Name Last modified Size Description
![[DIR]](/icons/back.gif)
Parent Directory 09-Jul-2007 10:42 -
![[ ]](/icons/compressed.gif)
foo-0.2.tar.gz 14-Oct-2004 17:10 23k
foo-0.4.tar.gz 15-Dec-2004 18:16 23k
foo.tgz 15-Dec-2004 18:16 23k
PRELIMINARY NOTE
This is only for Unix-like systems or, more specifically, systems
having a "man" manual repository.
Anyway, you can find everything transcripted later in this README.
The primary goal was to provide a man page for foo so that newbies
could get enlightenment when typing "man foo".
The secondary goal was to give some perspective about command options
for experienced users and programmers alike.
Hope you all find it useful, and may you want to contribute suggestions
and comments to:
<juanjo@eurogaran.com>
The final goal should be to include metasyntactics in an extension of
the POSIX specification.
PREVISUALIZE
nroff -mandoc foo.7 | less
INSTALL
Edit the Makefile if you want to change the predefined name of the
C compiler (gcc) or the destination path (/usr/local).
Execute:
make install
To install manually:
First copy over the file foo.7 to the directory /usr/local/man/man7/
or to the directory /usr/local/share/man/man7/ (Create the directory
if necessary, but make certain that it appears either in the MANPATH
environment variable, or in the file-s /etc/man.config or similar).
Optionally, you can create the links bar.7 and baz.7 inside the same
directory.
Compile:
cc -o foo foo.c
and put foo in /usr/local/bin
or elsewhere in your PATH.
EXECUTE
foo
man foo
TRANSCRIPTION of the man page
foo(7) Metasyntactic words foo(7)
NAME
foo -- abstraction representing any name
SYNOPSIS
foo [options]
The options are sequences of characters that can alter the
behavior of the command. They are separated from each
other by at least one space, and consist typically in one
or more letters preceeded by at most two hyphens (minus
signs).
This man page tries to explain the usual meanings of every
possible option in every possible command.
Obviously, it can not even pretend to be complete but
merely orientative, so look at it with caution and use it
with extreme care and judgement. This should be your last
resort. Never use it unless there is no other source of
information available:
Try first
man foo
SUBSTITUTING the word foo by the desired command
name.
In the same way, try also any or all of the follow
ing:
info foo
help foo
foo -h
DESCRIPTION
foo is the preferred way to represent any command, pro
gram, shell built-in, function or subroutine name. The
words bar(7), baz(7) and others serve the same purpose,
specially once foo(7) has already been used. Together
they are called metasyntactic variable names.
This man page, for instance, could have been called
options or even unix, linux, or any other thing of that
sort. That is why foo was chosen.
OPTIONS
-- make subsequent hyphens no longer be interpreted as
signaling the beginning of an option
EXAMPLES
rm -- [filename starting with the character
- ]
--[option]
mark option as having more than one character
EXAMPLES
--help, --version ...
(mainstream usage of -- )
Multi-character options tend to have single letter equivalents:
EXAMPLES
-h, --help
-z, --zip
Exceptions are gcc(1), find(1), the X(7) server and its
related programs, which use long options preceded by
a single hyphen:
EXAMPLES
-display, -geometry ...
- use standard input in place of a file
(most used in command pipes)
-[number]
select the mode of operation when there are more than two
EXAMPLES
telnet, nice ...
-[letter]
-a
--all do not stop after processing the first item
EXAMPLES
(numerous; mainstream usage of -a)
--ascii, --text
input/output in plain ASCII text
EXAMPLES
grep, gzip, mc
-a [argument]
--append [stuff], --add [stuff]
proceed without overwriting preexistent data
EXAMPLES
tee, ar, mail
-b set mode
--bytes
set byte output mode
EXAMPLES
free, cpio ...
--binary
set binary operation mode
EXAMPLES
md5sum, whereis
--batch
do not listen to manual input
EXAMPLES
top, gimp
--brief
generate more concise output
(Related to -q and -s, and opposite to --verbose)
EXAMPLES
file, gprof
--bus operate on bus
EXAMPLES
hdparm, lspci
-b [size]
--block [size]
specify the size of data portions (on/to disk)
EXAMPLES
(mainstream usage of -b)
--buffer [size]
limit intermediate storage size (in-memory)
EXAMPLES
less, smbclient
--border [size]
set margins
EXAMPLES
emacs, xterm
-c
--check
examine things before working on them
(note the difference with --test)
EXAMPLES
sort, mke2fs ...
