Add 2007 to copyright years.
[bpt/emacs.git] / man / woman.texi
1 \input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
2 @c %**start of header
3 @setfilename ../info/woman
4 @settitle WoMan: Browse Unix Manual Pages ``W.O. (without) Man''
5 @c Manual last updated:
6 @set UPDATED Time-stamp: <2006-03-25 14:59:03 karl>
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,
21 2005, 2006, 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
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
27 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
28 Manual,'' and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
29 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
30 License'' in the Emacs manual.
31
32 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
33 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
34 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
35
36 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
37 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
38 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
39 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
40 @end quotation
41 @end copying
42
43 @dircategory Emacs
44 @direntry
45 * WoMan: (woman). Browse UN*X Manual Pages "W.O. (without) Man".
46 @end direntry
47
48 @finalout
49
50 @titlepage
51 @title WoMan
52 @subtitle Browse Unix Manual Pages ``W.O. (without) Man''
53 @subtitle Software Version @value{VERSION}
54 @author Francis J. Wright
55 @sp 2
56 @author School of Mathematical Sciences
57 @author Queen Mary and Westfield College
58 @author (University of London)
59 @author Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, UK
60 @author @email{F.J.Wright@@qmul.ac.uk}
61 @author @uref{http://centaur.maths.qmw.ac.uk/}
62 @c He no longer maintains this manual.
63 @sp 2
64 @author Manual Last Updated @value{UPDATED}
65
66 @comment The following two commands start the copyright page.
67 @page
68 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
69 @insertcopying
70 @end titlepage
71
72 @contents
73
74 @c ===================================================================
75
76 @ifnottex
77 @node Top, Introduction, (dir), (dir)
78 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
79 @top WoMan: Browse Unix Manual Pages ``W.O. (without) Man''
80
81 @display
82 Software Version @value{VERSION}
83 Manual Last Updated @value{UPDATED}
84
85 @email{F.J.Wright@@qmw.ac.uk, Francis J. Wright}
86 @uref{http://centaur.maths.qmw.ac.uk/, School of Mathematical Sciences}
87 Queen Mary and Westfield College (University of London)
88 Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, UK
89 @end display
90 @end ifnottex
91
92 @menu
93 * Introduction:: Introduction
94 * Background:: Background
95 * Finding:: Finding and Formatting Man Pages
96 * Browsing:: Browsing Man Pages
97 * Customization:: Customization
98 * Log:: The *WoMan-Log* Buffer
99 * Technical:: Technical Details
100 * Bugs:: Reporting Bugs
101 * Acknowledgements:: Acknowledgements
102 * Command Index:: Command Index
103 * Variable Index:: Variable Index
104 * Keystroke Index:: Keystroke Index
105 * Concept Index:: Concept Index
106 @end menu
107
108 @c ===================================================================
109
110 @node Introduction, Background, Top, Top
111 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
112 @chapter Introduction
113 @cindex introduction
114
115 This version of WoMan should run with GNU Emacs 20.3 or later on any
116 platform. It has not been tested, and may not run, with any other
117 version of Emacs. It was developed primarily on various versions of
118 Microsoft Windows, but has also been tested on MS-DOS, and various
119 versions of UNIX and GNU/Linux.
120
121 WoMan is distributed with GNU Emacs. In addition, the current source
122 code and documentation files are available from
123 @uref{http://centaur.maths.qmw.ac.uk/Emacs/WoMan/, the WoMan web
124 server}.
125
126 WoMan implements a subset of the formatting performed by the Emacs
127 @code{man} (or @code{manual-entry}) command to format a Unix-style
128 @dfn{manual page} (usually abbreviated to @dfn{man page}) for display,
129 but without calling any external programs. It is intended to emulate
130 the whole of the @code{roff -man} macro package, plus those @code{roff}
131 requests (@pxref{Background, , Background}) that are most commonly used
132 in man pages. However, the emulation is modified to include the
133 reformatting done by the Emacs @code{man} command. No hyphenation is
134 performed.
135
136 @table @b
137 @item Advantages
138 Much more direct, does not require any external programs. Supports
139 completion on man page names.
140 @item Disadvantages
141 Not a complete emulation. Currently no support for @code{eqn} or
142 @code{tbl}. Slightly slower for large man pages (but usually faster for
143 small- and medium-size pages).
144 @end table
145
146 This browser works quite well on simple well-written man files. It
147 works less well on idiosyncratic files that ``break the rules'' or use
148 the more obscure @code{roff} requests directly. Current test results
149 are available in the file
150 @uref{http://centaur.maths.qmw.ac.uk/Emacs/WoMan/files/woman.status,
151 @file{woman.status}}.
152
153 WoMan supports the use of compressed man files via
154 @code{auto-compression-mode} by turning it on if necessary. But you may
155 need to adjust the user option @code{woman-file-compression-regexp}.
156 @xref{Interface Options, , Interface Options}.
157
158 Brief help on the WoMan interactive commands and user options, all of
159 which begin with the prefix @code{woman-} (or occasionally
160 @code{WoMan-}), is available most easily by loading WoMan and then
161 either running the command @code{woman-mini-help} or selecting the WoMan
162 menu option @samp{Mini Help}.
163
164 WoMan is (of course) still under development! Please
165 @email{F.J.Wright@@qmw.ac.uk, let me know} what doesn't work---I am
166 adding and improving functionality as testing shows that it is
167 necessary. Guidance on reporting bugs is given below. @xref{Bugs, ,
168 Reporting Bugs}.
169
170 @c ===================================================================
171
172 @node Background, Finding, Introduction, Top
173 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
174 @chapter Background
175 @cindex background
176
177 WoMan is a browser for traditional Unix-style manual page documentation.
178 Each such document is conventionally referred to as a @dfn{manual page},
179 or @dfn{man page} for short, even though some are very much longer than
180 one page. A man page is a document written using the Unix ``man''
181 macros, which are themselves written in the nroff/troff text processing
182 markup language. @code{nroff} and @code{troff} are text processors
183 originally written for the UNIX operating system by Joseph F. Ossanna at
184 Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, New Jersey, USA@. They are closely
185 related, and except in the few cases where the distinction between them
186 is important I will refer to them both ambiguously as @code{roff}.
187
188 @code{roff} markup consists of @dfn{requests} and @dfn{escape
189 sequences}. A request occupies a complete line and begins with either a
190 period or a single forward quote. An escape sequences is embedded
191 within the input text and begins (by default) with a backslash. The
192 original man macro package defines 20 new @code{roff} requests
193 implemented as macros, which were considered to be sufficient for
194 writing man pages. But whilst in principle man pages use only the man
195 macros, in practice a significant number use many other @code{roff}
196 requests.
197
198 The distinction between @code{troff} and @code{nroff} is that
199 @code{troff} was designed to drive a phototypesetter whereas
200 @code{nroff} was designed to produce essentially @acronym{ASCII} output for a
201 character-based device similar to a teletypewriter (usually abbreviated
202 to ``teletype'' or ``tty''). Hence, @code{troff} supports much finer
203 control over output positioning than does @code{nroff} and can be seen
204 as a forerunner of @TeX{}. Traditionally, man pages are either
205 formatted by @code{troff} for typesetting or by @code{nroff} for
206 printing on a character printer or displaying on a screen. Of course,
207 over the last 25 years or so, the distinction between typeset output on
208 paper and characters on a screen has become blurred by the fact that
209 most screens now support bit-mapped displays, so that any information
210 that can be printed can also be rendered on screen, the only difference
211 being the resolution.
