Linux - Info Command

Linux - Info Command

Info is an online help system, separate from the *nix manual, that is used to document GNU utilities. To get help on the bzip2 command you would type info bzip2. Where info differs from man is that info documentation is organized into a hierarchical document of nodes (it's a tree structure) and the user uses keypresses to navigate around the document. Info is, like the Emacs editor, incredibly complicated to use at first. Important info commands are summarized below.

General Commands

Command	Function
q	Quit
z	Start help tutorial
?	Display command summary
^0	Exit command summary

Reading a Node

Command	Function
Pg Dn	Display next screen of text
Pg Up	Display previous screen of text
b	Jump to first line of text in node
Up Arrow	move cursor up one line of text
Down Arrow	move cursor down one line of text
Left Arrow	move cursor one char to the left
Right Arrow	move cursor one char to the right

Moving Around Nodes

Command	Function
n	jump to next node in document
p	jump to previous node in document
t	jump to the top node in the document
u	move up from this node to the parent node
Home	move to top line of node
End	move to bottom line of node

Jumping From Node File to Another

Command	Function
Tab	move cursor to next hyperlink in current node
Return	follow hyperlink to a new node
I	jump to previously displayed node
d	jump to directory node (the root node of info)

 

 

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