WHATIS(1)							     WHATIS(1)

NAME    [Toc]    [Back]

     whatis - describe what a command is

SYNOPSIS    [Toc]    [Back]

     whatis command ...

DESCRIPTION    [Toc]    [Back]

     whatis looks up a given command and gives the header line from the	manual
     section.  You can then run	the man(1) 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.

     whatis is actually	just the -f option to the man(1) command.

FILES    [Toc]    [Back]

     /usr/share/catman/whatis Data base

SEE ALSO    [Toc]    [Back]

     apropos(1), man(1), makewhatis(1M).

CAVEATS    [Toc]    [Back]

     whatis (man -f) requires that the whatis database be kept up to date by
     running makewhatis(1M) after installing or	removing software from the
     system.  If the whatis database is	not kept up to date, whatis (man -f)
     will not find entries for new manual pages	and will erroneously refer to
     manual pages which	no longer exist	on the system.


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