212
213 Nevertheless, Unix-style manual page documentation is still normally
214 browsed on screen by running a program called @code{man}. This program
215 looks in a predefined set of directories for the man page matching a
216 specified topic, then either formats the source file by running
217 @code{nroff} or recovers a pre-formatted file, and displays it via a
218 pager such as @code{more}. @code{nroff} normally formats for a printer,
219 so it paginates the output, numbers the pages, etc., most of which is
220 irrelevant when the document is browsed as a continuous scrollable
221 document on screen. The only concession to on-screen browsing normally
222 implemented by the @code{man} program is to squeeze consecutive blank
223 lines into a single blank line.
224
225 For some time, Emacs has offered an improved interface for browsing man
226 pages in the form of the Emacs @code{man} (or @code{manual-entry})
227 command, see @ref{Documentation, man, Documentation Commands, emacs, GNU
228 Emacs Manual}.
229 This command runs @code{man} as described above, perhaps in
230 the background, and then post-processes the output to remove much of the
231 @code{nroff} pagination such as page headers and footers, and places the
232 result into an Emacs buffer. It puts this buffer into a special major
233 mode, which is tailored for man page browsing, and provides a number of
234 useful navigation commands, support for following references, etc. It
235 provides some support for special display faces (fonts), but no special
236 menu or mouse support. The Emacs man package appears to have been
237 developed over about 10 years, from the late 1980s to the late 1990s.
238
239 There is considerable inefficiency in having @code{nroff} paginate a
240 document and then removing most of the pagination!
241
242 WoMan is an Emacs Lisp library that provides an emulation of the
243 functionality of the Emacs @code{man} command, the main difference being
244 that WoMan does not use any external programs. The only situation in
245 which WoMan might use an external program is when the source file is
246 compressed, when WoMan will use the standard Emacs automatic
247 decompression facility, which does call an external program.
248
249 I began developing WoMan in the Spring of 1997 and the first version was
250 released in May 1997. The original motivation for WoMan was the fact
251 that many GNU and Unix programs are ported to other platforms and come
252 with Unix-style manual page documentation. This may be difficult to
253 read because ports of the Unix-style @code{man} program can be a little
254 awkward to set up. I decided that it should not be too hard to emulate
255 the 20 @code{man} macros directly, without treating them as macros and
256 largely ignoring the underlying @code{roff} requests, given the text
257 processing capabilities of Emacs. This proved to be essentially true,
258 and it did not take a great deal of work to be able to format simple man
259 pages acceptably.
260
261 One problem arose with the significant number of man pages that use
262 @code{roff} requests in addition to the @code{man} macros, and since
263 releasing the first version of WoMan I have been continually extending
264 it to support more @code{roff} requests. WoMan can now format a
265 significant proportion of the man pages that I have tested, either well
266 or at least readably. However, I have added capabilities partly by
267 making additional passes through the document, a design that is
268 fundamentally flawed. This can only be solved by a major re-design of
269 WoMan to handle the major formatting within a single recursive pass,
270 rather than the present multiple passes without any significant
271 recursion. There are some @code{roff} requests that cannot be handled
272 satisfactorily within the present design. Some of these are currently
273 handled by kludges that ``usually more or less work.''
274
275 The principle advantage of WoMan is that it does not require @code{man},
276 and indeed the name WoMan is a contraction of ``without man.'' But it
277 has other advantages. It does not paginate the document, so it does not
278 need to un-paginate it again, thereby saving time. It could take full
279 advantage of the display capabilities available to it, and I hope to
280 develop WoMan to take advantage of developments in Emacs itself. At
281 present, WoMan uses several display faces to support bold and italic
282 text, to indicate other fonts, etc. The default faces are also
283 colored, but the choice of faces is customizable. WoMan provides menu
284 support for navigation and mouse support for following references, in
285 addition to the navigation facilities provided by @code{man} mode.
286 WoMan has (this) texinfo documentation!
287
288 WoMan @emph{does not} replace @code{man}, although it does use a number
289 of the facilities implemented in the Emacs @code{man} library. WoMan
290 and man can happily co-exist, which is very useful for comparison and
291 debugging purposes.
292
293 @code{nroff} simulates non-@acronym{ASCII} characters by using one or more
294 @acronym{ASCII} characters. WoMan should be able to do much better than
295 this. I have recently begun to add support for WoMan to use more of the
296 characters in its default font and to use a symbol font, and it is an
297 aspect that I intend to develop further in the near future. It should
298 be possible to move WoMan from an emulation of @code{nroff} to an
299 emulation of @code{troff} as GNU Emacs moves to providing bit-mapped
300 display facilities.
301
302 @node Finding, Browsing, Background, Top
303 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
304 @chapter Finding and Formatting Man Pages
305 @cindex using, finding man pages
306 @cindex using, formatting man pages
307 @cindex finding man pages
308 @cindex formatting man pages
309 @cindex man pages, finding
310 @cindex man pages, formatting
311
312 WoMan provides three user interfaces for finding and formatting man pages:
313
314 @itemize @bullet
315 @item
316 a topic interface similar to that provided by the standard Emacs
317 @code{man} command;
318
319 @item
320 a family of filename interfaces analogous to the standard Emacs
321 @code{view-file} command;
322
323 @item
324 an automatic interface that detects the file type from its contents.
325 (This is currently neither well tested, well supported nor recommended!)
326 @end itemize
327
328 The topic and filename interfaces support completion in the usual way.
329
330 The topic interface is generally the most convenient for regular use,
331 although it may require some special setup, especially if your machine
332 does not already have a conventional @code{man} installation (which
333 WoMan tries to detect).
334
335 The simplest filename interface command @code{woman-find-file} can
336 always be used with no setup at all (provided WoMan is installed and
337 loaded or set up to autoload).
338
339 The automatic interface always requires special setup.
340
341
342 @heading Case-Dependence of Filenames
343
344 @cindex case-sensitivity
345 @vindex w32-downcase-file-names
346 By default, WoMan ignores case in file pathnames only when it seems
347 appropriate. Microsoft Windows users who want complete case
348 independence should set the special NTEmacs variable
349 @code{w32-downcase-file-names} to @code{t} and use all lower case when
350 setting WoMan file paths.
351
352
353 @menu
354 * Topic:: Topic Interface
355 * Filename:: Filename Interface
356 * Automatic:: Automatic Interface
357 @end menu
358
359 @node Topic, Filename, Finding, Finding
360 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
361 @section Topic Interface
362 @cindex topic interface
363
364 The topic interface is accessed principally via the command
365 @code{woman}. The same command can be accessed via the menu item
366 @samp{Help->Manuals->Read Man Page (WoMan)...} once WoMan has been
367 loaded. The command reads a manual topic in the minibuffer, which can
368 be the @dfn{basename} of a man file anywhere in the man file
369 structure. The ``basename'' in this context means the filename
370 without any directory component and without any extension or suffix
371 components that relate to the file type. So, for example, if there is
372 a compressed source file in Chapter 5 of the UNIX Programmer's Manual
373 with the full pathname @file{/usr/local/man/man5/man.conf.5.gz} then
374 the topic is @code{man.conf}. Provided WoMan is configured correctly,
375 this topic will appear among the completions offered by @code{woman}.
