| name | whatis |
| description | whatis — display one-line manual page descriptions |
whatis Plugin
Display one-line manual page descriptions for commands and topics.
Commands
whatis self version — Print whatis version
whatis name lookup <name> — Display description for a command
whatis name lookup-all <name> — Display all matching descriptions across sections
whatis name lookup-section <section> <name> — Lookup in a specific section
whatis _ _ [args] — Passthrough to whatis
Usage Examples
- Describe a command:
whatis name lookup ls
- Check all sections for a name:
whatis name lookup-all printf
- Lookup in section 3 (C library):
whatis name lookup-section 3 printf
- Multiple names:
whatis _ _ ls cp mv
Installation
Part of man-db, pre-installed on most Linux systems.