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MDOC(7) Miscellaneous Information Manual MDOC(7)
NAME
mdoc - semantic markup language for formatting manual pages
DESCRIPTION
The mdoc language supports authoring of manual pages for the man(1)
utility by allowing semantic annotations of words, phrases, page sections
and complete manual pages. Such annotations are used by formatting tools
to achieve a uniform presentation across all manuals written in mdoc, and
to support hyperlinking if supported by the output medium.
This reference document describes the structure of manual pages and the
syntax and usage of the mdoc language. The reference implementation of a
parsing and formatting tool is mandoc(1); the COMPATIBILITY section
describes compatibility with other implementations.
In an mdoc document, lines beginning with the control character `.' are
called "macro lines". The first word is the macro name. It consists of
two or three letters. Most macro names begin with a capital letter. For
a list of available macros, see MACRO OVERVIEW. The words following the
macro name are arguments to the macro, optionally including the names of
other, callable macros; see MACRO SYNTAX for details.
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 mdoc 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. However, using roff(7) requests in
mdoc documents is discouraged; mandoc(1) supports some of them merely for
backward compatibility.
MANUAL STRUCTURE
A well-formed mdoc document consists of a document prologue followed by
one or more sections.
The prologue, which consists of the Dd, Dt, and Os macros in that order,
is required for every document.
The first section (sections are denoted by Sh) must be the NAME section,
consisting of at least one Nm followed by Nd.
Following that, convention dictates specifying at least the SYNOPSIS and
DESCRIPTION sections, although this varies between manual sections.
The following is a well-formed skeleton mdoc file for a utility
"progname":
.Dd $Mdocdate$
.Dt PROGNAME section
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm progname
.Nd one line about what it does
.\" .Sh LIBRARY
.\" For sections 2, 3, and 9 only.
.\" Not used in OpenBSD.
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Nm progname
.Op Fl options
.Ar
.Sh DESCRIPTION
The
.Nm
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
.\" .Xr foobar 1
.\" .Sh STANDARDS
.\" .Sh HISTORY
.\" .Sh AUTHORS
.\" .Sh CAVEATS
.\" .Sh BUGS
.\" .Sh SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
.\" Not used in OpenBSD.
The sections in an mdoc document are conventionally ordered as they
appear above. Sections should be composed as follows:
NAME
The name(s) and a one line description of the documented material.
The syntax for this as follows:
.Nm name0 ,
.Nm name1 ,
.Nm name2
.Nd a one line description
Multiple `Nm' names should be separated by commas.
The Nm macro(s) must precede the Nd macro.
See Nm and Nd.
LIBRARY
The name of the library containing the documented material, which
is assumed to be a function in a section 2, 3, or 9 manual. The
syntax for this is as follows:
.Lb libarm
See Lb.
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:
.Nm bar
.Op Fl v
.Op Fl o Ar file
.Op Ar
.Nm foo
.Op Fl v
.Op Fl o Ar file
.Op Ar
Commands should be ordered alphabetically.
For the second, function calls (sections 2, 3, 9):
.In header.h
.Vt extern const char *global;
.Ft "char *"
.Fn foo "const char *src"
.Ft "char *"
.Fn bar "const char *src"
Ordering of In, Vt, Fn, and Fo macros should follow C header-file
conventions.
And for the third, configurations (section 4):
.Cd "it* at isa? port 0x2e"
.Cd "it* at isa? port 0x4e"
Manuals not in these sections generally don't need a SYNOPSIS.
Some macros are displayed differently in the SYNOPSIS section,
particularly Nm, Cd, Fd, Fn, Fo, In, Vt, and Ft. All of these
macros are output on their own line. If two such dissimilar macros
are pairwise invoked (except for Ft before Fo or Fn), they are
separated by a vertical space, unless in the case of Fo, Fn, and
Ft, which are always separated by vertical space.
When text and macros following an Nm macro starting an input line
span multiple output lines, all output lines but the first will be
indented to align with the text immediately following the Nm macro,
up to the next Nm, Sh, or Ss macro or the end of an enclosing
block, whichever comes first.
DESCRIPTION
This begins with an expansion of the brief, one line description in
NAME:
The
.Nm
utility does this, that, and the other.
It usually follows with a breakdown of the options (if documenting
a command), such as:
The arguments are as follows:
.Bl -tag -width Ds
.It Fl v
Print verbose information.
.El
List the options in alphabetical order, uppercase before lowercase
for each letter and with no regard to whether an option takes an
argument. Put digits in ascending order before all letter options.
Manuals not documenting a command won't include the above fragment.
Since the DESCRIPTION section usually contains most of the text of
a manual, longer manuals often use the Ss macro to form
subsections. In very long manuals, the DESCRIPTION may be split
into multiple sections, each started by an Sh macro followed by a
non-standard section name, and each having several subsections,
like in the present mdoc manual.
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.
See Rv.
ENVIRONMENT
Lists the environment variables used by the utility, and explains
the syntax and semantics of their values. The environ(7) manual
provides examples of typical content and formatting.
See Ev.
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.).
See Pa.
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.
See Ex.
EXAMPLES
Example usages. This often contains snippets of well-formed, well-
tested invocations. Make sure that examples work properly!
DIAGNOSTICS
Documents error messages. 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.
See Bl -diag.
ERRORS
Documents errno(2) settings in sections 2, 3, 4, and 9.
See Er.
SEE ALSO
References other manuals with related topics. This section should
exist for most manuals. Cross-references should conventionally be
ordered first by section, then alphabetically (ignoring case).
References to other documentation concerning the topic of the
manual page, for example authoritative books or journal articles,
may also be provided in this section.
See Rs and Xr.
STANDARDS
References any standards implemented or used. If not adhering to
any standards, the HISTORY section should be used instead.
See St.
HISTORY
A brief history of the subject, including where it was first
implemented, and when it was ported to or reimplemented for the
operating system at hand.
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.
See An.
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.
MACRO OVERVIEW
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 below in the
alphabetical MACRO REFERENCE.
Document preamble and NAME section macros
Dd document date: $Mdocdate$ | month day, year
Dt document title: TITLE section [arch]
Os operating system version: [system [version]]
Nm document name (one argument)
Nd document description (one line)
Sections and cross references
Sh section header (one line)
Ss subsection header (one line)
Sx internal cross reference to a section or subsection
Xr cross reference to another manual page: name section
Pp start a text paragraph (no arguments)
Displays and lists
Bd, Ed display block: -type [-offset width] [-compact]
D1 indented display (one line)
Dl indented literal display (one line)
Ql in-line literal display: `text'
Bl, El list block: -type [-width val] [-offset val] [-compact]
It list item (syntax depends on -type)
Ta table cell separator in Bl -column lists
Rs, %*, Re bibliographic block (references)
Spacing control
Pf prefix, no following horizontal space (one argument)
Ns roman font, no preceding horizontal space (no arguments)
Ap apostrophe without surrounding whitespace (no arguments)
Sm switch horizontal spacing mode: [on | off]
Bk, Ek keep block: -words
Semantic markup for command line utilities
Nm start a SYNOPSIS block with the name of a utility
Fl command line options (flags) (>=0 arguments)
Cm command modifier (>0 arguments)
Ar command arguments (>=0 arguments)
Op, Oo, Oc optional syntax elements (enclosure)
Ic internal or interactive command (>0 arguments)
Ev environmental variable (>0 arguments)
Pa file system path (>=0 arguments)
Semantic markup for function libraries
Lb function library (one argument)
In include file (one argument)
Fd other preprocessor directive (>0 arguments)
Ft function type (>0 arguments)
Fo, Fc function block: funcname
Fn function name: funcname [argument ...]
