Windows PowerShell command on Get-command groff

Manual Pages for UNIX Operating System command usage for man groff_mdoc

A complete reference for writing manual pages with the macro

package; a and formatting package for Its predecessor, the pack-

age, addressed page layout leaving the manipulation of fonts and

other typesetting details to the individual author. In page lay-

out macros make up the which consists of macros for titles, sec-

tion 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 domain and the 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 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 manual pages, a manual entry is simply referred to as a man page, regardless of actual length and without sexist

intention. The material presented in the remainder of this docu-

ment is outlined as follows: The package attempts to simplify the process of writing a man page. Theoretically, one should not have to learn the tricky details of to use however, there are a few limitations which are unavoidable and best gotten out of the way. And, too, be forewarned, this package is fast. As in 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 tabs). It is the dot character at the beginning of the line which causes 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, macros accept an unlimited number of argu-

ments (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 below). Almost all macros handle quoted arguments (see below). Most of the general text domain and manual domain macros are special in that their

argument lists are for callable macro names. This means an argu-

ment 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 argu-

ment, although the name of a macro, is not preceded by a (dot). This makes it possible to nest macros; for example the option macro, may the flag and argument macros, and to specify an optional flag with an argument: is produced by To prevent a string from being interpreted as a macro name, precede the string with the escape sequence is produced by Here the strings and are not interpreted as macros. Macros whose argument lists are parsed for callable arguments are referred to as and macros which may be called from an argument list are referred to as throughout this document. This is a technical as almost all of the macros in 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 macro which starts a line (with a leading dot) a if this distinction is necessary. 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 working faster. For example, the function command expects the first argument to be the name of a function and any remaining arguments to be function parameters. As 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, There are two possible ways to pass an argument which

contains an embedded space. One way of passing a string contain-

ing 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. 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 (this is a extension). The second method is to enclose the string with double quotes. For example: is created by can also be created by If the before the space in the first example or double quotes in the second example were omitted, would see three arguments, and the result would be: 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 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, Special characters like the new-

line character are handled by replacing the with (e.g. to preserve the backslash. A warning is emitted when an empty input line is found outside of displays (see below). Use instead. (Well, it is even better to use 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 replaced with a single space. You can't pass directly as an

argument. Use (or instead. By default, inserts two space char-

acters 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 charac-

ter. test test As can be seen in the first and third line, han-

dles punctuation characters specially in macro arguments. This will be explained in section below. In the same way, you have to protect trailing full stops of abbreviations with a trailing

zero-width space: 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 latter is a extension); the rest of such a line is ignored. 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 .Os [OPERATING_SYSTEM]

[version/release] .Dt DOCUMENT_TITLE [section number]

[architecture/volume] .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 com-

mands should be uncommented and .\" used where appropriate. .\" .Sh IMPLEMENTATION NOTES .\" This next command is for sections 2,

3 and 9 function .\" return values only. .\" .Sh RETURN VALUES

.\" This next command is for sections 1, 6, 7 and 8 only. .\"

.Sh ENVIRONMENT .\" .Sh FILES .\" .Sh EXAMPLES .\" This next com-

mand is for sections 1, 6, 7, 8 and 9 only .\" (command

return values (to shell) and .\" fprintf/stderr type diagnos-

tics). .\" .Sh DIAGNOSTICS .\" .Sh COMPATIBILITY .\" This next

command is for sections 2, 3 and 9 error .\" and signal han-

dling only. .\" .Sh ERRORS .\" .Sh SEE ALSO .\" .Sh STANDARDS

.\" .Sh HISTORY .\" .Sh AUTHORS .\" .Sh BUGS The first items in

the template are the commands and the document date, the operat-

ing system the man page or subject source is developed or modi-

fied for, and the man page title (in along with the section of the manual the page belongs in. These commands identify the page and are discussed below in The remaining items in the template are section headers of which and are mandatory. The headers are discussed in after presentation of Several content macros are used to demonstrate page layout macros; reading about content

macros before page layout macros is recommended. In the descrip-

tion of all macros below, optional arguments are put into brack-

ets. 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: Except stated explicitly, all macros are parsed and callable. Note that a macro takes effect up to the next nested macro. For example, doesn't produce but 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; has been produced by Most macros have a default width value which can be used to

