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annotate doc/misc/woman.texi @ 85940:3885b7dccf03
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author | Juanma Barranquero <lekktu@gmail.com> |
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date | Tue, 06 Nov 2007 11:23:36 +0000 |
parents | 3d431f1997d8 |
children | 5d58981e6690 |
rev | line source |
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84325 | 1 \input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*- |
2 @c %**start of header | |
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3d431f1997d8
(setfilename): Go up one more level to ../../info.
Glenn Morris <rgm@gnu.org>
parents:
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3 @setfilename ../../info/woman |
84325 | 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 * GNU Free Documentation License:: The license for this documentation. | |
103 * Command Index:: Command Index | |
104 * Variable Index:: Variable Index | |
105 * Keystroke Index:: Keystroke Index | |
106 * Concept Index:: Concept Index | |
107 @end menu | |
108 | |
109 @c =================================================================== | |
110 | |
111 @node Introduction, Background, Top, Top | |
112 @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
113 @chapter Introduction | |
114 @cindex introduction | |
115 | |
116 This version of WoMan should run with GNU Emacs 20.3 or later on any | |
117 platform. It has not been tested, and may not run, with any other | |
118 version of Emacs. It was developed primarily on various versions of | |
119 Microsoft Windows, but has also been tested on MS-DOS, and various | |
120 versions of UNIX and GNU/Linux. | |
121 | |
122 WoMan is distributed with GNU Emacs. In addition, the current source | |
123 code and documentation files are available from | |
124 @uref{http://centaur.maths.qmw.ac.uk/Emacs/WoMan/, the WoMan web | |
125 server}. | |
126 | |
127 WoMan implements a subset of the formatting performed by the Emacs | |
128 @code{man} (or @code{manual-entry}) command to format a Unix-style | |
129 @dfn{manual page} (usually abbreviated to @dfn{man page}) for display, | |
130 but without calling any external programs. It is intended to emulate | |
131 the whole of the @code{roff -man} macro package, plus those @code{roff} | |
132 requests (@pxref{Background, , Background}) that are most commonly used | |
133 in man pages. However, the emulation is modified to include the | |
134 reformatting done by the Emacs @code{man} command. No hyphenation is | |
135 performed. | |
136 | |
137 @table @b | |
138 @item Advantages | |
139 Much more direct, does not require any external programs. Supports | |
140 completion on man page names. | |
141 @item Disadvantages | |
142 Not a complete emulation. Currently no support for @code{eqn} or | |
143 @code{tbl}. Slightly slower for large man pages (but usually faster for | |
144 small- and medium-size pages). | |
145 @end table | |
146 | |
147 This browser works quite well on simple well-written man files. It | |
148 works less well on idiosyncratic files that ``break the rules'' or use | |
149 the more obscure @code{roff} requests directly. Current test results | |
150 are available in the file | |
151 @uref{http://centaur.maths.qmw.ac.uk/Emacs/WoMan/files/woman.status, | |
152 @file{woman.status}}. | |
153 | |
154 WoMan supports the use of compressed man files via | |
155 @code{auto-compression-mode} by turning it on if necessary. But you may | |
156 need to adjust the user option @code{woman-file-compression-regexp}. | |
157 @xref{Interface Options, , Interface Options}. | |
158 | |
159 Brief help on the WoMan interactive commands and user options, all of | |
160 which begin with the prefix @code{woman-} (or occasionally | |
161 @code{WoMan-}), is available most easily by loading WoMan and then | |
162 either running the command @code{woman-mini-help} or selecting the WoMan | |
163 menu option @samp{Mini Help}. | |
164 | |
165 WoMan is (of course) still under development! Please | |
166 @email{F.J.Wright@@qmw.ac.uk, let me know} what doesn't work---I am | |
167 adding and improving functionality as testing shows that it is | |
168 necessary. Guidance on reporting bugs is given below. @xref{Bugs, , | |
169 Reporting Bugs}. | |
170 | |
171 @c =================================================================== | |
172 | |
173 @node Background, Finding, Introduction, Top | |
174 @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
175 @chapter Background | |
176 @cindex background | |
177 | |
178 WoMan is a browser for traditional Unix-style manual page documentation. | |
179 Each such document is conventionally referred to as a @dfn{manual page}, | |
180 or @dfn{man page} for short, even though some are very much longer than | |
181 one page. A man page is a document written using the Unix ``man'' | |
182 macros, which are themselves written in the nroff/troff text processing | |
183 markup language. @code{nroff} and @code{troff} are text processors | |
184 originally written for the UNIX operating system by Joseph F. Ossanna at | |
185 Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, New Jersey, USA@. They are closely | |
186 related, and except in the few cases where the distinction between them | |
187 is important I will refer to them both ambiguously as @code{roff}. | |
188 | |
189 @code{roff} markup consists of @dfn{requests} and @dfn{escape | |
190 sequences}. A request occupies a complete line and begins with either a | |
191 period or a single forward quote. An escape sequences is embedded | |
192 within the input text and begins (by default) with a backslash. The | |
193 original man macro package defines 20 new @code{roff} requests | |
194 implemented as macros, which were considered to be sufficient for | |
195 writing man pages. But whilst in principle man pages use only the man | |
196 macros, in practice a significant number use many other @code{roff} | |
197 requests. | |
198 | |
199 The distinction between @code{troff} and @code{nroff} is that | |
200 @code{troff} was designed to drive a phototypesetter whereas | |
201 @code{nroff} was designed to produce essentially @acronym{ASCII} output for a | |
202 character-based device similar to a teletypewriter (usually abbreviated | |
203 to ``teletype'' or ``tty''). Hence, @code{troff} supports much finer | |
204 control over output positioning than does @code{nroff} and can be seen | |
205 as a forerunner of @TeX{}. Traditionally, man pages are either | |
206 formatted by @code{troff} for typesetting or by @code{nroff} for | |
207 printing on a character printer or displaying on a screen. Of course, | |
208 over the last 25 years or so, the distinction between typeset output on | |
209 paper and characters on a screen has become blurred by the fact that | |
210 most screens now support bit-mapped displays, so that any information | |
211 that can be printed can also be rendered on screen, the only difference | |
212 being the resolution. | |
213 | |
214 Nevertheless, Unix-style manual page documentation is still normally | |
215 browsed on screen by running a program called @code{man}. This program | |
216 looks in a predefined set of directories for the man page matching a | |
217 specified topic, then either formats the source file by running | |
218 @code{nroff} or recovers a pre-formatted file, and displays it via a | |
219 pager such as @code{more}. @code{nroff} normally formats for a printer, | |
220 so it paginates the output, numbers the pages, etc., most of which is | |
221 irrelevant when the document is browsed as a continuous scrollable | |
222 document on screen. The only concession to on-screen browsing normally | |
223 implemented by the @code{man} program is to squeeze consecutive blank | |
224 lines into a single blank line. | |
225 | |
226 For some time, Emacs has offered an improved interface for browsing man | |
227 pages in the form of the Emacs @code{man} (or @code{manual-entry}) | |
228 command, see @ref{Documentation, man, Documentation Commands, emacs, GNU | |
229 Emacs Manual}. | |
230 This command runs @code{man} as described above, perhaps in | |
231 the background, and then post-processes the output to remove much of the | |
