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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 FIXME
6 @c Manual last updated:
7 @set UPDATED Time-stamp: <Wed 24-Jul-2013 21:17:53 rgm on fencepost.gnu.org>
8 @c Software version:
9 @set VERSION 0.54 (beta)
10 @afourpaper
11 @c With different size paper the printed page breaks will need attention!
12 @c Look for @page and @need commands.
13 @setchapternewpage off
14 @paragraphindent 0
15 @c %**end of header
16
17 @copying
18 This file documents WoMan: A program to browse Unix manual pages `W.O.
19 (without) man'.
20
21 Copyright @copyright{} 2001--2013 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 1.3 or
26 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
27 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU Manual,''
28 and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the license
29 is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation License.''
30
31 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have the freedom to copy and
32 modify this GNU manual.''
33 @end quotation
34 @end copying
35
36 @dircategory Emacs misc features
37 @direntry
38 * WoMan: (woman). Browse UN*X Manual Pages "W.O. (without) Man".
39 @end direntry
40
41 @finalout
42
43 @titlepage
44 @title WoMan
45 @subtitle Browse Unix Manual Pages ``W.O. (without) Man''
46 @subtitle Software Version @value{VERSION}
47 @author Francis J. Wright
48 @sp 2
49 @author School of Mathematical Sciences
50 @author Queen Mary and Westfield College
51 @author (University of London)
52 @author Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, UK
53 @author @email{F.J.Wright@@qmul.ac.uk}
54 @author @uref{http://centaur.maths.qmw.ac.uk/}
55 @c He no longer maintains this manual.
56 @sp 2
57 @author Manual Last Updated @value{UPDATED}
58
59 @comment The following two commands start the copyright page.
60 @page
61 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
62 @insertcopying
63 @end titlepage
64
65 @contents
66
67 @c ===================================================================
68
69 @ifnottex
70 @node Top, Introduction, (dir), (dir)
71 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
72 @top WoMan: Browse Unix Manual Pages ``W.O. (without) Man''
73
74 @display
75 Software Version @value{VERSION}
76 Manual Last Updated @value{UPDATED}
77
78 @ifnothtml
79 @email{F.J.Wright@@qmw.ac.uk, Francis J. Wright}
80 @end ifnothtml
81 @ifhtml
82 Francis J. Wright
83 @end ifhtml
84 @uref{http://centaur.maths.qmw.ac.uk/, School of Mathematical Sciences}
85 Queen Mary and Westfield College (University of London)
86 Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, UK
87 @end display
88
89 @insertcopying
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 * Acknowledgments:: Acknowledgments
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.
123
124 WoMan implements a subset of the formatting performed by the Emacs
125 @code{man} (or @code{manual-entry}) command to format a Unix-style
126 @dfn{manual page} (usually abbreviated to @dfn{man page}) for display,
127 but without calling any external programs. It is intended to emulate
128 the whole of the @code{roff -man} macro package, plus those @code{roff}
129 requests (@pxref{Background, , Background}) that are most commonly used
130 in man pages. However, the emulation is modified to include the
131 reformatting done by the Emacs @code{man} command. No hyphenation is
132 performed.
133
134 @table @b
135 @item Advantages
136 Much more direct, does not require any external programs. Supports
137 completion on man page names.
138 @item Disadvantages
139 Not a complete emulation. Currently no support for @code{eqn} or
140 @code{tbl}. Slightly slower for large man pages (but usually faster for
141 small- and medium-size pages).
142 @end table
143
144 This browser works quite well on simple well-written man files. It
145 works less well on idiosyncratic files that ``break the rules'' or use
146 the more obscure @code{roff} requests directly. Current test results
147 are available in the file
148 @uref{http://centaur.maths.qmw.ac.uk/Emacs/WoMan/files/woman.status,
149 @file{woman.status}}.
150
151 WoMan supports the use of compressed man files via
152 @code{auto-compression-mode} by turning it on if necessary. But you may
153 need to adjust the user option @code{woman-file-compression-regexp}.
154 @xref{Interface Options, , Interface Options}.
155
156 Brief help on the WoMan interactive commands and user options, all of
157 which begin with the prefix @code{woman-} (or occasionally
158 @code{WoMan-}), is available most easily by loading WoMan and then
159 either running the command @code{woman-mini-help} or selecting the WoMan
160 menu option @samp{Mini Help}.
161
162 Guidance on reporting bugs is given below. @xref{Bugs, , Reporting Bugs}.
163
164 @c ===================================================================
165
166 @node Background, Finding, Introduction, Top
167 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
168 @chapter Background
169 @cindex background
170
171 WoMan is a browser for traditional Unix-style manual page documentation.
172 Each such document is conventionally referred to as a @dfn{manual page},
173 or @dfn{man page} for short, even though some are very much longer than
174 one page. A man page is a document written using the Unix ``man''
175 macros, which are themselves written in the nroff/troff text processing
176 markup language. @code{nroff} and @code{troff} are text processors
177 originally written for the UNIX operating system by Joseph F. Ossanna at
178 Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, New Jersey, USA@. They are closely
179 related, and except in the few cases where the distinction between them
180 is important I will refer to them both ambiguously as @code{roff}.
181
182 @code{roff} markup consists of @dfn{requests} and @dfn{escape
183 sequences}. A request occupies a complete line and begins with either a
184 period or a single forward quote. An escape sequences is embedded
185 within the input text and begins (by default) with a backslash. The
186 original man macro package defines 20 new @code{roff} requests
187 implemented as macros, which were considered to be sufficient for
188 writing man pages. But whilst in principle man pages use only the man
189 macros, in practice a significant number use many other @code{roff}
190 requests.
191
192 The distinction between @code{troff} and @code{nroff} is that
193 @code{troff} was designed to drive a phototypesetter whereas
194 @code{nroff} was designed to produce essentially @acronym{ASCII} output for a
195 character-based device similar to a teletypewriter (usually abbreviated
196 to ``teletype'' or ``tty''). Hence, @code{troff} supports much finer
197 control over output positioning than does @code{nroff} and can be seen
198 as a forerunner of @TeX{}. Traditionally, man pages are either
199 formatted by @code{troff} for typesetting or by @code{nroff} for
200 printing on a character printer or displaying on a screen. Of course,
201 over the last 25 years or so, the distinction between typeset output on
202 paper and characters on a screen has become blurred by the fact that
203 most screens now support bit-mapped displays, so that any information
204 that can be printed can also be rendered on screen, the only difference
205 being the resolution.
206
207 Nevertheless, Unix-style manual page documentation is still normally
208 browsed on screen by running a program called @code{man}. This program
209 looks in a predefined set of directories for the man page matching a
210 specified topic, then either formats the source file by running
211 @code{nroff} or recovers a pre-formatted file, and displays it via a
212 pager such as @code{more}. @code{nroff} normally formats for a printer,
213 so it paginates the output, numbers the pages, etc., most of which is
214 irrelevant when the document is browsed as a continuous scrollable
215 document on screen. The only concession to on-screen browsing normally
216 implemented by the @code{man} program is to squeeze consecutive blank
217 lines into a single blank line.
