introduction.9 (2010 09)

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Section 1: User Commands
Programs that are usually invoked directly by users or from command language procedures
(scripts).
Section 1M: System Administration Commands
Commands used for system installation and maintenance, including boot processes, crash recovery,
system integrity testing, and other needs. Most commands in this section require the superuser
privilege.
Section 2: System Calls
Entries into the HP-UX kernel, including the C-language interface. These topics are primarily of
interest to programmers.
Section 3: Library Functions
Available subroutines that reside (in binary form) in various system libraries. These topics are pri-
marily of interest to programmers.
Section 4: File Formats
The structure of various types of files, such as header files, primarily of interest to administrators
and programmers. For example, the link editor output file format is described in a.out (4). Files
that are used only by a single command (such as intermediate files used by assemblers) are not
described. C-language declarations corresponding to the formats in Section 4 can be found in the
directories /usr/include and /usr/include/sys
.
Section 5: Miscellaneous Topics
A variety of information, such as descriptions of character sets, macro packages, and kernel tun-
ables.
Section 6 (Unused)
This section was traditionally used for games. None are shipped with HP-UX.
Section 7: Device Special Files
The characteristics of device special files (DSF) that provide the link between HP-UX and system
I/O devices. The names for each topic usually refer to the type of I/O device rather than to the
names of individual special files.
Section 8: System Administration Commands
Some UNIX and Linux vendors put system administration commands here. Some third party ven-
dors install commands in this section in HP-UX.
Section 9: General Information
General introductions (such as this) and a glossary of terms used in the HP-UX environment.
This section is also used by the Driver Development Kit to store its function and structure man-
pages, using the section numbers 9E, 9F, and 9S.
Composite Index (Printed Manual)
An alphabetical listing of keywords and topics based on the NAME section near the beginning of
each manpage as well as other information, cross-referenced to manpage names and sections. The
index also contains references to built-in features in the various command interpreters ("shells").
MANPAGE FORMATS
All manpages follow an established section heading format, but not all section headings are included in
each manpage. A few manpages have self-explanatory specialized headings.
NAME
Gives the names of the commands, functions, or features and briefly states the purpose.
SYNOPSIS
Summarizes the syntax of the command or program entity. A few conventions are used:
Constant-width characters indicate literal characters that should be entered exactly as they
appear. These characters appear in bold in the online manpages.
2 Hewlett-Packard Company − 2 − HP-UX 11i Version 3: September 2010