Typographic Conventions

AaBbCc123

The names of commands, files, and directories; on-screen computer output 

Edit your .login file.

Use ls -a to list all files.

% You have mail.

AaBbCc123

What you type, when contrasted with on-screen computer output 

% su

Password:

AaBbCc123

Book titles, new words or terms, words to be emphasized 

Read Chapter 6 in the User’s Guide.

These are called class options.

You must be superuser to do this.

AaBbCc123

Command-line placeholder text; replace with a real name or value 

To delete a file, type rm filename.

[ ] 

Brackets contain arguments that are optional. 

O[n]

O4, O

{ } 

Braces contain a set of choices for a required option. 

d{y|n}

dy

| 

The “pipe” or “bar” symbol separates arguments, only one of which may be chosen. 

B{dynamic|static}

Bstatic

: 

The colon, like the comma, is sometimes used to separate arguments. 

Rdir[:dir]

R/local/libs:/U/a

… 

The ellipsis indicates omission in a series. 

xinline=f1[,…fn]

xinline=alpha,dos