intro(1)intro(1)NAMEintro - introduction to command utilities and application programs
DESCRIPTION
This section describes commands accessible by users, as opposed to sys‐
tem calls in Section (2) or library routines in Section (3), which are
accessible by user programs.
Command Syntax
Unless otherwise noted, commands described in this section accept
options and other arguments according to the following syntax:
name [ option ( s )] [ cmd_arg ( s )]
where the elements are defined as follows:
name Name of an executable file.
option One or more options can appear on a command line.
Each takes one of the following forms:
A single letter representing an option without an
argument.
Two or more single-letter options
combined into a single command-line argu‐
ment.
A single-letter option followed by a required
argument where:
arg_letter
is the single letter represent‐
ing an option that requires an
argument,
opt_arg
is an argument (character
string) satisfying the preceding
arg_letter,
<> represents optional white space.
cmd_arg Path name (or other command argument) not beginning
with or by itself indicating the standard input. If
two or more cmd_args appear, they must be separated by
white space.
Manual Entry Formats
All manual entries follow an established topic format, but not all top‐
ics are included in each entry.
Gives the name(s) of the entry and briefly states its purpose.
Summarizes the use of the entry or program entity being described. A
few
conventions are used:
strings are literals, and are to be typed exactly
as they appear in the manual (except for parameters
in the SYNOPSIS section of entries in Sections 2
and 3).
Italic strings represent substitutable argument
names and names of manual entries found elsewhere
in the manual.
Square brackets [] around an argument name indicate
that the argument is optional.
Ellipses (...) are used to show that the previous
argument can be repeated.
A final convention is used by the commands them‐
selves. An argument beginning with a dash (-), a
plus sign (+), or an equal sign (=) is often taken
to be some sort of option argument, even if it
appears in a postion where a file name could
appear. Therefore it is unwise to have file names
that begin with -, +, or =.
Discusses the function and behavior of each entry.
Information under this heading pertains to programming for various spo‐
ken
languages. Typical entries indicate support for
single- and/or multi-byte characters, the effect of
language-related environment variables on system
behavior, and other related information.
Information under this heading is applicable only if you are using the
networking feature described there (such as NFS).
Discusses various values returned upon completion of program calls.
Discusses diagnostics indications that may be produced. Self-explana‐
tory
messages are not listed.
Lists error conditions and their corresponding error message or return
value.
Provides examples of typical usage, where appropriate.
Points out potential pitfalls.
Points out variations in HP-UX operation that are related to the user
or
specific hardware or hardware combinations.
Indicate the origin of the software documented by the manual entry.
Lists file names that are built into the program or command.
Provides pointers to related topics.
Discusses known bugs and deficiencies, occasionally suggesting fixes.
This section lists the standard specifications to which the HP-
UX component conforms.
RETURN VALUE
Upon termination, each command returns two bytes of status, one sup‐
plied by the system giving the cause for termination, and (in the case
of ``normal'' termination) one supplied by the program (for descrip‐
tions, see wait(2) and exit(2)). The system-supplied byte is 0 for
normal termination. The byte provided by the program is customarily 0
for successful execution and non-zero to indicate errors or failure
such as incorrect parameters in the command line, or bad or inaccessi‐
ble data. Values returned are usually called variously ``exit code'',
``exit status'', ``return code'', or ``return value'', and are
described only where special conventions are involved.
WARNINGS
Some commands produce unexpected results when processing files contain‐
ing null characters. These commands often treat text input lines as
strings, and therefore become confused when they encounter a null char‐
acter (the string terminator) within a line.
SEE ALSOgetopt(1), exit(2), wait(2), getopt(3C), hier(5), introduction(9).
Web access to HP-UX documentation at
intro(1)