Fa function argument (>0 arguments)
Vt variable type (>0 arguments)
Va variable name (>0 arguments)
Dv defined variable or preprocessor constant (>0 arguments)
Er error constant (>0 arguments)
Ev environmental variable (>0 arguments)
Various semantic markup
An author name (>0 arguments)
Lk hyperlink: uri [display_name]
Mt "mailto" hyperlink: localpart@domain
Cd kernel configuration declaration (>0 arguments)
Ad memory address (>0 arguments)
Ms mathematical symbol (>0 arguments)
Physical markup
Em italic font or underline (emphasis) (>0 arguments)
Sy boldface font (symbolic) (>0 arguments)
No return to roman font (normal) (>0 arguments)
Bf, Ef font block: -type | Em | Li | Sy
Physical enclosures
Dq, Do, Dc enclose in typographic double quotes: "text"
Qq, Qo, Qc enclose in typewriter double quotes: "text"
Sq, So, Sc enclose in single quotes: `text'
Pq, Po, Pc enclose in parentheses: (text)
Bq, Bo, Bc enclose in square brackets: [text]
Brq, Bro, Brc enclose in curly braces: {text}
Aq, Ao, Ac enclose in angle brackets: <text>
Eo, Ec generic enclosure
Text production
Ex -std standard command exit values: [utility ...]
Rv -std standard function return values: [function ...]
St reference to a standards document (one argument)
At AT&T UNIX
Bx BSD
Bsx BSD/OS
Nx NetBSD
Fx FreeBSD
Ox OpenBSD
Dx DragonFly
MACRO REFERENCE
This section is a canonical reference of all macros, arranged
alphabetically. For the scoping of individual macros, see MACRO SYNTAX.
%A first_name ... last_name
Author name of an Rs block. Multiple authors should each be
accorded their own %A line. Author names should be ordered with
full or abbreviated forename(s) first, then full surname.
%B title
Book title of an Rs block. This macro may also be used in a non-
bibliographic context when referring to book titles.
%C location
Publication city or location of an Rs block.
%D [month day,] year
Publication date of an Rs block. Provide the full English name of
the month and all four digits of the year.
%I name
Publisher or issuer name of an Rs block.
%J name
Journal name of an Rs block.
%N number
Issue number (usually for journals) of an Rs block.
%O line
Optional information of an Rs block.
%P number
Book or journal page number of an Rs block.
%Q name
Institutional author (school, government, etc.) of an Rs block.
Multiple institutional authors should each be accorded their own %Q
line.
%R name
Technical report name of an Rs block.
%T title
Article title of an Rs block. This macro may also be used in a non-
bibliographical context when referring to article titles.
%U protocol://path
URI of reference document.
%V number
Volume number of an Rs block.
Ac Close an Ao block. Does not have any tail arguments.
Ad address
Memory address. Do not use this for postal addresses.
Examples:
.Ad [0,$]
.Ad 0x00000000
An -split | -nosplit | first_name ... last_name
Author name. Can be used both for the authors of the program,
function, or driver documented in the manual, or for the authors of
the manual itself. Requires either the name of an author or one of
the following arguments:
-split Start a new output line before each subsequent
invocation of An.
-nosplit The opposite of -split.
The default is -nosplit. The effect of selecting either of the
-split modes ends at the beginning of the AUTHORS section. In the
AUTHORS section, the default is -nosplit for the first author
listing and -split for all other author listings.
Examples:
.An -nosplit
.An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq Mt kristaps@bsd.lv
Ao block
Begin a block enclosed by angle brackets. Does not have any head
arguments. This macro is almost never useful. See Aq for more
details.
Ap Inserts an apostrophe without any surrounding whitespace. This is
generally used as a grammatical device when referring to the verb
form of a function.
Examples:
.Fn execve Ap d
Aq line
Enclose the rest of the input line in angle brackets. The only
important use case is for email addresses. See Mt for an example.
Occasionally, it is used for names of characters and keys, for
example:
Press the
.Aq escape
key to ...
For URIs, use Lk instead, and In for "#include" directives. Never
wrap Ar in Aq.
Since Aq usually renders with non-ASCII characters in non-ASCII
output modes, do not use it where the ASCII characters `<' and `>'
are required as syntax elements. Instead, use these characters
directly in such cases, combining them with the macros Pf, Ns, or Eo
as needed.
See also Ao.
Ar [placeholder ...]
Command arguments. If an argument is not provided, the string "file
..." is used as a default.
Examples:
.Fl o Ar file
.Ar
.Ar arg1 , arg2 .
The arguments to the Ar macro are names and placeholders for command
arguments; for fixed strings to be passed verbatim as arguments, use
Fl or Cm.
At [version]
Formats an AT&T UNIX version. Accepts one optional argument:
v[1-7] | 32v A version of AT&T UNIX.
III AT&T System III UNIX.
V | V.[1-4] A version of AT&T System V UNIX.
Note that these arguments do not begin with a hyphen.
Examples:
.At
.At III
.At V.1
See also Bsx, Bx, Dx, Fx, Nx, and Ox.
Bc Close a Bo block. Does not have any tail arguments.
Bd -type [-offset width] [-compact]
Begin a display block. Display blocks are used to select a
different indentation and justification than the one used by the
surrounding text. They may contain both macro lines and text lines.
By default, a display block is preceded by a vertical space.
The type must be one of the following:
-centered Produce one output line from each input line,
and center-justify each line. Using this
display type is not recommended; many mdoc
implementations render it poorly.
-filled Change the positions of line breaks to fill
each line, and left- and right-justify the
resulting block.
-literal Produce one output line from each input line,
and do not justify the block at all. Preserve
white space as it appears in the input. Always
use a constant-width font. Use this for
displaying source code.
-ragged Change the positions of line breaks to fill
each line, and left-justify the resulting
block.
-unfilled The same as -literal, but using the same font
as for normal text, which is a variable width
font if supported by the output device.
The type must be provided first. Additional arguments may follow:
-offset width Indent the display by the width, which may be
one of the following:
One of the pre-defined strings indent, the
width of a standard indentation (six constant
width characters); indent-two, twice indent;
left, which has no effect; right, which
justifies to the right margin; or center, which
aligns around an imagined center axis.
