--- name: "groff_man_style" section: "7" platform: "linux" package: "groff" version: "1.24.2-1" release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01" platforms: ["linux"] url: "https://new.carta.tech/groff_man_style" --- # groff\_man\_style(7) GNU roff man page tutorial and style guide ## Name groff\_man\_style - GNU *roff* man page tutorial and style guide ## Synopsis **groff -man** \[*option* ...\] \[*file* ...\] **groff -m man** \[*option* ...\] \[*file* ...\] ## Description The GNU implementation of the *man* macro package is part of the *groff* document formatting system. It is used to compose manual pages (“man pages”) like the one you are reading. This document presents the macros thematically; for those needing only a quick reference, the following table lists them alphabetically, with references to appropriate subsections below. Experienced *man* authors may prefer [*groff\_man*(7)](/groff_man/7.md). | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | Macro | Meaning | Subsection | | **.B** | Bold | Font style macros | | **.BI** | Bold, italic alternating | Font style macros | | **.BR** | Bold, roman alternating | Font style macros | | **.EE** | Example end | Document structure macros | | **.EX** | Example begin | Document structure macros | | **.HP** | Begin hanging paragraph | Paragraphing macros | | **.I** | Italic | Font style macros | | **.IB** | Italic, bold alternating | Font style macros | | **.IP** | Indented paragraph | Paragraphing macros | | **.IR** | Italic, roman alternating | Font style macros | | **.LP** | Begin paragraph | Paragraphing macros | | **.ME** | Mail-to end | Hyperlink macros | | **.MR** | Man page cross reference | Hyperlink macros | | **.MT** | Mail-to start | Hyperlink macros | | **.P** | Begin paragraph | Paragraphing macros | | **.PP** | Begin paragraph | Paragraphing macros | | **.RB** | Roman, bold alternating | Font style macros | | **.RE** | Relative inset end | Document structure macros | | **.RI** | Roman, italic alternating | Font style macros | | **.RS** | Relative inset start | Document structure macros | | **.SH** | Section heading | Document structure macros | | **.SM** | Small | Font style macros | | **.SS** | Subsection heading | Document structure macros | | **.SY** | Synopsis start | Synopsis macros | | **.TH** | Title heading | Document structure macros | | **.TP** | Tagged paragraph | Paragraphing macros | | **.TQ** | Supplemental paragraph tag | Paragraphing macros | | **.UE** | URI end | Hyperlink macros | | **.UR** | URI start | Hyperlink macros | | **.YS** | Synopsis end | Synopsis macros | We discuss other macros (**AT**, **DT**, **OP**, **PD**, **SB**, and **UC**) in subsection “Deprecated features” below. Throughout Unix documentation, a manual entry is referred to simply as a “man page”, regardless of its length, without gendered implication, and irrespective of the macro package selected for its composition. A man page employs the Unix line-ending convention (U+000A only). Some basic Latin characters have special meaning to *roff;* see subsection “Portability” below. ### Fundamental concepts *groff* is a programming system for typesetting: we thus often use the verb “to set” in the sense “to typeset”. The formatter [*troff*(1)](/troff/1.md) collects words from the input and *fills* output lines with as many as can fit. *Words* are separated by spaces and newlines. A transition to a new output line is called a *break.* Breaks can occur at explicit hyphens, at **\\%** or **\\:** escape sequences (see subsection “Portability” below), or at predetermined locations in a word if automatic hyphenation is enabled (see the **-rHY** option in section “Options” below). An output line may be supplemented with *inter-sentence space,* then potentially *adjusted* with more space to a consistent length (see the **-dAD** option). [*roff*(7)](/roff/7.md) details these processes. The formatter prepares output for *terminals* or for more capable *typesetters* that can change the type size and font family. A *roff* document can contain *control lines,* which start with a dot (**.**) or neutral apostrophe (**'**). All other input lines are *text lines* to be formatted. A *macro* collects control and/or text lines to ease document composition. *man* is a *macro package.* To call a macro, put its name after a dot on a control line. Some macros interpret *arguments,* words that follow its name. A newline, unless escaped (see subsection “Portability” below), marks the end of the macro call. A control line with no macro name on it is called an *empty request;* it does nothing. We describe below several *man* macros that plant one-line *input traps:* the next input line that directly produces formatted output is treated specially. For *man* documents that follow the advice in section “Portability” below, this means that control lines using the empty request and uncommented input lines ending with an escaped newline do not spring the trap; anything else does (but see the **TP** macro description). ### Macro reference preliminaries A tagged paragraph describes each macro. We present coupled pairs together, as with **EX** and **EE**. Square brackets surround optional macro arguments. If a macro accepts multiple arguments, those containing space characters must be double-quoted to be interpreted correctly. If you require an empty macro argument, specify it as a pair of neutral double quotes (**""**). See section “Notes” below for examples of cases where better alternatives to empty arguments in macro calls are available. Most macro arguments are formatted as text in the output; exceptions are noted. We identify some macros as *extensions* to the set originally implemented. They are not supported everywhere; see subsection “Use of extensions” below. ### Document structure macros Document structure macros organize a man page's content. All of them break the output line. **TH** (title heading) identifies the document as a man page and configures the page headers and footers. Section headings (**SH**), one of which is mandatory and many of which are conventionally expected, facilitate location of material by the reader and aid the man page writer to discuss all essential aspects of the topics presented. Subsection headings (**SS**) are optional and permit sections that grow long to develop in a controlled way. Many technical discussions benefit from examples; lengthy ones, especially those reflecting multiple lines of input to or output from the system, are usefully bracketed by **EX** and **EE**. When none of the foregoing meets a structural demand, use **RS**/**RE** to inset a region within a (sub)section. - **.TH** *identifier section* \[*footer-middle* \[*footer-inside* \[*header-middle*\]\]\] Break the page, reset the page number to 1 (unless the **-rC1** option is given), and use the arguments to populate the page header and footer. *roff* systems refer to these collectively as “titles”. Together, *identifier* and the *section* of the manual to which it belongs can uniquely identify a *man* document on the system. This use of “section” has nothing to do with the section headings otherwise discussed in this page; it arises from the organizational scheme of printed and bound Unix manuals. See [*man*(1)](/man/1.md) or [*intro*(1)](/intro/1.md) for the manual sectioning applicable to your system. *identifier* and *section* are positioned at the left and right in the header; the latter is set after the former, in parentheses and without space. *footer-middle* is centered in the footer. By default, *footer-inside* is positioned at the bottom left. Use of the double-sided layout option **-rD1** places *footer-inside* at the bottom left on recto (odd-numbered) pages, and the bottom right on verso (even-numbered) pages. By default, the outside footer is the page number. Use of the continuous-rendering option **-rcR=1** replaces it with *identifier* and *section,* as in the header. *header-middle* is centered in the header. If *section* is an integer between 1 and 9 (inclusive), there is no need to specify *header-middle;* *an.tmac* supplies text for it. If *identifier* or *footer-inside* would overrun the space available in the header and/or footer, this package may abbreviate them with ellipses (**...**). *groff man* suppresses headers and footers in HTML output. - A valid *man* document calls **TH** only once, early in the file, prior to any other macro calls. By convention, *footer-middle* is the date of the most recent modification to the source document, in ISO 8601 format (*YYYY*-*MM*-*DD*), and *footer-inside* is the name and version or release of the project providing it. - **.SH** \[ *heading-text*\] Set *heading-text* as a section heading. Given no argument, **SH** plants a one-line input trap; text on the next line becomes *heading-text.