218
219 For some time, Emacs has offered an improved interface for browsing man
220 pages in the form of the Emacs @code{man} (or @code{manual-entry})
221 command, see @ref{Documentation, man, Documentation Commands, emacs, GNU
222 Emacs Manual}.
223 This command runs @code{man} as described above, perhaps in
224 the background, and then post-processes the output to remove much of the
225 @code{nroff} pagination such as page headers and footers, and places the
226 result into an Emacs buffer. It puts this buffer into a special major
227 mode, which is tailored for man page browsing, and provides a number of
228 useful navigation commands, support for following references, etc. It
229 provides some support for special display faces (fonts), but no special
230 menu or mouse support. The Emacs man package appears to have been
231 developed over about 10 years, from the late 1980s to the late 1990s.
232
233 There is considerable inefficiency in having @code{nroff} paginate a
234 document and then removing most of the pagination!
235
236 WoMan is an Emacs Lisp library that provides an emulation of the
237 functionality of the Emacs @code{man} command, the main difference being
238 that WoMan does not use any external programs. The only situation in
239 which WoMan might use an external program is when the source file is
240 compressed, when WoMan will use the standard Emacs automatic
241 decompression facility, which does call an external program.
242
243 I began developing WoMan in the Spring of 1997 and the first version was
244 released in May 1997. The original motivation for WoMan was the fact
245 that many GNU and Unix programs are ported to other platforms and come
246 with Unix-style manual page documentation. This may be difficult to
247 read because ports of the Unix-style @code{man} program can be a little
248 awkward to set up. I decided that it should not be too hard to emulate
249 the 20 @code{man} macros directly, without treating them as macros and
250 largely ignoring the underlying @code{roff} requests, given the text
251 processing capabilities of Emacs. This proved to be essentially true,
252 and it did not take a great deal of work to be able to format simple man
253 pages acceptably.
254
255 One problem arose with the significant number of man pages that use
256 @code{roff} requests in addition to the @code{man} macros, and since
257 releasing the first version of WoMan I have been continually extending
258 it to support more @code{roff} requests. WoMan can now format a
259 significant proportion of the man pages that I have tested, either well
260 or at least readably. However, I have added capabilities partly by
261 making additional passes through the document, a design that is
262 fundamentally flawed. This can only be solved by a major re-design of
263 WoMan to handle the major formatting within a single recursive pass,
264 rather than the present multiple passes without any significant
265 recursion. There are some @code{roff} requests that cannot be handled
266 satisfactorily within the present design. Some of these are currently
267 handled by kludges that ``usually more or less work.''
268
269 The principle advantage of WoMan is that it does not require @code{man},
270 and indeed the name WoMan is a contraction of ``without man.'' But it
271 has other advantages. It does not paginate the document, so it does not
272 need to un-paginate it again, thereby saving time. It could take full
273 advantage of the display capabilities available to it, and I hope to
274 develop WoMan to take advantage of developments in Emacs itself. At
275 present, WoMan uses several display faces to support bold and italic
276 text, to indicate other fonts, etc. The default faces are also
277 colored, but the choice of faces is customizable. WoMan provides menu
278 support for navigation and mouse support for following references, in
279 addition to the navigation facilities provided by @code{man} mode.
280 WoMan has (this) texinfo documentation!
281
282 WoMan @emph{does not} replace @code{man}, although it does use a number
283 of the facilities implemented in the Emacs @code{man} library. WoMan
284 and man can happily co-exist, which is very useful for comparison and
285 debugging purposes.
286
287 @ignore
288 @code{nroff} simulates non-@acronym{ASCII} characters by using one or more
289 @acronym{ASCII} characters. WoMan should be able to do much better than
290 this. I have recently begun to add support for WoMan to use more of the
291 characters in its default font and to use a symbol font, and it is an
292 aspect that I intend to develop further in the near future. It should
293 be possible to move WoMan from an emulation of @code{nroff} to an
294 emulation of @code{troff} as GNU Emacs moves to providing bit-mapped
295 display facilities.
296 @end ignore
297
298 @node Finding, Browsing, Background, Top
299 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
300 @chapter Finding and Formatting Man Pages
301 @cindex using, finding man pages
302 @cindex using, formatting man pages
303 @cindex finding man pages
304 @cindex formatting man pages
305 @cindex man pages, finding
306 @cindex man pages, formatting
307
308 WoMan provides three user interfaces for finding and formatting man pages:
309
310 @itemize @bullet
311 @item
312 a topic interface similar to that provided by the standard Emacs
313 @code{man} command;
314
315 @item
316 a family of filename interfaces analogous to the standard Emacs
317 @code{view-file} command;
318
319 @item
320 an automatic interface that detects the file type from its contents.
321 (This is currently neither well tested, well supported nor recommended!)
322 @end itemize
323
324 The topic and filename interfaces support completion in the usual way.
325
326 The topic interface is generally the most convenient for regular use,
327 although it may require some special setup, especially if your machine
328 does not already have a conventional @code{man} installation (which
329 WoMan tries to detect).
330
331 The simplest filename interface command @code{woman-find-file} can
332 always be used with no setup at all (provided WoMan is installed and
333 loaded or set up to autoload).
334
335 The automatic interface always requires special setup.
336
337
338 @heading Case-Dependence of Filenames
339
340 @cindex case-sensitivity
341 @vindex w32-downcase-file-names
342 By default, WoMan ignores case in file pathnames only when it seems
343 appropriate. Microsoft Windows users who want complete case
344 independence should set the special NTEmacs variable
345 @code{w32-downcase-file-names} to @code{t} and use all lower case when
346 setting WoMan file paths.
347
348
349 @menu
350 * Topic:: Topic Interface
351 * Filename:: Filename Interface
352 * Automatic:: Automatic Interface
353 @end menu
354
355 @node Topic, Filename, Finding, Finding
356 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
357 @section Topic Interface
358 @cindex topic interface
359
360 The topic interface is accessed principally via the command
361 @code{woman}. The same command can be accessed via the menu item
362 @samp{Help->Manuals->Read Man Page (WoMan)...} once WoMan has been
363 loaded. The command reads a manual topic in the minibuffer, which can
364 be the @dfn{basename} of a man file anywhere in the man file
365 structure. The ``basename'' in this context means the filename
366 without any directory component and without any extension or suffix
367 components that relate to the file type. So, for example, if there is
368 a compressed source file in Chapter 5 of the UNIX Programmer's Manual
369 with the full pathname @file{/usr/local/man/man5/man.conf.5.gz} then
370 the topic is @code{man.conf}. Provided WoMan is configured correctly,
371 this topic will appear among the completions offered by @code{woman}.
372 If more than one file has the same topic name then WoMan will prompt
373 for which file to format. Completion of topics is case insensitive.
