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1 #!/usr/bin/perl
2 eval 'exec /usr/bin/perl -S $0 ${1+"$@"}'
3 if $running_under_some_shell;
5 # pod2man -- Convert POD data to formatted *roff input.
6 # $Id: pod2man.PL,v 1.10 2002/07/15 05:45:56 eagle Exp $
8 # Copyright 1999, 2000, 2001 by Russ Allbery <rra@stanford.edu>
10 # This program is free software; you may redistribute it and/or modify it
11 # under the same terms as Perl itself.
13 require 5.004;
15 use Getopt::Long qw(GetOptions);
16 use Pod::Man ();
17 use Pod::Usage qw(pod2usage);
19 use strict;
21 # Silence -w warnings.
22 use vars qw($running_under_some_shell);
24 # Insert -- into @ARGV before any single dash argument to hide it from
25 # Getopt::Long; we want to interpret it as meaning stdin (which Pod::Parser
26 # does correctly).
27 my $stdin;
28 @ARGV = map { $_ eq '-' && !$stdin++ ? ('--', $_) : $_ } @ARGV;
30 # Parse our options, trying to retain backwards compatibility with pod2man but
31 # allowing short forms as well. --lax is currently ignored.
32 my %options;
33 Getopt::Long::config ('bundling_override');
34 GetOptions (\%options, 'section|s=s', 'release|r:s', 'center|c=s',
35 'date|d=s', 'fixed=s', 'fixedbold=s', 'fixeditalic=s',
36 'fixedbolditalic=s', 'name|n=s', 'official|o', 'quotes|q=s',
37 'lax|l', 'help|h', 'verbose|v') or exit 1;
38 pod2usage (0) if $options{help};
40 # Official sets --center, but don't override things explicitly set.
41 if ($options{official} && !defined $options{center}) {
42 $options{center} = 'Perl Programmers Reference Guide';
45 # Verbose is only our flag, not a Pod::Man flag.
46 my $verbose = $options{verbose};
47 delete $options{verbose};
49 # This isn't a valid Pod::Man option and is only accepted for backwards
50 # compatibility.
51 delete $options{lax};
53 # Initialize and run the formatter, pulling a pair of input and output off at
54 # a time.
55 my $parser = Pod::Man->new (%options);
56 my @files;
57 do {
58 @files = splice (@ARGV, 0, 2);
59 print " $files[1]\n" if $verbose;
60 $parser->parse_from_file (@files);
61 } while (@ARGV);
63 __END__
65 =head1 NAME
67 pod2man - Convert POD data to formatted *roff input
69 =head1 SYNOPSIS
71 pod2man [B<--section>=I<manext>] [B<--release>=I<version>]
72 [B<--center>=I<string>] [B<--date>=I<string>] [B<--fixed>=I<font>]
73 [B<--fixedbold>=I<font>] [B<--fixeditalic>=I<font>]
74 [B<--fixedbolditalic>=I<font>] [B<--name>=I<name>] [B<--official>]
75 [B<--lax>] [B<--quotes>=I<quotes>] [B<--verbose>]
76 [I<input> [I<output>] ...]
78 pod2man B<--help>
80 =head1 DESCRIPTION
82 B<pod2man> is a front-end for Pod::Man, using it to generate *roff input
83 from POD source. The resulting *roff code is suitable for display on a
84 terminal using nroff(1), normally via man(1), or printing using troff(1).
86 I<input> is the file to read for POD source (the POD can be embedded in
87 code). If I<input> isn't given, it defaults to STDIN. I<output>, if given,
88 is the file to which to write the formatted output. If I<output> isn't
89 given, the formatted output is written to STDOUT. Several POD files can be
90 processed in the same B<pod2man> invocation (saving module load and compile
91 times) by providing multiple pairs of I<input> and I<output> files on the
92 command line.
