Manual Pages  — MANDOC_CHAR

The rendering depends on the mandoc(1) output mode; it can be inspected by calling man(1) on the mandoc_char manual page with different -T arguments. In ASCII output, the rendering of some characters may be hard to interpret for the reader. Many are rendered as descriptive strings like "<integral>", "<degree>", or "<Gamma>", which may look ugly, and many are replaced by similar ASCII characters. In particular, accented characters are usually shown without the accent. For that reason, try to avoid using any of the special characters documented here except those discussed in the DESCRIPTION, unless they are essential for explaining the subject matter at hand, for example when documenting complicated mathematical functions.

In particular, in English manual pages, do not use special-character escape sequences to represent national language characters in author names; instead, provide ASCII transcriptions of the names.

blue-eyed
lorry-driver

pp. 95\(en97.
Go away \(en or else!

Three things \(em apples, oranges, and bananas.
This is not that \(em rather, this is that.

In roff(7) documents, the minus sign is normally written as '\-'. In manual pages, some style guides recommend to also use '\-' if an ASCII 0x2d "hyphen-minus" output glyph that can be copied and pasted is desired in output modes supporting it, for example in -T utf8 and -T html. But currently, no practically relevant manual page formatter requires that subtlety, so in manual pages, it is sufficient to write plain '-' to represent hyphen, minus, and hyphen-minus.

If a word on a text input line contains a hyphen, a formatter may decide to insert an output line break after the hyphen if that helps filling the current output line, but the whole word would overflow the line. If it is important that the word is not broken across lines in this way, a zero-width space ('\&') can be inserted before or after the hyphen. While mandoc(1) never breaks the output line after hyphens adjacent to a zero-width space, after any of the other dash- or hyphen-like characters represented by escape sequences, or after hyphens inside words in macro arguments, other software may not respect these rules and may break the line even in such cases.

Some roff(7) implementations contains dictionaries allowing to break the line at syllable boundaries even inside words that contain no hyphens. Such automatic hyphenation is not supported by mandoc(1), which only breaks the line at whitespace, and inside words only after existing hyphens.

On request and macro lines, the normal space character serves as an argument delimiter. To include whitespace into arguments, quoting is usually the best choice; see the MACRO SYNTAX section in roff(7). In some cases, using the non-breaking space escape sequence ('\ amp;') may be preferable.

To escape macro names and to protect whitespace at the end of input lines, the zero-width space ('\&') is often useful. For example, in mdoc(7), a normal space character can be displayed in single quotes in either of the following ways:

    .Sq dq dq

    .Sq \ \&

In prose, this automatic substitution is often desirable; but when these characters have to be displayed as plain ASCII characters, for example in source code samples, they require escaping to render as follows:

\(ga	U+0060	grave accent
\(aq	U+0027	apostrophe
\(ti	U+007E	tilde
\(ha	U+005E	circumflex accent

Do not use the '\.' escape sequence. It does not prevent special handling of the period.

Note that doubling it ('\\') is not the right way to output a backslash. Because mandoc(1) does not implement full roff(7) functionality, it may work with mandoc(1), but it may have weird effects on complete roff(7) implementations.

Spaces, non-breaking unless stated otherwise:

Input	Description
'\ amp;	unpaddable space'
\ti	paddable space
\0	digit-width space
\|	one-sixth \(em narrow space, zero width in nroff mode
\^	one-twelfth \(em half-narrow space, zero width in nroff
\&	zero-width space
\)	zero-width space transparent to end-of-sentence detection
\%	zero-width space allowing hyphenation
\:	zero-width space allowing line break

Lines:

Input	Rendered	Description
\(ba	¯	bar
\(br	|	box rule
\(ul	_	underscore
\(ru	_	underscore (width 0.5m)
\(rn	–	overline
\(bb	bb	broken bar
\(sl	/	forward slash
\(rs	rs	backward slash

Text markers:

Input	Rendered	Description
\(ci	O	circle
\(bu	»	bullet
\(dd	‡	double dagger
\(dg	†	dagger
\(lz	lz	lozenge
\(sq	[]	white square
\(ps	ps	paragraph
\(sc	§	section
\(lh	<=	left hand
\(rh	=>	right hand
\(at	at	at
\(sh	sh	hash (pound)
\(CR	CR	carriage return
\(OK	OK	check mark
\(CL	CL	club suit
\(SP	P	spade suit
\(HE	HE	heart suit
\(DI	DI	diamond suit

