[PATCH 1/3] docs: bring several man pages closer to standard formatting

[PATCH 1/3] docs: bring several man pages closer to standard formatting

[Benno Schulenberg]

Signed-off-by: Benno Schulenberg <bensberg@justemail.net>
---
 text-utils/col.1     |   31 ++++++++++++++-----------------
 text-utils/colcrt.1  |    9 ++++++---
 text-utils/column.1  |   27 ++++++++++++++-------------
 text-utils/hexdump.1 |    8 +++++++-
 text-utils/pg.1      |   34 +++++++++++++++++-----------------
 text-utils/rev.1     |    5 +++--
 text-utils/tailf.1   |   19 +++++++++----------
 text-utils/ul.1      |   14 +++++++-------
 8 files changed, 77 insertions(+), 70 deletions(-)

diff --git a/text-utils/col.1 b/text-utils/col.1
index c6aa8c4..0a5c884 100644
--- a/text-utils/col.1
+++ b/text-utils/col.1
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@
 .\"
 .\"     @(#)col.1	6.8 (Berkeley) 6/17/91
 .\"
-.TH COL "1" "September 2011" "util-linux" "User Commands"
+.TH COL "1" "July 2014" "util-linux" "User Commands"
 .SH NAME
 col - filter reverse line feeds from input
 .SH SYNOPSIS
@@ -43,8 +43,8 @@ col - filter reverse line feeds from input
 .SH DESCRIPTION
 .B col
 filters out reverse (and half-reverse) line feeds so the output is in the
-correct order with only forward and half-forward line feeds, and replaces
-white-space characters with tabs where possible.  This can be useful in
+correct order, with only forward and half-forward line feeds.  It also replaces
+any whitespace characters with tabs where possible.  This can be useful in
 processing the output of
 .BR nroff (1)
 and
@@ -59,29 +59,26 @@ Do not output any backspaces, printing only the last character written to
 each column position.
 .TP
 \fB\-f\fR, \fB\-\-fine\fR
-Forward half line feeds are permitted
-.I fine
-mode.  Normally characters printed on a half-line boundary are printed on the
+Permit half-forward line feeds.
+Normally characters destined for a half-line boundary are printed on the
 following line.
 .TP
-\fB\-p\fR, \fB\-\-pass\fR
-Force unknown control sequences to be passed through unchanged.  Normally,
-.B col
-will filter out any control sequences from the input other than those
-recognized and interpreted by itself, which are listed below.
-.TP
 \fB\-h\fR, \fB\-\-tabs\fR
 Output tabs instead of multiple spaces.
 .TP
-\fB\-x\fR, \fB\-\-spaces\fR
-Output multiple spaces instead of tabs.
-.It Fl l, Fl Fl lines Ar num
-.TP
 \fB\-l\fR, \fB\-\-lines\fR \fInumber\fR
 Buffer at least
 .I number
 lines in memory.  By default, 128 lines are buffered.
-.It Fl V, Fl Fl version
+.TP
+\fB\-p\fR, \fB\-\-pass\fR
+Force unknown control sequences to be passed through unchanged.  Normally
+.B col
+will filter out any control sequences other than those
+recognized and interpreted by itself, which are listed below.
+.TP
+\fB\-x\fR, \fB\-\-spaces\fR
+Output multiple spaces instead of tabs.
 .TP
 \fB\-V\fR, \fB\-\-version\fR
 Display version information and exit.
diff --git a/text-utils/colcrt.1 b/text-utils/colcrt.1
index cf9f239..3b8cd09 100644
--- a/text-utils/colcrt.1
+++ b/text-utils/colcrt.1
@@ -36,7 +36,8 @@
 colcrt \- filter nroff output for CRT previewing
 .SH SYNOPSIS
 .B colcrt
-[options] [file ...]
+[options]
+.RI [ file ...]
 .SH DESCRIPTION
 .B colcrt
 provides virtual half-line and reverse line feed sequences for terminals
@@ -68,9 +69,11 @@ Display help text and exit.
 .SH EXAMPLES
 A typical use of
 .B colcrt
-would be
+would be:
 .PP
-tbl exum2.n \&| nroff \-ms \&| colcrt \- \&| more
+.RS
+.B tbl exum2.n \&| nroff \-ms \&| colcrt \- \&| more
+.RE
 .SH SEE ALSO
 .BR nroff (1),
 .BR troff (1),
diff --git a/text-utils/column.1 b/text-utils/column.1
index 33c09e4..305119f 100644
--- a/text-utils/column.1
+++ b/text-utils/column.1
@@ -31,12 +31,11 @@
 .\"
 .\"     @(#)column.1	8.1 (Berkeley) 6/6/93
 .\"
-.TH COLUMN 1 "October 2010" "util-linux" "User Commands"
+.TH COLUMN 1 "July 2014" "util-linux" "User Commands"
 .SH NAME
 column - columnate lists
 .SH SYNOPSIS
-.B column
-.RB [ options ]
+.BR column " [options]"
 .RI [ file ...]
 .SH DESCRIPTION
 The
@@ -48,42 +47,44 @@ otherwise from standard input.  Empty lines are ignored.
 .SH OPTIONS
 .IP "\fB\-c, \-\-columns\fP \fIwidth\fP"
 Output is formatted to a width specified as number of characters.
+.IP "\fB\-o, \-\-output-separator\fP \fIstring\fP"
+Specify the columns delimiter for table output (default is two spaces).
+.IP "\fB\-s, \-\-separator\fP \fIseparators\fP"
+Specify the possible input item delimiters (default is whitespace).
 .IP "\fB\-t, \-\-table\fP"
 Determine the number of columns the input contains and create a table.
 Columns are delimited with whitespace, by default, or with the characters
 supplied using the \fB\-\-output-separator\fP option.
 Table output is useful for pretty-printing.
-.IP "\fB\-s, \-\-separator\fP \fIseparators\fP"
-Specify the possible input item delimiters (default is whitespace).
-.IP "\fB\-o, \-\-output-separator\fP \fIstring\fP"
-Specify the columns delimiter for table output (default is two spaces).
 .IP "\fB\-x, \-\-fillrows\fP"
 Fill columns before filling rows.
+.IP "\fB\-V\fR, \fB\-\-version\fR"
+Display version information and exit.
 .IP "\fB\-h, \-\-help\fP"
 Display help text and exit.
 .SH ENVIRONMENT
-The environment variable COLUMNS is used to determine the size of
+The environment variable \fBCOLUMNS\fR is used to determine the size of
 the screen if no other information is available.
 .SH EXAMPLES
 .nf
-sed 's/#.*//' /etc/fstab | column -t
+.B sed 's/#.*//' /etc/fstab | column -t
 .nf
 .SH BUGS
-The util-linux version 2.23 changed
+Version 2.23 changed the
 .B \-s
 option to be non-greedy, for example:
 .PP
 .EX
-$ printf "a:b:c\\n1::3\\n" | column  -t -s ':'
