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NAME

       xman - Manual page display program for the X Window System

SYNOPSIS

       xman [ -options ... ]

DESCRIPTION

       Xman  is  a  manual  page  browser.  The default size of the initial xman window is small so that you can
       leave it running throughout your entire login session.  In the initial window there  are  three  options:
       Help  will pop up a window with on-line help, Quit will exit, and Manual Page will pop up a window with a
       manual page browser in it.  Typing Control-S will pop up a window prompting for a specific manual page to
       display.   You  may display more than one manual page browser window at a time from a single execution of
       xman.

       For further information on using xman, please read the on-line help information.   Most  of  this  manual
       will discuss customization of xman.

OPTIONS

       Xman supports all standard Toolkit command line arguments (see X(7)).  The following additional arguments
       are supported.

       -helpfile filename
              Specifies a helpfile to use other than the default.

       -bothshown
              Allows both the manual page and manual directory to be on the screen at the same time.

       -notopbox
              Starts without the Top Menu with the three buttons in it.

       -geometry WxH+X+Y
              Sets the size and location of the Top Menu with the three buttons in it.

       -pagesize WxH+X+Y
              Sets the size and location of all the Manual Pages.

CUSTOMIZING XMAN

       Xman allows customization of both the directories to be searched for manual pages, and the name that each
       directory  will map to in the Sections menu.  Xman determines which directories it will search by reading
       the MANPATH environment variable.  If no MANPATH is found then the directory is /usr/man is  searched  on
       POSIX  systems.   This  environment  is  expected to be a colon-separated list of directories for xman to
       search.

       setenv MANPATH /mit/kit/man:/usr/man

       By default, xman will search each of the following directories (in each of the directories  specified  in
       the users MANPATH) for manual pages.  If manual pages exist in that directory then they are added to list
       of manual pages for the corresponding menu item.  A menu item is only displayed for those  sections  that
       actually contain manual pages.

       Directory   Section Name
       -           -
       man1        (1) User Commands
       man2        (2) System Calls
       man3        (3) Subroutines
       man4        (4) Devices
       man5        (5) File Formats
       man6        (6) Games
       man7        (7) Miscellaneous

       man8        (8) Sys. Administration
       manl        (l) Local
       mann        (n) New
       mano        (o) Old

       For  instance,  a user has three directories in her manual path and each contain a directory called man3.
       All these manual pages will appear alphabetically sorted when the user selects the menu item  called  (3)
       Subroutines.  If there is no directory called mano in any of the directories in her MANPATH, or there are
       no manual pages in any of the directories called mano then no menu item will be displayed for the section
       called (o) Old.

BSD AND LINUX SYSTEMS

       In  newer  BSD  and Linux systems, Xman will search for a file named /etc/man.conf which will contain the
       list of directories containing manual pages. See man.conf(5) for  a  complete  description  of  the  file
       format.

THE MANDESC FILE

       By  using  the  mandesc  file a user or system manager is able to more closely control which manual pages
       will appear in each of the sections represented by menu items in the Sections menu.   This  functionality
       is  only  available on a section by section basis, and individual manual pages may not be handled in this
       manner.  (Although generous use of symbolic links — see ln(1) — will allow almost any  configuration  you
       can imagine.)

       The format of the mandesc file is a character followed by a label.  The character determines which of the
       sections will be added under this label.  For instance suppose that you would like  to  create  an  extra
       menu  item  that contains all programmer subroutines.  This label should contain all manual pages in both
       sections two and three.  The mandesc file would look like this:

       2Programmer Subroutines
       3Programmer Subroutines

       This will add a menu item to the Sections menu that would bring up a  listing  of  all  manual  pages  in
       sections  two  and three of the Programmers Manual.  Since the label names are exactly the same they will
       be added to the same section. Note, however, that the original sections still exist.