* The heading text is set in bold (or the font specified by the string **HF**), and, on typesetters, slightly larger than the base type size. If the heading font **\\\*\[HF\]** is bold, use of an italic style in *heading-text* is mapped to the bold-italic style if available in the font family. The inset level is reset to 1; see subsection “Horizontal and vertical spacing” below. Text lines after the call are set as an ordinary paragraph (**P**). - The content of *heading-text* and ordering of sections follows a set of common practices, as does much of the layout of material within sections. For example, a section called “Name” or “NAME” must exist, must be the first section after the **TH** call, and must contain only text of the form *topic*\[ **,** *another-topic* \]... \\- *summary-description* for tools like [*makewhatis*(8)](/makewhatis/8.md) or [*mandb*(8)](/mandb/8.md) to index them. - **.SS** \[ *subheading-text*\] Set *subheading-text* as a subsection heading indented between a section heading and an ordinary paragraph (**P**). Given no argument, **SS** plants a one-line input trap; text on the next line becomes *subheading-text.* The subheading text is set in bold (or the font specified by the string **HF**). If the heading font **\\\*\[HF\]** is bold, use of an italic style in *subheading-text* is mapped to the bold-italic style if available in the font family. The inset level is reset to 1; see subsection “Horizontal and vertical spacing” below. Text lines after the call are set as an ordinary paragraph (**P**). - **.EX** **.EE** Begin and end example. After **EX**, filling is disabled (and, on typesetters, a monospaced font family is selected). Calling **EE** enables filling (and restores the previous family). - Example regions are useful for formatting code, shell sessions, and text file contents. An example region is not a “literal mode” of any sort: special character escape sequences must still be used to produce correct glyphs for **'**, **-**, **\\**, **^**, **\`**, and **~** (see subsection “Portability” below). Sentence endings are still detected and supplemental inter-sentence space applied. If the amount of supplemental inter-sentence spacing is altered, the rendering of, for instance, regular expressions using **.** or **?** followed by multiple spaces can change. Use the dummy character escape sequence **\\&** before the spaces. - Ninth Edition Unix introduced the **EX** and **EE** extensions. Documenter's Workbench (DWB), Heirloom Doctools, and Plan 9 *troff*s, and *mandoc* (since 1.12.2) support them. Solaris *troff* does not. - **.RS** \[ *inset-amount*\] Start new relative inset. *man* saves any current inset amount and moves right by: *inset-amount,* if specified; the *indentation* amount of the preceding **IP**, **TP**, or **HP** macro call if no (sub-)sectioning or ordinary paragraphing macro has intervened; or the amount of the **IN** register. **RS** calls can nest; each increments by 1 the *level* used by **RE**. The level prior to any **RS** call is 1. - **.RE** \[ *inset-level*\] End a relative inset, reducing it to that of *inset-level* (or by 1 if not specified) and restoring the corresponding inset amount. ### Paragraphing macros These macros break the output line. An *ordinary* paragraph (**P**) like this one indents all output lines by the same amount. A hanging paragraph (**HP**) is a cosmetic variant of **P** with a hanging indent. Definition lists frequently occur in man pages; these can be set as *tagged paragraphs,* which have one (**TP**) or more (**TQ**) leading tags followed by a paragraph that has an additional indentation. The indented paragraph (**IP**) macro can continue the indented content of a narrative started with **TP**, or present an itemized or ordered list. If a paragraphing macro has been called since **SH** or **SS**, all except **TQ** follow the break with vertical space (in an amount configured by the deprecated **PD** macro); see subsection “Horizontal and vertical spacing” below. Except for **TQ**, these macros reset the type size, hyphenation, and adjustment to (configured) defaults, and the font style to roman.\ - **.P** **.LP** **.PP** Begin a new paragraph; these macros are synonymous. Any indentation from use of **IP**, **TP**, or **HP** is cleared. The inset amount, as affected by **RS** and **RE**, is not. - **.HP** \[ *indentation*\] Set a paragraph with a hanging indentation. Text on output lines after the first is indented by *indentation,* if specified, and by the amount of the **IN** register otherwise. - *Caution:* A hanging indentation cannot be expressed naturally in (pure) HTML, a hanging paragraph is not distinguishable from an ordinary one if it formats on only one output line, and non-*roff*-based man page interpreters may treat **HP** as an ordinary paragraph anyway. Thus, information or distinctions you mean to express with indentation may be lost. - **.TP** \[ *indentation*\] Set an indented paragraph with a leading unindented tag. The macro plants a one-line input trap that honors the **\\c** escape sequence; text on the next line becomes the tag, set without indentation. Text on subsequent lines is indented by *indentation,* if specified, and by the amount of the **IN** register otherwise. If the tag, plus the “tag spacing” stored in the **TS** register (see section “Options” below) is wider than the indentation, the package breaks the line after the tag. - The line containing the tag can include a macro call, for instance to set the tag in bold with **B**. **TP** was used to write the first paragraph of this description of **TP**, and **IP** the subsequent one. - **.TQ** Set an additional tag for a paragraph tagged with **TP**, planting a one-line input trap as with **TP**. - **TQ** is a GNU extension supported by Heirloom Doctools *troff* (since Git snapshot 151218) and *mandoc* (since 1.14.5) but not by DWB, Plan 9, or Solaris *troff*s. - The description of **P**, **LP**, and **PP** above was written using **TP** and **TQ**. - **.IP** \[ *mark* \[*indentation*\]\] Set an indented paragraph with an optional mark. Arguments, if present, are handled as with **TP**, except that the *mark* argument to **IP** cannot include a macro call, and the tag separation amount stored in the **TS** register is not enforced. - Two convenient uses for **IP** are - (1) to start a new paragraph with the same indentation as an immediately preceding **IP** or **TP** paragraph, if no *indentation* argument is given; and - (2) to set a paragraph with a short *mark* that is not semantically important, such as a bullet (•)—obtained with the **\\\[bu\]** special character escape sequence—or list enumerator, as seen in this very paragraph. ### Synopsis macros Use **SY** and **YS** to summarize syntax using familiar Unix conventions. Heirloom Doctools *troff* (since Git snapshot 151218) and *mandoc* (since 1.14.5) support these GNU extensions; DWB, Plan 9, and Solaris *troff*s do not. - **.SY** *keyword* \[*suffix*\] Begin synopsis. Adjustment and automatic hyphenation are disabled. If **SY** has already been called without a corresponding **YS**, a break is performed. *keyword* and any *suffix* are set in bold. When *suffix* is present, the package sets the next word after it without intervening space. If a break is required in subsequent text (up to a paragraphing, sectioning, or **YS** macro call), lines after the first are indented. Unless the previous synopsis's indentation is reused (see **YS** below), output lines after the first indent by the width of the pending output line up to the end of *keyword* plus a space, if *keyword* is the only argument, and up to the end of *suffix* otherwise.\ - **.YS** \[ *reuse-indentation*\] End synopsis, breaking the line and restoring indentation, adjustment, and hyphenation to their previous states. If an argument is given, the indentation corresponding to the previous **SY** call is reused by the next **SY** call instead of being computed. Interleave multiple **SY**/**YS** blocks with paragraphing macros to distinguish differing modes of operation of a complex command like [*tar*(1)](/tar/1.md). Omit the paragraphing macro to indicate synonymous ways of invoking a particular mode of operation. Paragraphing macros can similarly manage grouping of function synopses.\ *groff*'s own command-line interface illustrates most specimens of synopsis syntax one may encounter. - ``` .SY groff .RB [ \-abcCeEgGijklNpRsStUVXzZ ] .RB [ \-d\~\c .IR ctext ] .RB [ \-d\~\c .IB string =\c .IR text ] .RB [ \-D\~\c .IR fallback-encoding ] ``` *(and so on similarly)* ``` .RI [ file\~ .\|.\|.] .YS . . .P .SY groff .B \-h .YS . .SY groff .B \-\-help .YS . . .P .SY groff .B \-v .RI [ option\~ .\|.\|.\&] .RI [ file\~ .\|.\|.] .YS . .SY groff .B \-\-version .RI [ option\~ .\|.\|.\&] .RI [ file\~ .\|.\|.] .YS ``` Given the foregoing input, *groff man* produces the following output. **groff** \[**-abcCeEgGijklNpRsStUVXzZ**\] \[**-d** *ctext*\] \[**-d** *string***=** *text*\] \[**-D** *fallback-encoding*\] \[**-f** *font-family*\] \[**-F** *font-directory*\] \[**-I** *inclusion-directory*\] \[**-K** *input-encoding*\] \[**-L** *spooler-argument*\] \[**-m** *macro-package*\] \[**-M** *macro-directory*\] \[**-n** *page-number*\] \[**-o** *page-list*\] \[**-P** *postprocessor-argument*\] \[**-r** *cnumeric-expression*\] \[**-r** *register***=** *numeric-expression*\] \[**-T** *output-device*\] \[**-w** *warning-category*\] \[**-W** *warning-category*\] \[*file* ...