nl - Numbers lines in a file
nl [-b type] [-d delimiter1[delimiter2]] [-f type] [-h
type] [-i number] [-l number] [-n format] [-p] [-s [separator]]
[-vnumber] [-wnumber] [file]
Interfaces documented on this reference page conform to
industry standards as follows:
nl: XCU5.0
Refer to the standards(5) reference page for more information
about industry standards and associated tags.
Use the following options to change the default settings.
Specifies which body section lines to number. The recognized
types are as follows: Numbers all lines. Number
only non-empty lines. Does not number any lines. Numbers
only those lines containing the specified pattern. The
full range of regular expressions is supported for pattern.
The default for type is t. Uses delimiter1 and
delimiter2 as the delimiters for the start of a
logical page section. The default characters are
\: (backslash followed by a colon).
You can specify either one or two characters after
the -d option. If you want to use a backslash as a
delimiter, enter two backslashes (\\). If you
specify only one character, it is used as start of
a logical page, and the end delimiter remains the
default. Specifies which logical page footer lines
to number. The types recognized are the same as in
-b type.
The default for type is n. Specifies which logical
page header lines to number. The types recognized
are the same as in -b type.
The default for type is n. Increments logical page
line numbers by number. The default is 1. Counts
number blank lines as 1. You must use one or more
of the "-ba", "-fa", and "-ha" options with this
option for it to be effective. For example, -l3
will only number the third adjacent blank. The
default is 1. Specifies format as the line numbering
format. Recognized formats are as follows: Left
justified, leading zeroes are suppressed. Right
justified, leading zeroes are suppressed (default).
Right justified, leading zeroes are kept. Ignores
logical page delimiters (does not restart numbering).
Separates text from line numbers with the
separator string. The default value of separator
is a tab character.
[Tru64 UNIX] If you enter -s without an argument,
there is no separation between the line number and
its text. Sets the initial logical page line number
to number. Specifies number as the number of
digits in the line number. The default value of
number is 6.
The path name of a file in which the lines are to be numbered.
If file is not specified, standard input is used.
The nl command reads file (standard input by default),
numbers the lines in the input, and writes the numbered
lines to standard output.
In the output, nl numbers the lines on the left, according
to the options you specify on the command line.
The input text must be written in logical pages. Each
logical page has a header, a body, and a footer section
(sections can be empty). Unless you use the -p option, nl
resets the line numbers at the start of each logical page.
You can set line numbering options independently for the
header, body, and footer sections (for example, no numbering
of header and footer lines while numbering text lines
only in the body).
Signal the start of logical page sections with lines in
file that contain nothing but the following delimiter
characters (assuming the default delimiters--see the
description of the -d option):
Line Contents Start of
\:\:\: Header
\:\: Body
\: Footer
You can name only one file on the command line. You can
list the options and the file name in any order.
The following exit values are returned: Successful completion.
An error occurred.
To number only the nonblank lines, enter: nl chap1
This displays a numbered listing of chap1, numbering
only the nonblank lines in the body sections.
If chap1 contains no \:\:\ :, \:\ :, or \: delimiters,
then the entire file is considered the body.
To number all lines, enter: nl -ba chap1
This numbers all the lines in the body sections,
including blank lines. This form of the nl command
is adequate for most uses. To specify a different
line number format, enter: nl -i10 -nrz -s::
-v10 -w4 chap1
This numbers the lines of chap1, starting with 10
(-v10) and counting by 10s (-i10). It displays
four digits for each number (-w4), including leading
zeroes (-nrz). The line numbers are separated
from the text by two colons (-s::).
For example, if chap1 contains the following text:
A not-so-important note to remember:
You can't kill time without injuring eternity.
then the numbered listing is as follows:
0010::A not-so-important note to remember:
0020::You can't kill time without injuring eternity.
Notice that the blank line was not numbered. To do
this, use the -ba option as shown in Example 2.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES [Toc] [Back] The following environment variables affect the execution
of nl: Provides a default value for the internationalization
variables that are unset or null. If LANG is unset or
null, the corresponding value from the default locale is
used. If any of the internationalization variables contain
an invalid setting, the utility behaves as if none of
the variables had been defined. If set to a non-empty
string value, overrides the values of all the other internationalization
variables. Determines the locale for the
interpretation of sequences of bytes of text data as characters
(for example, single-byte as opposed to multibyte
characters in arguments and input files), the behavior of
classes within regular expressions, and for deciding which
characters are in character class graph. Determines the
locale for the format and contents of diagnostic messages
written to standard error. Determines the location of
message catalogues for the processing of LC_MESSAGES.
Commands: cat(1), pr(1)
Standards: standards(5)
nl(1)
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