path: root/share/man/man5/style.mdoc.5

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.Dd December 21, 2024
.Dt STYLE.MDOC 5
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm style.mdoc
.Nd
.Fx
.Xr mdoc 7
manual page style guide
.Sh DESCRIPTION
This file specifies the preferred style for manual pages in the
.Fx
source tree.
.Ss Code Examples
.Bl -dash -width ""
.It
Use literal formatting for examples and literal shell commands, e.g.:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
Then run
\&.Ql make install clean .
.Ed
.Pp
which renders as:
.Bd -filled -offset indent
Then run
.Ql make install clean .
.Ed
.Pp
The incorrect way would be to use macros like
.Sy \&Nm
to stylize the command invocation:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
Then run
\&.Ql Nm make Cm install Cm clean .
.Ed
.Pp
which renders as:
.Bd -filled -offset indent
Then run
.Ql Nm make Cm install Cm clean .
.Ed
.It
The
.Sy \&Ql
macro is the preferred macro for formatting literal inline fragments.
Historically,
.Sy \&Dq \&Li
was the preferred way before the deprecation of
.Sy \&Li .
.El
.Ss HARDWARE Section
Driver manuals in section four should have a
.Sx HARDWARE
section describing hardware known to work with the driver.
This section is drawn verbatim into the Release Hardware Notes,
therefore there are several things to note:
.Bl -dash -width ""
.It
The introductory sentence should be in the form:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
The
\&.Nm
driver supports the following $device_class:
.Ed
.Pp
Followed by the list of supported hardware.
.Pp
This defines what driver the subsection is referring to,
and allows the reader to search through the Hardware Notes
not only for the device models they have,
but also for the device type they are looking to acquire.
.It
The supported hardware should be listed as a bullet list,
or if complexity requires, a column list.
These two list types create very neat subsections
with clean starting and stopping points.
.El
.Ss EXAMPLES Section
.Bl -dash -width ""
.It
Format the
.Sx EXAMPLES
section in the following way:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
\&.Bl -tag -width 0n
\&.It Sy Example 1\\&: Doing Something
\&.Pp
The following command does something.
\&.Bd -literal -offset 2n
\&.Ic # make -VLEGAL
\&.Ed
\&.It Sy Example 2\\&: Doing Something Different
\&.Pp
The following command does something different.
\&.Bd -literal -offset 2n
\&.Ic # bectl list
\&.Ed
\&.Pp
It is good to know this command.
\&.El
.Ed
.Pp
which renders as:
.Bl -tag -width 0n
.It Sy Example 1\&: Doing Something
.Pp
The following command does something.
.Bd -literal -offset 2n
.Ic # make -VLEGAL
.Ed
.It Sy Example 2\&: Doing Something Different
.Pp
The following command does something different.
.Bd -literal -offset 2n
.Ic # bectl list
.Ed
.Pp
It is good to know this command.
.El
.El
.Ss Lists
.Bl -dash -width ""
.It
The
.Fl width
argument to the
.Sy \&.Bl
macro should match the length of the longest rendered item in the list,
e.g.:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
\&.Bl -tag -width "-a address"
\&.It Fl a Ar address
Set the address.
\&.It Fl v
Print the version.
\&.El
.Ed
.Pp
In case the longest item is too long and hurts readability,
the recommendation is to set
the
.Fl width
argument
to
.Ql indent ,
e.g.:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
\&.Bl -tag -width "indent"
\&.It Cm build
Build the port.
\&.It Cm install
Install the port.
\&.It Fl install-missing-packages
Install the missing packages.
\&.El
.Ed
.El
.Ss Synopsis Formatting
.Bl -dash -width ""
.It
Do not put whitespace between alternative parameters separated with a pipe
.Pq Dq | ,
e.g.:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
\&.Cm compression Cm on Ns | Ns Cm off
\&.Cm install Fl -all Ns | Ns Ar portname Ar ...
.Ed
.Pp
which in the SYNOPSIS section is rendered as:
.Bd -unfilled -offset indent
.Cm compression Cm on Ns | Ns Cm off
.Cm install Fl -all Ns | Ns Ar portname Ar ...
.Ed
.It
Use
.Sy \&Cm
to stylize characters that are command modifiers
.Po e.g.,
.Dq \&, ,
.Dq @
or
.Dq "="
.Pc .
For example:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
\&.Sm off
\&.Fl -meet Cm = Ar who Oo Cm \&, Ar who " " Ar "..." Oc Cm @ Ar where
\&.Sm on
.Ed
.Pp
which renders as:
.Bd -filled -offset indent
.Sm off
.Fl -meet Cm = Ar who Oo Cm \&, Ar who " " Ar "..." Oc Cm @ Ar where
.Sm on
.Ed
.Pp
instead of:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
\&.Sm off
\&.Fl -meet No = Ar who Oo , Ar who " " Ar "..." Oc @ Ar where
\&.Sm on
.Ed
.Pp
which would render as:
.Bd -filled -offset indent
.Sm off
.Fl -meet No = Ar who Oo , Ar who " " Ar "..." Oc @ Ar where
.Sm on
.Ed
.Pp
It is important to realize that in the correct example,
.Dq \&, ,
.Dq @
and
.Dq =
are stylized with
.Sy \&Cm .
At the same time, the square brackets
.Pq Dq "[]"
are not stylized as they do not belong to the syntax of the
.Fl -meet
flag.
.El
.Ss Quoting
.Bl -dash -width ""
.It
Use the
.Sy \&Dq
.Pq Do Dc
macro
for quoting.
Use the
.Sy \&Sq
.Pq So Sc
macro for quoting inside quotes.
The use of the
.Sy \&Qq
.Pq Qo Qc
macro is usually not necessary.
.El
.Ss Variables
.Bl -dash -width ""
.It
Use
.Sy \&Va
instead of
.Sy \&Dv
for
.Xr sysctl 8
variables like
.Va kdb.enter.panic .
.It
Use the angle brackets
.Sy \&Aq
.Pq Dq "<>"
macro
for arguments
.Pq Sy \&Ar
when they are mixed with similarly stylized macros like
.Sy \&Pa
or
.Sy \&Va ,
e.g.:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
\&.Va critical_filesystems_ Ns Aq Ar type
.Ed
.Pp
which renders as:
.Bd -filled -offset indent
.Va critical_filesystems_ Ns Aq Ar type
.Ed
.Pp
instead of:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
\&.Va critical_filesystems_ Ns Ar type
.Ed
.Pp
that would be rendered as:
.Bd -filled -offset indent
.Va critical_filesystems_ Ns Ar type
.Ed
.El
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr man 1 ,
.Xr mandoc 1 ,
.Xr mdoc 7 ,
.Xr roff 7 ,
.Xr style 9
.Sh HISTORY
This manual page first appeared in
.Fx 13.0 .
.Sh AUTHORS
.An Mateusz Piotrowski Aq Mt 0mp@FreeBSD.org