MANDB(8)                                                        Manual pager utils                                                        MANDB(8)

NAME

       mandb - create or update the manual page index caches

SYNOPSIS

       mandb [-dqsucpt?V] [-C file] [manpath]
       mandb [-dqsut] [-C file] -f filename ...

DESCRIPTION

       mandb  is  used  to initialise or manually update index database caches that are usually maintained by man.  The caches contain information
       relevant to the current state of the manual page system and the information stored within them is used by the man-db utilities  to  enhance
       their speed and functionality.

       When  creating  or updating an index, mandb will warn of bad ROFF .so requests, bogus manual page filenames and manual pages from which the
       whatis cannot be parsed.

       Supplying mandb with an optional colon-delimited path will override the internal system manual page hierarchy search path, determined  from
       information found within the man-db configuration file.

DATABASE CACHES

       mandb can be compiled with support for any one of the following database types.

       Name          Type                   Async   Filename
       -------------------------------------------------------------
       Berkeley db   Binary tree            Yes     index.bt
       GNU gdbm      Hashed                 Yes     index.db
       UNIX ndbm     Hashed                 No      index.(dir|pag)

       Those  database  types  that support asynchronous updates provide enhanced speed at the cost of possible corruption in the event of unusual
       termination.  In an unusual case where this has occurred, it may be necessary to rerun mandb with the -c option to re-create the  databases
       from scratch.

OPTIONS

       -d, --debug
              Print debugging information.

       -q, --quiet
              Produce no warnings.

       -s, --no-straycats
              Do not spend time looking for or adding information to the databases regarding stray cats.

       -p, --no-purge
              Do not spend time checking for deleted manual pages and purging them from the databases.

       -c, --create
              By  default,  mandb  will  try  to  update any previously created databases.  If a database does not exist, it will create it.  This
              option forces mandb to delete previous databases and re-create them from scratch, and implies --no-purge.  This may be necessary  if
              a database becomes corrupt or if a new database storage scheme is introduced in the future.

       -u, --user-db
              Create user databases only, even with write permissions necessary to create system databases.

       -t, --test
              Perform correctness checks on manual pages in the hierarchy search path.  With this option, mandb will not alter existing databases.

       -f, --filename
              Update  only  the entries for the given filename.  This option is not for general use; it is used internally by man when it has been
              compiled with the MAN_DB_UPDATES option and finds that a page is out of date.  It implies -p and disables -c and -s.

       -C file, --config-file=file
              Use this user configuration file rather than the default of ~/.manpath.

       -?, --help
              Show the usage message, then exit.

       --usage
              Print a short usage message and exit.

       -V, --version
              Show the version, then exit.

EXIT STATUS

       0      Successful program execution.

       1      Usage, syntax, or configuration file error.

       2      Operational error.

       3      A child process failed.

DIAGNOSTICS

       The following warning messages can be emitted during database building.

       <filename>: whatis parse for page(sec) failed
              An attempt to extract whatis line(s) from the given <filename> failed.  This is usually due to a poorly written manual page, but  if
              many  such messages are emitted it is likely that the system contains non-standard manual pages which are incompatible with the man-
              db whatis parser.  See the WHATIS PARSING section in lexgrog(1) for more information.

       <filename>: is a dangling symlink
              <filename> does not exist but is referenced by a symbolic link.  Further diagnostics are usually emitted to identify the  <filename>
              of the offending link.

       <filename>: bad symlink or ROFF `.so' request
              <filename> is either a symbolic link to, or contains a ROFF include request to, a non existent file.

       <filename>: ignoring bogus filename
              The  <filename>  may or may not be a valid manual page but its name is invalid.  This is usually due to a manual page with sectional
              extension <x> being put in manual page section <y>.

       <filename_mask>: competing extensions
              The wildcard <filename_mask> is not unique.  This is usually caused by the existence of both a compressed and  uncompressed  version
              of the same manual page.  All but the most recent are ignored.

FILES

       /etc/manpath.config
              man-db configuration file.

       /var/cache/man/index.(bt|db|dir|pag)
              An FHS compliant global index database cache.

       Older locations for the database cache included:

       /usr/man/index.(bt|db|dir|pag)
              A traditional global index database cache.

       /var/catman/index.(bt|db|dir|pag)
              An alternate or FSSTND compliant global index database cache.

SEE ALSO

       lexgrog(1), man(1), manpath(5), catman(8)

       The WHATIS PARSING section formerly in this manual page is now part of lexgrog(1).

AUTHOR

       Wilf. (G.Wilford@ee.surrey.ac.uk).
       Fabrizio Polacco (fpolacco@debian.org).
       Colin Watson (cjwatson@debian.org).

2.8.3                                                               2018-04-05                                                            MANDB(8)