A macro invocation, which selects a predefined
width associated with that macro. The most
popular is the imaginary macro Ds, which
resolves to 6n.
A scaling width as described in roff(7).
An arbitrary string, which indents by the
length of this string.
When the argument is missing, -offset is
ignored.
-compact Do not assert vertical space before the
display.
Examples:
.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact
Hello world.
.Ed
See also D1 and Dl.
Bf -emphasis | -literal | -symbolic | Em | Li | Sy
Change the font mode for a scoped block of text. The -emphasis and
Em argument are equivalent, as are -symbolic and Sy, and -literal
and Li. Without an argument, this macro does nothing. The font
mode continues until broken by a new font mode in a nested scope or
Ef is encountered.
See also Li, Ef, Em, and Sy.
Bk -words
For each macro, keep its output together on the same output line,
until the end of the macro or the end of the input line is reached,
whichever comes first. Line breaks in text lines are unaffected.
The -words argument is required; additional arguments are ignored.
The following example will not break within each Op macro line:
.Bk -words
.Op Fl f Ar flags
.Op Fl o Ar output
.Ek
Be careful in using over-long lines within a keep block! Doing so
will clobber the right margin.
Bl -type [-width val] [-offset val] [-compact] [col ...]
Begin a list. Lists consist of items specified using the It macro,
containing a head or a body or both.
The list type is mandatory and must be specified first. The -width
and -offset arguments accept macro names as described for Bd
-offset, scaling widths as described in roff(7), or use the length
of the given string. The -offset is a global indentation for the
whole list, affecting both item heads and bodies. For those list
types supporting it, the -width argument requests an additional
indentation of item bodies, to be added to the -offset. Unless the
-compact argument is specified, list entries are separated by
vertical space.
A list must specify one of the following list types:
-bullet No item heads can be specified, but a bullet
will be printed at the head of each item. Item
bodies start on the same output line as the
bullet and are indented according to the -width
argument.
-column A columnated list. The -width argument has no
effect; instead, the string length of each
argument specifies the width of one column. If
the first line of the body of a -column list is
not an It macro line, It contexts spanning one
input line each are implied until an It macro
line is encountered, at which point items start
being interpreted as described in the It
documentation.
-dash Like -bullet, except that dashes are used in
place of bullets.
-diag Like -inset, except that item heads are not
parsed for macro invocations. Most often used
in the DIAGNOSTICS section with error constants
in the item heads.
-enum A numbered list. No item heads can be
specified. Formatted like -bullet, except that
cardinal numbers are used in place of bullets,
starting at 1.
-hang Like -tag, except that the first lines of item
bodies are not indented, but follow the item
heads like in -inset lists.
-hyphen Synonym for -dash.
-inset Item bodies follow items heads on the same line,
using normal inter-word spacing. Bodies are not
indented, and the -width argument is ignored.
-item No item heads can be specified, and none are
printed. Bodies are not indented, and the
-width argument is ignored.
-ohang Item bodies start on the line following item
heads and are not indented. The -width argument
is ignored.
-tag Item bodies are indented according to the -width
argument. When an item head fits inside the
indentation, the item body follows this head on
the same output line. Otherwise, the body
starts on the output line following the head.
Lists may be nested within lists and displays. Nesting of -column
and -enum lists may not be portable.
See also El and It.
Bo block
Begin a block enclosed by square brackets. Does not have any head
arguments.
Examples:
.Bo 1 ,
.Dv BUFSIZ Bc
See also Bq.
Bq line
Encloses its arguments in square brackets.
Examples:
.Bq 1, Dv BUFSIZ
Remarks: this macro is sometimes abused to emulate optional
arguments for commands; the correct macros to use for this purpose
are Op, Oo, and Oc.
See also Bo.
Brc Close a Bro block. Does not have any tail arguments.
Bro block
Begin a block enclosed by curly braces. Does not have any head
arguments.
Examples:
.Bro 1 , ... ,
.Va n Brc
See also Brq.
Brq line
Encloses its arguments in curly braces.
Examples:
.Brq 1, ..., Va n
See also Bro.
Bsx [version]
Format the BSD/OS version provided as an argument, or a default
value if no argument is provided.
Examples:
.Bsx 1.0
.Bsx
See also At, Bx, Dx, Fx, Nx, and Ox.
Bt Supported only for compatibility, do not use this in new manuals.
Prints "is currently in beta test."
Bx [version [variant]]
Format the BSD version provided as an argument, or a default value
if no argument is provided.
Examples:
.Bx 4.3 Tahoe
.Bx 4.4
.Bx
See also At, Bsx, Dx, Fx, Nx, and Ox.
Cd line
Kernel configuration declaration. This denotes strings accepted by
config(8). It is most often used in section 4 manual pages.
Examples:
.Cd device le0 at scode?
Remarks: this macro is commonly abused by using quoted literals to
retain whitespace and align consecutive Cd declarations. This
practise is discouraged.
Cm keyword ...
Command modifiers. Typically used for fixed strings passed as
arguments, unless Fl is more appropriate. Also useful when
specifying configuration options or keys.
Examples:
.Nm mt Fl f Ar device Cm rewind
.Nm ps Fl o Cm pid , Ns Cm command
.Nm dd Cm if= Ns Ar file1 Cm of= Ns Ar file2
.Cm IdentityFile Pa ~/.ssh/id_rsa
.Cm LogLevel Dv DEBUG
D1 line
One-line indented display. This is formatted by the default rules
and is useful for simple indented statements. It is followed by a
newline.
Examples:
.D1 Fl abcdefgh
See also Bd and Dl.
Db This macro is obsolete. No replacement is needed. It is ignored by
mandoc(1) and groff including its arguments. It was formerly used
to toggle a debugging mode.
Dc Close a Do block. Does not have any tail arguments.
Dd $Mdocdate$ | month day, year
Document date for display in the page footer. This is the mandatory
first macro of any mdoc manual.
The month is the full English month name, the day is an integer
number, and the year is the full four-digit year.
Other arguments are not portable; the mandoc(1) utility handles them
as follows:
- To have the date automatically filled in by the OpenBSD
version of cvs(1), the special string "$Mdocdate$" can be
given as an argument.
- The traditional, purely numeric man(7) format year-month-day
is accepted, too.
- If a date string cannot be parsed, it is used verbatim.
- If no date string is given, the current date is used.
Examples:
.Dd $Mdocdate$
.Dd $Mdocdate: July 2 2018$
.Dd July 2, 2018
See also Dt and Os.
Dl line
One-line indented display. This is formatted as literal text and is
useful for commands and invocations. It is followed by a newline.
Examples:
.Dl % mandoc mdoc.7 \(ba less
See also Ql, Bd -literal, and D1.
Do block
Begin a block enclosed by double quotes. Does not have any head
arguments.
Examples:
.Do
April is the cruellest month
.Dc
\(em T.S. Eliot
See also Dq.
Dq line
Encloses its arguments in "typographic" double-quotes.
