
2070.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact
2071\&.Oo
2072\&.Op Fl flag Ns Ar value
2073\&.Oc
2074.Ed
2075.Tg Op
2076.It Ic \&Op Ar line
2077Optional part of a command line.
2078Prints the argument(s) in brackets.
2079This is most often used in the
2080.Em SYNOPSIS
2081section of section 1 and 8 manual pages.
2082.Pp
2083Examples:
2084.Dl \&.Op \&Fl a \&Ar b
2085.Dl \&.Op \&Ar a | b
2086.Pp
2087See also
2088.Ic \&Oo .
2089.Tg Os
2090.It Ic \&Os Op Ar footer text
2091The mandatory third macro of every
2092.Nm
2093file.
2094Usually, do not specify any arguments,
2095in particular not the operating system name and/or version.
2096.Pp
2097If no argument is given,
2098.Xr mandoc 1
2099prints its
2100.Fl Ios
2101argument in the page footer, or
2102.Fa sysname
2103and
2104.Fa release
2105as returned by
2106.Xr uname 3
2107by default.
2108.Pp
2109Manual pages that are part of a portable software project can override
2110the default by giving the project name and version number as arguments,
2111but leaving it blank is never a bad choice.
2112.Pp
2113See also
2114.Ic \&Dd
2115and
2116.Ic \&Dt .
2117.It Ic \&Ot Ar functype
2118This macro is obsolete.
2119Use
2120.Ic \&Ft
2121instead; with
2122.Xr mandoc 1 ,
2123both have the same effect.
2124.Pp
2125Historical
2126.Nm
2127packages described it as
2128.Dq "old function type (FORTRAN)" .
2129.Tg Ox
2130.It Ic \&Ox Op Ar version
2131Format the
2132.Ox
2133version provided as an argument, or a default value
2134if no argument is provided.
2135.Pp
2136Examples:
2137.Dl \&.Ox 4.5
2138.Dl \&.Ox
2139.Pp
2140See also
2141.Ic \&At ,
2142.Ic \&Bsx ,
2143.Ic \&Bx ,
2144.Ic \&Dx ,
2145.Ic \&Fx ,
2146and
2147.Ic \&Nx .
2148.Tg Pa
2149.It Ic \&Pa Ar name ...
2150An absolute or relative file system path, or a file or directory name.
2151If an argument is not provided, the character
2152.Sq \(ti
2153is used as a default.
2154.Pp
2155Examples:
2156.Dl \&.Pa /usr/bin/mandoc
2157.Dl \&.Pa /usr/share/man/man7/mdoc.7
2158.Pp
2159See also
2160.Ic \&Lk .
2161.It Ic \&Pc
2162Close parenthesised context opened by
2163.Ic \&Po .
2164.Tg Pf
2165.It Ic \&Pf Ar prefix macro Op Ar argument ...
2166Removes the space between its argument and the following macro.
2167It is equivalent to:
2168.Pp
2169.D1 Ic \&No Pf \e& Ar prefix Ic \&Ns Ar macro Op Ar argument ...
2170.Pp
2171The
2172.Ar prefix
2173argument is not parsed for macro names or delimiters,
2174but used verbatim as if it were escaped.
2175.Pp
2176Examples:
2177.Dl ".Pf $ Ar variable_name"
2178.Dl ".Pf . Ar macro_name"
2179.Dl ".Pf 0x Ar hex_digits"
2180.Pp
2181See also
2182.Ic \&Ns
2183and
2184.Ic \&Sm .
2185.It Ic \&Po Ar block
2186Multi-line version of
2187.Ic \&Pq .
2188.Tg Pp
2189.It Ic \&Pp
2190Break a paragraph.
2191This will assert vertical space between prior and subsequent macros
2192and/or text.
2193.Pp
2194Paragraph breaks are not needed before or after
2195.Ic \&Sh
2196or
2197.Ic \&Ss
2198macros or before displays
2199.Pq Ic \&Bd Ar line
2200or lists
2201.Pq Ic \&Bl
2202unless the
2203.Fl compact
2204flag is given.
2205.Tg Pq
2206.It Ic \&Pq Ar line
2207Parenthesised enclosure.
2208.Pp
2209See also
2210.Ic \&Po .
2211.It Ic \&Qc
2212Close quoted context opened by
2213.Ic \&Qo .
2214.Tg Ql
2215.It Ic \&Ql Ar line
2216In-line literal display.
2217This can be used for complete command invocations and for multi-word
2218code examples when an indented display is not desired.
2219.Pp
2220See also
2221.Ic \&Dl
2222and
2223.Ic \&Bd
2224.Fl literal .
2225.It Ic \&Qo Ar block
2226Multi-line version of
2227.Ic \&Qq .
2228.Tg Qq
2229.It Ic \&Qq Ar line
2230Encloses its arguments in
2231.Qq typewriter
2232double-quotes.
2233Consider using
2234.Ic \&Dq .
2235.Pp
2236See also
2237.Ic \&Dq ,
2238.Ic \&Sq ,
2239and
2240.Ic \&Qo .
