minix/external/bsd/top/dist/top.1.in

.\" NOTE:  changes to the manual page for "top" should be made in the
.\"        file "top.1.in" and NOT in the file "top.1".
.nr N @DEFAULT_TOPN@
.nr D @DEFAULT_DELAY@
.nr L @HAVE_GETOPT_LONG@
.nr K @ENABLE_KILL@
.TH TOP 1 Local
.UC 4
.SH NAME
top \- display and update information about the top cpu processes
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B top
[
.B \-1CISTabcinqtuv
] [
.BI \-d count
] [
.BI \-m mode
] [
.BI \-o field
] [
.BI \-p pid
] [
.BI \-s time
] [
.BI \-U username
] [
.I number
]
.SH DESCRIPTION
.\" This defines appropriate quote strings for nroff and troff
.ds lq \&"
.ds rq \&"
.if t .ds lq ``
.if t .ds rq ''
.\" Just in case these number registers aren't set yet...
.if \nN==0 .nr N 10
.if \nD==0 .nr D 5
.I Top
displays the top
.if !\nN==-1 \nN
processes on the system and periodically updates this information.
.if \nN==-1 \
\{\
If standard output is an intelligent terminal (see below) then
as many processes as will fit on the terminal screen are displayed
by default.  Otherwise, a good number of them are shown (around 20).
.\}
Raw cpu percentage is used to rank the processes.  If
.I number
is given, then the top
.I number
processes will be displayed instead of the default.
.PP
.I Top
makes a distinction between terminals that support advanced capabilities
and those that do not.  This
distinction affects the choice of defaults for certain options.  In the
remainder of this document, an \*(lqintelligent\*(rq terminal is one that
supports cursor addressing, clear screen, and clear to end of line.
Conversely, a \*(lqdumb\*(rq terminal is one that does not support such
features.  If the output of
.I top
is redirected to a file, it acts as if it were being run on a dumb
terminal.
.SH OPTIONS
.if \nL==0 Long options are not available on this system.
.TP
.B "\-1, \-\-percpustates"
Display per-cpu states on a multi-processor machine.
.TP
.B "\-C, \-\-color"
Turn off the use of color in the display.
.TP
.B "\-I, \-\-idle-procs"
Do not display idle processes.
By default, top displays both active and idle processes.
.TP
.B "\-S, \-\-system-procs"
Show system processes in the display.  Normally, system processes such as
the pager and the swapper are not shown.  This option makes them visible.
.TP
.B "\-T, \-\-tag-names"
List all available color tags and the current set of tests used for
color highlighting, then exit.
.TP
.B "\-a, \-\-all"
Show all processes for as long as possible.  This is shorthand for
\*(lq-d all all\*(rq.  This option is especially handy in batch mode.
.TP
.B "\-b, \-n, \-\-batch"
Use \*(lqbatch\*(rq mode.  In this mode, all input from the terminal is
ignored.  Interrupt characters (such as ^C and ^\e) still have an effect.
This is the default on a dumb terminal, or when the output is not a terminal.
.TP
.B "\-c, \-\-full-commands"
Show the full command line for each process. Default is to show just the
command name.  This option is not supported on all platforms.
.TP
.B "\-i, \-\-interactive"
Use \*(lqinteractive\*(rq mode.  In this mode, any input is immediately
read for processing.  See the section on \*(lqInteractive Mode\*(rq
for an explanation of
which keys perform what functions.  After the command is processed, the
screen will immediately be updated, even if the command was not
understood.  This mode is the default when standard output is an
intelligent terminal.
.TP
.B "\-q, \-\-quick"
Renice
.I top
to -20 so that it will run faster.  This can be used when the system is
being very sluggish to improve the possibility of discovering the problem.
This option can only be used by root.
.TP
.B "\-t, \-\-threads"
Show individual threads on separate lines.  By default, on systems
which support threading, each process is shown with a count of the number
of threads. This option shows each thread on a separate line.  This option
is not supported on all platforms.
.TP
.B "\-u, \-\-uids"
Do not take the time to map uid numbers to usernames.  Normally,
.I top
will read as much of the file \*(lq/etc/passwd\*(rq as is necessary to map
all the user id numbers it encounters into login names.  This option
disables all that, while possibly decreasing execution time.  The uid
numbers are displayed instead of the names.
.TP
.B "\-v, \-\-version"
Write version number information to stderr then exit immediately.
No other processing takes place when this option is used.  To see current
revision information while top is running, use the help command \*(lq?\*(rq.
.TP
.B "\-d \fIcount\fP, \-\-displays \fIcount\fP"
Show only
.I count
displays, then exit.  A display is considered to be one update of the
screen.  This option allows the user to select the number of displays he
wants to see before
.I top
automatically exits.  Any proper prefix of the words \*(lqinfinity\*(rq,
\*(lqmaximum\*(rq,
or
\*(lqall\*(rq can be used to indicate an infinite number of displays.
The default for intelligent terminals is infinity.
The default for dumb terminals is 1.