\] **groff** **-h** **groff** **--help** **groff** **-v** \[*option* ...\] \[*file* ...\] **groff** **--version** \[*option* ...\] \[*file* ...\] Several features of the above example are of note. - • The empty request (.), which does nothing, vertically spaces the input file for readability by the document maintainer; see subsection “Portability” below regarding blank lines. - • Command and option names are presented in **bold** to cue the user that they should be input literally. - • Option dashes are specified with the **\\-** escape sequence; this is an important practice to make them clearly visible and to facilitate copy-and-paste from the rendered man page to a shell prompt or text file. - • Option arguments and command operands are presented in *italics* (but see subsection “Font style macros” below regarding terminals) to cue the user that they must be replaced with appropriate input. - • Symbols that are neither to be typed literally nor replaced at the user's discretion appear in the roman style; brackets surround optional arguments, and an ellipsis indicates that the previous syntactic element may be repeated arbitrarily. Where whitespace separates optional arguments, a space precedes the ellipsis. - • The non-breaking adjustable space escape sequence **\\~** prevents the output line from breaking within the option brackets; see subsection “Portability” below. - • The output line continuation escape sequence **\\c** is used with font style alternation macros to allow all three font styles to be set without (breakable) space among them; see subsection “Portability” below. - • The dummy character escape sequence **\\&** follows the ellipsis when further text is to follow after space on the output line, keeping its last period from being interpreted as the end of a sentence because it is followed by characters that are transparent to end-of-sentence detection, and/or a newline, which would in turn normally cause the formatter to place supplemental inter-sentence space after it. See subsection “Portability” below. We might synopsize the standard C library function [*bsearch*(3)](/bsearch/3.md) as follows. ``` .P .B void *\c .SY bsearch ( .BI const\~void\~* key , .BI const\~void\~* base , .BI size_t\~ nmemb , .BI int\~(* compar )\c .B (const\~void\~*, const\~void\~*)); .YS ``` *groff man* produces the following result. **void \*** **bsearch** **const void \****key***,** **const void \****base***,** **size\_t** *nmemb***,** **int (\****compar***)** **(const void \*, const void \*));** ### Hyperlink macros Man page cross references like [*ls*(1)](/ls/1.md) are best presented with **MR**. Mark email addresses with **MT**/**ME** and other sorts of URI with **UR**/**UE**. To hyperlink text, terminals and pager programs must support ECMA-48 OSC 8 escape sequences (see [*grotty*(1)](/grotty/1.md)). When device support is unavailable or disabled with the **U** register (see section “Options” below), *groff man* renders these URIs between angle brackets (**⟨ ⟩**) after the linked text. **MT**, **ME**, **UR**, and **UE** are GNU extensions supported by Heirloom Doctools *troff* (since Git snapshot 151218) and *mandoc* (**UR**/**UE** since 1.12.3; **MT**/**ME** since 1.14.2) but not by DWB, Plan 9 (original), or Solaris *troff*s. Plan 9 from User Space's *troff* implements **MR**.\ Prepare arguments to **MR**, **MT**, and **UR** for typesetting; they can appear in the output. Use special character escape sequences to encode Unicode basic Latin characters where necessary, particularly the hyphen-minus. (See subsection “Portability” below.) URIs can be lengthy; rendering them can result in jarring adjustment or variations in line length, or *troff* warnings when one is longer than an output line. The application of non-printing break point escape sequences **\\:** after each slash (or series thereof), and before each dot (or series thereof) is recommended as a rule of thumb. The former practice avoids forcing a trailing slash in a URI onto a separate output line, and the latter helps the reader to avoid mistakenly interpreting a dot at the end of a line as a period (or multiple dots as an ellipsis). Thus, ``` .UR http://\:example\:.com/\:fb8afcfbaebc74e\:.cc ``` has several potential break points in the URI shown. Consider adding break points before or after at signs in email addresses, and question marks, ampersands, and number signs in HTTP(S) URIs. - **.MR** *topic* \[*manual-section* \[*trailing-text*\]\] *(since* groff *1.23)* Set a man page cross reference as “*topic***(***manual-section***)** ”. If *manual-section* is absent, the package omits the surrounding parentheses. If *trailing-text* (typically punctuation) is specified, it follows the closing parenthesis without intervening space. Hyphenation is disabled while the cross reference is set. *topic* is set in the font specified by the **MF** string. If *manual-section* is present, the cross reference hyperlinks to a URI of the form “**man:** *topic*(*manual-section*)”. - ``` The output driver .MR grops 1 produces PostScript from .I troff output. . The Ghostscript program (\c .MR gs 1 ) interprets PostScript and PDF. ``` - **.MT** *address* **.ME** \[ *trailing-text*\] Identify *address* as an RFC 6068 *addr-spec* for a “mailto:” URI with the text between the two macro calls as the link text. An argument to **ME** is placed after the link text without intervening space. *address* may not be visible in the rendered document if hyperlinks are enabled and supported by the output driver. If they are not, *address* is set in angle brackets after the link text and before *trailing-text.* If hyperlinking is enabled but there is no link text, *address* is formatted and hyperlinked *without* angle brackets, except when *address* appears as a **TP** paragraph tag. - When rendered by *groff* to a PostScript device, - ``` Contact .MT fred\:.foonly@\:fubar\:.net Fred Foonly .ME for more information. ``` - formats as “Contact Fred Foonly ⟨fred.foonly@fubar.net⟩ for more information.”. - **.UR** *uri* **.UE** \[ *trailing-text*\] Identify *uri* as an RFC 3986 URI hyperlink with the text between the two macro calls as the link text. An argument to **UE** is placed after the link text without intervening space. *uri* may not be visible in the rendered document if hyperlinks are enabled and supported by the output driver. If they are not, *uri* is set in angle brackets after the link text and before *trailing-text.* If hyperlinking is enabled but there is no link text, *uri* is formatted and hyperlinked *without* angle brackets, except when *uri* appears as a **TP** paragraph tag.\ - When rendered by *groff* to a PostScript device, - ``` The GNU Project of the Free Software Foundation hosts the .UR https://\:www\:.gnu\:.org/\:software/\:groff/ .I groff home page .UE . ``` - formats as “The GNU Project of the Free Software Foundation hosts the *groff* home page ⟨https://www.gnu.org/software/groff/⟩.”. If a **UR**/**UE** or **MT**/**ME** pair occurs in a **TP** tag and hyperlinking is unavailable, *groff man* sets the link target at the beginning of the indented paragraph, not as part of the tag, unless there is no link text. ### Font style macros The *man* macro package is limited in its font styling options, offering only **bold** (**B**), *italic* (**I**), and roman. Italic text may instead render underscored on terminals. **SM** sets text at a smaller type size, which differs visually from regular-sized text only on typesetters. The macros **BI**, **BR**, **IB**, **IR**, **RB**, and **RI** set their odd- and even-numbered arguments as text in the alternating styles their names indicate, with no space separating them. Because font styles are presentational rather than semantic, conflicting traditions have arisen regarding which font styles should be used to mark file or path names, environment variables, and inlined literals. The default type size and family for typesetters is 10-point Times, except on the **X75-12** and **X100-12** devices where the type size is 12 points. The default style is roman. - **.B** \[ *text*\] Set *text* in bold. Given no argument, **B** plants a one-line input trap; text on the next line, which can be further formatted with a macro, is set in bold. - Use bold for literal portions of syntax synopses, for command-line options in running text, and for literals that are major topics of the subject under discussion; for example, this page uses bold for macro, string, and register names. In an **EX**/**EE** example of interactive I/O (such as a shell session), set only user input in bold. - **.I** \[ *text*\] Set *text* in an italic or oblique face. Given no argument, **I** plants a one-line input trap; text on the next line, which can be further formatted with a macro, is set in an italic or oblique face. - Use italics for file and path names, for environment variables, for C data types, for enumeration or preprocessor constants in C, for variant (user-replaceable) portions of syntax synopses, for the first occurrence (only) of a technical concept being introduced, for names of journals and of literary works longer than an article, and anywhere a parameter requiring replacement by