Outputs:
printf (1) - format and print data
printf (1p) - write formatted output
printf (3) - formatted output conversion
printf (3p) - print formatted output
printf [builtins] (1) - bash built-in commands, see bash(1)
How do I access overlapping man pages and what is the meaning of (1), (1p), (3), and so on?
[donotprint]
Tutorial details | |
---|---|
Difficulty | Easy (rss) |
Root privileges | No |
Requirements | None |
Time | 5m |
- Section #1 : User Commands
- Section #2 : System Calls
- Section #3 : C Library Functions
- Section #4 : Devices and Special Files
- Section #5 : File Formats and Conventions
- Section #6 : Games et. Al.
- Section #7 : Miscellanea
- Section #8 : System Administration tools and Deamons
Many Linux distributions and other Unix variants customize the manual section to their specifics, which often include additional sections. For example, section #9 may include kernel internals and more.
What is the meaning of number in parentheses after the command?
It’s the section of the manual the man page is in. For example, useradd(8) means:
- useradd – Name of the command.
- 8 – The section (“System Administration tools and Deamons”) where the command is documented.
For example, ls(1) means:
- ls – Name of the command.
- 1 – The section (“user commands”) where the command is documented.
Syntax: Viewing man pages
There are manual pages by the same name in different sections, referring to different things. The syntax is:
man page-to-view man section page-to-view
To read printf(1) command manual that format and print data, enter:
$ man 1 printf
To read printf(3) programmers printf() manual, enter:
$ man 3 printf
Finding what function a command or API performs
Type the following to looks up a given command, system call, library function, or special file name, as specified by the command parameter:
whatis command whatis ls
Sample outputs:
ls (1) - list directory contents ls (1p) - list directory contents
The 1p and 3p refer to sections letters as follows (taken from my IBM AIX Unix server):
C Specifies commands (including system management commands). F Specifies file-type manual pages. L Specifies library functions. n Specifies new. l Specifies local. o Specifies old. p Specifies public.
Please note that p section letter as in ls(1p) on GNU based systems indicates that you are viewing “POSIX Programmer’s Manual”. For more information see the following man page:
man
OR
man 1 man
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Category | List of Unix and Linux commands |
---|---|
File Management | cat |
Firewall | Alpine Awall • CentOS 8 • OpenSUSE • RHEL 8 • Ubuntu 16.04 • Ubuntu 18.04 • Ubuntu 20.04 |
Network Utilities | dig • host • ip • nmap |
OpenVPN | CentOS 7 • CentOS 8 • Debian 10 • Debian 8/9 • Ubuntu 18.04 • Ubuntu 20.04 |
Package Manager | apk • apt |
Processes Management | bg • chroot • cron • disown • fg • jobs • killall • kill • pidof • pstree • pwdx • time |
Searching | grep • whereis • which |
User Information | groups • id • lastcomm • last • lid/libuser-lid • logname • members • users • whoami • who • w |
WireGuard VPN | Alpine • CentOS 8 • Debian 10 • Firewall • Ubuntu 20.04 |
I think the ‘p’ in ‘1p’ refers to POSIX-compliant. For more on POSIX check out the Wikipedia article.