File: coreutils.info, Node: Top, Next: Introduction, Up: (dir)
GNU Coreutils
*************
This manual documents version 5.2.1 of the GNU core utilities,
including the standard programs for text and file manipulation.
Copyright (C) 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Free
Software Foundation, Inc.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this
document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License,
Version 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software
Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts,
and with no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included
in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".
* Menu:
* Introduction:: Caveats, overview, and authors.
* Common options:: Common options.
* Output of entire files:: cat tac nl od
* Formatting file contents:: fmt pr fold
* Output of parts of files:: head tail split csplit
* Summarizing files:: wc sum cksum md5sum
* Operating on sorted files:: sort uniq comm ptx tsort
* Operating on fields within a line:: cut paste join
* Operating on characters:: tr expand unexpand
* Directory listing:: ls dir vdir d v dircolors
* Basic operations:: cp dd install mv rm shred
* Special file types:: ln mkdir rmdir mkfifo mknod
* Changing file attributes:: chgrp chmod chown touch
* Disk usage:: df du stat sync
* Printing text:: echo printf yes
* Conditions:: false true test expr
* Redirection:: tee
* File name manipulation:: dirname basename pathchk
* Working context:: pwd stty printenv tty
* User information:: id logname whoami groups users who
* System context:: date uname hostname
* Modified command invocation:: chroot env nice nohup su
* Process control:: kill
* Delaying:: sleep
* Numeric operations:: factor seq
* File permissions:: Access modes.
* Date input formats:: Specifying date strings.
* Opening the software toolbox:: The software tools philosophy.
* GNU Free Documentation License:: The license for this documentation.
* Index:: General index.
--- The Detailed Node Listing ---
Common Options
* Exit status:: Indicating program success or failure.
* Backup options:: Backup options
* Block size:: Block size
* Target directory:: Target directory
* Trailing slashes:: Trailing slashes
* Traversing symlinks:: Traversing symlinks to directories
* Treating / specially:: Treating / specially
* Standards conformance:: Standards conformance
Output of entire files
* cat invocation:: Concatenate and write files.
* tac invocation:: Concatenate and write files in reverse.
* nl invocation:: Number lines and write files.
* od invocation:: Write files in octal or other formats.
Formatting file contents
* fmt invocation:: Reformat paragraph text.
* pr invocation:: Paginate or columnate files for printing.
* fold invocation:: Wrap input lines to fit in specified width.
Output of parts of files
* head invocation:: Output the first part of files.
* tail invocation:: Output the last part of files.
* split invocation:: Split a file into fixed-size pieces.
* csplit invocation:: Split a file into context-determined pieces.
Summarizing files
* wc invocation:: Print newline, word, and byte counts.
* sum invocation:: Print checksum and block counts.
* cksum invocation:: Print CRC checksum and byte counts.
* md5sum invocation:: Print or check message-digests.
Operating on sorted files
* sort invocation:: Sort text files.
* uniq invocation:: Uniquify files.
* comm invocation:: Compare two sorted files line by line.
* ptx invocation:: Produce a permuted index of file contents.
* tsort invocation:: Topological sort.
`ptx': Produce permuted indexes
* General options in ptx:: Options which affect general program behavior.
* Charset selection in ptx:: Underlying character set considerations.
* Input processing in ptx:: Input fields, contexts, and keyword selection.
* Output formatting in ptx:: Types of output format, and sizing the fields.
* Compatibility in ptx:: The GNU extensions to `ptx'
Operating on fields within a line
* cut invocation:: Print selected parts of lines.
* paste invocation:: Merge lines of files.
* join invocation:: Join lines on a common field.
Operating on characters
* tr invocation:: Translate, squeeze, and/or delete characters.
* expand invocation:: Convert tabs to spaces.
* unexpand invocation:: Convert spaces to tabs.
`tr': Translate, squeeze, and/or delete characters
* Character sets:: Specifying sets of characters.
* Translating:: Changing one set of characters to another.
* Squeezing:: Squeezing repeats and deleting.
* Warnings in tr:: Warning messages.
Directory listing
* ls invocation:: List directory contents
* dir invocation:: Briefly list directory contents
* vdir invocation:: Verbosely list directory contents
* dircolors invocation:: Color setup for `ls'
`ls': List directory contents
* Which files are listed:: Which files are listed
* What information is listed:: What information is listed
* Sorting the output:: Sorting the output
* More details about version sort:: More details about version sort
* General output formatting:: General output formatting
* Formatting the file names:: Formatting the file names
Basic operations
* cp invocation:: Copy files and directories
* dd invocation:: Convert and copy a file
* install invocation:: Copy files and set attributes
* mv invocation:: Move (rename) files
* rm invocation:: Remove files or directories
* shred invocation:: Remove files more securely
Special file types
* link invocation:: Make a hard link via the link syscall
* ln invocation:: Make links between files
* mkdir invocation:: Make directories
* mkfifo invocation:: Make FIFOs (named pipes)
* mknod invocation:: Make block or character special files
* readlink invocation:: Print the referent of a symbolic link
* rmdir invocation:: Remove empty directories
* unlink invocation:: Remove files via unlink syscall
Changing file attributes
* chown invocation:: Change file owner and group
* chgrp invocation:: Change group ownership
* chmod invocation:: Change access permissions
* touch invocation:: Change file timestamps
Disk usage
* df invocation:: Report filesystem disk space usage
* du invocation:: Estimate file space usage
* stat invocation:: Report file or filesystem status
* sync invocation:: Synchronize data on disk with memory
Printing text
* echo invocation:: Print a line of text
* printf invocation:: Format and print data
* yes invocation:: Print a string until interrupted
Conditions
* false invocation:: Do nothing, unsuccessfully
* true invocation:: Do nothing, successfully
* test invocation:: Check file types and compare values
* expr invocation:: Evaluate expressions
`test': Check file types and compare values
* File type tests:: File type tests
* Access permission tests:: Access permission tests
* File characteristic tests:: File characteristic tests
* String tests:: String tests
* Numeric tests:: Numeric tests
`expr': Evaluate expression
* String expressions:: + : match substr index length
* Numeric expressions:: + - * / %
* Relations for expr:: | & < <= = == != >= >
* Examples of expr:: Examples of using `expr'
Redirection
* tee invocation:: Redirect output to multiple files
File name manipulation
* basename invocation:: Strip directory and suffix from a file name
* dirname invocation:: Strip non-directory suffix from a file name
* pathchk invocation:: Check file name portability
Working context
* pwd invocation:: Print working directory
* stty invocation:: Print or change terminal characteristics
* printenv invocation:: Print all or some environment variables
* tty invocation:: Print file name of terminal on standard input
`stty': Print or change terminal characteristics
* Control:: Control settings
* Input:: Input settings
* Output:: Output settings
* Local:: Local settings
* Combination:: Combination settings
* Characters:: Special characters
* Special:: Special settings
User information
* id invocation:: Print real and effective uid and gid
* logname invocation:: Print current login name
* whoami invocation:: Print effective user id
* groups invocation:: Print group names a user is in
* users invocation:: Print login names of users currently logged in
* who invocation:: Print who is currently logged in
System context
* date invocation:: Print or set system date and time
* uname invocation:: Print system information
* hostname invocation:: Print or set system name
* hostid invocation:: Print numeric host identifier.
`date': Print or set system date and time
* Time directives:: Time directives
* Date directives:: Date directives
* Literal directives:: Literal directives
* Padding:: Padding
* Setting the time:: Setting the time
* Options for date:: Options for `date'
* Examples of date:: Examples of `date'
Modified command invocation
* chroot invocation:: Run a command with a different root directory
* env invocation:: Run a command in a modified environment
* nice invocation:: Run a command with modified scheduling priority
* nohup invocation:: Run a command immune to hangups
* su invocation:: Run a command with substitute user and group id
Process control
* kill invocation:: Sending a signal to processes.
Delaying
* sleep invocation:: Delay for a specified time
Numeric operations
* factor invocation:: Print prime factors
* seq invocation:: Print numeric sequences
File permissions
* Mode Structure:: Structure of File Permissions
* Symbolic Modes:: Mnemonic permissions representation
* Numeric Modes:: Permissions as octal numbers
Date input formats
* General date syntax: General date syntax
* Calendar date items: Calendar date items
* Time of day items: Time of day items
* Time zone items: Time zone items
* Day of week items: Day of week items
* Relative items in date strings: Relative items in date strings
* Pure numbers in date strings: Pure numbers in date strings
* Authors of getdate: Authors of getdate
Opening the software toolbox
* Toolbox introduction:: Toolbox introduction
* I/O redirection:: I/O redirection
* The who command:: The `who' command
* The cut command:: The `cut' command
* The sort command:: The `sort' command
* The uniq command:: The `uniq' command
* Putting the tools together:: Putting the tools together
GNU Free Documentation License
* How to use this License for your documents::
File: coreutils.info, Node: Introduction, Next: Common options, Prev: Top, Up: Top
1 Introduction
**************
This manual is a work in progress: many sections make no attempt to
explain basic concepts in a way suitable for novices. Thus, if you are
interested, please get involved in improving this manual. The entire
GNU community will benefit.
The GNU utilities documented here are mostly compatible with the
POSIX standard. Please report bugs to <>.
Remember to include the version number, machine architecture, input
files, and any other information needed to reproduce the bug: your
input, what you expected, what you got, and why it is wrong. Diffs are
welcome, but please include a description of the problem as well, since
this is sometimes difficult to infer. *Note Bugs: (gcc)Bugs.
This manual was originally derived from the Unix man pages in the
distributions, which were written by David MacKenzie and updated by Jim
Meyering. What you are reading now is the authoritative documentation
for these utilities; the man pages are no longer being maintained. The
original `fmt' man page was written by Ross Paterson. Franc,ois Pinard
did the initial conversion to Texinfo format. Karl Berry did the
indexing, some reorganization, and editing of the results. Brian
Youmans of the Free Software Foundation office staff combined the
manuals for textutils, fileutils, and sh-utils to produce the present
omnibus manual. Richard Stallman contributed his usual invaluable
insights to the overall process.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Common options, Next: Output of entire files, Prev: Introduction, Up: Top
2 Common options
****************
Certain options are available in all of these programs. Rather than
writing identical descriptions for each of the programs, they are
described here. (In fact, every GNU program accepts (or should accept)
these options.)
Normally options and operands can appear in any order, and programs
act as if all the options appear before any operands. For example,
`sort -r passwd -t :' acts like `sort -r -t : passwd', since `:' is an
option-argument of `-t'. However, if the `POSIXLY_CORRECT' environment
variable is set, options must appear before operands, unless otherwise
specified for a particular command.
Some of these programs recognize the `--help' and `--version'
options only when one of them is the sole command line argument.
`--help'
Print a usage message listing all available options, then exit
successfully.
`--version'
Print the version number, then exit successfully.
`--'
Delimit the option list. Later arguments, if any, are treated as
operands even if they begin with `-'. For example, `sort -- -r'
reads from the file named `-r'.
A single `-' is not really an option, though it looks like one. It
stands for standard input, or for standard output if that is clear from
the context, and it can be used either as an operand or as an
option-argument. For example, `sort -o - -' outputs to standard output
and reads from standard input, and is equivalent to plain `sort'.
Unless otherwise specified, `-' can appear in any context that requires
a file name.
* Menu:
* Exit status:: Indicating program success or failure.
* Backup options:: -b -S -V, in some programs.
* Block size:: BLOCK_SIZE and --block-size, in some programs.
* Target directory:: --target-directory, in some programs.
* Trailing slashes:: --strip-trailing-slashes, in some programs.
* Traversing symlinks:: -H, -L, or -P, in some programs.
* Treating / specially:: --preserve-root and --no-preserve-root.
* Standards conformance:: Conformance to the POSIX standard.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Exit status, Next: Backup options, Up: Common options
2.1 Exit status
===============
Nearly every command invocation yields an integral "exit status" that
can be used to change how other commands work. For the vast majority
of commands, an exit status of zero indicates success. Failure is
indicated by a nonzero value--typically `1', though it may differ on
unusual platforms as POSIX requires only that it be nonzero.
However, some of the programs documented here do produce other exit
status values and a few associate different meanings with the values
`0' and `1'. Here are some of the exceptions: `chroot', `env', `expr',
`nice', `nohup', `printenv', `sort', `su', `test', `tty'.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Backup options, Next: Block size, Prev: Exit status, Up: Common options
2.2 Backup options
==================
Some GNU programs (at least `cp', `install', `ln', and `mv') optionally
make backups of files before writing new versions. These options
control the details of these backups. The options are also briefly
mentioned in the descriptions of the particular programs.
`-b'
`--backup[=METHOD]'
Make a backup of each file that would otherwise be overwritten or
removed. Without this option, the original versions are destroyed.
Use METHOD to determine the type of backups to make. When this
option is used but METHOD is not specified, then the value of the
`VERSION_CONTROL' environment variable is used. And if
`VERSION_CONTROL' is not set, the default backup type is
`existing'.
Note that the short form of this option, `-b' does not accept any
argument. Using `-b' is equivalent to using `--backup=existing'.
This option corresponds to the Emacs variable `version-control';
the values for METHOD are the same as those used in Emacs. This
option also accepts more descriptive names. The valid METHODs are
(unique abbreviations are accepted):
`none'
`off'
Never make backups.
`numbered'
`t'
Always make numbered backups.
`existing'
`nil'
Make numbered backups of files that already have them, simple
backups of the others.
`simple'
`never'
Always make simple backups. Please note `never' is not to be
confused with `none'.
`-S SUFFIX'
`--suffix=SUFFIX'
Append SUFFIX to each backup file made with `-b'. If this option
is not specified, the value of the `SIMPLE_BACKUP_SUFFIX'
environment variable is used. And if `SIMPLE_BACKUP_SUFFIX' is not
set, the default is `~', just as in Emacs.
`--version-control=METHOD'
This option is obsolete and will be removed in a future release.
It has been replaced with `--backup'.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Block size, Next: Target directory, Prev: Backup options, Up: Common options
2.3 Block size
==============
Some GNU programs (at least `df', `du', and `ls') display sizes in
"blocks". You can adjust the block size and method of display to make
sizes easier to read. The block size used for display is independent
of any filesystem block size. Fractional block counts are rounded up
to the nearest integer.
The default block size is chosen by examining the following
environment variables in turn; the first one that is set determines the
block size.
`DF_BLOCK_SIZE'
This specifies the default block size for the `df' command.
Similarly, `DU_BLOCK_SIZE' specifies the default for `du' and
`LS_BLOCK_SIZE' for `ls'.
`BLOCK_SIZE'
This specifies the default block size for all three commands, if
the above command-specific environment variables are not set.
`POSIXLY_CORRECT'
If neither the `COMMAND_BLOCK_SIZE' nor the `BLOCK_SIZE' variables
are set, but this variable is set, the block size defaults to 512.
If none of the above environment variables are set, the block size
currently defaults to 1024 bytes in most contexts, but this number may
change in the future. For `ls' file sizes, the block size defaults to
1 byte.
A block size specification can be a positive integer specifying the
number of bytes per block, or it can be `human-readable' or `si' to
select a human-readable format. Integers may be followed by suffixes
that are upward compatible with the SI prefixes
(http://www.bipm.fr/enus/3_SI/si-prefixes.html) for decimal multiples
and with the IEC 60027-2 prefixes for binary multiples
(http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/binary.html).
With human-readable formats, output sizes are followed by a size
letter such as `M' for megabytes. `BLOCK_SIZE=human-readable' uses
powers of 1024; `M' stands for 1,048,576 bytes. `BLOCK_SIZE=si' is
similar, but uses powers of 1000 and appends `B'; `MB' stands for
1,000,000 bytes.
A block size specification preceded by `'' causes output sizes to be
displayed with thousands separators. The `LC_NUMERIC' locale specifies
the thousands separator and grouping. For example, in an American
English locale, `--block-size="'1kB"' would cause a size of 1234000
bytes to be displayed as `1,234'. In the default C locale, there is no
thousands separator so a leading `'' has no effect.
An integer block size can be followed by a suffix to specify a
multiple of that size. A bare size letter, or one followed by `iB',
specifies a multiple using powers of 1024. A size letter followed by
`B' specifies powers of 1000 instead. For example, `1M' and `1MiB' are
equivalent to `1048576', whereas `1MB' is equivalent to `1000000'.
A plain suffix without a preceding integer acts as if `1' were
prepended, except that it causes a size indication to be appended to
the output. For example, `--block-size="kB"' displays 3000 as `3kB'.
The following suffixes are defined. Large sizes like `1Y' may be
rejected by your computer due to limitations of its arithmetic.
`kB'
kilobyte: 10^3 = 1000.
`k'
`K'
`KiB'
kibibyte: 2^10 = 1024. `K' is special: the SI prefix is `k' and
the IEC 60027-2 prefix is `Ki', but tradition and POSIX use `k' to
mean `KiB'.
`MB'
megabyte: 10^6 = 1,000,000.
`M'
`MiB'
mebibyte: 2^20 = 1,048,576.
`GB'
gigabyte: 10^9 = 1,000,000,000.
`G'
`GiB'
gibibyte: 2^30 = 1,073,741,824.
`TB'
terabyte: 10^12 = 1,000,000,000,000.
`T'
`TiB'
tebibyte: 2^40 = 1,099,511,627,776.
`PB'
petabyte: 10^15 = 1,000,000,000,000,000.
`P'
`PiB'
pebibyte: 2^50 = 1,125,899,906,842,624.
`EB'
exabyte: 10^18 = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000.
`E'
`EiB'
exbibyte: 2^60 = 1,152,921,504,606,846,976.
`ZB'
zettabyte: 10^21 = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
`Z'
`ZiB'
2^70 = 1,180,591,620,717,411,303,424. (`Zi' is a GNU extension to
IEC 60027-2.)
`YB'
yottabyte: 10^24 = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.
`Y'
`YiB'
2^80 = 1,208,925,819,614,629,174,706,176. (`Yi' is a GNU
extension to IEC 60027-2.)
Block size defaults can be overridden by an explicit
`--block-size=SIZE' option. The `-k' option is equivalent to
`--block-size=1K', which is the default unless the `POSIXLY_CORRECT'
environment variable is set. The `-h' or `--human-readable' option is
equivalent to `--block-size=human-readable'. The `--si' option is
equivalent to `--block-size=si'.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Target directory, Next: Trailing slashes, Prev: Block size, Up: Common options
2.4 Target directory
====================
Some GNU programs (at least `cp', `install', `ln', and `mv') allow you
to specify the target directory via this option:
`--target-directory=DIRECTORY'
Specify the destination DIRECTORY.
The interface for most programs is that after processing options
and a finite (possibly zero) number of fixed-position arguments,
the remaining argument list is either expected to be empty, or is
a list of items (usually files) that will all be handled
identically. The `xargs' program is designed to work well with
this convention.
The commands in the `mv'-family are unusual in that they take a
variable number of arguments with a special case at the _end_
(namely, the target directory). This makes it nontrivial to
perform some operations, e.g., "move all files from here to
../d/", because `mv * ../d/' might exhaust the argument space, and
`ls | xargs ...' doesn't have a clean way to specify an extra
final argument for each invocation of the subject command. (It
can be done by going through a shell command, but that requires
more human labor and brain power than it should.)
The `--target-directory' option allows the `cp', `install', `ln',
and `mv' programs to be used conveniently with `xargs'. For
example, you can move the files from the current directory to a
sibling directory, `d' like this: (However, this doesn't move
files whose names begin with `.'.)
ls |xargs mv --target-directory=../d
If you use the GNU `find' program, you can move _all_ files with
this command:
find . -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 \
| xargs mv --target-directory=../d
But that will fail if there are no files in the current directory
or if any file has a name containing a newline character. The
following example removes those limitations and requires both GNU
`find' and GNU `xargs':
find . -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -print0 \
| xargs --null --no-run-if-empty \
mv --target-directory=../d
File: coreutils.info, Node: Trailing slashes, Next: Traversing symlinks, Prev: Target directory, Up: Common options
2.5 Trailing slashes
====================
Some GNU programs (at least `cp' and `mv') allow you to remove any
trailing slashes from each SOURCE argument before operating on it. The
`--strip-trailing-slashes' option enables this behavior.
This is useful when a SOURCE argument may have a trailing slash and
specify a symbolic link to a directory. This scenario is in fact rather
common because some shells can automatically append a trailing slash
when performing file name completion on such symbolic links. Without
this option, `mv', for example, (via the system's rename function) must
interpret a trailing slash as a request to dereference the symbolic link
and so must rename the indirectly referenced _directory_ and not the
symbolic link. Although it may seem surprising that such behavior be
the default, it is required by POSIX and is consistent with other parts
of that standard.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Traversing symlinks, Next: Treating / specially, Prev: Trailing slashes, Up: Common options
2.6 Traversing symlinks
=======================
The following options modify how `chown' and `chgrp' traverse a
hierarchy when the `--recursive' (`-R') option is also specified. If
more than one of the following options is specified, only the final one
takes effect. These options specify whether processing a symbolic link
to a directory entails operating on just the symbolic link or on all
files in the hierarchy rooted at that directory.
These options are independent of `--dereference' and
`--no-dereference' (`-h'), which control whether to modify a symlink or
its referent.
`-H'
If `--recursive' (`-R') is specified and a command line argument
is a symbolic link to a directory, traverse it.
`-L'
In a recursive traversal, traverse every symbolic link to a
directory that is encountered.
`-P'
Do not traverse any symbolic links. This is the default if none
of `-H', `-L', or `-P' is specified.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Treating / specially, Next: Standards conformance, Prev: Traversing symlinks, Up: Common options
2.7 Treating / specially
========================
Certain commands can operate destructively on entire hierarchies. For
example, if a user with appropriate privileges mistakenly runs `rm -rf
/ tmp/junk' or `cd /bin; rm -rf ../', that may remove all files on the
entire system. Since there are so few (1) legitimate uses for such a
command, GNU `rm' provides the `--preserve-root' option to make it so
`rm' declines to operate on any directory that resolves to `/'. The
default is still to allow `rm -rf /' to operate unimpeded. Another new
option, `--no-preserve-root', cancels the effect of any preceding
`--preserve-root' option. Note that the `--preserve-root' behavior may
become the default for `rm'.
The commands `chgrp', `chmod' and `chown' can also operate
destructively on entire hierarchies, so they too support these options.
Although, unlike `rm', they don't actually unlink files, these
commands are arguably more dangerous when operating recursively on `/',
since they often work much more quickly, and hence damage more files
before an alert user can interrupt them.
---------- Footnotes ----------
(1) If you know of one, please write to <>.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Standards conformance, Prev: Treating / specially, Up: Common options
2.8 Standards conformance
=========================
In a few cases, the GNU utilities' default behavior is incompatible
with the POSIX standard. To suppress these incompatibilities, define
the `POSIXLY_CORRECT' environment variable. Unless you are checking
for POSIX conformance, you probably do not need to define
`POSIXLY_CORRECT'.
Newer versions of POSIX are occasionally incompatible with older
versions. For example, older versions of POSIX required the command
`sort +1' to sort based on the second and succeeding fields in each
input line, but starting with POSIX 1003.1-2001 the same command is
required to sort the file named `+1', and you must instead use the
command `sort -k 2' to get the field-based sort.
The GNU utilities normally conform to the version of POSIX that is
standard for your system. To cause them to conform to a different
version of POSIX, define the `_POSIX2_VERSION' environment variable to
a value of the form YYYYMM specifying the year and month the standard
was adopted. Two values are currently supported for `_POSIX2_VERSION':
`199209' stands for POSIX 1003.2-1992, and `200112' stands for POSIX
1003.1-2001. For example, if you are running older software that
assumes an older version of POSIX and uses `sort +1', `head -1', or
`tail +1', you can work around the compatibility problems by setting
`_POSIX2_VERSION=199209' in your environment.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Output of entire files, Next: Formatting file contents, Prev: Common options, Up: Top
3 Output of entire files
************************
These commands read and write entire files, possibly transforming them
in some way.
* Menu:
* cat invocation:: Concatenate and write files.
* tac invocation:: Concatenate and write files in reverse.
* nl invocation:: Number lines and write files.
* od invocation:: Write files in octal or other formats.
File: coreutils.info, Node: cat invocation, Next: tac invocation, Up: Output of entire files
3.1 `cat': Concatenate and write files
======================================
`cat' copies each FILE (`-' means standard input), or standard input if
none are given, to standard output. Synopsis:
cat [OPTION] [FILE]...
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-A'
`--show-all'
Equivalent to `-vET'.
`-B'
`--binary'
On MS-DOS and MS-Windows only, read and write the files in binary
mode. By default, `cat' on MS-DOS/MS-Windows uses binary mode
only when standard output is redirected to a file or a pipe; this
option overrides that. Binary file I/O is used so that the files
retain their format (Unix text as opposed to DOS text and binary),
because `cat' is frequently used as a file-copying program. Some
options (see below) cause `cat' to read and write files in text
mode because in those cases the original file contents aren't
important (e.g., when lines are numbered by `cat', or when line
endings should be marked). This is so these options work as
DOS/Windows users would expect; for example, DOS-style text files
have their lines end with the CR-LF pair of characters, which
won't be processed as an empty line by `-b' unless the file is
read in text mode.
`-b'
`--number-nonblank'
Number all nonblank output lines, starting with 1. On MS-DOS and
MS-Windows, this option causes `cat' to read and write files in
text mode.
`-e'
Equivalent to `-vE'.
`-E'
`--show-ends'
Display a `$' after the end of each line. On MS-DOS and
MS-Windows, this option causes `cat' to read and write files in
text mode.
`-n'
`--number'
Number all output lines, starting with 1. On MS-DOS and
MS-Windows, this option causes `cat' to read and write files in
text mode.
`-s'
`--squeeze-blank'
Replace multiple adjacent blank lines with a single blank line. On
MS-DOS and MS-Windows, this option causes `cat' to read and write
files in text mode.
`-t'
Equivalent to `-vT'.
`-T'
`--show-tabs'
Display TAB characters as `^I'.
`-u'
Ignored; for Unix compatibility.
`-v'
`--show-nonprinting'
Display control characters except for LFD and TAB using `^'
notation and precede characters that have the high bit set with
`M-'. On MS-DOS and MS-Windows, this option causes `cat' to read
files and standard input in DOS binary mode, so the CR characters
at the end of each line are also visible.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: tac invocation, Next: nl invocation, Prev: cat invocation, Up: Output of entire files
3.2 `tac': Concatenate and write files in reverse
=================================================
`tac' copies each FILE (`-' means standard input), or standard input if
none are given, to standard output, reversing the records (lines by
default) in each separately. Synopsis:
tac [OPTION]... [FILE]...
"Records" are separated by instances of a string (newline by
default). By default, this separator string is attached to the end of
the record that it follows in the file.
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-b'
`--before'
The separator is attached to the beginning of the record that it
precedes in the file.
`-r'
`--regex'
Treat the separator string as a regular expression. Users of `tac'
on MS-DOS/MS-Windows should note that, since `tac' reads files in
binary mode, each line of a text file might end with a CR/LF pair
instead of the Unix-style LF.
`-s SEPARATOR'
`--separator=SEPARATOR'
Use SEPARATOR as the record separator, instead of newline.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: nl invocation, Next: od invocation, Prev: tac invocation, Up: Output of entire files
3.3 `nl': Number lines and write files
======================================
`nl' writes each FILE (`-' means standard input), or standard input if
none are given, to standard output, with line numbers added to some or
all of the lines. Synopsis:
nl [OPTION]... [FILE]...
`nl' decomposes its input into (logical) pages; by default, the line
number is reset to 1 at the top of each logical page. `nl' treats all
of the input files as a single document; it does not reset line numbers
or logical pages between files.
A logical page consists of three sections: header, body, and footer.
Any of the sections can be empty. Each can be numbered in a different
style from the others.
The beginnings of the sections of logical pages are indicated in the
input file by a line containing exactly one of these delimiter strings:
`\:\:\:'
start of header;
`\:\:'
start of body;
`\:'
start of footer.
The two characters from which these strings are made can be changed
from `\' and `:' via options (see below), but the pattern and length of
each string cannot be changed.
A section delimiter is replaced by an empty line on output. Any text
that comes before the first section delimiter string in the input file
is considered to be part of a body section, so `nl' treats a file that
contains no section delimiters as a single body section.
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-b STYLE'
`--body-numbering=STYLE'
Select the numbering style for lines in the body section of each
logical page. When a line is not numbered, the current line number
is not incremented, but the line number separator character is
still prepended to the line. The styles are:
`a'
number all lines,
`t'
number only nonempty lines (default for body),
`n'
do not number lines (default for header and footer),
`pBRE'
number only lines that contain a match for the basic regular
expression BRE. *Note Regular Expressions: (grep)Regular
Expressions.
`-d CD'
`--section-delimiter=CD'
Set the section delimiter characters to CD; default is `\:'. If
only C is given, the second remains `:'. (Remember to protect `\'
or other metacharacters from shell expansion with quotes or extra
backslashes.)
`-f STYLE'
`--footer-numbering=STYLE'
Analogous to `--body-numbering'.
`-h STYLE'
`--header-numbering=STYLE'
Analogous to `--body-numbering'.
`-i NUMBER'
`--page-increment=NUMBER'
Increment line numbers by NUMBER (default 1).
`-l NUMBER'
`--join-blank-lines=NUMBER'
Consider NUMBER (default 1) consecutive empty lines to be one
logical line for numbering, and only number the last one. Where
fewer than NUMBER consecutive empty lines occur, do not number
them. An empty line is one that contains no characters, not even
spaces or tabs.
`-n FORMAT'
`--number-format=FORMAT'
Select the line numbering format (default is `rn'):
`ln'
left justified, no leading zeros;
`rn'
right justified, no leading zeros;
`rz'
right justified, leading zeros.
`-p'
`--no-renumber'
Do not reset the line number at the start of a logical page.
`-s STRING'
`--number-separator=STRING'
Separate the line number from the text line in the output with
STRING (default is the TAB character).
`-v NUMBER'
`--starting-line-number=NUMBER'
Set the initial line number on each logical page to NUMBER
(default 1).
`-w NUMBER'
`--number-width=NUMBER'
Use NUMBER characters for line numbers (default 6).
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: od invocation, Prev: nl invocation, Up: Output of entire files
3.4 `od': Write files in octal or other formats
===============================================
`od' writes an unambiguous representation of each FILE (`-' means
standard input), or standard input if none are given. Synopses:
od [OPTION]... [FILE]...
od --traditional [FILE] [[+]OFFSET [[+]LABEL]]
Each line of output consists of the offset in the input, followed by
groups of data from the file. By default, `od' prints the offset in
octal, and each group of file data is two bytes of input printed as a
single octal number.
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-A RADIX'
`--address-radix=RADIX'
Select the base in which file offsets are printed. RADIX can be
one of the following:
`d'
decimal;
`o'
octal;
`x'
hexadecimal;
`n'
none (do not print offsets).
The default is octal.
