Man book metadata files

The man book metadata file provides overall information about a man section. The information in this file provides the man section title, and determines how the table of contents is processed. This file is named with a .book filename suffix, typically man.SECT.book, where SECT is the section name, such as 1M. The man book metadata file typically resides in the man section directory with the HTML files.

The syntax for a man book file is as follows (optional fields are marked with square brackets):

   man.SECTION:
      Title = man section title]
      [TOCType = alpha | fixed | chapter]
      [TOCFilename = CONTENTS.html]
      [Version = arbitrary version number]

The Title is also used in the listing of man sections for the entire system in REFhome.html.

Here is a sample man book metadata file (see ``Book metadata file'' for further explanation of the fields):

   man.1M:
      Title = Administrative commands
      TOCType = alpha
      TOCFilename = CONTENTS.html
      Version = 5.0.3

Processing man section tables of contents

The ODSSI tools enable a table of contents to be updated in the field during a documentation update. There are several styles of contents, each handled differently during updates:

alpha

The table of contents is an alphabetical listing of the <TITLE> elements. This is the most appropriate for man page sections. When the collection of files changes, a new alphabetical listing can be generated.

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NOTE: If the man .node file includes a ``Name'' field, then that is used instead of <TITLE>.

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fixed

The table of contents file that ships with the documentation is fixed. It cannot be updated in the field; it can only be replaced with an updated version. This is not recommended for man sections except under special circumstances.

chapter

The table of contents lists a sequence of chapters. Each of these is a link to its own more detailed chapter table of contents. This is not recommended for man sections except under special circumstances.