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1 | \input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*- |
2 | @c %**start of header | |
db78a8cb | 3 | @setfilename ../../info/woman |
4009494e GM |
4 | @settitle WoMan: Browse Unix Manual Pages ``W.O. (without) Man'' |
5 | @c Manual last updated: | |
debf4439 | 6 | @set UPDATED Time-stamp: <Fri 13-Jun-2008 13:07:05 gmorris on xoc2.stanford.edu> |
4009494e GM |
7 | @c Software version: |
8 | @set VERSION 0.54 (beta) | |
9 | @afourpaper | |
10 | @c With different size paper the printed page breaks will need attention! | |
11 | @c Look for @page and @need commands. | |
12 | @setchapternewpage off | |
13 | @paragraphindent 0 | |
14 | @c %**end of header | |
15 | ||
16 | @copying | |
17 | This file documents WoMan: A program to browse Unix manual pages `W.O. | |
18 | (without) man'. | |
19 | ||
20 | Copyright @copyright{} 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, | |
3f548a7c | 21 | 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Free Software Foundation, Inc. |
4009494e GM |
22 | |
23 | @quotation | |
24 | Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document | |
25 | under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or | |
26 | any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no | |
debf4439 GM |
27 | Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU Manual,'' |
28 | and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the license | |
29 | is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation License.'' | |
4009494e | 30 | |
6f093307 GM |
31 | (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have the freedom to copy and |
32 | modify this GNU manual. Buying copies from the FSF supports it in | |
33 | developing GNU and promoting software freedom.'' | |
4009494e GM |
34 | @end quotation |
35 | @end copying | |
36 | ||
37 | @dircategory Emacs | |
38 | @direntry | |
39 | * WoMan: (woman). Browse UN*X Manual Pages "W.O. (without) Man". | |
40 | @end direntry | |
41 | ||
42 | @finalout | |
43 | ||
44 | @titlepage | |
45 | @title WoMan | |
46 | @subtitle Browse Unix Manual Pages ``W.O. (without) Man'' | |
47 | @subtitle Software Version @value{VERSION} | |
48 | @author Francis J. Wright | |
49 | @sp 2 | |
50 | @author School of Mathematical Sciences | |
51 | @author Queen Mary and Westfield College | |
52 | @author (University of London) | |
53 | @author Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, UK | |
54 | @author @email{F.J.Wright@@qmul.ac.uk} | |
55 | @author @uref{http://centaur.maths.qmw.ac.uk/} | |
56 | @c He no longer maintains this manual. | |
57 | @sp 2 | |
58 | @author Manual Last Updated @value{UPDATED} | |
59 | ||
60 | @comment The following two commands start the copyright page. | |
61 | @page | |
62 | @vskip 0pt plus 1filll | |
63 | @insertcopying | |
64 | @end titlepage | |
65 | ||
66 | @contents | |
67 | ||
68 | @c =================================================================== | |
69 | ||
70 | @ifnottex | |
71 | @node Top, Introduction, (dir), (dir) | |
72 | @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
73 | @top WoMan: Browse Unix Manual Pages ``W.O. (without) Man'' | |
74 | ||
75 | @display | |
76 | Software Version @value{VERSION} | |
77 | Manual Last Updated @value{UPDATED} | |
78 | ||
79 | @email{F.J.Wright@@qmw.ac.uk, Francis J. Wright} | |
80 | @uref{http://centaur.maths.qmw.ac.uk/, School of Mathematical Sciences} | |
81 | Queen Mary and Westfield College (University of London) | |
82 | Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, UK | |
83 | @end display | |
84 | @end ifnottex | |
85 | ||
86 | @menu | |
87 | * Introduction:: Introduction | |
88 | * Background:: Background | |
89 | * Finding:: Finding and Formatting Man Pages | |
90 | * Browsing:: Browsing Man Pages | |
91 | * Customization:: Customization | |
92 | * Log:: The *WoMan-Log* Buffer | |
93 | * Technical:: Technical Details | |
94 | * Bugs:: Reporting Bugs | |
95 | * Acknowledgements:: Acknowledgements | |
96 | * GNU Free Documentation License:: The license for this documentation. | |
97 | * Command Index:: Command Index | |
98 | * Variable Index:: Variable Index | |
99 | * Keystroke Index:: Keystroke Index | |
100 | * Concept Index:: Concept Index | |
101 | @end menu | |
102 | ||
103 | @c =================================================================== | |
104 | ||
105 | @node Introduction, Background, Top, Top | |
106 | @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
107 | @chapter Introduction | |
108 | @cindex introduction | |
109 | ||
110 | This version of WoMan should run with GNU Emacs 20.3 or later on any | |
111 | platform. It has not been tested, and may not run, with any other | |
112 | version of Emacs. It was developed primarily on various versions of | |
113 | Microsoft Windows, but has also been tested on MS-DOS, and various | |
114 | versions of UNIX and GNU/Linux. | |
115 | ||
116 | WoMan is distributed with GNU Emacs. In addition, the current source | |
117 | code and documentation files are available from | |
118 | @uref{http://centaur.maths.qmw.ac.uk/Emacs/WoMan/, the WoMan web | |
119 | server}. | |
120 | ||
121 | WoMan implements a subset of the formatting performed by the Emacs | |
122 | @code{man} (or @code{manual-entry}) command to format a Unix-style | |
123 | @dfn{manual page} (usually abbreviated to @dfn{man page}) for display, | |
124 | but without calling any external programs. It is intended to emulate | |
125 | the whole of the @code{roff -man} macro package, plus those @code{roff} | |
126 | requests (@pxref{Background, , Background}) that are most commonly used | |
127 | in man pages. However, the emulation is modified to include the | |
128 | reformatting done by the Emacs @code{man} command. No hyphenation is | |
129 | performed. | |
130 | ||
131 | @table @b | |
132 | @item Advantages | |
133 | Much more direct, does not require any external programs. Supports | |
134 | completion on man page names. | |
135 | @item Disadvantages | |
136 | Not a complete emulation. Currently no support for @code{eqn} or | |
137 | @code{tbl}. Slightly slower for large man pages (but usually faster for | |
138 | small- and medium-size pages). | |
139 | @end table | |
140 | ||
141 | This browser works quite well on simple well-written man files. It | |
142 | works less well on idiosyncratic files that ``break the rules'' or use | |
143 | the more obscure @code{roff} requests directly. Current test results | |
144 | are available in the file | |
145 | @uref{http://centaur.maths.qmw.ac.uk/Emacs/WoMan/files/woman.status, | |
146 | @file{woman.status}}. | |
147 | ||
148 | WoMan supports the use of compressed man files via | |
149 | @code{auto-compression-mode} by turning it on if necessary. But you may | |
150 | need to adjust the user option @code{woman-file-compression-regexp}. | |
151 | @xref{Interface Options, , Interface Options}. | |
152 | ||
153 | Brief help on the WoMan interactive commands and user options, all of | |
154 | which begin with the prefix @code{woman-} (or occasionally | |
155 | @code{WoMan-}), is available most easily by loading WoMan and then | |
156 | either running the command @code{woman-mini-help} or selecting the WoMan | |
157 | menu option @samp{Mini Help}. | |
158 | ||
159 | WoMan is (of course) still under development! Please | |
160 | @email{F.J.Wright@@qmw.ac.uk, let me know} what doesn't work---I am | |
161 | adding and improving functionality as testing shows that it is | |
162 | necessary. Guidance on reporting bugs is given below. @xref{Bugs, , | |
163 | Reporting Bugs}. | |
164 | ||
165 | @c =================================================================== | |
166 | ||
167 | @node Background, Finding, Introduction, Top | |
168 | @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
169 | @chapter Background | |
170 | @cindex background | |
171 | ||
172 | WoMan is a browser for traditional Unix-style manual page documentation. | |
173 | Each such document is conventionally referred to as a @dfn{manual page}, | |
174 | or @dfn{man page} for short, even though some are very much longer than | |
175 | one page. A man page is a document written using the Unix ``man'' | |
176 | macros, which are themselves written in the nroff/troff text processing | |
177 | markup language. @code{nroff} and @code{troff} are text processors | |
178 | originally written for the UNIX operating system by Joseph F. Ossanna at | |
179 | Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, New Jersey, USA@. They are closely | |
180 | related, and except in the few cases where the distinction between them | |
181 | is important I will refer to them both ambiguously as @code{roff}. | |
182 | ||
183 | @code{roff} markup consists of @dfn{requests} and @dfn{escape | |
184 | sequences}. A request occupies a complete line and begins with either a | |
185 | period or a single forward quote. An escape sequences is embedded | |