`-j BYTES'
`--skip-bytes=BYTES'
Skip BYTES input bytes before formatting and writing. If BYTES
begins with `0x' or `0X', it is interpreted in hexadecimal;
otherwise, if it begins with `0', in octal; otherwise, in decimal.
Appending `b' multiplies BYTES by 512, `k' by 1024, and `m' by
1048576.
`-N BYTES'
`--read-bytes=BYTES'
Output at most BYTES bytes of the input. Prefixes and suffixes on
`bytes' are interpreted as for the `-j' option.
`-s N'
`--strings[=N]'
Instead of the normal output, output only "string constants": at
least N consecutive ASCII graphic characters, followed by a null
(zero) byte.
If N is omitted with `--strings', the default is 3. On older
systems, GNU `od' instead supports an obsolete option `-s[N]',
where N also defaults to 3. POSIX 1003.1-2001 (*note Standards
conformance::) does not allow `-s' without an argument; use
`--strings' instead.
`-t TYPE'
`--format=TYPE'
Select the format in which to output the file data. TYPE is a
string of one or more of the below type indicator characters. If
you include more than one type indicator character in a single TYPE
string, or use this option more than once, `od' writes one copy of
each output line using each of the data types that you specified,
in the order that you specified.
Adding a trailing "z" to any type specification appends a display
of the ASCII character representation of the printable characters
to the output line generated by the type specification.
`a'
named character
`c'
ASCII character or backslash escape,
`d'
signed decimal
`f'
floating point
`o'
octal
`u'
unsigned decimal
`x'
hexadecimal
The type `a' outputs things like `sp' for space, `nl' for newline,
and `nul' for a null (zero) byte. Type `c' outputs ` ', `\n', and
`\0', respectively.
Except for types `a' and `c', you can specify the number of bytes
to use in interpreting each number in the given data type by
following the type indicator character with a decimal integer.
Alternately, you can specify the size of one of the C compiler's
built-in data types by following the type indicator character with
one of the following characters. For integers (`d', `o', `u',
`x'):
`C'
char
`S'
short
`I'
int
`L'
long
For floating point (`f'):
F
float
D
double
L
long double
`-v'
`--output-duplicates'
Output consecutive lines that are identical. By default, when two
or more consecutive output lines would be identical, `od' outputs
only the first line, and puts just an asterisk on the following
line to indicate the elision.
`-w N'
`--width[=N]'
Dump `n' input bytes per output line. This must be a multiple of
the least common multiple of the sizes associated with the
specified output types.
If this option is not given at all, the default is 16. If N is
omitted with `--width', the default is 32. On older systems, GNU
`od' instead supports an obsolete option `-w[N]', where N also
defaults to 32. POSIX 1003.1-2001 (*note Standards conformance::)
does not allow `-w' without an argument; use `--width' instead.
The next several options are shorthands for format specifications.
GNU `od' accepts any combination of shorthands and format specification
options. These options accumulate.
`-a'
Output as named characters. Equivalent to `-ta'.
`-b'
Output as octal bytes. Equivalent to `-toC'.
`-c'
Output as ASCII characters or backslash escapes. Equivalent to
`-tc'.
`-d'
Output as unsigned decimal shorts. Equivalent to `-tu2'.
`-f'
Output as floats. Equivalent to `-tfF'.
`-h'
Output as hexadecimal shorts. Equivalent to `-tx2'.
`-i'
Output as decimal shorts. Equivalent to `-td2'.
`-l'
Output as decimal longs. Equivalent to `-td4'.
`-o'
Output as octal shorts. Equivalent to `-to2'.
`-x'
Output as hexadecimal shorts. Equivalent to `-tx2'.
`--traditional'
Recognize the non-option arguments that traditional `od' accepted.
The following syntax:
od --traditional [FILE] [[+]OFFSET[.][b] [[+]LABEL[.][b]]]
can be used to specify at most one file and optional arguments
specifying an offset and a pseudo-start address, LABEL. By
default, OFFSET is interpreted as an octal number specifying how
many input bytes to skip before formatting and writing. The
optional trailing decimal point forces the interpretation of
OFFSET as a decimal number. If no decimal is specified and the
offset begins with `0x' or `0X' it is interpreted as a hexadecimal
number. If there is a trailing `b', the number of bytes skipped
will be OFFSET multiplied by 512. The LABEL argument is
interpreted just like OFFSET, but it specifies an initial
pseudo-address. The pseudo-addresses are displayed in parentheses
following any normal address.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Formatting file contents, Next: Output of parts of files, Prev: Output of entire files, Up: Top
4 Formatting file contents
**************************
These commands reformat the contents of files.
* Menu:
* fmt invocation:: Reformat paragraph text.
* pr invocation:: Paginate or columnate files for printing.
* fold invocation:: Wrap input lines to fit in specified width.
File: coreutils.info, Node: fmt invocation, Next: pr invocation, Up: Formatting file contents
4.1 `fmt': Reformat paragraph text
==================================
`fmt' fills and joins lines to produce output lines of (at most) a
given number of characters (75 by default). Synopsis:
fmt [OPTION]... [FILE]...
`fmt' reads from the specified FILE arguments (or standard input if
none are given), and writes to standard output.
By default, blank lines, spaces between words, and indentation are
preserved in the output; successive input lines with different
indentation are not joined; tabs are expanded on input and introduced on
output.
`fmt' prefers breaking lines at the end of a sentence, and tries to
avoid line breaks after the first word of a sentence or before the last
word of a sentence. A "sentence break" is defined as either the end of
a paragraph or a word ending in any of `.?!', followed by two spaces or
end of line, ignoring any intervening parentheses or quotes. Like TeX,
`fmt' reads entire "paragraphs" before choosing line breaks; the
algorithm is a variant of that in "Breaking Paragraphs Into Lines"
(Donald E. Knuth and Michael F. Plass, `Software--Practice and
Experience', 11 (1981), 1119-1184).
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-C'
Install file, unless target already exists and is the same file,
in which case the modification time is not changed.
`-c'
`--crown-margin'
"Crown margin" mode: preserve the indentation of the first two
lines within a paragraph, and align the left margin of each
subsequent line with that of the second line.
`-t'
`--tagged-paragraph'
"Tagged paragraph" mode: like crown margin mode, except that if
indentation of the first line of a paragraph is the same as the
indentation of the second, the first line is treated as a one-line
paragraph.
`-s'
`--split-only'
Split lines only. Do not join short lines to form longer ones.
This prevents sample lines of code, and other such "formatted"
text from being unduly combined.
`-u'
`--uniform-spacing'
Uniform spacing. Reduce spacing between words to one space, and
spacing between sentences to two spaces.
`-WIDTH'
`-w WIDTH'
`--width=WIDTH'
Fill output lines up to WIDTH characters (default 75). `fmt'
initially tries to make lines about 7% shorter than this, to give
it room to balance line lengths.
`-p PREFIX'
`--prefix=PREFIX'
Only lines beginning with PREFIX (possibly preceded by whitespace)
are subject to formatting. The prefix and any preceding whitespace
are stripped for the formatting and then re-attached to each
formatted output line. One use is to format certain kinds of
program comments, while leaving the code unchanged.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: pr invocation, Next: fold invocation, Prev: fmt invocation, Up: Formatting file contents
4.2 `pr': Paginate or columnate files for printing
==================================================
`pr' writes each FILE (`-' means standard input), or standard input if
none are given, to standard output, paginating and optionally
outputting in multicolumn format; optionally merges all FILEs, printing
all in parallel, one per column. Synopsis:
pr [OPTION]... [FILE]...
By default, a 5-line header is printed at each page: two blank lines;
a line with the date, the filename, and the page count; and two more
blank lines. A footer of five blank lines is also printed. With the
`-F' option, a 3-line header is printed: the leading two blank lines are
omitted; no footer is used. The default PAGE_LENGTH in both cases is 66
lines. The default number of text lines changes from 56 (without `-F')
to 63 (with `-F'). The text line of the header takes the form `DATE
STRING PAGE', with spaces inserted around STRING so that the line takes
up the full PAGE_WIDTH. Here, DATE is the date (see the `-D' or
`--date-format' option for details), STRING is the centered header
string, and PAGE identifies the page number. The `LC_MESSAGES' locale
category affects the spelling of PAGE; in the default C locale, it is
`Page NUMBER' where NUMBER is the decimal page number.
Form feeds in the input cause page breaks in the output. Multiple
form feeds produce empty pages.
Columns are of equal width, separated by an optional string (default
is `space'). For multicolumn output, lines will always be truncated to
PAGE_WIDTH (default 72), unless you use the `-J' option. For single
column output no line truncation occurs by default. Use `-W' option to
truncate lines in that case.
The following changes were made in version 1.22i and apply to later
versions of `pr': - Brian
* Some small LETTER OPTIONS (`-s', `-w') have been redefined for
better POSIX compliance. The output of some further cases has
been adapted to other Unix systems. These changes are not
compatible with earlier versions of the program.
* Some NEW CAPITAL LETTER options (`-J', `-S', `-W') have been
introduced to turn off unexpected interferences of small letter
options. The `-N' option and the second argument LAST_PAGE of
`+FIRST_PAGE' offer more flexibility. The detailed handling of
form feeds set in the input files requires the `-T' option.
* Capital letter options override small letter ones.
* Some of the option-arguments (compare `-s', `-e', `-i', `-n')
cannot be specified as separate arguments from the preceding
option letter (already stated in the POSIX specification).
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`+FIRST_PAGE[:LAST_PAGE]'
`--pages=FIRST_PAGE[:LAST_PAGE]'
Begin printing with page FIRST_PAGE and stop with LAST_PAGE.
Missing `:LAST_PAGE' implies end of file. While estimating the
number of skipped pages each form feed in the input file results
in a new page. Page counting with and without `+FIRST_PAGE' is
identical. By default, counting starts with the first page of
input file (not first page printed). Line numbering may be
altered by `-N' option.
`-COLUMN'
`--columns=COLUMN'
With each single FILE, produce COLUMN columns of output (default
is 1) and print columns down, unless `-a' is used. The column
width is automatically decreased as COLUMN increases; unless you
use the `-W/-w' option to increase PAGE_WIDTH as well. This
option might well cause some lines to be truncated. The number of
lines in the columns on each page are balanced. The options `-e'
and `-i' are on for multiple text-column output. Together with
`-J' option column alignment and line truncation is turned off.
Lines of full length are joined in a free field format and `-S'
option may set field separators. `-COLUMN' may not be used with
`-m' option.
`-a'
`--across'
With each single FILE, print columns across rather than down. The
`-COLUMN' option must be given with COLUMN greater than one. If a
line is too long to fit in a column, it is truncated.
`-c'
`--show-control-chars'
Print control characters using hat notation (e.g., `^G'); print
other nonprinting characters in octal backslash notation. By
default, nonprinting characters are not changed.
`-d'
`--double-space'
Double space the output.
`-D FORMAT'
`--date-format=FORMAT'
Format header dates using FORMAT, using the same conventions as
for the the command `date +FORMAT'; *Note date invocation::.
Except for directives, which start with `%', characters in FORMAT
are printed unchanged. You can use this option to specify an
arbitrary string in place of the header date, e.g.,
`--date-format="Monday morning"'.
If the `POSIXLY_CORRECT' environment variable is not set, the date
format defaults to `%Y-%m-%d %H:%M' (for example, `2001-12-04
23:59'); otherwise, the format depends on the `LC_TIME' locale
category, with the default being `%b %e %H:%M %Y' (for example,
`Dec 4 23:59 2001'.
`-e[IN-TABCHAR[IN-TABWIDTH]]'
`--expand-tabs[=IN-TABCHAR[IN-TABWIDTH]]'
Expand TABs to spaces on input. Optional argument IN-TABCHAR is
the input tab character (default is the TAB character). Second
optional argument IN-TABWIDTH is the input tab character's width
(default is 8).
`-f'
`-F'
`--form-feed'
Use a form feed instead of newlines to separate output pages. The
default page length of 66 lines is not altered. But the number of
lines of text per page changes from default 56 to 63 lines.
`-h HEADER'
`--header=HEADER'
Replace the filename in the header with the centered string HEADER.
When using the shell, HEADER should be quoted and should be
separated from `-h' by a space.
`-i[OUT-TABCHAR[OUT-TABWIDTH]]'
`--output-tabs[=OUT-TABCHAR[OUT-TABWIDTH]]'
Replace spaces with TABs on output. Optional argument OUT-TABCHAR
is the output tab character (default is the TAB character).
Second optional argument OUT-TABWIDTH is the output tab
character's width (default is 8).
`-J'
`--join-lines'
Merge lines of full length. Used together with the column options
`-COLUMN', `-a -COLUMN' or `-m'. Turns off `-W/-w' line
truncation; no column alignment used; may be used with
`--sep-string[=STRING]'. `-J' has been introduced (together with
`-W' and `--sep-string') to disentangle the old (POSIX-compliant)
options `-w' and `-s' along with the three column options.
`-l PAGE_LENGTH'
`--length=PAGE_LENGTH'
Set the page length to PAGE_LENGTH (default 66) lines, including
the lines of the header [and the footer]. If PAGE_LENGTH is less
than or equal to 10 (or <= 3 with `-F'), the header and footer are
omitted, and all form feeds set in input files are eliminated, as
if the `-T' option had been given.
`-m'
`--merge'
Merge and print all FILEs in parallel, one in each column. If a
line is too long to fit in a column, it is truncated, unless the
`-J' option is used. `--sep-string[=STRING]' may be used. Empty
pages in some FILEs (form feeds set) produce empty columns, still
marked by STRING. The result is a continuous line numbering and
column marking throughout the whole merged file. Completely empty
merged pages show no separators or line numbers. The default
header becomes `DATE PAGE' with spaces inserted in the middle; this
may be used with the `-h' or `--header' option to fill up the
middle blank part.
`-n[NUMBER-SEPARATOR[DIGITS]]'
`--number-lines[=NUMBER-SEPARATOR[DIGITS]]'
Provide DIGITS digit line numbering (default for DIGITS is 5).
With multicolumn output the number occupies the first DIGITS
column positions of each text column or only each line of `-m'
output. With single column output the number precedes each line
just as `-m' does. Default counting of the line numbers starts
with the first line of the input file (not the first line printed,
compare the `--page' option and `-N' option). Optional argument
NUMBER-SEPARATOR is the character appended to the line number to
separate it from the text followed. The default separator is the
TAB character. In a strict sense a TAB is always printed with
single column output only. The TAB-width varies with the
TAB-position, e.g. with the left MARGIN specified by `-o' option.
With multicolumn output priority is given to `equal width of
output columns' (a POSIX specification). The TAB-width is fixed
to the value of the first column and does not change with
different values of left MARGIN. That means a fixed number of
spaces is always printed in the place of the NUMBER-SEPARATOR TAB.
The tabification depends upon the output position.
`-N LINE_NUMBER'
`--first-line-number=LINE_NUMBER'
Start line counting with the number LINE_NUMBER at first line of
first page printed (in most cases not the first line of the input
file).
`-o MARGIN'
`--indent=MARGIN'
Indent each line with a margin MARGIN spaces wide (default is
zero). The total page width is the size of the margin plus the
PAGE_WIDTH set with the `-W/-w' option. A limited overflow may
occur with numbered single column output (compare `-n' option).
`-r'
`--no-file-warnings'
Do not print a warning message when an argument FILE cannot be
opened. (The exit status will still be nonzero, however.)
`-s[CHAR]'
`--separator[=CHAR]'
Separate columns by a single character CHAR. The default for CHAR
is the TAB character without `-w' and `no character' with `-w'.
Without `-s' the default separator `space' is set. `-s[char]'
turns off line truncation of all three column options
(`-COLUMN'|`-a -COLUMN'|`-m') unless `-w' is set. This is a
POSIX-compliant formulation.
`-S STRING'
`--sep-string[=STRING]'
Use STRING to separate output columns. The `-S' option doesn't
affect the `-W/-w' option, unlike the `-s' option which does. It
does not affect line truncation or column alignment. Without
`-S', and with `-J', `pr' uses the default output separator, TAB.
Without `-S' or `-J', `pr' uses a `space' (same as `-S" "'). With
`-SSTRING', STRING must be nonempty; `--sep-string' with no STRING
is equivalent to `--sep-string=""'.
On older systems, `pr' instead supports an obsolete option
`-S[STRING]', where STRING is optional. POSIX 1003.1-2001 (*note
Standards conformance::) does not allow this older usage. To
specify an empty STRING portably, use `--sep-string'.
`-t'
`--omit-header'
Do not print the usual header [and footer] on each page, and do
not fill out the bottom of pages (with blank lines or a form
feed). No page structure is produced, but form feeds set in the
input files are retained. The predefined pagination is not
changed. `-t' or `-T' may be useful together with other options;
e.g.: `-t -e4', expand TAB characters in the input file to 4
spaces but don't make any other changes. Use of `-t' overrides
`-h'.
`-T'
`--omit-pagination'
Do not print header [and footer]. In addition eliminate all form
feeds set in the input files.
`-v'
`--show-nonprinting'
Print nonprinting characters in octal backslash notation.
`-w PAGE_WIDTH'
`--width=PAGE_WIDTH'
Set page width to PAGE_WIDTH characters for multiple text-column
output only (default for PAGE_WIDTH is 72). `-s[CHAR]' turns off
the default page width and any line truncation and column
alignment. Lines of full length are merged, regardless of the
column options set. No PAGE_WIDTH setting is possible with single
column output. A POSIX-compliant formulation.
`-W PAGE_WIDTH'
`--page_width=PAGE_WIDTH'
Set the page width to PAGE_WIDTH characters. That's valid with and
without a column option. Text lines are truncated, unless `-J' is
used. Together with one of the three column options (`-COLUMN',
`-a -COLUMN' or `-m') column alignment is always used. The
separator options `-S' or `-s' don't affect the `-W' option.
Default is 72 characters. Without `-W PAGE_WIDTH' and without any
of the column options NO line truncation is used (defined to keep
downward compatibility and to meet most frequent tasks). That's
equivalent to `-W 72 -J'. The header line is never truncated.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: fold invocation, Prev: pr invocation, Up: Formatting file contents
4.3 `fold': Wrap input lines to fit in specified width
======================================================
`fold' writes each FILE (`-' means standard input), or standard input
if none are given, to standard output, breaking long lines. Synopsis:
fold [OPTION]... [FILE]...
By default, `fold' breaks lines wider than 80 columns. The output
is split into as many lines as necessary.
`fold' counts screen columns by default; thus, a tab may count more
than one column, backspace decreases the column count, and carriage
return sets the column to zero.
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-b'
`--bytes'
Count bytes rather than columns, so that tabs, backspaces, and
carriage returns are each counted as taking up one column, just
like other characters.
`-s'
`--spaces'
Break at word boundaries: the line is broken after the last blank
before the maximum line length. If the line contains no such
blanks, the line is broken at the maximum line length as usual.
`-w WIDTH'
`--width=WIDTH'
Use a maximum line length of WIDTH columns instead of 80.
On older systems, `fold' supports an obsolete option `-WIDTH'.
POSIX 1003.1-2001 (*note Standards conformance::) does not allow
this; use `-w WIDTH' instead.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Output of parts of files, Next: Summarizing files, Prev: Formatting file contents, Up: Top
5 Output of parts of files
**************************
These commands output pieces of the input.
* Menu:
* head invocation:: Output the first part of files.
* tail invocation:: Output the last part of files.
* split invocation:: Split a file into fixed-size pieces.
* csplit invocation:: Split a file into context-determined pieces.
File: coreutils.info, Node: head invocation, Next: tail invocation, Up: Output of parts of files
5.1 `head': Output the first part of files
==========================================
`head' prints the first part (10 lines by default) of each FILE; it
reads from standard input if no files are given or when given a FILE of
`-'. Synopsis:
head [OPTION]... [FILE]...
If more than one FILE is specified, `head' prints a one-line header
consisting of
==> FILE NAME <==
before the output for each FILE.
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-c N'
`--bytes=N'
Print the first N bytes, instead of initial lines. Appending `b'
multiplies N by 512, `k' by 1024, and `m' by 1048576. However, if
N starts with a `-', print all but the last N bytes of each file.
`-n N'
`--lines=N'
Output the first N lines. However, if N starts with a `-', print
all but the last N lines of each file.
`-q'
`--quiet'
`--silent'
Never print file name headers.
`-v'
`--verbose'
Always print file name headers.
On older systems, `head' supports an obsolete option
`-COUNTOPTIONS', which is recognized only if it is specified first.
COUNT is a decimal number optionally followed by a size letter (`b',
`k', `m') as in `-c', or `l' to mean count by lines, or other option
letters (`cqv'). POSIX 1003.1-2001 (*note Standards conformance::)
does not allow this; use `-c COUNT' or `-n COUNT' instead.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: tail invocation, Next: split invocation, Prev: head invocation, Up: Output of parts of files
5.2 `tail': Output the last part of files
=========================================
`tail' prints the last part (10 lines by default) of each FILE; it
reads from standard input if no files are given or when given a FILE of
`-'. Synopsis:
tail [OPTION]... [FILE]...
If more than one FILE is specified, `tail' prints a one-line header
consisting of
==> FILE NAME <==
before the output for each FILE.
GNU `tail' can output any amount of data (some other versions of
`tail' cannot). It also has no `-r' option (print in reverse), since
reversing a file is really a different job from printing the end of a
file; BSD `tail' (which is the one with `-r') can only reverse files
that are at most as large as its buffer, which is typically 32 KiB. A
more reliable and versatile way to reverse files is the GNU `tac'
command.
If any option-argument is a number N starting with a `+', `tail'
begins printing with the Nth item from the start of each file, instead
of from the end.
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-c BYTES'
`--bytes=BYTES'
Output the last BYTES bytes, instead of final lines. Appending
`b' multiplies BYTES by 512, `k' by 1024, and `m' by 1048576.
`-f'
`--follow[=HOW]'
Loop forever trying to read more characters at the end of the file,
presumably because the file is growing. This option is ignored
when reading from a pipe. If more than one file is given, `tail'
prints a header whenever it gets output from a different file, to
indicate which file that output is from.
There are two ways to specify how you'd like to track files with
this option, but that difference is noticeable only when a
followed file is removed or renamed. If you'd like to continue to
track the end of a growing file even after it has been unlinked,
use `--follow=descriptor'. This is the default behavior, but it
is not useful if you're tracking a log file that may be rotated
(removed or renamed, then reopened). In that case, use
`--follow=name' to track the named file by reopening it
periodically to see if it has been removed and recreated by some
other program.
No matter which method you use, if the tracked file is determined
to have shrunk, `tail' prints a message saying the file has been
truncated and resumes tracking the end of the file from the
newly-determined endpoint.
When a file is removed, `tail''s behavior depends on whether it is
following the name or the descriptor. When following by name,
tail can detect that a file has been removed and gives a message
to that effect, and if `--retry' has been specified it will
continue checking periodically to see if the file reappears. When
following a descriptor, tail does not detect that the file has
been unlinked or renamed and issues no message; even though the
file may no longer be accessible via its original name, it may
still be growing.
The option values `descriptor' and `name' may be specified only
with the long form of the option, not with `-f'.
`-F'
This option is the same as `--follow=name --retry'. That is, tail
will attempt to reopen a file when it is removed. Should this
fail, tail will keep trying until it becomes accessible again.
`--retry'
This option is meaningful only when following by name. Without
this option, when tail encounters a file that doesn't exist or is
otherwise inaccessible, it reports that fact and never checks it
again.
`--sleep-interval=NUMBER'
Change the number of seconds to wait between iterations (the
default is 1.0). During one iteration, every specified file is
checked to see if it has changed size. Historical implementations
of `tail' have required that NUMBER be an integer. However, GNU
`tail' accepts an arbitrary floating point number (using a period
before any fractional digits).
`--pid=PID'
When following by name or by descriptor, you may specify the
process ID, PID, of the sole writer of all FILE arguments. Then,
shortly after that process terminates, tail will also terminate.
This will work properly only if the writer and the tailing process
are running on the same machine. For example, to save the output
of a build in a file and to watch the file grow, if you invoke
`make' and `tail' like this then the tail process will stop when
your build completes. Without this option, you would have had to
kill the `tail -f' process yourself.
$ make >& makerr & tail --pid=$! -f makerr
If you specify a PID that is not in use or that does not correspond
to the process that is writing to the tailed files, then `tail'
may terminate long before any FILEs stop growing or it may not
terminate until long after the real writer has terminated. Note
that `--pid' cannot be supported on some systems; `tail' will
print a warning if this is the case.
`--max-unchanged-stats=N'
When tailing a file by name, if there have been N (default
n=5) consecutive iterations for which the size has remained the
same, then `open'/`fstat' the file to determine if that file name
is still associated with the same device/inode-number pair as
before. When following a log file that is rotated, this is
approximately the number of seconds between when tail prints the
last pre-rotation lines and when it prints the lines that have
accumulated in the new log file. This option is meaningful only
when following by name.
`-n N'
`--lines=N'
Output the last N lines.
`-q'
`--quiet'
`--silent'
Never print file name headers.
`-v'
`--verbose'
Always print file name headers.
On older systems, `tail' supports an obsolete option
`-COUNTOPTIONS', which is recognized only if it is specified first.
COUNT is a decimal number optionally followed by a size letter (`b',
`k', `m') as in `-c', or `l' to mean count by lines, or other option
letters (`cfqv'). Some older `tail' implementations also support an
obsolete option `+COUNT' with the same meaning as `-+COUNT'. POSIX
1003.1-2001 (*note Standards conformance::) does not allow these
options; use `-c COUNT' or `-n COUNT' instead.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: split invocation, Next: csplit invocation, Prev: tail invocation, Up: Output of parts of files
5.3 `split': Split a file into fixed-size pieces
================================================
`split' creates output files containing consecutive sections of INPUT
(standard input if none is given or INPUT is `-'). Synopsis:
split [OPTION] [INPUT [PREFIX]]
By default, `split' puts 1000 lines of INPUT (or whatever is left
over for the last section), into each output file.
The output files' names consist of PREFIX (`x' by default) followed
by a group of characters (`aa', `ab', ... by default), such that
concatenating the output files in traditional sorted order by file name
produces the original input file. If the output file names are
exhausted, `split' reports an error without deleting the output files
that it did create.
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-a LENGTH'
`--suffix-length=LENGTH'
Use suffixes of length LENGTH. The default LENGTH is 2.
`-l LINES'
`--lines=LINES'
Put LINES lines of INPUT into each output file.
On older systems, `split' supports an obsolete option `-LINES'.
POSIX 1003.1-2001 (*note Standards conformance::) does not allow
this; use `-l LINES' instead.
`-b BYTES'
`--bytes=BYTES'
Put the first BYTES bytes of INPUT into each output file.
Appending `b' multiplies BYTES by 512, `k' by 1024, and `m' by
1048576.
`-C BYTES'
`--line-bytes=BYTES'
Put into each output file as many complete lines of INPUT as
possible without exceeding BYTES bytes. For lines longer than
BYTES bytes, put BYTES bytes into each output file until less than
BYTES bytes of the line are left, then continue normally. BYTES
has the same format as for the `--bytes' option.
`-d'
`--numeric-suffixes'
Use digits in suffixes rather than lower-case letters.
`--verbose'
Write a diagnostic to standard error just before each output file
is opened.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: csplit invocation, Prev: split invocation, Up: Output of parts of files
5.4 `csplit': Split a file into context-determined pieces
=========================================================
`csplit' creates zero or more output files containing sections of INPUT
(standard input if INPUT is `-'). Synopsis:
csplit [OPTION]... INPUT PATTERN...
The contents of the output files are determined by the PATTERN
arguments, as detailed below. An error occurs if a PATTERN argument
refers to a nonexistent line of the input file (e.g., if no remaining
line matches a given regular expression). After every PATTERN has been
matched, any remaining input is copied into one last output file.
By default, `csplit' prints the number of bytes written to each
output file after it has been created.
The types of pattern arguments are:
`N'
Create an output file containing the input up to but not including
line N (a positive integer). If followed by a repeat count, also
create an output file containing the next N lines of the input
file once for each repeat.
`/REGEXP/[OFFSET]'
Create an output file containing the current line up to (but not
including) the next line of the input file that contains a match
for REGEXP. The optional OFFSET is an integer. If it is given,
the input up to (but not including) the matching line plus or
minus OFFSET is put into the output file, and the line after that
begins the next section of input.
`%REGEXP%[OFFSET]'
Like the previous type, except that it does not create an output
file, so that section of the input file is effectively ignored.
`{REPEAT-COUNT}'
Repeat the previous pattern REPEAT-COUNT additional times.
REPEAT-COUNT can either be a positive integer or an asterisk,
meaning repeat as many times as necessary until the input is
exhausted.
The output files' names consist of a prefix (`xx' by default)
followed by a suffix. By default, the suffix is an ascending sequence
of two-digit decimal numbers from `00' to `99'. In any case,
concatenating the output files in sorted order by filename produces the
original input file.
By default, if `csplit' encounters an error or receives a hangup,
interrupt, quit, or terminate signal, it removes any output files that
it has created so far before it exits.
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-f PREFIX'
`--prefix=PREFIX'
Use PREFIX as the output file name prefix.
`-b SUFFIX'
`--suffix=SUFFIX'
Use SUFFIX as the output file name suffix. When this option is
specified, the suffix string must include exactly one
`printf(3)'-style conversion specification, possibly including
format specification flags, a field width, a precision
specifications, or all of these kinds of modifiers. The format
letter must convert a binary integer argument to readable form;
thus, only `d', `i', `u', `o', `x', and `X' conversions are
allowed. The entire SUFFIX is given (with the current output file
number) to `sprintf(3)' to form the file name suffixes for each of
the individual output files in turn. If this option is used, the
`--digits' option is ignored.
`-n DIGITS'
`--digits=DIGITS'
Use output file names containing numbers that are DIGITS digits
long instead of the default 2.
`-k'
`--keep-files'
Do not remove output files when errors are encountered.
`-z'
`--elide-empty-files'
Suppress the generation of zero-length output files. (In cases
where the section delimiters of the input file are supposed to
mark the first lines of each of the sections, the first output
file will generally be a zero-length file unless you use this
option.) The output file sequence numbers always run
consecutively starting from 0, even when this option is specified.
`-s'
`-q'
`--silent'
`--quiet'
Do not print counts of output file sizes.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Summarizing files, Next: Operating on sorted files, Prev: Output of parts of files, Up: Top
6 Summarizing files
*******************
These commands generate just a few numbers representing entire contents
of files.
* Menu:
* wc invocation:: Print newline, word, and byte counts.
* sum invocation:: Print checksum and block counts.
* cksum invocation:: Print CRC checksum and byte counts.
* md5sum invocation:: Print or check message-digests.
File: coreutils.info, Node: wc invocation, Next: sum invocation, Up: Summarizing files
6.1 `wc': Print newline, word, and byte counts
==============================================
`wc' counts the number of bytes, characters, whitespace-separated
words, and newlines in each given FILE, or standard input if none are
given or for a FILE of `-'. Synopsis:
wc [OPTION]... [FILE]...
