MAN(7) Miscellaneous Information Manual MAN(7)
NAME
man - nroff macro package for manual pages
SYNOPSIS
nroff -man file ...
DESCRIPTION
These macros are used to lay out reference pages for manuals.
Any text argument t may be zero to six words. Quotes may be used to include blanks in a 'word'. Text can be empty, but unlike normal UNIX
macros, the next line is not used.
A prevailing indent distance is remembered between successive indented paragraphs, and is reset to default value upon reaching a non-
indented paragraph (i.e. at .SH or .SS).
FILES
/usr/lib/tmac/tmac.an For standard Minix nroff.
/usr/lib/cawf/man.mac For cawf.
SEE ALSO
nroff(1), man(1).
REQUEST SUMMARY
Request Cause Explanation
Break?
.B t no Text t is bold. Quote to imbed blanks.
.I t no Text t is italic. Quote to imbed blanks.
.IP x yes Set prevailing indent to 5. Begin
indented paragraph with hanging tag
given by first argument.Tag x is
always placed on a separate line.
.LP yes Same as .PP.
.PP yes Begin paragraph.Set prevailing
indent to 5.
.RE yes End of relative indent.Set prevailing
indent to amount of starting .RS.
.RS yes Start relative indent, move left margin
in distance 5.
.SH t yes Subhead. Quote to imbed blanks.
.SS t yes Subsection. Quote to imbed blanks. No
indent for t.
.TH n s c v d yes Begin page named n of chapter s; c is
the chapter name; d is the date of the
most recent change; v is version number.
Sets prevailing indent and tabs to 5.
EXAMPLE
The following illustrates some of the requests available with this macro package:
." this is a comment
.TH DEMO 1
.SH NAME
demo - show how to use -man package
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B demo
.RI [ options ]
.IR file " ..."
.SH DESCRIPTION
This is a test for showing how to use the
.BR nroff (1)
man package. It shows how to use .TH, .SH, .PP, .B, .I, and .IP
commands.
.PP
This will be a new paragraph. You can also use normal
.BR nroff (1)
commands in the text.
.SS Nroff Commands
.IP 'e"'
This is the comment command. " You won't see this.
.IP nf
No fill mode (the normal mode is fill mode where things
get justified right and left).
.IP fi
Re-enter fill mode.
.IP br
Break line here no matter what.
.IP sp
Vertical space (also causes a break to occur).
.sp
Note that to continue an indent and make a new paragraph (as
is the case here), just put in a space (.sp).
.PP
Now we should be at a new paragraph.
Executing nroff -man demo.man results in the following output: (Ignoring page headers and footers)
NAME
demo - show how to use -man package
SYNOPSIS
demo [options] file ...
DESCRIPTION
This is a test for showing how to use the nroff(1) man package. It shows how to use .TH, .SH, .PP, .B, .I, and .IP commands.
This will be a new paragraph. You can also use normal nroff(1) commands in the text.
Nroff Commands
'"' This is the comment command.
nf No fill mode (the normal mode is fill mode where things get justified right and left).
fi Re-enter fill mode.
br Break line here no matter what.
sp Vertical space (also causes a break to occur).
Note that to continue an indent and make a new paragraph (as is the case here), just put in a space (.sp).
Now we should be at a new paragraph.
CONVENTIONS
A typical manual page for a command or function is laid out as follows:
.TH TITLE [1-8]
The name of the command or function in upper-case,
which serves as the title of the manual page. This is
followed by the number of the section in which it
appears.
.SH NAME
name - one-line summary
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 sec-
tion contains no troff(1) commands or escapes, and no
macro requests. It is used to generate the whatis(1)
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 text that you
supply. 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 item from
such a list.
... Arguments followed by an elipsis can be
repeated. When an elipsis follows a brack-
eted set, the expression within the brackets
can be repeated.
Functions:
If required, the data declaration, or #include
directive, is shown first, followed by the func-
tion declaration. Otherwise, the function declara-
tion is shown.
.SH DESCRIPTION
A narrative description of the command or function in
detail, including how it interacts with files or data,
and how it handles the standard input, standard output
and standard error.
Filenames, and references to commands or functions
described elswhere in the manual, are italicised. The
names of options, variables and other literal terms are
in boldface.
.SH OPTIONS
The list of options along with a description of how
each affects the commands operation.
.SH ENVIRONMENT
Environment variables used.
.SH FILES
A list of files associated with the command or func-
tion.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
A comma-separated list of related manual pages,
followed by references to other published materials.
This section contains no troff(1) escapes or commands,
and no macro requests.
.SH DIAGNOSTICS
A list of diagnostic messages and an explanation of
each.
.SH NOTES
Any additional notes such as installation-dependent
functionality.
.SH BUGS
A description of limitations, known defects, and possi-
ble problems associated with the command or function.
.SH AUTHOR
The program's author and any pertinent release info.
.SH VERSION
The program's current version number and release date.
BUGS
Even though cawf(1) has a better chance at formatting a random manual page then the standard Minix nroff, it has two annoying bugs in its
macro set. Both .PP and .IP reset the indentation level to the level set by .SH. This means that you can't use them in a piece of text
indented by .RS. For .IP this is troublesome, you can see why in the unformatted source of this text. .PP can simply be replaced by .sp,
or better yet, by .SP with the following macro defined somewhere in your text:
.de SP
.if t .sp 0.4
.if n .sp
..
This will make .SP use 4/10 of a line if formatted by troff, just like .PP.
MAN(7)