MDOC(7)BSD Miscellaneous Information ManualMDOC(7)

CONTENTS
NAME
SYNOPSIS
DESCRIPTION
GETTING STARTED
TROFF IDIOSYNCRASIES
Macro Usage
Passing Space Characters in an Argument
Trailing Blank Space Characters
Escaping Special Characters
Other Possible Pitfalls
A MANUAL PAGE TEMPLATE
CONVENTIONS
TITLE MACROS
INTRODUCTION OF MANUAL AND GENERAL TEXT DOMAINS
What’s in a Name
General Syntax
MANUAL DOMAIN
Addresses
Author Name
Arguments
Configuration Declaration (Section Four Only)
Command Modifiers
Defined Variables
Errno’s
Environment Variables
Flags
Function Declarations
Function Types
Functions (Library Routines)
Function Arguments
Return Values
Exit Status
Interactive Commands
Library Names
Literals
Names
Options
Pathnames
Standards
Variable Types
Variables
Manual Page Cross References
GENERAL TEXT DOMAIN
AT&T Macro
BSD Macro
NetBSD Macro
FreeBSD Macro
DragonFly Macro
OpenBSD Macro
BSD/OS Macro
UNIX Macro
Emphasis Macro
Font Mode
Enclosure and Quoting Macros
No-Op or Normal Text Macro
No-Space Macro
Section Cross References
Symbolics
SymbolsMathematical Symbols
References and Citations
Trade Names (or Acronyms and Type Names)
Extended Arguments
PAGE STRUCTURE DOMAIN
Section Headers
Subsection Headers
Paragraphs and Line Spacing
Keeps
Examples and Displays
Lists and Columns
MISCELLANEOUS MACROS
PREDEFINED STRINGS
DIAGNOSTICS
FORMATTING WITH NROFF AND TROFF
SEE ALSO
BUGS

NAME
mdoc — reference for the mdoc manual page macros implementation

SYNOPSIS
nroff -mdoc file ...

DESCRIPTION
A complete reference for writing UNIX manual pages with the -mdoc macro package; a content-based and domain-based formatting package
for nroff(1) and troff(1). Its predecessor, the -man(7) package, addressed page layout leaving the manipulation of fonts and other
typesetting details to the individual author. In -mdoc, page layout macros make up the page structure domain which consists of macros
for titles, section headers, displays and lists – essentially items which affect the physical position of text on a formatted page. In
addition to the page structure domain, there are two more domains, the manual domain and the general text domain. The general text
domain is defined as macros which perform tasks such as quoting or emphasizing pieces of text. The manual domain is defined as macros
that are a subset of the day to day informal language used to describe commands, routines and related UNIX files. Macros in the manual
domain handle command names, command line arguments and options, function names, function parameters, pathnames, variables, cross
references to other manual pages, and so on. These domain items have value for both the author and the future user of the manual page.
Hopefully, the consistency gained across the manual set will provide easier translation to future documentation tools.

Throughout the UNIX manual pages, a manual entry is simply referred to as a man page, regardless of actual length and without sexist
intention.

GETTING STARTED
The material presented in the remainder of this document is outlined as follows:

1.TROFF IDIOSYNCRASIES
Macro Usage
Passing Space Characters in an Argument
Trailing Blank Space Characters
Escaping Special Characters
Other Possible Pitfalls

2.A MANUAL PAGE TEMPLATE

3.CONVENTIONS

4.TITLE MACROS

5.INTRODUCTION OF MANUAL AND GENERAL TEXT DOMAINS
What’s in a Name...
General Syntax

6.MANUAL DOMAIN
Addresses
Author Name
Arguments
Configuration Declarations (Section Four Only)
Command Modifiers
Defined Variables
Errno’s
Environment Variables
Flags
Function Declarations
Function Types
Functions (Library Routines)
Function Arguments
Return Values
Exit Status
Interactive Commands
Library Names
Literals
Names
Options
Pathnames
Standards
Variable Types
Variables
Manual Page Cross References

7.GENERAL TEXT DOMAIN
AT&T Macro
BSD Macro
NetBSD Macro
FreeBSD Macro
DragonFly Macro
OpenBSD Macro
BSD/OS Macro
UNIX Macro
Emphasis Macro
Font Mode
Enclosure and Quoting Macros
No-Op or Normal Text Macro
No-Space Macro
Section Cross References
Symbolics
Mathematical Symbols
References and Citations
Trade Names (or Acronyms and Type Names)
Extended Arguments

8.PAGE STRUCTURE DOMAIN
Section Headers
Subsection Headers
Paragraphs and Line Spacing
Keeps
Examples and Displays
Lists and Columns

9.MISCELLANEOUS MACROS

10.PREDEFINED STRINGS

11.DIAGNOSTICS

12.FORMATTING WITH NROFF AND TROFF

13.FILES

14.SEE ALSO

15.BUGS

TROFF IDIOSYNCRASIES
The -mdoc package attempts to simplify the process of writing a man page. Theoretically, one should not have to learn the tricky
details of troff(1) to use -mdoc; however, there are a few limitations which are unavoidable and best gotten out of the way. And, too,
be forewarned, this package is not fast.

Macro Usage
As in troff(1), a macro is called by placing a ‘.’ (dot character) at the beginning of a line followed by the two-character (or three-
character) name for the macro. There can be space or tab characters between the dot and the macro name. Arguments may follow the
macro separated by spaces (but no tabs). It is the dot character at the beginning of the line which causes troff(1) to interpret the
next two (or more) characters as a macro name. A single starting dot followed by nothing is ignored. To place a ‘.’ (dot character)
at the beginning of an input line in some context other than a macro invocation, precede the ‘.’ (dot) with the ‘\&’ escape sequence
which translates literally to a zero-width space, and is never displayed in the output.

In general, troff(1) macros accept an unlimited number of arguments (contrary to other versions of troff which can’t handle more than
nine arguments). In limited cases, arguments may be continued or extended on the next line (See Extended Arguments below). Almost all
macros handle quoted arguments (see Passing Space Characters in an Argument below).

Most of the -mdoc general text domain and manual domain macros are special in that their argument lists are parsed for callable macro
names. This means an argument on the argument list which matches a general text or manual domain macro name (and which is defined to
be callable) will be executed or called when it is processed. In this case the argument, although the name of a macro, is not preceded
by a ‘.’ (dot). This makes it possible to nest macros; for example the option macro, .Op, may call the flag and argument macros, Fl
and Ar, to specify an optional flag with an argument:

[-s bytes]is produced by .Op Fl s Ar bytes

To prevent a string from being interpreted as a macro name, precede the string with the escape sequence ‘\&’:

[Fl s Ar bytes]is produced by .Op \&Fl s \&Ar bytes

Here the strings Fl and Ar are not interpreted as macros. Macros whose argument lists are parsed for callable arguments are referred
to as parsed and macros which may be called from an argument list are referred to as callable throughout this document. This is a
technical faux pas as almost all of the macros in -mdoc are parsed, but as it was cumbersome to constantly refer to macros as being
callable and being able to call other macros, the term parsed has been used.

In the following, we call an -mdoc macro which starts a line (with a leading dot) a command if this distinction is necessary.

Passing Space Characters in an Argument
Sometimes it is desirable to give as an argument a string containing one or more blank space characters, say, to specify arguments to
commands which expect particular arrangement of items in the argument list. Additionally, it makes -mdoc working faster. For example,
the function command .Fn expects the first argument to be the name of a function and any remaining arguments to be function parameters.
As ANSI C stipulates the declaration of function parameters in the parenthesized parameter list, each parameter is guaranteed to be at
minimum a two word string. For example, int foo.

There are two possible ways to pass an argument which contains an embedded space. One way of passing a string containing blank spaces
is to use the hard or unpaddable space character ‘\ ’, that is, a blank space preceded by the escape character ‘\’. This method may be
used with any macro but has the side effect of interfering with the adjustment of text over the length of a line. Troff sees the hard
space as if it were any other printable character and cannot split the string into blank or newline separated pieces as one would
expect. This method is useful for strings which are not expected to overlap a line boundary. An alternative is to use \˜, a paddable
(i.e. stretchable), unbreakable space. The second method is to enclose the string with double quotes.

For example:

fetch(char ∗str)is created by .Fn fetch char\ ∗str

fetch(char ∗str)can also be created by .Fn fetch "char ∗str"

If the ‘\’ before the space in the first example or double quotes in the second example were omitted, .Fn would see three arguments,
and the result would be:

fetch(char, ∗str)

Trailing Blank Space Characters
Troff can be confused by blank space characters at the end of a line. It is a wise preventive measure to globally remove all blank
spaces from <blank-space><end-of-line> character sequences. Should the need arise to use a blank character at the end of a line, it
may be forced with an unpaddable space and the ‘\&’ escape character. For example, string\ \&.

Escaping Special Characters
Special characters like the newline character ‘\n’ are handled by replacing the ‘\’ with ‘\e’ (e.g. \en) to preserve the backslash.

Other Possible Pitfalls
A warning is emitted when an empty input line is found outside of displays (see below). Use .sp instead. (Well, it is even better to
use -mdoc macros to avoid the usage of low-level commands.)

