The ‘help’ command is a built-in command in the Bash shell, used to display information about built-in commands. It can be used to get help on any Bash built-in command, including information on how to use the command, what options are available, and what the command does.
Overview
The syntax for using the ‘help’ command is as follows:
help [command]
Where ‘command’ is the name of the built-in command you want help with. If you do not specify a command, the ‘help’ command will display a list of all available built-in commands.
For example, to get help on the ‘cd’ command, you would use the following command:
help cd
The output of this command would be a brief description of the ‘cd’ command, along with a list of available options and usage examples.
Options
The ‘help’ command does not have any options of its own. However, the options available for each built-in command can be displayed using the ‘help’ command followed by the name of the command and the ‘-h’ or ‘–help’ option.
For example, to get help on the options available for the ‘cd’ command, you would use the following command:
help cd -h
This would display a list of available options for the ‘cd’ command.
Troubleshooting tips
If you are having trouble getting help on a specific built-in command using the ‘help’ command, make sure that the command you are trying to get help on is actually a built-in command. If it is not a built-in command, you may need to consult the documentation for the command or use the ‘man’ command to get help.
Notes
The ‘help’ command is a powerful tool for getting help on Bash built-in commands. It can save you a lot of time and effort by providing quick access to information on how to use each command, what options are available, and what the command does.