specify a label width or offset for the and macros. It is recom-

mended not to use this rather obscure feature to avoid dependen-

cies on local modifications of the package. 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 author-

ship. These macros are called once at the very beginning of the document and are used to construct headers and footers only. The document title is the subject of the man page and must be in due to troff limitations. If omitted, is used. The section number may be a number in the range or or If it is specified, and no volume name is given, a default volume name is used. Under the following sections are defined: A volume name may be arbitrary or one of the following: For compatibility, can be used for and for 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: # we use `No' to avoid hyphe-

nation 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 fol-

lowing 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 expres-

sion. Local, OS-specific additions might be found in the file

look for strings named (for the former type) and (for the latter type); then denotes the keyword to be used with the macro. This macro is neither callable nor parsed. If the first parameter is empty, the default is used. This may be overridden in the local configuration file, In general, the name of the operating system should be the common acronym, e.g. or The release should be the standard release nomenclature for the system specified. In the

following table, the possible second arguments for some prede-

fined operating systems are listed. Similar to local additions might be defined in look for strings named where is the acronym for the operating system and the release ID. 7th, 7, III, 3, V, V.2, V.3, V.4 3, 4, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.3t, 4.3T, 4.3r, 4.3R, 4.4 0.8, 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, 2.0, 2.0.1, 2.0.2, 2.1 1.0, 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, 5.0, 5.1, 5.2, 5.2.1, 5.3 For an unknown second parameter

will be replaced with the string for the other predefined acro-

nyms it will be ignored and a warning message emitted. Unrecog-

nized arguments are displayed as given in the page footer. For instance, a typical footer might be: giving or for a locally produced set which will produce If the macro is not present, the bottom left corner of the manual page will be ugly. This macro is neither callable nor parsed. If has no arguments, is used for the date string. If it has exactly three arguments, they are concatenated, separated with unbreakable space: The month's name shall not be abbreviated. With any other number of arguments, the current date is used, ignoring the parameters. This macro is neither callable nor parsed. 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 dif-

ferent aspects of writing a man page. First, there is the description of macro command usage. Second is the description of a command 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, macros are themselves a type of command; the general syntax for a troff command is: is a

macro command, and anything following it are arguments to be pro-

cessed. In the second case, the description of a command using the content macros is a bit more involved; a typical command line

might be displayed as: Here, is the command name and the brack-

eted string is a argument designated as optional by the option brackets. In terms, and are called 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 commands; in most man pages, meta variables are not

specifically written with angle brackets. The macros which for-

matted 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 and from the example above might be referred to as or Some command line argument lists are quite long: Here one might talk about the command and qualify the argument, as an argument to the flag, or discuss the optional

file operand In the verbal context, such detail can prevent con-

fusion, however the package does not have a macro for an argument a flag. Instead the argument macro is used for an operand or file argument like as well as an argument to a flag like 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 and macros are explained in The

manual domain and general text domain macros share a similar syn-

tax with a few minor deviations; most notably, and differ only when called without arguments; and and 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: The result is: The punctuation is not recognized and all is output in the font used by If the punctuation is separated by a leading white space: The result is: The punctuation is now recognized and output in the default font distinguishing it from

the argument strings. To remove the special meaning from a punc-

tuation character escape it with The following punctuation char-

acters are recognized by 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 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, The address macro identifies an address construct. The default width is 12n. The 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. The default width is 12n. In the section, the 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 The argument

macro may be used whenever an argument is referenced. If called without arguments, the string is output. The default width is 12n. The macro is used to demonstrate a declaration for a device interface in a section four manual. In the section a command causes a line break before and after its arguments are printed. The default width is 12n. The command modifier is identical to the (flag) command with the exception that the macro does not assert a dash in front of every argument. Traditionally flags

are marked by the preceding dash, however, some commands or sub-

sets of commands do not use them. Command modifiers may also be specified in conjunction with interactive commands such as editor

commands. See The default width is 10n. A variable (or con-

stant) which is defined in an include file is specified by the macro The default width is 12n. The errno macro specifies the error return value for section 2, 3, and~9 library routines. The second example below shows used with the general text domain macro, as it would be used in a section two manual page. The

default width is 17n. The macro specifies an environment vari-

able. The default width is 15n. The macro handles command line flags. It prepends a dash, to the flag. For interactive command

