DOKK / manpages / debian 10 / mandoc / mandoc_man.7.en
MAN(7) Miscellaneous Information Manual MAN(7)

man - legacy formatting language for manual pages

Traditionally, the man language has been used to write UNIX manuals for the man(1) utility. It supports limited control of presentational details like fonts, indentation and spacing. This reference document describes the structure of manual pages and the syntax and usage of the man language.

Do not use man to write your manuals: It lacks support for semantic markup. Use the mdoc(7) language, instead.

In a man document, lines beginning with the control character ‘.’ are called “macro lines”. The first word is the macro name. It usually consists of two capital letters. For a list of available macros, see MACRO OVERVIEW. The words following the macro name are arguments to the macro.

Lines not beginning with the control character are called “text lines”. They provide free-form text to be printed; the formatting of the text depends on the respective processing context:





.SH Macro lines change control state.
Text lines are interpreted within the current state.






Many aspects of the basic syntax of the man language are
    based on the roff(7) language; see the LANGUAGE SYNTAX and MACRO
    SYNTAX sections in the roff(7) manual for details, in particular
    regarding comments, escape sequences, whitespace, and quoting.








Each man document must contain the TH macro
    describing the document's section and title. It may occur anywhere in the
    document, although conventionally it appears as the first macro.


Beyond TH, at least one macro or text line must appear in
    the document.


The following is a well-formed skeleton man file for a
    utility "progname":






.TH PROGNAME 1 2009-10-10
.SH NAME
\fBprogname\fR \(en one line about what it does
.\" .SH LIBRARY
.\" For sections 2, 3, and 9 only.
.\" Not used in OpenBSD.
.SH SYNOPSIS
\fBprogname\fR [\fB\-options\fR] \fIfile ...\fR
.SH DESCRIPTION
The \fBfoo\fR utility processes files ...
.\" .Sh CONTEXT
.\" For section 9 functions only.
.\" .SH IMPLEMENTATION NOTES
.\" Not used in OpenBSD.
.\" .SH RETURN VALUES
.\" For sections 2, 3, and 9 function return values only.
.\" .SH ENVIRONMENT
.\" For sections 1, 6, 7, and 8 only.
.\" .SH FILES
.\" .SH EXIT STATUS
.\" For sections 1, 6, and 8 only.
.\" .SH EXAMPLES
.\" .SH DIAGNOSTICS
.\" For sections 1, 4, 6, 7, 8, and 9 printf/stderr messages only.
.\" .SH ERRORS
.\" For sections 2, 3, 4, and 9 errno settings only.
.\" .SH SEE ALSO
.\" .BR foobar ( 1 )
.\" .SH STANDARDS
.\" .SH HISTORY
.\" .SH AUTHORS
.\" .SH CAVEATS
.\" .SH BUGS
.\" .SH SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
.\" Not used in OpenBSD.






The sections in a man document are conventionally ordered
    as they appear above. Sections should be composed as follows:




NAME
  

  The name(s) and a short description of the documented material. The syntax for
    this is generally as follows:




\fBname\fR \(en description


LIBRARY
  

  The name of the library containing the documented material, which is assumed
    to be a function in a section 2 or 3 manual. For functions in the C library,
    this may be as follows:




Standard C Library (libc, -lc)


SYNOPSIS
  

  Documents the utility invocation syntax, function call syntax, or device
    configuration.


For the first, utilities (sections 1, 6, and 8), this is generally
    structured as follows:




\fBname\fR [-\fBab\fR] [-\fBc\fR\fIarg\fR]
  \fBpath\fR...


For the second, function calls (sections 2, 3, 9):




.B char *name(char *\fIarg\fR);


And for the third, configurations (section 4):




.B name* at cardbus? function

?

Manuals not in these sections generally don't need a
    SYNOPSIS.


DESCRIPTION
  

  This expands upon the brief, one-line description in NAME. It usually
    contains a break-down of the options (if documenting a command).


CONTEXT
  

  This section lists the contexts in which functions can be called in section 9.
    The contexts are autoconf, process, or interrupt.


IMPLEMENTATION NOTES
  

  Implementation-specific notes should be kept here. This is useful when
    implementing standard functions that may have side effects or notable
    algorithmic implications.


RETURN VALUES
  

  This section documents the return values of functions in sections 2, 3, and
  9.


ENVIRONMENT
  

  Documents any usages of environment variables, e.g., environ(7).


FILES
  

  Documents files used. It's helpful to document both the file name and a short
    description of how the file is used (created, modified, etc.).


EXIT STATUS
  

  This section documents the command exit status for section 1, 6, and 8
    utilities. Historically, this information was described in
    DIAGNOSTICS, a practise that is now discouraged.


