NAME

PolyglotMan, rman - reverse compile man pages from formatted form to a number of source formats

SYNOPSIS

rman [ _o_p_t_i_o_n_s ] [ _f_i_l_e ]

DESCRIPTION

_P_o_l_y_g_l_o_t_M_a_n takes man pages from most of the popular flavors of UNIX and transforms them into any of a number of text source formats. PolyglotMan was formerly known as RosettaMan. The name of the binary is still called _r_m_a_n , for scripts that depend on that name; mnemonically, just think "reverse man". Previously _P_o_l_y_g_l_o_t_M_a_n required pages to be formatted by nroff prior to its processing. With version 3.0, it _p_r_e_f_e_r_s _[_t_n_]_r_o_f_f _s_o_u_r_c_e and usually produces results that are better yet. And source processing is the only way to translate tables. Source format translation is not as mature as formatted, however, so try formatted translation as a backup.

In parsing [tn]roff source, one could implement an arbitrarily large subset of [tn]roff, which I did not and will not do, so the results can be off. I did implement a significant subset of those use in man pages, however, including tbl (but not eqn), if tests, and general macro definitions, so usually the results look great. If they don't, format the page with nroff before sending it to PolyglotMan. If PolyglotMan doesn't recognize a key macro used by a large class of pages, however, e-mail me the source and a uuencoded nroff-formatted page and I'll see what I can do. When running PolyglotMan with man page source that includes or redirects to other [tn]roff source using the .so (source or inclusion) macro, you should be in the parent directory of the page, since pages are written with this assumption. For example, if you are translating /usr/man/man1/ls.1, first cd into /usr/man.

_P_o_l_y_g_l_o_t_M_a_n accepts man pages from: SunOS, Sun Solaris, Hewlett-Packard HP-UX, AT&T System V, OSF/1 aka Digital UNIX, DEC Ultrix, SGI IRIX, Linux, FreeBSD, SCO. Source processing works for: SunOS, Sun Solaris, Hewlett-Packard HP-UX, AT&T System V, OSF/1 aka Digital UNIX, DEC Ultrix. It can produce printable ASCII-only (control characters stripped), section headers-only, Tk, TkMan, [tn]roff (traditional man page source), SGML, HTML, MIME, LaTeX, LaTeX2e, RTF, Perl 5 POD. A modular architecture permits easy addition of additional output formats.

The latest version of PolyglotMan is always available from _f_t_p_:_/_/_f_t_p_._c_s_._b_e_r_k_e_l_e_y_._e_d_u_/_u_c_b_/_p_e_o_p_l_e_/_p_h_e_l_p_s_/_t_c_l_t_k_/_r_m_a_n_._t_a_r_._Z .

OPTIONS

The following options should not be used with any others and exit PolyglotMan without processing any input.
-h|--help
Show list of command line options and exit.
-v|--version
Show version number and exit.

