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[bpt/emacs.git] / doc / misc / woman.texi
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1\input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
2@c %**start of header
db78a8cb 3@setfilename ../../info/woman
4009494e 4@settitle WoMan: Browse Unix Manual Pages ``W.O. (without) Man''
135305ed 5@c FIXME
4009494e 6@c Manual last updated:
5dc584b5 7@set UPDATED Time-stamp: <2009-02-16 09:25:50 karl>
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8@c Software version:
9@set VERSION 0.54 (beta)
10@afourpaper
11@c With different size paper the printed page breaks will need attention!
12@c Look for @page and @need commands.
13@setchapternewpage off
14@paragraphindent 0
15@c %**end of header
16
17@copying
18This file documents WoMan: A program to browse Unix manual pages `W.O.
19(without) man'.
20
21Copyright @copyright{} 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004,
114f9c96 222005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
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23
24@quotation
25Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
6a2c4aec 26under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or
4009494e 27any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
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28Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU Manual,''
29and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the license
30is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation License.''
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32(a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have the freedom to copy and
33modify this GNU manual. Buying copies from the FSF supports it in
34developing GNU and promoting software freedom.''
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35@end quotation
36@end copying
37
38@dircategory Emacs
39@direntry
40* WoMan: (woman). Browse UN*X Manual Pages "W.O. (without) Man".
41@end direntry
42
43@finalout
44
45@titlepage
46@title WoMan
47@subtitle Browse Unix Manual Pages ``W.O. (without) Man''
48@subtitle Software Version @value{VERSION}
49@author Francis J. Wright
50@sp 2
51@author School of Mathematical Sciences
52@author Queen Mary and Westfield College
53@author (University of London)
54@author Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, UK
55@author @email{F.J.Wright@@qmul.ac.uk}
56@author @uref{http://centaur.maths.qmw.ac.uk/}
57@c He no longer maintains this manual.
58@sp 2
59@author Manual Last Updated @value{UPDATED}
60
61@comment The following two commands start the copyright page.
62@page
63@vskip 0pt plus 1filll
64@insertcopying
65@end titlepage
66
67@contents
68
69@c ===================================================================
70
71@ifnottex
72@node Top, Introduction, (dir), (dir)
73@comment node-name, next, previous, up
74@top WoMan: Browse Unix Manual Pages ``W.O. (without) Man''
75
76@display
77Software Version @value{VERSION}
78Manual Last Updated @value{UPDATED}
79
80@email{F.J.Wright@@qmw.ac.uk, Francis J. Wright}
81@uref{http://centaur.maths.qmw.ac.uk/, School of Mathematical Sciences}
82Queen Mary and Westfield College (University of London)
83Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, UK
84@end display
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85
86@insertcopying
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87@end ifnottex
88
89@menu
90* Introduction:: Introduction
91* Background:: Background
92* Finding:: Finding and Formatting Man Pages
93* Browsing:: Browsing Man Pages
94* Customization:: Customization
95* Log:: The *WoMan-Log* Buffer
96* Technical:: Technical Details
97* Bugs:: Reporting Bugs
98* Acknowledgements:: Acknowledgements
99* GNU Free Documentation License:: The license for this documentation.
100* Command Index:: Command Index
101* Variable Index:: Variable Index
102* Keystroke Index:: Keystroke Index
103* Concept Index:: Concept Index
104@end menu
105
106@c ===================================================================
107
108@node Introduction, Background, Top, Top
109@comment node-name, next, previous, up
110@chapter Introduction
111@cindex introduction
112
113This version of WoMan should run with GNU Emacs 20.3 or later on any
114platform. It has not been tested, and may not run, with any other
115version of Emacs. It was developed primarily on various versions of
116Microsoft Windows, but has also been tested on MS-DOS, and various
117versions of UNIX and GNU/Linux.
118
119WoMan is distributed with GNU Emacs. In addition, the current source
120code and documentation files are available from
121@uref{http://centaur.maths.qmw.ac.uk/Emacs/WoMan/, the WoMan web
122server}.
123
124WoMan implements a subset of the formatting performed by the Emacs
125@code{man} (or @code{manual-entry}) command to format a Unix-style
126@dfn{manual page} (usually abbreviated to @dfn{man page}) for display,
127but without calling any external programs. It is intended to emulate
128the whole of the @code{roff -man} macro package, plus those @code{roff}
129requests (@pxref{Background, , Background}) that are most commonly used
130in man pages. However, the emulation is modified to include the
131reformatting done by the Emacs @code{man} command. No hyphenation is
132performed.
133
134@table @b
135@item Advantages
136Much more direct, does not require any external programs. Supports
137completion on man page names.
138@item Disadvantages
139Not a complete emulation. Currently no support for @code{eqn} or
140@code{tbl}. Slightly slower for large man pages (but usually faster for
141small- and medium-size pages).
142@end table
143
144This browser works quite well on simple well-written man files. It
145works less well on idiosyncratic files that ``break the rules'' or use
146the more obscure @code{roff} requests directly. Current test results
147are available in the file
148@uref{http://centaur.maths.qmw.ac.uk/Emacs/WoMan/files/woman.status,
149@file{woman.status}}.
150
151WoMan supports the use of compressed man files via
152@code{auto-compression-mode} by turning it on if necessary. But you may
153need to adjust the user option @code{woman-file-compression-regexp}.
154@xref{Interface Options, , Interface Options}.
155
156Brief help on the WoMan interactive commands and user options, all of
157which begin with the prefix @code{woman-} (or occasionally
158@code{WoMan-}), is available most easily by loading WoMan and then
159either running the command @code{woman-mini-help} or selecting the WoMan
160menu option @samp{Mini Help}.
161
162WoMan is (of course) still under development! Please
163@email{F.J.Wright@@qmw.ac.uk, let me know} what doesn't work---I am
164adding and improving functionality as testing shows that it is
165necessary. Guidance on reporting bugs is given below. @xref{Bugs, ,
166Reporting Bugs}.
167
168@c ===================================================================
169
170@node Background, Finding, Introduction, Top
171@comment node-name, next, previous, up
172@chapter Background
173@cindex background
174
175WoMan is a browser for traditional Unix-style manual page documentation.
176Each such document is conventionally referred to as a @dfn{manual page},
177or @dfn{man page} for short, even though some are very much longer than
178one page. A man page is a document written using the Unix ``man''
179macros, which are themselves written in the nroff/troff text processing
180markup language. @code{nroff} and @code{troff} are text processors
181originally written for the UNIX operating system by Joseph F. Ossanna at
182Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, New Jersey, USA@. They are closely
183related, and except in the few cases where the distinction between them
184is important I will refer to them both ambiguously as @code{roff}.
185
186@code{roff} markup consists of @dfn{requests} and @dfn{escape
187sequences}. A request occupies a complete line and begins with either a
188period or a single forward quote. An escape sequences is embedded
189within the input text and begins (by default) with a backslash. The
190original man macro package defines 20 new @code{roff} requests
191implemented as macros, which were considered to be sufficient for
192writing man pages. But whilst in principle man pages use only the man
193macros, in practice a significant number use many other @code{roff}
194requests.
