Write POD That Becomes a Reliable Perl Man Page

A man page that podchecker accepts can still read badly once pod2man renders it, and perlpodstyle is the manual that closes that gap. You will build a small Perl POD document, render it with pod2man, and check the result the way a reader actually sees it. The useful outcome is a man page with an indexable NAME line, predictable sections, restrained markup and working cross-references. Allow about 15 minutes for a short module or script page. This guide describes the Perl 5.38.2 installation and its Pod::Man 5.01 documentation; other releases may add or alter formatter details.

1. Check the formatter before writing

perlpodstyle(1) is a style guide, not a command with options of its own to discover. It describes the POD conventions used by formatters such as pod2man. Check which formatter will run and its installed library version before you commit to anything:

$ command -v pod2man
/usr/bin/pod2man
$ perl -MPod::Man -e 'print "$Pod::Man::VERSION\n"'
5.01
$ perl -v | sed -n '1,3p'
This is perl 5, version 38, subversion 2 (v5.38.2)

2. Start with an exact NAME line

The first major section must be =head1 NAME. Put one plain line below it: the program, module or functions, a single hyphen, then a short description. No C<>, no B<>, no second dash, no function parentheses. Indexers are far stricter here than a human reader would be.

=head1 NAME

inventory-report - print a summary of warehouse stock

=head1 SYNOPSIS

    inventory-report [--format text|json] FILE

=head1 DESCRIPTION

Reads FILE and prints one summary for each warehouse.

For a module, use its module name rather than inventing a command name. If a page documents several functions, list them separated by a comma and a space. Keep the description short enough to stay on one line once a terminal man viewer formats it.

3. Lay out the sections in reader order

Use =head1 for major sections and =head2 for subsections. Uppercase major headings remain the safest convention, even though the guide calls that style recommended rather than mandatory. A command page usually reads well starting with NAME, SYNOPSIS, DESCRIPTION and OPTIONS, then examples, diagnostics and reference material.

SYNOPSIS is mandatory for section 3 module pages, where a short verbatim usage block is often the clearest choice. A function page should document return values and errors. A program can skip a precise return-value section when ordinary zero and non-zero exit status is enough, but still document user-facing messages under DIAGNOSTICS.

Do not turn every stray thought into its own heading. Put an option's detailed explanation in OPTIONS, describe files under FILES, and explain environment variables under ENVIRONMENT. These labels help both readers and tools find information without padding the page.

4. Mark up meaning, not every word

Use B<> for a program name and its options, I<> for an argument or function name, and C<> for literal commands, code and values. In an option item, separate the switch from its value so the rendered page makes the interface obvious at a glance:

=item B<--format>=I<style>

Selects the output style. The supported values are C<text> and C<json>.

=item B<--verbose>

Prints extra diagnostic information.

For a short and long spelling, keep both on one item line, such as B<-v>, B<--verbose>, so a formatter can tell the interface apart from its explanation. Skip markup that adds no information: plain prose is easier to maintain, and Pod::Man already knows how to format common references on its own.

5. Add links to man pages carefully

Write a manual reference as manpage(section), or use L<manpage(section)> when you want a POD formatter to build an actual link. For module references, drop the section entirely, since module documentation has no stable section number: use L<Module::Name> instead.

See also L<Getopt::Long>, L<perlfunc(1)> and L<perldiag(1)>.

The tool is normally invoked as B<inventory-report>.

Cross-reference only useful destinations. A page thick with links is harder to scan, and a link to a page that is not installed helps neither a terminal reader nor an online indexer. If an external web address belongs in SEE ALSO, write the address plainly and explain what it provides.

6. Render a temporary copy and inspect it

Render a file outside your project first. This example installs nothing and touches no system man directory:

$ tmp_pod=$(mktemp --suffix=.pod)
$ trap 'rm -f "$tmp_pod" /tmp/inventory-report.1' EXIT
$ cp ./inventory-report.pod "$tmp_pod"
$ pod2man --center="Inventory tools" --release="local" "$tmp_pod" /tmp/inventory-report.1
$ man --local-file /tmp/inventory-report.1 | sed -n '1,80p'

Replace ./inventory-report.pod with your actual file. The formatter's metadata options affect only the header, not the POD content. Confirm the output opens with the expected name and that headings, option emphasis, code samples and references all read cleanly. The temporary files vanish when the shell exits; if you kill the shell before the trap runs, remove the two explicit paths yourself once you have checked them.

For a source-level check without a man viewer, ask Pod::Man to read the file and throw the formatted output away:

$ pod2man ./inventory-report.pod > /dev/null
$ printf 'pod2man status: %s\n' "$?"
pod2man status: 0

Warnings do not automatically mean the page is unusable, but they are a prompt to go and inspect the nearby POD. A clean exit status only confirms the formatter accepted the input, it does not prove the text is accurate or that every referenced page actually exists.

7. Check the common traps before publishing

• Keep NAME first and plain. Its index line needs exactly one separator hyphen.
• Never write a function as name(). In the NAME list, use the bare function name.
• Put command examples in a verbatim paragraph. Indent them properly instead of relying on spaces inside ordinary prose.
• Reserve C<> and B<> for their jobs. Literal shell syntax gets C<>, options get B<>, and neither belongs in NAME.
• Keep OPTIONS separate from usage help. The man page should explain what an option does, not just repeat a usage line.
• Do not trust a rendered link as proof. Check the referenced module or man page actually exists on the systems you support.

There is no service restart, configuration migration or privileged operation anywhere in this workflow. The only state that changes is the output file you choose to keep. If a rendered page comes out wrong, delete or replace that generated file and go back to the POD source, and keep the source itself until the new rendering has passed review.