1.\" $Id: man.options.1,v 1.9 2025/08/28 13:46:57 schwarze Exp $ 2.\" 3.\" Copyright (c) 2017, 2025 Ingo Schwarze <schwarze@openbsd.org> 4.\" 5.\" Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any 6.\" purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above 7.\" copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies. 8.\" 9.\" THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES 10.\" WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF 11.\" MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR 12.\" ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES 13.\" WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN 14.\" ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF 15.\" OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE. 16.\" 17.Dd $Mdocdate: August 28 2025 $ 18.Dt MAN.OPTIONS 1 19.Os 20.Sh NAME 21.Nm man.options 22.Nd assignment of option letters in manual page utilities 23.\" 24.\" Sources that occur repeatedly. 25.\" Only use if the precise implementation time is unknown. 26.\" 27.de PWB 28.No PWB/UNIX 1.0 Pq July 1, 1977 \\$1 29.. 30.de At7 31.At v7 Pq January 1979 \\$1 32.. 33.de At3 34.At III Pq June 1980 \\$1 35.. 36.de Bx4 37.Bx 4 Pq November 16, 1980 \\$1 38.. 39.de At5 40.At V Pq January 1983 \\$1 41.. 42.de At8 43.No Version 8 At Pq February 1985 \\$1 44.. 45.de Bx43 46.Bx 4.3 Pq June 1986 \\$1 47.. 48.de At9 49.No Version 9 At Pq September 1986 \\$1 50.. 51.de At10 52.No Version 10 At Pq October 1989 \\$1 53.. 54.\" option was present in groff-1.01 as contained in 4.3BSD-Net/2 55.\" and no mention of it could be found in the ChangeLog, 56.\" so it's probably older than groff-0.4, where the log started 57.de g04 58.No probably before groff-0.4 Pq before July 14, 1990 \\$1 59.. 60.de Eaton 61.No Eaton Pq before July 7, 1993; 1990/91?\& \\$1 62.. 63.\" man-1.5e was released on July 11, 1998. 64.de man15e 65.No man-1.5e Pq not before 1993, not after 1998 \\$1 66.. 67.\" man-1.5g was released on April 7, 1999. 68.de man15g 69.No man-1.5g Pq not before 1993, not after 1999 \\$1 70.. 71.\" code first seen in the initial import of man-db into CVS , 72.\" which was more or less debian man-db-2.3.17 73.\" Colin Watson's first release was 2.3.18 on May 14, 2001 74.\" no clue about it found in ChangeLog-2013, 75.\" so it was probably already present before man-db-2.2a4 76.de dbI 77.No man-db probably before 2.2a4 Pq before Nov 8, 1994 \\$1 78.. 79.\" 80.\" -------------------------------------------------------------------- 81.\" 82.Sh DESCRIPTION 83This manual page lists option letters used in many different versions 84of the 85.Nm man , 86.Nm apropos , 87.Nm whatis , 88.Nm mandoc , 89.Nm makewhatis , 90.Nm mandb , 91.Nm makemandb , 92.Nm catman , 93and 94.Nm manpath 95utilities. 96Option letters used by 97.Nm groff , 98.Nm nroff , 99.Nm troff , 100and 101.Nm roff 102are also included because beginning with 103.At v7 , 104many versions of 105.Xr man 1 106pass on unrecognized options to these programs. 107.Pp 108For each option letter, information is first grouped into paragraphs, 109each paragraph describing similar functionality and starting with 110one line briefly summarizing that functionality. 