+\fBprintf "a:b:c\\n1::3\\n" | column  -t -s ':'\fR
 .EE
 .PP
-old output:
+Old output:
 .EX
 a  b  c
 1  3
 .EE
 .PP
-new output (since util-linux 2.23)
+New output (since util-linux 2.23):
 .EX
 a  b  c
 1     3
diff --git a/text-utils/hexdump.1 b/text-utils/hexdump.1
index 8f11103..8237fd9 100644
--- a/text-utils/hexdump.1
+++ b/text-utils/hexdump.1
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@
 .\"
 .TH HEXDUMP "1" "April 2013" "util-linux" "User Commands"
 .SH NAME
-hexdump \- display file contents in ascii, decimal, hexadecimal, or octal
+hexdump \- display file contents in hexadecimal, decimal, octal, or ascii
 .SH SYNOPSIS
 .B hexdump
 .RI [options] " file" ...
@@ -116,6 +116,12 @@ are replaced with a line comprised of a single asterisk.
 \fITwo-byte hexadecimal display\fR.  Display the input offset in hexadecimal,
 followed by eight space-separated, four-column, zero-filled, two-byte
 quantities of input data, in hexadecimal, per line.
+.TP
+.BR \-V , " \-\-version"
+Display version information and exit.
+.TP
+.BR \-h , " \-\-help"
+Display help text and exit.
 .PP
 For each input file,
 .B hexdump
diff --git a/text-utils/pg.1 b/text-utils/pg.1
index 07105b5..7431cd1 100644
--- a/text-utils/pg.1
+++ b/text-utils/pg.1
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 .\" @(#)pg.1	1.7 (gritter) 4/25/01
-.TH PG 1 "April 2001" "util-linux" "User Commands"
+.TH PG 1 "July 2014" "util-linux" "User Commands"
 .SH NAME
 pg \- browse pagewise through text files
 .SH SYNOPSIS
 .B pg
-.RB [ \-\fInumber\fP ]
+.RB [ \-\fIamount\fP ]
 .RB [ \-p
-.IR string ]
+.IR prompt ]
 .RB [ \-cefnrs ]
 .RB [ +\fIline\fP ]
 .RB [ +/\fIpattern\fP/ ]
@@ -30,14 +30,14 @@ but precedes each file with its name if there is more than one.
 .PP
 If input comes from a pipe,
 .B pg
-stores the data in a buffer file while reading
+stores the data in a buffer file while reading,
 to make navigation possible.
 .SH OPTIONS
 .B pg
 accepts the following options:
 .TP
 .BI + number
-Start at the given line.
+Start at the given line number.
 .TP
 .BI +/ pattern /
 Start at the line containing the Basic Regular Expression
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ Start at the line containing the Basic Regular Expression
 given.
 .TP
 .BI \- number
-The number of lines per page.  Usually, this is the number of
+The number of lines per page.  By default, this is the number of
 .SM CRT
 lines minus one.
 .TP
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ is displayed.
 If
 .I string
 contains
-.IR %d ,
+.BR %d ,
 its first occurrence is replaced by the number of the current page.
 .TP
 .B \-r
@@ -87,23 +87,23 @@ Print messages in
 mode,
 if the terminfo entry for the terminal provides this capability.
 .TP
-.B \-h, \-\-help
-display short help and exit.
-.TP
-.B \-V, \-\-version
+.BR \-V , " \-\-version"
 Disaplay version information and exit.
-.SH USAGE
+.TP
+.BR \-h , " \-\-help"
+Display help text and exit.
+.SH COMMANDS
 The following commands may be entered at the prompt.  Commands preceded by
 .I i
 in this document accept a number as argument, positive or negative.
 If this argument starts with
-.I +
+.B +
 or
-.I \-,
+.BR \- ,
 it is interpreted relative to the current position in the input file,
 otherwise relative to the beginning.
 .TP
-.IB i <newline>
+.IB i <Enter>
 Display the next or the indicated page.
 .TP
 \fIi\fR\fBd\fR or \fB^D\fR
@@ -121,8 +121,8 @@ must be a positive number and is always interpreted relative
 to the current position.
 .TP
 \fIi\fR\fBw\fR or \fIi\fR\fBz\fR
-Behave as
-.I <newline>
+As
+.B <Enter>
 except that
 .I i
 becomes the new page size.
diff --git a/text-utils/rev.1 b/text-utils/rev.1
index 4b0bd7a..a8945a9 100644
--- a/text-utils/rev.1
+++ b/text-utils/rev.1
@@ -35,10 +35,11 @@
 .\"
 .TH REV "1" "September 2011" "util-linux" "User Commands"
 .SH NAME
-rev \- reverse lines of a file or files
+rev \- reverse lines characterwise
 .SH SYNOPSIS
 .B rev
-[options] [file ...]
+[option]
+.RI [ file ...]
 .SH DESCRIPTION
 The
 .B rev
diff --git a/text-utils/tailf.1 b/text-utils/tailf.1
index 1cdbff1..bfe97bc 100644
--- a/text-utils/tailf.1
+++ b/text-utils/tailf.1
@@ -22,16 +22,17 @@
 .\" Formatted or processed versions of this manual, if unaccompanied by
 .\" the source, must acknowledge the copyright and authors of this work.
 .\" 
-.TH TAILF 1 "February 2003" "util-linux" "User Commands"
+.TH TAILF 1 "July 2014" "util-linux" "User Commands"
 .SH NAME
 tailf \- follow the growth of a log file
 .SH SYNOPSIS
 .B tailf
-[\fIOPTION\fR] \fIfile\fR
+[option]
+.I file
 .SH DESCRIPTION
 .B tailf
-will print out the last 10 lines of a file and then wait for the file to
-grow.  It is similar to
+will print out the last 10 lines of the given \fIfile\fR and then wait
+for this \fIfile\fR to grow.  It is similar to
 .B tail -f
 but does not access the file when it is not growing.  This has the side
 effect of not updating the access time for the file, so a filesystem flush
@@ -41,12 +42,10 @@ does not occur periodically when no log activity is happening.
 is extremely useful for monitoring log files on a laptop when logging is
 infrequent and the user desires that the hard disk spin down to conserve
 battery life.
-.PP
-Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too.
 .TP
-\fB\-n\fR, \fB\-\-lines\fR=\fIN\fR, \fB\-N\fR
-output the last
-.I N
+.BR \-n , " -\-lines=\fInumber\fR" , " \-\fInumber\fR"
+Output the last
+.I number
 lines, instead of the last 10.
 .TP
 \fB\-V\fR, \fB\-\-version
@@ -60,7 +59,7 @@ This program was originally written by Rik Faith (faith@acm.org) and may be free
 distributed under the terms of the X11/MIT License.  There is ABSOLUTELY
 NO WARRANTY for this program.
 
