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.Dd April 12, 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 l -dash -width "" t Use literal formatting for examples and literal shell commands, e.g.: d -literal -offset indent Then run .Ql make install clean . .Ed
p which renders as: d -filled -offset indent Then run .Ql make install clean . .Ed
p The incorrect way would be to use macros like .Sy Nm to stylize the command invocation: d -literal -offset indent Then run .Ql Nm make Cm install Cm clean . .Ed
p which renders as: d -filled -offset indent Then run .Ql Nm make Cm install Cm clean . .Ed t 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 EXAMPLES Section l -dash -width "" t Format the .Sx EXAMPLES section in the following way: d -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
p which renders as: l -tag -width 0n t Sy Example 1: Doing Something
p The following command does something. d -literal -offset 2n c # make -VLEGAL .Ed t Sy Example 2: Doing Something Different
p The following command does something different. d -literal -offset 2n c # bectl list .Ed
p It is good to know this command. .El .El .Ss Lists l -dash -width "" t The .Fl width argument to the .Sy .Bl macro should match the length of the longest item in the list, e.g.: d -literal -offset indent .Bl -tag -width "-a address" .It Fl a Ar address Set the address. .It Fl v Print the version. .El .Ed
p 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.: d -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 l -dash -width "" t Do not put whitespace between alternative parameters separated with a pipe
q Dq | , e.g.: d -literal -offset indent .Cm compression Cm on Ns | Ns Cm off .Cm install Fl -all Ns | Ns Ar portname Ar ... .Ed
p which in the SYNOPSIS section is rendered as: d -unfilled -offset indent .Cm compression Cm on Ns | Ns Cm off .Cm install Fl -all Ns | Ns Ar portname Ar ... .Ed t Use .Sy Cm to stylize characters that are command modifiers
o e.g., .Dq , , .Dq @ or .Dq "="
c . For example: d -literal -offset indent .Sm off .Fl -meet Cm = Ar who Oo Cm , Ar who " " Ar "..." Oc Cm @ Ar where .Sm on .Ed
p which renders as: d -filled -offset indent .Sm off .Fl -meet Cm = Ar who Oo Cm , Ar who " " Ar "..." Oc Cm @ Ar where .Sm on .Ed
p instead of: d -literal -offset indent .Sm off .Fl -meet No = Ar who Oo , Ar who " " Ar "..." Oc @ Ar where .Sm on .Ed
p which would render as: d -filled -offset indent .Sm off .Fl -meet No = Ar who Oo , Ar who " " Ar "..." Oc @ Ar where .Sm on .Ed
p 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
q Dq "[]" are not stylized as they do not belong to the syntax of the .Fl -meet flag. .El .Ss Quoting l -dash -width "" t Use the .Sy Dq
q Do Dc macro for quoting. Use the .Sy Sq
q So Sc macro for quoting inside quotes. The use of the .Sy Qq
q Qo Qc macro is usually not necessary. .El .Ss Variables l -dash -width "" t Use .Sy Va instead of .Sy Dv for .Xr sysctl 8 variables like .Va kdb.enter.panic . t Use the angle brackets .Sy Aq
q Dq "<>" macro for arguments
q Sy Ar when they are mixed with similarly stylized macros like .Sy Pa or .Sy Va , e.g.: d -literal -offset indent .Va critical_filesystems_ Ns Aq Ar type .Ed
p which renders as: d -filled -offset indent .Va critical_filesystems_ Ns Aq Ar type .Ed
p instead of: d -literal -offset indent .Va critical_filesystems_ Ns Ar type .Ed
p that would be rendered as: d -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