232 @code{nroff} pagination such as page headers and footers, and places the | |
233 result into an Emacs buffer. It puts this buffer into a special major | |
234 mode, which is tailored for man page browsing, and provides a number of | |
235 useful navigation commands, support for following references, etc. It | |
236 provides some support for special display faces (fonts), but no special | |
237 menu or mouse support. The Emacs man package appears to have been | |
238 developed over about 10 years, from the late 1980s to the late 1990s. | |
239 | |
240 There is considerable inefficiency in having @code{nroff} paginate a | |
241 document and then removing most of the pagination! | |
242 | |
243 WoMan is an Emacs Lisp library that provides an emulation of the | |
244 functionality of the Emacs @code{man} command, the main difference being | |
245 that WoMan does not use any external programs. The only situation in | |
246 which WoMan might use an external program is when the source file is | |
247 compressed, when WoMan will use the standard Emacs automatic | |
248 decompression facility, which does call an external program. | |
249 | |
250 I began developing WoMan in the Spring of 1997 and the first version was | |
251 released in May 1997. The original motivation for WoMan was the fact | |
252 that many GNU and Unix programs are ported to other platforms and come | |
253 with Unix-style manual page documentation. This may be difficult to | |
254 read because ports of the Unix-style @code{man} program can be a little | |
255 awkward to set up. I decided that it should not be too hard to emulate | |
256 the 20 @code{man} macros directly, without treating them as macros and | |
257 largely ignoring the underlying @code{roff} requests, given the text | |
258 processing capabilities of Emacs. This proved to be essentially true, | |
259 and it did not take a great deal of work to be able to format simple man | |
260 pages acceptably. | |
261 | |
262 One problem arose with the significant number of man pages that use | |
263 @code{roff} requests in addition to the @code{man} macros, and since | |
264 releasing the first version of WoMan I have been continually extending | |
265 it to support more @code{roff} requests. WoMan can now format a | |
266 significant proportion of the man pages that I have tested, either well | |
267 or at least readably. However, I have added capabilities partly by | |
268 making additional passes through the document, a design that is | |
269 fundamentally flawed. This can only be solved by a major re-design of | |
270 WoMan to handle the major formatting within a single recursive pass, | |
271 rather than the present multiple passes without any significant | |
272 recursion. There are some @code{roff} requests that cannot be handled | |
273 satisfactorily within the present design. Some of these are currently | |
274 handled by kludges that ``usually more or less work.'' | |
275 | |
276 The principle advantage of WoMan is that it does not require @code{man}, | |
277 and indeed the name WoMan is a contraction of ``without man.'' But it | |
278 has other advantages. It does not paginate the document, so it does not | |
279 need to un-paginate it again, thereby saving time. It could take full | |
280 advantage of the display capabilities available to it, and I hope to | |
281 develop WoMan to take advantage of developments in Emacs itself. At | |
282 present, WoMan uses several display faces to support bold and italic | |
283 text, to indicate other fonts, etc. The default faces are also | |
284 colored, but the choice of faces is customizable. WoMan provides menu | |
285 support for navigation and mouse support for following references, in | |
286 addition to the navigation facilities provided by @code{man} mode. | |
287 WoMan has (this) texinfo documentation! | |
288 | |
289 WoMan @emph{does not} replace @code{man}, although it does use a number | |
290 of the facilities implemented in the Emacs @code{man} library. WoMan | |
291 and man can happily co-exist, which is very useful for comparison and | |
292 debugging purposes. | |
293 | |
294 @code{nroff} simulates non-@acronym{ASCII} characters by using one or more | |
295 @acronym{ASCII} characters. WoMan should be able to do much better than | |
296 this. I have recently begun to add support for WoMan to use more of the | |
297 characters in its default font and to use a symbol font, and it is an | |
298 aspect that I intend to develop further in the near future. It should | |
299 be possible to move WoMan from an emulation of @code{nroff} to an | |
300 emulation of @code{troff} as GNU Emacs moves to providing bit-mapped | |
301 display facilities. | |
302 | |
303 @node Finding, Browsing, Background, Top | |
304 @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
305 @chapter Finding and Formatting Man Pages | |
306 @cindex using, finding man pages | |
307 @cindex using, formatting man pages | |
308 @cindex finding man pages | |
309 @cindex formatting man pages | |
310 @cindex man pages, finding | |
311 @cindex man pages, formatting | |
312 | |
313 WoMan provides three user interfaces for finding and formatting man pages: | |
314 | |
315 @itemize @bullet | |
316 @item | |
317 a topic interface similar to that provided by the standard Emacs | |
318 @code{man} command; | |
319 | |
320 @item | |
321 a family of filename interfaces analogous to the standard Emacs | |
322 @code{view-file} command; | |
323 | |
324 @item | |
325 an automatic interface that detects the file type from its contents. | |
326 (This is currently neither well tested, well supported nor recommended!) | |
327 @end itemize | |
328 | |
329 The topic and filename interfaces support completion in the usual way. | |
330 | |
331 The topic interface is generally the most convenient for regular use, | |
332 although it may require some special setup, especially if your machine | |
333 does not already have a conventional @code{man} installation (which | |
334 WoMan tries to detect). | |
335 | |
336 The simplest filename interface command @code{woman-find-file} can | |
337 always be used with no setup at all (provided WoMan is installed and | |
338 loaded or set up to autoload). | |
339 | |
340 The automatic interface always requires special setup. | |
341 | |
342 | |
343 @heading Case-Dependence of Filenames | |
344 | |
345 @cindex case-sensitivity | |
346 @vindex w32-downcase-file-names | |
347 By default, WoMan ignores case in file pathnames only when it seems | |
348 appropriate. Microsoft Windows users who want complete case | |
349 independence should set the special NTEmacs variable | |
350 @code{w32-downcase-file-names} to @code{t} and use all lower case when | |
351 setting WoMan file paths. | |
352 | |
353 | |
354 @menu | |
355 * Topic:: Topic Interface | |
356 * Filename:: Filename Interface | |
357 * Automatic:: Automatic Interface | |
358 @end menu | |
359 | |
360 @node Topic, Filename, Finding, Finding | |
361 @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
362 @section Topic Interface | |
363 @cindex topic interface | |
364 | |
365 The topic interface is accessed principally via the command | |
366 @code{woman}. The same command can be accessed via the menu item | |
367 @samp{Help->Manuals->Read Man Page (WoMan)...} once WoMan has been | |
368 loaded. The command reads a manual topic in the minibuffer, which can | |
369 be the @dfn{basename} of a man file anywhere in the man file | |
370 structure. The ``basename'' in this context means the filename | |
371 without any directory component and without any extension or suffix | |
372 components that relate to the file type. So, for example, if there is | |
373 a compressed source file in Chapter 5 of the UNIX Programmer's Manual | |
374 with the full pathname @file{/usr/local/man/man5/man.conf.5.gz} then | |
375 the topic is @code{man.conf}. Provided WoMan is configured correctly, | |
376 this topic will appear among the completions offered by @code{woman}. | |
377 If more than one file has the same topic name then WoMan will prompt | |
378 for which file to format. Completion of topics is case insensitive. | |
379 | |