2241.It Ic \&Re
2242Close an
2243.Ic \&Rs
2244block.
2245Does not have any tail arguments.
2246.Tg Rs
2247.It Ic \&Rs
2248Begin a bibliographic
2249.Pq Dq reference
2250block.
2251Does not have any head arguments.
2252The block macro may only contain
2253.Ic \&%A ,
2254.Ic \&%B ,
2255.Ic \&%C ,
2256.Ic \&%D ,
2257.Ic \&%I ,
2258.Ic \&%J ,
2259.Ic \&%N ,
2260.Ic \&%O ,
2261.Ic \&%P ,
2262.Ic \&%Q ,
2263.Ic \&%R ,
2264.Ic \&%T ,
2265.Ic \&%U ,
2266and
2267.Ic \&%V
2268child macros (at least one must be specified).
2269.Pp
2270Examples:
2271.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact
2272\&.Rs
2273\&.%A J. E. Hopcroft
2274\&.%A J. D. Ullman
2275\&.%B Introduction to Automata Theory, Languages, and Computation
2276\&.%I Addison-Wesley
2277\&.%C Reading, Massachusetts
2278\&.%D 1979
2279\&.Re
2280.Ed
2281.Pp
2282If an
2283.Ic \&Rs
2284block is used within a SEE ALSO section, a vertical space is asserted
2285before the rendered output, else the block continues on the current
2286line.
2287.Tg Rv
2288.It Ic \&Rv Fl std Op Ar function ...
2289Insert a standard sentence regarding a function call's return value of 0
2290on success and \-1 on error, with the
2291.Va errno
2292libc global variable set on error.
2293.Pp
2294If
2295.Ar function
2296is not specified, the document's name set by
2297.Ic \&Nm
2298is used.
2299Multiple
2300.Ar function
2301arguments are treated as separate functions.
2302.Pp
2303See also
2304.Ic \&Ex .
2305.It Ic \&Sc
2306Close single-quoted context opened by
2307.Ic \&So .
2308.Tg Sh
2309.It Ic \&Sh Ar TITLE LINE
2310Begin a new section.
2311For a list of conventional manual sections, see
2312.Sx MANUAL STRUCTURE .
2313These sections should be used unless it's absolutely necessary that
2314custom sections be used.
2315.Pp
2316Section names should be unique so that they may be keyed by
2317.Ic \&Sx .
2318Although this macro is parsed, it should not consist of child node or it
2319may not be linked with
2320.Ic \&Sx .
2321.Pp
2322See also
2323.Ic \&Pp ,
2324.Ic \&Ss ,
2325and
2326.Ic \&Sx .
2327.Tg Sm
2328.It Ic \&Sm Op Cm on | off
2329Switches the spacing mode for output generated from macros.
2330.Pp
2331By default, spacing is
2332.Cm on .
2333When switched
2334.Cm off ,
2335no white space is inserted between macro arguments and between the
2336output generated from adjacent macros, but text lines
2337still get normal spacing between words and sentences.
2338.Pp
2339When called without an argument, the
2340.Ic \&Sm
2341macro toggles the spacing mode.
2342Using this is not recommended because it makes the code harder to read.
2343.It Ic \&So Ar block
2344Multi-line version of
2345.Ic \&Sq .
2346.Tg Sq
2347.It Ic \&Sq Ar line
2348Encloses its arguments in
2349.Sq typewriter
2350single-quotes.
2351.Pp
2352See also
2353.Ic \&Dq ,
2354.Ic \&Qq ,
2355and
2356.Ic \&So .
2357.Tg Ss
2358.It Ic \&Ss Ar Title line
2359Begin a new subsection.
2360Unlike with
2361.Ic \&Sh ,
2362there is no convention for the naming of subsections.
2363Except
2364.Em DESCRIPTION ,
2365the conventional sections described in
2366.Sx MANUAL STRUCTURE
2367rarely have subsections.
2368.Pp
2369Sub-section names should be unique so that they may be keyed by
2370.Ic \&Sx .
2371Although this macro is parsed, it should not consist of child node or it
2372may not be linked with
2373.Ic \&Sx .
2374.Pp
2375See also
2376.Ic \&Pp ,
2377.Ic \&Sh ,
2378and
2379.Ic \&Sx .
2380.Tg St
2381.It Ic \&St Fl Ns Ar abbreviation
2382Replace an abbreviation for a standard with the full form.
2383The following standards are recognised.
2384Where multiple lines are given without a blank line in between,
2385they all refer to the same standard, and using the first form
2386is recommended.
2387.Bl -tag -width 1n
2388.It C language standards
2389.Pp
2390.Bl -tag -width "-p1003.1g-2000" -compact
2391.It \-ansiC
2392.St -ansiC
2393.It \-ansiC-89
2394.St -ansiC-89
2395.It \-isoC
2396.St -isoC
2397.It \-isoC-90
2398.St -isoC-90
2399.br
2400The original C standard.