Leading spaces will cause a break and are output directly. Avoid this behaviour if possible. Similarly, do not use more than one
space character between words in an ordinary text line; contrary to other text formatters, they are not replaced with a single space.

You can’t pass " directly as an argument. Use \∗[q] (or \∗q) instead.

By default, troff(1) inserts two space characters after a punctuation mark closing a sentence; characters like ‘)’ or ‘’’ are treated
transparently, not influencing the sentence-ending behaviour. To change this, insert ‘\&’ before or after the dot:

The
.Ql .
character.
.Pp
The
.Ql \&.
character.
.Pp
.No test .
test
.Pp
.No test.
test

gives

The ‘’. character

The ‘.’ character.

test. test

test. test

As can be seen in the first and third line, -mdoc handles punctuation characters specially in macro arguments. This will be explained
in section General Syntax below. In the same way, you have to protect trailing full stops of abbreviations with a trailing zero-width
space: e.g.\&.

A comment in the source file of a man page can be either started with .\" on a single line, ‘\"’ after some input, or ‘\#’ anywhere;
the rest of such a line is ignored.

A MANUAL PAGE TEMPLATE
The body of a man page is easily constructed from a basic template:

.\" The following commands are required for all man pages.
.Dd Month day, year
.Dt DOCUMENT_TITLE [section number] [architecture/volume]
.Os [OPERATING_SYSTEM] [version/release]
.Sh NAME
.Nm name
.Nd one line description of name
.\" This next command is for sections 2 and 3 only.
.\" .Sh LIBRARY
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Sh DESCRIPTION
.\" The following commands should be uncommented and
.\" used where appropriate.
.\" .Sh IMPLEMENTATION NOTES
.\" This next command is for sections 2, 3, and 9 only
.\" (function return values).
.\" .Sh RETURN VALUES
.\" This next command is for sections 1, 6, 7, and 8 only.
.\" .Sh ENVIRONMENT
.\" .Sh FILES
.\" This next command is for sections 1, 6, and 8 only
.\" (command return values to the shell).
.\" .Sh EXIT STATUS
.\" .Sh EXAMPLES
.\" This next command is for sections 1, 4, 6, 7, 8, and 9 only
.\" (fprintf/stderr type diagnostics).
.\" .Sh DIAGNOSTICS
.\" .Sh COMPATIBILITY
.\" This next command is for sections 2, 3, 4, and 9 only
.\" (settings of the errno variable).
.\" .Sh ERRORS
.\" .Sh SEE ALSO
.\" .Sh STANDARDS
.\" .Sh HISTORY
.\" .Sh AUTHORS
.\" .Sh CAVEATS
.\" .Sh BUGS

The first items in the template are the commands .Dd, .Dt, and .Os; the document date, the operating system the man page or subject
source is developed or modified for, and the man page title (in upper case) along with the section of the manual the page belongs in.
These commands identify the page and are discussed below in TITLE MACROS.

The remaining items in the template are section headers (.Sh); of which NAME, SYNOPSIS, and DESCRIPTION are mandatory. The headers are
discussed in PAGE STRUCTURE DOMAIN, after presentation of MANUAL DOMAIN. Several content macros are used to demonstrate page layout
macros; reading about content macros before page layout macros is recommended.
CONVENTIONS
In the description of all macros below, optional arguments are put into brackets. An ellipsis (‘...’) represents zero or more
additional arguments. Alternative values for a parameter are separated with ‘|’. If there are alternative values for a mandatory
parameter, braces are used (together with ‘|’) to enclose the value set. Meta-variables are specified within angles.

Example:

.Xx <foo> {bar1 | bar2} [-test1 [-test2 | -test3]] ...

Except stated explicitly, all macros are parsed and callable.

Note that a macro takes effect up to the next nested macro. For example, .Ic foo Aq bar doesn’t produce ‘foo <bar>’ but ‘foo <bar>’.
Consequently, a warning message is emitted for most commands if the first argument is a macro itself since it cancels the effect of the
calling command completely. Another consequence is that quoting macros never insert literal quotes; ‘foo <bar>’ has been produced by
.Ic "foo <bar>".

Most macros have a default width value which can be used to specify a label width (-width) or offset (-offset) for the .Bl and .Bd
macros. It is recommended not to use this rather obscure feature to avoid dependencies on local modifications of the -mdoc package.

TITLE MACROS
The title macros are part of the page structure domain but are presented first and separately for someone who wishes to start writing a
man page yesterday. Three header macros designate the document title or manual page title, the operating system, and the date of
authorship. These macros are called once at the very beginning of the document and are used to construct headers and footers only.

.Dt [<document title>] [<section number>] [<volume>]
The document title is the subject of the man page and must be in CAPITALS due to troff limitations. If omitted, ‘UNTITLED’ is
used. The section number may be a number in the range 1, ..., 9 or unass, draft, or paper. If it is specified, and no
volume name is given, a default volume name is used.

Under BSD, the following sections are defined:

1BSD General Commands Manual
2BSD System Calls Manual
3BSD Library Functions Manual
4BSD Kernel Interfaces Manual
5BSD File Formats Manual
6BSD Games Manual
7BSD Miscellaneous Information Manual
8BSD System Manager’s Manual
9BSD Kernel Developer’s Manual

A volume name may be arbitrary or one of the following:

USDUser’s Supplementary Documents
PS1Programmer’s Supplementary Documents
AMDAncestral Manual Documents
SMMSystem Manager’s Manual
URMUser’s Reference Manual
PRMProgrammer’s Manual
KM Kernel Manual
INDManual Master Index
LOCALLocal Manual
CONContributed Software Manual

For compatibility, MMI can be used for IND, and LOC for LOCAL. Values from the previous table will specify a new volume
name. If the third parameter is a keyword designating a computer architecture, its value is prepended to the default volume
name as specified by the second parameter. By default, the following architecture keywords are defined:

acorn26, acorn32, algor, alpha, amd64, amiga, amigappc, arc, arm, arm26, arm32, armish, atari, aviion, beagle,
bebox, cats, cesfic, cobalt, dreamcast, emips, evbarm, evbmips, evbppc, evbsh3, ews4800mips, hp300, hp700, hpcarm,
hpcmips, hpcsh, hppa, hppa64, i386, ia64, ibmnws, iyonix, landisk, loongson, luna68k, luna88k, m68k, mac68k, macppc,
mips, mips64, mipsco, mmeye, mvme68k, mvme88k, mvmeppc, netwinder, news68k, newsmips, next68k, ofppc, palm, pc532,
playstation2, pmax, pmppc, powerpc, prep, rs6000, sandpoint, sbmips, sgi, sgimips, sh3, shark, socppc, solbourne,
sparc, sparc64, sun2, sun3, tahoe, vax, x68k, x86_64, xen, zaurus

If the section number is neither a numeric expression in the range 1 to 9 nor one of the above described keywords, the third
parameter is used verbatim as the volume name.

In the following examples, the left (which is identical to the right) and the middle part of the manual page header strings
are shown. Note how ‘\&’ prevents the digit 7 from being a valid numeric expression.

.Dt FOO 7FOO(7) BSD Miscellaneous Information Manual
.Dt FOO 7 barFOO(7) BSD Miscellaneous Information Manual
.Dt FOO \&7 bar
FOO(7) bar
.Dt FOO 2 i386FOO(2) BSD/i386 System Calls Manual
.Dt FOO "" barFOO bar

Local, OS-specific additions might be found in the file mdoc.local; look for strings named volume-ds-XXX (for the former
type) and volume-as-XXX (for the latter type); XXX then denotes the keyword to be used with the .Dt macro.

This macro is neither callable nor parsed.

.Os [<operating system>] [<release>]
If the first parameter is empty, the default ‘BSD’ is used. This may be overridden in the local configuration file,
mdoc.local. In general, the name of the operating system should be the common acronym, e.g. BSD or ATT. The release should
be the standard release nomenclature for the system specified. In the following table, the possible second arguments for
some predefined operating systems are listed. Similar to .Dt, local additions might be defined in mdoc.local; look for
strings named operating-system-XXX-YYY, where XXX is the acronym for the operating system and YYY the release ID.

