Commit | Line | Data |
---|---|---|
86530b38 AT |
1 | .\" Automatically generated by Pod::Man v1.34, Pod::Parser v1.13 |
2 | .\" | |
3 | .\" Standard preamble: | |
4 | .\" ======================================================================== | |
5 | .de Sh \" Subsection heading | |
6 | .br | |
7 | .if t .Sp | |
8 | .ne 5 | |
9 | .PP | |
10 | \fB\\$1\fR | |
11 | .PP | |
12 | .. | |
13 | .de Sp \" Vertical space (when we can't use .PP) | |
14 | .if t .sp .5v | |
15 | .if n .sp | |
16 | .. | |
17 | .de Vb \" Begin verbatim text | |
18 | .ft CW | |
19 | .nf | |
20 | .ne \\$1 | |
21 | .. | |
22 | .de Ve \" End verbatim text | |
23 | .ft R | |
24 | .fi | |
25 | .. | |
26 | .\" Set up some character translations and predefined strings. \*(-- will | |
27 | .\" give an unbreakable dash, \*(PI will give pi, \*(L" will give a left | |
28 | .\" double quote, and \*(R" will give a right double quote. | will give a | |
29 | .\" real vertical bar. \*(C+ will give a nicer C++. Capital omega is used to | |
30 | .\" do unbreakable dashes and therefore won't be available. \*(C` and \*(C' | |
31 | .\" expand to `' in nroff, nothing in troff, for use with C<>. | |
32 | .tr \(*W-|\(bv\*(Tr | |
33 | .ds C+ C\v'-.1v'\h'-1p'\s-2+\h'-1p'+\s0\v'.1v'\h'-1p' | |
34 | .ie n \{\ | |
35 | . ds -- \(*W- | |
36 | . ds PI pi | |
37 | . if (\n(.H=4u)&(1m=24u) .ds -- \(*W\h'-12u'\(*W\h'-12u'-\" diablo 10 pitch | |
38 | . if (\n(.H=4u)&(1m=20u) .ds -- \(*W\h'-12u'\(*W\h'-8u'-\" diablo 12 pitch | |
39 | . ds L" "" | |
40 | . ds R" "" | |
41 | . ds C` "" | |
42 | . ds C' "" | |
43 | 'br\} | |
44 | .el\{\ | |
45 | . ds -- \|\(em\| | |
46 | . ds PI \(*p | |
47 | . ds L" `` | |
48 | . ds R" '' | |
49 | 'br\} | |
50 | .\" | |
51 | .\" If the F register is turned on, we'll generate index entries on stderr for | |
52 | .\" titles (.TH), headers (.SH), subsections (.Sh), items (.Ip), and index | |
53 | .\" entries marked with X<> in POD. Of course, you'll have to process the | |
54 | .\" output yourself in some meaningful fashion. | |
55 | .if \nF \{\ | |
56 | . de IX | |
57 | . tm Index:\\$1\t\\n%\t"\\$2" | |
58 | .. | |
59 | . nr % 0 | |
60 | . rr F | |
61 | .\} | |
62 | .\" | |
63 | .\" For nroff, turn off justification. Always turn off hyphenation; it makes | |
64 | .\" way too many mistakes in technical documents. | |
65 | .hy 0 | |
66 | .if n .na | |
67 | .\" | |
68 | .\" Accent mark definitions (@(#)ms.acc 1.5 88/02/08 SMI; from UCB 4.2). | |
69 | .\" Fear. Run. Save yourself. No user-serviceable parts. | |
70 | . \" fudge factors for nroff and troff | |
71 | .if n \{\ | |
72 | . ds #H 0 | |
73 | . ds #V .8m | |
74 | . ds #F .3m | |
75 | . ds #[ \f1 | |
76 | . ds #] \fP | |
77 | .\} | |
78 | .if t \{\ | |
79 | . ds #H ((1u-(\\\\n(.fu%2u))*.13m) | |
80 | . ds #V .6m | |
81 | . ds #F 0 | |
82 | . ds #[ \& | |
83 | . ds #] \& | |
84 | .\} | |
85 | . \" simple accents for nroff and troff | |
86 | .if n \{\ | |
87 | . ds ' \& | |
88 | . ds ` \& | |
89 | . ds ^ \& | |
90 | . ds , \& | |
91 | . ds ~ ~ | |
92 | . ds / | |
93 | .\} | |
94 | .if t \{\ | |
95 | . ds ' \\k:\h'-(\\n(.wu*8/10-\*(#H)'\'\h"|\\n:u" | |
96 | . ds ` \\k:\h'-(\\n(.wu*8/10-\*(#H)'\`\h'|\\n:u' | |
97 | . ds ^ \\k:\h'-(\\n(.wu*10/11-\*(#H)'^\h'|\\n:u' | |
98 | . ds , \\k:\h'-(\\n(.wu*8/10)',\h'|\\n:u' | |
99 | . ds ~ \\k:\h'-(\\n(.wu-\*(#H-.1m)'~\h'|\\n:u' | |
100 | . ds / \\k:\h'-(\\n(.wu*8/10-\*(#H)'\z\(sl\h'|\\n:u' | |
101 | .\} | |
102 | . \" troff and (daisy-wheel) nroff accents | |
103 | .ds : \\k:\h'-(\\n(.wu*8/10-\*(#H+.1m+\*(#F)'\v'-\*(#V'\z.\h'.2m+\*(#F'.\h'|\\n:u'\v'\*(#V' | |
104 | .ds 8 \h'\*(#H'\(*b\h'-\*(#H' | |