380 Clearly, @code{woman} has to know where to look for man files and there | |
381 are two customizable user options that store this information: | |
382 @code{woman-manpath} and @code{woman-path}. @xref{Interface Options, , | |
383 Interface Options}. If @code{woman-manpath} is not set explicitly then | |
384 WoMan tries to pick up the information that would be used by the | |
385 @code{man} command, as follows. If the environment variable | |
386 @code{MANPATH} is set, which seems to be the standard mechanism under | |
387 UNIX, then WoMan parses that. Otherwise, if WoMan can find a | |
388 configuration file named (by default) @file{man.conf} (or something very | |
389 similar), which seems to be the standard mechanism under GNU/Linux, then | |
390 it parses that. To be precise, ``something very similar'' means | |
391 starting with @samp{man} and ending with @samp{.conf} and possibly more | |
392 lowercase letters, e.g.@: @file{manual.configuration}. | |
393 The search path and/or precise full path name for this file are set by | |
394 the value of the customizable user option @code{woman-man.conf-path}. | |
395 If all else fails, WoMan uses a plausible default man search path. | |
396 | |
397 If the above default configuration does not work correctly for any | |
398 reason then simply customize the value of @code{woman-manpath}. To | |
399 access man files that are not in a conventional man file hierarchy, | |
400 customize the value of @code{woman-path} to include the directories | |
401 containing the files. In this way, @code{woman} can access manual files | |
402 @emph{anywhere} in the entire file system. | |
403 | |
404 There are two differences between @code{woman-manpath} and | |
405 @code{woman-path}. Firstly, the elements of @code{woman-manpath} must | |
406 be directories that contain @emph{directories of} man files, whereas the | |
407 elements of @code{woman-path} must be directories that contain man files | |
408 @emph{directly}. Secondly, the last directory component of each element | |
409 of @code{woman-path} is treated as a regular (Emacs) match expression | |
410 rather than a fixed name, which allows collections of related | |
411 directories to be specified succinctly. Also, elements of | |
412 @code{woman-manpath} can be conses, indicating a mapping from | |
413 @samp{PATH} environment variable components to man directory | |
414 hierarchies. | |
415 | |
416 For topic completion to work, WoMan must build a list of all the manual | |
417 files that it can access, which can be very slow, especially if a | |
418 network is involved. For this reason, it caches various amounts of | |
419 information, after which retrieving it from the cache is very fast. If | |
420 the cache ever gets out of synchronism with reality, running the | |
421 @code{woman} command with a prefix argument (e.g.@: @kbd{C-u M-x woman}) | |
422 will force it to rebuild its cache. This is necessary only if the names | |
423 or locations of any man files change; it is not necessary if only their | |
424 contents change. It would always be necessary if such a change occurred | |
425 whilst Emacs were running and after WoMan has been loaded. It may be | |
426 necessary if such a change occurs between Emacs sessions and persistent | |
427 caching is used, although WoMan can detect some changes that invalidate | |
428 its cache and rebuild it automatically. | |
429 | |
430 Customize the variable @code{woman-cache-filename} to save the cache | |
431 between Emacs sessions. This is recommended only if the @code{woman} | |
432 command is too slow the first time it is run in an Emacs session, while | |
433 it builds its cache in main memory, which @emph{may} be @emph{very} | |
434 slow. @xref{Cache, , The WoMan Topic Cache}, for further details. | |
435 | |
436 | |
437 @menu | |
438 * Cache:: The WoMan Topic Cache | |
439 * Word at point:: Using the ``Word at Point'' as a Topic Suggestion | |
440 @end menu | |
441 | |
442 @node Cache, Word at point, Topic, Topic | |
443 @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
444 @subsection The WoMan Topic Cache | |
445 @cindex topic cache | |
446 @cindex cache, topic | |
447 | |
448 The amount of information that WoMan caches (in main memory and, | |
449 optionally, saved to disc) is controlled by the user option | |
450 @code{woman-cache-level}. There is a trade-off between the speed with | |
451 which WoMan can find a file and the size of the cache, and the default | |
452 setting gives a reasonable compromise. | |
453 | |
454 The @code{woman} command always performs a certain amount of caching in | |
455 main memory, but it can also write its cache to the filestore as a | |
456 persistent cache under control of the user option | |
457 @code{woman-cache-filename}. If persistent caching is turned on then | |
458 WoMan re-loads its internal cache from the cache file almost | |
459 instantaneously, so that there is never any perceptible start-up delay | |
460 @emph{except} when WoMan rebuilds its cache. Persistent caching is | |
461 currently turned off by default. This is because users with persistent | |
462 caching turned on may overlook the need to force WoMan to rebuild its | |
463 cache the first time they run it after they have installed new man | |
464 files; with persistent caching turned off, WoMan automatically rebuilds | |
465 its cache every time it is run in a new Emacs session. | |
466 | |
467 A prefix argument always causes the @code{woman} command (only) to | |
468 rebuild its topic cache, and to re-save it to | |
469 @code{woman-cache-filename} if this variable has a non-@code{nil} value. This | |
470 is necessary if the @emph{names} of any of the directories or files in | |
471 the paths specified by @code{woman-manpath} or @code{woman-path} change. | |
472 If WoMan user options that affect the cache are changed then WoMan will | |
473 automatically update its cache file on disc (if one is in use) the next | |
474 time it is run in a new Emacs session. | |
475 | |
476 | |
477 @node Word at point, , Cache, Topic | |
478 @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
479 @subsection Using the ``Word at Point'' as a Topic Suggestion | |
480 @cindex word at point | |
481 @cindex point, word at | |
482 | |
483 By default, the @code{woman} command uses the word nearest to point in | |
484 the current buffer as a suggestion for the topic to look up, if it | |
485 exists as a valid topic. The topic can be confirmed or edited in the | |
486 minibuffer. | |
487 | |
488 You can also bind the variable @code{woman-use-topic-at-point} locally | |
489 to a non-@code{nil} value (using @code{let}), in which case | |
490 @code{woman} will can use the suggested topic without confirmation if | |
491 possible. This may be useful to provide special private key bindings, | |
492 e.g.@: this key binding for @kbd{C-c w} runs WoMan on the topic at | |
493 point without seeking confirmation: | |
494 | |
495 @lisp | |
496 (global-set-key "\C-cw" | |
497 (lambda () | |
498 (interactive) | |
499 (let ((woman-use-topic-at-point t)) | |
500 (woman)))) | |
501 @end lisp | |
502 | |
503 | |
504 @node Filename, Automatic, Topic, Finding | |
505 @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
506 @section Filename Interface | |
507 @cindex filename interface | |
508 | |
509 The commands in this family are completely independent of the topic | |
510 interface, caching mechanism, etc. | |
511 | |
512 @findex woman-find-file | |
513 The filename interface is accessed principally via the extended command | |
514 @code{woman-find-file}, which is available without any configuration at | |
515 all (provided WoMan is installed and loaded or set up to autoload). | |
516 This command can be used to browse any accessible man file, regardless | |
517 of its filename or location. If the file is compressed then automatic | |
518 file decompression must already be turned on (e.g.@: see the | |
519 @samp{Help->Options} submenu)---it is turned on automatically only by | |
520 the @code{woman} topic interface. | |
521 | |
522 @findex woman-dired-find-file | |
523 Once WoMan is loaded (or if specially set up), various additional | |
524 commands in this family are available. In a dired buffer, the command | |