2401.Pp
2402.It \-isoC-amd1
2403.St -isoC-amd1
2404.Pp
2405.It \-isoC-tcor1
2406.St -isoC-tcor1
2407.Pp
2408.It \-isoC-tcor2
2409.St -isoC-tcor2
2410.Pp
2411.It \-isoC-99
2412.St -isoC-99
2413.br
2414Edition 2 of the C language standard.
2415.Pp
2416.It \-isoC-2011
2417.St -isoC-2011
2418.br
2419Edition 3 of the C language standard.
2420.Pp
2421.It \-isoC-2023
2422.St -isoC-2023
2423.br
2424Edition 5 of the C language standard.
2425.El
2426.It POSIX.1 before XPG4.2
2427.Pp
2428.Bl -tag -width "-p1003.1g-2000" -compact
2429.It \-p1003.1-88
2430.St -p1003.1-88
2431.It \-p1003.1
2432.St -p1003.1
2433.br
2434The original POSIX standard, based on ANSI C.
2435.Pp
2436.It \-p1003.1-90
2437.St -p1003.1-90
2438.It \-iso9945-1-90
2439.St -iso9945-1-90
2440.br
2441The first update of POSIX.1.
2442.Pp
2443.It \-p1003.1b-93
2444.St -p1003.1b-93
2445.It \-p1003.1b
2446.St -p1003.1b
2447.br
2448Real-time extensions.
2449.Pp
2450.It \-p1003.1c-95
2451.St -p1003.1c-95
2452.br
2453POSIX thread interfaces.
2454.Pp
2455.It \-p1003.1i-95
2456.St -p1003.1i-95
2457.br
2458Technical Corrigendum.
2459.Pp
2460.It \-p1003.1-96
2461.St -p1003.1-96
2462.It \-iso9945-1-96
2463.St -iso9945-1-96
2464.br
2465Includes POSIX.1-1990, 1b, 1c, and 1i.
2466.El
2467.It X/Open Portability Guide before XPG4.2
2468.Pp
2469.Bl -tag -width "-p1003.1g-2000" -compact
2470.It \-xpg3
2471.St -xpg3
2472.br
2473An XPG4 precursor, published in 1989.
2474.Pp
2475.It \-p1003.2
2476.St -p1003.2
2477.It \-p1003.2-92
2478.St -p1003.2-92
2479.It \-iso9945-2-93
2480.St -iso9945-2-93
2481.br
2482An XCU4 precursor.
2483.Pp
2484.It \-p1003.2a-92
2485.St -p1003.2a-92
2486.br
2487Updates to POSIX.2.
2488.Pp
2489.It \-xpg4
2490.St -xpg4
2491.br
2492Based on POSIX.1 and POSIX.2, published in 1992.
2493.El
2494.It X/Open Portability Guide Issue 4 Version 2 and related standards
2495.Pp
2496.Bl -tag -width "-p1003.1g-2000" -compact
2497.It \-susv1
2498.St -susv1
2499.It \-xpg4.2
2500.St -xpg4.2
2501.br
2502This standard was published in 1994.
2503It was used as the basis for UNIX 95 certification.
2504The following two refer to parts of it.
2505.Pp
2506.It \-xcurses4.2
2507.St -xcurses4.2
2508.Pp
2509.It \-p1003.1g-2000
2510.St -p1003.1g-2000
2511.br
2512Networking APIs, including sockets.
2513.Pp
2514.It \-svid4
2515.St -svid4 ,
2516.br
2517Published in 1995.
2518.El
2519.It X/Open Portability Guide Issue 5 and related standards
2520.Pp
2521.Bl -tag -width "-p1003.1g-2000" -compact
2522.It \-susv2
2523.St -susv2
2524.br
2525This Standard was published in 1997
2526and is also called X/Open Portability Guide Issue 5.
2527It was used as the basis for UNIX 98 certification.
2528The following refer to parts of it.
2529.Pp
2530.It \-xbd5
2531.St -xbd5
2532.Pp
2533.It \-xsh5
2534.St -xsh5
2535.Pp
2536.It \-xcu5
2537.St -xcu5
2538.Pp
2539.It \-xns5
2540.St -xns5
2541.It \-xns5.2
2542.St -xns5.2
2543.El
2544.It POSIX Issue 6
2545.Pp
2546.Bl -tag -width "-p1003.1-2001" -compact
2547.It \-p1003.1-2001
2548.St -p1003.1-2001
2549.It \-susv3
2550.St -susv3
2551.br
2552This standard is based on C99, SUSv2, POSIX.1-1996, 1d, and 1j.
2553It is also called X/Open Portability Guide Issue 6.
2554It is used as the basis for UNIX 03 certification.
2555.Pp
2556.It \-p1003.1-2004
2557.St -p1003.1-2004
2558.br
2559The second and last Technical Corrigendum.
2560.El
2561.It POSIX Issues 7 and 8
2562.Pp
2563.Bl -tag -width "-p1003.1g-2000" -compact
2564.It \-p1003.1-2008
2565.St -p1003.1-2008
2566.It \-susv4
2567.St -susv4
2568.br
2569This standard is based on C99.