105 | .ds o \\k:\h'-(\\n(.wu+\w'\(de'u-\*(#H)/2u'\v'-.3n'\*(#[\z\(de\v'.3n'\h'|\\n:u'\*(#] | |
106 | .ds d- \h'\*(#H'\(pd\h'-\w'~'u'\v'-.25m'\f2\(hy\fP\v'.25m'\h'-\*(#H' | |
107 | .ds D- D\\k:\h'-\w'D'u'\v'-.11m'\z\(hy\v'.11m'\h'|\\n:u' | |
108 | .ds th \*(#[\v'.3m'\s+1I\s-1\v'-.3m'\h'-(\w'I'u*2/3)'\s-1o\s+1\*(#] | |
109 | .ds Th \*(#[\s+2I\s-2\h'-\w'I'u*3/5'\v'-.3m'o\v'.3m'\*(#] | |
110 | .ds ae a\h'-(\w'a'u*4/10)'e | |
111 | .ds Ae A\h'-(\w'A'u*4/10)'E | |
112 | . \" corrections for vroff | |
113 | .if v .ds ~ \\k:\h'-(\\n(.wu*9/10-\*(#H)'\s-2\u~\d\s+2\h'|\\n:u' | |
114 | .if v .ds ^ \\k:\h'-(\\n(.wu*10/11-\*(#H)'\v'-.4m'^\v'.4m'\h'|\\n:u' | |
115 | . \" for low resolution devices (crt and lpr) | |
116 | .if \n(.H>23 .if \n(.V>19 \ | |
117 | \{\ | |
118 | . ds : e | |
119 | . ds 8 ss | |
120 | . ds o a | |
121 | . ds d- d\h'-1'\(ga | |
122 | . ds D- D\h'-1'\(hy | |
123 | . ds th \o'bp' | |
124 | . ds Th \o'LP' | |
125 | . ds ae ae | |
126 | . ds Ae AE | |
127 | .\} | |
128 | .rm #[ #] #H #V #F C | |
129 | .\" ======================================================================== | |
130 | .\" | |
131 | .IX Title "POD2MAN 1" | |
132 | .TH POD2MAN 1 "2002-08-28" "perl v5.8.0" "Perl Programmers Reference Guide" | |
133 | .SH "NAME" | |
134 | pod2man \- Convert POD data to formatted *roff input | |
135 | .SH "SYNOPSIS" | |
136 | .IX Header "SYNOPSIS" | |
137 | pod2man [\fB\-\-section\fR=\fImanext\fR] [\fB\-\-release\fR=\fIversion\fR] | |
138 | [\fB\-\-center\fR=\fIstring\fR] [\fB\-\-date\fR=\fIstring\fR] [\fB\-\-fixed\fR=\fIfont\fR] | |
139 | [\fB\-\-fixedbold\fR=\fIfont\fR] [\fB\-\-fixeditalic\fR=\fIfont\fR] | |
140 | [\fB\-\-fixedbolditalic\fR=\fIfont\fR] [\fB\-\-name\fR=\fIname\fR] [\fB\-\-official\fR] | |
141 | [\fB\-\-lax\fR] [\fB\-\-quotes\fR=\fIquotes\fR] [\fB\-\-verbose\fR] | |
142 | [\fIinput\fR [\fIoutput\fR] ...] | |
143 | .PP | |
144 | pod2man \fB\-\-help\fR | |
145 | .SH "DESCRIPTION" | |
146 | .IX Header "DESCRIPTION" | |
147 | \&\fBpod2man\fR is a front-end for Pod::Man, using it to generate *roff input | |
148 | from \s-1POD\s0 source. The resulting *roff code is suitable for display on a | |
149 | terminal using \fInroff\fR\|(1), normally via \fIman\fR\|(1), or printing using \fItroff\fR\|(1). | |
150 | .PP | |
151 | \&\fIinput\fR is the file to read for \s-1POD\s0 source (the \s-1POD\s0 can be embedded in | |
152 | code). If \fIinput\fR isn't given, it defaults to \s-1STDIN\s0. \fIoutput\fR, if given, | |
153 | is the file to which to write the formatted output. If \fIoutput\fR isn't | |
154 | given, the formatted output is written to \s-1STDOUT\s0. Several \s-1POD\s0 files can be | |
155 | processed in the same \fBpod2man\fR invocation (saving module load and compile | |
156 | times) by providing multiple pairs of \fIinput\fR and \fIoutput\fR files on the | |
157 | command line. | |
158 | .PP | |
159 | \&\fB\-\-section\fR, \fB\-\-release\fR, \fB\-\-center\fR, \fB\-\-date\fR, and \fB\-\-official\fR can be | |
160 | used to set the headers and footers to use; if not given, Pod::Man will | |
161 | assume various defaults. See below or Pod::Man for details. | |
162 | .PP | |
163 | \&\fBpod2man\fR assumes that your *roff formatters have a fixed-width font named | |
164 | \&\s-1CW\s0. If yours is called something else (like \s-1CR\s0), use \fB\-\-fixed\fR to specify | |
165 | it. This generally only matters for troff output for printing. Similarly, | |
166 | you can set the fonts used for bold, italic, and bold italic fixed-width | |
167 | output. | |
168 | .PP | |
169 | Besides the obvious pod conversions, Pod::Man, and therefore pod2man also | |
170 | takes care of formatting \fIfunc()\fR, func(n), and simple variable references | |
