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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 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 following database 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 termination.  In an unusual case where this
       has occurred, it may be necessary to rerun mandb with the -c option to re-create the data‐
       bases 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  databases  regarding
              stray cats.

       -p, --no-purge
              Do not spend time checking for deleted manual pages and purging them from the data‐
              bases.

       -c, --create
              By default, mandb will try to update any previously created databases.  If a  data‐
              base  does not exist, it will create it.  This option forces mandb to delete previ‐
              ous 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 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.

       -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 system contains non-standard manual pages which are incompat‐
              ible  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  diagnos‐
              tics 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 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 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  exis‐
              tence  of  both a compressed and uncompressed version of the same manual page.  All
              but the most recent are ignored.

FILES
       /etc/manpath.config
              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).



2.7.0.2                                     2014-09-28                                   MANDB(8)


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