Open System Services Shell and Utilities Reference Manual (G06.28+, H06.05+)

About This Manual
Synopsis Format and Conventions
The SYNOPSIS section of each reference page summarizes the ways a command is
invoked. The following list describes the conventions used in these summaries.
• Command names and all flags, required and optional, are always shown in bold type.
•
Arguments, to the command itself or to its flags, are always shown in italic type.
• Optional items, including both flags and arguments, appear in brackets: for example,
[file]. Brackets are not always nested; therefore, an optional argument to an optional
flag appears in its own pair of brackets, following the flag in its pair of brackets. For
example, [-a][file] indicates an optional flag -a with its optional argument file,as
opposed to [-a file], which indicates an optional flag -a and its required argument file.
The lack of nesting for brackets might incorrectly imply that the argument could be
specified without the flag; when in doubt, consult the FLAGS section of the
reference page.
•
In general, flags that do not take arguments and are not mutually exclusive are
grouped together (in a pare of brackets if they are optional). For example:
-aj[k]v In gereral, flags that have related arguments are shown separately. For
example:
[-cCdfFnqvV][-b maxbits]
•
Beyond the preceding grouping requirements, flags appear in alphabetical order (U.S.
English), with uppercase letters following lowercase letters—for example, -aAjkKv.
• Command arguments appear in the order required by the command, if any.
Mandatory arguments appear before optional arguments unless the command
requires otherwise.
•
Operands of indeterminate number are indicated by an ellipsis following the flag
name—for example, [-a file ...].
•
Because some flags are separated from their operands by spaces, a diagram might be
unclear as to whether an operand is an operand to the command or to a required flag.
When in doubt, consult the FLAGS section of the reference page.
• When two or three flags or operands are mutually exclusive (that is, they cannot be
used together) they are separated by vertical bars — for example, -a | -j,or[-k file |
directory].
• When a greater number of items are mutually exclusive, or some other aspect of the
command’s use creates greater than normal complexity, more than one diagram is
provided.
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