171 | like \f(CW$foo\fR or \f(CW@bar\fR so you don't have to use code escapes for them; complex | |
172 | expressions like \f(CW$fred{'stuff'}\fR will still need to be escaped, though. | |
173 | It also translates dashes that aren't used as hyphens into en dashes, makes | |
174 | long dashes\*(--like this\*(--into proper em dashes, fixes \*(L"paired quotes,\*(R" and | |
175 | takes care of several other troff-specific tweaks. See Pod::Man for | |
176 | complete information. | |
177 | .SH "OPTIONS" | |
178 | .IX Header "OPTIONS" | |
179 | .IP "\fB\-c\fR \fIstring\fR, \fB\-\-center\fR=\fIstring\fR" 4 | |
180 | .IX Item "-c string, --center=string" | |
181 | Sets the centered page header to \fIstring\fR. The default is \*(L"User | |
182 | Contributed Perl Documentation\*(R", but also see \fB\-\-official\fR below. | |
183 | .IP "\fB\-d\fR \fIstring\fR, \fB\-\-date\fR=\fIstring\fR" 4 | |
184 | .IX Item "-d string, --date=string" | |
185 | Set the left-hand footer string to this value. By default, the modification | |
186 | date of the input file will be used, or the current date if input comes from | |
187 | \&\s-1STDIN\s0. | |
188 | .IP "\fB\-\-fixed\fR=\fIfont\fR" 4 | |
189 | .IX Item "--fixed=font" | |
190 | The fixed-width font to use for vertabim text and code. Defaults to \s-1CW\s0. | |
191 | Some systems may want \s-1CR\s0 instead. Only matters for \fItroff\fR\|(1) output. | |
192 | .IP "\fB\-\-fixedbold\fR=\fIfont\fR" 4 | |
193 | .IX Item "--fixedbold=font" | |
194 | Bold version of the fixed-width font. Defaults to \s-1CB\s0. Only matters for | |
195 | \&\fItroff\fR\|(1) output. | |
196 | .IP "\fB\-\-fixeditalic\fR=\fIfont\fR" 4 | |
197 | .IX Item "--fixeditalic=font" | |
198 | Italic version of the fixed-width font (actually, something of a misnomer, | |
199 | since most fixed-width fonts only have an oblique version, not an italic | |
200 | version). Defaults to \s-1CI\s0. Only matters for \fItroff\fR\|(1) output. | |
201 | .IP "\fB\-\-fixedbolditalic\fR=\fIfont\fR" 4 | |
202 | .IX Item "--fixedbolditalic=font" | |
203 | Bold italic (probably actually oblique) version of the fixed-width font. | |
204 | Pod::Man doesn't assume you have this, and defaults to \s-1CB\s0. Some systems | |
205 | (such as Solaris) have this font available as \s-1CX\s0. Only matters for \fItroff\fR\|(1) | |
206 | output. | |
207 | .IP "\fB\-h\fR, \fB\-\-help\fR" 4 | |
208 | .IX Item "-h, --help" | |
209 | Print out usage information. | |
210 | .IP "\fB\-l\fR, \fB\-\-lax\fR" 4 | |
211 | .IX Item "-l, --lax" | |
212 | No longer used. \fBpod2man\fR used to check its input for validity as a manual | |
213 | page, but this should now be done by \fIpodchecker\fR\|(1) instead. Accepted for | |
214 | backwards compatibility; this option no longer does anything. | |
215 | .IP "\fB\-n\fR \fIname\fR, \fB\-\-name\fR=\fIname\fR" 4 | |
216 | .IX Item "-n name, --name=name" | |
217 | Set the name of the manual page to \fIname\fR. Without this option, the manual | |
218 | name is set to the uppercased base name of the file being converted unless | |
219 | the manual section is 3, in which case the path is parsed to see if it is a | |
220 | Perl module path. If it is, a path like \f(CW\*(C`.../lib/Pod/Man.pm\*(C'\fR is converted | |
221 | into a name like \f(CW\*(C`Pod::Man\*(C'\fR. This option, if given, overrides any | |
222 | automatic determination of the name. | |
223 | .Sp | |
224 | Note that this option is probably not useful when converting multiple \s-1POD\s0 | |
225 | files at once. The convention for Unix man pages for commands is for the | |
226 | man page title to be in all-uppercase even if the command isn't. | |
