>Number:         9150
>Category:       bin
>Synopsis:       Minor changes to cat(1)'s man-page.
>Confidential:   no
>Severity:       non-critical
>Priority:       low
>Responsible:    bin-bug-people (Utility Bug People)
>State:          open
>Class:          change-request
>Submitter-Id:   net
>Arrival-Date:   Sat Jan  8 18:48:00 2000
>Last-Modified:
>Originator:     Richard Rauch
>Organization:
  "I probably don't know what I'm talking about."  --rkr@rkr.kcnet.com
>Release:        NetBSD 1.4.1
>Environment:
	
System: NetBSD rkr.kcnet.com 1.4.1 NetBSD 1.4.1 (olibGENERIC) #3: Tue Nov 30 01:09:25 CST 1999 root@rkr.kcnet.com:/usr/src/sys/arch/i386/compile/olibGENERIC i386


>Description:
	There seemed to be a couple of points worth clarifying, and 2 or 3
	cross-references worth adding.

	(Since the man page is in /usr/src/bin, I am filing this as a bin
	PR.  (^& )
>How-To-Repeat:
	``man cat''
	Read.
	Ponder such things as whether ``cat - -'' is legitimate, and whether
	it will read standard input twice, or if it will read standard input
	once and then read a file called ``-''.  The man-page really doesn't
	say.
>Fix:
	The following was produced by checkin/(edit/review)*/rcsdiff on cat.1
	It leaves some debatable points but seems to be an improvement, IMHO.

*** cat.1	2000/01/09 00:40:03	1.1
--- cat.1	2000/01/09 02:09:41
***************
*** 54,60 ****
  The
  .Ar file
  operands are processed in command line order.
! A single dash represents the standard input.
  .Pp
  The options are as follows:
  .Bl -tag -width Ds
--- 54,68 ----
  The
  .Ar file
  operands are processed in command line order.
! A single dash represents the standard input,
! and may appear multiple times in the
! .Ar file
! list.
! .Pp
! The word
! .Dq concatenate
! is just a verbose synonym for
! .Dq catenate .
  .Pp
  The options are as follows:
  .Bl -tag -width Ds
***************
*** 104,114 ****
--- 112,131 ----
  redirection, the command
  .Dq Li cat file1 file2 > file1
  will cause the original data in file1 to be destroyed!
+ Note that this is already done before
+ .Nm
+ even begins running.
+ It is not per se a bug in
+ .Nm
+ but it is something to be aware of.
  .Sh SEE ALSO
  .Xr head 1 ,
+ .Xr hexdump 1 ,
+ .Xr lpr 1 ,
  .Xr more 1 ,
  .Xr pr 1 ,
  .Xr tail 1 ,
+ .Xr view 1 ,
  .Xr vis 1
  .Rs
  .%A Rob Pike
>Audit-Trail:
>Unformatted: