diff --git a/man/CMakeLists.txt b/man/CMakeLists.txt
index 04ee6ed1e..c321e8554 100644
--- a/man/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/man/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+# it doesn't make sense to create man pages on windows, so we don't really
+# worry about that.
+
 if (WITH_MAN)
 	find_program(BASH_EXECUTABLE bash)
 	find_program(DATE_EXECUTABLE date)
@@ -36,8 +39,15 @@ if (WITH_MAN)
 	if (WITH_TESTS)
 		list(APPEND MAN1 iio_attr.1 iio_info.1 iio_readdev.1 iio_reg.1 iio_writedev.1)
 		foreach(_page ${MAN1})
-			configure_file( ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/${_page}.in
-				${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/${CMAKE_INSTALL_MANDIR}/${_page} @ONLY)
+			execute_process(
+				COMMAND ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/make_util_pages.sh
+				${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR} ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/${_page}.1.in
+				OUTPUT_FILE ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${_page}.1.in
+			)
+			configure_file(
+				${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${_page}.1.in
+				${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/${CMAKE_INSTALL_MANDIR}/${_page}.1 @ONLY
+			)
 		endforeach()
 		if (WITH_DOC)
 			file(MAKE_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_HTML_DEST_DIR}/man1)
diff --git a/man/iio_attr.1.in b/man/iio_attr.1.in
index aa4975139..eb26d0a3b 100644
--- a/man/iio_attr.1.in
+++ b/man/iio_attr.1.in
@@ -82,45 +82,11 @@ Read and Write IIO Context attributes
 .TP
 .B \-D \-\-debug-attr
 Read and Write IIO Debug attributes
-.TP
-.B \-S, \-\-scan
-Scan for available IIO contexts, optional arg of specific backend(s) 'ip', 'usb' or 'ip,usb'.
-Specific options for USB include Vendor ID, Product ID to limit scanning to specific devices 'usb=0456:b673'.
-vid,pid are hexadecimal numbers (no prefix needed), "*" (match any for pid only)
-If no argument is given, it checks all that are availble.
-.TP
-.B \-h, \-\-help
-Tells
-.I iio_attr
-to display some help, and then quit.
-
+##COMMON_COMMANDS_START##
+##COMMON_COMMANDS_STOP##
 .SH OPTIONS
-.TP
-.B \-a, \-\-auto
-Look around for devices (locally, ip, and usb), and if there is only one device
-found, connect to it.
-.TP
-.B \-u, \-\-uri
-The Uniform Resource Identifier
-.I (uri)
-for connecting to devices, can be one of:
-.RS
-.IP ip:[address]
-network address, either numeric (192.168.0.1) or network hostname (pluto.local)
-.IP ip:
-blank, if compiled with zeroconf support, will find an IIO device on network
-.IP usb:[device:port:instance]
-normally returned from
-.B iio_info -s
-or
-.B iio_attr -S
-.IP usb:
-blank, if there is only one IIO device plugged into USB, find it, and attach to it.
-.IP serial:[port],[baud],[config]
-serial configuration, serial:/dev/ttyUSB0,115200,8n1 115200 baud, 8 data bits, no partity, one stop bit
-.IP local:
-with no address part
-.RE
+##COMMON_OPTION_START##
+##COMMON_OPTION_STOP##
 .TP
 .B \-i, \-\-input-channel
 Filters channels by input channels only
@@ -140,23 +106,3 @@ Generate small C or python snippets that emulate what you are doing on the comma
 .SH RETURN VALUE
 If the specified device is not found, a non-zero exit code is returned.
 
