Documentation Conventions

This guide uses the following typographic conventions:

%, $

A percent sign represents the C shell system prompt. A dollar sign represents the system prompt for the Bash shell.

#

A number sign represents the superuser prompt.

$ vi hello.c

Boldface type in interactive examples indicates typed user input.

file

Italic or slanted type indicates variable values, place-holders, and function argument names.

[ | ], { | }

In syntax definitions, brackets indicate items that are optional and braces indicate items that are required. Vertical bars separating items inside brackets or braces indicate that you choose one item from among those listed.

...

In syntax definitions, a horizontal ellipsis indicates that the preceding item can be repeated one or more times.

cat(1)

A cross-reference to a reference page includes the appropriate section number in parentheses. For example, cat(1) indicates that you can find information on the cat command in Section 1 of the reference pages.

Mb/s

This symbol indicates megabits per second.

MB/s

This symbol indicates megabytes per second.

Ctrl-x

This symbol indicates that you hold down the first named key while pressing the key or mouse button that follows. In examples, this key combination is printed in bold type (for example, Ctrl-C).