--comp disable/reenable compression or compaction
(Related to -z)
EXAMPLES
pstree, poff
-c [argument]
--compile [non-numeric], --command [non-numeric]
process some instructions
(Similar to --exec)
EXAMPLES
gcc, sh, su ...
--count [number]
declare its argument to be a natural number
(Similar to -n)
EXAMPLES
from, eject
-d
--daemon
start permanent background execution
EXAMPLES
run, fdmount ...
-d [argument]
--debug, --diagnose
perform additional tasks for error detection
EXAMPLES
(mainstream usage of -d)
--dir [directory]
set directory mode or the directory to operate
EXAMPLES
if, apache
--delete [stuff]
CAUTION: this is normally irreversible
EXAMPLES
tar, tr, losetup
e typically without prepending hyphen
--extract [filename]
uncompress, be it a part or the whole
EXAMPLES
unace, unrar ...
-e [arguments]
--exec [commands]
execute some instructions
(Similar to -c)
EXAMPLES
sed, mysql ...
(mainstream usage of -e)
--exclude [stuff]
make exceptions, do not execute on arguments
CAUTION: contrast with the previous usage
EXAMPLES
dump, par
-f
--force
override internal security mechanisms
(Resembling, but not exactly the same as -y)
CAUTION: dangerous
EXAMPLES
ln, rm, rmmod
--fake do not perform any real action
(Similar to --test)
CAUTION: opposite to the previous usage
EXAMPLES
mount
-f [argument]
--file [filename]
specify the file to use
EXAMPLES
(mainstream usage of -f)
-g
--graphic
launch visual interface for mouse interaction
EXAMPLES
vim, mtr
-g [argument]
--group [identifier]
specify group
EXAMPLES
useradd, lsof ...
(mainstream usage of -g)
-h
--help, --usage
display some help and exit
(Similar to -?)
EXAMPLES
(mainstream usage of -h)
--human
output in a more easily readable format
(Also has to do with --help)
EXAMPLES
df, du
-h [argument]
--headers [modifier]
determine how (and whether) to print headers
EXAMPLES
w, nl, lpr ...
-i
--interactive, --inquire
enable/disable confirmation
(Opposite to -y)
EXAMPLES
(mainstream usage of -i)
--insensitive
make no distinction between upper
case and lower case letters
(Related to --ignore)
EXAMPLES
locate, diff
--ignore
ignore things, usually errors
EXAMPLES
make, top, env
--invert
invert the output somehow
(Similar to --reverse)
EXAMPLES
ico, kfax
-i [argument]
--include, --insert, --install [filename]
incorporate the contents of a file
EXAMPLES
dpkg, rpm ...
--initial
(rarely used)
EXAMPLES
expand, clisp
-j [argument]
--jump [destination]
set the order in which things get evaluated
EXAMPLES
less, iptables ...
-k
--keep do not perform normal elimination
EXAMPLES
rman, bzip2 ...
(mainstream usage of -k)
--kill eliminate the things dictated by the output
(note the difference with --delete)
CAUTION: normally irreversible, and
opposite to the previous usage
EXAMPLES
fuser, sudo
-l control output format (usually making it larger)
--list generate list formatted output
EXAMPLES
fdisk, pgrep ...
(mainstream usage of -l)
--long not always in the same sense as --verbose
EXAMPLES
cmp, mkisofs
--log enable/disable logging (output to a file)
EXAMPLES
xterm, cvs
-l [argument]
--lines [number]
set line count/numbering
EXAMPLES
col, wc, nm ...
-m [argument]
--map [mapping]
use an alternative map instead of the default
EXAMPLES
bash, lilo, reset ...
-n
--not negate something, usually a part of the main output
(not just verbosity, like -q, -s or --brief)
EXAMPLES
sed, mesg ...
-n [argument]
--number [number]
declare [argument] to be a natural number
(Similar to --count)
EXAMPLES
lp, dmesg ...
-o [argument]
--output [filename], --object [filename]
specify the destination file to write results to
EXAMPLES
(mainstream usage of -o)
--option [value]
set an option
EXAMPLES
set, mount
-p
--print
print output
EXAMPLES
read, cal ...
-p [argument]
--port [number]
specify port (commonly in TCP/IP programs)
EXAMPLES
nmap, sshd ...