374
375 Clearly, @code{woman} has to know where to look for man files and there
376 are two customizable user options that store this information:
377 @code{woman-manpath} and @code{woman-path}. @xref{Interface Options, ,
378 Interface Options}. If @code{woman-manpath} is not set explicitly then
379 WoMan tries to pick up the information that would be used by the
380 @code{man} command, as follows. If the environment variable
381 @code{MANPATH} is set, which seems to be the standard mechanism under
382 UNIX, then WoMan parses that. Otherwise, if WoMan can find a
383 configuration file named (by default) @file{man.conf} (or something very
384 similar), which seems to be the standard mechanism under GNU/Linux, then
385 it parses that. To be precise, ``something very similar'' means
386 starting with @samp{man} and ending with @samp{.conf} and possibly more
387 lowercase letters, e.g., @file{manual.configuration}.
388 The search path and/or precise full path name for this file are set by
389 the value of the customizable user option @code{woman-man.conf-path}.
390 If all else fails, WoMan uses a plausible default man search path.
391
392 If the above default configuration does not work correctly for any
393 reason then simply customize the value of @code{woman-manpath}. To
394 access man files that are not in a conventional man file hierarchy,
395 customize the value of @code{woman-path} to include the directories
396 containing the files. In this way, @code{woman} can access manual files
397 @emph{anywhere} in the entire file system.
398
399 There are two differences between @code{woman-manpath} and
400 @code{woman-path}. Firstly, the elements of @code{woman-manpath} must
401 be directories that contain @emph{directories of} man files, whereas the
402 elements of @code{woman-path} must be directories that contain man files
403 @emph{directly}. Secondly, the last directory component of each element
404 of @code{woman-path} is treated as a regular (Emacs) match expression
405 rather than a fixed name, which allows collections of related
406 directories to be specified succinctly. Also, elements of
407 @code{woman-manpath} can be conses, indicating a mapping from
408 @samp{PATH} environment variable components to man directory
409 hierarchies.
410
411 For topic completion to work, WoMan must build a list of all the manual
412 files that it can access, which can be very slow, especially if a
413 network is involved. For this reason, it caches various amounts of
414 information, after which retrieving it from the cache is very fast. If
415 the cache ever gets out of synchronism with reality, running the
416 @code{woman} command with a prefix argument (e.g., @kbd{C-u M-x woman})
417 will force it to rebuild its cache. This is necessary only if the names
418 or locations of any man files change; it is not necessary if only their
419 contents change. It would always be necessary if such a change occurred
420 whilst Emacs were running and after WoMan has been loaded. It may be
421 necessary if such a change occurs between Emacs sessions and persistent
422 caching is used, although WoMan can detect some changes that invalidate
423 its cache and rebuild it automatically.
424
425 Customize the variable @code{woman-cache-filename} to save the cache
426 between Emacs sessions. This is recommended only if the @code{woman}
427 command is too slow the first time it is run in an Emacs session, while
428 it builds its cache in main memory, which @emph{may} be @emph{very}
429 slow. @xref{Cache, , The WoMan Topic Cache}, for further details.
430
431
432 @menu
433 * Cache:: The WoMan Topic Cache
434 * Word at point:: Using the "Word at Point" as a Topic Suggestion
435 @end menu
436
437 @node Cache, Word at point, Topic, Topic
438 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
439 @subsection The WoMan Topic Cache
440 @cindex topic cache
441 @cindex cache, topic
442
443 The amount of information that WoMan caches (in main memory and,
444 optionally, saved to disc) is controlled by the user option
445 @code{woman-cache-level}. There is a trade-off between the speed with
446 which WoMan can find a file and the size of the cache, and the default
447 setting gives a reasonable compromise.
448
449 The @code{woman} command always performs a certain amount of caching in
450 main memory, but it can also write its cache to the filestore as a
451 persistent cache under control of the user option
452 @code{woman-cache-filename}. If persistent caching is turned on then
453 WoMan re-loads its internal cache from the cache file almost
454 instantaneously, so that there is never any perceptible start-up delay
455 @emph{except} when WoMan rebuilds its cache. Persistent caching is
456 currently turned off by default. This is because users with persistent
457 caching turned on may overlook the need to force WoMan to rebuild its
458 cache the first time they run it after they have installed new man
459 files; with persistent caching turned off, WoMan automatically rebuilds
460 its cache every time it is run in a new Emacs session.
461
462 A prefix argument always causes the @code{woman} command (only) to
463 rebuild its topic cache, and to re-save it to
464 @code{woman-cache-filename} if this variable has a non-@code{nil} value. This
465 is necessary if the @emph{names} of any of the directories or files in
466 the paths specified by @code{woman-manpath} or @code{woman-path} change.
467 If WoMan user options that affect the cache are changed then WoMan will
468 automatically update its cache file on disc (if one is in use) the next
469 time it is run in a new Emacs session.
470
471
472 @node Word at point, , Cache, Topic
473 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
474 @subsection Using the "Word at Point" as a Topic Suggestion
475 @cindex word at point
476 @cindex point, word at
477
478 By default, the @code{woman} command uses the word nearest to point in
479 the current buffer as a suggestion for the topic to look up, if it
480 exists as a valid topic. The topic can be confirmed or edited in the
481 minibuffer.
482
483 You can also bind the variable @code{woman-use-topic-at-point} locally
484 to a non-@code{nil} value (using @code{let}), in which case
485 @code{woman} will can use the suggested topic without confirmation if
486 possible. This may be useful to provide special private key bindings,
487 e.g., this key binding for @kbd{C-c w} runs WoMan on the topic at
488 point without seeking confirmation:
489
490 @lisp
491 (global-set-key "\C-cw"
492 (lambda ()
493 (interactive)
494 (let ((woman-use-topic-at-point t))
495 (woman))))
496 @end lisp
497
498
499 @node Filename, Automatic, Topic, Finding
500 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
501 @section Filename Interface
502 @cindex filename interface
503
504 The commands in this family are completely independent of the topic
505 interface, caching mechanism, etc.
506
507 @findex woman-find-file
508 The filename interface is accessed principally via the extended command
509 @code{woman-find-file}, which is available without any configuration at
510 all (provided WoMan is installed and loaded or set up to autoload).
511 This command can be used to browse any accessible man file, regardless
512 of its filename or location. If the file is compressed then automatic
513 file decompression must already be turned on (e.g., see the
514 @samp{Help->Options} submenu)---it is turned on automatically only by
515 the @code{woman} topic interface.
516
517 @findex woman-dired-find-file
518 Once WoMan is loaded (or if specially set up), various additional
519 commands in this family are available. In a dired buffer, the command
520 @code{woman-dired-find-file} allows the file on the same line as point
521 to be formatted and browsed by WoMan. It is bound to the key @kbd{W} in
522 the dired mode map and added to the dired major mode menu. It may also
523 be bound to @kbd{w}, unless this key is bound by another library, which
524 it is by @code{dired-x}, for example. Because it is quite likely that
525 other libraries will extend the capabilities of such a commonly used
526 mode as dired, the precise key bindings added by WoMan to the dired mode
527 map are controlled by the user option @code{woman-dired-keys}.
528
529 @findex woman-tar-extract-file
530 When a tar (Tape ARchive) file is visited in Emacs, it is opened in tar
531 mode, which parses the tar file and shows a dired-like view of its
532 contents. The WoMan command @code{woman-tar-extract-file} allows the
533 file on the same line as point to be formatted and browsed by WoMan. It
534 is bound to the key @kbd{w} in the tar mode map and added to the tar
535 major mode menu.
