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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 3 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 3 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)

NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | FILES | SEE ALSO | REQUEST SUMMARY | EXAMPLE | CONVENTIONS | BUGS