2570It is also called the
2571Open Group Standard Base Specifications, Issue 7.
2572.El
2573.Pp
2574.Bl -tag -width "-p1003.1g-2000" -compact
2575.It \-p1003.1-2024
2576.St -p1003.1-2024
2577.br
2578This standard is based on C17.
2579It is also called the
2580Open Group Standard Base Specifications, Issue 8.
2581.El
2582.It Other standards
2583.Pp
2584.Bl -tag -width "-p1003.1g-2000" -compact
2585.It \-ieee754
2586.St -ieee754
2587.br
2588Floating-point arithmetic.
2589.Pp
2590.It \-iso8601
2591.St -iso8601
2592.br
2593Representation of dates and times, published in 1988.
2594.Pp
2595.It \-iso8802-3
2596.St -iso8802-3
2597.br
2598Ethernet local area networks.
2599.Pp
2600.It \-ieee1275-94
2601.St -ieee1275-94
2602.El
2603.El
2604.Tg Sx
2605.It Ic \&Sx Ar Title line
2606Reference a section or subsection in the same manual page.
2607The referenced section or subsection name must be identical to the
2608enclosed argument, including whitespace.
2609.Pp
2610Examples:
2611.Dl \&.Sx MANUAL STRUCTURE
2612.Pp
2613See also
2614.Ic \&Sh
2615and
2616.Ic \&Ss .
2617.Tg Sy
2618.It Ic \&Sy Ar word ...
2619Request a boldface font.
2620.Pp
2621This is most often used to indicate importance or seriousness (not to be
2622confused with stress emphasis, see
2623.Ic \&Em ) .
2624When none of the semantic macros fit, it is also adequate for syntax
2625elements that have to be given or that appear verbatim.
2626.Pp
2627Examples:
2628.Bd -literal -compact -offset indent
2629\&.Sy Warning :
2630If
2631\&.Sy s
2632appears in the owner permissions, set-user-ID mode is set.
2633This utility replaces the former
2634\&.Sy dumpdir
2635program.
2636.Ed
2637.Pp
2638See also
2639.Ic \&Em ,
2640.Ic \&No ,
2641and
2642.Ic \&Ql .
2643.Tg Ta
2644.It Ic \&Ta
2645Table cell separator in
2646.Ic \&Bl Fl column
2647lists; can only be used below
2648.Ic \&It .
2649.Tg Tg
2650.It Ic \&Tg Op Ar term
2651Announce that the next input line starts a definition of the
2652.Ar term .
2653This macro must appear alone on its own input line.
2654The argument defaults to the first argument of the first macro
2655on the next line.
2656The argument may not contain whitespace characters, not even when it is quoted.
2657This macro is a
2658.Xr mandoc 1
2659extension and is typically ignored by other formatters.
2660.Pp
2661When viewing terminal output with
2662.Xr less 1 ,
2663the interactive
2664.Ic :t
2665command can be used to go to the definition of the
2666.Ar term
2667as described for the
2668.Ev MANPAGER
2669variable in
2670.Xr man 1 ;
2671when producing HTML output, a fragment identifier
2672.Pq Ic id No attribute
2673is generated, to be used for deep linking to this place of the document.
2674.Pp
2675In most cases, adding a
2676.Ic \&Tg
2677macro would be redundant because
2678.Xr mandoc 1
2679is able to automatically tag most definitions.
2680This macro is intended for cases where automatic tagging of a
2681.Ar term
2682is unsatisfactory, for example if a definition is not tagged
2683automatically (false negative) or if places are tagged that do
2684not define the
2685.Ar term
2686(false positives).
2687When there is at least one
2688.Ic \&Tg
2689macro for a
2690.Ar term ,
2691no other places are automatically marked as definitions of that
2692.Ar term .
2693.It Ic \&Tn Ar word ...
2694Supported only for compatibility, do not use this in new manuals.
2695Even though the macro name
2696.Pq Dq tradename
2697suggests a semantic function, historic usage is inconsistent, mostly
2698using it as a presentation-level macro to request a small caps font.
2699.It Ic \&Ud
2700Supported only for compatibility, do not use this in new manuals.
2701Prints out
2702.Dq currently under development.
2703.It Ic \&Ux
2704Supported only for compatibility, do not use this in new manuals.
2705Prints out
2706.Dq Ux .
2707.Tg Va
2708.It Ic \&Va Oo Ar type Oc Ar identifier ...
2709A variable name.
2710.Pp
2711Examples:
2712.Dl \&.Va foo
2713.Dl \&.Va const char *bar ;
2714.Pp
2715For function arguments and parameters, use
2716.Ic \&Fa
2717instead.
2718For declarations of global variables in the
2719.Em SYNOPSIS
2720section, use
2721.Ic \&Vt .
2722.Tg Vt
2723.It Ic \&Vt Ar type Op Ar identifier
2724A variable type.
2725.Pp
2726This is also used for indicating global variables in the
2727.Em SYNOPSIS
2728section, in which case a variable name is also specified.