.TP
.B "\-m \fImode\fP, \-\-mode=\fImode\fP"
Start the display in an alternate mode.  Some platforms support multiple
process displays to show additional process information.  The value
\fImode\fP is a number indicating which mode to display.  The default is
0.  On platforms that do not have multiple display modes this option has
no effect.
.TP
.B "\-o \fIfield\fP, \-\-sort-order=\fIfield\fP"
Sort the process display area on the specified field.  The field name is
the name of the column as seen in the output, but in lower case.  Likely
values are \*(lqcpu\*(rq, \*(lqsize\*(rq, \*(lqres\*(rq, and \*(lqtime\*(rq,
but may vary on different operating systems.  Note that
not all operating systems support this option.
.TP
.B "\-p \fIpid\fP, \-\-pid=\fIpid\fP"
Only display the specified pid.
.TP
.B "\-s \fItime\fP, \-\-delay=\fItime\fP"
Set the delay between screen updates to
.I time
seconds.  The default delay between updates is
.af D 1 
seconds.
.TP
.B "\-U \fIusername\fP, \-\-user=\fIusername\fP"
Show only those processes owned by
.IR username .
This option currently only accepts usernames and will not understand
uid numbers.
.PP
Both
.I count
and
.I number
fields can be specified as \*(lqinfinite\*(rq, indicating that they can
stretch as far as possible.  This is accomplished by using any proper
prefix of the keywords
\*(lqinfinity\*(rq,
\*(lqmaximum\*(rq,
or
\*(lqall\*(rq.
The default for
.I count
on an intelligent terminal is, in fact,
\fBinfinity\fP.
.PP
The environment variable
.B TOP
is examined for options before the command line is scanned.  This enables
a user to set his or her own defaults.  The number of processes to display
can also be specified in the environment variable
.BR TOP .
The options
.BR \-C ,
.BR \-I ,
.BR \-S ,
and
.B \-u
are actually toggles.  A second specification of any of these options
will negate the first.  Thus a user who has the environment variable
.B TOP
set to \*(lq\-I\*(rq may use the command \*(lqtop \-I\*(rq to see idle processes.
.SH "INTERACTIVE MODE"
When
.I top
is running in \*(lqinteractive mode\*(rq, it reads commands from the
terminal and acts upon them accordingly.  In this mode, the terminal is
put in \*(lqCBREAK\*(rq, so that a character will be
processed as soon as it is typed.  Almost always, a key will be
pressed when
.I top
is between displays; that is, while it is waiting for
.I time
seconds to elapse.  If this is the case, the command will be
processed and the display will be updated immediately thereafter
(reflecting any changes that the command may have specified).  This
happens even if the command was incorrect.  If a key is pressed while 
.I top
is in the middle of updating the display, it will finish the update and
then process the command.  Some commands require additional information,
and the user will be prompted accordingly.  While typing this information
in, the user's erase and kill keys (as set up by the command
.IR stty )
are recognized, and a newline terminates the input.  Note that a control-L
(^L) always redraws the current screen and a space forces an immediate
update to the screen using new data.
.PP
These commands are currently recognized:
.TP
.I "\fBh\fP\ or\ \fB?\fP"
Display a summary of the commands (help screen).  Version information
is included in this display.
.TP
.B 1
Toggle the display of per-cpu states.
.TP
.B C
Toggle the use of color in the display.
.TP
.B c
Display only processes whose commands match the specified string.  An empty
string will display all processes.  This command is not supported on all 
platforms.
.TP
.B d
Change the number of displays to show (prompt for new number).
Remember that the next display counts as one, so typing
.B d1
will make
.I top
show one final display and then immediately exit.
.TP
.B f
Toggle the display of the full command line.
.TP
.B H
Toggle the display of threads on separate lines.  By default, on systems
which support threading, each process is shown with a count of the number
of threads. This command shows each thread on a separate line.  This command
is not supported on all platforms.
.TP
.B i
(or
.BR I )
Toggle the display of idle processes.
.if \nK==1 \{\
.TP
.B k
Send a signal (\*(lqkill\*(rq by default) to a list of processes.  This
acts similarly to the command
.IR kill (1)).
.\}
.TP
.B M
Sort display by memory usage.  Shorthand for \*(lqo size\*(rq.
.TP
.B m
Change to a different process display mode.  Some systems provide multiple
display modes for the process display which shows different information.
This command toggles between the available modes.  This command is not 
supported on all platforms.
.TP
.B N
Sort by process id.  Shorthand for \*(lqo pid\*(rq.
.TP
.B n or #
Change the number of processes to display (prompt for new number).
.TP
.B o
Change the order in which the display is sorted.  This command is not
available on all systems.  The sort key names vary fron system to system
but usually include:  \*(lqcpu\*(rq, \*(lqres\*(rq, \*(lqsize\*(rq,
\*(lqtime\*(rq.  The default is cpu.
.TP
.B P
Sort by CPU usage.  Shorthand for \*(lqo cpu\*(rq.
.TP
.B q
Quit
.IR top.
