man page sections
This post lists how to list the available sections of a manual and view one, what each section number means and in what order man searches for a section. All of this info is available by typing: man man.
List Available Sections
Type:
man -f man
Example Output:
pfefferz@plc2:~$ man -f man
man (7) - macros to format man pages
man (1) - an interface to the on-line reference manuals
Note:
Replace the second man with the manual you’re interested in.
View a Section
Type:
man 7 man
Example Output:
MAN(7) Linux Programmer's Manual MAN(7)
NAME
man - macros to format man pages
SYNOPSIS
groff -Tascii -man file ...
groff -Tps -man file ...
man [section] title
DESCRIPTION
This manual page explains the groff an.tmac macro package (often called
the man macro package). This macro package should be used by develop‐
What Each Section Number Means
1 Executable programs or shell commands
2 System calls (functions provided by the kernel)
3 Library calls (functions within program libraries)
4 Special files (usually found in /dev)
5 File formats and conventions eg /etc/passwd
6 Games
7 Miscellaneous (including macro packages and conventions), e.g.
man(7), groff(7)
8 System administration commands (usually only for root)
9 Kernel routines [Non standard]
Note
You can find this by typing:
man man
Search Order
The default action is to search in all of the available
sections following a pre-defined order ("1 n l 8 3 2 3posix 3pm 3perl 5
4 9 6 7" by default, unless overridden by the SECTION directive in
/etc/manpath.config),
Note
You can find this by typing:
man man
References