the user is encountered. An exception involves variant text in a context already typeset in italics, such as file or path names with replaceable components; in such cases, follow the convention of mathematical typography: set the file or path name in italics as usual but use roman for the variant part (see **IR** and **RI** below), and italics again in running roman text when referring to the variant material. - **.SM** \[ *text*\] Set *text* one point smaller than the default type size on typesetters. Given no argument, **SM** plants a one-line input trap; text on the next line, which can be further formatted with a macro, is set smaller. - *Note:* terminals render *text* at normal size instead. Do not rely upon **SM** to communicate semantic information distinct from using roman style at normal size; it is hidden from readers using such devices. Observe what is *not* prescribed for setting in bold or italics above: elements of “synopsis language” such as ellipses and brackets around options; proper names and adjectives; titles of anything other than major works of literature; identifiers for standards documents or technical reports such as CSTR #54, RFC 1918, Unicode 16, or POSIX.1-2024; acronyms; and occurrences after the first of a technical term. Use italics for emphasis rarely, and bold almost never. Brief specimens of literal text, such as article titles, inline examples, mentions of individual characters or short strings, and (sub)section headings in man pages, are suitable for quotation; see the **\\\[lq\]**, **\\\[rq\]**, **\\\[oq\]**, and **\\\[cq\]** escape sequences in subsection “Portability” below.\ Unlike the above font style macros, the font style alternation macros below set no input traps; they must be given arguments to have effect. They apply italic corrections as appropriate. If a space is required within an argument, first consider whether the same result could be achieved with as much clarity by using single-style macros on separate input lines. When it cannot, double-quote an argument containing embedded space characters. Setting all three different styles within a word presents challenges; it is possible with the **\\c** and/or **\\f** escape sequences. See subsection “Portability” below for approaches. - **.BI** *bold-text italic-text* ... Set each argument in bold and italics, alternately. - ``` .BI -r\~ register = numeric-expression ``` - **.BR** *bold-text roman-text* ... Set each argument in bold and roman, alternately. - ``` Set an ellipsis on the math axis with the GNU extension macro .BR cdots . ``` - **.IB** *italic-text bold-text* ... Set each argument in italics and bold, alternately. - ``` In places where .IB n th is allowed, ``` - **.IR** *italic-text roman-text* ... Set each argument in italics and roman, alternately. - ``` Use GNU .IR pic 's .B figname command to change the name of the vbox. ``` - **.RB** *roman-text bold-text* ... Set each argument in roman and bold, alternately. - ``` .I file is .RB \[lq] \- \[rq], .I groff reads the standard input stream. ``` - **.RI** *roman-text italic-text* ... Set each argument in roman and italics, alternately. - ``` .RI ( tpic was a fork of AT&T .I pic by Tim Morgan of the University of California at Irvine ``` ### Horizontal and vertical spacing The package sets all text inboard of the left edge of the output medium by the amount of the *page offset;* see register **PO** in section “Options” below. Headers, footers (both set with **TH**), and section headings (**SH**) lie at the page offset. *groff* *man* indents subsection headings (**SS**) by the amount in the **SN** register. Ordinary paragraphs not within an **RS**/**RE** inset region are inset by the amount stored in the **BP** register; see section “Options” below. The **IN** register configures the default indentation amount used by **RS** (as the *inset-amount*), **IP**, **TP**, and **HP**; an overriding argument is a number plus an optional scaling unit. If no scaling unit is given, the *man* package assumes “n”; that is, roughly the width of a letter “n” in the font current when the macro is called—see section “Measurements” in [*groff*(7)](/groff/7.md). An indentation specified in a call to **IP**, **TP**, or **HP** persists until (1) another of these macros is called with an *indentation* argument, or (2) **SH**, **SS**, or **P** or its synonyms is called; these clear the indentation entirely. The inset amount and indentation are related but distinct parameters with the same defaults. The former is manipulated by **RS** and **RE** (and by **SH** and **SS**, which reset it to the default). Indentation is controlled by the paragraphing macros (though, again, **SH** and **SS** reset it); it is imposed by the **TP**, **IP**, and **HP** macros, and cancelled by **P** and its synonyms. An extensive example follows.\ This ordinary (**P**) paragraph is not in a relative inset nor does it possess an indentation. Now we have created a relative inset with **RS** and started another ordinary paragraph with **P**. We observe that all of its lines are inset and indented the same; contrast with a first-line indentation. - **tag** This tagged paragraph, set with **TP**, is still within the **RS** region, but lines after the first have a supplementary indentation that the tag lacks. - A paragraph like this one, set with **IP**, appears to the reader as also associated with the tag above, because **IP** re-uses the previous paragraph's indentation unless given an argument to change it. Both the inset amount (**RS**) and indentation (**IP**) affect this paragraph. | | | --- | | This table is affected both by | | the inset amount and indentation. | - • This indented paragraph is marked with a bullet, contrasting the inset amount and the indentation; only the former affects the mark, but both affect the text of the paragraph. This ordinary (**P**) paragraph resets the indentation, but the inset amount is unchanged. | | | --- | | This table is affected only | | by the inset amount. | Finally, we have ended the relative inset by using **RE**, which (because we used only one **RS**/**RE** pair) has restored the inset amount to its initial value. This is an ordinary **P** paragraph. Resist the temptation to mock up tabular or multi-column output with tab characters or the indentation arguments to **IP**, **TP**, **RS**, or **HP**; the result may not be comprehensible on an output device you fail to check, or which is developed in the future. Consider the table preprocessor [*tbl*(1)](/tbl/1.md) instead. Several macros insert vertical space: **SH**, **SS**, **TP**, **P** (and its synonyms), **IP**, and **HP**. They then enable *no-space mode;* see [*groff*(7)](/groff/7.md). The default inter-section and inter-paragraph spacing is 1v for terminals and 0.4v for typesetters. “v” is a unit of vertical distance, where 1v is the distance between adjacent text baselines. (The deprecated macro **PD** can change this vertical spacing, but we discourage its use.) Between **EX** and **EE** calls, the inter-paragraph spacing is 1v regardless of output device. ### Registers Registers are described in section “Options” below. They can be set not only on the command line but in the site *man.local* file as well; see section “Files” below. ### Strings The following strings are defined for use in man pages. *groff man* supports others for configuration of rendering parameters; see section “Options” below. - **\\\*R** interpolates a special character escape sequence for the “registered sign” glyph, **\\(rg**, if available, and “(Reg.)” otherwise. - **\\\*S** interpolates an escape sequence setting the type size to the document default. - **\\\*(lq** **\\\*(rq** interpolate special character escape sequences for left and right double-quotation marks, **\\(lq** and **\\(rq**, respectively. - **\\\*(Tm** interpolates a special character escape sequence for the “trade mark sign” glyph, **\\(tm**, if available, and “(TM)” otherwise. A contemporary man page needs none of the above. **\\\*S** is superfluous; type size changes are invisible on terminals, and macros that change it restore its original value afterward. Better alternatives exist for the rest; simply use the **\\\[rg\]**, **\\\[lq\]**, **\\\[rq\]**, and **\\\[tm\]** special character escape sequences directly. Unless you are aiming for a pathological level of portability—perhaps composing a man page for consumption on simulators of 1980s Unix systems (or Solaris *troff*, though even it supports “**\\(rg**”)— avoid using the above strings. ### Use of extensions To ensure that your man page formats reliably on a wide variety of viewers, write it solely with the macros described in this page (except for the ones identified as deprecated, which you should avoid). Macros described as extensions might be unsupported by a formatter that is important to your audience. Nevertheless, *groff*'s extensions are present because they perform tasks that are otherwise difficult or tedious to achieve portably. If you require an extension but expect your man page to be rendered on a system that doesn't support it, write a configuration test to measure a property of the system, and use [*m4*(1)](/m4/1.md), [*sed*(1)](/sed/1.md), or a similar tool to generate a *.man* file from a *.man.in* file, defining page-local versions of extension macros only where necessary. You can copy extension macro definitions from *groff*; see *an-ext.tmac* in section “Files” below. For example, we might put a line ``` @DEFINE_MR@ ``` in our *man* document at the end of the “Name” section, test a system for the availability of the *groff man* **MR** macro, remove the line if the macro is present, and “inline” a definition otherwise, as follows. (This version is slightly simplified and does not attempt to disable hyphenation when setting arguments to **MR**.) ``` have_MR=$(echo .pm | troff -man 2>&1 | grep 'MR[[:space:]]') if [ -n "$have_MR" ] then sed '/@DEFINE_MR@/d' myprog.man.in > myprog.man else sed 's/@DEFINE_MR@/.de MR\ . ie \\\\n(.