What is the number in parentheses in man pages?

The number refers to the section of the manual (man). For example, find(3) means that the find command is in section 3 of the manual.

What does parentheses mean in Linux?

Parentheses denote a subshell in bash. To quote the man bash page: (list) list is executed in a subshell environment (see COMMAND EXECUTION ENVIRONMENT below). Variable assignments and builtin commands that affect the shell’s environment do not remain in effect after the command completes.

What is the number after man page?

The Unix man command gives you access to documentation in the form of manual (“man”) pages at the shell prompt. Enter man followed by the name of the command. The Unix manual consists of eight sections, and each man page has its command name followed by the section number in parenthesis.

What does man pages mean in Linux?

A man page (short for manual page) is a form of software documentation usually found on a Unix or Unix-like operating system. A user may invoke a man page by issuing the man command. By default, man typically uses a terminal pager program such as more or less to display its output.

Which commands get a list of all man pages named file?

and if you just want to see all the man pages in a particular section use the -s flag. For example, if you just wanted to get a list of all man pages for all executable commands (section 1): whatis -s 1 -r .

What are man page sections?

man page sections Section # 1 : User command (executable programs or shell commands) Section # 2 : System calls (functions provided by the kernel) Section # 3 : Library calls (functions within program libraries) Section # 4 : Special files (usually found in /dev)

What does double parentheses mean in bash?

Similar to the let command, the (( )) construct permits arithmetic expansion and evaluation. However, this double-parentheses construct is also a mechanism for allowing C-style manipulation of variables in Bash, for example, (( var++ )). …

What are parentheses?

parenthesis Add to list Share. When you use parentheses to set off material in a sentence, you say that the material is “in parenthesis.” Put something in parentheses if it’s a comment, an afterthought, or additional information that is possibly interesting but not essential to the subject.

How do I read man pages in Linux?

Getting Started with the man Pages in Linux man opens the manual page of the ls command. You can move up and down with the arrow keys and press q to quit viewing the man page. Usually, the man pages are opened with less so the keyboard shortcuts for less command work in man as well.

How do I see all man pages in Linux?

Use the global apropos option in man . -K, –global-apropos Search for text in all manual pages. This is a brute-force search, and is likely to take some time; if you can, you should specify a section to reduce the number of pages that need to be searched.

How are Linux man pages organized?

Linux man pages are organized as several sections. Each section has a group of commands for a specific area in Linux usage, administration or development.

What do the numbers on the command line pages mean?

The number corresponds to what section of the manual that page is from; 1 is user commands, while 8 is sysadmin stuff. The man page for man itself (man man) explains it and lists the standard ones:

What do the numbers in a man page mean?

The number refers to the man page section the command or C function is in. They are section numbers of the traditional Unix manual pages. Your question has already been answered on Unix and Linux Stack Exchange a year ago, What do the numbers in a man page mean?. These are section numbers. If you want to read section 2 of mount then run:

How do you read a man page in Linux?

The bottom portion of a man page, titled ‘ SEE ALSO ‘, lists other commands or files related to the man page. The number in parentheses reflects the section where the man page is located. When you are unsure of the name of a command, you can use the man command with the -k option and a keyword to search for matching man page entries.

Where did the Unix Section numbers come from?

The history of these section numbers goes back to the original Unix Programmer’s Manual by Thompson and Ritchie in 1971. What it’s means already described, but I also wants to add that each section has special manual page with introduction: intro.