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MAN(7) DragonFly Miscellaneous Information Manual MAN(7)
NAME
man - legacy formatting language for manual pages
DESCRIPTION
The man language was the standard formatting language for AT&T UNIX
manual pages from 1979 to 1989. Do not use it to write new manual pages:
it is a purely presentational language and lacks support for semantic
markup. Use the mdoc(7) language, instead.
In a man document, lines beginning with the control character `.' are
called "macro lines". The first word is the macro name. It usually
consists of two capital letters. For a list of portable macros, see
MACRO OVERVIEW. The words following the macro name are arguments to the
macro.
Lines not beginning with the control character are called "text lines".
They provide free-form text to be printed; the formatting of the text
depends on the respective processing context:
.SH Macro lines change control state.
Text lines are interpreted within the current state.
Many aspects of the basic syntax of the man language are based on the
roff(7) language; see the LANGUAGE SYNTAX and MACRO SYNTAX sections in
the roff(7) manual for details, in particular regarding comments, escape
sequences, whitespace, and quoting.
Each man document starts with the TH macro specifying the document's name
and section, followed by the NAME section formatted as follows:
.TH PROGNAME 1 1979-01-10
.SH NAME
\fBprogname\fR \(en one line about what it does
MACRO OVERVIEW
This overview is sorted such that macros of similar purpose are listed
together. Deprecated and non-portable macros are not included in the
overview, but can be found in the alphabetical reference below.
Page header and footer meta-data
TH set the title: name section date [source [volume]]
AT display AT&T UNIX version in the page footer (<= 1 argument)
UC display BSD version in the page footer (<= 1 argument)
Sections and paragraphs
SH section header (one line)
SS subsection header (one line)
PP start an undecorated paragraph (no arguments)
RS, RE reset the left margin: [width]
IP indented paragraph: [head [width]]
TP tagged paragraph: [width]
PD set vertical paragraph distance: [height]
in additional indent: [width]
Physical markup
B boldface font
I italic font
SB small boldface font
SM small roman font
BI alternate between boldface and italic fonts
BR alternate between boldface and roman fonts
IB alternate between italic and boldface fonts
IR alternate between italic and roman fonts
RB alternate between roman and boldface fonts
RI alternate between roman and italic fonts
MACRO REFERENCE
This section is a canonical reference to all macros, arranged
alphabetically. For the scoping of individual macros, see MACRO SYNTAX.
AT Sets the volume for the footer for compatibility with man pages from
AT&T UNIX releases. The optional arguments specify which release it
is from. This macro is an extension that first appeared in 4.3BSD.
B Text is rendered in bold face.
BI Text is rendered alternately in bold face and italic. Thus, `.BI
this word and that' causes `this' and `and' to render in bold face,
while `word' and `that' render in italics. Whitespace between
arguments is omitted in output.
Example:
.BI bold italic bold italic
BR Text is rendered alternately in bold face and roman (the default
font). Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output. See also
BI.
DT Restore the default tabulator positions. They are at intervals of
0.5 inches. This has no effect unless the tabulator positions were
changed with the roff(7) ta request.
EE This is a non-standard Version 9 AT&T UNIX extension later adopted
by GNU. In mandoc(1), it does the same as the roff(7) fi request
(switch to fill mode).
EX This is a non-standard Version 9 AT&T UNIX extension later adopted
by GNU. In mandoc(1), it does the same as the roff(7) nf request
(switch to no-fill mode).
HP Begin a paragraph whose initial output line is left-justified, but
subsequent output lines are indented, with the following syntax:
.HP [width]
The width argument is a roff(7) scaling width. If specified, it's
saved for later paragraph left margins; if unspecified, the saved or
default width is used.
This macro is portable, but deprecated because it has no good
representation in HTML output, usually ending up indistinguishable
from PP.
I Text is rendered in italics.
IB Text is rendered alternately in italics and bold face. Whitespace
between arguments is omitted in output. See also BI.
