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nl(P) nl(P)
NAME
nl - line numbering filter
SYNOPSIS
nl [-p][-b type][-d delim][-f type][-h type][-i incr][-l
num][-n format]
[-s sep][-v startnum][-w width][file]
DESCRIPTION
The nl utility shall read lines from the named file or
the standard input if no file is named and shall repro-
duce the lines to standard output. Lines shall be num-
bered on the left. Additional functionality may be pro-
vided in accordance with the command options in effect.
The nl utility views the text it reads in terms of logi-
cal pages. Line numbering shall be reset at the start
of each logical page. A logical page consists of a
header, a body, and a footer section. Empty sections are
valid. Different line numbering options are indepen-
dently available for header, body, and footer (for exam-
ple, no numbering of header and footer lines while num-
bering blank lines only in the body).
The starts of logical page sections shall be signaled by
input lines containing nothing but the following delim-
iter characters:
Line Start of
\:\:\: Header
\:\: Body
\: Footer
Unless otherwise specified, nl shall assume the text
being read is in a single logical page body.
OPTIONS
The nl utility shall conform to the Base Definitions
volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, Section 12.2, Utility
Syntax Guidelines. Only one file can be named.
The following options shall be supported:
-b type
Specify which logical page body lines shall be
numbered. Recognized types and their meaning are:
a Number all lines.
t Number only non-empty lines.
n No line numbering.
pstring
Number only lines that contain the basic regular
expression specified in string.
The default type for logical page body shall be t (text
lines numbered).
-d delim
Specify the delimiter characters that indicate
the start of a logical page section. These can be
changed from the default characters "\:" to two
user-specified characters. If only one character
is entered, the second character shall remain the
default character ':' .
-f type
Specify the same as b type except for footer. The
default for logical page footer shall be n (no
lines numbered).
-h type
Specify the same as b type except for header. The
default type for logical page header shall be n
(no lines numbered).
-i incr
Specify the increment value used to number logi-
cal page lines. The default shall be 1.
-l num
Specify the number of blank lines to be consid-
ered as one. For example, -l 2 results in only
the second adjacent blank line being numbered (if
the appropriate -h a, -b a, or -f a option is
set). The default shall be 1.
-n format
Specify the line numbering format. Recognized
values are: ln, left justified, leading zeros
suppressed; rn, right justified, leading zeros
suppressed; rz, right justified, leading zeros
kept. The default format shall be rn (right jus-
tified).
-p Specify that numbering should not be restarted at
logical page delimiters.
-s sep
Specify the characters used in separating the
line number and the corresponding text line. The
default sep shall be a <tab>.
-v startnum
Specify the initial value used to number logical
page lines. The default shall be 1.
-w width
Specify the number of characters to be used for
the line number. The default width shall be 6.
OPERANDS
The following operand shall be supported:
file A pathname of a text file to be line-numbered.
STDIN
The standard input is a text file that is used if no
file operand is given.
INPUT FILES
The input file named by the file operand is a text file.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
The following environment variables shall affect the
execution of nl:
LANG Provide a default value for the internationaliza-
tion variables that are unset or null. (See the
Base Definitions volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001,
Section 8.2, Internationalization Variables for
the precedence of internationalization variables
used to determine the values of locale cate-
gories.)
LC_ALL If set to a non-empty string value, override the
values of all the other internationalization
variables.
LC_COLLATE
Determine the locale for the behavior of ranges,
equivalence classes, and multi-character collat-
ing elements within regular expressions.
LC_CTYPE
Determine the locale for the interpretation of
sequences of bytes of text data as characters
(for example, single-byte as opposed to multi-
byte characters in arguments and input files),
the behavior of character classes within regular
expressions, and for deciding which characters
are in character class graph (for the -b t, -f t,
and -h t options).
LC_MESSAGES
Determine the locale that should be used to
affect the format and contents of diagnostic mes-
sages written to standard error.
NLSPATH
Determine the location of message catalogs for
the processing of LC_MESSAGES .
ASYNCHRONOUS EVENTS
Default.
STDOUT
The standard output shall be a text file in the follow-
ing format:
"%s%s%s", <line number>, <separator>, <input line>
where <line number> is one of the following numeric for-
mats:
%6d When the rn format is used (the default; see -n).
%06d When the rz format is used.
%-6d When the ln format is used.
<empty>
When line numbers are suppressed for a portion of
the page; the <separator> is also suppressed.
In the preceding list, the number 6 is the default
width; the -w option can change this value.
STDERR
The standard error shall be used only for diagnostic
messages.
OUTPUT FILES
None.
EXTENDED DESCRIPTION
None.
EXIT STATUS
The following exit values shall be returned:
0 Successful completion.
>0 An error occurred.
CONSEQUENCES OF ERRORS
Default.
The following sections are informative.
APPLICATION USAGE
In using the -d delim option, care should be taken to
escape characters that have special meaning to the com-
mand interpreter.
EXAMPLES
The command:
nl -v 10 -i 10 -d \!+ file1
numbers file1 starting at line number 10 with an incre-
ment of 10. The logical page delimiter is "!+" . Note
that the '!' has to be escaped when using csh as a com-
mand interpreter because of its history substitution
syntax. For ksh and sh the escape is not necessary, but
does not do any harm.
RATIONALE
None.
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
None.
SEE ALSO
pr
COPYRIGHT
Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in
electronic form from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2003 Edition,
Standard for Information Technology -- Portable Operat-
ing System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base Speci-
fications Issue 6, Copyright (C) 2001-2003 by the Insti-
tute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and
The Open Group. In the event of any discrepancy between
this version and the original IEEE and The Open Group
Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard
is the referee document. The original Standard can be
obtained online at http://www.open-
group.org/unix/online.html .
POSIX 2003 nl(P)
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