-.SH "SEE ALSO"
-.ad l
-.BR iio_attr (1),
-.BR iio_info (1),
-.BR iio_readdev (1),
-.BR iio_reg (1),
-.BR iio_writedev (1),
-.BR libiio (3)
-.PP
-libiio home page:
-.BR \%https://wiki.analog.com/resources/tools-software/linux-software/libiio
-.PP
-libiio code:
-.BR \%https://github.com/analogdevicesinc/libiio
-.PP
-Doxygen for libiio
-.BR \%https://analogdevicesinc.github.io/libiio/
-.SH BUGS
-All bugs are tracked at:
-.BR \%https://github.com/analogdevicesinc/libiio/issues
diff --git a/man/iio_common_cmds.1 b/man/iio_common_cmds.1
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ca83f83a2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man/iio_common_cmds.1
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+.TP
+.B \-h, \-\-help
+Tells
+.I ##APP_NAME##
+to display some help, and then quit.
+.TP
+.B \-S, \-\-scan [backends]
+Scan for available IIO contexts, optional arg of specific backend(s) 'ip', 'usb' or 'ip:usb'.
+Specific options for USB include Vendor ID, Product ID to limit scanning to specific devices 'usb=0456,b673'.
+vid,pid are hexadecimal numbers (no prefix needed), "*" (match any for pid only)
+If no argument is given, it checks all that are availble.
diff --git a/man/iio_common_footer.1 b/man/iio_common_footer.1
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4d813f23e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man/iio_common_footer.1
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+.SH "SEE ALSO"
+.ad l
+.BR iio_attr (1),
+.BR iio_info (1),
+.BR iio_readdev (1),
+.BR iio_reg (1),
+.BR iio_writedev (1),
+.BR libiio (3)
+.PP
+libiio home page:
+.BR \%https://wiki.analog.com/resources/tools-software/linux-software/libiio
+.PP
+libiio code:
+.BR \%https://github.com/analogdevicesinc/libiio
+.PP
+Doxygen for libiio
+.BR \%https://analogdevicesinc.github.io/libiio/
+.SH BUGS
+All bugs are tracked at:
+.BR \%https://github.com/analogdevicesinc/libiio/issues
diff --git a/man/iio_common_opts.1 b/man/iio_common_opts.1
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..cb8530af3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man/iio_common_opts.1
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+.TP
+.B \-u, \-\-uri
+The Uniform Resource Identifier
+.I (uri)
+for connecting to devices, can be one of:
+.RS
+.IP ip:[address]
+network address, either numeric (192.168.0.1) or network hostname
+.IP ip:
+blank, if compiled with zeroconf support, will find an IIO device on network
+.IP usb:[device:port:instance]
+normally returned from
+.B ##APP_NAME## -S
+.IP serial:[port],[baud],[settings]
+which are controlled, and need to match the iiod (or tinyiiod) on the other end of the serial port.
+.RS
+.IP [port]
+is something like '/dev/ttyUSB0' on Linux, and 'COM4' on Windows.
+.IP [baud]
+is is normally one of 110, 300, 600, 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, 14400, 19200, 38400, 57600, 115200 [default], 128000 or 256000, but can vary system to system.
+.IP [settings]
+would normally be configured as '8n1' this is controlled by:
+.RS
+.IP data_bits:
+(5, 6, 7, 8 [default], or 9)
+.IP parity_bits:
+('n' none [default], 'o' odd, 'e' even, 'm' mark, or 's' space)
+.IP stop_bits:
+(1 [default, or 2)
+.IP flow_control:
+('0' none [default], 'x' Xon Xoff, 'r' RTSCTS, or 'd' DTRDSR)
+.RE
+.RE
+.IP local:
+with no address part.
+.RE
diff --git a/man/iio_info.1.in b/man/iio_info.1.in
index 9fb15aedc..e39065f25 100644
--- a/man/iio_info.1.in
+++ b/man/iio_info.1.in
@@ -31,58 +31,16 @@ iio_info \- list IIO devices and device attributes
 [
 .I options
 ]
--x <xml_file>
-.br
-.B iio_info
-[
-.I options
-]
--n <hostname>
-.br
-.B iio_info
-[
-.I options
-]
 -u <uri>
 .SH DESCRIPTION
 .B iio_info
 is a utility for displaying information about local or remote IIO devices
 