IP Begin an indented paragraph with the following syntax:
.IP [head [width]]
The width argument is a roff(7) scaling width defining the left
margin. It's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if
unspecified, the saved or default width is used.
The head argument is used as a leading term, flushed to the left
margin. This is useful for bulleted paragraphs and so on.
IR Text is rendered alternately in italics and roman (the default
font). Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output. See also
BI.
LP A synonym for PP.
ME End a mailto block started with MT. This is a non-standard GNU
extension.
MT Begin a mailto block. This is a non-standard GNU extension. It has
the following syntax:
.MT address
link description to be shown
.ME
OP Optional command-line argument. This is a non-standard DWB
extension. It has the following syntax:
.OP key [value]
The key is usually a command-line flag and value its argument.
P This synonym for PP is an AT&T System III UNIX extension later
adopted by 4.3BSD.
PD Specify the vertical space to be inserted before each new paragraph.
The syntax is as follows:
.PD [height]
The height argument is a roff(7) scaling width. It defaults to 1v.
If the unit is omitted, v is assumed.
This macro affects the spacing before any subsequent instances of
HP, IP, LP, P, PP, SH, SS, SY, and TP.
PP Begin an undecorated paragraph. The scope of a paragraph is closed
by a subsequent paragraph, sub-section, section, or end of file.
The saved paragraph left-margin width is reset to the default.
RB Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and bold
face. Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output. See also
BI.
RE Explicitly close out the scope of a prior RS. The default left
margin is restored to the state before that RS invocation.
The syntax is as follows:
.RE [level]
Without an argument, the most recent RS block is closed out. If
level is 1, all open RS blocks are closed out. Otherwise, level - 1
nested RS blocks remain open.
RI Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and
italics. Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output. See
also BI.
RS Temporarily reset the default left margin. This has the following
syntax:
.RS [width]
The width argument is a roff(7) scaling width. If not specified,
the saved or default width is used.
See also RE.
SB Text is rendered in small size (one point smaller than the default
font) bold face. This macro is an extension that probably first
appeared in SunOS 4.0 and was later adopted by GNU and by 4.4BSD.
SH Begin a section. The scope of a section is only closed by another
section or the end of file. The paragraph left-margin width is
reset to the default.
SM Text is rendered in small size (one point smaller than the default
font).
SS Begin a sub-section. The scope of a sub-section is closed by a
subsequent sub-section, section, or end of file. The paragraph
left-margin width is reset to the default.
SY Begin a synopsis block with the following syntax:
.SY command
arguments
.YS
This is a non-standard GNU extension and very rarely used even in
GNU manual pages. Formatting is similar to IP.
TH Set the name of the manual page for use in the page header and
footer with the following syntax:
.TH name section date [source [volume]]
Conventionally, the document name is given in all caps. The section
is usually a single digit, in a few cases followed by a letter. The
recommended date format is YYYY-MM-DD as specified in the ISO-8601
standard; if the argument does not conform, it is printed verbatim.
If the date is empty or not specified, the current date is used.
The optional source string specifies the organisation providing the
utility. When unspecified, mandoc(1) uses its -Ios argument. The
volume string replaces the default volume title of the section.
Examples:
.TH CVS 5 1992-02-12 GNU
TP Begin a paragraph where the head, if exceeding the indentation
width, is followed by a newline; if not, the body follows on the
same line after advancing to the indentation width. Subsequent
output lines are indented. The syntax is as follows:
.TP [width]
head \" one line
body
The width argument is a roff(7) scaling width. If specified, it's
saved for later paragraph left-margins; if unspecified, the saved or
default width is used.
TQ Like TP, except that no vertical spacing is inserted before the
paragraph. This is a non-standard GNU extension and very rarely
used even in GNU manual pages.
UC Sets the volume for the footer for compatibility with man pages from
BSD releases. The optional first argument specifies which release
it is from. This macro is an extension that first appeared in 3BSD.
UE End a uniform resource identifier block started with UR. This is a
non-standard GNU extension.