195
196The distinction between @code{troff} and @code{nroff} is that
197@code{troff} was designed to drive a phototypesetter whereas
198@code{nroff} was designed to produce essentially @acronym{ASCII} output for a
199character-based device similar to a teletypewriter (usually abbreviated
200to ``teletype'' or ``tty''). Hence, @code{troff} supports much finer
201control over output positioning than does @code{nroff} and can be seen
202as a forerunner of @TeX{}. Traditionally, man pages are either
203formatted by @code{troff} for typesetting or by @code{nroff} for
204printing on a character printer or displaying on a screen. Of course,
205over the last 25 years or so, the distinction between typeset output on
206paper and characters on a screen has become blurred by the fact that
207most screens now support bit-mapped displays, so that any information
208that can be printed can also be rendered on screen, the only difference
209being the resolution.
210
211Nevertheless, Unix-style manual page documentation is still normally
212browsed on screen by running a program called @code{man}. This program
213looks in a predefined set of directories for the man page matching a
214specified topic, then either formats the source file by running
215@code{nroff} or recovers a pre-formatted file, and displays it via a
216pager such as @code{more}. @code{nroff} normally formats for a printer,
217so it paginates the output, numbers the pages, etc., most of which is
218irrelevant when the document is browsed as a continuous scrollable
219document on screen. The only concession to on-screen browsing normally
220implemented by the @code{man} program is to squeeze consecutive blank
221lines into a single blank line.
222
223For some time, Emacs has offered an improved interface for browsing man
224pages in the form of the Emacs @code{man} (or @code{manual-entry})
225command, see @ref{Documentation, man, Documentation Commands, emacs, GNU
226Emacs Manual}.
227This command runs @code{man} as described above, perhaps in
228the background, and then post-processes the output to remove much of the
229@code{nroff} pagination such as page headers and footers, and places the
230result into an Emacs buffer. It puts this buffer into a special major
231mode, which is tailored for man page browsing, and provides a number of
232useful navigation commands, support for following references, etc. It
233provides some support for special display faces (fonts), but no special
234menu or mouse support. The Emacs man package appears to have been
235developed over about 10 years, from the late 1980s to the late 1990s.
236
237There is considerable inefficiency in having @code{nroff} paginate a
238document and then removing most of the pagination!
239
240WoMan is an Emacs Lisp library that provides an emulation of the
241functionality of the Emacs @code{man} command, the main difference being
242that WoMan does not use any external programs. The only situation in
243which WoMan might use an external program is when the source file is
244compressed, when WoMan will use the standard Emacs automatic
245decompression facility, which does call an external program.
246
247I began developing WoMan in the Spring of 1997 and the first version was
248released in May 1997. The original motivation for WoMan was the fact
249that many GNU and Unix programs are ported to other platforms and come
250with Unix-style manual page documentation. This may be difficult to
251read because ports of the Unix-style @code{man} program can be a little
252awkward to set up. I decided that it should not be too hard to emulate
253the 20 @code{man} macros directly, without treating them as macros and
254largely ignoring the underlying @code{roff} requests, given the text
255processing capabilities of Emacs. This proved to be essentially true,
256and it did not take a great deal of work to be able to format simple man
257pages acceptably.
258
259One problem arose with the significant number of man pages that use
260@code{roff} requests in addition to the @code{man} macros, and since
261releasing the first version of WoMan I have been continually extending
262it to support more @code{roff} requests. WoMan can now format a
263significant proportion of the man pages that I have tested, either well
264or at least readably. However, I have added capabilities partly by
265making additional passes through the document, a design that is
266fundamentally flawed. This can only be solved by a major re-design of
267WoMan to handle the major formatting within a single recursive pass,
268rather than the present multiple passes without any significant
269recursion. There are some @code{roff} requests that cannot be handled
270satisfactorily within the present design. Some of these are currently
271handled by kludges that ``usually more or less work.''
272
273The principle advantage of WoMan is that it does not require @code{man},
274and indeed the name WoMan is a contraction of ``without man.'' But it
275has other advantages. It does not paginate the document, so it does not
276need to un-paginate it again, thereby saving time. It could take full
277advantage of the display capabilities available to it, and I hope to
278develop WoMan to take advantage of developments in Emacs itself. At
279present, WoMan uses several display faces to support bold and italic
280text, to indicate other fonts, etc. The default faces are also
281colored, but the choice of faces is customizable. WoMan provides menu
282support for navigation and mouse support for following references, in
283addition to the navigation facilities provided by @code{man} mode.
284WoMan has (this) texinfo documentation!
285
286WoMan @emph{does not} replace @code{man}, although it does use a number
287of the facilities implemented in the Emacs @code{man} library. WoMan
288and man can happily co-exist, which is very useful for comparison and
289debugging purposes.
290
291@code{nroff} simulates non-@acronym{ASCII} characters by using one or more
292@acronym{ASCII} characters. WoMan should be able to do much better than
293this. I have recently begun to add support for WoMan to use more of the
294characters in its default font and to use a symbol font, and it is an
295aspect that I intend to develop further in the near future. It should
296be possible to move WoMan from an emulation of @code{nroff} to an
297emulation of @code{troff} as GNU Emacs moves to providing bit-mapped
298display facilities.
299
300@node Finding, Browsing, Background, Top
301@comment node-name, next, previous, up
302@chapter Finding and Formatting Man Pages
303@cindex using, finding man pages
304@cindex using, formatting man pages
305@cindex finding man pages
306@cindex formatting man pages
307@cindex man pages, finding
308@cindex man pages, formatting
309
310WoMan provides three user interfaces for finding and formatting man pages:
311
312@itemize @bullet
313@item
314a topic interface similar to that provided by the standard Emacs
315@code{man} command;
316
317@item
318a family of filename interfaces analogous to the standard Emacs
319@code{view-file} command;
320
321@item
322an automatic interface that detects the file type from its contents.
323(This is currently neither well tested, well supported nor recommended!)
324@end itemize
325
326The topic and filename interfaces support completion in the usual way.
327
328The topic interface is generally the most convenient for regular use,
329although it may require some special setup, especially if your machine
330does not already have a conventional @code{man} installation (which
331WoMan tries to detect).
332
333The simplest filename interface command @code{woman-find-file} can
334always be used with no setup at all (provided WoMan is installed and
335loaded or set up to autoload).
336
337The automatic interface always requires special setup.
338
339
340@heading Case-Dependence of Filenames
341
342@cindex case-sensitivity
343@vindex w32-downcase-file-names
344By default, WoMan ignores case in file pathnames only when it seems
345appropriate. Microsoft Windows users who want complete case
346independence should set the special NTEmacs variable
347@code{w32-downcase-file-names} to @code{t} and use all lower case when
348setting WoMan file paths.
