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mdman(1)

NAME

mdman - Converts markdown to a man page

SYNOPSIS

mdman [options] -t type -o outdir sources...

DESCRIPTION

Converts a markdown file to a man page.

The source file is first processed as a handlebars template. Then, it is processed as markdown into the target format. This supports different output formats, such as troff or plain text.

Every man page should start with a level-1 header with the man name and section, such as # mdman(1).

The handlebars template has several special tags to assist with generating the man page:

  • Every block of command-line options must be wrapped between {{#options}} and {{/options}} tags. This tells the processor where the options start and end.

  • Each option must be expressed with a {{#option}} block. The parameters to the block are a sequence of strings indicating the option. For example, {{#option "`-p` _spec_..." "`--package` _spec_..."}} is an option that has two different forms. The text within the string is processed as markdown. It is recommended to use formatting similar to this example.

    The content of the {{#option}} block should contain a detailed description of the option.

    Use the {{/option}} tag to end the option block.

  • References to other man pages should use the {{man name section}} expression. For example, {{man "mdman" 1}} will generate a reference to the mdman(1) man page. For non-troff output, the --man option will tell mdman how to create links to the man page. If there is no matching --man option, then it links to a file named name.md in the same directory.

  • Variables can be set with {{*set name="value"}}. These variables can then be referenced with {{name}} expressions.

  • Partial templates should be placed in a directory named includes next to the source file. Templates can be included with an expression like {{> template-name}}.

  • Other helpers include:

    • {{lower value}} Converts the given value to lowercase.

OPTIONS

-t type
Specifies the output type. The following output types are supported:

  • man — A troff-style man page. Outputs with a numbered extension (like .1) matching the man page section.
  • md — A markdown file, after all handlebars processing has been finished. Outputs with the .md extension.
  • txt — A text file, rendered for situations where a man page viewer isn’t available. Outputs with the .txt extension.
-o outdir
Specifies the directory where to save the output.
--url base_url
Specifies a base URL to use for relative URLs within the document. Any relative URL will be joined with this URL.
--man name:section=url
Specifies a URL to use for the given man page. When the {{man name section}} expression is used, the given URL will be inserted as a link. This may be specified multiple times. If a man page reference does not have a matching --man entry, then a relative link to a file named name.md will be used.
sources…
The source input filename, may be specified multiple times.

EXAMPLES

  1. Convert the given documents to man pages:

    mdman -t man -o doc doc/mdman.md