ATT7th, 7, III, 3, V, V.2, V.3, V.4

BSD3, 4, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.3t, 4.3T, 4.3r, 4.3R, 4.4

NetBSD0.8, 0.8a, 0.9, 0.9a, 1.0, 1.0a, 1.1, 1.2, 1.2a, 1.2b, 1.2c, 1.2d, 1.2e, 1.3, 1.3a, 1.4, 1.4.1, 1.4.2,
1.4.3, 1.5, 1.5.1, 1.5.2, 1.5.3, 1.6, 1.6.1, 1.6.2, 1.6.3, 2.0, 2.0.1, 2.0.2, 2.0.3, 2.1, 3.0, 3.0.1,
3.0.2, 3.0.3, 3.1, 3.1.1, 4.0, 4.0.1, 5.0, 5.0.1, 5.0.2, 5.1, 5.1.2, 5.1.3, 5.1.4, 5.2, 5.2.1, 5.2.2, 6.0,
6.0.1, 6.0.2, 6.0.3, 6.0.4, 6.0.5, 6.1, 6.1.1, 6.1.2, 6.1.3, 6.1.4

FreeBSD1.0, 1.1, 1.1.5, 1.1.5.1, 2.0, 2.0.5, 2.1, 2.1.5, 2.1.6, 2.1.7, 2.2, 2.2.1, 2.2.2, 2.2.5, 2.2.6, 2.2.7,
2.2.8, 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 4.0, 4.1, 4.1.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.8, 4.9, 4.10,
4.11, 5.0, 5.1, 5.2, 5.2.1, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 6.0, 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 6.4, 7.0, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, 8.0, 8.1,
8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 9.0, 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 10.0

OpenBSD2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 2.7, 2.8, 2.9, 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7, 3.8, 3.9, 4.0,
4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 4.7, 4.8, 4.9, 5.0, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 5.6

DragonFly1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.8, 1.8.1, 1.9, 1.10, 1.12, 1.12.2, 1.13, 2.0, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5,
2.6, 2.7, 2.8, 2.9, 2.9.1, 2.10, 2.10.1, 2.11, 2.12, 2.13, 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7, 3.8

Darwin8.0.0, 8.1.0, 8.2.0, 8.3.0, 8.4.0, 8.5.0, 8.6.0, 8.7.0, 8.8.0, 8.9.0, 8.10.0, 8.11.0, 9.0.0, 9.1.0, 9.2.0,
9.3.0, 9.4.0, 9.5.0, 9.6.0, 9.7.0, 9.8.0, 10.1.0, 10.2.0, 10.3.0, 10.4.0, 10.5.0, 10.6.0, 10.7.0, 10.8.0,
11.0.0, 11.1.0, 11.2.0, 11.3.0, 11.4.0, 11.5.0, 12.0.0, 12.1.0, 12.2.0, 13.0.0, 13.1.0, 13.2.0, 13.3.0,
13.4.0, 14.0.0

For ATT, an unknown second parameter will be replaced with the string UNIX; for the other predefined acronyms it will be
ignored and a warning message emitted. Unrecognized arguments are displayed as given in the page footer. For instance, a
typical footer might be:

.Os BSD 4.3

giving 4.3 Berkeley Distribution, or for a locally produced set

.Os CS Department

which will produce CS Department.

If the .Os macro is not present, the bottom left corner of the manual page will be ugly.

This macro is neither callable nor parsed.

.Dd [<month> <day>, <year>]
If ‘Dd’ has no arguments, Epoch is used for the date string. If it has exactly three arguments, they are concatenated,
separated with unbreakable space:

.Dd January 25, 2001

The month’s name shall not be abbreviated.

With any other number of arguments, the current date is used, ignoring the parameters.

As a special exception, the format

.Dd $Mdocdate: <month> <day> <year> $

is also recognized. It is used in OpenBSD manuals to automatically insert the current date when committing.

This macro is neither callable nor parsed.

INTRODUCTION OF MANUAL AND GENERAL TEXT DOMAINS
What’s in a Name ...
The manual domain macro names are derived from the day to day informal language used to describe commands, subroutines and related
files. Slightly different variations of this language are used to describe the three different aspects of writing a man page. First,
there is the description of -mdoc macro command usage. Second is the description of a UNIX command with -mdoc macros, and third, the
description of a command to a user in the verbal sense; that is, discussion of a command in the text of a man page.

In the first case, troff(1) macros are themselves a type of command; the general syntax for a troff command is:

.Xx argument1 argument2 ...

.Xx is a macro command, and anything following it are arguments to be processed. In the second case, the description of a UNIX command
using the content macros is a bit more involved; a typical SYNOPSIS command line might be displayed as:

filter [-flag] <infile> <outfile>

Here, filter is the command name and the bracketed string -flag is a flag argument designated as optional by the option brackets. In
-mdoc terms, <infile> and <outfile> are called meta arguments; in this example, the user has to replace the meta expressions given in
angle brackets with real file names. Note that in this document meta arguments are used to describe -mdoc commands; in most man pages,
meta variables are not specifically written with angle brackets. The macros which formatted the above example:

.Nm filter
.Op Fl flag
.Ao Ar infile Ac Ao Ar outfile Ac

In the third case, discussion of commands and command syntax includes both examples above, but may add more detail. The arguments
<infile> and <outfile> from the example above might be referred to as operands or file arguments. Some command line argument lists are
quite long:

make[-eiknqrstv] [-D variable] [-d flags] [-f makefile] [-I directory] [-j max_jobs] [variable=value] [target ...]

Here one might talk about the command make and qualify the argument, makefile, as an argument to the flag, -f, or discuss the optional
file operand target. In the verbal context, such detail can prevent confusion, however the -mdoc package does not have a macro for an
argument to a flag. Instead the Ar argument macro is used for an operand or file argument like target as well as an argument to a flag
like variable. The make command line was produced from:

.Nm make
.Op Fl eiknqrstv
.Op Fl D Ar variable
.Op Fl d Ar flags
.Op Fl f Ar makefile
.Op Fl I Ar directory
.Op Fl j Ar max_jobs
.Op Ar variable Ns = Ns Ar value
.Bk
.Op Ar target ...
.Ek

The .Bk and .Ek macros are explained in Keeps.

General Syntax
The manual domain and general text domain macros share a similar syntax with a few minor deviations; most notably, .Ar, .Fl, .Nm, and
.Pa differ only when called without arguments; and .Fn and .Xr impose an order on their argument lists. All content macros are capable
of recognizing and properly handling punctuation, provided each punctuation character is separated by a leading space. If a command is
given:

.Ar sptr, ptr),

The result is:

sptr, ptr),

The punctuation is not recognized and all is output in the font used by .Ar. If the punctuation is separated by a leading white space:

.Ar sptr , ptr ) ,

The result is:

sptr, ptr),

The punctuation is now recognized and output in the default font distinguishing it from the argument strings. To remove the special
meaning from a punctuation character escape it with ‘\&’.

The following punctuation characters are recognized by -mdoc:

.,:;(
)[]?!

Troff is limited as a macro language, and has difficulty when presented with a string containing a member of the mathematical, logical
or quotation set:
{+,-,/,∗,%,<,>,<=,>=,=,==,&,‘,’,"}

The problem is that troff may assume it is supposed to actually perform the operation or evaluation suggested by the characters. To
prevent the accidental evaluation of these characters, escape them with ‘\&’. Typical syntax is shown in the first content macro
displayed below, .Ad.

MANUAL DOMAIN
Addresses
The address macro identifies an address construct.

Usage: .Ad <address> ...

.Ad addr1addr1
.Ad addr1 .addr1.
.Ad addr1 , file2addr1, file2
.Ad f1 , f2 , f3 :f1, f2, f3:
.Ad addr ) ) ,addr)),

The default width is 12n.

Author Name
The .An macro is used to specify the name of the author of the item being documented, or the name of the author of the actual manual
page.

Usage: .An <author name> ...

.An "Joe Author"Joe Author

.An "Joe Author" ,Joe Author,

.An "Joe Author" Aq nobody@FreeBSD.org
Joe Author <nobody@FreeBSD.org>

.An "Joe Author" ) ) ,Joe Author)),

The default width is 12n.

In the AUTHORS section, the .An command causes a line break allowing each new name to appear on its own line. If this is not
desirable,

.An -nosplit

call will turn this off. To turn splitting back on, write

.An -split

Arguments
The .Ar argument macro may be used whenever an argument is referenced. If called without arguments, the ‘file ...’ string is output.

Usage: .Ar [<argument>] ...

.Arfile ...
.Ar file1file1
.Ar file1 .file1.
.Ar file1 file2file1 file2
.Ar f1 f2 f3 :f1 f2 f3:
.Ar file ) ) ,file)),

The default width is 12n.

Configuration Declaration (Section Four Only)
The .Cd macro is used to demonstrate a config(8) declaration for a device interface in a section four manual.

Usage: .Cd <argument> ...

.Cd "device le0 at scode?"device le0 at scode?

In the SYNOPSIS section a .Cd command causes a line break before and after its arguments are printed.

The default width is 12n.

Command Modifiers
The command modifier is identical to the .Fl (flag) command with the exception that the .Cm macro does not assert a dash in front of
every argument. Traditionally flags are marked by the preceding dash, however, some commands or subsets of commands do not use them.
Command modifiers may also be specified in conjunction with interactive commands such as editor commands. See Flags.

The default width is 10n.
Defined Variables
A variable (or constant) which is defined in an include file is specified by the macro .Dv.

Usage: .Dv <defined variable> ...

.Dv MAXHOSTNAMELENMAXHOSTNAMELEN
.Dv TIOCGPGRP )TIOCGPGRP)

The default width is 12n.

Errno’s
The .Er errno macro specifies the error return value for section 2, 3, and 9 library routines. The second example below shows .Er used
with the .Bq general text domain macro, as it would be used in a section two manual page.

Usage: .Er <errno type> ...

.Er ENOENTENOENT
.Er ENOENT ) ;ENOENT);
.Bq Er ENOTDIR[ENOTDIR]

The default width is 17n.

Environment Variables
The .Ev macro specifies an environment variable.

Usage: .Ev <argument> ...

.Ev DISPLAYDISPLAY
.Ev PATH .PATH.
.Ev PRINTER ) ) ,PRINTER)),

The default width is 15n.