.if \nK==1 \{\
.TP
.B r
Change the priority (the \*(lqnice\*(rq) of a list of processes.
This acts similarly to the command
.IR renice (8)).
.\}
.TP
.B s
Change the number of seconds to delay between displays
(prompt for new number).
.TP
.B T
Sort by CPU time.  Shorthand for \*(lqo time\*(rq.
.TP
.B U
Toggle between displaying usernames and uids.
.TP
.B u
Display only processes owned by a specific username (prompt for username).
If the username specified is simply \*(lq+\*(rq, then processes belonging
to all users will be displayed.
.SH "THE DISPLAY"
The actual display varies depending on the specific variant of Unix
that the machine is running.  This description may not exactly match
what is seen by top running on this particular machine.  Differences
are listed at the end of this manual entry.
.PP
The top lines of the display show general information
about the state of the system.  The first line shows
(on some systems) the last process id assigned to a process,
the three load averages,
the system uptime, and the current time.
The second line displays the total number of processes followed
by a breakdown of processes per state.  Examples of states common
to Unix systems are sleeping, running, starting, stopped, and zombie.
The next line displays a percentage of time spent in each of the
processor states (typically user, nice, system, idle, and iowait).
These percentages show the processor activity during the time since
the last update.  For multi-processor systems, this information is 
a summation of time across all processors.  The next line shows
kernel-related activity (not available on all systems).  The numbers
shown on this line are per-second rates sampled since the last update.
The exact
information displayed varies between systems, but some examples are:
context switches, interrupts, traps, forks, and page faults.  The last
one or two lines show a summary of memory and swap activity.  These lines
vary between systems.
.PP
The remainder of the screen displays information about individual
processes.  This display is similar in spirit to
.IR ps (1)
but it is not exactly the same.  The columns displayed by top will
differ slightly between operating systems.  Generally, the following
fields are displayed:
.TP
.B PID
The process id.
.TP
.B USERNAME
Username of the process's owner (if
.B \-u
is specified, a UID column will be substituted for USERNAME).
.TP
.B THR
The number of threads in the processes (this column may also
be labeled NLWP).
.TP
.B PRI
Current priority of the process.
.TP
.B NICE
Nice amount in the range \-20 to 20, as established by the use of
the command
.IR nice .
.TP
.B SIZE
Total size of the process (text, data, and stack) given in kilobytes.
.TP
.B RES
Resident memory: current amount of process memory that resides in physical
memory, given in kilobytes.
.TP
.B STATE
Current state (typically one of \*(lqsleep\*(rq,
\*(lqrun\*(rq, \*(lqidl\*(rq, \*(lqzomb\*(rq, or \*(lqstop\*(rq).
.TP
.B TIME
Number of system and user cpu seconds that the process has used.
.TP
.B CPU
Percentage of available cpu time used by this process.
.TP
.B COMMAND
Name of the command that the process is currently running.
.SH COLOR
Top supports the use of ANSI color in its output. By default, color is
available but not used.  The environment variable
.B TOPCOLORS
specifies colors to use and conditions for which they should be used.
At the present time, only numbers in the summay display area can be 
colored. In a future version it will be possible to highlight numbers
in the process display area as well.  The environment variable is the
only way to specify color: there is no equivalent command line option.
Note that the environment variable
.B TOPCOLOURS
is also understood. The British spelling takes precedence.  The use of
color only works on terminals that understand and process ANSI color
escape sequences.
.PP
The environment variable is a sequence of color specifications, separated
by colons. Each specification takes the form tag=min,max#code where
.I tag
is the name of the value to check,
.I min
and
.I max
specify a range for the value, and
.I code
is an ANSI color code.  Multiple color codes can be listed and separated
with semi-colons.  A missing
.I min
implies the lowest possible value (usually 0)
and a missing
.I max
implies infinity. The comma must always be present. When specifying numbers
for load averages, they should be multiplied by 100.
For example, the specification
.B 1min=500,1000#31
indicates that a 1 minute load average between
5 and 10 should be displayed in red. Color attributes can be combined.
For example, the specification
.B 5min=1000,#37;41
indicates that a 5 minute load average higher than 10 should be displayed
with white characters on a red background. A special tag named
.I header
is used to control the color of the header for process display.  It should
be specified with no lower and upper limits, specifically
.B header=,#
followed by the ANSI color code.
.PP
You can see a list of color codes recognized by this installation of top
with the
.B \-T
option.  This will also show the current set of tests used for
color highligting, as specified in the environment.
.SH AUTHOR
William LeFebvre
.SH ENVIRONMENT
.DT
TOP		user-configurable defaults for options.
TOPCOLORS	color specification
.SH BUGS
As with
.IR ps (1),
things can change while
.I top
is collecting information for an update.  The picture it gives is only a
close approximation to reality.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
kill(1),
ps(1),
stty(1),
mem(4),
renice(8)
@MAN_SUPPLEMENT@
.SH COPYRIGHT
Copyright (C) 1984-2007 William LeFebvre. For additional licensing
information, see http://www.unixtop.org/license/