-The latest inotify based implementation was written by Karel Zak (kzak@redhat.com).
+The latest inotify-based implementation was written by Karel Zak (kzak@redhat.com).
 .SH "SEE ALSO"
 .BR tail (1),
 .BR less (1)
diff --git a/text-utils/ul.1 b/text-utils/ul.1
index 78fdd5f..3164bac 100644
--- a/text-utils/ul.1
+++ b/text-utils/ul.1
@@ -35,8 +35,8 @@
 .SH NAME
 ul \- do underlining
 .SH SYNOPSIS
-.B ul
-[options] [file ...]
+.BR ul " [options]"
+.RI [ file ...]
 .SH DESCRIPTION
 .B ul
 reads the named files (or standard input if none are given) and translates
@@ -63,11 +63,11 @@ present in an
 output stream on a crt-terminal.
 .TP
 \fB\-t\fR, \fB\-T\fR, \fB\-\-terminal\fR \fIterminal\fR
-.It Fl t Ar terminal
-Overrides the
+Override the environment variable
+.B TERM
+with the specified
 .I terminal
-type specified in the environment with
-.BR TERM .
+type.
 .TP
 \fB\-V\fR, \fB\-\-version\fR
 Display version information and exit.
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ file (see
 .BR setenv (1),
 .BR terminfo (5)
 .SH BUGS
-.B Nroff
+.B nroff
 usually outputs a series of backspaces and underlines intermixed with the
 text to indicate underlining.  No attempt is made to optimize the backward
 motion.
-- 
1.7.0.4

[PATCH 2/3] docs: bring a few more man pages closer to standard formatting

[Benno Schulenberg]