186 | within the input text and begins (by default) with a backslash. The | |
187 | original man macro package defines 20 new @code{roff} requests | |
188 | implemented as macros, which were considered to be sufficient for | |
189 | writing man pages. But whilst in principle man pages use only the man | |
190 | macros, in practice a significant number use many other @code{roff} | |
191 | requests. | |
192 | ||
193 | The distinction between @code{troff} and @code{nroff} is that | |
194 | @code{troff} was designed to drive a phototypesetter whereas | |
195 | @code{nroff} was designed to produce essentially @acronym{ASCII} output for a | |
196 | character-based device similar to a teletypewriter (usually abbreviated | |
197 | to ``teletype'' or ``tty''). Hence, @code{troff} supports much finer | |
198 | control over output positioning than does @code{nroff} and can be seen | |
199 | as a forerunner of @TeX{}. Traditionally, man pages are either | |
200 | formatted by @code{troff} for typesetting or by @code{nroff} for | |
201 | printing on a character printer or displaying on a screen. Of course, | |
202 | over the last 25 years or so, the distinction between typeset output on | |
203 | paper and characters on a screen has become blurred by the fact that | |
204 | most screens now support bit-mapped displays, so that any information | |
205 | that can be printed can also be rendered on screen, the only difference | |
206 | being the resolution. | |
207 | ||
208 | Nevertheless, Unix-style manual page documentation is still normally | |
209 | browsed on screen by running a program called @code{man}. This program | |
210 | looks in a predefined set of directories for the man page matching a | |
211 | specified topic, then either formats the source file by running | |
212 | @code{nroff} or recovers a pre-formatted file, and displays it via a | |
213 | pager such as @code{more}. @code{nroff} normally formats for a printer, | |
214 | so it paginates the output, numbers the pages, etc., most of which is | |
215 | irrelevant when the document is browsed as a continuous scrollable | |
216 | document on screen. The only concession to on-screen browsing normally | |
217 | implemented by the @code{man} program is to squeeze consecutive blank | |
218 | lines into a single blank line. | |
219 | ||
220 | For some time, Emacs has offered an improved interface for browsing man | |
221 | pages in the form of the Emacs @code{man} (or @code{manual-entry}) | |
222 | command, see @ref{Documentation, man, Documentation Commands, emacs, GNU | |
223 | Emacs Manual}. | |
224 | This command runs @code{man} as described above, perhaps in | |
225 | the background, and then post-processes the output to remove much of the | |
226 | @code{nroff} pagination such as page headers and footers, and places the | |
227 | result into an Emacs buffer. It puts this buffer into a special major | |
228 | mode, which is tailored for man page browsing, and provides a number of | |
229 | useful navigation commands, support for following references, etc. It | |
230 | provides some support for special display faces (fonts), but no special | |
231 | menu or mouse support. The Emacs man package appears to have been | |
232 | developed over about 10 years, from the late 1980s to the late 1990s. | |
233 | ||
234 | There is considerable inefficiency in having @code{nroff} paginate a | |
235 | document and then removing most of the pagination! | |
236 | ||
237 | WoMan is an Emacs Lisp library that provides an emulation of the | |
238 | functionality of the Emacs @code{man} command, the main difference being | |
239 | that WoMan does not use any external programs. The only situation in | |
240 | which WoMan might use an external program is when the source file is | |
241 | compressed, when WoMan will use the standard Emacs automatic | |
242 | decompression facility, which does call an external program. | |
243 | ||
244 | I began developing WoMan in the Spring of 1997 and the first version was | |
245 | released in May 1997. The original motivation for WoMan was the fact | |
246 | that many GNU and Unix programs are ported to other platforms and come | |
247 | with Unix-style manual page documentation. This may be difficult to | |
248 | read because ports of the Unix-style @code{man} program can be a little | |
249 | awkward to set up. I decided that it should not be too hard to emulate | |
250 | the 20 @code{man} macros directly, without treating them as macros and | |
251 | largely ignoring the underlying @code{roff} requests, given the text | |
252 | processing capabilities of Emacs. This proved to be essentially true, | |
253 | and it did not take a great deal of work to be able to format simple man | |
254 | pages acceptably. | |
255 | ||
256 | One problem arose with the significant number of man pages that use | |
257 | @code{roff} requests in addition to the @code{man} macros, and since | |
258 | releasing the first version of WoMan I have been continually extending | |
259 | it to support more @code{roff} requests. WoMan can now format a | |
260 | significant proportion of the man pages that I have tested, either well | |
261 | or at least readably. However, I have added capabilities partly by | |
262 | making additional passes through the document, a design that is | |
263 | fundamentally flawed. This can only be solved by a major re-design of | |
264 | WoMan to handle the major formatting within a single recursive pass, | |
265 | rather than the present multiple passes without any significant | |
266 | recursion. There are some @code{roff} requests that cannot be handled | |
267 | satisfactorily within the present design. Some of these are currently | |
268 | handled by kludges that ``usually more or less work.'' | |
269 | ||
270 | The principle advantage of WoMan is that it does not require @code{man}, | |
271 | and indeed the name WoMan is a contraction of ``without man.'' But it | |
272 | has other advantages. It does not paginate the document, so it does not | |
273 | need to un-paginate it again, thereby saving time. It could take full | |
274 | advantage of the display capabilities available to it, and I hope to | |
275 | develop WoMan to take advantage of developments in Emacs itself. At | |
276 | present, WoMan uses several display faces to support bold and italic | |
277 | text, to indicate other fonts, etc. The default faces are also | |
278 | colored, but the choice of faces is customizable. WoMan provides menu | |
279 | support for navigation and mouse support for following references, in | |
280 | addition to the navigation facilities provided by @code{man} mode. | |
281 | WoMan has (this) texinfo documentation! | |
282 | ||
283 | WoMan @emph{does not} replace @code{man}, although it does use a number | |
284 | of the facilities implemented in the Emacs @code{man} library. WoMan | |
285 | and man can happily co-exist, which is very useful for comparison and | |
286 | debugging purposes. | |
287 | ||
288 | @code{nroff} simulates non-@acronym{ASCII} characters by using one or more | |
289 | @acronym{ASCII} characters. WoMan should be able to do much better than | |
290 | this. I have recently begun to add support for WoMan to use more of the | |
291 | characters in its default font and to use a symbol font, and it is an | |
292 | aspect that I intend to develop further in the near future. It should | |
293 | be possible to move WoMan from an emulation of @code{nroff} to an | |
294 | emulation of @code{troff} as GNU Emacs moves to providing bit-mapped | |
295 | display facilities. | |
296 | ||
297 | @node Finding, Browsing, Background, Top | |
298 | @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
299 | @chapter Finding and Formatting Man Pages | |
300 | @cindex using, finding man pages | |
301 | @cindex using, formatting man pages | |
302 | @cindex finding man pages | |
303 | @cindex formatting man pages | |
304 | @cindex man pages, finding | |
305 | @cindex man pages, formatting | |
306 | ||
307 | WoMan provides three user interfaces for finding and formatting man pages: | |
308 | ||
309 | @itemize @bullet | |
310 | @item | |
311 | a topic interface similar to that provided by the standard Emacs | |
312 | @code{man} command; | |
313 | ||
314 | @item | |
315 | a family of filename interfaces analogous to the standard Emacs | |
316 | @code{view-file} command; | |
317 | ||
318 | @item | |
319 | an automatic interface that detects the file type from its contents. | |
320 | (This is currently neither well tested, well supported nor recommended!) | |
321 | @end itemize | |
322 | ||
323 | The topic and filename interfaces support completion in the usual way. | |
324 | ||
325 | The topic interface is generally the most convenient for regular use, | |
326 | although it may require some special setup, especially if your machine | |
327 | does not already have a conventional @code{man} installation (which | |