111.Pp 112For each program using the letter for that functionality, one line 113is provided, giving the name of the program, a colon, the system 114where this letter first appeared for this functionality in this 115program, optionally a comma and a list of other system versions 116introducing the same, a semicolon, and a list of current systems 117supporting it. 118If a system appears before the semicolon, it is not repeated 119afterwards. 120.Pp 121Entries are sorted by historical precedence, except that obsolete 122options are moved to the end. 123Dates are commit dates where known, and release dates otherwise. 124.Bl -tag -width 3n 125.It Fl a 126display all matching manual pages 127.br 128.Nm man : 129.Bx 4.3 Tahoe Pq June 1988 , 130.Eaton ; 131.Ox , Fx , Nx , No man-db , man-1.6 , illumos , Solaris 9-11 132.br 133.Nm apropos , whatis , mandoc : 134.Ox 5.7 Pq August 27, 2014 135.Pp 136only display items that match all keywords 137.br 138.Nm apropos : 139.No man-db Pq Aug 29, 2007 140.Pp 141use all directories and files for 142.Xr mandoc.db 5 143.br 144.Nm makewhatis : 145.Ox 5.6 Pq April 18, 2014 146.Pp 147.Bq superseded by Fl T Cm ascii 148ASCII output mode 149.br 150.Nm troff : 151.At7 152.br 153.Nm groff : 154.g04 155.It Fl B 156use specified browser 157.br 158.Nm man : 159.No man-1.6 Pq June 24, 2005 160.It Fl b 161print a backtrace with each warning or error message 162.br 163.Nm groff : 164.g04 165.Pp 166.Bq obsolete hardware 167report whether the phototypesetter is busy 168.br 169.Nm troff : 170.At7 171.It Fl C 172alternate configuration file 173.br 174.Nm apropos , whatis : 175.Bx 4.4 Lite1 Pq April 22, 1994 , 176.No man-db Pq Feb 22, 2003 ; 177.Ox , Nx 178.br 179.Nm man : 180.Nx 1.0 Pq Oct 26, 1994 , 181.man15e ; 182.Ox 183.br 184.Nm mandb , catman , manpath : 185.No man-db Pq Feb 22, 2003 186.br 187.Nm makemandb : 188.Nx Pq Feb 7, 2012 189.br 190.Nm makewhatis : 191.Ox 5.6 Pq April 18, 2014 192.br 193.Nm mandoc : 194.Ox 5.7 Pq August 27, 2014 195.Pp 196.Bq obsolete 197enable compatibility mode 198.br 199.Nm groff : 200.No before groff-0.5 Pq before August 3, 1990 201.It Fl c 202do not use a pager 203.br 204.Nm man : 205.Bx 4.3 Reno Pq June 1990 ; 206.Ox , Nx 207.br 208.Nm apropos , whatis , mandoc : 209.Ox 5.7 Pq August 27, 2014 210.Pp 211process given catpath 212.br 213.Nm makewhatis : 214.Pq not before 1992, not after 1995 215.Pp 216recreate databases from scratch 217.br 218.Nm mandb : 219.dbI 220.Pp 221produce a catpath as opposed to a manpath 222.br 223.Nm manpath : 224.dbI 225.Pp 226internal option for use by 227.Xr catman 1 228.br 229.Nm man : 230.dbI 231.Pp 232reformat source page even if cat page exists 233.br 234.Nm man : 235.man15e 236.Pp 237disable terminal color output in 238.Xr grotty 1 239.br 240.Nm groff : 241.No groff-1.18.0 Pq Oct 4, 2001 242.Pp 243recreate nroff versions from SGML sources 244.br 245.Nm catman : 246.No Solaris 9-11 247.Pp 248.Bq obsolete 249postprocess with 250.Xr col 1 251.br 252.Nm man : 253.At3 , 254.At5 255.It Fl D 256reset whatever was set with 257.Ev MANOPT 258.br 259.Nm man : 260.dbI 261.Pp 262print debugging info in addition to manual page 263.br 264.Nm man : 265.man15e 266.Pp 267set default input encoding for 268.Xr preconv 1 269.br 270.Nm groff : 271.No groff-1.20 Pq August 20, 2008 272.Pp 273display all files added to 