536
537 The command @code{woman-reformat-last-file}, which is bound to the key
538 @kbd{R} in WoMan mode and available on the major mode menu, reformats
539 the last file formatted by WoMan. This may occasionally be useful if
540 formatting parameters, such as the fill column, are changed, or perhaps
541 if the buffer is somehow corrupted.
542
543 @findex woman-decode-buffer
544 The command @code{woman-decode-buffer} can be used to decode and browse
545 the current buffer if it is visiting a man file, although it is
546 primarily used internally by WoMan.
547
548
549 @node Automatic, , Filename, Finding
550 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
551 @section Automatic Interface
552 @cindex automatic interface
553
554 Emacs provides an interface to detect automatically the format of a file
555 and decode it when it is visited. It is used primarily by the
556 facilities for editing rich (i.e., formatted) text, as a way to store
557 formatting information transparently as @acronym{ASCII} markup. WoMan can in
558 principle use this interface, but it must be configured explicitly.
559
560 This use of WoMan does not seem to be particularly advantageous, so it
561 is not really supported. It originated during early experiments on how
562 best to implement WoMan, before I implemented the current topic
563 interface, and I subsequently stopped using it. I might revive it as a
564 mechanism for storing pre-formatted WoMan files, somewhat analogous to
565 the standard Unix @code{catman} facility. In the meantime, it exists
566 for anyone who wants to experiment with it. Once it is set up it is
567 simply a question of visiting the file and there is no WoMan-specific
568 user interface!
569
570 To use it, put something like this in your @file{.emacs} file. [The
571 call to @code{set-visited-file-name} is to avoid font-locking triggered
572 by automatic major mode selection.]
573
574 @lisp
575 (autoload 'woman-decode-region "woman")
576
577 (add-to-list 'format-alist
578 '(man "Unix man-page source format" "\\.\\(TH\\|ig\\) "
579 woman-decode-region nil nil
580 (lambda (arg)
581 set-visited-file-name
582 (file-name-sans-extension buffer-file-name))))
583 @end lisp
584
585 @c ===================================================================
586
587 @node Browsing, Customization, Finding, Top
588 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
589 @chapter Browsing Man Pages
590 @cindex using, browsing man pages
591 @cindex browsing man pages
592 @cindex man pages, browsing
593
594 Once a man page has been found and formatted, WoMan provides a browsing
595 interface that is essentially the same as that provided by the standard
596 Emacs @code{man} command (and much of the code is inherited from the
597 @code{man} library, which WoMan currently requires). Many WoMan
598 facilities can be accessed from the WoMan major mode menu as well as via
599 key bindings, etc.
600
601 WoMan does not produce any page breaks or page numbers, and in fact does
602 not paginate the man page at all, since this is not appropriate for
603 continuous online browsing. It produces a document header line that is
604 constructed from the standard man page header and footer. Apart from
605 that, the appearance of the formatted man page should be almost
606 identical to what would be produced by @code{man}, with consecutive
607 blank lines squeezed to a single blank line.
608
609 @menu
610 * Fonts:: Fonts and Faces
611 * Navigation:: Navigation
612 * References:: Following References
613 * Changing:: Changing the Current Man Page
614 * Convenience:: Convenience Key Bindings
615 * Imenu:: Imenu Support; Contents Menu
616 @end menu
617
618 @node Fonts, Navigation, Browsing, Browsing
619 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
620 @section Fonts and Faces
621 @cindex fonts
622 @cindex faces
623
624 Fonts used by @code{roff} are handled by WoMan as faces, the details of
625 which are customizable. @xref{Faces, , Faces}. WoMan supports both the
626 italic and bold fonts normally used in man pages, together with a single
627 face to represent all unknown fonts (which are occasionally used in
628 ``non-standard'' man pages, usually to represent a ``typewriter'' font)
629 and a face to indicate additional symbols introduced by WoMan. This
630 currently means the characters ^ and _ used to indicate super- and
631 sub-scripts, which are not displayed well by WoMan.
632
633
634 @node Navigation, References, Fonts, Browsing
635 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
636 @section Navigation
637 @cindex navigation
638
639 Man (and hence WoMan) mode can be thought of as a superset of view mode.
640 The buffer cannot be edited, so keys that would normally self-insert are
641 used for navigation. The WoMan key bindings are a minor modification of
642 the @code{man} key bindings.
643
644 @table @kbd
645 @item @key{SPC}
646 @kindex SPC
647 @findex scroll-up
648 Scroll the man page up the window (@code{scroll-up}).
649
650 @item @key{DEL}
651 @kindex DEL
652 @findex scroll-down
653 Scroll the man page down the window (@code{scroll-down}).
654
655 @item n
656 @kindex n
657 @findex Man-next-section
658 Move point to the Nth next section---default 1 (@code{Man-next-section}).
659
660 @item p
661 @kindex p
662 @findex Man-previous-section
663 Move point to Nth previous section---default 1
664 (@code{Man-previous-section}).
665
666 @item g
667 @kindex g
668 @findex Man-goto-section
669 Move point to the specified section (@code{Man-goto-section}).
670
671 @item s
672 @kindex s
673 @findex Man-goto-see-also-section
674 Move point to the ``SEE ALSO'' section
675 (@code{Man-goto-see-also-section}). Actually the section moved to is
676 described by @code{Man-see-also-regexp}.
677 @end table
678
679
680 @node References, Changing, Navigation, Browsing
681 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
682 @section Following References
683 @cindex following references
684 @cindex references
685
686 Man pages usually contain a ``SEE ALSO'' section containing references
687 to other man pages. If these man pages are installed then WoMan can
688 easily be directed to follow the reference, i.e., to find and format the
689 man page. When the mouse is passed over a correctly formatted reference
690 it is highlighted, in which case clicking the middle button
691 @kbd{Mouse-2} will cause WoMan to follow the reference. Alternatively,
692 when point is over such a reference the key @key{RET} will follow the
693 reference.
694
695 Any word in the buffer can be used as a reference by clicking
696 @kbd{Mouse-2} over it provided the Meta key is also used (although in
697 general such a ``reference'' will not lead to a man page).
698 Alternatively, the key @kbd{r} allows completion to be used to select a
699 reference to follow, based on the word at point as default.
700
701 @table @kbd
702 @item @kbd{Mouse-2}
703 @kindex Mouse-2
704 @findex woman-mouse-2
705 Run WoMan with word under mouse as topic (@code{woman-mouse-2}). The
706 word must be mouse-highlighted unless @code{woman-mouse-2} is used with
707 the Meta key.
708
709 @item @key{RET}
710 @kindex RET
711 @findex man-follow
712 Get the man page for the topic under (or nearest to) point
713 (@code{man-follow}).
714
715 @item r
716 @kindex r
717 @findex Man-follow-manual-reference
718 Get one of the man pages referred to in the ``SEE ALSO'' section
719 (@code{Man-follow-manual-reference}). Specify which reference to use;
720 default is based on word at point.