Examples:
.Dq April is the cruellest month
\(em T.S. Eliot
See also Qq, Sq, and Do.
Dt TITLE section [arch]
Document title for display in the page header. This is the
mandatory second macro of any mdoc file.
Its arguments are as follows:
TITLE The document's title (name), defaulting to "UNTITLED" if
unspecified. To achieve a uniform appearance of page
header lines, it should by convention be all caps.
section The manual section. This may be one of 1 (General
Commands), 2 (System Calls), 3 (Library Functions), 3p
(Perl Library), 4 (Device Drivers), 5 (File Formats), 6
(Games), 7 (Miscellaneous Information), 8 (System
Manager's Manual), or 9 (Kernel Developer's Manual). It
should correspond to the manual's filename suffix and
defaults to the empty string if unspecified.
arch This specifies the machine architecture a manual page
applies to, where relevant, for example alpha, amd64,
i386, or sparc64. The list of valid architectures varies
by operating system.
Examples:
.Dt FOO 1
.Dt FOO 9 i386
See also Dd and Os.
Dv identifier ...
Defined variables such as preprocessor constants, constant symbols,
enumeration values, and so on.
Examples:
.Dv NULL
.Dv BUFSIZ
.Dv STDOUT_FILENO
See also Er and Ev for special-purpose constants, Va for variable
symbols, and Fd for listing preprocessor variable definitions in the
SYNOPSIS.
Dx [version]
Format the DragonFly version provided as an argument, or a default
value if no argument is provided.
Examples:
.Dx 2.4.1
.Dx
See also At, Bsx, Bx, Fx, Nx, and Ox.
Ec [closing_delimiter]
Close a scope started by Eo.
The closing_delimiter argument is used as the enclosure tail, for
example, specifying \(rq will emulate Dc.
Ed End a display context started by Bd.
Ef End a font mode context started by Bf.
Ek End a keep context started by Bk.
El End a list context started by Bl. See also It.
Em word ...
Request an italic font. If the output device does not provide that,
underline.
This is most often used for stress emphasis (not to be confused with
importance, see Sy). In the rare cases where none of the semantic
markup macros fit, it can also be used for technical terms and
placeholders, except that for syntax elements, Sy and Ar are
preferred, respectively.
Examples:
Selected lines are those
.Em not
matching any of the specified patterns.
Some of the functions use a
.Em hold space
to save the pattern space for subsequent retrieval.
See also No, Ql, and Sy.
En word ...
This macro is obsolete. Use Eo or any of the other enclosure
macros.
It encloses its argument in the delimiters specified by the last Es
macro.
Eo [opening_delimiter]
An arbitrary enclosure. The opening_delimiter argument is used as
the enclosure head, for example, specifying \(lq will emulate Do.
Er identifier ...
Error constants for definitions of the errno libc global variable.
This is most often used in section 2 and 3 manual pages.
Examples:
.Er EPERM
.Er ENOENT
See also Dv for general constants.
Es opening_delimiter closing_delimiter
This macro is obsolete. Use Eo or any of the other enclosure
macros.
It takes two arguments, defining the delimiters to be used by
subsequent En macros.
Ev identifier ...
Environmental variables such as those specified in environ(7).
Examples:
.Ev DISPLAY
.Ev PATH
See also Dv for general constants.
Ex -std [utility ...]
Insert a standard sentence regarding command exit values of 0 on
success and >0 on failure. This is most often used in section 1, 6,
and 8 manual pages.
If utility is not specified, the document's name set by Nm is used.
Multiple utility arguments are treated as separate utilities.
See also Rv.
Fa argument ...
Function argument or parameter. Each argument may be a name and a
type (recommended for the SYNOPSIS section), a name alone (for
function invocations), or a type alone (for function prototypes).
If both a type and a name are given or if the type consists of
multiple words, all words belonging to the same function argument
have to be given in a single argument to the Fa macro.
This macro is also used to specify the field name of a structure.
Most often, the Fa macro is used in the SYNOPSIS within Fo blocks
when documenting multi-line function prototypes. If invoked with
multiple arguments, the arguments are separated by a comma.
Furthermore, if the following macro is another Fa, the last argument
will also have a trailing comma.
Examples:
.Fa "const char *p"
.Fa "int a" "int b" "int c"
.Fa "char *" size_t
See also Fo.
Fc End a function context started by Fo.
Fd #directive [argument ...]
Preprocessor directive, in particular for listing it in the
SYNOPSIS. Historically, it was also used to document include files.
The latter usage has been deprecated in favour of In.
Examples:
.Fd #define sa_handler __sigaction_u.__sa_handler
.Fd #define SIO_MAXNFDS
.Fd #ifdef FS_DEBUG
.Ft void
.Fn dbg_open "const char *"
.Fd #endif
See also MANUAL STRUCTURE, In, and Dv.
Fl [word ...]
Command-line flag or option. Used when listing arguments to
command-line utilities. Prints a fixed-width hyphen `-' directly
followed by each argument. If no arguments are provided, a hyphen
is printed followed by a space. If the argument is a macro, a
hyphen is prefixed to the subsequent macro output.
Examples:
.Fl R Op Fl H | L | P
.Op Fl 1AaCcdFfgHhikLlmnopqRrSsTtux
.Fl type Cm d Fl name Pa CVS
.Fl Ar signal_number
.Fl o Fl
See also Cm.
Fn funcname [argument ...]
A function name.
Function arguments are surrounded in parenthesis and are delimited
by commas. If no arguments are specified, blank parenthesis are
output. In the SYNOPSIS section, this macro starts a new output
line, and a blank line is automatically inserted between function
definitions.
Examples:
.Fn "int funcname" "int arg0" "int arg1"
.Fn funcname "int arg0"
.Fn funcname arg0
.Ft functype
.Fn funcname
When referring to a function documented in another manual page, use
Xr instead. See also MANUAL STRUCTURE, Fo, and Ft.
Fo funcname
Begin a function block. This is a multi-line version of Fn.
Invocations usually occur in the following context:
.Ft functype
.Fo funcname
.Fa "argtype argname"
...
.Fc
A Fo scope is closed by Fc.
See also MANUAL STRUCTURE, Fa, Fc, and Ft.
Fr number
This macro is obsolete. No replacement markup is needed.
It was used to show numerical function return values in an italic
font.
Ft functype
A function type.
In the SYNOPSIS section, a new output line is started after this
macro.
Examples:
.Ft int
.Ft functype
.Fn funcname
See also MANUAL STRUCTURE, Fn, and Fo.
Fx [version]
Format the FreeBSD version provided as an argument, or a default
value if no argument is provided.
Examples:
.Fx 7.1
.Fx
See also At, Bsx, Bx, Dx, Nx, and Ox.
Hf filename
This macro is not implemented in mandoc(1). It was used to include
the contents of a (header) file literally.
Ic keyword ...
Designate an internal or interactive command. This is similar to Cm
but used for instructions rather than values.
