Using info, the Documentation Tools

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3: Developer Tools Guide
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# 2.12. Using info, the Documentation Tools

`info` provides the sources for documentation for the GNU tools; it requires the following tools, including the TeX tools.

Texinfo, texindex, texi2dvi

  Documentation formatting tools. Texinfo requires TEX, the free technical documentation formatting tool written by Donald Knuth. Refer to Texinfo: The GNU Documentation Format (ISBN: 1-882114 67 1).

`makeinfo`, `info`

  Online documentation tools.

`man` pages

  Includes documentation on all the tools and programs in this release.

FLEX: A Fast Lexical Analyzer Generator

  Generates lexical analyzers suitable for GCC and other compilers. Refer to Flex: The Lexical Scanner Generator (ISBN: 1-882114 21 3).

Using and Porting GNU CC

  Contains information about requirements for putting GCC on different platforms, or for modifying GCC; includes documentation from Using the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC).

BYacc

  Discusses the Berkeley Yacc parser generator. Refer to Bison Manual: Using the YACC-compatible Parser Generator (ISBN: 1-882114 44 2).

Texinfo: The GNU Documentation Format

  Details TEX and the printing and generating of documentation, as well as how to write manuals in the TEX style.

Configuration program

  Describes the configuration program that Red Hat Enterprise Linux Developer Tools uses.

GNU Coding Standards

  Elaborates on the coding standards with which the GNU projects develop.

GNU gprof

  Details the GNU performance analyzer (only for the Solaris systems).

You have the freedom to copy the documentation using the accompanying copyright statements, which include the necessary permissions. To get the documentation in HTML or printable form, refer to http://www.fsf.org/doc/doc.html and http://www.fsf.org/doc/other-free-books.html.

For more information on using `info` tools (requiring the TEX tools), refer to Using info.

## 2.12.1. Reading info Documentation

Browse through the documentation using either Emacs or the `info` documentation browser program. The information is in nodes, which correspond to the sections of a printed book. Follow them in sequence, as in books, or, using the hyperlinks, find the node that has the information you need. `info` has hot references (if one section refers to another section, `info` takes you directly to that other section, but gives you the ability to return easily. You can also search for particular words or phrases. Use `info` by typing its name at a shell prompt; no options or arguments are necessary. Check that `info` is in your shell path. If you have problems running `info`, contact your system administrator.

To get help with using `info`, type `h` for a programmed instruction sequence, or [Ctrl]-[h] for a short summary of commands. To stop using `info`, type [q].

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