`wc' prints one line of counts for each file, and if the file was
given as an argument, it prints the file name following the counts. If
more than one FILE is given, `wc' prints a final line containing the
cumulative counts, with the file name `total'. The counts are printed
in this order: newlines, words, characters, bytes. Each count is
printed right-justified in a field with at least one space between
fields so that the numbers and file names normally line up nicely in
columns. The width of the count fields varies depending on the inputs,
so you should not depend on a particular field width. However, as a
GNU extension, if only one count is printed, it is guaranteed to be
printed without leading spaces.
By default, `wc' prints three counts: the newline, words, and byte
counts. Options can specify that only certain counts be printed.
Options do not undo others previously given, so
wc --bytes --words
prints both the byte counts and the word counts.
With the `--max-line-length' option, `wc' prints the length of the
longest line per file, and if there is more than one file it prints the
maximum (not the sum) of those lengths.
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-c'
`--bytes'
Print only the byte counts.
`-m'
`--chars'
Print only the character counts.
`-w'
`--words'
Print only the word counts.
`-l'
`--lines'
Print only the newline counts.
`-L'
`--max-line-length'
Print only the maximum line lengths.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: sum invocation, Next: cksum invocation, Prev: wc invocation, Up: Summarizing files
6.2 `sum': Print checksum and block counts
==========================================
`sum' computes a 16-bit checksum for each given FILE, or standard input
if none are given or for a FILE of `-'. Synopsis:
sum [OPTION]... [FILE]...
`sum' prints the checksum for each FILE followed by the number of
blocks in the file (rounded up). If more than one FILE is given, file
names are also printed (by default). (With the `--sysv' option,
corresponding file names are printed when there is at least one file
argument.)
By default, GNU `sum' computes checksums using an algorithm
compatible with BSD `sum' and prints file sizes in units of 1024-byte
blocks.
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-r'
Use the default (BSD compatible) algorithm. This option is
included for compatibility with the System V `sum'. Unless `-s'
was also given, it has no effect.
`-s'
`--sysv'
Compute checksums using an algorithm compatible with System V
`sum''s default, and print file sizes in units of 512-byte blocks.
`sum' is provided for compatibility; the `cksum' program (see next
section) is preferable in new applications.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: cksum invocation, Next: md5sum invocation, Prev: sum invocation, Up: Summarizing files
6.3 `cksum': Print CRC checksum and byte counts
===============================================
`cksum' computes a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) checksum for each
given FILE, or standard input if none are given or for a FILE of `-'.
Synopsis:
cksum [OPTION]... [FILE]...
`cksum' prints the CRC checksum for each file along with the number
of bytes in the file, and the filename unless no arguments were given.
`cksum' is typically used to ensure that files transferred by
unreliable means (e.g., netnews) have not been corrupted, by comparing
the `cksum' output for the received files with the `cksum' output for
the original files (typically given in the distribution).
The CRC algorithm is specified by the POSIX standard. It is not
compatible with the BSD or System V `sum' algorithms (see the previous
section); it is more robust.
The only options are `--help' and `--version'. *Note Common
options::.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: md5sum invocation, Prev: cksum invocation, Up: Summarizing files
6.4 `md5sum': Print or check message-digests
============================================
`md5sum' computes a 128-bit checksum (or "fingerprint" or
"message-digest") for each specified FILE. If a FILE is specified as
`-' or if no files are given `md5sum' computes the checksum for the
standard input. `md5sum' can also determine whether a file and
checksum are consistent. Synopses:
md5sum [OPTION]... [FILE]...
md5sum [OPTION]... --check [FILE]
For each FILE, `md5sum' outputs the MD5 checksum, a flag indicating
a binary or text input file, and the filename. If FILE is omitted or
specified as `-', standard input is read.
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-b'
`--binary'
Treat all input files as binary. This option has no effect on Unix
systems, since they don't distinguish between binary and text
files. This option is useful on systems that have different
internal and external character representations. On MS-DOS and
MS-Windows, this is the default.
`-c'
`--check'
Read filenames and checksum information from the single FILE (or
from stdin if no FILE was specified) and report whether each named
file and the corresponding checksum data are consistent. The
input to this mode of `md5sum' is usually the output of a prior,
checksum-generating run of `md5sum'. Each valid line of input
consists of an MD5 checksum, a binary/text flag, and then a
filename. Binary files are marked with `*', text with ` '. For
each such line, `md5sum' reads the named file and computes its MD5
checksum. Then, if the computed message digest does not match the
one on the line with the filename, the file is noted as having
failed the test. Otherwise, the file passes the test. By
default, for each valid line, one line is written to standard
output indicating whether the named file passed the test. After
all checks have been performed, if there were any failures, a
warning is issued to standard error. Use the `--status' option to
inhibit that output. If any listed file cannot be opened or read,
if any valid line has an MD5 checksum inconsistent with the
associated file, or if no valid line is found, `md5sum' exits with
nonzero status. Otherwise, it exits successfully.
`--status'
This option is useful only when verifying checksums. When
verifying checksums, don't generate the default one-line-per-file
diagnostic and don't output the warning summarizing any failures.
Failures to open or read a file still evoke individual diagnostics
to standard error. If all listed files are readable and are
consistent with the associated MD5 checksums, exit successfully.
Otherwise exit with a status code indicating there was a failure.
`-t'
`--text'
Treat all input files as text files. This is the reverse of
`--binary'.
`-w'
`--warn'
When verifying checksums, warn about improperly formatted MD5
checksum lines. This option is useful only if all but a few lines
in the checked input are valid.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Operating on sorted files, Next: Operating on fields within a line, Prev: Summarizing files, Up: Top
7 Operating on sorted files
***************************
These commands work with (or produce) sorted files.
* Menu:
* sort invocation:: Sort text files.
* uniq invocation:: Uniquify files.
* comm invocation:: Compare two sorted files line by line.
* ptx invocation:: Produce a permuted index of file contents.
* tsort invocation:: Topological sort.
* tsort background:: Where tsort came from.
File: coreutils.info, Node: sort invocation, Next: uniq invocation, Up: Operating on sorted files
7.1 `sort': Sort text files
===========================
`sort' sorts, merges, or compares all the lines from the given files,
or standard input if none are given or for a FILE of `-'. By default,
`sort' writes the results to standard output. Synopsis:
sort [OPTION]... [FILE]...
`sort' has three modes of operation: sort (the default), merge, and
check for sortedness. The following options change the operation mode:
`-c'
`--check'
Check whether the given files are already sorted: if they are not
all sorted, print an error message and exit with a status of 1.
Otherwise, exit successfully.
`-m'
`--merge'
Merge the given files by sorting them as a group. Each input file
must always be individually sorted. It always works to sort
instead of merge; merging is provided because it is faster, in the
case where it works.
A pair of lines is compared as follows: if any key fields have been
specified, `sort' compares each pair of fields, in the order specified
on the command line, according to the associated ordering options,
until a difference is found or no fields are left. Unless otherwise
specified, all comparisons use the character collating sequence
specified by the `LC_COLLATE' locale. (1)
If any of the global options `bdfgiMnr' are given but no key fields
are specified, `sort' compares the entire lines according to the global
options.
Finally, as a last resort when all keys compare equal (or if no
ordering options were specified at all), `sort' compares the entire
lines. The last resort comparison honors the `--reverse' (`-r') global
option. The `--stable' (`-s') option disables this last-resort
comparison so that lines in which all fields compare equal are left in
their original relative order. If no fields or global options are
specified, `--stable' (`-s') has no effect.
GNU `sort' (as specified for all GNU utilities) has no limit on
input line length or restrictions on bytes allowed within lines. In
addition, if the final byte of an input file is not a newline, GNU
`sort' silently supplies one. A line's trailing newline is not part of
the line for comparison purposes.
Exit status:
0 if no error occurred
1 if invoked with `-c' and the input is not properly sorted
2 if an error occurred
If the environment variable `TMPDIR' is set, `sort' uses its value
as the directory for temporary files instead of `/tmp'. The
`--temporary-directory' (`-T') option in turn overrides the environment
variable.
The following options affect the ordering of output lines. They may
be specified globally or as part of a specific key field. If no key
fields are specified, global options apply to comparison of entire
lines; otherwise the global options are inherited by key fields that do
not specify any special options of their own. In pre-POSIX versions of
`sort', global options affect only later key fields, so portable shell
scripts should specify global options first.
`-b'
`--ignore-leading-blanks'
Ignore leading blanks when finding sort keys in each line. The
`LC_CTYPE' locale determines character types.
`-d'
`--dictionary-order'
Sort in "phone directory" order: ignore all characters except
letters, digits and blanks when sorting. The `LC_CTYPE' locale
determines character types.
`-f'
`--ignore-case'
Fold lowercase characters into the equivalent uppercase characters
when comparing so that, for example, `b' and `B' sort as equal.
The `LC_CTYPE' locale determines character types.
`-g'
`--general-numeric-sort'
Sort numerically, using the standard C function `strtod' to convert
a prefix of each line to a double-precision floating point number.
This allows floating point numbers to be specified in scientific
notation, like `1.0e-34' and `10e100'. The `LC_NUMERIC' locale
determines the decimal-point character. Do not report overflow,
underflow, or conversion errors. Use the following collating
sequence:
* Lines that do not start with numbers (all considered to be
equal).
* NaNs ("Not a Number" values, in IEEE floating point
arithmetic) in a consistent but machine-dependent order.
* Minus infinity.
* Finite numbers in ascending numeric order (with -0 and +0
equal).
* Plus infinity.
Use this option only if there is no alternative; it is much slower
than `--numeric-sort' (`-n') and it can lose information when
converting to floating point.
`-i'
`--ignore-nonprinting'
Ignore nonprinting characters. The `LC_CTYPE' locale determines
character types. This option has no effect if the stronger
`--dictionary-order' (`-d') option is also given.
`-M'
`--month-sort'
An initial string, consisting of any amount of blanks, followed by
a month name abbreviation, is folded to UPPER case and compared in
the order `JAN' < `FEB' < ... < `DEC'. Invalid names compare low
to valid names. The `LC_TIME' locale category determines the
month spellings.
`-n'
`--numeric-sort'
Sort numerically: the number begins each line; specifically, it
consists of optional blanks, an optional `-' sign, and zero or more
digits possibly separated by thousands separators, optionally
followed by a decimal-point character and zero or more digits.
The `LC_NUMERIC' locale specifies the decimal-point character and
thousands separator.
Numeric sort uses what might be considered an unconventional
method to compare strings representing floating point numbers.
Rather than first converting each string to the C `double' type
and then comparing those values, `sort' aligns the decimal-point
characters in the two strings and compares the strings a character
at a time. One benefit of using this approach is its speed. In
practice this is much more efficient than performing the two
corresponding string-to-double (or even string-to-integer)
conversions and then comparing doubles. In addition, there is no
corresponding loss of precision. Converting each string to
`double' before comparison would limit precision to about 16
digits on most systems.
Neither a leading `+' nor exponential notation is recognized. To
compare such strings numerically, use the `--general-numeric-sort'
(`-g') option.
`-r'
`--reverse'
Reverse the result of comparison, so that lines with greater key
values appear earlier in the output instead of later.
Other options are:
`-o OUTPUT-FILE'
`--output=OUTPUT-FILE'
Write output to OUTPUT-FILE instead of standard output. If
necessary, `sort' reads input before opening OUTPUT-FILE, so you
can safely sort a file in place by using commands like `sort -o F
F' and `cat F | sort -o F'.
On newer systems, `-o' cannot appear after an input file if
`POSIXLY_CORRECT' is set, e.g., `sort F -o F'. Portable scripts
should specify `-o OUTPUT-FILE' before any input files.
`-s'
`--stable'
Make `sort' stable by disabling the last-resort comparison that is
performed in some cases. By default, when lines compare equal
based on command line options that affect ordering, those lines
are ordered using a "last-resort comparison" that takes the entire
line as the key and acts as if no ordering options were specified.
But if `--reverse' (`-r') was specified along with other ordering
options, then the last-resort comparison does use `--reverse'. In
any case, when no ordering option is specified or when only
`--reverse' is specified, the last-resort comparison is not
performed
`-S SIZE'
`--buffer-size=SIZE'
Use a main-memory sort buffer of the given SIZE. By default, SIZE
is in units of 1024 bytes. Appending `%' causes SIZE to be
interpreted as a percentage of physical memory. Appending `K'
multiplies SIZE by 1024 (the default), `M' by 1,048,576, `G' by
1,073,741,824, and so on for `T', `P', `E', `Z', and `Y'.
Appending `b' causes SIZE to be interpreted as a byte count, with
no multiplication.
This option can improve the performance of `sort' by causing it to
start with a larger or smaller sort buffer than the default.
However, this option affects only the initial buffer size. The
buffer grows beyond SIZE if `sort' encounters input lines larger
than SIZE.
`-t SEPARATOR'
`--field-separator=SEPARATOR'
Use character SEPARATOR as the field separator when finding the
sort keys in each line. By default, fields are separated by the
empty string between a non-blank character and a blank character.
That is, given the input line ` foo bar', `sort' breaks it into
fields ` foo' and ` bar'. The field separator is not considered
to be part of either the field preceding or the field following.
But note that sort fields that extend to the end of the line, as
`-k 2', or sort fields consisting of a range, as `-k 2,3', retain
the field separators present between the endpoints of the range.
To specify a zero byte (ASCII NUL (Null) character) as the field
separator, use the two-character string `\0', e.g., `sort -t '\0''.
`-T TEMPDIR'
`--temporary-directory=TEMPDIR'
Use directory TEMPDIR to store temporary files, overriding the
`TMPDIR' environment variable. If this option is given more than
once, temporary files are stored in all the directories given. If
you have a large sort or merge that is I/O-bound, you can often
improve performance by using this option to specify directories on
different disks and controllers.
`-u'
`--unique'
Normally, output only the first of a sequence of lines that compare
equal. For the `--check' (`-c') option, check that no pair of
consecutive lines compares equal.
`-k POS1[,POS2]'
`--key=POS1[,POS2]'
Specify a sort field that consists of the part of the line between
POS1 and POS2 (or the end of the line, if POS2 is omitted),
_inclusive_. Fields and character positions are numbered starting
with 1. So to sort on the second field, you'd use `--key=2,2'
(`-k 2,2'). See below for more examples.
`-z'
`--zero-terminated'
Treat the input as a set of lines, each terminated by a zero byte
(ASCII NUL (Null) character) instead of an ASCII LF (Line Feed).
This option can be useful in conjunction with `perl -0' or `find
-print0' and `xargs -0' which do the same in order to reliably
handle arbitrary pathnames (even those which contain Line Feed
characters.)
Historical (BSD and System V) implementations of `sort' have
differed in their interpretation of some options, particularly `-b',
`-f', and `-n'. GNU sort follows the POSIX behavior, which is usually
(but not always!) like the System V behavior. According to POSIX, `-n'
no longer implies `-b'. For consistency, `-M' has been changed in the
same way. This may affect the meaning of character positions in field
specifications in obscure cases. The only fix is to add an explicit
`-b'.
A position in a sort field specified with the `-k' option has the
form `F.C', where F is the number of the field to use and C is the
number of the first character from the beginning of the field. In a
start position, an omitted `.C' stands for the field's first character.
In an end position, an omitted or zero `.C' stands for the field's
last character. If the `-b' option was specified, the `.C' part of a
field specification is counted from the first nonblank character of the
field.
A sort key position may also have any of the option letters `Mbdfinr'
appended to it, in which case the global ordering options are not used
for that particular field. The `-b' option may be independently
attached to either or both of the start and end positions of a field
specification, and if it is inherited from the global options it will
be attached to both. Keys may span multiple fields.
On older systems, `sort' supports an obsolete origin-zero syntax
`+POS1 [-POS2]' for specifying sort keys. POSIX 1003.1-2001 (*note
Standards conformance::) does not allow this; use `-k' instead.
Here are some examples to illustrate various combinations of options.
* Sort in descending (reverse) numeric order.
sort -nr
* Sort alphabetically, omitting the first and second fields. This
uses a single key composed of the characters beginning at the
start of field three and extending to the end of each line.
sort -k 3
* Sort numerically on the second field and resolve ties by sorting
alphabetically on the third and fourth characters of field five.
Use `:' as the field delimiter.
sort -t : -k 2,2n -k 5.3,5.4
Note that if you had written `-k 2' instead of `-k 2,2' `sort'
would have used all characters beginning in the second field and
extending to the end of the line as the primary _numeric_ key.
For the large majority of applications, treating keys spanning
more than one field as numeric will not do what you expect.
Also note that the `n' modifier was applied to the field-end
specifier for the first key. It would have been equivalent to
specify `-k 2n,2' or `-k 2n,2n'. All modifiers except `b' apply
to the associated _field_, regardless of whether the modifier
character is attached to the field-start and/or the field-end part
of the key specifier.
* Sort the password file on the fifth field and ignore any leading
blanks. Sort lines with equal values in field five on the numeric
user ID in field three.
sort -t : -k 5b,5 -k 3,3n /etc/passwd
An alternative is to use the global numeric modifier `-n'.
sort -t : -n -k 5b,5 -k 3,3 /etc/passwd
* Generate a tags file in case-insensitive sorted order.
find src -type f -print0 | sort -t / -z -f | xargs -0 etags --append
The use of `-print0', `-z', and `-0' in this case means that
pathnames that contain Line Feed characters will not get broken up
by the sort operation.
Finally, to ignore both leading and trailing blanks, you could
have applied the `b' modifier to the field-end specifier for the
first key,
sort -t : -n -k 5b,5b -k 3,3 /etc/passwd
or by using the global `-b' modifier instead of `-n' and an
explicit `n' with the second key specifier.
sort -t : -b -k 5,5 -k 3,3n /etc/passwd
---------- Footnotes ----------
(1) If you use a non-POSIX locale (e.g., by setting `LC_ALL' to
`en_US'), then `sort' may produce output that is sorted differently
than you're accustomed to. In that case, set the `LC_ALL' environment
variable to `C'. Note that setting only `LC_COLLATE' has two problems.
First, it is ineffective if `LC_ALL' is also set. Second, it has
undefined behavior if `LC_CTYPE' (or `LANG', if `LC_CTYPE' is unset) is
set to an incompatible value. For example, you get undefined behavior
if `LC_CTYPE' is `ja_JP.PCK' but `LC_COLLATE' is `en_US.UTF-8'.
File: coreutils.info, Node: uniq invocation, Next: comm invocation, Prev: sort invocation, Up: Operating on sorted files
7.2 `uniq': Uniquify files
==========================
`uniq' writes the unique lines in the given `input', or standard input
if nothing is given or for an INPUT name of `-'. Synopsis:
uniq [OPTION]... [INPUT [OUTPUT]]
By default, `uniq' prints its input lines, except that it discards
all but the first of adjacent repeated lines, so that no output lines
are repeated. Optionally, it can instead discard lines that are not
repeated, or all repeated lines.
The input need not be sorted, but repeated input lines are detected
only if they are adjacent. If you want to discard non-adjacent
duplicate lines, perhaps you want to use `sort -u'.
Comparisons use the character collating sequence specified by the
`LC_COLLATE' locale category.
If no OUTPUT file is specified, `uniq' writes to standard output.
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-f N'
`--skip-fields=N'
Skip N fields on each line before checking for uniqueness. Use a
null string for comparison if a line has fewer than N fields.
Fields are sequences of non-space non-tab characters that are
separated from each other by at least one space or tab.
On older systems, `uniq' supports an obsolete option `-N'. POSIX
1003.1-2001 (*note Standards conformance::) does not allow this;
use `-f N' instead.
`-s N'
`--skip-chars=N'
Skip N characters before checking for uniqueness. Use a null
string for comparison if a line has fewer than N characters. If
you use both the field and character skipping options, fields are
skipped over first.
On older systems, `uniq' supports an obsolete option `+N'. POSIX
1003.1-2001 (*note Standards conformance::) does not allow this;
use `-s N' instead.
`-c'
`--count'
Print the number of times each line occurred along with the line.
`-i'
`--ignore-case'
Ignore differences in case when comparing lines.
`-d'
`--repeated'
Discard lines that are not repeated. When used by itself, this
option causes `uniq' to print the first copy of each repeated line,
and nothing else.
`-D'
`--all-repeated[=DELIMIT-METHOD]'
Do not discard the second and subsequent repeated input lines, but
discard lines that are not repeated. This option is useful mainly
in conjunction with other options e.g., to ignore case or to
compare only selected fields. The optional DELIMIT-METHOD tells
how to delimit groups of repeated lines, and must be one of the
following:
`none'
Do not delimit groups of repeated lines. This is equivalent
to `--all-repeated' (`-D').
`prepend'
Output a newline before each group of repeated lines.
`separate'
Separate groups of repeated lines with a single newline.
This is the same as using `prepend', except that there is no
newline before the first group, and hence may be better
suited for output direct to users.
Note that when groups are delimited and the input stream contains
two or more consecutive blank lines, then the output is ambiguous.
To avoid that, filter the input through `tr -s '\n'' to replace
each sequence of consecutive newlines with a single newline.
This is a GNU extension.
`-u'
`--unique'
Discard the first repeated line. When used by itself, this option
causes `uniq' to print unique lines, and nothing else.
`-w N'
`--check-chars=N'
Compare at most N characters on each line (after skipping any
specified fields and characters). By default the entire rest of
the lines are compared.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: comm invocation, Next: ptx invocation, Prev: uniq invocation, Up: Operating on sorted files
7.3 `comm': Compare two sorted files line by line
=================================================
`comm' writes to standard output lines that are common, and lines that
are unique, to two input files; a file name of `-' means standard
input. Synopsis:
comm [OPTION]... FILE1 FILE2
Before `comm' can be used, the input files must be sorted using the
collating sequence specified by the `LC_COLLATE' locale. If an input
file ends in a non-newline character, a newline is silently appended.
The `sort' command with no options always outputs a file that is
suitable input to `comm'.
With no options, `comm' produces three-column output. Column one
contains lines unique to FILE1, column two contains lines unique to
FILE2, and column three contains lines common to both files. Columns
are separated by a single TAB character.
The options `-1', `-2', and `-3' suppress printing of the
corresponding columns. Also see *Note Common options::.
Unlike some other comparison utilities, `comm' has an exit status
that does not depend on the result of the comparison. Upon normal
completion `comm' produces an exit code of zero. If there is an error
it exits with nonzero status.
File: coreutils.info, Node: ptx invocation, Next: tsort invocation, Prev: comm invocation, Up: Operating on sorted files
7.6 `ptx': Produce permuted indexes
===================================
`ptx' reads a text file and essentially produces a permuted index, with
each keyword in its context. The calling sketch is either one of:
ptx [OPTION ...] [FILE ...]
ptx -G [OPTION ...] [INPUT [OUTPUT]]
The `-G' (or its equivalent: `--traditional') option disables all
GNU extensions and reverts to traditional mode, thus introducing some
limitations and changing several of the program's default option values.
When `-G' is not specified, GNU extensions are always enabled. GNU
extensions to `ptx' are documented wherever appropriate in this
document. For the full list, see *Note Compatibility in ptx::.
Individual options are explained in the following sections.
When GNU extensions are enabled, there may be zero, one or several
FILEs after the options. If there is no FILE, the program reads the
standard input. If there is one or several FILEs, they give the name
of input files which are all read in turn, as if all the input files
were concatenated. However, there is a full contextual break between
each file and, when automatic referencing is requested, file names and
line numbers refer to individual text input files. In all cases, the
program outputs the permuted index to the standard output.
When GNU extensions are _not_ enabled, that is, when the program
operates in traditional mode, there may be zero, one or two parameters
besides the options. If there are no parameters, the program reads the
standard input and outputs the permuted index to the standard output.
If there is only one parameter, it names the text INPUT to be read
instead of the standard input. If two parameters are given, they give
respectively the name of the INPUT file to read and the name of the
OUTPUT file to produce. _Be very careful_ to note that, in this case,
the contents of file given by the second parameter is destroyed. This
behavior is dictated by System V `ptx' compatibility; GNU Standards
normally discourage output parameters not introduced by an option.
Note that for _any_ file named as the value of an option or as an
input text file, a single dash `-' may be used, in which case standard
input is assumed. However, it would not make sense to use this
convention more than once per program invocation.
* Menu:
* General options in ptx:: Options which affect general program behavior.
* Charset selection in ptx:: Underlying character set considerations.
* Input processing in ptx:: Input fields, contexts, and keyword selection.
* Output formatting in ptx:: Types of output format, and sizing the fields.
* Compatibility in ptx::
File: coreutils.info, Node: General options in ptx, Next: Charset selection in ptx, Up: ptx invocation
7.6.1 General options
---------------------
`-C'
`--copyright'
Print a short note about the copyright and copying conditions, then
exit without further processing.
`-G'
`--traditional'
As already explained, this option disables all GNU extensions to
`ptx' and switches to traditional mode.
`--help'
Print a short help on standard output, then exit without further
processing.
`--version'
Print the program version on standard output, then exit without
further processing.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Charset selection in ptx, Next: Input processing in ptx, Prev: General options in ptx, Up: ptx invocation
7.6.2 Charset selection
-----------------------
As it is set up now, the program assumes that the input file is coded
using 8-bit ISO 8859-1 code, also known as Latin-1 character set,
_unless_ it is compiled for MS-DOS, in which case it uses the character
set of the IBM-PC. (GNU `ptx' is not known to work on smaller MS-DOS
machines anymore.) Compared to 7-bit ASCII, the set of characters
which are letters is different; this alters the behavior of regular
expression matching. Thus, the default regular expression for a
keyword allows foreign or diacriticized letters. Keyword sorting,
however, is still crude; it obeys the underlying character set ordering
quite blindly.
`-f'
`--ignore-case'
Fold lower case letters to upper case for sorting.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Input processing in ptx, Next: Output formatting in ptx, Prev: Charset selection in ptx, Up: ptx invocation
7.6.3 Word selection and input processing
-----------------------------------------
`-b FILE'
`--break-file=FILE'
This option provides an alternative (to `-W') method of describing
which characters make up words. It introduces the name of a file
which contains a list of characters which can_not_ be part of one
word; this file is called the "Break file". Any character which
is not part of the Break file is a word constituent. If both
options `-b' and `-W' are specified, then `-W' has precedence and
`-b' is ignored.
When GNU extensions are enabled, the only way to avoid newline as a
break character is to write all the break characters in the file
with no newline at all, not even at the end of the file. When GNU
extensions are disabled, spaces, tabs and newlines are always
considered as break characters even if not included in the Break
file.
`-i FILE'
`--ignore-file=FILE'
The file associated with this option contains a list of words
which will never be taken as keywords in concordance output. It
is called the "Ignore file". The file contains exactly one word
in each line; the end of line separation of words is not subject
to the value of the `-S' option.
There is a default Ignore file used by `ptx' when this option is
not specified, usually found in `/usr/local/lib/eign' if this has
not been changed at installation time. If you want to deactivate
the default Ignore file, specify `/dev/null' instead.
`-o FILE'
`--only-file=FILE'
The file associated with this option contains a list of words
which will be retained in concordance output; any word not
mentioned in this file is ignored. The file is called the "Only
file". The file contains exactly one word in each line; the end
of line separation of words is not subject to the value of the
`-S' option.
There is no default for the Only file. When both an Only file and
an Ignore file are specified, a word is considered a keyword only
if it is listed in the Only file and not in the Ignore file.
`-r'
`--references'
On each input line, the leading sequence of non-white space
characters will be taken to be a reference that has the purpose of
identifying this input line in the resulting permuted index. For
more information about reference production, see *Note Output
formatting in ptx::. Using this option changes the default value
for option `-S'.
Using this option, the program does not try very hard to remove
references from contexts in output, but it succeeds in doing so
_when_ the context ends exactly at the newline. If option `-r' is
used with `-S' default value, or when GNU extensions are disabled,
this condition is always met and references are completely
excluded from the output contexts.
`-S REGEXP'
`--sentence-regexp=REGEXP'
This option selects which regular expression will describe the end
of a line or the end of a sentence. In fact, this regular
expression is not the only distinction between end of lines or end
of sentences, and input line boundaries have no special
significance outside this option. By default, when GNU extensions
are enabled and if `-r' option is not used, end of sentences are
used. In this case, this REGEX is imported from GNU Emacs:
[.?!][]\"')}]*\\($\\|\t\\| \\)[ \t\n]*
Whenever GNU extensions are disabled or if `-r' option is used, end
of lines are used; in this case, the default REGEXP is just:
\n
Using an empty REGEXP is equivalent to completely disabling end of
line or end of sentence recognition. In this case, the whole file
is considered to be a single big line or sentence. The user might
want to disallow all truncation flag generation as well, through
option `-F ""'. *Note Syntax of Regular Expressions:
(emacs)Regexps.
When the keywords happen to be near the beginning of the input
line or sentence, this often creates an unused area at the
beginning of the output context line; when the keywords happen to
be near the end of the input line or sentence, this often creates
an unused area at the end of the output context line. The program
tries to fill those unused areas by wrapping around context in
them; the tail of the input line or sentence is used to fill the
unused area on the left of the output line; the head of the input
line or sentence is used to fill the unused area on the right of
the output line.
As a matter of convenience to the user, many usual backslashed
escape sequences from the C language are recognized and converted
to the corresponding characters by `ptx' itself.
`-W REGEXP'
`--word-regexp=REGEXP'
This option selects which regular expression will describe each
keyword. By default, if GNU extensions are enabled, a word is a
sequence of letters; the REGEXP used is `\w+'. When GNU
extensions are disabled, a word is by default anything which ends
with a space, a tab or a newline; the REGEXP used is `[^ \t\n]+'.
An empty REGEXP is equivalent to not using this option. *Note
Syntax of Regular Expressions: (emacs)Regexps.
As a matter of convenience to the user, many usual backslashed
escape sequences, as found in the C language, are recognized and
converted to the corresponding characters by `ptx' itself.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Output formatting in ptx, Next: Compatibility in ptx, Prev: Input processing in ptx, Up: ptx invocation
7.6.4 Output formatting
-----------------------
Output format is mainly controlled by the `-O' and `-T' options
described in the table below. When neither `-O' nor `-T' are selected,
and if GNU extensions are enabled, the program chooses an output format
suitable for a dumb terminal. Each keyword occurrence is output to the
center of one line, surrounded by its left and right contexts. Each
field is properly justified, so the concordance output can be readily
observed. As a special feature, if automatic references are selected
by option `-A' and are output before the left context, that is, if
option `-R' is _not_ selected, then a colon is added after the
reference; this nicely interfaces with GNU Emacs `next-error'
processing. In this default output format, each white space character,
like newline and tab, is merely changed to exactly one space, with no
special attempt to compress consecutive spaces. This might change in
the future. Except for those white space characters, every other
character of the underlying set of 256 characters is transmitted
verbatim.
Output format is further controlled by the following options.
`-g NUMBER'
`--gap-size=NUMBER'
Select the size of the minimum white space gap between the fields
on the output line.
`-w NUMBER'
`--width=NUMBER'
Select the maximum output width of each final line. If references
are used, they are included or excluded from the maximum output
width depending on the value of option `-R'. If this option is not
selected, that is, when references are output before the left
context, the maximum output width takes into account the maximum
length of all references. If this option is selected, that is,
when references are output after the right context, the maximum
output width does not take into account the space taken by
references, nor the gap that precedes them.