Examples:
.Ic :wq
.Ic hash
.Ic alias
Note that using Ql, Dl, or Bd -literal is preferred for displaying
code samples; the Ic macro is used when referring to an individual
command name.
In filename
The name of an include file. This macro is most often used in
section 2, 3, and 9 manual pages.
When invoked as the first macro on an input line in the SYNOPSIS
section, the argument is displayed in angle brackets and preceded by
"#include", and a blank line is inserted in front if there is a
preceding function declaration. In other sections, it only encloses
its argument in angle brackets and causes no line break.
Examples:
.In sys/types.h
See also MANUAL STRUCTURE.
It [head]
A list item. The syntax of this macro depends on the list type.
Lists of type -hang, -ohang, -inset, and -diag have the following
syntax:
.It args
Lists of type -bullet, -dash, -enum, -hyphen and -item have the
following syntax:
.It
with subsequent lines interpreted within the scope of the It until
either a closing El or another It.
The -tag list has the following syntax:
.It [args]
Subsequent lines are interpreted as with -bullet and family. The
line arguments correspond to the list's left-hand side; body
arguments correspond to the list's contents.
The -column list is the most complicated. Its syntax is as follows:
.It cell [Ta cell ...]
.It cell [<TAB> cell ...]
The arguments consist of one or more lines of text and macros
representing a complete table line. Cells within the line are
delimited by the special Ta block macro or by literal tab
characters.
Using literal tabs is strongly discouraged because they are very
hard to use correctly and mdoc code using them is very hard to read.
In particular, a blank character is syntactically significant before
and after the literal tab character. If a word precedes or follows
the tab without an intervening blank, that word is never interpreted
as a macro call, but always output literally.
The tab cell delimiter may only be used within the It line itself;
on following lines, only the Ta macro can be used to delimit cells,
and portability requires that Ta is called by other macros: some
parsers do not recognize it when it appears as the first macro on a
line.
Note that quoted strings may span tab-delimited cells on an It line.
For example,
.It "col1 , <TAB> col2 ," ;
will preserve the whitespace before both commas, but not the
whitespace before the semicolon.
See also Bl.
Lb libname
Specify a library.
The name parameter may be a system library, such as z or pam, in
which case a small library description is printed next to the linker
invocation; or a custom library, in which case the library name is
printed in quotes. This is most commonly used in the SYNOPSIS
section as described in MANUAL STRUCTURE.
Examples:
.Lb libz
.Lb libmandoc
Li word ...
Request a typewriter (literal) font. Deprecated because on terminal
output devices, this is usually indistinguishable from normal text.
For literal displays, use Ql (in-line), Dl (single line), or Bd
-literal (multi-line) instead.
Lk uri [display_name]
Format a hyperlink.
Examples:
.Lk http://bsd.lv "The BSD.lv Project"
.Lk http://bsd.lv
See also Mt.
Lp Deprecated synonym for Pp.
Ms name
Display a mathematical symbol.
Examples:
.Ms sigma
.Ms aleph
Mt localpart@domain
Format a "mailto:" hyperlink.
Examples:
.Mt discuss@manpages.bsd.lv
.An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq Mt kristaps@bsd.lv
Nd line
A one line description of the manual's content. This is the
mandatory last macro of the NAME section and not appropriate for
other sections.
Examples:
.Nd mdoc language reference
.Nd format and display UNIX manuals
The Nd macro technically accepts child macros and terminates with a
subsequent Sh invocation. Do not assume this behaviour: some
whatis(1) database generators are not smart enough to parse more
than the line arguments and will display macros verbatim.
See also Nm.
Nm [name]
The name of the manual page, or -- in particular in section 1, 6,
and 8 pages -- of an additional command or feature documented in the
manual page. When first invoked, the Nm macro expects a single
argument, the name of the manual page. Usually, the first
invocation happens in the NAME section of the page. The specified
name will be remembered and used whenever the macro is called again
without arguments later in the page. The Nm macro uses Block full-
implicit semantics when invoked as the first macro on an input line
in the SYNOPSIS section; otherwise, it uses ordinary In-line
semantics.
Examples:
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Nm cat
.Op Fl benstuv
.Op Ar
In the SYNOPSIS of section 2, 3 and 9 manual pages, use the Fn macro
rather than Nm to mark up the name of the manual page.
No word ...
Normal text. Closes the scope of any preceding in-line macro. When
used after physical formatting macros like Em or Sy, switches back
to the standard font face and weight. Can also be used to embed
plain text strings in macro lines using semantic annotation macros.
Examples:
.Em italic , Sy bold , No and roman
.Sm off
.Cm :C No / Ar pattern No / Ar replacement No /
.Sm on
See also Em, Ql, and Sy.
Ns Suppress a space between the output of the preceding macro and the
following text or macro. Following invocation, input is interpreted
as normal text just like after an No macro.
This has no effect when invoked at the start of a macro line.
Examples:
.Ar name Ns = Ns Ar value
.Cm :M Ns Ar pattern
.Fl o Ns Ar output
See also No and Sm.
Nx [version]
Format the NetBSD version provided as an argument, or a default
value if no argument is provided.
Examples:
.Nx 5.01
.Nx
See also At, Bsx, Bx, Dx, Fx, and Ox.
Oc Close multi-line Oo context.
Oo block
Multi-line version of Op.
Examples:
.Oo
.Op Fl flag Ns Ar value
.Oc
Op line
Optional part of a command line. Prints the argument(s) in
brackets. This is most often used in the SYNOPSIS section of
section 1 and 8 manual pages.
Examples:
.Op Fl a Ar b
.Op Ar a | b
See also Oo.
Os [system [version]]
Operating system version for display in the page footer. This is
the mandatory third macro of any mdoc file.
The optional system parameter specifies the relevant operating
system or environment. It is suggested to leave it unspecified, in
which case mandoc(1) uses its -Ios argument or, if that isn't
specified either, sysname and release as returned by uname(3).
Examples:
.Os
.Os KTH/CSC/TCS
.Os BSD 4.3
See also Dd and Dt.
Ot functype
This macro is obsolete. Use Ft instead; with mandoc(1), both have
the same effect.
Historical mdoc packages described it as "old function type
(FORTRAN)".
Ox [version]
Format the OpenBSD version provided as an argument, or a default
value if no argument is provided.
Examples:
.Ox 4.5
.Ox
See also At, Bsx, Bx, Dx, Fx, and Nx.
Pa name ...
An absolute or relative file system path, or a file or directory
name. If an argument is not provided, the character `~' is used as
a default.
Examples:
.Pa /usr/bin/mandoc
.Pa /usr/share/man/man7/mdoc.7
See also Lk.
Pc Close parenthesised context opened by Po.
Pf prefix macro [argument ...]
Removes the space between its argument and the following macro. It
is equivalent to:
No \&prefix Ns macro [argument ...]
The prefix argument is not parsed for macro names or delimiters, but
used verbatim as if it were escaped.
Examples:
.Pf $ Ar variable_name
.Pf . Ar macro_name
.Pf 0x Ar hex_digits
See also Ns and Sm.
