NAME

help − ask for help with message numbers or SCCS commands

SYNOPSIS

help [args]

DESCRIPTION

help finds information to explain a message from a command or explain the use of a SCCS command.  Zero or more arguments may be supplied.  If no arguments are given, help will prompt for one. 

The arguments may be either message numbers (which normally appear in parentheses following SCCS messages) or SCCS command names, of one of the following types:

type 1 Begins with non-numerics, ends in numerics.  The non-numeric prefix is usually an abbreviation for the program or set of routines which produced the message (e.g., ge6, for message 6 from the get command). 

type 2 Does not contain numerics (as a command, such as get)

type 3 Is all numeric (e.g., 212)

The response of the program will be the explanatory information related to the argument, if there is any. 

When all else fails, try “help stuck”. 

FILES

LIBDIR/help directory containing files of message text, used for type 2 arguments.  The file name is taken from the non-numeric prefix of the argument. 

LIBDIR/help/cmds file containing messages about commands, used for type 1 arguments. 

LIBDIR/help/default file containing messages, used for type 3 arguments or when all else fails. 

LIBDIR/help/helploc file containing locations of help files not in LIBDIR/help.  The file, if it exists, contains two strings per line; the first is matched against the non-numeric prefix of the argument, the second is the file name to be used. 

LIBDIR usually /usr/ccs/lib

CX/UX User’s Reference Manual