flags, which are not prepended with a dash, the (command modif-

ier) macro is identical, but without the dash. The macro without any arguments results in a dash representing stdin/stdout. Note that giving a single dash will result in two dashes. The default width is 12n. The macro is used in the section with section two or three functions. It is neither callable nor parsed. In the section a 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 macro, while in the sec-

tion, represents the 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

section, it represents the header file enclosed in angle brack-

ets. This macro is intended for the section. It may be used

anywhere else in the man page without problems, but its main pur-

pose is to present the function type in kernel normal form for the of sections two and three (it causes a line break, allowing the function name to appear on the next line). The macro is

modeled on conventions. Note that any call to another macro sig-

nals the end of the call (it will insert a closing parenthesis at that point). For functions with many parameters (which is rare), the macros (function open) and (function close) may be used with

(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: In the section, the function will always begin at the beginning of line. If there is more than one function presented in the 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 and are 12n and 16n, respectively. The macro is used to refer to function arguments (parameters) outside

of the section of the manual or inside the section if the enclo-

sure macros and instead of are used. may also be used to refer

to structure members. The default width is 12n. The macro gen-

erates text for use in the section. For example, produces: # a

small hack to suppress a warning message The option is valid only for manual page sections~2 and~3. Currently, this macro does nothing if used without the flag. The macro generates text for

use in the section. For example, produces: # a small hack to

suppress a warning message The option is valid only for manual page sections 1, 6 and~8. Currently, this macro does nothing if used without the flag. The macro designates an interactive or internal command. The default width is 12n. The macro is used to specify the library where a particular function is compiled

in. Available arguments to and their results are: Local, OS-

specific additions might be found in the file look for strings named then denotes the keyword to be used with the macro. In the

section an command causes a line break before and after its argu-

ments are printed. The literal macro may be used for special

characters, variable constants, etc. -- anything which should be

displayed as it would be typed. The default width is 16n. The 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, regurgitates this initial name for the sole purpose of making less work for the author. Note: A section two

or three document function name is addressed with the in the sec-

tion, and with in the and remaining sections. For interactive commands, such as the command keyword in the macro should be used. While is nearly identical to it can not recall the first argument it was invoked with. The default width is 10n. The macro places option brackets around any remaining arguments on the command line, and places any trailing punctuation outside the brackets. The macros and (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.

Here a typical example of the and macros: .Oo .Op Fl k Ar kilo-

bytes .Op Fl i Ar interval .Op Fl c Ar count .Oc Produces: The default width values of and are 14n and 10n, respectively. The macro formats path or file names. If called without arguments, the string is output, which represents the current user's home

directory. The default width is 32n. The macro replaces stan-

dard abbreviations with their formal names. Available pairs for

are: Part 1: System API Part 2: Shell and Utilities X/Open Mis-

cellaneous The macro may be used whenever a type is referenced. In the section, it causes a line break (useful for old style variable declarations). Generic variable reference. The default width is 12n. The 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. The default width is 10n. The following values for are possible:

will be prepended to the string The following values for are pos-

sible: For possible values of see the description of the command above in section For possible values of see the description of the command above in section Text may be stressed or emphasized with the macro. The usual font for emphasis is italic. The default width is 10n. The font mode must be ended with the macro (the latter takes no arguments). Font modes may be nested within other font modes. has the following syntax: must be one of the following three types: Same as if the macro was used for the entire block of text. Same as if the macro was used for the entire block of text. Same as if the macro was used for the entire block of text. Both macros are neither callable nor parsed. 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 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 and respectively. # XXX All macros

ending with and have a default width value of 12n. These macros expect the first argument to be the opening and closing strings

respectively. Due to the nine-argument limit in the original

troff program two other macros have been implemented which are now rather obsolete: takes the first and second parameter as the left and right enclosure string, which are then used to enclose the arguments of The default width value is 12n for both macros. The first and second arguments of this macro are the opening and closing strings respectively, followed by the arguments to be enclosed. The quoted literal macro behaves differently in troff and nroff mode. If formatted with 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. The prefix macro suppresses the whitespace between its first and second argument: The default width is 12n. The macro (see below) performs the analogous suffix function. The macro inserts an apostrophe and exits any special text modes, continuing in mode. Examples of quoting: For a good example of nested enclosure macros, see the option macro. It was created from the same underlying enclosure macros as those presented in