       If you want to completely ignore the default sections in a manual directory then add the line:

       no default sections

       anywhere in your mandesc file.  This keeps xman from  searching  the  default  manual  sections  In  that
       directory  only.  As an example, suppose you want to do the same thing as above, but you don't think that
       it is useful to have the System Calls or Subroutines sections any longer.  You would  need  to  duplicate
       the default entries, as well as adding your new one.

       no default sections
       1(1) User Commands
       2Programmer Subroutines
       3Programmer Subroutines
       4(4) Devices
       5(5) File Formats
       6(6) Games
       7(7) Miscellaneous
       8(8) Sys. Administration
       l(l) Local
       n(n) New
       o(o) Old

       Xman  will  read  any  section that is of the from man<character>, where <character> is an upper or lower
       case letter (they are treated distinctly) or a numeral  (0-9).   Be  warned,  however,  that  man(1)  and
       catman(8) will not search directories that are non-standard.

WIDGETS

       In  order to specify resources, it is useful to know the hierarchy of the widgets which compose xman.  In
       the notation below, indentation indicates hierarchical structure.  The widget class name is given  first,
       followed by the widget instance name.

       Xman xman       (This widget is never used)
               TopLevelShell  topBox
                       Form  form
                               Label  topLabel
                               Command  helpButton
                               Command  quitButton
                               Command  manpageButton
                       TransientShell  search
                               DialogWidgetClass  dialog
                                       Label  label
                                       Text  value
                                       Command  manualPage
                                       Command  apropos
                                       Command  cancel
                       TransientShell  pleaseStandBy
                               Label  label
               TopLevelShell  manualBrowser
                       Paned  Manpage_Vpane
                               Paned  horizPane
                                       MenuButton  options
                                       MenuButton  sections
                                       Label  manualBrowser
                               Viewport  directory
                                       List  directory
                                       List  directory
                                       .
                                       . (one for each section,
                                       .  created on the fly)
                                       .
                               ScrollByLine  manualPage
                       SimpleMenu  optionMenu
                               SmeBSB  displayDirectory
                               SmeBSB  displayManualPage
                               SmeBSB  help
                               SmeBSB  search
                               SmeBSB  showBothScreens
                               SmeBSB  removeThisManpage
                               SmeBSB  openNewManpage
                               SmeBSB  showVersion
                               SmeBSB  quit
                       SimpleMenu  sectionMenu
                               SmeBSB  <name of section>
                                       .
                                       . (one for each section)
                                       .
                       TransientShell  search
                               DialogWidgetClass  dialog
                                       Label  label
                                       Text  value
                                       Command  manualPage
                                       Command  apropos
                                       Command  cancel
                       TransientShell  pleaseStandBy
                               Label  label
                       TransientShell  likeToSave
                               Dialog  dialog
                                       Label  label
                                       Text  value
                                       Command  yes
                                       Command  no
               TopLevelShell  help
                       Paned  Manpage_Vpane
                               Paned  horizPane
                                       MenuButton  options
                                       MenuButton  sections
                                       Label  manualBrowser
                               ScrollByLine  manualPage
                       SimpleMenu  optionMenu
                               SmeBSB  displayDirectory
                               SmeBSB  displayManualPage
                               SmeBSB  help
                               SmeBSB  search
                               SmeBSB  showBothScreens
                               SmeBSB  removeThisManpage
                               SmeBSB  openNewManpage
                               SmeBSB  showVersion
                               SmeBSB  quit

APPLICATION RESOURCES

       xman has the following application-specific resources which allow customizations unique to xman.

       manualFontNormal (Class Font)
                         The font to use for normal text in the manual pages.

       manualFontBold (Class Font)
                         The font to use for bold text in the manual pages.

       manualFontItalic (Class Font)
                         The font to use for italic text in the manual pages.

       directoryFontNormal (Class Font)
                         The font to use for the directory text.

       bothShown (Class Boolean)
                         Either  `true' or `false,' specifies whether or not you want both the directory and the
                         manual page shown at start up.