376 If more than one file has the same topic name then WoMan will prompt
377 for which file to format. Completion of topics is case insensitive.
378
379 Clearly, @code{woman} has to know where to look for man files and there
380 are two customizable user options that store this information:
381 @code{woman-manpath} and @code{woman-path}. @xref{Interface Options, ,
382 Interface Options}. If @code{woman-manpath} is not set explicitly then
383 WoMan tries to pick up the information that would be used by the
384 @code{man} command, as follows. If the environment variable
385 @code{MANPATH} is set, which seems to be the standard mechanism under
386 UNIX, then WoMan parses that. Otherwise, if WoMan can find a
387 configuration file named (by default) @file{man.conf} (or something very
388 similar), which seems to be the standard mechanism under GNU/Linux, then
389 it parses that. To be precise, ``something very similar'' means having
390 two name components separated by a dot and respectively containing
391 @samp{man} and beginning with @samp{conf}, e.g.@: @file{manual.configuration}.
392 The search path and/or precise full path name for this file are set by
393 the value of the customizable user option @code{woman-man.conf-path}.
394 If all else fails, WoMan uses a plausible default man search path.
395
396 If the above default configuration does not work correctly for any
397 reason then simply customize the value of @code{woman-manpath}. To
398 access man files that are not in a conventional man file hierarchy,
399 customize the value of @code{woman-path} to include the directories
400 containing the files. In this way, @code{woman} can access manual files
401 @emph{anywhere} in the entire file system.
402
403 There are two differences between @code{woman-manpath} and
404 @code{woman-path}. Firstly, the elements of @code{woman-manpath} must
405 be directories that contain @emph{directories of} man files, whereas the
406 elements of @code{woman-path} must be directories that contain man files
407 @emph{directly}. Secondly, the last directory component of each element
408 of @code{woman-path} is treated as a regular (Emacs) match expression
409 rather than a fixed name, which allows collections of related
410 directories to be specified succinctly.
411
412 For topic completion to work, WoMan must build a list of all the manual
413 files that it can access, which can be very slow, especially if a
414 network is involved. For this reason, it caches various amounts of
415 information, after which retrieving it from the cache is very fast. If
416 the cache ever gets out of synchronism with reality, running the
417 @code{woman} command with a prefix argument (e.g.@: @kbd{C-u M-x woman})
418 will force it to rebuild its cache. This is necessary only if the names
419 or locations of any man files change; it is not necessary if only their
420 contents change. It would always be necessary if such a change occurred
421 whilst Emacs were running and after WoMan has been loaded. It may be
422 necessary if such a change occurs between Emacs sessions and persistent
423 caching is used, although WoMan can detect some changes that invalidate
424 its cache and rebuild it automatically.
425
426 Customize the variable @code{woman-cache-filename} to save the cache
427 between Emacs sessions. This is recommended only if the @code{woman}
428 command is too slow the first time it is run in an Emacs session, while
429 it builds its cache in main memory, which @emph{may} be @emph{very}
430 slow. @xref{Cache, , The WoMan Topic Cache}, for further details.
431
432
433 @menu
434 * Cache:: The WoMan Topic Cache
435 * Word at point:: Using the ``Word at Point'' as a Topic Suggestion
436 @end menu
437
438 @node Cache, Word at point, Topic, Topic
439 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
440 @subsection The WoMan Topic Cache
441 @cindex topic cache
442 @cindex cache, topic
443
444 The amount of information that WoMan caches (in main memory and,
445 optionally, saved to disc) is controlled by the user option
446 @code{woman-cache-level}. There is a trade-off between the speed with
447 which WoMan can find a file and the size of the cache, and the default
448 setting gives a reasonable compromise.
449
450 The @code{woman} command always performs a certain amount of caching in
451 main memory, but it can also write its cache to the filestore as a
452 persistent cache under control of the user option
453 @code{woman-cache-filename}. If persistent caching is turned on then
454 WoMan re-loads its internal cache from the cache file almost
455 instantaneously, so that there is never any perceptible start-up delay
456 @emph{except} when WoMan rebuilds its cache. Persistent caching is
457 currently turned off by default. This is because users with persistent
458 caching turned on may overlook the need to force WoMan to rebuild its
459 cache the first time they run it after they have installed new man
460 files; with persistent caching turned off, WoMan automatically rebuilds
461 its cache every time it is run in a new Emacs session.
462
463 A prefix argument always causes the @code{woman} command (only) to
464 rebuild its topic cache, and to re-save it to
465 @code{woman-cache-filename} if this variable has a non-@code{nil} value. This
466 is necessary if the @emph{names} of any of the directories or files in
467 the paths specified by @code{woman-manpath} or @code{woman-path} change.
468 If WoMan user options that affect the cache are changed then WoMan will
469 automatically update its cache file on disc (if one is in use) the next
470 time it is run in a new Emacs session.
471
472
473 @node Word at point, , Cache, Topic
474 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
475 @subsection Using the ``Word at Point'' as a Topic Suggestion
476 @cindex word at point
477 @cindex point, word at
478
479 By default, the @code{woman} command uses the word nearest to point in
480 the current buffer as a suggestion for the topic to look up. The topic
481 must be confirmed or edited in the minibuffer. This suggestion can be
482 turned off, or @code{woman} can use the suggested topic without
483 confirmation if possible, which is controlled by customizing the user
484 option @code{woman-topic-at-point} to @code{nil} or @code{t}
485 respectively. (Its default value is neither @code{nil} nor @code{t},
486 meaning ask for confirmation.)
487
488 The variable @code{woman-topic-at-point} can also be rebound locally
489 (using @code{let}), which may be useful to provide special private key
490 bindings, e.g.@: this key binding for @kbd{C-c w} runs WoMan on the topic
491 at point without seeking confirmation:
492
493 @lisp
494 (global-set-key "\C-cw"
495 (lambda ()
496 (interactive)
497 (let ((woman-topic-at-point t))
498 (woman))))
499 @end lisp
500
501
502 @node Filename, Automatic, Topic, Finding
503 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
504 @section Filename Interface
505 @cindex filename interface
506
507 The commands in this family are completely independent of the topic
508 interface, caching mechanism, etc.
509
510 @findex woman-find-file
511 The filename interface is accessed principally via the extended command
512 @code{woman-find-file}, which is available without any configuration at
513 all (provided WoMan is installed and loaded or set up to autoload).
514 This command can be used to browse any accessible man file, regardless
515 of its filename or location. If the file is compressed then automatic
516 file decompression must already be turned on (e.g.@: see the
517 @samp{Help->Options} submenu)---it is turned on automatically only by
518 the @code{woman} topic interface.