Flags
The .Fl macro handles command line flags. It prepends a dash, ‘-’, to the flag. For interactive command flags, which are not
prepended with a dash, the .Cm (command modifier) macro is identical, but without the dash.

Usage: .Fl <argument> ...

.Fl-
.Fl cfv-cfv
.Fl cfv .-cfv.
.Cm cfv .cfv.
.Fl s v t-s -v -t
.Fl - ,--,
.Fl xyz ) ,-xyz),
.Fl |- |

The .Fl macro without any arguments results in a dash representing stdin/stdout. Note that giving .Fl a single dash will result in two
dashes.

The default width is 12n.

Function Declarations
The .Fd macro is used in the SYNOPSIS section with section two or three functions. It is neither callable nor parsed.

Usage: .Fd <argument> ...

.Fd "#include <sys/types.h>"#include <sys/types.h>

In the SYNOPSIS section a .Fd command causes a line break if a function has already been presented and a break has not occurred. This
leaves a nice vertical space in between the previous function call and the declaration for the next function.

The .In macro, while in the SYNOPSIS section, represents the #include statement, and is the short form of the above example. It
specifies the C header file as being included in a C program. It also causes a line break.

While not in the SYNOPSIS section, it represents the header file enclosed in angle brackets.

Usage: .In <header file>

.In stdio.h

#include <stdio.h>

.In stdio.h<stdio.h>
Function Types
This macro is intended for the SYNOPSIS section. It may be used anywhere else in the man page without problems, but its main purpose
is to present the function type in kernel normal form for the SYNOPSIS of sections two and three (it causes a line break, allowing the
function name to appear on the next line).

Usage: .Ft <type> ...

.Ft struct statstruct stat

Functions (Library Routines)
The .Fn macro is modeled on ANSI C conventions.

Usage: .Fn <function> [<parameter>] ...

.Fn getchargetchar()
.Fn strlen ) ,strlen()),
.Fn align "char ∗ptr" ,align(char ∗ptr),

Note that any call to another macro signals the end of the .Fn call (it will insert a closing parenthesis at that point).

For functions with many parameters (which is rare), the macros .Fo (function open) and .Fc (function close) may be used with .Fa
(function argument).

Example:

.Ft int
.Fo res_mkquery
.Fa "int op"
.Fa "char ∗dname"
.Fa "int class"
.Fa "int type"
.Fa "char ∗data"
.Fa "int datalen"
.Fa "struct rrec ∗newrr"
.Fa "char ∗buf"
.Fa "int buflen"
.Fc

Produces:

int res_mkquery(int op, char ∗dname, int class, int type, char ∗data, int datalen, struct rrec ∗newrr, char ∗buf,
int buflen)

In the SYNOPSIS section, the function will always begin at the beginning of line. If there is more than one function presented in the
SYNOPSIS section and a function type has not been given, a line break will occur, leaving a nice vertical space between the current
function name and the one prior.

The default width values of .Fn and .Fo are 12n and 16n, respectively.

Function Arguments
The .Fa macro is used to refer to function arguments (parameters) outside of the SYNOPSIS section of the manual or inside the SYNOPSIS
section if the enclosure macros .Fo and .Fc instead of .Fn are used. .Fa may also be used to refer to structure members.

Usage: .Fa <function argument> ...

.Fa d_namlen ) ) ,d_namlen)),
.Fa iov_leniov_len

The default width is 12n.

Return Values
The .Rv macro generates text for use in the RETURN VALUES section.

Usage: .Rv [-std] [<function> ...]

For example, .Rv -std atexit produces:

The atexit() function returns the value 0 if successful; otherwise the value -1 is returned and the global variable errno is
set to indicate the error.

The -std option is valid only for manual page sections 2 and 3. Currently, this macro does nothing if used without the -std flag.

Exit Status
The .Ex macro generates text for use in the DIAGNOSTICS section.
Usage: .Ex [-std] [<utility> ...]

For example, .Ex -std cat produces:

The cat utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.

The -std option is valid only for manual page sections 1, 6 and 8. Currently, this macro does nothing if used without the -std flag.

Interactive Commands
The .Ic macro designates an interactive or internal command.

Usage: .Ic <argument> ...

.Ic :wq:wq
.Ic "do while {...}"do while {...}
.Ic setenv , unsetenvsetenv, unsetenv

The default width is 12n.

Library Names
The .Lb macro is used to specify the library where a particular function is compiled in.

Usage: .Lb <argument> ...

Available arguments to .Lb and their results are:

libarchiveReading and Writing Streaming Archives Library (libarchive, -larchive)
libarmARM Architecture Library (libarm, -larm)
libarm32ARM32 Architecture Library (libarm32, -larm32)
libbluetoothBluetooth Library (libbluetooth, -lbluetooth)
libbsmBasic Security Module Library (libbsm, -lbsm)
libcStandard C Library (libc, -lc)
libc_rReentrant C Library (libc_r, -lc_r)
libcalendarCalendar Arithmetic Library (libcalendar, -lcalendar)
libcamCommon Access Method User Library (libcam, -lcam)
libcdkCurses Development Kit Library (libcdk, -lcdk)
libcipherFreeSec Crypt Library (libcipher, -lcipher)
libcompatCompatibility Library (libcompat, -lcompat)
libcryptCrypt Library (libcrypt, -lcrypt)
libcursesCurses Library (libcurses, -lcurses)
libdevinfoDevice and Resource Information Utility Library (libdevinfo, -ldevinfo)
libdevstatDevice Statistics Library (libdevstat, -ldevstat)
libdiskInterface to Slice and Partition Labels Library (libdisk, -ldisk)
libdwarfDWARF Access Library (libdwarf, -ldwarf)
libeditCommand Line Editor Library (libedit, -ledit)
libelfELF Access Library (libelf, -lelf)
libeventEvent Notification Library (libevent, -levent)
libfetchFile Transfer Library for URLs (libfetch, -lfetch)
libformCurses Form Library (libform, -lform)
libgeomUserland API Library for kernel GEOM subsystem (libgeom, -lgeom)
libgpibGeneral-Purpose Instrument Bus (GPIB) library (libgpib, -lgpib)
libi386i386 Architecture Library (libi386, -li386)
libintlInternationalized Message Handling Library (libintl, -lintl)
libipsecIPsec Policy Control Library (libipsec, -lipsec)
libipxIPX Address Conversion Support Library (libipx, -lipx)
libiscsiiSCSI protocol library (libiscsi, -liscsi)
libjailJail Library (libjail, -ljail)
libkiconvKernel side iconv library (libkiconv, -lkiconv)
libkseN:M Threading Library (libkse, -lkse)
libkvmKernel Data Access Library (libkvm, -lkvm)
libmMath Library (libm, -lm)
libm68km68k Architecture Library (libm68k, -lm68k)
libmagicMagic Number Recognition Library (libmagic, -lmagic)
libmdMessage Digest (MD4, MD5, etc.) Support Library (libmd, -lmd)
libmemstatKernel Memory Allocator Statistics Library (libmemstat, -lmemstat)
libmenuCurses Menu Library (libmenu, -lmenu)
libnetgraphNetgraph User Library (libnetgraph, -lnetgraph)
libnetpgpNetpgp signing, verification, encryption and decryption (libnetpgp, -lnetpgp)
libossaudioOSS Audio Emulation Library (libossaudio, -lossaudio)
libpamPluggable Authentication Module Library (libpam, -lpam)
libpcapPacket Capture Library (libpcap, -lpcap)
libpciPCI Bus Access Library (libpci, -lpci)
libpmcPerformance Counters Library (libpmc, -lpmc)
libposixPOSIX Compatibility Library (libposix, -lposix)
libpropProperty Container Object Library (libprop, -lprop)
libpthreadPOSIX Threads Library (libpthread, -lpthread)
libpuffspuffs Convenience Library (libpuffs, -lpuffs)
librefuseFile System in Userspace Convenience Library (librefuse, -lrefuse)
libresolvDNS Resolver Library (libresolv, -lresolv)
librpcsec_gssRPC GSS-API Authentication Library (librpcsec_gss, -lrpcsec_gss)
librpcsvcRPC Service Library (librpcsvc, -lrpcsvc)
librtPOSIX Real-time Library (librt, -lrt)
libsdpBluetooth Service Discovery Protocol User Library (libsdp, -lsdp)
libsspBuffer Overflow Protection Library (libssp, -lssp)
libSystemSystem Library (libSystem, -lSystem)
libtermcapTermcap Access Library (libtermcap, -ltermcap)
libterminfoTerminal Information Library (libterminfo, -lterminfo)
libthr1:1 Threading Library (libthr, -lthr)
libufsUFS File System Access Library (libufs, -lufs)
libugidfwFile System Firewall Interface Library (libugidfw, -lugidfw)
libulogUser Login Record Library (libulog, -lulog)
libusbhidUSB Human Interface Devices Library (libusbhid, -lusbhid)
libutilSystem Utilities Library (libutil, -lutil)
libvglVideo Graphics Library (libvgl, -lvgl)
libx86_64x86_64 Architecture Library (libx86_64, -lx86_64)
libzCompression Library (libz, -lz)

Local, OS-specific additions might be found in the file mdoc.local; look for strings named str-Lb-XXX. XXX then denotes the keyword to
be used with the .Lb macro.