`-A'
`--auto-reference'
Select automatic references. Each input line will have an
automatic reference made up of the file name and the line ordinal,
with a single colon between them. However, the file name will be
empty when standard input is being read. If both `-A' and `-r'
are selected, then the input reference is still read and skipped,
but the automatic reference is used at output time, overriding the
input reference.
`-R'
`--right-side-refs'
In the default output format, when option `-R' is not used, any
references produced by the effect of options `-r' or `-A' are
placed to the far right of output lines, after the right context.
With default output format, when the `-R' option is specified,
references are rather placed at the beginning of each output line,
before the left context. For any other output format, option `-R'
is ignored, with one exception: with `-R' the width of references
is _not_ taken into account in total output width given by `-w'.
This option is automatically selected whenever GNU extensions are
disabled.
`-F STRING'
`--flac-truncation=STRING'
This option will request that any truncation in the output be
reported using the string STRING. Most output fields
theoretically extend towards the beginning or the end of the
current line, or current sentence, as selected with option `-S'.
But there is a maximum allowed output line width, changeable
through option `-w', which is further divided into space for
various output fields. When a field has to be truncated because
it cannot extend beyond the beginning or the end of the current
line to fit in, then a truncation occurs. By default, the string
used is a single slash, as in `-F /'.
STRING may have more than one character, as in `-F ...'. Also, in
the particular case when STRING is empty (`-F ""'), truncation
flagging is disabled, and no truncation marks are appended in this
case.
As a matter of convenience to the user, many usual backslashed
escape sequences, as found in the C language, are recognized and
converted to the corresponding characters by `ptx' itself.
`-M STRING'
`--macro-name=STRING'
Select another STRING to be used instead of `xx', while generating
output suitable for `nroff', `troff' or TeX.
`-O'
`--format=roff'
Choose an output format suitable for `nroff' or `troff'
processing. Each output line will look like:
.xx "TAIL" "BEFORE" "KEYWORD_AND_AFTER" "HEAD" "REF"
so it will be possible to write a `.xx' roff macro to take care of
the output typesetting. This is the default output format when GNU
extensions are disabled. Option `-M' can be used to change `xx'
to another macro name.
In this output format, each non-graphical character, like newline
and tab, is merely changed to exactly one space, with no special
attempt to compress consecutive spaces. Each quote character: `"'
is doubled so it will be correctly processed by `nroff' or `troff'.
`-T'
`--format=tex'
Choose an output format suitable for TeX processing. Each output
line will look like:
\xx {TAIL}{BEFORE}{KEYWORD}{AFTER}{HEAD}{REF}
so it will be possible to write a `\xx' definition to take care of
the output typesetting. Note that when references are not being
produced, that is, neither option `-A' nor option `-r' is
selected, the last parameter of each `\xx' call is inhibited.
Option `-M' can be used to change `xx' to another macro name.
In this output format, some special characters, like `$', `%',
`&', `#' and `_' are automatically protected with a backslash.
Curly brackets `{', `}' are protected with a backslash and a pair
of dollar signs (to force mathematical mode). The backslash
itself produces the sequence `\backslash{}'. Circumflex and tilde
diacritical marks produce the sequence `^\{ }' and `~\{ }'
respectively. Other diacriticized characters of the underlying
character set produce an appropriate TeX sequence as far as
possible. The other non-graphical characters, like newline and
tab, and all other characters which are not part of ASCII, are
merely changed to exactly one space, with no special attempt to
compress consecutive spaces. Let me know how to improve this
special character processing for TeX.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Compatibility in ptx, Prev: Output formatting in ptx, Up: ptx invocation
7.6.5 The GNU extensions to `ptx'
---------------------------------
This version of `ptx' contains a few features which do not exist in
System V `ptx'. These extra features are suppressed by using the `-G'
command line option, unless overridden by other command line options.
Some GNU extensions cannot be recovered by overriding, so the simple
rule is to avoid `-G' if you care about GNU extensions. Here are the
differences between this program and System V `ptx'.
* This program can read many input files at once, it always writes
the resulting concordance on standard output. On the other hand,
System V `ptx' reads only one file and sends the result to
standard output or, if a second FILE parameter is given on the
command, to that FILE.
Having output parameters not introduced by options is a dangerous
practice which GNU avoids as far as possible. So, for using `ptx'
portably between GNU and System V, you should always use it with a
single input file, and always expect the result on standard
output. You might also want to automatically configure in a `-G'
option to `ptx' calls in products using `ptx', if the configurator
finds that the installed `ptx' accepts `-G'.
* The only options available in System V `ptx' are options `-b',
`-f', `-g', `-i', `-o', `-r', `-t' and `-w'. All other options
are GNU extensions and are not repeated in this enumeration.
Moreover, some options have a slightly different meaning when GNU
extensions are enabled, as explained below.
* By default, concordance output is not formatted for `troff' or
`nroff'. It is rather formatted for a dumb terminal. `troff' or
`nroff' output may still be selected through option `-O'.
* Unless `-R' option is used, the maximum reference width is
subtracted from the total output line width. With GNU extensions
disabled, width of references is not taken into account in the
output line width computations.
* All 256 characters, even `NUL's, are always read and processed from
input file with no adverse effect, even if GNU extensions are
disabled. However, System V `ptx' does not accept 8-bit
characters, a few control characters are rejected, and the tilde
`~' is also rejected.
* Input line length is only limited by available memory, even if GNU
extensions are disabled. However, System V `ptx' processes only
the first 200 characters in each line.
* The break (non-word) characters default to be every character
except all letters of the underlying character set, diacriticized
or not. When GNU extensions are disabled, the break characters
default to space, tab and newline only.
* The program makes better use of output line width. If GNU
extensions are disabled, the program rather tries to imitate
System V `ptx', but still, there are some slight disposition
glitches this program does not completely reproduce.
* The user can specify both an Ignore file and an Only file. This
is not allowed with System V `ptx'.
File: coreutils.info, Node: tsort invocation, Next: tsort background, Prev: ptx invocation, Up: Operating on sorted files
7.4 `tsort': Topological sort
=============================
`tsort' performs a topological sort on the given FILE, or standard
input if no input file is given or for a FILE of `-'. For more details
and some history, see *Note tsort background::. Synopsis:
tsort [OPTION] [FILE]
`tsort' reads its input as pairs of strings, separated by blanks,
indicating a partial ordering. The output is a total ordering that
corresponds to the given partial ordering.
For example
tsort <<EOF
a b c
d
e f
b c d e
EOF
will produce the output
a
b
c
d
e
f
Consider a more realistic example. You have a large set of
functions all in one file, and they may all be declared static except
one. Currently that one (say `main') is the first function defined in
the file, and the ones it calls directly follow it, followed by those
they call, etc. Let's say that you are determined to take advantage of
prototypes, so you have to choose between declaring all of those
functions (which means duplicating a lot of information from the
definitions) and rearranging the functions so that as many as possible
are defined before they are used. One way to automate the latter
process is to get a list for each function of the functions it calls
directly. Many programs can generate such lists. They describe a call
graph. Consider the following list, in which a given line indicates
that the function on the left calls the one on the right directly.
main parse_options
main tail_file
main tail_forever
tail_file pretty_name
tail_file write_header
tail_file tail
tail_forever recheck
tail_forever pretty_name
tail_forever write_header
tail_forever dump_remainder
tail tail_lines
tail tail_bytes
tail_lines start_lines
tail_lines dump_remainder
tail_lines file_lines
tail_lines pipe_lines
tail_bytes xlseek
tail_bytes start_bytes
tail_bytes dump_remainder
tail_bytes pipe_bytes
file_lines dump_remainder
recheck pretty_name
then you can use `tsort' to produce an ordering of those functions
that satisfies your requirement.
example$ tsort call-graph | tac
dump_remainder
start_lines
file_lines
pipe_lines
xlseek
start_bytes
pipe_bytes
tail_lines
tail_bytes
pretty_name
write_header
tail
recheck
parse_options
tail_file
tail_forever
main
`tsort' detects any cycles in the input and writes the first cycle
encountered to standard error.
Note that for a given partial ordering, generally there is no unique
total ordering. In the context of the call graph above, the function
`parse_options' may be placed anywhere in the list as long as it
precedes `main'.
The only options are `--help' and `--version'. *Note Common
options::.
File: coreutils.info, Node: tsort background, Prev: tsort invocation, Up: Operating on sorted files
7.5 `tsort': Background
=======================
`tsort' exists because very early versions of the Unix linker processed
an archive file exactly once, and in order. As `ld' read each object
in the archive, it decided whether it was needed in the program based on
whether it defined any symbols which were undefined at that point in
the link.
This meant that dependencies within the archive had to be handled
specially. For example, `scanf' probably calls `read'. That means
that in a single pass through an archive, it was important for `scanf.o'
to appear before read.o, because otherwise a program which calls
`scanf' but not `read' might end up with an unexpected unresolved
reference to `read'.
The way to address this problem was to first generate a set of
dependencies of one object file on another. This was done by a shell
script called `lorder'. The GNU tools don't provide a version of
lorder, as far as I know, but you can still find it in BSD
distributions.
Then you ran `tsort' over the `lorder' output, and you used the
resulting sort to define the order in which you added objects to the
archive.
This whole procedure has been obsolete since about 1980, because
Unix archives now contain a symbol table (traditionally built by
`ranlib', now generally built by `ar' itself), and the Unix linker uses
the symbol table to effectively make multiple passes over an archive
file.
Anyhow, that's where tsort came from. To solve an old problem with
the way the linker handled archive files, which has since been solved
in different ways.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Operating on fields within a line, Next: Operating on characters, Prev: Operating on sorted files, Up: Top
8 Operating on fields within a line
***********************************
* Menu:
* cut invocation:: Print selected parts of lines.
* paste invocation:: Merge lines of files.
* join invocation:: Join lines on a common field.
File: coreutils.info, Node: cut invocation, Next: paste invocation, Up: Operating on fields within a line
8.1 `cut': Print selected parts of lines
========================================
`cut' writes to standard output selected parts of each line of each
input file, or standard input if no files are given or for a file name
of `-'. Synopsis:
cut [OPTION]... [FILE]...
In the table which follows, the BYTE-LIST, CHARACTER-LIST, and
FIELD-LIST are one or more numbers or ranges (two numbers separated by
a dash) separated by commas. Bytes, characters, and fields are
numbered starting at 1. Incomplete ranges may be given: `-M' means
`1-M'; `N-' means `N' through end of line or last field. The list
elements can be repeated, can overlap, and can be specified in any
order; but the selected input is written in the same order that it is
read, and is written exactly once.
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-b BYTE-LIST'
`--bytes=BYTE-LIST'
Print only the bytes in positions listed in BYTE-LIST. Tabs and
backspaces are treated like any other character; they take up 1
byte. If an output delimiter is specified, (see the description of
`--output-delimiter'), then output that string between ranges of
selected bytes.
`-c CHARACTER-LIST'
`--characters=CHARACTER-LIST'
Print only characters in positions listed in CHARACTER-LIST. The
same as `-b' for now, but internationalization will change that.
Tabs and backspaces are treated like any other character; they
take up 1 character. If an output delimiter is specified, (see
the description of `--output-delimiter'), then output that string
between ranges of selected bytes.
`-f FIELD-LIST'
`--fields=FIELD-LIST'
Print only the fields listed in FIELD-LIST. Fields are separated
by a TAB character by default. Also print any line that contains
no delimiter character, unless the `--only-delimited' (`-s')
option is specified
`-d INPUT_DELIM_BYTE'
`--delimiter=INPUT_DELIM_BYTE'
For `-f', fields are separated in the input by the first character
in INPUT_DELIM_BYTE (default is TAB).
`-n'
Do not split multi-byte characters (no-op for now).
`-s'
`--only-delimited'
For `-f', do not print lines that do not contain the field
separator character. Normally, any line without a field separator
is printed verbatim.
`--output-delimiter=OUTPUT_DELIM_STRING'
With `-f', output fields are separated by OUTPUT_DELIM_STRING.
The default with `-f' is to use the input delimiter. When using
`-b' or `-c' to select ranges of byte or character offsets (as
opposed to ranges of fields), output OUTPUT_DELIM_STRING between
ranges of selected bytes.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: paste invocation, Next: join invocation, Prev: cut invocation, Up: Operating on fields within a line
8.2 `paste': Merge lines of files
=================================
`paste' writes to standard output lines consisting of sequentially
corresponding lines of each given file, separated by a TAB character.
Standard input is used for a file name of `-' or if no input files are
given.
For example:
$ cat num2
1
2
$ cat let3
a
b
c
$ paste num2 let3
1 a
2 b
c
Synopsis:
paste [OPTION]... [FILE]...
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-s'
`--serial'
Paste the lines of one file at a time rather than one line from
each file. Using the above example data:
$ paste -s num2 let3
1 2
a b c
`-d DELIM-LIST'
`--delimiters=DELIM-LIST'
Consecutively use the characters in DELIM-LIST instead of TAB to
separate merged lines. When DELIM-LIST is exhausted, start again
at its beginning. Using the above example data:
$ paste -d '%_' num2 let3 num2
1%a_1
2%b_2
%c_
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: join invocation, Prev: paste invocation, Up: Operating on fields within a line
8.3 `join': Join lines on a common field
========================================
`join' writes to standard output a line for each pair of input lines
that have identical join fields. Synopsis:
join [OPTION]... FILE1 FILE2
Either FILE1 or FILE2 (but not both) can be `-', meaning standard
input. FILE1 and FILE2 should be sorted on the join fields.
Normally, the sort order is that of the collating sequence specified
by the `LC_COLLATE' locale. Unless the `-t' option is given, the sort
comparison ignores blanks at the start of the join field, as in `sort
-b'. If the `--ignore-case' option is given, the sort comparison
ignores the case of characters in the join field, as in `sort -f'.
However, as a GNU extension, if the input has no unpairable lines the
sort order can be any order that considers two fields to be equal if and
only if the sort comparison described above considers them to be equal.
For example:
$ cat file1
a a1
c c1
b b1
$ cat file2
a a2
c c2
b b2
$ join file1 file2
a a1 a2
c c1 c2
b b1 b2
The defaults are: the join field is the first field in each line;
fields in the input are separated by one or more blanks, with leading
blanks on the line ignored; fields in the output are separated by a
space; each output line consists of the join field, the remaining
fields from FILE1, then the remaining fields from FILE2.
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-a FILE-NUMBER'
Print a line for each unpairable line in file FILE-NUMBER (either
`1' or `2'), in addition to the normal output.
`-e STRING'
Replace those output fields that are missing in the input with
STRING.
`-i'
`--ignore-case'
Ignore differences in case when comparing keys. With this option,
the lines of the input files must be ordered in the same way. Use
`sort -f' to produce this ordering.
`-1 FIELD'
Join on field FIELD (a positive integer) of file 1.
`-2 FIELD'
Join on field FIELD (a positive integer) of file 2.
`-j FIELD'
Equivalent to `-1 FIELD -2 FIELD'.
`-o FIELD-LIST'
Construct each output line according to the format in FIELD-LIST.
Each element in FIELD-LIST is either the single character `0' or
has the form M.N where the file number, M, is `1' or `2' and N is
a positive field number.
A field specification of `0' denotes the join field. In most
cases, the functionality of the `0' field spec may be reproduced
using the explicit M.N that corresponds to the join field.
However, when printing unpairable lines (using either of the `-a'
or `-v' options), there is no way to specify the join field using
M.N in FIELD-LIST if there are unpairable lines in both files. To
give `join' that functionality, POSIX invented the `0' field
specification notation.
The elements in FIELD-LIST are separated by commas or blanks. All
output lines - including those printed because of any -a or -v
option - are subject to the specified FIELD-LIST.
`-t CHAR'
Use character CHAR as the input and output field separator. Treat
as significant each occurrence of CHAR in the input file.
`-v FILE-NUMBER'
Print a line for each unpairable line in file FILE-NUMBER (either
`1' or `2'), instead of the normal output.
In addition, when GNU `join' is invoked with exactly one argument,
the `--help' and `--version' options are recognized. *Note Common
options::.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Operating on characters, Next: Directory listing, Prev: Operating on fields within a line, Up: Top
9 Operating on characters
*************************
This commands operate on individual characters.
* Menu:
* tr invocation:: Translate, squeeze, and/or delete characters.
* expand invocation:: Convert tabs to spaces.
* unexpand invocation:: Convert spaces to tabs.
File: coreutils.info, Node: tr invocation, Next: expand invocation, Up: Operating on characters
9.1 `tr': Translate, squeeze, and/or delete characters
======================================================
Synopsis:
tr [OPTION]... SET1 [SET2]
`tr' copies standard input to standard output, performing one of the
following operations:
* translate, and optionally squeeze repeated characters in the
result,
* squeeze repeated characters,
* delete characters,
* delete characters, then squeeze repeated characters from the
result.
The SET1 and (if given) SET2 arguments define ordered sets of
characters, referred to below as SET1 and SET2. These sets are the
characters of the input that `tr' operates on. The `--complement'
(`-c') option replaces SET1 with its complement (all of the characters
that are not in SET1).
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
* Menu:
* Character sets:: Specifying sets of characters.
* Translating:: Changing one set of characters to another.
* Squeezing:: Squeezing repeats and deleting.
* Warnings in tr:: Warning messages.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Character sets, Next: Translating, Up: tr invocation
9.1.1 Specifying sets of characters
-----------------------------------
The format of the SET1 and SET2 arguments resembles the format of
regular expressions; however, they are not regular expressions, only
lists of characters. Most characters simply represent themselves in
these strings, but the strings can contain the shorthands listed below,
for convenience. Some of them can be used only in SET1 or SET2, as
noted below.
Backslash escapes
A backslash followed by a character not listed below causes an
error message.
`\a'
Control-G.
`\b'
Control-H.
`\f'
Control-L.
`\n'
Control-J.
`\r'
Control-M.
`\t'
Control-I.
`\v'
Control-K.
`\OOO'
The character with the value given by OOO, which is 1 to 3
octal digits,
`\\'
A backslash.
Ranges
The notation `M-N' expands to all of the characters from M through
N, in ascending order. M should collate before N; if it doesn't,
an error results. As an example, `0-9' is the same as
`0123456789'.
GNU `tr' does not support the System V syntax that uses square
brackets to enclose ranges. Translations specified in that format
sometimes work as expected, since the brackets are often
transliterated to themselves. However, they should be avoided
because they sometimes behave unexpectedly. For example, `tr -d
'[0-9]'' deletes brackets as well as digits.
Many historically common and even accepted uses of ranges are not
portable. For example, on EBCDIC hosts using the `A-Z' range will
not do what most would expect because `A' through `Z' are not
contiguous as they are in ASCII. If you can rely on a POSIX
compliant version of `tr', then the best way to work around this
is to use character classes (see below). Otherwise, it is most
portable (and most ugly) to enumerate the members of the ranges.
Repeated characters
The notation `[C*N]' in SET2 expands to N copies of character C.
Thus, `[y*6]' is the same as `yyyyyy'. The notation `[C*]' in
STRING2 expands to as many copies of C as are needed to make SET2
as long as SET1. If N begins with `0', it is interpreted in
octal, otherwise in decimal.
Character classes
The notation `[:CLASS:]' expands to all of the characters in the
(predefined) class CLASS. The characters expand in no particular
order, except for the `upper' and `lower' classes, which expand in
ascending order. When the `--delete' (`-d') and
`--squeeze-repeats' (`-s') options are both given, any character
class can be used in SET2. Otherwise, only the character classes
`lower' and `upper' are accepted in SET2, and then only if the
corresponding character class (`upper' and `lower', respectively)
is specified in the same relative position in SET1. Doing this
specifies case conversion. The class names are given below; an
error results when an invalid class name is given.
`alnum'
Letters and digits.
`alpha'
Letters.
`blank'
Horizontal whitespace.
`cntrl'
Control characters.
`digit'
Digits.
`graph'
Printable characters, not including space.
`lower'
Lowercase letters.
`print'
Printable characters, including space.
`punct'
Punctuation characters.
`space'
Horizontal or vertical whitespace.
`upper'
Uppercase letters.
`xdigit'
Hexadecimal digits.
Equivalence classes
The syntax `[=C=]' expands to all of the characters that are
equivalent to C, in no particular order. Equivalence classes are
a relatively recent invention intended to support non-English
alphabets. But there seems to be no standard way to define them
or determine their contents. Therefore, they are not fully
implemented in GNU `tr'; each character's equivalence class
consists only of that character, which is of no particular use.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Translating, Next: Squeezing, Prev: Character sets, Up: tr invocation
9.1.2 Translating
-----------------
`tr' performs translation when SET1 and SET2 are both given and the
`--delete' (`-d') option is not given. `tr' translates each character
of its input that is in SET1 to the corresponding character in SET2.
Characters not in SET1 are passed through unchanged. When a character
appears more than once in SET1 and the corresponding characters in SET2
are not all the same, only the final one is used. For example, these
two commands are equivalent:
tr aaa xyz
tr a z
A common use of `tr' is to convert lowercase characters to
uppercase. This can be done in many ways. Here are three of them:
tr abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
tr a-z A-Z
tr '[:lower:]' '[:upper:]'
But note that using ranges like `a-z' above is not portable.
When `tr' is performing translation, SET1 and SET2 typically have
the same length. If SET1 is shorter than SET2, the extra characters at
the end of SET2 are ignored.
On the other hand, making SET1 longer than SET2 is not portable;
POSIX says that the result is undefined. In this situation, BSD `tr'
pads SET2 to the length of SET1 by repeating the last character of SET2
as many times as necessary. System V `tr' truncates SET1 to the length
of SET2.
By default, GNU `tr' handles this case like BSD `tr'. When the
`--truncate-set1' (`-t') option is given, GNU `tr' handles this case
like the System V `tr' instead. This option is ignored for operations
other than translation.
Acting like System V `tr' in this case breaks the relatively common
BSD idiom:
tr -cs A-Za-z0-9 '\012'
because it converts only zero bytes (the first element in the
complement of SET1), rather than all non-alphanumerics, to newlines.
By the way, the above idiom is not portable because it uses ranges.
Assuming a POSIX compliant `tr', here is a better way to write it:
tr -cs '[:alnum:]' '[\n*]'
File: coreutils.info, Node: Squeezing, Next: Warnings in tr, Prev: Translating, Up: tr invocation
9.1.3 Squeezing repeats and deleting
------------------------------------
When given just the `--delete' (`-d') option, `tr' removes any input
characters that are in SET1.
When given just the `--squeeze-repeats' (`-s') option, `tr' replaces
each input sequence of a repeated character that is in SET1 with a
single occurrence of that character.
When given both `--delete' and `--squeeze-repeats', `tr' first
performs any deletions using SET1, then squeezes repeats from any
remaining characters using SET2.
The `--squeeze-repeats' option may also be used when translating, in
which case `tr' first performs translation, then squeezes repeats from
any remaining characters using SET2.
Here are some examples to illustrate various combinations of options:
* Remove all zero bytes:
tr -d '\000'
* Put all words on lines by themselves. This converts all
non-alphanumeric characters to newlines, then squeezes each string
of repeated newlines into a single newline:
tr -cs '[:alnum:]' '[\n*]'
* Convert each sequence of repeated newlines to a single newline:
tr -s '\n'
* Find doubled occurrences of words in a document. For example,
people often write "the the" with the repeated words separated by
a newline. The bourne shell script below works first by
converting each sequence of punctuation and blank characters to a
single newline. That puts each "word" on a line by itself. Next
it maps all uppercase characters to lower case, and finally it
runs `uniq' with the `-d' option to print out only the words that
were repeated.
#!/bin/sh
cat "$@" \
| tr -s '[:punct:][:blank:]' '\n' \
| tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]' \
| uniq -d
* Deleting a small set of characters is usually straightforward.
For example, to remove all `a's, `x's, and `M's you would do this:
tr -d axM
However, when `-' is one of those characters, it can be tricky
because `-' has special meanings. Performing the same task as
above but also removing all `-' characters, we might try `tr -d
-axM', but that would fail because `tr' would try to interpret
`-a' as a command-line option. Alternatively, we could try
putting the hyphen inside the string, `tr -d a-xM', but that
wouldn't work either because it would make `tr' interpret `a-x' as
the range of characters `a'...`x' rather than the three. One way
to solve the problem is to put the hyphen at the end of the list
of characters:
tr -d axM-
More generally, use the character class notation `[=c=]' with `-'
(or any other character) in place of the `c':
tr -d '[=-=]axM'
Note how single quotes are used in the above example to protect the
square brackets from interpretation by a shell.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Warnings in tr, Prev: Squeezing, Up: tr invocation
9.1.4 Warning messages
----------------------
Setting the environment variable `POSIXLY_CORRECT' turns off the
following warning and error messages, for strict compliance with POSIX.
Otherwise, the following diagnostics are issued:
1. When the `--delete' option is given but `--squeeze-repeats' is
not, and SET2 is given, GNU `tr' by default prints a usage message
and exits, because SET2 would not be used. The POSIX
specification says that SET2 must be ignored in this case.
Silently ignoring arguments is a bad idea.
2. When an ambiguous octal escape is given. For example, `\400' is
actually `\40' followed by the digit `0', because the value 400
octal does not fit into a single byte.
GNU `tr' does not provide complete BSD or System V compatibility.
For example, it is impossible to disable interpretation of the POSIX
constructs `[:alpha:]', `[=c=]', and `[c*10]'. Also, GNU `tr' does not
delete zero bytes automatically, unlike traditional Unix versions,
which provide no way to preserve zero bytes.
File: coreutils.info, Node: expand invocation, Next: unexpand invocation, Prev: tr invocation, Up: Operating on characters
9.2 `expand': Convert tabs to spaces
====================================
`expand' writes the contents of each given FILE, or standard input if
none are given or for a FILE of `-', to standard output, with tab
characters converted to the appropriate number of spaces. Synopsis:
expand [OPTION]... [FILE]...
By default, `expand' converts all tabs to spaces. It preserves
backspace characters in the output; they decrement the column count for
tab calculations. The default action is equivalent to `-t 8' (set tabs
every 8 columns).
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-t TAB1[,TAB2]...'
`--tabs=TAB1[,TAB2]...'
If only one tab stop is given, set the tabs TAB1 spaces apart
(default is 8). Otherwise, set the tabs at columns TAB1, TAB2,
... (numbered from 0), and replace any tabs beyond the last
tabstop given with single spaces. Tabstops can be separated by
blanks as well as by commas.
On older systems, `expand' supports an obsolete option
`-TAB1[,TAB2]...', where tabstops must be separated by commas.
POSIX 1003.1-2001 (*note Standards conformance::) does not allow
this; use `-t TAB1[,TAB2]...' instead.
`-i'
`--initial'
Only convert initial tabs (those that precede all non-space or
non-tab characters) on each line to spaces.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: unexpand invocation, Prev: expand invocation, Up: Operating on characters
9.3 `unexpand': Convert spaces to tabs
======================================
`unexpand' writes the contents of each given FILE, or standard input if
none are given or for a FILE of `-', to standard output, with strings
of two or more space or tab characters converted to as many tabs as
possible followed by as many spaces as are needed. Synopsis:
unexpand [OPTION]... [FILE]...
By default, `unexpand' converts only initial spaces and tabs (those
that precede all non space or tab characters) on each line. It
preserves backspace characters in the output; they decrement the column
count for tab calculations. By default, tabs are set at every 8th
column.
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-t TAB1[,TAB2]...'
`--tabs=TAB1[,TAB2]...'
If only one tab stop is given, set the tabs TAB1 spaces apart
instead of the default 8. Otherwise, set the tabs at columns
TAB1, TAB2, ... (numbered from 0), and leave spaces and tabs
beyond the tabstops given unchanged. Tabstops can be separated by
blanks as well as by commas. This option implies the `-a' option.
On older systems, `unexpand' supports an obsolete option
`-TAB1[,TAB2]...', where tabstops must be separated by commas.
(Unlike `-t', this obsolete option does not imply `-a'.) POSIX
1003.1-2001 (*note Standards conformance::) does not allow this;
use `--first-only -t TAB1[,TAB2]...' instead.
`-a'
`--all'
Convert all strings of two or more spaces or tabs, not just initial
ones, to tabs.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Directory listing, Next: Basic operations, Prev: Operating on characters, Up: Top
10 Directory listing
********************
This chapter describes the `ls' command and its variants `dir' and
`vdir', which list information about files.
* Menu:
* ls invocation:: List directory contents.
* dir invocation:: Briefly ls.
* vdir invocation:: Verbosely ls.
* dircolors invocation:: Color setup for ls, etc.
File: coreutils.info, Node: ls invocation, Next: dir invocation, Up: Directory listing
10.1 `ls': List directory contents
==================================
The `ls' program lists information about files (of any type, including
directories). Options and file arguments can be intermixed
arbitrarily, as usual.
For non-option command-line arguments that are directories, by
default `ls' lists the contents of directories, not recursively, and
omitting files with names beginning with `.'. For other non-option
arguments, by default `ls' lists just the file name. If no non-option
argument is specified, `ls' operates on the current directory, acting
as if it had been invoked with a single argument of `.'.
By default, the output is sorted alphabetically, according to the
locale settings in effect. (1) If standard output is a terminal, the
output is in columns (sorted vertically) and control characters are
output as question marks; otherwise, the output is listed one per line
and control characters are output as-is.
Because `ls' is such a fundamental program, it has accumulated many
options over the years. They are described in the subsections below;
within each section, options are listed alphabetically (ignoring case).
The division of options into the subsections is not absolute, since some
options affect more than one aspect of `ls''s operation.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
Also see *Note Common options::.
* Menu:
* Which files are listed::
* What information is listed::
* Sorting the output::
* More details about version sort::
* General output formatting::
* Formatting file timestamps::
* Formatting the file names::
---------- Footnotes ----------
(1) If you use a non-POSIX locale (e.g., by setting `LC_ALL' to
`en_US'), then `ls' may produce output that is sorted differently than
you're accustomed to. In that case, set the `LC_ALL' environment
variable to `C'.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Which files are listed, Next: What information is listed, Up: ls invocation
10.1.1 Which files are listed
-----------------------------
These options determine which files `ls' lists information for. By
default, any files and the contents of any directories on the command
line are shown.
`-a'
`--all'
List all files in directories, including files that start with `.'.
`-A'
`--almost-all'
List all files in directories except for `.' and `..'.
`-B'
`--ignore-backups'
Do not list files that end with `~', unless they are given on the
command line.
`-d'
`--directory'
List just the names of directories, as with other types of files,
rather than listing their contents. Do not follow symbolic links
listed on the command line unless the `--dereference-command-line'
(`-H'), `--dereference' (`-L'), or
`--dereference-command-line-symlink-to-dir' options are specified.
`-H'
`--dereference-command-line'
If a command line argument specifies a symbolic link, show
information for the file the link references rather than for the
link itself.
