NAME

DESCRIPTION

.SH Macro lines change control state. 
Text lines are interpreted within the current state.

.TH PROGNAME 1 1979-01-10 
.SH NAME 
\fBprogname\fR \(en one line about what it does

MACRO OVERVIEW

MACRO REFERENCE

AT

Sets the volume for the footer for compatibility with man pages from AT&T UNIX releases. The optional arguments specify which release it is from. This macro is an extension that first appeared in 4.3BSD.

B

Text is rendered in bold face.

BI

Text is rendered alternately in bold face and italic. Thus, ‘.BI this word and that’ causes ‘this’ and ‘and’ to render in bold face, while ‘word’ and ‘that’ render in italics. Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.

Example:

.BI bold italic bold italic

BR

Text is rendered alternately in bold face and roman (the default font). Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output. See also BI.

DT

Restore the default tabulator positions. They are at intervals of 0.5 inches. This has no effect unless the tabulator positions were changed with the roff(7) ta request.

EE

This is a non-standard Version 9 AT&T UNIX extension later adopted by GNU. In mandoc(1), it does the same as the roff(7) fi request (switch to fill mode).

EX

This is a non-standard Version 9 AT&T UNIX extension later adopted by GNU. In mandoc(1), it does the same as the roff(7) nf request (switch to no-fill mode).

HP

Begin a paragraph whose initial output line is left-justified, but subsequent output lines are indented, with the following syntax:

.HP [width]

The width argument is a roff(7) scaling width. If specified, it's saved for later paragraph left margins; if unspecified, the saved or default width is used.

This macro is portable, but deprecated because it has no good representation in HTML output, usually ending up indistinguishable from PP.

I

Text is rendered in italics.

IB

Text is rendered alternately in italics and bold face. Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output. See also BI.

IP

Begin an indented paragraph with the following syntax:

.IP [head [width]]

The width argument is a roff(7) scaling width defining the left margin. It's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if unspecified, the saved or default width is used.

The head argument is used as a leading term, flushed to the left margin. This is useful for bulleted paragraphs and so on.

IR

Text is rendered alternately in italics and roman (the default font). Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output. See also BI.

LP

A synonym for PP.

ME

End a mailto block started with MT. This is a non-standard GNU extension.

MT

Begin a mailto block. This is a non-standard GNU extension. It has the following syntax:

.MT address 
link description to be shown 
.ME

OP

Optional command-line argument. This is a non-standard DWB extension. It has the following syntax:

.OP key [value]

The key is usually a command-line flag and value its argument.

P

This synonym for PP is an AT&T System III UNIX extension later adopted by 4.3BSD.

PD

Specify the vertical space to be inserted before each new paragraph.

 

The syntax is as follows:

.PD [height]

The height argument is a roff(7) scaling width. It defaults to 1v. If the unit is omitted, v is assumed.

This macro affects the spacing before any subsequent instances of HP, IP, LP, P, PP, SH, SS, SY, and TP.

PP

Begin an undecorated paragraph. The scope of a paragraph is closed by a subsequent paragraph, sub-section, section, or end of file. The saved paragraph left-margin width is reset to the default.

RB

Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and bold face. Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output. See also BI.

RE

Explicitly close out the scope of a prior RS. The default left margin is restored to the state before that RS invocation.

The syntax is as follows:

.RE [level]

Without an argument, the most recent RS block is closed out. If level is 1, all open RS blocks are closed out. Otherwise, level − 1 nested RS blocks remain open.

RI

Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and italics. Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output. See also BI.

RS

Temporarily reset the default left margin. This has the following syntax:

.RS [width]

The width argument is a roff(7) scaling width. If not specified, the saved or default width is used.

See also RE.

SB

Text is rendered in small size (one point smaller than the default font) bold face. This macro is an extension that probably first appeared in SunOS 4.0 and was later adopted by GNU and by 4.4BSD.

SH

Begin a section. The scope of a section is only closed by another section or the end of file. The paragraph left-margin width is reset to the default.

SM

Text is rendered in small size (one point smaller than the default font).

SS

Begin a sub-section. The scope of a sub-section is closed by a subsequent sub-section, section, or end of file. The paragraph left-margin width is reset to the default.

SY

Begin a synopsis block with the following syntax:

.SY command 
arguments 
.YS

This is a non-standard GNU extension and very rarely used even in GNU manual pages. Formatting is similar to IP.

TH

Set the name of the manual page for use in the page header and footer with the following syntax:

.TH name section date [source [volume]]

Conventionally, the document name is given in all caps. The section is usually a single digit, in a few cases followed by a letter. The recommended date format is YYYY-MM-DD as specified in the ISO-8601 standard; if the argument does not conform, it is printed verbatim. If the date is empty or not specified, the current date is used. The optional source string specifies the organisation providing the utility. When unspecified, mandoc(1) uses its -Ios argument. The volume string replaces the default volume title of the section.

Examples:

.TH CVS 5 1992-02-12 GNU

TP

Begin a paragraph where the head, if exceeding the indentation width, is followed by a newline; if not, the body follows on the same line after advancing to the indentation width. Subsequent output lines are indented. The syntax is as follows:

.TP [width] 
head \" one line 
body

The width argument is a roff(7) scaling width. If specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if unspecified, the saved or default width is used.

TQ

Like TP, except that no vertical spacing is inserted before the paragraph. This is a non-standard GNU extension and very rarely used even in GNU manual pages.

UC

Sets the volume for the footer for compatibility with man pages from BSD releases. The optional first argument specifies which release it is from. This macro is an extension that first appeared in 3BSD.

UE

End a uniform resource identifier block started with UR. This is a non-standard GNU extension.

UR

Begin a uniform resource identifier block. This is a non-standard GNU extension. It has the following syntax:

.UR uri 
link description to be shown 
.UE

YS

End a synopsis block started with SY. This is a non-standard GNU extension.

in

Indent relative to the current indentation:

.in [width]

If width is signed, the new offset is relative. Otherwise, it is absolute. This value is reset upon the next paragraph, section, or sub-section.

MACRO SYNTAX

.I 
foo

.YO [body...] 
[body...]

.YO [head...] 
[head...] 
[body...]

SEE ALSO

HISTORY

AUTHORS