inshellah/lib/manpage.ml
2026-03-24 22:57:18 +11:00

1088 lines
42 KiB
OCaml

(* manpage.ml — parse unix manpages (groff/mdoc format) into help_result.
*
* manpages are written in roff/groff markup — a decades-old typesetting language
* used by man(1). this module strips the formatting and extracts structured data
* (flags, subcommands, positionals) from the raw groff source.
*
* there are two major manpage macro packages:
* - man (groff) — used by gnu/linux tools. uses macros like .SH, .TP, .IP, .PP
* - mdoc (bsd) — used by bsd tools. uses .Sh, .Fl, .Ar, .Op, .It, .Bl/.El
*
* this module handles both, auto-detecting the format by checking for .Sh macros.
*
* for groff manpages, flag extraction uses multiple "strategies" that target
* different common formatting patterns:
* - strategy_tp: .TP tagged paragraphs (gnu coreutils, help2man)
* - strategy_ip: .IP indented paragraphs (curl, hand-written)
* - strategy_pp_rs: .PP + .RS/.RE blocks (git, docbook)
* - strategy_nix: nix3-style bullet .IP with .UR/.UE hyperlinks
* - strategy_deroff: fallback — strip all groff, feed to help text parser
*
* the module tries all applicable strategies and picks the one that extracts
* the most flag entries, on the theory that more results = better match.
*
* key peculiarities:
* - groff has an enormous escape syntax (font changes, named characters,
* size changes, color, string variables, etc.) — strip_groff_escapes
* handles the common cases but is not exhaustive
* - font escapes like \fI (italic) need to insert spaces at word boundaries
* to prevent flag names from fusing with their parameter names
* - the strategies share the angstrom-based switch_parser from parser.ml
* for parsing the actual flag syntax out of the stripped text
*)
open Parser
(* --- groff escape/formatting stripper ---
* groff escapes start with backslash and use various continuation syntaxes.
* this function strips them, replacing named characters (like \(aq for
* apostrophe) with their text equivalents and discarding formatting directives. *)
let strip_groff_escapes s =
let buf = Buffer.create (String.length s) in
let len = String.length s in
let i = ref 0 in
let last = ref '\000' in
let put c = Buffer.add_char buf c; last := c in
let is_alnum c =
(c >= 'a' && c <= 'z') || (c >= 'A' && c <= 'Z') || (c >= '0' && c <= '9')
in
while !i < len do
if s.[!i] = '\\' && !i + 1 < len then begin
let next = s.[!i + 1] in
match next with
| 'f' ->
(* Font escape: \fB, \fI, \fP, \fR, \f(XX, \f[...] *)
if !i + 2 < len then begin
let fc = s.[!i + 2] in
(* Insert space before italic font to preserve word boundaries
e.g. \fB--max-results\fR\fIcount\fR → "--max-results count" *)
if fc = 'I' && is_alnum !last then put ' ';
if fc = '(' then
i := !i + 5 (* \f(XX *)
else if fc = '[' then begin
i := !i + 3;
while !i < len && s.[!i] <> ']' do incr i done;
if !i < len then incr i
end else
i := !i + 3 (* \fX *)
end else
i := !i + 2
| '-' ->
put '-';
i := !i + 2
| '&' | '/' | ',' ->
(* Zero-width characters *)
i := !i + 2
| '(' ->
(* Two-char named character: \(aq, \(lq, \(rq, etc. *)
if !i + 3 < len then begin
let name = String.sub s (!i + 2) 2 in
(match name with
| "aq" -> put '\''
| "lq" | "Lq" -> put '"'
| "rq" | "Rq" -> put '"'
| "em" | "en" -> put '-'
| _ -> ());
i := !i + 4
end else
i := !i + 2
| '[' ->
(* Named character: \[...] *)
i := !i + 2;
let start = !i in
while !i < len && s.[!i] <> ']' do incr i done;
if !i < len then begin
let name = String.sub s start (!i - start) in
(match name with
| "aq" -> put '\''
| "lq" | "Lq" -> put '"'
| "rq" | "Rq" -> put '"'
| _ -> ());
incr i
end
| 's' ->
(* Size escape: \sN, \s+N, \s-N, \s'N' *)
i := !i + 2;
if !i < len && (s.[!i] = '+' || s.[!i] = '-') then incr i;
if !i < len && s.[!i] >= '0' && s.[!i] <= '9' then incr i;
if !i < len && s.[!i] >= '0' && s.[!i] <= '9' then incr i
| 'm' ->
(* Color escape: \m[...] *)
i := !i + 2;
if !i < len && s.[!i] = '[' then begin
incr i;
while !i < len && s.[!i] <> ']' do incr i done;
if !i < len then incr i
end
| 'X' ->
(* Device control: \X'...' *)
i := !i + 2;
if !i < len && s.[!i] = '\'' then begin
incr i;
while !i < len && s.[!i] <> '\'' do incr i done;
if !i < len then incr i
end
| '*' ->
(* String variable: \*X or \*(XX or \*[...] *)
i := !i + 2;
if !i < len then begin
if s.[!i] = '(' then
i := !i + 2
else if s.[!i] = '[' then begin
incr i;
while !i < len && s.[!i] <> ']' do incr i done;
if !i < len then incr i
end else
incr i
end
| 'n' ->
(* Number register: \nX or \n(XX or \n[...] *)
i := !i + 2;
if !i < len then begin
if s.[!i] = '(' then
i := !i + 2
else if s.[!i] = '[' then begin
incr i;
while !i < len && s.[!i] <> ']' do incr i done;
if !i < len then incr i
end else
incr i
end
| 'e' ->
put '\\';
i := !i + 2
| '\\' ->
put '\\';
i := !i + 2
| ' ' ->
put ' ';
i := !i + 2
| _ ->
(* Unknown escape, skip *)
i := !i + 2
end else begin
put s.[!i];
incr i
end
done;
Buffer.contents buf
(* strip inline macro formatting: .BI, .BR, .IR, etc.