_Y_o_u _s_h_o_u_l_d _s_p_e_c_i_f_y _t_h_e _f_i_l_t_e_r _f_i_r_s_t_, _a_s _t_h_i_s _s_e_t_s _a _n_u_m_b_e_r _o_f _p_a_r_a_m_e_t_e_r_s_, _a_n_d _t_h_e_n _s_p_e_c_i_f_y _o_t_h_e_r _o_p_t_i_o_n_s_. _<_d_l _c_o_m_p_a_c_t_> _<_d_t_> _-_f_|_-_-_f_i_l_t_e_r _<_A_S_C_I_I_|_r_o_f_f_|_T_k_M_a_n_|_T_k_|_S_e_c_t_i_o_n_s_|_H_T_M_L_|_S_G_M_L_|_M_I_M_E_|_L_a_T_e_X_|_L_a_T_e_X_2_e_|_R_T_F_|_P_O_D_> _<_d_d_> _S_e_t _t_h_e _o_u_t_p_u_t _f_i_l_t_e_r_. _D_e_f_a_u_l_t_s _t_o _A_S_C_I_I_. _<_d_t_> _-_S_|_-_-_s_o_u_r_c_e _<_d_d_> _P_o_l_y_g_l_o_t_M_a_n _t_r_i_e_s _t_o _a_u_t_o_m_a_t_i_c_a_l_l_y _d_e_t_e_r_m_i_n_e _w_h_e_t_h_e_r _i_t_s _i_n_p_u_t _i_s _s_o_u_r_c_e _o_r _f_o_r_m_a_t_t_e_d_; _u_s_e _t_h_i_s _o_p_t_i_o_n _t_o _d_e_c_l_a_r_e _s_o_u_r_c_e _i_n_p_u_t_. _<_d_t_> _-_F_|_-_-_f_o_r_m_a_t_|_-_-_f_o_r_m_a_t_t_e_d _<_d_d_> _P_o_l_y_g_l_o_t_M_a_n _t_r_i_e_s _t_o _a_u_t_o_m_a_t_i_c_a_l_l_y _d_e_t_e_r_m_i_n_e _w_h_e_t_h_e_r _i_t_s _i_n_p_u_t _i_s _s_o_u_r_c_e _o_r _f_o_r_m_a_t_t_e_d_; _u_s_e _t_h_i_s _o_p_t_i_o_n _t_o _d_e_c_l_a_r_e _f_o_r_m_a_t_t_e_d _i_n_p_u_t_. _<_d_t_> _-_l_|_-_-_t_i_t_l_e _p_r_i_n_t_f_-_s_t_r_i_n_g