 .SH OPTIONS
-.TP
-.B \-h, \-\-help
-Tells
-.I iio_info
-to display some help, and then quit.
-.TP
-.B \-x, \-\-xml
-Use the XML backend with the provided XML file
-.TP
-.B \-n, \-\-network
-Use the network backend with the provided hostname
-.TP
-.B \-u, \-\-uri
-The Uniform Resource Identifier
-.I (uri)
-for connecting to devices, can be one of:
-.RS
-.IP ip:[address]
-network address, either numeric (192.168.0.1) or network hostname
-.IP ip:
-blank, if compiled with zeroconf support, will find an IIO device on network
-.IP usb:[device:port:instance]
-normally returned from
-.B iio_info -s
-.IP serial:[port]
-.IP local
-with no address part
-.RE
-.TP
-.B \-S, \-\-scan
-Scan for available IIO contexts, optional arg of specific backend(s) 'ip', 'usb' or 'ip,usb'.
-Specific options for USB include Vendor ID, Product ID to limit scanning to specific devices 'usb=0456:b673'.
-vid,pid are hexadecimal numbers (no prefix needed), "*" (match any for pid only)
-If no argument is given, it checks all that are availble.
+##COMMON_COMMANDS_START##
+##COMMON_COMMANDS_STOP##
+##COMMON_OPTION_START##
+##COMMON_OPTION_STOP##
 .TP
 .B \-a, \-\-auto
 Scan for available contexts and if only one is available use it.
@@ -90,23 +48,3 @@ Scan for available contexts and if only one is available use it.
 .SH RETURN VALUE
 If the specified device is not found, a non-zero exit code is returned.
 
-.SH "SEE ALSO"
-.ad l
-.BR iio_attr (1),
-.BR iio_info (1),
-.BR iio_readdev (1),
-.BR iio_reg (1),
-.BR iio_writedev (1),
-.BR libiio (3)
-.PP
-libiio home page:
-.BR \%https://wiki.analog.com/resources/tools-software/linux-software/libiio
-.PP
-libiio code:
-.BR \%https://github.com/analogdevicesinc/libiio
-.PP
-Doxygen for libiio
-.BR \%https://analogdevicesinc.github.io/libiio/
-.SH BUGS
-All bugs are tracked at:
-.BR \%https://github.com/analogdevicesinc/libiio/issues
diff --git a/man/iio_readdev.1.in b/man/iio_readdev.1.in
index 6d0f0c267..e0cb04351 100644
--- a/man/iio_readdev.1.in
+++ b/man/iio_readdev.1.in
@@ -37,30 +37,8 @@ iio_readdev \- read buffers from an IIO device
 is a utility for reading buffers from connected IIO devices, and sending resutls to standard out.
 
 .SH OPTIONS
-.TP
-.B \-h, \-\-help
-Tells
-.I iio_readdev
-to display some help, and then quit.
-.B \-n, \-\-network
-Use the network backend with the provided hostname
-.TP
-.B \-u, \-\-uri
-The Uniform Resource Identifier
-.I (uri)
-for connecting to devices, can be one of:
-.RS
-.IP ip:[address]
-network address, either numeric (192.168.0.1) or network hostname
-.IP ip:
-blank, if compiled with zeroconf support, will find an IIO device on network
-.IP usb:[device:port:instance]
-normally returned from
-.B iio_info -s
-.IP serial:[port]
-.IP local
-with no address part
-.RE
+##COMMON_COMMANDS_START##
+##COMMON_COMMANDS_STOP##
 .TP
 .B \-t \-\-trigger
 Use the specified trigger, if needed on the specified channel
@@ -73,15 +51,8 @@ Number of samples (not bytes) to capture, 0 = infinite. Default is 0.
 .TP
 .B \-T \-\-timeout
 Buffer timeout in milliseconds. 0 = no timeout. Default is 0.
-.TP
-.B \-a, \-\-auto
-Scan for available contexts and if only one is available use it.
-.TP
-.B \-S, \-\-scan
-Scan for available IIO contexts, optional arg of specific backend(s) 'ip', 'usb' or 'ip,usb'.
-Specific options for USB include Vendor ID, Product ID to limit scanning to specific devices 'usb=0456:b673'.
-vid,pid are hexadecimal numbers (no prefix needed), "*" (match any for pid only)
-If no argument is given, it checks all that are availble.
+##COMMON_OPTION_START##
+##COMMON_OPTION_STOP##
 .SH RETURN VALUE
 If the specified device is not found, a non-zero exit code is returned.
 
