man stat - Linux Programmer's Manual

hi there,

i know that this is a real newbie question to have to ask. but, i can find an answer anywhere :-( .

could someone please tell me. if i am programming in linux and i want to access the 'Linux Programmer's Manual' page for a given C function, but there is also a linux command with the same name (e.g. stat() function and stat command), how do i access the 'Linux Programmer's Manual' page for the function and not the command manual page. as obviously just typing 'man stat' and the command prompt just gives the command manual page.

thanks in advance.


regards,

- user0182

Man pages are stored in sections, usually in the /usr/share/man folder. If there is a page like stat which exists in several sections, the man command always chooses the first one. The man page you are looking for on the stat function is in section 2, whereas the man page on the stat command is in section 1. To view man pages in a different section, use commands like:

Code:

---

man 2 stat

---

On some Linux distributions you need to install the developer manpages first. On Debian/Ubuntu, install the manpages-dev and glibc-doc packages. On Fedora, install the man-pages package.

Most of the useful programming information is in sections 2 (system functions) and 3 (library functions).

Thanks, that's great :-) !


regards,

- user0182

To tell the difference in documentation the different sections would be marked as (1), (2) etc..

So stat(1) refers to stat in section 1 and stat(2) the one in section 2.

"man man" for more info ;)