pmdf db is a utility with which to create and manipulate an alias database. Alias databases may either be a personal alias database or a system alias database. As the format of PMDF alias database is used for other PMDF databases (e.g., PMDF_DOMAIN_DATABASE), pmdf db can also be used to manipulate non-alias databases.

pmdf db is invoked by the command

% pmdf db

and may be exited by either typing Control-D or issuing the quit-program command.

The command recall and editing capabilities are provided by the open source software libedit (also known as editline). By default, the standard "vi" key bindings are defined. You can change various elements of the editing environment, such as using "Emacs" key bindings instead of "vi", by creating in your home directory a file called .editrc. See the editrc manpage for more information.