EXAMPLES
  

  Example usages. This often contains snippets of well-formed, well-tested
    invocations. Make sure that examples work properly!


DIAGNOSTICS
  

  Documents error conditions. In section 4 and 9 manuals, these are usually
    messages printed by the kernel to the console and to the kernel log. In
    section 1, 6, 7, and 8, these are usually messages printed by userland
    programs to the standard error output.


Historically, this section was used in place of EXIT STATUS
    for manuals in sections 1, 6, and 8; however, this practise is
  discouraged.


ERRORS
  

  Documents errno(2) settings in sections 2, 3, 4, and 9.


SEE ALSO
  

  References other manuals with related topics. This section should exist for
    most manuals.




.BR bar ( 1 ),


Cross-references should conventionally be ordered first by
    section, then alphabetically.


STANDARDS
  

  References any standards implemented or used, such as




IEEE Std 1003.2 (\(lqPOSIX.2\(rq)


If not adhering to any standards, the HISTORY section
    should be used.


HISTORY
  

  A brief history of the subject, including where support first appeared.


AUTHORS
  

  Credits to the person or persons who wrote the code and/or documentation.
    Authors should generally be noted by both name and email address.


CAVEATS
  

  Common misuses and misunderstandings should be explained in this section.


BUGS
  

  Known bugs, limitations, and work-arounds should be described in this
  section.


SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
  

  Documents any security precautions that operators should consider.










This overview is sorted such that macros of similar purpose are
    listed together, to help find the best macro for any given purpose.
    Deprecated macros are not included in the overview, but can be found in the
    alphabetical reference below.







  

  

  

    TH
    set the title: title section date [source
      [volume]]
  

  

  

  

    AT
    display AT&T UNIX version in the page footer (<= 1 argument)
  

  

  

  

    UC
    display BSD version in the page footer (<= 1 argument)
  











  

  

  

    SH
    section header (one line)
  

  

  

  

    SS
    subsection header (one line)
  

  

  

  

    PP, LP, P
    start an undecorated paragraph (no arguments)
  

  

  

  

    RS, RE
    reset the left margin: [width]
  

  

  

  

    IP
    indented paragraph: [head [width]]
  

  

  

  

    TP
    tagged paragraph: [width]
  

  

  

  

    HP
    hanged paragraph: [width]
  

  

  

  

    PD
    set vertical paragraph distance: [height]
  

  

  

  

    fi, nf
    fill mode and no-fill mode (no arguments)
  

  

  

  

    in
    additional indent: [width]
  











  

  

  

    B
    boldface font
  

  

  

  

    I
    italic font
  

  

  

  

    SB
    small boldface font
  

  

  

  

    SM
    small roman font
  

  

  

  

    BI
    alternate between boldface and italic fonts
  

  

  

  

    BR
    alternate between boldface and roman fonts
  

  

  

  

    IB
    alternate between italic and boldface fonts
  

  

  

  

    IR
    alternate between italic and roman fonts
  

  

  

  

    RB
    alternate between roman and boldface fonts
  

  

  

  

    RI
    alternate between roman and italic fonts
  












This section is a canonical reference to all macros, arranged
    alphabetically. For the scoping of individual macros, see MACRO
    SYNTAX.






Sets the volume for the footer for compatibility with man pages
    from AT&T UNIX releases. The optional arguments specify which release it
    is from.








Text is rendered in bold face.


See also I.








Text is rendered alternately in bold face and italic. Thus,
    ‘.BI this word and that’ causes ‘this’ and
    ‘and’ to render in bold face, while ‘word’ and
    ‘that’ render in italics. Whitespace between arguments is
    omitted in output.


Examples:




.BI bold italic bold italic


The output of this example will be emboldened “bold”
    and italicised “italic”, with spaces stripped between
    arguments.


See also IB, BR, RB, RI, and
    IR.








Text is rendered alternately in bold face and roman (the default
    font). Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.


See BI for an equivalent example.


See also BI, IB, RB, RI, and
    IR.








Restore the default tabulator positions. They are at intervals of
    0.5 inches. This has no effect unless the tabulator positions were changed
    with the roff(7) ta request.








This is a non-standard GNU extension, included only for
    compatibility. In mandoc(1), it does the same as fi.








This is a non-standard GNU extension, included only for
    compatibility. In mandoc(1), it does the same as nf.








Begin a paragraph whose initial output line is left-justified, but
    subsequent output lines are indented, with the following syntax:




[width]


The width argument is a roff(7) scaling width. If
    specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if unspecified, the
    saved or default width is used.