94 B<--section>, B<--release>, B<--center>, B<--date>, and B<--official> can be
95 used to set the headers and footers to use; if not given, Pod::Man will
96 assume various defaults. See below or L<Pod::Man> for details.
98 B<pod2man> assumes that your *roff formatters have a fixed-width font named
99 CW. If yours is called something else (like CR), use B<--fixed> to specify
100 it. This generally only matters for troff output for printing. Similarly,
101 you can set the fonts used for bold, italic, and bold italic fixed-width
102 output.
104 Besides the obvious pod conversions, Pod::Man, and therefore pod2man also
105 takes care of formatting func(), func(n), and simple variable references
106 like $foo or @bar so you don't have to use code escapes for them; complex
107 expressions like C<$fred{'stuff'}> will still need to be escaped, though.
108 It also translates dashes that aren't used as hyphens into en dashes, makes
109 long dashes--like this--into proper em dashes, fixes "paired quotes," and
110 takes care of several other troff-specific tweaks. See L<Pod::Man> for
111 complete information.
113 =head1 OPTIONS
115 =over 4
117 =item B<-c> I<string>, B<--center>=I<string>
119 Sets the centered page header to I<string>. The default is "User
120 Contributed Perl Documentation", but also see B<--official> below.
122 =item B<-d> I<string>, B<--date>=I<string>
124 Set the left-hand footer string to this value. By default, the modification
125 date of the input file will be used, or the current date if input comes from
126 STDIN.
128 =item B<--fixed>=I<font>
130 The fixed-width font to use for vertabim text and code. Defaults to CW.
131 Some systems may want CR instead. Only matters for troff(1) output.
133 =item B<--fixedbold>=I<font>
135 Bold version of the fixed-width font. Defaults to CB. Only matters for
136 troff(1) output.
138 =item B<--fixeditalic>=I<font>
140 Italic version of the fixed-width font (actually, something of a misnomer,
141 since most fixed-width fonts only have an oblique version, not an italic
142 version). Defaults to CI. Only matters for troff(1) output.
144 =item B<--fixedbolditalic>=I<font>
146 Bold italic (probably actually oblique) version of the fixed-width font.
147 Pod::Man doesn't assume you have this, and defaults to CB. Some systems
148 (such as Solaris) have this font available as CX. Only matters for troff(1)
149 output.
151 =item B<-h>, B<--help>
153 Print out usage information.
155 =item B<-l>, B<--lax>
157 No longer used. B<pod2man> used to check its input for validity as a manual
158 page, but this should now be done by L<podchecker(1)> instead. Accepted for
159 backwards compatibility; this option no longer does anything.
161 =item B<-n> I<name>, B<--name>=I<name>
163 Set the name of the manual page to I<name>. Without this option, the manual
164 name is set to the uppercased base name of the file being converted unless
165 the manual section is 3, in which case the path is parsed to see if it is a
166 Perl module path. If it is, a path like C<.../lib/Pod/Man.pm> is converted
167 into a name like C<Pod::Man>. This option, if given, overrides any
168 automatic determination of the name.
170 Note that this option is probably not useful when converting multiple POD
171 files at once. The convention for Unix man pages for commands is for the
172 man page title to be in all-uppercase even if the command isn't.
174 =item B<-o>, B<--official>
176 Set the default header to indicate that this page is part of the standard
177 Perl release, if B<--center> is not also given.
179 =item B<-q> I<quotes>, B<--quotes>=I<quotes>
181 Sets the quote marks used to surround CE<lt>> text to I<quotes>. If
182 I<quotes> is a single character, it is used as both the left and right
183 quote; if I<quotes> is two characters, the first character is used as the
184 left quote and the second as the right quoted; and if I<quotes> is four
185 characters, the first two are used as the left quote and the second two as
186 the right quote.
188 I<quotes> may also be set to the special value C<none>, in which case no
189 quote marks are added around CE<lt>> text (but the font is still changed for
190 troff output).