721 @end table
722
723
724 @node Changing, Convenience, References, Browsing
725 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
726 @section Changing the Current Man Page
727 @cindex changing current man page
728 @cindex current man page, changing
729
730 The man page currently being browsed by WoMan can be changed in several
731 ways. The command @code{woman} can be invoked to format another man
732 page, or the current WoMan buffer can be buried or killed. WoMan
733 maintains a ring of formatted man pages, and it is possible to move
734 forwards and backwards in this ring by moving to the next or previous
735 man page. It is sometimes useful to reformat the current page, for
736 example after the right margin (the wrap column) or some other
737 formatting parameter has been changed.
738
739 Buffers formatted by Man and WoMan are completely unrelated, even though
740 some of the commands to manipulate them are superficially the same (and
741 share code).
742
743 @table @kbd
744 @item m
745 @kindex m
746 @findex man
747 Run the command @code{man} to get a Un*x manual page and put it in a
748 buffer. This command is the top-level command in the man package. It
749 runs a Un*x command to retrieve and clean a man page in the background
750 and places the results in a Man mode (man page browsing) buffer. If a
751 man buffer already exists for this man page, it will display
752 immediately. This works exactly the same if WoMan is loaded, except
753 that the formatting time is displayed in the mini-buffer.
754
755 @item w
756 @kindex w
757 @findex woman
758 Run the command @code{woman} exactly as if the extended command or menu
759 item had been used.
760
761 @item q
762 @kindex q
763 @findex Man-quit
764 Bury the buffer containing the current man page (@code{Man-quit}),
765 i.e., move it to the bottom of the buffer stack.
766
767 @item k
768 @kindex k
769 @findex Man-kill
770 Kill the buffer containing the current man page (@code{Man-kill}),
771 i.e., delete it completely so that it can be retrieved only by formatting
772 the page again.
773
774 @item M-p
775 @kindex M-p
776 @findex WoMan-previous-manpage
777 Find the previous WoMan buffer (@code{WoMan-previous-manpage}).
778
779 @item M-n
780 @kindex M-n
781 @findex WoMan-next-manpage
782 Find the next WoMan buffer (@code{WoMan-next-manpage}).
783
784 @item R
785 @kindex R
786 @findex woman-reformat-last-file
787 Call WoMan to reformat the last man page formatted by WoMan
788 (@code{woman-reformat-last-file}), e.g., after changing the fill column.
789 @end table
790
791
792 @node Convenience, Imenu, Changing, Browsing
793 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
794 @section Convenience Key Bindings
795 @cindex convenience key bindings
796 @cindex key bindings, convenience
797
798 @table @kbd
799 @item -
800 @kindex -
801 @findex negative-argument
802 Begin a negative numeric argument for the next command
803 (@code{negative-argument}).
804
805 @item 0 .. 9
806 @kindex 0 .. 9
807 @findex digit-argument
808 Part of the numeric argument for the next command
809 (@code{digit-argument}).
810
811 @item <
812 @kindex <
813 @itemx .
814 @kindex .
815 @findex beginning-of-buffer
816 Move point to the beginning of the buffer; leave mark at previous
817 position (@code{beginning-of-buffer}).
818
819 @item >
820 @kindex >
821 @findex end-of-buffer
822 Move point to the end of the buffer; leave mark at previous position
823 (@code{end-of-buffer}).
824
825 @item ?
826 @kindex ?
827 @findex describe-mode
828 Display documentation of current major mode and minor modes
829 (@code{describe-mode}). The major mode description comes first,
830 followed by the minor modes, each on a separate page.
831 @end table
832
833
834 @node Imenu, , Convenience, Browsing
835 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
836 @section Imenu Support; Contents Menu
837 @cindex imenu support
838 @cindex contents menu
839
840 The WoMan menu provides an option to make a contents menu for the
841 current man page (using @code{imenu}). Alternatively, if you customize
842 the option @code{woman-imenu} to @code{t} then WoMan will do it
843 automatically for every man page. The menu title is set by the option
844 @code{woman-imenu-title}, which is ``CONTENTS'' by default. The menu
845 shows manual sections and subsections by default, but you can change
846 this by customizing @code{woman-imenu-generic-expression}.
847
848 WoMan is configured not to replace spaces in an imenu
849 @code{*Completion*} buffer. For further documentation on the use of
850 imenu, such as menu sorting, see the source file @file{imenu.el}, which
851 is distributed with GNU Emacs.
852
853 @c ===================================================================
854
855 @node Customization, Log, Browsing, Top
856 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
857 @chapter Customization
858 @cindex customization
859
860 All WoMan user options are customizable, and it is recommended to
861 change them only via the standard Emacs customization facilities.
862 WoMan defines a top-level customization group called @code{WoMan}
863 under the parent group @code{Help}. It can be accessed either via the
864 standard Emacs facilities, e.g., via the @samp{Help->Customize}
865 submenu, or via the WoMan major mode menu.
866
867 The top-level WoMan group contains only a few general options and three
868 subgroups. The hooks are provided only for special purposes that, for
869 example, require code to be executed, and should be changed only via
870 @code{Customization} or the function @code{add-hook}. Most
871 customization should be possible via existing user options.
872
873 @vtable @code
874 @item woman-show-log
875 A boolean value that defaults to @code{nil}. If non-@code{nil} then show the
876 @code{*WoMan-Log*} buffer if appropriate, i.e., if any warning messages
877 are written to it. @xref{Log, , The *WoMan-Log* Buffer}.
878
879 @item woman-pre-format-hook
880 A hook run immediately before formatting a buffer. It might, for
881 example, be used for face customization. @xref{Faces, , Faces},
882 however.
883
884 @item woman-post-format-hook
885 A hook run immediately after formatting a buffer. It might, for
886 example, be used for installing a dynamic menu using @code{imenu}.
887 (However. in this case it is better to use the built-in WoMan
888 @code{imenu} support. @xref{Imenu, , Imenu Support; Contents Menu}.)
889 @end vtable
890
891 @heading Customization Subgroups
892
893 @table @code
894 @item WoMan Interface
895 These options control the process of locating the appropriate file to
896 browse, and the appearance of the browsing interface.
897
898 @item WoMan Formatting
899 These options control the layout that WoMan uses to format the man page.
900
901 @item WoMan Faces
902 These options control the display faces that WoMan uses to format the
903 man page.
904 @end table
905
906 @menu
907 * Interface Options::
908 * Formatting Options::
909 * Faces::
910 * Special symbols::
911 @end menu
912
913 @node Interface Options, Formatting Options, Customization, Customization
914 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
915 @section Interface Options
916 @cindex interface options
917
918 These options control the process of locating the appropriate file to
919 browse, and the appearance of the browsing interface.
920
921 @vtable @code
922 @item woman-man.conf-path
923 A list of strings representing directories to search and/or files to try
924 for a man configuration file. The default is
925
926 @lisp
927 ("/etc" "/usr/local/lib")
928 @end lisp
929
930 @noindent
931 [for GNU/Linux and Cygwin respectively.] A trailing separator (@file{/}
932 for UNIX etc.)@: on directories is optional and the filename matched if a
933 directory is specified is the first to match the regexp
934 @code{man.*\.conf}. If the environment variable @code{MANPATH} is not
935 set but a configuration file is found then it is parsed instead (or as
936 well) to provide a default value for @code{woman-manpath}.