349
350
351@menu
352* Topic:: Topic Interface
353* Filename:: Filename Interface
354* Automatic:: Automatic Interface
355@end menu
356
357@node Topic, Filename, Finding, Finding
358@comment node-name, next, previous, up
359@section Topic Interface
360@cindex topic interface
361
362The topic interface is accessed principally via the command
363@code{woman}. The same command can be accessed via the menu item
364@samp{Help->Manuals->Read Man Page (WoMan)...} once WoMan has been
365loaded. The command reads a manual topic in the minibuffer, which can
366be the @dfn{basename} of a man file anywhere in the man file
367structure. The ``basename'' in this context means the filename
368without any directory component and without any extension or suffix
369components that relate to the file type. So, for example, if there is
370a compressed source file in Chapter 5 of the UNIX Programmer's Manual
371with the full pathname @file{/usr/local/man/man5/man.conf.5.gz} then
372the topic is @code{man.conf}. Provided WoMan is configured correctly,
373this topic will appear among the completions offered by @code{woman}.
374If more than one file has the same topic name then WoMan will prompt
375for which file to format. Completion of topics is case insensitive.
376
377Clearly, @code{woman} has to know where to look for man files and there
378are two customizable user options that store this information:
379@code{woman-manpath} and @code{woman-path}. @xref{Interface Options, ,
380Interface Options}. If @code{woman-manpath} is not set explicitly then
381WoMan tries to pick up the information that would be used by the
382@code{man} command, as follows. If the environment variable
383@code{MANPATH} is set, which seems to be the standard mechanism under
384UNIX, then WoMan parses that. Otherwise, if WoMan can find a
385configuration file named (by default) @file{man.conf} (or something very
386similar), which seems to be the standard mechanism under GNU/Linux, then
387it parses that. To be precise, ``something very similar'' means
388starting with @samp{man} and ending with @samp{.conf} and possibly more
389lowercase letters, e.g.@: @file{manual.configuration}.
390The search path and/or precise full path name for this file are set by
391the value of the customizable user option @code{woman-man.conf-path}.
392If all else fails, WoMan uses a plausible default man search path.
393
394If the above default configuration does not work correctly for any
395reason then simply customize the value of @code{woman-manpath}. To
396access man files that are not in a conventional man file hierarchy,
397customize the value of @code{woman-path} to include the directories
398containing the files. In this way, @code{woman} can access manual files
399@emph{anywhere} in the entire file system.
400
401There are two differences between @code{woman-manpath} and
402@code{woman-path}. Firstly, the elements of @code{woman-manpath} must
403be directories that contain @emph{directories of} man files, whereas the
404elements of @code{woman-path} must be directories that contain man files
405@emph{directly}. Secondly, the last directory component of each element
406of @code{woman-path} is treated as a regular (Emacs) match expression
407rather than a fixed name, which allows collections of related
408directories to be specified succinctly. Also, elements of
409@code{woman-manpath} can be conses, indicating a mapping from
410@samp{PATH} environment variable components to man directory
411hierarchies.
412
413For topic completion to work, WoMan must build a list of all the manual
414files that it can access, which can be very slow, especially if a
415network is involved. For this reason, it caches various amounts of
416information, after which retrieving it from the cache is very fast. If
417the cache ever gets out of synchronism with reality, running the
418@code{woman} command with a prefix argument (e.g.@: @kbd{C-u M-x woman})
419will force it to rebuild its cache. This is necessary only if the names
420or locations of any man files change; it is not necessary if only their
421contents change. It would always be necessary if such a change occurred
422whilst Emacs were running and after WoMan has been loaded. It may be
423necessary if such a change occurs between Emacs sessions and persistent
424caching is used, although WoMan can detect some changes that invalidate
425its cache and rebuild it automatically.
426
427Customize the variable @code{woman-cache-filename} to save the cache
428between Emacs sessions. This is recommended only if the @code{woman}
429command is too slow the first time it is run in an Emacs session, while
430it builds its cache in main memory, which @emph{may} be @emph{very}
431slow. @xref{Cache, , The WoMan Topic Cache}, for further details.
432
433
434@menu
435* Cache:: The WoMan Topic Cache
436* Word at point:: Using the ``Word at Point'' as a Topic Suggestion
437@end menu
438
439@node Cache, Word at point, Topic, Topic
440@comment node-name, next, previous, up
441@subsection The WoMan Topic Cache
442@cindex topic cache
443@cindex cache, topic
444
445The amount of information that WoMan caches (in main memory and,
446optionally, saved to disc) is controlled by the user option
447@code{woman-cache-level}. There is a trade-off between the speed with
448which WoMan can find a file and the size of the cache, and the default
449setting gives a reasonable compromise.
450
451The @code{woman} command always performs a certain amount of caching in
452main memory, but it can also write its cache to the filestore as a
453persistent cache under control of the user option
454@code{woman-cache-filename}. If persistent caching is turned on then
455WoMan re-loads its internal cache from the cache file almost
456instantaneously, so that there is never any perceptible start-up delay
457@emph{except} when WoMan rebuilds its cache. Persistent caching is
458currently turned off by default. This is because users with persistent
459caching turned on may overlook the need to force WoMan to rebuild its
460cache the first time they run it after they have installed new man
461files; with persistent caching turned off, WoMan automatically rebuilds
462its cache every time it is run in a new Emacs session.
463
464A prefix argument always causes the @code{woman} command (only) to
465rebuild its topic cache, and to re-save it to
466@code{woman-cache-filename} if this variable has a non-@code{nil} value. This
467is necessary if the @emph{names} of any of the directories or files in
468the paths specified by @code{woman-manpath} or @code{woman-path} change.
469If WoMan user options that affect the cache are changed then WoMan will
470automatically update its cache file on disc (if one is in use) the next
471time it is run in a new Emacs session.
472
473
474@node Word at point, , Cache, Topic
475@comment node-name, next, previous, up
476@subsection Using the ``Word at Point'' as a Topic Suggestion
477@cindex word at point
478@cindex point, word at
479
480By default, the @code{woman} command uses the word nearest to point in
481the current buffer as a suggestion for the topic to look up, if it
482exists as a valid topic. The topic can be confirmed or edited in the
483minibuffer.
484
485You can also bind the variable @code{woman-use-topic-at-point} locally
486to a non-@code{nil} value (using @code{let}), in which case
487@code{woman} will can use the suggested topic without confirmation if
488possible. This may be useful to provide special private key bindings,
489e.g.@: this key binding for @kbd{C-c w} runs WoMan on the topic at
490point without seeking confirmation:
491
492@lisp
493(global-set-key "\C-cw"
494 (lambda ()
495 (interactive)
496 (let ((woman-use-topic-at-point t))
497 (woman))))
498@end lisp
499
500
501@node Filename, Automatic, Topic, Finding
502@comment node-name, next, previous, up
503@section Filename Interface
504@cindex filename interface
505
506The commands in this family are completely independent of the topic
507interface, caching mechanism, etc.
508
509@findex woman-find-file
510The filename interface is accessed principally via the extended command
511@code{woman-find-file}, which is available without any configuration at
512all (provided WoMan is installed and loaded or set up to autoload).
513This command can be used to browse any accessible man file, regardless
514of its filename or location. If the file is compressed then automatic
515file decompression must already be turned on (e.g.@: see the
516@samp{Help->Options} submenu)---it is turned on automatically only by
517the @code{woman} topic interface.
