{
    "mode": "info",
    "parameter": "catman",
    "section": "",
    "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/info/catman/json",
    "generated": "2026-08-02T10:26:15Z",
    "synopsis": "catman [-d?V] [-M path] [-C file] [section] ...",
    "sections": {
        "NAME": {
            "content": "catman - create or update the pre-formatted manual pages\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "SYNOPSIS": {
            "content": "catman [-d?V] [-M path] [-C file] [section] ...\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "DESCRIPTION": {
            "content": "catman  is  used  to  create  an up to date set of pre-formatted manual\npages known as cat pages.  Cat pages are generally much faster to  dis-\nplay  than  the original manual pages, but require extra storage space.\nThe decision to support cat pages is that of the  local  administrator,\nwho must provide suitable directories to contain them.\n\nThe  options  available  to  catman are the manual page hierarchies and\nsections to pre-format.  The default hierarchies are those specified as\nsystem  hierarchies  in  the man-db configuration file, and the default\nsections are either the colon-delimited  contents  of  the  environment\nvariable  $MANSECT or the standard set compiled into man if $MANSECT is\nundefined.  Supplying catman with a set of whitespace-delimited section\nnames will override both of the above.\n\ncatman makes use of the index database cache associated with each hier-\narchy to determine which files need to be formatted.\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "OPTIONS": {
            "content": "",
            "subsections": [
                {
                    "name": "-d, --debug",
                    "content": "Print debugging information.\n\n-M path, --manpath=path\nSpecify  an  alternate  colon-delimited  manual  page  hierarchy\nsearch  path.  By default, this is all paths indicated as system\nhierarchies in the man-db configuration file.\n\n-C file, --config-file=file\nUse this user configuration file  rather  than  the  default  of\n~/.manpath.\n\n-?, --help\nPrint a help message and exit.\n",
                    "flag": "-d",
                    "long": "--debug"
                },
                {
                    "name": "--usage",
                    "content": "Print a short usage message and exit.\n",
                    "long": "--usage"
                },
                {
                    "name": "-V, --version",
                    "content": "Display version information.\n",
                    "flag": "-V",
                    "long": "--version"
                }
            ]
        },
        "ENVIRONMENT": {
            "content": "MANSECT\nIf  $MANSECT is set, its value is a colon-delimited list of sec-\ntions and it is used  to  determine  which  manual  sections  to\nsearch  and in what order.  The default is \"1 n l 8 3 0 2 3posix\n3pm 3perl 3am 5 4 9 6 7\", unless overridden by the  SECTION  di-\nrective in /etc/manpath.config.\n\nMANPATH\nIf $MANPATH is set, its value is interpreted as the colon-delim-\nited manual page hierarchy search path to use.\n\nSee the SEARCH PATH section of manpath(5) for the default behav-\niour and details of how this environment variable is handled.\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "FILES": {
            "content": "/etc/manpath.config\nman-db configuration file.\n\n/usr/man/index.(bt|db|dir|pag)\nA traditional global index database cache.\n\n/var/catman/index.(bt|db|dir|pag)\nAn alternate or FSSTND compliant global index database cache.\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "SEE ALSO": {
            "content": "man(1), manpath(5), mandb(8)\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "AUTHOR": {
            "content": "Wilf. (G.Wilford@ee.surrey.ac.uk).\nFabrizio Polacco (fpolacco@debian.org).\nColin Watson (cjwatson@debian.org).\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "BUGS": {
            "content": "https://gitlab.com/cjwatson/man-db/-/issues\nhttps://savannah.nongnu.org/bugs/?group=man-db\n\n2.10.2                            2022-03-17                         CATMAN(8)",
            "subsections": []
        }
    },
    "summary": "catman - create or update the pre-formatted manual pages",
    "flags": [
        {
            "flag": "-d",
            "long": "--debug",
            "arg": null,
            "description": "Print debugging information. -M path, --manpath=path Specify an alternate colon-delimited manual page hierarchy search path. By default, this is all paths indicated as system hierarchies in the man-db configuration file. -C file, --config-file=file Use this user configuration file rather than the default of ~/.manpath. -?, --help Print a help message and exit."
        },
        {
            "flag": "",
            "long": "--usage",
            "arg": null,
            "description": "Print a short usage message and exit."
        },
        {
            "flag": "-V",
            "long": "--version",
            "arg": null,
            "description": "Display version information."
        }
    ],
    "examples": [],
    "see_also": [
        {
            "name": "man",
            "section": "1",
            "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/man/1/json"
        },
        {
            "name": "manpath",
            "section": "5",
            "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/manpath/5/json"
        },
        {
            "name": "mandb",
            "section": "8",
            "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/mandb/8/json"
        }
    ]
}