274.Xr mandoc.db 5 275.br 276.Nm makewhatis : 277.Ox 5.6 Pq April 18, 2014 278.It Fl d 279define a user-defined string 280.br 281.Nm groff : 282.g04 283.Pp 284print debugging information 285.br 286.Nm man : 287.Eaton ; 288.Fx , No man-db , man-1.6 , illumos , Solaris 9-11 289.br 290.Nm manpath : 291.Eaton ; 292.Fx , No man-db 293.br 294.Nm apropos , whatis : 295.dbI ; 296.Fx 297.br 298.Nm mandb , catman : 299.dbI 300.Pp 301remove and re-add a file to 302.Xr mandoc.db 5 303.br 304.Nm makewhatis : 305.Ox 2.7 Pq Feb 3, 2000 306.Pp 307.Bq superseded by Fl l 308interpret arguments as file names 309.br 310.Nm man : 311.At3 , 312.At5 313.It Fl E 314inhibit all error messages 315.br 316.Nm groff : 317.g04 318.Pp 319select output encoding 320.br 321.Nm man : 322.No man-db Pq Dec 23, 2001 323.It Fl e 324preprocess with 325.Xr eqn 7 326.br 327.Nm man : 328.At7 329.br 330.Nm groff : 331.g04 332.Pp 333adjust text to left and right margins 334.br 335.Nm nroff : 336.At7 337.Pp 338use exact matching 339.br 340.Nm apropos , whatis : 341.dbI 342.Pp 343restrict search by section extension 344.br 345.Nm man : 346.No man-db-2.3.5 Pq April 21, 1995 347.It Fl F 348use alternate font directory 349.br 350.Nm troff : 351.Bx 4.2 Pq September 1983 352.br 353.Nm groff : 354.g04 355.Pp 356preformat only, do not display 357.br 358.Nm man : 359.No man-1.5g Pq April 7, 1999 360.Pp 361force searching dirs, do not use index (default) 362.br 363.Nm man : 364.No illumos , Solaris 9-11 365.It Fl f 366.Xr whatis 1 367mode 368.br 369.Nm man : 370.Bx4 , 371.Eaton ; 372.Ox , Fx , No man-db , man-1.6 373.br 374.Nm apropos , whatis : 375.No man-db Pq Dec 2, 2010 , 376.Ox 5.7 Pq August 27, 2014 377.br 378.Nm mandoc : 379.Ox 5.7 Pq August 27, 2014 380.Pp 381set the default font family 382.br 383.Nm groff : 384.g04 385.Pp 386force formatting even if cat page is newer 387.br 388.Nm catman : 389.Fx Pq March 15, 1995 390.Pp 391update only the entries for the given file 392.br 393.Nm mandb : 394.No man-db Pq Feb 21, 2003 395.Pp 396force rebuilding the database from scratch 397.br 398.Nm makemandb : 399.Nx Pq Feb 7, 2012 400.Pp 401locate manual page related to given file name 402.br 403.Nm man : 404.No illumos , Solaris 9-11 405.Pp 406.Bq obsolete hardware 407do not feed out paper nor stop phototypesetter 408.br 409.Nm troff : 410.At7 411.Pp 412.Bq superseded by Fl l 413interpret arguments as file names 414.br 415.Nm man : 416.At10 417.It Fl G 418preprocess with 419.Xr grap 1 420.br 421.Nm groff : 422.No groff-1.16 Pq May 1, 2000 423.It Fl g 424produce a global manpath 425.br 426.Nm manpath : 427.No man-db-2.2a7 Pq Nov 16, 1994 428.Pp 429preprocess with 430.Xr grn 1 431.br 432.Nm groff : 433.No groff-1.16 Pq Feb 20, 2000 434.Pp 435.Bq obsolete hardware 436output to a GCOS phototypesetter 437.br 438.Nm troff : 439.At7 440.Pp 441.Bq obsolete hardware 442output to a DASI 300 terminal in 12-pitch mode 443.br 444.Nm man : 445.PWB 446.It Fl H 447read hyphenation patterns from the given file 448.br 449.Nm groff : 450.g04 451.Pp 452produce HTML output 453.br 454.Nm man : 455.No man-db-1.3.12 to 1.3.17 Pq not before 1996, not after 2001 456.Pp 457use program to render HTML files as text 458.br 459.Nm man : 460.No man-1.6 Pq June 24, 2005 461.It Fl h 462print a help message