MPE/iX Shell and Utilities Reference Manual, Vol 1

intro(1) MPE/iX Shell and Utilities intro(1)
The DESCRIPTION section often mentions the standard input and the standard output. The
standard input is usually the terminal keyboard; the standard output is usually the display
screen. The process of redirection can change this. Redirection is explained in the glossary of
the User’s Guide, and in other parts of the MPE/iX
Shell and Utilities documentation.
When a utility reads data from the standard input, it accepts the lines that you type on the key-
board as if they were lines from files. To end a line of input, press ENTER. To indicate the end
of all the input (that is, the end of file), enter the end-of-file character. On
MPE/iX, use the
string :EOD to indicate the end of the file.
Inside the DESCRIPTION section, the names of files and directories are written in normal
Courier font. The names of environment variables are written in italic Courier
font.
Examples
The EXAMPLES section is present in many man pages, giving examples of how the software
can be used. We try to give a mix of simple examples that show how the commands work on
an elementary level, and more complex examples that show how the commands can perform
complicated tasks.
Environment Variables
The ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES section lists the environment variables that affect the com-
mand, if any, and describes the purposes that those variables serve. For example, the ls man
page lists two environment variables
COLUMNS and TZ and informs you that COLUMNS is the
terminal width and that TZ contains information about the local time zone.
Files
The FILES section lists the supplementary files that the command refers to, if any. By supple-
mentary files, we mean files that are not specified on the command line. Such files usually
provide information that the command needs; the command accesses these files during its
operation. If the files cannot be found, the command prints a message to this effect.
Files documented in this section may be temporary files, output files, databases, configuration
files, and so on.
Diagnostics
The DIAGNOSTICS section contains information about the exit status returned by the com-
mand. You can test this status to determine the result of the operation that the command was
asked to perform. The Messages subsection presents the error messages that the software may
display, along with a description of what caused the message and a possible action you can
take to avoid getting that message. Occasionally, one man page will refer you to another for
more information on an error message. Three common man pages that you will be referred to
Commands and Utilities 1-5