mandoc_eqn(7) - BetterMan

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define	The first character of the value string, c, is used as the delimiter for the value val. This allows for arbitrary enclosure of terms (not just quotes), such as It is an error to have an empty key or val. Note that a quoted key causes errors in some eqn implementations and should not be considered portable. It is not expanded for replacements. Definitions may refer to other definitions; these are evaluated recursively when text replacement occurs and not when the definition is created. Definitions can create arbitrary strings, for example, the following is a legal construction. define foo 'define' foo bar 'baz' Self-referencing definitions will raise an error. The ndefine statement is a synonym for define, while tdefine is discarded.
delim	.EQ delim $$ .EN An equation like $sin pi = 0$ can now be entered in the middle of a text input line. The special statement delim off temporarily disables previously declared delimiters and delim on reenables them.
gfont	In mandoc, this value is discarded.
gsize	The size value should be an integer. If prepended by a sign, the font size is changed relative to the current size.
set	The key and val are not expanded for replacements. This statement is a GNU extension.
undef	Once invoked, the definition for key is discarded. The key is not expanded for replacements. This statement is a GNU extension.
above	See pile.
bar	Draw a line over the preceding box.
bold	Set the following box using bold font.
ccol	Like cpile, but for use in matrix.
cpile	Like pile, but with slightly increased vertical spacing.
dot	Set a single dot over the preceding box.
dotdot	Set two dots (dieresis) over the preceding box.
dyad	Set a dyad symbol (left-right arrow) over the preceding box.
fat	A synonym for bold.
font	Set the second argument using the font specified by the first argument; currently not recognized by the mandoc(1)eqn parser.
from	Set the following box below the preceding box, using a slightly smaller font. Used for sums, integrals, limits, and the like.
hat	Set a hat (circumflex) over the preceding box.
italic	Set the following box using italic font.
lcol	Like lpile, but for use in matrix.
left	Set the first argument as a big left delimiter before the second argument. As an optional third argument, right can follow. In that case, the fourth argument is set as a big right delimiter after the second argument.
lpile	Like cpile, but subequations are left-justified.
matrix	Followed by a list of columns enclosed in braces. All columns need to have the same number of subequations. The columns are set as a matrix. The difference compared to multiple subsequent pile operators is that in a matrix, corresponding subequations in all columns line up horizontally, while each pile does vertical spacing independently.
over	Set a fraction. The preceding box is the numerator, the following box is the denominator.
pile	Followed by a list of subequations enclosed in braces, the subequations being separated by above keywords. Sets the subequations one above the other, each of them centered. Typically used to represent vectors in coordinate representation.
rcol	Like rpile, but for use in matrix.
right	See left; right cannot be used without left. To set a big right delimiter without a big left delimiter, the following construction can be used: left""boxrightdelimiter
roman	Set the following box using the default font.
rpile	Like cpile, but subequations are right-justified.
size	Set the second argument with the font size specified by the first argument; currently ignored by mandoc(1). By prepending a plus or minus sign to the first argument, the font size can be selected relative to the current size.
sqrt	Set the square root of the following box.
sub	Set the following box as a subscript to the preceding box.
sup	both are set with respect to the same mainbox, that is, supbox is set above subbox.
tilde	Set a tilde over the preceding box.
to	both are set below and above the same mainbox.
under	Underline the preceding box.
vec	Set a vector symbol (right arrow) over the preceding box.

NAME

eqn — eqn language reference for mandoc

The eqn language is an equation-formatting language. It is used within mdoc(7) and man(7)UNIX manual pages. It describes the structure of an equation, not its mathematical meaning. This manual describes the eqn language accepted by the mandoc(1) utility, which corresponds to the Second Edition eqn specification (see SEE ALSO for references).

An equation starts with an input line containing exactly the characters ‘.EQ’, may contain multiple input lines, and ends with an input line containing exactly the characters ‘.EN’. Equivalently, an equation can be given in the middle of a single text input line by surrounding it with the equation delimiters defined with the delim statement.

The equation grammar is as follows, where quoted strings are case-sensitive literals in the input:

bash

eqn     : box | eqn box
box     : text
        | "{" eqn "}"
        | "define" text text
        | "ndefine" text text
        | "tdefine" text text
        | "gfont" text
        | "gsize" text
        | "set" text text
        | "undef" text
        | "sqrt" box
        | box pos box
        | box mark
        | "matrix" "{" [col "{" list "}"]* "}"
        | pile "{" list "}"
        | font box
        | "size" text box
        | "left" text eqn ["right" text]
col     : "lcol" | "rcol" | "ccol" | "col"
text    : [^space\"]+ | \".*\"
pile    : "lpile" | "cpile" | "rpile" | "pile"
pos     : "over" | "sup" | "sub" | "to" | "from"
mark	: "dot" | "dotdot" | "hat" | "tilde" | "vec"
        | "dyad" | "bar" | "under"
font    : "roman" | "italic" | "bold" | "fat"
list    : eqn
        | list "above" eqn
space   : [\^~ \t]

White-space consists of the space, tab, circumflex, and tilde characters. It is required to delimit tokens consisting of alphabetic characters and it is ignored at other places. Braces and quotes also delimit tokens. If within a quoted string, these space characters are retained. Quoted strings are also not scanned for keywords, glyph names, and expansion of definitions. To print a literal quote character, it can be prepended with a backslash or expressed with the \(dq escape sequence.

Subequations can be enclosed in braces to pass them as arguments to operation keywords, overriding standard operation precedence. Braces can be nested. To set a brace verbatim, it needs to be enclosed in quotes.

