info Command

Commands Reference, Volume 3

info Command

Purpose

Starts the InfoExplorer program.

Syntax

info [ -a | -g -display Name:Number | -display Name:Number ] [ -f isofonts ] [ -h Label ] [ -help ] [ -hlc Color ] [ -iconic ] [ -l LibraryName ] [ -msh Number ] [ -n { bl | cl | pr | ti | Number } ] [ -q ] [ -s String ] [ -shc Color ] [ -t Title ] [-tags] [ -txc Color ]

Description

The info command starts the InfoExplorer program. The InfoExplorer program provides documentation for the operating system and associated programs. For details about using the InfoExplorer program, select the Help option from the menu bar at the top of a navigation or reading window or a navigation or reading screen.

Note: For information on selecting Help, see "Accessing Information with InfoExplorer (AIX Version 4.3 System User's Guide: Operating System and Devices)"

Flags

-a

Forces the ASCII version of the InfoExplorer program to run on the default display. Use this flag to start the ASCII program from any shell, LFT, or aixterm terminal.

-display Name:Number

Identifies the host name and Xserver display number where the InfoExplorer program is displayed. By default, the info command gets the host name and display number from the DISPLAY environment variable. Use this flag to set the display if you are using the InfoExplorer program in an AIXwindows session running on a foreign host or Xstation 120 or 130.

-f isofonts

Displays text using ISO9241-compliant fonts instead of X11 fonts. ISOfonts must be installed on your system for this option to succeed. This flag can only be used for the window version of InfoExplorer.

-g

Forces the window version of the InfoExplorer program to run on the default display or the display specified by the -display flag. Use this flag to start the window version of InfoExplorer if you are running in an AIXwindows session on a non-AIX host. This flag is not valid for character (ASCII) displays.

Note: To use the -g flag, either the DISPLAY environment variable must be set to a host name, or you must also specify the -display flag.

-h Label

Specifies a help string, or label, to search on. InfoExplorer performs a search for the hlpLabel string. The following lists give examples of some of the labels available in the library:

Operating system topics and tasks, such as:

file
directory
print
smit
start
stop
security
shell

Communications topics, such as:

ate
bnu
hcon
mail

Programming topics and tasks, such as:

streams
xdr
sockets
lvm
iohan

-help

Displays the syntax for the info command.

-hlc Color

Specifies the color to be used for the text in the hypertext link box. This flag can only be used for the window version of InfoExplorer.

-iconic

Forces the windows to come up iconified.

-l LibraryName

Specifies the library for InfoExplorer to load.

-msh Number

Specifies the maximum number of search hits. The default is 5000. This flag can only be used for the window version of InfoExplorer.

-n

Specifies the navigation article to select. The following navigation articles are available for the default InfoExplorer library:

bl	Books contains a list of the books you can read in a sequence similar to the one you could follow in reading a book in hardcopy.
cl	Commands contains an alphabetical and a functional list of the commands in the system.
Number	Specifies which primary navigation article to display. Valid values are 1-8 and are defined in the isprime file.
pr	Programming Reference contains an alphabetical and a functional list of the commands in the system.
ti	Topic & Task Index contains a list of the types of topics you might want to read about or tasks you might want to perform with the system.

-q

Specifies that the window displaying the info initializing message is not displayed. This flag also suppresses the automatic retrieval of the "Welcome to InfoExplorer" article.

-s String

Specifies the search string for which you want to search.

The String variable contains one or more words of text for which you want to search. If more than one word is entered, the String variable must be surrounded by " " (double quotes). When the InfoExplorer program starts, a search is performed on this string. Capitalization of the string is ignored. For example, text matches both Text and teXt.

A list of locations in the documentation where the string was located is displayed in the navigation window or screen. You can select from this list to open the article you need.

If a word entered in the String parameter ends with an * (asterisk), the search looks for the prefix entered, followed by one or more additional letters. Search strings can end with these pattern-matching characters but cannot begin with them.

-shc Color

Specifies the color to be used for the search hits displayed in reading windows. This flag can only be used for the window version of InfoExplorer.

-t Title

Specifies a title to search on. The Title variable contains one or more words of text for which you want to search. If more than one word is entered, the Title variable must be enclosed by " " (double quotes). When the InfoExplorer program starts, a search is performed on this string. Capitalization of the string is ignored. For example, text matches both Text and teXt.

A list of locations in the documentation where the string was located is displayed in the navigation window or screen. You can select from this list to open the article you need.

If a word entered in the Title parameter ends with an * (asterisk), the search looks for the prefix entered, followed by one or more additional letters. Search strings can end with these pattern-matching characters but cannot begin with them.

-tags

Enables the inclusion of the Tags menu option on the Preferences window menu bar. This flag is used for debugging information bases created with the hypertext creation tool.

-txc Color

Specifies the color to be used for article text. This flag can only be used for the window version of InfoExplorer.

Examples

To start the InfoExplorer program with a navigation window or screen and a "Welcome to InfoExplorer" article, enter:
```
info
```
To start the InfoExplorer program and get a list of articles that discuss the grep command, enter:
```
info    -s    grep
```
In this case, the string is not unique so the list of locations appears in the navigation window or screen.
To start the InfoExplorer program with the "List of Commands" navigation article displayed, enter:
```
info    -n    cl
```
The following example uses the name rosebud for your local system, and the name kane for the host where you can access InfoExplorer. To start the InfoExplorer program from within an X-Windows session on the foreign host named rosebud, follow these steps:
1. Enter the following command on rosebud to allow kane to display processes in your local AIXwindows session:
```
xhost    +    kane
```
2. Begin a remote login session on system kane.
3. On kane, issue the command:
```
info    -g    -display    rosebud:0
```
  After this command is issued, the InfoExplorer initializing window appears in your AIXwindows session, and rosebud now has access to the information installed on kane.
To start the InfoExplorer program and designate a specific database library, enter:
```
info -l LibraryName
```
To start the InfoExplorer program and specify a help string to search on, such as print, enter:
```
info -h print
```
To start the InfoExplorer program and specify a title to search on, such as "InfoExplorer Window Interface Overview", enter:
```
info -t "InfoExplorer Window Interface Overview"
```
To start the InfoExplorer program and disable the displaying of the info initializing message and the welcome article, enter:
```
info -q
```
To start the InfoExplorer program and have the windows iconified, enter:
```
info -iconic
```

Files

$HOME/info	Contains the user preferences file and saved private notes, bookmarks, and history files.
$HOME/info/.isdefs	Contains InfoExplorer defaults established in the Defaults Editor.
$HOME/info/.isprefs	Contains InfoExplorer preferences established in the Preferences Editor.
$HOME/info/notes	Contains InfoExplorer notes files.
$HOME/info/.dowinsiz	Contains the default size for reading windows in the InfoExplorer program. This file name is supplied by the user.
$HOME/info/.nawinsiz	Contains the default size for navigation windows in the InfoExplorer program.