328 | WoMan tries to detect). | |
329 | ||
330 | The simplest filename interface command @code{woman-find-file} can | |
331 | always be used with no setup at all (provided WoMan is installed and | |
332 | loaded or set up to autoload). | |
333 | ||
334 | The automatic interface always requires special setup. | |
335 | ||
336 | ||
337 | @heading Case-Dependence of Filenames | |
338 | ||
339 | @cindex case-sensitivity | |
340 | @vindex w32-downcase-file-names | |
341 | By default, WoMan ignores case in file pathnames only when it seems | |
342 | appropriate. Microsoft Windows users who want complete case | |
343 | independence should set the special NTEmacs variable | |
344 | @code{w32-downcase-file-names} to @code{t} and use all lower case when | |
345 | setting WoMan file paths. | |
346 | ||
347 | ||
348 | @menu | |
349 | * Topic:: Topic Interface | |
350 | * Filename:: Filename Interface | |
351 | * Automatic:: Automatic Interface | |
352 | @end menu | |
353 | ||
354 | @node Topic, Filename, Finding, Finding | |
355 | @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
356 | @section Topic Interface | |
357 | @cindex topic interface | |
358 | ||
359 | The topic interface is accessed principally via the command | |
360 | @code{woman}. The same command can be accessed via the menu item | |
361 | @samp{Help->Manuals->Read Man Page (WoMan)...} once WoMan has been | |
362 | loaded. The command reads a manual topic in the minibuffer, which can | |
363 | be the @dfn{basename} of a man file anywhere in the man file | |
364 | structure. The ``basename'' in this context means the filename | |
365 | without any directory component and without any extension or suffix | |
366 | components that relate to the file type. So, for example, if there is | |
367 | a compressed source file in Chapter 5 of the UNIX Programmer's Manual | |
368 | with the full pathname @file{/usr/local/man/man5/man.conf.5.gz} then | |
369 | the topic is @code{man.conf}. Provided WoMan is configured correctly, | |
370 | this topic will appear among the completions offered by @code{woman}. | |
371 | If more than one file has the same topic name then WoMan will prompt | |
372 | for which file to format. Completion of topics is case insensitive. | |
373 | ||
374 | Clearly, @code{woman} has to know where to look for man files and there | |
375 | are two customizable user options that store this information: | |
376 | @code{woman-manpath} and @code{woman-path}. @xref{Interface Options, , | |
377 | Interface Options}. If @code{woman-manpath} is not set explicitly then | |
378 | WoMan tries to pick up the information that would be used by the | |
379 | @code{man} command, as follows. If the environment variable | |
380 | @code{MANPATH} is set, which seems to be the standard mechanism under | |
381 | UNIX, then WoMan parses that. Otherwise, if WoMan can find a | |
382 | configuration file named (by default) @file{man.conf} (or something very | |
383 | similar), which seems to be the standard mechanism under GNU/Linux, then | |
384 | it parses that. To be precise, ``something very similar'' means | |
385 | starting with @samp{man} and ending with @samp{.conf} and possibly more | |
386 | lowercase letters, e.g.@: @file{manual.configuration}. | |
387 | The search path and/or precise full path name for this file are set by | |
388 | the value of the customizable user option @code{woman-man.conf-path}. | |
389 | If all else fails, WoMan uses a plausible default man search path. | |
390 | ||
391 | If the above default configuration does not work correctly for any | |
392 | reason then simply customize the value of @code{woman-manpath}. To | |
393 | access man files that are not in a conventional man file hierarchy, | |
394 | customize the value of @code{woman-path} to include the directories | |
395 | containing the files. In this way, @code{woman} can access manual files | |
396 | @emph{anywhere} in the entire file system. | |
397 | ||
398 | There are two differences between @code{woman-manpath} and | |
399 | @code{woman-path}. Firstly, the elements of @code{woman-manpath} must | |
400 | be directories that contain @emph{directories of} man files, whereas the | |
401 | elements of @code{woman-path} must be directories that contain man files | |
402 | @emph{directly}. Secondly, the last directory component of each element | |
403 | of @code{woman-path} is treated as a regular (Emacs) match expression | |
404 | rather than a fixed name, which allows collections of related | |
405 | directories to be specified succinctly. Also, elements of | |
406 | @code{woman-manpath} can be conses, indicating a mapping from | |
407 | @samp{PATH} environment variable components to man directory | |
408 | hierarchies. | |
409 | ||
410 | For topic completion to work, WoMan must build a list of all the manual | |
411 | files that it can access, which can be very slow, especially if a | |
412 | network is involved. For this reason, it caches various amounts of | |
413 | information, after which retrieving it from the cache is very fast. If | |
414 | the cache ever gets out of synchronism with reality, running the | |
415 | @code{woman} command with a prefix argument (e.g.@: @kbd{C-u M-x woman}) | |
416 | will force it to rebuild its cache. This is necessary only if the names | |
417 | or locations of any man files change; it is not necessary if only their | |
418 | contents change. It would always be necessary if such a change occurred | |
419 | whilst Emacs were running and after WoMan has been loaded. It may be | |
420 | necessary if such a change occurs between Emacs sessions and persistent | |
421 | caching is used, although WoMan can detect some changes that invalidate | |
422 | its cache and rebuild it automatically. | |
423 | ||
424 | Customize the variable @code{woman-cache-filename} to save the cache | |
425 | between Emacs sessions. This is recommended only if the @code{woman} | |
426 | command is too slow the first time it is run in an Emacs session, while | |
427 | it builds its cache in main memory, which @emph{may} be @emph{very} | |
428 | slow. @xref{Cache, , The WoMan Topic Cache}, for further details. | |
429 | ||
430 | ||
431 | @menu | |
432 | * Cache:: The WoMan Topic Cache | |
433 | * Word at point:: Using the ``Word at Point'' as a Topic Suggestion | |
434 | @end menu | |
435 | ||
436 | @node Cache, Word at point, Topic, Topic | |
437 | @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
438 | @subsection The WoMan Topic Cache | |
439 | @cindex topic cache | |
440 | @cindex cache, topic | |
441 | ||
442 | The amount of information that WoMan caches (in main memory and, | |
443 | optionally, saved to disc) is controlled by the user option | |
444 | @code{woman-cache-level}. There is a trade-off between the speed with | |
445 | which WoMan can find a file and the size of the cache, and the default | |
446 | setting gives a reasonable compromise. | |
447 | ||
448 | The @code{woman} command always performs a certain amount of caching in | |
449 | main memory, but it can also write its cache to the filestore as a | |
450 | persistent cache under control of the user option | |
451 | @code{woman-cache-filename}. If persistent caching is turned on then | |
452 | WoMan re-loads its internal cache from the cache file almost | |
453 | instantaneously, so that there is never any perceptible start-up delay | |
454 | @emph{except} when WoMan rebuilds its cache. Persistent caching is | |
455 | currently turned off by default. This is because users with persistent | |
456 | caching turned on may overlook the need to force WoMan to rebuild its | |
457 | cache the first time they run it after they have installed new man | |
458 | files; with persistent caching turned off, WoMan automatically rebuilds | |
459 | its cache every time it is run in a new Emacs session. | |
460 | ||
461 | A prefix argument always causes the @code{woman} command (only) to | |
462 | rebuild its topic cache, and to re-save it to | |
463 | @code{woman-cache-filename} if this variable has a non-@code{nil} value. This | |
464 | is necessary if the @emph{names} of any of the directories or files in | |
465 | the paths specified by @code{woman-manpath} or @code{woman-path} change. | |
466 | If WoMan user options that affect the cache are changed then WoMan will | |
467 | automatically update its cache file on disc (if one is in use) the next | |
468 | time it is run in a new Emacs session. | |
469 | ||
470 | ||
471 | @node Word at point, , Cache, Topic | |
472 | @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
473 | @subsection Using the ``Word at Point'' as a Topic Suggestion | |
474 | @cindex word at point | |
475 | @cindex point, word at | |
476 | ||
477 | By default, the @code{woman} command uses the word nearest to point in | |
478 | the current buffer as a suggestion for the topic to look up, if it | |
479 | exists as a valid topic. The topic can be confirmed or edited in the | |