518
519@findex woman-dired-find-file
520Once WoMan is loaded (or if specially set up), various additional
521commands in this family are available. In a dired buffer, the command
522@code{woman-dired-find-file} allows the file on the same line as point
523to be formatted and browsed by WoMan. It is bound to the key @kbd{W} in
524the dired mode map and added to the dired major mode menu. It may also
525be bound to @kbd{w}, unless this key is bound by another library, which
526it is by @code{dired-x}, for example. Because it is quite likely that
527other libraries will extend the capabilities of such a commonly used
528mode as dired, the precise key bindings added by WoMan to the dired mode
529map are controlled by the user option @code{woman-dired-keys}.
530
531@findex woman-tar-extract-file
532When a tar (Tape ARchive) file is visited in Emacs, it is opened in tar
533mode, which parses the tar file and shows a dired-like view of its
534contents. The WoMan command @code{woman-tar-extract-file} allows the
535file on the same line as point to be formatted and browsed by WoMan. It
536is bound to the key @kbd{w} in the tar mode map and added to the tar
537major mode menu.
538
539The command @code{woman-reformat-last-file}, which is bound to the key
540@kbd{R} in WoMan mode and available on the major mode menu, reformats
541the last file formatted by WoMan. This may occasionally be useful if
542formatting parameters, such as the fill column, are changed, or perhaps
543if the buffer is somehow corrupted.
544
545@findex woman-decode-buffer
546The command @code{woman-decode-buffer} can be used to decode and browse
547the current buffer if it is visiting a man file, although it is
548primarily used internally by WoMan.
549
550
551@node Automatic, , Filename, Finding
552@comment node-name, next, previous, up
553@section Automatic Interface
554@cindex automatic interface
555
556Emacs provides an interface to detect automatically the format of a file
557and decode it when it is visited. It is used primarily by the
558facilities for editing rich (i.e.@: formatted) text, as a way to store
559formatting information transparently as @acronym{ASCII} markup. WoMan can in
560principle use this interface, but it must be configured explicitly.
561
562This use of WoMan does not seem to be particularly advantageous, so it
563is not really supported. It originated during early experiments on how
564best to implement WoMan, before I implemented the current topic
565interface, and I subsequently stopped using it. I might revive it as a
566mechanism for storing pre-formatted WoMan files, somewhat analogous to
567the standard Unix @code{catman} facility. In the meantime, it exists
568for anyone who wants to experiment with it. Once it is set up it is
569simply a question of visiting the file and there is no WoMan-specific
570user interface!
571
572To use it, put something like this in your @file{.emacs} file. [The
573call to @code{set-visited-file-name} is to avoid font-locking triggered
574by automatic major mode selection.]
575
576@lisp
577(autoload 'woman-decode-region "woman")
578
579(add-to-list 'format-alist
580 '(man "Unix man-page source format" "\\.\\(TH\\|ig\\) "
581 woman-decode-region nil nil
582 (lambda (arg)
583 set-visited-file-name
584 (file-name-sans-extension buffer-file-name))))
585@end lisp
586
587@c ===================================================================
588
589@node Browsing, Customization, Finding, Top
590@comment node-name, next, previous, up
591@chapter Browsing Man Pages
592@cindex using, browsing man pages
593@cindex browsing man pages
594@cindex man pages, browsing
595
596Once a man page has been found and formatted, WoMan provides a browsing
597interface that is essentially the same as that provided by the standard
598Emacs @code{man} command (and much of the code is inherited from the
599@code{man} library, which WoMan currently requires). Many WoMan
600facilities can be accessed from the WoMan major mode menu as well as via
601key bindings, etc.
602
603WoMan does not produce any page breaks or page numbers, and in fact does
604not paginate the man page at all, since this is not appropriate for
605continuous online browsing. It produces a document header line that is
606constructed from the standard man page header and footer. Apart from
607that, the appearance of the formatted man page should be almost
608identical to what would be produced by @code{man}, with consecutive
609blank lines squeezed to a single blank line.
610
611@menu
612* Fonts:: Fonts and Faces
613* Navigation:: Navigation
614* References:: Following References
615* Changing:: Changing the Current Man Page
616* Convenience:: Convenience Key Bindings
617* Imenu:: Imenu Support; Contents Menu
618@end menu
619
620@node Fonts, Navigation, Browsing, Browsing
621@comment node-name, next, previous, up
622@section Fonts and Faces
623@cindex fonts
624@cindex faces
625
626Fonts used by @code{roff} are handled by WoMan as faces, the details of
627which are customizable. @xref{Faces, , Faces}. WoMan supports both the
628italic and bold fonts normally used in man pages, together with a single
629face to represent all unknown fonts (which are occasionally used in
630``non-standard'' man pages, usually to represent a ``typewriter'' font)
631and a face to indicate additional symbols introduced by WoMan. This
632currently means the characters ^ and _ used to indicate super- and
633sub-scripts, which are not displayed well by WoMan.
634
635
636@node Navigation, References, Fonts, Browsing
637@comment node-name, next, previous, up
638@section Navigation
639@cindex navigation
640
641Man (and hence WoMan) mode can be thought of as a superset of view mode.
642The buffer cannot be edited, so keys that would normally self-insert are
643used for navigation. The WoMan key bindings are a minor modification of
644the @code{man} key bindings.
645
646@table @kbd
647@item @key{SPC}
648@kindex SPC
649@findex scroll-up
650Scroll the man page up the window (@code{scroll-up}).
651
652@item @key{DEL}
653@kindex DEL
654@findex scroll-down
655Scroll the man page down the window (@code{scroll-down}).
656
657@item n
658@kindex n
659@findex Man-next-section
660Move point to the Nth next section---default 1 (@code{Man-next-section}).
661
662@item p
663@kindex p
664@findex Man-previous-section
665Move point to Nth previous section---default 1
666(@code{Man-previous-section}).
667
668@item g
669@kindex g
670@findex Man-goto-section
671Move point to the specified section (@code{Man-goto-section}).
672
673@item s
674@kindex s
675@findex Man-goto-see-also-section
676Move point to the ``SEE ALSO'' section
677(@code{Man-goto-see-also-section}). Actually the section moved to is
678described by @code{Man-see-also-regexp}.
679@end table
680
681
682@node References, Changing, Navigation, Browsing
683@comment node-name, next, previous, up
684@section Following References
685@cindex following references
686@cindex references
687
688Man pages usually contain a ``SEE ALSO'' section containing references
689to other man pages. If these man pages are installed then WoMan can
690easily be directed to follow the reference, i.e.@: to find and format the
691man page. When the mouse is passed over a correctly formatted reference
692it is highlighted, in which case clicking the middle button
693@kbd{Mouse-2} will cause WoMan to follow the reference. Alternatively,
694when point is over such a reference the key @key{RET} will follow the
695reference.
696
697Any word in the buffer can be used as a reference by clicking
698@kbd{Mouse-2} over it provided the Meta key is also used (although in
699general such a ``reference'' will not lead to a man page).
700Alternatively, the key @kbd{r} allows completion to be used to select a
701reference to follow, based on the word at point as default.
