Net2/usr/src/usr.bin/wc/wc.1

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.\"     @(#)wc.1	6.4 (Berkeley) 6/27/91
.\"
.Dd June 27, 1991
.Dt WC 1
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm wc
.Nd Word, line, and byte count.
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Nm wc
.Op Fl clw
.Op Ar file ...
.Sh DESCRIPTION
The
.Nm wc
utility reads one or more input text files, and, by
default, writes the number of lines, words, and bytes
contained in each input file to the standard output.
If more than one input file is specified,
a line of cumulative count(s) for all named files is output on a
separate line
following the last file count.
.Nm Wc
considers a word to be a maximal string of
characters delimited by white space.
.Pp
The following options are available:
.Bl -tag -width Ds
.It Fl c
The number of bytes in each input file
is written to the standard output.
.It Fl l
The number of lines in each input file
is written to the standard output.
.It Fl w
The number of words in each input file
is written to the standard output.
.El
.Pp
When an option is specified,
.Nm wc
only
reports the
information requested by that option. The
default action is equivalent to all the
flags
.Fl clw
having been specified.
.Pp
The following operands are available:
.Bl -tag -width Ds
.It Ar file
A pathname of an input file.
.El
.Pp
If no file names
are specified, the standard input is used and
a file name is not output. The resulting output is one
line of the requested count(s) with the cumulative sum
of all files read in via standard input.
.Pp
By default, the standard output contains a line for each
input file of the form:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
lines	 words	bytes	file_name
.Ed
.Pp
The counts for lines, words and bytes are integers separated
by spaces.
The ordering of the display of the number of lines, words,
and/or bytes is the order in which the options were specified.
.Pp
The
.Nm wc
utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.
.Sh STANDARDS
The
.Nm wc
function conforms to
.St -p1003.2 .