xref: /netbsd-src/usr.bin/wc/wc.1 (revision d9158b13b5dfe46201430699a3f7a235ecf28df3)
1.\" Copyright (c) 1991 Regents of the University of California.
2.\" All rights reserved.
3.\"
4.\" This code is derived from software contributed to Berkeley by
5.\" the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.
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17.\"	This product includes software developed by the University of
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35.\"     from: @(#)wc.1	6.4 (Berkeley) 6/27/91
36.\"	$Id: wc.1,v 1.4 1993/08/19 17:16:49 jtc Exp $
37.\"
38.Dd June 27, 1991
39.Dt WC 1
40.Os
41.Sh NAME
42.Nm wc
43.Nd Word, line, and byte count.
44.Sh SYNOPSIS
45.Nm wc
46.Op Fl c | Fl m
47.Op Fl lw
48.Op Ar file ...
49.Sh DESCRIPTION
50The
51.Nm wc
52utility reads one or more input text files, and, by
53default, writes the number of lines, words, and bytes
54contained in each input file to the standard output.
55If more than one input file is specified,
56a line of cumulative count(s) for all named files is output on a
57separate line
58following the last file count.
59.Nm Wc
60considers a word to be a maximal string of
61characters delimited by white space.
62.Pp
63The following options are available:
64.Bl -tag -width Ds
65.It Fl c
66The number of bytes in each input file
67is written to the standard output.
68.It Fl l
69The number of lines in each input file
70is written to the standard output.
71.It Fl m
72The number of characters in each input file
73is written to the standard output.
74.It Fl w
75The number of words in each input file
76is written to the standard output.
77.El
78.Pp
79When an option is specified,
80.Nm wc
81only
82reports the
83information requested by that option. The
84default action is equivalent to all the
85flags
86.Fl clw
87having been specified.
88.Pp
89The following operands are available:
90.Bl -tag -width Ds
91.It Ar file
92A pathname of an input file.
93.El
94.Pp
95If no file names
96are specified, the standard input is used and
97a file name is not output. The resulting output is one
98line of the requested count(s) with the cumulative sum
99of all files read in via standard input.
100.Pp
101By default, the standard output contains a line for each
102input file of the form:
103.Bd -literal -offset indent
104lines	 words	bytes	file_name
105.Ed
106.Pp
107The counts for lines, words and bytes are integers separated
108by spaces.
109.Pp
110The
111.Nm wc
112utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.
113.Sh STANDARDS
114The
115.Nm wc
116utility conforms to
117.St -p1003.2-92 .
118