937
938 @item woman-manpath
939 A list of strings representing @emph{directory trees} to search for Unix
940 manual files. Each element should be the name of a directory that
941 contains subdirectories of the form @file{man?}, or more precisely
942 subdirectories selected by the value of @code{woman-manpath-man-regexp}.
943 Non-directory and unreadable files are ignored. This can also contain
944 conses, with the car indicating a @code{PATH} variable component mapped
945 to the directory tree given in the cdr.
946
947 @cindex @code{MANPATH}, environment variable
948 If not set then the environment variable @code{MANPATH} is used. If no
949 such environment variable is found, the default list is determined by
950 consulting the man configuration file if found. By default this is
951 expected to be either @file{/etc/man.config} or
952 @file{/usr/local/lib/man.conf}, which is controlled by the user option
953 @code{woman-man.conf-path}. An empty substring of @code{MANPATH}
954 denotes the default list. Otherwise, the default value of this variable
955 is
956
957 @lisp
958 ("/usr/man" "/usr/local/man")
959 @end lisp
960
961 Any environment variables (names of which must have the Unix-style form
962 @code{$NAME}, e.g., @code{$HOME}, @code{$EMACSDATA}, @code{$EMACS_DIR},
963 regardless of platform) are evaluated first but each element must
964 evaluate to a @emph{single} directory name. Trailing @file{/}s are
965 ignored. (Specific directories in @code{woman-path} are also searched.)
966
967 On Microsoft platforms I recommend including drive letters explicitly,
968 e.g.:
969
970 @lisp
971 ("C:/Cygwin/usr/man" "C:/usr/man" "C:/usr/local/man")
972 @end lisp
973
974 @cindex directory separator character
975 @cindex @code{MANPATH}, directory separator
976 The @code{MANPATH} environment variable may be set using DOS
977 semi-colon-separated or Unix-style colon-separated syntax (but not
978 mixed).
979
980 @item woman-manpath-man-regexp
981 A regular expression to match man directories @emph{under} the
982 @code{woman-manpath} directories. These normally have names of the form
983 @file{man?}. Its default value is @code{"[Mm][Aa][Nn]"}, which is
984 case-insensitive mainly for the benefit of Microsoft platforms. Its
985 purpose is to avoid directories such as @file{cat?}, @file{.},
986 @file{..}, etc.
987
988 @item woman-path
989 A list of strings representing @emph{specific directories} to search for
990 Unix manual files. For example
991
992 @lisp
993 ("/emacs/etc")
994 @end lisp
995
996 These directories are searched in addition to the directory trees
997 specified in @code{woman-manpath}. Each element should be a directory
998 string or @code{nil}, which represents the current directory when the
999 path is expanded and cached. However, the last component (only) of each
1000 directory string is treated as a regexp (Emacs, not shell) and the
1001 string is expanded into a list of matching directories. Non-directory
1002 and unreadable files are ignored. The default value on MS-DOS is
1003
1004 @lisp
1005 ("$DJDIR/info" "$DJDIR/man/cat[1-9onlp]")
1006 @end lisp
1007
1008 @noindent
1009 and on other platforms is @code{nil}.
1010
1011 Any environment variables (names of which must have the Unix-style form
1012 @code{$NAME}, e.g., @code{$HOME}, @code{$EMACSDATA}, @code{$EMACS_DIR},
1013 regardless of platform) are evaluated first but each element must
1014 evaluate to a @emph{single} directory name (regexp, see above). For
1015 example
1016
1017 @lisp
1018 ("$EMACSDATA")
1019 @end lisp
1020
1021 @noindent
1022 or equivalently
1023
1024 @lisp
1025 ("$EMACS_DIR/etc")
1026 @end lisp
1027
1028 @noindent
1029 Trailing @file{/}s are discarded. (The directory trees in
1030 @code{woman-manpath} are also searched.) On Microsoft platforms I
1031 recommend including drive letters explicitly.
1032
1033 @item woman-cache-level
1034 A positive integer representing the level of topic caching:
1035
1036 @enumerate
1037 @item
1038 cache only the topic and directory lists (uses minimal memory, but not
1039 recommended);
1040 @item
1041 cache also the directories for each topic (faster, without using much
1042 more memory);
1043 @item
1044 cache also the actual filenames for each topic (fastest, but uses twice
1045 as much memory).
1046 @end enumerate
1047
1048 The default value is currently 2, a good general compromise. If the
1049 @code{woman} command is slow to find files then try 3, which may be
1050 particularly beneficial with large remote-mounted man directories. Run
1051 the @code{woman} command with a prefix argument or delete the cache file
1052 @code{woman-cache-filename} for a change to take effect. (Values < 1
1053 behave like 1; values > 3 behave like 3.)
1054
1055 @item woman-cache-filename
1056 Either a string representing the full pathname of the WoMan directory
1057 and topic cache file, or @code{nil}. It is used to save and restore the
1058 cache between Emacs sessions. This is especially useful with
1059 remote-mounted man page files! The default value of @code{nil}
1060 suppresses this action. The ``standard'' non-@code{nil} filename is
1061 @file{~/.wmncach.el}. Remember that a prefix argument forces the
1062 @code{woman} command to update and re-write the cache.
1063
1064 @item woman-dired-keys
1065 A list of @code{dired} mode keys to be defined to run WoMan on the
1066 current file, e.g., @code{("w" "W")} or any non-@code{nil} atom to
1067 automatically define @kbd{w} and @kbd{W} if they are unbound, or
1068 @code{nil} to do nothing. Default is @code{t}.
1069
1070 @item woman-imenu-generic-expression
1071 Imenu support for Sections and Subsections: an alist with elements of
1072 the form @code{(MENU-TITLE REGEXP INDEX)}---see the documentation for
1073 @code{imenu-generic-expression}. Default value is
1074
1075 @lisp
1076 ((nil "\n\\([A-Z].*\\)" 1) ; SECTION, but not TITLE
1077 ("*Subsections*" "^ \\([A-Z].*\\)" 1))
1078 @end lisp
1079
1080 @item woman-imenu
1081 A boolean value that defaults to @code{nil}. If non-@code{nil} then WoMan adds
1082 a Contents menu to the menubar by calling @code{imenu-add-to-menubar}.
1083
1084 @item woman-imenu-title
1085 A string representing the title to use if WoMan adds a Contents menu to
1086 the menubar. Default is @code{"CONTENTS"}.
1087
1088 @item woman-use-topic-at-point
1089 A boolean value that defaults to @code{nil}. If non-@code{nil} then
1090 the @code{woman} command uses the word at point as the topic,
1091 @emph{without interactive confirmation}, if it exists as a topic.
1092
1093 @item woman-use-topic-at-point-default
1094 A boolean value representing the default value for
1095 @code{woman-use-topic-at-point}. The default value is @code{nil}.
1096 [The variable @code{woman-use-topic-at-point} may be @code{let}-bound
1097 when @code{woman} is loaded, in which case its global value does not
1098 get defined. The function @code{woman-file-name} sets it to this
1099 value if it is unbound.]
