xref: /netbsd-src/usr.bin/wc/wc.1 (revision dfb9caab49302bcb0203ec4a5a7b2fa947445787)
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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35.\"     from: @(#)wc.1	6.4 (Berkeley) 6/27/91
36.\"	$Id: wc.1,v 1.2 1993/08/01 07:26:24 mycroft 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 clw
47.Op Ar file ...
48.Sh DESCRIPTION
49The
50.Nm wc
51utility reads one or more input text files, and, by
52default, writes the number of lines, words, and bytes
53contained in each input file to the standard output.
54If more than one input file is specified,
55a line of cumulative count(s) for all named files is output on a
56separate line
57following the last file count.
58.Nm Wc
59considers a word to be a maximal string of
60characters delimited by white space.
61.Pp
62The following options are available:
63.Bl -tag -width Ds
64.It Fl c
65The number of bytes in each input file
66is written to the standard output.
67.It Fl l
68The number of lines in each input file
69is written to the standard output.
70.It Fl w
71The number of words in each input file
72is written to the standard output.
73.El
74.Pp
75When an option is specified,
76.Nm wc
77only
78reports the
79information requested by that option. The
80default action is equivalent to all the
81flags
82.Fl clw
83having been specified.
84.Pp
85The following operands are available:
86.Bl -tag -width Ds
87.It Ar file
88A pathname of an input file.
89.El
90.Pp
91If no file names
92are specified, the standard input is used and
93a file name is not output. The resulting output is one
94line of the requested count(s) with the cumulative sum
95of all files read in via standard input.
96.Pp
97By default, the standard output contains a line for each
98input file of the form:
99.Bd -literal -offset indent
100lines	 words	bytes	file_name
101.Ed
102.Pp
103The counts for lines, words and bytes are integers separated
104by spaces.
105The ordering of the display of the number of lines, words,
106and/or bytes is the order in which the options were specified.
107.Pp
108The
109.Nm wc
110utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.
111.Sh STANDARDS
112The
113.Nm wc
114function conforms to
115.St -p1003.2 .
116