* these macros alternate between fonts for their arguments, e.g.:
* .BI "--output " "FILE"
* becomes "--outputFILE" (arguments concatenated without spaces).
*
* peculiarity: quoted strings are kept together (quotes stripped), but
* unquoted spaces are consumed. this matches groff's actual rendering
* of these macros, where alternating-font arguments are concatenated. *)
let strip_inline_macro_args s =
let buf = Buffer.create (String.length s) in
let len = String.length s in
let i = ref 0 in
while !i < len do
if s.[!i] = '"' then begin
incr i;
while !i < len && s.[!i] <> '"' do
Buffer.add_char buf s.[!i];
incr i
done;
if !i < len then incr i
end else if s.[!i] = ' ' || s.[!i] = '\t' then begin
incr i
end else begin
Buffer.add_char buf s.[!i];
incr i
end
done;
Buffer.contents buf
let strip_groff line =
let s = strip_groff_escapes line in
String.trim s
(* --- line classification ---
* every line in a manpage is classified as one of four types.
* this classification drives all subsequent parsing — strategies
* pattern-match on sequences of classified lines. *)
type groff_line =
| Macro of string * string (* macro name + args, e.g. ("SH", "OPTIONS") or ("TP", "") *)
| Text of string (* plain text after groff stripping *)
| Blank (* empty line *)
| Comment (* groff comment: .backslash-quote or backslash-quote *)
(* classify a single line of manpage source.
* macro lines start with '.' or '\'' (groff alternate control char).
* the macro name is split from its arguments at the first space/tab.
* arguments wrapped in double quotes are unquoted. *)
let classify_line line =
let len = String.length line in
if len = 0 then Blank
else if len >= 2 && line.[0] = '.' && line.[1] = '\\' && (len < 3 || line.[2] = '"') then
Comment
else if len >= 3 && line.[0] = '\\' && line.[1] = '"' then
Comment
else if line.[0] = '.' || line.[0] = '\'' then begin
(* Macro line *)
let rest = String.sub line 1 (len - 1) in
let rest = String.trim rest in
(* Split into macro name and arguments *)
let space_pos =
try Some (String.index rest ' ')
with Not_found ->
try Some (String.index rest '\t')
with Not_found -> None
in
match space_pos with
| Some pos ->
let name = String.sub rest 0 pos in
let args = String.trim (String.sub rest (pos + 1) (String.length rest - pos - 1)) in
(* Strip quotes from args *)
let args =
let alen = String.length args in
if alen >= 2 && args.[0] = '"' && args.[alen - 1] = '"' then
String.sub args 1 (alen - 2)
else args
in
Macro (name, args)
| None ->
Macro (rest, "")
end else begin
let stripped = strip_groff line in
if String.length stripped = 0 then Blank
else Text stripped
end
(* refined comment detection — the base classify_line may miss some comment
* forms, so this wrapper checks more carefully before falling through to
* the general classifier. *)
let is_comment_line line =
let len = String.length line in
(len >= 3 && line.[0] = '.' && line.[1] = '\\' && line.[2] = '"')
|| (len >= 2 && line.[0] = '\\' && line.[1] = '"')
let classify_line line =
if is_comment_line line then Comment
else classify_line line
(* --- section extraction ---
* manpages are divided into sections by .SH macros. the options section
* contains the flag definitions we want. if there's no OPTIONS section,
* we fall back to DESCRIPTION (some simple tools put flags there).
*
* old-style nix manpages (nix-build, nix-env-install, etc.) split flags
* across multiple .SH sections with option-like names: e.g. "Options" for
* command-specific flags and "Common Options" for flags shared by all nix
* commands. collecting only the first such section misses the majority of
* flags, so we collect and concatenate ALL option-like sections. *)
let extract_options_section lines =
let classified = List.map classify_line lines in
(* collect lines until the next .SH header, returning (content, rest)
* where rest starts at the .SH line (or is empty if at end of file). *)
let rec collect_section lines acc =
match lines with
| [] -> (List.rev acc, [])
| Macro ("SH", _) :: _ -> (List.rev acc, lines)
| line :: rest -> collect_section rest (line :: acc)
in
let is_options_section name =
let s = String.uppercase_ascii (String.trim name) in
s = "OPTIONS"
|| (String.length s > 0 &&
try let _ = Str.search_forward (Str.regexp_string "OPTION") s 0 in true
with Not_found -> false)
in
(* Collect from ALL option-like .SH sections and concatenate them.
* handles the common nix pattern where "Options" and "Common Options"
* are separate .SH sections but both contain relevant flags.
