Notation for PBS Command Descriptions

We use specific notation rules for PBS commands:


  • To indicate that an argument is optional, use square brackets. For example, in the qstat man page, the -E option is shown this way:
     qstat [-E]
  • For an argument that is variable (required but may take more than one value), such as a job ID or vnode name, use angle brackets.
    Here's an example from the pbsnodes man page:
     pbsnodes -v <vnode>
  • To show that something is both optional and variable, use angle brackets inside the square brackets. In this example from the qstat man page, the job ID is optional:
     qstat [<job ID>]
  • To show that a specific term is a literal (should be used verbatim), put it where it belongs, just as it should be used.
    For example, to get the version for a command, you type the command, then "–version":
    qstat --version


Here's a good resource: http://docopt.org