Signed-off-by: Benno Schulenberg <bensberg@justemail.net>
---
 term-utils/mesg.1         |   43 ++++++++++++++++++++-----------------------
 term-utils/reset.1        |    4 ++--
 term-utils/script.1       |   32 ++++++++++++++++----------------
 term-utils/scriptreplay.1 |   12 ++++++------
 term-utils/setterm.1      |    2 +-
 term-utils/wall.1         |    8 ++++----
 term-utils/write.1        |    7 ++++---
 7 files changed, 53 insertions(+), 55 deletions(-)

diff --git a/term-utils/mesg.1 b/term-utils/mesg.1
index f7ebf41..9bdc6d5 100644
--- a/term-utils/mesg.1
+++ b/term-utils/mesg.1
@@ -31,23 +31,18 @@
 .\"
 .\"	@(#)mesg.1	8.1 (Berkeley) 6/6/93
 .\"
-.\" Fri Mar 10 20:31:02 1995, modified for standard man macros,
-.\" faith@cs.unc.edu
-.\"
-.\"
-.\" "
-.TH MESG 1 "April 2011" "util-linux" "User Commands"
+.TH MESG 1 "July 2014" "util-linux" "User Commands"
 .SH NAME
-mesg \- display (do not display) messages from other users
+mesg \- display (or do not display) messages from other users
 .SH SYNOPSIS
 .B mesg
-.RB [options]
+[option]
 .RB [ n | y ]
 .SH DESCRIPTION
 The
 .B mesg
-utility is invoked by a users to control write access others have to the
-terminal device associated with the standard error output.  If write access
+utility is invoked by a user to control write access others have to the
+terminal device associated with standard error output.  If write access
 is allowed, then programs such as
 .BR talk (1)
 and
@@ -63,37 +58,39 @@ should be executed in your login scripts.
 .SH ARGUMENTS
 .TP
 .B n
-Disallows messages.
+Disallow messages.
 .TP
 .B y
-Permits messages to be displayed.
+Allow messages to be displayed.
+.PP
+If no arguments are given,
+.B mesg
+shows the current message status on standard error output.
 .SH OPTIONS
 .TP
-.B \-v, \-\-verbose
+.BR \-v , " \-\-verbose"
 Explain what is being done.
 .TP
-.B \-V, \-\-verbose
+.BR \-V , " \-\-version"
 Display version information and exit.
 .TP
-.B \-h, \-\-help
+.BR \-h , " \-\-help"
 Display help text and exit.
-.PP
-If no arguments are given,
-.B mesg
-displays the present message status to the standard error output.
-.PP
+.SH EXIT STATUS
 The
 .B mesg
 utility exits with one of the following values:
+.RS 4
 .TP
-.I "\ 0"
+.B "\ 0"
 Messages are allowed.
 .TP
-.I "\ 1"
+.B "\ 1"
 Messages are not allowed.
 .TP
-.I ">1"
+.B ">1"
 An error has occurred.
+.RE
 .SH FILES
 .I /dev/[pt]ty[pq]?
 .SH "SEE ALSO"
diff --git a/term-utils/reset.1 b/term-utils/reset.1
index fdf67e2..f8c3df7 100644
--- a/term-utils/reset.1
+++ b/term-utils/reset.1
@@ -28,8 +28,8 @@ or in the terminfo database
 (for the
 .B ncurses
 .BR tput ).
-This sequence seems to be sufficient to reset the Linux VC's when they
-start printing "funny-looking" characters.  For good measure,
+This sequence seems to be sufficient to reset a Linux VC when it
+starts printing "funny-looking" characters.  For good measure,
 .BR stty (1)
 is called with the
 .I sane
diff --git a/term-utils/script.1 b/term-utils/script.1
index 67e1066..4573f07 100644
--- a/term-utils/script.1
+++ b/term-utils/script.1
@@ -31,15 +31,16 @@
 .\"
 .\"	@(#)script.1	6.5 (Berkeley) 7/27/91
 .\"
-.TH SCRIPT "1" "September 2011" "util-linux" "User Commands"
+.TH SCRIPT "1" "June 2014" "util-linux" "User Commands"
 .SH NAME
 script \- make typescript of terminal session
 .SH SYNOPSIS
 .B script
-[options] [file]
+[options]
+.RI [ file ]
 .SH DESCRIPTION
 .B script
-makes a typescript of everything printed on your terminal.  It is useful for
+makes a typescript of everything displayed on your terminal.  It is useful for
 students who need a hardcopy record of an interactive session as proof of an
 assignment, as the typescript file can be printed out later with
 .BR lpr (1).
@@ -48,17 +49,17 @@ If the argument
 .I file
 is given,
 .B script
-saves all dialogue in
+saves the dialogue in this
 .IR file .
-If no file name is given, the typescript is saved in the file
-.IR typescript .
+If no filename is given, the dialogue is saved in the file
+.BR typescript .
 .SH OPTIONS
 .TP
 \fB\-a\fR, \fB\-\-append\fR
 Append the output to
 .I file
-or
-.IR typescript ,
+or to
+.BR typescript ,
 retaining the prior contents.
 .TP
 \fB\-c\fR, \fB\-\-command\fR \fIcommand\fR
@@ -101,8 +102,7 @@ Display help text and exit.
 .SH NOTES
 The script ends when the forked shell exits (a
 .I control-D
-to exit
-the Bourne shell
+for the Bourne shell
 .RB ( sh (1)),
 and
 .IR exit ,
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ C-shell,
 Certain interactive commands, such as
 .BR vi (1),
 create garbage in the typescript file.
-.B Script
+.B script