227 | .IP "\fB\-o\fR, \fB\-\-official\fR" 4 | |
228 | .IX Item "-o, --official" | |
229 | Set the default header to indicate that this page is part of the standard | |
230 | Perl release, if \fB\-\-center\fR is not also given. | |
231 | .IP "\fB\-q\fR \fIquotes\fR, \fB\-\-quotes\fR=\fIquotes\fR" 4 | |
232 | .IX Item "-q quotes, --quotes=quotes" | |
233 | Sets the quote marks used to surround C<> text to \fIquotes\fR. If | |
234 | \&\fIquotes\fR is a single character, it is used as both the left and right | |
235 | quote; if \fIquotes\fR is two characters, the first character is used as the | |
236 | left quote and the second as the right quoted; and if \fIquotes\fR is four | |
237 | characters, the first two are used as the left quote and the second two as | |
238 | the right quote. | |
239 | .Sp | |
240 | \&\fIquotes\fR may also be set to the special value \f(CW\*(C`none\*(C'\fR, in which case no | |
241 | quote marks are added around C<> text (but the font is still changed for | |
242 | troff output). | |
243 | .IP "\fB\-r\fR, \fB\-\-release\fR" 4 | |
244 | .IX Item "-r, --release" | |
245 | Set the centered footer. By default, this is the version of Perl you run | |
246 | \&\fBpod2man\fR under. Note that some system an macro sets assume that the | |
247 | centered footer will be a modification date and will prepend something like | |
248 | \&\*(L"Last modified: \*(R"; if this is the case, you may want to set \fB\-\-release\fR to | |
249 | the last modified date and \fB\-\-date\fR to the version number. | |
250 | .IP "\fB\-s\fR, \fB\-\-section\fR" 4 | |
251 | .IX Item "-s, --section" | |
252 | Set the section for the \f(CW\*(C`.TH\*(C'\fR macro. The standard section numbering | |
253 | convention is to use 1 for user commands, 2 for system calls, 3 for | |
254 | functions, 4 for devices, 5 for file formats, 6 for games, 7 for | |
255 | miscellaneous information, and 8 for administrator commands. There is a lot | |
256 | of variation here, however; some systems (like Solaris) use 4 for file | |
257 | formats, 5 for miscellaneous information, and 7 for devices. Still others | |
258 | use 1m instead of 8, or some mix of both. About the only section numbers | |
259 | that are reliably consistent are 1, 2, and 3. | |
260 | .Sp | |
261 | By default, section 1 will be used unless the file ends in .pm in which case | |
262 | section 3 will be selected. | |
263 | .IP "\fB\-v\fR, \fB\-\-verbose\fR" 4 | |
264 | .IX Item "-v, --verbose" | |
265 | Print out the name of each output file as it is being generated. | |
266 | .SH "DIAGNOSTICS" | |
267 | .IX Header "DIAGNOSTICS" | |
268 | If \fBpod2man\fR fails with errors, see Pod::Man and Pod::Parser for | |
269 | information about what those errors might mean. | |
270 | .SH "EXAMPLES" | |
271 | .IX Header "EXAMPLES" | |
272 | .Vb 3 | |
273 | \& pod2man program > program.1 | |
274 | \& pod2man SomeModule.pm /usr/perl/man/man3/SomeModule.3 | |
275 | \& pod2man --section=7 note.pod > note.7 | |
276 | .Ve | |
277 | .PP | |
278 | If you would like to print out a lot of man page continuously, you probably | |
279 | want to set the C and D registers to set contiguous page numbering and | |
280 | even/odd paging, at least on some versions of \fIman\fR\|(7). | |
281 | .PP | |
282 | .Vb 1 | |
283 | \& troff -man -rC1 -rD1 perl.1 perldata.1 perlsyn.1 ... | |
284 | .Ve | |
285 | .PP | |
286 | To get index entries on stderr, turn on the F register, as in: | |
287 | .PP | |
288 | .Vb 1 | |
289 | \& troff -man -rF1 perl.1 | |
290 | .Ve | |
291 | .PP | |
292 | The indexing merely outputs messages via \f(CW\*(C`.tm\*(C'\fR for each major page, | |
