- command
Linux commands (and other operating system commands, when used)
are represented this way. This style should indicate to you that
you can type in the word or phrase on the command line and press
[Enter] to invoke a command. Sometimes a command
contains words that would be displayed in a different style on
their own (e.g., filenames). In these cases, they are considered
to be part of the command, so the entire phrase will be displayed
as a command. For example:
Use the cat testfile command to view the
contents of a file, named testfile, in the
current working directory.
- filename
Filenames, directory names, paths and RPM package names are
represented this way. This style should indicate that a
particular file or directory exists by that name on your Red Hat Linux
system. Examples:
The .bashrc file in your home directory
contains bash shell definitions and aliases for your own use.
The /etc/fstab file contains information
about different system devices and filesystems.
The /usr/share/doc directory contains
documentation for various programs.
Install the webalizer RPM if you want to use
a Web server log file analysis program.
- application
This style should indicate to you that the program named is an
end-user application (as opposed to system software). For
example:
Use Netscape Navigator to browse
the Web.
- [key]
A key on the keyboard is shown in this style. For example:
To use [Tab] completion, type in a character and
then press the [Tab] key. Your terminal will
display the list of files in the directory that start with that
letter.
- [key]-[combination]
A combination of keystrokes is represented in this way. For
example:
The [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[Backspace] key combination will
restart the X Window System.
- text found on a GUI interface
A title, word or phrase found on a GUI interface screen or window
will be shown in this style. When you see text shown in this
style, it is being used to identify a particular GUI screen or an
element on a GUI screen (e.g., text associated with a checkbox or
field). Examples:
On the GNOME Control Center screen, you can
customize your GNOME window manager.
Select the Require Password checkbox if you
would like your screensaver to require a password before stopping.
When you see a word in this style, it indicates that the word is
the top level of a pulldown menu. If you click on the word on
the GUI screen, the rest of the menu should appear. For example:
Under on a GNOME terminal, you will see
the following menu items: ,
, , and .
If you need to type in a sequence of commands from a GUI menu,
they will be shown like the following example:
Click on
=>=>
to start the Emacs text editor.
- button on a GUI screen or window
This style indicates that the text will be found on a clickable
button on a GUI screen. For example:
Click on the Back button to return to the
Web page you last viewed.
- computer output
When you see text in this style, it indicates text displayed by
the computer on the command line. You will see responses to
commands you typed in, error messages and interactive prompts
for your input during scripts or programs shown this way. For
example:
Use the ls to display the contents of a
directory:
$ ls
Desktop axhome logs paulwesterberg.gif
Mail backupfiles mail reports |
The output returned in response to the command (in this case, the
contents of the directory) is shown in this style.
- prompt
A prompt, which is a computer's way of signifying that it is ready
for you to input something, will be shown in this style.
Examples:
$
#
[stephen@maturin stephen]$
leopard login:
- user input
Text that the user has to type, either on the command line, or
into a text box on a GUI screen, is displayed in this style. In
the following example, text is displayed in
this style:
To boot your system into the text based installation
program, you will need to type in the text command
at the boot: prompt.
Another example, with the word root
displayed as something the user needs to type in:
If you need to log in as root when you first log into your
system, and you are using the graphical login screen, at the
Login prompt, type
root.
At the Password prompt, type in the root
password.
- glossary entry
A word that appears in the glossary will be shown in the body of
the document in this style. For example:
The lpd daemon handles printing requests.
In this case, the style of the word daemon
should indicate to you that a definition of the term is available
in the glossary.
