Contents
What is man page synopsis?
SYNOPSIS A brief summary of the command or function’s interface. For commands, this shows the syntax of the command and its arguments (including options); boldface is used for as-is text and italics are used to indicate replaceable arguments.
What do square brackets [] mean in the synopsis section of a man page?
Square Brackets [ ] The square brackets ( [ ] ) indicate that the enclosed element (parameter, value, or information) is optional. You can choose one or more items or no items. Do not type the square brackets themselves in the command line.
How do you read a synopsis?
3 Answers
- The synopsis section usually gives some example use-cases.
- Brackets [] always denote optional switches, arguments, options, etc.
- Yes, the pipe | means or, particularly when inside brackets or parenthesis.
- Brackets in brackets just means that the second part is dependent on the first, and also itself optional.
Can you understand the synopsis of a command?
I have not been able to understand the SYNOPSIS section in the manpage of a command. For example, let’s see the manpage of man itself. By man man:
How to view a specific section in man pages in Linux?
You will see one or more reference commands with numbers in parenthesis at the end of almost all commands’ man pages. These numbers indicates the specific section of the command’s man page you want to look at. In other words, the number corresponds to what section of the manual that page is from.
What are the conventions for a synopsis in manpage?
The following conventions apply to the SYNOPSIS section and can be used as a guide in other sections. Exact rendering may vary depending on the output device. For instance, man will usually not be able to render italics when running in a terminal, and will typically use underlined or coloured text instead.
What are the sections of a man page?
A man page consists several different sections, organized with headings for each section, such as NAME, SYNOPSIS, CONFIGURATION, DESCRIPTION, OPTIONS, EXIT STATUS, RETURN VALUE, ERRORS, ENVIRONMENT, FILES, VERSIONS, CONFORMING TO, NOTES, BUGS, EXAMPLE, AUTHORS, and SEE ALSO.