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Common Access to the Single UNIX^® Documentation

On-Line Delivery

The Open Group was among the first standards organisations to make specifications available via the web.

Web delivery lets you

• see the specifications you need, instantly
• navigate using hyperlinks
• search for particular words and phrases.

Since June 1997, it has been Open Group policy to make its specifications freely available over the web, starting with the Single UNIX Specification for UNIX 98. User feedback on this service has been most favourable. The Open Group makes all of its new specifications available on the web as they are developed, and is putting selected older specifications on the web as resources permit.

Common Access

Common access is a new concept. On top of the advantages of web delivery, it enables you to

• see and compare, on-line, documentation for
  • current and previous versions
  • products produced by different vendors
• and to add comments and requests for changes.

The Single UNIX Documentation

The Single UNIX Documentation is the first Open Group publication to receive the Common Access treatment. It explains how to use the UNIX system interfaces and commands. In contrast to specifications, it was produced with the user, rather than the system implementor, in mind. It was developed in the ISO Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML), using Docbook 2.4.1 (with minor extensions). The major UNIX vendors participated in the project, which was managed by The Open Group.

There is Single UNIX Documentation for UNIX 95 and UNIX 98 products. The UNIX 95 documentation has been translated into Japanese.

Common Access to the Single UNIX Documentation

For the Common Access version, the Single UNIX Documentation has been converted to HTML which can be displayed by any HTML-4.0-capable browser. Navigation buttons allow you to flip between the Single UNIX Documen-tation man pages and the corresponding pages from the Single UNIX Specification and the documentation of Digital^TM UNIX (renamed Compaq Tru64^TM UNIX^® in 1999)

The Single UNIX Documentation for UNIX 98 products is now included. Documentation for HP-UX will follow shortly.

A Comments button lets you add comments to the documentation. Have you ever, while reading a specification, thought of a real improvement - or noticed a bug that needs correcting? Now, telling the authors about it is just a matter of clicking a couple of buttons on-screen.

There is a contents page with hyperlinks to all functions and commands, and there are full search facilities.

The Future

When fully developed, the service will also enable you to see added-value materials and extensions, as well as providing links to a wider range of vendors' pages. It will enable you to compare, directly and easily, vendors imple-mentations of the UNIX Operating System with the standard UNIX 95 and UNIX 98 definitions.

Like Web access to the Single UNIX Specification, this service is entirely free of charge to readers. You can find it at http://www.opengroup.org/common_access

Take a look!