 works best with commands that do not manipulate the screen, the results are
 meant to emulate a hardcopy terminal.
 .SH ENVIRONMENT
@@ -127,11 +127,11 @@ The following environment variable is utilized by
 .TP
 .B SHELL
 If the variable
-.I SHELL
+.B SHELL
 exists, the shell forked by
 .B script
-will be that shell. If
-.I SHELL
+will be that shell.  If
+.B SHELL
 is not set, the Bourne shell is assumed.  (Most shells set this variable
 automatically).
 .SH SEE ALSO
@@ -145,9 +145,9 @@ The
 .B script
 command appeared in 3.0BSD.
 .SH BUGS
-.B Script
+.B script
 places
-.B everything
+.I everything
 in the log file, including linefeeds and backspaces.  This is not what the
 naive user expects.
 .SH AVAILABILITY
diff --git a/term-utils/scriptreplay.1 b/term-utils/scriptreplay.1
index 329dbc9..8c9053a 100644
--- a/term-utils/scriptreplay.1
+++ b/term-utils/scriptreplay.1
@@ -3,14 +3,14 @@
 scriptreplay \- play back typescripts, using timing information
 .SH "SYNOPSIS"
 .B scriptreplay
-.RI [ options ]
+[options]
 .RB [ \-t ]
 .I timingfile
 .RI [ typescript
 .RI [ divisor ]]
 .SH "DESCRIPTION"
 This program replays a typescript, using timing information to ensure that
-output happens at the same speed as it originally appeared when the script
+output happens in the same rhythm as it originally appeared when the script
 was recorded.
 .PP
 The replay simply displays the information again; the programs
@@ -45,10 +45,10 @@ than the original session.
 The first three options will overide old-style arguments.
 .TP
 .BR \-t , " \-\-timing " \fIfile\fR
-File containing script timing output.
+File containing \fBscript\fR's timing output.
 .TP
 .BR \-s , " \-\-typescript " \fIfile\fR
-File containing the script terminal output.
+File containing \fBscript\fR's terminal output.
 .TP
 .BR \-d , " \-\-divisor " \fInumber\fR
 Speed up the replay displaying this
@@ -57,9 +57,9 @@ of times.  The argument is a floating point number.  It's called divisor
 because it divides the timings by this factor.
 .TP
 .BR \-m , " \-\-maxdelay " \fInumber\fR
-Set the maximal delay between transcript updates to
+Set the maximum delay between transcript updates to
 .I number
-seconds.  The argument is a floating point number.  This can be used to
+of seconds.  The argument is a floating point number.  This can be used to
 avoid long pauses in the transcript replay.
 .TP
 .BR \-V , " \-\-version"
diff --git a/term-utils/setterm.1 b/term-utils/setterm.1
index bc11fdb..a901e24 100644
--- a/term-utils/setterm.1
+++ b/term-utils/setterm.1
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 setterm \- set terminal attributes
 .SH SYNOPSIS
 .B setterm
-.RI [ options ]
+[options]
 .SH DESCRIPTION
 .B setterm
 writes to standard output a character string that will invoke the specified
diff --git a/term-utils/wall.1 b/term-utils/wall.1
index 65f0ee8..fd6c029 100644
--- a/term-utils/wall.1
+++ b/term-utils/wall.1
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
 .\"
 .TH WALL "1" "August 2013" "util-linux" "User Commands"
 .SH NAME
-wall \- write a message to users
+wall \- write a message to all users
 .SH SYNOPSIS
 .B wall
 .RB [ \-n ]
@@ -45,10 +45,10 @@ wall \- write a message to users
 .SH DESCRIPTION
 .B wall
 displays a
-.I message
+.IR message ,
 or the contents of a
-.I file
-or, by default, its standard input, on the terminals of all currently logged
+.IR file ,
+or otherwise its standard input, on the terminals of all currently logged
 in users.  The command will wrap lines that are longer than 79 characters.
 Short lines are whitespace padded to have 79 characters.  The command will
 always put a carriage return and new line at the end of each line.
diff --git a/term-utils/write.1 b/term-utils/write.1
index 33eb914..ad321f4 100644
--- a/term-utils/write.1
+++ b/term-utils/write.1
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ write \- send a message to another user
 .I user
 .RI [ ttyname ]
 .SH DESCRIPTION
-.B Write
+.B write
 allows you to communicate with other users, by copying lines from
 your terminal to theirs.
 .PP
@@ -73,10 +73,11 @@ command.  Some commands, for example
 .BR nroff (1)
 and
 .BR pr (1),
-may disallow writing automatically, so that your output isn't overwritten.
+may automatically disallow writing, so that the output they produce
+isn't overwritten.
 .PP
 If the user you want to write to is logged in on more than one terminal,
-you can specify which terminal to write to by specifying the terminal
+you can specify which terminal to write to by giving the terminal
 name as the second operand to the
 .B write
 command.  Alternatively, you can let
-- 
1.7.0.4

