INTRO(C)                             UNIX System V



     Name
          Intro - introduces UNIX commands


     Description
          This  section  describes  use  of  the  individual  commands
          available  in  the  UNIX  Operating System.  Each individual
          command is labeled with  either  a  C,  or  a  CP  for  easy
          reference  from  other volumes.  The letter ``C'' stands for
          ``command''.  The letter ``P'' stands for commands that come
          with  the  optional  Development  System (Programming).  For
          example, the reference date(C) indicates a  reference  to  a
          discussion  of  the  date  command  in  the  C  section; the
          reference cc(CP) indicates a reference to  a  discussion  of
          the  cc  command in the Development System.  The Development
          System is an optional supplemental package to  the  standard
          Operating System.

          The ``ADM'' Administration  section  contains  miscellaneous
          information  including  a  great  deal of system maintenance
          information.  Other reference  sections  include  the  ``M''
          Miscellaneous  section,  the  ``S'' System Services section,
          the ``DOS'' Routines  section  and  the  ``F''  File  Format
          section.


     Syntax
          Unless otherwise noted, commands  described  in  the  Syntax
          section  of a manual page accept options and other arguments
          according to the following syntax and should be  interpreted
          as explained below.

          name [-option...]  [cmdarg...]
          where:

          [ ]          Surround  an  option  or  cmdarg  that  is  not
                       required.

          ...          Indicates multiple occurrences of the option or
                       cmdarg.

          name         The name of an executable file.

          option       (Always preceded by a ``-''.)
                       noargletter...  or,
                       argletter optarg[,...]

          noargletter  A single letter representing an option  without
                       an  option-argument.   Note  that more than one
                       noargletter option can  be  grouped  after  one
                       ``-'' (Rule 5 in the following text).

          argletter    A  single   letter   representing   an   option
                       requiring an option-argument.

          optarg       An    option-argument    (character     string)
                       satisfying  a  preceding  argletter.  Note that
                       groups of optargs following an  argletter  must
                       be  separated  by  commas or separated by white
                       space and quoted (Rule 8 below).

          cmdarg       Path  name  (or  other  command  argument)  not
                       beginning   with  ``-'',  or  ``-''  by  itself
                       indicating the standard input.

        Command Syntax Standard:  Rules
          These command syntax rules are not followed by  all  current
          commands,  but all new commands use them.  getopts(C) should
          be  used  by  all  shell  procedures  to  parse   positional
          parameters  and  to  check  for  legal options.  It supports
          Rules 3-10 below.  The enforcement of the other  rules  must
          be done by the command itself.

               1.   Command names (name above) must be between two and
                    nine characters long.

               2.   Command names must include only lowercase  letters
                    and digits.

               3.   Option names (option above) must be one  character
                    long.

               4.   All options must be preceded by ``-''.

               5.   Options with no arguments may be grouped  after  a
                    single ``-''.

               6.   The first option-argument (optarg above) following
                    an option must be preceded by white space.

               7.   Option-arguments cannot be optional.

               8.   Groups of  option-arguments  following  an  option
                    must either be separated by commas or separated by
                    white space and quoted (e.g., -o xxx,z,yy  or   -o
                    "xxx z yy").

               9.   All options must precede operands  (cmdarg  above)
                    on the command line.

               10.  ``--'' may be used to  indicate  the  end  of  the
                    options.

               11.  The order of the options relative to  one  another
                    should not matter.

               12.  The relative order of the operands (cmdarg  above)
                    may  affect  their significance in ways determined
                    by the command with which they appear.

               13.  ``-'' preceded and followed by white space  should
                    only be used to mean standard input.


     See Also
          getopts(C), exit(S), wait(S), getopt(S)


     Diagnostics
          Upon termination, each command returns 2  bytes  of  status,
          one  supplied  by  the  system  and  giving  the  cause  for
          termination, and (in the case of ``normal'' termination) one
          supplied  by  the  program  (see  wait(S) and exit(S)).  The
          former byte is 0  for  normal  termination;  the  latter  is
          customarily  0  for  successful  execution  and  nonzero  to
          indicate troubles  such  as  erroneous  parameters,  bad  or
          inaccessible  data.   It  is called variously ``exit code'',
          ``exit status'', or ``return code'', and is  described  only
          where special conventions are involved.


     Notes
          Not all commands adhere to the syntax described here.


     (printed 2/15/90)                                   INTRO(C)