- command
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 name
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.
- application
This style indicates that the program is an end-user application
(as opposed to system software). For example:
Use Mozilla 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 displays 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 exits your
graphical session and returns you to the graphical login screen or
the console.
- text found on a GUI interface
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 on a GNOME terminal, the
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 (the main menu on the
panel) => =>
to start the
Emacs text editor.
- button on a GUI screen or window
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.
- computer output
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.
- prompt
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:
- 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
must type in the text command at the
boot: prompt.
- <replaceable>
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/kernels/<version-number>/,
where <version-number> is the version
and type of kernel installed on this system.
