4. Conventions Used in this Book

4.1. Typing Conventions

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 ExampleMeaning
inodeUsed to emphasize a technical term explained in the Appendix A, Glossary.
ls -ltaUsed for commands and their arguments. Also used for options and file names (see Section 4.2.1, “Commands Synopsis”).
ls(1)Reference to a man page. To read the page, simply type man 1 ls, in a command line.
$ ls *.pid
Formatting used for text snapshots of what you may see on your screen including computer interactions, program listings, etc.
localhostLiteral data which does not generally fit in any of the previously defined categories. For example, a key word taken from a configuration file.
OpenOffice.orgDefines 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 begin with an uppercase character
FilesIndicates menu entries or graphical interface labels. The underlined letter, if present, informs you of a keyboard shortcut, accessible by pressing the Alt key plus the letter in question.
SCSI-BusDenotes a computer part or a computer itself.
Le petit chaperon rougeIdentifies foreign language words.
Warning!Reserved for special warnings in order to emphasize the importance of words. Read out loud.
[Note]Note

Highlights a note. Generally, it gives additional information about a specific context.

[Tip]Tip

Represents a tip. It can be general advice on how to perform a particular action, or hints at nice features which could make your life easier, such as shortcuts.

[Warning]Warning

Be very careful when you see this icon. It always means that very important information about a specific subject will be dealt with.

4.2. General Conventions

4.2.1. Commands Synopsis

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 as is, 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.

4.2.2. Special Notations

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.

Regarding menus, going to menu item File->Reload user config (Ctrl-R) means: click on the File text displayed on the menu (generally located in the upper-left of the window). Then in the pull-down menu, click on the Reload user config item. Furthermore you are informed that you can use the Ctrl-R key combination (as described above) to get the same result.

 

 

4.2.3. System-Generic Users

Whenever possible, we use two generic users in our examples:

Queen PingusaqueenThis is our default user, used through most examples in this book.
Peter PinguspeterThis user can be created afterward by the system administrator and is sometimes used to vary the text.