the list above. The and extended argument list macros are dis-

cussed below. The macro can be used in a macro command line for parameters which should be formatted. Be careful to add to the word if you really want that English word (and not the macro) as a parameter. The default width is 12n. The 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: Note: The macro always invokes the macro after eliminating the space unless another macro name follows it. If used as a command (i.e., the second form above in the line), is identical to The macro designates a reference to a section header within the same document. The default width is 16n. The symbolic emphasis macro is generally a boldface macro in either the symbolic sense or the traditional English usage. The default width is 6n. Use this macro for mathematical symbols and similar things. The default

width is 6n. The following macros make a modest attempt to han-

dle references. At best, the macros make it convenient to manu-

ally drop in a subset of style references. Reference start (does not take arguments). Causes a line break in the section and begins collection of reference information until the reference end macro is read. Reference end (does not take arguments). The

reference is printed. Reference author name; one name per invo-

cation. Book title. City/place (not implemented yet). Date. Issuer/publisher name. Journal name. Issue number. Optional information. Page number. Corporate or foreign author. Report name. Title of article. Volume. Macros beginning with are not callable but accept multiple arguments in the usual way. Only the macro is handled properly as a parameter; other macros will

cause strange output. and can be used outside of the environ-

ment. Example: .Rs .%A "Matthew Bar" .%A "John Foo" .%T "Imple-

mentation Notes on foobar(1)" .%R "Technical Report ABC-DE-12-

345" .%Q "Drofnats College, Nowhere" .%D "April 1991" .Re pro-

duces The trade name macro prints its arguments in a smaller font. Its intended use is to imitate a small caps fonts for uppercase acronyms. The default width is 10n. The and macros allow one to extend an argument list on a macro boundary for the macro (see below). Note that and 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 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 Another

one: .Sm off .It Cm S No / Ar old_pattern Xo .No / Ar

new_pattern .No / Op Cm g .Xc .Sm on produces Another example of

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 The following 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 macro is parsed but not generally callable. It can be used as an argument in a call to only; it then reactivates the default font for The default width is 8n. The macro is mandatory. If not specified, headers, footers and page layout defaults will not be set and things will be rather unpleasant. The section consists of at least three items. The first is the name macro naming the subject of the man page. The second is the name description macro, 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. first prints then all its arguments. This section is for section two and three function calls. It should consist of a single macro call; see The section describes the typical usage of the subject of a man page. The macros required are either or (and possibly

and The function name macro is required for manual page sec-

tions~2 and~3; the command and general name macro is required for sections 1, 5, 6, 7, and~8. Section~4 manuals require a or a configuration device usage macro. Several other macros may be

necessary to produce the synopsis line as shown below: The fol-

lowing macros were used: In most cases the first text in the section is a brief paragraph on the command, function or file,

followed by a lexical list of options and respective explana-

tions. To create such a list, the (begin list), (list item) and (end list) macros are used (see below). Implementation specific information should be placed here. Sections 2, 3 and~9 function return values should go here. The macro may be used to generate text for use in the section for most section 2 and 3 library

functions; see The following section headers are part of the pre-

ferred manual page layout and must be used appropriately to main-

tain consistency. They are listed in the order in which they would be used. The section should reveal any related environment variables and clues to their behavior and/or usage. Files which are used or created by the man page subject should be listed via

the macro in the section. There are several ways to create exam-

ples. See the section below for details. Diagnostic messages from a command should be placed in this section. The macro may be used to generate text for use in the section for most section

1, 6 and~8 commands; see Known compatibility issues (e.g. depre-

cated options or parameters) should be listed here. Specific

error handling, especially from library functions (man page sec-

tions 2, 3, and~9) should go here. The macro is used to specify an error (errno). References to other material on the man page topic and cross references to other relevant man pages should be placed in the section. Cross references are specified using the macro. Currently 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: If the com-

mand, library function or file adheres to a specific implementa-

tion such as or this should be noted here. If the command does not adhere to any standard, its history should be noted in the

section. Any command which does not adhere to any specific stan-

dards should be outlined historically in this section. Credits should be placed here. Use the macro for names and the 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. Bla-