UR Begin a uniform resource identifier block. This is a non-standard
GNU extension. It has the following syntax:
.UR uri
link description to be shown
.UE
YS End a synopsis block started with SY. This is a non-standard GNU
extension.
in Indent relative to the current indentation:
.in [width]
If width is signed, the new offset is relative. Otherwise, it is
absolute. This value is reset upon the next paragraph, section, or
sub-section.
MACRO SYNTAX
The man macros are classified by scope: line scope or block scope. Line
macros are only scoped to the current line (and, in some situations, the
subsequent line). Block macros are scoped to the current line and
subsequent lines until closed by another block macro.
Line Macros
Line macros are generally scoped to the current line, with the body
consisting of zero or more arguments. If a macro is scoped to the next
line and the line arguments are empty, the next line, which must be text,
is used instead. Thus:
.I
foo
is equivalent to `.I foo'. If next-line macros are invoked
consecutively, only the last is used. If a next-line macro is followed
by a non-next-line macro, an error is raised.
The syntax is as follows:
.YO [body...]
[body...]
Macro Arguments Scope Notes
AT <=1 current
B n next-line
BI n current
BR n current
DT 0 current
EE 0 current Version 9 AT&T UNIX
EX 0 current Version 9 AT&T UNIX
I n next-line
IB n current
IR n current
OP >=1 current DWB
PD 1 current
RB n current
RI n current
SB n next-line
SM n next-line
TH >1, <6 current
UC <=1 current
in 1 current roff(7)
Block Macros
Block macros comprise a head and body. As with in-line macros, the head
is scoped to the current line and, in one circumstance, the next line
(the next-line stipulations as in Line Macros apply here as well).
The syntax is as follows:
.YO [head...]
[head...]
[body...]
The closure of body scope may be to the section, where a macro is closed
by SH; sub-section, closed by a section or SS; or paragraph, closed by a
section, sub-section, HP, IP, LP, P, PP, RE, SY, or TP. No closure
refers to an explicit block closing macro.
As a rule, block macros may not be nested; thus, calling a block macro
while another block macro scope is open, and the open scope is not
implicitly closed, is syntactically incorrect.
Macro Arguments Head Scope Body Scope Notes
HP <2 current paragraph
IP <3 current paragraph
LP 0 current paragraph
ME 0 none none GNU
MT 1 current to ME GNU
P 0 current paragraph
PP 0 current paragraph
RE <=1 current none
RS 1 current to RE
SH >0 next-line section
SS >0 next-line sub-section
SY 1 current to YS GNU
TP n next-line paragraph
TQ n next-line paragraph GNU
UE 0 current none GNU
UR 1 current part GNU
YS 0 none none GNU
If a block macro is next-line scoped, it may only be followed by in-line
macros for decorating text.
Font handling
In man documents, both Physical markup macros and roff(7) `\f' font
escape sequences can be used to choose fonts. In text lines, the effect
of manual font selection by escape sequences only lasts until the next
macro invocation; in macro lines, it only lasts until the end of the
macro scope. Note that macros like BR open and close a font scope for
each argument.
SEE ALSO
man(1), mandoc(1), eqn(7), mandoc_char(7), mdoc(7), roff(7), tbl(7)
HISTORY
The man language first appeared as a macro package for the roff
typesetting system in Version 7 AT&T UNIX.
The stand-alone implementation that is part of the mandoc(1) utility
first appeared in OpenBSD 4.6.
AUTHORS
Douglas McIlroy <m.douglas.mcilroy@dartmouth.edu> designed and
implemented the original version of these macros, wrote the original
version of this manual page, and was the first to use them when he edited
volume 1 of the Version 7 AT&T UNIX manual pages.
James Clark later rewrote the macros for groff. Eric S. Raymond
<esr@thyrsus.com> and Werner Lemberg <wl@gnu.org> added the extended man
macros to groff in 2007.
The mandoc(1) program and this man reference were written by Kristaps
Dzonsons <kristaps@bsd.lv>.
DragonFly 6.1-DEVELOPMENT August 5, 2021 DragonFly 6.1-DEVELOPMENT