MAKEWHATIS(1MAN)        COMMAND REFERENCE        MAKEWHATIS(1MAN)



NAME
     makewhatis - build whatis databases

SYNOPSIS
     /usr/lib/makewhatis [ -v ] directory ...

DESCRIPTION
     Makehwhatis builds whatis database files as described in
     whatis(5man). For each of the named directories, makewhatis
     builds a file named `whatis' from the formatted manual pages
     in the subdirectories `cat[1-8]', and places it in that
     directory.

     Each database entry is built from the NAME section of the
     formatted page.  All bold and underlined characters are
     processed to remove the backspaces and multiple characters,
     resulting in an entry of normal text.  Newlines and multiple
     tabs and spaces are compressed into single spaces.  A valid
     NAME section will be of the following form:

          command1[, command2, ...] - description

     One database entry is created for each `command' listed in
     the NAME section (see whatis(5man)). Only the first 2047
     characters (after compression and removal of bold and
     underlined sequences) of the description are used.

     Invalid NAME sections are ignored and no messages are
     printed unless the -v option is given.

     When the NAME section contains more than one `command' name,
     a link is created for each command to the original manual
     page.  For example, if the manual page
     /usr/man/cat3/setuid.3c lists the commands `setuid' and
     `getuid', a link will be made to /usr/man/cat3/setuid.3c
     called /usr/man/cat3/getuid.3c.

OPTIONS
     -v Verbose.  For each subdirectory processed, a message is
        printed.  Also, any invalid NAME sections or links that
        can not be made result in an error message.

EXAMPLES
     The following invocation builds the files `/usr/man/whatis'
     and `/usr/man/manl/whatis'.

          makewhatis /usr/man /usr/man/manl

     This invocation builds the file `/usr/man/whatis' and prints
     out the name of each subdirectory being processed and notes
     any problems found.




Printed 4/6/89                                                  1

MAKEWHATIS(1MAN)        COMMAND REFERENCE        MAKEWHATIS(1MAN)



          makewhatis -v /usr/man

FILES
     whatis    The name of the whatis database file

VARIABLES
     HOME           The user's home directory.

RETURN VALUE
     [NO_ERRS]      Command completed without error.

     [USAGE]        Incorrect command line syntax. Execution
                    terminated.

     [NP_WARN]      An error warranting a warning message
                    occurred. Execution continues.

     [P_WARN]       A system error occurred. Execution continues.
                    See intro(2) for more information on system
                    errors.

CAVEATS
     The resulting whatis database is sorted by section number
     only.  No sorting is done within the sections, so multiple
     copies of the same manual page will result in multiple
     entries in the database.

SEE ALSO
     apropos(1man), buildif(1man), help(1man), man(1man),
     section(1man), whatis(1man), man(5man), manindex(5man),
     whatis(5man), and catman(8man).
























Printed 4/6/89                                                  2

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ex:2950,390;3868,34;
fi:3902,121;
va:4023,148;
rv:4171,552;
ca:4723,296;
se:5019,450;
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