[PATCH 3/3] docs: bring some more man pages closer to standard formatting

[Benno Schulenberg]

Signed-off-by: Benno Schulenberg <bensberg@justemail.net>
---
 sys-utils/dmesg.1 |   52 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++---------------------
 sys-utils/eject.1 |   56 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++-------------------------
 sys-utils/flock.1 |   44 ++++++++++++++++++++++------------------
 3 files changed, 82 insertions(+), 70 deletions(-)

diff --git a/sys-utils/dmesg.1 b/sys-utils/dmesg.1
index c4c64df..86d35df 100644
--- a/sys-utils/dmesg.1
+++ b/sys-utils/dmesg.1
@@ -5,41 +5,47 @@
 dmesg \- print or control the kernel ring buffer
 .SH SYNOPSIS
 .B dmesg
-.RB [ options ]
+[options]
 .sp
-dmesg \-\-clear
+.B dmesg \-\-clear
 .br
-dmesg \-\-read-clear [options]
+.BR "dmesg \-\-read-clear " [options]
 .br
-dmesg \-\-console-level level
+.BI "dmesg \-\-console-level " level
 .br
-dmesg \-\-console-on
+.B dmesg \-\-console-on
 .br
-dmesg \-\-console-off
+.B dmesg \-\-console-off
 .SH DESCRIPTION
 .B dmesg
 is used to examine or control the kernel ring buffer.
 .PP
 The default action is to read all messages from the kernel ring buffer.
 .SH OPTIONS
-The \-\-clear, \-\-read-clear, \-\-console-on, \-\-console-off and
-\-\-console-level options are mutually exclusive.
+The
+.BR \-\-clear ,
+.BR \-\-read-clear ,
+.BR \-\-console-on ,
+.BR \-\-console-off ,
+and
+.B \-\-console-level
+options are mutually exclusive.
 .PP
 .IP "\fB\-C\fR, \fB\-\-clear\fR"
 Clear the ring buffer.
 .IP "\fB\-c\fR, \fB\-\-read-clear\fR"
 Clear the ring buffer after first printing its contents.
 .IP "\fB\-D\fR, \fB\-\-console-off\fR"
-Disable printing messages to the console.
+Disable the printing of messages to the console.
 .IP "\fB\-d\fR, \fB\-\-show-delta\fR"
 Display the timestamp and the time delta spent between messages.  If used
 together with
 .B \-\-notime
 then only the time delta without the timestamp is printed.
-.IP "\fB\-e\fR, \fB\-\-reltime\fR"
-Display the local time and the delta in human-readable format.
 .IP "\fB\-E\fR, \fB\-\-console-on\fR"
 Enable printing messages to the console.
+.IP "\fB\-e\fR, \fB\-\-reltime\fR"
+Display the local time and the delta in human-readable format.
 .IP "\fB\-F\fR, \fB\-\-file \fIfile\fR"
 Read the messages from the given
 .IR file .
@@ -49,12 +55,12 @@ Restrict output to the given (comma-separated)
 of facilities.  For example:
 .PP
 .RS 14
-dmesg \-\-facility=daemon
+.B dmesg \-\-facility=daemon
 .RE
 .IP
 will print messages from system daemons only.  For all supported facilities
-see
-.B dmesg \-\-help
+see the
+.B \-\-help
 output.
 .IP "\fB\-H\fR, \fB\-\-human\fR"
 Enable human-readable output.  See also \fB\-\-color\fR, \fB\-\-reltime\fR
@@ -66,18 +72,18 @@ Print kernel messages.
 .IP "\fB\-L\fR, \fB\-\-color\fR[=\fIwhen\fR]"
 Colorize important messages (enabled by default).  The optional argument \fIwhen\fP
 can be \fBauto\fR, \fBnever\fR or \fBalways\fR.  If the \fIwhen\fR argument is omitted,
-then it defaults to \fBauto\fR.
+it defaults to \fBauto\fR.
 .IP  "\fB\-l\fR, \fB\-\-level \fIlist\fR"
 Restrict output to the given (comma-separated)
 .I list
 of levels.  For example:
 .PP
 .RS 14
-dmesg \-\-level=err,warn
+.B dmesg \-\-level=err,warn
 .RE
 .IP
-will print error and warning messages only.  For all supported levels see
-.B dmesg \-\-help
+will print error and warning messages only.  For all supported levels see the
+.B \-\-help
 output.
 .IP "\fB\-n\fR, \fB\-\-console-level \fIlevel\fR
 Set the
@@ -85,8 +91,8 @@ Set the
 at which printing of messages is done to the console.  The
 .I level
 is a level number or abbreviation of the level name.  For all supported
-levels see
-.B dmesg \-\-help
+levels see the
+.B \-\-help
 output.
 .sp
 For example,
@@ -179,11 +185,11 @@ format has the same issue as
 the time may be inaccurate when a system is suspended and resumed.
 .SH COLORS
 Implicit coloring can be disabled by an empty file \fI/etc/terminal-colors.d/dmesg.disable\fR.
-
 See
 .BR terminal-colors.d (5)
-for more details about colorization configuration. The logical color names
-support by
+for more details about colorization configuration.
+.PP
+The logical color names supported by
 .B dmesg
 are:
 .TP
diff --git a/sys-utils/eject.1 b/sys-utils/eject.1
index 1acc3b3..c307c25 100644
--- a/sys-utils/eject.1
+++ b/sys-utils/eject.1
@@ -9,33 +9,33 @@
 eject \- eject removable media
 .SH SYNOPSIS
 .B eject
-.RB [ options ]
+[options]
 .IR device | mountpoint
 .SH DESCRIPTION
-.B Eject
+.B eject
 allows removable media (typically a CD-ROM, floppy disk, tape, JAZ, ZIP or USB
 disk) to be ejected under software control.  The command can also control some
 multi-disc CD-ROM changers, the auto-eject feature supported by some devices,
 and close the disc tray of some CD-ROM drives.
 .PP
 The device corresponding to \fIdevice\fP or \fImountpoint\fP is ejected.  If no
-name is specified, the default name /dev/cdrom is used. The device may be
+name is specified, the default name \fB/dev/cdrom\fR is used.  The device may be
 addressed by device name (e.g. 'sda'), device path (e.g. '/dev/sda'),