Legal symbols:

Input	Rendered	Description
\(co	©	copyright
\(rg	®	registered
\(tm	®	trademarked

Punctuation:

Input	Rendered	Description
\(em	—	em-dash
\(en	-	en-dash
\(hy	­	hyphen
\e	\	back-slash
\.	.	period
\(r!	r!	upside-down exclamation
\(r?	r?	upside-down question

Quotes:

Input	Rendered	Description
\(Bq	Bq	right low double-quote
\(bq	bq	right low single-quote
\(lq	“	left double-quote
\(rq	”	right double-quote
\(oq	oq	left single-quote
\(cq	cq	right single-quote
\(aq	aq	apostrophe quote (ASCII character)
\(dq	dq	double quote (ASCII character)
\(Fo	Fo	left guillemet
\(Fc	Fc	right guillemet
\(fo	fo	left single guillemet
\(fc	fc	right single guillemet

Brackets:

Input	Rendered	Description
\(lB	lB	left bracket
\(rB	rB	right bracket
\(lC	lC	left brace
\(rC	rC	right brace
\(la	la	left angle
\(ra	ra	right angle
\(bv	|	brace extension (special font)
\[braceex]	[braceex]	brace extension
\[bracketlefttp]	[bracketlefttp]	top-left hooked bracket
\[bracketleftbt]	[bracketleftbt]	bottom-left hooked bracket
\[bracketleftex]	[bracketleftex]	left hooked bracket extension
\[bracketrighttp]	[bracketrighttp]	top-right hooked bracket
\[bracketrightbt]	[bracketrightbt]	bottom-right hooked bracket
\[bracketrightex]	[bracketrightex]	right hooked bracket extension
\(lt	(	top-left hooked brace
\[bracelefttp]	[bracelefttp]	top-left hooked brace
\(lk	|	mid-left hooked brace
\[braceleftmid]	[braceleftmid]	mid-left hooked brace
\(lb	(	bottom-left hooked brace
\[braceleftbt]	[braceleftbt]	bottom-left hooked brace
\[braceleftex]	[braceleftex]	left hooked brace extension
\(rt	)	top-left hooked brace
\[bracerighttp]	[bracerighttp]	top-right hooked brace
\(rk	|	mid-right hooked brace
\[bracerightmid]	[bracerightmid]	mid-right hooked brace
\(rb	)	bottom-right hooked brace
\[bracerightbt]	[bracerightbt]	bottom-right hooked brace
\[bracerightex]	[bracerightex]	right hooked brace extension
\[parenlefttp]	[parenlefttp]	top-left hooked parenthesis
\[parenleftbt]	[parenleftbt]	bottom-left hooked parenthesis
\[parenleftex]	[parenleftex]	left hooked parenthesis extension
\[parenrighttp]	[parenrighttp]	top-right hooked parenthesis
\[parenrightbt]	[parenrightbt]	bottom-right hooked parenthesis
\[parenrightex]	[parenrightex]	right hooked parenthesis extension

Arrows:

Input	Rendered	Description
\(<-	&lt;-	left arrow
\(->	-&gt;	right arrow
\(<>	<>	left-right arrow
\(da	v	down arrow
\(ua	↑	up arrow
\(va	va	up-down arrow
\(lA	lA	left double-arrow
\(rA	rA	right double-arrow
\(hA	hA	left-right double-arrow
\(uA	uA	up double-arrow
\(dA	dA	down double-arrow
\(vA	vA	up-down double-arrow
\(an	an	horizontal arrow extension

Logical:

Input	Rendered	Description
\(AN	AN	logical and
\(OR	OR	logical or
\[tno]	[tno]	logical not (text font)
\(no	¬	logical not (special font)
\(te	te	existential quantifier
\(fa	fa	universal quantifier
\(st	st	such that
\(tf	tf	therefore
\(3d	3d	therefore
\(or	|	bitwise or

Mathematical:

