A pod-to-whatever translator reads a pod file paragraph by paragraph,
and translates it to the appropriate output format. There are
three kinds of paragraphs:
+L<verbatim|/"Verbatim Paragraph">,
+L<command|/"Command Paragraph">, and
+L<ordinary text|/"Ordinary Block of Text">.
-=over 4
-
-=item *
+=head2 Verbatim Paragraph
A verbatim paragraph, distinguished by being indented (that is,
it starts with space or tab). It should be reproduced exactly,
special formatting escapes, so you can't italicize or anything
like that. A \ means \, and nothing else.
-=item *
+=head2 Command Paragraph
-A command. All command paragraphs start with "=", followed by an
+All command paragraphs start with "=", followed by an
identifier, followed by arbitrary text that the command can
use however it pleases. Currently recognized commands are
=begin X
=end X
+=over 4
+
+=item =pod
+
+=item =cut
+
The "=pod" directive does nothing beyond telling the compiler to lay
off parsing code through the next "=cut". It's useful for adding
another paragraph to the doc if you're mixing up code and pod a lot.
+=item =head1
+
+=item =head2
+
Head1 and head2 produce first and second level headings, with the text in
the same paragraph as the "=headn" directive forming the heading description.
+=item =over
+
+=item =back
+
+=item =item
+
Item, over, and back require a little more explanation: "=over" starts a
section specifically for the generation of a list using "=item" commands. At
the end of your list, use "=back" to end it. You will probably want to give
or use "=item 1.", "=item 2.", etc., to produce numbered lists, or use
"=item foo", "=item bar", etc., i.e., things that looks nothing like bullets
or numbers. If you start with bullets or numbers, stick with them, as many
-formatters use the first "=item" type to decide how to format the list.
+formatters use the first "=item" type to decide how to format the list.
+
+=item =for
+
+=item =begin
+
+=item =end
For, begin, and end let you include sections that are not interpreted
as pod text, but passed directly to particular formatters. A formatter
paragraph is in the format indicated by the first word after
"=for", like this:
- =for html <br>
+ =for html <br>
<p> This is a raw HTML paragraph </p>
The paired commands "=begin" and "=end" work very similarly to "=for", but
instead of only accepting a single paragraph, all text from "=begin" to a
-paragraph with a matching "=end" are treated as a particular format.
+paragraph with a matching "=end" are treated as a particular format.
Here are some examples of how to use these:
And don't forget, when using any command, that the command lasts up until
the end of the B<paragraph>, not the line. Hence in the examples below, you
-can see the blank lines after each command to end its paragraph.
+can see the empty lines after each command to end its paragraph.
Some examples of lists include:
=back
-=item *
+=back
+
+=head2 Ordinary Block of Text
-An ordinary block of text. It will be filled, and maybe even
+It will be filled, and maybe even
justified. Certain interior sequences are recognized both
here and in commands:
I<text> italicize text, used for emphasis or variables
B<text> embolden text, used for switches and programs
S<text> text contains non-breaking spaces
- C<code> literal code
+ C<code> literal code
L<name> A link (cross reference) to name
L<name> manual page
L<name/ident> item in manual page
L<"sec"> section in this manual page
(the quotes are optional)
L</"sec"> ditto
+ same as above but only 'text' is used for output.
+ (Text can not contain the characters '/' and '|',
+ and should contain matched '<' or '>')
+ L<text|name>
+ L<text|name/ident>
+ L<text|name/"sec">
+ L<text|"sec">
+ L<text|/"sec">
+
F<file> Used for filenames
X<index> An index entry
- ZE<lt>E<gt> A zero-width character
+ Z<> A zero-width character
E<escape> A named character (very similar to HTML escapes)
E<lt> A literal <
E<gt> A literal >
+ E<sol> A literal /
+ E<verbar> A literal |
(these are optional except in other interior
sequences and when preceded by a capital letter)
E<n> Character number n (probably in ASCII)
E<html> Some non-numeric HTML entity, such
as E<Agrave>
-=back
+=head2 The Intent
That's it. The intent is simplicity, not power. I wanted paragraphs
to look like paragraphs (block format), so that they stand out
book. I'm just trying to make an idiot-proof common source for nroff,
TeX, and other markup languages, as used for online documentation.
Translators exist for B<pod2man> (that's for nroff(1) and troff(1)),
-B<pod2html>, B<pod2latex>, and B<pod2fm>.
+B<pod2text>, B<pod2html>, B<pod2latex>, and B<pod2fm>.
-=head1 Embedding Pods in Perl Modules
+=head2 Embedding Pods in Perl Modules
You can embed pod documentation in your Perl scripts. Start your
documentation with a "=head1" command at the beginning, and end it
with a "=cut" command. Perl will ignore the pod text. See any of the
supplied library modules for examples. If you're going to put your
pods at the end of the file, and you're using an __END__ or __DATA__
-cut mark, make sure to put a blank line there before the first pod
+cut mark, make sure to put an empty line there before the first pod
directive.
__END__
-
=head1 NAME
modern - I am a modern module
-If you had not had that blank line there, then the translators wouldn't
+If you had not had that empty line there, then the translators wouldn't
have seen it.
-=head1 Common Pod Pitfalls
+=head2 Common Pod Pitfalls
=over 4
=item *
Pod translators usually will require paragraphs to be separated by
-completely empty lines. If you have an apparently blank line with
+completely empty lines. If you have an apparently empty line with
some spaces on it, this can cause odd formatting.
=item *
LE<lt>fooE<gt> manpage>, if you want the translated document to read
sensibly.
+If you don need or want total control of the text used for a
+link in the output use the form LE<lt>show this text|fooE<gt>
+instead.
+
=item *
The script F<pod/checkpods.PL> in the Perl source distribution
-provides skeletal checking for lines that look blank but aren't
+provides skeletal checking for lines that look empty but aren't
B<only>, but is there as a placeholder until someone writes
Pod::Checker. The best way to check your pod is to pass it through
one or more translators and proofread the result, or print out the
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