1 .\" $Id: man.options.1,v 1.7 2017/07/04 23:40:01 schwarze Exp $
3 .\" Copyright (c) 2017 Ingo Schwarze <schwarze@openbsd.org>
5 .\" Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any
6 .\" purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above
7 .\" copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies.
9 .\" THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES
10 .\" WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
11 .\" MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR
12 .\" ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES
13 .\" WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN
14 .\" ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF
15 .\" OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
17 .Dd $Mdocdate: July 4 2017 $
22 .Nd assignment of option letters in manual page utilities
24 .\" Sources that occur repeatedly.
25 .\" Only use if the precise implementation time is unknown.
28 .No PWB/UNIX 1.0 Pq July 1, 1977 \\$1
31 .At v7 Pq January 1979 \\$1
34 .At III Pq June 1980 \\$1
37 .Bx 4 Pq November 16, 1980 \\$1
40 .At V Pq January 1983 \\$1
43 .Bx 4.3 Pq June 1986 \\$1
45 .\" option was present in groff-1.01 as contained in 4.3BSD-Net/2
46 .\" and no mention of it could be found in the ChangeLog,
47 .\" so it's probably older than groff-0.4, where the log started
49 .No probably before groff-0.4 Pq before July 14, 1990 \\$1
52 .No Eaton Pq before July 7, 1993; 1990/91? \\$1
54 .\" man-1.5e was released on July 11, 1998.
56 .No man-1.5e Pq not before 1993, not after 1998 \\$1
58 .\" man-1.5g was released on April 7, 1999.
60 .No man-1.5g Pq not before 1993, not after 1999 \\$1
62 .\" code first seen in the initial import of man-db into CVS ,
63 .\" which was more or less debian man-db-2.3.17
64 .\" Colin Watson's first release was 2.3.18 on May 14, 2001
65 .\" no clue about it found in ChangeLog-2013,
66 .\" so it was probably already present before man-db-2.2a4
68 .No man-db probably before 2.2a4 Pq before Nov 8, 1994 \\$1
71 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------------
74 This manual page lists option letters used in many different versions
87 Option letters used by
93 are also included because beginning with
97 pass on unrecognized options to these programs.
99 For each option letter, information is first grouped into paragraphs,
100 each paragraph describing similar functionality and starting with
101 one line briefly summarizing that functionality.
103 For each program using the letter for that functionality, one line
104 is provided, giving the name of the program, a colon, the system
105 where this letter first appeared for this functionality in this
106 program, optionally a comma and a list of other system versions
107 introducing the same, a semicolon, and a list of current systems
109 If a system appears before the semicolon, it is not repeated
112 Entries are sorted by historical precedence, except that obsolete
113 options are moved to the end.
114 Dates are commit dates where known, and release dates otherwise.
117 display all matching manual pages
120 .Bx 4.3 Tahoe Pq June 1988 ,
122 .Ox , Fx , Nx , No man-db , man-1.6 , illumos , Solaris 9-11
124 .Nm apropos , whatis , mandoc :
125 .Ox 5.7 Pq August 27, 2014
127 only display items that match all keywords
130 .No man-db Pq Aug 29, 2007
132 use all directories and files for
136 .Ox 5.6 Pq April 18, 2014
138 .Bq superseded by Fl T Cm ascii
147 use specified browser
150 .No man-1.6 Pq June 24, 2005
152 print a backtrace with each warning or error message
157 .Bq obsolete hardware
158 report whether the phototypesetter is busy
163 alternate configuration file
165 .Nm apropos , whatis :
166 .Bx 4.4 Lite1 Pq April 22, 1994 ,
167 .No man-db Pq Feb 22, 2003 ;
