MANDB(8)		      Manual pager utils		      MANDB(8)



NAME
       mandb - create or update the manual page index caches

SYNOPSIS
       mandb [-dqsucp|-h|-V] [-C file] [manpath]
       mandb [-dqsu] [-C file] -f filename ...

DESCRIPTION
       mandb  is  used	to initialise or manually update index database caches
       that are usually maintained by man.   The  caches  contain  information
       relevant  to the current state of the manual page system and the infor
       mation stored within them is used by the man-db	utilities  to  enhance
       their speed and functionality.

       When  creating  or  updating  an index, mandb will warn of bad ROFF .so
       requests, bogus manual page filenames and manual pages from  which  the
       whatis cannot be parsed.

       Supplying mandb with an optional colon-delimited path will override the
       internal system manual page  hierarchy  search  path,  determined  from
       information found within the man-db configuration file.

DATABASE CACHES
       mandb  can  be  compiled  with  support	for  any  one of the following
       database types.


       Name		   Type 	 Async	 Filename
       ----------------------------------------------------------
       Berkeley db	   Binary tree	 Yes	 index.bt
       GNU gdbm v >= 1.6   Hashed	 Yes	 index.db
       GNU gdbm v <  1.6   Hashed	 No	 index.db
       UNIX ndbm	   Hashed	 No	 index.(dir|pag)

       Those database types that support asynchronous updates provide enhanced
       speed at the cost of possible corruption in the event of unusual termi
       nation.	In an unusual case where this has occured, it may be necessary
       to  rerun  mandb  with  the  -c	option to re-create the databases from
       scratch.

OPTIONS
       -d, --debug
	      Produce debugging information.

       -q, --quiet
	      Produce no warnings.

       -s, --no-straycats
	      Do not spend time looking  for  or  adding  information  to  the
	      databases regarding stray cats.

       -p, --no-purge
	      Do  not spend time checking for deleted manual pages and purging
	      them from the databases.

       -c, --create
	      By default, mandb will try  to  update  any  previously  created
	      databases.   If  a  database  does not exist, it will create it.
	      This option forces mandb to delete previous  databases  and  re-
	      create  them  from scratch, and implies --no-purge.  This may be
	      necessary if a database becomes corrupt or  if  a  new  database
	      storage scheme is introduced in the future.

       -u, --user-db
	      Create  user  databases only, even with write permissions neces
	      sary to create system databases.

       -t, --test
	      Perform correctness checks on  manual  pages  in	the  hierarchy
	      search  path.   With  this option, mandb will not alter existing
	      databases.

       -f, --filename
	      Update only the entries for the given filename.  This option  is
	      not  for	general  use; it is used internally by man when it has
	      been compiled with the MAN_DB_UPDATES option and	finds  that  a
	      page is out of date.  It implies -p and disables -c and -s.

       -C file, --config-file=file
	      Use  this  user  configuration  file  rather than the default of
	      ~/.manpath.

       -h, --help
	      Show the usage message, then exit.

       -V, --version
	      Show the version, then exit.

EXIT STATUS
       0      Successful program execution.

       1      Usage, syntax, or configuration file error.

       2      Operational error.

       3      A child process failed.

DIAGNOSTICS
       The following warning messages can be emitted during database building.

       : whatis parse for page(sec) failed
	      An  attempt  to extract whatis line(s) from the given 
	      failed.  This is usually due to a poorly	written  manual  page,
	      but if many such messages are emitted it is likely that the sys
	      tem contains non-standard manual pages  which  are  incompatible
	      with  the  man-db whatis parser.	See the WHATIS PARSING section
	      in lexgrog(1) for more information.

       : is a dangling symlink
	       does not exist but is referenced by a symbolic  link.
	      Further  diagnostics  are usually emitted to identify the  of the offending link.

       : bad symlink or ROFF .so request
	       is either a symbolic link  to,  or  contains  a  ROFF
	      include request to, a non existent file.

       : ignoring bogus filename
	      The    may  or	may not be a valid manual page but its
	      name is invalid.	This is usually due to a manual page with sec
	      tional extension  being put in manual page section .

       : competing extensions
	      The  wildcard    is  not unique.  This is usually
	      caused by the existence of both a  compressed  and  uncompressed
	      version  of  the	same manual page.  All but the most recent are
	      ignored.

FILES
       /etc/manpath.config
	      man-db configuration file.

       /usr/man/index.(bt|db|dir|pag)
	      A traditional global index database cache.

       /var/catman/index.(bt|db|dir|pag)
	      An alternate or FSSTND compliant global index database cache.

       /var/cache/man/index.(bt|db|dir|pag)
	      An FHS compliant global index database cache.

SEE ALSO
       man(1), lexgrog(1), manpath(5), catman(8).

       The WHATIS PARSING section formerly in this manual page is now part  of
       lexgrog(1).

AUTHOR
       Wilf. (G.Wilford@ee.surrey.ac.uk).
       Fabrizio Polacco (fpolacco@debian.org).
       Colin Watson (cjwatson@debian.org).



2.4.3				  2005-07-03			      MANDB(8)