Unix in a Nutshell ^{3rd Ed.}

The bestselling, most informative Unix reference book ever written is now more complete and up-to-date.

You may have seen Unix quick-reference guides, but you've never seen anything like Unix in a Nutshell is a complete reference containing all commands and options, along with generous descriptions and examples that put the commands in context.

The third edition of Unix in a Nutshell includes thorough coverage of Unix System V Release 4 and Solaris 7. Author Arnold Robbins has added the latest information about:

• Sixty new Unix commands
• Shell syntax (sh, csh, and the 1999 and 1993 versions of ksh)
• Regular expressions
• vi and ex commands, as well as newly updated Emacs information
• sed and awk commands
• troff and related commands and macros, with a new section on refer
• make, RCS (Version 5.7), and SCCS commands
• Obsolete commands

In addition, there is a new Unix bibliography to guide the reader to further reading about the Unix environment.

If you currently use SVR4, or if you're a Solaris user, you'll want this book. Unix in a Nutshell is the most comprehensive quick reference on the market, a must for any Unix user.

• Part I: Commands and Shells
1. Introduction
• Merging the Traditions
• Bundling
• What's in the Quick Ref
• Beginner's Guide
• Guide for Users of BSD-Derived Systems
• Solaris: Standard Compliant Programs
2. Unix Commands
• Alphabetical Summary of Commands
3. The Unix Shell: An Overview
• Introduction to the Shell
• Purpose of the Shell
• Shell Flavors
• Common Features
• Differing Features
4. The Bourne Shell and Korn Shell
• Overview of Features
• Syntax
• Variables
• Arithmetic Expressions
• Command History
• Job Control
• Invoking the Shell
• Restricted Shells
• Built-in Commands (Bourne and Korn Shell)
5. The C Shell
• Overview of Features
• Syntax
• Variables
• Expressions
• Command History
• Job Control
• Invoking the Shell
• Built-in C Shell Commands
• Part II: Text Editing and Processing
6. Pattern Matching
• Filenames Versus Patterns
• Metacharacters, Listed by UNIX Program
• Metacharacters
• Examples of Searching
7. The Emacs Editor
• Introduction
• Summary of Commands by Group
• Summary of Commands by Key
• Summary of Commands by Name
8. The vi Editor
• Review of vi Operations
• Movement Commands
• Edit Commands
• Saving and Exiting
• Accessing Multiple Files
• Interacting with Unix
• Macros
• Miscellaneous Commands
• Alphabetical List of Keys
• Setting Up vi
9. The xx Editor
• Syntax of ex Commands
• Alphabetical Summary of ex Commands
10. The sed Editor
• Conceptual Overview
• Command-line Syntax
• Syntax of sed Commands
• Group Summary of sed Commands
• Alphabetical Summary of sed Commands
11. The awk Scripting Language
• Conceptual Overview
• Command-line Syntax
• Patterns and Procedures
• Built-in Variables
• Operators
• Variables and Array Assignments
• User-Defined Functions
• Group Listing of awk Functions and Commands
• Implementation Limits
• Alphabetical Summary of Functions Commands
• Part III: Text Formatting
12. nroff and troff
• Introduction
• Command-line Invocation
• Conceptual Overview
• Default Operation of Requests
• Group Summary of Requests
• Alphabetical Summary of Requests
• Escape Sequences
• Predefined Number Registers
• Special Characters
13. mm Macros
• Alphabetical Summary of mm Macros
• Predefined String Names
• Number Registers Used in mm
• Other Reserved Macro Names and String Names
• Sample Document
14. ms Macros
• Alphabetical Summary of ms Macros
• Number Registers for Page Layout
• Reserved Macro and String Names
• Reserved Number Register Names
• Sample Document
15. me Macros
• Alphabetical Summary of me Macros
• Predefined Strings
• Predefined Number Registers
• Sample Document
16. man Macros
• Alphabetical Summary of man Macros
• Predefined Strings
• Internal Names
• Sample Document
17. troff Preprocessors
• tbl
• eqn
• pic
• refer
• Part IV: Software Development
18. The Source Code Control System
• Introduction
• Overview of Commands
• Basic Operations
• Identification Keywords
• Data Keywords
• Alphabetical Summary of SCCS Commands
• sccs and Pseudo-commands
19. The Revision Control System
• Overview of Commands
• Basic Operation
• General RCS Specifications
• Conversion Guide for SCCS Users
• Alphabetical Summary of Commands
20. The make Utility
• Command-line Syntax
• Description File Lines
• Macros
• Special Target Names
• Writing Command Lines
• Sample Default Macros, Suffixes, and Rules
• Part V: Appendixes
1. ASCII Character Set
2. Obsolete Commands

A good book became even better in its third edition (even if they dropped the chapter on make, and added the man Macros).

Good book to have at your fingertips if you're an old hand.