Set it as a hanging paragraph, as is idiomatic for Unix command
synopses. Tighten formatting: set synopsis syntax characters adjacently
to operands. Since viewing the scoreboard is a separate mode of
operation, arrange first the options that select this mode.[1] Also
drop explicit line breaks, permitting synopsis to exercise the
configured line length of the selected output device.
Before and after, as rendered with Solaris 10 troff:
- nethack [ -d|--directory directory ] -s|--scores [ -v ]
- [ -p profession ] [ -r race ] [ player-name ...]
+ nethack {-s|--scores} [-d|--directory directory] [-v]
+ [-p profession] [-r race] [player-name ...]
Before and after, as rendered with groff, mandoc, and Heirloom Doctools
troff:
- nethack [ -d|--directory directory ] -s|--scores [ -v ]
- [ -p profession ] [ -r race ] [ player‐name ...]
+ nethack {-s|--scores} [-d|--directory directory] [-v] [-p profession]
+ [-r race] [player‐name ...]
Not shown: Literal text is in bold, and option arguments in italics.
[1] See, for example,
<https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9799919799.2024edition/utilities/compress.html>.
G. Branden Robinson
e4476516cd