525 @code{woman-dired-find-file} allows the file on the same line as point | |
526 to be formatted and browsed by WoMan. It is bound to the key @kbd{W} in | |
527 the dired mode map and added to the dired major mode menu. It may also | |
528 be bound to @kbd{w}, unless this key is bound by another library, which | |
529 it is by @code{dired-x}, for example. Because it is quite likely that | |
530 other libraries will extend the capabilities of such a commonly used | |
531 mode as dired, the precise key bindings added by WoMan to the dired mode | |
532 map are controlled by the user option @code{woman-dired-keys}. | |
533 | |
534 @findex woman-tar-extract-file | |
535 When a tar (Tape ARchive) file is visited in Emacs, it is opened in tar | |
536 mode, which parses the tar file and shows a dired-like view of its | |
537 contents. The WoMan command @code{woman-tar-extract-file} allows the | |
538 file on the same line as point to be formatted and browsed by WoMan. It | |
539 is bound to the key @kbd{w} in the tar mode map and added to the tar | |
540 major mode menu. | |
541 | |
542 The command @code{woman-reformat-last-file}, which is bound to the key | |
543 @kbd{R} in WoMan mode and available on the major mode menu, reformats | |
544 the last file formatted by WoMan. This may occasionally be useful if | |
545 formatting parameters, such as the fill column, are changed, or perhaps | |
546 if the buffer is somehow corrupted. | |
547 | |
548 @findex woman-decode-buffer | |
549 The command @code{woman-decode-buffer} can be used to decode and browse | |
550 the current buffer if it is visiting a man file, although it is | |
551 primarily used internally by WoMan. | |
552 | |
553 | |
554 @node Automatic, , Filename, Finding | |
555 @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
556 @section Automatic Interface | |
557 @cindex automatic interface | |
558 | |
559 Emacs provides an interface to detect automatically the format of a file | |
560 and decode it when it is visited. It is used primarily by the | |
561 facilities for editing rich (i.e.@: formatted) text, as a way to store | |
562 formatting information transparently as @acronym{ASCII} markup. WoMan can in | |
563 principle use this interface, but it must be configured explicitly. | |
564 | |
565 This use of WoMan does not seem to be particularly advantageous, so it | |
566 is not really supported. It originated during early experiments on how | |
567 best to implement WoMan, before I implemented the current topic | |
568 interface, and I subsequently stopped using it. I might revive it as a | |
569 mechanism for storing pre-formatted WoMan files, somewhat analogous to | |
570 the standard Unix @code{catman} facility. In the meantime, it exists | |
571 for anyone who wants to experiment with it. Once it is set up it is | |
572 simply a question of visiting the file and there is no WoMan-specific | |
573 user interface! | |
574 | |
575 To use it, put something like this in your @file{.emacs} file. [The | |
576 call to @code{set-visited-file-name} is to avoid font-locking triggered | |
577 by automatic major mode selection.] | |
578 | |
579 @lisp | |
580 (autoload 'woman-decode-region "woman") | |
581 | |
582 (add-to-list 'format-alist | |
583 '(man "Unix man-page source format" "\\.\\(TH\\|ig\\) " | |
584 woman-decode-region nil nil | |
585 (lambda (arg) | |
586 set-visited-file-name | |
587 (file-name-sans-extension buffer-file-name)))) | |
588 @end lisp | |
589 | |
590 @c =================================================================== | |
591 | |
592 @node Browsing, Customization, Finding, Top | |
593 @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
594 @chapter Browsing Man Pages | |
595 @cindex using, browsing man pages | |
596 @cindex browsing man pages | |
597 @cindex man pages, browsing | |
598 | |
599 Once a man page has been found and formatted, WoMan provides a browsing | |
600 interface that is essentially the same as that provided by the standard | |
601 Emacs @code{man} command (and much of the code is inherited from the | |
602 @code{man} library, which WoMan currently requires). Many WoMan | |
603 facilities can be accessed from the WoMan major mode menu as well as via | |
604 key bindings, etc. | |
605 | |
606 WoMan does not produce any page breaks or page numbers, and in fact does | |
607 not paginate the man page at all, since this is not appropriate for | |
608 continuous online browsing. It produces a document header line that is | |
609 constructed from the standard man page header and footer. Apart from | |
610 that, the appearance of the formatted man page should be almost | |
611 identical to what would be produced by @code{man}, with consecutive | |
612 blank lines squeezed to a single blank line. | |
613 | |
614 @menu | |
615 * Fonts:: Fonts and Faces | |
616 * Navigation:: Navigation | |
617 * References:: Following References | |
618 * Changing:: Changing the Current Man Page | |
619 * Convenience:: Convenience Key Bindings | |
620 * Imenu:: Imenu Support; Contents Menu | |
621 @end menu | |
622 | |
623 @node Fonts, Navigation, Browsing, Browsing | |
624 @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
625 @section Fonts and Faces | |
626 @cindex fonts | |
627 @cindex faces | |
628 | |
629 Fonts used by @code{roff} are handled by WoMan as faces, the details of | |
630 which are customizable. @xref{Faces, , Faces}. WoMan supports both the | |
631 italic and bold fonts normally used in man pages, together with a single | |
632 face to represent all unknown fonts (which are occasionally used in | |
633 ``non-standard'' man pages, usually to represent a ``typewriter'' font) | |
634 and a face to indicate additional symbols introduced by WoMan. This | |
635 currently means the characters ^ and _ used to indicate super- and | |
636 sub-scripts, which are not displayed well by WoMan. | |
637 | |
638 | |
639 @node Navigation, References, Fonts, Browsing | |
640 @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
641 @section Navigation | |
642 @cindex navigation | |
643 | |
644 Man (and hence WoMan) mode can be thought of as a superset of view mode. | |
645 The buffer cannot be edited, so keys that would normally self-insert are | |
646 used for navigation. The WoMan key bindings are a minor modification of | |
647 the @code{man} key bindings. | |
648 | |
649 @table @kbd | |
650 @item @key{SPC} | |
651 @kindex SPC | |
652 @findex scroll-up | |
653 Scroll the man page up the window (@code{scroll-up}). | |
654 | |
655 @item @key{DEL} | |
656 @kindex DEL | |
657 @findex scroll-down | |
658 Scroll the man page down the window (@code{scroll-down}). | |
659 | |
660 @item n | |
661 @kindex n | |
662 @findex Man-next-section | |
663 Move point to the Nth next section---default 1 (@code{Man-next-section}). | |
664 | |
665 @item p | |
666 @kindex p | |
667 @findex Man-previous-section | |
668 Move point to Nth previous section---default 1 | |
669 (@code{Man-previous-section}). | |
670 | |
671 @item g | |
672 @kindex g | |
673 @findex Man-goto-section | |
674 Move point to the specified section (@code{Man-goto-section}). | |
675 | |
676 @item s | |
677 @kindex s | |
678 @findex Man-goto-see-also-section | |
679 Move point to the ``SEE ALSO'' section | |
680 (@code{Man-goto-see-also-section}). Actually the section moved to is | |
681 described by @code{Man-see-also-regexp}. | |
682 @end table | |
683 | |
684 | |
685 @node References, Changing, Navigation, Browsing | |
686 @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
687 @section Following References | |
688 @cindex following references | |
689 @cindex references | |
690 | |
691 Man pages usually contain a ``SEE ALSO'' section containing references | |
692 to other man pages. If these man pages are installed then WoMan can | |
693 easily be directed to follow the reference, i.e.@: to find and format the | |
694 man page. When the mouse is passed over a correctly formatted reference | |
695 it is highlighted, in which case clicking the middle button | |
696 @kbd{Mouse-2} will cause WoMan to follow the reference. Alternatively, | |
697 when point is over such a reference the key @key{RET} will follow the | |
698 reference. | |
699 | |
700 Any word in the buffer can be used as a reference by clicking | |
701 @kbd{Mouse-2} over it provided the Meta key is also used (although in | |
702 general such a ``reference'' will not lead to a man page). | |
703 Alternatively, the key @kbd{r} allows completion to be used to select a | |
704 reference to follow, based on the word at point as default. | |
705 | |
706 @table @kbd | |
707 @item @kbd{Mouse-2} | |
708 @kindex Mouse-2 | |
709 @findex woman-mouse-2 | |
710 Run WoMan with word under mouse as topic (@code{woman-mouse-2}). The | |
711 word must be mouse-highlighted unless @code{woman-mouse-2} is used with | |
712 the Meta key. | |
713 | |
714 @item @key{RET} | |
715 @kindex RET | |
716 @findex man-follow | |
717 Get the man page for the topic under (or nearest to) point | |
718 (@code{man-follow}). | |
719 | |
720 @item r | |
721 @kindex r | |
722 @findex Man-follow-manual-reference | |
723 Get one of the man pages referred to in the ``SEE ALSO'' section | |
724 (@code{Man-follow-manual-reference}). Specify which reference to use; | |
725 default is based on word at point. | |
726 @end table | |
727 | |
728 | |
729 @node Changing, Convenience, References, Browsing | |
730 @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
731 @section Changing the Current Man Page | |
732 @cindex changing current man page | |
733 @cindex current man page, changing | |
734 | |
735 The man page currently being browsed by WoMan can be changed in several | |
736 ways. The command @code{woman} can be invoked to format another man | |
737 page, or the current WoMan buffer can be buried or killed. WoMan | |
738 maintains a ring of formatted man pages, and it is possible to move | |
739 forwards and backwards in this ring by moving to the next or previous | |
740 man page. It is sometimes useful to reformat the current page, for | |
741 example after the right margin (the wrap column) or some other | |
742 formatting parameter has been changed. | |
743 | |
744 Buffers formatted by Man and WoMan are completely unrelated, even though | |
745 some of the commands to manipulate them are superficially the same (and | |
746 share code). | |
747 | |
748 @table @kbd | |
749 @item m | |
750 @kindex m | |
751 @findex man | |
752 Run the command @code{man} to get a Un*x manual page and put it in a | |
753 buffer. This command is the top-level command in the man package. It | |
754 runs a Un*x command to retrieve and clean a man page in the background | |
755 and places the results in a Man mode (man page browsing) buffer. If a | |
756 man buffer already exists for this man page, it will display | |
757 immediately. This works exactly the same if WoMan is loaded, except | |
758 that the formatting time is displayed in the mini-buffer. | |
759 | |
760 @item w | |
761 @kindex w | |
762 @findex woman | |
763 Run the command @code{woman} exactly as if the extended command or menu | |
764 item had been used. | |
765 | |
766 @item q | |
767 @kindex q | |
768 @findex Man-quit | |
769 Bury the buffer containing the current man page (@code{Man-quit}), | |
770 i.e.@: move it to the bottom of the buffer stack. | |
771 | |
772 @item k | |
773 @kindex k | |
774 @findex Man-kill | |
775 Kill the buffer containing the current man page (@code{Man-kill}), | |
776 i.e.@: delete it completely so that it can be retrieved only by formatting | |
777 the page again. | |
778 | |
779 @item M-p | |
780 @kindex M-p | |
781 @findex WoMan-previous-manpage | |
782 Find the previous WoMan buffer (@code{WoMan-previous-manpage}). | |
783 | |
784 @item M-n | |
785 @kindex M-n | |
786 @findex WoMan-next-manpage | |
787 Find the next WoMan buffer (@code{WoMan-next-manpage}). | |
788 | |
789 @item R | |
790 @kindex R | |
791 @findex woman-reformat-last-file | |
792 Call WoMan to reformat the last man page formatted by WoMan | |
793 (@code{woman-reformat-last-file}), e.g.@: after changing the fill column. | |
794 @end table | |
795 | |
796 | |
797 @node Convenience, Imenu, Changing, Browsing | |
798 @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
799 @section Convenience Key Bindings | |
800 @cindex convenience key bindings | |
801 @cindex key bindings, convenience | |
802 | |
803 @table @kbd | |
804 @item - | |
805 @kindex - | |
806 @findex negative-argument | |
807 Begin a negative numeric argument for the next command | |
808 (@code{negative-argument}). | |
809 | |
810 @item 0 .. 9 | |
811 @kindex 0 .. 9 | |
812 @findex digit-argument | |
813 Part of the numeric argument for the next command | |
814 (@code{digit-argument}). | |
815 | |
816 @item < | |
817 @kindex < | |
818 @itemx . | |
819 @kindex . | |
820 @findex beginning-of-buffer | |
821 Move point to the beginning of the buffer; leave mark at previous | |
822 position (@code{beginning-of-buffer}). | |
823 | |
824 @item > | |
825 @kindex > | |
826 @findex end-of-buffer | |
827 Move point to the end of the buffer; leave mark at previous position | |
828 (@code{end-of-buffer}). | |
829 | |
830 @item ? | |
831 @kindex ? | |
832 @findex describe-mode | |
833 Display documentation of current major mode and minor modes | |
834 (@code{describe-mode}). The major mode description comes first, | |
835 followed by the minor modes, each on a separate page. | |
836 @end table | |
837 | |
838 | |
839 @node Imenu, , Convenience, Browsing | |
840 @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
841 @section Imenu Support; Contents Menu | |
842 @cindex imenu support | |
843 @cindex contents menu | |
844 | |
845 The WoMan menu provides an option to make a contents menu for the | |
846 current man page (using @code{imenu}). Alternatively, if you customize | |
847 the option @code{woman-imenu} to @code{t} then WoMan will do it | |
848 automatically for every man page. The menu title is set by the option | |
849 @code{woman-imenu-title}, which is ``CONTENTS'' by default. The menu | |
850 shows manual sections and subsections by default, but you can change | |
851 this by customizing @code{woman-imenu-generic-expression}. | |
852 | |
853 WoMan is configured not to replace spaces in an imenu | |
854 @code{*Completion*} buffer. For further documentation on the use of | |
855 imenu, such as menu sorting, see the source file @file{imenu.el}, which | |
856 is distributed with GNU Emacs. | |
857 | |
858 @c =================================================================== | |
859 | |
860 @node Customization, Log, Browsing, Top | |
861 @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
862 @chapter Customization | |
863 @cindex customization | |
864 | |
865 All WoMan user options are customizable, and it is recommended to | |
866 change them only via the standard Emacs customization facilities. | |
867 WoMan defines a top-level customization group called @code{WoMan} | |
868 under the parent group @code{Help}. It can be accessed either via the | |
869 standard Emacs facilities, e.g.@: via the @samp{Help->Customize} | |
870 submenu, or via the WoMan major mode menu. | |
871 | |
872 The top-level WoMan group contains only a few general options and three | |
873 subgroups. The hooks are provided only for special purposes that, for | |
874 example, require code to be executed, and should be changed only via | |
875 @code{Customization} or the function @code{add-hook}. Most | |
876 customization should be possible via existing user options. | |
877 | |
878 @vtable @code | |
879 @item woman-show-log | |
880 A boolean value that defaults to @code{nil}. If non-@code{nil} then show the | |
881 @code{*WoMan-Log*} buffer if appropriate, i.e.@: if any warning messages | |
882 are written to it. @xref{Log, , The *WoMan-Log* Buffer}. | |
883 | |
884 @item woman-pre-format-hook | |
885 A hook run immediately before formatting a buffer. It might, for | |
886 example, be used for face customization. @xref{Faces, , Faces}, | |
887 however. | |
888 | |
889 @item woman-post-format-hook | |
890 A hook run immediately after formatting a buffer. It might, for | |
891 example, be used for installing a dynamic menu using @code{imenu}. | |
892 (However. in this case it is better to use the built-in WoMan | |
893 @code{imenu} support. @xref{Imenu, , Imenu Support; Contents Menu}.) | |
894 @end vtable | |
895 | |
