NAME

man − Print entries in the user reference manual

SYNOPSIS

man [options] [sectionNumber] entryName entryName ...

OPTIONS

−aSearch all man directories.  By default, directories marked "ALL" in the configure file will be skipped.  In Sprite, the −a flag will cause Software Warehouse directories to be searched. 

−c configFileMan normally looks in the file /sprite/lib/man/config for information about where the man pages are.  If the −c switch is given, then man uses configFile instead. 

−iGenerate index.  Instead of printing manual entries, treat each entryName as a file name.  Read all the files, and output index information on standard output. 

−helpPrint a summary of the command-line options and exit without printing any manual pages. 

−kKeyword search.  Instead of printing manual entries, treat each entryName argument as a keyword, search the manual indexes for information about the keywords, and print all the matching index entries. 

−rNormally, man retains formatted versions of man pages for faster printing.  It only reformats a man page if there is no formatted version or if the source is newer than the formatted version.  This switch causes man to reformat the man page even if the formatted copy appears to be up-to-date. 

−s sectionNameCheck only in section sectionName of the manual for the desired entries. 

−tPrint the manual entries on the printer instead of on standard output. 

−Man normally filters the man pages through more -s to break up the output and process underline and boldface requests.  If the − switch is given, then the more filter is omitted, and the nroff output is passed directly to standard output. The PAGER environment variable can be set to the name of a program to use instead of more. 
 

DESCRIPTION

The man program locates and prints one or more entries of the Sprite reference manual.  The entries are given by the entryName arguments;  these are usually the names of programs or library procedures.  Normally, man searches the entire manual and invokes more to print the first entry that matches each entryName.  The manual is divided into sections, and it is possible for the same name to be used for entries in different sections.  You may use the −s switch to specify a particular section;  in this case, man will look only in the named section.  Section names include both the traditional UNIX names (1, 2, etc.) and the Sprite names (cmds, lib, lib/c, dev, etc.).  You may specify a section name without the −s switch if the section name starts with a number and is entered as the first entryName. 

The default configuration file causes the current directory to be searched for the desired manual entry before the system directories.  If there is a file entryName.man in the current directory, then it will be printed in preference to any entries in the system area. 

The −i switch causes man to generate an index instead of printing a manual page.  Each entryName argument is taken to be a file name.  Man will read all the files and output index information for them on standard output.  Normally, each directory containing installed unformatted manual entries also has a file named index containing index information for all the files in the directory.  When printing manual entries, if man cannot locate a file for a given entryName, then it reads the index files to see if entryName is an alternate name for some other manual entry (an alternate name is any name listed in the NAME section of the entry). 

The −k switch causes man to perform a keyword search instead of printing a manual page.  Each entryName argument is taken to be a keyword, and man searches all the index files for entries that match the keywords.  Each matching entry is printed on standard output in a human-readable form.  A keyword matches an index entry if it is a substring of any of the entry’s name, synopsis, or keyword fields. 
 

FILES

/sprite/lib/man/config − default configuration file
 

KEYWORDS

help, index, keyword, manual, reference, section

Sprite version 1.0  —  September 04, 1991