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MANDOC_CHAR(7) Miscellaneous Information Manual MANDOC_CHAR(7)
NAME
mandoc_char - mandoc special characters
DESCRIPTION
This page documents the roff(7) escape sequences accepted by mandoc(1) to
represent special characters in mdoc(7) and man(7) documents.
The rendering depends on the mandoc(1) output mode; it can be inspected
by calling man(1) on the mandoc_char manual page with different -T
arguments. In ASCII output, the rendering of some characters may be hard
to interpret for the reader. Many are rendered as descriptive strings
like "<integral>", "<degree>", or "<Gamma>", which may look ugly, and
many are replaced by similar ASCII characters. In particular, accented
characters are usually shown without the accent. For that reason, try to
avoid using any of the special characters documented here except those
discussed in the DESCRIPTION, unless they are essential for explaining
the subject matter at hand, for example when documenting complicated
mathematical functions.
In particular, in English manual pages, do not use special-character
escape sequences to represent national language characters in author
names; instead, provide ASCII transcriptions of the names.
Dashes and Hyphens
In typography there are different types of dashes of various width: the
hyphen (-), the en-dash (-), the em-dash (--), and the mathematical minus
sign (-).
Hyphens are used for adjectives; to separate the two parts of a compound
word; or to separate a word across two successive lines of text. The
hyphen does not need to be escaped:
blue-eyed
lorry-driver
The en-dash is used to separate the two elements of a range, or can be
used the same way as an em-dash. It should be written as `\(en':
pp. 95\(en97.
Go away \(en or else!
The em-dash can be used to show an interruption or can be used the same
way as colons, semi-colons, or parentheses. It should be written as
`\(em':
Three things \(em apples, oranges, and bananas.
This is not that \(em rather, this is that.
In roff(7) documents, the minus sign is normally written as `\-'. In
manual pages, some style guides recommend to also use `\-' if an ASCII
0x2d "hyphen-minus" output glyph that can be copied and pasted is desired
in output modes supporting it, for example in -T utf8 and -T html. But
currently, no practically relevant manual page formatter actually
requires that subtlety, so in manual pages just write plain `-' to
represent hyphen, minus, and hyphen-minus.
If a word on a text input line contains a hyphen, a formatter may decide
to insert an output line break after the hyphen if that helps filling the
current output line, but the whole word would overflow the line. If it
is important that the word is not broken across lines in this way, a
zero-width space (`\&') can be inserted before or after the hyphen.
While mandoc(1) never breaks the output line after hyphens adjacent to a
zero-width space, after any of the other dash- or hyphen-like characters
represented by escape sequences, or after hyphens inside words in macro
arguments, other software may not respect these rules and may break the
line even in such cases.
Some roff(7) implementations contains dictionaries allowing to break the
line at syllable boundaries even inside words that contain no hyphens.
Such automatic hyphenation is not supported by mandoc(1), which only
breaks the line at whitespace, and inside words only after existing
hyphens.
Spaces
To separate words in normal text, for indenting and alignment in literal
context, and when none of the following special cases apply, just use the
normal space character (` ').
When filling text, output lines may be broken between words, i.e. at
space characters. To prevent a line break between two particular words,
use the unpaddable non-breaking space escape sequence (`\ ') instead of
the normal space character. For example, the input string "number\ 1"
will be kept together as "number 1" on the same output line.
On request and macro lines, the normal space character serves as an
argument delimiter. To include whitespace into arguments, quoting is
usually the best choice; see the MACRO SYNTAX section in roff(7). In
some cases, using the non-breaking space escape sequence (`\ ') may be
preferable.
To escape macro names and to protect whitespace at the end of input
lines, the zero-width space (`\&') is often useful. For example, in
mdoc(7), a normal space character can be displayed in single quotes in
either of the following ways:
.Sq " "
.Sq \ \&
Quotes
On request and macro lines, the double-quote character (`"') is handled
specially to allow quoting. One way to prevent this special handling is
by using the `\(dq' escape sequence.
Note that on text lines, literal double-quote characters can be used
verbatim. All other quote-like characters can be used verbatim as well,
even on request and macro lines.