171 .Nx 1.0 Pq Oct 26, 1994 ,
175 .Nm mandb , catman , manpath :
176 .No man-db Pq Feb 22, 2003
182 .Ox 5.6 Pq April 18, 2014
185 .Ox 5.7 Pq August 27, 2014
188 enable compatibility mode
191 .No before groff-0.5 Pq before August 3, 1990
196 .Bx 4.3 Reno Pq June 1990 ;
199 .Nm apropos , whatis , mandoc :
200 .Ox 5.7 Pq August 27, 2014
202 process given catpath
205 .Pq not before 1992, not after 1995
207 recreate databases from scratch
212 produce a catpath as opposed to a manpath
217 internal option for use by
223 reformat source page even if cat page exists
228 disable terminal color output in
232 .No groff-1.18.0 Pq Oct 4, 2001
234 recreate nroff versions from SGML sources
247 reset whatever was set with
253 print debugging info in addition to manual page
258 set default input encoding for
262 .No groff-1.20 Pq August 20, 2008
264 display all files added to
268 .Ox 5.6 Pq April 18, 2014
270 define a user-defined string
275 print debugging information
279 .Fx , No man-db , man-1.6 , illumos , Solaris 9-11
285 .Nm apropos , whatis :
292 remove and re-add a file to
296 .Ox 2.7 Pq Feb 3, 2000
298 .Bq superseded by Fl l
299 interpret arguments as file names
305 inhibit all error messages
310 select output encoding
313 .No man-db Pq Dec 23, 2001
324 adjust text to left and right margins
331 .Nm apropos , whatis :
334 restrict search by section extension
337 .No man-db-2.3.5 Pq April 21, 1995
339 use alternate font directory
342 .Bx 4.2 Pq September 1983
347 preformat only, do not display
350 .No man-1.5g Pq April 7, 1999
352 force searching dirs, do not use index (default)
355 .No illumos , Solaris 9-11
363 .Ox , Fx , No man-db , man-1.6
365 .Nm apropos , whatis :
366 .No man-db Pq Dec 2, 2010 ,
367 .Ox 5.7 Pq August 27, 2014
370 .Ox 5.7 Pq August 27, 2014
372 set the default font family
377 force formatting even if cat page is newer
380 .Fx Pq March 15, 1995
382 update only the entries for the given file
385 .No man-db Pq Feb 21, 2003
387 force rebuilding the database from scratch
392 locate manual page related to given file name
395 .No illumos , Solaris 9-11
397 .Bq obsolete hardware
398 do not feed out paper nor stop phototypesetter
407 .No groff-1.16 Pq May 1, 2000
409 produce a global manpath
412 .No man-db-2.2a7 Pq Nov 16, 1994
418 .No groff-1.16 Pq Feb 20, 2000
420 .Bq obsolete hardware
421 output to a GCOS phototypesetter
426 .Bq obsolete hardware
427 output to a DASI 300 terminal in 12-pitch mode
432 read hyphenation patterns from the given file
440 .No man-db-1.3.12 to 1.3.17 Pq not before 1996, not after 2001
442 use program to render HTML files as text
445 .No man-1.6 Pq June 24, 2005
447 print a help message and exit
454 .Fx , No man-db , man-1.6
460 .Nm apropos , whatis , mandb , catman :
463 display the SYNOPSIS lines only
466 .Bx 4.3 Net/2 Pq August 20, 1991 ;
469 .Nm apropos , whatis , mandoc :
470 .Ox 5.7 Pq Sep 3, 2014
472 turn on HTML formatting
478 replace spaces by tabs in the output
483 input file search path for
487 .No groff-1.12 Pq Sep 11, 1999
489 respect case when matching manual page names
492 .No man-db Pq Apr 21, 2002
494 input options, in particular default operating system name
497 .Ox 5.2 Pq May 24, 2012
499 .Nm man , apropos , whatis :
500 .Ox 5.7 Pq August 27, 2014
502 read standard input after the input files are exhausted
510 ignore case when matching manual page names
513 .No man-db Pq Apr 21, 2002
515 turn on terminal escape code formatting
518 .Nx Pq March 29, 2013
524 .No groff-1.22.3 Pq June 17, 2014
530 .No groff-1.22 Pq Jan 22, 2011
532 source code full text search
536 .No man-db Pq June 28, 2009 ;
542 .No groff-1.20 Pq Dec 31, 2005
544 .Nm man , apropos , whatis , mandoc :
545 .Ox 5.7 Pq Oct 30, 2014
553 .No POSIX , Ox , Fx , Nx , No man-db , man-1.6 , illumos , Solaris 9-11