$=1 .I \\\\$1\ . el .IR \\\\$1 (\\\\$2)\\\\$3\ ../' myprog.man.in > myprog.man fi ``` (The profusion of backslashes is due to its status as an escape character in both *roff* and *sed*.) If the foregoing method is too much trouble, you could apply the radical technique of reading your man page using every formatter of interest, confirming satisfactory output from each. Test documentation for syntactic validity and semantic correctness, just as you would test code. ### Portability GNU *troff* expects its input to contain Unicode basic Latin code points exclusively. One can *maintain* it in a more convenient encoding, using [*preconv*(1)](/preconv/1.md), as with [*groff*(1)](/groff/1.md)'s **-k** option, to generate a basic Latin version that employs special character escape sequences to access other glyphs. AT&T *troff*'s *man* package and those of many of its descendants format man pages using a line length of 65 ens (character cells) on terminals, whereas *groff man* uses 80 ens (and [*mandoc*(1)](/mandoc/1.md) 78). Readers with low vision may also benefit from the narrower line length. Inspect your documents with “**nroff -t -r LL=65n -man**” to ensure that their output lines don't overrun. In *roff* systems, elemental functions called *requests* and *escape sequences* control formatting operations. A request appears on a control line. An escape sequence starts with a backslash (**\\**) and can appear almost anywhere. However, use of *roff* requests (apart from the empty request “**.**”) risks poor rendering when a page is processed by non-*roff* formatters that attempt to interpret page sources. (Historically, this was commonly attempted for HTML conversion.) Many of these programs don't interpret the full *roff* language (let alone extensions): they may be incapable of handling numeric expressions, control structures, or register, string, and macro definitions, causing a document's contents to be presented incomprehensibly or omitted entirely. If your document uses formatter requests, or escape sequences not shown below, it accepts responsibility for restoring formatter state to what the *man* macro package expects. Do not put blank (empty) lines in a man page source document. They can produce excessive space in the output, or less than is attempted; some [*man*(1)](/man/1.md) programs “squeeze” multiple blank output lines into one. The wise *man* author quotes multi-word section and subsection headings; the **SH** and **SS** macros of [*man*(7)](/man/7.md) implementations descended from Seventh Edition Unix supported six arguments at most. This restriction also applied to the **B**, **I**, **SM**, and font style alternation macros. Exercise restraint with escape sequences as with requests. Some escape sequences are however required for correct typesetting even in man pages and usually do not cause portability problems. Several of these render glyphs corresponding to punctuation code points in the Unicode basic Latin range (U+0020–U+007F) that are handled specially in *roff* input; the escape sequences below must be used to render them correctly and portably when documenting material that uses them as literals—namely, any of the set **' - \\ ^ \` ~** (apostrophe, dash or hyphen-minus, backslash, caret, grave accent, tilde). - **\\"** Comment. The formatter ignores everything after the double quote to the end of the input line. Place whole-line comments on a control line immediately after the empty request (“**.**”). - **\\***newline* Join the next input line to the current one. Except for the update of the input line counter (used for diagnostic messages and related purposes), a series of lines ending in backslash-newline appears to *groff* as a single input line. Splitting excessively long input lines can ease document maintenance. - **\\%** Control hyphenation. The location of this escape sequence within a word marks a hyphenation point, supplementing *groff*'s automatic hyphenation patterns. At the beginning of a word, it suppresses any hyphenation breaks within *except* those specified with **\\%**. - **\\:** Insert a non-printing break point. A word can break at such a point, but a hyphen glyph is not written to the output if it does. The remainder of the word is subject to hyphenation as normal. You can use **\\:** and **\\%** in combination to control breaking of a file name or URI or to permit hyphenation only after certain explicit hyphens within a word. See subsection “Hyperlink macros” above for an example. - **\\:** is a GNU extension also supported by Heirloom Doctools *troff* 050915 (September 2005), *mandoc* 1.13.1 (2014-08-10), and *neatroff* (commit 399a4936, 2014-02-17), but not by DWB, Plan 9, or Solaris *troff*s. - **\\~** Adjustable non-breaking space. Use this escape sequence to prevent a break inside a short phrase or between a numerical quantity and its corresponding unit(s). - ``` Before starting the motor, set the output speed to\~1. There are 1,024\~bytes in 1\~KiB. CSTR\~#8 documents the B\~language. ``` - **\\~** is a GNU extension also supported by Heirloom Doctools *troff* 050915 (September 2005), *mandoc* 1.9.14 (2009-11-16), *neatroff* (commit 1c6ab0f6e, 2016-09-13), and Plan 9 from User Space *troff* (commit 93f8143600, 2022-08-12), but not by DWB or Solaris *troff*s. - **\\&** Dummy character. Prefix an input line with it to prevent a dot or apostrophe from being interpreted as beginning a *roff* control line. Append **\\&** to an end-of-sentence punctuation sequence to keep it from being recognized as such. - **\\\|** Thin space (one-sixth em on typesetters, zero-width on terminals); a non-breaking space. Used primarily in ellipses (“.\\\|.\\\|.”) to space the dots more pleasantly on typesetters. - **\\c** End a text line without inserting space or attempting a break. Nothing on the input line after this escape sequence is formatted. **\\c** is useful when three font styles are needed in a single word, as in a command synopsis. - ``` .RB [ \-\-stylesheet=\c .IR name ] ``` - **\\c** also helps when changing font styles in **EX**/**EE** examples, since they are not filled.\ - ``` .EX $ \c .B groff \-T utf8 \-Z \c .I file \c .B | grotty \-i .EE ``` - Normally, if filling is enabled, the formatter treats the end of a text line like a space. It checks for the end of a sentence, and *may* break the output line (if not, it inserts an adjustable space). If filling is disabled, the formatter *will* break the output line, as in **EX**/**EE** examples. The formatter interprets the next input line as usual, recognizing control lines, including macro calls (contrast with **\\***newline* ). - The **\\f** font selection escape sequence is an alternative to **\\c**; see below. Using **\\c** to continue a **TP** paragraph tag across multiple input lines renders incorrectly with *groff* 1.22.3, *mandoc* 1.14.1, older versions of these programs, and perhaps with some other formatters. - **\\e** Format the *roff* escape character on the output; widely used in man pages to render a backslash glyph. It works reliably as long as the “ec” request is not used, which should never happen in man pages, and it is slightly more portable than the more explicit **\\\[rs\]** (“reverse solidus”) special character escape sequence. - **\\fB**, **\\fI**, **\\fR**, **\\fP** Switch to bold, italic, roman, or back to the previous style, respectively. Either **\\f** or **\\c** is needed when three different font styles are required in a word. - ``` .RB [ \-\-reference\-dictionary=\fI\,name\/\fP ] ``` - .RB \[ \\-\\-reference\\-dictionary=\\c .IR name \] - Style escape sequences may be more portable than **\\c**. As shown above, it is up to you to account for italic corrections with “**\\/**” and “**\\,**”, which are themselves GNU extensions, if desired and if supported by your implementation. - **\\fP** reliably returns to the style in use immediately preceding the previous **\\f** escape sequence only if no sectioning, paragraph, example, or style macro calls have intervened. - As long as at most two styles are needed in a word, style macros like **B** and **BI** usually result in more readable *roff* source than **\\f** escape sequences do. Several special characters are also widely portable. Except for **\\-**, **\\\[em\]**, and **\\\[ga\]**, AT&T *troff* did not consistently define the characters