The syntax for commands is presented in the form of a diagram. The diagram tells you what you can do with the particular command, and indicates relationships between different options and, sometimes, different values of an option. There are three different types of syntax diagrams: railroad diagrams, dotted decimal diagrams, or BNF (Backus-Naur Format) diagrams. Railroad diagrams are a visual format suitable for sighted users. Dotted decimal and BNF diagrams are text-based diagrams that are more helpful for blind or partially-sighted users.
To select which type of syntax diagram you want to use, select the appropriate radio button in the contents pane on the left.
The following sections describe how to interpret each of the two types of diagram: