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0 pointsteddyh9y ago0 comments

If you want a fast way to read the EXAMPLES section only for a command, here is a shell function which creates an ‘eg’ command which only displays the “EXAMPLES” section of manual pages:

  eg(){
      MAN_KEEP_FORMATTING=1 man "$@" 2>/dev/null \
          | sed --quiet --expression='/^E\(\x08.\)X\(\x08.\)\?A\(\x08.\)\?M\(\x08.\)\?P\(\x08.\)\?L\(\x08.\)\?E/{:a;p;n;/^[^ ]/q;ba}' \
          | ${MANPAGER:-${PAGER:-pager -s}}
  }

 Usage:

  $ eg tar
  EXAMPLES
       Create archive.tar from files foo and bar.
             tar -cf archive.tar foo bar
       List all files in archive.tar verbosely.
             tar -tvf archive.tar
       Extract all files from archive.tar.
             tar -xf archive.tar
  $

0 comments

eriknstr9y ago

Here's mine:

  examples ()
  {
    man $1 | less +/^EXAMPLES
  }

Usage:

  $ examples su
  EXAMPLES
       su -m man -c catman
              Starts a shell as user man, and runs the command catman.  You will
              be asked for man's password unless your real UID is 0.  Note that
              the -m option is required since user “man” does not have a valid
              shell by default.  In this example, -c is passed to the shell of
              the user “man”, and is not interpreted as an argument to su.
       su -m man -c 'catman /usr/share/man /usr/local/man'
              Same as above, but the target command consists of more than a
              single word and hence is quoted for use with the -c option being
              passed to the shell.  (Most shells expect the argument to -c to be
              a single word).
       su -m -c staff man -c 'catman /usr/share/man /usr/local/man'
              Same as above, but the target command is run with the resource
              limits of the login class “staff”.  Note: in this example, the
              first -c option applies to su while the second is an argument to
              the shell being invoked.
       su -l foo
              Simulate a login for user foo.
       su - foo
              Same as above.
       su -   Simulate a login for root.

teddyhOP9y ago

You probably still want the MAN_KEEP_FORMATTING=1 part, to keep colorization and bolding etc. in the manual page. Also, your solution does not respect the user’s pager preference; the user might prefer to read man pages in “w3m”, for instance.

eriknstr9y ago

>You probably still want the MAN_KEEP_FORMATTING=1 part, to keep colorization and bolding etc. in the manual page

Underlining is the only formatting I care about and that works without MAN_KEEP_FORMATTING on FreeBSD.

I don't have colorization enabled in man pages on my laptop, and also I don't have bolding enabled either. I like it this way.

>your solution does not respect the user’s pager preference; the user might prefer to read man pages in “w3m”, for instance.

The pager preference of the user in this case is `less`. I know because the user happens to be myself :^)

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 pointsteddyh9y ago0 comments

If you want a fast way to read the EXAMPLES section only for a command, here is a shell function which creates an ‘eg’ command which only displays the “EXAMPLES” section of manual pages:

  eg(){
      MAN_KEEP_FORMATTING=1 man "$@" 2>/dev/null \
          | sed --quiet --expression='/^E\(\x08.\)X\(\x08.\)\?A\(\x08.\)\?M\(\x08.\)\?P\(\x08.\)\?L\(\x08.\)\?E/{:a;p;n;/^[^ ]/q;ba}' \
          | ${MANPAGER:-${PAGER:-pager -s}}
  }

 Usage:

  $ eg tar
  EXAMPLES
       Create archive.tar from files foo and bar.
             tar -cf archive.tar foo bar
       List all files in archive.tar verbosely.
             tar -tvf archive.tar
       Extract all files from archive.tar.
             tar -xf archive.tar
  $

0 comments

eriknstr9y ago

Here's mine:

  examples ()
  {
    man $1 | less +/^EXAMPLES
  }

Usage:

  $ examples su
  EXAMPLES
       su -m man -c catman
              Starts a shell as user man, and runs the command catman.  You will
              be asked for man's password unless your real UID is 0.  Note that
              the -m option is required since user “man” does not have a valid
              shell by default.  In this example, -c is passed to the shell of
              the user “man”, and is not interpreted as an argument to su.
       su -m man -c 'catman /usr/share/man /usr/local/man'
              Same as above, but the target command consists of more than a
              single word and hence is quoted for use with the -c option being
              passed to the shell.  (Most shells expect the argument to -c to be
              a single word).
       su -m -c staff man -c 'catman /usr/share/man /usr/local/man'
              Same as above, but the target command is run with the resource
              limits of the login class “staff”.  Note: in this example, the
              first -c option applies to su while the second is an argument to
              the shell being invoked.
       su -l foo
              Simulate a login for user foo.
       su - foo
              Same as above.
       su -   Simulate a login for root.

teddyhOP9y ago

eriknstr9y ago

>You probably still want the MAN_KEEP_FORMATTING=1 part, to keep colorization and bolding etc. in the manual page

Underlining is the only formatting I care about and that works without MAN_KEEP_FORMATTING on FreeBSD.

I don't have colorization enabled in man pages on my laptop, and also I don't have bolding enabled either. I like it this way.

>your solution does not respect the user’s pager preference; the user might prefer to read man pages in “w3m”, for instance.

The pager preference of the user in this case is `less`. I know because the user happens to be myself :^)

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse