apropos.1 revision 95c635efb7c3b86efc493e0447eaec7aecca3f0f
Copyright 2014 Garrett D'Amore <garrett@damore.org>
Copyright (c) 1996, Sun Microsystems, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The contents of this file are subject to the terms of the Common Development and Distribution License (the "License"). You may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
You can obtain a copy of the license at usr/src/OPENSOLARIS.LICENSE or http://www.opensolaris.org/os/licensing. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.
When distributing Covered Code, include this CDDL HEADER in each file and include the License file at usr/src/OPENSOLARIS.LICENSE. If applicable, add the following below this CDDL HEADER, with the fields enclosed by brackets "[]" replaced with your own identifying information: Portions Copyright [yyyy] [name of copyright owner]
.Dd "Jul 20, 2014" .Dt APROPOS 1 .Os .Sh NAME .Nm apropos, whatis .Nd locate commands by keyword lookup .Sh SYNOPSIS .Nm apropos .Op Fl M Ar path .Op Fl s Ar section .Ar keyword ... .Nm whatis .Op Fl M Ar path .Op Fl s Ar section .Ar keyword ... .Sh DESCRIPTION The .Nm apropos utility displays the man page name, section number, and a short description for each man page whose .Em NAME line contains .Ar keyword . This information is contained in the .Nm whatis database created by the .Fl w option used with .Xr man 1 . If this database is not present, .Nm apropos and .Nm whatis fail. .Lp Each word is considered separately and the case of letters is ignored. Words which are part of other words are considered; for example, when looking for .Sq compile , .Nm apropos finds all instances of .Sq compiler also. .Lp The .Nm whatis command performs the same search, but only matches whole words. In the above example, .Nm whatis would not match the instances of .Sq compiler when .Ar keyword is .Sq compile . .Lp The .Nm apropos command is actually just the .Fl k option to the .Xr man 1 command. .Sh OPTIONS l -tag -width "-s section" t Fl M Ar path Force a specific colon separated manual path instead of the default search path. Overrides the MANPATH environment variable. t Fl s Ar section Restrict search to specified section. .El .Sh ENVIRONMENT l -tag -width "MANPATH, PATH" t Ev MANPATH , PATH Used to find the location of the .Nm whatis database. .El .Sh FILES l -tag -width "/usr/share/man/whatis" t Pa /usr/share/man/whatis table of contents and keyword database .El .Sh EXAMPLES .Ss Example 1 To find a man page whose NAME line contains a keyword Try .Lp .Dl example% apropos password .Lp If the line starts .So Ar filename Ns Po Ar section Pc .\|.\|. Sc you can run .Lp .Dl % Nm man Fl s Ar section Ar filename .Lp to display the man page for filename. .Ss Example 2 To find the man page for the subroutine printf() Try .Lp .Dl example% Nm apropos Li format .Lp and then .Lp .Dl example% Nm man Fl s Ar 3C Li printf .Lp to get the manual page on the subroutine .Xr printf 3C . .Sh DIAGNOSTICS l -tag -width Ds t "/usr/share/man/whatis: No such file or directory" The .Nm whatis database does not exist. The command .Nm man .Fl w must be run to create it. .El .Sh CODE SET INDEPENDENCE Enabled. .Sh INTERFACE STABILITY .Nm Committed . .Sh SEE ALSO .Xr man 1 , .Xr catman 1M
Copyright (c) 1996, Sun Microsystems, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The contents of this file are subject to the terms of the Common Development and Distribution License (the "License"). You may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
You can obtain a copy of the license at usr/src/OPENSOLARIS.LICENSE or http://www.opensolaris.org/os/licensing. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.
When distributing Covered Code, include this CDDL HEADER in each file and include the License file at usr/src/OPENSOLARIS.LICENSE. If applicable, add the following below this CDDL HEADER, with the fields enclosed by brackets "[]" replaced with your own identifying information: Portions Copyright [yyyy] [name of copyright owner]
.Dd "Jul 20, 2014" .Dt APROPOS 1 .Os .Sh NAME .Nm apropos, whatis .Nd locate commands by keyword lookup .Sh SYNOPSIS .Nm apropos .Op Fl M Ar path .Op Fl s Ar section .Ar keyword ... .Nm whatis .Op Fl M Ar path .Op Fl s Ar section .Ar keyword ... .Sh DESCRIPTION The .Nm apropos utility displays the man page name, section number, and a short description for each man page whose .Em NAME line contains .Ar keyword . This information is contained in the .Nm whatis database created by the .Fl w option used with .Xr man 1 . If this database is not present, .Nm apropos and .Nm whatis fail. .Lp Each word is considered separately and the case of letters is ignored. Words which are part of other words are considered; for example, when looking for .Sq compile , .Nm apropos finds all instances of .Sq compiler also. .Lp The .Nm whatis command performs the same search, but only matches whole words. In the above example, .Nm whatis would not match the instances of .Sq compiler when .Ar keyword is .Sq compile . .Lp The .Nm apropos command is actually just the .Fl k option to the .Xr man 1 command. .Sh OPTIONS l -tag -width "-s section" t Fl M Ar path Force a specific colon separated manual path instead of the default search path. Overrides the MANPATH environment variable. t Fl s Ar section Restrict search to specified section. .El .Sh ENVIRONMENT l -tag -width "MANPATH, PATH" t Ev MANPATH , PATH Used to find the location of the .Nm whatis database. .El .Sh FILES l -tag -width "/usr/share/man/whatis" t Pa /usr/share/man/whatis table of contents and keyword database .El .Sh EXAMPLES .Ss Example 1 To find a man page whose NAME line contains a keyword Try .Lp .Dl example% apropos password .Lp If the line starts .So Ar filename Ns Po Ar section Pc .\|.\|. Sc you can run .Lp .Dl % Nm man Fl s Ar section Ar filename .Lp to display the man page for filename. .Ss Example 2 To find the man page for the subroutine printf() Try .Lp .Dl example% Nm apropos Li format .Lp and then .Lp .Dl example% Nm man Fl s Ar 3C Li printf .Lp to get the manual page on the subroutine .Xr printf 3C . .Sh DIAGNOSTICS l -tag -width Ds t "/usr/share/man/whatis: No such file or directory" The .Nm whatis database does not exist. The command .Nm man .Fl w must be run to create it. .El .Sh CODE SET INDEPENDENCE Enabled. .Sh INTERFACE STABILITY .Nm Committed . .Sh SEE ALSO .Xr man 1 , .Xr catman 1M