listed below, but its descendants, like DWB, Plan 9, or Solaris *troff*, can be made to support them by defining them in font description files, making them aliases of existing glyphs if necessary; see [*groff\_font*(5)](/groff_font/5.md). *groff*'s extended notation for special characters, **\\\[***xx***\]** , is also supported by [*mandoc*(1)](/mandoc/1.md), Heirloom Doctools *troff*, and *neatroff*, but not DWB, Plan 9, or Solaris *troff*s. - **\\-** Minus sign. **\\-** produces the basic Latin hyphen-minus (U+002D) specifying Unix command-line options and frequently used in file names. “**-**” is a hyphen in *roff*; some output devices format it as U+2010 (hyphen). - **\\\[aq\]** Basic Latin neutral apostrophe. Some output devices format “**'**” as a right single quotation mark. - **\\\[oq\]** **\\\[cq\]** Opening (left) and closing (right) single quotation marks. Use these for paired directional single quotes, ‘like this’. - **\\\[dq\]** Basic Latin quotation mark (double quote). Employ it in macro calls to work around interpretation of ‘**"**’ as an argument delimiter. - ``` .TP .BI "split \[dq]" text \[dq] ``` - **\\\[lq\]** **\\\[rq\]** Left and right double quotation marks. Use these for paired directional double quotes, “like this”. - **\\\[em\]** Em dash. Use for an interruption—such as this one—in a sentence. - **\\\[en\]** En dash. Use to separate the ends of a range, as between numbers; for example, “the digits 1–9”. - **\\\[ga\]** Basic Latin grave accent. Some output devices format “**\`**” as a left single quotation mark. - **\\\[ha\]** Basic Latin circumflex accent (“hat”). Some output devices format “**^**” as U+02C6 (modifier letter circumflex accent). - **\\\[rs\]** Reverse solidus (backslash). The backslash is the default escape character in the *roff* language, so it does not represent itself in output. Also see **\\e** above. - **\\\[ti\]** Basic Latin tilde. Some output devices format “**~**” as U+02DC (small tilde). For maximum portability, avoid escape sequences (including special characters) not listed above. ### Hooks Two macros, both GNU extensions, are called internally by the *groff man* package to format page headers and footers and can be redefined by the administrator in a site's *man.local* file (see section “Files” below). The presentation of **TH** above describes the default headers and footers. Because these macros are hooks for *groff man* internals, man pages have no reason to call them. Such hook definitions typically consist of “sp” and “tl” requests. **PT** furthermore has the responsibility of emitting a PDF bookmark after writing the first page header in a document. Consult the existing implementations in *an.tmac* when drafting replacements. - **.BT** Set the page footer text (“bottom trap”). - **.PT** Set the page header text (“page trap”). To remove a page header or footer entirely, define the appropriate macro as empty rather than deleting it. ### Deprecated features Use of the following in man pages for public distribution is discouraged. - **.AT** \[ *system* \[*release*\]\] Alter the footer for use with legacy AT&T man pages, overriding any definition of the *footer-inside* argument to **TH**. This macro exists only to render man pages from historical systems. - The inside footer is populated per the value of *system.* - 3 7th edition *(default)* - 4 System III - 5 System V - The optional *release* argument specifies the release number, as in “System V Release 3”. - **.DT** Reset tab stops to the default (every 0.5i \[inches\]). - Use of this presentation-oriented macro is deprecated. It translates poorly to HTML, under which exact space control and tabulation are not readily available. Thus, information or distinctions that you use tab stops to express are likely to be lost. If you feel tempted to change the tab stops such that calling this macro later to restore them is desirable, consider composing a table using [*tbl*(1)](/tbl/1.md) instead.\ - **.OP** *option-name* \[*option-argument*\] Indicate an optional command parameter called *option-name*, which is set in bold. If the option takes an argument, specify *option-argument* using a noun, abbreviation, or hyphenated noun phrase. If present, *option-argument* is preceded by a space and set in italics. Square brackets in roman surround both arguments. - Use of this quasi-semantic macro, an extension whose name originated in DWB *troff*, is deprecated; *groff*'s interface differs. Neither can easily be used to annotate options that take optional arguments or options whose arguments have internal structure (such as a mixture of literal and variable components). One could work around these limitations with font selection escape sequences, but font style alternation macros are preferable; they are more flexible and perform italic corrections on typesetters. - **.PD** \[ *vertical-space*\] Configure the amount of vertical space between paragraphs or (sub)sections. The optional argument *vertical-space* specifies the amount; the default scaling unit is “v”. Without an argument, inter-paragraph spacing resets to its default value; see subsection “Horizontal and vertical spacing” above. - Use of this presentation-oriented macro is deprecated. It translates poorly to HTML, under which exact control of inter-paragraph spacing is not readily available. Thus, information or distinctions that you use **PD** to express are likely to be lost. - **.SB** \[ *text*\] Set *text* in bold and (on typesetters) one point smaller than the default type size. Given no argument, **SB** plants a one-line input trap; text on the next line, which can be further formatted with a macro, is set smaller and in bold. Use of this macro, an extension originating in SunOS 4.0 *troff*, is deprecated. **SM** without an argument, followed immediately by “**B** *text*”, produces the same output more portably. The macros' order is interchangeable; put *text* with the latter. - *Note:* terminals render *text* in bold at the normal size instead. Do not rely upon **SB** to communicate semantic information distinct from using bold style at normal size; it is hidden from readers using such devices. - **.UC** \[ *version*\] Alter the footer for use with legacy BSD man pages, overriding any definition of the *footer-inside* argument to **TH**. This macro exists only to render man pages from historical systems. - The inside footer is populated per the value of *version.* - 3 3rd Berkeley Distribution *(default)* - 4 4th Berkeley Distribution - 5 4\.2 Berkeley Distribution - 6 4\.3 Berkeley Distribution - 7 4\.4 Berkeley Distribution ### History M. Douglas McIlroy ⟨m.douglas.mcilroy@dartmouth.edu⟩ designed, implemented, and documented the AT&T *man* macros for Unix Version 7 (1979) and employed them to edit Volume 1 of its *Programmer's Manual*, a compilation of all man pages supplied by the system. The package supported the macros listed in this page not described as extensions, except **P** and the deprecated **AT** and **UC**. It documented no registers and defined only **R** and **S** strings. **UC** appeared in 3BSD (1980). Unix System III (1980) introduced **P** and exposed the registers **IN** and **LL**, which had been internal to Seventh Edition Unix *man*. PWB/Unix 2.0 (1980) added the **Tm** string. 4BSD (1980) added **lq** and **rq** strings. SunOS 2.0 (1985) recognized **C**, **D**, **P**, and **X** registers. 4.3BSD (1986) added **AT** and **P**. Ninth Edition Unix (1986) introduced **EX** and **EE**. SunOS 4.0 (1988) added **SB**. Unix System V (1988) incorporated the **lq** and **rq** strings. Except for **EX**/**EE**, James Clark implemented the foregoing features in early versions of *groff.* Later, *groff* 1.20 (2009) resurrected **EX**/**EE** and originated **SY**/**YS**, **TQ**, **MT**/**ME**, and **UR**/**UE**. Plan 9 from User Space's *troff* introduced **MR** in 2020, and incorporated the **lq** and **rq** strings in 2025.\ ## Options The following *groff* options set registers (with **-r**) and strings (with **-d**) recognized and used by the *man* macro package. To ensure rendering consistent with output device capabilities and reader preferences, man pages should never manipulate them. - **-dAD=***adjustment-mode* Set line adjustment to *adjustment-mode,* which is typically “**b**” for adjustment to both margins (the default), or “**l**” for left alignment (ragged right margin). Any valid argument to *groff*'s “ad” request may be used. See [*groff*(7)](/groff/7.md) for less-common choices. - **-rBP=***base-paragraph-inset* Set the inset amount for ordinary paragraphs not within an **RS**/**RE** inset. The default is 5n. - **-rcR=1** Enable continuous rendering. Output is not paginated; instead, one (potentially very long) page is produced. This is the default for terminal and HTML devices. Use **-rcR=0** to disable it on terminals; on HTML devices, it cannot be disabled. - **-rC1** Number output pages consecutively, in strictly increasing sequence, rather than resetting the page number to 1 (or the value of register **P**) with each new *man* document. - **-rCHECKSTYLE=***n* Report problems with usage of this macro package exhibited by the input at verbosity level *n*, where *n* is an integer in the range 0–3, inclusive; **0** disables the messages and is the default. This feature is a development and debugging aid for man page maintainers; the problems diagnosed, and range and meanings of the supported levels, are subject to change. - **-rCS=1** Set section headings (the argument(s) to **SH**) in full capitals. This transformation is off by default because it discards lettercase distinctions. - **-rCT=1** Set the man page identifier (the first argument to **TH**) in full capitals in headers and footers. This transformation is off by default because it discards lettercase distinctions. - **-rD1** Enable double-sided layout, formatting footers for even and odd pages differently; see the description of **TH** in subsection “Document structure macros” above. - **-rFT=***footer-distance* Set distance of the footer relative to the bottom of the page to *footer-distance;* this amount is always negative. At one half-inch above this location, the page text is broken before writing the footer. Ignored if continuous rendering is enabled. The default is “-0.5i - 1v”. - **-dHF=***heading-font* Select the font used for section and subsection headings; the default is “**B**” (bold style of the default family). Any valid argument to *groff*'s “ft” request may be used. See [*groff*(7)](/groff/7.md). - **-rHY=0** Disable automatic hyphenation. Normally, it is enabled (1). The hyphenation mode is determined by the *groff* locale; see section “Localization“ of [*groff*(7)](/groff/7.md). - **-rIN=***standard-indentation* Set the default indentation amount used by **IP**, **TP**, and **HP**, and the inset amount used by **RS**. The default is 7n on terminals and 7.2n on typesetters. Use only integer multiples of unit “n” on terminals for consistent indentation. - **-rLL=***line-length* Set line length; the default is 80n on terminals and 6.5i on typesetters. - **-rLT=***title-length* Set the line length for titles. (“Titles” is the *roff* term for headers and footers.) By default, it is set to the line length (see **-rLL** above).\ - **-dMF=***man-page-topic-font* Select the font used for man page identifiers in **TH** calls and topics named in **MR** calls; the default is “**I**” (italic style of the default family). Any valid argument to *groff*'s “ft” request may be used. If the **MF** string ends in “I”, the package assumes it to be an oblique typeface, and applies italic corrections before and after man page topics and identifiers. - **-rP***n* Start enumeration of pages at *n*. The default is 1. - **-rPO=***page-offset* Set page offset; the default is 0 on terminals and 1i on typesetters. - **-rS***type-size* Use *type-size* for the document's body text; acceptable values are 10, 11, or 12 points. See subsection “Font style macros” above for the default. - **-rSN=***subsection-indentation* Set indentation of subsection headings to *subsection-indentation.* The default is 3n. - **-rTS=***separation* Require the given *separation* between a **TP** paragraph's tag and its body. The default is 2n. - **-rU0** Disable generation of URI hyperlinks in output drivers capable of them, making the arguments to **MT** and **UR** calls visible as formatted text. [*grohtml*(1)](/grohtml/1.md), [*gropdf*(1)](/gropdf/1.md), and [*grotty*(1)](/grotty/1.md) enable hyperlinks by default (the last only if not in its legacy output mode). - **-rX***p* Number successors of page *p* as *p*a, *p*b, *p*c, and so forth. The register tracking the suffixed page letter uses format “a” (see the “af” request in [*groff*(7)](/groff/7.md)). For example, the option **-rX2** produces the following page numbers: 1, 2, 2a, 2b, ..., 2aa, 2ab, and so on.\ ## Files - */usr/share/groff/1.24.2/tmac/an.tmac* Most *man* macros are defined in this file. It also loads extensions from *an-ext.tmac* (see below). - */usr/share/groff/1.24.2/tmac/andoc.tmac* This brief *groff* program detects whether the *man* or *mdoc* macro package is used by a document and loads the correct macro definitions, taking advantage of the fact that pages using them must call **TH** or **Dd**, respectively, before any other macros. A *man* program or a user typing, for example, “**groff -mandoc page.1**”, need not know which package the file *page.1* uses. Multiple man pages, in either format, can be handled; *andoc* reloads each macro package as necessary. Page-local redefinitions of names used by the *man* or *mdoc* packages prior to **TH** or **Dd** calls are “clobbered” by the reloading process. If you want to provide your own definition of an extension macro to ensure its availability, the *an-ext.tmac* entry below offers advice. - */usr/share/groff/1.24.2/tmac/an-ext.tmac* Definitions of macros described above as extensions (and not deprecated) are contained in this file; in some cases, they are simpler versions of definitions appearing in *an.tmac*, and are ignored if the formatter is GNU *troff*. They are written to be compatible with AT&T *troff* and permissively licensed—not copylefted. To reduce the risk of name space collisions, string and register names begin only with “**m**”. We encourage man page authors who are concerned about portability to legacy Unix systems to copy these definitions into their pages, and maintainers of *troff* implementations or work-alike systems that format man pages to re-use them. To ensure reliable rendering, define them after your page calls **TH**; see the discussion of *andoc.tmac* above. Further, it is wise to define such page-local macros (if at all) after the “Name” section to accommodate timid [*makewhatis*(8)](/makewhatis/8.md) or [*mandb*(8)](/mandb/8.md) implementations that easily give up scanning for indexing material. - */usr/share/groff/1.24.2/tmac/man.tmac* is a wrapper enabling the package to be loaded with the option “**-m man**”. - */usr/share/groff/1.24.2/tmac/mandoc.tmac* is a wrapper enabling *andoc.tmac* to be loaded with the option “**-m mandoc**”. - */usr/share/groff/site-tmac/man.local* Put site-local changes and customizations into this file. ``` .\" Put only one space after the end of a sentence. .ss 12 0 \" See groff(7). .\" Keep pages narrow even on wide terminals. .if n .if \n[LL]>80n .nr LL 80n ``` - On multi-user systems, it is more considerate to users whose preferences may differ from the administrator's to be less aggressive with such settings, or to permit their override with a user-specific *man.local* file. Place the requests below at the end of the site-local file to manifest courtesy. ``` .soquiet \V[XDG_CONFIG_HOME]/man.local .soquiet \V[HOME]/.man.local ``` However, a security-sandboxed [*man*(1)](/man/1.md) program may lack permission to open such files. ## Notes Some tips on composing and troubleshooting your man pages follow. - • What's the difference between a man page topic and identifier? - A single man page may document several related but distinct topics. For example, [*printf*(3)](/printf/3.md) and [*fprintf*(3)](/fprintf/3.md) are often presented together. Moreover, multiple programming languages have functions named “printf”, and may document these in a man page. The identifier is intended to (with the section) uniquely identify a page on the system; it may furthermore correspond closely to the file name of the document. - The [*man*(1)](/man/1.md) librarian makes access to man pages convenient by resolving topics to man page identifiers. Thus, you can type “**man fprintf**”, and other pages can refer to it, without knowing whether the installed document uses “printf”, “fprintf”, or even “c\_printf” as its identifier. - • Some ASCII characters look funny or copy and paste wrong. - On devices with large glyph repertoires, like UTF-8-capable terminals and PDF, GNU *troff*, like AT&T *troff* before it, maps several keycaps to code points outside the Unicode basic Latin range (historically “ASCII”) because that usually results in better typography in the general case. When documenting GNU/Linux command or C language syntax, however, this translation is sometimes not desirable. - | | | | --- | --- | | **To get a “literal”...** | | | `'` | \\\[aq\] | | `-` | \\- | | `\` | \\\[rs\] | | `^` | \\\[ha\] | | `` ` `` | \\\[ga\] | | `~` | \\\[ti\] | - If a neutral double quote (") is needed in a macro argument, you can use **\\\[dq\]** to get it. Do *not* use **\\\[aq\]** for an ordinary apostrophe (as in “can't”) or **\\-** for an ordinary hyphen (as in “word-aligned”). - • Do I ever need to use an empty macro argument ("")? - Probably not. When this seems necessary, often a shorter or clearer alternative is available. - | | | | --- | --- | | **Instead of...** | **...should be considered.** | | `.TP ""` | | | `.BI "" italic-text bold-text` | *italic-text***bold-text** | | `.TH foo 1 "" "foo 1.2.3"` | | | `.IP "" 4n` | | | `.IP "" 4n` | | | `paragraph` | | | `...` | *paragraph* | | `...