Accents
In output modes supporting such special output characters, for example -T
pdf, and sometimes less consistently in -T utf8, some roff(7) formatters
convert the following ASCII input characters to the following Unicode
special output characters:
` U+2018 left single quotation mark
' U+2019 right single quotation mark
~ U+02DC small tilde
^ U+02C6 modifier letter circumflex
In prose, this automatic substitution is often desirable; but when these
characters have to be displayed as plain ASCII characters, for example in
source code samples, they require escaping to render as follows:
\(ga U+0060 grave accent
\(aq U+0027 apostrophe
\(ti U+007E tilde
\(ha U+005E circumflex accent
Periods
The period (`.') is handled specially at the beginning of an input line,
where it introduces a roff(7) request or a macro, and when appearing
alone as a macro argument in mdoc(7). In such situations, prepend a
zero-width space (`\&.') to make it behave like normal text.
Do not use the `\.' escape sequence. It does not prevent special
handling of the period.
Backslashes
To include a literal backslash (`\') into the output, use the (`\e')
escape sequence.
Note that doubling it (`\\') is not the right way to output a backslash.
Because mandoc(1) does not implement full roff(7) functionality, it may
work with mandoc(1), but it may have weird effects on complete roff(7)
implementations.
SPECIAL CHARACTERS
Special characters are encoded as `\X' (for a one-character escape),
`\(XX' (two-character), and `\[N]' (N-character). For details, see the
Special Characters subsection of the roff(7) manual.
Spacing:
Input Description
`\ ' unpaddable non-breaking space
\~ paddable non-breaking space
\0 digit-width space allowing line break
\| one-sixth \(em narrow space, zero width in nroff mode
\^ one-twelfth \(em half-narrow space, zero width in nroff
\& zero-width non-breaking space
\) zero-width space transparent to end-of-sentence detection
\% zero-width space allowing hyphenation
\: zero-width space allowing line break
Lines:
Input Rendered Description
\(ba | bar
\(br | box rule
\(ul _ underscore
\(ru _ underscore (width 0.5m)
\(rn - overline
\(bb | broken bar
\(sl / forward slash
\(rs \ backward slash
Text markers:
Input Rendered Description
\(ci O circle
\(bu ⊕ bullet
\(dd <**> double dagger
\(dg <*> dagger
\(lz <> lozenge
\(sq [] white square
\(ps <paragraph> paragraph
\(sc <section> section
\(lh <= left hand
\(rh => right hand
\(at @ at
\(sh # hash (pound)
\(CR <cr> carriage return
\(OK \/ check mark
\(CL C club suit
\(SP S spade suit
\(HE H heart suit
\(DI D diamond suit
Legal symbols:
Input Rendered Description
\(co (C) copyright
\(rg (R) registered
\(tm tm trademarked
Punctuation:
Input Rendered Description
\(em -- em-dash
\(en - en-dash
\(hy - hyphen
\e \ back-slash
\. . period
\(r! ! upside-down exclamation
\(r? ? upside-down question
Quotes:
Input Rendered Description
\(Bq ,, right low double-quote
\(bq , right low single-quote
\(lq " left double-quote
\(rq " right double-quote
\(oq ` left single-quote
\(cq ' right single-quote
\(aq ' apostrophe quote (ASCII character)
\(dq " double quote (ASCII character)
\(Fo << left guillemet
\(Fc >> right guillemet
\(fo < left single guillemet
\(fc > right single guillemet
Brackets:
Input Rendered Description
\(lB [ left bracket
\(rB ] right bracket
\(lC { left brace
\(rC } right brace
\(la < left angle
\(ra > right angle
\(bv | brace extension (special font)
\[braceex] | brace extension