702
703@table @kbd
704@item @kbd{Mouse-2}
705@kindex Mouse-2
706@findex woman-mouse-2
707Run WoMan with word under mouse as topic (@code{woman-mouse-2}). The
708word must be mouse-highlighted unless @code{woman-mouse-2} is used with
709the Meta key.
710
711@item @key{RET}
712@kindex RET
713@findex man-follow
714Get the man page for the topic under (or nearest to) point
715(@code{man-follow}).
716
717@item r
718@kindex r
719@findex Man-follow-manual-reference
720Get one of the man pages referred to in the ``SEE ALSO'' section
721(@code{Man-follow-manual-reference}). Specify which reference to use;
722default is based on word at point.
723@end table
724
725
726@node Changing, Convenience, References, Browsing
727@comment node-name, next, previous, up
728@section Changing the Current Man Page
729@cindex changing current man page
730@cindex current man page, changing
731
732The man page currently being browsed by WoMan can be changed in several
733ways. The command @code{woman} can be invoked to format another man
734page, or the current WoMan buffer can be buried or killed. WoMan
735maintains a ring of formatted man pages, and it is possible to move
736forwards and backwards in this ring by moving to the next or previous
737man page. It is sometimes useful to reformat the current page, for
738example after the right margin (the wrap column) or some other
739formatting parameter has been changed.
740
741Buffers formatted by Man and WoMan are completely unrelated, even though
742some of the commands to manipulate them are superficially the same (and
743share code).
744
745@table @kbd
746@item m
747@kindex m
748@findex man
749Run the command @code{man} to get a Un*x manual page and put it in a
750buffer. This command is the top-level command in the man package. It
751runs a Un*x command to retrieve and clean a man page in the background
752and places the results in a Man mode (man page browsing) buffer. If a
753man buffer already exists for this man page, it will display
754immediately. This works exactly the same if WoMan is loaded, except
755that the formatting time is displayed in the mini-buffer.
756
757@item w
758@kindex w
759@findex woman
760Run the command @code{woman} exactly as if the extended command or menu
761item had been used.
762
763@item q
764@kindex q
765@findex Man-quit
766Bury the buffer containing the current man page (@code{Man-quit}),
767i.e.@: move it to the bottom of the buffer stack.
768
769@item k
770@kindex k
771@findex Man-kill
772Kill the buffer containing the current man page (@code{Man-kill}),
773i.e.@: delete it completely so that it can be retrieved only by formatting
774the page again.
775
776@item M-p
777@kindex M-p
778@findex WoMan-previous-manpage
779Find the previous WoMan buffer (@code{WoMan-previous-manpage}).
780
781@item M-n
782@kindex M-n
783@findex WoMan-next-manpage
784Find the next WoMan buffer (@code{WoMan-next-manpage}).
785
786@item R
787@kindex R
788@findex woman-reformat-last-file
789Call WoMan to reformat the last man page formatted by WoMan
790(@code{woman-reformat-last-file}), e.g.@: after changing the fill column.
791@end table
792
793
794@node Convenience, Imenu, Changing, Browsing
795@comment node-name, next, previous, up
796@section Convenience Key Bindings
797@cindex convenience key bindings
798@cindex key bindings, convenience
799
800@table @kbd
801@item -
802@kindex -
803@findex negative-argument
804Begin a negative numeric argument for the next command
805(@code{negative-argument}).
806
807@item 0 .. 9
808@kindex 0 .. 9
809@findex digit-argument
810Part of the numeric argument for the next command
811(@code{digit-argument}).
812
813@item <
814@kindex <
815@itemx .
816@kindex .
817@findex beginning-of-buffer
818Move point to the beginning of the buffer; leave mark at previous
819position (@code{beginning-of-buffer}).
820
821@item >
822@kindex >
823@findex end-of-buffer
824Move point to the end of the buffer; leave mark at previous position
825(@code{end-of-buffer}).
826
827@item ?
828@kindex ?
829@findex describe-mode
830Display documentation of current major mode and minor modes
831(@code{describe-mode}). The major mode description comes first,
832followed by the minor modes, each on a separate page.
833@end table
834
835
836@node Imenu, , Convenience, Browsing
837@comment node-name, next, previous, up
838@section Imenu Support; Contents Menu
839@cindex imenu support
840@cindex contents menu
841
842The WoMan menu provides an option to make a contents menu for the
843current man page (using @code{imenu}). Alternatively, if you customize
844the option @code{woman-imenu} to @code{t} then WoMan will do it
845automatically for every man page. The menu title is set by the option
846@code{woman-imenu-title}, which is ``CONTENTS'' by default. The menu
847shows manual sections and subsections by default, but you can change
848this by customizing @code{woman-imenu-generic-expression}.
849
850WoMan is configured not to replace spaces in an imenu
851@code{*Completion*} buffer. For further documentation on the use of
852imenu, such as menu sorting, see the source file @file{imenu.el}, which
853is distributed with GNU Emacs.
854
855@c ===================================================================
856
857@node Customization, Log, Browsing, Top
858@comment node-name, next, previous, up
859@chapter Customization
860@cindex customization
861
862All WoMan user options are customizable, and it is recommended to
863change them only via the standard Emacs customization facilities.
864WoMan defines a top-level customization group called @code{WoMan}
865under the parent group @code{Help}. It can be accessed either via the
866standard Emacs facilities, e.g.@: via the @samp{Help->Customize}
867submenu, or via the WoMan major mode menu.
868
869The top-level WoMan group contains only a few general options and three
870subgroups. The hooks are provided only for special purposes that, for
871example, require code to be executed, and should be changed only via
872@code{Customization} or the function @code{add-hook}. Most
873customization should be possible via existing user options.
874
875@vtable @code
876@item woman-show-log
877A boolean value that defaults to @code{nil}. If non-@code{nil} then show the
878@code{*WoMan-Log*} buffer if appropriate, i.e.@: if any warning messages
879are written to it. @xref{Log, , The *WoMan-Log* Buffer}.
880
881@item woman-pre-format-hook
882A hook run immediately before formatting a buffer. It might, for
883example, be used for face customization. @xref{Faces, , Faces},
884however.
885
886@item woman-post-format-hook
887A hook run immediately after formatting a buffer. It might, for
888example, be used for installing a dynamic menu using @code{imenu}.
889(However. in this case it is better to use the built-in WoMan
890@code{imenu} support. @xref{Imenu, , Imenu Support; Contents Menu}.)
891@end vtable
892
893@heading Customization Subgroups
894
895@table @code
896@item WoMan Interface
897These options control the process of locating the appropriate file to
898browse, and the appearance of the browsing interface.
899
900@item WoMan Formatting
901These options control the layout that WoMan uses to format the man page.
902
903@item WoMan Faces
904These options control the display faces that WoMan uses to format the
905man page.
906@end table
907
908@menu
909* Interface Options::
910* Formatting Options::
911* Faces::
912* Special symbols::
913@end menu
914
915@node Interface Options, Formatting Options, Customization, Customization
916@comment node-name, next, previous, up
917@section Interface Options
918@cindex interface options
919
920These options control the process of locating the appropriate file to
921browse, and the appearance of the browsing interface.