192 =item B<-r>, B<--release>
194 Set the centered footer. By default, this is the version of Perl you run
195 B<pod2man> under. Note that some system an macro sets assume that the
196 centered footer will be a modification date and will prepend something like
197 "Last modified: "; if this is the case, you may want to set B<--release> to
198 the last modified date and B<--date> to the version number.
200 =item B<-s>, B<--section>
202 Set the section for the C<.TH> macro. The standard section numbering
203 convention is to use 1 for user commands, 2 for system calls, 3 for
204 functions, 4 for devices, 5 for file formats, 6 for games, 7 for
205 miscellaneous information, and 8 for administrator commands. There is a lot
206 of variation here, however; some systems (like Solaris) use 4 for file
207 formats, 5 for miscellaneous information, and 7 for devices. Still others
208 use 1m instead of 8, or some mix of both. About the only section numbers
209 that are reliably consistent are 1, 2, and 3.
211 By default, section 1 will be used unless the file ends in .pm in which case
212 section 3 will be selected.
214 =item B<-v>, B<--verbose>
216 Print out the name of each output file as it is being generated.
218 =back
220 =head1 DIAGNOSTICS
222 If B<pod2man> fails with errors, see L<Pod::Man> and L<Pod::Parser> for
223 information about what those errors might mean.
225 =head1 EXAMPLES
227 pod2man program > program.1
228 pod2man SomeModule.pm /usr/perl/man/man3/SomeModule.3
229 pod2man --section=7 note.pod > note.7
231 If you would like to print out a lot of man page continuously, you probably
232 want to set the C and D registers to set contiguous page numbering and
233 even/odd paging, at least on some versions of man(7).
235 troff -man -rC1 -rD1 perl.1 perldata.1 perlsyn.1 ...
237 To get index entries on stderr, turn on the F register, as in:
239 troff -man -rF1 perl.1
241 The indexing merely outputs messages via C<.tm> for each major page,
242 section, subsection, item, and any C<XE<lt>E<gt>> directives. See
243 L<Pod::Man> for more details.
245 =head1 BUGS
247 Lots of this documentation is duplicated from L<Pod::Man>.
249 =head1 NOTES
251 For those not sure of the proper layout of a man page, here are some notes
252 on writing a proper man page.
254 The name of the program being documented is conventionally written in bold
255 (using BE<lt>E<gt>) wherever it occurs, as are all program options.
256 Arguments should be written in italics (IE<lt>E<gt>). Functions are
257 traditionally written in italics; if you write a function as function(),
258 Pod::Man will take care of this for you. Literal code or commands should
259 be in CE<lt>E<gt>. References to other man pages should be in the form
260 C<manpage(section)>, and Pod::Man will automatically format those
261 appropriately. As an exception, it's traditional not to use this form when
262 referring to module documentation; use C<LE<lt>Module::NameE<gt>> instead.
264 References to other programs or functions are normally in the form of man
265 page references so that cross-referencing tools can provide the user with
266 links and the like. It's possible to overdo this, though, so be careful not
267 to clutter your documentation with too much markup.
269 The major headers should be set out using a C<=head1> directive, and are
270 historically written in the rather startling ALL UPPER CASE format, although
271 this is not mandatory. Minor headers may be included using C<=head2>, and
272 are typically in mixed case.
274 The standard sections of a manual page are:
276 =over 4
278 =item NAME
280 Mandatory section; should be a comma-separated list of programs or functions
281 documented by this podpage, such as:
283 foo, bar - programs to do something
285 Manual page indexers are often extremely picky about the format of this
286 section, so don't put anything in it except this line. A single dash, and
287 only a single dash, should separate the list of programs or functions from
288 the description. Functions should not be qualified with C<()> or the like.
289 The description should ideally fit on a single line, even if a man program
290 replaces the dash with a few tabs.
292 =item SYNOPSIS
294 A short usage summary for programs and functions. This section is mandatory
295 for section 3 pages.