       directoryHeight (Class DirectoryHeight)
                         The height in pixels of the directory, when the directory and the manual page are shown
                         simultaneously.

       topCursor (Class Cursor)
                         The cursor to use in the top box.

       helpCursor (Class Cursor)
                         The cursor to use in the help window.

       manpageCursor (Class Cursor)
                         The cursor to use in the manual page window.

       searchEntryCursor (Class Cursor)
                         The cursor to use in the search entry text widget.

       pointerColor (Class Foreground)
                         This  is  the color of all the cursors (pointers) specified above.  The name was chosen
                         to be compatible with xterm.

       helpFile  (Class File)
                         Use this rather than the system default helpfile.

       topBox (Class Boolean)
                         Either `true' or `false,' determines whether the top box (containing the help, quit and
                         manual page buttons) or a manual page is put on the screen at start-up.  The default is
                         true.

       verticalList (Class Boolean)
                         Either `true' or `false,' determines whether the directory  listing  is  vertically  or
                         horizontally organized.  The default is horizontal (false).

GLOBAL ACTIONS

       Xman defines all user interaction through global actions.  This allows the user to modify the translation
       table of any widget, and bind any event to the new user action.  The list of actions  supported  by  xman
       are:

       GotoPage(page) When  used  in  a  manual  page  display window this will allow the user to move between a
                      directory and manual  page  display.   The  page  argument  can  be  either  Directory  or
                      ManualPage.

       Quit()         This action may be used anywhere, and will exit xman.

       Search(type, action)
                      Only  useful  when  used  in  a  search popup, this action will cause the search widget to
                      perform the named search type on the string in  the  search  popup's  value  widget.  This
                      action  will  also  pop  down  the search widget. The type argument can be either Apropos,
                      Manpage or Cancel.  If an action of Open is specified then xman will  open  a  new  manual
                      page  to  display  the  results  of the search, otherwise xman will attempt to display the
                      results in the parent of the search popup.

       PopupHelp()    This action may be used anywhere, and will popup the help widget.

       PopupSearch()  This action may be used anywhere except in a help window.  It will cause the search  popup
                      to become active and visible on the screen, allowing the user search for a manual page.

       CreateNewManpage()
                      This action may be used anywhere, and will create a new manual page display window.

       RemoveThisManpage()
                      This  action  may  be used in any manual page or help display window.  When called it will
                      remove the window, and clean up all resources associated with it.

       SaveFormattedPage(action)
                      This action can only be used in the likeToSave popup widget, and  tells  xman  whether  to
                      Save or Cancel a save of the manual page that has just been formatted.

       ShowVersion()  This  action may be called from any manual page or help display window, and will cause the
                      informational display line to show the current version of xman.

FILES

       <manpath directory>/man<character>

       <manpath directory>/cat<character>

       <manpath directory>/mandesc

       /etc/X11/app-defaults/Xman
                                specifies required resources.

       /tmp                     Xman creates temporary files in /tmp for  all  unformatted  man  pages  and  all
                                apropos searches.

SEE ALSO

       X(7), man(1), apropos(1), catman(8), Athena Widget Set

ENVIRONMENT

       DISPLAY        the default host and display to use.

       MANPATH        the   search   path   for  manual  pages.   Directories  are  separated  by  colons  (e.g.
                      /usr/man:/mit/kit/man:/foo/bar/man).

       XENVIRONMENT   to get the name of a resource file that overrides  the  global  resources  stored  in  the
                      RESOURCE_MANAGER property.

       XAPPLRESDIR    A  string  that will have ``Xman'' appended to it.  This string will be the full path name
                      of a user app-defaults file to be merged into the resource database after the system  app-
                      defaults file, and before the resources that are attached to the display.
                      See X(7) for a full statement of rights and permissions.

AUTHORS

       Chris  Peterson,  MIT  X  Consortium  from  the  V10  version  written  by Barry Shein formerly of Boston
       University.  Bug fixes and Linux support by Carlos A M dos Santos, for The XFree86 Project.