plucky (3) doctools_lang_cmdref.3tcl.gz
NAME
doctools_lang_cmdref - doctools language command reference
SYNOPSIS
arg text
arg_def type name ?mode?
bullet
call args
category text
class text
cmd text
cmd_def command
comment plaintext
const text
copyright text
def text
description
enum
emph text
example text
example_begin
example_end
file text
fun text
image name ?label?
include filename
item
keywords args
lb
list_begin what
list_end
lst_item text
manpage_begin command section version
manpage_end
method text
moddesc text
namespace text
nl
opt text
opt_def name ?arg?
option text
package text
para
rb
require package ?version...?
section name
sectref id ?text?
sectref-external text
see_also args
strong text
subsection name
syscmd text
term text
titledesc desc
tkoption_def name dbname dbclass
type text
uri text ?text?
usage args
var text
vset varname value
vset varname
widget text
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
DESCRIPTION
This document specifies both names and syntax of all the commands which together are the doctools markup
language, version 1. As this document is intended to be a reference the commands are listed in
alphabetical order, and the descriptions are relatively short. A beginner should read the much more
informally written doctools language introduction first.
COMMANDS
arg text
Text markup. The argument text is marked up as the argument of a command. Main uses are the
highlighting of command arguments in free-form text, and for the argument parameters of the markup
commands call and usage.
arg_def type name ?mode?
Text structure. List element. Argument list. Automatically closes the previous list element.
Specifies the data-type of the described argument of a command, its name and its i/o-mode. The
latter is optional.
bullet Deprecated. Text structure. List element. Itemized list. See item for the canonical command to
open a list item in an itemized list.
call args
Text structure. List element. Definition list. Automatically closes the previous list element.
Defines the term as a command and its arguments. The first argument is the name of the command
described by the following free-form text, and all arguments coming after that are descriptions of
the command's arguments. It is expected that the arguments are marked up with arg, method, option
etc., as is appropriate, and that the command itself is marked up with cmd. It is expected that
the formatted term is not only printed in place, but also in the table of contents of the
document, or synopsis, depending on the output format.
category text
Document information. Anywhere. This command registers its plain text arguments as the category
this document belongs to. If this command is used multiple times the last value specified is used.
class text
Text markup. The argument is marked up as the name of a class. The text may have other markup
already applied to it. Main use is the highlighting of class names in free-form text.
cmd text
Text markup. The argument text is marked up as the name of a Tcl command. The text may have other
markup already applied to it. Main uses are the highlighting of commands in free-form text, and
for the command parameters of the markup commands call and usage.
cmd_def command
Text structure. List element. Command list. Automatically closes the previous list element. The
argument specifies the name of the Tcl command to be described by the list element. Expected to be
marked up in the output as if it had been formatted with cmd.
comment plaintext
Text markup. The argument text is marked up as a comment standing outside of the actual text of
the document. Main use is in free-form text.
const text
Text markup. The argument is marked up as a constant value. The text may have other markup already
applied to it. Main use is the highlighting of constants in free-form text.
copyright text
Document information. Anywhere. The command registers the plain text argument as a copyright
assignment for the manpage. When invoked more than once the assignments are accumulated.
def text
Text structure. List element. Definition list. Automatically closes the previous list element. The
argument text is the term defined by the new list element. Text markup can be applied to it.
description
Document structure. This command separates the header from the document body. Implicitly starts a
section named "DESCRIPTION" (See command section).
enum Text structure. List element. Enumerated list. Automatically closes the previous list element.
emph text
Text markup. The argument text is marked up as emphasized. Main use is for general highlighting of
pieces of free-form text without attaching special meaning to the pieces.
example text
Text structure, Text markup. This command marks its argument up as an example. Main use is the
simple embedding of examples in free-form text. It should be used if the example does not need
special markup of its own. Otherwise use a sequence of example_begin ... example_end.
example_begin
Text structure. This commands starts an example. All text until the next example_end belongs to
the example. Line breaks, spaces, and tabs have to be preserved literally. Examples cannot be
nested.
example_end
Text structure. This command closes the example started by the last example_begin.
file text
Text markup. The argument is marked up as a file or directory, i.e. in general a path. The text
may have other markup already applied to it. Main use is the highlighting of paths in free-form
text.
fun text
Text markup. The argument is marked up as the name of a function. The text may have other markup
already applied to it. Main use is the highlighting of function names in free-form text.
image name ?label?
