WHATIS(1MAN)            COMMAND REFERENCE            WHATIS(1MAN)



NAME
     whatis - whatis database title search

SYNOPSIS
     whatis [ -f file ] [ -i section ] [ -p ] [ -s section ] [ -v
     ] title ...

DESCRIPTION
     whatis searches whatis database files, as described in
     whatis(5man), for given titles and formats the matching
     database entries.  The titles given must match completely
     except for case, which is ignored.

     If a section is specified with the -i option, only entries
     which do not match the section will be considered.  If a
     section is specified with the -s option, only entries which
     match the section will be considered.  The section argument
     consists of a section number and optional subsection text,
     such as `1' or `1mh'.  The section number can be a `+',
     which means that any section number is allowed, such as `+'
     (meaning 1-8) or `+mh' (meaning any section number from 1 to
     8 followed by the subsection text `mh').  Also, the
     subsection text can be replaced by a `+', as in `1+', which
     matches any section that begins with a 1 (including `1'
     alone).  The case of the subsection text is ignored.

     If the -f option is not given, the file
     /usr/lib/man/directories is read to get the locations of the
     database files that correspond to directories listed in the
     PATH environment variable, and the file $HOME/.manrc is read
     to get the locations of personal manual page directories.

     The normal format for a line is:

          page
          (section<tabs> -
          description

     where page is the manual page title, section is the manual
     page section, and description is the text from the NAME
     section of the manual page found after the `-'.  The <tabs>
     field is enough tabs to fill out the first 24 positions on
     the line.

OPTIONS
     -f file Search the named file as a whatis database instead
             of using the defaults.

     -i section
             Print only entries whose section field does not
             match the given section specifier.




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WHATIS(1MAN)            COMMAND REFERENCE            WHATIS(1MAN)



     -p      Print only the manual page name and the section for
             matching entries.

     -s section
             Print only entries whose section field matches the
             given section specifier.

     -v      Verbose.  Before the matching entries for a given
             whatis database are printed, print the name of the
             database with a short description.  In the case of
             databases that correspond to elements of the PATH
             variable, the path element is noted instead.

EXAMPLES
     The following invocation prints the descriptions for all
     manual pages named read.

          whatis read

     This invocation prints the names and sections of all manual
     pages whose name is `write' and whose section specifier is
     only a number.

          whatis -s + write

FILES
     /usr/lib/man/directories

                       Manual page search directory information.

     $HOME/.manrc      Searched for "personal" manual page
                       directory names.

     whatis            The name of the whatis database file.

VARIABLES
     PATH           The user's execution path.

     HOME           The user's home directory.

RETURN VALUE
     [NO_ERRS]      Command completed without error.

     [USAGE]        Incorrect command line syntax. Execution
                    terminated.

     [NP_WARN]      An error warranting a warning message
                    occurred. Execution continues.

     [NP_ERR]       An error occurred that was not a system
                    error.  Execution terminated.




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WHATIS(1MAN)            COMMAND REFERENCE            WHATIS(1MAN)



     [NP_WARN]      An error warranting a warning message
                    occurred. Execution continues.

SEE ALSO
     apropos(1man), buildif(1man), help(1man), makewhatis(1man),
     man(1man), section(1man), man(5man), manindex(5man),
     whatis(5man), and catman(8man).
















































Printed 5/12/88                                                 3

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