diff --git a/doc/manual/nix-env.xml b/doc/manual/nix-env.xml
index eb34185cf..6fb894e2b 100644
--- a/doc/manual/nix-env.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/nix-env.xml
@@ -534,10 +534,14 @@ $ nix-env -e '*' (remove everything)
-
-
+
+
+
+
+
+
@@ -625,6 +629,51 @@ user environment elements, etc. -->
+ /
+
+
+ Compare installed versions to available versions,
+ or vice versa (if is given). This is
+ useful for quickly seeing whether upgrades for installed
+ components are available in a Nix expression. A column is added
+ with the following meaning:
+
+
+
+ <version
+
+ A newer version of the component is available
+ or installed.
+
+
+
+ =version
+
+ At most the same version of the component is
+ available or installed.
+
+
+
+ >version
+
+ Only older versions of the component are
+ available or installed.
+
+
+
+ - ?
+
+ No version of the component is available or
+ installed.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
Print the system attribute of
@@ -655,27 +704,37 @@ user environment elements, etc. -->
$ nix-env -q (show installed derivations)
-MozillaFirebird-0.7
bison-1.875c
docbook-xml-4.2
+firefox-1.0.4
+MPlayer-1.0pre7
+ORBit2-2.8.3
...
$ nix-env -qa (show available derivations)
+firefox-1.0.7
GConf-2.4.0.1
-MPlayer-1.0pre3
-MozillaFirebird-0.7
+MPlayer-1.0pre7
ORBit2-2.8.3
...
$ nix-env -qas (show status of available derivations)
--P- GConf-2.4.0.1 (not installed but present)
---S MPlayer-1.0pre3 (not present, but there is a substitute for fast installation)
---S MozillaFirebird-0.7 (i.e., this is not the installed Firebird, even though the version is the same!)
-IP- bison-1.875c (installed and by definition present)
+-P- firefox-1.0.7 (not installed but present)
+--S GConf-2.4.0.1 (not present, but there is a substitute for fast installation)
+--S MPlayer-1.0pre3 (i.e., this is not the installed MPlayer, even though the version is the same!)
+IP- ORBit2-2.8.3 (installed and by definition present)
...
$ nix-env -f ./foo.nix -qa (show available derivations in the Nix expression foo.nix)
-foo-1.2.3
+foo-1.2.3
+
+$ nix-env -qc (compare installed versions to what’s available)
+...
+acrobat-reader-7.0 - ? (package is not available at all)
+autoconf-2.59 = 2.59 (same version)
+firefox-1.0.4 < 1.0.7 (a more recent version is available)
+...
+