Po block
Multi-line version of Pq.
Pp Break a paragraph. This will assert vertical space between prior
and subsequent macros and/or text.
Paragraph breaks are not needed before or after Sh or Ss macros or
before displays (Bd line) or lists (Bl) unless the -compact flag is
given.
Pq line
Parenthesised enclosure.
See also Po.
Qc Close quoted context opened by Qo.
Ql line
In-line literal display. This can be used for complete command
invocations and for multi-word code examples when an indented
display is not desired.
See also Dl and Bd -literal.
Qo block
Multi-line version of Qq.
Qq line
Encloses its arguments in "typewriter" double-quotes. Consider
using Dq.
See also Dq, Sq, and Qo.
Re Close an Rs block. Does not have any tail arguments.
Rs Begin a bibliographic ("reference") block. Does not have any head
arguments. The block macro may only contain %A, %B, %C, %D, %I, %J,
%N, %O, %P, %Q, %R, %T, %U, and %V child macros (at least one must
be specified).
Examples:
.Rs
.%A J. E. Hopcroft
.%A J. D. Ullman
.%B Introduction to Automata Theory, Languages, and Computation
.%I Addison-Wesley
.%C Reading, Massachusetts
.%D 1979
.Re
If an Rs block is used within a SEE ALSO section, a vertical space
is asserted before the rendered output, else the block continues on
the current line.
Rv -std [function ...]
Insert a standard sentence regarding a function call's return value
of 0 on success and -1 on error, with the errno libc global variable
set on error.
If function is not specified, the document's name set by Nm is used.
Multiple function arguments are treated as separate functions.
See also Ex.
Sc Close single-quoted context opened by So.
Sh TITLE LINE
Begin a new section. For a list of conventional manual sections,
see MANUAL STRUCTURE. These sections should be used unless it's
absolutely necessary that custom sections be used.
Section names should be unique so that they may be keyed by Sx.
Although this macro is parsed, it should not consist of child node
or it may not be linked with Sx.
See also Pp, Ss, and Sx.
Sm [on | off]
Switches the spacing mode for output generated from macros.
By default, spacing is on. When switched off, no white space is
inserted between macro arguments and between the output generated
from adjacent macros, but text lines still get normal spacing
between words and sentences.
When called without an argument, the Sm macro toggles the spacing
mode. Using this is not recommended because it makes the code
harder to read.
So block
Multi-line version of Sq.
Sq line
Encloses its arguments in `typewriter' single-quotes.
See also Dq, Qq, and So.
Ss Title line
Begin a new subsection. Unlike with Sh, there is no convention for
the naming of subsections. Except DESCRIPTION, the conventional
sections described in MANUAL STRUCTURE rarely have subsections.
Sub-section names should be unique so that they may be keyed by Sx.
Although this macro is parsed, it should not consist of child node
or it may not be linked with Sx.
See also Pp, Sh, and Sx.
St -abbreviation
Replace an abbreviation for a standard with the full form. The
following standards are recognised. Where multiple lines are given
without a blank line in between, they all refer to the same
standard, and using the first form is recommended.
C language standards
-ansiC ANSI X3.159-1989 ("ANSI C89")
-ansiC-89 ANSI X3.159-1989 ("ANSI C89")
-isoC ISO/IEC 9899:1990 ("ISO C90")
-isoC-90 ISO/IEC 9899:1990 ("ISO C90")
The original C standard.
-isoC-amd1 ISO/IEC 9899/AMD1:1995 ("ISO C90, Amendment 1")
-isoC-tcor1 ISO/IEC 9899/TCOR1:1994 ("ISO C90, Technical
Corrigendum 1")
-isoC-tcor2 ISO/IEC 9899/TCOR2:1995 ("ISO C90, Technical
Corrigendum 2")
-isoC-99 ISO/IEC 9899:1999 ("ISO C99")
The second major version of the C language
standard.
-isoC-2011 ISO/IEC 9899:2011 ("ISO C11")
The third major version of the C language
standard.
-isoC-2018 ISO/IEC 9899:2018 ("ISO C18")
The fourth major version of the C language
standard.
POSIX.1 before the Single UNIX Specification
-p1003.1-88 IEEE Std 1003.1-1988 ("POSIX.1")
-p1003.1 IEEE Std 1003.1 ("POSIX.1")
The original POSIX standard, based on ANSI C.
-p1003.1-90 IEEE Std 1003.1-1990 ("POSIX.1")
-iso9945-1-90 ISO/IEC 9945-1:1990 ("POSIX.1")
The first update of POSIX.1.
-p1003.1b-93 IEEE Std 1003.1b-1993 ("POSIX.1b")
-p1003.1b IEEE Std 1003.1b ("POSIX.1b")
Real-time extensions.
-p1003.1c-95 IEEE Std 1003.1c-1995 ("POSIX.1c")
POSIX thread interfaces.
-p1003.1i-95 IEEE Std 1003.1i-1995 ("POSIX.1i")
Technical Corrigendum.
-p1003.1-96 ISO/IEC 9945-1:1996 ("POSIX.1")
-iso9945-1-96 ISO/IEC 9945-1:1996 ("POSIX.1")
Includes POSIX.1-1990, 1b, 1c, and 1i.
X/Open Portability Guide version 4 and related standards
-xpg3 X/Open Portability Guide Issue 3 ("XPG3")
An XPG4 precursor, published in 1989.
-p1003.2 IEEE Std 1003.2 ("POSIX.2")
-p1003.2-92 IEEE Std 1003.2-1992 ("POSIX.2")
-iso9945-2-93 ISO/IEC 9945-2:1993 ("POSIX.2")
An XCU4 precursor.
-p1003.2a-92 IEEE Std 1003.2a-1992 ("POSIX.2")
Updates to POSIX.2.
-xpg4 X/Open Portability Guide Issue 4 ("XPG4")
Based on POSIX.1 and POSIX.2, published in 1992.
Single UNIX Specification version 1 and related standards
-susv1 Version 1 of the Single UNIX Specification
("SUSv1")
-xpg4.2 X/Open Portability Guide Issue 4, Version 2
("XPG4.2")
This standard was published in 1994. It was used
as the basis for UNIX 95 certification. The
following three refer to parts of it.
-xsh4.2 X/Open System Interfaces and Headers Issue 4,
Version 2 ("XSH4.2")
-xcurses4.2 X/Open Curses Issue 4, Version 2 ("XCURSES4.2")
-p1003.1g-2000 IEEE Std 1003.1g-2000 ("POSIX.1g")
Networking APIs, including sockets.
-svid4 System V Interface Definition, Fourth Edition
("SVID4"),
Published in 1995.
Single UNIX Specification version 2 and related standards
-susv2 Version 2 of the Single UNIX Specification
("SUSv2") This Standard was published in 1997 and
is also called X/Open Portability Guide version
5. It was used as the basis for UNIX 98
certification. The following refer to parts of
it.
