Command Syntax

command [options] [arguments]

Convention: Operands which are enclosed in square brackets ( [ ] ) are optional

Most commands have many options.

• Option flags are generally preceded by a hyphen/minus (-).
• Options flags are traditionally single letters. They may be stated separately or grouped together (if they are not suffixed or followed by a qualifier).
• A more recent convention allows long options (more than one letter) preceded by two hyphens.