519
520 @findex woman-dired-find-file
521 Once WoMan is loaded (or if specially set up), various additional
522 commands in this family are available. In a dired buffer, the command
523 @code{woman-dired-find-file} allows the file on the same line as point
524 to be formatted and browsed by WoMan. It is bound to the key @kbd{W} in
525 the dired mode map and added to the dired major mode menu. It may also
526 be bound to @kbd{w}, unless this key is bound by another library, which
527 it is by @code{dired-x}, for example. Because it is quite likely that
528 other libraries will extend the capabilities of such a commonly used
529 mode as dired, the precise key bindings added by WoMan to the dired mode
530 map are controlled by the user option @code{woman-dired-keys}.
531
532 @findex woman-tar-extract-file
533 When a tar (Tape ARchive) file is visited in Emacs, it is opened in tar
534 mode, which parses the tar file and shows a dired-like view of its
535 contents. The WoMan command @code{woman-tar-extract-file} allows the
536 file on the same line as point to be formatted and browsed by WoMan. It
537 is bound to the key @kbd{w} in the tar mode map and added to the tar
538 major mode menu.
539
540 The command @code{woman-reformat-last-file}, which is bound to the key
541 @kbd{R} in WoMan mode and available on the major mode menu, reformats
542 the last file formatted by WoMan. This may occasionally be useful if
543 formatting parameters, such as the fill column, are changed, or perhaps
544 if the buffer is somehow corrupted.
545
546 @findex woman-decode-buffer
547 The command @code{woman-decode-buffer} can be used to decode and browse
548 the current buffer if it is visiting a man file, although it is
549 primarily used internally by WoMan.
550
551
552 @node Automatic, , Filename, Finding
553 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
554 @section Automatic Interface
555 @cindex automatic interface
556
557 Emacs provides an interface to detect automatically the format of a file
558 and decode it when it is visited. It is used primarily by the
559 facilities for editing rich (i.e.@: formatted) text, as a way to store
560 formatting information transparently as @acronym{ASCII} markup. WoMan can in
561 principle use this interface, but it must be configured explicitly.
562
563 This use of WoMan does not seem to be particularly advantageous, so it
564 is not really supported. It originated during early experiments on how
565 best to implement WoMan, before I implemented the current topic
566 interface, and I subsequently stopped using it. I might revive it as a
567 mechanism for storing pre-formatted WoMan files, somewhat analogous to
568 the standard Unix @code{catman} facility. In the meantime, it exists
569 for anyone who wants to experiment with it. Once it is set up it is
570 simply a question of visiting the file and there is no WoMan-specific
571 user interface!
572
573 To use it, put something like this in your @file{.emacs} file. [The
574 call to @code{set-visited-file-name} is to avoid font-locking triggered
575 by automatic major mode selection.]
576
577 @lisp
578 (autoload 'woman-decode-region "woman")
579
580 (add-to-list 'format-alist
581 '(man "Unix man-page source format" "\\.\\(TH\\|ig\\) "
582 woman-decode-region nil nil
583 (lambda (arg)
584 set-visited-file-name
585 (file-name-sans-extension buffer-file-name))))
586 @end lisp
587
588 @c ===================================================================
589
590 @node Browsing, Customization, Finding, Top
591 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
592 @chapter Browsing Man Pages
593 @cindex using, browsing man pages
594 @cindex browsing man pages
595 @cindex man pages, browsing
596
597 Once a man page has been found and formatted, WoMan provides a browsing
598 interface that is essentially the same as that provided by the standard
599 Emacs @code{man} command (and much of the code is inherited from the
600 @code{man} library, which WoMan currently requires). Many WoMan
601 facilities can be accessed from the WoMan major mode menu as well as via
602 key bindings, etc.
603
604 WoMan does not produce any page breaks or page numbers, and in fact does
605 not paginate the man page at all, since this is not appropriate for
606 continuous online browsing. It produces a document header line that is
607 constructed from the standard man page header and footer. Apart from
608 that, the appearance of the formatted man page should be almost
609 identical to what would be produced by @code{man}, with consecutive
610 blank lines squeezed to a single blank line.
611
612 @menu
613 * Fonts:: Fonts and Faces
614 * Navigation:: Navigation
615 * References:: Following References
616 * Changing:: Changing the Current Man Page
617 * Convenience:: Convenience Key Bindings
618 * Imenu:: Imenu Support; Contents Menu
619 @end menu
620
621 @node Fonts, Navigation, Browsing, Browsing
622 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
623 @section Fonts and Faces
624 @cindex fonts
625 @cindex faces
626
627 Fonts used by @code{roff} are handled by WoMan as faces, the details of
628 which are customizable. @xref{Faces, , Faces}. WoMan supports both the
629 italic and bold fonts normally used in man pages, together with a single
630 face to represent all unknown fonts (which are occasionally used in
631 ``non-standard'' man pages, usually to represent a ``typewriter'' font)
632 and a face to indicate additional symbols introduced by WoMan. This
633 currently means the characters ^ and _ used to indicate super- and
634 sub-scripts, which are not displayed well by WoMan.
635
636
637 @node Navigation, References, Fonts, Browsing
638 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
639 @section Navigation
640 @cindex navigation
641
642 Man (and hence WoMan) mode can be thought of as a superset of view mode.
643 The buffer cannot be edited, so keys that would normally self-insert are
644 used for navigation. The WoMan key bindings are a minor modification of
645 the @code{man} key bindings.
646
647 @table @kbd
648 @item @key{SPC}
649 @kindex SPC
650 @findex scroll-up
651 Scroll the man page up the window (@code{scroll-up}).
652
653 @item @key{DEL}
654 @kindex DEL
655 @findex scroll-down
656 Scroll the man page down the window (@code{scroll-down}).
657
658 @item n
659 @kindex n
660 @findex Man-next-section
661 Move point to the Nth next section---default 1 (@code{Man-next-section}).
662
663 @item p
664 @kindex p
665 @findex Man-previous-section
666 Move point to Nth previous section---default 1
667 (@code{Man-previous-section}).
668
669 @item g
670 @kindex g
671 @findex Man-goto-section
672 Move point to the specified section (@code{Man-goto-section}).
673
674 @item s
675 @kindex s
676 @findex Man-goto-see-also-section
677 Move point to the ``SEE ALSO'' section
678 (@code{Man-goto-see-also-section}). Actually the section moved to is
679 described by @code{Man-see-also-regexp}.
680 @end table
681
682
683 @node References, Changing, Navigation, Browsing
684 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
685 @section Following References
686 @cindex following references
687 @cindex references
688
689 Man pages usually contain a ``SEE ALSO'' section containing references
690 to other man pages. If these man pages are installed then WoMan can
691 easily be directed to follow the reference, i.e.@: to find and format the
692 man page. When the mouse is passed over a correctly formatted reference
693 it is highlighted, in which case clicking the middle button
694 @kbd{Mouse-2} will cause WoMan to follow the reference. Alternatively,
695 when point is over such a reference the key @key{RET} will follow the
696 reference.
697
698 Any word in the buffer can be used as a reference by clicking
699 @kbd{Mouse-2} over it provided the Meta key is also used (although in
700 general such a ``reference'' will not lead to a man page).
701 Alternatively, the key @kbd{r} allows completion to be used to select a
702 reference to follow, based on the word at point as default.
