Chapter 16. man Macros

.B [text ...]

Set the arguments in the bold font, with a space between each argument. If no arguments are supplied, the next input line is set in bold.

.BI barg iarg ...

Set alternating barg in bold and iarg in italic, with no intervening spaces.

.BR barg rarg ...

Set alternating barg in bold and rarg in roman, with no intervening spaces.

.DT

Reset the tab stops to their defaults, every 1/2 inch.

.HP [indent]

tag text

Start a paragraph with a “hanging” indent, one where a tag sits out to the left side. The optional indent is how far to indent the paragraph. The tag text follows on the next line. See the example under .TP.

.I [text ...]

Set the arguments in the italic font, with a space between each argument. If no arguments are supplied, the next input line is set in italic.

.IB iarg barg ...

Set alternating iarg in italic and barg in bold, with no intervening spaces.

.IP tag [indent]

Start a paragraph with a hanging indent, one where a tag sits out to the left side. Unlike .HP and .TP, the tag is supplied as an argument to the macro. The optional indent is how far to indent the paragraph.

Example

.IP 1.
The first point is ...
.IP 2.
The second point is ...

.IR iarg rarg ...

Set alternating iarg in italic and rarg in roman, with no intervening spaces.

.IX text

Index macro. Solaris only; intended for SunSoft internal use.

.LP

Start a new paragraph. Just like .PP.

.P

Start a new paragraph. Just like .PP.

.PD [distance]

Set the interparagraph spacing to distance. With no argument, reset it to the default. Most useful to get multiple tags for a paragraph.

Example

Show that two options do the same thing.

.PP
.I Whizprog
accepts the following options.
.TP \w'\fB\-\^\-help\fP'u+3n
.PD 0
.B \-h
.TP
.PD
.B \-\^\-help
Print a helpful message and exit.

.PP

Start a new paragraph. This macro resets all the defaults, such as point size, font, and spacing.

.RB rarg barg ...

Set alternating rarg in roman and barg in bold, with no intervening spaces.

.RE

End a relative indent. Each .RE should match a preceding .RS. See .RS for an example.

.RI rarg iarg ...

Set alternating rarg in roman and iarg in italic, with no intervening spaces.

.RS [indent]

Start a relative indent. Each successive .RS increases the indent. The optional indent is how far to indent the following text. Each .RS should have an accompanying .RE.

Example

.PP
There are a number of important points to remember.
.RS
.IP 1.
The first point is ...
.IP 2.
The second point is ...
...
.RE
Forget these at your own risk!

.SB arg ...

Set arguments in bold, using a smaller point size, separated by spaces.

.SH arg ...

Section header. Start a new section, such as NAME or SYNOPSIS. Use double quotes around multiple words for longer headings.

.SM arg ...

Set arguments in roman, using a smaller point size, separated by spaces.

.SS arg ...

Subsection header. Start a new subsection. Use double quotes around multiple words for longer headings.

.TH title section date ...

Title heading. This is the first macro of a manpage, and sets the header and footer lines. The title is the name of the manpage. The section is the section the manpage should be in (a number, possibly followed by a letter). The date is the date the manpage was last updated. Different systems have different conventions for the remaining arguments to this macro. For Solaris, the fourth and fifth arguments are the left-page footer and the main (center) header.

Example

.TH WHIZPROG 1L "April 1, 1999"
.SH NAME
whizprog \- do amazing things
...

.TP [indent]

tag text

Start a paragraph with a hanging indent, one where a tag sits out to the left side. The optional indent is how far to indent the paragraph. The tag text follows on the next line. See also the example under .PD.

Example

.TP .2i
1.
The first point is ...
.TP .2i
2.
The second point is ...