*
* a synthetic Macro("SH","") separator is inserted between sections so
* that collect_desc_text (which stops on SH/SS) does not let a description
* from the last entry in one section bleed into the intro text of the next. *)
let rec find_all_options lines acc =
match lines with
| [] -> acc
| Macro ("SH", args) :: rest when is_options_section args ->
let (section, remaining) = collect_section rest [] in
let sep = if acc = [] then [] else [Macro ("SH", "")] in
find_all_options remaining (acc @ sep @ section)
| _ :: rest -> find_all_options rest acc
in
(* Fallback: DESCRIPTION section *)
let rec find_description = function
| [] -> []
| Macro ("SH", args) :: rest
when String.uppercase_ascii (String.trim args) = "DESCRIPTION" ->
fst (collect_section rest [])
| _ :: rest -> find_description rest
in
match find_all_options classified [] with
| [] -> find_description classified
| sections -> sections
(* --- strategy-based entry extraction ---
* rather than a single monolithic parser, we use multiple "strategies" that
* each target a specific groff formatting pattern. this is necessary because
* manpage authors use very different macro combinations for the same purpose.
*
* the shared building blocks:
* - collect_text_lines: gather consecutive Text lines into one description string
* - parse_tag_to_entry: run the angstrom switch parser on a tag string to
* extract the flag definition. this reuses the same parser that handles
* --help output, giving consistent extraction across both sources.
* - tag_of_macro: extract the "tag" text from formatting macros like .B, .BI, etc.
*)
(* collect consecutive text lines, joining them with spaces *)
let rec collect_text_lines lines acc =
match lines with
| Text s :: rest -> collect_text_lines rest (s :: acc)
| _ -> (String.concat " " (List.rev acc), lines)
(* attempt to parse a tag string (e.g. "-v, --verbose FILE") into an entry.
* uses the angstrom switch_parser + param_parser from parser.ml.
* returns none if the tag doesn't look like a flag definition. *)
let parse_tag_to_entry tag desc =
let tag = strip_groff_escapes tag in
let tag = String.trim tag in
match Angstrom.parse_string ~consume:Angstrom.Consume.Prefix
(Angstrom.lift2 (fun sw p -> (sw, p)) switch_parser param_parser) tag with
| Ok (switch, param) -> Some { switch; param; desc }
| Error _ -> None
(* Extract tag text from a macro line (.B, .I preserve spaces; .BI/.BR/.IR alternate) *)
let tag_of_macro name args =
match name with
| "B" | "I" -> strip_groff_escapes args |> String.trim
| _ -> strip_inline_macro_args args |> strip_groff_escapes |> String.trim
(* strategy a: .TP style (most common — gnu coreutils, help2man).
* .TP introduces a tagged paragraph: the next line is the "tag" (flag name)
* and subsequent text lines are the description. the tag can be plain text
* or wrapped in a formatting macro (.B, .BI, etc.).
*
* example groff:
* .TP
* \fB\-v\fR, \fB\-\-verbose\fR
* increase verbosity *)
let strategy_tp lines =
let rec walk lines acc =
match lines with
| [] -> List.rev acc
| Macro ("TP", _) :: rest ->
(* Next line is the tag — could be Text or a formatting macro *)
begin match rest with
| Text tag :: rest2 ->
let (desc, rest3) = collect_text_lines rest2 [] in
let entry = parse_tag_to_entry tag desc in
walk rest3 (match entry with Some e -> e :: acc | None -> acc)
| Macro (("B" | "I" | "BI" | "BR" | "IR") as m, args) :: rest2 ->
let tag = tag_of_macro m args in
let (desc, rest3) = collect_text_lines rest2 [] in
let entry = parse_tag_to_entry tag desc in
walk rest3 (match entry with Some e -> e :: acc | None -> acc)
| _ -> walk rest acc
end
| _ :: rest -> walk rest acc
in
walk lines []
(* strategy b: .IP style (curl, hand-written manpages).
* .IP takes an inline tag argument: .IP "-v, --verbose"
* the description follows as text lines. simpler than .TP because
* the tag is on the macro line itself. *)
let strategy_ip lines =
let rec walk lines acc =
match lines with
| [] -> List.rev acc
| Macro ("IP", tag) :: rest ->
let tag = strip_groff_escapes tag in
let (desc, rest2) = collect_text_lines rest [] in
let entry = parse_tag_to_entry tag desc in
walk rest2 (match entry with Some e -> e :: acc | None -> acc)
| _ :: rest -> walk rest acc
in
walk lines []
(* strategy c: .PP + .RS/.RE style (git, docbook-generated manpages).
