mandb
create or update the manual page index caches
see also :
lexgrog - man - manpath - catman
Synopsis
mandb
[-dqsucpt|-h|-V]
[-C file] [manpath]
mandb [-dqsut] [-C
file] -f filename ...
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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.
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out of date.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.
-h,
--help
Show the usage message, then
exit.
-V,
--version
Show the version, then
exit.
database caches
mandb can be compiled with support for any one of the
following database types.
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.
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.
exit status
0
Successful program execution.
1
Usage, syntax, or configuration file error.
2
Operational error.
3
A child process failed.
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 ,
man , manpath , catman
The WHATIS
PARSING section formerly in this manual page is now part
of lexgrog.
author
Wilf.
(G.Wilford[:at:]ee.surrey.ac[:dot:]uk).
Fabrizio Polacco (fpolacco[:at:]debian[:dot:]org).
Colin Watson (cjwatson[:at:]debian[:dot:]org).