922
923@vtable @code
924@item woman-man.conf-path
925A list of strings representing directories to search and/or files to try
926for a man configuration file. The default is
927
928@lisp
929("/etc" "/usr/local/lib")
930@end lisp
931
932@noindent
933[for GNU/Linux and Cygwin respectively.] A trailing separator (@file{/}
934for UNIX etc.) on directories is optional and the filename matched if a
935directory is specified is the first to match the regexp
936@code{man.*\.conf}. If the environment variable @code{MANPATH} is not
937set but a configuration file is found then it is parsed instead (or as
938well) to provide a default value for @code{woman-manpath}.
939
940@item woman-manpath
941A list of strings representing @emph{directory trees} to search for Unix
942manual files. Each element should be the name of a directory that
943contains subdirectories of the form @file{man?}, or more precisely
944subdirectories selected by the value of @code{woman-manpath-man-regexp}.
945Non-directory and unreadable files are ignored. This can also contain
946conses, with the car indicating a @code{PATH} variable component mapped
947to the directory tree given in the cdr.
948
949@cindex @code{MANPATH}, environment variable
950If not set then the environment variable @code{MANPATH} is used. If no
951such environment variable is found, the default list is determined by
952consulting the man configuration file if found. By default this is
953expected to be either @file{/etc/man.config} or
954@file{/usr/local/lib/man.conf}, which is controlled by the user option
955@code{woman-man.conf-path}. An empty substring of @code{MANPATH}
956denotes the default list. Otherwise, the default value of this variable
957is
958
959@lisp
960("/usr/man" "/usr/local/man")
961@end lisp
962
963Any environment variables (names of which must have the Unix-style form
964@code{$NAME}, e.g.@: @code{$HOME}, @code{$EMACSDATA}, @code{$EMACS_DIR},
965regardless of platform) are evaluated first but each element must
966evaluate to a @emph{single} directory name. Trailing @file{/}s are
967ignored. (Specific directories in @code{woman-path} are also searched.)
968
969On Microsoft platforms I recommend including drive letters explicitly,
970e.g.
971
972@lisp
973("C:/Cygwin/usr/man" "C:/usr/man" "C:/usr/local/man")
974@end lisp
975
976@cindex directory separator character
977@cindex @code{MANPATH}, directory separator
978The @code{MANPATH} environment variable may be set using DOS
979semi-colon-separated or Unix-style colon-separated syntax (but not
980mixed).
981
982@item woman-manpath-man-regexp
983A regular expression to match man directories @emph{under} the
984@code{woman-manpath} directories. These normally have names of the form
985@file{man?}. Its default value is @code{"[Mm][Aa][Nn]"}, which is
986case-insensitive mainly for the benefit of Microsoft platforms. Its
987purpose is to avoid directories such as @file{cat?}, @file{.},
988@file{..}, etc.
989
990@item woman-path
991A list of strings representing @emph{specific directories} to search for
992Unix manual files. For example
993
994@lisp
995("/emacs/etc")
996@end lisp
997
998These directories are searched in addition to the directory trees
999specified in @code{woman-manpath}. Each element should be a directory
1000string or @code{nil}, which represents the current directory when the
1001path is expanded and cached. However, the last component (only) of each
1002directory string is treated as a regexp (Emacs, not shell) and the
1003string is expanded into a list of matching directories. Non-directory
1004and unreadable files are ignored. The default value on MS-DOS is
1005
1006@lisp
1007("$DJDIR/info" "$DJDIR/man/cat[1-9onlp]")
1008@end lisp
1009
1010@noindent
1011and on other platforms is @code{nil}.
1012
1013Any environment variables (names of which must have the Unix-style form
1014@code{$NAME}, e.g.@: @code{$HOME}, @code{$EMACSDATA}, @code{$EMACS_DIR},
1015regardless of platform) are evaluated first but each element must
1016evaluate to a @emph{single} directory name (regexp, see above). For
1017example
1018
1019@lisp
1020("$EMACSDATA")
1021@end lisp
1022
1023@noindent
1024or equivalently
1025
1026@lisp
1027("$EMACS_DIR/etc")
1028@end lisp
1029
1030@noindent
1031Trailing @file{/}s are discarded. (The directory trees in
1032@code{woman-manpath} are also searched.) On Microsoft platforms I
1033recommend including drive letters explicitly.
1034
1035@item woman-cache-level
1036A positive integer representing the level of topic caching:
1037
1038@enumerate
1039@item
1040cache only the topic and directory lists (uses minimal memory, but not
1041recommended);
1042@item
1043cache also the directories for each topic (faster, without using much
1044more memory);
1045@item
1046cache also the actual filenames for each topic (fastest, but uses twice
1047as much memory).
1048@end enumerate
1049
1050The default value is currently 2, a good general compromise. If the
1051@code{woman} command is slow to find files then try 3, which may be
1052particularly beneficial with large remote-mounted man directories. Run
1053the @code{woman} command with a prefix argument or delete the cache file
1054@code{woman-cache-filename} for a change to take effect. (Values < 1
1055behave like 1; values > 3 behave like 3.)
1056
1057@item woman-cache-filename
1058Either a string representing the full pathname of the WoMan directory
1059and topic cache file, or @code{nil}. It is used to save and restore the
1060cache between Emacs sessions. This is especially useful with
1061remote-mounted man page files! The default value of @code{nil}
1062suppresses this action. The ``standard'' non-@code{nil} filename is
1063@file{~/.wmncach.el}. Remember that a prefix argument forces the
1064@code{woman} command to update and re-write the cache.
1065
1066@item woman-dired-keys
1067A list of @code{dired} mode keys to be defined to run WoMan on the
1068current file, e.g.@: @code{("w" "W")} or any non-@code{nil} atom to
1069automatically define @kbd{w} and @kbd{W} if they are unbound, or
1070@code{nil} to do nothing. Default is @code{t}.
1071
1072@item woman-imenu-generic-expression
1073Imenu support for Sections and Subsections: an alist with elements of
1074the form @code{(MENU-TITLE REGEXP INDEX)}---see the documentation for
1075@code{imenu-generic-expression}. Default value is
1076
1077@lisp
1078((nil "\n\\([A-Z].*\\)" 1) ; SECTION, but not TITLE
1079 ("*Subsections*" "^ \\([A-Z].*\\)" 1))
1080@end lisp
1081
1082@item woman-imenu
1083A boolean value that defaults to @code{nil}. If non-@code{nil} then WoMan adds
1084a Contents menu to the menubar by calling @code{imenu-add-to-menubar}.
1085
1086@item woman-imenu-title
1087A string representing the title to use if WoMan adds a Contents menu to
1088the menubar. Default is @code{"CONTENTS"}.
1089
1090@item woman-use-topic-at-point
1091A boolean value that defaults to @code{nil}. If non-@code{nil} then
1092the @code{woman} command uses the word at point as the topic,
1093@emph{without interactive confirmation}, if it exists as a topic.
1094
1095@item woman-use-topic-at-point-default
1096A boolean value representing the default value for
1097@code{woman-use-topic-at-point}. The default value is @code{nil}.
1098[The variable @code{woman-use-topic-at-point} may be @code{let}-bound
1099when @code{woman} is loaded, in which case its global value does not
1100get defined. The function @code{woman-file-name} sets it to this
1101value if it is unbound.]
