# HG changeset patch # User diego # Date 1041446871 0 # Node ID b3e78d22cae091271470d13b56e12f44e41fa5e1 # Parent 739ecaea201ba183996f97dfe4636ec30edb0d80 Spell checking, parts reworded for greater clarity, layout now uses whitespace more generously, small updates. diff -r 739ecaea201b -r b3e78d22cae0 DOCS/tech/manpage.txt --- a/DOCS/tech/manpage.txt Wed Jan 01 15:55:49 2003 +0000 +++ b/DOCS/tech/manpage.txt Wed Jan 01 18:47:51 2003 +0000 @@ -1,75 +1,88 @@ +======================================== A documentation about MPlayer's man page ======================================== About the documentation ----------------------- -Yes it's true: This is the documentation about the documentation (man page). + +Yes it's true: This is the documentation of the documentation (man page). This guide should be used as a reference for questions about the man page structure. It's not a strict guide but we recommend following it to get a uniform man page. -What belongs to the man page? + +What belongs in the man page? ----------------------------- + - option descriptions (all) - usage (options, config files, controls, slave mode) - basic examples -What doesn't belong to the man page? + +What doesn't belong in the man page? ------------------------------------ - - instructions of a process (installation, encoding, etc) - - detailed valuations or hints + + - instructions for installation, encoding and similar processes + - detailed evaluations or hints - tutorials, guides + How should patches look like? ----------------------------- -Follow the rules in patches.txt, they apply to the man page too. + +Follow the rules in patches.txt, they apply to the man page, too. Exceptions are: - - Cosmetic patches are allowed but should be done seperately from the real + + - Cosmetic patches are allowed but should be done separately from the real changes, be marked as cosmetic changes and shouldn't change the general - style without reasons/permissions - - The same applies for spellchecks + style without reasons/permissions. + - The same applies to spell checking. + -How do I create a html, text or other versions of the man page? +How do I create an HTML, text or other version of the man page? --------------------------------------------------------------- -The man pages was more or less designed for groff as it is the main tool for + +The man page was more or less designed for groff as it is the main tool for it. Therefore only groff produces acceptable results without changes. -Additionaly, the SS variable should be set to either very low or very high -values to produce a better groff html output (IMHO due to a bug off gro2html). -A setting of 4 looks readable IMHO. Here's an overview again: +Additionally, the SS variable should be set to either very low or very high +values to produce a better groff HTML output (Due to a bug of groff2html?). +A setting of 4 should look readable. Here's an overview again: - - groff: Groff is the "official" tool to convert man pages afaik. - To get good results you really need a recent version (1.18.2) + - groff: Groff is the "official" tool to convert man pages. + To get good results you need a recent version (1.18.2). cat mplayer.1 | sed s/SS\ 20/SS\ 4/ | groff -man -Thtml - > manpage.html groff -rLL=64n -m man -Tascii mplayer.1 | col -bx > manpage.txt - Check -T for other output formats. - - man2html: You can view it over your cgi script: + The groff man page lists other output formats to use with -T. + - man2html: You can view it through a CGI script: http://localhost/cgi-bin/man2html?mplayer - The output is unuseable as the script doesn't seem to - support the macro definitions. Maybe a manual change of all - leads to acceptable results. + The output is unusable as the script doesn't seem to support + the macro definitions. Maybe manually changing all leads to + acceptable results. - rman: rman -f html mplayer.1 > manpage.rman.html The output is ugly as rman doesn't understand many of the macros used. - troffcvt: troff2html -man mplayer.1 > manpage.tcvt.html - The (good) output is similar to groff but it simplified... + The (good) output is similar to groff but simplified... + The structure ------------- -The options are divided into the the layer they belong to. The only exception -is the OSD/SUB section. Inside the section they're alphabetically ordered. + +The option descriptions are divided into sections. Inside a section options are +alphabetically sorted. The sections are: (Header) - Not visible, copyright and author informations. + Not visible, copyright and author information. (Macro definitions) - Not visible, some macro defintions. + Not visible, some macro definitions. NAME - The manpage is used for both: mplayer and mencoder. + The man page is used for both mplayer and mencoder. SYNOPSIS A description of MPlayer's playtree. DESCRIPTION @@ -78,25 +91,25 @@ Some general notes about the options and a description of the config file format. PLAYER OPTIONS (MPLAYER