-xbd5 X/Open Base Definitions Issue 5 ("XBD5")
-xsh5 X/Open System Interfaces and Headers Issue 5
("XSH5")
-xcu5 X/Open Commands and Utilities Issue 5 ("XCU5")
-xns5 X/Open Networking Services Issue 5 ("XNS5")
-xns5.2 X/Open Networking Services Issue 5.2 ("XNS5.2")
Single UNIX Specification version 3
-p1003.1-2001 IEEE Std 1003.1-2001 ("POSIX.1")
-susv3 Version 3 of the Single UNIX Specification
("SUSv3")
This standard is based on C99, SUSv2,
POSIX.1-1996, 1d, and 1j. It is also called
X/Open Portability Guide version 6. It is used as
the basis for UNIX 03 certification.
-p1003.1-2004 IEEE Std 1003.1-2004 ("POSIX.1")
The second and last Technical Corrigendum.
Single UNIX Specification version 4
-p1003.1-2008 IEEE Std 1003.1-2008 ("POSIX.1")
-susv4 Version 4 of the Single UNIX Specification
("SUSv4")
This standard is also called X/Open Portability
Guide version 7.
Other standards
-ieee754 IEEE Std 754-1985
Floating-point arithmetic.
-iso8601 ISO 8601
Representation of dates and times, published in
1988.
-iso8802-3 ISO 8802-3: 1989
Ethernet local area networks.
-ieee1275-94 IEEE Std 1275-1994 ("Open Firmware")
Sx Title line
Reference a section or subsection in the same manual page. The
referenced section or subsection name must be identical to the
enclosed argument, including whitespace.
Examples:
.Sx MANUAL STRUCTURE
See also Sh and Ss.
Sy word ...
Request a boldface font.
This is most often used to indicate importance or seriousness (not
to be confused with stress emphasis, see Em). When none of the
semantic macros fit, it is also adequate for syntax elements that
have to be given or that appear verbatim.
Examples:
.Sy Warning :
If
.Sy s
appears in the owner permissions, set-user-ID mode is set.
This utility replaces the former
.Sy dumpdir
program.
See also Em, No, and Ql.
Ta Table cell separator in Bl -column lists; can only be used below It.
Tn word ...
Supported only for compatibility, do not use this in new manuals.
Even though the macro name ("tradename") suggests a semantic
function, historic usage is inconsistent, mostly using it as a
presentation-level macro to request a small caps font.
Ud Supported only for compatibility, do not use this in new manuals.
Prints out "currently under development."
Ux Supported only for compatibility, do not use this in new manuals.
Prints out "UNIX".
Va [type] identifier ...
A variable name.
Examples:
.Va foo
.Va const char *bar;
For function arguments and parameters, use Fa instead. For
declarations of global variables in the SYNOPSIS section, use Vt.
Vt type [identifier]
A variable type.
This is also used for indicating global variables in the SYNOPSIS
section, in which case a variable name is also specified. Note that
it accepts Block partial-implicit syntax when invoked as the first
macro on an input line in the SYNOPSIS section, else it accepts
ordinary In-line syntax. In the former case, this macro starts a
new output line, and a blank line is inserted in front if there is a
preceding function definition or include directive.
Examples:
.Vt unsigned char
.Vt extern const char * const sys_signame[] ;
For parameters in function prototypes, use Fa instead, for function
return types Ft, and for variable names outside the SYNOPSIS section
Va, even when including a type with the name. See also MANUAL
STRUCTURE.
Xc Close a scope opened by Xo.
Xo block
Extend the header of an It macro or the body of a partial-implicit
block macro beyond the end of the input line. This macro originally
existed to work around the 9-argument limit of historic roff(7).
Xr name section
Link to another manual ("cross-reference").
Cross reference the name and section number of another man page.
Examples:
.Xr mandoc 1
.Xr mandoc 1 ;
.Xr mandoc 1 Ns s behaviour
MACRO SYNTAX
The syntax of a macro depends on its classification. In this section,
`-arg' refers to macro arguments, which may be followed by zero or more
`parm' parameters; `Yo' opens the scope of a macro; and if specified,
`Yc' closes it out.
The Callable column indicates that the macro may also be called by
passing its name as an argument to another macro. For example, `.Op Fl O
Ar file' produces `[-O file]'. To prevent a macro call and render the
macro name literally, escape it by prepending a zero-width space, `\&'.
For example, `Op \&Fl O' produces `[Fl O]'. If a macro is not callable
but its name appears as an argument to another macro, it is interpreted
as opaque text. For example, `.Fl Sh' produces `-Sh'.
The Parsed column indicates whether the macro may call other macros by
receiving their names as arguments. If a macro is not parsed but the
name of another macro appears as an argument, it is interpreted as opaque
text.
The Scope column, if applicable, describes closure rules.
Block full-explicit
Multi-line scope closed by an explicit closing macro. All macros
contains bodies; only Bf and (optionally) Bl contain a head.
.Yo [-arg [parm...]] [head...]
[body...]
.Yc
Macro Callable Parsed Scope
Bd No No closed by Ed
Bf No No closed by Ef
Bk No No closed by Ek
Bl No No closed by El
Ed No No opened by Bd
Ef No No opened by Bf
Ek No No opened by Bk
El No No opened by Bl
Block full-implicit
Multi-line scope closed by end-of-file or implicitly by another macro.
All macros have bodies; some (It -bullet, -hyphen, -dash, -enum, -item)
don't have heads; only one (It in Bl -column) has multiple heads.
.Yo [-arg [parm...]] [head... [Ta head...]]
[body...]
Macro Callable Parsed Scope
It No Yes closed by It, El
Nd No No closed by Sh
Nm No Yes closed by Nm, Sh, Ss
Sh No Yes closed by Sh
Ss No Yes closed by Sh, Ss
Note that the Nm macro is a Block full-implicit macro only when invoked
as the first macro in a SYNOPSIS section line, else it is In-line.
Block partial-explicit
Like block full-explicit, but also with single-line scope. Each has at
least a body and, in limited circumstances, a head (Fo, Eo) and/or tail
(Ec).
.Yo [-arg [parm...]] [head...]
[body...]
.Yc [tail...]
.Yo [-arg [parm...]] [head...] [body...] Yc [tail...]
Macro Callable Parsed Scope
Ac Yes Yes opened by Ao
Ao Yes Yes closed by Ac
Bc Yes Yes closed by Bo
Bo Yes Yes opened by Bc
Brc Yes Yes opened by Bro
Bro Yes Yes closed by Brc
Dc Yes Yes opened by Do
Do Yes Yes closed by Dc
Ec Yes Yes opened by Eo
Eo Yes Yes closed by Ec
Fc Yes Yes opened by Fo
Fo No No closed by Fc
Oc Yes Yes closed by Oo
Oo Yes Yes opened by Oc
Pc Yes Yes closed by Po
Po Yes Yes opened by Pc
Qc Yes Yes opened by Oo
Qo Yes Yes closed by Oc
Re No No opened by Rs
Rs No No closed by Re
Sc Yes Yes opened by So
So Yes Yes closed by Sc
Xc Yes Yes opened by Xo
Xo Yes Yes closed by Xc
Block partial-implicit
Like block full-implicit, but with single-line scope closed by the end of
the line.