`--dereference-command-line-symlink-to-dir'
Do not dereference symbolic links, with one exception: if a
command line argument specifies a symbolic link that refers to a
directory, show information for that directory rather than for the
link itself. This is the default behavior when no other
dereferencing-related option has been specified (`--classify'
(`-F'), `--directory' (`-d'), (`-l'), `--dereference' (`-L'), or
`--dereference-command-line' (`-H')).
`-I PATTERN'
`--ignore=PATTERN'
Do not list files whose names match the shell pattern (not regular
expression) PATTERN unless they are given on the command line. As
in the shell, an initial `.' in a file name does not match a
wildcard at the start of PATTERN. Sometimes it is useful to give
this option several times. For example,
$ ls --ignore='.??*' --ignore='.[^.]' --ignore='#*'
The first option ignores names of length 3 or more that start with
`.', the second ignores all two-character names that start with `.'
except `..', and the third ignores names that start with `#'.
`-L'
`--dereference'
When showing file information for a symbolic link, show information
for the file the link references rather than the link itself.
However, even with this option, `ls' still prints the name of the
link itself, not the name of the file that the link points to.
`-R'
`--recursive'
List the contents of all directories recursively.
File: coreutils.info, Node: What information is listed, Next: Sorting the output, Prev: Which files are listed, Up: ls invocation
10.1.2 What information is listed
---------------------------------
These options affect the information that `ls' displays. By default,
only file names are shown.
`--author'
List each file's author when producing long format directory
listings. In GNU/Hurd, file authors can differ from their owners,
but in other operating systems the two are the same.
`-D'
`--dired'
With the long listing (`-l') format, print an additional line after
the main output:
//DIRED// BEG1 END1 BEG2 END2 ...
The BEGN and ENDN are unsigned integers that record the byte
position of the beginning and end of each file name in the output.
This makes it easy for Emacs to find the names, even when they
contain unusual characters such as space or newline, without fancy
searching.
If directories are being listed recursively (`-R'), output a
similar line with offsets for each subdirectory name:
//SUBDIRED// BEG1 END1 ...
Finally, output a line of the form:
//DIRED-OPTIONS// --quoting-style=WORD
where WORD is the quoting style (*note Formatting the file
names::).
Here is an actual example:
$ mkdir -p a/sub/deeper a/sub2
$ touch a/f1 a/f2
$ touch a/sub/deeper/file
$ ls -gloRF --dired a
a:
total 8
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 Dec 3 00:50 f1
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 Dec 3 00:50 f2
drwxr-xr-x 3 4096 Dec 3 00:50 sub/
drwxr-xr-x 2 4096 Dec 3 00:50 sub2/
a/sub:
total 4
drwxr-xr-x 2 4096 Dec 3 00:50 deeper/
a/sub/deeper:
total 0
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 Dec 3 00:50 file
a/sub2:
total 0
//DIRED// 49 51 86 88 123 126 162 166 222 228 288 292
//SUBDIRED// 2 3 171 176 233 245 296 302
//DIRED-OPTIONS// --quoting-style=literal
Note that the pairs of offsets on the `//DIRED//' line above
delimit these names: `f1', `f2', `sub', `sub2', `deeper', `file'.
The offsets on the `//SUBDIRED//' line delimit the following
directory names: `a', `a/sub', `a/sub/deeper', `a/sub2'.
Here is an example of how to extract the fifth entry name,
`deeper', corresponding to the pair of offsets, 222 and 228:
$ ls -gloRF --dired a > out
$ dd bs=1 skip=222 count=6 < out 2>/dev/null; echo
deeper
Note that although the listing above includes a trailing slash for
the `deeper' entry, the offsets select the name without the
trailing slash. However, if you invoke `ls' with `--dired' along
with an option like `--escape' (aka `-b') and operate on a file
whose name contains special characters, notice that the backslash
_is_ included:
$ touch 'a b'
$ ls -blog --dired 'a b'
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 Dec 3 00:52 a\ b
//DIRED// 31 35
//DIRED-OPTIONS// --quoting-style=escape
If you use a quoting style that adds quote marks (e.g.,
`--quoting-style=c'), then the offsets include the quote marks.
So beware that the user may select the quoting style via the
environment variable `QUOTING_STYLE'. Hence, applications using
`--dired' should either specify an explicit
`--quoting-style=literal' option (aka `-N' or `--literal') on the
command line, or else be prepared to parse the escaped names.
`--full-time'
Produce long format directory listings, and list times in full.
It is equivalent to using `--format=long' with
`--time-style=full-iso' (*note Formatting file timestamps::).
`-g'
Produce long format directory listings, but don't display owner
information.
`-G'
`--no-group'
Inhibit display of group information in a long format directory
listing. (This is the default in some non-GNU versions of `ls',
so we provide this option for compatibility.)
`-h'
`--human-readable'
Append a size letter to each size, such as `M' for mebibytes.
Powers of 1024 are used, not 1000; `M' stands for 1,048,576 bytes.
Use the `--si' option if you prefer powers of 1000.
`-i'
`--inode'
Print the inode number (also called the file serial number and
index number) of each file to the left of the file name. (This
number uniquely identifies each file within a particular
filesystem.)
`-l'
`--format=long'
`--format=verbose'
In addition to the name of each file, print the file type,
permissions, number of hard links, owner name, group name, size,
and timestamp (*note Formatting file timestamps::), normally the
modification time.
Normally the size is printed as a byte count without punctuation,
but this can be overridden (*note Block size::). For example, `-h'
prints an abbreviated, human-readable count, and
`--block-size="'1"' prints a byte count with the thousands
separator of the current locale.
For each directory that is listed, preface the files with a line
`total BLOCKS', where BLOCKS is the total disk allocation for all
files in that directory. The block size currently defaults to 1024
bytes, but this can be overridden (*note Block size::). The
BLOCKS computed counts each hard link separately; this is arguably
a deficiency.
The permissions listed are similar to symbolic mode specifications
(*note Symbolic Modes::). But `ls' combines multiple bits into the
third character of each set of permissions as follows:
`s'
If the setuid or setgid bit and the corresponding executable
bit are both set.
`S'
If the setuid or setgid bit is set but the corresponding
executable bit is not set.
`t'
If the sticky bit and the other-executable bit are both set.
`T'
If the sticky bit is set but the other-executable bit is not
set.
`x'
If the executable bit is set and none of the above apply.
`-'
Otherwise.
Following the permission bits is a single character that specifies
whether an alternate access method applies to the file. When that
character is a space, there is no alternate access method. When it
is a printing character (e.g., `+'), then there is such a method.
`-n'
`--numeric-uid-gid'
Produce long format directory listings, but display numeric UIDs
and GIDs instead of the owner and group names.
`-o'
Produce long format directory listings, but don't display group
information. It is equivalent to using `--format=long' with
`--no-group' .
`-s'
`--size'
Print the disk allocation of each file to the left of the file
name. This is the amount of disk space used by the file, which is
usually a bit more than the file's size, but it can be less if the
file has holes.
Normally the disk allocation is printed in units of 1024 bytes,
but this can be overridden (*note Block size::).
For files that are NFS-mounted from an HP-UX system to a BSD
system, this option reports sizes that are half the correct
values. On HP-UX systems, it reports sizes that are twice the
correct values for files that are NFS-mounted from BSD systems.
This is due to a flaw in HP-UX; it also affects the HP-UX `ls'
program.
`--si'
Append an SI-style abbreviation to each size, such as `MB' for
megabytes. Powers of 1000 are used, not 1024; `MB' stands for
1,000,000 bytes. This option is equivalent to `--block-size=si'.
Use the `-h' or `--human-readable' option if you prefer powers of
1024.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Sorting the output, Next: More details about version sort, Prev: What information is listed, Up: ls invocation
10.1.3 Sorting the output
-------------------------
These options change the order in which `ls' sorts the information it
outputs. By default, sorting is done by character code (e.g., ASCII
order).
`-c'
`--time=ctime'
`--time=status'
`--time=use'
If the long listing format (e.g., `-l', `-o') is being used, print
the status change time (the `ctime' in the inode) instead of the
modification time. When explicitly sorting by time (`--sort=time'
or `-t') or when not using a long listing format, sort according
to the status change time.
`-f'
Primarily, like `-U'--do not sort; list the files in whatever
order they are stored in the directory. But also enable `-a' (list
all files) and disable `-l', `--color', and `-s' (if they were
specified before the `-f').
`-r'
`--reverse'
Reverse whatever the sorting method is--e.g., list files in reverse
alphabetical order, youngest first, smallest first, or whatever.
`-S'
`--sort=size'
Sort by file size, largest first.
`-t'
`--sort=time'
Sort by modification time (the `mtime' in the inode), newest first.
`-u'
`--time=atime'
`--time=access'
If the long listing format (e.g., `--format=long') is being used,
print the last access time (the `atime' in the inode). When
explicitly sorting by time (`--sort=time' or `-t') or when not
using a long listing format, sort according to the access time.
`-U'
`--sort=none'
Do not sort; list the files in whatever order they are stored in
the directory. (Do not do any of the other unrelated things that
`-f' does.) This is especially useful when listing very large
directories, since not doing any sorting can be noticeably faster.
`-v'
`--sort=version'
Sort by version name and number, lowest first. It behaves like a
default sort, except that each sequence of decimal digits is
treated numerically as an index/version number. (*Note More
details about version sort::.)
`-X'
`--sort=extension'
Sort directory contents alphabetically by file extension
(characters after the last `.'); files with no extension are
sorted first.
File: coreutils.info, Node: More details about version sort, Next: General output formatting, Prev: Sorting the output, Up: ls invocation
10.1.4 More details about version sort
--------------------------------------
The version sort takes into account the fact that file names frequently
include indices or version numbers. Standard sorting functions usually
do not produce the ordering that people expect because comparisons are
made on a character-by-character basis. The version sort addresses
this problem, and is especially useful when browsing directories that
contain many files with indices/version numbers in their names:
> ls -1 > ls -1v
foo.zml-1.gz foo.zml-1.gz
foo.zml-100.gz foo.zml-2.gz
foo.zml-12.gz foo.zml-6.gz
foo.zml-13.gz foo.zml-12.gz
foo.zml-2.gz foo.zml-13.gz
foo.zml-25.gz foo.zml-25.gz
foo.zml-6.gz foo.zml-100.gz
Note also that numeric parts with leading zeroes are considered as
fractional one:
> ls -1 > ls -1v
abc-1.007.tgz abc-1.007.tgz
abc-1.012b.tgz abc-1.01a.tgz
abc-1.01a.tgz abc-1.012b.tgz
This functionality is implemented using the `strverscmp' function.
*Note String/Array Comparison: (libc)String/Array Comparison. One
result of that implementation decision is that `ls -v' does not use the
locale category, `LC_COLLATE'. As a result, non-numeric prefixes are
sorted as if `LC_COLLATE' were set to `C'.
File: coreutils.info, Node: General output formatting, Next: Formatting file timestamps, Prev: More details about version sort, Up: ls invocation
10.1.5 General output formatting
--------------------------------
These options affect the appearance of the overall output.
`-1'
`--format=single-column'
List one file per line. This is the default for `ls' when standard
output is not a terminal.
`-C'
`--format=vertical'
List files in columns, sorted vertically. This is the default for
`ls' if standard output is a terminal. It is always the default
for the `dir' and `d' programs. GNU `ls' uses variable width
columns to display as many files as possible in the fewest lines.
`--color [=WHEN]'
Specify whether to use color for distinguishing file types. WHEN
may be omitted, or one of:
* none - Do not use color at all. This is the default.
* auto - Only use color if standard output is a terminal.
* always - Always use color.
Specifying `--color' and no WHEN is equivalent to `--color=always'.
Piping a colorized listing through a pager like `more' or `less'
usually produces unreadable results. However, using `more -f'
does seem to work.
`-F'
`--classify'
`--indicator-style=classify'
Append a character to each file name indicating the file type.
Also, for regular files that are executable, append `*'. The file
type indicators are `/' for directories, `@' for symbolic links,
`|' for FIFOs, `=' for sockets, and nothing for regular files. Do
not follow symbolic links listed on the command line unless the
`--dereference-command-line' (`-H'), `--dereference' (`-L'), or
`--dereference-command-line-symlink-to-dir' options are specified.
`--indicator-style=WORD'
Append a character indicator with style WORD to entry names, as
follows:
`none'
Do not append any character indicator; this is the default.
`file-type'
Append `/' for directories, `@' for symbolic links, `|' for
FIFOs, `=' for sockets, and nothing for regular files. This
is the same as the `-p' or `--file-type' option.
`classify'
Append `*' for executable regular files, otherwise behave as
for `file-type'. This is the same as the `-F' or
`--classify' option.
`-k'
Print file sizes in 1024-byte blocks, overriding the default block
size (*note Block size::). This option is equivalent to
`--block-size=1K'.
`-m'
`--format=commas'
List files horizontally, with as many as will fit on each line,
separated by `, ' (a comma and a space).
`-p'
`--file-type'
`--indicator-style=file-type'
Append a character to each file name indicating the file type.
This is like `-F', except that executables are not marked.
`-x FORMAT'
`--format=across'
`--format=horizontal'
List the files in columns, sorted horizontally.
`-T COLS'
`--tabsize=COLS'
Assume that each tabstop is COLS columns wide. The default is 8.
`ls' uses tabs where possible in the output, for efficiency. If
COLS is zero, do not use tabs at all.
`-w'
`--width=COLS'
Assume the screen is COLS columns wide. The default is taken from
the terminal settings if possible; otherwise the environment
variable `COLUMNS' is used if it is set; otherwise the default is
80.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Formatting file timestamps, Next: Formatting the file names, Prev: General output formatting, Up: ls invocation
10.1.6 Formatting file timestamps
---------------------------------
By default, file timestamps are listed in abbreviated form. Most
locales use a timestamp like `2002-03-30 23:45'. However, the default
POSIX locale uses a date like `Mar 30 2002' for non-recent timestamps,
and a date-without-year and time like `Mar 30 23:45' for recent
timestamps.
A timestamp is considered to be "recent" if it is less than six
months old, and is not dated in the future. If a timestamp dated today
is not listed in recent form, the timestamp is in the future, which
means you probably have clock skew problems which may break programs
like `make' that rely on file timestamps.
The following option changes how file timestamps are printed.
`--time-style=STYLE'
List timestamps in style STYLE. The STYLE should be one of the
following:
`+FORMAT'
List timestamps using FORMAT, where FORMAT is interpreted
like the format argument of `date' (*note date invocation::).
For example, `--time-style="+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S"' causes `ls'
to list timestamps like `2002-03-30 23:45:56'. As with
`date', FORMAT's interpretation is affected by the `LC_TIME'
locale category.
If FORMAT contains two format strings separated by a newline,
the former is used for non-recent files and the latter for
recent files; if you want output columns to line up, you may
need to insert spaces in one of the two formats.
`full-iso'
List timestamps in full using ISO 8601 date, time, and time
zone format with nanosecond precision, e.g., `2002-03-30
23:45:56.477817180 -0700'. This style is equivalent to
`+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S.%N %z'.
This is useful because the time output includes all the
information that is available from the operating system. For
example, this can help explain `make''s behavior, since GNU
`make' uses the full timestamp to determine whether a file is
out of date.
`long-iso'
List ISO 8601 date and time in minutes, e.g., `2002-03-30
23:45'. These timestamps are shorter than `full-iso'
timestamps, and are usually good enough for everyday work.
This style is equivalent to `%Y-%m-%d %H:%M'.
`iso'
List ISO 8601 dates for non-recent timestamps (e.g.,
`2002-03-30 '), and ISO 8601 month, day, hour, and minute for
recent timestamps (e.g., `03-30 23:45'). These timestamps
are uglier than `long-iso' timestamps, but they carry nearly
the same information in a smaller space and their brevity
helps `ls' output fit within traditional 80-column output
lines. The following two `ls' invocations are equivalent:
newline='
'
ls -l --time-style="+%Y-%m-%d $newline%m-%d %H:%M"
ls -l --time-style="iso"
`locale'
List timestamps in a locale-dependent form. For example, a
Finnish locale might list non-recent timestamps like `maalis
30 2002' and recent timestamps like `maalis 30 23:45'.
Locale-dependent timestamps typically consume more space than
`iso' timestamps and are harder for programs to parse because
locale conventions vary so widely, but they are easier for
many people to read.
The `LC_TIME' locale category specifies the timestamp format.
The default POSIX locale uses timestamps like `Mar 30 2002'
and `Mar 30 23:45'; in this locale, the following two `ls'
invocations are equivalent:
newline='
'
ls -l --time-style="+%b %e %Y$newline%b %e %H:%M"
ls -l --time-style="locale"
Other locales behave differently. For example, in a German
locale, `--time-style="locale"' might be equivalent to
`--time-style="+%e. %b %Y $newline%e. %b %H:%M"' and might
generate timestamps like `30. Ma"r 2002 ' and `30. Ma"r
23:45'.
`posix-STYLE'
List POSIX-locale timestamps if the `LC_TIME' locale category
is POSIX, STYLE timestamps otherwise. For example, the
default style, which is `posix-long-iso', lists timestamps
like `Mar 30 2002' and `Mar 30 23:45' when in the POSIX
locale, and like `2002-03-30 23:45' otherwise.
You can specify the default value of the `--time-style' option with
the environment variable `TIME_STYLE'; if `TIME_STYLE' is not set the
default style is `posix-long-iso'. GNU Emacs 21 and later can parse
ISO dates, but older Emacs versions do not, so if you are using an
older version of Emacs and specify a non-POSIX locale, you may need to
set `TIME_STYLE="locale"'.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Formatting the file names, Prev: Formatting file timestamps, Up: ls invocation
10.1.7 Formatting the file names
--------------------------------
These options change how file names themselves are printed.
`-b'
`--escape'
`--quoting-style=escape'
Quote nongraphic characters in file names using alphabetic and
octal backslash sequences like those used in C.
`-N'
`--literal'
`--quoting-style=literal'
Do not quote file names.
`-q'
`--hide-control-chars'
Print question marks instead of nongraphic characters in file
names. This is the default if the output is a terminal and the
program is `ls'.
`-Q'
`--quote-name'
`--quoting-style=c'
Enclose file names in double quotes and quote nongraphic
characters as in C.
`--quoting-style=WORD'
Use style WORD to quote file names and other strings that may
contain arbitrary characters. The WORD should be one of the
following:
`literal'
Output strings as-is; this is the same as the `-N' or
`--literal' option.
`shell'
Quote strings for the shell if they contain shell
metacharacters or would cause ambiguous output. The quoting
is suitable for POSIX-compatible shells like `bash', but it
does not always work for incompatible shells like `csh'.
`shell-always'
Quote strings for the shell, even if they would normally not
require quoting.
`c'
Quote strings as for C character string literals, including
the surrounding double-quote characters; this is the same as
the `-Q' or `--quote-name' option.
`escape'
Quote strings as for C character string literals, except omit
the surrounding double-quote characters; this is the same as
the `-b' or `--escape' option.
`clocale'
Quote strings as for C character string literals, except use
surrounding quotation marks appropriate for the locale.
`locale'
Quote strings as for C character string literals, except use
surrounding quotation marks appropriate for the locale, and
quote `like this' instead of "like this" in the default C
locale. This looks nicer on many displays.
You can specify the default value of the `--quoting-style' option
with the environment variable `QUOTING_STYLE'. If that environment
variable is not set, the default value is `literal', but this
default may change to `shell' in a future version of this package.
`--show-control-chars'
Print nongraphic characters as-is in file names. This is the
default unless the output is a terminal and the program is `ls'.
File: coreutils.info, Node: dir invocation, Next: vdir invocation, Prev: ls invocation, Up: Directory listing
10.2 `dir': Briefly list directory contents
===========================================
`dir' (also installed as `d') is equivalent to `ls -C -b'; that is, by
default files are listed in columns, sorted vertically, and special
characters are represented by backslash escape sequences.
*Note `ls': ls invocation.
File: coreutils.info, Node: vdir invocation, Next: dircolors invocation, Prev: dir invocation, Up: Directory listing
10.3 `vdir': Verbosely list directory contents
==============================================
`vdir' (also installed as `v') is equivalent to `ls -l -b'; that is, by
default files are listed in long format and special characters are
represented by backslash escape sequences.
File: coreutils.info, Node: dircolors invocation, Prev: vdir invocation, Up: Directory listing
10.4 `dircolors': Color setup for `ls'
======================================
`dircolors' outputs a sequence of shell commands to set up the terminal
for color output from `ls' (and `dir', etc.). Typical usage:
eval `dircolors [OPTION]... [FILE]`
If FILE is specified, `dircolors' reads it to determine which colors
to use for which file types and extensions. Otherwise, a precompiled
database is used. For details on the format of these files, run
`dircolors --print-database'.
The output is a shell command to set the `LS_COLORS' environment
variable. You can specify the shell syntax to use on the command line,
or `dircolors' will guess it from the value of the `SHELL' environment
variable.
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-b'
`--sh'
`--bourne-shell'
Output Bourne shell commands. This is the default if the `SHELL'
environment variable is set and does not end with `csh' or `tcsh'.
`-c'
`--csh'
`--c-shell'
Output C shell commands. This is the default if `SHELL' ends with
`csh' or `tcsh'.
`-p'
`--print-database'
Print the (compiled-in) default color configuration database. This
output is itself a valid configuration file, and is fairly
descriptive of the possibilities.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Basic operations, Next: Special file types, Prev: Directory listing, Up: Top
11 Basic operations
*******************
This chapter describes the commands for basic file manipulation:
copying, moving (renaming), and deleting (removing).
* Menu:
* cp invocation:: Copy files.
* dd invocation:: Convert and copy a file.
* install invocation:: Copy files and set attributes.
* mv invocation:: Move (rename) files.
* rm invocation:: Remove files or directories.
* shred invocation:: Remove files more securely.
File: coreutils.info, Node: cp invocation, Next: dd invocation, Up: Basic operations
11.1 `cp': Copy files and directories
=====================================
`cp' copies files (or, optionally, directories). The copy is
completely independent of the original. You can either copy one file to
another, or copy arbitrarily many files to a destination directory.
Synopsis:
cp [OPTION]... SOURCE DEST
cp [OPTION]... SOURCE... DIRECTORY
If the last argument names an existing directory, `cp' copies each
SOURCE file into that directory (retaining the same name). Otherwise,
if only two files are given, it copies the first onto the second. It
is an error if the last argument is not a directory and more than two
non-option arguments are given.
Generally, files are written just as they are read. For exceptions,
see the `--sparse' option below.
By default, `cp' does not copy directories. However, the `-R',
`-a', and `-r' options cause `cp' to copy recursively by descending
into source directories and copying files to corresponding destination
directories.
By default, `cp' follows symbolic links only when not copying
recursively. This default can be overridden with the `--archive'
(`-a'), `-d', `--dereference' (`-L'), `--no-dereference' (`-P'), and
`-H' options. If more than one of these options is specified, the last
one silently overrides the others.
By default, `cp' copies the contents of special files only when not
copying recursively. This default can be overridden with the
`--copy-contents' option.
`cp' generally refuses to copy a file onto itself, with the
following exception: if `--force --backup' is specified with SOURCE and
DEST identical, and referring to a regular file, `cp' will make a
backup file, either regular or numbered, as specified in the usual ways
(*note Backup options::). This is useful when you simply want to make
a backup of an existing file before changing it.
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-a'
`--archive'
Preserve as much as possible of the structure and attributes of the
original files in the copy (but do not attempt to preserve internal
directory structure; i.e., `ls -U' may list the entries in a copied
directory in a different order). Equivalent to `-dpPR'.
`-b'
`--backup[=METHOD]'
*Note Backup options::. Make a backup of each file that would
otherwise be overwritten or removed. As a special case, `cp'
makes a backup of SOURCE when the force and backup options are
given and SOURCE and DEST are the same name for an existing,
regular file. One useful application of this combination of
options is this tiny Bourne shell script:
#!/bin/sh
# Usage: backup FILE...
# Create a GNU-style backup of each listed FILE.
for i; do
cp --backup --force "$i" "$i"
done
`--copy-contents'
If copying recursively, copy the contents of any special files
(e.g., FIFOs and device files) as if they were regular files.
This means trying to read the data in each source file and writing
it to the destination. It is usually a mistake to use this
option, as it normally has undesirable effects on special files
like FIFOs and the ones typically found in the `/dev' directory.
In most cases, `cp -R --copy-contents' will hang indefinitely
trying to read from FIFOs and special files like `/dev/console',
and it will fill up your destination disk if you use it to copy
`/dev/zero'. This option has no effect unless copying
recursively, and it does not affect the copying of symbolic links.
`-d'
Copy symbolic links as symbolic links rather than copying the
files that they point to, and preserve hard links between source
files in the copies. Equivalent to `--no-dereference
--preserve=links'.
`-f'
`--force'
When copying without this option and an existing destination file
cannot be opened for writing, the copy fails. However, with
`--force'), when a destination file cannot be opened, `cp' then
unlinks it and tries to open it again. Contrast this behavior
with that enabled by `--link' and `--symbolic-link', whereby the
destination file is never opened but rather is unlinked
unconditionally. Also see the description of
`--remove-destination'.
`-H'
If a command line argument specifies a symbolic link, then copy the
file it points to rather than the symbolic link itself. However,
copy (preserving its nature) any symbolic link that is encountered
via recursive traversal.
`-i'
`--interactive'
Prompt whether to overwrite existing regular destination files.
`-l'
`--link'
Make hard links instead of copies of non-directories.
`-L'
`--dereference'
Always follow symbolic links.
`-P'
`--no-dereference'
Copy symbolic links as symbolic links rather than copying the
files that they point to.
`-p'
`--preserve[=ATTRIBUTE_LIST]'
Preserve the specified attributes of the original files. If
specified, the ATTRIBUTE_LIST must be a comma-separated list of
one or more of the following strings:
`mode'
Preserve the permission attributes.
`ownership'
Preserve the owner and group. On most modern systems, only
the super-user may change the owner of a file, and regular
users may preserve the group ownership of a file only if they
happen to be a member of the desired group.
`timestamps'
Preserve the times of last access and last modification.
`links'
Preserve in the destination files any links between
corresponding source files.
`all'
Preserve all file attributes. Equivalent to specifying all
of the above.
Using `--preserve' with no ATTRIBUTE_LIST is equivalent to
`--preserve=mode,ownership,timestamps'.
In the absence of this option, each destination file is created
with the permissions of the corresponding source file, minus the
bits set in the umask and minus the set-user-id and set-group-id
bits. *Note File permissions::.
`--no-preserve=ATTRIBUTE_LIST'
Do not preserve the specified attributes. The ATTRIBUTE_LIST has
the same form as for `--preserve'.
`--parents'
Form the name of each destination file by appending to the target
directory a slash and the specified name of the source file. The
last argument given to `cp' must be the name of an existing
directory. For example, the command:
cp --parents a/b/c existing_dir
copies the file `a/b/c' to `existing_dir/a/b/c', creating any
missing intermediate directories.
`--reply[=HOW]'
Using `--reply=yes' makes `cp' act as if `yes' were given as a
response to every prompt about a destination file. That
effectively cancels any preceding `--interactive' or `-i' option.
Specify `--reply=no' to make `cp' act as if `no' were given as a
response to every prompt about a destination file. Specify
`--reply=query' to make `cp' prompt the user about each existing
destination file.
`-R'
`-r'
`--recursive'
Copy directories recursively. Symbolic links are not followed by
default; see the `--archive' (`-a'), `-d', `--dereference' (`-L'),
`--no-dereference' (`-P'), and `-H' options. Special files are
copied by creating a destination file of the same type as the
source; see the `--copy-contents' option. It is not portable to
use `-r' to copy symbolic links or special files. On some non-GNU
systems, `-r' implies the equivalent of `-L' and `--copy-contents'
for historical reasons. Also, it is not portable to use `-R' to
copy symbolic links unless you also specify `-P', as POSIX allows
implementations that dereference symbolic links by default.
`--remove-destination'
Remove each existing destination file before attempting to open it
(contrast with `-f' above).
`--sparse=WHEN'
A "sparse file" contains "holes"--a sequence of zero bytes that
does not occupy any physical disk blocks; the `read' system call
reads these as zeroes. This can both save considerable disk space
and increase speed, since many binary files contain lots of
consecutive zero bytes. By default, `cp' detects holes in input
source files via a crude heuristic and makes the corresponding
output file sparse as well. Only regular files may be sparse.
The WHEN value can be one of the following:
`auto'
The default behavior: if the input file is sparse, attempt to
make the output file sparse, too. However, if an output file
exists but refers to a non-regular file, then do not attempt
to make it sparse.
`always'
For each sufficiently long sequence of zero bytes in the
input file, attempt to create a corresponding hole in the
output file, even if the input file does not appear to be
sparse. This is useful when the input file resides on a
filesystem that does not support sparse files (for example,
`efs' filesystems in SGI IRIX 5.3 and earlier), but the
output file is on a type of filesystem that does support them.
Holes may be created only in regular files, so if the
destination file is of some other type, `cp' does not even
try to make it sparse.
`never'
Never make the output file sparse. This is useful in
creating a file for use with the `mkswap' command, since such
a file must not have any holes.
`--strip-trailing-slashes'
Remove any trailing slashes from each SOURCE argument. *Note
Trailing slashes::.
`-s'
`--symbolic-link'
Make symbolic links instead of copies of non-directories. All
source file names must be absolute (starting with `/') unless the
destination files are in the current directory. This option merely
results in an error message on systems that do not support
symbolic links.
`-S SUFFIX'
`--suffix=SUFFIX'
Append SUFFIX to each backup file made with `-b'. *Note Backup
options::.
`--target-directory=DIRECTORY'
Specify the destination DIRECTORY. *Note Target directory::.
`-v'
`--verbose'
Print the name of each file before copying it.
`-V METHOD'
`--version-control=METHOD'
Change the type of backups made with `-b'. The METHOD argument
can be `none' (or `off'), `numbered' (or `t'), `existing' (or
`nil'), or `never' (or `simple'). *Note Backup options::.
`-x'
`--one-file-system'
Skip subdirectories that are on different filesystems from the one
that the copy started on. However, mount point directories _are_
copied.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: dd invocation, Next: install invocation, Prev: cp invocation, Up: Basic operations
11.2 `dd': Convert and copy a file
==================================
`dd' copies a file (from standard input to standard output, by default)
with a changeable I/O block size, while optionally performing
conversions on it. Synopsis:
dd [OPTION]...
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
The numeric-valued options below (BYTES and BLOCKS) can be followed
by a multiplier: `b'=512, `c'=1, `w'=2, `xM'=M, or any of the standard
block size suffixes like `k'=1024 (*note Block size::).