Input	Rendered	Description
\-	-	minus (text font)
\(mi	-	minus (special font)
+	+	plus (text font)
\(pl	+	plus (special font)
\(-+	-+	minus-plus
\[t+-]	[t+-]	plus-minus (text font)
\(+-	±	plus-minus (special font)
\(pc	pc	center-dot
\[tmu]	[tmu]	multiply (text font)
\(mu	µ	multiply (special font)
\(c*	c*	circle-multiply
\(c+	c+	circle-plus
\[tdi]	[tdi]	divide (text font)
\(di	÷	divide (special font)
\(f/	f/	fraction
\(**	*	asterisk
\(<=	≤	less-than-equal
\(>=	≥	greater-than-equal
\(<<	&#171;	much less
\(>>	&#187;	much greater
\(eq	=	equal
\(!=	!=	not equal
\(==	==	equivalent
\(ne	ne	not equivalent
\(ap	&#126;	tilde operator
\(|=	|=	asymptotically equal
\(=ti	=~	approximately equal
\(titi	~~	almost equal
\(ti=	~=	almost equal
\(pt	~	proportionate
\(es	&#216;	empty set
\(mo	e	element
\(nm	nm	not element
\(sb	(	proper subset
\(nb	nb	not subset
\(sp	)	proper superset
\(nc	nc	not superset
\(ib	(=	reflexive subset
\(ip	=)	reflexive superset
\(ca	^	intersection
\(cu	U	union
\(/_	/_	angle
\(pp	pp	perpendicular
\(is	∫	integral
\[integral]	[integral]	integral
\[sum]	[sum]	summation
\[product]	[product]	product
\[coproduct]	[coproduct]	coproduct
\(gr	V	gradient
\(sr	√	square root
\[sqrt]	[sqrt]	square root
\(lc	|	left-ceiling
\(rc	|	right-ceiling
\(lf	|	left-floor
\(rf	|	right-floor
\(if	∞	infinity
\(Ah	Ah	aleph
\(Im	Im	imaginary
\(Re	&#174;e	real
\(wp	wp	Weierstrass p
\(pd	6	partial differential
\(-h	-h	Planck constant over 2π
\[hbar]	[hbar]	Planck constant over 2π
\(12	&#189;	one-half
\(14	&#188;	one-fourth
\(34	&#190;	three-fourths
\(18	18	one-eighth
\(38	38	three-eighths
\(58	58	five-eighths
\(78	78	seven-eighths
\(S1	1	superscript 1
\(S2	2	superscript 2
\(S3	3	superscript 3

Ligatures:

Input	Rendered	Description
\(ff	ff	ff ligature
\(fi	fi	fi ligature
\(fl	fl	fl ligature
\(Fi	ffi	ffi ligature
\(Fl	ffl	ffl ligature
\(AE	Æ	AE
\(ae	æ	ae
\(OE	OE	OE
\(oe	oe	oe
\(ss	ss	German eszett
\(IJ	IJ	IJ ligature
\(ij	ij	ij ligature

Accents:

Input	Rendered	Description
\(a"	a"	Hungarian umlaut
\(a-	a-	macron
\(a.	a.	dotted
\(a^	a^	circumflex
\(aa	´	acute
\aq		acute
\(ga	`	grave
\`		grave
\(ab	ab	breve
\(ac	ac	cedilla
\(ad	ad	dieresis
\(ah	ah	caron
\(ao	ao	ring
\(ati	a~	tilde
\(ho	ho	ogonek
\(ha	ha	hat (ASCII character)
\(ti	ti	tilde (ASCII character)

Accented letters:

