In order to clearly differentiate special words from the text flow, we use different renderings. The following table shows examples of each special word or group of words with its actual rendering, as well as its signification.
Formatted Example | Meaning | |
---|---|---|
inode | Used to emphasize a technical term explained in the Appendix A, Glossary. | |
ls -lta | Used for commands and their arguments. Also used for options and file names (see the section called “Commands Synopsis”). | |
ls(1) | Reference to a man page. To read the page, simply type man 1 ls, in a command line. | |
| Formatting used for text snapshots of what you may see on your screen including computer interactions, program listings, etc. | |
localhost | Literal data which does not generally fit in any of the previously defined categories. For example, a key word taken from a configuration file. | |
Konqueror | Defines application names. Depending on context, the application and command name may be the same but formatted differently. For example, most commands are written in lowercase, while applications names usually start with an uppercase. | |
Indicates menu entries or graphical interface labels. The underlined letter, informs you of a keyboard shortcut, accessible by pressing the Alt key plus the letter in question. | ||
SCSI-Bus | Denotes a computer part or a computer itself. | |
Le petit chaperon rouge | Identifies foreign language words. | |
Warning! | Reserved for special warnings in order to emphasize the importance of words. Read out loud :-) |
The example below shows the symbols you will see when the writer describes the arguments of a command:
command <non literal argument> [--option={arg1,arg2,arg3}] [optional arg. ...] |
These conventions are standard and you may find them elsewhere such as in the man pages.
The “<” (lesser than) and “>” (greater than) symbols denote a mandatory argument not to be copied verbatim, which should be replaced according to your needs. For example, <filename> refers to the actual name of a file. If this name is foo.txt, you should type foo.txt, not <foo.txt> or <filename>.
The square brackets (“[ ]”) denote optional arguments, which you may or may not include in the command.
The ellipsis (“...”) means an arbitrary number of arguments can be included.
The curly brackets (“{ }”) contain the arguments authorized at this specific place. One of them is to be placed here.
From time to time, you will be asked to press, for example, the keys Ctrl-R, which means you need to press and hold the Ctrl key and tap the R character right after as well. The same applies for the Alt and Shift keys.
Also, regarding menus, going to menu item -> (Ctrl-R) means: click on the text displayed on the menu (generally located in the upper-left of the window). Then in the pull-down menu, click on the item. Furthermore you are informed that you can use the Ctrl-R key combination (as described above) to get the same result.