Use different `dd' invocations to use different block sizes for
skipping and I/O. For example, the following shell commands copy data
in 512 KiB blocks between a disk and a tape, but do not save or restore
a 4 KiB label at the start of the disk:
disk=/dev/rdsk/c0t1d0s2
tape=/dev/rmt/0
# Copy all but the label from disk to tape.
(dd bs=4k skip=1 count=0 && dd bs=512k) <$disk >$tape
# Copy from tape back to disk, but leave the disk label alone.
(dd bs=4k seek=1 count=0 && dd bs=512k) <$tape >$disk
Note that sending a `SIGUSR1' signal to a running `dd' process makes
it print to standard error the number of records read and written so
far, then to resume copying. In the example below, `dd' is run in the
background to copy 10 million blocks. The `kill' command makes it
output the first pair of intermediate record counts, and when `dd'
completes, it outputs the final pair.
$ dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/null count=10M & pid=$!
$ kill -USR1 $pid; sleep 99
5403604+0 records in
5403604+0 records out
10485760+0 records in
10485760+0 records out
`if=FILE'
Read from FILE instead of standard input.
`of=FILE'
Write to FILE instead of standard output. Unless `conv=notrunc'
is given, `dd' truncates FILE to zero bytes (or the size specified
with `seek=').
`ibs=BYTES'
Read BYTES bytes at a time.
`obs=BYTES'
Write BYTES bytes at a time.
`bs=BYTES'
Both read and write BYTES bytes at a time. This overrides `ibs'
and `obs'.
`cbs=BYTES'
Convert BYTES bytes at a time.
`skip=BLOCKS'
Skip BLOCKS `ibs'-byte blocks in the input file before copying.
`seek=BLOCKS'
Skip BLOCKS `obs'-byte blocks in the output file before copying.
`count=BLOCKS'
Copy BLOCKS `ibs'-byte blocks from the input file, instead of
everything until the end of the file.
`conv=CONVERSION[,CONVERSION]...'
Convert the file as specified by the CONVERSION argument(s). (No
spaces around any comma(s).)
Conversions:
`ascii'
Convert EBCDIC to ASCII.
`ebcdic'
Convert ASCII to EBCDIC.
`ibm'
Convert ASCII to alternate EBCDIC.
`block'
For each line in the input, output `cbs' bytes, replacing the
input newline with a space and padding with spaces as
necessary.
`unblock'
Replace trailing spaces in each `cbs'-sized input block with a
newline.
`lcase'
Change uppercase letters to lowercase.
`ucase'
Change lowercase letters to uppercase.
`swab'
Swap every pair of input bytes. GNU `dd', unlike others,
works when an odd number of bytes are read--the last byte is
simply copied (since there is nothing to swap it with).
`noerror'
Continue after read errors.
`notrunc'
Do not truncate the output file.
`sync'
Pad every input block to size of `ibs' with trailing zero
bytes. When used with `block' or `unblock', pad with spaces
instead of zero bytes.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: install invocation, Next: mv invocation, Prev: dd invocation, Up: Basic operations
11.3 `install': Copy files and set attributes
=============================================
`install' copies files while setting their permission modes and, if
possible, their owner and group. Synopses:
install [OPTION]... SOURCE DEST
install [OPTION]... SOURCE... DIRECTORY
install -d [OPTION]... DIRECTORY...
In the first of these, the SOURCE file is copied to the DEST target
file. In the second, each of the SOURCE files are copied to the
destination DIRECTORY. In the last, each DIRECTORY (and any missing
parent directories) is created.
`install' is similar to `cp', but allows you to control the
attributes of destination files. It is typically used in Makefiles to
copy programs into their destination directories. It refuses to copy
files onto themselves.
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-b'
`--backup[=METHOD]'
*Note Backup options::. Make a backup of each file that would
otherwise be overwritten or removed.
`-c'
Ignored; for compatibility with old Unix versions of `install'.
`-d'
`--directory'
Create each given directory and any missing parent directories,
setting the owner, group and mode as given on the command line or
to the defaults. It also gives any parent directories it creates
those attributes. (This is different from the SunOS 4.x
`install', which gives directories that it creates the default
attributes.)
`-g GROUP'
`--group=GROUP'
Set the group ownership of installed files or directories to
GROUP. The default is the process' current group. GROUP may be
either a group name or a numeric group id.
`-m MODE'
`--mode=MODE'
Set the permissions for the installed file or directory to MODE,
which can be either an octal number, or a symbolic mode as in
`chmod', with 0 as the point of departure (*note File
permissions::). The default mode is `u=rwx,go=rx'--read, write,
and execute for the owner, and read and execute for group and
other.
`-o OWNER'
`--owner=OWNER'
If `install' has appropriate privileges (is run as root), set the
ownership of installed files or directories to OWNER. The default
is `root'. OWNER may be either a user name or a numeric user ID.
`-p'
`--preserve-timestamps'
Set the time of last access and the time of last modification of
each installed file to match those of each corresponding original
file. When a file is installed without this option, its last
access and last modification times are both set to the time of
installation. This option is useful if you want to use the last
modification times of installed files to keep track of when they
were last built as opposed to when they were last installed.
`-s'
`--strip'
Strip the symbol tables from installed binary executables.
`-S SUFFIX'
`--suffix=SUFFIX'
Append SUFFIX to each backup file made with `-b'. *Note Backup
options::.
`--target-directory=DIRECTORY'
Specify the destination DIRECTORY. *Note Target directory::.
`-v'
`--verbose'
Print the name of each file before copying it.
`-V METHOD'
`--version-control=METHOD'
Change the type of backups made with `-b'. The METHOD argument
can be `none' (or `off'), `numbered' (or `t'), `existing' (or
`nil'), or `never' (or `simple'). *Note Backup options::.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: mv invocation, Next: rm invocation, Prev: install invocation, Up: Basic operations
11.4 `mv': Move (rename) files
==============================
`mv' moves or renames files (or directories). Synopsis:
mv [OPTION]... SOURCE DEST
mv [OPTION]... SOURCE... DIRECTORY
If the last argument names an existing directory, `mv' moves each
other given file into a file with the same name in that directory.
Otherwise, if only two files are given, it renames the first as the
second. It is an error if the last argument is not a directory and
more than two files are given.
`mv' can move any type of file from one filesystem to another.
Prior to version `4.0' of the fileutils, `mv' could move only regular
files between filesystems. For example, now `mv' can move an entire
directory hierarchy including special device files from one partition
to another. It first uses some of the same code that's used by `cp -a'
to copy the requested directories and files, then (assuming the copy
succeeded) it removes the originals. If the copy fails, then the part
that was copied to the destination partition is removed. If you were
to copy three directories from one partition to another and the copy of
the first directory succeeded, but the second didn't, the first would
be left on the destination partition and the second and third would be
left on the original partition.
If a destination file exists but is normally unwritable, standard
input is a terminal, and the `-f' or `--force' option is not given,
`mv' prompts the user for whether to replace the file. (You might own
the file, or have write permission on its directory.) If the response
does not begin with `y' or `Y', the file is skipped.
_Warning_: If you try to move a symlink that points to a directory,
and you specify the symlink with a trailing slash, then `mv' doesn't
move the symlink but instead moves the directory referenced by the
symlink. *Note Trailing slashes::.
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-b'
`--backup[=METHOD]'
*Note Backup options::. Make a backup of each file that would
otherwise be overwritten or removed.
`-f'
`--force'
Do not prompt the user before removing a destination file.
`-i'
`--interactive'
Prompt whether to overwrite each existing destination file,
regardless of its permissions. If the response does not begin
with `y' or `Y', the file is skipped.
`--reply[=HOW]'
Specifying `--reply=yes' is equivalent to using `--force'.
Specify `--reply=no' to make `mv' act as if `no' were given as a
response to every prompt about a destination file. Specify
`--reply=query' to make `mv' prompt the user about each existing
destination file.
`-u'
`--update'
Do not move a non-directory that has an existing destination with
the same or newer modification time.
`-v'
`--verbose'
Print the name of each file before moving it.
`--strip-trailing-slashes'
Remove any trailing slashes from each SOURCE argument. *Note
Trailing slashes::.
`-S SUFFIX'
`--suffix=SUFFIX'
Append SUFFIX to each backup file made with `-b'. *Note Backup
options::.
`--target-directory=DIRECTORY'
Specify the destination DIRECTORY. *Note Target directory::.
`-V METHOD'
`--version-control=METHOD'
Change the type of backups made with `-b'. The METHOD argument
can be `none' (or `off'), `numbered' (or `t'), `existing' (or
`nil'), or `never' (or `simple'). *Note Backup options::.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: rm invocation, Next: shred invocation, Prev: mv invocation, Up: Basic operations
11.5 `rm': Remove files or directories
======================================
`rm' removes each given FILE. By default, it does not remove
directories. Synopsis:
rm [OPTION]... [FILE]...
If a file is unwritable, standard input is a terminal, and the `-f'
or `--force' option is not given, or the `-i' or `--interactive' option
_is_ given, `rm' prompts the user for whether to remove the file. If
the response does not begin with `y' or `Y', the file is skipped.
_Warning_: If you use `rm' to remove a file, it is usually possible
to recover the contents of that file. If you want more assurance that
the contents are truly unrecoverable, consider using `shred'.
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-d'
`--directory'
Attempt to remove directories using the `unlink' function rather
than the `rmdir' function, and don't require a directory to be
empty before trying to unlink it. This works only if you have
appropriate privileges and if your operating system supports
`unlink' for directories. Because unlinking a directory causes
any files in the deleted directory to become unreferenced, it is
wise to `fsck' the filesystem after doing this.
`-f'
`--force'
Ignore nonexistent files and never prompt the user. Ignore any
previous `--interactive' (`-i') option.
`-i'
`--interactive'
Prompt whether to remove each file. If the response does not begin
with `y' or `Y', the file is skipped. Ignore any previous
`--force' (`-f') option.
`--preserve-root'
Fail upon any attempt to remove the filesystem root, `/', when
used with the `--recursive' option. Without `--recursive', this
option has no effect. *Note Treating / specially::.
`--no-preserve-root'
Cancel the effect of any preceding `--preserve-root' option.
*Note Treating / specially::.
`-r'
`-R'
`--recursive'
Remove the contents of directories recursively.
`-v'
`--verbose'
Print the name of each file before removing it.
One common question is how to remove files whose names begin with a
`-'. GNU `rm', like every program that uses the `getopt' function to
parse its arguments, lets you use the `--' option to indicate that all
following arguments are non-options. To remove a file called `-f' in
the current directory, you could type either:
rm -- -f
or:
rm ./-f
The Unix `rm' program's use of a single `-' for this purpose
predates the development of the getopt standard syntax.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: shred invocation, Prev: rm invocation, Up: Basic operations
11.6 `shred': Remove files more securely
========================================
`shred' overwrites devices or files, to help prevent even very
expensive hardware from recovering the data.
Ordinarily when you remove a file (*note rm invocation::), the data
is not actually destroyed. Only the index listing where the file is
stored is destroyed, and the storage is made available for reuse.
There are undelete utilities that will attempt to reconstruct the index
and can bring the file back if the parts were not reused.
On a busy system with a nearly-full drive, space can get reused in a
few seconds. But there is no way to know for sure. If you have
sensitive data, you may want to be sure that recovery is not possible
by actually overwriting the file with non-sensitive data.
However, even after doing that, it is possible to take the disk back
to a laboratory and use a lot of sensitive (and expensive) equipment to
look for the faint "echoes" of the original data underneath the
overwritten data. If the data has only been overwritten once, it's not
even that hard.
The best way to remove something irretrievably is to destroy the
media it's on with acid, melt it down, or the like. For cheap
removable media like floppy disks, this is the preferred method.
However, hard drives are expensive and hard to melt, so the `shred'
utility tries to achieve a similar effect non-destructively.
This uses many overwrite passes, with the data patterns chosen to
maximize the damage they do to the old data. While this will work on
floppies, the patterns are designed for best effect on hard drives.
For more details, see the source code and Peter Gutmann's paper `Secure
Deletion of Data from Magnetic and Solid-State Memory', from the
proceedings of the Sixth USENIX Security Symposium (San Jose,
California, 22-25 July, 1996). The paper is also available online
`http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/secure_del.html'.
*Please note* that `shred' relies on a very important assumption:
that the filesystem overwrites data in place. This is the traditional
way to do things, but many modern filesystem designs do not satisfy this
assumption. Exceptions include:
* Log-structured or journaled filesystems, such as those supplied
with AIX and Solaris, and JFS, ReiserFS, XFS, Ext3, etc.
* Filesystems that write redundant data and carry on even if some
writes fail, such as RAID-based filesystems.
* Filesystems that make snapshots, such as Network Appliance's NFS
server.
* Filesystems that cache in temporary locations, such as NFS version
3 clients.
* Compressed filesystems.
If you are not sure how your filesystem operates, then you should
assume that it does not overwrite data in place, which means that shred
cannot reliably operate on regular files in your filesystem.
Generally speaking, it is more reliable to shred a device than a
file, since this bypasses the problem of filesystem design mentioned
above. However, even shredding devices is not always completely
reliable. For example, most disks map out bad sectors invisibly to the
application; if the bad sectors contain sensitive data, `shred' won't
be able to destroy it.
`shred' makes no attempt to detect or report this problem, just as
it makes no attempt to do anything about backups. However, since it is
more reliable to shred devices than files, `shred' by default does not
truncate or remove the output file. This default is more suitable for
devices, which typically cannot be truncated and should not be removed.
Finally, consider the risk of backups and mirrors. File system
backups and remote mirrors may contain copies of the file that cannot
be removed, and that will allow a shredded file to be recovered later.
So if you keep any data you may later want to destroy using `shred', be
sure that it is not backed up or mirrored.
shred [OPTION]... FILE[...]
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-f'
`--force'
Override file permissions if necessary to allow overwriting.
`-NUMBER'
`-n NUMBER'
`--iterations=NUMBER'
By default, `shred' uses 25 passes of overwrite. This is enough
for all of the useful overwrite patterns to be used at least once.
You can reduce this to save time, or increase it if you have a lot
of time to waste.
`-s BYTES'
`--size=BYTES'
Shred the first BYTES bytes of the file. The default is to shred
the whole file. BYTES can be followed by a size specification like
`K', `M', or `G' to specify a multiple. *Note Block size::.
`-u'
`--remove'
After shredding a file, truncate it (if possible) and then remove
it. If a file has multiple links, only the named links will be
removed.
`-v'
`--verbose'
Display status updates as sterilization proceeds.
`-x'
`--exact'
By default, `shred' rounds the size of a regular file up to the
next multiple of the filesystem block size to fully erase the last
block of the file. Use `--exact' to suppress that behavior.
Thus, by default if you shred a 10-byte regular file on a system
with 512-byte blocks, the resulting file will be 512 bytes long.
With this option, shred does not increase the apparent size of the
file.
`-z'
`--zero'
Normally, the last pass that `shred' writes is made up of random
data. If this would be conspicuous on your hard drive (for
example, because it looks like encrypted data), or you just think
it's tidier, the `--zero' option adds an additional overwrite pass
with all zero bits. This is in addition to the number of passes
specified by the `--iterations' option.
`-'
Shred standard output.
This argument is considered an option. If the common `--' option
has been used to indicate the end of options on the command line,
then `-' will be interpreted as an ordinary file name.
The intended use of this is to shred a removed temporary file.
For example
i=`tempfile -m 0600`
exec 3<>"$i"
rm -- "$i"
echo "Hello, world" >&3
shred - >&3
exec 3>-
Note that the shell command `shred - >file' does not shred the
contents of FILE, since it truncates FILE before invoking `shred'.
Use the command `shred file' or (if using a Bourne-compatible
shell) the command `shred - 1<>file' instead.
You might use the following command to erase all trace of the
filesystem you'd created on the floppy disk in your first drive. That
command takes about 20 minutes to erase a "1.44MB" (actually 1440 KiB)
floppy.
shred --verbose /dev/fd0
Similarly, to erase all data on a selected partition of your hard
disk, you could give a command like this:
shred --verbose /dev/sda5
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Special file types, Next: Changing file attributes, Prev: Basic operations, Up: Top
12 Special file types
*********************
This chapter describes commands which create special types of files (and
`rmdir', which removes directories, one special file type).
Although Unix-like operating systems have markedly fewer special file
types than others, not _everything_ can be treated only as the
undifferentiated byte stream of "normal files". For example, when a
file is created or removed, the system must record this information,
which it does in a "directory"--a special type of file. Although you
can read directories as normal files, if you're curious, in order for
the system to do its job it must impose a structure, a certain order,
on the bytes of the file. Thus it is a "special" type of file.
Besides directories, other special file types include named pipes
(FIFOs), symbolic links, sockets, and so-called "special files".
* Menu:
* link invocation:: Make a hard link via the link syscall
* ln invocation:: Make links between files.
* mkdir invocation:: Make directories.
* mkfifo invocation:: Make FIFOs (named pipes).
* mknod invocation:: Make block or character special files.
* readlink invocation:: Print the referent of a symbolic link.
* rmdir invocation:: Remove empty directories.
* unlink invocation:: Remove files via the unlink syscall
File: coreutils.info, Node: link invocation, Next: ln invocation, Up: Special file types
12.1 `link': Make a hard link via the link syscall
==================================================
`link' creates a single hard link at a time. It is a minimalist
interface to the system-provided `link' function. *Note Hard Links:
(libc)Hard Links. Synopsis:
link FILENAME LINKNAME
FILENAME must specify an existing file, and LINKNAME must specify a
nonexistent entry in an existing directory. `link' simply calls `link
(FILENAME, LINKNAME)' to create the link.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: ln invocation, Next: mkdir invocation, Prev: link invocation, Up: Special file types
12.2 `ln': Make links between files
===================================
`ln' makes links between files. By default, it makes hard links; with
the `-s' option, it makes symbolic (or "soft") links. Synopses:
ln [OPTION]... TARGET [LINKNAME]
ln [OPTION]... TARGET... DIRECTORY
* If the last argument names an existing directory, `ln' creates a
link to each TARGET file in that directory, using the TARGETs'
names. (But see the description of the `--no-dereference' option
below.)
* If two filenames are given, `ln' creates a link from the second to
the first.
* If one TARGET is given, `ln' creates a link to that file in the
current directory.
* It is an error if the last argument is not a directory and more
than two files are given. Without `-f' or `-i' (see below), `ln'
will not remove an existing file. Use the `--backup' option to
make `ln' rename existing files.
A "hard link" is another name for an existing file; the link and the
original are indistinguishable. Technically speaking, they share the
same inode, and the inode contains all the information about a
file--indeed, it is not incorrect to say that the inode _is_ the file.
On all existing implementations, you cannot make a hard link to a
directory, and hard links cannot cross filesystem boundaries. (These
restrictions are not mandated by POSIX, however.)
"Symbolic links" ("symlinks" for short), on the other hand, are a
special file type (which not all kernels support: System V release 3
(and older) systems lack symlinks) in which the link file actually
refers to a different file, by name. When most operations (opening,
reading, writing, and so on) are passed the symbolic link file, the
kernel automatically "dereferences" the link and operates on the target
of the link. But some operations (e.g., removing) work on the link
file itself, rather than on its target. *Note Symbolic Links:
(libc)Symbolic Links.
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-b'
`--backup[=METHOD]'
*Note Backup options::. Make a backup of each file that would
otherwise be overwritten or removed.
`-d'
`-F'
`--directory'
Allow the super-user to attempt to make hard links to directories.
However, note that this will probably fail due to system
restrictions, even for the super-user.
`-f'
`--force'
Remove existing destination files.
`-i'
`--interactive'
Prompt whether to remove existing destination files.
`-n'
`--no-dereference'
When given an explicit destination that is a symlink to a
directory, treat that destination as if it were a normal file.
When the destination is an actual directory (not a symlink to one),
there is no ambiguity. The link is created in that directory.
But when the specified destination is a symlink to a directory,
there are two ways to treat the user's request. `ln' can treat
the destination just as it would a normal directory and create the
link in it. On the other hand, the destination can be viewed as a
non-directory--as the symlink itself. In that case, `ln' must
delete or backup that symlink before creating the new link. The
default is to treat a destination that is a symlink to a directory
just like a directory.
`-s'
`--symbolic'
Make symbolic links instead of hard links. This option merely
produces an error message on systems that do not support symbolic
links.
`-S SUFFIX'
`--suffix=SUFFIX'
Append SUFFIX to each backup file made with `-b'. *Note Backup
options::.
`--target-directory=DIRECTORY'
Specify the destination DIRECTORY. *Note Target directory::.
`-v'
`--verbose'
Print the name of each file before linking it.
`-V METHOD'
`--version-control=METHOD'
Change the type of backups made with `-b'. The METHOD argument
can be `none' (or `off'), `numbered' (or `t'), `existing' (or
`nil'), or `never' (or `simple'). *Note Backup options::.
Examples:
ln -s /some/name # creates link ./name pointing to /some/name
ln -s /some/name myname # creates link ./myname pointing to /some/name
ln -s a b .. # creates links ../a and ../b pointing to ./a and ./b
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: mkdir invocation, Next: mkfifo invocation, Prev: ln invocation, Up: Special file types
12.3 `mkdir': Make directories
==============================
`mkdir' creates directories with the specified names. Synopsis:
mkdir [OPTION]... NAME...
If a NAME is an existing file but not a directory, `mkdir' prints a
warning message on stderr and will exit with a status of 1 after
processing any remaining NAMEs. The same is done when a NAME is an
existing directory and the -p option is not given. If a NAME is an
existing directory and the -p option is given, `mkdir' will ignore it.
That is, `mkdir' will not print a warning, raise an error, or change
the mode of the directory (even if the -m option is given), and will
move on to processing any remaining NAMEs.
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-m MODE'
`--mode=MODE'
Set the mode of created directories to MODE, which is symbolic as
in `chmod' and uses `a=rwx' (read, write and execute allowed for
everyone) minus the bits set in the umask for the point of the
departure. *Note File permissions::.
`-p'
`--parents'
Make any missing parent directories for each argument. The mode
for parent directories is set to the umask modified by `u+wx'.
Ignore arguments corresponding to existing directories.
`-v'
`--verbose'
Print a message for each created directory. This is most useful
with `--parents'.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: mkfifo invocation, Next: mknod invocation, Prev: mkdir invocation, Up: Special file types
12.4 `mkfifo': Make FIFOs (named pipes)
=======================================
`mkfifo' creates FIFOs (also called "named pipes") with the specified
names. Synopsis:
mkfifo [OPTION] NAME...
A "FIFO" is a special file type that permits independent processes
to communicate. One process opens the FIFO file for writing, and
another for reading, after which data can flow as with the usual
anonymous pipe in shells or elsewhere.
The program accepts the following option. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-m MODE'
`--mode=MODE'
Set the mode of created FIFOs to MODE, which is symbolic as in
`chmod' and uses `a=rw' (read and write allowed for everyone) minus
the bits set in the umask for the point of departure. *Note File
permissions::.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: mknod invocation, Next: readlink invocation, Prev: mkfifo invocation, Up: Special file types
12.5 `mknod': Make block or character special files
===================================================
`mknod' creates a FIFO, character special file, or block special file
with the specified name. Synopsis:
mknod [OPTION]... NAME TYPE [MAJOR MINOR]
Unlike the phrase "special file type" above, the term "special file"
has a technical meaning on Unix: something that can generate or receive
data. Usually this corresponds to a physical piece of hardware, e.g.,
a printer or a disk. (These files are typically created at
system-configuration time.) The `mknod' command is what creates files
of this type. Such devices can be read either a character at a time or
a "block" (many characters) at a time, hence we say there are "block
special" files and "character special" files.
The arguments after NAME specify the type of file to make:
`p'
for a FIFO
`b'
for a block special file
`c'
for a character special file
When making a block or character special file, the major and minor
device numbers must be given after the file type. If a major or minor
device number begins with `0x' or `0X', it is interpreted as
hexadecimal; otherwise, if it begins with `0', as octal; otherwise, as
decimal.
The program accepts the following option. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-m MODE'
`--mode=MODE'
Set the mode of created files to MODE, which is symbolic as in
`chmod' and uses `a=rw' minus the bits set in the umask as the
point of departure. *Note File permissions::.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: readlink invocation, Next: rmdir invocation, Prev: mknod invocation, Up: Special file types
12.6 `readlink': Print the referent of a symbolic link
======================================================
`readlink' may work in one of two supported modes:
`Readlink mode'
`readlink' outputs the value of the given symbolic link. If
`readlink' is invoked with an argument other than the pathname of
a symbolic link, it produces no output and exits with a nonzero
exit code.
`Canonicalize mode'
`readlink' outputs the absolute name of the given file which
contains no `.', `..' components nor any repeated path separators
(`/') or symlinks. If any path component is missing or
unavailable, it produces no output and exits with a nonzero exit
code.
readlink [OPTION] FILE
By default, `readlink' operates in readlink mode.
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-f'
`--canonicalize'
Activate canonicalize mode.
`-n'
`--no-newline'
Do not output the trailing newline.
`-s'
`-q'
`--silent'
`--quiet'
Suppress most error messages.
`-v'
`--verbose'
Report error messages.
The `readlink' utility first appeared in OpenBSD 2.1.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: rmdir invocation, Next: unlink invocation, Prev: readlink invocation, Up: Special file types
12.7 `rmdir': Remove empty directories
======================================
`rmdir' removes empty directories. Synopsis:
rmdir [OPTION]... DIRECTORY...
If any DIRECTORY argument does not refer to an existing empty
directory, it is an error.
The program accepts the following option. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`--ignore-fail-on-non-empty'
Ignore each failure to remove a directory that is solely because
the directory is non-empty.
`-p'
`--parents'
Remove DIRECTORY, then try to remove each component of DIRECTORY.
So, for example, `rmdir -p a/b/c' is similar to `rmdir a/b/c a/b
a'. As such, it fails if any of those directories turns out not
to be empty. Use the `--ignore-fail-on-non-empty' option to make
it so such a failure does not evoke a diagnostic and does not
cause `rmdir' to exit unsuccessfully.
`-v'
`--verbose'
Give a diagnostic for each successful removal. DIRECTORY is
removed.
*Note rm invocation::, for how to remove non-empty directories
(recursively).
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: unlink invocation, Prev: rmdir invocation, Up: Special file types
12.8 `unlink': Remove files via the unlink syscall
==================================================
`unlink' deletes a single specified file name. It is a minimalist
interface to the system-provided `unlink' function. *Note Deleting
Files: (libc)Deleting Files. Synopsis:
unlink FILENAME
On some systems `unlink' can be used to delete the name of a
directory. On others, it can be used that way only by a privileged
user. In the GNU system `unlink' can never delete the name of a
directory.
By default, `unlink' honors the `--help' and `--version' options.
That makes it a little harder to remove files named `--help' and
`--version', so when the environment variable `POSIXLY_CORRECT' is set,
`unlink' treats such a command line arguments not as an option, but as
an operand.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Changing file attributes, Next: Disk usage, Prev: Special file types, Up: Top
13 Changing file attributes
***************************
A file is not merely its contents, a name, and a file type (*note
Special file types::). A file also has an owner (a userid), a group (a
group id), permissions (what the owner can do with the file, what
people in the group can do, and what everyone else can do), various
timestamps, and other information. Collectively, we call these a file's
"attributes".
These commands change file attributes.
* Menu:
* chgrp invocation:: Change file groups.
* chmod invocation:: Change access permissions.
* chown invocation:: Change file owners and groups.
* touch invocation:: Change file timestamps.
File: coreutils.info, Node: chgrp invocation, Next: chmod invocation, Up: Changing file attributes
13.2 `chgrp': Change group ownership
====================================
`chgrp' changes the group ownership of each given FILE to GROUP (which
can be either a group name or a numeric group id) or to the group of an
existing reference file. Synopsis:
chgrp [OPTION]... {GROUP | --reference=REF_FILE} FILE...
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-c'
`--changes'
Verbosely describe the action for each FILE whose group actually
changes.
`-f'
`--silent'
`--quiet'
Do not print error messages about files whose group cannot be
changed.
`--dereference'
Do not act on symbolic links themselves but rather on what they
point to. This is the default.
`-h'
`--no-dereference'
Act on symbolic links themselves instead of what they point to.
This mode relies on the `lchown' system call. On systems that do
not provide the `lchown' system call, `chgrp' fails when a file
specified on the command line is a symbolic link. By default, no
diagnostic is issued for symbolic links encountered during a
recursive traversal, but see `--verbose'.
`--preserve-root'
Fail upon any attempt to recursively change the filesystem root,
`/'. Without `--recursive', this option has no effect. *Note
Treating / specially::.
`--no-preserve-root'
Cancel the effect of any preceding `--preserve-root' option.
*Note Treating / specially::.
`--reference=REF_FILE'
Change the group of each FILE to be the same as that of REF_FILE.
If REF_FILE is a symbolic link, do not use the group of the
symbolic link, but rather that of the file it refers to.
`-v'
`--verbose'
Output a diagnostic for every file processed. If a symbolic link
is encountered during a recursive traversal on a system without
the `lchown' system call, and `--no-dereference' is in effect,
then issue a diagnostic saying neither the symbolic link nor its
referent is being changed.
`-R'
`--recursive'
Recursively change the group ownership of directories and their
contents.
`-H'
If `--recursive' (`-R') is specified and a command line argument
is a symbolic link to a directory, traverse it. *Note Traversing
symlinks::.
`-L'
In a recursive traversal, traverse every symbolic link to a
directory that is encountered. *Note Traversing symlinks::.
`-P'
Do not traverse any symbolic links. This is the default if none
of `-H', `-L', or `-P' is specified. *Note Traversing symlinks::.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: chmod invocation, Next: chown invocation, Prev: chgrp invocation, Up: Changing file attributes
13.3 `chmod': Change access permissions
=======================================
`chmod' changes the access permissions of the named files. Synopsis:
chmod [OPTION]... {MODE | --reference=REF_FILE} FILE...
`chmod' never changes the permissions of symbolic links, since the
`chmod' system call cannot change their permissions. This is not a
problem since the permissions of symbolic links are never used.
However, for each symbolic link listed on the command line, `chmod'
changes the permissions of the pointed-to file. In contrast, `chmod'
ignores symbolic links encountered during recursive directory
traversals.
If used, MODE specifies the new permissions. For details, see the
section on *Note File permissions::.
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-c'
`--changes'
Verbosely describe the action for each FILE whose permissions
actually changes.
`-f'
`--silent'
`--quiet'
Do not print error messages about files whose permissions cannot be
changed.
`--preserve-root'
Fail upon any attempt to recursively change the filesystem root,
`/'. Without `--recursive', this option has no effect. *Note
Treating / specially::.
`--no-preserve-root'
Cancel the effect of any preceding `--preserve-root' option.
*Note Treating / specially::.
`-v'
`--verbose'
Verbosely describe the action or non-action taken for every FILE.
`--reference=REF_FILE'
Change the mode of each FILE to be the same as that of REF_FILE.
*Note File permissions::. If REF_FILE is a symbolic link, do not
use the mode of the symbolic link, but rather that of the file it
refers to.
`-R'
`--recursive'
Recursively change permissions of directories and their contents.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: chown invocation, Next: touch invocation, Prev: chmod invocation, Up: Changing file attributes
13.1 `chown': Change file owner and group
=========================================
`chown' changes the user and/or group ownership of each given FILE to
NEW-OWNER or to the user and group of an existing reference file.
