The makedbm utility takes the infile and converts it to a pair of files in ndbm format (see ndbm(3C)), namely outfile.pag and outfile.dir. Each line of the input file is converted to a single dbm record. All characters up to the first TAB or SPACE form the key, and the rest of the line is the data. If a line ends with `\' (backslash), the data for that record is continued on to the next line. makedbm does not treat `#' (pound-sign) as a special character.

Because makedbm is mainly used in generating dbm files for the NIS name service, it generates a special entry with the key yp_last_modified, which is the date of infile (or the current time, if infile is `-'). The entries that have keys with the prefix yp_ are interpreted by NIS server utilities.

The following options are supported:

-b

Insert the YP_INTERDOMAIN into the output. This key causes ypserv(1M) to use DNS for host name and address lookups for hosts not found in the maps.

-d yp_domain_name

Create a special entry with the key yp_domain_name.

-D number_of delimiters

Specify number_of_delimiters to skip before forming the key.

-E

Delimiters are escaped.

-i yp_input_file

Create a special entry with the key yp_input_file.

-l

Lower case. Convert the keys of the given map to lower case, so that, for example, host name matches succeed independent of upper or lower case distinctions.

-m yp_master_name

Create a special entry with the key yp_master_name. If no master host name is specified, yp_master_name is set to the local host name.

-o yp_output_name

Create a special entry with the key yp_output_name.

-s

Secure map. Accept connections from secure NIS networks only.

-S delimiter

Specify the delimiter to use instead of the default delimiter for forming the key.

-u dbmfilename

Undo a dbm file. Prints out the file in text format, one entry per line, with a single space separating keys from values.

The following operands are supported:

infile

Input file for makedbm. If infile is `-' (dash), the standard input is read.

outfile

One of two output files in ndbm format: outfile.pag and outfile.dir.

See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:

ypserv(1M), ndbm(3C), attributes(5)