2729Note that it accepts
2730.Sx Block partial-implicit
2731syntax when invoked as the first macro on an input line in the
2732.Em SYNOPSIS
2733section, else it accepts ordinary
2734.Sx In-line
2735syntax.
2736In the former case, this macro starts a new output line,
2737and a blank line is inserted in front if there is a preceding
2738function definition or include directive.
2739.Pp
2740Examples:
2741.Dl \&.Vt unsigned char
2742.Dl \&.Vt extern const char * const sys_signame[] \&;
2743.Pp
2744For parameters in function prototypes, use
2745.Ic \&Fa
2746instead, for function return types
2747.Ic \&Ft ,
2748and for variable names outside the
2749.Em SYNOPSIS
2750section
2751.Ic \&Va ,
2752even when including a type with the name.
2753See also
2754.Sx MANUAL STRUCTURE .
2755.It Ic \&Xc
2756Close a scope opened by
2757.Ic \&Xo .
2758.It Ic \&Xo Ar block
2759Extend the header of an
2760.Ic \&It
2761macro or the body of a partial-implicit block macro
2762beyond the end of the input line.
2763This macro originally existed to work around the 9-argument limit
2764of historic
2765.Xr roff 7 .
2766.Tg Xr
2767.It Ic \&Xr Ar name section
2768Link to another manual
2769.Pq Qq cross-reference .
2770.Pp
2771Cross reference the
2772.Ar name
2773and
2774.Ar section
2775number of another man page.
2776.Pp
2777Examples:
2778.Dl \&.Xr mandoc 1
2779.Dl \&.Xr mandoc 1 \&;
2780.Dl \&.Xr mandoc 1 \&Ns s behaviour
2781.El
2782.Sh MACRO SYNTAX
2783The syntax of a macro depends on its classification.
2784In this section,
2785.Sq \-arg
2786refers to macro arguments, which may be followed by zero or more
2787.Sq parm
2788parameters;
2789.Sq \&Yo
2790opens the scope of a macro; and if specified,
2791.Sq \&Yc
2792closes it out.
2793.Pp
2794The
2795.Em Callable
2796column indicates that the macro may also be called by passing its name
2797as an argument to another macro.
2798For example,
2799.Sq \&.Op \&Fl O \&Ar file
2800produces
2801.Sq Op Fl O Ar file .
2802To prevent a macro call and render the macro name literally,
2803escape it by prepending a zero-width space,
2804.Sq \e& .
2805For example,
2806.Sq \&Op \e&Fl O
2807produces
2808.Sq Op \&Fl O .
2809If a macro is not callable but its name appears as an argument
2810to another macro, it is interpreted as opaque text.
2811For example,
2812.Sq \&.Fl \&Sh
2813produces
2814.Sq Fl \&Sh .
2815.Pp
2816The
2817.Em Parsed
2818column indicates whether the macro may call other macros by receiving
2819their names as arguments.
2820If a macro is not parsed but the name of another macro appears
2821as an argument, it is interpreted as opaque text.
2822.Pp
2823The
2824.Em Scope
2825column, if applicable, describes closure rules.
2826.Ss Block full-explicit
2827Multi-line scope closed by an explicit closing macro.
2828All macros contains bodies; only
2829.Ic \&Bf
2830and
2831.Pq optionally
2832.Ic \&Bl
2833contain a head.
2834.Bd -literal -offset indent
2835\&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBparm...\(rB\(rB \(lBhead...\(rB
2836\(lBbody...\(rB
2837\&.Yc
2838.Ed
2839.Bl -column "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsedX" "closed by XXX" -offset indent
2840.It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsed Ta Em Scope
2841.It Ic \&Bd  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    closed by Ic \&Ed
2842.It Ic \&Bf  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    closed by Ic \&Ef
2843.It Ic \&Bk  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    closed by Ic \&Ek
2844.It Ic \&Bl  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    closed by Ic \&El
2845.It Ic \&Ed  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    opened by Ic \&Bd
2846.It Ic \&Ef  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    opened by Ic \&Bf
2847.It Ic \&Ek  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    opened by Ic \&Bk
2848.It Ic \&El  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    opened by Ic \&Bl
2849.El
2850.Ss Block full-implicit
2851Multi-line scope closed by end-of-file or implicitly by another macro.
2852All macros have bodies; some
2853.Po
2854.Ic \&It Fl bullet ,
2855.Fl hyphen ,
2856.Fl dash ,
2857.Fl enum ,
2858.Fl item
2859.Pc
2860don't have heads; only one
2861.Po
2862.Ic \&It
2863in
2864.Ic \&Bl Fl column
2865.Pc
2866has multiple heads.
