These conventions should be obvious, but we'll include them here for the pedantic.
[italics] Used for emphasis in text, and occasionally for quotes or introductions at the beginning of a section. Also used to indicate commands for the user to type when showing screen interaction (see below).
[slanted
] Used to mark meta-variables in the text,
especially in representations of the command line. For example,
ls -lwherefoo
![]()
[Typewriter] Used to represent screen interaction, as in
$ls -l /bin/cp
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 12104 Sep 25 15:53 /bin/cp
Also used for code examples, whether it is C code, a shell script, or something else, and to display general files, such as configuration files. When necessary for clarity's sake, these examples or figures will be enclosed in thin boxes.
[] Represents a key to press. You will often see it
in this form:
Pressto continue.
[] A diamond in the margin, like a
black diamond on a ski hill, marks ``danger'' or ``caution.'' Read
paragraphs marked this way carefully.