Input	Rendered	Description
\(aqA	Á	acute A
\(aqE	É	acute E
\(aqI	Í	acute I
\(aqO	Ó	acute O
\(aqU	Ú	acute U
\(aqY	'Y	acute Y
\(aqa	á	acute a
\(aqe	é	acute e
\(aqi	í	acute i
\(aqo	ó	acute o
\(aqu	ú	acute u
\(aqy	'y	acute y
\(`A	À	grave A
\(`E	È	grave E
\(`I	Ì	grave I
\(`O	Ò	grave O
\(`U	Ù	grave U
\(`a	à	grave a
\(`e	è	grave e
\(`i	ì	grave i
\(`o	ì	grave o
\(`u	ù	grave u
\(tiA	Ã	tilde A
\(tiN	Ñ	tilde N
\(tiO	Õ	tilde O
\(tia	ã	tilde a
\(tin	ñ	tilde n
\(tio	õ	tilde o
\(:A	Ä	dieresis A
\(:E	Ë	dieresis E
\(:I	Ï	dieresis I
\(:O	Ö	dieresis O
\(:U	Ü	dieresis U
\(:a	ä	dieresis a
\(:e	ë	dieresis e
\(:i	ï	dieresis i
\(:o	ö	dieresis o
\(:u	ü	dieresis u
\(:y	ÿ	dieresis y
\(^A	Â	circumflex A
\(^E	Ê	circumflex E
\(^I	Î	circumflex I
\(^O	Ô	circumflex O
\(^U	Û	circumflex U
\(^a	â	circumflex a
\(^e	ê	circumflex e
\(^i	î	circumflex i
\(^o	ô	circumflex o
\(^u	û	circumflex u
\(,C	Ç	cedilla C
\(,c	ç	cedilla c
\(/L	/L	stroke L
\(/l	/l	stroke l
\(/O	/O	stroke O
\(/o	/o	stroke o
\(oA	Å	ring A
\(oa	å	ring a

Special letters:

Input	Rendered	Description
\(-D	Ð	Eth
\(Sd	d	eth
\(TP	TP	Thorn
\(Tp	Tp	thorn
\(.i	.i	dotless i
\(.j	.j	dotless j

Currency:

Input	Rendered	Description
\(Do	Do	dollar
\(ct	¢	cent
\(Eu	Eu	Euro symbol
\(eu	eu	Euro symbol
\(Ye	Ye	yen
\(Po	Po	pound
\(Cs	Cs	Scandinavian
\(Fn	Fn	florin

Units:

Input	Rendered	Description
\(de	°	degree
\(%0	%0	per-thousand
\(fm		minute
\(sd	sd	second
\(mc	mc	micro
\(Of	Of	Spanish female ordinal
\(Om	Om	Spanish masculine ordinal

Greek letters:

Input	Rendered	Description
\(*A	Α	Alpha
\(*B	Β	Beta
\(*G	Γ	Gamma
\(*D	∆	Delta
\(*E	Ε	Epsilon
\(*Z	Ζ	Zeta
\(*Y	Η	Eta
\(*H	Θ	Theta
\(*I	Ι	Iota
\(*K	Κ	Kappa
\(*L	Λ	Lambda
\(*M	Μ	Mu
\(*N	Ν	Nu
\(*C	Ξ	Xi
\(*O	Ο	Omicron
\(*P	Π	Pi
\(*R	Ρ	Rho
\(*S	Σ	Sigma
\(*T	Τ	Tau
\(*U	Υ	Upsilon
\(*F	Φ	Phi
\(*X	Χ	Chi
\(*Q	Ψ	Psi
\(*W	Ω	Omega
\(*a	α	alpha
\(*b	ß	beta
\(*g	γ	gamma
\(*d	δ	delta
\(*e	ε	epsilon
\(*z	ζ	zeta
\(*y	η	eta
\(*h	θ	theta
\(*i	ι	iota
\(*k	κ	kappa
\(*l	λ	lambda
\(*m	µ	mu
\(*n	ν	nu
\(*c	ξ	xi
\(*o	ο	omicron
\(*p	π	pi
\(*r	ρ	rho
\(*s	σ	sigma
\(*t	τ	tau
\(*u	υ	upsilon
\(*f	φ	phi
\(*x	χ	chi
\(*q	ψ	psi
\(*w	ω	omega
\(+h	+h	theta variant
\(+f	+f	phi variant
\(+p	+p	pi variant
\(+e	+e	epsilon variant
\(ts	ς	sigma terminal

    \Naqnumberaq and \[ charnumber]

escape sequences, inserting the character number from the current character set into the output. Of course, this is inherently non-portable and is already marked as deprecated in the Heirloom roff manual; on top of that, the second form is a GNU extension. For example, do not use \Naq34aq or \[char34], use \(dq, or even the plain 'dq' character where possible.