In the LIBRARY section an .Lb command causes a line break before and after its arguments are printed.

Literals
The .Li literal macro may be used for special characters, variable constants, etc. - anything which should be displayed as it would be
typed.

Usage: .Li <argument> ...

.Li \en\n
.Li M1 M2 M3 ;M1 M2 M3;
.Li cntrl-D ) ,cntrl-D),
.Li 1024 ...1024 ...

The default width is 16n.

Names
The .Nm macro is used for the document title or subject name. It has the peculiarity of remembering the first argument it was called
with, which should always be the subject name of the page. When called without arguments, .Nm regurgitates this initial name for the
sole purpose of making less work for the author. .Nm causes a line break within the SYNOPSIS section.

Note: A section two or three document function name is addressed with the .Nm in the NAME section, and with .Fn in the SYNOPSIS and
remaining sections. For interactive commands, such as the while command keyword in csh(1), the .Ic macro should be used. While .Ic is
nearly identical to .Nm, it can not recall the first argument it was invoked with.

Usage: .Nm [<argument>] ...

.Nm mdocmdoc
.Nm \-mdoc
-mdoc
.Nm foo ) ) ,
foo)),
.Nm :mdoc:

The default width is 10n.

Options
The .Op macro places option brackets around any remaining arguments on the command line, and places any trailing punctuation outside
the brackets. The macros .Oo and .Oc (which produce an opening and a closing option bracket respectively) may be used across one or
more lines or to specify the exact position of the closing parenthesis.

Usage: .Op [<option>] ...

.Op[]
.Op Fl k[-k]
.Op Fl k ) .[-k]).
.Op Fl k Ar kookfile[-k kookfile]
.Op Fl k Ar kookfile ,[-k kookfile],
.Op Ar objfil Op Ar corfil[objfil [corfil]]
.Op Fl c Ar objfil Op Ar corfil ,[-c objfil [corfil]],
.Op word1 word2[word1 word2]
.Li .Op Oo Ao option Ac Oc ....Op [<option>] ...

Here a typical example of the .Oo and .Oc macros:

.Oo
.Op Fl k Ar kilobytes
.Op Fl i Ar interval
.Op Fl c Ar count
.Oc

Produces:

[[-k kilobytes] [-i interval] [-c count]]

The default width values of .Op and .Oo are 14n and 10n, respectively.

Pathnames
The .Pa macro formats path or file names. If called without arguments, the ‘’ string is output, which represents the current user’s
home directory.

Usage: .Pa [<pathname>] ...

.Pa~
.Pa /usr/share/usr/share
.Pa /tmp/fooXXXXX ) ./tmp/fooXXXXX).

The default width is 32n.

Standards
The .St macro replaces standard abbreviations with their formal names.

Usage: .St <abbreviation> ...

Available pairs for “Abbreviation/Formal Name” are:

ANSI/ISO C

-ansiCANSI X3.159-1989 (“ANSI C89”)
-ansiC-89ANSI X3.159-1989 (“ANSI C89”)
-isoCISO/IEC 9899:1990 (“ISO C90”)
-isoC-90ISO/IEC 9899:1990 (“ISO C90”)
-isoC-99ISO/IEC 9899:1999 (“ISO C99”)
-isoC-2011ISO/IEC 9899:2011 (“ISO C11”)

POSIX Part 1: System API

-iso9945-1-90ISO/IEC 9945-1:1990 (“POSIX.1”)
-iso9945-1-96ISO/IEC 9945-1:1996 (“POSIX.1”)
-p1003.1IEEE Std 1003.1 (“POSIX.1”)
-p1003.1-88IEEE Std 1003.1-1988 (“POSIX.1”)
-p1003.1-90ISO/IEC 9945-1:1990 (“POSIX.1”)
-p1003.1-96ISO/IEC 9945-1:1996 (“POSIX.1”)
-p1003.1b-93IEEE Std 1003.1b-1993 (“POSIX.1”)
-p1003.1c-95IEEE Std 1003.1c-1995 (“POSIX.1”)
-p1003.1g-2000IEEE Std 1003.1g-2000 (“POSIX.1”)
-p1003.1i-95IEEE Std 1003.1i-1995 (“POSIX.1”)
-p1003.1-2001IEEE Std 1003.1-2001 (“POSIX.1”)
-p1003.1-2004IEEE Std 1003.1-2004 (“POSIX.1”)
-p1003.1-2008IEEE Std 1003.1-2008 (“POSIX.1”)

POSIX Part 2: Shell and Utilities

-iso9945-2-93ISO/IEC 9945-2:1993 (“POSIX.2”)
-p1003.2IEEE Std 1003.2 (“POSIX.2”)
-p1003.2-92IEEE Std 1003.2-1992 (“POSIX.2”)
-p1003.2a-92IEEE Std 1003.2a-1992 (“POSIX.2”)

X/Open
-susv2Version 2 of the Single UNIX Specification (“SUSv2”)
-susv3Version 3 of the Single UNIX Specification (“SUSv3”)
-svid4System V Interface Definition, Fourth Edition (“SVID4”)
-xbd5X/Open Base Definitions Issue 5 (“XBD5”)
-xcu5X/Open Commands and Utilities Issue 5 (“XCU5”)
-xcurses4.2X/Open Curses Issue 4, Version 2 (“XCURSES4.2”)
-xns5X/Open Networking Services Issue 5 (“XNS5”)
-xns5.2X/Open Networking Services Issue 5.2 (“XNS5.2”)
-xpg3X/Open Portability Guide Issue 3 (“XPG3”)
-xpg4X/Open Portability Guide Issue 4 (“XPG4”)
-xpg4.2X/Open Portability Guide Issue 4, Version 2 (“XPG4.2”)
-xsh5X/Open System Interfaces and Headers Issue 5 (“XSH5”)

Miscellaneous

-ieee754IEEE Std 754-1985
-iso8601ISO 8601
-iso8802-3ISO/IEC 8802-3:1989

Variable Types
The .Vt macro may be used whenever a type is referenced. In the SYNOPSIS section, it causes a line break (useful for old style
variable declarations).

Usage: .Vt <type> ...

.Vt extern char ∗optarg ;extern char ∗optarg;
.Vt FILE ∗FILE ∗

Variables
Generic variable reference.

Usage: .Va <variable> ...

.Va countcount
.Va settimer ,settimer,
.Va "int ∗prt" ) :int ∗prt):
.Va "char s" ] ) ) ,char s])),

The default width is 12n.

Manual Page Cross References
The .Xr macro expects the first argument to be a manual page name. The optional second argument, if a string (defining the manual
section), is put into parentheses.

Usage: .Xr <man page name> [<section>] ...

.Xr mdocmdoc
.Xr mdoc ,mdoc,
.Xr mdoc 7mdoc(7)
.Xr xinit 1x ;xinit(1x);

The default width is 10n.

GENERAL TEXT DOMAIN
AT&T Macro

Usage: .At [<version>] ...

.AtAT&T UNIX
.At v6 .Version 6 AT&T UNIX.

The following values for <version> are possible:

32v, v1, v2, v3, v4, v5, v6, v7, III, V, V.1, V.2, V.3, V.4

BSD Macro

Usage: .Bx {-alpha | -beta | -devel}...
.Bx [<version> [<release>]] ...

.BxBSD
.Bx 4.3 .4.3BSD.
.Bx -develBSD (currently under development)
<version> will be prepended to the string ‘BSD’. The following values for <release> are possible:

Reno, reno, Tahoe, tahoe, Lite, lite, Lite2, lite2

NetBSD Macro

Usage: .Nx [<version>] ...

.NxNetBSD
.Nx 1.4 .NetBSD 1.4.

For possible values of <version> see the description of the .Os command above in section TITLE MACROS.

FreeBSD Macro

Usage: .Fx [<version>] ...

.FxFreeBSD
.Fx 2.2 .FreeBSD 2.2.

For possible values of <version> see the description of the .Os command above in section TITLE MACROS.

DragonFly Macro

Usage: .Dx [<version>] ...

.DxDragonFly
.Dx 1.4 .DragonFly 1.4.

For possible values of <version> see the description of the .Os command above in section TITLE MACROS.

OpenBSD Macro

Usage: .Ox [<version>] ...

.Ox 1.0OpenBSD 1.0

BSD/OS Macro

Usage: .Bsx [<version>] ...

.Bsx 1.0BSD/OS 1.0

UNIX Macro

Usage: .Ux ...

.UxUNIX

Emphasis Macro
Text may be stressed or emphasized with the .Em macro. The usual font for emphasis is italic.

Usage: .Em <argument> ...

.Em does notdoes not
.Em exceed 1024 .exceed 1024.
.Em vide infra ) ) ,vide infra)),

The default width is 10n.

Font Mode
The .Bf font mode must be ended with the .Ef macro (the latter takes no arguments). Font modes may be nested within other font modes.

.Bf has the following syntax:

.Bf <font mode>

<font mode> must be one of the following three types:

Em | -emphasisSame as if the .Em macro was used for the entire block of text.
Li | -literalSame as if the .Li macro was used for the entire block of text.
Sy | -symbolicSame as if the .Sy macro was used for the entire block of text.

Both macros are neither callable nor parsed.

