xref: /openbsd/bin/echo/echo.1 (revision 73471bf0)
1.\"	$OpenBSD: echo.1,v 1.24 2018/03/16 16:58:26 schwarze Exp $
2.\"	$NetBSD: echo.1,v 1.7 1995/03/21 09:04:26 cgd Exp $
3.\"
4.\" Copyright (c) 1990, 1993
5.\"	The Regents of the University of California.  All rights reserved.
6.\"
7.\" This code is derived from software contributed to Berkeley by
8.\" the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.
9.\"
10.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
11.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
12.\" are met:
13.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
14.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
15.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
16.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
17.\"    documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
18.\" 3. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors
19.\"    may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
20.\"    without specific prior written permission.
21.\"
22.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
23.\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
24.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
25.\" ARE DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
26.\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
27.\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
28.\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
29.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
30.\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
31.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
32.\" SUCH DAMAGE.
33.\"
34.\"	@(#)echo.1	8.1 (Berkeley) 7/22/93
35.\"
36.Dd $Mdocdate: March 16 2018 $
37.Dt ECHO 1
38.Os
39.Sh NAME
40.Nm echo
41.Nd write arguments to the standard output
42.Sh SYNOPSIS
43.Nm echo
44.Op Fl n
45.Op Ar string ...
46.Sh DESCRIPTION
47The
48.Nm
49utility writes any specified operands, separated by single blank
50.Pq Sq \ \&
51characters and followed by a newline
52.Pq Sq \en
53character, to the standard
54output.
55.Pp
56When no operands are given, only the newline is written.
57The
58.Fl \-
59operand,
60which generally denotes an end to option processing,
61is treated as part of
62.Ar string .
63.Pp
64The options are as follows:
65.Bl -tag -width Ds
66.It Fl n
67Do not print the trailing newline character.
68.El
69.Sh EXIT STATUS
70.Ex -std echo
71.Sh SEE ALSO
72.Xr csh 1 ,
73.Xr ksh 1 ,
74.Xr printf 1
75.Sh STANDARDS
76The
77.Nm
78utility is compliant with the
79.St -p1003.1-2008
80specification.
81.Pp
82The flag
83.Op Fl n
84conflicts with the behaviour mandated by the
85X/Open System Interfaces option of the
86.St -p1003.1-2008
87specification,
88which says it should be treated as part of
89.Ar string .
90Additionally,
91.Nm
92does not support any of the backslash character sequences mandated by XSI.
93.Pp
94.Nm
95also exists as a built-in to
96.Xr csh 1
97and
98.Xr ksh 1 ,
99though with a different syntax.
100.Pp
101Where portability is paramount, use
102.Xr printf 1 .
103.Sh HISTORY
104An
105.Nm
106utility appeared in
107.At v2 .
108