-UUID=<uuid> or LABEL=<label> tags.
+UUID=\fIuuid\fR or LABEL=\fIlabel\fR tags.
 .PP
 There are four different methods of ejecting, depending on whether the device
-is a CD-ROM, SCSI device, removable floppy, or tape.  By default eject tries
+is a CD-ROM, SCSI device, removable floppy, or tape.  By default \fBeject\fR tries
 all four methods in order until it succeeds.
 .PP
-If device partition is specified, the whole-disk device is used.  If the device
+If a device partition is specified, the whole-disk device is used.  If the device
 or a device partition is currently mounted, it is unmounted before ejecting.
 .SH OPTIONS
-.IP "\fB\-a, \-\-auto \fIon|off\fP"
+.IP "\fB\-a\fR, \fB\-\-auto on\fR|\fBoff\fR"
 This option controls the auto-eject mode, supported by some devices.  When
 enabled, the drive automatically ejects when the device is closed.
 .IP "\fB\-c, \-\-changerslot \fIslot\fP"
 With this option a CD slot can be selected from an ATAPI/IDE CD-ROM changer.
-Linux 2.0 or higher is required to use this feature. The CD-ROM drive can not
+Linux 2.0 or higher is required to use this feature.  The CD-ROM drive cannot
 be in use (mounted data CD or playing a music CD) for a change request to work.
 Please also note that the first slot of the changer is referred to as 0, not 1.
 .IP "\fB\-d, \-\-default\fP"
@@ -47,24 +47,24 @@ disk eject command.
 Force eject, don't check device type.
 .IP "\fB\-h, \-\-help\fP"
 Display help text and exit.
-.IP "\fB\-i, \-\-manualeject \fIon|off\fP"
+.IP "\fB\-i\fR, \fB\-\-manualeject on\fR|\fBoff\fR"
 This option controls locking of the hardware eject button.  When enabled, the
 drive will not be ejected when the button is pressed.  This is useful when you
 are carrying a laptop in a bag or case and don't want it to eject if the button
 is inadvertently pressed.
 .IP "\fB\-p, \-\-proc\fP"
-This option allow you to use /proc/mounts instead /etc/mtab. It also passes the
-\-n option to \fBumount\fR(1).
+This option allows you to use /proc/mounts instead /etc/mtab.  It also passes the
+\fB\-n\fR option to \fBumount\fR(1).
 .IP "\fB\-q, \-\-tape\fP"
 This option specifies that the drive should be ejected using a tape drive
 offline command.
 .IP "\fB\-m, \-\-no-unmount\fP"
 The option tells eject to not try to unmount at all.
 .IP "\fB\-M, \-\-no-partitions-unmount\fP"
-The option tells eject to not try to unmount another partitions on partitioned
-devices. If another partition is mounted the program will not attempt to eject
-the media. It will attempt to unmount only mountpoint or mounted device given
-on eject command line.
+The option tells eject to not try to unmount other partitions on partitioned
+devices.  If another partition is still mounted, the program will not attempt
+to eject the media.  It will attempt to unmount only the device or mountpoint
+given on the command line.
 .IP "\fB\-n, \-\-noop\fP"
 With this option the selected device is displayed but no action is performed.
 .IP "\fB\-t, \-\-trayclose\fP"
@@ -84,24 +84,25 @@ Run in verbose mode; more information is displayed about what the command is
 doing.
 .IP "\fB\-V, \-\-version\fP"
 Display version information and exit.
-.IP "\fB\-x, \-\-cdspeed \fI<speed>\fP"
-With this option the drive is given a CD-ROM select speed command.  The speed
+.IP "\fB\-x, \-\-cdspeed \fIspeed\fP"
+With this option the drive is given a CD-ROM select speed command.  The
+.I speed
 argument is a number indicating the desired speed (e.g. 8 for 8X speed), or 0
 for maximum data rate.  Not all devices support this command and you can only
 specify speeds that the drive is capable of.  Every time the media is changed
-this option is cleared.  This option can be used alone, or with the \-t and \-c
-options.
+this option is cleared.  This option can be used alone, or with the
+\fB\-t\fR and \fB\-c\fR options.
 .IP "\fB\-X, \-\-listspeed\fP" 
 With this option the CD-ROM drive will be probed to detect the available
 speeds.  The output is a list of speeds which can be used as an argument of the
-\-x option.  This only works with Linux 2.6.13 or higher, on previous versions
-solely the maximum speed will be reported.  Also note that some drive may not
+\fB\-x\fR option.  This only works with Linux 2.6.13 or higher, on previous versions
+solely the maximum speed will be reported.  Also note that some drives may not
 correctly report the speed and therefore this option does not work with them.
 .SH EXIT STATUS
 Returns 0 if operation was successful, 1 if operation failed or command syntax
 was not valid.
 .SH NOTES
-.B Eject
+.B eject
 only works with devices that support one or more of the four methods of
 ejecting.  This includes most CD-ROM drives (IDE, SCSI, and proprietary), some
 SCSI tape drives, JAZ drives, ZIP drives (parallel port, SCSI, and IDE
@@ -113,11 +114,12 @@ device and not the
 .B eject
 program itself.
 .PP
-The \-r, \-s, \-f, and \-q options allow controlling which methods are used to
+The \fB\-r\fR, \fB\-s\fR, \fB\-f\fR, and \fB\-q\fR options allow controlling
+which methods are used to
 eject.  More than one method can be specified.  If none of these options are
