MDOC(7) BSD Reference Manual MDOC(7)
mdoc - quick reference guide for the -mdoc macro package
nroff -TName -mandoc file
The -mdoc package is a set of content-based and domain-based macros used
to format the BSD man pages. The macro names and their meanings are list-
ed below for quick reference; for a detailed explanation on using the
package, see the tutorial sampler mdoc.samples(7).
The macros are described in two groups. The first includes the structural
and physical page layout macros. The second contains the manual and gen-
eral text domain macros which differentiate the -mdoc package from other
troff(1) formatting packages.
To create a valid manual page, these three macros, in this order, are re-
quired:
.Dd Month day, year Document date.
.Dt DOCUMENT_TITLE [section] [volume] Title, in upper case.
.Os OPERATING_SYSTEM [version/release] Operating system (BSD).
Section headers, paragraph breaks, lists and displays.
.Sh Section Headers. Valid headers, in the order of presentation:
NAME Name section. Should include the '.Nm' or '.Fn' and
the '.Nd' macros.
SYNOPSIS Usage. All '.Nm' macros must be given an argument.
DESCRIPTION General description, including any options,
operands, or other parameters.
RETURN VALUES Sections two, three, and nine function calls.
ENVIRONMENT Describe environment variables.
FILES Files associated with the subject, with short
descriptions.
EXAMPLES Examples and suggestions.
DIAGNOSTICS Sections one, four, six, and eight diagnostics.
ERRORS Sections two, three, and nine error and signal han-
dling.
SEE ALSO Cross references and citations.
STANDARDS Conformance to standards if applicable.
HISTORY A brief history of the subject, including where sup-
port first appeared.
AUTHORS Credit to the person or persons who wrote the code
and/or documentation.
CAVEATS Explanations of common misuses, i.e., security con-
siderations for certain library functions.
BUGS Gotchas and caveats.
other Customized headers may be added at the author's dis-
cretion.
.Ss Subsection Headers.
.Pp Paragraph Break. Vertical space (one line).
.D1 (D-one) Display-one Indent and display one text line.
.Dl (D-ell) Display-one literal. Indent and display one line of literal
text.
.Bd Begin-display block. Display options:
-ragged Unjustified (ragged edges).
-unfilled Unfilled, unjustified.
-filled Filled, and if troff(1), also justified.
-literal Literal text or code.
-file name Read in named file and display.
-offset string Offset display. Acceptable string values:
left Align block on left (default).
center Approximate center margin.
indent Six constant width spaces (a tab).
indent-two Two tabs.
right Left aligns block 2 inches from right.
xxn Where xx is a number from 4n to 99n.
Aa Where Aa is a callable macro name.
string The width of string is used.
.Ed End-display (matches .Bd).
.Bl Begin-list. Create lists or columns. Options:
List-types
-bullet Bullet Item List
-dash Dash Item List
-hyphen (as per -dash)
-item Unlabeled List
-enum Enumerated List
-tag Tag Labeled List
-diag Diagnostic List
-hang Hanging Labeled List
-ohang Overhanging Labeled List
-inset Inset or Run-on Labeled List
-column Multiple Columns
List-parameters
-offset (All lists.) See '.Bd' begin-display above.
-width (-tag and -hang lists only.) This parameter is ef-
fectively required for -tag lists.
-compact (All lists.) Suppresses blank lines.
.El End-list.
.It List item.
The manual and general text domain macros are special in that most of
them are parsed for callable macros for example:
.Op Fl s Ar file Produces [-s file]
In this example, the option enclosure macro '.Op' is parsed, and calls
the callable content macro 'Fl' which operates on the argument 's' and
then calls the callable content macro 'Ar' which operates on the argument
'file'. Some macros may be callable but are not parsed, or vice versa.
These macros are indicated in the parsed and callable columns below.
Unless stated, manual domain macros share a common syntax:
.Va argument [ . , ; : ? ! ( ) [ ] argument ... ]
Note: Opening and closing punctuation characters are only recognized as
such if they are presented one at a time. The string '),' is not recog-
nized as punctuation and will be output with a leading whitespace and in
whatever font the calling macro uses. The argument list '] ) ,' is recog-
nized as three sequential closing punctuation characters and a leading
white space is not output between the characters and the previous argu-
ment (if any). The special meaning of a punctuation character may be es-
caped with the string '\&'. For example the following string,
.Ar file1 , file2 , file3 ) . Produces file1, file2, file3).
Name Parsed Callable Description
Ad Yes Yes Address. (This macro may be deprecated.)
An Yes No Author name.
Ar Yes Yes Command line argument.
Cd No No Configuration declaration.
Cm Yes Yes Command line argument modifier.
Dv Yes Yes Defined variable (source code).
Er Yes Yes Error number (source code).
Ev Yes Yes Environment variable.
Ex No No Exit values.
Fa Yes Yes Function argument.
Fd No No Function declaration.
