MAN(7) Miscellaneous 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). In contrast with normal Unix proce‐
dure, all indents (tabs) are 8 spaces instead of 5. This can be
changed by modifying tmac.an.
REQUEST SUMMARY
Request Cause Explanation
Break?
.B t ... no Text t and subsequent arguments
are bold. Quote to imbed blanks.
There is no intervening space.
.I t ... no Text t and subsequent arguments
are italic. Quote to imbed blanks.
There is no intervening space.
.R t ... no Text t and subsequent arguments
are roman. Quote to imbed blanks.
There is no intervening space.
.BR t ... no Alternate bold and roman fonts for
specified arguments. There is no
intervening space.
.RB t ... no Alternate roman and bold fonts for
specified arguments. There is no
intervening space.
.IR t ... no Alternate italic and roman fonts for
specified arguments. There is no
intervening space.
.RI t ... no Alternate roman and italic fonts for
specified arguments. There is no
intervening space.
.LP yes Begin paragraph. Set prevailing
indent to 8.
.PP yes Same as .LP.
.IP x yes Set prevailing indent to 8. Begin
indented paragraph with hanging tag
given by first argument. Tag x is
always placed on a separate line.
.TP x yes Same as .IP. Note that this is a deviation from
normal Unix usage. This macro should be avoided
until it is fixed.
.HP yes Indented paragraph without tag.
.RE yes End of relative indent. Set prevailing
indent to amount of starting .RS.
.RP x yes Like .IP, but use relative indent. Must
end the section with .RE.
.RS yes Start relative indent, move left margin
in distance 8.
.SH t yes Subhead. Quote to imbed blanks.
.SS t yes Subsection. Quote to imbed blanks. No
indent for t.
.TH n s d v c yes Begin page named n of chapter number s.
d is the date of the most recent change
or the current date (prefixed by
"Printed:") if not specified. v is the
version number, or GNO if not specified.
c is the chapter name. If c is not
specified, it is derived based on the
value of s.
Sets prevailing indent and tabs to 8.
.EX no Exit now, leaving no extra space the
end of the document.
EXAMPLE
The following illustrates some of the requests available with this
macro package:
.\" this is a comment
.TH DEMO 1 "\*(DA" "Version 1.0" "Commands Manual"
.SH NAME
demo - show how to use -man package \" this is a comment
.SH SYNOPSIS
demo [options] file [...]
.SH DESCRIPTION
This is a test for showing how to use the
.I nroff(1)
man package.
It shows how to use .TH, .SH, .PP, .I, and .IP commands.
.PP
This will be a new paragraph.
You can also use normal
.I nroff(1)
commands in the text.
.SS NROFF COMMANDS:
.IP '\\"'
This is the comment command.
Note how you have to quote this sucker!
You'll probably never have to write an
.I nroff(1)
manpage, so don't worry about it.
.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:
DEMO (1) Commands Manual DEMO (1)
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, .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. Note how you have to
quote this sucker! You'll probably never have to
write an nroff(1) manpage, so don't worry about
it.
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.
Version 1.0 23:33:57 2/25/90 1
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 sec‐
tion 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 ro‐
man font, this section 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 com‐
mand 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 argu‐
ment, 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 fol‐
lows a bracketed set, the expression within the brackets can be re‐
peated.
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 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 FILES
A list of files associated with the command or function.
'.SH SEE ALSO '
A comma-separated list of related manual pages, followed by references
to other published materials. This section contains no troff(1) es‐
capes 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 possible problems as‐
sociated 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.
AUTHOR
Adapted for Atari ST (TOS) and Minix by Bill Rosenkranz
net: rosenkra@convex.com
CIS: 71460,17
GENIE: W.ROSENKRANZ
FILES
/usr/lib/tmac/tmac.an - the macro library
SEE ALSO
nroff(1), man(1)
GNO 19 October 1997 MAN(7)
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