tant problems with the topic go here. User-specified sections

may be added; for example, this section was set with: .Sh "PAGE STRUCTURE DOMAIN" Subsection headers have exactly the same syntax as section headers: is parsed but not generally callable. It can be used as an argument in a call to only; it then reactivates

the default font for The default width is 8n. The paragraph com-

mand may be used to specify a line space where necessary. The macro is not necessary after a or macro or before a or macro (which both assert a vertical distance unless the flag is given). The macro is neither callable nor parsed and takes no arguments; an alternative name is The only keep that is implemented at this time is for words. The macros are (begin keep) and (end keep). The only option that accepts currently is (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 the keep prevented 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 option should be added. There are

seven types of displays. (This is D-one.) Display one line of

indented text. This macro is parsed but not callable. The above

was produced by: (This is D-ell.) Display one line of indented

text. The 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). is parsed but not callable. The above was produced by: Begin display. The

display must be ended with the macro. It has the following syn-

tax: Fill, but do not adjust the right margin (only left-

justify). Center lines between the current left and right mar-

gin. Note that each single line is centered. Do 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. Display a filled block. The block of text is format-

ted (i.e., the text is justified on both the left and right

side). Display block with literal font (usually fixed-width).

Useful for source code or simple tabbed or spaced text. The file whose name follows the flag is read and displayed before any data enclosed with and using the selected display type. Any commands in the file will be processed. If is specified with one of the following strings, the string is interpreted to indicate the level of indentation for the forthcoming block of text: Align block on the current left margin; this is the default mode of Supposedly center the block. At this time unfortunately, the block merely gets left aligned about an imaginary center margin. Indent by one default indent value or tab. The default indent value is also used for the and 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 two times the default indent value. This 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 If is a valid numeric expression instead use that value for indentation. The most useful scale indicators are and

specifying the so-called and This is approximately the width of

the letters and respectively of the current font (for nroff out-

put, both scale indicators give the same values). If isn't a numeric expression, it is tested whether it is an macro name, and the default offset value associated with this macro is used.

Finally, if all tests fail, the width of (typeset with a fixed-

width font) is taken as the offset. Suppress insertion of verti-

cal space before begin of display. End display (takes no argu-

ments). There are several types of lists which may be initiated

with the begin-list macro. Items within the list are specified

with the item macro, and each list must end with the 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 It has the fol-

lowing syntax forms: And now a detailed description of the list

types. A bullet list. .Bl -bullet -offset indent -compact .It

Bullet one goes here. .It Bullet two here. .El Produces: Bul-

let one goes here. Bullet two here. 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. An

enumerated list. .Bl -enum -offset indent -compact .It Item one

goes here. .It And item two here. .El The result: Item one goes here. And item two here. If you want to nest enumerated

lists, use the 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: Item one goes here. Item two goes here. And item three here. And item four

here. A list of type 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. A list with tags. Use to specify the tag width. sleep time of the

process (seconds blocked) number of disk resulting from refer-

ences by the process to pages not loaded in core. numerical

user-id of process owner numerical id of parent of process prior-

ity (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 Diag lists create section

four diagnostic lists and are similar to inset lists except call-

able macros are ignored. The flag is not meaningful in this con-

text. Example: .Bl -diag .It You can't use Sy here. The mes-

sage says all. .El produces The message says all. A list with hanging tags. labels appear similar to tagged lists when the label is smaller than the label width. 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 Lists with overhanging tags do not use indentation for the items; tags are written to a separate line. sleep time of the process (seconds blocked) number of disk resulting from references by the process to pages

not loaded in core. numerical user-id of process owner 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 Here

is an example of inset labels: The tagged list (also called a tagged paragraph) is the most common type of list used in the Berkeley manuals. Use a attribute as described below. Diag lists create section four diagnostic lists and are similar to inset lists except callable macros are ignored. Hanged labels are a matter of taste. Overhanging labels are nice when space is constrained. Inset labels are useful for controlling blocks of

paragraphs and are valuable for converting manuals to other for-

mats. 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 control-

ling blocks of paragraphs and are valuable for converting .Nm

-mdoc manuals to other formats. .El This list type generates

multiple columns. The number of columns and the width of each column is determined by the arguments to the list, etc. If starts with a (dot) immediately followed by a valid macro name, interpret and use the width of the result. Otherwise, the width

of (typeset with a fixed-width font) is taken as the column

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

The table: 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 Other keywords: If starts with a (dot) immediately followed by a valid macro name, interpret 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: This is a longer sen-

tence to show how the flag works in combination with a tag list. (Note that the current state of is saved before is interpreted; afterwards, all variables are restored again. However, boxes

