:emphasis:

Implements emphasis. These are equivalent:

*text*
:emphasis:`text`

:literal:

Implements inline literal text. These are equivalent:

``text``
:literal:`text`

Care must be taken with backslash-escapes though. These are not equivalent:

``text \ and \ backslashes``
:literal:`text \ and \ backslashes`

The backslashes in the first line are preserved (and do nothing), whereas the backslashes in the second line escape the following spaces.

:code:

(New in Docutils 0.9.)

The code role marks its content as code in a formal language.

For syntax highlight of inline code, the "role" directive can be used to build custom roles with the code language specified in the "language" option.

For example, the following creates a LaTeX-specific "latex" role:

.. role:: latex(code)
   :language: latex

Content of the new role is parsed and tagged by the Pygments syntax highlighter. See the code directive for more info on parsing and display of code in reStructuredText.

In addition to "class", the following option is recognized:

language : text

Name of the code's language. See supported languages and markup formats for recognized values.

:math:

(New in Docutils 0.8.)

The math role marks its content as mathematical notation (inline formula).

The input format is LaTeX math syntax without the “math delimiters“ ($ $), for example:

The area of a circle is :math:`A_\text{c} = (\pi/4) d^2`.

See the math directive (producing display formulas) for more info on mathematical notation in reStructuredText.

:pep-reference:

The :pep-reference: role is used to create an HTTP reference to a PEP (Python Enhancement Proposal). The :PEP: alias is usually used. For example:

See :PEP:`287` for more information about reStructuredText.

This is equivalent to:

See `PEP 287`__ for more information about reStructuredText.

__ http://www.python.org/peps/pep-0287.html

:rfc-reference:

The :rfc-reference: role is used to create an HTTP reference to an RFC (Internet Request for Comments). The :RFC: alias is usually used. For example:

See :RFC:`2822` for information about email headers.

This is equivalent to:

See `RFC 2822`__ for information about email headers.

__ http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc2822.html

:strong:

Implements strong emphasis. These are equivalent:

**text**
:strong:`text`

:subscript:

Implements subscripts.

H\ :sub:`2`\ O
E = mc\ :sup:`2`

The chemical formula for pure water is |H2O|.

.. |H2O| replace:: H\ :sub:`2`\ O

:superscript:

Implements superscripts. See the tip in :subscript: above.

:title-reference:

The :title-reference: role is used to describe the titles of books, periodicals, and other materials. It is the equivalent of the HTML "cite" element, and it is expected that HTML writers will typically render "title_reference" elements using "cite".

Since title references are typically rendered with italics, they are often marked up using *emphasis*, which is misleading and vague. The "title_reference" element provides accurate and unambiguous descriptive markup.

Let's assume :title-reference: is the default interpreted text role (see below) for this example:

`Design Patterns` [GoF95]_ is an excellent read.

The following document fragment (pseudo-XML) will result from processing:

<paragraph>
    <title_reference>
        Design Patterns

    <citation_reference refname="gof95">
        GoF95
     is an excellent read.

:title-reference: is the default interpreted text role in the standard reStructuredText parser. This means that no explicit role is required. Applications of reStructuredText may designate a different default role, in which case the explicit :title-reference: role must be used to obtain a title_reference element.

raw

The "raw" role indicates non-reStructuredText data that is to be passed untouched to the Writer. It is the inline equivalent of the "raw" directive; see its documentation for details on the semantics.

The "raw" role cannot be used directly. The "role" directive must first be used to build custom roles based on the "raw" role. One or more formats (Writer names) must be provided in a "format" option.

For example, the following creates an HTML-specific "raw-html" role:

.. role:: raw-html(raw)
   :format: html

This role can now be used directly to pass data untouched to the HTML Writer. For example:

If there just *has* to be a line break here,
:raw-html:`<br />`
it can be accomplished with a "raw"-derived role.
But the line block syntax should be considered first.

In addition to "class", the following option is recognized:

format : text

One or more space-separated output format names (Writer names).