\[bracketlefttp] | top-left hooked bracket
\[bracketleftbt] | bottom-left hooked bracket
\[bracketleftex] | left hooked bracket extension
\[bracketrighttp] | top-right hooked bracket
\[bracketrightbt] | bottom-right hooked bracket
\[bracketrightex] | right hooked bracket extension
\(lt ,- top-left hooked brace
\[bracelefttp] ,- top-left hooked brace
\(lk { mid-left hooked brace
\[braceleftmid] { mid-left hooked brace
\(lb `- bottom-left hooked brace
\[braceleftbt] `- bottom-left hooked brace
\[braceleftex] | left hooked brace extension
\(rt -. top-left hooked brace
\[bracerighttp] -. top-right hooked brace
\(rk } mid-right hooked brace
\[bracerightmid] } mid-right hooked brace
\(rb -' bottom-right hooked brace
\[bracerightbt] -' bottom-right hooked brace
\[bracerightex] | right hooked brace extension
\[parenlefttp] / top-left hooked parenthesis
\[parenleftbt] \ bottom-left hooked parenthesis
\[parenleftex] | left hooked parenthesis extension
\[parenrighttp] \ top-right hooked parenthesis
\[parenrightbt] / bottom-right hooked parenthesis
\[parenrightex] | right hooked parenthesis extension
Arrows:
Input Rendered Description
\(<- <- left arrow
\(-> -> right arrow
\(<> <-> left-right arrow
\(da |v down arrow
\(ua |^ up arrow
\(va ^v up-down arrow
\(lA <= left double-arrow
\(rA => right double-arrow
\(hA <=> left-right double-arrow
\(uA =^ up double-arrow
\(dA =v down double-arrow
\(vA ^=v up-down double-arrow
\(an - horizontal arrow extension
Logical:
Input Rendered Description
\(AN ^ logical and
\(OR v logical or
\[tno] ~ logical not (text font)
\(no ~ logical not (special font)
\(te <there exists>
existential quantifier
\(fa <for all> universal quantifier
\(st <such that> such that
\(tf <therefore> therefore
\(3d <therefore> therefore
\(or | bitwise or
Mathematical:
Input Rendered Description
\- - minus (text font)
\(mi - minus (special font)
+ + plus (text font)
\(pl + plus (special font)
\(-+ -+ minus-plus
\[t+-] +- plus-minus (text font)
\(+- +- plus-minus (special font)
\(pc . center-dot
\[tmu] x multiply (text font)
\(mu x multiply (special font)
\(c* Ox circle-multiply
\(c+ O+ circle-plus
\[tdi] / divide (text font)
\(di / divide (special font)
\(f/ / fraction
\(** * asterisk
\(<= <= less-than-equal
\(>= >= greater-than-equal
\(<< << much less
\(>> >> much greater
\(eq = equal
\(!= != not equal
\(== == equivalent
\(ne !== not equivalent
\(ap ~ tilde operator
\(|= -~ asymptotically equal
\(=~ =~ approximately equal
\(~~ ~~ almost equal
\(~= ~= almost equal
\(pt <proportional to>
proportionate
\(es {} empty set
\(mo <element of>
element
\(nm <not element of>
not element
\(sb <proper subset>
proper subset
\(nb <not subset>
not subset
\(sp <proper superset>
proper superset
\(nc <not superset>
not superset
\(ib <subset or equal>
reflexive subset
\(ip <superset or equal>
reflexive superset
\(ca <intersection>
intersection
\(cu <union> union
\(/_ <angle> angle
\(pp <perpendicular>
perpendicular
\(is <integral> integral
\[integral] <integral> integral
\[sum] <sum> summation
\[product] <product> product
\[coproduct] <coproduct> coproduct
\(gr <nabla> gradient
\(sr <sqrt> square root
\[sqrt] <sqrt> square root
\(lc |~ left-ceiling
\(rc ~| right-ceiling
\(lf |_ left-floor
\(rf _| right-floor
\(if <infinity> infinity
\(Ah <Aleph> aleph
\(Im <Im> imaginary
\(Re <Re> real
\(wp p Weierstrass p
\(pd <del> partial differential
\(-h /h Planck constant over 2<pi>
\[hbar] /h Planck constant over 2<pi>
\(12 1/2 one-half
