whatis(1)
Name
whatis − display command description
Syntax
whatis command...
Description
The whatis command looks up a given command and gives the header line from the manual section. You can then run the man() command to get more information. If the line starts “name(section) ...” you can do “man section name” to get the documentation for it. Try “whatis ed” and then you should do “man 1 ed” to get the manual.
The whatis command is actually just the −f option to the man() command.
Files
/usr/lib/whatisData base