mandb(b)                Manual pager utils               mandb(b)



NAME
       mandb - create or update the manual page index caches

SYNOPSIS
       mandb [-dqsuc|-h|-V] [manpath]

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.

DATABASE CACHES
       mandb can be compiled with support for any one of the fol-
       lowing database types.

       tab (@); l l l  l.   Name@Type@Async@Filename  _  Berkeley
       db@Binary     tree@Yes@index.bt     GNU    gdbm    v    >=
       1.6@Hashed@Yes@index.db      GNU      gdbm       v       <
       1.6@Hashed@No@index.db UNIX ndbm@Hashed@No@index.(dir|pag)

       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 occured, it may be necessary to rerun mandb
       with  the  -c  option  to  re-create  the  databases  from
       scratch.

OPTIONS
       -d, --debug
              Produce 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 nec-
              essary 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 permis-
              sions 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.

       -h, --help
              Show the usage message, then exit.

       -V, --version
              Show the version, then exit.

DIAGNOSTICS
       The  following  warning  messages  can  be  emitted during
       database building.

       <filename>: whatis parse for page(e) failed
              An attempt to extract whatis line(e) 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(g) 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 con-
              tains 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 com-
              pressed and uncompressed version of the same manual
              page.  All but the most recent are ignored.

FILES
       /etc/manpath.config
              man_db configuration file.

       /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.

       /var/cache/man/index.(bt|db|dir|pag)
              An FHS compliant global index database cache.

SEE ALSO
       man(n), lexgrog(g), manpath(h), catman(n).

       The WHATIS PARSING section formerly in this manual page is
       now part of lexgrog(g).

AUTHOR
       Wilf. (G.Wilford@ee.surrey.ac.uk).
       Fabrizio Polacco (fpolacco@debian.org).
       Colin Watson (cjwatson@debian.org).



2.3.20                  07 September 2001                mandb(b)