1102
1103@item woman-uncompressed-file-regexp
1104A regular match expression used to select man source files (ignoring any
1105compression extension). The default value is
1106@code{"\\.\\([0-9lmnt]\\w*\\)"} [which means a filename extension is
1107required].
1108
1109@emph{Do not change this unless you are sure you know what you are doing!}
1110
1111The SysV standard man pages use two character suffixes, and this is
1112becoming more common in the GNU world. For example, the man pages in
1113the @code{ncurses} package include @file{toe.1m}, @file{form.3x}, etc.
1114
1115@strong{Please note:} an optional compression regexp will be appended,
1116so this regexp @emph{must not} end with any kind of string terminator
1117such as @code{$} or @code{\\'}.
1118
1119@item woman-file-compression-regexp
1120A regular match expression used to match compressed man file extensions
1121for which decompressors are available and handled by auto-compression
1122mode. It should begin with @code{\\.} and end with @code{\\'} and
1123@emph{must not} be optional. The default value is
1124@code{"\\.\\(g?z\\|bz2\\)\\'"}, which matches the @code{gzip} and
1125@code{bzip2} compression extensions.
1126
1127@emph{Do not change this unless you are sure you know what you are doing!}
1128
1129[It should be compatible with the @code{car} of
1130@code{jka-compr-file-name-handler-entry}, but that is unduly
1131complicated, includes an inappropriate extension (@file{.tgz}) and is
1132not loaded by default!]
1133
1134@item woman-use-own-frame
1135If non-@code{nil} then use a dedicated frame for displaying WoMan windows.
1136This is useful only when WoMan is run under a window system such as X or
1137Microsoft Windows that supports real multiple frames, in which case the
1138default value is non-@code{nil}.
1139@end vtable
1140
1141
1142@node Formatting Options, Faces, Interface Options, Customization
1143@comment node-name, next, previous, up
1144@section Formatting Options
1145@cindex formatting options
1146
1147These options control the layout that WoMan uses to format the man page.
1148
1149@vtable @code
1150@item woman-fill-column
1151An integer specifying the right margin for formatted text. Default is
115265.
1153
1154@item woman-fill-frame
1155A boolean value. If non-@code{nil} then most of the frame width is used,
1156overriding the value of @code{woman-fill-column}. Default is @code{nil}.
1157
1158@item woman-default-indent
1159An integer specifying the default prevailing indent for the @code{-man}
1160macros. Default is 5. Set this variable to 7 to emulate GNU/Linux man
1161formatting.
1162
1163@item woman-bold-headings
1164A boolean value. If non-@code{nil} then embolden section and subsection
1165headings. Default is @code{t}. [Heading emboldening is @emph{not} standard
1166@code{man} behavior.]
1167
1168@item woman-ignore
135305ed 1169A boolean value. If non-@code{nil} then unrecognized requests etc. are
4009494e
GM
1170ignored. Default is @code{t}. This gives the standard @code{roff} behavior.
1171If @code{nil} then they are left in the buffer, which may aid debugging.
1172
1173@item woman-preserve-ascii
1174A boolean value. If non-@code{nil} then preserve @acronym{ASCII} characters in the
1175WoMan buffer. Otherwise, non-@acronym{ASCII} characters (that display as
1176@acronym{ASCII}) may remain, which is irrelevant unless the buffer is to be
1177saved to a file. Default is @code{nil}.
1178
1179@item woman-emulation
1180WoMan emulation, currently either @code{nroff} or @code{troff}. Default
1181is @code{nroff}. @code{troff} emulation is experimental and largely
1182untested.
1183@end vtable
1184
1185
1186@node Faces, Special symbols, Formatting Options, Customization
1187@comment node-name, next, previous, up
1188@section Faces
1189@cindex faces
1190
1191These options control the display faces that WoMan uses to format the
1192man page.
1193
1194@vtable @code
1195@item woman-fontify
1196A boolean value. If non-@code{nil} then WoMan assumes that face support is
1197available. It defaults to a non-@code{nil} value if the display supports
1198either colors or different fonts.
1199
1200@item woman-italic-face
1201Face for italic font in man pages. Default: italic, underlined,
1202foreground red. This is overkill! @code{troff} uses just italic;
1203@code{nroff} uses just underline. You should probably select either
1204italic or underline as you prefer, but not both, although italic and
1205underline work together perfectly well!
1206
1207@item woman-bold-face
1208Face for bold font in man pages. Default: bold, foreground blue.
1209
1210@item woman-unknown-face
1211Face for all unknown fonts in man pages. Default: foreground brown.
1212Brown is a good compromise: it is distinguishable from the default but
1213not enough so as to make font errors look terrible. (Files that use
1214non-standard fonts seem to do so badly or in idiosyncratic ways!)
1215
1216@item woman-addition-face
1217Face for all additions made by WoMan to man pages.
1218Default: foreground orange.
1219@end vtable
1220
1221
1222@node Special symbols, , Faces, Customization
1223@comment node-name, next, previous, up
1224@section Special symbols
1225@cindex special symbols
1226
1227This section currently applies @emph{only} to Microsoft Windows.
1228
1229WoMan provides partial experimental support for special symbols,
1230initially only for MS-Windows and only for MS-Windows fonts. This
1231includes both non-@acronym{ASCII} characters from the main text font and use
1232of a separate symbol font. Later, support will be added for other font
1233types (e.g.@: @code{bdf} fonts) and for the X Window System. In Emacs
123420.7, the current support works partially under Windows 9x but may not
1235work on any other platform.
1236
1237@vtable @code
1238@item woman-use-extended-font
1239A boolean value. If non-@code{nil} then WoMan may use non-@acronym{ASCII} characters
1240from the default font. Default is @code{t}.
1241
1242@item woman-use-symbol-font
1243A boolean value. If non-@code{nil} then WoMan may use the symbol font.
1244Default is @code{nil}, mainly because it may change the line spacing (at
1245least in NTEmacs 20).
1246
1247@item woman-symbol-font
1248A string describing the symbol font to use for special characters.
1249It should be compatible with, and the same size as, the default text font.
1250Under MS-Windows, the default is
1251
1252@lisp
1253"-*-Symbol-normal-r-*-*-*-*-96-96-p-*-ms-symbol"
1254@end lisp
1255@end vtable
1256
1257
1258@c ===================================================================
1259
1260@node Log, Technical, Customization, Top
1261@comment node-name, next, previous, up
1262@chapter The *WoMan-Log* Buffer
1263@cindex log buffer
1264@cindex buffer, log
1265
1266This is modeled on the Emacs byte-compiler. It logs all files
1267formatted by WoMan and the time taken. If WoMan finds anything that it
1268cannot handle then it writes a warning to this buffer. If the variable
1269@code{woman-show-log} is non-@code{nil} (by default it is @code{nil}) then
1270WoMan automatically displays this buffer. @xref{Interface Options, ,
1271Interface Options}. Many WoMan warnings can be completely ignored,
1272because they are reporting the fact that WoMan has ignored requests that
1273it is correct for WoMan to ignore. In some future version this level of
1274paranoia may be reduced, but not until WoMan is deemed more reliable.
