pod2man

pod2man [options] inputfile [outputfile]

--center=string
    Sets the centered title line of the man page.

--fixed
    Use a fixed-width font for verbatim text. Equivalent to --fixed=Courier.

--fixed=font
    Specifies the fixed-width font to use for verbatim text.

--help
    Displays help message.

--name=name
    Sets the name of the man page (defaults to the basename of the input file).

--official
    Indicates this is an official release.

--release=version
    Sets the release version string.

--section=section
    Sets the manual section number.

--verbose
    Enables verbose output.

inputfile
    The input POD file.

outputfile
    The output man page file. If omitted, output is written to standard output.

pod2man is a command-line utility that converts files written in the Plain Old Documentation (POD) format to Unix manual pages (man pages). POD is a simple markup language commonly used to document Perl modules and scripts. The resulting man pages can then be viewed using the man command. This is important because it allows perl documentation to be included within the standard linux documentation system.

The command parses the POD source and generates formatted output suitable for processing by a man page formatter (like nroff or troff). This ensures consistency and accessibility of documentation across different systems.

pod2man supports various formatting options to customize the appearance of the generated man page, and can handle different POD directives. It is a crucial tool for maintaining and distributing Perl software.

The exact formatting of the generated man page depends on the man page formatter used. Ensure that the formatter is properly configured on your system.

Exit status is 0 if all input files were successfully processed. Otherwise, the exit status is the number of files which could not be processed.

Convert 'MyModule.pm' to 'MyModule.1':
pod2man MyModule.pm MyModule.1
Convert 'script.pl' to standard output for viewing with 'man':
pod2man script.pl | man

pod2man was initially created as part of the Perl distribution to facilitate the documentation of Perl modules and programs. Its development has been closely tied to the evolution of Perl and the POD format. It is actively maintained by the Perl community, adapting to new POD features and formatting requirements. Early versions focused on basic conversion, while later versions added more options for customization and better compatibility with different man page formatters. The adoption of pod2man has greatly simplified the process of creating and distributing documentation for Perl software.

man(1), nroff(1), troff(1)