Text markup. The argument is the symbolic name of an image and replaced with the image itself, if
a suitable variant is found by the backend. The second argument, should it be present, will be
interpreted the human-readable description of the image, and put into the output in a suitable
position, if such is supported by the format. The HTML format, for example, can place it into the
alt attribute of image references.
include filename
Templating. The contents of the named file are interpreted as text written in the doctools markup
and processed in the place of the include command. The markup in the file has to be self-
contained. It is not possible for a markup command to cross the file boundaries.
item Text structure. List element. Itemized list. Automatically closes the previous list element.
keywords args
Document information. Anywhere. This command registers all its plain text arguments as keywords
applying to this document. Each argument is a single keyword. If this command is used multiple
times all the arguments accumulate.
lb Text. The command is replaced with a left bracket. Use in free-form text. Required to avoid
interpretation of a left bracket as the start of a markup command.
list_begin what
Text structure. This command starts a list. The exact nature of the list is determined by the
argument what of the command. This further determines which commands are have to be used to start
the list elements. Lists can be nested, i.e. it is allowed to start a new list within a list
element.
The allowed types (and their associated item commands) are:
arguments
arg_def.
commands
cmd_def.
definitions
def and call.
enumerated
enum
itemized
item
options
opt_def
tkoptions
tkoption_def
Additionally the following names are recognized as shortcuts for some of the regular types:
args Short for arguments.
cmds Short for commands.
enum Short for enumerated.
item Short for itemized.
opts Short for options.
At last the following names are still recognized for backward compatibility, but are otherwise considered
to be deprecated.
arg Deprecated. See arguments.
bullet Deprecated. See itemized.
cmd Deprecated. See commands.
opt Deprecated. See options.
tkoption
Deprecated. See tkoptions.
list_end
Text structure. This command closes the list opened by the last list_begin command coming before
it.
lst_item text
Deprecated. Text structure. List element. Definition list. See def for the canonical command to
open a general list item in a definition list.
manpage_begin command section version
Document structure. The command to start a manpage. The arguments are the name of the command
described by the manpage, the section of the manpages this manpage resides in, and the version of
the module containing the command. All arguments have to be plain text, without markup.
manpage_end
Document structure. Command to end a manpage/document. Anything in the document coming after this
command is in error.
method text
Text markup. The argument text is marked up as the name of an object method, i.e. subcommand of a
Tcl command. The text may have other markup already applied to it. Main uses are the highlighting
of method names in free-form text, and for the command parameters of the markup commands call and
usage.
moddesc text
Document information. Header. Registers the plain text argument as a short description of the
module the manpage resides in.
namespace text
Text markup. The argument text is marked up as a namespace name. The text may have other markup
already applied to it. Main use is the highlighting of namespace names in free-form text.
nl Deprecated. Text structure. See para for the canonical command to insert paragraph breaks into the
text.
opt text
Text markup. The argument text is marked up as optional. The text may have other markup already
applied to it. Main use is the highlighting of optional arguments, see the command arg arg.
opt_def name ?arg?
Text structure. List element. Option list. Automatically closes the previous list element.
Specifies name and arguments of the option described by the list element. It is expected that the
name is marked up using option.
option text
Text markup. The argument is marked up as option. The text may have other markup already applied
to it. Main use is the highlighting of options, also known as command-switches, in either free-
form text, or the arguments of the call and usage commands.
package text
Text markup. The argument is marked up as the name of a package. The text may have other markup
already applied to it. Main use is the highlighting of package names in free-form text.
para Text structure. This command breaks free-form text into paragraphs. Each command closes the
paragraph coming before it and starts a new paragraph for the text coming after it. Higher-level
forms of structure are sections and subsections.
rb Text. The command is replaced with a right bracket. Use in free-form text. Required to avoid
interpretation of a right bracket as the end of a markup command.
require package ?version...?