In HTML mode this sets the of the man pages, given the same parameters as _-_r . <dt> -r|--reference|--manref _p_r_i_n_t_f_-_s_t_r_i_n_g <dd> In HTML and SGML modes this sets the URL form by which to retrieve other man pages. The string can use two supplied parameters: the man page name and its section. (See the Examples section.) If the string is null (as if set from a shell by "-r ''"), `-' or `off', then man page references will not be HREFs, just set in italics. If your printf supports XPG3 positions specifier, this can be quite flexible. <dt> -V|--volumes _<_c_o_l_o_n_-_s_e_p_a_r_a_t_e_d _l_i_s_t_> <dd> Set the list of valid volumes to check against when looking for cross-references to other man pages. Defaults to _1_:_2_:_3_:_4_:_5_:_6_:_7_:_8_:_9_:_o_:_l_:_n_:_p (volume names can be multicharacter). If an non-whitespace string in the page is immediately followed by a left parenthesis, then one of the valid volumes, and ends with optional other characters and then a right parenthesis--then that string is reported as a reference to another manual page. If this -V string starts with an equals sign, then no optional characters are allowed between the match to the list of valids and the right parenthesis. (This option is needed for SCO UNIX.) </dl> <p> The following options apply only when formatted pages are given as input. They do not apply or are always handled correctly with the source. <dl compact> <dt> -b|--subsections <dd> Try to recognize subsection titles in addition to section titles. This can cause problems on some UNIX flavors. <dt> -K|--nobreak <dd> Indicate manual pages don't have page breaks, so don't look for footers and headers around them. (Older nroff -man macros always put in page breaks, but lately some vendors have realized that printout are made through troff, whereas nroff -man is used to format pages for reading on screen, and so have eliminated page breaks.) _P_o_l_y_g_l_o_t_M_a_n usually gets this right even without this flag. <dt> -k|--keep <dd> Keep headers and footers, as a canonical report at the end of the page. changeleft Move changebars, such as those found in the Tcl/Tk manual pages, to the left. --> notaggressive _D_i_s_a_b_l_e aggressive man page parsing. Aggressive manual, which is on by default, page parsing elides headers and footers, identifies sections and more. --> <dt> -n|--name _n_a_m_e <dd> Set name of man page (used in roff format). If the filename is given in the form " _n_a_m_e . _s_e_c_t_i_o_n ", the name and section are automatically determined. If the page is being parsed from [tn]roff source and it has a .TH line, this information is extracted from that line. <dt> -p|--paragraph <dd> paragraph mode toggle. The filter determines whether lines should be linebroken as they were by nroff, or whether lines should be flowed together into paragraphs. Mainly for internal use. <dt> -s|section _# <dd> Set volume (aka section) number of man page (used in roff format). tables Turn on aggressive table parsing. --> <dt> -t|--tabstops _# <dd> For those macros sets that use tabs in place of spaces where possible in order to reduce the number of characters used, set tabstops every _# columns. Defaults to 8. </dl> <h3 id="NOTES ON FILTER TYPES "> NOTES ON FILTER TYPES </h3> <h4 id="ROFF "> ROFF </h4> Some flavors of UNIX ship man page without [tn]roff source, making one's laser printer little more than a laser-powered daisy wheel. This filer tries to intuit the original [tn]roff directives, which can then be recompiled by [tn]roff. <h4 id="TkMan "> TkMan </h4> TkMan, a hypertext man page browser, uses _P_o_l_y_g_l_o_t_M_a_n to show man pages without the (usually) useless headers and footers on each pages. It also collects section and (optionally) subsection heads for direct access from a pulldown menu. TkMan and Tcl/Tk, the toolkit in which it's written, are available via anonymous ftp from _f_t_p_:_/_/_f_t_p_._s_m_l_i_._c_o_m_/_p_u_b_/_t_c_l_/ <h4 id="Tk "> Tk </h4> This option outputs the text in a series of Tcl lists consisting of text-tags pairs, where tag names roughly correspond to HTML. This output can be inserted into a Tk text widget by doing an _e_v_a_l _<_t_e_x_t_w_i_d_g_e_t_> _i_n_s_e_r_t _e_n_d _<_t_e_x_t_> . This format should be relatively easily parsable by other programs that want both the text and the tags. Also see ASCII. <h4 id="ASCII "> ASCII </h4> When printed on a line printer, man pages try to produce special text effects by overstriking characters with themselves (to produce bold) and underscores (underlining). Other text processing software, such as text