Enclosure and Quoting Macros
The concept of enclosure is similar to quoting. The object being to enclose one or more strings between a pair of characters like
quotes or parentheses. The terms quoting and enclosure are used interchangeably throughout this document. Most of the one-line
enclosure macros end in small letter ‘q’ to give a hint of quoting, but there are a few irregularities. For each enclosure macro there
is also a pair of open and close macros which end in small letters ‘o’ and ‘c’ respectively.

QuoteOpenCloseFunctionResult
.Aq.Ao.AcAngle Bracket Enclosure<string>
.Bq.Bo.BcBracket Enclosure[string]
.Brq.Bro.BrcBrace Enclosure{string}
.Dq.Do.DcDouble Quote"string"
.Eq.Eo.EcEnclose String (in XX)XXstring
.Pq.Po.PcParenthesis Enclosure(string)
.QlQuoted Literal“string” or string
.Qq.Qo.QcStraight Double Quote"string"
.Sq.So.ScSingle Quote’string’

All macros ending with ‘q’ and ‘o’ have a default width value of 12n.

.Eo, .EcThese macros expect the first argument to be the opening and closing strings respectively.

.Es, .EnDue to the nine-argument limit in the original troff program two other macros have been implemented which are now rather
obsolete: .Es takes the first and second parameter as the left and right enclosure string, which are then used to enclose the
arguments of .En. The default width value is 12n for both macros.

.EqThe first and second arguments of this macro are the opening and closing strings respectively, followed by the arguments to be
enclosed.

.QlThe quoted literal macro behaves differently in troff and nroff mode. If formatted with nroff, a quoted literal is always
quoted. If formatted with troff, an item is only quoted if the width of the item is less than three constant width
characters. This is to make short strings more visible where the font change to literal (constant width) is less noticeable.

The default width is 16n.

.PfThe prefix macro suppresses the whitespace between its first and second argument:

.Pf ( Fa name2(name2

The default width is 12n.

The .Ns macro (see below) performs the analogous suffix function.

.ApThe .Ap macro inserts an apostrophe and exits any special text modes, continuing in .No mode.

Examples of quoting:

.Aq<>
.Aq Pa ctype.h ) ,<ctype.h>),
.Bq[]
.Bq Em Greek , French .[Greek, French].
.Dq“”
.Dq string abc .“string abc”.
.Dq ´^[A-Z]´“´^[A-Z]´”
.Ql man mdocman mdoc
.Qq""
.Qq string ) ,"string"),
.Qq string Ns ),"string),"
.Sq‘’
.Sq string‘string’
.Em or Ap ingor’ing

For a good example of nested enclosure macros, see the .Op option macro. It was created from the same underlying enclosure macros as
those presented in the list above. The .Xo and .Xc extended argument list macros are discussed below.

No-Op or Normal Text Macro
The .No macro can be used in a macro command line for parameters which should not be formatted. Be careful to add ‘\&’ to the word No
if you really want that English word (and not the macro) as a parameter.

Usage: .No <argument> ...

.No test Ta with Ta tabstestwithtabs

The default width is 12n.

No-Space Macro
The .Ns macro suppresses insertion of a space between the current position and its first parameter. For example, it is useful for old
style argument lists where there is no space between the flag and argument:

Usage: ... <argument> Ns [<argument>] ...
.Ns <argument> ...

.Op Fl I Ns Ar directory[-Idirectory]

Note: The .Ns macro always invokes the .No macro after eliminating the space unless another macro name follows it. If used as a
command (i.e., the second form above in the ‘Usage’ line), .Ns is identical to .No.

Section Cross References
The .Sx macro designates a reference to a section header within the same document.

Usage: .Sx <section reference> ...

.Sx FILESFILES

The default width is 16n.

Symbolics
The symbolic emphasis macro is generally a boldface macro in either the symbolic sense or the traditional English usage.

Usage: .Sy <symbol> ...

.Sy Important NoticeImportant Notice

The default width is 6n.

SymbolsMathematical Symbols
Use this macro for mathematical symbols and similar things.

Usage: .Ms <math symbol> ...

.Ms sigmasigma

The default width is 6n.

References and Citations
The following macros make a modest attempt to handle references. At best, the macros make it convenient to manually drop in a subset
of refer(1) style references.

.RsReference start (does not take arguments). Causes a line break in the SEE ALSO section and begins collection of
reference information until the reference end macro is read.
.ReReference end (does not take arguments). The reference is printed.
.%AReference author name; one name per invocation.
.%BBook title.
.%CCity/place.
.%DDate.
.%IIssuer/publisher name.
.%JJournal name.
.%NIssue number.
.%OOptional information.
.%PPage number.
.%QCorporate or foreign author.
.%RReport name.
.%TTitle of article.
.%UOptional hypertext reference.
.%VVolume.

Macros beginning with ‘%’ are not callable but accept multiple arguments in the usual way. Only the .Tn macro is handled properly as a
parameter; other macros will cause strange output. .%B and .%T can be used outside of the .Rs/.Re environment.

Example:

.Rs
.%A "Matthew Bar"
.%A "John Foo"
.%T "Implementation Notes on foobar(1)"
.%R "Technical Report ABC-DE-12-345"
.%Q "Drofnats College"
.%C "Nowhere"
.%D "April 1991"
.Re

produces

Matthew Bar and John Foo, Implementation Notes on foobar(1), Technical Report ABC-DE-12-345, Drofnats College, Nowhere, April
1991.
Trade Names (or Acronyms and Type Names)
The trade name macro prints its arguments in a smaller font. Its intended use is to imitate a small caps fonts for uppercase acronyms.

Usage: .Tn <symbol> ...

.Tn DECDEC
.Tn ASCIIASCII

The default width is 10n.

Extended Arguments
The .Xo and .Xc macros allow one to extend an argument list on a macro boundary for the .It macro (see below). Note that .Xo and .Xc
are implemented similarly to all other macros opening and closing an enclosure (without inserting characters, of course). This means
that the following is true for those macros also.

Here is an example of .Xo using the space mode macro to turn spacing off:

.Sm off
.It Xo Sy I Ar operation
.No \en Ar count No \en
.Xc
.Sm on

produces

Ioperation\ncount\n

Another one:

.Sm off
.It Cm S No / Ar old_pattern Xo
.No / Ar new_pattern
.No / Op Cm g
.Xc
.Sm on

produces

S/old_pattern/new_pattern/[g]

Another example of .Xo and enclosure macros: Test the value of a variable.

.It Xo
.Ic .ifndef
.Oo \&! Oc Ns Ar variable Oo
.Ar operator variable ...
.Oc Xc

produces

.ifndef [!]variable [operator variable ...]

PAGE STRUCTURE DOMAIN
Section Headers
The following .Sh section header macros are required in every man page. The remaining section headers are recommended at the
discretion of the author writing the manual page. The .Sh macro is parsed but not generally callable. It can be used as an argument
in a call to .Sh only; it then reactivates the default font for .Sh.

The default width is 8n.

.Sh NAMEThe .Sh NAME macro is mandatory. If not specified, headers, footers and page layout defaults will not be set and
things will be rather unpleasant. The NAME section consists of at least three items. The first is the .Nm name
macro naming the subject of the man page. The second is the name description macro, .Nd, which separates the subject
name from the third item, which is the description. The description should be the most terse and lucid possible, as
the space available is small.

.Nd first prints ‘-’, then all its arguments.

.Sh LIBRARYThis section is for section two and three function calls. It should consist of a single .Lb macro call; see Library
Names.

.Sh SYNOPSISThe SYNOPSIS section describes the typical usage of the subject of a man page. The macros required are either .Nm,
.Cd, or .Fn (and possibly .Fo, .Fc, .Fd, and .Ft). The function name macro .Fn is required for manual page
sections 2 and 3; the command and general name macro .Nm is required for sections 1, 5, 6, 7, and 8. Section 4
manuals require a .Nm, .Fd or a .Cd configuration device usage macro. Several other macros may be necessary to
produce the synopsis line as shown below:

cat [-benstuv] [-] file ...

The following macros were used:

.Nm cat
.Op Fl benstuv
.Op Fl
.Ar

.Sh DESCRIPTIONIn most cases the first text in the DESCRIPTION section is a brief paragraph on the command, function or file,
followed by a lexical list of options and respective explanations. To create such a list, the .Bl (begin list), .It
(list item) and .El (end list) macros are used (see Lists and Columns below).

.Sh IMPLEMENTATION NOTES
Implementation specific information should be placed here.

.Sh RETURN VALUESSections 2, 3 and 9 function return values should go here. The .Rv macro may be used to generate text for use in the
RETURN VALUES section for most section 2 and 3 library functions; see Return Values.

The following .Sh section headers are part of the preferred manual page layout and must be used appropriately to maintain consistency.
They are listed in the order in which they would be used.

.Sh ENVIRONMENTThe ENVIRONMENT section should reveal any related environment variables and clues to their behavior and/or usage.

.Sh FILESFiles which are used or created by the man page subject should be listed via the .Pa macro in the FILES section.

.Sh EXAMPLESThere are several ways to create examples. See the Examples and Displays section below for details.

.Sh DIAGNOSTICSDiagnostic messages from a command should be placed in this section. The .Ex macro may be used to generate text for
use in the DIAGNOSTICS section for most section 1, 6 and 8 commands; see Exit Status.

