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This is the BSDA Study Guide Book written via a wiki collaboration. This is a work in progress. You may contribute to or discuss this specific page at http://bsdwiki.reedmedia.net/wiki/Recognize_the_different_sections_of_the_manual.html. Recognize the different sections of the manual Concept Recognize what type of information is found in each section of the manual. In addition, be able to specify a specific section of the manual, ask to see all sections of the manual, and do a search query within the manual. Introduction The BSD system provides useful and detailed documentation for most utilities, common configuration files, programming functions, and various procedures. These are known as manual (or man) pages and the manual may be read using the "man" command. The manuals are categorized by various sections, usually by number but sometimes by letter or a word or other description. The standard categories are: 1 General documentation covering standard tools and utilities 2 Programmer manual pages covering system calls and definitions 3 Programmer documentation covering library functions (and subroutines) 4 Documentation covering special files, hardware devices, kernel interfaces and drivers 5 Documentation covering various binary and configuration file formats 6 Documentation for games and amusement 7 Miscellaneous documentation covering concepts and procedures not categorized in other sections. TODO: mention "macros" and "conventions" for 7? 8 Documentation for system maintenance tools, utilities and procedures 9 Programmer documentation covering kernel interfaces and driver development TODO: section "n" for "new commands"?? TODO: maybe give a few examples TODO: Search order TODO: other sections TODO: brief intro to nroff TODO: brief intro to cat pages (preformatted man pages) TODO: how to see all sections? TODO: mention man pages in other locations like from installed packages or third-party software specify a specific section of the manual: man section_number name man 1 man man 5 rc.conf see all entries for name in the manual: man -a name man -a info see all sections of the manual: "man -a name TODO: check this do a search query within the manual: "man -k name "man -k info Examples Practice Exercises TODO: show difference between "ed" and "ed" as an example More information man (1), intro(1) to intro(9), "/" TODO: why "/" in this more information?