and exit 463.br 464.Nm groff : 465.g04 466.br 467.Nm man : 468.Eaton ; 469.Fx , No man-db , man-1.6 470.br 471.Nm manpath : 472.Eaton ; 473.Fx , No man-db 474.br 475.Nm apropos , whatis , mandb , catman : 476.dbI 477.Pp 478display the SYNOPSIS lines only 479.br 480.Nm man : 481.Bx 4.3 Net/2 Pq August 20, 1991 ; 482.Ox , Nx 483.br 484.Nm apropos , whatis , mandoc : 485.Ox 5.7 Pq Sep 3, 2014 486.Pp 487turn on HTML formatting 488.br 489.Nm apropos : 490.Nx Pq Apr 2, 2013 491.Pp 492.Bq obsolete 493replace spaces by tabs in the output 494.br 495.Nm roff , nroff : 496.At7 497.It Fl I 498input file search path for 499.Xr soelim 1 500.br 501.Nm groff : 502.No groff-1.12 Pq Sep 11, 1999 503.Pp 504respect case when matching manual page names 505.br 506.Nm man , catman : 507.No man-db Pq Apr 21, 2002 508.Pp 509input options, in particular default operating system name 510.br 511.Nm mandoc : 512.Ox 5.2 Pq May 24, 2012 513.br 514.Nm man , apropos , whatis : 515.Ox 5.7 Pq August 27, 2014 516.It Fl i 517read standard input after the input files are exhausted 518.br 519.Nm nroff , troff : 520.At7 521.br 522.Nm groff : 523.g04 524.Pp 525ignore case when matching manual page names 526.br 527.Nm man , catman : 528.No man-db Pq Apr 21, 2002 529.Pp 530turn on terminal escape code formatting 531.br 532.Nm apropos : 533.Nx Pq March 29, 2013 534.It Fl J 535preprocess with 536.Xr gideal 1 537.br 538.Nm groff : 539.No groff-1.22.3 Pq June 17, 2014 540.It Fl j 541preprocess with 542.Xr chem 1 543.br 544.Nm groff : 545.No groff-1.22 Pq Jan 22, 2011 546.It Fl K 547source code full text search 548.br 549.Nm man : 550.man15e , 551.No man-db Pq June 28, 2009 ; 552.No Solaris 11 553.Pp 554input encoding 555.br 556.Nm groff : 557.No groff-1.20 Pq Dec 31, 2005 558.br 559.Nm man , apropos , whatis , mandoc : 560.Ox 5.7 Pq Oct 30, 2014 561.It Fl k 562.Xr apropos 1 563mode 564.br 565.Nm man : 566.Bx4 , 567.At10 , 568.Eaton ; 569.No POSIX , Ox , Fx , Nx , No man-db , man-1.6 , illumos , Solaris 9-11 570.br 571.Nm apropos , whatis , mandoc : 572.Ox 5.7 Pq August 27, 2014 573.Pp 574ignore formatting errors 575.br 576.Nm catman : 577.Nx Pq April 26, 1994 578.Pp 579preprocess with 580.Xr preconv 1 581.br 582.Nm groff : 583.No groff-1.20 Pq Dec 31, 2005 584.Pp 585.Bq obsolete hardware 586display on a Tektronix 4014 terminal 587.br 588.Nm man : 589.At7 590.It Fl L 591pass argument to the spooler 592.br 593.Nm groff : 594.No groff-0.6 Pq Sep 14, 1990 595.Pp 596use alternate 597.Xr locale 1 598.br 599.Nm man , apropos , whatis : 600.No before man-db-2.2a13 Pq before Dec 15, 1994 601.Pp 602print list of locales 603.br 604.Nm manpath : 605.Fx Pq Nov 23, 1999 606.Pp 607use 608.Xr locale 1 609specified in the environment 610.br 611.Nm catman : 612.Fx Pq May 18, 2002 613.It Fl l 614spool the output 615.br 616.Nm groff : 617.g04 618.Pp 619interpret arguments as file names 620.br 621.Nm man : 622.No before man-2.2a7 Pq before Nov 16, 1994 , 623.Ox 5.7 Pq Aug 30, 2014 624.br 625.Nm apropos , whatis , mandoc : 626.Ox 5.7 Pq Aug 30, 2014 627.Pp 628do not trim output to the terminal width 629.br 630.Nm apropos , whatis : 631.No man-db Pq Aug 19, 2007 632.Pp 633only parse NAME sections 634.br 635.Nm makemandb : 636.Nx Pq Feb 7, 2012 637.Pp 638legacy mode: search Nm,Nd, no