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Date:      Wed, 05 Feb 2003 21:14:27 -0700 (MST)
From:      Kazuo Horikawa <horikawa@jp.FreeBSD.org>
To:        swear@attbi.com
Cc:        freebsd-doc@FreeBSD.ORG, ru@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: manpage section ordering and mdoc(7) manpage
Message-ID:  <20030205.211427.59464356.horikawa@attbi.com>
In-Reply-To: <6qel6qif5w.l6q@localhost.localdomain>
References:  <6qel6qif5w.l6q@localhost.localdomain>

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(Cc'ing mdoc(7) authority as he looks missing freebsd-doc mails.)

swear@attbi.com (Gary W. Swearingen) wrote:
> The mdoc(7) manpage seems to claim to be the FreeBSD standard for
> manpages (or at least part of the standard).  Is it?  Should it be?
>
> Specifically, is the order of sections specified by the manpage the
> FreeBSD standard, which, if violated, calls for a doc PR?
>
> For instance, should the mdoc(7) manpage have its own "FILES" and
> "DIAGNOSTICS" sections re-ordered to match it's own rules?  Or should
> the manpage be modified to sound less like a standard?

Ruslan, what do you think about section ordering Gary mentioned?

I only sweeped section 8, but I found ac.8, getty.8, init.8, mount.8,
nslookup.8 nsupdate.8, pppd.8, pw.8, restore.8, rlogind.8, rshd.8,
rtadvd.8, rtsold.8 and sa.8 do not follow "this order." (FILES vs
DIAGNOSTICS)

> If it IS the standard, should it be modified to no longer require the
> "IMPLEMENTATION NOTES" and "RETURN VALUES" sections, a "standard" which
> is seldom followed as reflected in the manpage's own example template?

Gary, I understand that IMPLEMENTATION NOTES and RETURN VALUES are
optional sections, as they are listed under the explanation "The
following commands should be uncommented and used where appropriate."
as follow:

           .\" The following commands should be uncommented and
           .\" used where appropriate.
           .\" .Sh IMPLEMENTATION NOTES
           .\" This next command is for sections 2, 3 and 9 function
           .\" return values only.
           .\" .Sh RETURN VALUES
           [snip]
--
Kazuo Horikawa

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