* flag entries are introduced by .PP (paragraph), with the flag name as
* plain text, followed by a .RS (indent) block containing the description,
* closed by .RE (de-indent). this is common in docbook→manpage toolchains. *)
let strategy_pp_rs lines =
let rec walk lines acc =
match lines with
| [] -> List.rev acc
| Macro ("PP", _) :: rest ->
begin match rest with
| Text tag :: rest2 ->
(* Look for .RS ... text ... .RE *)
let rec collect_rs lines desc_acc =
match lines with
| Macro ("RS", _) :: rest3 ->
collect_in_rs rest3 desc_acc
| Text s :: rest3 ->
(* Sometimes description follows directly *)
collect_rs rest3 (s :: desc_acc)
| _ -> (String.concat " " (List.rev desc_acc), lines)
and collect_in_rs lines desc_acc =
match lines with
| Macro ("RE", _) :: rest3 ->
(String.concat " " (List.rev desc_acc), rest3)
| Text s :: rest3 ->
collect_in_rs rest3 (s :: desc_acc)
| Macro ("PP", _) :: _ | Macro ("SH", _) :: _ ->
(String.concat " " (List.rev desc_acc), lines)
| _ :: rest3 -> collect_in_rs rest3 desc_acc
| [] -> (String.concat " " (List.rev desc_acc), [])
in
let (desc, rest3) = collect_rs rest2 [] in
let entry = parse_tag_to_entry tag desc in
walk rest3 (match entry with Some e -> e :: acc | None -> acc)
| _ -> walk rest acc
end
| _ :: rest -> walk rest acc
in
walk lines []
(* strategy d: deroff fallback — strip all groff markup, then feed the
* resulting plain text through the --help parser from parser.ml.
* this is the last resort when no structured macro pattern is recognized.
* it works surprisingly well for simple manpages but may miss entries
* in heavily formatted ones. *)
let strategy_deroff_lines lines =
let buf = Buffer.create 256 in
List.iter (fun line ->
match line with
| Text s ->
Buffer.add_string buf s;
Buffer.add_char buf '\n'
| Macro (("BI" | "BR" | "IR" | "B" | "I"), args) ->
let text = strip_inline_macro_args args in
let text = strip_groff_escapes text in
Buffer.add_string buf text;
Buffer.add_char buf '\n'
| Blank -> Buffer.add_char buf '\n'
| _ -> ()
) lines;
let text = Buffer.contents buf in
match parse_help text with
| Ok result -> result.entries
| Error _ -> []
(* strategy e: nix3-style bullet .IP with .UR/.UE hyperlinks.
* nix's manpages use .IP with bullet markers for flag entries, interleaved
* with .UR/.UE hyperlink macros. the flag tag is in text lines after the
* bullet .IP, and the description follows a non-bullet .IP marker.
*
* peculiarity: nix manpages nest .RS/.RE blocks inside descriptions for
* sub-examples. the skip_rs helper tracks nesting depth to skip these
* without losing the rest of the description. *)
let strategy_nix lines =
let is_bullet_ip args =
String.length (String.trim args) > 0
in
let rec walk lines acc =
match lines with
| [] -> List.rev acc
| Macro ("IP", args) :: rest when is_bullet_ip args ->
(* Collect tag: skip UR/UE macros, collect Text lines *)
let rec collect_tag lines parts =
match lines with
| Macro ("UR", _) :: rest2 -> collect_tag rest2 parts
| Macro ("UE", _) :: rest2 -> collect_tag rest2 parts
| Text s :: rest2 -> collect_tag rest2 (s :: parts)
| _ -> (String.concat " " (List.rev parts), lines)
in
let (tag, rest2) = collect_tag rest [] in
(* Collect description after the description .IP marker *)
let rec collect_desc lines parts =
match lines with
| Macro ("IP", dargs) :: rest3 when not (is_bullet_ip dargs) ->
collect_desc_text rest3 parts
| _ -> (String.concat " " (List.rev parts), lines)
and collect_desc_text lines parts =
match lines with
| Text s :: rest3 -> collect_desc_text rest3 (s :: parts)
| Macro ("IP", args) :: _ when is_bullet_ip args ->
(String.concat " " (List.rev parts), lines)
| Macro (("SS" | "SH"), _) :: _ ->
(String.concat " " (List.rev parts), lines)
| Macro ("RS", _) :: rest3 ->
skip_rs rest3 parts 1
| Macro ("IP", _) :: rest3 ->
(* Non-bullet IP = continuation paragraph *)
collect_desc_text rest3 parts
| Macro _ :: rest3 -> collect_desc_text rest3 parts
| Blank :: rest3 -> collect_desc_text rest3 parts
| Comment :: rest3 -> collect_desc_text rest3 parts
| [] -> (String.concat " " (List.rev parts), [])
and skip_rs lines parts depth =
match lines with
| Macro ("RE", _) :: rest3 ->
if depth <= 1 then collect_desc_text rest3 parts
else skip_rs rest3 parts (depth - 1)
| Macro ("RS", _) :: rest3 -> skip_rs rest3 parts (depth + 1)
| _ :: rest3 -> skip_rs rest3 parts depth
| [] -> (String.concat " " (List.rev parts), [])
in
let (desc, rest3) = collect_desc rest2 [] in
let entry = parse_tag_to_entry tag desc in
walk rest3 (match entry with Some e -> e :: acc | None -> acc)
| _ :: rest -> walk rest acc
in
walk lines []
(* count occurrences of a specific macro in the section.
* used by extract_entries to decide which strategies are worth trying. *)
let count_macro name lines =
List.fold_left (fun n line ->
match line with Macro (m, _) when m = name -> n + 1 | _ -> n
) 0 lines
(* auto-detect and try strategies, return the one with most entries.
* first counts macros to determine which strategies are applicable,
* then runs all applicable ones and picks the winner by entry count.
* if no specialized strategy produces results, falls back to deroff.
*
* peculiarity: this "try everything, pick the best" approach is intentional.
