Jump to content United States-English
HP.com Home Products and Services Support and Drivers Solutions How to Buy
» Contact HP
More options
HP.com home
HP-UX System Administrator's Guide: Configuration Management: HP-UX 11i Version 3 > Preface

Typographic Conventions

» 

Technical documentation

Complete book in PDF
» Feedback
Content starts here

 » Table of Contents

 » Index

This document uses the following typographic conventions.

audit(5)

An HP-UX manpage. audit is the name and 5 is the section in the HP-UX Reference. On the web and on the Instant Information DVD, it may be a hot link to the manpage itself. From the HP-UX command line, you can enter man audit or man 5 audit to view the manpage. See man(1).

Document Title

The title of a document. On the web and on the Instant Information DVD, it may be a hot link to the document itself.

Command

A command name or qualified command phrase.

ComputerOut

Text displayed by the computer.

Emphasis

Text that is emphasized.

Emphasis

Text that is strongly emphasized.

KeyCap

The name of a keyboard key. Note that Return and Enter both refer to the same key.

FirstTerm

The defined use of an important word or phrase.

UserInput

Commands and other text that the user types.

Replaceable

The name of a variable that you may replace in a command or function or information in a display that represents several possible values.

$

Default user command prompt.

#

Default superuser (root) command prompt.

>

Default continuation command prompt.

\

Line continuation marker.

Examples and Shells

This document describes practices used by the system administrator. Since the root user (a superuser) is required to use the POSIX shell /sbin/sh, all command examples use that shell. The POSIX shell is defined in sh-posix(1). For information on other shells, see the Shells User’s Guide and sh(1).

Command Syntax

Literal

A word or character that you enter literally.

Replaceable

A word or phrase that you replace with an appropriate value.

-chars

One or more grouped command options, such as -ikx. The chars are usually a string of literal characters that each represent a specific option. For example, the entry -ikx is equivalent to the individual options -i, -k, and -x. The plus character (+) is sometimes used as an option prefix.

-word

A single command option, such as -help. The word is a literal keyword. The difference from - chars is usually obvious and is clarified in an Options description. The plus character (+) and the double hyphen (--) are sometimes used as option prefixes.

[arg]

The bracket metacharacters enclose optional content in formats and command descriptions.

{arg}

The brace metacharacters enclose required content in formats and command descriptions.

|

The bar metacharacter separates alternatives in a list of choices, usually in brackets or braces.

arg ...

[arg]...

{arg}...

The ellipsis metacharacter after a token or a right bracket or a right brace metacharacter indicates that the preceding term and its preceding whitespace, if any, may be repeated an arbitrary number of times.

. . .

Ellipsis is sometimes used to indicate omitted items in a range.

Function Synopsis and Syntax

HP-UX functions are described in a definition format rather than a usage format. The definition format includes typing information that is omitted when the function call is actually included in a program.

The general definition form is:

type func ( type param [, type param]... );

For example:

int setuname ( const char *name , size_t namelen);

The usage form is:

func ( param [, param]... );

For example:

setuname ( name , namelen );

The function syntax elements are the same as for commands, except for the options.

Printable version
Privacy statement Using this site means you accept its terms Feedback to webmaster
© 2008 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.