debmany (1)
NAME
debmany - select manpages or documentation files from installed packages, packages from the repository or .deb-files for viewing using "man", "sensible-pager" or an alternative viewer.SYNOPSIS
debmany --helpdebmany [-v[v]] [-k|-g|-x] [-m manpageviewer] [-o otherviewer] [-L limit] [-l lang1[,...]] package|package.deb
debmany [-v[v]] [-k|-g|-x] [-m manpageviewer] [-o otherviewer] [-L limit] [-l lang1[,...]] -z [package|package.deb]
DESCRIPTION
Select a manpage or files in /usr/share/doc from a Debian package for viewing with "man", "sensible-pager" or an alternative viewer. The list of files is displayed in a dialog. Supported locations for Debian packages are: local .deb-file, a package in the repository or an installed package.
- --help
- display a short usage guide and exit
- -k
- Display the manpage using your preferred viewer (must support .gz files) if you use KDE - this is the short form of -m 'kfmclient exec man:%s'. "kfmclient" is a part of the package "konqueror" (at least in Debian Etch).
- -g
- Display the manpage using your preferred viewer (must support .gz files) if you use GNOME - this is the short form of -m 'gnome-open man:%s'. "gnome-open" is a part of the package "libgnome2-0" (at least in Debian Etch).
- -x
- Display the manpage using your preferred viewer (must support .gz files) if you use KDE/GNOME/Xfce - this is the short form of -m 'xdg-open man:%s'. "xdg-open" is a part of the package "xdg-utils" (at least in Debian Etch).
- -m manpageviewer
- Optionally set a manpage viewer. The viewer must support .gz files. You must define the complete request. "%s" gets replaced with the path to the manpage. If "%s" is missing " %s" is appended to the manpageviewer. The manpageviewer must be enclosed with "" or '' - see examples. If you use a graphical viewer you must ensure that you have access to your desktop (if necessary: sux or ssh with X-forwarding)
- -o otherviewer
- Optionally set a viewer for other files (/usr/share/doc).
- -L limit
- If a file which must be downloaded exceeds this limit, you are asked if the download should start. Without unit the value is in bytes. You can append K, M, G or T to the value to change the unit.
- -l lang1[,...]
- English manpages are displayed always. If you want more languages you can specify them here. Provide a comma separated list of the folder names in the manpage folders (/usr/share/man) - e.g. de,fr or "zh*" if you want to see all Chinese manpages (Simplified and Traditional Chinese as well). It is safe always to use "*" at the end of your language. Character set versions automatically generated during installation are not available for selection.
- -z
- Zenity (a graphical dialog) is used to select the files and if necessary to enter the package name. You must have the rights to start X programs. This option combined with the parameters -k, -g, -x or -m and -o make it possible to use debmany without console.
The manpages are temporarily extracted to a temporary directory under /tmp (or /var/tmp, if /tmp is not a directory). You can override the path if you set and export the environment variable TMPDIR or set it as a temporary variable.
You need to have the Debian package "whiptail" (preferred) or "dialog" as well as "curl" installed.
EXAMPLES
- debmany coreutils
- Show all manpages from the installed Debian package "coreutils" using man.
- debmany 3dchess
- Show all manpages from the package "3dchess" using man. Since it is not already installed the package is accessed from the repository - even downloading is done if needed.
- debmany test.deb
- Show all manpages from the local Debian package "./test.deb" using man.
- debmany -k sc
- Use your preferred man-viewer (for KDE users).
- debmany -g sc
- Use your preferred man-viewer (for GNOME users).
- debmany -x sc
- Use your preferred man-viewer (for KDE/GNOME/XFCE users).
- debmany -z -k
- Uses "zenity" to select files and to enter the package name.
- TMPDIR=~/tmp debmany -m 'konqueror man:%s' sc
- Use ~/tmp as temporary folder and Konqueror as viewer.
- alias debmany='debmany -l de -L 5M -k'; debmany -m man -l "zh*" foo
- Set an alias with your preferred options and override them if needed.
- vi /usr/local/bin/ask # after saving: chmod 755 ask
-
#!/bin/dash
read -p "program to use: " pgm
eval $pgm "$1"
debmany -o ask
Every time you select other files from a package you will be asked which program to use.