896 @heading Customization Subgroups | |
897 | |
898 @table @code | |
899 @item WoMan Interface | |
900 These options control the process of locating the appropriate file to | |
901 browse, and the appearance of the browsing interface. | |
902 | |
903 @item WoMan Formatting | |
904 These options control the layout that WoMan uses to format the man page. | |
905 | |
906 @item WoMan Faces | |
907 These options control the display faces that WoMan uses to format the | |
908 man page. | |
909 @end table | |
910 | |
911 @menu | |
912 * Interface Options:: | |
913 * Formatting Options:: | |
914 * Faces:: | |
915 * Special symbols:: | |
916 @end menu | |
917 | |
918 @node Interface Options, Formatting Options, Customization, Customization | |
919 @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
920 @section Interface Options | |
921 @cindex interface options | |
922 | |
923 These options control the process of locating the appropriate file to | |
924 browse, and the appearance of the browsing interface. | |
925 | |
926 @vtable @code | |
927 @item woman-man.conf-path | |
928 A list of strings representing directories to search and/or files to try | |
929 for a man configuration file. The default is | |
930 | |
931 @lisp | |
932 ("/etc" "/usr/local/lib") | |
933 @end lisp | |
934 | |
935 @noindent | |
936 [for GNU/Linux and Cygwin respectively.] A trailing separator (@file{/} | |
937 for UNIX etc.) on directories is optional and the filename matched if a | |
938 directory is specified is the first to match the regexp | |
939 @code{man.*\.conf}. If the environment variable @code{MANPATH} is not | |
940 set but a configuration file is found then it is parsed instead (or as | |
941 well) to provide a default value for @code{woman-manpath}. | |
942 | |
943 @item woman-manpath | |
944 A list of strings representing @emph{directory trees} to search for Unix | |
945 manual files. Each element should be the name of a directory that | |
946 contains subdirectories of the form @file{man?}, or more precisely | |
947 subdirectories selected by the value of @code{woman-manpath-man-regexp}. | |
948 Non-directory and unreadable files are ignored. This can also contain | |
949 conses, with the car indicating a @code{PATH} variable component mapped | |
950 to the directory tree given in the cdr. | |
951 | |
952 @cindex @code{MANPATH}, environment variable | |
953 If not set then the environment variable @code{MANPATH} is used. If no | |
954 such environment variable is found, the default list is determined by | |
955 consulting the man configuration file if found. By default this is | |
956 expected to be either @file{/etc/man.config} or | |
957 @file{/usr/local/lib/man.conf}, which is controlled by the user option | |
958 @code{woman-man.conf-path}. An empty substring of @code{MANPATH} | |
959 denotes the default list. Otherwise, the default value of this variable | |
960 is | |
961 | |
962 @lisp | |
963 ("/usr/man" "/usr/local/man") | |
964 @end lisp | |
965 | |
966 Any environment variables (names of which must have the Unix-style form | |
967 @code{$NAME}, e.g.@: @code{$HOME}, @code{$EMACSDATA}, @code{$EMACS_DIR}, | |
968 regardless of platform) are evaluated first but each element must | |
969 evaluate to a @emph{single} directory name. Trailing @file{/}s are | |
970 ignored. (Specific directories in @code{woman-path} are also searched.) | |
971 | |
972 On Microsoft platforms I recommend including drive letters explicitly, | |
973 e.g. | |
974 | |
975 @lisp | |
976 ("C:/Cygwin/usr/man" "C:/usr/man" "C:/usr/local/man") | |
977 @end lisp | |
978 | |
979 @cindex directory separator character | |
980 @cindex @code{MANPATH}, directory separator | |
981 The @code{MANPATH} environment variable may be set using DOS | |
982 semi-colon-separated or Unix-style colon-separated syntax (but not | |
983 mixed). | |
984 | |
985 @item woman-manpath-man-regexp | |
986 A regular expression to match man directories @emph{under} the | |
987 @code{woman-manpath} directories. These normally have names of the form | |
988 @file{man?}. Its default value is @code{"[Mm][Aa][Nn]"}, which is | |
989 case-insensitive mainly for the benefit of Microsoft platforms. Its | |
990 purpose is to avoid directories such as @file{cat?}, @file{.}, | |
991 @file{..}, etc. | |
992 | |
993 @item woman-path | |
994 A list of strings representing @emph{specific directories} to search for | |
995 Unix manual files. For example | |
996 | |
997 @lisp | |
998 ("/emacs/etc") | |
999 @end lisp | |
1000 | |
1001 These directories are searched in addition to the directory trees | |
1002 specified in @code{woman-manpath}. Each element should be a directory | |
1003 string or @code{nil}, which represents the current directory when the | |
1004 path is expanded and cached. However, the last component (only) of each | |
1005 directory string is treated as a regexp (Emacs, not shell) and the | |
1006 string is expanded into a list of matching directories. Non-directory | |
1007 and unreadable files are ignored. The default value on MS-DOS is | |
1008 | |
1009 @lisp | |
1010 ("$DJDIR/info" "$DJDIR/man/cat[1-9onlp]") | |
1011 @end lisp | |
1012 | |
1013 @noindent | |
1014 and on other platforms is @code{nil}. | |
1015 | |
1016 Any environment variables (names of which must have the Unix-style form | |
1017 @code{$NAME}, e.g.@: @code{$HOME}, @code{$EMACSDATA}, @code{$EMACS_DIR}, | |
1018 regardless of platform) are evaluated first but each element must | |
1019 evaluate to a @emph{single} directory name (regexp, see above). For | |
1020 example | |
1021 | |
1022 @lisp | |
1023 ("$EMACSDATA") | |
1024 @end lisp | |
1025 | |
1026 @noindent | |
1027 or equivalently | |
1028 | |
1029 @lisp | |
1030 ("$EMACS_DIR/etc") | |
1031 @end lisp | |
1032 | |
1033 @noindent | |
1034 Trailing @file{/}s are discarded. (The directory trees in | |
1035 @code{woman-manpath} are also searched.) On Microsoft platforms I | |
1036 recommend including drive letters explicitly. | |
1037 | |
1038 @item woman-cache-level | |
1039 A positive integer representing the level of topic caching: | |
1040 | |
1041 @enumerate | |
1042 @item | |
1043 cache only the topic and directory lists (uses minimal memory, but not | |
1044 recommended); | |
1045 @item | |
1046 cache also the directories for each topic (faster, without using much | |
1047 more memory); | |
1048 @item | |
1049 cache also the actual filenames for each topic (fastest, but uses twice | |
1050 as much memory). | |
1051 @end enumerate | |
1052 | |
1053 The default value is currently 2, a good general compromise. If the | |
1054 @code{woman} command is slow to find files then try 3, which may be | |
1055 particularly beneficial with large remote-mounted man directories. Run | |
1056 the @code{woman} command with a prefix argument or delete the cache file | |
1057 @code{woman-cache-filename} for a change to take effect. (Values < 1 | |
1058 behave like 1; values > 3 behave like 3.) | |
1059 | |
1060 @item woman-cache-filename | |
1061 Either a string representing the full pathname of the WoMan directory | |
1062 and topic cache file, or @code{nil}. It is used to save and restore the | |
1063 cache between Emacs sessions. This is especially useful with | |
1064 remote-mounted man page files! The default value of @code{nil} | |
1065 suppresses this action. The ``standard'' non-@code{nil} filename is | |
1066 @file{~/.wmncach.el}. Remember that a prefix argument forces the | |
1067 @code{woman} command to update and re-write the cache. | |
1068 | |
1069 @item woman-dired-keys | |
1070 A list of @code{dired} mode keys to be defined to run WoMan on the | |
1071 current file, e.g.@: @code{("w" "W")} or any non-@code{nil} atom to | |
1072 automatically define @kbd{w} and @kbd{W} if they are unbound, or | |
1073 @code{nil} to do nothing. Default is @code{t}. | |
1074 | |
1075 @item woman-imenu-generic-expression | |
1076 Imenu support for Sections and Subsections: an alist with elements of | |
1077 the form @code{(MENU-TITLE REGEXP INDEX)}---see the documentation for | |
1078 @code{imenu-generic-expression}. Default value is | |
1079 | |
1080 @lisp | |
1081 ((nil "\n\\([A-Z].*\\)" 1) ; SECTION, but not TITLE | |
1082 ("*Subsections*" "^ \\([A-Z].*\\)" 1)) | |
