codekingpro/portable-devtools

1<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?>2<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /><title>J.6. Style Guide</title><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="stylesheet.css" /><link rev="made" href="pgsql-docs@lists.postgresql.org" /><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets Vsnapshot" /><link rel="prev" href="docguide-authoring.html" title="J.5. Documentation Authoring" /><link rel="next" href="limits.html" title="Appendix K. PostgreSQL Limits" /></head><body id="docContent" class="container-fluid col-10"><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="5" align="center">J.6. Style Guide</th></tr><tr><td width="10%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="docguide-authoring.html" title="J.5. Documentation Authoring">Prev</a> </td><td width="10%" align="left"><a accesskey="u" href="docguide.html" title="Appendix J. Documentation">Up</a></td><th width="60%" align="center">Appendix J. Documentation</th><td width="10%" align="right"><a accesskey="h" href="index.html" title="PostgreSQL 16.3 Documentation">Home</a></td><td width="10%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="limits.html" title="Appendix K. PostgreSQL Limits">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr /></div><div class="sect1" id="DOCGUIDE-STYLE"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both">J.6. Style Guide <a href="#DOCGUIDE-STYLE" class="id_link">#</a></h2></div></div></div><div class="toc"><dl class="toc"><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="docguide-style.html#DOCGUIDE-STYLE-REF-PAGES">J.6.1. Reference Pages</a></span></dt></dl></div><div class="sect2" id="DOCGUIDE-STYLE-REF-PAGES"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title">J.6.1. Reference Pages <a href="#DOCGUIDE-STYLE-REF-PAGES" class="id_link">#</a></h3></div></div></div><p>3    Reference pages should follow a standard layout.  This allows4    users to find the desired information more quickly, and it also5    encourages writers to document all relevant aspects of a command.6    Consistency is not only desired among7    <span class="productname">PostgreSQL</span> reference pages, but also8    with reference pages provided by the operating system and other9    packages.  Hence the following guidelines have been developed.10    They are for the most part consistent with similar guidelines11    established by various operating systems.12   </p><p>13    Reference pages that describe executable commands should contain14    the following sections, in this order.  Sections that do not apply15    can be omitted.  Additional top-level sections should only be used16    in special circumstances; often that information belongs in the17    <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Usage</span>”</span> section.18 19    </p><div class="variablelist"><dl class="variablelist"><dt id="DOCGUIDE-STYLE-REF-PAGES-NAME"><span class="term">Name</span> <a href="#DOCGUIDE-STYLE-REF-PAGES-NAME" class="id_link">#</a></dt><dd><p>20        This section is generated automatically.  It contains the21        command name and a half-sentence summary of its functionality.22       </p></dd><dt id="DOCGUIDE-STYLE-REF-PAGES-SYNOPSIS"><span class="term">Synopsis</span> <a href="#DOCGUIDE-STYLE-REF-PAGES-SYNOPSIS" class="id_link">#</a></dt><dd><p>23        This section contains the syntax diagram of the command.  The24        synopsis should normally not list each command-line option;25        that is done below.  Instead, list the major components of the26        command line, such as where input and output files go.27       </p></dd><dt id="DOCGUIDE-STYLE-REF-PAGES-DESCRIPTION"><span class="term">Description</span> <a href="#DOCGUIDE-STYLE-REF-PAGES-DESCRIPTION" class="id_link">#</a></dt><dd><p>28        Several paragraphs explaining what the command does.29       </p></dd><dt id="DOCGUIDE-STYLE-REF-PAGES-OPTIONS"><span class="term">Options</span> <a href="#DOCGUIDE-STYLE-REF-PAGES-OPTIONS" class="id_link">#</a></dt><dd><p>30        A list describing each command-line option.  If there are a31        lot of options, subsections can be used.32       </p></dd><dt id="DOCGUIDE-STYLE-REF-PAGES-EXIT-STATUS"><span class="term">Exit Status</span> <a href="#DOCGUIDE-STYLE-REF-PAGES-EXIT-STATUS" class="id_link">#</a></dt><dd><p>33        If the program uses 0 for success and non-zero for failure,34        then you do not need to document it.  If there is a meaning35        behind the different non-zero exit codes, list them here.36       </p></dd><dt id="DOCGUIDE-STYLE-REF-PAGES-USAGE"><span class="term">Usage</span> <a href="#DOCGUIDE-STYLE-REF-PAGES-USAGE" class="id_link">#</a></dt><dd><p>37        Describe any sublanguage or run-time interface of the program.38        If the program is not interactive, this section can usually be39        omitted.  