293 | section, subsection, item, and any \f(CW\*(C`X<>\*(C'\fR directives. See | |
294 | Pod::Man for more details. | |
295 | .SH "BUGS" | |
296 | .IX Header "BUGS" | |
297 | Lots of this documentation is duplicated from Pod::Man. | |
298 | .SH "NOTES" | |
299 | .IX Header "NOTES" | |
300 | For those not sure of the proper layout of a man page, here are some notes | |
301 | on writing a proper man page. | |
302 | .PP | |
303 | The name of the program being documented is conventionally written in bold | |
304 | (using B<>) wherever it occurs, as are all program options. | |
305 | Arguments should be written in italics (I<>). Functions are | |
306 | traditionally written in italics; if you write a function as \fIfunction()\fR, | |
307 | Pod::Man will take care of this for you. Literal code or commands should | |
308 | be in C<>. References to other man pages should be in the form | |
309 | \&\f(CW\*(C`manpage(section)\*(C'\fR, and Pod::Man will automatically format those | |
310 | appropriately. As an exception, it's traditional not to use this form when | |
311 | referring to module documentation; use \f(CW\*(C`L<Module::Name>\*(C'\fR instead. | |
312 | .PP | |
313 | References to other programs or functions are normally in the form of man | |
314 | page references so that cross-referencing tools can provide the user with | |
315 | links and the like. It's possible to overdo this, though, so be careful not | |
316 | to clutter your documentation with too much markup. | |
317 | .PP | |
318 | The major headers should be set out using a \f(CW\*(C`=head1\*(C'\fR directive, and are | |
319 | historically written in the rather startling \s-1ALL\s0 \s-1UPPER\s0 \s-1CASE\s0 format, although | |
320 | this is not mandatory. Minor headers may be included using \f(CW\*(C`=head2\*(C'\fR, and | |
321 | are typically in mixed case. | |
322 | .PP | |
323 | The standard sections of a manual page are: | |
324 | .IP "\s-1NAME\s0" 4 | |
325 | .IX Item "NAME" | |
326 | Mandatory section; should be a comma-separated list of programs or functions | |
327 | documented by this podpage, such as: | |
328 | .Sp | |
329 | .Vb 1 | |
330 | \& foo, bar - programs to do something | |
331 | .Ve | |
332 | .Sp | |
333 | Manual page indexers are often extremely picky about the format of this | |
334 | section, so don't put anything in it except this line. A single dash, and | |
335 | only a single dash, should separate the list of programs or functions from | |
336 | the description. Functions should not be qualified with \f(CW\*(C`()\*(C'\fR or the like. | |
337 | The description should ideally fit on a single line, even if a man program | |
338 | replaces the dash with a few tabs. | |
339 | .IP "\s-1SYNOPSIS\s0" 4 | |
340 | .IX Item "SYNOPSIS" | |
341 | A short usage summary for programs and functions. This section is mandatory | |
342 | for section 3 pages. | |
343 | .IP "\s-1DESCRIPTION\s0" 4 | |
344 | .IX Item "DESCRIPTION" | |
345 | Extended description and discussion of the program or functions, or the body | |
346 | of the documentation for man pages that document something else. If | |
347 | particularly long, it's a good idea to break this up into subsections | |
348 | \&\f(CW\*(C`=head2\*(C'\fR directives like: | |
349 | .Sp | |
350 | .Vb 1 | |
351 | \& =head2 Normal Usage | |
352 | .Ve | |
353 | .Sp | |
354 | .Vb 1 | |
355 | \& =head2 Advanced Features | |
356 | .Ve | |
357 | .Sp | |
358 | .Vb 1 | |
359 | \& =head2 Writing Configuration Files | |
360 | .Ve | |
361 | .Sp | |
362 | or whatever is appropriate for your documentation. | |
363 | .IP "\s-1OPTIONS\s0" 4 | |
364 | .IX Item "OPTIONS" | |
