xref: /netbsd/usr.bin/wc/wc.1 (revision bf9ec67e)
1.\"	$NetBSD: wc.1,v 1.12 2002/03/05 15:09:46 wiz Exp $
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3.\" Copyright (c) 1991, 1993
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6.\" This code is derived from software contributed to Berkeley by
7.\" the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.
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37.\"     from: @(#)wc.1	8.2 (Berkeley) 4/19/94
38.\"
39.Dd April 19, 1994
40.Dt WC 1
41.Os
42.Sh NAME
43.Nm wc
44.Nd word, line, and byte count
45.Sh SYNOPSIS
46.Nm
47.Op Fl c | Fl m
48.Op Fl lw
49.Op Ar file ...
50.Sh DESCRIPTION
51The
52.Nm
53utility displays the number of lines, words, bytes and characters contained in each
54input
55.Ar file
56(or standard input, by default) to the standard output.
57A line is defined as a string of characters delimited by a \*[Lt]newline\*[Gt]
58character,
59and a word is defined as a string of characters delimited by white space
60characters.
61White space characters are the set of characters for which the
62.Xr iswspace 3
63function returns true.
64If more than one input file is specified, a line of cumulative counts
65for all the files is displayed on a separate line after the output for
66the last file.
67.Pp
68The following options are available:
69.Bl -tag -width Ds
70.It Fl c
71The number of bytes in each input file
72is written to the standard output.
73.It Fl l
74The number of lines in each input file
75is written to the standard output.
76.It Fl m
77The number of characters in each input file
78is written to the standard output.
79.It Fl w
80The number of words in each input file
81is written to the standard output.
82.El
83.Pp
84When an option is specified,
85.Nm
86only
87reports the
88information requested by that option. The
89default action is equivalent to all the
90flags
91.Fl clw
92having been specified.
93.Pp
94The following operands are available:
95.Bl -tag -width Ds
96.It Ar file
97A pathname of an input file.
98.El
99.Pp
100If no file names
101are specified, the standard input is used and
102no file name is displayed.
103.Pp
104By default, the standard output contains a line for each
105input file of the form:
106.Bd -literal -offset indent
107lines	 words	bytes	file_name
108.Ed
109.Pp
110The
111.Nm
112utility exits 0 on success, and \*[Gt]0 if an error occurs.
113.Sh SEE ALSO
114.Xr iswspace 3
115.Sh COMPATIBILITY
116Historically, the
117.Nm
118utility was documented to define a word as a ``maximal string of
119characters delimited by \*[Lt]space\*[Gt], \*[Lt]tab\*[Gt] or \*[Lt]newline\*[Gt] characters''.
120The implementation, however, didn't handle non-printing characters
121correctly so that ``  ^D^E  '' counted as 6 spaces, while ``foo^D^Ebar''
122counted as 8 characters.
123.Bx 4
124systems after
125.Bx 4.3
126modified the implementation to be consistent
127with the documentation.
128This implementation defines a ``word'' in terms of the
129.Xr iswspace 3
130function, as required by
131.St -p1003.2 .
132.Sh STANDARDS
133The
134.Nm
135utility conforms to
136.St -p1003.2-92 .
137