* manpage formatting is too varied and inconsistent to reliably detect the
* format from macro counts alone. running multiple strategies and comparing
* results is more robust. *)
let extract_entries lines =
let tp = count_macro "TP" lines
and ip = count_macro "IP" lines
and pp = count_macro "PP" lines
and rs = count_macro "RS" lines
and ur = count_macro "UR" lines in
let specialized = List.filter_map Fun.id [
(if tp > 0 then Some ("TP", strategy_tp lines) else None);
(if ip > 0 then Some ("IP", strategy_ip lines) else None);
(if pp > 0 && rs > 0 then Some ("PP+RS", strategy_pp_rs lines) else None);
(if ur > 0 && ip > 0 then Some ("nix", strategy_nix lines) else None);
] in
let candidates = match List.filter (fun (_, e) -> e <> []) specialized with
| [] -> [("deroff", strategy_deroff_lines lines)]
| filtered -> filtered
in
List.fold_left (fun (_, best) (name, entries) ->
if List.length entries >= List.length best then (name, entries)
else (name, best)
) ("none", []) candidates |> snd
(* --- NAME section description extraction ---
* the NAME section in manpages follows the convention:
* "command \- short description"
* we extract the part after "\-" as the command's description.
* handles both "\-" (groff) and " - " (plain text) separators. *)
let extract_name_description contents =
let lines = String.split_on_char '\n' contents in
let classified = List.map classify_line lines in
let rec find = function
| [] -> None
| Macro ("SH", args) :: rest
when String.uppercase_ascii (String.trim args) = "NAME" ->
collect rest []
| _ :: rest -> find rest
and collect lines acc =
match lines with
| Macro ("SH", _) :: _ | [] -> finish acc
| Text s :: rest -> collect rest (s :: acc)
| Macro (("B" | "BI" | "BR" | "I" | "IR"), args) :: rest ->
let s = strip_inline_macro_args args |> strip_groff_escapes |> String.trim in
collect rest (if String.length s > 0 then s :: acc else acc)
| Macro ("Nm", args) :: rest ->
let s = strip_groff_escapes args |> String.trim in
collect rest (if String.length s > 0 then s :: acc else acc)
| Macro ("Nd", args) :: rest ->
let s = strip_groff_escapes args |> String.trim in
collect rest (if String.length s > 0 then ("\\- " ^ s) :: acc else acc)
| _ :: rest -> collect rest acc
and finish acc =
let full = String.concat " " (List.rev acc) |> String.trim in
(* NAME lines look like: "git-add \- Add file contents to the index" *)
let sep = Str.regexp {| *\\- *\| +- +|} in
match Str.bounded_split sep full 2 with
| [_; desc] -> Some (String.trim desc)
| _ -> None
in
find classified
(* --- SYNOPSIS command name extraction ---
* the SYNOPSIS section shows how to invoke the command:
* .SH SYNOPSIS
* .B git add
* [\fIOPTIONS\fR] [\fB\-\-\fR] [\fI<pathspec>\fR...]
*
* we extract the command name by taking consecutive "word" tokens until
* we hit something that looks like an argument (starts with [, <, -, etc.). *)
let extract_synopsis_command_lines lines =
let classified = List.map classify_line lines in
let is_synopsis name =
let s = String.uppercase_ascii (String.trim name) in
s = "SYNOPSIS"
in
let extract_cmd line =
let words = String.split_on_char ' ' (String.trim line) in
let words = List.filter (fun w -> String.length w > 0) words in
let is_cmd_char = function
| 'a'..'z' | 'A'..'Z' | '0'..'9' | '-' | '_' | '.' -> true
| _ -> false
in
let rec take = function
| [] -> []
| w :: rest ->
if String.length w > 0
&& (w.[0] = '[' || w.[0] = '-' || w.[0] = '<'
|| w.[0] = '(' || w.[0] = '{')
then []
else if String.for_all is_cmd_char w then
w :: take rest
else []
in
match take words with
| [] -> None
| cmd -> Some (String.concat " " cmd)
in
let rec find = function
| [] -> None
| Macro ("SH", args) :: rest when is_synopsis args -> collect rest
| _ :: rest -> find rest
and collect = function
| [] -> None
| Macro ("SH", _) :: _ -> None
| Text s :: _ ->
let s = String.trim s in
if String.length s > 0 then extract_cmd s else None
| Macro (("B" | "BI" | "BR"), args) :: _ ->
let s = strip_inline_macro_args args |> strip_groff_escapes |> String.trim in
if String.length s > 0 then extract_cmd s else None
| _ :: rest -> collect rest
in
find classified
let extract_synopsis_command contents =
let lines = String.split_on_char '\n' contents in
extract_synopsis_command_lines lines
(* --- SYNOPSIS positional extraction ---
* extract positional arguments from the SYNOPSIS section by collecting
* all text/formatting macro lines, joining them, skipping the command
* name prefix, then running parse_usage_args from parser.ml on the remainder. *)
let extract_synopsis_positionals_lines lines =
let classified = List.map classify_line lines in
let is_synopsis name =
String.uppercase_ascii (String.trim name) = "SYNOPSIS"
in
let rec find = function
| [] -> []
| Macro ("SH", args) :: rest when is_synopsis args -> collect rest []
| _ :: rest -> find rest
and collect lines acc =
match lines with
| [] -> finish acc
| Macro ("SH", _) :: _ -> finish acc
| Macro ("SS", _) :: _ -> finish acc
| Macro ("br", _) :: _ -> finish acc
| Text s :: rest ->
let s = strip_groff_escapes s |> String.trim in
collect rest (if String.length s > 0 then s :: acc else acc)
| Macro (("B" | "BI" | "BR" | "I" | "IR" | "IB" | "RB" | "RI"), args) :: rest ->
let s = strip_inline_macro_args args |> strip_groff_escapes |> String.trim in
collect rest (if String.length s > 0 then s :: acc else acc)
| _ :: rest -> collect rest acc
and finish acc =
let parts = List.rev acc in
let full = String.concat " " parts |> String.trim in
if String.length full = 0 then []
else
let cmd_end = skip_command_prefix full in
let args = String.sub full cmd_end (String.length full - cmd_end) in
parse_usage_args args
in
find classified
(* --- mdoc (bsd) format support ---
* mdoc is the bsd manpage macro package. it uses semantic macros rather than
* presentation macros:
* .Fl v → flag: -v
* .Ar file → argument: file
* .Op ... → optional: [...]
