Student Notebook

Unit Objectives
After completing this unit, you should be able to:

Use the man command to view information about AIX

commands

Describe the use of AIX 7.1 Web-based online documentation

Figure 3-1. Unit Objectives

Notes:

3-2 AIX 7 Basics

V3.1
Student Notebook

Uempty

man Command
zThe man command provides reference information on commands,
subroutines, and files

z Manual information consists of:

- Purpose (one line description)

– Syntax (all valid options and arguments)
– Description (verbose description)
– Flags (description of all valid options)
– Examples (command examples)
– Files (associated files and directories)
– Related Information (additional resources and information)

Figure 3-2. man Command

Notes:

man command features

The man command will look in the online manual for information on the commands,
subroutines, and files with the name title. This information will be presented on the
screen one page at a time for the user to browse.
The information consists of:
Purpose The title and a one line description of the command
Syntax A list of all valid options and arguments
Description Many pages of information about the function and usage of the
command with examples
Flags Description of available options
Examples Samples of how to use the command
Files Any system files associated with the command
Related Info . The names of any related commands

Unit 3. AIX 7.1 Documentation 3-3

Student Notebook

man Example

$ man who
Purpose
Identifies the users currently logged in.

Syntax
who [ -a | -b -d -h -i -I -m -p -q -u -H -T ] [ File ]
who am { i | I}

Description
The who command displays information about all users currently on the
local system. The following information is displayed: login name,
workstation name, date and time of login.

Flags
-m Displays information about the current terminal. The
who -m command is equivalent to the who am i and
who am I commands.
-u or -i Displays the user name, workstation name, login time,
line activity, and process ID of each current user.

Examples
1. To display information about who is using the local system node,
enter:
who

Implementation Specifics
This command is part of Asynchronous Terminal Emulation (ATE)

Files
/etc/utmp Contains user and accounting information.

Figure 3-3. man Example

Notes:
This example shows the man who command. Note that this example has been
condensed to fit on one page.

3-4 AIX 7 Basics