297 =item DESCRIPTION
299 Extended description and discussion of the program or functions, or the body
300 of the documentation for man pages that document something else. If
301 particularly long, it's a good idea to break this up into subsections
302 C<=head2> directives like:
304 =head2 Normal Usage
306 =head2 Advanced Features
308 =head2 Writing Configuration Files
310 or whatever is appropriate for your documentation.
312 =item OPTIONS
314 Detailed description of each of the command-line options taken by the
315 program. This should be separate from the description for the use of things
316 like L<Pod::Usage|Pod::Usage>. This is normally presented as a list, with
317 each option as a separate C<=item>. The specific option string should be
318 enclosed in BE<lt>E<gt>. Any values that the option takes should be
319 enclosed in IE<lt>E<gt>. For example, the section for the option
320 B<--section>=I<manext> would be introduced with:
322 =item B<--section>=I<manext>
324 Synonymous options (like both the short and long forms) are separated by a
325 comma and a space on the same C<=item> line, or optionally listed as their
326 own item with a reference to the canonical name. For example, since
327 B<--section> can also be written as B<-s>, the above would be:
329 =item B<-s> I<manext>, B<--section>=I<manext>
331 (Writing the short option first is arguably easier to read, since the long
332 option is long enough to draw the eye to it anyway and the short option can
333 otherwise get lost in visual noise.)
335 =item RETURN VALUE
337 What the program or function returns, if successful. This section can be
338 omitted for programs whose precise exit codes aren't important, provided
339 they return 0 on success as is standard. It should always be present for
340 functions.
342 =item ERRORS
344 Exceptions, error return codes, exit statuses, and errno settings.
345 Typically used for function documentation; program documentation uses
346 DIAGNOSTICS instead. The general rule of thumb is that errors printed to
347 STDOUT or STDERR and intended for the end user are documented in DIAGNOSTICS
348 while errors passed internal to the calling program and intended for other
349 programmers are documented in ERRORS. When documenting a function that sets
350 errno, a full list of the possible errno values should be given here.
352 =item DIAGNOSTICS
354 All possible messages the program can print out--and what they mean. You
355 may wish to follow the same documentation style as the Perl documentation;
356 see perldiag(1) for more details (and look at the POD source as well).
358 If applicable, please include details on what the user should do to correct
359 the error; documenting an error as indicating "the input buffer is too
360 small" without telling the user how to increase the size of the input buffer
361 (or at least telling them that it isn't possible) aren't very useful.
363 =item EXAMPLES
365 Give some example uses of the program or function. Don't skimp; users often
366 find this the most useful part of the documentation. The examples are
367 generally given as verbatim paragraphs.
369 Don't just present an example without explaining what it does. Adding a
370 short paragraph saying what the example will do can increase the value of
371 the example immensely.
373 =item ENVIRONMENT
375 Environment variables that the program cares about, normally presented as a
376 list using C<=over>, C<=item>, and C<=back>. For example:
378 =over 6
380 =item HOME
382 Used to determine the user's home directory. F<.foorc> in this
383 directory is read for configuration details, if it exists.
385 =back
387 Since environment variables are normally in all uppercase, no additional
388 special formatting is generally needed; they're glaring enough as it is.
390 =item FILES
392 All files used by the program or function, normally presented as a list, and
393 what it uses them for. File names should be enclosed in FE<lt>E<gt>. It's
394 particularly important to document files that will be potentially modified.
396 =item CAVEATS
398 Things to take special care with, sometimes called WARNINGS.
400 =item BUGS
402 Things that are broken or just don't work quite right.
404 =item RESTRICTIONS
406 Bugs you don't plan to fix. :-)
408 =item NOTES
410 Miscellaneous commentary.
412 =item SEE ALSO
414 Other man pages to check out, like man(1), man(7), makewhatis(8), or
415 catman(8). Normally a simple list of man pages separated by commas, or a
416 paragraph giving the name of a reference work. Man page references, if they
417 use the standard C<name(section)> form, don't have to be enclosed in
418 LE<lt>E<gt> (although it's recommended), but other things in this section
419 probably should be when appropriate.
