(texinfo) var

Info Catalog

(texinfo) samp

(texinfo) Indicating

(texinfo) env

 
 `@var'{METASYNTACTIC-VARIABLE}
 ------------------------------
 
   Use the `@var' command to indicate metasyntactic variables.  A
 "metasyntactic variable" is something that stands for another piece of
 text.  For example, you should use a metasyntactic variable in the
 documentation of a function to describe the arguments that are passed
 to that function.
 
   Do not use `@var' for the names of particular variables in
 programming languages.  These are specific names from a program, so
 `@code' is correct for them ( code).  For example, the Emacs
 Lisp variable `texinfo-tex-command' is not a metasyntactic variable; it
 is properly formatted using `@code'.
 
   Do not use `@var' for environment variables either; `@env' is correct
 for them (see the next section).
 
   The effect of `@var' in the Info file is to change the case of the
 argument to all upper case.  In the printed manual and HTML output, the
 argument is printed in slanted type.
 
   For example,
 
      To delete file @var{filename},
      type @samp{rm @var{filename}}.
 
 produces
 
      To delete file FILENAME, type `rm FILENAME'.
 
 (Note that `@var' may appear inside `@code', `@samp', `@file', etc.)
 
   Write a metasyntactic variable all in lower case without spaces, and
 use hyphens to make it more readable.  Thus, the Texinfo source for the
 illustration of how to begin a Texinfo manual looks like this:
 
      \input texinfo
      @@setfilename @var{info-file-name}
      @@settitle @var{name-of-manual}
 
 This produces:
 
      \input texinfo
      @setfilename INFO-FILE-NAME
      @settitle NAME-OF-MANUAL
 
   In some documentation styles, metasyntactic variables are shown with
 angle brackets, for example:
 
      ..., type rm <filename>
 
 However, that is not the style that Texinfo uses.  (You can, of course,
 modify the sources to `texinfo.tex' and the Info formatting commands to
 output the `<...>' format if you wish.)
 

Info Catalog

(texinfo) samp

(texinfo) Indicating

(texinfo) env