--protocol [argument]
specify protocol (also in TCP/IP programs)
EXAMPLES
iptables
--prefix [prefix]
use words with same beginning
EXAMPLES
bison, mktemp
-q
--quiet
In traditional practice, it is verbosity what
has to be asked for explicitely, making this
option superfluous.
(Related to --silent and --brief, and
opposite to --verbose)
EXAMPLES
gdb, ping ...
(mainstream usage of -q)
-r
--recursive
apply to all directories underneath
EXAMPLES
(mainstream usage of -r)
--reverse
somehow reverse output/presentation
(Similar to --invert)
EXAMPLES
cat, xterm ...
--restrict
disable part of the functionality
EXAMPLES
bash, jobs, ps
--recover
resume operation as if it had not been interrupted
EXAMPLES
vim, nmap ...
-s
--silent
supress output (in a much greater degree than -q)
(Related to --quiet and --brief, and
opposite to --verbose)
EXAMPLES
(mainstream usage of -s)
-s [argument]
--size [size]
limit total input
(as opposed to -b, which limits size for fragments)
EXAMPLES
shred, xargs ...
-t
--test do not perform any real action
(Similar to --fake)
EXAMPLES
lilo, unzip ...
(mainstream usage of -t)
-t [argument]
--terminal [term]
specify a terminal
EXAMPLES
skill, ul, emacs
--tag [label]
handle paragraphs
EXAMPLES
fmt, vi ...
-u
--update
do not replace if newer
EXAMPLES
man, mv ...
-u [argument]
--user [identifier]
specify user
EXAMPLES
(mainstream usage of -u)
-v
--verbose
output information about execution
(Opposite to --brief, --quiet and --silent)
EXAMPLES
(mainstream use of -v)
--version
output information about the program
EXAMPLES
chattr, lsof ...
If there is a -V option, the trend is for -V
to have this meaning, with a few exceptions:
fsck, lsof, sox
-w
--wait do not start execution immediately
EXAMPLES
host, open ...
--write
write to the device
EXAMPLES
mount, hwclock ...
-w [argument]
--width [value]
set width
EXAMPLES
ptx, banner ...
--warnings [modifier]
enable/disable warnings
EXAMPLES
passwd, jw ...
-x same meanings and usage as -e
-y
--yes do not ask for confirmation
(Opposite to --interactive, and
related to --force)
CAUTION: dangerous!
EXAMPLES
e2fsck, apt-get
(mainstream usage of -y)
-z
--zip apply compression
EXAMPLES
(mainstream usage of -z)
-[Capital]
a capital or upper case letter is used only after the
corresponding lower case letter has already been used.
This implies, on the one hand, that what -V means for
a program can be -v on another program and viceversa.
On the other hand, resorting to capitals frequently
implies there are already so many options present that
the need for good documentation can not be ignored.
-? help
(Similar to -h)
+[option]
+[letter]
do the opposite to whatever the normal option does
EXAMPLES
chmod, xlock ...
+[number]
open at the line specified by [number]
EXAMPLES
more, vi ...
FILES
foo can also represent any filename.
CAUTION: In ordinary practice, filenames beginning with
foo, bar, etc. designate files that can be safely deleted
or overwritten at any time without warning.
BUGS
Nothing really prevents foo from becoming the name of a
real program in the future. Only the inclusion of meta
syntactic variable names as part of the POSIX standard
could avoid that possibility.
REPORTING BUGS
Send corrections/enhancements to <juanjo@eurogaran.com>.
At least two examples should be found for an usage to be
included.
COPYING
Copyright © 2002 Juanjo Garcia <juanjo@eurogaran.com>
This is free software; see the source for copying condi
tions. There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY
or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim
copies of this manual provided the copyright notice and
this permission notice are preserved on all copies.
Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified ver
sions of this manual under the conditions for verbatim
copying, provided that the entire resulting derived work
is distributed under the terms of a permission notice
identical to this one.
Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations
of this manual into another language, under the above con
ditions for modified versions, except that this permission
notice may be included in translations approved by the
Free Software Foundation instead of in the original
English.
AUTHOR
Written by Juanjo Garcia.
HISTORY
1959 - Use of the word foo among programmers is first con
stated at M.I.T.
1978 - The words foo and bar reputedly gained widespread
acceptance since their appeareance as subroutine names in
examples from famous books, like "The C programming lan
guage" by Kernighan & Ritchie.
2001 - Rfc3092 describing foo was published following the
work of Eric S. Raymond in the jargon file.
SEE ALSO
sh(1) or bash(1), man(1), apropos(1), whatis(1), info(1).