These macros are used to lay out the reference pages in this manual.
Note: if
filename
contains format input for a preprocessor, the
commands shown above must be piped through the
appropriate preprocessor.
This is handled automatically by
man(1).
See the
``Conventions'' section.
Any text argument
t
may be zero to six words.
Quotes may be used to include
<Space>
characters in a \(lqword\(rq.
If
text
is empty, the special treatment is applied to the next input line with
text to be printed.
In this way
.I
may be used to italicize a whole line, or
.SB
may be used to make small bold letters.
A prevailing indent distance is remembered between successive indented
paragraphs, and is reset to default value upon reaching a non-indented
paragraph.
Default units for indents
i
are ens.
Type font and size are reset to default values before each paragraph,
and after processing font and size setting macros.
These strings are predefined by
-man:
\*R
``®'', `(Reg)' in nroff.
\*S
Change to default type size.
Requests
* n.t.l. = next text line; p.i. = prevailing indent
Cause
If no
Request
Break
Argument
Explanation
.Bt
no
t=n.t.l.*
Text is in bold font.
.BIt
no
t=n.t.l.
Join words, alternating bold and italic.
.BRt
no
t=n.t.l.
Join words, alternating bold and roman.
.DT
no
.5i 1i . . .
Restore default tabs.
.HPi
yes
i=p.i.*
Begin paragraph with hanging indent.
Set prevailing indent to i.
.It
no
t=n.t.l.
Text is italic.
.IBt
no
t=n.t.l.
Join words, alternating italic and bold.
.IPx i
yes
x=""
Same as .TP with tag x.
.IRt
no
t=n.t.l.
Join words, alternating italic and roman.
.IXt
no
-
Index macro.
.LP
yes
-
Begin left-aligned paragraph.
Set prevailing indent to .5i.
.PDd
no
d=.4v
Set vertical distance between paragraphs.
.PP
yes
-
Same as .LP.
Cause
If no
Request
Break
Argument
Explanation
.RE
yes
-
End of relative indent.
Restores prevailing indent.
.RBt
no
t=n.t.l.
Join words, alternating roman and bold.
.RIt
no
t=n.t.l.
Join words, alternating roman and italic.
.RSi
yes
i=p.i.
Start relative indent, increase indent by i.
Sets prevailing indent to .5i for nested indents.
.SBt
no
-
Reduce size of text by 1 point, make text bold.
.SHt
yes
-
Section Heading.
.SMt
no
t=n.t.l.
Reduce size of text by 1 point.
.SSt
yes
t=n.t.l.
Section Subheading.
.THn s d f m
yes
-
Begin reference page n, of section s; d is the date of the most
recent change. If present, f is the left page footer; m is the
main page (center) header. Sets prevailing indent and tabs to .5i.
.TPi
yes
i=p.i.
Begin indented paragraph, with the tag given
on the next text line. Set prevailing indent to i.
Conventions
When formatting a manual page,
man
examines the first line to determine whether
it requires special processing.
For example a first line consisting of:
'\" t
indicates that the manual page must be run through the
tbl(1bsd)
preprocessor.
A typical manual page for a command or function is laid out as
follows:
.THtitle[1-8]
The name of the command or function, which serves as
the title of the manual page.
This is followed by the number of
the section in which it appears.
.SH NAME
The name, or list of names, by which the command is called,
followed by a dash and then a one-line summary of the action performed.
All in roman font, this section contains no
troff(1bsd)
commands or escapes, and no macro requests.
It is used to generate the
whatis(1bsd)
database.
.SH SYNOPSIS
Commands:
The syntax of the command and its arguments, as typed on the command line.
When in boldface, a word must be typed exactly as printed.
When in italics, a word can be replaced with an argument that you supply.
References to bold or italicized items are not capitalized
in other sections, even when they begin a sentence.
Syntactic symbols appear in roman face:
[ ]
An argument, when surrounded by brackets
is optional.
|
Arguments separated by a vertical bar are exclusive.
You can supply only one item from such a list.
. . .
Arguments followed by an ellipsis can be repeated.
When an ellipsis follows a bracketed set, the expression within the
brackets can be repeated.
Functions:
If required, the data declaration, or
#include
directive, is shown first, followed by the function declaration.
Otherwise, the function declaration is shown.
.SH DESCRIPTION
A narrative overview of the command or function's external behavior.
This includes how it interacts with files or data, and how it
handles the standard input, standard output and standard error.
Internals and implementation details are normally omitted.
This section attempts to provide a succinct overview in answer to the
question, ``what does it do?''
Literal text from the synopsis appears in constant width, as do literal
filenames and references to items that appear elsewhere in the
reference manuals.
Arguments are italicized.
If a command interprets either subcommands or an input grammar, its
command interface or input grammar is normally described in a
USAGE
section, which follows the
OPTIONS
section.
The
DESCRIPTION
section only describes the behavior of the command, not
that of subcommands.
.SH OPTIONS
The list of options along with a description of how each affects
the command's operation.
.SH FILES
A list of files associated with the command or function.
.SH REFERENCES
A comma-separated list of related manual pages, followed by
references to other published materials.
.SH DIAGNOSTICS
A list of diagnostic messages and an explanation of each.
.SH NOTICES
A description of limitations, known defects, and possible
problems associated with the command or function.