4. Document Conventions

Linux commands (and other operating system commands, when used) are represented this way. This style should indicate to you that you can type 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 (such as file names). In these cases, they are considered to be part of the command, so the entire phrase is 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.

File names, 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 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 file systems.

Install the webalizer RPM if you want to use a Web server log file analysis program.

This style indicates that the program is an end-user application (as opposed to system software). For example:

Use Mozilla to browse the Web.

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 displays the list of files in the directory that start with that letter.

A combination of keystrokes is represented in this way. For example:

The [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[Backspace] key combination exits your graphical session and return you to the graphical login screen or the console.

A title, word, or phrase found on a GUI interface screen or window is shown in this style. Text shown in this style is being used to identify a particular GUI screen or an element on a GUI screen (such as text associated with a checkbox or field). Example:

Select the Require Password checkbox if you would like your screensaver to require a password before stopping.

A word in this style 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 File on a GNOME terminal, the New Tab option allows you to open multiple shell prompts in the same window.

If you need to type in a sequence of commands from a GUI menu, they are shown like the following example:

Go to Main Menu Button (on the Panel) => Programming => Emacs to start the Emacs text editor.

This style indicates that the text can be found on a clickable button on a GUI screen. For example:

Click on the Back button to return to the webpage you last viewed.

Text in this style indicates text displayed to a shell prompt such as error messages and responses to commands. For example:

The ls command displays the contents of a directory. For example:

Desktop                about.html       logs          paulwesterberg.png
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.

A prompt, which is a computer's way of signifying that it is ready for you to input something, is shown in this style. Examples:

$

#

[stephen@maturin stephen]$

leopard login:

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 must type in the text command at the boot: prompt.

Text used for examples, which is meant to be replaced with data provided by the user, is displayed in this style. In the following example, <version-number> is displayed in this style:

The directory for the kernel source is /usr/src/<version-number>/, where <version-number> is the version of the kernel installed on this system.