See also IP, LP, P, PP, and
  TP.








Text is rendered in italics.


See also B.








Text is rendered alternately in italics and bold face. Whitespace
    between arguments is omitted in output.


See BI for an equivalent example.


See also BI, BR, RB, RI, and
    IR.








Begin an indented paragraph with the following syntax:




[head [width]]


The width argument is a roff(7) scaling width defining the
    left margin. It's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if unspecified,
    the saved or default width is used.


The head argument is used as a leading term, flushed to the
    left margin. This is useful for bulleted paragraphs and so on.


See also HP, LP, P, PP, and
  TP.








Text is rendered alternately in italics and roman (the default
    font). Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.


See BI for an equivalent example.


See also BI, IB, BR, RB, and
    RI.








Begin an undecorated paragraph. The scope of a paragraph is closed
    by a subsequent paragraph, sub-section, section, or end of file. The saved
    paragraph left-margin width is reset to the default.


See also HP, IP, P, PP, and
  TP.








End a mailto block. This is a non-standard GNU extension, included
    only for compatibility. See MT.








Begin a mailto block. This is a non-standard GNU extension,
    included only for compatibility. It has the following syntax:






link description to be shown












Optional command-line argument. This is a non-standard GNU
    extension, included only for compatibility. It has the following syntax:




key [value]


The key is usually a command-line flag and value its
    argument.








Synonym for LP.


See also HP, IP, LP, PP, and
    TP.








Specify the vertical space to be inserted before each new
    paragraph.
  

  The syntax is as follows:




[height]


The height argument is a roff(7) scaling width. It defaults
    to 1v. If the unit is omitted, v is assumed.


This macro affects the spacing before any subsequent instances of
    HP, IP, LP, P, PP, SH, SS,
    and TP.








Synonym for LP.


See also HP, IP, LP, P, and
  TP.








Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and bold
    face. Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.


See BI for an equivalent example.


See also BI, IB, BR, RI, and
    IR.








Explicitly close out the scope of a prior RS. The default
    left margin is restored to the state before that RS invocation.


The syntax is as follows:




[level]


Without an argument, the most recent RS block is closed
    out. If level is 1, all open RS blocks are closed out.
    Otherwise, level − 1 nested RS blocks remain open.








Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and
    italics. Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.


See BI for an equivalent example.


See also BI, IB, BR, RB, and
    IR.








Temporarily reset the default left margin. This has the following
    syntax:




[width]


The width argument is a roff(7) scaling width. If not
    specified, the saved or default width is used.


See also RE.








Text is rendered in small size (one point smaller than the default
    font) bold face.








Begin a section. The scope of a section is only closed by another
    section or the end of file. The paragraph left-margin width is reset to the
    default.








Text is rendered in small size (one point smaller than the default
    font).








Begin a sub-section. The scope of a sub-section is closed by a
    subsequent sub-section, section, or end of file. The paragraph left-margin
    width is reset to the default.








Sets the title of the manual page for use in the page header and
    footer with the following syntax:




title section date [source
  [volume]]


Conventionally, the document title is given in all caps.
    The recommended date format is YYYY-MM-DD as specified in the
    ISO-8601 standard; if the argument does not conform, it is printed verbatim.
    If the date is empty or not specified, the current date is used. The
    optional source string specifies the organisation providing the
    utility. When unspecified, mandoc(1) uses its -Ios argument. The
    volume string replaces the default rendered volume, which is dictated
    by the manual section.


Examples:




.TH CVS 5 1992-02-12 GNU








Begin a paragraph where the head, if exceeding the indentation
    width, is followed by a newline; if not, the body follows on the same line
    after a buffer to the indentation width. Subsequent output lines are
    indented. The syntax is as follows:




[width]


The width argument is a roff(7) scaling width. If
    specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if unspecified, the
    saved or default width is used.


See also HP, IP, LP, P, and
  PP.








Sets the volume for the footer for compatibility with man pages
    from BSD releases. The optional first argument specifies which release it is
    from.








End a uniform resource identifier block. This is a non-standard
    GNU extension, included only for compatibility. See UE.








Begin a uniform resource identifier block. This is a non-standard
    GNU extension, included only for compatibility. It has the following
  syntax:






link description to be shown












End literal mode begun by nf.








Indent relative to the current indentation:






If width is signed, the new offset is relative. Otherwise,
    it is absolute. This value is reset upon the next paragraph, section, or
    sub-section.








Begin literal mode: all subsequent free-form lines have their end
    of line boundaries preserved. May be ended by fi. Literal mode is
    implicitly ended by SH or SS.










