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whatis(C)


whatis -- describe what a command is

Syntax

whatis command ...

Description

whatis looks up the given commands in the keyword database and displays the corresponding manual page name, section, and a short description of each one. You can view a manual page using man(C) (see the ``Examples'' section).

whatis is not case sensitive, but you must give the full name of the command.

whatis sorts its output alphabetically by command name.

Local manual pages can be added to the keyword database by the system administrator. See makewhatis(ADM) for more details.

Examples

whatis tail displays a description of the tail command:
   tail (C)                - display the last part of a file
Enter man C tail to view the manual page for tail(C).

Files


/usr/man/whatis
keyword database

See also

apropos(C), makewhatis(ADM), man(C), whatis(F)

Standards conformance

whatis is not part of any currently supported standard; it is an extension of AT&T System V provided by The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc.
© 2003 Caldera International, Inc. All rights reserved.
SCO OpenServer Release 5.0.7 -- 11 February 2003