365 | Detailed description of each of the command-line options taken by the | |
366 | program. This should be separate from the description for the use of things | |
367 | like Pod::Usage. This is normally presented as a list, with | |
368 | each option as a separate \f(CW\*(C`=item\*(C'\fR. The specific option string should be | |
369 | enclosed in B<>. Any values that the option takes should be | |
370 | enclosed in I<>. For example, the section for the option | |
371 | \&\fB\-\-section\fR=\fImanext\fR would be introduced with: | |
372 | .Sp | |
373 | .Vb 1 | |
374 | \& =item B<--section>=I<manext> | |
375 | .Ve | |
376 | .Sp | |
377 | Synonymous options (like both the short and long forms) are separated by a | |
378 | comma and a space on the same \f(CW\*(C`=item\*(C'\fR line, or optionally listed as their | |
379 | own item with a reference to the canonical name. For example, since | |
380 | \&\fB\-\-section\fR can also be written as \fB\-s\fR, the above would be: | |
381 | .Sp | |
382 | .Vb 1 | |
383 | \& =item B<-s> I<manext>, B<--section>=I<manext> | |
384 | .Ve | |
385 | .Sp | |
386 | (Writing the short option first is arguably easier to read, since the long | |
387 | option is long enough to draw the eye to it anyway and the short option can | |
388 | otherwise get lost in visual noise.) | |
389 | .IP "\s-1RETURN\s0 \s-1VALUE\s0" 4 | |
390 | .IX Item "RETURN VALUE" | |
391 | What the program or function returns, if successful. This section can be | |
392 | omitted for programs whose precise exit codes aren't important, provided | |
393 | they return 0 on success as is standard. It should always be present for | |
394 | functions. | |
395 | .IP "\s-1ERRORS\s0" 4 | |
396 | .IX Item "ERRORS" | |
397 | Exceptions, error return codes, exit statuses, and errno settings. | |
398 | Typically used for function documentation; program documentation uses | |
399 | \&\s-1DIAGNOSTICS\s0 instead. The general rule of thumb is that errors printed to | |
400 | \&\s-1STDOUT\s0 or \s-1STDERR\s0 and intended for the end user are documented in \s-1DIAGNOSTICS\s0 | |
401 | while errors passed internal to the calling program and intended for other | |
402 | programmers are documented in \s-1ERRORS\s0. When documenting a function that sets | |
403 | errno, a full list of the possible errno values should be given here. | |
404 | .IP "\s-1DIAGNOSTICS\s0" 4 | |
405 | .IX Item "DIAGNOSTICS" | |
406 | All possible messages the program can print out\*(--and what they mean. You | |
407 | may wish to follow the same documentation style as the Perl documentation; | |
408 | see \fIperldiag\fR\|(1) for more details (and look at the \s-1POD\s0 source as well). | |
409 | .Sp | |
410 | If applicable, please include details on what the user should do to correct | |
411 | the error; documenting an error as indicating \*(L"the input buffer is too | |
412 | small\*(R" without telling the user how to increase the size of the input buffer | |
413 | (or at least telling them that it isn't possible) aren't very useful. | |
414 | .IP "\s-1EXAMPLES\s0" 4 | |
415 | .IX Item "EXAMPLES" | |
416 | Give some example uses of the program or function. Don't skimp; users often | |
417 | find this the most useful part of the documentation. The examples are | |
418 | generally given as verbatim paragraphs. | |
419 | .Sp | |
420 | Don't just present an example without explaining what it does. Adding a | |
421 | short paragraph saying what the example will do can increase the value of | |
422 | the example immensely. | |
423 | .IP "\s-1ENVIRONMENT\s0" 4 | |
424 | .IX Item "ENVIRONMENT" | |
425 | Environment variables that the program cares about, normally presented as a | |