.Sh COMPATIBILITYKnown compatibility issues (e.g. deprecated options or parameters) should be listed here.

.Sh ERRORSSpecific error handling, especially from library functions (man page sections 2, 3, and 9) should go here. The .Er
macro is used to specify an error (errno).

.Sh SEE ALSOReferences to other material on the man page topic and cross references to other relevant man pages should be placed
in the SEE ALSO section. Cross references are specified using the .Xr macro. Currently refer(1) style references
are not accommodated.

It is recommended that the cross references are sorted on the section number, then alphabetically on the names within
a section, and placed in that order and comma separated. Example:

ls(1), ps(1), group(5), passwd(5)

.Sh STANDARDSIf the command, library function or file adheres to a specific implementation such as IEEE Std 1003.2 (“POSIX.2”) or
ANSI X3.159-1989 (“ANSI C89”) this should be noted here. If the command does not adhere to any standard, its history
should be noted in the HISTORY section.

.Sh HISTORYAny command which does not adhere to any specific standards should be outlined historically in this section.

.Sh AUTHORSCredits should be placed here. Use the .An macro for names and the .Aq macro for e-mail addresses within optional
contact information. Explicitly indicate whether the person authored the initial manual page or the software or
whatever the person is being credited for.

.Sh BUGSBlatant problems with the topic go here.

User-specified .Sh sections may be added; for example, this section was set with:

.Sh "PAGE STRUCTURE DOMAIN"

Subsection Headers
Subsection headers have exactly the same syntax as section headers: .Ss is parsed but not generally callable. It can be used as an
argument in a call to .Ss only; it then reactivates the default font for .Ss.

The default width is 8n.

Paragraphs and Line Spacing
.PpThe .Pp paragraph command may be used to specify a line space where necessary. The macro is not necessary after a .Sh or .Ss macro
or before a .Bl or .Bd macro (which both assert a vertical distance unless the -compact flag is given).

The macro is neither callable nor parsed and takes no arguments; an alternative name is .Lp.

Keeps
The only keep that is implemented at this time is for words. The macros are .Bk (begin keep) and .Ek (end keep). The only option that
.Bk accepts currently is -words (this is also the default if no option is given) which is useful for preventing line breaks in the
middle of options. In the example for the make command line arguments (see What’s in a Name), the keep prevented nroff from placing up
the flag and the argument on separate lines.

Both macros are neither callable nor parsed.

More work needs to be done with the keep macros; specifically, a -line option should be added.

Examples and Displays
There are seven types of displays.

.D1(This is D-one.) Display one line of indented text. This macro is parsed but not callable.

-ldghfstru

The above was produced by: .D1 Fl ldghfstru.

.Dl(This is D-ell.) Display one line of indented literal text. The .Dl example macro has been used throughout this file. It allows
the indentation (display) of one line of text. Its default font is set to constant width (literal). .Dl is parsed but not
callable.

% ls -ldg /usr/local/bin

The above was produced by: .Dl % ls \-ldg /usr/local/bin.

.BdBegin display. The .Bd display must be ended with the .Ed macro. It has the following syntax:

.Bd {-literal | -filled | -unfilled | -ragged | -centered} [-offset <string>] [-file <file name>] [-compact]

-raggedFill, but do not adjust the right margin (only left-justify).
-centeredCenter lines between the current left and right margin. Note that each single line is centered.
-unfilledDo not fill; display a block of text as typed, using line breaks as specified by the user. This can produce
overlong lines without warning messages.
-filledDisplay a filled block. The block of text is formatted (i.e., the text is justified on both the left and right
side).
-literalDisplay block with literal font (usually fixed-width). Useful for source code or simple tabbed or spaced text.
-file <file name>The file whose name follows the -file flag is read and displayed before any data enclosed with .Bd and .Ed,
using the selected display type. Any troff/-mdoc commands in the file will be processed.
-offset <string>If -offset is specified with one of the following strings, the string is interpreted to indicate the level of
indentation for the forthcoming block of text:

leftAlign block on the current left margin; this is the default mode of .Bd.
centerSupposedly center the block. At this time unfortunately, the block merely gets left aligned about an
imaginary center margin.
indentIndent by one default indent value or tab. The default indent value is also used for the .D1 and .Dl
macros, so one is guaranteed the two types of displays will line up. The indentation value is
normally set to 6n or about two thirds of an inch (six constant width characters).
indent-twoIndent two times the default indent value.
rightThis left aligns the block about two inches from the right side of the page. This macro needs work
and perhaps may never do the right thing within troff.

If <string> is a valid numeric expression instead (with a scale indicator other than ‘u’), use that value for
indentation. The most useful scale indicators are ‘m’ and ‘n’, specifying the so-called Em and En square. This
is approximately the width of the letters ‘m’ and ‘n’ respectively of the current font (for nroff output, both
scale indicators give the same values). If <string> isn’t a numeric expression, it is tested whether it is an
-mdoc macro name, and the default offset value associated with this macro is used. Finally, if all tests fail,
the width of <string> (typeset with a fixed-width font) is taken as the offset.
-compactSuppress insertion of vertical space before begin of display.

.EdEnd display (takes no arguments).

Lists and Columns
There are several types of lists which may be initiated with the .Bl begin-list macro. Items within the list are specified with the
.It item macro, and each list must end with the .El macro. Lists may be nested within themselves and within displays. The use of
columns inside of lists or lists inside of columns is unproven.

In addition, several list attributes may be specified such as the width of a tag, the list offset, and compactness (blank lines between
items allowed or disallowed). Most of this document has been formatted with a tag style list (-tag).

It has the following syntax forms:

.Bl {-hang | -ohang | -tag | -diag | -inset} [-width <string>] [-offset <string>] [-compact]
.Bl -column [-offset <string>] <string1> <string2> ...
.Bl {-item | -enum [-nested] | -bullet | -hyphen | -dash} [-offset <string>] [-compact]
And now a detailed description of the list types.

-bulletA bullet list.

.Bl -bullet -offset indent -compact
.It
Bullet one goes here.
.It
Bullet two here.
.El

Produces:

•Bullet one goes here.
•Bullet two here.

-dash (or -hyphen)
A dash list.

.Bl -dash -offset indent -compact
.It
Dash one goes here.
.It
Dash two here.
.El

Produces:

-Dash one goes here.
-Dash two here.

-enumAn enumerated list.

.Bl -enum -offset indent -compact
.It
Item one goes here.
.It
And item two here.
.El

The result:

1.Item one goes here.
2.And item two here.

If you want to nest enumerated lists, use the -nested flag (starting with the second-level list):

.Bl -enum -offset indent -compact
.It
Item one goes here
.Bl -enum -nested -compact
.It
Item two goes here.
.It
And item three here.
.El
.It
And item four here.
.El

Result:

1.Item one goes here.
1.1.Item two goes here.
1.2.And item three here.
2.And item four here.

-itemA list of type -item without list markers.

.Bl -item -offset indent
.It
Item one goes here.
Item one goes here.
Item one goes here.
.It
Item two here.
Item two here.
Item two here.
.El

Produces:

Item one goes here. Item one goes here. Item one goes here.

Item two here. Item two here. Item two here.

-tagA list with tags. Use -width to specify the tag width.

SLsleep time of the process (seconds blocked)
PAGEIN
number of disk I/O’s resulting from references by the process to pages not loaded in core.
UIDnumerical user-id of process owner
PPIDnumerical id of parent of process priority (non-positive when in non-interruptible wait)

The raw text:

.Bl -tag -width "PPID" -compact -offset indent
.It SL
sleep time of the process (seconds blocked)
.It PAGEIN
number of disk
.Tn I/O Ns ’s
resulting from references by the process
to pages not loaded in core.
.It UID
numerical user-id of process owner
.It PPID
numerical id of parent of process priority
(non-positive when in non-interruptible wait)
.El

-diagDiag lists create section four diagnostic lists and are similar to inset lists except callable macros are ignored. The -width
flag is not meaningful in this context.

Example:

.Bl -diag
.It You can’t use Sy here.
The message says all.
.El

produces

You can’t use Sy here.The message says all.

-hangA list with hanging tags.

Hangedlabels appear similar to tagged lists when the label is smaller than the label width.

Longer hanged list labels blend into the paragraph unlike tagged paragraph labels.

And the unformatted text which created it:

.Bl -hang -offset indent
.It Em Hanged
labels appear similar to tagged lists when the
label is smaller than the label width.
.It Em Longer hanged list labels
blend into the paragraph unlike
tagged paragraph labels.
.El

-ohangLists with overhanging tags do not use indentation for the items; tags are written to a separate line.

SL
sleep time of the process (seconds blocked)

PAGEIN
number of disk I/O’s resulting from references by the process to pages not loaded in core.

UID
numerical user-id of process owner
PPID
numerical id of parent of process priority (non-positive when in non-interruptible wait)

The raw text:

.Bl -ohang -offset indent
.It Sy SL
sleep time of the process (seconds blocked)
.It Sy PAGEIN
number of disk
.Tn I/O Ns ’s
resulting from references by the process
to pages not loaded in core.
.It Sy UID
numerical user-id of process owner
.It Sy PPID
numerical id of parent of process priority
(non-positive when in non-interruptible wait)
.El

-insetHere is an example of inset labels:

Tag The tagged list (also called a tagged paragraph) is the most common type of list used in the Berkeley manuals.
Use a -width attribute as described below.