Synopsis:
chown [OPTION]... {NEW-OWNER | --reference=REF_FILE} FILE...
If used, NEW-OWNER specifies the new owner and/or group as follows
(with no embedded white space):
[OWNER] [ [:] [GROUP] ]
Specifically:
OWNER
If only an OWNER (a user name or numeric user id) is given, that
user is made the owner of each given file, and the files' group is
not changed.
OWNER`:'GROUP
If the OWNER is followed by a colon and a GROUP (a group name or
numeric group id), with no spaces between them, the group
ownership of the files is changed as well (to GROUP).
OWNER`:'
If a colon but no group name follows OWNER, that user is made the
owner of the files and the group of the files is changed to
OWNER's login group.
`:'GROUP
If the colon and following GROUP are given, but the owner is
omitted, only the group of the files is changed; in this case,
`chown' performs the same function as `chgrp'.
Some older scripts may still use `.' in place of the `:' separator.
POSIX 1003.1-2001 (*note Standards conformance::) does not require
support for that, but for backward compatibility GNU `chown' supports
`.' so long as no ambiguity results. New scripts should avoid the use
of `.' because it is not portable, and because it has undesirable
results if the entire OWNER`.'GROUP happens to identify a user whose
name contains `.'.
Warning: The `chown' command may clear the set-user-ID or
set-group-ID bits on some systems. The `chown' command is dependent
upon the policy and functionality of the underlying system which may
make system-dependent file mode modifications outside the control of
the `chown' command. On some systems (e.g., Linux) the `chown' command
clears the set-UID and set-GID bits because the underlying, system
`chown' function clears them. On other systems (e.g., HP-UX and
Solaris) the `chown' command does not affect those bits when operated
as the superuser. On systems which allow non-privileged use of chown
those bits are always cleared by the system. When in doubt, check the
underlying system behavior.
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-c'
`--changes'
Verbosely describe the action for each FILE whose ownership
actually changes.
`-f'
`--silent'
`--quiet'
Do not print error messages about files whose ownership cannot be
changed.
`--from=OLD-OWNER'
Change a FILE's ownership only if it has current attributes
specified by OLD-OWNER. OLD-OWNER has the same form as NEW-OWNER
described above. This option is useful primarily from a security
standpoint in that it narrows considerably the window of potential
abuse. For example, to reflect a UID numbering change for one
user's files without an option like this, `root' might run
find / -owner OLDUSER -print0 | xargs -0 chown NEWUSER
But that is dangerous because the interval between when the `find'
tests the existing file's owner and when the `chown' is actually
run may be quite large. One way to narrow the gap would be to
invoke chown for each file as it is found:
find / -owner OLDUSER -exec chown NEWUSER {} \;
But that is very slow if there are many affected files. With this
option, it is safer (the gap is narrower still) though still not
perfect:
chown -R --from=OLDUSER NEWUSER /
`--dereference'
Do not act on symbolic links themselves but rather on what they
point to. This is the default.
`-h'
`--no-dereference'
Act on symbolic links themselves instead of what they point to.
This mode relies on the `lchown' system call. On systems that do
not provide the `lchown' system call, `chown' fails when a file
specified on the command line is a symbolic link. By default, no
diagnostic is issued for symbolic links encountered during a
recursive traversal, but see `--verbose'.
`--preserve-root'
Fail upon any attempt to recursively change the filesystem root,
`/'. Without `--recursive', this option has no effect. *Note
Treating / specially::.
`--no-preserve-root'
Cancel the effect of any preceding `--preserve-root' option.
*Note Treating / specially::.
`--reference=REF_FILE'
Change the user and group of each FILE to be the same as those of
REF_FILE. If REF_FILE is a symbolic link, do not use the user and
group of the symbolic link, but rather those of the file it refers
to.
`-v'
`--verbose'
Output a diagnostic for every file processed. If a symbolic link
is encountered during a recursive traversal on a system without
the `lchown' system call, and `--no-dereference' is in effect,
then issue a diagnostic saying neither the symbolic link nor its
referent is being changed.
`-R'
`--recursive'
Recursively change ownership of directories and their contents.
`-H'
If `--recursive' (`-R') is specified and a command line argument
is a symbolic link to a directory, traverse it. *Note Traversing
symlinks::.
`-L'
In a recursive traversal, traverse every symbolic link to a
directory that is encountered. *Note Traversing symlinks::.
`-P'
Do not traverse any symbolic links. This is the default if none
of `-H', `-L', or `-P' is specified. *Note Traversing symlinks::.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: touch invocation, Prev: chown invocation, Up: Changing file attributes
13.4 `touch': Change file timestamps
====================================
`touch' changes the access and/or modification times of the specified
files. Synopsis:
touch [OPTION]... FILE...
On older systems, `touch' supports an obsolete syntax, as follows.
If the first FILE would be a valid argument to the `-t' option and no
timestamp is given with any of the `-d', `-r', or `-t' options and the
`--' argument is not given, that argument is interpreted as the time
for the other files instead of as a file name. POSIX 1003.1-2001
(*note Standards conformance::) does not allow this; use `-t' instead.
Any FILE that does not exist is created empty.
If changing both the access and modification times to the current
time, `touch' can change the timestamps for files that the user running
it does not own but has write permission for. Otherwise, the user must
own the files.
Although `touch' provides options for changing two of the times -
the times of last access and modification - of a file, there is actually
a third one as well: the inode change time. This is often referred to
as a file's `ctime'. The inode change time represents the time when
the file's meta-information last changed. One common example of this
is when the permissions of a file change. Changing the permissions
doesn't access the file, so the atime doesn't change, nor does it
modify the file, so the mtime doesn't change. Yet, something about the
file itself has changed, and this must be noted somewhere. This is the
job of the ctime field. This is necessary, so that, for example, a
backup program can make a fresh copy of the file, including the new
permissions value. Another operation that modifies a file's ctime
without affecting the others is renaming. In any case, it is not
possible, in normal operations, for a user to change the ctime field to
a user-specified value.
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-a'
`--time=atime'
`--time=access'
`--time=use'
Change the access time only.
`-c'
`--no-create'
Do not create files that do not exist.
`-d'
`--date=time'
Use TIME instead of the current time. It can contain month names,
time zones, `am' and `pm', etc. *Note Date input formats::.
`-f'
Ignored; for compatibility with BSD versions of `touch'.
`-m'
`--time=mtime'
`--time=modify'
Change the modification time only.
`-r FILE'
`--reference=FILE'
Use the times of the reference FILE instead of the current time.
If this option is combined with the `--date=TIME' (`-d TIME')
option, the reference FILE's time is the origin for any relative
TIMEs given, but is otherwise ignored. For example, `-r foo -d
'-5 seconds'' specifies a time stamp equal to five seconds before
the corresponding time stamp for `foo'.
`-t [[CC]YY]MMDDhhmm[.ss]'
Use the argument (optional four-digit or two-digit years, months,
days, hours, minutes, optional seconds) instead of the current
time. If the year is specified with only two digits, then CC is
20 for years in the range 0 ... 68, and 19 for years in 69 ... 99.
If no digits of the year are specified, the argument is
interpreted as a date in the current year.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Disk usage, Next: Printing text, Prev: Changing file attributes, Up: Top
14 Disk usage
*************
No disk can hold an infinite amount of data. These commands report on
how much disk storage is in use or available. (This has nothing much to
do with how much _main memory_, i.e., RAM, a program is using when it
runs; for that, you want `ps' or `pstat' or `swap' or some such
command.)
* Menu:
* df invocation:: Report filesystem disk space usage.
* du invocation:: Estimate file space usage.
* stat invocation:: Report file or filesystem status.
* sync invocation:: Synchronize memory and disk.
File: coreutils.info, Node: df invocation, Next: du invocation, Up: Disk usage
14.1 `df': Report filesystem disk space usage
=============================================
`df' reports the amount of disk space used and available on
filesystems. Synopsis:
df [OPTION]... [FILE]...
With no arguments, `df' reports the space used and available on all
currently mounted filesystems (of all types). Otherwise, `df' reports
on the filesystem containing each argument FILE.
Normally the disk space is printed in units of 1024 bytes, but this
can be overridden (*note Block size::). Non-integer quantities are
rounded up to the next higher unit.
If an argument FILE is a disk device file containing a mounted
filesystem, `df' shows the space available on that filesystem rather
than on the filesystem containing the device node (i.e., the root
filesystem). GNU `df' does not attempt to determine the disk usage on
unmounted filesystems, because on most kinds of systems doing so
requires extremely nonportable intimate knowledge of filesystem
structures.
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-a'
`--all'
Include in the listing filesystems that have a size of 0 blocks,
which are omitted by default. Such filesystems are typically
special-purpose pseudo-filesystems, such as automounter entries.
Also, filesystems of type "ignore" or "auto", supported by some
operating systems, are only included if this option is specified.
`-B SIZE'
`--block-size=SIZE'
Scale sizes by SIZE before printing them (*note Block size::).
For example, `-BG' prints sizes in units of 1,073,741,824 bytes.
`-h'
`--human-readable'
Append a size letter to each size, such as `M' for mebibytes.
Powers of 1024 are used, not 1000; `M' stands for 1,048,576 bytes.
Use the `--si' option if you prefer powers of 1000.
`-H'
Equivalent to `--si'.
`-i'
`--inodes'
List inode usage information instead of block usage. An inode
(short for index node) contains information about a file such as
its owner, permissions, timestamps, and location on the disk.
`-k'
Print sizes in 1024-byte blocks, overriding the default block size
(*note Block size::). This option is equivalent to
`--block-size=1K'.
`-l'
`--local'
Limit the listing to local filesystems. By default, remote
filesystems are also listed.
`--no-sync'
Do not invoke the `sync' system call before getting any usage data.
This may make `df' run significantly faster on systems with many
disks, but on some systems (notably SunOS) the results may be
slightly out of date. This is the default.
`-P'
`--portability'
Use the POSIX output format. This is like the default format
except for the following:
1. The information about each filesystem is always printed on
exactly one line; a mount device is never put on a line by
itself. This means that if the mount device name is more
than 20 characters long (e.g., for some network mounts), the
columns are misaligned.
2. The labels in the header output line are changed to conform
to POSIX.
`--si'
Append an SI-style abbreviation to each size, such as `MB' for
megabytes. Powers of 1000 are used, not 1024; `MB' stands for
1,000,000 bytes. This option is equivalent to `--block-size=si'.
Use the `-h' or `--human-readable' option if you prefer powers of
1024.
`--sync'
Invoke the `sync' system call before getting any usage data. On
some systems (notably SunOS), doing this yields more up to date
results, but in general this option makes `df' much slower,
especially when there are many or very busy filesystems.
`-t FSTYPE'
`--type=FSTYPE'
Limit the listing to filesystems of type FSTYPE. Multiple
filesystem types can be specified by giving multiple `-t' options.
By default, nothing is omitted.
`-T'
`--print-type'
Print each filesystem's type. The types printed here are the same
ones you can include or exclude with `-t' and `-x'. The particular
types printed are whatever is supported by the system. Here are
some of the common names (this list is certainly not exhaustive):
`nfs'
An NFS filesystem, i.e., one mounted over a network from
another machine. This is the one type name which seems to be
used uniformly by all systems.
`4.2, ufs, efs...'
A filesystem on a locally-mounted hard disk. (The system
might even support more than one type here; Linux does.)
`hsfs, cdfs'
A filesystem on a CD-ROM drive. HP-UX uses `cdfs', most other
systems use `hsfs' (`hs' for "High Sierra").
`pcfs'
An MS-DOS filesystem, usually on a diskette.
`-x FSTYPE'
`--exclude-type=FSTYPE'
Limit the listing to filesystems not of type FSTYPE. Multiple
filesystem types can be eliminated by giving multiple `-x'
options. By default, no filesystem types are omitted.
`-v'
Ignored; for compatibility with System V versions of `df'.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: du invocation, Next: stat invocation, Prev: df invocation, Up: Disk usage
14.2 `du': Estimate file space usage
====================================
`du' reports the amount of disk space used by the specified files and
for each subdirectory (of directory arguments). Synopsis:
du [OPTION]... [FILE]...
With no arguments, `du' reports the disk space for the current
directory. Normally the disk space is printed in units of 1024 bytes,
but this can be overridden (*note Block size::). Non-integer
quantities are rounded up to the next higher unit.
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-a'
`--all'
Show counts for all files, not just directories.
`--apparent-size'
Print apparent sizes, rather than disk usage. The apparent size
of a file is the number of bytes reported by `wc -c' on regular
files, or more generally, `ls -l --block-size=1' or `stat
--format=%s'. For example, a file containing the word `zoo' with
no newline would, of course, have an apparent size of 3. Such a
small file may require anywhere from zero to 16 or more kilobytes
of disk space, depending on the type and configuration of the file
system on which the file resides. However, a sparse file created
with this command
: | dd bs=1 seek=`echo '2^31'|bc` of=big
has an apparent size of 2 gigabytes, yet on most modern systems,
it actually uses almost no disk space.
`-b'
`--bytes'
Equivalent to `--apparent-size --block-size=1'.
`-B SIZE'
`--block-size=SIZE'
Scale sizes by SIZE before printing them (*note Block size::).
For example, `-BG' prints sizes in units of 1,073,741,824 bytes.
`-c'
`--total'
Print a grand total of all arguments after all arguments have been
processed. This can be used to find out the total disk usage of a
given set of files or directories.
`-D'
`--dereference-args'
Dereference symbolic links that are command line arguments. Does
not affect other symbolic links. This is helpful for finding out
the disk usage of directories, such as `/usr/tmp', which are often
symbolic links.
`-h'
`--human-readable'
Append a size letter to each size, such as `M' for mebibytes.
Powers of 1024 are used, not 1000; `M' stands for 1,048,576 bytes.
Use the `--si' option if you prefer powers of 1000.
`-H'
Currently, `-H' is the same as `--si', except that `-H' evokes a
warning. This option will be changed to be equivalent to
`--dereference-args' (`-D').
`-k'
Print sizes in 1024-byte blocks, overriding the default block size
(*note Block size::). This option is equivalent to
`--block-size=1K'.
`-l'
`--count-links'
Count the size of all files, even if they have appeared already
(as a hard link).
`-L'
`--dereference'
Dereference symbolic links (show the disk space used by the file
or directory that the link points to instead of the space used by
the link).
`-P'
`--no-dereference'
For each symbolic links encountered by `du', consider the disk
space used by the symbolic link.
`--max-depth=DEPTH'
Show the total for each directory (and file if -all) that is at
most MAX_DEPTH levels down from the root of the hierarchy. The
root is at level 0, so `du --max-depth=0' is equivalent to `du -s'.
`-0'
`--null'
Output the zero byte (`NUL') at the end of each line, rather than
a newline. This option enables other programs to parse the output
of `du' even when that output would contain file names with
embedded newlines.
`--si'
Append an SI-style abbreviation to each size, such as `MB' for
megabytes. Powers of 1000 are used, not 1024; `MB' stands for
1,000,000 bytes. Use the `-h' or `--human-readable' option if you
prefer powers of 1024.
`-s'
`--summarize'
Display only a total for each argument.
`-S'
`--separate-dirs'
Report the size of each directory separately, not including the
sizes of subdirectories.
`-x'
`--one-file-system'
Skip directories that are on different filesystems from the one
that the argument being processed is on.
`--exclude=PATTERN'
When recursing, skip subdirectories or files matching PATTERN.
For example, `du --exclude='*.o'' excludes files whose names end
in `.o'.
`-X FILE'
`--exclude-from=FILE'
Like `--exclude', except take the patterns to exclude from FILE,
one per line. If FILE is `-', take the patterns from standard
input.
On BSD systems, `du' reports sizes that are half the correct values
for files that are NFS-mounted from HP-UX systems. On HP-UX systems,
it reports sizes that are twice the correct values for files that are
NFS-mounted from BSD systems. This is due to a flaw in HP-UX; it also
affects the HP-UX `du' program.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: stat invocation, Next: sync invocation, Prev: du invocation, Up: Disk usage
14.3 `stat': Report file or filesystem status
=============================================
`stat' displays information about the specified file(s). Synopsis:
stat [OPTION]... [FILE]...
With no option, `stat' reports all information about the given files.
But it also can be used to report the information of the filesystems the
given files are located on. If the files are links, `stat' can also
give information about the files the links point to.
`-f'
`--filesystem'
Report information about the filesystems where the given files are
located instead of information about the files themselves.
`-L'
`--dereference'
Change how `stat' treats symbolic links. With this option, `stat'
acts on the file referenced by each symbolic link argument.
Without it, `stat' acts on any symbolic link argument directly.
`-t'
`--terse'
Print the information in terse form, suitable for parsing by other
programs.
`-c'
`--format'
Allow user to specify the output format.
Interpreted sequences for file stat are:
* %a - Access rights in octal
* %A - Access rights in human readable form
* %b - Number of blocks allocated (see `%B')
* %B - The size in bytes of each block reported by `%b'
* %d - Device number in decimal
* %D - Device number in hex
* %f - raw mode in hex
* %F - File type
* %g - Group Id of owner
* %G - Group name of owner
* %h - Number of hard links
* %i - Inode number
* %n - File name
* %N - Quoted File name with dereference if symbolic link
* %o - IO block size
* %s - Total size, in bytes
* %t - Major device type in hex
* %T - Minor device type in hex
* %u - User Id of owner
* %U - User name of owner
* %x - Time of last access
* %X - Time of last access as seconds since Epoch
* %y - Time of last modification
* %Y - Time of last modification as seconds since Epoch
* %z - Time of last change
* %Z - Time of last change as seconds since Epoch
Interpreted sequences for filesystem stat are:
* %n - File name
* %i - File System id in hex
* %l - Maximum length of filenames
* %t - Type in hex
* %T - Type in human readable form
* %b - Total data blocks in file system
* %f - Free blocks in file system
* %a - Free blocks available to non-superuser
* %s - Optimal transfer block size
* %c - Total file nodes in file system
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: sync invocation, Prev: stat invocation, Up: Disk usage
14.4 `sync': Synchronize data on disk with memory
=================================================
`sync' writes any data buffered in memory out to disk. This can
include (but is not limited to) modified superblocks, modified inodes,
and delayed reads and writes. This must be implemented by the kernel;
The `sync' program does nothing but exercise the `sync' system call.
The kernel keeps data in memory to avoid doing (relatively slow) disk
reads and writes. This improves performance, but if the computer
crashes, data may be lost or the filesystem corrupted as a result.
`sync' ensures everything in memory is written to disk.
Any arguments are ignored, except for a lone `--help' or `--version'
(*note Common options::).
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Printing text, Next: Conditions, Prev: Disk usage, Up: Top
15 Printing text
****************
This section describes commands that display text strings.
* Menu:
* echo invocation:: Print a line of text.
* printf invocation:: Format and print data.
* yes invocation:: Print a string until interrupted.
File: coreutils.info, Node: echo invocation, Next: printf invocation, Up: Printing text
15.1 `echo': Print a line of text
=================================
`echo' writes each given STRING to standard output, with a space
between each and a newline after the last one. Synopsis:
echo [OPTION]... [STRING]...
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-n'
Do not output the trailing newline.
`-e'
Enable interpretation of the following backslash-escaped
characters in each STRING:
`\a'
alert (bell)
`\b'
backspace
`\c'
suppress trailing newline
`\f'
form feed
`\n'
new line
`\r'
carriage return
`\t'
horizontal tab
`\v'
vertical tab
`\\'
backslash
`\NNN'
the character whose ASCII code is NNN (octal); if NNN is not
a valid octal number, it is printed literally.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: printf invocation, Next: yes invocation, Prev: echo invocation, Up: Printing text
15.2 `printf': Format and print data
====================================
`printf' does formatted printing of text. Synopsis:
printf FORMAT [ARGUMENT]...
`printf' prints the FORMAT string, interpreting `%' directives and
`\' escapes in the same way as the C `printf' function. The FORMAT
argument is re-used as necessary to convert all of the given ARGUMENTs.
A floating-point argument must use a period before any fractional
digits, but is printed according to the `LC_NUMERIC' category of the
current locale. For example, in a locale whose radix character is a
comma, the command `printf %g 3.14' outputs `3,14' whereas the command
`printf %g 3,14' is an error.
`printf' has one additional directive, `%b', which prints its
argument string with `\' escapes interpreted in the same way as in the
FORMAT string, except that octal escapes are of the form `\0OOO' where
OOO is 0 to 3 octal digits.
`printf' interprets `\OOO' in FORMAT as an octal number (if OOO is 1
to 3 octal digits) specifying a character to print, and `\xHH' as a
hexadecimal number (if HH is 1 to 2 hex digits) specifying a character
to print.
`printf' interprets two character syntaxes introduced in ISO C 99:
`\u' for 16-bit Unicode characters, specified as 4 hex digits HHHH, and
`\U' for 32-bit Unicode characters, specified as 8 hex digits HHHHHHHH.
`printf' outputs the Unicode characters according to the LC_CTYPE part
of the current locale, i.e. depending on the values of the environment
variables `LC_ALL', `LC_CTYPE', `LANG'.
The processing of `\u' and `\U' requires a full-featured `iconv'
facility. It is activated on systems with glibc 2.2 (or newer), or when
`libiconv' is installed prior to this package. Otherwise the use of
`\u' and `\U' will give an error message.
An additional escape, `\c', causes `printf' to produce no further
output.
The only options are a lone `--help' or `--version'. *Note Common
options::.
The Unicode character syntaxes are useful for writing strings in a
locale independent way. For example, a string containing the Euro
currency symbol
$ /usr/local/bin/printf '\u20AC 14.95'
will be output correctly in all locales supporting the Euro symbol
(ISO-8859-15, UTF-8, and others). Similarly, a Chinese string
$ /usr/local/bin/printf '\u4e2d\u6587'
will be output correctly in all Chinese locales (GB2312, BIG5, UTF-8,
etc).
Note that in these examples, the full pathname of `printf' has been
given, to distinguish it from the GNU `bash' builtin function `printf'.
For larger strings, you don't need to look up the hexadecimal code
values of each character one by one. ASCII characters mixed with \u
escape sequences is also known as the JAVA source file encoding. You can
use GNU recode 3.5c (or newer) to convert strings to this encoding. Here
is how to convert a piece of text into a shell script which will output
this text in a locale-independent way:
$ LC_CTYPE=zh_CN.big5 /usr/local/bin/printf \
'\u4e2d\u6587\n' > sample.txt
$ recode BIG5..JAVA < sample.txt \
| sed -e "s|^|/usr/local/bin/printf '|" -e "s|$|\\\\n'|" \
> sample.sh
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: yes invocation, Prev: printf invocation, Up: Printing text
15.3 `yes': Print a string until interrupted
============================================
`yes' prints the command line arguments, separated by spaces and
followed by a newline, forever until it is killed. If no arguments are
given, it prints `y' followed by a newline forever until killed.
Upon a write error, `yes' exits with status `1'.
The only options are a lone `--help' or `--version'. *Note Common
options::.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Conditions, Next: Redirection, Prev: Printing text, Up: Top
16 Conditions
*************
This section describes commands that are primarily useful for their exit
status, rather than their output. Thus, they are often used as the
condition of shell `if' statements, or as the last command in a
pipeline.
* Menu:
* false invocation:: Do nothing, unsuccessfully.
* true invocation:: Do nothing, successfully.
* test invocation:: Check file types and compare values.
* expr invocation:: Evaluate expressions.
File: coreutils.info, Node: false invocation, Next: true invocation, Up: Conditions
16.1 `false': Do nothing, unsuccessfully
========================================
`false' does nothing except return an exit status of 1, meaning
"failure". It can be used as a place holder in shell scripts where an
unsuccessful command is needed.
By default, `false' honors the `--help' and `--version' options.
However, that is contrary to POSIX, so when the environment variable
`POSIXLY_CORRECT' is set, `false' ignores _all_ command line arguments,
including `--help' and `--version'.
This version of `false' is implemented as a C program, and is thus
more secure and faster than a shell script implementation, and may
safely be used as a dummy shell for the purpose of disabling accounts.
Note that `false' (unlike all other programs documented herein)
exits unsuccessfully, even when invoked with `--help' or `--version'.
File: coreutils.info, Node: true invocation, Next: test invocation, Prev: false invocation, Up: Conditions
16.2 `true': Do nothing, successfully
=====================================
`true' does nothing except return an exit status of 0, meaning
"success". It can be used as a place holder in shell scripts where a
successful command is needed, although the shell built-in command `:'
(colon) may do the same thing faster. In most modern shells, `true' is
a built-in command, so when you use `true' in a script, you're probably
using the built-in command, not the one documented here.
By default, `true' honors the `--help' and `--version' options.
However, that is contrary to POSIX, so when the environment variable
`POSIXLY_CORRECT' is set, `true' ignores _all_ command line arguments,
including `--help' and `--version'.
Note, however, that it is possible to cause `true' to exit with
nonzero status: when invoked in non-POSIX mode, with the `--help' or
`--version' option, and with standard output already closed or
redirected to a file that evokes an I/O error. For example, using a
Bourne-compatible shell:
$ ./true --version >&-
./true: write error: Bad file number
$ ./true --version > /dev/full
./true: write error: No space left on device
This version of `true' is implemented as a C program, and is thus
more secure and faster than a shell script implementation, and may
safely be used as a dummy shell for the purpose of disabling accounts.
File: coreutils.info, Node: test invocation, Next: expr invocation, Prev: true invocation, Up: Conditions
16.3 `test': Check file types and compare values
================================================
`test' returns a status of 0 (true) or 1 (false) depending on the
evaluation of the conditional expression EXPR. Each part of the
expression must be a separate argument.
`test' has file status checks, string operators, and numeric
comparison operators.
`test' has an alternate form that uses opening and closing square
brackets instead a leading `test'. For example, instead of `test -d
/', you can write `[ -d / ]'. The square brackets must be separate
arguments; for example, `[-d /]' does not have the desired effect.
Since `test EXPR' and `[ EXPR ]' have the same meaning, only the former
form is discussed below.
Because most shells have a built-in command by the same name, using
the unadorned command name in a script or interactively may get you
different functionality than that described here.
Besides the options below, a single argument is also allowed: `test'
returns true if the argument is not null. The argument can be any
string, including strings like `-d', `-1', `--', `--help', and
`--version' that most other programs would treat as options. To get
help and version information, invoke the commands `[ --help' and `[
--version', without the usual closing brackets. *Note Common options::.
Exit status:
0 if the expression is true,
1 if the expression is false,
2 if an error occurred.
* Menu:
* File type tests:: -[bcdfhLpSt]
* Access permission tests:: -[gkruwxOG]
* File characteristic tests:: -e -s -nt -ot -ef
* String tests:: -z -n = !=
* Numeric tests:: -eq -ne -lt -le -gt -ge
* Connectives for test:: ! -a -o
File: coreutils.info, Node: File type tests, Next: Access permission tests, Up: test invocation
16.3.1 File type tests
----------------------
These options test for particular types of files. (Everything's a file,
but not all files are the same!)
`-b FILE'
True if FILE exists and is a block special device.
`-c FILE'
True if FILE exists and is a character special device.
`-d FILE'
True if FILE exists and is a directory.
`-f FILE'
True if FILE exists and is a regular file.
`-h FILE'
`-L FILE'
True if FILE exists and is a symbolic link.
`-p FILE'
True if FILE exists and is a named pipe.
`-S FILE'
True if FILE exists and is a socket.
`-t FD'
True if FD is a file descriptor that is associated with a terminal.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Access permission tests, Next: File characteristic tests, Prev: File type tests, Up: test invocation
16.3.2 Access permission tests
------------------------------
These options test for particular access permissions.
`-g FILE'
True if FILE exists and has its set-group-id bit set.
`-k FILE'
True if FILE has its "sticky" bit set.
`-r FILE'
True if FILE exists and is readable.
`-u FILE'
True if FILE exists and has its set-user-id bit set.
`-w FILE'
True if FILE exists and is writable.
`-x FILE'
True if FILE exists and is executable.
`-O FILE'
True if FILE exists and is owned by the current effective user id.
`-G FILE'
True if FILE exists and is owned by the current effective group id.
File: coreutils.info, Node: File characteristic tests, Next: String tests, Prev: Access permission tests, Up: test invocation
16.3.3 File characteristic tests
--------------------------------
These options test other file characteristics.
`-e FILE'
True if FILE exists.
`-s FILE'
True if FILE exists and has a size greater than zero.
`FILE1 -nt FILE2'
True if FILE1 is newer (according to modification date) than
FILE2, or if FILE1 exists and FILE2 does not.
`FILE1 -ot FILE2'
True if FILE1 is older (according to modification date) than
FILE2, or if FILE2 exists and FILE1 does not.
`FILE1 -ef FILE2'
True if FILE1 and FILE2 have the same device and inode numbers,
i.e., if they are hard links to each other.
File: coreutils.info, Node: String tests, Next: Numeric tests, Prev: File characteristic tests, Up: test invocation
16.3.4 String tests
-------------------
These options test string characteristics. Strings are not quoted for
`test', though you may need to quote them to protect characters with
special meaning to the shell, e.g., spaces.
`-z STRING'
True if the length of STRING is zero.
`-n STRING'
`STRING'
True if the length of STRING is nonzero.
`STRING1 = STRING2'
True if the strings are equal.
`STRING1 != STRING2'
True if the strings are not equal.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Numeric tests, Next: Connectives for test, Prev: String tests, Up: test invocation
16.3.5 Numeric tests
--------------------
Numeric relationals. The arguments must be entirely numeric (possibly
negative), or the special expression `-l STRING', which evaluates to
the length of STRING.
`ARG1 -eq ARG2'
`ARG1 -ne ARG2'
`ARG1 -lt ARG2'
`ARG1 -le ARG2'
`ARG1 -gt ARG2'
`ARG1 -ge ARG2'
These arithmetic binary operators return true if ARG1 is equal,
not-equal, less-than, less-than-or-equal, greater-than, or
greater-than-or-equal than ARG2, respectively.
For example:
test -1 -gt -2 && echo yes
=> yes
test -l abc -gt 1 && echo yes
=> yes
test 0x100 -eq 1
error--> test: integer expression expected before -eq
File: coreutils.info, Node: Connectives for test, Prev: Numeric tests, Up: test invocation
16.3.6 Connectives for `test'
-----------------------------
The usual logical connectives.
`! EXPR'
True if EXPR is false.
`EXPR1 -a EXPR2'
True if both EXPR1 and EXPR2 are true.
`EXPR1 -o EXPR2'
True if either EXPR1 or EXPR2 is true.
File: coreutils.info, Node: expr invocation, Prev: test invocation, Up: Conditions
16.4 `expr': Evaluate expressions
=================================
`expr' evaluates an expression and writes the result on standard
output. Each token of the expression must be a separate argument.
Operands are either integers or strings. Integers consist of one or
more decimal digits, with an optional leading `-'. `expr' converts
anything appearing in an operand position to an integer or a string
depending on the operation being applied to it.
