xref: /netbsd-src/usr.bin/wc/wc.1 (revision d0fed6c87ddc40a8bffa6f99e7433ddfc864dd83)
1.\"	$NetBSD: wc.1,v 1.5 1997/01/09 20:23:19 tls Exp $
2.\"
3.\" Copyright (c) 1991 Regents of the University of California.
4.\" All rights reserved.
5.\"
6.\" This code is derived from software contributed to Berkeley by
7.\" the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.
8.\"
9.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
10.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
11.\" are met:
12.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
13.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
14.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
15.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
16.\"    documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
17.\" 3. All advertising materials mentioning features or use of this software
18.\"    must display the following acknowledgement:
19.\"	This product includes software developed by the University of
20.\"	California, Berkeley and its contributors.
21.\" 4. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors
22.\"    may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
23.\"    without specific prior written permission.
24.\"
25.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
26.\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
27.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
28.\" ARE DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
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31.\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
32.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
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36.\"
37.\"     from: @(#)wc.1	6.4 (Berkeley) 6/27/91
38.\"	$NetBSD: wc.1,v 1.5 1997/01/09 20:23:19 tls Exp $
39.\"
40.Dd June 27, 1991
41.Dt WC 1
42.Os
43.Sh NAME
44.Nm wc
45.Nd Word, line, and byte count.
46.Sh SYNOPSIS
47.Nm wc
48.Op Fl c | Fl m
49.Op Fl lw
50.Op Ar file ...
51.Sh DESCRIPTION
52The
53.Nm wc
54utility reads one or more input text files, and, by
55default, writes the number of lines, words, and bytes
56contained in each input file to the standard output.
57If more than one input file is specified,
58a line of cumulative count(s) for all named files is output on a
59separate line
60following the last file count.
61.Nm Wc
62considers a word to be a maximal string of
63characters delimited by white space.
64.Pp
65The following options are available:
66.Bl -tag -width Ds
67.It Fl c
68The number of bytes in each input file
69is written to the standard output.
70.It Fl l
71The number of lines in each input file
72is written to the standard output.
73.It Fl m
74The number of characters in each input file
75is written to the standard output.
76.It Fl w
77The number of words in each input file
78is written to the standard output.
79.El
80.Pp
81When an option is specified,
82.Nm wc
83only
84reports the
85information requested by that option. The
86default action is equivalent to all the
87flags
88.Fl clw
89having been specified.
90.Pp
91The following operands are available:
92.Bl -tag -width Ds
93.It Ar file
94A pathname of an input file.
95.El
96.Pp
97If no file names
98are specified, the standard input is used and
99a file name is not output. The resulting output is one
100line of the requested count(s) with the cumulative sum
101of all files read in via standard input.
102.Pp
103By default, the standard output contains a line for each
104input file of the form:
105.Bd -literal -offset indent
106lines	 words	bytes	file_name
107.Ed
108.Pp
109The counts for lines, words and bytes are integers separated
110by spaces.
111.Pp
112The
113.Nm wc
114utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.
115.Sh STANDARDS
116The
117.Nm wc
118utility conforms to
119.St -p1003.2-92 .
120