* .Bl/.It/.El → list begin/item/end
* .Sh → section header (note lowercase 'h', vs groff's .SH)
*
* the parser walks through classified lines looking for .Bl (list begin)
* blocks containing .It (items) with .Fl (flag) entries. *)
let is_mdoc lines =
List.exists (fun l ->
match classify_line l with Macro ("Sh", _) -> true | _ -> false
) lines
let mdoc_text_of line =
match line with
| Text s -> Some (strip_groff_escapes s)
| Macro (m, args) ->
(match m with
| "Pp" | "Bl" | "El" | "Sh" | "Ss" | "Os" | "Dd" | "Dt"
| "Oo" | "Oc" | "Op" -> None
| _ ->
let s = strip_groff_escapes args |> String.trim in
if s = "" then None else Some s)
| _ -> None
(* parse an mdoc .It (list item) line that contains flag definitions.
* mdoc .It lines look like: ".It Fl v Ar file"
* where Fl = flag, Ar = argument. we extract the flag name and parameter.
*
* peculiarity: only handles single-char short flags and long flags starting
* with '-'. mdoc's .Fl macro automatically prepends '-', so "Fl v" means "-v"
* and "Fl -verbose" means "--verbose". *)
let parse_mdoc_it args =
let words = String.split_on_char ' ' args
|> List.filter (fun w -> w <> "" && w <> "Ns") in
let param = match words with
| _ :: _ :: "Ar" :: p :: _ -> Some (Mandatory p)
| _ -> None
in
match words with
| "Fl" :: c :: _ when String.length c = 1 && is_alphanumeric c.[0] ->
Some { switch = Short c.[0]; param; desc = "" }
| "Fl" :: name :: _ when String.length name > 1 && name.[0] = '-' ->
Some { switch = Long (String.sub name 1 (String.length name - 1)); param; desc = "" }
| _ -> None
let positional_of_mdoc_line optional args =
let words = String.split_on_char ' ' args
|> List.filter (fun w -> w <> "") in
match words with
| name :: _ when String.length name >= 2 ->
Some { pos_name = String.lowercase_ascii name;
optional; variadic = List.mem "..." words }
| _ -> None
(* parse an entire mdoc-format manpage.
* walks through all classified lines looking for:
* 1. .Bl/.It/.El list blocks containing flag definitions
* 2. .Sh SYNOPSIS sections containing positional arguments (.Ar, .Op Ar)
*
* peculiarity: the scan function handles nested .Bl blocks — if the first
* .It in a .Bl starts with .Fl (a flag), the entire list is parsed as
* options. otherwise the list is skipped (it might be an example list or
* a description list). *)
let parse_mdoc_lines lines =
let classified = List.map classify_line lines in
let rec skip_to_el = function
| [] -> []
| Macro ("El", _) :: rest -> rest
| _ :: rest -> skip_to_el rest
in
let rec collect_desc acc = function
| [] -> (acc, [])
| (Macro ("It", _) | Macro ("El", _)
| Macro ("Sh", _) | Macro ("Ss", _)) :: _ as rest -> (acc, rest)
| line :: rest ->
collect_desc (match mdoc_text_of line with Some s -> s :: acc | None -> acc) rest
in
let desc_of rest =
let parts, rest = collect_desc [] rest in
(String.concat " " (List.rev parts) |> String.trim, rest)
in
let parse_it args rest entries =
let desc, rest = desc_of rest in
let entries = match parse_mdoc_it args with
| Some e -> { e with desc } :: entries
| None -> entries
in
(entries, rest)
in
let rec parse_option_list entries = function
| [] -> (entries, [])
| Macro ("El", _) :: rest -> (entries, rest)
| Macro ("It", args) :: rest ->
let entries, rest = parse_it args rest entries in
parse_option_list entries rest
| _ :: rest -> parse_option_list entries rest
in
let rec scan entries positionals = function
| [] -> (entries, positionals)
| Macro ("Bl", _) :: Macro ("It", it_args) :: rest ->
let words = String.split_on_char ' ' it_args
|> List.filter (fun w -> w <> "") in
if (match words with "Fl" :: _ -> true | _ -> false) then
let entries, rest = parse_it it_args rest entries in
let entries, rest = parse_option_list entries rest in
scan entries positionals rest
else
scan entries positionals (skip_to_el rest)
| Macro ("Bl", _) :: rest -> scan entries positionals (skip_to_el rest)
| Macro ("Sh", args) :: rest
when String.uppercase_ascii (String.trim args) = "SYNOPSIS" ->
let positionals, rest = parse_synopsis positionals rest in
scan entries positionals rest
| _ :: rest -> scan entries positionals rest
and parse_synopsis positionals = function
| [] -> (positionals, [])
| Macro ("Sh", _) :: _ as rest -> (positionals, rest)
| Macro ("Ar", args) :: rest ->
let positionals = match positional_of_mdoc_line false args with
| Some p -> p :: positionals | None -> positionals in
parse_synopsis positionals rest
| Macro ("Op", args) :: rest ->
let words = String.split_on_char ' ' args