\(14 1/4 one-fourth
\(34 3/4 three-fourths
\(18 1/8 one-eighth
\(38 3/8 three-eighths
\(58 5/8 five-eighths
\(78 7/8 seven-eighths
\(S1 ^1 superscript 1
\(S2 ^2 superscript 2
\(S3 ^3 superscript 3
Ligatures:
Input Rendered Description
\(ff ff ff ligature
\(fi fi fi ligature
\(fl fl fl ligature
\(Fi ffi ffi ligature
\(Fl ffl ffl ligature
\(AE AE AE
\(ae ae ae
\(OE OE OE
\(oe oe oe
\(ss ss German eszett
\(IJ IJ IJ ligature
\(ij ij ij ligature
Accents:
Input Rendered Description
\(a" " Hungarian umlaut
\(a- - macron
\(a. . dotted
\(a^ ^ circumflex
\(aa ' acute
\' ' acute
\(ga ` grave
\` ` grave
\(ab '` breve
\(ac , cedilla
\(ad " dieresis
\(ah v caron
\(ao o ring
\(a~ ~ tilde
\(ho , ogonek
\(ha ^ hat (ASCII character)
\(ti ~ tilde (ASCII character)
Accented letters:
Input Rendered Description
\('A 'A acute A
\('E 'E acute E
\('I 'I acute I
\('O 'O acute O
\('U 'U acute U
\('Y 'Y acute Y
\('a 'a acute a
\('e 'e acute e
\('i 'i acute i
\('o 'o acute o
\('u 'u acute u
\('y 'y acute y
\(`A `A grave A
\(`E `E grave E
\(`I `I grave I
\(`O `O grave O
\(`U `U grave U
\(`a `a grave a
\(`e `e grave e
\(`i `i grave i
\(`o `i grave o
\(`u `u grave u
\(~A ~A tilde A
\(~N ~N tilde N
\(~O ~O tilde O
\(~a ~a tilde a
\(~n ~n tilde n
\(~o ~o tilde o
\(:A "A dieresis A
\(:E "E dieresis E
\(:I "I dieresis I
\(:O "O dieresis O
\(:U "U dieresis U
\(:a "a dieresis a
\(:e "e dieresis e
\(:i "i dieresis i
\(:o "o dieresis o
\(:u "u dieresis u
\(:y "y dieresis y
\(^A ^A circumflex A
\(^E ^E circumflex E
\(^I ^I circumflex I
\(^O ^O circumflex O
\(^U ^U circumflex U
\(^a ^a circumflex a
\(^e ^e circumflex e
\(^i ^i circumflex i
\(^o ^o circumflex o
\(^u ^u circumflex u
\(,C ,C cedilla C
\(,c ,c cedilla c
\(/L /L stroke L
\(/l /l stroke l
\(/O /O stroke O
\(/o /o stroke o
\(oA oA ring A
\(oa oa ring a
Special letters:
Input Rendered Description
\(-D Dh Eth
\(Sd dh eth
\(TP Th Thorn
\(Tp th thorn
\(.i i dotless i
\(.j j dotless j
Currency:
Input Rendered Description
\(Do $ dollar
\(ct /c cent
\(Eu EUR Euro symbol
\(eu EUR Euro symbol
\(Ye =Y yen
\(Po -L pound
\(Cs ox Scandinavian
\(Fn ,f florin
Units:
Input Rendered Description
\(de <degree> degree
\(%0 <permille> per-thousand
\(fm ' minute
\(sd '' second
\(mc <micro> micro
\(Of a Spanish female ordinal
\(Om o Spanish masculine ordinal
Greek letters:
Input Rendered Description
\(*A A Alpha
\(*B B Beta
\(*G <Gamma> Gamma
\(*D <Delta> Delta
\(*E E Epsilon
\(*Z Z Zeta
\(*Y H Eta
\(*H <Theta> Theta
\(*I I Iota
\(*K K Kappa
\(*L <Lambda> Lambda
\(*M M Mu
\(*N N Nu
\(*C <Xi> Xi
\(*O O Omicron
\(*P <Pi> Pi
\(*R P Rho
\(*S <Sigma> Sigma
\(*T T Tau
\(*U Y Upsilon
\(*F <Phi> Phi
\(*X X Chi
\(*Q <Psi> Psi
\(*W <Omega> Omega
\(*a <alpha> alpha
\(*b <beta> beta
\(*g <gamma> gamma
\(*d <delta> delta
\(*e <epsilon> epsilon
\(*z <zeta> zeta
\(*y <eta> eta
\(*h <theta> theta
\(*i <iota> iota
\(*k <kappa> kappa
\(*l <lambda> lambda
\(*m <mu> mu
\(*n <nu> nu
\(*c <xi> xi
\(*o o omicron
\(*p <pi> pi
\(*r <rho> rho
\(*s <sigma> sigma
\(*t <tau> tau
\(*u <upsilon> upsilon
\(*f <phi> phi
\(*x <chi> chi
\(*q <psi> psi
\(*w <omega> omega
\(+h <theta> theta variant
\(+f <phi> phi variant
\(+p <pi> pi variant
\(+e <epsilon> epsilon variant
\(ts <sigma> sigma terminal
PREDEFINED STRINGS
Predefined strings are inherited from the macro packages of historical
troff implementations. They are not recommended for use, as they differ
across implementations. Manuals using these predefined strings are
almost certainly not portable.