editors, searchers, and indexers, must counteract this. The ASCII filter strips away this formatting. Piping nroff output through _c_o_l _-_b also strips away this formatting, but it leaves behind unsightly page headers and footers. Also see Tk. <h4 id="Sections "> Sections </h4> Dumps section and (optionally) subsection titles. This might be useful for another program that processes man pages. <h4 id="HTML "> HTML </h4> With a simple extension to an HTTP server for Mosaic or other World Wide Web browser, _P_o_l_y_g_l_o_t_M_a_n can produce high quality HTML on the fly. Several such extensions and pointers to several others are included in _P_o_l_y_g_l_o_t_M_a_n 's _c_o_n_t_r_i_b directory. <h4 id="SGML "> SGML </h4> This is approaching the Docbook DTD, but I'm hoping that someone that someone with a real interest in this will polish the tags generated. Try it to see how close the tags are now. <h4 id="MIME "> MIME </h4> MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) as defined by RFC 1563, good for consumption by MIME-aware e-mailers or as Emacs (>=19.29) enriched documents. <h4 id="LaTeX and LaTeX2e "> LaTeX and LaTeX2e </h4> Why not? <h4 id="RTF "> RTF </h4> Use output on Mac or NeXT or whatever. Maybe take random man pages and integrate with NeXT's documentation system better. Maybe NeXT has own man page macros that do this. <h4 id="PostScript and FrameMaker "> PostScript and FrameMaker </h4> To produce PostScript, use _g_r_o_f_f or _p_s_r_o_f_f . To produce FrameMaker MIF, use FrameMaker's builtin filter. In both cases you need _[_t_n_]_r_o_f_f source, so if you only have a formatted version of the manual page, use _P_o_l_y_g_l_o_t_M_a_n 's roff filter first. <h3 id="EXAMPLES "> EXAMPLES </h3> To convert the _f_o_r_m_a_t_t_e_d man page named _l_s_._1 back into [tn]roff source form: <p> _r_m_a_n _-_f _r_o_f_f _/_u_s_r_/_l_o_c_a_l_/_m_a_n_/_c_a_t_1_/_l_s_._1 _> _/_u_s_r_/_l_o_c_a_l_/_m_a_n_/_m_a_n_1_/_l_s_._1 <br> <p> Long man pages are often compressed to conserve space (compression is especially effective on formatted man pages as many of the characters are spaces). As it is a long man page, it probably has subsections, which we try to separate out (some macro sets don't distinguish subsections well enough for _P_o_l_y_g_l_o_t_M_a_n to detect them). Let's convert this to LaTeX format: <br> <p> _p_c_a_t _/_u_s_r_/_c_a_t_m_a_n_/_a___m_a_n_/_c_a_t_1_/_a_u_t_o_m_o_u_n_t_._z _| _r_m_a_n _-_b _-_n _a_u_t_o_m_o_u_n_t _-_s _1 _-_f _l_a_t_e_x _> _a_u_t_o_m_o_u_n_t_._m_a_n <br> <p> Alternatively, _m_a_n _1 _a_u_t_o_m_o_u_n_t _| _r_m_a_n _-_b _-_n _a_u_t_o_m_o_u_n_t _-_s _1 _-_f _l_a_t_e_x _> _a_u_t_o_m_o_u_n_t_._m_a_n <br> <p> For HTML/Mosaic users, _P_o_l_y_g_l_o_t_M_a_n can, without modification of the source code, produce HTML links that point to other HTML man pages either pregenerated or generated on the fly. First let's assume pregenerated HTML versions of man pages stored in _/_u_s_r_/_m_a_n_/_h_t_m_l . Generate these one-by-one with the following form: <br> _r_m_a_n _-_f _h_t_m_l _-_r _'_h_t_t_p_:_/_u_s_r_/_m_a_n_/_h_t_m_l_/_%_s_._%_s_._h_t_m_l_' _/_u_s_r_/_m_a_n_/_c_a_t_1_/_l_s_._1 _> _/_u_s_r_/_m_a_n_/_h_t_m_l_/_l_s_._1_._h_t_m_l <br> <p> If you've extended your HTML client to generate HTML on the fly you should use something like: <br> _r_m_a_n _-_f _h_t_m_l _-_r _'_h_t_t_p_:_~_/_b_i_n_/_m_a_n_2_h_t_m_l_?_%_s_:_%_s_' _/_u_s_r_/_m_a_n_/_c_a_t_1_/_l_s_._1 <br> when generating HTML. <h3 id="BUGS/INCOMPATIBILITIES "> BUGS/INCOMPATIBILITIES </h3> _P_o_l_y_g_l_o_t_M_a_n is not perfect in all cases, but it usually does a good job, and in any case reduces the problem of converting man pages to light editing. <p> Tables in formatted pages, especially H-P's, aren't handled very well. Be sure to pass in source for the page to recognize tables. <p> The man pager _w_o_m_a_n applies its own idea of formatting for man pages, which can confuse _P_o_l_y_g_l_o_t_M_a_n . Bypass _w_o_m_a_n by passing the formatted manual page text directly into _P_o_l_y_g_l_o_t_M_a_n . <p> The [tn]roff output format uses fB to turn on boldface. If your macro set requires .B, you'll have to a postprocess the _P_o_l_y_g_l_o_t_M_a_n output. <h3 id="SEE ALSO "> SEE ALSO </h3> _t_k_m_a_n_(_1_) , _x_m_a_n_(_1_) , _m_a_n_(_1_) , _m_a_n_(_7_) or _m_a_n_(_5_) depending on your flavor of UNIX <h3 id="AUTHOR "> AUTHOR </h3> PolyglotMan <br> by Thomas A. Phelps ( _p_h_e_l_p_s_@_A_C_M_._o_r_g ) <br> developed at the <br> University of California, Berkeley <br> Computer Science Division <p> Manual page last updated on $Date: 2004/03/05 14:26:40 $ </body> </html>