480 | minibuffer. | |
481 | ||
482 | You can also bind the variable @code{woman-use-topic-at-point} locally | |
483 | to a non-@code{nil} value (using @code{let}), in which case | |
484 | @code{woman} will can use the suggested topic without confirmation if | |
485 | possible. This may be useful to provide special private key bindings, | |
486 | e.g.@: this key binding for @kbd{C-c w} runs WoMan on the topic at | |
487 | point without seeking confirmation: | |
488 | ||
489 | @lisp | |
490 | (global-set-key "\C-cw" | |
491 | (lambda () | |
492 | (interactive) | |
493 | (let ((woman-use-topic-at-point t)) | |
494 | (woman)))) | |
495 | @end lisp | |
496 | ||
497 | ||
498 | @node Filename, Automatic, Topic, Finding | |
499 | @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
500 | @section Filename Interface | |
501 | @cindex filename interface | |
502 | ||
503 | The commands in this family are completely independent of the topic | |
504 | interface, caching mechanism, etc. | |
505 | ||
506 | @findex woman-find-file | |
507 | The filename interface is accessed principally via the extended command | |
508 | @code{woman-find-file}, which is available without any configuration at | |
509 | all (provided WoMan is installed and loaded or set up to autoload). | |
510 | This command can be used to browse any accessible man file, regardless | |
511 | of its filename or location. If the file is compressed then automatic | |
512 | file decompression must already be turned on (e.g.@: see the | |
513 | @samp{Help->Options} submenu)---it is turned on automatically only by | |
514 | the @code{woman} topic interface. | |
515 | ||
516 | @findex woman-dired-find-file | |
517 | Once WoMan is loaded (or if specially set up), various additional | |
518 | commands in this family are available. In a dired buffer, the command | |
519 | @code{woman-dired-find-file} allows the file on the same line as point | |
520 | to be formatted and browsed by WoMan. It is bound to the key @kbd{W} in | |
521 | the dired mode map and added to the dired major mode menu. It may also | |
522 | be bound to @kbd{w}, unless this key is bound by another library, which | |
523 | it is by @code{dired-x}, for example. Because it is quite likely that | |
524 | other libraries will extend the capabilities of such a commonly used | |
525 | mode as dired, the precise key bindings added by WoMan to the dired mode | |
526 | map are controlled by the user option @code{woman-dired-keys}. | |
527 | ||
528 | @findex woman-tar-extract-file | |
529 | When a tar (Tape ARchive) file is visited in Emacs, it is opened in tar | |
530 | mode, which parses the tar file and shows a dired-like view of its | |
531 | contents. The WoMan command @code{woman-tar-extract-file} allows the | |
532 | file on the same line as point to be formatted and browsed by WoMan. It | |
533 | is bound to the key @kbd{w} in the tar mode map and added to the tar | |
534 | major mode menu. | |
535 | ||
536 | The command @code{woman-reformat-last-file}, which is bound to the key | |
537 | @kbd{R} in WoMan mode and available on the major mode menu, reformats | |
538 | the last file formatted by WoMan. This may occasionally be useful if | |
539 | formatting parameters, such as the fill column, are changed, or perhaps | |
540 | if the buffer is somehow corrupted. | |
541 | ||
542 | @findex woman-decode-buffer | |
543 | The command @code{woman-decode-buffer} can be used to decode and browse | |
544 | the current buffer if it is visiting a man file, although it is | |
545 | primarily used internally by WoMan. | |
546 | ||
547 | ||
548 | @node Automatic, , Filename, Finding | |
549 | @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
550 | @section Automatic Interface | |
551 | @cindex automatic interface | |
552 | ||
553 | Emacs provides an interface to detect automatically the format of a file | |
554 | and decode it when it is visited. It is used primarily by the | |
555 | facilities for editing rich (i.e.@: formatted) text, as a way to store | |
556 | formatting information transparently as @acronym{ASCII} markup. WoMan can in | |
557 | principle use this interface, but it must be configured explicitly. | |
558 | ||
559 | This use of WoMan does not seem to be particularly advantageous, so it | |
560 | is not really supported. It originated during early experiments on how | |
561 | best to implement WoMan, before I implemented the current topic | |
562 | interface, and I subsequently stopped using it. I might revive it as a | |
563 | mechanism for storing pre-formatted WoMan files, somewhat analogous to | |
564 | the standard Unix @code{catman} facility. In the meantime, it exists | |
565 | for anyone who wants to experiment with it. Once it is set up it is | |
566 | simply a question of visiting the file and there is no WoMan-specific | |
567 | user interface! | |
568 | ||
569 | To use it, put something like this in your @file{.emacs} file. [The | |
570 | call to @code{set-visited-file-name} is to avoid font-locking triggered | |
571 | by automatic major mode selection.] | |
572 | ||
573 | @lisp | |
574 | (autoload 'woman-decode-region "woman") | |
575 | ||
576 | (add-to-list 'format-alist | |
577 | '(man "Unix man-page source format" "\\.\\(TH\\|ig\\) " | |
578 | woman-decode-region nil nil | |
579 | (lambda (arg) | |
580 | set-visited-file-name | |
581 | (file-name-sans-extension buffer-file-name)))) | |
582 | @end lisp | |
583 | ||
584 | @c =================================================================== | |
585 | ||
586 | @node Browsing, Customization, Finding, Top | |
587 | @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
588 | @chapter Browsing Man Pages | |
589 | @cindex using, browsing man pages | |
590 | @cindex browsing man pages | |
591 | @cindex man pages, browsing | |
592 | ||
593 | Once a man page has been found and formatted, WoMan provides a browsing | |
594 | interface that is essentially the same as that provided by the standard | |
595 | Emacs @code{man} command (and much of the code is inherited from the | |
596 | @code{man} library, which WoMan currently requires). Many WoMan | |
597 | facilities can be accessed from the WoMan major mode menu as well as via | |
598 | key bindings, etc. | |
599 | ||
600 | WoMan does not produce any page breaks or page numbers, and in fact does | |
601 | not paginate the man page at all, since this is not appropriate for | |
602 | continuous online browsing. It produces a document header line that is | |
603 | constructed from the standard man page header and footer. Apart from | |
604 | that, the appearance of the formatted man page should be almost | |
605 | identical to what would be produced by @code{man}, with consecutive | |
606 | blank lines squeezed to a single blank line. | |
607 | ||
608 | @menu | |
609 | * Fonts:: Fonts and Faces | |
610 | * Navigation:: Navigation | |
611 | * References:: Following References | |
612 | * Changing:: Changing the Current Man Page | |
613 | * Convenience:: Convenience Key Bindings | |
614 | * Imenu:: Imenu Support; Contents Menu | |
615 | @end menu | |
616 | ||
617 | @node Fonts, Navigation, Browsing, Browsing | |
618 | @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
619 | @section Fonts and Faces | |
620 | @cindex fonts | |
621 | @cindex faces | |
622 | ||
623 | Fonts used by @code{roff} are handled by WoMan as faces, the details of | |
624 | which are customizable. @xref{Faces, , Faces}. WoMan supports both the | |
625 | italic and bold fonts normally used in man pages, together with a single | |
626 | face to represent all unknown fonts (which are occasionally used in | |
627 | ``non-standard'' man pages, usually to represent a ``typewriter'' font) | |
628 | and a face to indicate additional symbols introduced by WoMan. This | |
629 | currently means the characters ^ and _ used to indicate super- and | |
630 | sub-scripts, which are not displayed well by WoMan. | |
631 | ||
632 | ||
633 | @node Navigation, References, Fonts, Browsing | |
634 | @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
635 | @section Navigation | |
636 | @cindex navigation | |
637 | ||
638 | Man (and hence WoMan) mode can be thought of as a superset of view mode. | |
639 | The buffer cannot be edited, so keys that would normally self-insert are | |
640 | used for navigation. The WoMan key bindings are a minor modification of | |
641 | the @code{man} key bindings. | |
642 | ||
643 | @table @kbd | |
644 | @item @key{SPC} | |
645 | @kindex SPC | |
646 | @findex scroll-up | |
647 | Scroll the man page up the window (@code{scroll-up}). | |
648 | ||
649 | @item @key{DEL} | |
650 | @kindex DEL | |
651 | @findex scroll-down | |
652 | Scroll the man page down the window (@code{scroll-down}). | |
653 | ||
654 | @item n | |
655 | @kindex n | |
656 | @findex Man-next-section | |
657 | Move point to the Nth next section---default 1 (@code{Man-next-section}). | |
