catman(1M)																catman(1M)

NAME

       catman - create cat and whatis files for online manpages

SYNOPSIS

       alt-path] [sections]

DESCRIPTION

       The  command creates the formatted versions of the online manpages from source files.  Each manpage in the and directories is examined, and
       those whose formatted versions are missing or out-of-date are recreated.  formats the most recent of the entries, compresses it,  and  puts
       it into the appropriate directory.

       If  any changes are made, recreates the database.  By default, the database is overwritten.  If the environment variable is set to a nonde-
       fault set of paths, the old database file is saved in so that, if desired, the system administrator may merge them together.

       By default, searches the and subdirectories under the following directories:

       If is set in the environment, the directories given in are checked instead of the default.  See environ(5) for a description of	the  envi-
       ronment variable.

       Before  running	remove	any  existing directories.  If the option is used, directories should be removed instead.  If both and directories
       exist, man(1) updates both directories and more space is used.

       Any command-line parameters not starting with are interpreted as a list of manpage sections (directories) to search.  For example:

       restricts updating to manpage sections 1, 2, and 3 (directories and

   Options
       supports the following options:

	      Create a merged
			     database; i.e., information on new manpage entries (added since the last time was run) is	merged	into  the  current
			     database rather than overwriting it.  Ignored if selected with the option.

	      Prevent creation of

	      Print what would be done instead of doing it.

	      Cause only the database to be created.  No manpage reformatting is done.

	      Put the formatted entries in the
			     directories rather than in the directories.

	      Perform actions based on the given alternate root.
			     With this option, alt-path will be prefixed to all directory paths, including default paths, the paths defined by and
			     the path to

EXTERNAL INFLUENCES

   Environment Variables
       defines parent directories to be used when searching and directories.

WARNINGS

       If unformatted manpages (those in the subdirectories) have been removed since the last time was run, information in  the  database  may	be
       lost.  The option may be used to override this, but may result in repeated lines in the database for the same manpage.

EXAMPLES

       Create uncompressed files for sections 1 and 1m of the manual, but don't create the database:

       Run from a server to create entries for a diskless client under the alternate root

       This will create manpages under:

       and a file in:

       Create entries for an application and merge the information with the database:

       Note that you may wish to save before doing this, so as not to lose your current

AUTHOR

       was developed by HP and the University of California, Berkeley.

FILES

       Unformatted source) manpage files [compressed].

       Formatted manpages [compressed].

       Database of manpage entry summaries; utilized by the
	      command.

       Command to make
	      database.

SEE ALSO

       compress(1), fixman(1M), man(1), environ(5).

																	catman(1M)