` | | | `.B one two "" three` | **one two three** | - In the title heading (**TH**), the date of the page's last revision is more important than packaging information; it should not be omitted. Ideally, a page maintainer keeps both up to date. - **IP** is sometimes ill-understood and misused, especially when no mark argument is supplied—an indentation argument is not required. By setting an explicit indentation, you may be overriding the reader's preference as set with the **-rIN** option. If your page renders adequately without one, use the simpler form. If you need to indent multiple (unmarked) paragraphs, consider setting an inset region with **RS** and **RE** instead. - In the last example, the empty argument does have a subtly different effect than its suggested replacement: the empty argument causes an additional space character to be interpolated between the arguments “two” and “three”—but it is a regular breaking space, so it can be discarded at the end of an output line. It is better not to be subtle, particularly with space, which can be overlooked in source and rendered forms. - • **RS** doesn't indent relative to my indented paragraph. - The **RS** macro determines the *inset amount,* the position at which an *ordinary* paragraph (**P** and its synonyms) is set; the value of the **IN** register determines its default amount. This register also determines the default indentation used by **IP**, **TP**, and **HP**. To create an inset relative to an indented paragraph, call **RS** repeatedly until an acceptable indentation is achieved, or give **RS** an indentation argument that is at least as much as the paragraph's indentation amount relative to an adjacent ordinary (**P**) paragraph. - Another approach to tagged paragraphs places an **RS** call immediately after the tag; this also forces a break regardless of the tag's width, which some authors prefer. Follow-up paragraphs under the tag can then be set with **P** instead of **IP**. Remember to use **RE** to end the indented region before starting the next tagged paragraph (at the appropriate nesting level). - • **RE** doesn't move the inset back to the expected level. - **RE** takes an inset *level* as an argument, unlike **RS**'s inset *amount.* “**.RE 1**” goes to the level before any **RS** macros were called, **RE 2** goes to the level of the first **RS** call you made, and so forth. If you desire symmetry in your macro calls, simply issue one **RE** without an argument for each **RS** that precedes it. - The **SH** and **SS** sectioning macros clear relative insets; **RE** calls have no effect until **RS** is used again. - • Do I need to keep typing the indentation in a series of **IP** calls? - Not if you don't want to change it. Review subsection “Horizontal and vertical spacing” above. - | | | | --- | --- | | **Instead of...** | | | `.IP \[bu] 4n` | | | `paragraph` | *paragraph* | | `.IP \[bu] 4n` | | | `another-paragraph` | *another-paragraph* | - • Why doesn't the package provide a string to insert an ellipsis? - Examples of ellipsis usage are shown above, in subsection “Synopsis macros”. The idiomatic *roff* ellipsis is three dots (periods) with thin space escape sequences **\\\|** internally separating them. Since dots both begin control lines and are candidate end-of-sentence characters, however, it is sometimes necessary to prefix and/or suffix an ellipsis with the dummy character escape sequence **\\&**. That fact stands even if a string is defined to contain the sequence; further, if the string ends with **\\&**, end-of-sentence detection is defeated when you use the string at the end of an actual sentence. (Ending a sentence with an ellipsis is often poor style, but not always.) A hypothetical string **EL** that contained an ellipsis, but not the trailing dummy character **\\&**, would then need to be suffixed with the latter when not ending a sentence. - | | | | --- | --- | | **Instead of...** | **...do this.** | | `.ds EL \&.\|.\|.` | Arguments are | | `Arguments are` | *src-file\\~*.\\\|.\\\|.\\& | | `.IR src-file\~ \*(EL\&` | *dest-dir*. | | `.IR dest-dir .` | - The first column practices a false economy; the savings in typing is offset by the cost of obscuring even the suggestion of an ellipsis to a casual reader of the source document, and reduced portability to non-*roff* man page formatters that cannot handle string definitions. - Unicode defines an ellipsis code point, and some fonts have an ellipsis glyph, which some man pages have accessed non-portably with the font-dependent **\\N** escape sequence. We discourage their use; on terminals, they may crowd the dots into a half-width character cell, and do not render at all if the output device lacks the glyph. In synopses, missing ellipses can mislead the reader. Dots and space are universally supported.\ - • When and how should I use quotation marks? - As noted above in subsection “Font style macros”, apply quotation marks to “brief specimens of literal text, such as article titles, inline examples, mentions of individual characters or short strings, and (sub)section headings in man pages”. Multi-word literals, such as Unix commands with arguments, when set inline (as opposed to displayed between **EX** and **EE**), should be quoted to ensure that the boundaries of the literal are clear even when the material is stripped of font styling by, for example, copy-and-paste operations. *groff*, Heirloom Doctools *troff*, *neatroff*, and *mandoc* support all of the special characters **\\\[oq\]**, **\\\[cq\]**, **\\\[lq\]**, **\\\[rq\]**, **\\\[aq\]**, and **\\\[dq\]** described in subsection “Portability” above. DWB, Plan 9, and Solaris *troff*s do not. Interpolating the strings **\\\*(lq** and **\\\*(rq** portably yields directional double quotation marks, if available, in all these formatters (though *neatroff* does not supply a *man* macro package), but they cannot reliably be used in macro arguments. - Obtaining directional single quotation marks is more of a challenge. Historically, man pages used **\`** and **',** which *troff* rendered on typesetters as ‘ and ’, exclusively for them. However, in recent years, some distributors of *groff* have chosen to override the meanings of these characters in man pages, remapping them to their Unicode Basic Latin code points. Unfortunately, **\`** and **'** are the *only* reliable means of obtaining directional single quotation marks in AT&T *troff*; in that implementation, often no special character escape sequences exist to obtain them. Further, AT&T *troff*'s special character identifiers, like its font names, were device-specific. To achieve quotation portably in man pages rendered both by AT&T and more modern *troff*s, consider adding a preamble to your page after the **TH** call as follows. ``` .ie \n(.g \{\ . ds oq \[oq]\" . ds cq \[cq]\" .\} .el \{\ . ds oq `\" . ds cq '\" .\} ``` You must then use the **\\\*** escape sequence to interpolate the quotation mark strings. ``` The command .RB \*(oq "while !\& git pull; do sleep 10; done" \*(cq retries an update from the repository until it succeeds. ``` If this procedure seems complex, petition your distributor to revert their remapping of the \` and ' characters. - • Escape sequences of the form **\\\[***xx***\]** don't format correctly. - The **\\\[***xx***\]** special character escape sequence is a GNU *troff* extension also supported by *mandoc,* Heirloom Doctools *troff,* and *neatroff.* DWB, Plan 9, and Solaris *troff*s don't implement it. If your man page requires portability to these formatters, spell such escape sequences as “**\\(** *xx*”; no closing parenthesis is used. *xx* must be exactly two characters; [*groff\_char*(7)](/groff_char/7.md) lists portable special character identifiers. ## Authors James Clark wrote the initial GNU implementation of the *man* macro package. Later, Werner Lemberg ⟨wl@\\:gnu\\:.org⟩ supplied the **S**, **LT**, and **cR** registers, the last a 4.3BSD-Reno [*mdoc*(7)](/mdoc/7.md) feature. Larry Kollar ⟨kollar@\\:alltel\\:.net⟩ added the **FT**, **HY**, and **SN** registers; the **HF** string; and the **PT** and **BT** macros in *groff* 1.19 (2003). Lemberg and Eric S. Raymond ⟨esr@\\:thyrsus\\:.com⟩ contributed **EX**/**EE**, **MT**/**ME**, **UR**/**UE**, **TQ**, and an early version of the **SY**/**YS** macros to *groff* 1.20 (2009). G. Branden Robinson ⟨g.branden\\:.robinson@\\:gmail\\:.com⟩ implemented the **AD** and **MF** strings; **CS**, **CT**, and **U** registers; and the **MR** macro for *groff* 1.23 (2023), and the **BP**, **PO**, and **TS** registers and a revised implementation of the **SY**/**YS** macros for *groff* 1.24 (2026). Susan G. Kleinmann ⟨sgk@\\:debian\\:.org⟩ wrote the initial version of this document for the Debian GNU/Linux system. Lemberg imported it to *groff.* He and Robinson revised and updated it. Raymond and Robinson documented the extension macros. Raymond also originated the portability section, to which Ingo Schwarze ⟨schwarze@\\:usta\\:.de⟩ contributed most of the material on escape sequences. ## See also [*tbl*(1)](/tbl/1.md), [*eqn*(1)](/eqn/1.md), and [*refer*(1)](/refer/1.md) are preprocessors used with man pages. [*man*(1)](/man/1.md) describes the man page librarian on your system. [*groff\_mdoc*(7)](/groff_mdoc/7.md) details the *groff* version of BSD's alternative macro package for man pages. [*groff\_man*(7)](/groff_man/7.md), [*groff*(7)](/groff/7.md), [*groff\_char*(7)](/groff_char/7.md)