703
704 @table @kbd
705 @item @kbd{Mouse-2}
706 @kindex Mouse-2
707 @findex woman-mouse-2
708 Run WoMan with word under mouse as topic (@code{woman-mouse-2}). The
709 word must be mouse-highlighted unless @code{woman-mouse-2} is used with
710 the Meta key.
711
712 @item @key{RET}
713 @kindex RET
714 @findex man-follow
715 Get the man page for the topic under (or nearest to) point
716 (@code{man-follow}).
717
718 @item r
719 @kindex r
720 @findex Man-follow-manual-reference
721 Get one of the man pages referred to in the ``SEE ALSO'' section
722 (@code{Man-follow-manual-reference}). Specify which reference to use;
723 default is based on word at point.
724 @end table
725
726
727 @node Changing, Convenience, References, Browsing
728 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
729 @section Changing the Current Man Page
730 @cindex changing current man page
731 @cindex current man page, changing
732
733 The man page currently being browsed by WoMan can be changed in several
734 ways. The command @code{woman} can be invoked to format another man
735 page, or the current WoMan buffer can be buried or killed. WoMan
736 maintains a ring of formatted man pages, and it is possible to move
737 forwards and backwards in this ring by moving to the next or previous
738 man page. It is sometimes useful to reformat the current page, for
739 example after the right margin (the wrap column) or some other
740 formatting parameter has been changed.
741
742 Buffers formatted by Man and WoMan are completely unrelated, even though
743 some of the commands to manipulate them are superficially the same (and
744 share code).
745
746 @table @kbd
747 @item m
748 @kindex m
749 @findex man
750 Run the command @code{man} to get a Un*x manual page and put it in a
751 buffer. This command is the top-level command in the man package. It
752 runs a Un*x command to retrieve and clean a man page in the background
753 and places the results in a Man mode (man page browsing) buffer. If a
754 man buffer already exists for this man page, it will display
755 immediately. This works exactly the same if WoMan is loaded, except
756 that the formatting time is displayed in the mini-buffer.
757
758 @item w
759 @kindex w
760 @findex woman
761 Run the command @code{woman} exactly as if the extended command or menu
762 item had been used.
763
764 @item q
765 @kindex q
766 @findex Man-quit
767 Bury the buffer containing the current man page (@code{Man-quit}),
768 i.e.@: move it to the bottom of the buffer stack.
769
770 @item k
771 @kindex k
772 @findex Man-kill
773 Kill the buffer containing the current man page (@code{Man-kill}),
774 i.e.@: delete it completely so that it can be retrieved only by formatting
775 the page again.
776
777 @item M-p
778 @kindex M-p
779 @findex WoMan-previous-manpage
780 Find the previous WoMan buffer (@code{WoMan-previous-manpage}).
781
782 @item M-n
783 @kindex M-n
784 @findex WoMan-next-manpage
785 Find the next WoMan buffer (@code{WoMan-next-manpage}).
786
787 @item R
788 @kindex R
789 @findex woman-reformat-last-file
790 Call WoMan to reformat the last man page formatted by WoMan
791 (@code{woman-reformat-last-file}), e.g.@: after changing the fill column.
792 @end table
793
794
795 @node Convenience, Imenu, Changing, Browsing
796 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
797 @section Convenience Key Bindings
798 @cindex convenience key bindings
799 @cindex key bindings, convenience
800
801 @table @kbd
802 @item -
803 @kindex -
804 @findex negative-argument
805 Begin a negative numeric argument for the next command
806 (@code{negative-argument}).
807
808 @item 0 .. 9
809 @kindex 0 .. 9
810 @findex digit-argument
811 Part of the numeric argument for the next command
812 (@code{digit-argument}).
813
814 @item <
815 @kindex <
816 @itemx .
817 @kindex .
818 @findex beginning-of-buffer
819 Move point to the beginning of the buffer; leave mark at previous
820 position (@code{beginning-of-buffer}).
821
822 @item >
823 @kindex >
824 @findex end-of-buffer
825 Move point to the end of the buffer; leave mark at previous position
826 (@code{end-of-buffer}).
827
828 @item ?
829 @kindex ?
830 @findex describe-mode
831 Display documentation of current major mode and minor modes
832 (@code{describe-mode}). The major mode description comes first,
833 followed by the minor modes, each on a separate page.
834 @end table
835
836
837 @node Imenu, , Convenience, Browsing
838 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
839 @section Imenu Support; Contents Menu
840 @cindex imenu support
841 @cindex contents menu
842
843 The WoMan menu provides an option to make a contents menu for the
844 current man page (using @code{imenu}). Alternatively, if you customize
845 the option @code{woman-imenu} to @code{t} then WoMan will do it
846 automatically for every man page. The menu title is set by the option
847 @code{woman-imenu-title}, which is ``CONTENTS'' by default. The menu
848 shows manual sections and subsections by default, but you can change
849 this by customizing @code{woman-imenu-generic-expression}.
850
851 WoMan is configured not to replace spaces in an imenu
852 @code{*Completion*} buffer. For further documentation on the use of
853 imenu, such as menu sorting, see the source file @file{imenu.el}, which
854 is distributed with GNU Emacs.
855
856 @c ===================================================================
857
858 @node Customization, Log, Browsing, Top
859 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
860 @chapter Customization
861 @cindex customization
862
863 All WoMan user options are customizable, and it is recommended to
864 change them only via the standard Emacs customization facilities.
865 WoMan defines a top-level customization group called @code{WoMan}
866 under the parent group @code{Help}. It can be accessed either via the
867 standard Emacs facilities, e.g.@: via the @samp{Help->Customize}
868 submenu, or via the WoMan major mode menu.
869
870 The top-level WoMan group contains only a few general options and three
871 subgroups. The hooks are provided only for special purposes that, for
872 example, require code to be executed, and should be changed only via
873 @code{Customization} or the function @code{add-hook}. Most
874 customization should be possible via existing user options.
875
876 @vtable @code
877 @item woman-show-log
878 A boolean value that defaults to @code{nil}. If non-@code{nil} then show the
879 @code{*WoMan-Log*} buffer if appropriate, i.e.@: if any warning messages
880 are written to it. @xref{Log, , The *WoMan-Log* Buffer}.
881
882 @item woman-pre-format-hook
883 A hook run immediately before formatting a buffer. It might, for
884 example, be used for face customization. @xref{Faces, , Faces},
885 however.
886
887 @item woman-post-format-hook
888 A hook run immediately after formatting a buffer. It might, for
889 example, be used for installing a dynamic menu using @code{imenu}.
890 (However. in this case it is better to use the built-in WoMan
891 @code{imenu} support. @xref{Imenu, , Imenu Support; Contents Menu}.)
892 @end vtable
893
894 @heading Customization Subgroups
895
896 @table @code
897 @item WoMan Interface
898 These options control the process of locating the appropriate file to
899 browse, and the appearance of the browsing interface.
900
901 @item WoMan Formatting
902 These options control the layout that WoMan uses to format the man page.
903
904 @item WoMan Faces
905 These options control the display faces that WoMan uses to format the
906 man page.