555 .Nm apropos , whatis , mandoc :
556 .Ox 5.7 Pq August 27, 2014
558 ignore formatting errors
561 .Nx Pq April 26, 1994
567 .No groff-1.20 Pq Dec 31, 2005
569 .Bq obsolete hardware
570 display on a Tektronix 4014 terminal
575 pass argument to the spooler
578 .No groff-0.6 Pq Sep 14, 1990
583 .Nm man , apropos , whatis :
584 .No before man-db-2.2a13 Pq before Dec 15, 1994
586 print list of locales
593 specified in the environment
603 interpret arguments as file names
606 .No before man-2.2a7 Pq before Nov 16, 1994 ,
607 .Ox 5.7 Pq Aug 30, 2014
609 .Nm apropos , whatis , mandoc :
610 .Ox 5.7 Pq Aug 30, 2014
612 do not trim output to the terminal width
614 .Nm apropos , whatis :
615 .No man-db Pq Aug 19, 2007
617 only parse NAME sections
622 legacy mode: search Nm,Nd, no context or formatting
625 .Nx Pq March 29, 2013
627 list all manual pages matching name within the search path
630 .No illumos , Solaris 9-11
632 override manual page search path
637 .Ox , Fx , Nx , No man-db , man-1.6 , illumos , Solaris 9-11
639 .Nm apropos , whatis :
641 .No before man-db-2.2a14 Pq before Dec 16, 1994 ;
646 .Nx Pq July 27, 1993 ,
650 .Ox 5.7 Pq August 27, 2014
652 prepend to macro file search path
657 do not show the context of the match
662 specify input macro language
671 .Ox 4.8 Pq April 6, 2009
673 augment manual page search path
675 .Nm man , apropos , whatis :
676 .Bx 4.3 Reno Pq June 1990 ;
683 .Ox 5.7 Pq August 27, 2014
685 override operating system
691 .Nm apropos , whatis , manpath :
694 override architecture
699 show the context of the match
704 do not allow newlines between
709 .No groff-1.01 Pq Feb 21, 1991
711 specify a page number for the first page
732 print commands instead of executing them
735 .Fx Pq May 18, 2002 ,
738 limit the number of results
748 .Ox 5.6 Pq April 18, 2014
753 .Ox 4.8 Pq Oct 27, 2009
755 .Nm man , apropos , whatis :
756 .Ox 5.7 Pq August 27, 2014
758 select pages by numbers
766 force use of non-localized manual pages
771 optimize index for speed and disk space
776 pass argument to postprocessor
779 .No groff-0.6 Pq Sep 14, 1990
785 .Fx , No man-db , man-1.6
787 turn on pager formatting
798 use the given list of preprocessors
802 .Fx , No man-db , man-1.6
804 dry run, display commands instead of executing them
807 .Nx Pq July 27, 1993 ,
808 .Fx Pq March 15, 1995 to May 18, 2002 ,
811 print warnings when building
815 .Ox 2.7 Pq April 23, 2000
817 do not look for deleted manual pages
820 .No man-db Pq June 28, 2001
822 print the search path for manual pages
825 .Nx Pq June 14 , 2011
827 turn on pager formatting and pipe through pager
832 .Bq obsolete hardware
833 set phototypesetter point size
838 print only fatal error messages
848 .Ox 5.6 Pq April 18, 2014
850 invoke the simultaneous input-output mode of the .rd request
864 print only warnings and errors, no status updates
873 .No groff-1.02 Pq June 2, 1991
875 recode to the specified encoding
878 .No man-db Pq Dec 31, 2007
888 scan for and remove junk files
891 .Fx Pq March 31, 1995
898 .No man-db-2.3.5 Pq April 21, 1995
900 use regular expression matching
902 .Nm apropos , whatis :
903 .No man-db-2.3.5 Pq April 21, 1995
910 check for formatting errors, do not display
913 .No illumos , Solaris 9-11
915 manual section search list
919 .Fx , No man-db , man-1.6
924 .No groff-1.10 Pq May 17, 1994
926 restrict architecture
929 .Ox 2.3 Pq March 9, 1998 ,
933 .Ox 4.5 Pq Dec 24, 2008 ,
937 .Ox 5.6 Pq April 18, 2014
940 .Ox 5.7 Pq August 27, 2014
948 silent mode, do not echo commands
951 .Nx Pq April 26, 1994
959 .Ox 2.3 Pq March 9, 1998 ,
960 .Nx Pq June 12, 2000 ;
961 .No illumos , Solaris 9-11
964 .No man-db Pq Nov 16, 2003 ,
965 .Ox 4.5 Pq Dec 24, 2008 ,
970 .No man-db Pq Nov 16, 2003 ,
971 .Ox 5.6 Pq April 18, 2014 ;
975 .Ox 5.7 Pq August 27, 2014