658 | ||
659 | @item p | |
660 | @kindex p | |
661 | @findex Man-previous-section | |
662 | Move point to Nth previous section---default 1 | |
663 | (@code{Man-previous-section}). | |
664 | ||
665 | @item g | |
666 | @kindex g | |
667 | @findex Man-goto-section | |
668 | Move point to the specified section (@code{Man-goto-section}). | |
669 | ||
670 | @item s | |
671 | @kindex s | |
672 | @findex Man-goto-see-also-section | |
673 | Move point to the ``SEE ALSO'' section | |
674 | (@code{Man-goto-see-also-section}). Actually the section moved to is | |
675 | described by @code{Man-see-also-regexp}. | |
676 | @end table | |
677 | ||
678 | ||
679 | @node References, Changing, Navigation, Browsing | |
680 | @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
681 | @section Following References | |
682 | @cindex following references | |
683 | @cindex references | |
684 | ||
685 | Man pages usually contain a ``SEE ALSO'' section containing references | |
686 | to other man pages. If these man pages are installed then WoMan can | |
687 | easily be directed to follow the reference, i.e.@: to find and format the | |
688 | man page. When the mouse is passed over a correctly formatted reference | |
689 | it is highlighted, in which case clicking the middle button | |
690 | @kbd{Mouse-2} will cause WoMan to follow the reference. Alternatively, | |
691 | when point is over such a reference the key @key{RET} will follow the | |
692 | reference. | |
693 | ||
694 | Any word in the buffer can be used as a reference by clicking | |
695 | @kbd{Mouse-2} over it provided the Meta key is also used (although in | |
696 | general such a ``reference'' will not lead to a man page). | |
697 | Alternatively, the key @kbd{r} allows completion to be used to select a | |
698 | reference to follow, based on the word at point as default. | |
699 | ||
700 | @table @kbd | |
701 | @item @kbd{Mouse-2} | |
702 | @kindex Mouse-2 | |
703 | @findex woman-mouse-2 | |
704 | Run WoMan with word under mouse as topic (@code{woman-mouse-2}). The | |
705 | word must be mouse-highlighted unless @code{woman-mouse-2} is used with | |
706 | the Meta key. | |
707 | ||
708 | @item @key{RET} | |
709 | @kindex RET | |
710 | @findex man-follow | |
711 | Get the man page for the topic under (or nearest to) point | |
712 | (@code{man-follow}). | |
713 | ||
714 | @item r | |
715 | @kindex r | |
716 | @findex Man-follow-manual-reference | |
717 | Get one of the man pages referred to in the ``SEE ALSO'' section | |
718 | (@code{Man-follow-manual-reference}). Specify which reference to use; | |
719 | default is based on word at point. | |
720 | @end table | |
721 | ||
722 | ||
723 | @node Changing, Convenience, References, Browsing | |
724 | @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
725 | @section Changing the Current Man Page | |
726 | @cindex changing current man page | |
727 | @cindex current man page, changing | |
728 | ||
729 | The man page currently being browsed by WoMan can be changed in several | |
730 | ways. The command @code{woman} can be invoked to format another man | |
731 | page, or the current WoMan buffer can be buried or killed. WoMan | |
732 | maintains a ring of formatted man pages, and it is possible to move | |
733 | forwards and backwards in this ring by moving to the next or previous | |
734 | man page. It is sometimes useful to reformat the current page, for | |
735 | example after the right margin (the wrap column) or some other | |
736 | formatting parameter has been changed. | |
737 | ||
738 | Buffers formatted by Man and WoMan are completely unrelated, even though | |
739 | some of the commands to manipulate them are superficially the same (and | |
740 | share code). | |
741 | ||
742 | @table @kbd | |
743 | @item m | |
744 | @kindex m | |
745 | @findex man | |
746 | Run the command @code{man} to get a Un*x manual page and put it in a | |
747 | buffer. This command is the top-level command in the man package. It | |
748 | runs a Un*x command to retrieve and clean a man page in the background | |
749 | and places the results in a Man mode (man page browsing) buffer. If a | |
750 | man buffer already exists for this man page, it will display | |
751 | immediately. This works exactly the same if WoMan is loaded, except | |
752 | that the formatting time is displayed in the mini-buffer. | |
753 | ||
754 | @item w | |
755 | @kindex w | |
756 | @findex woman | |
757 | Run the command @code{woman} exactly as if the extended command or menu | |
758 | item had been used. | |
759 | ||
760 | @item q | |
761 | @kindex q | |
762 | @findex Man-quit | |
763 | Bury the buffer containing the current man page (@code{Man-quit}), | |
764 | i.e.@: move it to the bottom of the buffer stack. | |
765 | ||
766 | @item k | |
767 | @kindex k | |
768 | @findex Man-kill | |
769 | Kill the buffer containing the current man page (@code{Man-kill}), | |
770 | i.e.@: delete it completely so that it can be retrieved only by formatting | |
771 | the page again. | |
772 | ||
773 | @item M-p | |
774 | @kindex M-p | |
775 | @findex WoMan-previous-manpage | |
776 | Find the previous WoMan buffer (@code{WoMan-previous-manpage}). | |
777 | ||
778 | @item M-n | |
779 | @kindex M-n | |
780 | @findex WoMan-next-manpage | |
781 | Find the next WoMan buffer (@code{WoMan-next-manpage}). | |
782 | ||
783 | @item R | |
784 | @kindex R | |
785 | @findex woman-reformat-last-file | |
786 | Call WoMan to reformat the last man page formatted by WoMan | |
787 | (@code{woman-reformat-last-file}), e.g.@: after changing the fill column. | |
788 | @end table | |
789 | ||
790 | ||
791 | @node Convenience, Imenu, Changing, Browsing | |
792 | @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
793 | @section Convenience Key Bindings | |
794 | @cindex convenience key bindings | |
795 | @cindex key bindings, convenience | |
796 | ||
797 | @table @kbd | |
798 | @item - | |
799 | @kindex - | |
800 | @findex negative-argument | |
801 | Begin a negative numeric argument for the next command | |
802 | (@code{negative-argument}). | |
803 | ||
804 | @item 0 .. 9 | |
805 | @kindex 0 .. 9 | |
806 | @findex digit-argument | |
807 | Part of the numeric argument for the next command | |
808 | (@code{digit-argument}). | |
809 | ||
810 | @item < | |
811 | @kindex < | |
812 | @itemx . | |
813 | @kindex . | |
814 | @findex beginning-of-buffer | |
815 | Move point to the beginning of the buffer; leave mark at previous | |
816 | position (@code{beginning-of-buffer}). | |
817 | ||
818 | @item > | |
819 | @kindex > | |
820 | @findex end-of-buffer | |
821 | Move point to the end of the buffer; leave mark at previous position | |
822 | (@code{end-of-buffer}). | |
823 | ||
824 | @item ? | |
825 | @kindex ? | |
826 | @findex describe-mode | |
827 | Display documentation of current major mode and minor modes | |
828 | (@code{describe-mode}). The major mode description comes first, | |
829 | followed by the minor modes, each on a separate page. | |
830 | @end table | |
831 | ||
832 | ||
833 | @node Imenu, , Convenience, Browsing | |
834 | @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
835 | @section Imenu Support; Contents Menu | |
836 | @cindex imenu support | |
837 | @cindex contents menu | |
838 | ||
839 | The WoMan menu provides an option to make a contents menu for the | |
840 | current man page (using @code{imenu}). Alternatively, if you customize | |
841 | the option @code{woman-imenu} to @code{t} then WoMan will do it | |
842 | automatically for every man page. The menu title is set by the option | |
843 | @code{woman-imenu-title}, which is ``CONTENTS'' by default. The menu | |
844 | shows manual sections and subsections by default, but you can change | |
845 | this by customizing @code{woman-imenu-generic-expression}. | |
846 | ||
847 | WoMan is configured not to replace spaces in an imenu | |
848 | @code{*Completion*} buffer. For further documentation on the use of | |
849 | imenu, such as menu sorting, see the source file @file{imenu.el}, which | |
850 | is distributed with GNU Emacs. | |
851 | ||
852 | @c =================================================================== | |
853 | ||
854 | @node Customization, Log, Browsing, Top | |
855 | @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
856 | @chapter Customization | |
857 | @cindex customization | |
858 | ||
859 | All WoMan user options are customizable, and it is recommended to | |
860 | change them only via the standard Emacs customization facilities. | |
861 | WoMan defines a top-level customization group called @code{WoMan} | |
862 | under the parent group @code{Help}. It can be accessed either via the | |
863 | standard Emacs facilities, e.g.@: via the @samp{Help->Customize} | |
864 | submenu, or via the WoMan major mode menu. | |
865 | ||
866 | The top-level WoMan group contains only a few general options and three | |
867 | subgroups. The hooks are provided only for special purposes that, for | |
