NAME

       txt2man - convert flat ASCII text to man page format

SYNOPSIS

       txt2man [-hpTX] [-t mytitle] [-P pname] [-r rel] [-s sect]
               [-v vol] [-I txt] [-B txt] [-d date] [ifile]

DESCRIPTION

       txt2man  converts  the  input  text into nroff/troff standard man(7) macros used to format
       Unix manual pages. Nice pages can be generated specially for commands (section 1 or 8)  or
       for  C  functions  reference  (sections  2,  3),  with the ability to recognize and format
       command and function names, flags, types and arguments.

       txt2man is also able to  recognize  and  format  sections,  paragraphs,  lists  (standard,
       numbered, description, nested), cross references and literal display blocks.

       If  input  file  ifile is omitted, standard input is used. Result is displayed on standard
       output.

       Here is how text patterns are recognized and processed:

       Sections
              These headers are defined by a line in upper case, starting column 1. If  there  is
              one or more leading spaces, a sub-section will be generated instead.

       Paragraphs
              They must be separated by a blank line, and left aligned.

       Tag list
              The  item  definition  is  separated  from the item description by at least 2 blank
              spaces, even before a new line, if definition  is  too  long.  Definition  will  be
              emphasized by default.

       Bullet list
              Bullet list items are defined by the first word being "-" or "*" or "o".

       Enumerated list
              The first word must be a number followed by a dot.

       Literal display blocks
              This paragraph type is used to display unmodified text, for example source code. It
              must be separated by a blank line, and be indented. It is primarily used to  format
              unmodified  source  code.  It  will  be  printed using fixed font whenever possible
              (troff).

       Cross references
              A cross reference (another man page) is defined by a word followed by a  number  in
              parenthesis.

       Special sections:

       NAME   The function or command name and short description are set in this section.

       SYNOPSIS
              This  section  receives  a  special  treatment  to identify command name, flags and
              arguments, and propagate corresponding attributes later in the text. If  a  C  like
              function  is recognized (word immediately followed by an open parenthesis), txt2man
              will print function name in bold font, types  in  normal  font,  and  variables  in
              italic  font. The whole section will be printed using a fixed font family (courier)
              whenever possible (troff).

       It is a good practice to embed documentation  into  source  code,  by  using  comments  or
       constant  text  variables.  txt2man  allows  one  to  do that, keeping the document source
       readable, usable even without further formatting (i.e. for online help) and easy to write.
       The result is high quality and standard complying document.

OPTIONS

       -h     The option -h displays help.

       -d date
              Set date in header. Defaults to current date.

       -P pname
              Set pname as project name in header. Default to uname -s.

       -p     Probe title, section name and volume.

       -t mytitle
              Set mytitle as title of generated man page.

       -r rel Set rel as project name and release.

       -s sect
              Set sect as section in heading, ususally a value from 1 to 8.

       -v vol Set vol as volume name, i.e. "Unix user 's manual".

       -I txt Italicize txt in output. Can be specified more than once.

       -B txt Emphasize (bold) txt in output. Can be specified more than once.

       -T     Text result previewing using PAGER, usually more(1).

       -X     X11 result previewing using gxditview(1).

ENVIRONMENT

       PAGER  name  of  paging  command,  usually  more(1),  or less(1). If not set falls back to
              more(1).

EXAMPLE

       Try this command to format this text itself:

             $ txt2man -h 2>&1 | txt2man -T

HINTS

       To obtain  an  overall  good  formating  of  output  document,  keep  paragraphs  indented
       correctly.  If  you have unwanted bold sections, search for multiple spaces between words,
       which are used to identify a tag list  (term  followed  by  a  description).  Choose  also
       carefully the name of command line or function parameters, as they will be emphasized each
       time they are encountered in the document.

SEE ALSO

       man(1), mandoc(7), rman(1), groff(1), more(1), gxditview(1), troff(1).

BUGS

       •  Automatic probe (-p option) works only if input is a regular file (i.e.  not stdin).

AUTHOR

       Marc Vertes <mvertes@free.fr>