2867.Bd -literal -offset indent
2868\&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBparm...\(rB\(rB \(lBhead... \(lBTa head...\(rB\(rB
2869\(lBbody...\(rB
2870.Ed
2871.Bl -column "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsedX" "closed by XXXXXXXXXXX" -offset indent
2872.It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsed Ta Em Scope
2873.It Ic \&It Ta \&No Ta Yes  Ta closed by Ic \&It , Ic \&El
2874.It Ic \&Nd Ta \&No Ta \&No Ta closed by Ic \&Sh
2875.It Ic \&Nm Ta \&No Ta Yes  Ta closed by Ic \&Nm , Ic \&Sh , Ic \&Ss
2876.It Ic \&Sh Ta \&No Ta Yes  Ta closed by Ic \&Sh
2877.It Ic \&Ss Ta \&No Ta Yes  Ta closed by Ic \&Sh , Ic \&Ss
2878.El
2879.Pp
2880Note that the
2881.Ic \&Nm
2882macro is a
2883.Sx Block full-implicit
2884macro only when invoked as the first macro
2885in a
2886.Em SYNOPSIS
2887section line, else it is
2888.Sx In-line .
2889.Ss Block partial-explicit
2890Like block full-explicit, but also with single-line scope.
2891Each has at least a body and, in limited circumstances, a head
2892.Po
2893.Ic \&Fo ,
2894.Ic \&Eo
2895.Pc
2896and/or tail
2897.Pq Ic \&Ec .
2898.Bd -literal -offset indent
2899\&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBparm...\(rB\(rB \(lBhead...\(rB
2900\(lBbody...\(rB
2901\&.Yc \(lBtail...\(rB
2902
2903\&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBparm...\(rB\(rB \(lBhead...\(rB \
2904\(lBbody...\(rB \&Yc \(lBtail...\(rB
2905.Ed
2906.Bl -column "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsedX" "closed by XXXX" -offset indent
2907.It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsed Ta Em Scope
2908.It Ic \&Ac  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    opened by Ic \&Ao
2909.It Ic \&Ao  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    closed by Ic \&Ac
2910.It Ic \&Bc  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    closed by Ic \&Bo
2911.It Ic \&Bo  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    opened by Ic \&Bc
2912.It Ic \&Brc Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    opened by Ic \&Bro
2913.It Ic \&Bro Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    closed by Ic \&Brc
2914.It Ic \&Dc  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    opened by Ic \&Do
2915.It Ic \&Do  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    closed by Ic \&Dc
2916.It Ic \&Ec  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    opened by Ic \&Eo
2917.It Ic \&Eo  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    closed by Ic \&Ec
2918.It Ic \&Fc  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    opened by Ic \&Fo
2919.It Ic \&Fo  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    closed by Ic \&Fc
2920.It Ic \&Oc  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    closed by Ic \&Oo
2921.It Ic \&Oo  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    opened by Ic \&Oc
2922.It Ic \&Pc  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    closed by Ic \&Po
2923.It Ic \&Po  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    opened by Ic \&Pc
2924.It Ic \&Qc  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    opened by Ic \&Oo
2925.It Ic \&Qo  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    closed by Ic \&Oc
2926.It Ic \&Re  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    opened by Ic \&Rs
2927.It Ic \&Rs  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    closed by Ic \&Re
2928.It Ic \&Sc  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    opened by Ic \&So
2929.It Ic \&So  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    closed by Ic \&Sc
2930.It Ic \&Xc  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    opened by Ic \&Xo
2931.It Ic \&Xo  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    closed by Ic \&Xc
2932.El
2933.Ss Block partial-implicit
2934Like block full-implicit, but with single-line scope closed by the
2935end of the line.
2936.Bd -literal -offset indent
2937\&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB \(lBbody...\(rB \(lBres...\(rB
2938.Ed
2939.Bl -column "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsedX" -offset indent
2940.It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsed
2941.It Ic \&Aq  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes
2942.It Ic \&Bq  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes
2943.It Ic \&Brq Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes
2944.It Ic \&D1  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&Yes
2945.It Ic \&Dl  Ta    \&No     Ta    Yes
2946.It Ic \&Dq  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes
2947.It Ic \&En  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes
2948.It Ic \&Op  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes
2949.It Ic \&Pq  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes
2950.It Ic \&Ql  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes
2951.It Ic \&Qq  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes
2952.It Ic \&Sq  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes
2953.It Ic \&Vt  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes
2954.El
2955.Pp
2956Note that the
2957.Ic \&Vt
2958macro is a
2959.Sx Block partial-implicit
2960only when invoked as the first macro
2961in a
2962.Em SYNOPSIS
2963section line, else it is
2964.Sx In-line .
2965.Ss Special block macro
2966The
2967.Ic \&Ta
2968macro can only be used below
2969.Ic \&It
2970in
2971.Ic \&Bl Fl column
2972lists.
2973It delimits blocks representing table cells;
2974these blocks have bodies, but no heads.
2975.Bl -column "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsedX" "closed by XXXX" -offset indent
2976.It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsed Ta Em Scope
2977.It Ic \&Ta  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes    Ta closed by Ic \&Ta , Ic \&It
2978.El
2979.Ss In-line
2980Closed by the end of the line, fixed argument lengths,
2981and/or subsequent macros.
2982In-line macros have only text children.