868 | example, require code to be executed, and should be changed only via | |
869 | @code{Customization} or the function @code{add-hook}. Most | |
870 | customization should be possible via existing user options. | |
871 | ||
872 | @vtable @code | |
873 | @item woman-show-log | |
874 | A boolean value that defaults to @code{nil}. If non-@code{nil} then show the | |
875 | @code{*WoMan-Log*} buffer if appropriate, i.e.@: if any warning messages | |
876 | are written to it. @xref{Log, , The *WoMan-Log* Buffer}. | |
877 | ||
878 | @item woman-pre-format-hook | |
879 | A hook run immediately before formatting a buffer. It might, for | |
880 | example, be used for face customization. @xref{Faces, , Faces}, | |
881 | however. | |
882 | ||
883 | @item woman-post-format-hook | |
884 | A hook run immediately after formatting a buffer. It might, for | |
885 | example, be used for installing a dynamic menu using @code{imenu}. | |
886 | (However. in this case it is better to use the built-in WoMan | |
887 | @code{imenu} support. @xref{Imenu, , Imenu Support; Contents Menu}.) | |
888 | @end vtable | |
889 | ||
890 | @heading Customization Subgroups | |
891 | ||
892 | @table @code | |
893 | @item WoMan Interface | |
894 | These options control the process of locating the appropriate file to | |
895 | browse, and the appearance of the browsing interface. | |
896 | ||
897 | @item WoMan Formatting | |
898 | These options control the layout that WoMan uses to format the man page. | |
899 | ||
900 | @item WoMan Faces | |
901 | These options control the display faces that WoMan uses to format the | |
902 | man page. | |
903 | @end table | |
904 | ||
905 | @menu | |
906 | * Interface Options:: | |
907 | * Formatting Options:: | |
908 | * Faces:: | |
909 | * Special symbols:: | |
910 | @end menu | |
911 | ||
912 | @node Interface Options, Formatting Options, Customization, Customization | |
913 | @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
914 | @section Interface Options | |
915 | @cindex interface options | |
916 | ||
917 | These options control the process of locating the appropriate file to | |
918 | browse, and the appearance of the browsing interface. | |
919 | ||
920 | @vtable @code | |
921 | @item woman-man.conf-path | |
922 | A list of strings representing directories to search and/or files to try | |
923 | for a man configuration file. The default is | |
924 | ||
925 | @lisp | |
926 | ("/etc" "/usr/local/lib") | |
927 | @end lisp | |
928 | ||
929 | @noindent | |
930 | [for GNU/Linux and Cygwin respectively.] A trailing separator (@file{/} | |
931 | for UNIX etc.) on directories is optional and the filename matched if a | |
932 | directory is specified is the first to match the regexp | |
933 | @code{man.*\.conf}. If the environment variable @code{MANPATH} is not | |
934 | set but a configuration file is found then it is parsed instead (or as | |
935 | well) to provide a default value for @code{woman-manpath}. | |
936 | ||
937 | @item woman-manpath | |
938 | A list of strings representing @emph{directory trees} to search for Unix | |
939 | manual files. Each element should be the name of a directory that | |
940 | contains subdirectories of the form @file{man?}, or more precisely | |
941 | subdirectories selected by the value of @code{woman-manpath-man-regexp}. | |
942 | Non-directory and unreadable files are ignored. This can also contain | |
943 | conses, with the car indicating a @code{PATH} variable component mapped | |
944 | to the directory tree given in the cdr. | |
945 | ||
946 | @cindex @code{MANPATH}, environment variable | |
947 | If not set then the environment variable @code{MANPATH} is used. If no | |
948 | such environment variable is found, the default list is determined by | |
949 | consulting the man configuration file if found. By default this is | |
950 | expected to be either @file{/etc/man.config} or | |
951 | @file{/usr/local/lib/man.conf}, which is controlled by the user option | |
952 | @code{woman-man.conf-path}. An empty substring of @code{MANPATH} | |
953 | denotes the default list. Otherwise, the default value of this variable | |
954 | is | |
955 | ||
956 | @lisp | |
957 | ("/usr/man" "/usr/local/man") | |
958 | @end lisp | |
959 | ||
960 | Any environment variables (names of which must have the Unix-style form | |
961 | @code{$NAME}, e.g.@: @code{$HOME}, @code{$EMACSDATA}, @code{$EMACS_DIR}, | |
962 | regardless of platform) are evaluated first but each element must | |
963 | evaluate to a @emph{single} directory name. Trailing @file{/}s are | |
964 | ignored. (Specific directories in @code{woman-path} are also searched.) | |
965 | ||
966 | On Microsoft platforms I recommend including drive letters explicitly, | |
967 | e.g. | |
968 | ||
969 | @lisp | |
970 | ("C:/Cygwin/usr/man" "C:/usr/man" "C:/usr/local/man") | |
971 | @end lisp | |
972 | ||
973 | @cindex directory separator character | |
974 | @cindex @code{MANPATH}, directory separator | |
975 | The @code{MANPATH} environment variable may be set using DOS | |
976 | semi-colon-separated or Unix-style colon-separated syntax (but not | |
977 | mixed). | |
978 | ||
979 | @item woman-manpath-man-regexp | |
980 | A regular expression to match man directories @emph{under} the | |
981 | @code{woman-manpath} directories. These normally have names of the form | |
982 | @file{man?}. Its default value is @code{"[Mm][Aa][Nn]"}, which is | |
983 | case-insensitive mainly for the benefit of Microsoft platforms. Its | |
984 | purpose is to avoid directories such as @file{cat?}, @file{.}, | |
985 | @file{..}, etc. | |
986 | ||
987 | @item woman-path | |
988 | A list of strings representing @emph{specific directories} to search for | |
989 | Unix manual files. For example | |
990 | ||
991 | @lisp | |
992 | ("/emacs/etc") | |
993 | @end lisp | |
994 | ||
995 | These directories are searched in addition to the directory trees | |
996 | specified in @code{woman-manpath}. Each element should be a directory | |
997 | string or @code{nil}, which represents the current directory when the | |
998 | path is expanded and cached. However, the last component (only) of each | |
999 | directory string is treated as a regexp (Emacs, not shell) and the | |
1000 | string is expanded into a list of matching directories. Non-directory | |
1001 | and unreadable files are ignored. The default value on MS-DOS is | |
1002 | ||
1003 | @lisp | |
1004 | ("$DJDIR/info" "$DJDIR/man/cat[1-9onlp]") | |
1005 | @end lisp | |
1006 | ||
1007 | @noindent | |
1008 | and on other platforms is @code{nil}. | |
1009 | ||
1010 | Any environment variables (names of which must have the Unix-style form | |
1011 | @code{$NAME}, e.g.@: @code{$HOME}, @code{$EMACSDATA}, @code{$EMACS_DIR}, | |
1012 | regardless of platform) are evaluated first but each element must | |
1013 | evaluate to a @emph{single} directory name (regexp, see above). For | |
1014 | example | |
1015 | ||
1016 | @lisp | |
1017 | ("$EMACSDATA") | |
1018 | @end lisp | |
1019 | ||
1020 | @noindent | |
1021 | or equivalently | |
1022 | ||
1023 | @lisp | |
1024 | ("$EMACS_DIR/etc") | |
1025 | @end lisp | |
1026 | ||
1027 | @noindent | |
1028 | Trailing @file{/}s are discarded. (The directory trees in | |
1029 | @code{woman-manpath} are also searched.) On Microsoft platforms I | |
1030 | recommend including drive letters explicitly. | |
1031 | ||
1032 | @item woman-cache-level | |
1033 | A positive integer representing the level of topic caching: | |
1034 | ||
1035 | @enumerate | |
1036 | @item | |
1037 | cache only the topic and directory lists (uses minimal memory, but not | |
1038 | recommended); | |
1039 | @item | |
1040 | cache also the directories for each topic (faster, without using much | |
1041 | more memory); | |
1042 | @item | |
1043 | cache also the actual filenames for each topic (fastest, but uses twice | |
1044 | as much memory). | |
1045 | @end enumerate | |
1046 | ||
1047 | The default value is currently 2, a good general compromise. If the | |
1048 | @code{woman} command is slow to find files then try 3, which may be | |
1049 | particularly beneficial with large remote-mounted man directories. Run | |
1050 | the @code{woman} command with a prefix argument or delete the cache file | |
1051 | @code{woman-cache-filename} for a change to take effect. (Values < 1 | |
1052 | behave like 1; values > 3 behave like 3.) | |
1053 | ||
1054 | @item woman-cache-filename | |
1055 | Either a string representing the full pathname of the WoMan directory | |
1056 | and topic cache file, or @code{nil}. It is used to save and restore the | |
1057 | cache between Emacs sessions. This is especially useful with | |
1058 | remote-mounted man page files! The default value of @code{nil} | |
1059 | suppresses this action. The ``standard'' non-@code{nil} filename is | |
1060 | @file{~/.wmncach.el}. Remember that a prefix argument forces the | |
