There are several different ways to access help about DFS commands. The following list summarizes the syntax for the different help options:
· To view the introductory page for a command suite, enter man followed by the command suite.
$ man command_suite
· To view the reference page for an individual command in a suite, enter man followed by the command suite and the command name. Use an _ (underscore) to connect the command suite to the command name. Do not use the underscore when issuing the command in DFS.
$ man command_suite_command_name
· To view a list of all commands in a command suite, enter the command suite followed by help.
$ command_suite help
· To view the syntax of a specific command, enter the command suite, help, and the command name, in that order.
$ command_suite help command_name
In addition, all DFS commands include a -help option you can use to display the syntax of the command.
The DFS apropos command is similar to the UNIX apropos command. It displays the first line of the online help entry for any command in an indicated suite that has a specified string in its name or short description. This is useful if you cannot remember the exact name of a command. If the string is more than a single word, surround it with " " (double quotes) or other delimiters. Enter all strings in lowercase letters.
For example, the following command produces a list of all bos commands with the word create in their names or descriptions:
$ bos apropos -topic create
All methods of obtaining help are also available with miscellaneous, nonsuite DFS commands.