2983If a number (or inequality) of arguments is
2984.Pq n ,
2985then the macro accepts an arbitrary number of arguments.
2986.Bd -literal -offset indent
2987\&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB \(lBargs...\(rB \(lBres...\(rB
2988
2989\&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB \(lBargs...\(rB Yc...
2990
2991\&.Yo \(lB\-arg \(lBval...\(rB\(rB arg0 arg1 argN
2992.Ed
2993.Bl -column "MacroX" "CallableX" "ParsedX" "Arguments" -offset indent
2994.It Em Macro Ta Em Callable Ta Em Parsed Ta Em Arguments
2995.It Ic \&%A  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    >0
2996.It Ic \&%B  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    >0
2997.It Ic \&%C  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    >0
2998.It Ic \&%D  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    >0
2999.It Ic \&%I  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    >0
3000.It Ic \&%J  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    >0
3001.It Ic \&%N  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    >0
3002.It Ic \&%O  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    >0
3003.It Ic \&%P  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    >0
3004.It Ic \&%Q  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    >0
3005.It Ic \&%R  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    >0
3006.It Ic \&%T  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    >0
3007.It Ic \&%U  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    >0
3008.It Ic \&%V  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    >0
3009.It Ic \&Ad  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
3010.It Ic \&An  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
3011.It Ic \&Ap  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    0
3012.It Ic \&Ar  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    n
3013.It Ic \&At  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    1
3014.It Ic \&Bsx Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    n
3015.It Ic \&Bt  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    0
3016.It Ic \&Bx  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    n
3017.It Ic \&Cd  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
3018.It Ic \&Cm  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
3019.It Ic \&Db  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    1
3020.It Ic \&Dd  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    n
3021.It Ic \&Dt  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    n
3022.It Ic \&Dv  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
3023.It Ic \&Dx  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    n
3024.It Ic \&Em  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
3025.It Ic \&Er  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
3026.It Ic \&Es  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    2
3027.It Ic \&Ev  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
3028.It Ic \&Ex  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    n
3029.It Ic \&Fa  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
3030.It Ic \&Fd  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    >0
3031.It Ic \&Fl  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    n
3032.It Ic \&Fn  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
3033.It Ic \&Fr  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
3034.It Ic \&Ft  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
3035.It Ic \&Fx  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    n
3036.It Ic \&Hf  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    n
3037.It Ic \&Ic  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
3038.It Ic \&In  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    1
3039.It Ic \&Lb  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    1
3040.It Ic \&Li  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
3041.It Ic \&Lk  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
3042.It Ic \&Lp  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    0
3043.It Ic \&Ms  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
3044.It Ic \&Mt  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
3045.It Ic \&Nm  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    n
3046.It Ic \&No  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
3047.It Ic \&Ns  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    0
3048.It Ic \&Nx  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    n
3049.It Ic \&Os  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    n
3050.It Ic \&Ot  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
3051.It Ic \&Ox  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    n
3052.It Ic \&Pa  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    n
3053.It Ic \&Pf  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    1
3054.It Ic \&Pp  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    0
3055.It Ic \&Rv  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    n
3056.It Ic \&Sm  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    <2
3057.It Ic \&St  Ta    \&No     Ta    Yes      Ta    1
3058.It Ic \&Sx  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
3059.It Ic \&Sy  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
3060.It Ic \&Tg  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    <2
3061.It Ic \&Tn  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
3062.It Ic \&Ud  Ta    \&No     Ta    \&No     Ta    0
3063.It Ic \&Ux  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    n
3064.It Ic \&Va  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    n
3065.It Ic \&Vt  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    >0
3066.It Ic \&Xr  Ta    Yes      Ta    Yes      Ta    2
3067.El
3068.Ss Delimiters
3069When a macro argument consists of one single input character
3070considered as a delimiter, the argument gets special handling.
3071This does not apply when delimiters appear in arguments containing
3072more than one character.
3073Consequently, to prevent special handling and just handle it
3074like any other argument, a delimiter can be escaped by prepending
3075a zero-width space
3076.Pq Sq \e& .
3077In text lines, delimiters never need escaping, but may be used
3078as normal punctuation.
3079.Pp
3080For many macros, when the leading arguments are opening delimiters,
3081these delimiters are put before the macro scope,
3082and when the trailing arguments are closing delimiters,
3083these delimiters are put after the macro scope.
3084Spacing is suppressed after opening delimiters
3085and before closing delimiters.
3086For example,
3087.Pp
3088.D1 Pf \. \&Aq "( [ word ] ) ."
3089.Pp
3090renders as:
3091.Pp
3092.D1 Aq ( [ word ] ) .
3093.Pp
3094Opening delimiters are:
3095.Pp
3096.Bl -tag -width Ds -offset indent -compact
3097.It \&(
3098left parenthesis
3099.It \&[
3100left bracket
3101.El
3102.Pp
3103Closing delimiters are:
3104.Pp
3105.Bl -tag -width Ds -offset indent -compact
3106.It \&.