Fl Yes Yes Flags.
Fn Yes Yes Function call (also .Fo and .Fc).
Ft Yes Yes Function type.
Ic Yes Yes Interactive command.
In No No Include header file.
Li Yes Yes Literal text.
Mt Yes Yes eMail address (not portable).
Nd No No Command description.
Nm Yes Yes Command name.
Op Yes Yes Option (also .Oo and .Oc).
Ot Yes Yes Old style function type (Fortran only).
Pa Yes Yes Pathname or file name.
Rv No No Return values.
St Yes Yes Standards (see below).
Va Yes Yes Variable name.
Vt Yes Yes Variable type.
Xr Yes Yes Manual Page Cross Reference.
The known standards for the St macro are:
-p1003.1-88, -p1003.1-90, -p1003.1-96, -p1003.1-2001, -p1003.1-2004,
-p1003.1-2008, -p1003.1, -p1003.1b, -p1003.1b-93, -p1003.1c-95,
-p1003.1g-2000, -p1003.1i-95, -p1003.2, -p1003.2-92, -p1003.2a-92,
-p1387.2, -p1387.2-95, -isoC, -isoC-90, -isoC-amd1, -isoC-tcor1,
-isoC-tcor2, -isoC-99, -isoC-2011, -iso9945-1-90, -iso9945-1-96,
-iso9945-2-93, -ansiC, -ansiC-89, -ansiC-99, -ieee754, -iso8802-3,
-iso8601, -ieee1275-94, -xpg3, -xpg4, -xpg4.2, -xpg4.3, -xbd5, -xcu5,
-xsh4.2, -xsh5, -xns5, -xns5.2d2.0, -xns5.2, -xcurses4.2, -susv1,
-susv2, -susv3, -susv4, and -svid4.
Name Parsed Callable Description
%A Yes No Reference author.
%B Yes Yes Reference book title.
%D No No Reference date.
%I Yes Yes Issuer/Publisher name.
%J Yes Yes Reference journal title.
%N No No Reference issue number.
%O No No Reference optional information.
%P No No Reference page number(s).
%R No No Reference report Name.
%T Yes Yes Reference article title.
%V No No Reference volume.
Ac Yes Yes Angle close quote.
Ao Yes Yes Angle open quote.
Ap No Yes Typographic apostrophe (right single quote)
without surrounding whitespace (').
Aq Yes Yes Angle quote.
At No No AT&T UNIX.
Bc Yes Yes Bracket close quote.
Bf No No Begin font mode.
Bo Yes Yes Bracket open quote.
Bq Yes Yes Bracket quote.
Bx Yes No BSD.
Db No No Debug (default is "off").
Dc Yes Yes Double close quote.
Do Yes Yes Double open quote.
Dq Yes Yes Double quote.
Ec Yes Yes Enclose string close quote.
Ef No No End font mode.
Em Yes Yes Emphasis (traditional English).
Eo Yes Yes Enclose string open quote.
Fx Yes No FreeBSD.
Ms Yes No Mathematical symbol.
Mx Yes No MirBSD.
No Yes Yes Normal text (no-op).
Ns Yes Yes No space.
Nx Yes No NetBSD.
Ox Yes No OpenBSD.
Pc Yes Yes Parenthesis close quote.
Pf Yes No Prefix string.
Po Yes Yes Parenthesis open quote.
Pq Yes Yes Parentheses quote.
Qc Yes Yes Straight double close quote.
Ql Yes Yes Quoted literal.
Qo Yes Yes Straight double open quote.
Qq Yes Yes Straight double quote.
Re No No Reference end.
Rs No No Reference start.
Sc Yes Yes Single close quote.
So Yes Yes Single open quote.
Sq Yes Yes Single quote.
Sm No No Space mode (default is "on").
Sx Yes Yes Section Cross Reference.
Sy Yes Yes Symbolic (traditional English).
Tn Yes Yes Trade or type name (small Caps).
Ux Yes No UNIX.
Xc Yes Yes Extend argument list close.
Xo Yes Yes Extend argument list open.
Macro names ending in 'q' quote remaining items on the argument list.
Macro names ending in 'o' begin a quote which may span more than one line
of input and are close quoted with the matching macro name ending in 'c'.
Enclosure macros may be nested and are limited to eight arguments.
Note: the extended argument list macros ('.Xo', '.Xc') and the function
enclosure macros ('.Fo', '.Fc') are irregular. The extended list macros
are used when the number of macro arguments would exceed the troff(1)
limitation of nine arguments.
tmac.doc manual macro package
tmac.doc-common common structural macros and definitions
tmac.doc-ditroff site dependent troff(1) style file
tmac.doc-nroff site dependent nroff(1) style file
tmac.doc-syms special defines
/usr/share/misc/mdoc.template template for writing a man page
groff(1), man(1), nroff(1), troff(1), mdoc.samples(7)
MirBSD #10-current April 15, 2020 3