977 do not look for stray cats
982 .Bq SysV compat, recommends Fl S
983 manual section search list
986 .No man-db Pq Jan 1, 2008
988 .Bq superseded by Fl h
989 display the SYNOPSIS lines only
994 .Bq obsolete hardware
995 pause before each page for paper manipulation
1000 .Bq obsolete hardware
1002 output mode, small format
1008 select terminal output format
1017 .Ox 5.7 Pq August 27, 2014
1023 .Ox 4.8 Pq April 6, 2009
1025 .Nm apropos , whatis :
1026 .Ox 5.7 Pq August 27, 2014
1032 .Ox 5.6 Pq April 18, 2014
1034 .Bq superseded by Fl m
1035 use other macro package
1046 .Bx 2 Pq May 10, 1979 ,
1050 .Fx , No man-db , man-1.6 , illumos , Solaris 9-11
1061 check manual pages in the hierarchy
1064 .No man-db-1.3.12 to 1.3.17 Pq not before 1996, not after 2001
1066 check files for problems related to
1070 .Ox 2.7 Pq April 23, 2000
1075 .No groff-1.12 Pq Dec 13, 1999
1080 .Pq not before 1992, not after 1995
1082 create user databases only
1087 update database cache (requires suid)
1090 .No before man-db-2.2a10 Pq before Dec 6, 1994
1096 .Ox 3.4 Pq July 9, 2003
1098 print the pipeline on stdout instead of executing it
1101 .No groff-0.6 Pq Sep 2, 1990
1103 print version information
1105 .Nm man , apropos , whatis , mandb , catman , manpath :
1108 print version number
1116 .Fx Pq March 15, 1995
1121 .Nm apropos , whatis :
1122 .No man-db Pq Dec 29, 2002
1124 print the name of every parsed file
1129 .Bq obsolete hardware
1130 produce output on the Versatec printer
1135 disable the named warning
1138 .No groff-0.5 Pq August 14, 1990
1140 list pathnames without additional information
1145 list pathnames of cat files
1148 .No man-db Pq Aug 13, 2002
1150 minimum message level to display
1153 .Ox 4.8 Pq April 6, 2009
1155 .Nm man , apropos , whatis :
1156 .Ox 5.7 Pq August 27, 2014
1165 .Ox , Fx , Nx , No man-db , man-1.6
1167 .Nm apropos , whatis , mandoc :
1168 .Ox 5.7 Pq August 27, 2014
1170 enable the named warning
1173 .No groff-0.5 Pq August 14, 1990
1180 .Nx Pq July 27, 1993 ,
1183 use wildcard matching
1185 .Nm apropos , whatis :
1186 .No man-db-2.3.5 Pq April 21, 1995
1188 use manpath obtained from man --path
1200 .Bq obsolete hardware
1201 wait until the phototypesetter is available
1210 .No groff-1.06 Pq Sep 1, 1992
1215 use the non-compacted version of the macros
1221 do not run preprocessors
1227 .No man-db-2.2a5 Pq Nov 10, 1994
1229 suppress formatted output from
1231 print only error messages
1239 .No man-db-2.3.5 Pq April 21, 1995
1241 print a help message and exit
1250 .Nm apropos , whatis , mandb , catman :
1254 Multi-letter options:
1257 .Bq obsolete hardware
1258 output to a Hewlett Packard terminal
1263 .Bq obsolete hardware
1264 use 12-pitch for certain terminals
1270 .Bq obsolete hardware
1271 output to a DASI 450 terminal
1283 .Sy man Ar name Op Ar section
1288 the syntax changed to:
1289 .Sy man Oo Ar section Oc Op Ar name ...
1291 This information was assembled by
1292 .An Ingo Schwarze Aq Mt schwarze@openbsd.org
1294 .Bl -bullet -compact
1296 the Unix Archive of the Unix Heritage Society
1298 the CSRG Archive CD-ROMs
1312 the GNU roff (groff) git repository
1314 the 4.3BSD-Net/2 groff CHANGES file (Oct 1990 to March 1991)
1316 the 4.3BSD-Net/2 groff ChangeLog file (July 1990 to March 1991)
1318 the man-db CVS and git repositories (since April 2001)
1320 the man-db NEWS file (April 1995 to Dec 2016)
1322 the man-db ChangeLog-2013 file (Nov 1994 to Dec 2013)
1324 release tarballs man-1.5g (July 1998) to man-1.5p (Jan 2005),
1325 man-1.6 (June 2005), and man-1.6a to man-1.6g (Dec 2010)
1327 a makewhatis release tarball without version number from 1995
1329 the illumos manual pages on the WWW
1331 and Solaris 11, SunOS 5.10, and SunOS 5.9 machines at opencsw.org.
git.ckatri.com / mandoc.git / blob