nl(1)                                                                 nl(1)




 NAME    [Toc]    [Back]
      nl - line numbering filter

 SYNOPSIS    [Toc]    [Back]
      nl [-btype] [-htype] [-ftype] [-p] [-vstart#] [-iincr] [-ssep] [-
      wwidth] [-nformat] [-lnum] [-ddelim] [file]

 DESCRIPTION    [Toc]    [Back]
      nl reads lines from the named file or the standard input if no file is
      named and reproduces the lines on the standard output.  Lines are
      numbered on the left in accordance with the command options in effect.

      nl views the text it reads in terms of logical pages.  Line numbering
      is 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 independently available for
      header, body, and footer (e.g., no numbering of header and footer
      lines while numbering blank lines only in the body).

      The start of logical page sections are signaled by input lines
      containing nothing but the following delimiter character(s):
                             Line contents | Start of
                             ______________|_________
                                \:\:\:     |  header
                                \:\:       |  body
                                \:         |  footer

      Unless told otherwise, nl assumes the text being read is in a single
      logical page body.

      Command options can appear in any order and can be intermingled with
      an optional file name.  Only one file can be named.  nl recognizes the
      following options:

           -btype      Specifies which logical page body lines are to be
                       numbered.  Recognized types and their meanings are:

                            a           number all lines;
                            t           number lines with printable text
                                        only;
                            n           no line numbering;
                            pstring     number only lines that contain the
                                        regular expression specified in
                                        string.  Basic Regular Expression
                                        syntax is supported (see regexp(5)).

                       The default type for logical page body is t (text
                       lines numbered).

           -htype      Same as -btype except for header.  Default type for
                       logical page header is n (no lines numbered).



 Hewlett-Packard Company            - 1 -   HP-UX 11i Version 2: August 2003






 nl(1)                                                                 nl(1)




           -ftype      Same as -btype except for footer.  Default for
                       logical page footer is n (no lines numbered).

           -p          Do not restart numbering at logical page delimiters.

           -vstart#    start# is the initial value used to number logical
                       page lines.  Default is 1.

           -iincr      incr is the increment value used to number logical
                       page lines.  Default is 1.

           -ssep       sep is the character or characters used in separating
                       the line number and the corresponding text line.
                       Default sep is a tab.

           -wwidth     width is the number of character columns to be used
                       for the line number.  Default width is 6.

           -nformat    format is the line numbering format.  Recognized
                       values are:

                            ln    left justified, leading zeroes suppressed;
                            rn    right justified, leading zeroes
                                  suppressed;
                            rz    right justified, leading zeroes kept.

                       Default format is rn (right justified).

           -lnum       num is the number of consecutive blank lines to be
                       treated and numbered as a single line.  For example,
                       -l3 results in every third adjacent blank line being
                       numbered if the appropriate -ha, -ba, and/or -fa
                       option is set.  Default is 1.

           -dxx        The delimiter characters specifying the start of a
                       logical page section can be changed from the default
                       characters (\:) to two user-specified characters.  If
                       only one character is entered, the second character
                       remains the default character (:).  No space should
                       appear between the -d and the delimiter characters,
                       however, this restriction is not there for XPG4
                       compliant nl.  To define a backslash as the
                       delimiter, use two backslashes.

 EXTERNAL INFLUENCES    [Toc]    [Back]
    Environment Variables
      LC_COLLATE determines the collating sequence used in evaluating
      regular expressions.

      LC_CTYPE determines the characters matched by character class
      expressions in regular expressions.



 Hewlett-Packard Company            - 2 -   HP-UX 11i Version 2: August 2003






 nl(1)                                                                 nl(1)




      If LC_COLLATE or LC_CTYPE is not specified in the environment or is
      set to the empty string, the value of LANG is used as a default for
      each unspecified or empty variable.  If LANG is not specified or is
      set to the empty string, a default of "C" (see lang(5)) is used
      instead of LANG.

      If any internationalization variable contains an invalid setting, nl
      behaves as if all internationalization variables are set to "C".  See
      environ(5).

    International Code Set Support    [Toc]    [Back]
      Single-byte character code sets are supported.

 EXAMPLES    [Toc]    [Back]
      Number file1 starting at line number 10, using an increment of ten.
      The logical page delimiters are ! and +:

           nl -v10 -i10 -d!+ file1

 SEE ALSO    [Toc]    [Back]
      pr(1), environ(5), lang(5), regexp(5).

 STANDARDS CONFORMANCE    [Toc]    [Back]
      nl: SVID2, SVID3, XPG2, XPG3, XPG4


 Hewlett-Packard Company            - 3 -   HP-UX 11i Version 2: August 2003