1083 @end lisp | |
1084 | |
1085 @item woman-imenu | |
1086 A boolean value that defaults to @code{nil}. If non-@code{nil} then WoMan adds | |
1087 a Contents menu to the menubar by calling @code{imenu-add-to-menubar}. | |
1088 | |
1089 @item woman-imenu-title | |
1090 A string representing the title to use if WoMan adds a Contents menu to | |
1091 the menubar. Default is @code{"CONTENTS"}. | |
1092 | |
1093 @item woman-use-topic-at-point | |
1094 A boolean value that defaults to @code{nil}. If non-@code{nil} then | |
1095 the @code{woman} command uses the word at point as the topic, | |
1096 @emph{without interactive confirmation}, if it exists as a topic. | |
1097 | |
1098 @item woman-use-topic-at-point-default | |
1099 A boolean value representing the default value for | |
1100 @code{woman-use-topic-at-point}. The default value is @code{nil}. | |
1101 [The variable @code{woman-use-topic-at-point} may be @code{let}-bound | |
1102 when @code{woman} is loaded, in which case its global value does not | |
1103 get defined. The function @code{woman-file-name} sets it to this | |
1104 value if it is unbound.] | |
1105 | |
1106 @item woman-uncompressed-file-regexp | |
1107 A regular match expression used to select man source files (ignoring any | |
1108 compression extension). The default value is | |
1109 @code{"\\.\\([0-9lmnt]\\w*\\)"} [which means a filename extension is | |
1110 required]. | |
1111 | |
1112 @emph{Do not change this unless you are sure you know what you are doing!} | |
1113 | |
1114 The SysV standard man pages use two character suffixes, and this is | |
1115 becoming more common in the GNU world. For example, the man pages in | |
1116 the @code{ncurses} package include @file{toe.1m}, @file{form.3x}, etc. | |
1117 | |
1118 @strong{Please note:} an optional compression regexp will be appended, | |
1119 so this regexp @emph{must not} end with any kind of string terminator | |
1120 such as @code{$} or @code{\\'}. | |
1121 | |
1122 @item woman-file-compression-regexp | |
1123 A regular match expression used to match compressed man file extensions | |
1124 for which decompressors are available and handled by auto-compression | |
1125 mode. It should begin with @code{\\.} and end with @code{\\'} and | |
1126 @emph{must not} be optional. The default value is | |
1127 @code{"\\.\\(g?z\\|bz2\\)\\'"}, which matches the @code{gzip} and | |
1128 @code{bzip2} compression extensions. | |
1129 | |
1130 @emph{Do not change this unless you are sure you know what you are doing!} | |
1131 | |
1132 [It should be compatible with the @code{car} of | |
1133 @code{jka-compr-file-name-handler-entry}, but that is unduly | |
1134 complicated, includes an inappropriate extension (@file{.tgz}) and is | |
1135 not loaded by default!] | |
1136 | |
1137 @item woman-use-own-frame | |
1138 If non-@code{nil} then use a dedicated frame for displaying WoMan windows. | |
1139 This is useful only when WoMan is run under a window system such as X or | |
1140 Microsoft Windows that supports real multiple frames, in which case the | |
1141 default value is non-@code{nil}. | |
1142 @end vtable | |
1143 | |
1144 | |
1145 @node Formatting Options, Faces, Interface Options, Customization | |
1146 @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
1147 @section Formatting Options | |
1148 @cindex formatting options | |
1149 | |
1150 These options control the layout that WoMan uses to format the man page. | |
1151 | |
1152 @vtable @code | |
1153 @item woman-fill-column | |
1154 An integer specifying the right margin for formatted text. Default is | |
1155 65. | |
1156 | |
1157 @item woman-fill-frame | |
1158 A boolean value. If non-@code{nil} then most of the frame width is used, | |
1159 overriding the value of @code{woman-fill-column}. Default is @code{nil}. | |
1160 | |
1161 @item woman-default-indent | |
1162 An integer specifying the default prevailing indent for the @code{-man} | |
1163 macros. Default is 5. Set this variable to 7 to emulate GNU/Linux man | |
1164 formatting. | |
1165 | |
1166 @item woman-bold-headings | |
1167 A boolean value. If non-@code{nil} then embolden section and subsection | |
1168 headings. Default is @code{t}. [Heading emboldening is @emph{not} standard | |
1169 @code{man} behavior.] | |
1170 | |
1171 @item woman-ignore | |
1172 A boolean value. If non-@code{nil} then unrecognised requests etc. are | |
1173 ignored. Default is @code{t}. This gives the standard @code{roff} behavior. | |
1174 If @code{nil} then they are left in the buffer, which may aid debugging. | |
1175 | |
1176 @item woman-preserve-ascii | |
1177 A boolean value. If non-@code{nil} then preserve @acronym{ASCII} characters in the | |
1178 WoMan buffer. Otherwise, non-@acronym{ASCII} characters (that display as | |
1179 @acronym{ASCII}) may remain, which is irrelevant unless the buffer is to be | |
1180 saved to a file. Default is @code{nil}. | |
1181 | |
1182 @item woman-emulation | |
1183 WoMan emulation, currently either @code{nroff} or @code{troff}. Default | |
1184 is @code{nroff}. @code{troff} emulation is experimental and largely | |
1185 untested. | |
1186 @end vtable | |
1187 | |
1188 | |
1189 @node Faces, Special symbols, Formatting Options, Customization | |
1190 @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
1191 @section Faces | |
1192 @cindex faces | |
1193 | |
1194 These options control the display faces that WoMan uses to format the | |
1195 man page. | |
1196 | |
1197 @vtable @code | |
1198 @item woman-fontify | |
1199 A boolean value. If non-@code{nil} then WoMan assumes that face support is | |
1200 available. It defaults to a non-@code{nil} value if the display supports | |
1201 either colors or different fonts. | |
1202 | |
1203 @item woman-italic-face | |
1204 Face for italic font in man pages. Default: italic, underlined, | |
1205 foreground red. This is overkill! @code{troff} uses just italic; | |
1206 @code{nroff} uses just underline. You should probably select either | |
1207 italic or underline as you prefer, but not both, although italic and | |
1208 underline work together perfectly well! | |
1209 | |
1210 @item woman-bold-face | |
1211 Face for bold font in man pages. Default: bold, foreground blue. | |
1212 | |
1213 @item woman-unknown-face | |
1214 Face for all unknown fonts in man pages. Default: foreground brown. | |
1215 Brown is a good compromise: it is distinguishable from the default but | |
1216 not enough so as to make font errors look terrible. (Files that use | |
1217 non-standard fonts seem to do so badly or in idiosyncratic ways!) | |
1218 | |
1219 @item woman-addition-face | |
1220 Face for all additions made by WoMan to man pages. | |
1221 Default: foreground orange. | |
1222 @end vtable | |
1223 | |
1224 | |
1225 @node Special symbols, , Faces, Customization | |
1226 @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
1227 @section Special symbols | |
1228 @cindex special symbols | |
1229 | |
1230 This section currently applies @emph{only} to Microsoft Windows. | |
1231 | |
1232 WoMan provides partial experimental support for special symbols, | |
1233 initially only for MS-Windows and only for MS-Windows fonts. This | |
1234 includes both non-@acronym{ASCII} characters from the main text font and use | |
1235 of a separate symbol font. Later, support will be added for other font | |
1236 types (e.g.@: @code{bdf} fonts) and for the X Window System. In Emacs | |
1237 20.7, the current support works partially under Windows 9x but may not | |
1238 work on any other platform. | |
1239 | |
1240 @vtable @code | |
1241 @item woman-use-extended-font | |
1242 A boolean value. If non-@code{nil} then WoMan may use non-@acronym{ASCII} characters | |
1243 from the default font. Default is @code{t}. | |
1244 | |
1245 @item woman-use-symbol-font | |
1246 A boolean value. If non-@code{nil} then WoMan may use the symbol font. | |
1247 Default is @code{nil}, mainly because it may change the line spacing (at | |
1248 least in NTEmacs 20). | |
1249 | |
1250 @item woman-symbol-font | |
1251 A string describing the symbol font to use for special characters. | |
1252 It should be compatible with, and the same size as, the default text font. | |