1100
1101 @item woman-uncompressed-file-regexp
1102 A regular match expression used to select man source files (ignoring any
1103 compression extension). The default value is
1104 @code{"\\.\\([0-9lmnt]\\w*\\)"} [which means a filename extension is
1105 required].
1106
1107 @emph{Do not change this unless you are sure you know what you are doing!}
1108
1109 The SysV standard man pages use two character suffixes, and this is
1110 becoming more common in the GNU world. For example, the man pages in
1111 the @code{ncurses} package include @file{toe.1m}, @file{form.3x}, etc.
1112
1113 @strong{Please note:} an optional compression regexp will be appended,
1114 so this regexp @emph{must not} end with any kind of string terminator
1115 such as @code{$} or @code{\\'}.
1116
1117 @item woman-file-compression-regexp
1118 A regular match expression used to match compressed man file extensions
1119 for which decompressors are available and handled by auto-compression
1120 mode. It should begin with @code{\\.} and end with @code{\\'} and
1121 @emph{must not} be optional. The default value is
1122 @code{"\\.\\(g?z\\|bz2\\|xz\\)\\'"}, which matches the @code{gzip},
1123 @code{bzip2}, and @code{xz} compression extensions.
1124
1125 @emph{Do not change this unless you are sure you know what you are doing!}
1126
1127 [It should be compatible with the @code{car} of
1128 @code{jka-compr-file-name-handler-entry}, but that is unduly
1129 complicated, includes an inappropriate extension (@file{.tgz}) and is
1130 not loaded by default!]
1131
1132 @item woman-use-own-frame
1133 If non-@code{nil} then use a dedicated frame for displaying WoMan windows.
1134 This is useful only when WoMan is run under a window system such as X or
1135 Microsoft Windows that supports real multiple frames, in which case the
1136 default value is non-@code{nil}.
1137 @end vtable
1138
1139
1140 @node Formatting Options, Faces, Interface Options, Customization
1141 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
1142 @section Formatting Options
1143 @cindex formatting options
1144
1145 These options control the layout that WoMan uses to format the man page.
1146
1147 @vtable @code
1148 @item woman-fill-column
1149 An integer specifying the right margin for formatted text. Default is
1150 65.
1151
1152 @item woman-fill-frame
1153 A boolean value. If non-@code{nil} then most of the frame width is used,
1154 overriding the value of @code{woman-fill-column}. Default is @code{nil}.
1155
1156 @item woman-default-indent
1157 An integer specifying the default prevailing indent for the @code{-man}
1158 macros. Default is 5. Set this variable to 7 to emulate GNU/Linux man
1159 formatting.
1160
1161 @item woman-bold-headings
1162 A boolean value. If non-@code{nil} then embolden section and subsection
1163 headings. Default is @code{t}. [Heading emboldening is @emph{not} standard
1164 @code{man} behavior.]
1165
1166 @item woman-ignore
1167 A boolean value. If non-@code{nil} then unrecognized requests etc. are
1168 ignored. Default is @code{t}. This gives the standard @code{roff} behavior.
1169 If @code{nil} then they are left in the buffer, which may aid debugging.
1170
1171 @item woman-preserve-ascii
1172 A boolean value. If non-@code{nil} then preserve @acronym{ASCII} characters in the
1173 WoMan buffer. Otherwise, non-@acronym{ASCII} characters (that display as
1174 @acronym{ASCII}) may remain, which is irrelevant unless the buffer is to be
1175 saved to a file. Default is @code{nil}.
1176
1177 @item woman-emulation
1178 WoMan emulation, currently either @code{nroff} or @code{troff}. Default
1179 is @code{nroff}. @code{troff} emulation is experimental and largely
1180 untested.
1181 @end vtable
1182
1183
1184 @node Faces, Special symbols, Formatting Options, Customization
1185 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
1186 @section Faces
1187 @cindex faces
1188
1189 These options control the display faces that WoMan uses to format the
1190 man page.
1191
1192 @vtable @code
1193 @item woman-fontify
1194 A boolean value. If non-@code{nil} then WoMan assumes that face support is
1195 available. It defaults to a non-@code{nil} value if the display supports
1196 either colors or different fonts.
1197
1198 @item woman-italic-face
1199 Face for italic font in man pages. Default: italic, underlined,
1200 foreground red. This is overkill! @code{troff} uses just italic;
1201 @code{nroff} uses just underline. You should probably select either
1202 italic or underline as you prefer, but not both, although italic and
1203 underline work together perfectly well!
1204
1205 @item woman-bold-face
1206 Face for bold font in man pages. Default: bold, foreground blue.
1207
1208 @item woman-unknown-face
1209 Face for all unknown fonts in man pages. Default: foreground brown.
1210 Brown is a good compromise: it is distinguishable from the default but
1211 not enough so as to make font errors look terrible. (Files that use
1212 non-standard fonts seem to do so badly or in idiosyncratic ways!)
1213
1214 @item woman-addition-face
1215 Face for all additions made by WoMan to man pages.
1216 Default: foreground orange.
1217 @end vtable
1218
1219
1220 @node Special symbols, , Faces, Customization
1221 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
1222 @section Special symbols
1223 @cindex special symbols
1224
1225 This section currently applies @emph{only} to Microsoft Windows.
1226
1227 WoMan provides partial experimental support for special symbols,
1228 initially only for MS-Windows and only for MS-Windows fonts. This
1229 includes both non-@acronym{ASCII} characters from the main text font and use
1230 of a separate symbol font. Later, support will be added for other font
1231 types (e.g., @code{bdf} fonts) and for the X Window System. In Emacs
1232 20.7, the current support works partially under Windows 9x but may not
1233 work on any other platform.
1234
1235 @vtable @code
1236 @item woman-use-extended-font
1237 A boolean value. If non-@code{nil} then WoMan may use non-@acronym{ASCII} characters
1238 from the default font. Default is @code{t}.
1239
1240 @item woman-use-symbol-font
1241 A boolean value. If non-@code{nil} then WoMan may use the symbol font.
1242 Default is @code{nil}, mainly because it may change the line spacing (at
1243 least in NTEmacs 20).
1244
1245 @item woman-symbol-font
1246 A string describing the symbol font to use for special characters.
1247 It should be compatible with, and the same size as, the default text font.
1248 Under MS-Windows, the default is
1249
1250 @lisp
1251 "-*-Symbol-normal-r-*-*-*-*-96-96-p-*-ms-symbol"
1252 @end lisp
1253 @end vtable
1254
1255
1256 @c ===================================================================
1257
1258 @node Log, Technical, Customization, Top
1259 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
1260 @chapter The *WoMan-Log* Buffer
1261 @cindex log buffer
1262 @cindex buffer, log
1263
1264 This is modeled on the Emacs byte-compiler. It logs all files
1265 formatted by WoMan and the time taken. If WoMan finds anything that it
1266 cannot handle then it writes a warning to this buffer. If the variable
1267 @code{woman-show-log} is non-@code{nil} (by default it is @code{nil}) then
1268 WoMan automatically displays this buffer. @xref{Interface Options, ,
1269 Interface Options}. Many WoMan warnings can be completely ignored,
1270 because they are reporting the fact that WoMan has ignored requests that
1271 it is correct for WoMan to ignore. In some future version this level of
1272 paranoia may be reduced, but not until WoMan is deemed more reliable.
