

MAN(7)                    Minix Programmer's 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 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.


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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.


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MAN(7)                    Minix Programmer's Manual                     MAN(7)


               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:



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                    [ ]  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.


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          .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 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.






















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