2. Conventions

This documentation uses a number of text and style conventions to indicate and differentiate between different types of information:

  • Text in this style is used to show an important element or piece of information. It may be used and combined with other text styles as appropriate to the context.

  • Text in this style is used to show a section heading, table heading, or particularly important emphasis of some kind.

  • Program or configuration options are formatted using this style. Options are also automatically linked to their respective documentation page when this is known. For example, tpm and --hosts both link automatically to the corresponding reference page.

  • Parameters or information explicitly used to set values to commands or options is formatted using this style.

  • Option values, for example on the command-line are marked up using this format: --help. Where possible, all option values are directly linked to the reference information for that option.

  • Commands, including sub-commands to a command-line tool are formatted using Text in this style. Commands are also automatically linked to their respective documentation page when this is known. For example, tpm links automatically to the corresponding reference page.

  • Text in this style indicates literal or character sequence text used to show a specific value.

  • Filenames, directories or paths are shown like this /etc/passwd. Filenames and paths are automatically linked to the corresponding reference page if available.

Bulleted lists are used to show lists, or detailed information for a list of items. Where this information is optional, a magnifying glass symbol enables you to expand, or collapse, the detailed instructions.

Code listings are used to show sample programs, code, configuration files and other elements. These can include both user input and replaceable values:

shell> cd /opt/continuent/software
shell> ar zxvf tungsten-replicator-7.1.3-3.tar.gz

In the above example command-lines to be entered into a shell are prefixed using shell. This shell is typically sh, ksh, or bash on Linux and Unix platforms.

If commands are to be executed using administrator privileges, each line will be prefixed with root-shell, for example:

root-shell> vi /etc/passwd

To make the selection of text easier for copy/pasting, ignorable text, such as shell> are ignored during selection. This allows multi-line instructions to be copied without modification, for example:

mysql> create database test_selection;
mysql> drop database test_selection;

Lines prefixed with mysql> should be entered within the mysql command-line.

If a command-line or program listing entry contains lines that are two wide to be displayed within the documentation, they are marked using the » character:

the first line has been extended by using a »
    continuation line

They should be adjusted to be entered on a single line.

Text marked up with this style is information that is entered by the user (as opposed to generated by the system). Text formatted using this style should be replaced with the appropriate file, version number or other variable information according to the operation being performed.

In the HTML versions of the manual, blocks or examples that can be userinput can be easily copied from the program listing. Where there are multiple entries or steps, use the 'Show copy-friendly text' link at the end of each section. This provides a copy of all the user-enterable text.