ONLY) - Option descriptions about the user interface (mplayer only). + User interface option descriptions (MPlayer only). DEMUXER/STREAM OPTIONS - Option descriptions about the demuxer and stream layer. + Demuxer and stream layer option descriptions. OSD/SUB OPTIONS - This section is special: It contains all description about subtitles and - OSD. It is independent of the usual layer separation and was created - because of its size. The options may therefore come from any layer. + This section is special in that it contains all subtitle and OSD option + descriptions even if they might belong to one of the other sections. It was + created because of its size. AUDIO OUTPUT OPTIONS (MPLAYER ONLY) - Option descriptions about the audio output layer (ao) (mplayer only). + Audio output layer (ao) option descriptions (MPlayer only). VIDEO OUTPUT OPTIONS (MPLAYER ONLY) - Option descriptions about the video output layer (vo) (mplayer only). + Video output layer (vo) option descriptions (MPlayer only). DECODING/FILTERING OPTIONS - Options about the decoding and filter layer (ad,vd,vf,pl). + Decoding and filter layer options (ad, vd, vf, pl). ENCODING OPTIONS (MENCODER ONLY) - Encoding option descriptions (ve) (mencoder only). + Encoding option descriptions (ve) (MEncoder only). KEYBOARD CONTROL A description of MPlayer's input system and the default keyboard controls. SLAVE MODE PROTOCOL - A description about the slave mode protocol (-slave). + A description of the slave mode protocol (-slave). FILES A list and description of all installed/used files/directories. EXAMPLES @@ -106,62 +119,74 @@ STANDARD DISCLAIMER + The man page/groff format ------------------------- -Just read this and rtfs: + +Just read this and RTFS: + http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/Man-Page.html man 7 man man 7 groff -Directives for the internal "style" ------------------------------------ -It was kept simple but there are still certain directives/rules to get a + +"Style" guidelines +------------------ + +This section was kept simple but there are certain guidelines/rules to get a uniform man page. The best way is to read (and understand) the source. + General: - - No line should contain more than 79 characters + + - No line should contain more than 79 characters. - Used commands: .TH, .SH, .TP, .IP, .PP, .[R]B, .I, .br, .RS, .RE, .na, .nh, .ad, .hy, macro definitions, comments and some more - Don't forget the quotation marks around expressions, the backslash before a '-' if it's needed, etc... -Option description: - - Option and/or suboption parameters should be short and descriptive. - - If the option is between a certain range, it should be specified at the - beginning (eg. <0\-100> or <\-100 \- 100>) - - All optional things are between angular paranthesis ([]) + +Option descriptions: + + - Option and/or suboption parameters should be short, descriptive and put + in angular brackets (e.g. \-vo ). + - If the option has a parameter in a certain range, specify it right after + the option (e.g. \-subpos <0\-100>). + - Optional things should be put in square brackets ([]). - Obsolete options are followed by (OBSOLETE), beta options by - (BETA CODE), etc + (BETA CODE), etc. - MPlayer only options in a section which isn't marked this way - are followed by (MPLAYER only) - - Add hints to other options if they belong to each other - eg. (\-vo zr only) or (see \-alang option too) - - If a non trivial default parameter exist, write it down - eg. (default: 24) - - Options inside a section are all alphabetically ordered - - Examples and notes at the end of the description (before sub options) - - The end of the suboptions _always_ has to be followed by a paragraphs + are followed by (MPLAYER only). + - Add references to other options if they belong to each other, e.g. + '(\-vo zr only)' or '(also see \-alang)' or are commonly used together. + - If a nontrivial default parameter exists, mention it, e.g. (default: 24). + - Put examples and notes at the end of the description (before suboptions). + - The end of the suboptions _always_ has to be followed by a paragraph (BUG). + Macro definitions (see beginning of man page): - - SS SS is the starting value of the suboption column + + - SS Starting value of the suboption column - .IPs Add new suboption (we use .TP for normal options and .IP for the rest) - .RSs Begin of suboptions, end with .RE - .RSss Begin of suboptions in a suboption - .REss End of suboptions in a suboption -Options, sub options, examples structure: + +Options, suboptions, examples structure: + - Normal options (note the '<' and '>'): [...] .TP - .B \-option + .B \-option description [...] - - Long sub options: + - Long suboptions: [...] description. Available options are: @@ -178,7 +203,7 @@ . [...] - - Short sub options: + - Short suboptions: [...] description. Available options are: @@ -197,8 +222,7 @@ . [...] - - - Sub options in sub options: + - Suboptions in suboptions: [...] .IPs "subopt1="