context or formatting 639.br 640.Nm apropos : 641.Nx Pq March 29, 2013 642.Pp 643list all manual pages matching name within the search path 644.br 645.Nm man : 646.No illumos , Solaris 9-11 647.It Fl M 648override manual page search path 649.br 650.Nm man : 651.Bx43 , 652.Eaton ; 653.Ox , Fx , Nx , No man-db , man-1.6 , illumos , Solaris 9-11 654.br 655.Nm apropos , whatis : 656.Bx43 , 657.No before man-db-2.2a14 Pq before Dec 16, 1994 ; 658.Ox , No illumos 659.br 660.Nm catman : 661.dbI ; 662.Nx Pq July 27, 1993 , 663.No Solaris 9-11 664.br 665.Nm mandoc : 666.Ox 5.7 Pq August 27, 2014 667.Pp 668prepend to macro file search path 669.br 670.Nm groff : 671.g04 672.Pp 673do not show the context of the match 674.br 675.Nm apropos : 676.Nx Pq May 22, 2016 677.It Fl m 678specify input macro language 679.br 680.Nm nroff , troff : 681.At7 682.br 683.Nm groff : 684.g04 685.br 686.Nm mandoc : 687.Ox 4.8 Pq April 6, 2009 688.Pp 689augment manual page search path 690.br 691.Nm man , apropos , whatis : 692.Bx 4.3 Reno Pq June 1990 ; 693.Ox , Nx 694.br 695.Nm catman : 696.Nx Pq Apr 4, 1999 697.br 698.Nm mandoc : 699.Ox 5.7 Pq August 27, 2014 700.Pp 701override operating system 702.br 703.Nm man : 704.Eaton ; 705.No man-db , man-1.6 706.br 707.Nm apropos , whatis , manpath : 708.dbI 709.Pp 710override architecture 711.br 712.Nm man : 713.Fx Pq Jan 11, 2002 714.Pp 715show the context of the match 716.br 717.Nm apropos : 718.Nx Pq May 22, 2016 719.It Fl N 720do not allow newlines between 721.Xr eqn 7 722delimiters 723.br 724.Nm groff : 725.No groff-1.01 Pq Feb 21, 1991 726.It Fl n 727specify a page number for the first page 728.br 729.Nm troff : 730.At7 731.br 732.Nm groff : 733.g04 734.Pp 735.Xr nroff 1 736output mode 737.br 738.Nm man : 739.At7 , 740.At8 , 741.At10 742.Pp 743do not create the 744.Xr whatis 1 745database 746.br 747.Nm catman : 748.Nx Pq July 27, 1993 749.Pp 750print commands instead of executing them 751.br 752.Nm catman : 753.Fx Pq May 18, 2002 , 754.No Solaris 9-11 755.Pp 756limit the number of results 757.br 758.Nm apropos : 759.Nx Pq Feb 7, 2012 760.Pp 761dry run simulating 762.Xr mandoc.db 5 763creation 764.br 765.Nm makewhatis : 766.Ox 5.6 Pq April 18, 2014 767.It Fl O 768output options 769.br 770.Nm mandoc : 771.Ox 4.8 Pq Oct 27, 2009 772.br 773.Nm man , apropos , whatis : 774.Ox 5.7 Pq August 27, 2014 775.It Fl o 776select pages by numbers 777.br 778.Nm nroff , troff : 779.At7 780.br 781.Nm groff : 782.g04 783.Pp 784force use of non-localized manual pages 785.br 786.Nm man : 787.Fx Pq June 7, 1999 788.Pp 789optimize index for speed and disk space 790.br 791.Nm makemandb : 792.Nx Pq Feb 7, 2012 793.It Fl P 794pass argument to postprocessor 795.br 796.Nm groff : 797.No groff-0.6 Pq Sep 14, 1990 798.Pp 799use specified pager 800.br 801.Nm man : 802.Eaton ; 803.Fx , No man-db , man-1.6 804.Pp 805turn on pager formatting 806.br 807.Nm apropos : 808.Nx Pq Apr 2, 2013 809.It Fl p 810preprocess with 811.Xr pic 1 812.br 813.Nm groff : 814.g04 815.Pp 816use the given list of preprocessors 817.br 818.Nm man : 819.Eaton ; 820.Fx , No man-db , man-1.6 821.Pp 822dry run, display commands instead of executing them 823.br 824.Nm catman : 825.Nx Pq July 27, 1993 , 826.Fx Pq March 15, 1995 to May 18, 2002 , 827.No