Their syntax is similar to special characters, using `\*X' (for a
one-character escape), `\*(XX' (two-character), and `\*[N]'
(N-character). For details, see the Predefined Strings subsection of the
roff(7) manual.
Input Rendered Description
\*(Ba | vertical bar
\*(Ne != not equal
\*(Ge >= greater-than-equal
\*(Le <= less-than-equal
\*(Gt > greater-than
\*(Lt < less-than
\*(Pm +- plus-minus
\*(If infinity infinity
\*(Pi pi pi
\*(Na NaN NaN
\*(Am & ampersand
\*R (R) restricted mark
\*(Tm (Tm) trade mark
\*q " double-quote
\*(Rq " right-double-quote
\*(Lq " left-double-quote
\*(lp ( right-parenthesis
\*(rp ) left-parenthesis
\*(lq " left double-quote
\*(rq " right double-quote
\*(ua |^ up arrow
\*(va ^v up-down arrow
\*(<= <= less-than-equal
\*(>= >= greater-than-equal
\*(aa ' acute
\*(ga ` grave
\*(Px POSIX POSIX standard name
\*(Ai ANSI ANSI standard name
UNICODE CHARACTERS
The escape sequences
\[uXXXX] and \C'uXXXX'
are interpreted as Unicode codepoints. The codepoint must be in the
range above U+0080 and less than U+10FFFF. For compatibility, the
hexadecimal digits `A' to `F' must be given as uppercase characters, and
points must be zero-padded to four characters; if greater than four
characters, no zero padding is allowed. Unicode surrogates are not
allowed.
NUMBERED CHARACTERS
For backward compatibility with existing manuals, mandoc(1) also supports
the
\N'number' and \[charnumber]
escape sequences, inserting the character number from the current
character set into the output. Of course, this is inherently non-
portable and is already marked as deprecated in the Heirloom roff manual;
on top of that, the second form is a GNU extension. For example, do not
use \N'34' or \[char34], use \(dq, or even the plain `"' character where
possible.
COMPATIBILITY
This section documents compatibility between mandoc and other troff
implementations, at this time limited to GNU troff ("groff").
- The \N'' escape sequence is limited to printable characters; in
groff, it accepts arbitrary character numbers.
- In -Tascii, the \(ss, \(nm, \(nb, \(nc, \(ib, \(ip, \(pp, \[sum],
\[product], \[coproduct], \(gr, \(-h, and \(a. special characters
render differently between mandoc and groff.
- In -Thtml, the \(~=, \(nb, and \(nc special characters render
differently between mandoc and groff.
- The -Tps and -Tpdf modes format like -Tascii instead of rendering
glyphs as in groff.
- The \[radicalex], \[sqrtex], and \(ru special characters have been
omitted from mandoc either because they are poorly documented or they
have no known representation.
SEE ALSO
mandoc(1), man(7), mdoc(7), roff(7)
AUTHORS
The mandoc_char manual page was written by Kristaps Dzonsons
<kristaps@bsd.lv>.
CAVEATS
The predefined string `\*(Ba' mimics the behaviour of the `|' character
in mdoc(7); thus, if you wish to render a vertical bar with no side
effects, use the `\(ba' escape.
NetBSD 10.99 December 15, 2018 NetBSD 10.99