(used for enclosures) can't be saved in as a consequence, argu-

ments must always be to avoid nasty errors. For example, do not write but instead if you really need only an opening angle bracket.) Otherwise, if is a valid numeric expression use that value for indentation. The most useful scale indicators are and

specifying the so-called and This is approximately the width of

the letters and respectively of the current font (for nroff out-

put, both scale indicators give the same values). If isn't a numeric expression, it is tested whether it is an macro name, and the default width value associated with this macro is used.

Finally, if all tests fail, the width of (typeset with a fixed-

width font) is taken as the width. If a width is not specified for the tag list type, every time is invoked, an attempt is made to determine an appropriate width. If the first argument to is a callable macro, the default width for that macro will be used; otherwise, the default width of is used. If is a default indent value (normally set to~6n, similar to the value used in or is used. If is a valid numeric expression instead use that value

for indentation. The most useful scale indicators are and speci-

fying the so-called and This is approximately the width of the

letters and respectively of the current font (for nroff output, both scale indicators give the same values). If isn't a numeric expression, it is tested whether it is an macro name, and the default offset value associated with this macro is used.

Finally, if all tests fail, the width of (typeset with a fixed-

width font) is taken as the offset. Suppress insertion of verti-

cal space before the list and between list items. 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 mac-

ros: and They are documented here for completeness - if you know

how to use them properly please send a mail to (including an example). prints It is neither callable nor parsed and takes no arguments. Don't use this macro. It allows a break right before

the return value (usually a single digit) which is bad typograph-

ical behaviour. Use to tie the return value to the previous word. Use this macro to include a (header) file literally. It first prints followed by the file name, then the contents of It is neither callable nor parsed. To be written. Exact usage unknown. The documentation in the source file describes it as a macro for Its default width is 6n. To be written. Exact usage unknown. The documentation in the source file describes it as Activate (toggle) space mode. If space mode is off, no spaces

between macro arguments are inserted. If called without a param-

eter (or if the next parameter is neither nor toggles space mode. prints It is neither callable nor parsed and takes no arguments. The following strings are predefined: The names of the columns and are a bit misleading; shows the representation, while gives the best glyph form available. For example, a Unicode enabled device will have proper glyph representations for all strings,

whereas the enhancement for a Latin1 device is only the plus-

minus sign. String names which consist of two characters can be written as string names which consist of one character can be written as A generic syntax for a string name of any length is

(this is a extension). #

#=====================================================================

# The debugging macro available in previous versions of has been

removed since 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 which yields a register dump of all global registers and strings. A normal user will never need it. By default, the package inhibits page breaks, headers, and footers if displayed with a device like or to make the manual

more efficient for viewing on-line. This behaviour can be

changed (e.g. to create a hardcopy of the output) by setting the register to zero while calling resulting in multiple pages

instead of a single, very long page: For double-sided printing,

set register to~1: To change the document font size to 11pt or 12pt, set register accordingly: Register is ignored for devices. The line and title length can be changed by setting the registers and respectively: If not set, both registers default to 78n for TTY devices and 6.5i otherwise. The main manual macro package. A wrapper file to call Common strings, definitions, stuff related typographic output. Definitions used for a output device.

Definitions used for all other devices. Local additions and cus-

tomizations. This file checks whether the or the package should be used.

ATTRI-

BUTES See

attri-

butes(5) for

descrip-

tions of the

fol-

low-

ing

attri-

butes:

____________________________________________________________

| ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE |

|____________________________|_____________________________|

|Availability | SUNWgroff |

|____________________________|_____________________________|

|Interface stability | Uncommitted |

|____________________________|_____________________________|

Sec-

tion 3f has not been added to the header

rou-

tines. font should be changed in

sec-

tion. needs to have a check to prevent

split-

ting up if the line length is too short.

Occa-

sion-

ally it separates the last parenthesis, and

some-

times looks

rid-

cu-

lous if a line is in fill mode. The list and display

mac-

ros do not do any keeps and

cer-

tainly should be able to.