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Old 07-26-2008, 10:59 PM   #1
mrbaby113115
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How to find a command to apply for a feature?


I just begin study Linux, and there is something i want to do, but i do not know what command to use. So is there any way to search command to apply for a feature in Linux?

Is there anybody help me, please? thank first.
 
Old 07-27-2008, 12:33 AM   #2
Tinkster
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Hi, welcome to LQ!

will
man -k <search term>
suffice?
 
Old 07-27-2008, 12:34 AM   #3
bigrigdriver
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I beleive the command you want is apropos. The syntax to use is: apropos <feature>.

For example, 'apropos flash' on my box returns:
apropos flash
beep (3ncurses) - curses bell and screen flash routines
flash (3ncurses) - curses bell and screen flash routines
gnash (1) - GNU Flash Player
Image::ExifTool::Flash (3pm) - Read Shockwave Flash meta information
Image::ExifTool::FlashPix (3pm) - Read FlashPix meta information
ppmflash (1) - brighten a picture to approach white

which returns the command to use and a brief description of what the command does.
 
Old 07-27-2008, 04:05 AM   #4
hasanatizaz
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press tab twice you will be listed with possible commands, then man those commands like
man man
man useradd
man sudo
etc......
 
Old 07-27-2008, 02:31 PM   #5
colucix
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man -k and apropos are equivalent. Using apropos you can restrict the search to specific sections of the manual. For example if you are looking for executable programs or shell commands (section 1) and you are not interested in library calls (section 3) or other stuff, you can do
Code:
apropos -s 1 <keyword>
For example see the difference between "apropos time" and "apropos -s 1 time".
 
Old 07-28-2008, 08:27 AM   #6
mrbaby113115
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It is very useful, thank you everybody.
 
  


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