DocBook: The Definitive Guide
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RefEntry

Name

RefEntry -- A reference page (originally a UNIX man-style reference page)

Synopsis

Content Model

RefEntry ::=
(DocInfo?,RefMeta?,
 (Comment|Link|OLink|ULink)*,
 RefNameDiv,RefSynopsisDiv?,RefSect1+)

Attributes

Common attributes

Name

Type

Default

StatusCDATANone

Tag Minimization

The start-tag is required for this element. The end-tag is optional, if your SGML declaration allows minimization.

Parameter Entities

%bookcomponent.content;%moreinfo.attrib;%partcontent.mix;
%refentry.class;

Description

A RefEntry is a reference page. In UNIX parlance this has historically been called a "man page" (short for manual page).

RefEntry is an appropriate wrapper for any small unit of reference documentation describing a single topic. Canonical examples are programming language functions and user commands (one RefEntry per function or command).[1]

On some projects, the structure of reference pages may be rigorously defined right down to the number, order, and title of individual sections (some or all of which may be required).

Processing expectations

Formatted as a displayed block. It is not uncommon for RefEntrys to introduce a forced page break in print media.

Formatting reference pages may require a fairly sophisticated processing system. Much of the meta-information about a reference page (its name, type, purpose, title, and classification) is stored in wrappers near the beginning of the RefEntry.

Common presentational features, such as titles and running heads, may require data from several of these wrappers plus some generated text. Other formatting often requires that these elements be reordered.

Parents

These elements contain RefEntry: Appendix, Article, Chapter, Part, PartIntro, Preface, Reference, Sect1, Sect2, Sect3, Sect4, Sect5, Section.

Children

The following elements occur in RefEntry: Comment, DocInfo, Link, OLink, RefMeta, RefNameDiv, RefSect1, RefSynopsisDiv, ULink.

In some contexts, the following elements are allowed anywhere: BeginPage, IndexTerm.

Attributes

Status

Status identifies the editorial or publication status of the RefEntry.

Publication status might be used to control formatting (for example, printing a "draft" watermark on drafts) or processing (perhaps a document with a status of "final" should not include any components that are not final).

Examples

A typical reference page for a command:

<!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook V3.1//EN">
<refentry id="ls">

<refmeta>
<refentrytitle>ls</refentrytitle>
<manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
</refmeta>

<refnamediv>
<refname>ls</refname>
<refpurpose>list contents of a directory</refpurpose>
</refnamediv>

<refsynopsisdiv>
<cmdsynopsis>
<command>/usr/bin/ls</command>
<arg choice="opt">
  <option>aAbcCdfFgilLmnopqrRstux1</option>
</arg>
<arg choice="opt" rep="repeat">file</arg>
</cmdsynopsis>

<refsect1><title>Description</title>
<para>
For each file that is a directory, <command>ls</> lists the contents of
the directory; for each file that is an ordinary file, <command>ls</>
repeats its name and any other information requested.
</para>
<para>&hellip;</para>
</refsect1>
</refentry>

A typical reference page for a function:

<!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook V3.1//EN">
<refentry id="printf">

<refmeta>
<refentrytitle>printf</refentrytitle>
<manvolnum>3S</manvolnum>
</refmeta>

<refnamediv>
<refname>printf</refname>
<refname>fprintf</refname>
<refname>sprintf</refname>
<refpurpose>print formatted output</refpurpose>
</refnamediv>

<refsynopsisdiv>

<funcsynopsis>
<funcsynopsisinfo>
#include &lt;stdio.h&gt;
</funcsynopsisinfo>
<funcprototype>
  <funcdef>int <function>printf</function></funcdef>
  <paramdef>const char *<parameter>format</parameter></paramdef>
  <paramdef>...</paramdef>
</funcprototype>

<funcprototype>
  <funcdef>int <function>fprintf</function></funcdef>
  <paramdef>FILE *<parameter>strm</parameter></paramdef>
  <paramdef>const char *<parameter>format</parameter></paramdef>
  <paramdef>...</paramdef>
</funcprototype>

<funcprototype>
  <funcdef>int <function>sprintf</function></funcdef>
  <paramdef>char *<parameter>s</parameter></paramdef>
  <paramdef>const char *<parameter>format</parameter></paramdef>
  <paramdef>...</paramdef>
</funcprototype>
</funcsynopsis>

</refsynopsisdiv>

<refsect1><title>Description</title>
<para>
<function>printf</function> places output on the standard
output stream stdout.
</para>
<para>&hellip;</para>
</refsect1>
</refentry>

A reference page for a data structure:

<!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook V3.1//EN">
<refentry id="iovec">

<refmeta>
<refentrytitle>iovec</refentrytitle>
<manvolnum>9S</manvolnum>
</refmeta>

<refnamediv>
<refname>iovec</refname>
<refpurpose>data storage structure for I/O using uio</refpurpose>
</refnamediv>

<refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
#include &lt;sys/uio.h&gt;
</synopsis>
</refsynopsisdiv>

<refsect1><title>Interface Level</title>
<para>
Architecture independent level 1 (DDI/DKI).
</para>
</refsect1>

<refsect1><title>Description</title>

<para>
An <structname>iovec</structname> structure describes a data
storage area for transfer in a
<citerefentry><refentrytitle>uio</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>9S</manvolnum>
</citerefentry>
structure. Conceptually,
it may be thought of as a base address and length specification.
</para>

</refsect1>
<refsect1><title>Structure Members</title>

<programlisting>
     caddr_t  iov_base;  /* base address of the data storage area */
                         /* represented by the iovec structure */
     int      iov_len;   /* size of the data storage area in bytes */
</programlisting>

<para>&hellip;</para>
</refsect1>
</refentry>

For additional examples, see also Reference.

Notes

[1]

You're reading a RefEntry right now.

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