# Getting help on the Command Line ## Help Commands ### man * **`man`** - Manual page for commands * Content is organized in different sections (Name, Synopsis, Description of the arguments, Examples) * Press **`q`** to exit the man page. ```bash man ls # man page for the ls command LS(1) User Commands LS(1) NAME ls - list directory contents SYNOPSIS ls [OPTION]... [FILE]... DESCRIPTION List information about the FILEs (the current directory by default). Sort entries alphabetically if none of -cftuvSUX nor --sort is specified. Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too. -a, --all do not ignore entries starting with . -A, --almost-all do not list implied . and .. --author with -l, print the author of each file -b, --escape print C-style escapes for nongraphic characters --block-size=SIZE with -l, scale sizes by SIZE when printing them; e.g., '--block-size=M'; see SIZE format below -B, --ignore-backups do not list implied entries ending with ~ -c with -lt: sort by, and show, ctime (time of last modification of file status information); with -l: show ctime and sort by name; otherwise: sort by ctime, newest first -C list entries by columns --color[=WHEN] colorize the output; WHEN can be 'always' (default if omitted), 'auto', or 'never'; more info below -d, --directory list directories themselves, not their contents [...] ``` ### info * **`info`** - a document-like structured replacement for man pages. More in depth information about the command. ```bash info ls # Next: dir invocation, Up: Directory listing # # 10.1 ‘ls’: List directory contents # ================================== # # The ‘ls’ program lists information about files (of any type, including # directories). Options and file arguments can be intermixed arbitrarily, # as usual. # # For non-option command-line arguments that are directories, by # default ‘ls’ lists the contents of directories, not recursively, and # omitting files with names beginning with ‘.’. For other non-option # arguments, by default ‘ls’ lists just the file name. If no non-option # argument is specified, ‘ls’ operates on the current directory, acting as # if it had been invoked with a single argument of ‘.’. # # By default, the output is sorted alphabetically, according to the # locale settings in effect.(1) If standard output is a terminal, the # output is in columns (sorted vertically) and control characters are # output as question marks; otherwise, the output is listed one per line # and control characters are output as-is. # # Because ‘ls’ is such a fundamental program, it has accumulated many # options over the years. They are described in the subsections below; # within each section, options are listed alphabetically (ignoring case). # The division of options into the subsections is not absolute, since some # options affect more than one aspect of ‘ls’’s operation. # [...] ``` ### command --help * Documentation built into the command, reformated and abbreviated, with specific options usage. ```bash ls --help Usage: ls [OPTION]... [FILE]... List information about the FILEs (the current directory by default). Sort entries alphabetically if none of -cftuvSUX nor --sort is specified. Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too. -a, --all do not ignore entries starting with . -A, --almost-all do not list implied . and .. --author with -l, print the author of each file -b, --escape print C-style escapes for nongraphic characters --block-size=SIZE with -l, scale sizes by SIZE when printing them; e.g., '--block-size=M'; see SIZE format below -B, --ignore-backups do not list implied entries ending with ~ -c with -lt: sort by, and show, ctime (time of last modification of file status information); with -l: show ctime and sort by name; otherwise: sort by ctime, newest first -C list entries by columns --color[=WHEN] colorize the output; WHEN can be 'always' (default if omitted), 'auto', or 'never'; more info below -d, --directory list directories themselves, not their contents -D, --dired generate output designed for Emacs' dired mode -f do not sort, enable -aU, disable -ls --color -F, --classify append indicator (one of */=>@|) to entries --file-type likewise, except do not append '*' --format=WORD across -x, commas -m, horizontal -x, long -l, single-column -1, verbose -l, vertical -C --full-time like -l --time-style=full-iso -g like -l, but do not list owner --group-directories-first group directories before files; can be augmented with a --sort option, but any use of --sort=none (-U) disables grouping -G, --no-group in a long listing, don't print group names [...] ``` ## Explain Shell > 📌 Get more information and explanation of complex shell commands at [explainshell.com](https://explainshell.com/) and [shell.how](https://www.shell.how/). *** --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://blog.syselement.com/tcm/courses/linux-101/2-command-line/getting-help.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.