USAGE(1) (Help Utilities) USAGE(1)
NAME
usage - retrieve a command description and usage examples
SYNOPSIS
[ help ] usage [ -d ] [ -e ] [ -o ] [ command_name ]
DESCRIPTION
The Help Facility command usage retrieves information about
commands. With no argument, usage displays a menu screen
prompting the user for the name of a command, or allows the
user to retrieve a list of commands supported by usage. The
user may also exit to the shell by typing q (for "quit).
After a command is selected, the user is asked to choose
among a description of the command, examples of typical
usage of the command, or descriptions of the command's
options. Then, based on the user's request, the appropriate
information will be printed.
A command name may also be entered at shell level as an
argument to usage. To receive information on the command's
description, examples, or options, the user may use the -d,
-e, or -o options respectively. (The default option is -d.)
From any screen in the Help Facility, a user may execute a
command via the shell (sh(1)) by typing a ! and the command
to be executed. The screen will be redrawn if the command
that was executed was entered at a first level prompt. If
entered at any other prompt level, only the prompt will be
redrawn.
By default, the Help Facility scrolls the data that is
presented to the user. If you prefer to have the screen
clear before printing the data (non-scrolling), the shell
variable SCROLL must be set to no and exported so it will
become part of your environment. This is done by adding the
following line to your .profile file (see profile(4)):
``export SCROLL ; SCROLL=no''. If you later decide that
scrolling is desired, SCROLL must be set to yes.
Page 1 May 1989
USAGE(1) (Help Utilities) USAGE(1)
Information on each of the Help Facility commands (starter,
locate, usage, glossary, and help) is located on their
respective manual pages.
SEE ALSO
glossary(1), help(1), locate(1), sh(1), starter(1).
term(5) in the Programmer's Reference Manual.
WARNINGS
If the shell variable TERM (see sh(1)) is not set in the
user's .profile file, then TERM will default to the terminal
value type 450 (a hard-copy terminal). For a list of valid
terminal types, refer to term(5).
Page 2 May 1989