MAN(1) UNIX Programmer's Manual MAN(1)
man - print out the manual
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m
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\ban
\bn [ -
\b- ] [ -
\b-a
\ba ] [ -
\b-M
\bM _
\bp_
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\bt_
\bh ] [ section ] title ...
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_
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\bn is the program which provides on-line access to the UNIX
manual. If a _
\bs_
\be_
\bc_
\bt_
\bi_
\bo_
\bn specifier is given, _
\bm_
\ba_
\bn looks in that
section of the manual for the given _
\bt_
\bi_
\bt_
\bl_
\be(s). _
\bS_
\be_
\bc_
\bt_
\bi_
\bo_
\bn is
either an Arabic section number (``3'' for example), or one
of the words ``local'', ``new,'' or ``old''. (The abbrevia-
tions ``l'', ``n'', and ``o'' are also allowed.) If _
\bs_
\be_
\bc_
\bt_
\bi_
\bo_
\bn
is omitted, _
\bm_
\ba_
\bn searches all sections of the manual, giving
preference to commands over library subroutines, and
displays the first manual page it finds, if any. If the -_
\ba
option is supplied, _
\bm_
\ba_
\bn displays all applicable manual
Normally _
\bm_
\ba_
\bn checks in standard locations (/usr/man and
/usr/local/man) for manual information. This can be changed
by supplying a search path (a la the Bourne shell) with the
-
\b-M
\bM flag. The search path is a colon (``:'') separated list
of directories in which _
\bm_
\ba_
\bn expects to find the standard
manual subdirectories. This search path can also be set
with the environmental variable _
\bM_
\bA_
\bN_
\bP_
\bA_
\bT_
\bH.
Since some manual pages are intended for use only on certain
machines, _
\bm_
\ba_
\bn only searches those directories applicable to
the current machine. _
\bM_
\ba_
\bn's determination of the current
machine type can be overridden by setting the environmental
variable _
\bM_
\bA_
\bC_
\bH_
\bI_
\bN_
\bE.
If the standard output is a teletype, and the -
\b- flag is not
provided, _
\bm_
\ba_
\bn uses _
\bm_
\bo_
\br_
\be(1), or the pager provided by the
environmental variable _
\bP_
\bA_
\bG_
\bE_
\bR, to display the manual page.
The FORTRAN version of section 3 of the manual may be speci-
fied by supplying _
\bm_
\ba_
\bn with the _
\bs_
\be_
\bc_
\bt_
\bi_
\bo_
\bn ``3f''. Also, a
specific section of the local manual may be specified by
appending a number to the _
\bs_
\be_
\bc_
\bt_
\bi_
\bo_
\bn, i.e. ``l5'' would indi-
cate section 5 of the local manual.
/usr/man standard manual area
/usr/man/cat?/* directories containing standard manual pages
/usr/local/man/cat?/* directories containing local manual pages
/usr/src/man directories containing unformatted manual pages
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apropos(1), more(1), whatis(1), whereis(1)
Printed 7/9/88 April 19, 1988 1
MAN(1) UNIX Programmer's Manual MAN(1)
The manual is supposed to be reproducible either on the pho-
totypesetter or on a typewriter, however, on a typewriter,
some information is necessarily lost.
Printed 7/9/88 April 19, 1988 2
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