1253 Under MS-Windows, the default is | |
1254 | |
1255 @lisp | |
1256 "-*-Symbol-normal-r-*-*-*-*-96-96-p-*-ms-symbol" | |
1257 @end lisp | |
1258 @end vtable | |
1259 | |
1260 | |
1261 @c =================================================================== | |
1262 | |
1263 @node Log, Technical, Customization, Top | |
1264 @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
1265 @chapter The *WoMan-Log* Buffer | |
1266 @cindex log buffer | |
1267 @cindex buffer, log | |
1268 | |
1269 This is modeled on the Emacs byte-compiler. It logs all files | |
1270 formatted by WoMan and the time taken. If WoMan finds anything that it | |
1271 cannot handle then it writes a warning to this buffer. If the variable | |
1272 @code{woman-show-log} is non-@code{nil} (by default it is @code{nil}) then | |
1273 WoMan automatically displays this buffer. @xref{Interface Options, , | |
1274 Interface Options}. Many WoMan warnings can be completely ignored, | |
1275 because they are reporting the fact that WoMan has ignored requests that | |
1276 it is correct for WoMan to ignore. In some future version this level of | |
1277 paranoia may be reduced, but not until WoMan is deemed more reliable. | |
1278 At present, all warnings should be treated with some suspicion. | |
1279 Uninterpreted escape sequences are also logged (in some cases). | |
1280 | |
1281 By resetting the variable @code{woman-ignore} to @code{nil} (by default | |
1282 it is @code{t}), uninterpreted @code{roff} requests can optionally be | |
1283 left in the formatted buffer to indicate precisely where they occurred. | |
1284 @xref{Interface Options, , Interface Options}. | |
1285 | |
1286 @c =================================================================== | |
1287 | |
1288 @node Technical, Bugs, Log, Top | |
1289 @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
1290 @chapter Technical Details | |
1291 @cindex technical details | |
1292 @cindex horizontal spacing | |
1293 @cindex spacing, horizontal and vertical | |
1294 @cindex vertical spacing | |
1295 @cindex resolution | |
1296 | |
1297 @heading Horizontal and vertical spacing and resolution | |
1298 | |
1299 WoMan currently assumes 10 characters per inch horizontally, hence a | |
1300 horizontal resolution of 24 basic units, and 5 lines per inch | |
1301 vertically, hence a vertical resolution of 48 basic units. | |
1302 (@code{nroff} uses 240 per inch.) | |
1303 | |
1304 @heading Vertical spacing and blank lines | |
1305 | |
1306 The number of consecutive blank lines in the formatted buffer should be | |
1307 either 0 or 1. A blank line should leave a space like .sp 1. | |
1308 Current policy is to output vertical space only immediately before text | |
1309 is output. | |
1310 | |
1311 @c =================================================================== | |
1312 | |
1313 @node Bugs, Acknowledgements, Technical, Top | |
1314 @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
1315 @chapter Reporting Bugs | |
1316 @cindex reporting bugs | |
1317 @cindex bugs, reporting | |
1318 | |
1319 If WoMan fails completely, or formats a file incorrectly (i.e.@: | |
1320 obviously wrongly or significantly differently from @code{man}) or | |
1321 inelegantly, then please | |
1322 | |
1323 @enumerate | |
1324 @item | |
1325 try the latest version of @file{woman.el} from the Emacs CVS repository | |
1326 on @uref{http://savannah.gnu.org/}. If it still fails, please | |
1327 | |
1328 @item | |
1329 send a bug report to @email{bug-gnu-emacs@@gnu.org} and to | |
1330 @email{F.J.Wright@@qmw.ac.uk}. Please include the entry from the | |
1331 @code{*WoMan-Log*} buffer relating to the problem file, together with | |
1332 a brief description of the problem. Please indicate where you got the | |
1333 man source file from, but do not send it unless asked to send it. | |
1334 @end enumerate | |
1335 | |
1336 @c =================================================================== | |
1337 | |
1338 @node Acknowledgements, GNU Free Documentation License, Bugs, Top | |
1339 @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
1340 @chapter Acknowledgements | |
1341 @cindex acknowledgements | |
1342 | |
1343 For Heather, Kathryn and Madelyn, the women in my life (although they | |
1344 will probably never use it)! | |
1345 | |
1346 I also thank the following for helpful suggestions, bug reports, code | |
1347 fragments, general interest, etc.: | |
1348 | |
1349 @quotation | |
1350 Jari Aalto, @email{jari.aalto@@cs.tpu.fi}@* | |
1351 Dean Andrews, @email{dean@@dra.com}@* | |
1352 Juanma Barranquero, @email{barranquero@@laley-actualidad.es}@* | |
1353 Karl Berry, @email{kb@@cs.umb.edu}@* | |
1354 Jim Chapman, @email{jchapman@@netcomuk.co.uk}@* | |
1355 Frederic Corne, @email{frederic.corne@@erli.fr}@* | |
1356 Peter Craft, @email{craft@@alacritech.com}@* | |
1357 Charles Curley, @email{ccurley@@trib.com}@* | |
1358 Jim Davidson, @email{jdavidso@@teknowledge.com}@* | |
1359 Kevin D'Elia, @email{Kevin.DElia@@mci.com}@* | |
1360 John Fitch, @email{jpff@@maths.bath.ac.uk}@* | |
1361 Hans Frosch, @email{jwfrosch@@rish.b17c.ingr.com}@* | |
1362 Guy Gascoigne-Piggford, @email{ggp@@informix.com}@* | |
1363 Brian Gorka, @email{gorkab@@sanchez.com}@* | |
1364 Nicolai Henriksen, @email{nhe@@lyngso-industri.dk}@* | |
1365 Thomas Herchenroeder, @email{the@@software-ag.de}@* | |
1366 Alexander Hinds, @email{ahinds@@thegrid.net}@* | |
1367 Stefan Hornburg, @email{sth@@hacon.de}@* | |
1368 Theodore Jump, @email{tjump@@cais.com}@* | |
1369 Paul Kinnucan, @email{paulk@@mathworks.com}@* | |
1370 Jonas Linde, @email{jonas@@init.se}@* | |
1371 Andrew McRae, @email{andrewm@@optimation.co.nz}@* | |
1372 Howard Melman, @email{howard@@silverstream.com}@* | |
1373 Dennis Pixton, @email{dennis@@math.binghamton.edu}@* | |
1374 T. V. Raman, @email{raman@@Adobe.com}@* | |
1375 Bruce Ravel, @email{bruce.ravel@@nist.gov}@* | |
1376 Benjamin Riefenstahl, @email{benny@@crocodial.de}@* | |
1377 Kevin Ruland, @email{kruland@@seistl.com}@* | |
1378 Tom Schutter, @email{tom@@platte.com}@* | |
1379 Wei-Xue Shi, @email{wxshi@@ma.neweb.ne.jp}@* | |
1380 Fabio Somenzi, @email{fabio@@joplin.colorado.edu}@* | |
1381 Karel Sprenger, @email{ks@@ic.uva.nl}@* | |
1382 Chris Szurgot, @email{szurgot@@itribe.net}@* | |
1383 Paul A. Thompson, @email{pat@@po.cwru.edu}@* | |
1384 Arrigo Triulzi, @email{arrigo@@maths.qmw.ac.uk}@* | |
1385 Geoff Voelker, @email{voelker@@cs.washington.edu}@* | |
1386 Eli Zaretskii, @email{eliz@@is.elta.co.il} | |
1387 @end quotation | |
1388 | |
1389 @c =================================================================== | |
1390 | |
1391 @comment END OF MANUAL TEXT | |
1392 @page | |
1393 | |
1394 | |
1395 @node GNU Free Documentation License, Command Index, Acknowledgements, Top | |
1396 @appendix GNU Free Documentation License | |
1397 @include doclicense.texi | |
1398 | |
1399 @node Command Index, Variable Index, GNU Free Documentation License, Top | |
1400 @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
1401 @unnumbered Command Index | |
1402 | |
1403 @printindex fn | |
1404 | |
1405 @node Variable Index, Keystroke Index, Command Index, Top | |
1406 @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
1407 @unnumbered Variable Index | |
1408 | |
1409 @printindex vr | |
1410 | |
1411 @c Without a page throw here, the page length seems to get reset to the | |
1412 @c depth of the index that fits on the page after the previous index. | |
1413 @c This must be a bug! | |
1414 | |
1415 @page | |
1416 | |
1417 @node Keystroke Index, Concept Index, Variable Index, Top | |
1418 @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
1419 @unnumbered Keystroke Index | |
1420 | |
1421 @printindex ky | |
1422 | |
1423 @c Without a page throw here, the page length seems to get reset to the | |
1424 @c depth of the index that fits on the page after the previous index. | |
1425 @c This must be a bug! | |
1426 | |
1427 @page | |
1428 | |
1429 @node Concept Index, , Keystroke Index, Top | |
1430 @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
1431 @unnumbered Concept Index | |
1432 | |
1433 @printindex cp | |
1434 | |
1435 @bye | |
1436 | |
1437 @ignore | |
1438 arch-tag: a1a6b715-396f-4378-9b94-0b2ca0aa5028 | |
1439 @end ignore |