Conventions Used in This Book

We use the following font and format conventions for UNIX commands, utilities, and system calls:

• Excerpts from scripts or configuration files are shown in a constant width font:

  if test -x /etc/named -a -f /etc/named.conf
  then
      /etc/named
  fi

• Sample interactive sessions, showing command-line input and corresponding output, will be shown in a constant width font, with user-supplied input in bold:

  % cat /etc/named.pid
  78

• If the command must be typed by the superuser (root), we use the sharp or pound sign (#):

  # /etc/named

• Command lines, when they appear exactly as a user would type them, are printed in italic when they appear in the body of a paragraph. For example: run ls to list the files in a directory.

• Domain names are also printed in italic when they appear within a paragraph.

• UNIX commands (when mentioned in passing, and not as part of a command line) and UNIX manual pages mentioned in the body of a paragraph appear italicized. For example: to find more information on named, a user could consult the named (1m) manpage.

• Filenames are printed in italic; for example: the BIND name server's conf file is usually /etc/named.conf.