.Yo [-arg [val...]] [body...] [res...]
Macro Callable Parsed
Aq Yes Yes
Bq Yes Yes
Brq Yes Yes
D1 No Yes
Dl No Yes
Dq Yes Yes
En Yes Yes
Op Yes Yes
Pq Yes Yes
Ql Yes Yes
Qq Yes Yes
Sq Yes Yes
Vt Yes Yes
Note that the Vt macro is a Block partial-implicit only when invoked as
the first macro in a SYNOPSIS section line, else it is In-line.
Special block macro
The Ta macro can only be used below It in Bl -column lists. It delimits
blocks representing table cells; these blocks have bodies, but no heads.
Macro Callable Parsed Scope
Ta Yes Yes closed by Ta, It
In-line
Closed by the end of the line, fixed argument lengths, and/or subsequent
macros. In-line macros have only text children. If a number (or
inequality) of arguments is (n), then the macro accepts an arbitrary
number of arguments.
.Yo [-arg [val...]] [args...] [res...]
.Yo [-arg [val...]] [args...] Yc...
.Yo [-arg [val...]] arg0 arg1 argN
Macro Callable Parsed Arguments
%A No No >0
%B No No >0
%C No No >0
%D No No >0
%I No No >0
%J No No >0
%N No No >0
%O No No >0
%P No No >0
%Q No No >0
%R No No >0
%T No No >0
%U No No >0
%V No No >0
Ad Yes Yes >0
An Yes Yes >0
Ap Yes Yes 0
Ar Yes Yes n
At Yes Yes 1
Bsx Yes Yes n
Bt No No 0
Bx Yes Yes n
Cd Yes Yes >0
Cm Yes Yes >0
Db No No 1
Dd No No n
Dt No No n
Dv Yes Yes >0
Dx Yes Yes n
Em Yes Yes >0
Er Yes Yes >0
Es Yes Yes 2
Ev Yes Yes >0
Ex No No n
Fa Yes Yes >0
Fd No No >0
Fl Yes Yes n
Fn Yes Yes >0
Fr Yes Yes >0
Ft Yes Yes >0
Fx Yes Yes n
Hf No No n
Ic Yes Yes >0
In No No 1
Lb No No 1
Li Yes Yes >0
Lk Yes Yes >0
Lp No No 0
Ms Yes Yes >0
Mt Yes Yes >0
Nm Yes Yes n
No Yes Yes >0
Ns Yes Yes 0
Nx Yes Yes n
Os No No n
Ot Yes Yes >0
Ox Yes Yes n
Pa Yes Yes n
Pf Yes Yes 1
Pp No No 0
Rv No No n
Sm No No <2
St No Yes 1
Sx Yes Yes >0
Sy Yes Yes >0
Tn Yes Yes >0
Ud No No 0
Ux Yes Yes n
Va Yes Yes n
Vt Yes Yes >0
Xr Yes Yes 2
Delimiters
When a macro argument consists of one single input character considered
as a delimiter, the argument gets special handling. This does not apply
when delimiters appear in arguments containing more than one character.
Consequently, to prevent special handling and just handle it like any
other argument, a delimiter can be escaped by prepending a zero-width
space (`\&'). In text lines, delimiters never need escaping, but may be
used as normal punctuation.
For many macros, when the leading arguments are opening delimiters, these
delimiters are put before the macro scope, and when the trailing
arguments are closing delimiters, these delimiters are put after the
macro scope. Spacing is suppressed after opening delimiters and before
closing delimiters. For example,
.Aq ( [ word ] ) .
renders as:
([<word>]).
Opening delimiters are:
( left parenthesis
[ left bracket
Closing delimiters are:
. period
, comma
: colon
; semicolon
) right parenthesis
] right bracket
? question mark
! exclamation mark
Note that even a period preceded by a backslash (`\.') gets this special
handling; use `\&.' to prevent that.
Many in-line macros interrupt their scope when they encounter delimiters,
and resume their scope when more arguments follow that are not
delimiters. For example,
.Fl a ( b | c \*(Ba d ) e
renders as:
-a (-b | -c | -d) -e
This applies to both opening and closing delimiters, and also to the
middle delimiter, which does not suppress spacing:
| vertical bar
As a special case, the predefined string \*(Ba is handled and rendered in
the same way as a plain `|' character. Using this predefined string is
not recommended in new manuals.
Font handling
In mdoc documents, usage of semantic markup is recommended in order to
have proper fonts automatically selected; only when no fitting semantic
markup is available, consider falling back to Physical markup macros.
Whenever any mdoc macro switches the roff(7) font mode, it will
automatically restore the previous font when exiting its scope. Manually
switching the font using the roff(7) `\f' font escape sequences is never
required.
COMPATIBILITY
This section provides an incomplete list of compatibility issues between
mandoc and GNU troff ("groff").
The following problematic behaviour is found in groff:
- Dd with non-standard arguments behaves very strangely. When there
are three arguments, they are printed verbatim. Any other number of
arguments is replaced by the current date, but without any arguments
the string "Epoch" is printed.
- Lk only accepts a single link-name argument; the remainder is
misformatted.
- Pa does not format its arguments when used in the FILES section under
certain list types.
- Ta can only be called by other macros, but not at the beginning of a
line.
- %C is not implemented (up to and including groff-1.22.2).
- `\f' (font face) and `\F' (font family face) Text Decoration escapes
behave irregularly when specified within line-macro scopes.
- Negative scaling units return to prior lines. Instead, mandoc
truncates them to zero.
The following features are unimplemented in mandoc:
- Bd -file file is unsupported for security reasons.
- Bd -filled does not adjust the right margin, but is an alias for Bd
-ragged.
- Bd -literal does not use a literal font, but is an alias for Bd
-unfilled.
- Bd -offset center and -offset right don't work. Groff does not
implement centered and flush-right rendering either, but produces
large indentations.
SEE ALSO
man(1), mandoc(1), eqn(7), man(7), mandoc_char(7), roff(7), tbl(7)
The web page extended documentation for the mdoc language:
http://mandoc.bsd.lv/mdoc/ provides a few tutorial-style pages for
beginners, an extensive style guide for advanced authors, and an
alphabetic index helping to choose the best macros for various kinds of
content.
HISTORY
The mdoc language first appeared as a troff macro package in 4.4BSD. It
was later significantly updated by Werner Lemberg and Ruslan Ermilov in
groff-1.17. The standalone implementation that is part of the mandoc(1)
utility written by Kristaps Dzonsons appeared in OpenBSD 4.6.
AUTHORS
The mdoc reference was written by Kristaps Dzonsons <kristaps@bsd.lv>.
NetBSD 10.99 February 7, 2019 NetBSD 10.99