@@ -115,23 +86,3 @@ And plots the data with gnuplot.
 .B \f(WCgnuplot \-e \(dq\&set term png; set output 'sample.png'; plot 'sample.dat' binary format='%short%short' using 1 with lines, 'sample.dat' binary format='%short%short' using 2 with lines;\(dq\&\fP
 .RE
 
-.SH "SEE ALSO"
-.ad l
-.BR iio_attr (1),
-.BR iio_info (1),
-.BR iio_readdev (1),
-.BR iio_reg (1),
-.BR iio_writedev (1),
-.BR libiio (3)
-.PP
-libiio home page:
-.BR \%https://wiki.analog.com/resources/tools-software/linux-software/libiio
-.PP
-libiio code:
-.BR \%https://github.com/analogdevicesinc/libiio
-.PP
-Doxygen for libiio
-.BR \%https://analogdevicesinc.github.io/libiio/
-.SH BUGS
-All bugs are tracked at:
-.BR \%https://github.com/analogdevicesinc/libiio/issues
diff --git a/man/iio_reg.1.in b/man/iio_reg.1.in
index 4518a469e..524df4b4f 100644
--- a/man/iio_reg.1.in
+++ b/man/iio_reg.1.in
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ iio_reg \- do a low level read or write to SPI or I2C register
 <device> <register> [<value>]
 .SH DESCRIPTION
 .B iio_reg
-is a utility for debugging local IIO devices.
+is a utility for debugging local or remote IIO devices.
 It should not be used by normal users, and is normally used by driver
 developers during development, or by end users debugging a driver, or sending
 in a feature request.
@@ -42,33 +42,11 @@ It provides a mechanism to read or write SPI or I2C registers for IIO devices.
 This can be useful when troubleshooting IIO devices, and understanding how
 the Linux IIO subsystem is managing the device.
 
-This IIO utility does not work across a network or USB context.
 .SH OPTIONS
-.TP
-.B \-h, \-\-help
-Tells
-.I iio_reg
-to display some help, and then quit.
+##COMMON_COMMANDS_START##
+##COMMON_COMMANDS_STOP##
+##COMMON_OPTION_START##
+##COMMON_OPTION_STOP##
 .SH RETURN VALUE
 If the specified device is not found, a non-zero exit code is returned.
 
-.SH "SEE ALSO"
-.ad l
-.BR iio_attr (1),
-.BR iio_info (1),
-.BR iio_readdev (1),
-.BR iio_reg (1),
-.BR iio_writedev (1),
-.BR libiio (3)
-.PP
-libiio home page:
-.BR \%https://wiki.analog.com/resources/tools-software/linux-software/libiio
-.PP
-libiio code:
-.BR \%https://github.com/analogdevicesinc/libiio
-.PP
-Doxygen for libiio
-.BR \%https://analogdevicesinc.github.io/libiio/
-.SH BUGS
-All bugs are tracked at:
-.BR \%https://github.com/analogdevicesinc/libiio/issues
diff --git a/man/iio_writedev.1.in b/man/iio_writedev.1.in
index 723d5b6e0..95684f686 100644
--- a/man/iio_writedev.1.in
+++ b/man/iio_writedev.1.in
@@ -31,42 +31,14 @@ iio_writedev \- write buffers on an IIO device
 [
 .I options
 ]
-[-n <hostname>] [-t <trigger>] [-T <timeout-ms>] [-b <buffer-size>] [-s <samples>] <iio_device> [<channel> ...]
+[-t <trigger>] [-T <timeout-ms>] [-b <buffer-size>] [-s <samples>] <iio_device> [<channel> ...]
 .SH DESCRIPTION
 .B iio_reg
 is a utility for writing buffers from connected IIO devices.
 