426 | list using \f(CW\*(C`=over\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`=item\*(C'\fR, and \f(CW\*(C`=back\*(C'\fR. For example: | |
427 | .Sp | |
428 | .Vb 1 | |
429 | \& =over 6 | |
430 | .Ve | |
431 | .Sp | |
432 | .Vb 1 | |
433 | \& =item HOME | |
434 | .Ve | |
435 | .Sp | |
436 | .Vb 2 | |
437 | \& Used to determine the user's home directory. F<.foorc> in this | |
438 | \& directory is read for configuration details, if it exists. | |
439 | .Ve | |
440 | .Sp | |
441 | .Vb 1 | |
442 | \& =back | |
443 | .Ve | |
444 | .Sp | |
445 | Since environment variables are normally in all uppercase, no additional | |
446 | special formatting is generally needed; they're glaring enough as it is. | |
447 | .IP "\s-1FILES\s0" 4 | |
448 | .IX Item "FILES" | |
449 | All files used by the program or function, normally presented as a list, and | |
450 | what it uses them for. File names should be enclosed in F<>. It's | |
451 | particularly important to document files that will be potentially modified. | |
452 | .IP "\s-1CAVEATS\s0" 4 | |
453 | .IX Item "CAVEATS" | |
454 | Things to take special care with, sometimes called \s-1WARNINGS\s0. | |
455 | .IP "\s-1BUGS\s0" 4 | |
456 | .IX Item "BUGS" | |
457 | Things that are broken or just don't work quite right. | |
458 | .IP "\s-1RESTRICTIONS\s0" 4 | |
459 | .IX Item "RESTRICTIONS" | |
460 | Bugs you don't plan to fix. :\-) | |
461 | .IP "\s-1NOTES\s0" 4 | |
462 | .IX Item "NOTES" | |
463 | Miscellaneous commentary. | |
464 | .IP "\s-1SEE\s0 \s-1ALSO\s0" 4 | |
465 | .IX Item "SEE ALSO" | |
466 | Other man pages to check out, like \fIman\fR\|(1), \fIman\fR\|(7), \fImakewhatis\fR\|(8), or | |
467 | \&\fIcatman\fR\|(8). Normally a simple list of man pages separated by commas, or a | |
468 | paragraph giving the name of a reference work. Man page references, if they | |
469 | use the standard \f(CW\*(C`name(section)\*(C'\fR form, don't have to be enclosed in | |
470 | L<> (although it's recommended), but other things in this section | |
471 | probably should be when appropriate. | |
472 | .Sp | |
473 | If the package has a mailing list, include a \s-1URL\s0 or subscription | |
474 | instructions here. | |
475 | .Sp | |
476 | If the package has a web site, include a \s-1URL\s0 here. | |
477 | .IP "\s-1AUTHOR\s0" 4 | |
478 | .IX Item "AUTHOR" | |
479 | Who wrote it (use \s-1AUTHORS\s0 for multiple people). Including your current | |
480 | e\-mail address (or some e\-mail address to which bug reports should be sent) | |
481 | so that users have a way of contacting you is a good idea. Remember that | |
482 | program documentation tends to roam the wild for far longer than you expect | |
483 | and pick an e\-mail address that's likely to last if possible. | |
484 | .IP "\s-1COPYRIGHT\s0 \s-1AND\s0 \s-1LICENSE\s0" 4 | |
485 | .IX Item "COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE" | |
486 | For copyright | |
487 | .Sp | |
488 | .Vb 1 | |
489 | \& Copyright YEAR(s) by YOUR NAME(s) | |
490 | .Ve | |
491 | .Sp | |
492 | (No, (C) is not needed. No, \*(L"all rights reserved\*(R" is not needed.) | |
493 | .Sp | |
494 | For licensing the easiest way is to use the same licensing as Perl itself: | |
495 | .Sp | |
496 | .Vb 2 | |
497 | \& This library is free software; you may redistribute it and/or modify | |
498 | \& it under the same terms as Perl itself. | |
499 | .Ve | |
500 | .Sp | |
501 | This makes it easy for people to use your module with Perl. Note that | |
502 | this licensing is neither an endorsement or a requirement, you are of | |
503 | course free to choose any licensing. | |
504 | .IP "\s-1HISTORY\s0" 4 | |
505 | .IX Item "HISTORY" | |