3107period
3108.It \&,
3109comma
3110.It \&:
3111colon
3112.It \&;
3113semicolon
3114.It \&)
3115right parenthesis
3116.It \&]
3117right bracket
3118.It \&?
3119question mark
3120.It \&!
3121exclamation mark
3122.El
3123.Pp
3124Note that even a period preceded by a backslash
3125.Pq Sq \e.\&
3126gets this special handling; use
3127.Sq \e&.\&
3128to prevent that.
3129.Pp
3130Many in-line macros interrupt their scope when they encounter
3131delimiters, and resume their scope when more arguments follow that
3132are not delimiters.
3133For example,
3134.Pp
3135.D1 Pf \. \&Fl "a ( b | c \e*(Ba d ) e"
3136.Pp
3137renders as:
3138.Pp
3139.D1 Fl a ( b | c \*(Ba d ) e
3140.Pp
3141This applies to both opening and closing delimiters,
3142and also to the middle delimiter, which does not suppress spacing:
3143.Pp
3144.Bl -tag -width Ds -offset indent -compact
3145.It \&|
3146vertical bar
3147.El
3148.Pp
3149As a special case, the predefined string \e*(Ba is handled and rendered
3150in the same way as a plain
3151.Sq \&|
3152character.
3153Using this predefined string is not recommended in new manuals.
3154.Pp
3155Appending a zero-width space
3156.Pq Sq \e&
3157to the end of an input line is also useful to prevent the interpretation
3158of a trailing period, exclamation or question mark as the end of a
3159sentence, for example when an abbreviation happens to occur
3160at the end of a text or macro input line.
3161.Ss Font handling
3162In
3163.Nm
3164documents, usage of semantic markup is recommended in order to have
3165proper fonts automatically selected; only when no fitting semantic markup
3166is available, consider falling back to
3167.Sx Physical markup
3168macros.
3169Whenever any
3170.Nm
3171macro switches the
3172.Xr roff 7
3173font mode, it will automatically restore the previous font when exiting
3174its scope.
3175Manually switching the font using the
3176.Xr roff 7
3177.Ql \ef
3178font escape sequences is never required.
3179.Sh COMPATIBILITY
3180This section provides an incomplete list of compatibility issues
3181between mandoc and GNU troff
3182.Pq Qq groff .
3183.Pp
3184The following problematic behaviour is found in groff:
3185.Pp
3186.Bl -dash -compact
3187.It
3188.Ic \&Pa
3189does not format its arguments when used in the FILES section under
3190certain list types.
3191.It
3192.Ic \&Ta
3193can only be called by other macros, but not at the beginning of a line.
3194.It
3195.Sq \ef
3196.Pq font face
3197and
3198.Sq \eF
3199.Pq font family face
3200.Sx Text Decoration
3201escapes behave irregularly when specified within line-macro scopes.
3202.It
3203Negative scaling units return to prior lines.
3204Instead, mandoc truncates them to zero.
3205.El
3206.Pp
3207The following features are unimplemented in mandoc:
3208.Pp
3209.Bl -dash -compact
3210.It
3211.Ic \&Bd Fl file Ar file
3212is unsupported for security reasons.
3213.It
3214.Ic \&Bd
3215.Fl filled
3216does not adjust the right margin, but is an alias for
3217.Ic \&Bd
3218.Fl ragged .
3219.It
3220.Ic \&Bd
3221.Fl literal
3222does not use a literal font, but is an alias for
3223.Ic \&Bd
3224.Fl unfilled .
3225.It
3226.Ic \&Bd
3227.Fl offset Cm center
3228and
3229.Fl offset Cm right
3230don't work.
3231Groff does not implement centered and flush-right rendering either,
3232but produces large indentations.
3233.El
3234.Sh SEE ALSO
3235.Xr man 1 ,
3236.Xr mandoc 1 ,
3237.Xr eqn 7 ,
3238.Xr man 7 ,
3239.Xr mandoc_char 7 ,
3240.Xr roff 7 ,
3241.Xr tbl 7
3242.Pp
3243The web page
3244.Lk https://mandoc.bsd.lv/mdoc/ "extended documentation for the mdoc language"
3245provides a few tutorial-style pages for beginners, an extensive style
3246guide for advanced authors, and an alphabetic index helping to choose
3247the best macros for various kinds of content.
3248.Pp
3249The manual page
3250.Lk https://man.voidlinux.org/groff_mdoc "groff_mdoc(7)"
3251contained in the
3252.Dq groff
3253package documents exactly the same language in a somewhat different style.
3254.Sh HISTORY
3255The
3256.Nm
3257language first appeared as a troff macro package in
3258.Bx 4.4 .
3259It was later significantly updated by Werner Lemberg and Ruslan Ermilov
3260in groff-1.17.
3261The standalone implementation that is part of the
3262.Xr mandoc 1
3263utility written by Kristaps Dzonsons appeared in
3264.Ox 4.6 .
3265.Sh AUTHORS
3266The
3267.Nm
3268reference was written by
3269.An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq Mt kristaps@bsd.lv .
3270