907 @end table
908
909 @menu
910 * Interface Options::
911 * Formatting Options::
912 * Faces::
913 * Special symbols::
914 @end menu
915
916 @node Interface Options, Formatting Options, Customization, Customization
917 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
918 @section Interface Options
919 @cindex interface options
920
921 These options control the process of locating the appropriate file to
922 browse, and the appearance of the browsing interface.
923
924 @vtable @code
925 @item woman-man.conf-path
926 A list of strings representing directories to search and/or files to try
927 for a man configuration file. The default is
928
929 @lisp
930 ("/etc" "/usr/local/lib")
931 @end lisp
932
933 @noindent
934 [for GNU/Linux and Cygwin respectively.] A trailing separator (@file{/}
935 for UNIX etc.) on directories is optional and the filename matched if a
936 directory is specified is the first to match the regexp
937 @code{man.*\.conf}. If the environment variable @code{MANPATH} is not
938 set but a configuration file is found then it is parsed instead (or as
939 well) to provide a default value for @code{woman-manpath}.
940
941 @item woman-manpath
942 A list of strings representing @emph{directory trees} to search for Unix
943 manual files. Each element should be the name of a directory that
944 contains subdirectories of the form @file{man?}, or more precisely
945 subdirectories selected by the value of @code{woman-manpath-man-regexp}.
946 Non-directory and unreadable files are ignored.
947
948 @cindex @code{MANPATH}, environment variable
949 If not set then the environment variable @code{MANPATH} is used. If no
950 such environment variable is found, the default list is determined by
951 consulting the man configuration file if found. By default this is
952 expected to be either @file{/etc/man.config} or
953 @file{/usr/local/lib/man.conf}, which is controlled by the user option
954 @code{woman-man.conf-path}. An empty substring of @code{MANPATH}
955 denotes the default list. Otherwise, the default value of this variable
956 is
957
958 @lisp
959 ("/usr/man" "/usr/local/man")
960 @end lisp
961
962 Any environment variables (names of which must have the Unix-style form
963 @code{$NAME}, e.g.@: @code{$HOME}, @code{$EMACSDATA}, @code{$EMACS_DIR},
964 regardless of platform) are evaluated first but each element must
965 evaluate to a @emph{single} directory name. Trailing @file{/}s are
966 ignored. (Specific directories in @code{woman-path} are also searched.)
967
968 On Microsoft platforms I recommend including drive letters explicitly,
969 e.g.
970
971 @lisp
972 ("C:/Cygwin/usr/man" "C:/usr/man" "C:/usr/local/man")
973 @end lisp
974
975 @cindex directory separator character
976 @cindex @code{MANPATH}, directory separator
977 The @code{MANPATH} environment variable may be set using DOS
978 semi-colon-separated or Unix-style colon-separated syntax (but not
979 mixed).
980
981 @item woman-manpath-man-regexp
982 A regular expression to match man directories @emph{under} the
983 @code{woman-manpath} directories. These normally have names of the form
984 @file{man?}. Its default value is @code{"[Mm][Aa][Nn]"}, which is
985 case-insensitive mainly for the benefit of Microsoft platforms. Its
986 purpose is to avoid directories such as @file{cat?}, @file{.},
987 @file{..}, etc.
988
989 @item woman-path
990 A list of strings representing @emph{specific directories} to search for
991 Unix manual files. For example
992
993 @lisp
994 ("/emacs/etc")
995 @end lisp
996
997 These directories are searched in addition to the directory trees
998 specified in @code{woman-manpath}. Each element should be a directory
999 string or @code{nil}, which represents the current directory when the
1000 path is expanded and cached. However, the last component (only) of each
1001 directory string is treated as a regexp (Emacs, not shell) and the
1002 string is expanded into a list of matching directories. Non-directory
1003 and unreadable files are ignored. The default value on MS-DOS is
1004
1005 @lisp
1006 ("$DJDIR/info" "$DJDIR/man/cat[1-9onlp]")
1007 @end lisp
1008
1009 @noindent
1010 and on other platforms is @code{nil}.
1011
1012 Any environment variables (names of which must have the Unix-style form
1013 @code{$NAME}, e.g.@: @code{$HOME}, @code{$EMACSDATA}, @code{$EMACS_DIR},
1014 regardless of platform) are evaluated first but each element must
1015 evaluate to a @emph{single} directory name (regexp, see above). For
1016 example
1017
1018 @lisp
1019 ("$EMACSDATA")
1020 @end lisp
1021
1022 @noindent
1023 or equivalently
1024
1025 @lisp
1026 ("$EMACS_DIR/etc")
1027 @end lisp
1028
1029 @noindent
1030 Trailing @file{/}s are discarded. (The directory trees in
1031 @code{woman-manpath} are also searched.) On Microsoft platforms I
1032 recommend including drive letters explicitly.
1033
1034 @item woman-cache-level
1035 A positive integer representing the level of topic caching:
1036
1037 @enumerate
1038 @item
1039 cache only the topic and directory lists (uses minimal memory, but not
1040 recommended);
1041 @item
1042 cache also the directories for each topic (faster, without using much
1043 more memory);
1044 @item
1045 cache also the actual filenames for each topic (fastest, but uses twice
1046 as much memory).
1047 @end enumerate
1048
1049 The default value is currently 2, a good general compromise. If the
1050 @code{woman} command is slow to find files then try 3, which may be
1051 particularly beneficial with large remote-mounted man directories. Run
1052 the @code{woman} command with a prefix argument or delete the cache file
1053 @code{woman-cache-filename} for a change to take effect. (Values < 1
1054 behave like 1; values > 3 behave like 3.)
1055
1056 @item woman-cache-filename
1057 Either a string representing the full pathname of the WoMan directory
1058 and topic cache file, or @code{nil}. It is used to save and restore the
1059 cache between Emacs sessions. This is especially useful with
1060 remote-mounted man page files! The default value of @code{nil}
1061 suppresses this action. The ``standard'' non-@code{nil} filename is
1062 @file{~/.wmncach.el}. Remember that a prefix argument forces the
1063 @code{woman} command to update and re-write the cache.
1064
1065 @item woman-dired-keys
1066 A list of @code{dired} mode keys to be defined to run WoMan on the
1067 current file, e.g.@: @code{("w" "W")} or any non-@code{nil} atom to
1068 automatically define @kbd{w} and @kbd{W} if they are unbound, or
1069 @code{nil} to do nothing. Default is @code{t}.
1070
1071 @item woman-imenu-generic-expression
1072 Imenu support for Sections and Subsections: an alist with elements of
1073 the form @code{(MENU-TITLE REGEXP INDEX)}---see the documentation for
1074 @code{imenu-generic-expression}. Default value is
1075
1076 @lisp
1077 ((nil "\n\\([A-Z].*\\)" 1) ; SECTION, but not TITLE
1078 ("*Subsections*" "^ \\([A-Z].*\\)" 1))
1079 @end lisp
1080
1081 @item woman-imenu
1082 A boolean value that defaults to @code{nil}. If non-@code{nil} then WoMan adds
1083 a Contents menu to the menubar by calling @code{imenu-add-to-menubar}.
1084
1085 @item woman-imenu-title
1086 A string representing the title to use if WoMan adds a Contents menu to
1087 the menubar. Default is @code{"CONTENTS"}.
