NAME

intro − introduction to commands

DESCRIPTION

This section describes publicly accessible commands in alphabetic order.  Certain distinctions of purpose are made in the headings:

(1) Commands of general utility. 

(1C) Commands for communication with other systems. 

(1G) Commands used primarily for graphics and computer-aided design. 

(1M) Commands used primarily for system maintenance. 

The word ‘local’ at the foot of a page means that the command is not intended for general distribution.  The word ‘VAX-11’ at the foot of a page means that some or all of the description applies only to the implementation for the Digital Equipment Corporation VAX-11.  Pages added or changed between the distribution of UNIX/32V and the Berkeley Distribution indicate ‘Third Berkeley Distribution’ at the lower left. 

SEE ALSO

Section (6) for computer games. 

How to get started, in the Introduction. 

DIAGNOSTICS

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

7th Edition