Document information. Header. This command registers its argument package as the name of a package
or application required by the described package or application. A set of required versions can be
provided as well. This argument can be marked up. The usual markup is opt.
section name
Text structure. This command starts a new named document section. The argument has to be plain
text. Implicitly closes the last paragraph coming before it and also implicitly opens the first
paragraph of the new section.
sectref id ?text?
Text markup. Formats a reference to the section identified by id. If no text is specified the
title of the referenced section is used in the output, otherwise text is used.
sectref-external text
Text markup. Like sectref, except that the section is assumed to be in a different document and
therefore doesn't need to be identified, nor are any checks for existence made. Only the text to
format is needed.
see_also args
Document information. Anywhere. The command defines direct cross-references to other documents.
Each argument is a plain text label identifying the referenced document. If this command is used
multiple times all the arguments accumulate.
strong text
Deprecated. Text markup. See emph for the canonical command to emphasize text.
subsection name
Text structure. This command starts a new named subsection of a section. The argument has to be
plain text. Implicitly closes the last paragraph coming before it and also implicitly opens the
first paragraph of the new subsection.
syscmd text
Text markup. The argument text is marked up as the name of an external command. The text may have
other markup already applied to it. Main use is the highlighting of external commands in free-form
text.
term text
Text markup. The argument is marked up as unspecific terminology. The text may have other markup
already applied to it. Main use is the highlighting of important terms and concepts in free-form
text.
titledesc desc
Document information. Header. Optional. Registers the plain text argument as the title of the
manpage. Defaults to the value registered by moddesc.
tkoption_def name dbname dbclass
Text structure. List element. Widget option list. Automatically closes the previous list element.
Specifies the name of the option as used in scripts, the name used by the option database
(dbname), and its class (dbclass), i.e. its type. It is expected that the name is marked up using
option.
type text
Text markup. The argument is marked up as the name of a data type. The text may have other markup
already applied to it. Main use is the highlighting of data types in free-form text.
uri text ?text?
Text markup. The argument is marked up as an uri (i.e. a uniform resource identifier. The text may
have other markup already applied to it. Main use is the highlighting of uris in free-form text.
The second argument, should it be present, will be interpreted the human-readable description of
the uri. In other words, as its label. Without an explicit label the uri will be its own label.
usage args
Text markup. See call for the full description, this command is syntactically identical, as it is
in its expectations for the markup of its arguments. In contrast to call it is however not
allowed to generate output where this command occurs in the text. The command is silent. The
formatted text may only appear in a different section of the output, for example a table of
contents, or synopsis, depending on the output format.
var text
Text markup. The argument is marked up as the name of a variable. The text may have other markup
already applied to it. Main use is the highlighting of variables in free-form text.
vset varname value
Templating. In this form the command sets the named document variable to the specified value. It
does not generate output. I.e. the command is replaced by the empty string.
vset varname
Templating. In this form the command is replaced by the value of the named document variable
widget text
Text markup. The argument is marked up as the name of a widget. The text may have other markup
already applied to it. Main use is the highlighting of widget names in free-form text.
BUGS, IDEAS, FEEDBACK
This document, and the package it describes, will undoubtedly contain bugs and other problems. Please
report such in the category doctools of the Tcllib Trackers [http://core.tcl.tk/tcllib/reportlist].
Please also report any ideas for enhancements you may have for either package and/or documentation.
When proposing code changes, please provide unified diffs, i.e the output of diff -u.
Note further that attachments are strongly preferred over inlined patches. Attachments can be made by
going to the Edit form of the ticket immediately after its creation, and then using the left-most button
in the secondary navigation bar.
SEE ALSO
doctools_intro, doctools_lang_faq, doctools_lang_intro, doctools_lang_syntax
KEYWORDS
doctools commands, doctools language, doctools markup, markup, semantic markup
CATEGORY
Documentation tools
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (c) 2007-2010 Andreas Kupries <andreas_kupries@users.sourceforge.net>