 specified, it tries all four (this works fine in most cases).
 .PP
-.B Eject
+.B eject
 may not always be able to determine if the device is mounted (e.g. if it has
 several names).  If the device name is a symbolic link,
 .B eject
@@ -126,9 +128,9 @@ will follow the link and use the device that it points to.
 If
 .B eject
 determines that the device can have multiple partitions, it will attempt to
-unmount all mounted partitions of the device before ejecting (see
---no-partitions-unmount). If an unmount fails, the program will not attempt to
-eject the media.
+unmount all mounted partitions of the device before ejecting (see also
+\fB--no-partitions-unmount\fR).  If an unmount fails, the program will not
+attempt to eject the media.
 .PP
 You can eject an audio CD.  Some CD-ROM drives will refuse to open the tray if
 the drive is empty.  Some devices do not support the tray close command.
diff --git a/sys-utils/flock.1 b/sys-utils/flock.1
index c245eda..6c28a35 100644
--- a/sys-utils/flock.1
+++ b/sys-utils/flock.1
@@ -24,37 +24,41 @@
 .\"   OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
 .\"
 .\" -----------------------------------------------------------------------
-.TH FLOCK 1 "September 2011" "util-linux" "User Commands"
+.TH FLOCK 1 "July 2014" "util-linux" "User Commands"
 .SH NAME
 flock \- manage locks from shell scripts
 .SH SYNOPSIS
 .B flock
-[options] <file|directory> <command> [command args]
+[options]
+.IR file | "directory command " [ arguments ]
 .br
 .B flock
-[options] <file|directory> -c <command>
+[options]
+.IR file | directory
+.BI \-c " command"
 .br
 .B flock
-[options] <file descriptor number>
+.RI [options] " number"
 .SH DESCRIPTION
 .PP
 This utility manages
 .BR flock (2)
-locks from within shell scripts or the command line.
+locks from within shell scripts or from the command line.
 .PP
-The first and second forms wrap the lock around the executing a command, in
-a manner similar to
+The first and second of the above forms wrap the lock around the execution of a
+.IR command ,
+in a manner similar to
 .BR su (1)
 or
 .BR newgrp (1).
-It locks a specified file or directory, which is created (assuming
-appropriate permissions), if it does not already exist.  By default, if the
+They lock a specified \fIfile\fR or \fIdirectory\fR, which is created (assuming
+appropriate permissions) if it does not already exist.  By default, if the
 lock cannot be immediately acquired,
 .B flock
 waits until the lock is available.
 .PP
-The third form uses open file by file descriptor number.  See examples how
-that can be used.
+The third form uses an open file by its file descriptor \fInumber\fR.
+See the examples below for how that can be used.
 .SH OPTIONS
 .TP
 \fB\-s\fP, \fB\-\-shared\fP
@@ -74,7 +78,7 @@ process which should not be holding the lock.
 Fail rather than wait if the lock cannot be
 immediately acquired.
 See the
-.I \-E
+.B \-E
 option for the exit code used.
 .TP
 \fB\-w\fP, \fB\-\-wait\fP, \fB\-\-timeout\fP \fIseconds\fP
@@ -82,20 +86,20 @@ Fail if the lock cannot be acquired within
 .IR seconds .
 Decimal fractional values are allowed.
 See the
-.I \-E
+.B \-E
 option for the exit code used.
 .TP
 \fB\-o\fP, \fB\-\-close\fP
 Close the file descriptor on which the lock is held before executing
-.BR command\ .
+.IR command .
 This is useful if
-.B command
+.I command
 spawns a child process which should not be holding the lock.
 .TP
 \fB\-E\fP, \fB\-\-conflict\-exit\-code\fP \fInumber\fP
 The exit code used when the \fB\-n\fP option is in use, and the
 conflicting lock exists, or the \fB\-w\fP option is in use,
-and the timeout is reached. The default value is 1.
+and the timeout is reached.  The default value is 1.
 .TP
 \fB\-c\fP, \fB\-\-command\fP \fIcommand\fP
 Pass a single
@@ -153,14 +157,14 @@ also sets the FLOCKER env var to the right value so it doesn't run again.
 The command uses
 .B sysexits.h
 return values for everything, except when using either of the options
-.I \-n
+.B \-n
 or
-.I \-w
+.B \-w
 which report a failure to acquire the lock with a return value given by the
-.I \-E
+.B \-E
 option, or 1 by default.
 .PP
-When using the <command> variant, and executing the child worked, then
+When using the \fIcommand\fR variant, and executing the child worked, then
 the exit status is that of the child command.
 .SH AUTHOR
 .UR hpa@zytor.com
-- 
1.7.0.4

Re: [PATCH 1/3] docs: bring several man pages closer to standard formatting

[Karel Zak]

On Tue, Jul 15, 2014 at 11:07:36PM +0200, Benno Schulenberg wrote:
>  text-utils/col.1     |   31 ++++++++++++++-----------------
>  text-utils/colcrt.1  |    9 ++++++---
>  text-utils/column.1  |   27 ++++++++++++++-------------
>  text-utils/hexdump.1 |    8 +++++++-
>  text-utils/pg.1      |   34 +++++++++++++++++-----------------
>  text-utils/rev.1     |    5 +++--
>  text-utils/tailf.1   |   19 +++++++++----------
>  text-utils/ul.1      |   14 +++++++-------
>  8 files changed, 77 insertions(+), 70 deletions(-)

 Applied all 3 patches, thanks!

    Karel

-- 
 Karel Zak  <kzak@redhat.com>
 http://karelzak.blogspot.com