Solaris 9-11 828.Pp 829print warnings when building 830.Xr mandoc.db 5 831.br 832.Nm makewhatis : 833.Ox 2.7 Pq April 23, 2000 834.Pp 835do not look for deleted manual pages 836.br 837.Nm mandb : 838.No man-db Pq June 28, 2001 839.Pp 840print the search path for manual pages 841.br 842.Nm man : 843.Nx Pq June 14 , 2011 844.Pp 845turn on pager formatting and pipe through pager 846.br 847.Nm apropos : 848.Nx Pq Feb 7, 2012 849.Pp 850.Bq obsolete hardware 851set phototypesetter point size 852.br 853.Nm troff : 854.At7 855.It Fl Q 856print only fatal error messages 857.br 858.Nm makemandb : 859.Nx Pq Aug 29, 2012 860.Pp 861quick mode of 862.Xr mandoc.db 5 863creation 864.br 865.Nm makewhatis : 866.Ox 5.6 Pq April 18, 2014 867.It Fl q 868invoke the simultaneous input-output mode of the .rd request 869.br 870.Nm nroff , troff : 871.At7 872.Pp 873quick mode: prefer preformatted page if available 874.br 875.Nm man : 876.At8 , 877.At10 878.Pp 879issue no warnings 880.br 881.Nm manpath : 882.Eaton ; 883.Fx , No man-db 884.br 885.Nm mandb : 886.dbI 887.Pp 888print only warnings and errors, no status updates 889.br 890.Nm makemandb : 891.Nx Pq Aug 29, 2012 892.It Fl R 893postprocess with 894.Xr refer 1 895.br 896.Nm groff : 897.No groff-1.02 Pq June 2, 1991 898.Pp 899recode to the specified encoding 900.br 901.Nm man : 902.No man-db Pq Dec 31, 2007 903.It Fl r 904set number register 905.br 906.Nm nroff , troff : 907.At7 908.br 909.Nm groff : 910.g04 911.Pp 912scan for and remove junk files 913.br 914.Nm catman : 915.Fx Pq March 31, 1995 916.Pp 917set 918.Xr less 1 919prompt 920.br 921.Nm man : 922.No man-db-2.3.5 Pq April 21, 1995 923.Pp 924use regular expression matching 925.br 926.Nm apropos , whatis : 927.No man-db-2.3.5 Pq April 21, 1995 928.Pp 929turn off formatting 930.br 931.Nm apropos : 932.Nx Pq Feb 10, 2013 933.Pp 934check for formatting errors, do not display 935.br 936.Nm man : 937.No illumos , Solaris 9-11 938.It Fl S 939manual section search list 940.br 941.Nm man : 942.Eaton ; 943.Fx , No man-db , man-1.6 944.Pp 945safer mode 946.br 947.Nm groff : 948.No groff-1.10 Pq May 17, 1994 949.Pp 950restrict architecture 951.br 952.Nm man : 953.Ox 2.3 Pq March 9, 1998 , 954.Nx Pq May 27, 2000 955.br 956.Nm apropos : 957.Ox 4.5 Pq Dec 24, 2008 , 958.Nx Pq May 8, 2009 959.br 960.Nm whatis : 961.Ox 5.6 Pq April 18, 2014 962.br 963.Nm mandoc : 964.Ox 5.7 Pq August 27, 2014 965.It Fl s 966preprocess with 967.Xr soelim 1 968.br 969.Nm groff : 970.g04 971.Pp 972silent mode, do not echo commands 973.br 974.Nm catman : 975.Nx Pq April 26, 1994 976.Pp 977restrict section 978.br 979.Nm makewhatis : 980.man15g 981.br 982.Nm man : 983.Ox 2.3 Pq March 9, 1998 , 984.Nx Pq June 12, 2000 ; 985.No illumos , Solaris 9-11 986.br 987.Nm apropos : 988.No man-db Pq Nov 16, 2003 , 989.Ox 4.5 Pq Dec 24, 2008 , 990.Nx Pq May 8, 2009 ; 991.No illumos 992.br 993.Nm whatis : 994.No man-db Pq Nov 16, 2003 , 995.Ox 5.6 Pq April 18, 2014 ; 996.No illumos 997.br 998.Nm mandoc : 999.Ox 5.7 Pq August 27, 2014 1000.Pp 1001do not look for stray cats 1002.br 1003.Nm mandb : 1004.dbI 1005.Pp 1006.Bq SysV compat, recommends Fl S 1007manual section search list 1008.br 1009.Nm man : 1010.No man-db Pq Jan 1, 2008 1011.Pp 1012.Bq superseded by Fl h 1013display the