421 If the package has a mailing list, include a URL or subscription
422 instructions here.
424 If the package has a web site, include a URL here.
426 =item AUTHOR
428 Who wrote it (use AUTHORS for multiple people). Including your current
429 e-mail address (or some e-mail address to which bug reports should be sent)
430 so that users have a way of contacting you is a good idea. Remember that
431 program documentation tends to roam the wild for far longer than you expect
432 and pick an e-mail address that's likely to last if possible.
434 =item COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
436 For copyright
438 Copyright YEAR(s) by YOUR NAME(s)
440 (No, (C) is not needed. No, "all rights reserved" is not needed.)
442 For licensing the easiest way is to use the same licensing as Perl itself:
444 This library is free software; you may redistribute it and/or modify
445 it under the same terms as Perl itself.
447 This makes it easy for people to use your module with Perl. Note that
448 this licensing is neither an endorsement or a requirement, you are of
449 course free to choose any licensing.
451 =item HISTORY
453 Programs derived from other sources sometimes have this, or you might keep
454 a modification log here. If the log gets overly long or detailed,
455 consider maintaining it in a separate file, though.
457 =back
459 In addition, some systems use CONFORMING TO to note conformance to relevant
460 standards and MT-LEVEL to note safeness for use in threaded programs or
461 signal handlers. These headings are primarily useful when documenting parts
462 of a C library. Documentation of object-oriented libraries or modules may
463 use CONSTRUCTORS and METHODS sections for detailed documentation of the
464 parts of the library and save the DESCRIPTION section for an overview; other
465 large modules may use FUNCTIONS for similar reasons. Some people use
466 OVERVIEW to summarize the description if it's quite long.
468 Section ordering varies, although NAME should I<always> be the first section
469 (you'll break some man page systems otherwise), and NAME, SYNOPSIS,
470 DESCRIPTION, and OPTIONS generally always occur first and in that order if
471 present. In general, SEE ALSO, AUTHOR, and similar material should be left
472 for last. Some systems also move WARNINGS and NOTES to last. The order
473 given above should be reasonable for most purposes.
475 Finally, as a general note, try not to use an excessive amount of markup.
476 As documented here and in L<Pod::Man>, you can safely leave Perl variables,
477 function names, man page references, and the like unadorned by markup and
478 the POD translators will figure it out for you. This makes it much easier
479 to later edit the documentation. Note that many existing translators
480 (including this one currently) will do the wrong thing with e-mail addresses
481 or URLs when wrapped in LE<lt>E<gt>, so don't do that.
483 For additional information that may be more accurate for your specific
484 system, see either L<man(5)> or L<man(7)> depending on your system manual
485 section numbering conventions.
487 =head1 SEE ALSO
489 L<Pod::Man>, L<Pod::Parser>, L<man(1)>, L<nroff(1)>, L<podchecker(1)>,
490 L<troff(1)>, L<man(7)>
492 The man page documenting the an macro set may be L<man(5)> instead of
493 L<man(7)> on your system.
495 The current version of this script is always available from its web site at
496 L<http://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/software/podlators/>. It is also part of the
497 Perl core distribution as of 5.6.0.
499 =head1 AUTHOR
501 Russ Allbery <rra@stanford.edu>, based I<very> heavily on the original
502 B<pod2man> by Larry Wall and Tom Christiansen. Large portions of this
503 documentation, particularly the sections on the anatomy of a proper man
504 page, are taken from the B<pod2man> documentation by Tom.
506 =head1 COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
508 Copyright 1999, 2000, 2001 by Russ Allbery <rra@stanford.edu>.
510 This program is free software; you may redistribute it and/or modify it
511 under the same terms as Perl itself.
513 =cut