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What is the apropos command and what does it do?
In computing, apropos is a command to search the man page files in Unix and Unix-like operating systems. Apropos takes its name from the French “à propos” (Latin “ad prōpositum”) which means about. It is particularly useful when searching for commands without knowing their exact names.
What is the apropos command?
The apropos command shows the manual sections that contain any of the keywords specified by the Keyword parameter in their title. The apropos command considers each word separately and does not take into account if a letter is in uppercase or lowercase. Words that are part of other words are also displayed.
Which command used to search and list all commands in whatis database whose short description match the specified keyword?
Using apropos to search man pages apropos searches a set of database files containing short descriptions of system commands for keywords and displays the result on the standard output.
How did the apropos command get its name?
The apropos command displays a list of all topics in the man pages (i.e., the standard manual that is built into Unix-like operating systems) that are related to the subject of a query. apropos takes its name from the English word with the same spelling (and the same pronunciation) that means relevant.
How to use the apropos command in Ubuntu?
But before we do that, it’s worth mentioning that all examples here have been tested on an Ubuntu 16.04 LTS machine. The apropos command searches manual page names and descriptions for a user-supplied keyword. Following is its syntax: apropos [OPTIONS] keyword
What are the different outcomes of apropos command?
The apropos command produces four different exit status: 0, 1, 2, and 16. Here’s what each of these represents: 0 Successful program execution. 1 Usage, syntax or configuration file error. 2 Operational error.
How is the database updated by the apropos command?
The database searched by apropos is updated by the mandb program. installed. Following are some Q&A-styled examples that should give you a good idea on how the apropos command works. Q1. How to use apropos? Basic usage is simple. Just pass the keyword you want to search as input to the apropos command.