1088
1089 @item woman-topic-at-point
1090 A symbol, which may be either @code{t}, @code{nil} or @code{confirm},
1091 that controls the use by @code{woman} of the ``word at point'' as a
1092 topic suggestion. If it is non-@code{nil} then the @code{woman} command uses
1093 the word at point as an initial topic suggestion when it reads a topic
1094 from the minibuffer; if it is @code{t} then @code{woman} uses the word
1095 at point @emph{without interactive confirmation} if it exists as a
1096 topic. The value @code{confirm} means suggest a topic and ask for
1097 confirmation. The default value is that of
1098 @code{woman-topic-at-point-default}.
1099
1100 @item woman-topic-at-point-default
1101 A symbol, which may be either @code{t}, @code{nil} or @code{confirm},
1102 representing the default value for @code{woman-topic-at-point}. The
1103 default value is @code{confirm}. [The variable
1104 @code{woman-topic-at-point} may be @code{let}-bound when @code{woman} is
1105 loaded, in which case its global value does not get defined. The
1106 function @code{woman-file-name} sets it to this value if it is unbound.]
1107
1108 @item woman-uncompressed-file-regexp
1109 A regular match expression used to select man source files (ignoring any
1110 compression extension). The default value is
1111 @code{"\\.\\([0-9lmnt]\\w*\\)"} [which means a filename extension is
1112 required].
1113
1114 @emph{Do not change this unless you are sure you know what you are doing!}
1115
1116 The SysV standard man pages use two character suffixes, and this is
1117 becoming more common in the GNU world. For example, the man pages in
1118 the @code{ncurses} package include @file{toe.1m}, @file{form.3x}, etc.
1119
1120 @strong{Please note:} an optional compression regexp will be appended,
1121 so this regexp @emph{must not} end with any kind of string terminator
1122 such as @code{$} or @code{\\'}.
1123
1124 @item woman-file-compression-regexp
1125 A regular match expression used to match compressed man file extensions
1126 for which decompressors are available and handled by auto-compression
1127 mode. It should begin with @code{\\.} and end with @code{\\'} and
1128 @emph{must not} be optional. The default value is
1129 @code{"\\.\\(g?z\\|bz2\\)\\'"}, which matches the @code{gzip} and
1130 @code{bzip2} compression extensions.
1131
1132 @emph{Do not change this unless you are sure you know what you are doing!}
1133
1134 [It should be compatible with the @code{car} of
1135 @code{jka-compr-file-name-handler-entry}, but that is unduly
1136 complicated, includes an inappropriate extension (@file{.tgz}) and is
1137 not loaded by default!]
1138
1139 @item woman-use-own-frame
1140 If non-@code{nil} then use a dedicated frame for displaying WoMan windows.
1141 This is useful only when WoMan is run under a window system such as X or
1142 Microsoft Windows that supports real multiple frames, in which case the
1143 default value is non-@code{nil}.
1144 @end vtable
1145
1146
1147 @node Formatting Options, Faces, Interface Options, Customization
1148 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
1149 @section Formatting Options
1150 @cindex formatting options
1151
1152 These options control the layout that WoMan uses to format the man page.
1153
1154 @vtable @code
1155 @item woman-fill-column
1156 An integer specifying the right margin for formatted text. Default is
1157 65.
1158
1159 @item woman-fill-frame
1160 A boolean value. If non-@code{nil} then most of the frame width is used,
1161 overriding the value of @code{woman-fill-column}. Default is @code{nil}.
1162
1163 @item woman-default-indent
1164 An integer specifying the default prevailing indent for the @code{-man}
1165 macros. Default is 5. Set this variable to 7 to emulate GNU/Linux man
1166 formatting.
1167
1168 @item woman-bold-headings
1169 A boolean value. If non-@code{nil} then embolden section and subsection
1170 headings. Default is @code{t}. [Heading emboldening is @emph{not} standard
1171 @code{man} behavior.]
1172
1173 @item woman-ignore
1174 A boolean value. If non-@code{nil} then unrecognised requests etc. are
1175 ignored. Default is @code{t}. This gives the standard @code{roff} behavior.
1176 If @code{nil} then they are left in the buffer, which may aid debugging.
1177
1178 @item woman-preserve-ascii
1179 A boolean value. If non-@code{nil} then preserve @acronym{ASCII} characters in the
1180 WoMan buffer. Otherwise, non-@acronym{ASCII} characters (that display as
1181 @acronym{ASCII}) may remain, which is irrelevant unless the buffer is to be
1182 saved to a file. Default is @code{nil}.
1183
1184 @item woman-emulation
1185 WoMan emulation, currently either @code{nroff} or @code{troff}. Default
1186 is @code{nroff}. @code{troff} emulation is experimental and largely
1187 untested.
1188 @end vtable
1189
1190
1191 @node Faces, Special symbols, Formatting Options, Customization
1192 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
1193 @section Faces
1194 @cindex faces
1195
1196 These options control the display faces that WoMan uses to format the
1197 man page.
1198
1199 @vtable @code
1200 @item woman-fontify
1201 A boolean value. If non-@code{nil} then WoMan assumes that face support is
1202 available. It defaults to a non-@code{nil} value if the display supports
1203 either colors or different fonts.
1204
1205 @item woman-italic-face
1206 Face for italic font in man pages. Default: italic, underlined,
1207 foreground red. This is overkill! @code{troff} uses just italic;
1208 @code{nroff} uses just underline. You should probably select either
1209 italic or underline as you prefer, but not both, although italic and
1210 underline work together perfectly well!
1211
1212 @item woman-bold-face
1213 Face for bold font in man pages. Default: bold, foreground blue.
1214
1215 @item woman-unknown-face
1216 Face for all unknown fonts in man pages. Default: foreground brown.
1217 Brown is a good compromise: it is distinguishable from the default but
1218 not enough so as to make font errors look terrible. (Files that use
1219 non-standard fonts seem to do so badly or in idiosyncratic ways!)
1220
1221 @item woman-addition-face
1222 Face for all additions made by WoMan to man pages.
1223 Default: foreground orange.
1224 @end vtable
1225
1226
1227 @node Special symbols, , Faces, Customization
1228 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
1229 @section Special symbols
1230 @cindex special symbols
1231
1232 This section currently applies @emph{only} to Microsoft Windows.
1233
1234 WoMan provides partial experimental support for special symbols,
1235 initially only for MS-Windows and only for MS-Windows fonts. This
1236 includes both non-@acronym{ASCII} characters from the main text font and use
1237 of a separate symbol font. Later, support will be added for other font
1238 types (e.g.@: @code{bdf} fonts) and for the X Window System. In Emacs
1239 20.7, the current support works partially under Windows 9x but may not
1240 work on any other platform.
1241
1242 @vtable @code
1243 @item woman-use-extended-font
1244 A boolean value. If non-@code{nil} then WoMan may use non-@acronym{ASCII} characters
1245 from the default font. Default is @code{t}.
1246
1247 @item woman-use-symbol-font
1248 A boolean value. If non-@code{nil} then WoMan may use the symbol font.
1249 Default is @code{nil}, mainly because it may change the line spacing (at
1250 least in NTEmacs 20).