1273 At present, all warnings should be treated with some suspicion.
1274 Uninterpreted escape sequences are also logged (in some cases).
1275
1276 By resetting the variable @code{woman-ignore} to @code{nil} (by default
1277 it is @code{t}), uninterpreted @code{roff} requests can optionally be
1278 left in the formatted buffer to indicate precisely where they occurred.
1279 @xref{Interface Options, , Interface Options}.
1280
1281 @c ===================================================================
1282
1283 @node Technical, Bugs, Log, Top
1284 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
1285 @chapter Technical Details
1286 @cindex technical details
1287 @cindex horizontal spacing
1288 @cindex spacing, horizontal and vertical
1289 @cindex vertical spacing
1290 @cindex resolution
1291
1292 @heading Horizontal and vertical spacing and resolution
1293
1294 WoMan currently assumes 10 characters per inch horizontally, hence a
1295 horizontal resolution of 24 basic units, and 5 lines per inch
1296 vertically, hence a vertical resolution of 48 basic units.
1297 (@code{nroff} uses 240 per inch.)
1298
1299 @heading Vertical spacing and blank lines
1300
1301 The number of consecutive blank lines in the formatted buffer should be
1302 either 0 or 1. A blank line should leave a space like .sp 1.
1303 Current policy is to output vertical space only immediately before text
1304 is output.
1305
1306 @c ===================================================================
1307
1308 @node Bugs, Acknowledgments, Technical, Top
1309 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
1310 @chapter Reporting Bugs
1311 @cindex reporting bugs
1312 @cindex bugs, reporting
1313
1314 If WoMan fails completely, or formats a file incorrectly (i.e.,
1315 obviously wrongly or significantly differently from @code{man}) or
1316 inelegantly, then please
1317
1318 @enumerate
1319 @item
1320 try the latest version of @file{woman.el} from the Emacs repository
1321 on @uref{http://savannah.gnu.org/projects/emacs/}. If it still fails, please
1322
1323 @item
1324 use @kbd{M-x report-emacs-bug} to send a bug report.
1325 Please include the entry from the
1326 @code{*WoMan-Log*} buffer relating to the problem file, together with
1327 a brief description of the problem. Please indicate where you got the
1328 man source file from, but do not send it unless asked to send it.
1329 @end enumerate
1330
1331 @c ===================================================================
1332
1333 @node Acknowledgments, GNU Free Documentation License, Bugs, Top
1334 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
1335 @chapter Acknowledgments
1336 @cindex acknowledgments
1337
1338 For Heather, Kathryn and Madelyn, the women in my life (although they
1339 will probably never use it)!
1340
1341 I also thank the following for helpful suggestions, bug reports, code
1342 fragments, general interest, etc.:
1343
1344 @quotation
1345 @c jari.aalto@@cs.tpu.fi
1346 Jari Aalto,
1347 @c dean@@dra.com
1348 Dean Andrews,
1349 @c barranquero@@laley-actualidad.es
1350 Juanma Barranquero,
1351 @c kb@@cs.umb.edu
1352 Karl Berry,
1353 @c jchapman@@netcomuk.co.uk
1354 Jim Chapman,
1355 @c frederic.corne@@erli.fr
1356 Frederic Corne,
1357 @c craft@@alacritech.com
1358 Peter Craft,
1359 @c ccurley@@trib.com
1360 Charles Curley,
1361 @c jdavidso@@teknowledge.com
1362 Jim Davidson,
1363 @c Kevin.DElia@@mci.com
1364 Kevin D'Elia,
1365 @c jpff@@maths.bath.ac.uk
1366 John Fitch,
1367 @c jwfrosch@@rish.b17c.ingr.com
1368 Hans Frosch,
1369 @c ggp@@informix.com
1370 Guy Gascoigne-Piggford,
1371 @c gorkab@@sanchez.com
1372 Brian Gorka,
1373 @c nhe@@lyngso-industri.dk
1374 Nicolai Henriksen,
1375 @c the@@software-ag.de
1376 Thomas Herchenroeder,
1377 @c ahinds@@thegrid.net
1378 Alexander Hinds,
1379 @c sth@@hacon.de
1380 Stefan Hornburg,
1381 @c tjump@@cais.com
1382 Theodore Jump,
1383 @c paulk@@mathworks.com
1384 Paul Kinnucan,
1385 @c jonas@@init.se
1386 Jonas Linde,
1387 @c andrewm@@optimation.co.nz
1388 Andrew McRae,
1389 @c howard@@silverstream.com
1390 Howard Melman,
1391 @c dennis@@math.binghamton.edu
1392 Dennis Pixton,
1393 @c raman@@Adobe.com
1394 T. V. Raman,
1395 @c bruce.ravel@@nist.gov
1396 Bruce Ravel,
1397 @c benny@@crocodial.de
1398 Benjamin Riefenstahl,
1399 @c kruland@@seistl.com
1400 Kevin Ruland,
1401 @c tom@@platte.com
1402 Tom Schutter,
1403 @c wxshi@@ma.neweb.ne.jp
1404 Wei-Xue Shi,
1405 @c fabio@@joplin.colorado.edu
1406 Fabio Somenzi,
1407 @c ks@@ic.uva.nl
1408 Karel Sprenger,
1409 @c szurgot@@itribe.net
1410 Chris Szurgot,
1411 @c pat@@po.cwru.edu
1412 Paul A. Thompson,
1413 @c arrigo@@maths.qmw.ac.uk
1414 Arrigo Triulzi,
1415 @c voelker@@cs.washington.edu
1416 Geoff Voelker,
1417 @c eliz@@is.elta.co.il
1418 Eli Zaretskii
1419 @end quotation
1420
1421 @c ===================================================================
1422
1423 @comment END OF MANUAL TEXT
1424 @page
1425
1426
1427 @node GNU Free Documentation License, Command Index, Acknowledgments, Top
1428 @appendix GNU Free Documentation License
1429 @include doclicense.texi
1430
1431 @node Command Index, Variable Index, GNU Free Documentation License, Top
1432 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
1433 @unnumbered Command Index
1434
1435 @printindex fn
1436
1437 @node Variable Index, Keystroke Index, Command Index, Top
1438 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
1439 @unnumbered Variable Index
1440
1441 @printindex vr
1442
1443 @c Without a page throw here, the page length seems to get reset to the
1444 @c depth of the index that fits on the page after the previous index.
1445 @c This must be a bug!
1446
1447 @page
1448
1449 @node Keystroke Index, Concept Index, Variable Index, Top
1450 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
1451 @unnumbered Keystroke Index
1452
1453 @printindex ky
1454
1455 @c Without a page throw here, the page length seems to get reset to the
1456 @c depth of the index that fits on the page after the previous index.
1457 @c This must be a bug!
1458
1459 @page
1460
1461 @node Concept Index, , Keystroke Index, Top
1462 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
1463 @unnumbered Concept Index
1464
1465 @printindex cp
1466
1467 @bye