CmdSynopsis

Name

CmdSynopsis -- A syntax summary for a software command

Synopsis

Content Model

CmdSynopsis ::=
((Command|Arg|Group|SBR)+,
 SynopFragment*)

Attributes

Common attributes

Name

Type

Default

LabelCDATANone
CmdLengthCDATANone
SepcharCDATA" "

Tag Minimization

Both the start- and end-tags are required for this element.

Parameter Entities

%admon.mix;%bookcomponent.content;%component.mix;
%divcomponent.mix;%example.mix;%figure.mix;
%footnote.mix;%glossdef.mix;%indexdivcomponent.mix;
%para.char.mix;%programlisting.content;%qandaset.mix;
%refcomponent.mix;%screen.content;%sidebar.mix;
%synop.class;%tbl.entry.mdl;

Description

A CmdSynopsis summarizes the options and parameters of a command started from a text prompt. This is usually a program started from the DOS, Windows, or UNIX shell prompt.

CmdSynopsis operates under the following general model: commands have arguments, that may be grouped; arguments and groups may be required or optional and may be repeated.

Processing expectations

The processing expectations of CmdSynopsis are fairly complex.

Parents

These elements contain CmdSynopsis: Answer, Appendix, Application, Article, Attribution, BiblioDiv, Bibliography, BiblioMisc, BlockQuote, Callout, Caution, Chapter, Citation, CiteTitle, Comment, Emphasis, entry, Example, Figure, Footnote, ForeignPhrase, Glossary, GlossDef, GlossDiv, GlossSee, GlossSeeAlso, GlossTerm, Important, Index, IndexDiv, InformalExample, InformalFigure, LineAnnotation, Link, ListItem, LiteralLayout, LoTentry, Member, MsgAud, MsgExplan, MsgText, Note, OLink, Para, PartIntro, Phrase, Preface, Procedure, ProductName, ProgramListing, QandADiv, QandASet, Question, Quote, RefEntryTitle, RefSect1, RefSect2, RefSect3, RefSynopsisDiv, Screen, ScreenInfo, Sect1, Sect2, Sect3, Sect4, Sect5, Section, Seg, SetIndex, Sidebar, SimPara, SimpleSect, Step, Synopsis, Term, Tip, ToCback, ToCentry, ToCfront, ULink, Warning.

Children

The following elements occur in CmdSynopsis: Arg, Command, Group, SBR, SynopFragment.

In some contexts, the following elements are allowed anywhere: BeginPage, IndexTerm.

Attributes

CmdLength

CmdLength indicates displayed length of the command; this information may be used to intelligently indent command synopses which extend beyond one line.

Label

Label specifies an identifying number or string that may be used in presentation.

Sepchar

SepChar specifies the character (a space by default) that should separate the Command and its top-level arguments.

See Also

Arg, FuncSynopsis, Group, RefSynopsisDiv, SBR, SynopFragment, SynopFragmentRef, Synopsis

Examples

<!DOCTYPE cmdsynopsis PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook V3.1//EN">
<cmdsynopsis>
  <command>cd</command>
  <arg choice=req><replaceable>directory</replaceable></arg>
</cmdsynopsis>

cd {directory}

<!DOCTYPE cmdsynopsis PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook V3.1//EN">
<cmdsynopsis>
  <command>cal</command>
  <arg>-j</arg>
  <arg>-y</arg>
  <arg>month <arg>year</arg></arg>
</cmdsynopsis>

cal [-j] [-y] [month [year]]

<!DOCTYPE cmdsynopsis PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook V3.1//EN">
<cmdsynopsis>
  <command>chgrp</command>
  <arg>-R 
    <group>
      <arg>-H</arg>
      <arg>-L</arg>
      <arg>-P</arg>
    </group>
  </arg>
  <arg>-f</arg>
  <arg choice=plain><replaceable>group</replaceable></arg>
  <arg rep=repeat choice=plain><replaceable>file</replaceable></arg>
</cmdsynopsis>

chgrp [-R [-H | -L | -P] ] [-f] group file...

<!DOCTYPE cmdsynopsis PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook V3.1//EN">
<cmdsynopsis>
  <command>emacs</command>
  <arg>-t <replaceable>file</replaceable></arg>
  <arg>-q</arg>
  <arg>-u <replaceable>user</replaceable></arg>
  <arg>+<replaceable>number</replaceable></arg>
  <arg rep=repeat>-f <replaceable>function</replaceable></arg>
  <sbr>
  <arg rep=repeat>-l <replaceable>file</replaceable></arg>
  <arg rep=repeat choice=plain><replaceable>file</replaceable></arg>
</cmdsynopsis>

emacs [-t file] [-q] [-u user] [+number] [-f function...]
[-l file...] file...

Note the use of SBR in this example to force line breaks at reasonable places in the synopsis.

For additional examples, see also SynopFragment.

Copyright © 1999 O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. All rights reserved.