1251
1252 @item woman-symbol-font
1253 A string describing the symbol font to use for special characters.
1254 It should be compatible with, and the same size as, the default text font.
1255 Under MS-Windows, the default is
1256
1257 @lisp
1258 "-*-Symbol-normal-r-*-*-*-*-96-96-p-*-ms-symbol"
1259 @end lisp
1260 @end vtable
1261
1262
1263 @c ===================================================================
1264
1265 @node Log, Technical, Customization, Top
1266 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
1267 @chapter The *WoMan-Log* Buffer
1268 @cindex log buffer
1269 @cindex buffer, log
1270
1271 This is modeled on the Emacs byte-compiler. It logs all files
1272 formatted by WoMan and the time taken. If WoMan finds anything that it
1273 cannot handle then it writes a warning to this buffer. If the variable
1274 @code{woman-show-log} is non-@code{nil} (by default it is @code{nil}) then
1275 WoMan automatically displays this buffer. @xref{Interface Options, ,
1276 Interface Options}. Many WoMan warnings can be completely ignored,
1277 because they are reporting the fact that WoMan has ignored requests that
1278 it is correct for WoMan to ignore. In some future version this level of
1279 paranoia may be reduced, but not until WoMan is deemed more reliable.
1280 At present, all warnings should be treated with some suspicion.
1281 Uninterpreted escape sequences are also logged (in some cases).
1282
1283 By resetting the variable @code{woman-ignore} to @code{nil} (by default
1284 it is @code{t}), uninterpreted @code{roff} requests can optionally be
1285 left in the formatted buffer to indicate precisely where they occurred.
1286 @xref{Interface Options, , Interface Options}.
1287
1288 @c ===================================================================
1289
1290 @node Technical, Bugs, Log, Top
1291 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
1292 @chapter Technical Details
1293 @cindex technical details
1294 @cindex horizontal spacing
1295 @cindex spacing, horizontal and vertical
1296 @cindex vertical spacing
1297 @cindex resolution
1298
1299 @heading Horizontal and vertical spacing and resolution
1300
1301 WoMan currently assumes 10 characters per inch horizontally, hence a
1302 horizontal resolution of 24 basic units, and 5 lines per inch
1303 vertically, hence a vertical resolution of 48 basic units.
1304 (@code{nroff} uses 240 per inch.)
1305
1306 @heading Vertical spacing and blank lines
1307
1308 The number of consecutive blank lines in the formatted buffer should be
1309 either 0 or 1. A blank line should leave a space like .sp 1.
1310 Current policy is to output vertical space only immediately before text
1311 is output.
1312
1313 @c ===================================================================
1314
1315 @node Bugs, Acknowledgements, Technical, Top
1316 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
1317 @chapter Reporting Bugs
1318 @cindex reporting bugs
1319 @cindex bugs, reporting
1320
1321 If WoMan fails completely, or formats a file incorrectly (i.e.@:
1322 obviously wrongly or significantly differently from @code{man}) or
1323 inelegantly, then please
1324
1325 @enumerate
1326 @item
1327 try the latest version of @file{woman.el} from the Emacs CVS repository
1328 on @uref{http://savannah.gnu.org/}. If it still fails, please
1329
1330 @item
1331 send a bug report to @email{bug-gnu-emacs@@gnu.org} and to
1332 @email{F.J.Wright@@qmw.ac.uk}. Please include the entry from the
1333 @code{*WoMan-Log*} buffer relating to the problem file, together with
1334 a brief description of the problem. Please indicate where you got the
1335 man source file from, but do not send it unless asked to send it.
1336 @end enumerate
1337
1338 @c ===================================================================
1339
1340 @node Acknowledgements, Command Index, Bugs, Top
1341 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
1342 @chapter Acknowledgements
1343 @cindex acknowledgements
1344
1345 For Heather, Kathryn and Madelyn, the women in my life (although they
1346 will probably never use it)!
1347
1348 I also thank the following for helpful suggestions, bug reports, code
1349 fragments, general interest, etc.:
1350
1351 @quotation
1352 Jari Aalto, @email{jari.aalto@@cs.tpu.fi}@*
1353 Dean Andrews, @email{dean@@dra.com}@*
1354 Juanma Barranquero, @email{barranquero@@laley-actualidad.es}@*
1355 Karl Berry, @email{kb@@cs.umb.edu}@*
1356 Jim Chapman, @email{jchapman@@netcomuk.co.uk}@*
1357 Frederic Corne, @email{frederic.corne@@erli.fr}@*
1358 Peter Craft, @email{craft@@alacritech.com}@*
1359 Charles Curley, @email{ccurley@@trib.com}@*
1360 Jim Davidson, @email{jdavidso@@teknowledge.com}@*
1361 Kevin D'Elia, @email{Kevin.DElia@@mci.com}@*
1362 John Fitch, @email{jpff@@maths.bath.ac.uk}@*
1363 Hans Frosch, @email{jwfrosch@@rish.b17c.ingr.com}@*
1364 Guy Gascoigne-Piggford, @email{ggp@@informix.com}@*
1365 Brian Gorka, @email{gorkab@@sanchez.com}@*
1366 Nicolai Henriksen, @email{nhe@@lyngso-industri.dk}@*
1367 Thomas Herchenroeder, @email{the@@software-ag.de}@*
1368 Alexander Hinds, @email{ahinds@@thegrid.net}@*
1369 Stefan Hornburg, @email{sth@@hacon.de}@*
1370 Theodore Jump, @email{tjump@@cais.com}@*
1371 Paul Kinnucan, @email{paulk@@mathworks.com}@*
1372 Jonas Linde, @email{jonas@@init.se}@*
1373 Andrew McRae, @email{andrewm@@optimation.co.nz}@*
1374 Howard Melman, @email{howard@@silverstream.com}@*
1375 Dennis Pixton, @email{dennis@@math.binghamton.edu}@*
1376 T. V. Raman, @email{raman@@Adobe.com}@*
1377 Bruce Ravel, @email{bruce.ravel@@nist.gov}@*
1378 Benjamin Riefenstahl, @email{benny@@crocodial.de}@*
1379 Kevin Ruland, @email{kruland@@seistl.com}@*
1380 Tom Schutter, @email{tom@@platte.com}@*
1381 Wei-Xue Shi, @email{wxshi@@ma.neweb.ne.jp}@*
1382 Fabio Somenzi, @email{fabio@@joplin.colorado.edu}@*
1383 Karel Sprenger, @email{ks@@ic.uva.nl}@*
1384 Chris Szurgot, @email{szurgot@@itribe.net}@*
1385 Paul A. Thompson, @email{pat@@po.cwru.edu}@*
1386 Arrigo Triulzi, @email{arrigo@@maths.qmw.ac.uk}@*
1387 Geoff Voelker, @email{voelker@@cs.washington.edu}@*
1388 Eli Zaretskii, @email{eliz@@is.elta.co.il}
1389 @end quotation
1390
1391 @c ===================================================================
1392
1393 @comment END OF MANUAL TEXT
1394 @page
1395
1396 @node Command Index, Variable Index, Acknowledgements, 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