 .SH OPTIONS
-.TP
-.B \-h, \-\-help
-Tells
-.I iio_readdev
-to display some help, and then quit.
-.B \-n, \-\-network
-Use the network backend with the provided hostname
-.TP
-.B \-u, \-\-uri
-The Uniform Resource Identifier
-.I (uri)
-for connecting to devices, can be one of:
-.RS
-.IP ip:[address]
-network address, either numeric (192.168.0.1) or network hostname
-.IP ip:
-blank, if compiled with zeroconf support, will find an IIO device on network
-.IP usb:[device:port:instance]
-normally returned from
-.B iio_info -s
-.IP serial:[port]
-.IP local
-with no address part
-.TP
-.B \-S, \-\-scan
-Scan for available IIO contexts, optional arg of specific backend(s) 'ip', 'usb' or 'ip,usb'.
-Specific options for USB include Vendor ID, Product ID to limit scanning to specific devices 'usb=0456:b673'.
-vid,pid are hexadecimal numbers (no prefix needed), "*" (match any for pid only)
-If no argument is given, it checks all that are availble.
-.RE
+##COMMON_COMMANDS_START##
+##COMMON_COMMANDS_STOP##
 .TP
 .B \-t \-\-trigger
 Use the specified trigger, if needed on the specified channel
@@ -80,11 +52,10 @@ Number of samples (not bytes) to capture, 0 = infinite. Default is 0.
 .B \-T \-\-timeout
 Buffer timeout in milliseconds. 0 = no timeout. Default is 0.
 .TP
-.B \-a, \-\-auto
-Scan for available contexts and if only one is available use it.
-.TP
 .B \-c \-\-cyclic
 Use cyclic buffer mode.
+##COMMON_OPTION_START##
+##COMMON_OPTION_STOP##
 
 .SH RETURN VALUE
 If the specified device is not found, a non-zero exit code is returned.
@@ -113,23 +84,4 @@ This sends 1024 samples of I and Q data to the USB attached AD9361. data is taki
 .B \f(CWiio_writedev \-a \-s 1024 cf-ad9361-dds-core-lpc voltage0 voltage1 < ./samples.dat\fP
 .RE
 
-.SH "SEE ALSO"
-.ad l
-.BR iio_attr (1),
-.BR iio_info (1),
-.BR iio_readdev (1),
-.BR iio_reg (1),
-.BR iio_writedev (1),
-.BR libiio (3)
-.PP
-libiio home page:
-.BR \%https://wiki.analog.com/resources/tools-software/linux-software/libiio
-.PP
-libiio code:
-.BR \%https://github.com/analogdevicesinc/libiio
-.PP
-Doxygen for libiio
-.BR \%https://analogdevicesinc.github.io/libiio/
-.SH BUGS
-All bugs are tracked at:
-.BR \%https://github.com/analogdevicesinc/libiio/issues
+
diff --git a/man/make_util_pages.sh b/man/make_util_pages.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..61d4e2835
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man/make_util_pages.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+dir=$1
+if [ -z "${dir}" -o ! -f "${dir}/iio_common_cmds.1" -o ! -f "${dir}/iio_common_opts.1" -o ! -f "${dir}/iio_common_footer.1" ] ; then
+	echo "not pointing to src directory ${dir}" 1>&2
+	exit
+fi
+file=$2
+if [ -z "${file}" -o ! -f "${file}" ] ; then
+	echo "missing 2nd argument file to manipulate ${file}" 1>&2
+	exit
+fi
+
+app=$(grep "^.TH" "${file}" | head -1 | awk '{print $2}')
+
+sed '/##COMMON_COMMANDS_START##/Q' "${file}"
+sed "s/##APP_NAME##/${app}/g" "${dir}/iio_common_cmds.1"
+sed -n '/^##COMMON_COMMANDS_STOP##/,${p;/^##COMMON_OPTION_START##/q}' "${file}" |  grep -v "##COMMON_"
+sed "s/##APP_NAME##/${app}/g" "${dir}/iio_common_opts.1"
+sed -ne '/^##COMMON_OPTION_STOP#/,$ p' "${file}" | grep -v "##COMMON_OPTION_STOP##"
+sed "s/##APP_NAME##/${app}/g" "${dir}/iio_common_footer.1"