Otherwise, this section is a catch-all for40        describing run-time features.  Use subsections if appropriate.41       </p></dd><dt id="DOCGUIDE-STYLE-REF-PAGES-ENVIRONMENT"><span class="term">Environment</span> <a href="#DOCGUIDE-STYLE-REF-PAGES-ENVIRONMENT" class="id_link">#</a></dt><dd><p>42        List all environment variables that the program might use.43        Try to be complete; even seemingly trivial variables like44        <code class="envar">SHELL</code> might be of interest to the user.45       </p></dd><dt id="DOCGUIDE-STYLE-REF-PAGES-FILES"><span class="term">Files</span> <a href="#DOCGUIDE-STYLE-REF-PAGES-FILES" class="id_link">#</a></dt><dd><p>46        List any files that the program might access implicitly.  That47        is, do not list input and output files that were specified on48        the command line, but list configuration files, etc.49       </p></dd><dt id="DOCGUIDE-STYLE-REF-PAGES-DIAGNOSTICS"><span class="term">Diagnostics</span> <a href="#DOCGUIDE-STYLE-REF-PAGES-DIAGNOSTICS" class="id_link">#</a></dt><dd><p>50        Explain any unusual output that the program might create.51        Refrain from listing every possible error message.  This is a52        lot of work and has little use in practice.  But if, say, the53        error messages have a standard format that the user can parse,54        this would be the place to explain it.55       </p></dd><dt id="DOCGUIDE-STYLE-REF-PAGES-NOTES"><span class="term">Notes</span> <a href="#DOCGUIDE-STYLE-REF-PAGES-NOTES" class="id_link">#</a></dt><dd><p>56        Anything that doesn't fit elsewhere, but in particular bugs,57        implementation flaws, security considerations, compatibility58        issues.59       </p></dd><dt id="DOCGUIDE-STYLE-REF-PAGES-EXAMPLES"><span class="term">Examples</span> <a href="#DOCGUIDE-STYLE-REF-PAGES-EXAMPLES" class="id_link">#</a></dt><dd><p>60        Examples61       </p></dd><dt id="DOCGUIDE-STYLE-REF-PAGES-HISTORY"><span class="term">History</span> <a href="#DOCGUIDE-STYLE-REF-PAGES-HISTORY" class="id_link">#</a></dt><dd><p>62        If there were some major milestones in the history of the63        program, they might be listed here.  Usually, this section can64        be omitted.65       </p></dd><dt id="DOCGUIDE-STYLE-REF-PAGES-AUTHOR"><span class="term">Author</span> <a href="#DOCGUIDE-STYLE-REF-PAGES-AUTHOR" class="id_link">#</a></dt><dd><p>66        Author (only used in the contrib section)67       </p></dd><dt id="DOCGUIDE-STYLE-REF-PAGES-SEE-ALSO"><span class="term">See Also</span> <a href="#DOCGUIDE-STYLE-REF-PAGES-SEE-ALSO" class="id_link">#</a></dt><dd><p>68        Cross-references, listed in the following order: other69        <span class="productname">PostgreSQL</span> command reference pages,70        <span class="productname">PostgreSQL</span> SQL command reference71        pages, citation of <span class="productname">PostgreSQL</span>72        manuals, other reference pages (e.g., operating system, other73        packages), other documentation.  Items in the same group are74        listed alphabetically.75       </p></dd></dl></div><p>76   </p><p>77    Reference pages describing SQL commands should contain the78    following sections: Name, Synopsis, Description, Parameters,79    Outputs, Notes, Examples, Compatibility, History, See80    Also.  The Parameters section is like the Options section, but81    there is more freedom about which clauses of the command can be82    listed.  The Outputs section is only needed if the command returns83    something other than a default command-completion tag.  The Compatibility84    section should explain to what extent85    this command conforms to the SQL standard(s), or to which other86    database system it is compatible.  The See Also section of SQL87    commands should list SQL commands before cross-references to88    programs.89   </p></div></div><div class="navfooter"><hr /><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="docguide-authoring.html" title="J.5. Documentation Authoring">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="docguide.html" title="Appendix J. Documentation">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="limits.html" title="Appendix K. PostgreSQL Limits">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">J.5. Documentation Authoring </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="index.html" title="PostgreSQL 16.3 Documentation">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> Appendix K. <span class="productname">PostgreSQL</span> Limits</td></tr></table></div></body></html>