506 | Programs derived from other sources sometimes have this, or you might keep | |
507 | a modification log here. If the log gets overly long or detailed, | |
508 | consider maintaining it in a separate file, though. | |
509 | .PP | |
510 | In addition, some systems use \s-1CONFORMING\s0 \s-1TO\s0 to note conformance to relevant | |
511 | standards and MT-LEVEL to note safeness for use in threaded programs or | |
512 | signal handlers. These headings are primarily useful when documenting parts | |
513 | of a C library. Documentation of object-oriented libraries or modules may | |
514 | use \s-1CONSTRUCTORS\s0 and \s-1METHODS\s0 sections for detailed documentation of the | |
515 | parts of the library and save the \s-1DESCRIPTION\s0 section for an overview; other | |
516 | large modules may use \s-1FUNCTIONS\s0 for similar reasons. Some people use | |
517 | \&\s-1OVERVIEW\s0 to summarize the description if it's quite long. | |
518 | .PP | |
519 | Section ordering varies, although \s-1NAME\s0 should \fIalways\fR be the first section | |
520 | (you'll break some man page systems otherwise), and \s-1NAME\s0, \s-1SYNOPSIS\s0, | |
521 | \&\s-1DESCRIPTION\s0, and \s-1OPTIONS\s0 generally always occur first and in that order if | |
522 | present. In general, \s-1SEE\s0 \s-1ALSO\s0, \s-1AUTHOR\s0, and similar material should be left | |
523 | for last. Some systems also move \s-1WARNINGS\s0 and \s-1NOTES\s0 to last. The order | |
524 | given above should be reasonable for most purposes. | |
525 | .PP | |
526 | Finally, as a general note, try not to use an excessive amount of markup. | |
527 | As documented here and in Pod::Man, you can safely leave Perl variables, | |
528 | function names, man page references, and the like unadorned by markup and | |
529 | the \s-1POD\s0 translators will figure it out for you. This makes it much easier | |
530 | to later edit the documentation. Note that many existing translators | |
531 | (including this one currently) will do the wrong thing with e\-mail addresses | |
532 | or URLs when wrapped in L<>, so don't do that. | |
533 | .PP | |
534 | For additional information that may be more accurate for your specific | |
535 | system, see either \fIman\fR\|(5) or \fIman\fR\|(7) depending on your system manual | |
536 | section numbering conventions. | |
537 | .SH "SEE ALSO" | |
538 | .IX Header "SEE ALSO" | |
539 | Pod::Man, Pod::Parser, \fIman\fR\|(1), \fInroff\fR\|(1), \fIpodchecker\fR\|(1), | |
540 | \&\fItroff\fR\|(1), \fIman\fR\|(7) | |
541 | .PP | |
542 | The man page documenting the an macro set may be \fIman\fR\|(5) instead of | |
543 | \&\fIman\fR\|(7) on your system. | |
544 | .PP | |
545 | The current version of this script is always available from its web site at | |
546 | <http://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/software/podlators/>. It is also part of the | |
547 | Perl core distribution as of 5.6.0. | |
548 | .SH "AUTHOR" | |
549 | .IX Header "AUTHOR" | |
550 | Russ Allbery <rra@stanford.edu>, based \fIvery\fR heavily on the original | |
551 | \&\fBpod2man\fR by Larry Wall and Tom Christiansen. Large portions of this | |
552 | documentation, particularly the sections on the anatomy of a proper man | |
553 | page, are taken from the \fBpod2man\fR documentation by Tom. | |
554 | .SH "COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE" | |
555 | .IX Header "COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE" | |
556 | Copyright 1999, 2000, 2001 by Russ Allbery <rra@stanford.edu>. | |
557 | .PP | |
558 | This program is free software; you may redistribute it and/or modify it | |
559 | under the same terms as Perl itself. |