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MANDB(8)                      Manual pager utils                      MANDB(8)

NAME
       mandb - create or update the manual page index caches
SYNOPSIS
       mandb [-dqsucpt?V] [-C file] [manpath]
       mandb [-dqsut] [-C file] -f filename ...
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 infor-
       mation 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 following data-
       base types.

       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 termi-
       nation.  In an unusual case where this has occurred, it may  be  neces-
       sary  to rerun mandb with the -c option to re-create the databases from
       scratch.
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 data-
              bases 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 neces-
              sary 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.
       -?, --help
              Show the usage message, then exit.
       --usage
              Print a short usage message and exit.
       -V, --version
              Show the version, then exit.
EXIT STATUS
       0      Successful program execution.
       1      Usage, syntax, or configuration file error.
       2      Operational error.
       3      A child process failed.
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 sys-
              tem  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  <file-
              name> 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 sec-
              tional 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.
FILES
       /etc/man_db.conf
              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(1), man(1), manpath(5), catman(8)
       The  WHATIS PARSING section formerly in this manual page is now part of
       lexgrog(1).
AUTHOR
       Wilf. (G.Wilford AT ee.uk).
       Fabrizio Polacco (fpolacco AT debian.org).
       Colin Watson (cjwatson AT debian.org).

2.6.3                             2012-09-17                          MANDB(8)