STYLE.MDOC(5) FreeBSD File Formats Manual STYLE.MDOC(5)
NAME
style.mdoc - FreeBSD manual page style guide
DESCRIPTION
This file specifies the preferred style for manual pages in the FreeBSD
source tree.
Code Examples
- Use literal formatting for examples and literal shell commands, e.g.:
Then run
.Ql make install clean .
which renders as:
Then run `make install clean'.
The incorrect way would be to use macros like Nm to stylize the command
invocation:
Then run
.Ql Nm make Cm install Cm clean .
which renders as:
Then run `make install clean'.
- The Ql macro is the preferred macro for formatting literal inline
fragments. Historically, Dq Li was the preferred way before the
deprecation of Li.
HARDWARE Section
Driver manuals in section four should have a 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:
- The introductory sentence should be in the form:
The
.Nm
driver supports the following $device_class:
Followed by the list of supported hardware.
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.
- 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.
EXAMPLES Section
- Format the EXAMPLES section in the following way:
.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
which renders as:
Example 1: Doing Something
The following command does something.
# make -VLEGAL
Example 2: Doing Something Different
The following command does something different.
# bectl list
It is good to know this command.
Lists
- The -width argument to the .Bl macro should match the length of the
longest rendered item in the list, e.g.:
.Bl -tag -width "-a address"
.It Fl a Ar address
Set the address.
.It Fl v
Print the version.
.El
In case the longest item is too long and hurts readability, the
recommendation is to set the -width argument to `indent', e.g.:
.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
Synopsis Formatting
- Do not put whitespace between alternative parameters separated with a
pipe ("|"), e.g.:
.Cm compression Cm on Ns | Ns Cm off
.Cm install Fl -all Ns | Ns Ar portname Ar ...
which in the SYNOPSIS section is rendered as:
compression on|off
install --all|portname ...
- Use Cm to stylize characters that are command modifiers (e.g., ",", "@"
or "="). For example:
.Sm off
.Fl -meet Cm = Ar who Oo Cm , Ar who " " Ar "..." Oc Cm @ Ar where
.Sm on
which renders as:
--meet=who[,who ...]@where
instead of:
.Sm off
.Fl -meet No = Ar who Oo , Ar who " " Ar "..." Oc @ Ar where
.Sm on
which would render as:
--meet=who[,who ...]@where
It is important to realize that in the correct example, ",", "@" and
"=" are stylized with Cm. At the same time, the square brackets ("[]")
are not stylized as they do not belong to the syntax of the --meet
flag.
Quoting
- Use the Dq ("") macro for quoting. Use the Sq (`') macro for quoting
inside quotes. The use of the Qq ("") macro is usually not necessary.
Variables
- Use Va instead of Dv for sysctl(8) variables like kdb.enter.panic.
- Use the angle brackets Aq ("<>") macro for arguments (Ar) when they are
mixed with similarly stylized macros like Pa or Va, e.g.:
.Va critical_filesystems_ Ns Aq Ar type
which renders as:
critical_filesystems_<type>
instead of:
.Va critical_filesystems_ Ns Ar type
that would be rendered as:
critical_filesystems_type
SEE ALSO
man(1), mandoc(1), mdoc(7), roff(7), style(9)
HISTORY
This manual page first appeared in FreeBSD 13.0.
AUTHORS
Mateusz Piotrowski <
[email protected]>
FreeBSD 14.1-RELEASE-p8 December 21, 2024 FreeBSD 14.1-RELEASE-p8