SYNOPSIS lines only 1014.br 1015.Nm man : 1016.PWB 1017.Pp 1018.Bq obsolete hardware 1019pause before each page for paper manipulation 1020.br 1021.Nm roff : 1022.At7 1023.Pp 1024.Bq obsolete hardware 1025.Xr troff 1 1026output mode, small format 1027.br 1028.Nm man : 1029.At3 , 1030.At5 1031.It Fl T 1032select terminal output format 1033.br 1034.Nm nroff : 1035.At7 1036.br 1037.Nm man : 1038.At3 , 1039.At5 , 1040.dbI , 1041.Ox 5.7 Pq August 27, 2014 1042.br 1043.Nm groff : 1044.g04 1045.br 1046.Nm mandoc : 1047.Ox 4.8 Pq April 6, 2009 1048.br 1049.Nm apropos , whatis : 1050.Ox 5.7 Pq August 27, 2014 1051.Pp 1052use UTF-8 for 1053.Xr mandoc.db 5 1054.br 1055.Nm makewhatis : 1056.Ox 5.6 Pq April 18, 2014 1057.Pp 1058.Bq superseded by Fl m 1059use other macro package 1060.br 1061.Nm man , catman : 1062.No Solaris 9-11 1063.It Fl t 1064.Xr troff 1 1065output mode 1066.br 1067.Nm man : 1068.PWB , 1069.At7 , 1070.Bx 2 Pq May 10, 1979 , 1071.At3 , 1072.At5 , 1073.At8 , 1074.At10 , 1075.Eaton ; 1076.Fx , No man-db , man-1.6 , illumos , Solaris 9-11 1077.br 1078.Nm catman : 1079.No Solaris 9-11 1080.Pp 1081preprocess with 1082.Xr tbl 7 1083.br 1084.Nm groff : 1085.g04 1086.Pp 1087check manual pages in the hierarchy 1088.br 1089.Nm mandb : 1090.No man-db-1.3.12 to 1.3.17 Pq not before 1996, not after 2001 1091.Pp 1092check files for problems related to 1093.Xr mandoc.db 5 1094.br 1095.Nm makewhatis : 1096.Ox 2.7 Pq April 23, 2000 1097.It Fl U 1098unsafe mode 1099.br 1100.Nm groff : 1101.No groff-1.12 Pq Dec 13, 1999 1102.It Fl u 1103update database 1104.br 1105.Nm makewhatis : 1106.Pq not before 1992, not after 1995 1107.Pp 1108create user databases only 1109.br 1110.Nm mandb : 1111.dbI 1112.Pp 1113update database cache (requires suid) 1114.br 1115.Nm man : 1116.No before man-db-2.2a10 Pq before Dec 6, 1994 1117.Pp 1118remove files from 1119.Xr mandoc.db 5 1120.br 1121.Nm makewhatis : 1122.Ox 3.4 Pq July 9, 2003 1123.It Fl V 1124print the pipeline on stdout instead of executing it 1125.br 1126.Nm groff : 1127.No groff-0.6 Pq Sep 2, 1990 1128.Pp 1129print version information 1130.br 1131.Nm man , apropos , whatis , mandb , catman , manpath : 1132.dbI 1133.It Fl v 1134print version number 1135.br 1136.Nm groff : 1137.g04 1138.Pp 1139verbose mode 1140.br 1141.Nm catman : 1142.Fx Pq March 15, 1995 , 1143.No mandoc Pq June 30, 2025 1144.br 1145.Nm makewhatis : 1146.man15g 1147.br 1148.Nm apropos , whatis : 1149.No man-db Pq Dec 29, 2002 1150.Pp 1151print the name of every parsed file 1152.br 1153.Nm makemandb : 1154.Nx Pq Feb 7, 2012 1155.Pp 1156.Bq obsolete hardware 1157produce output on the Versatec printer 1158.br 1159.Nm man : 1160.PWB 1161.It Fl W 1162disable the named warning 1163.br 1164.Nm groff : 1165.No groff-0.5 Pq August 14, 1990 1166.Pp 1167list pathnames without additional information 1168.br 1169.Nm man : 1170.man15e 1171.Pp 1172list pathnames of cat files 1173.br 1174.Nm man : 1175.No man-db Pq Aug 13, 2002 1176.Pp 1177minimum message level to display 1178.br 1179.Nm mandoc : 1180.Ox 4.8 Pq April 6, 2009 1181.br 1182.Nm man , apropos , whatis : 1183.Ox 5.7 Pq August 27, 2014 1184.It Fl w 1185list pathnames 1186.br 1187.Nm man : 1188.At7 , 1189.At3 , 1190.At5 , 1191.At8 , 1192.Eaton ; 1193.Ox , Fx , Nx , No man-db , man-1.6 1194.br 1195.Nm apropos , whatis , mandoc : 1196.Ox 5.7 Pq August 27, 2014 1197.Pp 1198enable the named warning 1199.br 1200.Nm groff : 1201.No groff-0.5 Pq August 14, 1990 1202.Pp 1203only create the 1204.Xr whatis 1 1205database 1206.br 1207.Nm catman : 1208.Nx Pq July 27, 1993 , 1209.No Solaris 9-11 1210.Pp 1211use wildcard matching 1212.br 1213.Nm apropos , whatis : 1214.No man-db-2.3.5 Pq April 21, 1995 1215.Pp 1216use manpath obtained from man --path 1217.br 1218.Nm makewhatis : 1219.man15g 1220.Pp 1221update the 1222.Xr whatis 1 1223database 1224.br 1225.Nm man : 1226.No illumos 1227.Pp 1228.Bq obsolete hardware 1229wait until the phototypesetter is available 1230.br 1231.Nm troff : 1232.At7 1233.It Fl X 1234display with 1235.Xr gxditview 1 1236.br 1237.Nm groff : 1238.No groff-1.06 Pq Sep 1, 1992 1239.br 1240.Nm man : 1241.dbI 1242.It Fl y 1243use the non-compacted version of the macros 1244.br 1245.Nm man : 1246.At3 , 1247.At5 1248.It Fl Z 1249do not run preprocessors 1250.br 1251.Nm groff : 1252.g04 1253.br 1254.Nm man : 1255.No man-db-2.2a5 Pq Nov 10, 1994 1256.It Fl z 1257suppress formatted output from 1258.Xr troff 1 , 1259print only error messages 1260.br 1261.Nm groff : 1262.g04 1263.It Fl 7 1264ASCII output mode 1265.br 1266.Nm man : 1267.No man-db-2.3.5 Pq April 21, 1995 1268.It Fl \&? 1269print a help message and exit 1270.br 1271.Nm groff : 1272.g04 1273.br 1274.Nm man , manpath : 1275.Eaton ; 1276.Fx , No man-db 1277.br 1278.Nm apropos , whatis , mandb , catman : 1279.dbI 1280.El 1281.Pp 1282Multi-letter options: 1283.Bl -tag -width Ds 1284.It Fl hp 1285.Bq obsolete hardware 1286output to a Hewlett Packard terminal 1287.br 1288.Nm man : 1289.PWB 1290.It Fl 12 1291.Bq obsolete hardware 1292use 12-pitch for certain terminals 1293.br 1294.Nm man : 1295.At3 , 1296.At5 1297.It Fl 450 1298.Bq obsolete hardware 1299output to a DASI 450 terminal 1300.br 1301.Nm man : 1302.PWB 1303.El 1304.Pp 1305In 1306.At v3 , 1307.Xr man 1 1308had no options. 1309.br 1310The syntax was: 1311.Sy man Ar name Op Ar section 1312.Pp 1313In 1314.At v4 , 1315.br 1316the syntax changed to: 1317.Sy man Oo Ar section Oc Op Ar name ... 1318.Sh AUTHORS 1319This information was assembled by 1320.An Ingo Schwarze Aq Mt schwarze@openbsd.org 1321using 1322.Bl -bullet -compact 1323.It 1324the Unix Archive of the Unix Heritage Society 1325.It 1326the CSRG Archive CD-ROMs 1327.It 1328the 1329.Fx 1330SVN repository 1331.It 1332the 1333.Ox 1334CVS repository 1335.It 1336the 1337.Nx 1338CVS repository 1339.It 1340the GNU roff (groff) git repository 1341.It 1342the 4.3BSD-Net/2 groff CHANGES file (Oct 1990 to March 1991) 1343.It 1344the 4.3BSD-Net/2 groff ChangeLog file (July 1990 to March 1991) 1345.It 1346the man-db CVS and git repositories (since April 2001) 1347.It 1348the man-db NEWS file (April 1995 to Dec 2016) 1349.It 1350the man-db ChangeLog-2013 file (Nov 1994 to Dec 2013) 1351.It 1352release tarballs man-1.5g (July 1998) to man-1.5p (Jan 2005), 1353man-1.6 (June 2005), and man-1.6a to man-1.6g (Dec 2010) 1354.It 1355a makewhatis release tarball without version number from 1995 1356.It 1357the illumos manual pages on the WWW 1358.It 1359and Solaris 11, SunOS 5.10, and SunOS 5.9 machines at opencsw.org. 1360.El 1361