66 lines
3.9 KiB
HTML
66 lines
3.9 KiB
HTML
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<!Converted with LaTeX2HTML 95.1 (Fri Jan 20 1995) by Nikos Drakos (nikos@cbl.leeds.ac.uk), CBLU, University of Leeds >
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<HEAD>
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<TITLE>3.3.8 Getting online help</TITLE>
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<meta name="description" value="3.3.8 Getting online help">
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<meta name="resource-type" value="document">
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<P>
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<BR> <HR><A NAME=tex2html3202 HREF="node115.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="next" SRC="next_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html3200 HREF="node106.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="up" SRC="up_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html3196 HREF="node113.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="previous" SRC="previous_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html3204 HREF="node1.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="contents" SRC="contents_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html3205 HREF="node250.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="index" SRC="index_motif.gif"></A> <BR>
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<B> Next:</B> <A NAME=tex2html3203 HREF="node115.html">3.4 Summary of Basic </A>
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<B>Up:</B> <A NAME=tex2html3201 HREF="node106.html">3.3 First Steps into </A>
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<B> Previous:</B> <A NAME=tex2html3197 HREF="node113.html">3.3.7 Looking at files</A>
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<BR> <HR> <P>
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<H2><A NAME=SECTION00538000000000000000>3.3.8 Getting online help</A></H2>
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<P>
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<A NAME=2336> </A>
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<A NAME=2337> </A>
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<A NAME=2338> </A>
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Almost every UNIX system, Linux included, provides a facility known
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as ``manual pages'', or ``man pages'' for short. These man pages
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contain online documentation for all of the various system commands,
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resources, configuration files, and so on.
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<P>
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<A NAME=2365> </A>
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The command used to access man pages is <tt>man</tt>. For example, if
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you're interested in finding out about the other options of the
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<tt>ls</tt> command, you can type
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<P><TT> /home/larry# <em>man ls</em>
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<P></TT>
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and the man page for <tt>ls</tt> will be displayed.
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<P>
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Unfortunately, most of the man pages out there are written for those
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who already have some idea of what the command or resource does. For
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this reason, man pages usually only contain the hardcore technical
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details of the command, without a lot of tutorial. However, man pages
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can be an invaluable resource for jogging your memory if you forget
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the syntax of a command. Man pages will also tell you a lot about
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the commands which we won't tell you in this book.
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<P>
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I suggest that you try <tt>man</tt> for the commands we've already gone
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over, and whenever I introduce a new command. You'll notice some of
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these commands won't have man pages. This could be for several reasons.
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For one, the man pages haven't been written yet (the Linux Documentation
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Project is responsible for man pages under Linux as well. We are gradually
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accumulating most of the man pages available for the system). Secondly, the
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the command might be an internal shell command, or an alias (as discussed in
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Section <A HREF="node99.html#secshellscmds">3.2.4</A>),
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in which case it would not have a man page of its own. One example is
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<tt>cd</tt>, which is a shell internal command. The shell actually processes
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the <tt>cd</tt>---there is no separate program which contains this command.
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<P>
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<BR> <HR><A NAME=tex2html3202 HREF="node115.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="next" SRC="next_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html3200 HREF="node106.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="up" SRC="up_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html3196 HREF="node113.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="previous" SRC="previous_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html3204 HREF="node1.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="contents" SRC="contents_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html3205 HREF="node250.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="index" SRC="index_motif.gif"></A> <BR>
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<B> Next:</B> <A NAME=tex2html3203 HREF="node115.html">3.4 Summary of Basic </A>
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<B>Up:</B> <A NAME=tex2html3201 HREF="node106.html">3.3 First Steps into </A>
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<B> Previous:</B> <A NAME=tex2html3197 HREF="node113.html">3.3.7 Looking at files</A>
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<BR> <HR> <P>
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<BR> <HR>
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<P><ADDRESS>
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<I>Matt Welsh <BR>
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mdw@sunsite.unc.edu</I>
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</ADDRESS>
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</BODY>
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