A dictionary of troff commands

This is a work in progress to document some troff commands and common macros. See also groff, groff, groff_man, groff_mdoc, groff_char and mdoc.samples.

`"`	in a string definition, marker for whitespace at the beginning of the string.
`$0`	name of the macro executing
`.$`	Number of arguments available at the current level.
`..`	end of macro. See `.de`.
`.af` R c	assign format c to register R. See also `.nr`.
`.als` alias object	alias for request, string, macro, or diversion object.
`.as` name string	Append string to string name (append version of `.ds`).
`.Bd`	Begin display. This can begin indented text, preformatted text like source code, or filled text depending on the argument. The section ends with `.Ed`.
`.Bf`	begin a font, either emphasis, symbolic (bold) or literal (monospace). See also `.Ef`.
`.Bk`	Begin keep. See also `.Ek`.
`.c`	number of lines read from current input file.
`.cf` filename	Copy file filename to output, unprocessed.
`.Cm` commands	[Manual page macro] command (like a flag without - in front)
`.Dd`	[Manual page macro] Date for BSD manual pages. See also `.Dt`, `.TH`.
`.de` xx yy	define a macro. If yy is present then the definition ends at .yy, otherwise it ends at "..". See also `..`.
`.Dl`	literal line
`.Dq`	[Manual page macro] double quotes
`.Dq`	double quotes around what follows
`.ds` abc xyz	define string abc to have the value xyz; expland with `\x` or `\(xy`. See also `.as` (append string).
`.Dt`	[Manual page macro] Title for BSD manual pages. See also `.Dd`, `.TH`.
`.Dt` title	[Manual page macro] Set document title to title
`.ec`	reset escape character to \
`.ec` c	Set escape character to c.
`.ec` c	set escape character to "c". If c is empty, set it to \.
`.Ed`	End of a `.Bd` block.
`.Ef`	end a font started with `.Bf`
`.Ek`	End keep. See also `.Bk`.
`.el`	if / else else part; see also `.ie` and `.if`.
`.eo`	turn off escape mechanism
`.EQ`	Start of equation
`.f`	predefined read-only register containing number of current font.
`.F`	current input file name
`.fi`	fill (join lines); see also `.nf`.
`.Fn` function	[Manual page macro] Function
`.ft` R	font change
`.g`	[Groff-specific] register which is true for GNU troff (groff)
`.ie`	if / else if part; see also `.el` and `.if`.
`.ie` n	If in "nroff" mode (terminal output)
`.ie` t	If in "troff" mode (print output)
`.if`	if statement; see also if / else using `.ie` and `.el`.
`.It`	[Manual page macro] List item
`.Lb`	[Manual page macro] Macro which expands to the name of a library.
`.Ms`	mathematical symbol
`.mso` name	include macro package name. See also `.so`.
`.MTO`	GNU mailto www extension
`.na`	No adjust. Ragged right margin.
`.Nd`	[Manual page macro] Emphasize following text (used in SYNOPSIS section).
`.nf`	no fill (do not join lines); see also `.fi`.
`.nh`	no hyphenation
`.Nm`	Name of command.
`.nop` anything	Always execute "anything".
`.nr` R N	set value of number register R to N
`.nx` filename	Switch to file filename, do not return to current file. See also `.so`.
`.Os`	[Manual page macro] Macro which expands to the name of the operating system.
`.PP`	[Manual page macro] New paragraph
`.ps`	point size
`.return`	[Groff-specific] return from a macro. See also `.de`.
`.Rv` std function1 function2	Display text stating the standard return values for the functions. Always takes std after the .Rv.
`.Sc`
`.shift` n	shift the arguments by n positions
`.Sm` on / off	[Manual page macro] space mode on / off; do or do not put spaces between arguments
`.So`
`.so` file	include "file". See also `.mso`.
`.Sq`	[Manual page macro] single quotes
`.Ss`	[Manual page macro] "Subsection".
`.TE`	End of a table (see also `.TS`).
`.TH` title section date source manual	[Manual page macro] Title for GNU manual pages. See also `.Dd`, `.Dt` for the BSD equivalents.
`.ti`	temporary indent
`.tm` message	terminal message; print message on the terminal.
`.TP`	Indented paragraph with label.
`.TS`	Start of a table (see also `.TE`).
`.URL`	GNU www.mdoc extension
`.x`	reserved version-dependent register (contains major version of groff)
`.Xc`	End of an `.Xo` block.
`.Xo`	[Manual page macro] extended argument
`.Xo`	Extend the current line of arguments until `.Xc` is seen.
`.Xr` page section	[Manual page macro] Cross-reference to manual page "page" in section "section" of the manual.
`.y`	reserved version-dependent register (contains minor version of groff)
`.yr`	years since 1900
`\` <new line>	Line continuation marker.
`\$*`	unknown
`\$@`	In a macro or string, the concatenation of all the arguments with each surrounded by double quotes, and separated by spaces.
`\&`#38;	Non-printing zero-width character.
`\(*`	Greek character conversion, e.g. \(*a gives α
`\(co`	copyright mark, ©
`\*(xy`	string xy defined by `.ds`
`\*[]`	string with arbitrary length. See also `\x`, `\(xy`, and `.ds`
`\*x`	string x defined by `.ds`
`\[la]`	<
`\[ra]`	>
`\\$n`	macro argument n, e.g. \\$1 is the first macro argument.
`\c`	connect to next input text (not sure what this means?)
`\f[CB]`	Courier-Bold font
`\f[CO]`	Courier font
`\n(xx`	value of number register xx
`\nx`	value of number register x
`\s`	point-size change function
`\~`	non-breaking space

A dictionary of troff commands

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