The man macros are classified by scope: line scope or block
    scope. Line macros are only scoped to the current line (and, in some
    situations, the subsequent line). Block macros are scoped to the current
    line and subsequent lines until closed by another block macro.






Line macros are generally scoped to the current line, with the
    body consisting of zero or more arguments. If a macro is scoped to the next
    line and the line arguments are empty, the next line, which must be text, is
    used instead. Thus:






.I
foo






is equivalent to ‘.I foo’. If next-line macros are
    invoked consecutively, only the last is used. If a next-line macro is
    followed by a non-next-line macro, an error is raised.


The syntax is as follows:






.YO [body...]
[body...]









  

  

  

    Macro
    Arguments
    Scope
    Notes
  

  

  

  

    AT
    <=1
    current
    
  

  

  

  

    B
    n
    next-line
    
  

  

  

  

    BI
    n
    current
    
  

  

  

  

    BR
    n
    current
    
  

  

  

  

    DT
    0
    current
    
  

  

  

  

    EE
    0
    current
    compat
  

  

  

  

    EX
    0
    current
    compat
  

  

  

  

    I
    n
    next-line
    
  

  

  

  

    IB
    n
    current
    
  

  

  

  

    IR
    n
    current
    
  

  

  

  

    OP
    0, 1
    current
    compat
  

  

  

  

    PD
    1
    current
    
  

  

  

  

    RB
    n
    current
    
  

  

  

  

    RI
    n
    current
    
  

  

  

  

    SB
    n
    next-line
    
  

  

  

  

    SM
    n
    next-line
    
  

  

  

  

    TH
    >1, <6
    current
    
  

  

  

  

    UC
    <=1
    current
    
  

  

  

  

    fi
    0
    current
    compat
  

  

  

  

    in
    1
    current
    compat
  

  

  

  

    nf
    0
    current
    compat
  






Macros marked as "compat" are included for compatibility
    with the significant corpus of existing manuals that mix dialects of roff.
    These macros should not be used for portable man manuals.








Block macros comprise a head and body. As with in-line macros, the
    head is scoped to the current line and, in one circumstance, the next line
    (the next-line stipulations as in Line Macros apply here as
  well).


The syntax is as follows:






.YO [head...]
[head...]
[body...]






The closure of body scope may be to the section, where a macro is
    closed by SH; sub-section, closed by a section or SS; part,
    closed by a section, sub-section, or RE; or paragraph, closed by a
    section, sub-section, part, HP, IP, LP, P,
    PP, or TP. No closure refers to an explicit block closing
    macro.


As a rule, block macros may not be nested; thus, calling a block
    macro while another block macro scope is open, and the open scope is not
    implicitly closed, is syntactically incorrect.





  

  

  

    Macro
    Arguments
    Head Scope
    Body Scope
    Notes
  

  

  

  

    HP
    <2
    current
    paragraph
    
  

  

  

  

    IP
    <3
    current
    paragraph
    
  

  

  

  

    LP
    0
    current
    paragraph
    
  

  

  

  

    P
    0
    current
    paragraph
    
  

  

  

  

    PP
    0
    current
    paragraph
    
  

  

  

  

    RE
    0
    current
    none
    compat
  

  

  

  

    RS
    1
    current
    part
    compat
  

  

  

  

    SH
    >0
    next-line
    section
    
  

  

  

  

    SS
    >0
    next-line
    sub-section
    
  

  

  

  

    TP
    n
    next-line
    paragraph
    
  

  

  

  

    UE
    0
    current
    none
    compat
  

  

  

  

    UR
    1
    current
    part
    compat
  






Macros marked "compat" are as mentioned in Line
    Macros.


If a block macro is next-line scoped, it may only be followed by
    in-line macros for decorating text.








In man documents, both Physical markup macros and
    roff(7) ‘\f’ font escape sequences can be used to choose
    fonts. In text lines, the effect of manual font selection by escape
    sequences only lasts until the next macro invocation; in macro lines, it
    only lasts until the end of the macro scope. Note that macros like BR
    open and close a font scope for each argument.










man(1), mandoc(1), eqn(7), mandoc_char(7), mdoc(7), roff(7),
    tbl(7)








The man language first appeared as a macro package for the
    roff typesetting system in Version 7 AT&T UNIX. It was later
    rewritten by James Clark as a macro package for groff. Eric S. Raymond wrote
    the extended man macros for groff in 2007. The stand-alone
    implementation that is part of the mandoc(1) utility written by Kristaps
    Dzonsons appeared in OpenBSD 4.6.








This man reference was written by Kristaps Dzonsons
    <kristaps@bsd.lv>.








Do not use this language. Use mdoc(7), instead.







  

    April 5, 2018
    Debian