1061 | @code{woman} command to update and re-write the cache. | |
1062 | ||
1063 | @item woman-dired-keys | |
1064 | A list of @code{dired} mode keys to be defined to run WoMan on the | |
1065 | current file, e.g.@: @code{("w" "W")} or any non-@code{nil} atom to | |
1066 | automatically define @kbd{w} and @kbd{W} if they are unbound, or | |
1067 | @code{nil} to do nothing. Default is @code{t}. | |
1068 | ||
1069 | @item woman-imenu-generic-expression | |
1070 | Imenu support for Sections and Subsections: an alist with elements of | |
1071 | the form @code{(MENU-TITLE REGEXP INDEX)}---see the documentation for | |
1072 | @code{imenu-generic-expression}. Default value is | |
1073 | ||
1074 | @lisp | |
1075 | ((nil "\n\\([A-Z].*\\)" 1) ; SECTION, but not TITLE | |
1076 | ("*Subsections*" "^ \\([A-Z].*\\)" 1)) | |
1077 | @end lisp | |
1078 | ||
1079 | @item woman-imenu | |
1080 | A boolean value that defaults to @code{nil}. If non-@code{nil} then WoMan adds | |
1081 | a Contents menu to the menubar by calling @code{imenu-add-to-menubar}. | |
1082 | ||
1083 | @item woman-imenu-title | |
1084 | A string representing the title to use if WoMan adds a Contents menu to | |
1085 | the menubar. Default is @code{"CONTENTS"}. | |
1086 | ||
1087 | @item woman-use-topic-at-point | |
1088 | A boolean value that defaults to @code{nil}. If non-@code{nil} then | |
1089 | the @code{woman} command uses the word at point as the topic, | |
1090 | @emph{without interactive confirmation}, if it exists as a topic. | |
1091 | ||
1092 | @item woman-use-topic-at-point-default | |
1093 | A boolean value representing the default value for | |
1094 | @code{woman-use-topic-at-point}. The default value is @code{nil}. | |
1095 | [The variable @code{woman-use-topic-at-point} may be @code{let}-bound | |
1096 | when @code{woman} is loaded, in which case its global value does not | |
1097 | get defined. The function @code{woman-file-name} sets it to this | |
1098 | value if it is unbound.] | |
1099 | ||
1100 | @item woman-uncompressed-file-regexp | |
1101 | A regular match expression used to select man source files (ignoring any | |
1102 | compression extension). The default value is | |
1103 | @code{"\\.\\([0-9lmnt]\\w*\\)"} [which means a filename extension is | |
1104 | required]. | |
1105 | ||
1106 | @emph{Do not change this unless you are sure you know what you are doing!} | |
1107 | ||
1108 | The SysV standard man pages use two character suffixes, and this is | |
1109 | becoming more common in the GNU world. For example, the man pages in | |
1110 | the @code{ncurses} package include @file{toe.1m}, @file{form.3x}, etc. | |
1111 | ||
1112 | @strong{Please note:} an optional compression regexp will be appended, | |
1113 | so this regexp @emph{must not} end with any kind of string terminator | |
1114 | such as @code{$} or @code{\\'}. | |
1115 | ||
1116 | @item woman-file-compression-regexp | |
1117 | A regular match expression used to match compressed man file extensions | |
1118 | for which decompressors are available and handled by auto-compression | |
1119 | mode. It should begin with @code{\\.} and end with @code{\\'} and | |
1120 | @emph{must not} be optional. The default value is | |
1121 | @code{"\\.\\(g?z\\|bz2\\)\\'"}, which matches the @code{gzip} and | |
1122 | @code{bzip2} compression extensions. | |
1123 | ||
1124 | @emph{Do not change this unless you are sure you know what you are doing!} | |
1125 | ||
1126 | [It should be compatible with the @code{car} of | |
1127 | @code{jka-compr-file-name-handler-entry}, but that is unduly | |
1128 | complicated, includes an inappropriate extension (@file{.tgz}) and is | |
1129 | not loaded by default!] | |
1130 | ||
1131 | @item woman-use-own-frame | |
1132 | If non-@code{nil} then use a dedicated frame for displaying WoMan windows. | |
1133 | This is useful only when WoMan is run under a window system such as X or | |
1134 | Microsoft Windows that supports real multiple frames, in which case the | |
1135 | default value is non-@code{nil}. | |
1136 | @end vtable | |
1137 | ||
1138 | ||
1139 | @node Formatting Options, Faces, Interface Options, Customization | |
1140 | @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
1141 | @section Formatting Options | |
1142 | @cindex formatting options | |
1143 | ||
1144 | These options control the layout that WoMan uses to format the man page. | |
1145 | ||
1146 | @vtable @code | |
1147 | @item woman-fill-column | |
1148 | An integer specifying the right margin for formatted text. Default is | |
1149 | 65. | |
1150 | ||
1151 | @item woman-fill-frame | |
1152 | A boolean value. If non-@code{nil} then most of the frame width is used, | |
1153 | overriding the value of @code{woman-fill-column}. Default is @code{nil}. | |
1154 | ||
1155 | @item woman-default-indent | |
1156 | An integer specifying the default prevailing indent for the @code{-man} | |
1157 | macros. Default is 5. Set this variable to 7 to emulate GNU/Linux man | |
1158 | formatting. | |
1159 | ||
1160 | @item woman-bold-headings | |
1161 | A boolean value. If non-@code{nil} then embolden section and subsection | |
1162 | headings. Default is @code{t}. [Heading emboldening is @emph{not} standard | |
1163 | @code{man} behavior.] | |
1164 | ||
1165 | @item woman-ignore | |
1166 | A boolean value. If non-@code{nil} then unrecognised requests etc. are | |
1167 | ignored. Default is @code{t}. This gives the standard @code{roff} behavior. | |
1168 | If @code{nil} then they are left in the buffer, which may aid debugging. | |
1169 | ||
1170 | @item woman-preserve-ascii | |
1171 | A boolean value. If non-@code{nil} then preserve @acronym{ASCII} characters in the | |
1172 | WoMan buffer. Otherwise, non-@acronym{ASCII} characters (that display as | |
1173 | @acronym{ASCII}) may remain, which is irrelevant unless the buffer is to be | |
1174 | saved to a file. Default is @code{nil}. | |
1175 | ||
1176 | @item woman-emulation | |
1177 | WoMan emulation, currently either @code{nroff} or @code{troff}. Default | |
1178 | is @code{nroff}. @code{troff} emulation is experimental and largely | |
1179 | untested. | |
1180 | @end vtable | |
1181 | ||
1182 | ||
1183 | @node Faces, Special symbols, Formatting Options, Customization | |
1184 | @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
1185 | @section Faces | |
1186 | @cindex faces | |
1187 | ||
1188 | These options control the display faces that WoMan uses to format the | |
1189 | man page. | |
1190 | ||
1191 | @vtable @code | |
1192 | @item woman-fontify | |
1193 | A boolean value. If non-@code{nil} then WoMan assumes that face support is | |
1194 | available. It defaults to a non-@code{nil} value if the display supports | |
1195 | either colors or different fonts. | |
1196 | ||
1197 | @item woman-italic-face | |
1198 | Face for italic font in man pages. Default: italic, underlined, | |
1199 | foreground red. This is overkill! @code{troff} uses just italic; | |
1200 | @code{nroff} uses just underline. You should probably select either | |
1201 | italic or underline as you prefer, but not both, although italic and | |
1202 | underline work together perfectly well! | |
1203 | ||
1204 | @item woman-bold-face | |
1205 | Face for bold font in man pages. Default: bold, foreground blue. | |
1206 | ||
1207 | @item woman-unknown-face | |
1208 | Face for all unknown fonts in man pages. Default: foreground brown. | |
1209 | Brown is a good compromise: it is distinguishable from the default but | |
1210 | not enough so as to make font errors look terrible. (Files that use | |
1211 | non-standard fonts seem to do so badly or in idiosyncratic ways!) | |
1212 | ||
1213 | @item woman-addition-face | |
1214 | Face for all additions made by WoMan to man pages. | |
1215 | Default: foreground orange. | |
1216 | @end vtable | |
1217 | ||
1218 | ||
1219 | @node Special symbols, , Faces, Customization | |
1220 | @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
1221 | @section Special symbols | |
1222 | @cindex special symbols | |
1223 | ||
1224 | This section currently applies @emph{only} to Microsoft Windows. | |
1225 | ||
1226 | WoMan provides partial experimental support for special symbols, | |
1227 | initially only for MS-Windows and only for MS-Windows fonts. This | |
1228 | includes both non-@acronym{ASCII} characters from the main text font and use | |
1229 | of a separate symbol font. Later, support will be added for other font | |
1230 | types (e.g.@: @code{bdf} fonts) and for the X Window System. In Emacs | |
1231 | 20.7, the current support works partially under Windows 9x but may not | |
1232 | work on any other platform. | |
1233 | ||
1234 | @vtable @code | |
1235 | @item woman-use-extended-font | |
1236 | A boolean value. If non-@code{nil} then WoMan may use non-@acronym{ASCII} characters | |
1237 | from the default font. Default is @code{t}. | |
1238 | ||
1239 | @item woman-use-symbol-font | |
1240 | A boolean value. If non-@code{nil} then WoMan may use the symbol font. | |