|> List.filter (fun w -> w <> "") in
let positionals = match words with
| "Ar" :: _ ->
(match positional_of_mdoc_line true args with
| Some p -> p :: positionals | None -> positionals)
| _ -> positionals in
parse_synopsis positionals rest
| _ :: rest -> parse_synopsis positionals rest
in
let entries, positionals = scan [] [] classified in
let positionals =
List.rev positionals
|> List.fold_left (fun (seen, acc) p ->
if List.mem p.pos_name seen then (seen, acc)
else (p.pos_name :: seen, p :: acc)
) ([], [])
|> snd |> List.rev
in
{ entries = List.rev entries; subcommands = []; positionals; description = "" }
(* --- COMMANDS section subcommand extraction ---
* some manpages (notably systemctl) have a dedicated COMMANDS section
* listing subcommands with descriptions. these use .PP + bold name +
* .RS/.RE blocks:
* .PP
* \fBstart\fR \fIUNIT\fR...
* .RS 4
* Start (activate) one or more units.
* .RE
*
* we extract the bold command name and first sentence of description. *)
let extract_commands_section lines =
let classified = List.map classify_line lines in
let rec collect_until_next_sh lines acc =
match lines with
| [] -> List.rev acc
| Macro ("SH", _) :: _ -> List.rev acc
| line :: rest -> collect_until_next_sh rest (line :: acc)
in
let is_commands_section name =
let s = String.uppercase_ascii (String.trim name) in
s = "COMMANDS" || s = "COMMAND"
in
let rec find_commands acc = function
| [] -> List.rev acc
| Macro ("SH", args) :: rest when is_commands_section args ->
find_commands (collect_until_next_sh rest [] :: acc) rest
| _ :: rest -> find_commands acc rest
in
let sections = find_commands [] classified in
List.concat sections
(* extract subcommand name from a bold groff text like
* "\fBlist\-units\fR [\fIPATTERN\fR...]" → "list-units"
*
* validates that the extracted name looks like a subcommand: lowercase,
* at least 2 chars, no leading dash. falls back to stripping all groff
* and taking the first word if no \fB...\fR wrapper is found. *)
let extract_bold_command_name text =
let s = String.trim text in
(* Look for \fB...\fR at the start *)
if String.length s >= 4
&& s.[0] = '\\' && s.[1] = 'f' && s.[2] = 'B' then
let start = 3 in
let end_marker = "\\fR" in
match String.split_on_char '\\' (String.sub s start (String.length s - start)) with
| name_part :: _ ->
let name = strip_groff_escapes ("\\fB" ^ name_part ^ end_marker) |> String.trim in
(* Must look like a subcommand: lowercase, hyphens, no leading dash *)
if String.length name >= 2
&& name.[0] <> '-'
&& String.for_all (fun c ->
(c >= 'a' && c <= 'z') || (c >= '0' && c <= '9') || c = '-' || c = '_'
) name
then Some name
else None
| [] -> None
else
(* Try already-stripped text *)
let stripped = strip_groff_escapes s in
let first_word = match String.split_on_char ' ' stripped with
| w :: _ -> w | [] -> "" in
if String.length first_word >= 2
&& first_word.[0] <> '-'
&& String.for_all (fun c ->
(c >= 'a' && c <= 'z') || (c >= '0' && c <= '9') || c = '-' || c = '_'
) first_word
then Some first_word
else None
let extract_subcommands_from_commands lines =
let rec walk lines acc =
match lines with
| [] -> List.rev acc
| Macro ("PP", _) :: rest ->
begin match rest with
| Text tag :: rest2 ->
(* Check if this is a subcommand (bold name, not a flag) *)
begin match extract_bold_command_name tag with
| Some name ->
(* Collect description from .RS/.RE block *)
let rec collect_desc lines desc_acc =
match lines with
| Macro ("RS", _) :: rest3 ->
collect_in_rs rest3 desc_acc
| Text s :: rest3 ->
collect_desc rest3 (s :: desc_acc)
| _ -> (String.concat " " (List.rev desc_acc), lines)
and collect_in_rs lines desc_acc =
match lines with
| Macro ("RE", _) :: rest3 ->
(String.concat " " (List.rev desc_acc), rest3)
| Text s :: rest3 ->
collect_in_rs rest3 (s :: desc_acc)
| Macro ("PP", _) :: _ | Macro ("SH", _) :: _ | Macro ("SS", _) :: _ ->
(String.concat " " (List.rev desc_acc), lines)
| _ :: rest3 -> collect_in_rs rest3 desc_acc
| [] -> (String.concat " " (List.rev desc_acc), [])
in
let (desc, rest3) = collect_desc rest2 [] in
let desc = String.trim desc in
(* Take first sentence as description *)
let short_desc = match String.split_on_char '.' desc with
| first :: _ when String.length first > 0 -> String.trim first
| _ -> desc in
let sc : subcommand = { name; desc = short_desc } in
walk rest3 (sc :: acc)
| None -> walk rest2 acc
end
| _ -> walk rest acc
end
| _ :: rest -> walk rest acc
in
walk lines []
(* --- top-level api --- *)
(* parse a manpage from its classified lines.