1275At present, all warnings should be treated with some suspicion.
1276Uninterpreted escape sequences are also logged (in some cases).
1277
1278By resetting the variable @code{woman-ignore} to @code{nil} (by default
1279it is @code{t}), uninterpreted @code{roff} requests can optionally be
1280left in the formatted buffer to indicate precisely where they occurred.
1281@xref{Interface Options, , Interface Options}.
1282
1283@c ===================================================================
1284
1285@node Technical, Bugs, Log, Top
1286@comment node-name, next, previous, up
1287@chapter Technical Details
1288@cindex technical details
1289@cindex horizontal spacing
1290@cindex spacing, horizontal and vertical
1291@cindex vertical spacing
1292@cindex resolution
1293
1294@heading Horizontal and vertical spacing and resolution
1295
1296WoMan currently assumes 10 characters per inch horizontally, hence a
1297horizontal resolution of 24 basic units, and 5 lines per inch
1298vertically, hence a vertical resolution of 48 basic units.
1299(@code{nroff} uses 240 per inch.)
1300
1301@heading Vertical spacing and blank lines
1302
1303The number of consecutive blank lines in the formatted buffer should be
1304either 0 or 1. A blank line should leave a space like .sp 1.
1305Current policy is to output vertical space only immediately before text
1306is output.
1307
1308@c ===================================================================
1309
1310@node Bugs, Acknowledgements, Technical, Top
1311@comment node-name, next, previous, up
1312@chapter Reporting Bugs
1313@cindex reporting bugs
1314@cindex bugs, reporting
1315
1316If WoMan fails completely, or formats a file incorrectly (i.e.@:
1317obviously wrongly or significantly differently from @code{man}) or
1318inelegantly, then please
1319
1320@enumerate
1321@item
1322try the latest version of @file{woman.el} from the Emacs CVS repository
1323on @uref{http://savannah.gnu.org/}. If it still fails, please
1324
1325@item
1326send a bug report to @email{bug-gnu-emacs@@gnu.org} and to
1327@email{F.J.Wright@@qmw.ac.uk}. Please include the entry from the
1328@code{*WoMan-Log*} buffer relating to the problem file, together with
1329a brief description of the problem. Please indicate where you got the
1330man source file from, but do not send it unless asked to send it.
1331@end enumerate
1332
1333@c ===================================================================
1334
1335@node Acknowledgements, GNU Free Documentation License, Bugs, Top
1336@comment node-name, next, previous, up
1337@chapter Acknowledgements
1338@cindex acknowledgements
1339
1340For Heather, Kathryn and Madelyn, the women in my life (although they
1341will probably never use it)!
1342
1343I also thank the following for helpful suggestions, bug reports, code
1344fragments, general interest, etc.:
1345
1346@quotation
1347Jari Aalto, @email{jari.aalto@@cs.tpu.fi}@*
1348Dean Andrews, @email{dean@@dra.com}@*
1349Juanma Barranquero, @email{barranquero@@laley-actualidad.es}@*
1350Karl Berry, @email{kb@@cs.umb.edu}@*
1351Jim Chapman, @email{jchapman@@netcomuk.co.uk}@*
1352Frederic Corne, @email{frederic.corne@@erli.fr}@*
1353Peter Craft, @email{craft@@alacritech.com}@*
1354Charles Curley, @email{ccurley@@trib.com}@*
1355Jim Davidson, @email{jdavidso@@teknowledge.com}@*
1356Kevin D'Elia, @email{Kevin.DElia@@mci.com}@*
1357John Fitch, @email{jpff@@maths.bath.ac.uk}@*
1358Hans Frosch, @email{jwfrosch@@rish.b17c.ingr.com}@*
1359Guy Gascoigne-Piggford, @email{ggp@@informix.com}@*
1360Brian Gorka, @email{gorkab@@sanchez.com}@*
1361Nicolai Henriksen, @email{nhe@@lyngso-industri.dk}@*
1362Thomas Herchenroeder, @email{the@@software-ag.de}@*
1363Alexander Hinds, @email{ahinds@@thegrid.net}@*
1364Stefan Hornburg, @email{sth@@hacon.de}@*
1365Theodore Jump, @email{tjump@@cais.com}@*
1366Paul Kinnucan, @email{paulk@@mathworks.com}@*
1367Jonas Linde, @email{jonas@@init.se}@*
1368Andrew McRae, @email{andrewm@@optimation.co.nz}@*
1369Howard Melman, @email{howard@@silverstream.com}@*
1370Dennis Pixton, @email{dennis@@math.binghamton.edu}@*
1371T. V. Raman, @email{raman@@Adobe.com}@*
1372Bruce Ravel, @email{bruce.ravel@@nist.gov}@*
1373Benjamin Riefenstahl, @email{benny@@crocodial.de}@*
1374Kevin Ruland, @email{kruland@@seistl.com}@*
1375Tom Schutter, @email{tom@@platte.com}@*
1376Wei-Xue Shi, @email{wxshi@@ma.neweb.ne.jp}@*
1377Fabio Somenzi, @email{fabio@@joplin.colorado.edu}@*
1378Karel Sprenger, @email{ks@@ic.uva.nl}@*
1379Chris Szurgot, @email{szurgot@@itribe.net}@*
1380Paul A. Thompson, @email{pat@@po.cwru.edu}@*
1381Arrigo Triulzi, @email{arrigo@@maths.qmw.ac.uk}@*
1382Geoff Voelker, @email{voelker@@cs.washington.edu}@*
1383Eli Zaretskii, @email{eliz@@is.elta.co.il}
1384@end quotation
1385
1386@c ===================================================================
1387
1388@comment END OF MANUAL TEXT
1389@page
1390
1391
1392@node GNU Free Documentation License, Command Index, Acknowledgements, Top
1393@appendix GNU Free Documentation License
1394@include doclicense.texi
1395
1396@node Command Index, Variable Index, GNU Free Documentation License, Top
1397@comment node-name, next, previous, up
1398@unnumbered Command Index
1399
1400@printindex fn
1401
1402@node Variable Index, Keystroke Index, Command Index, Top
1403@comment node-name, next, previous, up
1404@unnumbered Variable Index
1405
1406@printindex vr
1407
1408@c Without a page throw here, the page length seems to get reset to the
1409@c depth of the index that fits on the page after the previous index.
1410@c This must be a bug!
1411
1412@page
1413
1414@node Keystroke Index, Concept Index, Variable Index, Top
1415@comment node-name, next, previous, up
1416@unnumbered Keystroke Index
1417
1418@printindex ky
1419
1420@c Without a page throw here, the page length seems to get reset to the
1421@c depth of the index that fits on the page after the previous index.
1422@c This must be a bug!
1423
1424@page
1425
1426@node Concept Index, , Keystroke Index, Top
1427@comment node-name, next, previous, up
1428@unnumbered Concept Index
1429
1430@printindex cp
1431
1432@bye
1433
1434@ignore
1435 arch-tag: a1a6b715-396f-4378-9b94-0b2ca0aa5028
1436@end ignore