The following text terms are translated into a rendered glyph, if available: alpha, beta, chi, delta, epsilon, eta, gamma, iota, kappa, lambda, mu, nu, omega, omicron, phi, pi, psi, rho, sigma, tau, theta, upsilon, xi, zeta, DELTA, GAMMA, LAMBDA, OMEGA, PHI, PI, PSI, SIGMA, THETA, UPSILON, XI, inter (intersection), union (union), prod (product), int (integral), sum (summation), grad (gradient), del (vector differential), times (multiply), cdot (center-dot), nothing (zero-width space), approx (approximately equals), prime (prime), half (one-half), partial (partial differential), inf (infinity), >> (much greater), << (much less), <- (left arrow), -> (right arrow), +- (plus-minus), != (not equal), == (equivalence), <= (less-than-equal), and >= (more-than-equal). The character escape sequences documented in mandoc_char(7) can be used, too.

The following control statements are available:

define

The first character of the value string, c, is used as the delimiter for the value val. This allows for arbitrary enclosure of terms (not just quotes), such as

It is an error to have an empty key or val. Note that a quoted key causes errors in some eqn implementations and should not be considered portable. It is not expanded for replacements. Definitions may refer to other definitions; these are evaluated recursively when text replacement occurs and not when the definition is created.

Definitions can create arbitrary strings, for example, the following is a legal construction.

bash

define foo 'define'
foo bar 'baz'

Self-referencing definitions will raise an error. The ndefine statement is a synonym for define, while tdefine is discarded.

delim

bash

.EQ
delim $$
.EN
An equation like $sin pi = 0$ can now be entered
in the middle of a text input line.

The special statement delim off temporarily disables previously declared delimiters and delim on reenables them.

gfont

In mandoc, this value is discarded.

gsize

The size value should be an integer. If prepended by a sign, the font size is changed relative to the current size.

set

The key and val are not expanded for replacements. This statement is a GNU extension.

undef

Once invoked, the definition for key is discarded. The key is not expanded for replacements. This statement is a GNU extension.

Operation keywords have the following semantics:

above: See pile.
bar: Draw a line over the preceding box.
bold: Set the following box using bold font.
ccol: Like cpile, but for use in matrix.
cpile: Like pile, but with slightly increased vertical spacing.
dot: Set a single dot over the preceding box.
dotdot: Set two dots (dieresis) over the preceding box.
dyad: Set a dyad symbol (left-right arrow) over the preceding box.
fat: A synonym for bold.
font: Set the second argument using the font specified by the first argument; currently not recognized by the mandoc(1)eqn parser.
from: Set the following box below the preceding box, using a slightly smaller font. Used for sums, integrals, limits, and the like.
hat: Set a hat (circumflex) over the preceding box.
italic: Set the following box using italic font.
lcol: Like lpile, but for use in matrix.
left: Set the first argument as a big left delimiter before the second argument. As an optional third argument, right can follow. In that case, the fourth argument is set as a big right delimiter after the second argument.
lpile: Like cpile, but subequations are left-justified.
matrix: Followed by a list of columns enclosed in braces. All columns need to have the same number of subequations. The columns are set as a matrix. The difference compared to multiple subsequent pile operators is that in a matrix, corresponding subequations in all columns line up horizontally, while each pile does vertical spacing independently.
over: Set a fraction. The preceding box is the numerator, the following box is the denominator.
pile: Followed by a list of subequations enclosed in braces, the subequations being separated by above keywords. Sets the subequations one above the other, each of them centered. Typically used to represent vectors in coordinate representation.
rcol: Like rpile, but for use in matrix.
right: See left; right cannot be used without left. To set a big right delimiter without a big left delimiter, the following construction can be used: left""boxrightdelimiter
roman: Set the following box using the default font.
rpile: Like cpile, but subequations are right-justified.
size: Set the second argument with the font size specified by the first argument; currently ignored by mandoc(1). By prepending a plus or minus sign to the first argument, the font size can be selected relative to the current size.
sqrt: Set the square root of the following box.
sub: Set the following box as a subscript to the preceding box.
sup: both are set with respect to the same mainbox, that is, supbox is set above subbox.
tilde: Set a tilde over the preceding box.
to: both are set below and above the same mainbox.
under: Underline the preceding box.
vec: Set a vector symbol (right arrow) over the preceding box.

The binary operations from, to, sub, and sup group to the right, that is,

is the same as

and different from

By contrast, over groups to the left.

In the following list, earlier operations bind more tightly than later operations:

dyad , vec , under , bar , tilde , hat , dot , dotdot
fat , roman , italic , bold , size
sub , sup
sqrt
over
from , to

COMPATIBILITY

This section documents the compatibility of mandoc eqn and the troff eqn implementation (including GNU troff).

The text string ‘\"’ is interpreted as a literal quote in troff. In mandoc, this is interpreted as a comment.
In troff, The circumflex and tilde white-space symbols map to fixed-width spaces. In mandoc, these characters are synonyms for the space character.
The troff implementation of eqn allows for equation alignment with the mark and lineup tokens. mandoc discards these tokens. The back n , fwd n , up n , and down n commands are also ignored.

HISTORY

The eqn utility, a preprocessor for troff, was originally written by Brian W. Kernighan and Lorinda L. Cherry in 1975. The GNU reimplementation of eqn, part of the GNU troff package, was released in 1989 by James Clark. The eqn component of mandoc(1) was added in 2011.

AUTHORS

This eqn reference was written by Kristaps Dzonsons <[email protected]>.

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