* auto-detects mdoc vs groff format. for groff, runs the multi-strategy
* extraction pipeline: extract OPTIONS section → try all strategies →
* pick best → extract SYNOPSIS positionals → extract COMMANDS subcommands. *)
let parse_manpage_lines lines =
if is_mdoc lines then
parse_mdoc_lines lines
else begin
let options_section = extract_options_section lines in
let entries = extract_entries options_section in
let positionals = extract_synopsis_positionals_lines lines in
let commands_section = extract_commands_section lines in
let subcommands = extract_subcommands_from_commands commands_section in
{ entries; subcommands; positionals; description = "" }
end
(* parse a manpage from its raw string contents.
* splits into lines, parses, then extracts the NAME section description. *)
let parse_manpage_string contents =
let lines = String.split_on_char '\n' contents in
let result = parse_manpage_lines lines in
let description = match extract_name_description contents with
| Some d -> d | None -> "" in
{ result with description }
(* --- clap-style SUBCOMMAND section extraction ---
* manpages generated by clap (rust's cli arg parser) put each subcommand
* under its own .SH SUBCOMMAND header with a Usage: line giving the name.
* this is unusual — most tools list subcommands under a single COMMANDS section.
*
* we collect all .SH SUBCOMMAND/SUBCOMMANDS sections, find the Usage: line
* in each to get the subcommand name, then extract flag entries from the
* section body. returns triples of (name, description, help_result). *)
let extract_subcommand_sections contents =
let lines = String.split_on_char '\n' contents in
let classified = List.map classify_line lines in
(* Split into sections at .SH boundaries *)
let rec collect_sections acc current_name current_lines = function
| [] ->
let acc = match current_name with
| Some n -> (n, List.rev current_lines) :: acc
| None -> acc in
List.rev acc
| Macro ("SH", args) :: rest ->
let acc = match current_name with
| Some n -> (n, List.rev current_lines) :: acc
| None -> acc in
let name = String.uppercase_ascii (String.trim args) in
if name = "SUBCOMMAND" || name = "SUBCOMMANDS" then
collect_sections acc (Some name) [] rest
else
collect_sections acc None [] rest
| line :: rest ->
collect_sections acc current_name (line :: current_lines) rest
in
let sections = collect_sections [] None [] classified in
(* For each SUBCOMMAND section, extract name from Usage: line and parse entries *)
let usage_re = Str.regexp {|Usage: \([a-zA-Z0-9_-]+\)|} in
let matches_usage s =
try ignore (Str.search_forward usage_re s 0); Some (Str.matched_group 1 s)
with Not_found -> None in
List.filter_map (fun (_header, section_lines) ->
let name, desc_lines =
List.fold_left (fun (name, desc_lines) line ->
match name with
| Some _ -> (name, desc_lines)
| None ->
match line with
| Text s ->
(match matches_usage s with
| Some _ as found -> (found, desc_lines)
| None -> (None, s :: desc_lines))
| Macro (("TP" | "B" | "BI" | "BR"), args) ->
let s = strip_inline_macro_args args |> strip_groff_escapes |> String.trim in
(matches_usage s, desc_lines)
| _ -> (None, desc_lines)
) (None, []) section_lines in
match name with
| None -> None
| Some subcmd_name ->
let entries = extract_entries section_lines in
let desc = String.concat " " (List.rev desc_lines)
|> strip_groff_escapes |> String.trim in
let desc = Str.global_replace (Str.regexp "`\\([^`]*\\)`") "\\1" desc in
Some (subcmd_name, desc, { entries; subcommands = []; positionals = []; description = desc })
) sections
(* read a manpage file from disk. handles .gz compressed files (the common
* case — most installed manpages are gzipped) using the Gzip library.
* plain text files are read directly. *)
let read_manpage_file path =
if Filename.check_suffix path ".gz" then begin
let ic = Gzip.open_in path in
let buf = Buffer.create 8192 in
let chunk = Bytes.create 8192 in
(try while true do
let n = Gzip.input ic chunk 0 8192 in
if n = 0 then raise Exit
else Buffer.add_subbytes buf chunk 0 n
done with Exit | End_of_file -> ());
Gzip.close_in ic;
Buffer.contents buf
end else begin
let ic = open_in path in
let n = in_channel_length ic in
let s = Bytes.create n in
really_input ic s 0 n;
close_in ic;
Bytes.to_string s
end
(* convenience: read + parse a manpage file in one step *)
let parse_manpage_file path =
read_manpage_file path |> parse_manpage_string