1241 | Default is @code{nil}, mainly because it may change the line spacing (at | |
1242 | least in NTEmacs 20). | |
1243 | ||
1244 | @item woman-symbol-font | |
1245 | A string describing the symbol font to use for special characters. | |
1246 | It should be compatible with, and the same size as, the default text font. | |
1247 | Under MS-Windows, the default is | |
1248 | ||
1249 | @lisp | |
1250 | "-*-Symbol-normal-r-*-*-*-*-96-96-p-*-ms-symbol" | |
1251 | @end lisp | |
1252 | @end vtable | |
1253 | ||
1254 | ||
1255 | @c =================================================================== | |
1256 | ||
1257 | @node Log, Technical, Customization, Top | |
1258 | @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
1259 | @chapter The *WoMan-Log* Buffer | |
1260 | @cindex log buffer | |
1261 | @cindex buffer, log | |
1262 | ||
1263 | This is modeled on the Emacs byte-compiler. It logs all files | |
1264 | formatted by WoMan and the time taken. If WoMan finds anything that it | |
1265 | cannot handle then it writes a warning to this buffer. If the variable | |
1266 | @code{woman-show-log} is non-@code{nil} (by default it is @code{nil}) then | |
1267 | WoMan automatically displays this buffer. @xref{Interface Options, , | |
1268 | Interface Options}. Many WoMan warnings can be completely ignored, | |
1269 | because they are reporting the fact that WoMan has ignored requests that | |
1270 | it is correct for WoMan to ignore. In some future version this level of | |
1271 | paranoia may be reduced, but not until WoMan is deemed more reliable. | |
1272 | At present, all warnings should be treated with some suspicion. | |
1273 | Uninterpreted escape sequences are also logged (in some cases). | |
1274 | ||
1275 | By resetting the variable @code{woman-ignore} to @code{nil} (by default | |
1276 | it is @code{t}), uninterpreted @code{roff} requests can optionally be | |
1277 | left in the formatted buffer to indicate precisely where they occurred. | |
1278 | @xref{Interface Options, , Interface Options}. | |
1279 | ||
1280 | @c =================================================================== | |
1281 | ||
1282 | @node Technical, Bugs, Log, Top | |
1283 | @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
1284 | @chapter Technical Details | |
1285 | @cindex technical details | |
1286 | @cindex horizontal spacing | |
1287 | @cindex spacing, horizontal and vertical | |
1288 | @cindex vertical spacing | |
1289 | @cindex resolution | |
1290 | ||
1291 | @heading Horizontal and vertical spacing and resolution | |
1292 | ||
1293 | WoMan currently assumes 10 characters per inch horizontally, hence a | |
1294 | horizontal resolution of 24 basic units, and 5 lines per inch | |
1295 | vertically, hence a vertical resolution of 48 basic units. | |
1296 | (@code{nroff} uses 240 per inch.) | |
1297 | ||
1298 | @heading Vertical spacing and blank lines | |
1299 | ||
1300 | The number of consecutive blank lines in the formatted buffer should be | |
1301 | either 0 or 1. A blank line should leave a space like .sp 1. | |
1302 | Current policy is to output vertical space only immediately before text | |
1303 | is output. | |
1304 | ||
1305 | @c =================================================================== | |
1306 | ||
1307 | @node Bugs, Acknowledgements, Technical, Top | |
1308 | @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
1309 | @chapter Reporting Bugs | |
1310 | @cindex reporting bugs | |
1311 | @cindex bugs, reporting | |
1312 | ||
1313 | If WoMan fails completely, or formats a file incorrectly (i.e.@: | |
1314 | obviously wrongly or significantly differently from @code{man}) or | |
1315 | inelegantly, then please | |
1316 | ||
1317 | @enumerate | |
1318 | @item | |
1319 | try the latest version of @file{woman.el} from the Emacs CVS repository | |
1320 | on @uref{http://savannah.gnu.org/}. If it still fails, please | |
1321 | ||
1322 | @item | |
1323 | send a bug report to @email{bug-gnu-emacs@@gnu.org} and to | |
1324 | @email{F.J.Wright@@qmw.ac.uk}. Please include the entry from the | |
1325 | @code{*WoMan-Log*} buffer relating to the problem file, together with | |
1326 | a brief description of the problem. Please indicate where you got the | |
1327 | man source file from, but do not send it unless asked to send it. | |
1328 | @end enumerate | |
1329 | ||
1330 | @c =================================================================== | |
1331 | ||
1332 | @node Acknowledgements, GNU Free Documentation License, Bugs, Top | |
1333 | @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
1334 | @chapter Acknowledgements | |
1335 | @cindex acknowledgements | |
1336 | ||
1337 | For Heather, Kathryn and Madelyn, the women in my life (although they | |
1338 | will probably never use it)! | |
1339 | ||
1340 | I also thank the following for helpful suggestions, bug reports, code | |
1341 | fragments, general interest, etc.: | |
1342 | ||
1343 | @quotation | |
1344 | Jari Aalto, @email{jari.aalto@@cs.tpu.fi}@* | |
1345 | Dean Andrews, @email{dean@@dra.com}@* | |
1346 | Juanma Barranquero, @email{barranquero@@laley-actualidad.es}@* | |
1347 | Karl Berry, @email{kb@@cs.umb.edu}@* | |
1348 | Jim Chapman, @email{jchapman@@netcomuk.co.uk}@* | |
1349 | Frederic Corne, @email{frederic.corne@@erli.fr}@* | |
1350 | Peter Craft, @email{craft@@alacritech.com}@* | |
1351 | Charles Curley, @email{ccurley@@trib.com}@* | |
1352 | Jim Davidson, @email{jdavidso@@teknowledge.com}@* | |
1353 | Kevin D'Elia, @email{Kevin.DElia@@mci.com}@* | |
1354 | John Fitch, @email{jpff@@maths.bath.ac.uk}@* | |
1355 | Hans Frosch, @email{jwfrosch@@rish.b17c.ingr.com}@* | |
1356 | Guy Gascoigne-Piggford, @email{ggp@@informix.com}@* | |
1357 | Brian Gorka, @email{gorkab@@sanchez.com}@* | |
1358 | Nicolai Henriksen, @email{nhe@@lyngso-industri.dk}@* | |
1359 | Thomas Herchenroeder, @email{the@@software-ag.de}@* | |
1360 | Alexander Hinds, @email{ahinds@@thegrid.net}@* | |
1361 | Stefan Hornburg, @email{sth@@hacon.de}@* | |
1362 | Theodore Jump, @email{tjump@@cais.com}@* | |
1363 | Paul Kinnucan, @email{paulk@@mathworks.com}@* | |
1364 | Jonas Linde, @email{jonas@@init.se}@* | |
1365 | Andrew McRae, @email{andrewm@@optimation.co.nz}@* | |
1366 | Howard Melman, @email{howard@@silverstream.com}@* | |
1367 | Dennis Pixton, @email{dennis@@math.binghamton.edu}@* | |
1368 | T. V. Raman, @email{raman@@Adobe.com}@* | |
1369 | Bruce Ravel, @email{bruce.ravel@@nist.gov}@* | |
1370 | Benjamin Riefenstahl, @email{benny@@crocodial.de}@* | |
1371 | Kevin Ruland, @email{kruland@@seistl.com}@* | |
1372 | Tom Schutter, @email{tom@@platte.com}@* | |
1373 | Wei-Xue Shi, @email{wxshi@@ma.neweb.ne.jp}@* | |
1374 | Fabio Somenzi, @email{fabio@@joplin.colorado.edu}@* | |
1375 | Karel Sprenger, @email{ks@@ic.uva.nl}@* | |
1376 | Chris Szurgot, @email{szurgot@@itribe.net}@* | |
1377 | Paul A. Thompson, @email{pat@@po.cwru.edu}@* | |
1378 | Arrigo Triulzi, @email{arrigo@@maths.qmw.ac.uk}@* | |
1379 | Geoff Voelker, @email{voelker@@cs.washington.edu}@* | |
1380 | Eli Zaretskii, @email{eliz@@is.elta.co.il} | |
1381 | @end quotation | |
1382 | ||
1383 | @c =================================================================== | |
1384 | ||
1385 | @comment END OF MANUAL TEXT | |
1386 | @page | |
1387 | ||
1388 | ||
1389 | @node GNU Free Documentation License, Command Index, Acknowledgements, Top | |
1390 | @appendix GNU Free Documentation License | |
1391 | @include doclicense.texi | |
1392 | ||
1393 | @node Command Index, Variable Index, GNU Free Documentation License, Top | |
1394 | @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
1395 | @unnumbered Command Index | |
1396 | ||
1397 | @printindex fn | |
1398 | ||
1399 | @node Variable Index, Keystroke Index, Command Index, Top | |
1400 | @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
1401 | @unnumbered Variable Index | |
1402 | ||
1403 | @printindex vr | |
1404 | ||
1405 | @c Without a page throw here, the page length seems to get reset to the | |
1406 | @c depth of the index that fits on the page after the previous index. | |
1407 | @c This must be a bug! | |
1408 | ||
1409 | @page | |
1410 | ||
1411 | @node Keystroke Index, Concept Index, Variable Index, Top | |
1412 | @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
1413 | @unnumbered Keystroke Index | |
1414 | ||
1415 | @printindex ky | |
1416 | ||
1417 | @c Without a page throw here, the page length seems to get reset to the | |
1418 | @c depth of the index that fits on the page after the previous index. | |
1419 | @c This must be a bug! | |
1420 | ||
1421 | @page | |
1422 | ||
1423 | @node Concept Index, , Keystroke Index, Top | |
1424 | @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
1425 | @unnumbered Concept Index | |
1426 | ||
1427 | @printindex cp | |
1428 | ||
1429 | @bye | |
1430 | ||
1431 | @ignore | |
1432 | arch-tag: a1a6b715-396f-4378-9b94-0b2ca0aa5028 | |
1433 | @end ignore |