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 *
-A command. All command paragraphs start with "=", followed by an
+=head2 Command Paragraph
+
+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
=back
=cut
=pod
+ =for X
+ =begin X
+ =end X
+
+=over 4
+
+=item =pod
+
+=item =cut
The "=pod" directive does nothing beyond telling the compiler to lay
-off of through the next "=cut". It's useful for adding another
-paragraph to the doc if you're mixing up code and pod a lot.
+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 on
-the same paragraph as "=headn" forming the heading description.
+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, 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
-"4" as the number to =over, as some formatters will use this for indentation.
+=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
+"4" as the number to "=over", as some formatters will use this for indentation.
This should probably be a default. Note also that there are some basic rules
to using =item: don't use them outside of an =over/=back block, use at least
one inside an =over/=back block, you don't _have_ to include the =back if
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
+that can utilize that format will use the section, otherwise it will be
+completely ignored. The directive "=for" specifies that the entire next
+paragraph is in the format indicated by the first word after
+"=for", like this:
+
+ =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.
-And don't forget, when using any command, that that command lasts up until
+Here are some examples of how to use these:
+
+ =begin html
+
+ <br>Figure 1.<IMG SRC="figure1.png"><br>
+
+ =end html
+
+ =begin text
+
+ ---------------
+ | foo |
+ | bar |
+ ---------------
+
+ ^^^^ Figure 1. ^^^^
+
+ =end text
+
+Some format names that formatters currently are known to accept include
+"roff", "man", "latex", "tex", "text", and "html". (Some formatters will
+treat some of these as synonyms.)
+
+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 *
-An ordinary block of text. It will be filled, and maybe even
+=back
+
+
+=head2 Ordinary Block of Text
+
+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 '|' 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
- Z<> A zero-width character
- E<escape> An HTML escape
+ Z<> A zero-width character
+ E<escape> A named character (very similar to HTML escapes)
E<lt> A literal <
E<gt> A literal >
(these are optional except in other interior
sequences and when preceded by a capital letter)
- E<nnn> Character number nnn.
+ 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 beg, and end it with
-an =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 directive.
+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 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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