.\" Copyright (c) 1989, 1991, 1993
.\" The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
.\" %sccs.include.redist.roff%
.\" @(#)man.conf.5 8.1 (Berkeley) %G%
.Nd configuration file for
search for manual pages or their database files as specified by the
Manual pages are expected to be preformatted (see
and named with a trailing ``.0''.
file contains two types of lines.
The first type of line is a ``section'' line, which contains a
section name followed by a directory path.
Lines in this format specify that manual pages for the section
may be found in the directory.
Directories named with a trailing slash character (``/'') are expected
to contain subdirectories (see the keyword ``_subdir'' below) instead
These subdirectories are searched instead of the directory.
All directories (either explicitly specified or named with a trailing
slash) may contain subdirectories.
automatically searches any subdirectory with the same name as the
current machine type before the directory is searched.
No specification of these subdirectories is necessary in the
Section names are unrestricted except for the reserved words specified
below; in general, however, it is best to avoid anything beginning with
an underscore (``_'') in order to avoid future incompatibilities.
The section named ``_default'' is the list of directories to be
searched if no section is specified.
The second type of line is preceded with a ``keyword''.
The possible keywords and their meanings are as follows:
.Bl -tag -width "_version"
The list (in search order) of subdirectories which will be searched in
any directory named with a trailing slash (``/'') character. This
list is also used when a path is specified by the
The version of the configuration file.
The full pathname (not just a directory path) for a database to be used
Multiple specifications for all types of lines (except for ``_version'')
are cumulative and the entries are used in the order listed in the file;
multiple entries may be listed per line, as well.
Empty lines or lines whose first non-whitespace character is a hash
mark (``#'') are ignored.
.Bd -literal -offset indent
sect3 /usr/share/man/cat3
manual page should be stored in
.Dq Pa /usr/share/man/cat3/mktemp.0 .
architecture specific version of it should be stored in
.Dq Pa cat3/vax/mktemp.0 .
would search the subdirectories
If a subdirectory with the same name as the current machine type
existed in any of them, it would be searched as well.
.Dq Li /usr/share/man/cat3
and any possible per machine subdirectory.
.Bl -tag -width /etc/man.conf -compact
Standard manual directory search path.
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