Finding Command-Line Arguments of Programs

I know that unix has man pages, but is there a place I can look to discover command-line arguments of programs? Going to command prompt and typing notepad /? doesn't give anything.

Google is probably the best method of finding command line arguments. There are certain standard arguments most programs accept when written for a particular OS. There also tends to be consistency across programs developed by a particular company. But there is very little consistency generally across all programs.

Using a web search you should be able to find the best and most accurate information regarding command line arguments for any given program. Phrasing your query like this "(program name) command line arguments" is generally the best way, though different programming conventions and different systems may use different verbiage. Experience is really the best teacher regarding other terms you should search for.

There are different ways, depending on your operating system:

• Linux offers man [command] and info [command]. Usually, you will be able to use [command] --help and [command] -h, too. Sometimes, just don't use any parameters ([command]) to get help output.
• In windows, you usually type [command] /? as you already noted.

Always replace [command] with your command name (so don't type any brackets).

If some software doesn't do any output, possibly

• there are no command line arguments available or
• you find them in some documentation somewhere else.

Also try to search the internet for some examples - try the command name and "bash" or "shell" for unix systems and "cmd" or "batch" for windows.