Diag Diag lists create section four diagnostic lists and are similar to inset lists except callable macros are
ignored.

Hang Hanged labels are a matter of taste.

Ohang Overhanging labels are nice when space is constrained.

Inset Inset labels are useful for controlling blocks of paragraphs and are valuable for converting -mdoc manuals to
other formats.

Here is the source text which produced the above example:

.Bl -inset -offset indent
.It Em Tag
The tagged list (also called a tagged paragraph)
is the most common type of list used in the
Berkeley manuals.
.It Em Diag
Diag lists create section four diagnostic lists
and are similar to inset lists except callable
macros are ignored.
.It Em Hang
Hanged labels are a matter of taste.
.It Em Ohang
Overhanging labels are nice when space is constrained.
.It Em Inset
Inset labels are useful for controlling blocks of
paragraphs and are valuable for converting
.Nm -mdoc
manuals to other formats.
.El

-columnThis list type generates multiple columns. The number of columns and the width of each column is determined by the arguments
to the -column list, <string1>, <string2>, etc. If <stringN> starts with a ‘.’ (dot) immediately followed by a valid -mdoc
macro name, interpret <stringN> and use the width of the result. Otherwise, the width of <stringN> (typeset with a fixed-
width font) is taken as the Nth column width.

Each .It argument is parsed to make a row, each column within the row is a separate argument separated by a tab or the .Ta
macro.

The table:

StringNroffTroff
<=<=≤
>=>=≥

was produced by:

.Bl -column -offset indent ".Sy String" ".Sy Nroff" ".Sy Troff"
.It Sy String Ta Sy Nroff Ta Sy Troff
.It Li <= Ta <= Ta \∗(<=
.It Li >= Ta >= Ta \∗(>=
.El

Don’t abuse this list type! For more complicated cases it might be far better and easier to use tbl(1), the table
preprocessor.

Other keywords:

-width <string>If <string> starts with a ‘.’ (dot) immediately followed by a valid -mdoc macro name, interpret <string> and use the
width of the result. Almost all lists in this document use this option.

Example:

.Bl -tag -width ".Fl test Ao Ar string Ac"
.It Fl test Ao Ar string Ac
This is a longer sentence to show how the
.Fl width
flag works in combination with a tag list.
.El

gives:

-test <string>This is a longer sentence to show how the -width flag works in combination with a tag list.

(Note that the current state of -mdoc is saved before <string> is interpreted; afterwards, all variables are restored
again. However, boxes (used for enclosures) can’t be saved in troff(1); as a consequence, arguments must always be
balanced to avoid nasty errors. For example, do not write .Ao Ar string but .Ao Ar string Xc instead if you really
need only an opening angle bracket.)

Otherwise, if <string> is a valid numeric expression (with a scale indicator other than ‘u’), use that value for
indentation. The most useful scale indicators are ‘m’ and ‘n’, specifying the so-called Em and En square. This is
approximately the width of the letters ‘m’ and ‘n’ respectively of the current font (for nroff output, both scale
indicators give the same values). If <string> isn’t a numeric expression, it is tested whether it is an -mdoc macro
name, and the default width value associated with this macro is used. Finally, if all tests fail, the width of
<string> (typeset with a fixed-width font) is taken as the width.

If a width is not specified for the tag list type, every time .It is invoked, an attempt is made to determine an
appropriate width. If the first argument to .It is a callable macro, the default width for that macro will be used;
otherwise, the default width of .No is used.

-offset <string>If <string> is indent, a default indent value (normally set to 6n, similar to the value used in .Dl or .Bd) is used.
If <string> is a valid numeric expression instead (with a scale indicator other than ‘u’), use that value for
indentation. The most useful scale indicators are ‘m’ and ‘n’, specifying the so-called Em and En square. This is
approximately the width of the letters ‘m’ and ‘n’ respectively of the current font (for nroff output, both scale
indicators give the same values). If <string> isn’t a numeric expression, it is tested whether it is an -mdoc macro
name, and the default offset value associated with this macro is used. Finally, if all tests fail, the width of
<string> (typeset with a fixed-width font) is taken as the offset.

-compactSuppress insertion of vertical space before the list and between list items.

MISCELLANEOUS MACROS
Here a list of the remaining macros which do not fit well into one of the above sections. We couldn’t find real examples for the
following macros: .Me and .Ot. They are documented here for completeness - if you know how to use them properly please send a mail to
bug-groff@gnu.org (including an example).

.Btprints

is currently in beta test.

It is neither callable nor parsed and takes no arguments.

.Fr

Usage: .Fr <function return value> ...

Don’t use this macro. It allows a break right before the return value (usually a single digit) which is bad typographical
behaviour. Use \˜ to tie the return value to the previous word.

.HfUse this macro to include a (header) file literally. It first prints File: followed by the file name, then the contents of <file>.

Usage: .Hf <file>

It is neither callable nor parsed.

.LkTo be written.
.MeExact usage unknown. The documentation in the -mdoc source file describes it as a macro for “menu entries”.

Its default width is 6n.

.MtTo be written.

.OtExact usage unknown. The documentation in the -mdoc source file describes it as “old function type (fortran)”.

.SmActivate (toggle) space mode.

Usage: .Sm [on | off] ...

If space mode is off, no spaces between macro arguments are inserted. If called without a parameter (or if the next parameter is
neither ‘on’ nor off, .Sm toggles space mode.

.Udprints

currently under development.

It is neither callable nor parsed and takes no arguments.

PREDEFINED STRINGS
The following strings are predefined:

StringNroffTroffMeaning
<=<= ≤less equal
>=>= ≥greater equal
Rq” ”right double quote
Lq“ “left double quote
ua^ upwards arrow
aa´ ´acute accent
ga` `grave accent
q " " straight double quote
Pipi πgreek pi
Ne!= ≠not equal
Le<= ≤less equal
Ge>= ≥greater equal
Lt< <less than
Gt> >greater than
Pm+- ±plus minus
Ifinfinity∞infinity
Am&&ampersand
NaNaNNaNnot a number
Ba||vertical bar

The names of the columns Nroff and Troff are a bit misleading; Nroff shows the ASCII representation, while Troff gives the best glyph
form available. For example, a Unicode enabled TTY-device will have proper glyph representations for all strings, whereas the
enhancement for a Latin1 TTY-device is only the plus-minus sign.

String names which consist of two characters can be written as \∗(xx; string names which consist of one character can be written as
\∗x. A generic syntax for a string name of any length is \∗[xxx].

DIAGNOSTICS
The debugging macro .Db available in previous versions of -mdoc has been removed since troff(1) provides better facilities to check
parameters; additionally, many error and warning messages have been added to this macro package, making it both more robust and
verbose.

The only remaining debugging macro is .Rd which yields a register dump of all global registers and strings. A normal user will never
need it.

FORMATTING WITH NROFF AND TROFF
By default, the package inhibits page breaks, headers, and footers if displayed with a TTY device like ‘latin1’ or ‘unicode’, to make
the manual more efficient for viewing on-line. This behaviour can be changed (e.g. to create a hardcopy of the TTY output) by setting
the register ‘cR’ to zero while calling troff(1), resulting in multiple pages instead of a single, very long page:

nroff -Tlocale -rcR=0 -mdoc foo.man | col -x > foo.txt

For double-sided printing, set register ‘D’ to 1:

troff -rD1 -mdoc foo.man | dpost > foo.ps

To change the document font size to 11pt or 12pt, set register ‘S’ accordingly:

troff -rS11 -mdoc foo.man | dpost > foo.dvi
Register ‘S’ is ignored for TTY devices.

The line and title length can be changed by setting the registers ‘LL’ and ‘LT’, respectively:

nroff -Tlocale -rLL=100n -rLT=100n -mdoc foo.man | col -x | less

If not set, both registers default to 78n for TTY devices and 6.5i otherwise.

Formatting for PDF output with table of contents:

run_troff () {
tbl -g $1 | eqn | troff -mandoc -dToc=/tmp/toc \
2> /tmp/err | dpost | ps2pdf - $2
}
proc_toc () {
sed -n 's/^Toc://p' /tmp/err > /tmp/toc
}
run_troff input.n output.pdf
proc_toc
run_troff input.n output.pdf
proc_toc
run_troff input.n output.pdf

Formatting for HTML output with table of contents:

run_troff () {
tbl $1 | eqn | troff -Thtml -mandoc -dToc=/tmp/toc \
2> /tmp/err | dhtml -t "$2" > $3
}
run_troff input.n 'input(n)' output.html
sed -n 's/^Toc://p' /tmp/err > /tmp/toc
run_troff input.n 'input(n)' output.html

SEE ALSO
nroff(1), man(1), troff(1), man(7)

BUGS
Section 3f has not been added to the header routines.

.Nm font should be changed in NAME section.

.Fn needs to have a check to prevent splitting up if the line length is too short. Occasionally it separates the last parenthesis, and
sometimes looks ridiculous if a line is in fill mode.

The list and display macros do not do any keeps and certainly should be able to.

BSDNovember 2, 2010BSD