Strings are not quoted for `expr' itself, though you may need to
quote them to protect characters with special meaning to the shell,
e.g., spaces. However, regardless of whether it is quoted, a string
operand should not be a parenthesis or any of `expr''s operators like
`+', so you cannot safely pass an arbitrary string `$str' to expr
merely by quoting it to the shell. One way to work around this is to
use the `GNU' extension `+', (e.g., `+ "$str" = foo'); a more portable
way is to use `" $str"' and to adjust the rest of the expression to take
the leading space into account (e.g., `" $str" = " foo"').
You should not pass a negative integer or a string with leading `-'
as `expr''s first argument, as it might be misinterpreted as an option;
this can be avoided by parenthesization. Also, portable scripts should
not use a string operand that happens to take the form of an integer;
this can be worked around by inserting leading spaces as mentioned
above.
Operators may be given as infix symbols or prefix keywords.
Parentheses may be used for grouping in the usual manner. You must
quote parentheses and many operators to avoid the shell evaluating them,
however.
Exit status:
0 if the expression is neither null nor 0,
1 if the expression is null or 0,
2 if the expression is syntactically invalid,
3 if an error occurred.
* Menu:
* String expressions:: + : match substr index length
* Numeric expressions:: + - * / %
* Relations for expr:: | & < <= = == != >= >
* Examples of expr:: Examples.
File: coreutils.info, Node: String expressions, Next: Numeric expressions, Up: expr invocation
16.4.1 String expressions
-------------------------
`expr' supports pattern matching and other string operators. These
have lower precedence than both the numeric and relational operators (in
the next sections).
`STRING : REGEX'
Perform pattern matching. The arguments are converted to strings
and the second is considered to be a (basic, a la GNU `grep')
regular expression, with a `^' implicitly prepended. The first
argument is then matched against this regular expression.
If the match succeeds and REGEX uses `\(' and `\)', the `:'
expression returns the part of STRING that matched the
subexpression; otherwise, it returns the number of characters
matched.
If the match fails, the `:' operator returns the null string if
`\(' and `\)' are used in REGEX, otherwise 0.
Only the first `\( ... \)' pair is relevant to the return value;
additional pairs are meaningful only for grouping the regular
expression operators.
In the regular expression, `\+', `\?', and `\|' are operators
which respectively match one or more, zero or one, or separate
alternatives. SunOS and other `expr''s treat these as regular
characters. (POSIX allows either behavior.) *Note Regular
Expression Library: (regex)Top, for details of regular expression
syntax. Some examples are in *Note Examples of expr::.
`match STRING REGEX'
An alternative way to do pattern matching. This is the same as
`STRING : REGEX'.
`substr STRING POSITION LENGTH'
Returns the substring of STRING beginning at POSITION with length
at most LENGTH. If either POSITION or LENGTH is negative, zero,
or non-numeric, returns the null string.
`index STRING CHARSET'
Returns the first position in STRING where the first character in
CHARSET was found. If no character in CHARSET is found in STRING,
return 0.
`length STRING'
Returns the length of STRING.
`+ TOKEN'
Interpret TOKEN as a string, even if it is a keyword like MATCH or
an operator like `/'. This makes it possible to test `expr length
+ "$x"' or `expr + "$x" : '.*/\(.\)'' and have it do the right
thing even if the value of $X happens to be (for example) `/' or
`index'. This operator is a GNU extension. Portable shell
scripts should use `" $token" : ' \(.*\)'' instead of `+ "$token"'.
To make `expr' interpret keywords as strings, you must use the
`quote' operator.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Numeric expressions, Next: Relations for expr, Prev: String expressions, Up: expr invocation
16.4.2 Numeric expressions
--------------------------
`expr' supports the usual numeric operators, in order of increasing
precedence. The string operators (previous section) have lower
precedence, the connectives (next section) have higher.
`+ -'
Addition and subtraction. Both arguments are converted to
integers; an error occurs if this cannot be done.
`* / %'
Multiplication, division, remainder. Both arguments are converted
to integers; an error occurs if this cannot be done.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Relations for expr, Next: Examples of expr, Prev: Numeric expressions, Up: expr invocation
16.4.3 Relations for `expr'
---------------------------
`expr' supports the usual logical connectives and relations. These are
higher precedence than either the string or numeric operators (previous
sections). Here is the list, lowest-precedence operator first.
`|'
Returns its first argument if that is neither null nor zero,
otherwise its second argument if it is neither null nor zero,
otherwise 0. It does not evaluate its second argument if its
first argument is neither null nor zero.
`&'
Return its first argument if neither argument is null or zero,
otherwise 0. It does not evaluate its second argument if its
first argument is null or zero.
`< <= = == != >= >'
Compare the arguments and return 1 if the relation is true, 0
otherwise. `==' is a synonym for `='. `expr' first tries to
convert both arguments to integers and do a numeric comparison; if
either conversion fails, it does a lexicographic comparison using
the character collating sequence specified by the `LC_COLLATE'
locale.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Examples of expr, Prev: Relations for expr, Up: expr invocation
16.4.4 Examples of using `expr'
-------------------------------
Here are a few examples, including quoting for shell metacharacters.
To add 1 to the shell variable `foo', in Bourne-compatible shells:
foo=`expr $foo + 1`
To print the non-directory part of the file name stored in `$fname',
which need not contain a `/'.
expr $fname : '.*/\(.*\)' '|' $fname
An example showing that `\+' is an operator:
expr aaa : 'a\+'
=> 3
expr abc : 'a\(.\)c'
=> b
expr index abcdef cz
=> 3
expr index index a
error--> expr: syntax error
expr index quote index a
=> 0
File: coreutils.info, Node: Redirection, Next: File name manipulation, Prev: Conditions, Up: Top
17 Redirection
**************
Unix shells commonly provide several forms of "redirection"--ways to
change the input source or output destination of a command. But one
useful redirection is performed by a separate command, not by the shell;
it's described here.
* Menu:
* tee invocation:: Redirect output to multiple files.
File: coreutils.info, Node: tee invocation, Up: Redirection
17.1 `tee': Redirect output to multiple files
=============================================
The `tee' command copies standard input to standard output and also to
any files given as arguments. This is useful when you want not only to
send some data down a pipe, but also to save a copy. Synopsis:
tee [OPTION]... [FILE]...
If a file being written to does not already exist, it is created.
If a file being written to already exists, the data it previously
contained is overwritten unless the `-a' option is used.
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-a'
`--append'
Append standard input to the given files rather than overwriting
them.
`-i'
`--ignore-interrupts'
Ignore interrupt signals.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: File name manipulation, Next: Working context, Prev: Redirection, Up: Top
18 File name manipulation
*************************
This section describes commands that manipulate file names.
* Menu:
* basename invocation:: Strip directory and suffix from a file name.
* dirname invocation:: Strip non-directory suffix from a file name.
* pathchk invocation:: Check file name portability.
File: coreutils.info, Node: basename invocation, Next: dirname invocation, Up: File name manipulation
18.1 `basename': Strip directory and suffix from a file name
============================================================
`basename' removes any leading directory components from NAME.
Synopsis:
basename NAME [SUFFIX]
If SUFFIX is specified and is identical to the end of NAME, it is
removed from NAME as well. `basename' prints the result on standard
output.
The only options are `--help' and `--version'. *Note Common
options::.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: dirname invocation, Next: pathchk invocation, Prev: basename invocation, Up: File name manipulation
18.2 `dirname': Strip non-directory suffix from a file name
===========================================================
`dirname' prints all but the final slash-delimited component of a
string (presumably a filename). Synopsis:
dirname NAME
If NAME is a single component, `dirname' prints `.' (meaning the
current directory).
The only options are `--help' and `--version'. *Note Common
options::.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: pathchk invocation, Prev: dirname invocation, Up: File name manipulation
18.3 `pathchk': Check file name portability
===========================================
`pathchk' checks portability of filenames. Synopsis:
pathchk [OPTION]... NAME...
For each NAME, `pathchk' prints a message if any of these conditions
is true:
1. one of the existing directories in NAME does not have search
(execute) permission,
2. the length of NAME is larger than its filesystem's maximum file
name length,
3. the length of one component of NAME, corresponding to an existing
directory name, is larger than its filesystem's maximum length for
a file name component.
The program accepts the following option. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-p'
`--portability'
Instead of performing length checks on the underlying filesystem,
test the length of each file name and its components against the
POSIX minimum limits for portability. Also check that the file
name contains no characters not in the portable file name
character set.
Exit status:
0 if all specified file names passed all of the tests,
1 otherwise.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Working context, Next: User information, Prev: File name manipulation, Up: Top
19 Working context
******************
This section describes commands that display or alter the context in
which you are working: the current directory, the terminal settings, and
so forth. See also the user-related commands in the next section.
* Menu:
* pwd invocation:: Print working directory.
* stty invocation:: Print or change terminal characteristics.
* printenv invocation:: Print environment variables.
* tty invocation:: Print file name of terminal on standard input.
File: coreutils.info, Node: pwd invocation, Next: stty invocation, Up: Working context
19.1 `pwd': Print working directory
===================================
`pwd' prints the fully resolved name of the current directory. That
is, all components of the printed name will be actual directory
names--none will be symbolic links.
Because most shells have a built-in command by the same name, using
the unadorned command name in a script or interactively may get you
different functionality than that described here.
The only options are a lone `--help' or `--version'. *Note Common
options::.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: stty invocation, Next: printenv invocation, Prev: pwd invocation, Up: Working context
19.2 `stty': Print or change terminal characteristics
=====================================================
`stty' prints or changes terminal characteristics, such as baud rate.
Synopses:
stty [OPTION] [SETTING]...
stty [OPTION]
If given no line settings, `stty' prints the baud rate, line
discipline number (on systems that support it), and line settings that
have been changed from the values set by `stty sane'. By default, mode
reading and setting are performed on the tty line connected to standard
input, although this can be modified by the `--file' option.
`stty' accepts many non-option arguments that change aspects of the
terminal line operation, as described below.
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-a'
`--all'
Print all current settings in human-readable form. This option
may not be used in combination with any line settings.
`-F DEVICE'
`--file=DEVICE'
Set the line opened by the filename specified in DEVICE instead of
the tty line connected to standard input. This option is necessary
because opening a POSIX tty requires use of the `O_NONDELAY' flag
to prevent a POSIX tty from blocking until the carrier detect line
is high if the `clocal' flag is not set. Hence, it is not always
possible to allow the shell to open the device in the traditional
manner.
`-g'
`--save'
Print all current settings in a form that can be used as an
argument to another `stty' command to restore the current
settings. This option may not be used in combination with any
line settings.
Many settings can be turned off by preceding them with a `-'. Such
arguments are marked below with "May be negated" in their description.
The descriptions themselves refer to the positive case, that is, when
_not_ negated (unless stated otherwise, of course).
Some settings are not available on all POSIX systems, since they use
extensions. Such arguments are marked below with "Non-POSIX" in their
description. On non-POSIX systems, those or other settings also may not
be available, but it's not feasible to document all the variations: just
try it and see.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
* Menu:
* Control:: Control settings
* Input:: Input settings
* Output:: Output settings
* Local:: Local settings
* Combination:: Combination settings
* Characters:: Special characters
* Special:: Special settings
File: coreutils.info, Node: Control, Next: Input, Up: stty invocation
19.2.1 Control settings
-----------------------
Control settings:
`parenb'
Generate parity bit in output and expect parity bit in input. May
be negated.
`parodd'
Set odd parity (even if negated). May be negated.
`cs5'
`cs6'
`cs7'
`cs8'
Set character size to 5, 6, 7, or 8 bits.
`hup'
`hupcl'
Send a hangup signal when the last process closes the tty. May be
negated.
`cstopb'
Use two stop bits per character (one if negated). May be negated.
`cread'
Allow input to be received. May be negated.
`clocal'
Disable modem control signals. May be negated.
`crtscts'
Enable RTS/CTS flow control. Non-POSIX. May be negated.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Input, Next: Output, Prev: Control, Up: stty invocation
19.2.2 Input settings
---------------------
`ignbrk'
Ignore break characters. May be negated.
`brkint'
Make breaks cause an interrupt signal. May be negated.
`ignpar'
Ignore characters with parity errors. May be negated.
`parmrk'
Mark parity errors (with a 255-0-character sequence). May be
negated.
`inpck'
Enable input parity checking. May be negated.
`istrip'
Clear high (8th) bit of input characters. May be negated.
`inlcr'
Translate newline to carriage return. May be negated.
`igncr'
Ignore carriage return. May be negated.
`icrnl'
Translate carriage return to newline. May be negated.
`ixon'
Enable XON/XOFF flow control (that is, `CTRL-S'/`CTRL-Q'). May be
negated.
`ixoff'
`tandem'
Enable sending of `stop' character when the system input buffer is
almost full, and `start' character when it becomes almost empty
again. May be negated.
`iuclc'
Translate uppercase characters to lowercase. Non-POSIX. May be
negated.
`ixany'
Allow any character to restart output (only the start character if
negated). Non-POSIX. May be negated.
`imaxbel'
Enable beeping and not flushing input buffer if a character arrives
when the input buffer is full. Non-POSIX. May be negated.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Output, Next: Local, Prev: Input, Up: stty invocation
19.2.3 Output settings
----------------------
These arguments specify output-related operations.
`opost'
Postprocess output. May be negated.
`olcuc'
Translate lowercase characters to uppercase. Non-POSIX. May be
negated.
`ocrnl'
Translate carriage return to newline. Non-POSIX. May be negated.
`onlcr'
Translate newline to carriage return-newline. Non-POSIX. May be
negated.
`onocr'
Do not print carriage returns in the first column. Non-POSIX.
May be negated.
`onlret'
Newline performs a carriage return. Non-POSIX. May be negated.
`ofill'
Use fill (padding) characters instead of timing for delays.
Non-POSIX. May be negated.
`ofdel'
Use delete characters for fill instead of null characters.
Non-POSIX. May be negated.
`nl1'
`nl0'
Newline delay style. Non-POSIX.
`cr3'
`cr2'
`cr1'
`cr0'
Carriage return delay style. Non-POSIX.
`tab3'
`tab2'
`tab1'
`tab0'
Horizontal tab delay style. Non-POSIX.
`bs1'
`bs0'
Backspace delay style. Non-POSIX.
`vt1'
`vt0'
Vertical tab delay style. Non-POSIX.
`ff1'
`ff0'
Form feed delay style. Non-POSIX.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Local, Next: Combination, Prev: Output, Up: stty invocation
19.2.4 Local settings
---------------------
`isig'
Enable `interrupt', `quit', and `suspend' special characters. May
be negated.
`icanon'
Enable `erase', `kill', `werase', and `rprnt' special characters.
May be negated.
`iexten'
Enable non-POSIX special characters. May be negated.
`echo'
Echo input characters. May be negated.
`echoe'
`crterase'
Echo `erase' characters as backspace-space-backspace. May be
negated.
`echok'
Echo a newline after a `kill' character. May be negated.
`echonl'
Echo newline even if not echoing other characters. May be negated.
`noflsh'
Disable flushing after `interrupt' and `quit' special characters.
May be negated.
`xcase'
Enable input and output of uppercase characters by preceding their
lowercase equivalents with `\', when `icanon' is set. Non-POSIX.
May be negated.
`tostop'
Stop background jobs that try to write to the terminal. Non-POSIX.
May be negated.
`echoprt'
`prterase'
Echo erased characters backward, between `\' and `/'. Non-POSIX.
May be negated.
`echoctl'
`ctlecho'
Echo control characters in hat notation (`^C') instead of
literally. Non-POSIX. May be negated.
`echoke'
`crtkill'
Echo the `kill' special character by erasing each character on the
line as indicated by the `echoprt' and `echoe' settings, instead
of by the `echoctl' and `echok' settings. Non-POSIX. May be
negated.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Combination, Next: Characters, Prev: Local, Up: stty invocation
19.2.5 Combination settings
---------------------------
Combination settings:
`evenp'
`parity'
Same as `parenb -parodd cs7'. May be negated. If negated, same
as `-parenb cs8'.
`oddp'
Same as `parenb parodd cs7'. May be negated. If negated, same as
`-parenb cs8'.
`nl'
Same as `-icrnl -onlcr'. May be negated. If negated, same as
`icrnl -inlcr -igncr onlcr -ocrnl -onlret'.
`ek'
Reset the `erase' and `kill' special characters to their default
values.
`sane'
Same as:
cread -ignbrk brkint -inlcr -igncr icrnl -ixoff
-iuclc -ixany imaxbel opost -olcuc -ocrnl onlcr
-onocr -onlret -ofill -ofdel nl0 cr0 tab0 bs0 vt0
ff0 isig icanon iexten echo echoe echok -echonl
-noflsh -xcase -tostop -echoprt echoctl echoke
and also sets all special characters to their default values.
`cooked'
Same as `brkint ignpar istrip icrnl ixon opost isig icanon', plus
sets the `eof' and `eol' characters to their default values if
they are the same as the `min' and `time' characters. May be
negated. If negated, same as `raw'.
`raw'
Same as:
-ignbrk -brkint -ignpar -parmrk -inpck -istrip
-inlcr -igncr -icrnl -ixon -ixoff -iuclc -ixany
-imaxbel -opost -isig -icanon -xcase min 1 time 0
May be negated. If negated, same as `cooked'.
`cbreak'
Same as `-icanon'. May be negated. If negated, same as `icanon'.
`pass8'
Same as `-parenb -istrip cs8'. May be negated. If negated, same
as `parenb istrip cs7'.
`litout'
Same as `-parenb -istrip -opost cs8'. May be negated. If
negated, same as `parenb istrip opost cs7'.
`decctlq'
Same as `-ixany'. Non-POSIX. May be negated.
`tabs'
Same as `tab0'. Non-POSIX. May be negated. If negated, same as
`tab3'.
`lcase'
`LCASE'
Same as `xcase iuclc olcuc'. Non-POSIX. May be negated.
`crt'
Same as `echoe echoctl echoke'.
`dec'
Same as `echoe echoctl echoke -ixany intr ^C erase ^? kill C-u'.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Characters, Next: Special, Prev: Combination, Up: stty invocation
19.2.6 Special characters
-------------------------
The special characters' default values vary from system to system.
They are set with the syntax `name value', where the names are listed
below and the value can be given either literally, in hat notation
(`^C'), or as an integer which may start with `0x' to indicate
hexadecimal, `0' to indicate octal, or any other digit to indicate
decimal.
For GNU stty, giving a value of `^-' or `undef' disables that
special character. (This is incompatible with Ultrix `stty', which
uses a value of `u' to disable a special character. GNU `stty' treats
a value `u' like any other, namely to set that special character to
<U>.)
`intr'
Send an interrupt signal.
`quit'
Send a quit signal.
`erase'
Erase the last character typed.
`kill'
Erase the current line.
`eof'
Send an end of file (terminate the input).
`eol'
End the line.
`eol2'
Alternate character to end the line. Non-POSIX.
`swtch'
Switch to a different shell layer. Non-POSIX.
`start'
Restart the output after stopping it.
`stop'
Stop the output.
`susp'
Send a terminal stop signal.
`dsusp'
Send a terminal stop signal after flushing the input. Non-POSIX.
`rprnt'
Redraw the current line. Non-POSIX.
`werase'
Erase the last word typed. Non-POSIX.
`lnext'
Enter the next character typed literally, even if it is a special
character. Non-POSIX.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Special, Prev: Characters, Up: stty invocation
19.2.7 Special settings
-----------------------
`min N'
Set the minimum number of characters that will satisfy a read until
the time value has expired, when `-icanon' is set.
`time N'
Set the number of tenths of a second before reads time out if the
minimum number of characters have not been read, when `-icanon' is
set.
`ispeed N'
Set the input speed to N.
`ospeed N'
Set the output speed to N.
`rows N'
Tell the tty kernel driver that the terminal has N rows.
Non-POSIX.
`cols N'
`columns N'
Tell the kernel that the terminal has N columns. Non-POSIX.
`size'
Print the number of rows and columns that the kernel thinks the
terminal has. (Systems that don't support rows and columns in the
kernel typically use the environment variables `LINES' and
`COLUMNS' instead; however, GNU `stty' does not know anything
about them.) Non-POSIX.
`line N'
Use line discipline N. Non-POSIX.
`speed'
Print the terminal speed.
`N'
Set the input and output speeds to N. N can be one of: 0 50 75
110 134 134.5 150 200 300 600 1200 1800 2400 4800 9600 19200 38400
`exta' `extb'. `exta' is the same as 19200; `extb' is the same as
38400. 0 hangs up the line if `-clocal' is set.
File: coreutils.info, Node: printenv invocation, Next: tty invocation, Prev: stty invocation, Up: Working context
19.3 `printenv': Print all or some environment variables
========================================================
`printenv' prints environment variable values. Synopsis:
printenv [OPTION] [VARIABLE]...
If no VARIABLEs are specified, `printenv' prints the value of every
environment variable. Otherwise, it prints the value of each VARIABLE
that is set, and nothing for those that are not set.
The only options are a lone `--help' or `--version'. *Note Common
options::.
Exit status:
0 if all variables specified were found
1 if at least one specified variable was not found
2 if a write error occurred
File: coreutils.info, Node: tty invocation, Prev: printenv invocation, Up: Working context
19.4 `tty': Print file name of terminal on standard input
=========================================================
`tty' prints the file name of the terminal connected to its standard
input. It prints `not a tty' if standard input is not a terminal.
Synopsis:
tty [OPTION]...
The program accepts the following option. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-s'
`--silent'
`--quiet'
Print nothing; only return an exit status.
Exit status:
0 if standard input is a terminal
1 if standard input is not a terminal
2 if given incorrect arguments
3 if a write error occurs
File: coreutils.info, Node: User information, Next: System context, Prev: Working context, Up: Top
20 User information
*******************
This section describes commands that print user-related information:
logins, groups, and so forth.
* Menu:
* id invocation:: Print real and effective uid and gid.
* logname invocation:: Print current login name.
* whoami invocation:: Print effective user id.
* groups invocation:: Print group names a user is in.
* users invocation:: Print login names of users currently logged in.
* who invocation:: Print who is currently logged in.
File: coreutils.info, Node: id invocation, Next: logname invocation, Up: User information
20.1 `id': Print real and effective uid and gid
===============================================
`id' prints information about the given user, or the process running it
if no user is specified. Synopsis:
id [OPTION]... [USERNAME]
By default, it prints the real user id, real group id, effective
user id if different from the real user id, effective group id if
different from the real group id, and supplemental group ids.
Each of these numeric values is preceded by an identifying string and
followed by the corresponding user or group name in parentheses.
The options cause `id' to print only part of the above information.
Also see *Note Common options::.
`-g'
`--group'
Print only the group id.
`-G'
`--groups'
Print only the supplementary groups.
`-n'
`--name'
Print the user or group name instead of the ID number. Requires
`-u', `-g', or `-G'.
`-r'
`--real'
Print the real, instead of effective, user or group id. Requires
`-u', `-g', or `-G'.
`-u'
`--user'
Print only the user id.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: logname invocation, Next: whoami invocation, Prev: id invocation, Up: User information
20.2 `logname': Print current login name
========================================
`logname' prints the calling user's name, as found in the file
`/var/run/utmp', and exits with a status of 0. If there is no
`/var/run/utmp' entry for the calling process, `logname' prints an
error message and exits with a status of 1.
The only options are `--help' and `--version'. *Note Common
options::.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: whoami invocation, Next: groups invocation, Prev: logname invocation, Up: User information
20.3 `whoami': Print effective user id
======================================
`whoami' prints the user name associated with the current effective
user id. It is equivalent to the command `id -un'.
The only options are `--help' and `--version'. *Note Common
options::.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: groups invocation, Next: users invocation, Prev: whoami invocation, Up: User information
20.4 `groups': Print group names a user is in
=============================================
`groups' prints the names of the primary and any supplementary groups
for each given USERNAME, or the current process if no names are given.
If names are given, the name of each user is printed before the list of
that user's groups. Synopsis:
groups [USERNAME]...
The group lists are equivalent to the output of the command `id -Gn'.
The only options are `--help' and `--version'. *Note Common
options::.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: users invocation, Next: who invocation, Prev: groups invocation, Up: User information
20.5 `users': Print login names of users currently logged in
============================================================
`users' prints on a single line a blank-separated list of user names of
users currently logged in to the current host. Each user name
corresponds to a login session, so if a user has more than one login
session, that user's name will appear the same number of times in the
output. Synopsis:
users [FILE]
With no FILE argument, `users' extracts its information from the
file `/var/run/utmp'. If a file argument is given, `users' uses that
file instead. A common choice is `/var/log/wtmp'.
The only options are `--help' and `--version'. *Note Common
options::.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: who invocation, Prev: users invocation, Up: User information
20.6 `who': Print who is currently logged in
============================================
`who' prints information about users who are currently logged on.
Synopsis:
`who' [OPTION] [FILE] [am i]
If given no non-option arguments, `who' prints the following
information for each user currently logged on: login name, terminal
line, login time, and remote hostname or X display.
If given one non-option argument, `who' uses that instead of
`/var/run/utmp' as the name of the file containing the record of users
logged on. `/var/run/wtmp' is commonly given as an argument to `who'
to look at who has previously logged on.
If given two non-option arguments, `who' prints only the entry for
the user running it (determined from its standard input), preceded by
the hostname. Traditionally, the two arguments given are `am i', as in
`who am i'.
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-a'
`--all'
Same as `-b -d --login -p -r -t -T -u'.
`-b'
`--boot'
Print the date and time of last system boot.
`-d'
`--dead'
Print information corresponding to dead processes.
`-H'
`--heading'
Print column headings.
`-i'
`--idle'
Include idle time in HOURS:MINUTES, `.' (to indicate current
process), or `old'.
`-m'
Same as `who am i'.
`-q'
`--count'
Print only the login names and the number of users logged on.
Overrides all other options.
`-s'
Ignored; for compatibility with other versions of `who'.
`-i'
`-u'
`--idle'
After the login time, print the number of hours and minutes that
the user has been idle. `.' means the user was active in last
minute. `old' means the user was idle for more than 24 hours.
`-l'
`--login'
List only the entries that correspond to processes via which the
system is waiting for a user to login. The user name is always
`LOGIN'.
`--lookup'
Attempt to canonicalize hostnames found in utmp through a DNS
lookup. This is not the default because it can cause significant
delays on systems with automatic dial-up internet access.
`-H'
`--heading'
Print a line of column headings.
`-w'
`-T'
`--mesg'
`--message'
`--writable'
After each login name print a character indicating the user's
message status:
`+' allowing `write' messages
`-' disallowing `write' messages
`?' cannot find terminal device
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: System context, Next: Modified command invocation, Prev: User information, Up: Top
21 System context
*****************
This section describes commands that print or change system-wide
information.
* Menu:
* date invocation:: Print or set system date and time.
* uname invocation:: Print system information.
* hostname invocation:: Print or set system name.
* hostid invocation:: Print numeric host identifier.
File: coreutils.info, Node: date invocation, Next: uname invocation, Up: System context
21.1 `date': Print or set system date and time
==============================================
Synopses:
date [OPTION]... [+FORMAT]
date [-u|--utc|--universal] [ MMDDhhmm[[CC]YY][.ss] ]
Invoking `date' with no FORMAT argument is equivalent to invoking
`date '+%a %b %e %H:%M:%S %Z %Y''.
If given an argument that starts with a `+', `date' prints the
current time and date (or the time and date specified by the `--date'
option, see below) in the format defined by that argument, which is the
same as in the `strftime' function. Except for directives, which start
with `%', characters in the format string are printed unchanged. The
directives are described below.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
* Menu:
* Time directives:: %[HIklMprsSTXzZ]
* Date directives:: %[aAbBcdDhjmUwWxyY]
* Literal directives:: %[%nt]
* Padding:: Pad with zeroes, spaces (%_), or nothing (%-).
* Setting the time:: Changing the system clock.
* Options for date:: Instead of the current time.
* Examples of date:: Examples.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Time directives, Next: Date directives, Up: date invocation
21.1.1 Time directives
----------------------
`date' directives related to times.
`%H'
hour (00...23)
`%I'
hour (01...12)
`%k'
hour ( 0...23)
`%l'
hour ( 1...12)
`%M'
minute (00...59)
`%N'
nanoseconds (000000000...999999999)
`%p'
locale's upper case `AM' or `PM' (blank in many locales)
`%P'
locale's lower case `am' or `pm' (blank in many locales)
`%r'
time, 12-hour (hh:mm:ss [AP]M)
`%R'
time, 24-hour (hh:mm). Same as `%H:%M'.
`%s'
seconds since the epoch, i.e., 1 January 1970 00:00:00 UTC (a GNU
extension). For examples, *Note %s-examples::.
`%S'
second (00...60). The range is [00...60], and not [00...59], in
order to accommodate the occasional positive leap second.
`%T'
time, 24-hour (hh:mm:ss)
`%X'
locale's time representation (%H:%M:%S)
`%z'
RFC-2822 style numeric time zone (e.g., -0600 or +0100), or
nothing if no time zone is determinable. This value reflects the
_current_ time zone. It isn't changed by the `--date' option.
`%Z'
time zone (e.g., EDT), or nothing if no time zone is determinable.
Note that this value reflects the _current_ time zone. It isn't
changed by the `--date' option.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Date directives, Next: Literal directives, Prev: Time directives, Up: date invocation
21.1.2 Date directives
----------------------
`date' directives related to dates.
`%a'
locale's abbreviated weekday name (Sun...Sat)
`%A'
locale's full weekday name, variable length (Sunday...Saturday)
`%b'
locale's abbreviated month name (Jan...Dec)
`%B'
locale's full month name, variable length (January...December)
`%c'
locale's date and time (Sat Nov 04 12:02:33 EST 1989)
`%C'
century (year divided by 100 and truncated to an integer) (00...99)
`%d'
day of month (01...31)
`%D'
date (mm/dd/yy)
`%e'
blank-padded day of month (1...31)
`%F'
the ISO 8601 standard date format: `%Y-%m-%d'. This is the
preferred form for all uses.
`%g'
The year corresponding to the ISO week number, but without the
century (range `00' through `99'). This has the same format and
value as `%y', except that if the ISO week number (see `%V')
belongs to the previous or next year, that year is used instead.
`%G'
The year corresponding to the ISO week number. This has the same
format and value as `%Y', except that if the ISO week number (see
`%V') belongs to the previous or next year, that year is used
instead.
`%h'
same as %b
`%j'
day of year (001...366)
`%m'
month (01...12)
`%u'
day of week (1...7) with 1 corresponding to Monday
`%U'
week number of year with Sunday as first day of week (00...53).
Days in a new year preceding the first Sunday are in week zero.
`%V'
week number of year with Monday as first day of the week as a
decimal (01...53). If the week containing January 1 has four or
more days in the new year, then it is considered week 1;
otherwise, it is week 53 of the previous year, and the next week
is week 1. (See the ISO 8601 standard.)
`%w'
day of week (0...6) with 0 corresponding to Sunday
`%W'
week number of year with Monday as first day of week (00...53).
Days in a new year preceding the first Monday are in week zero.
`%x'
locale's date representation (mm/dd/yy)
`%y'
last two digits of year (00...99)
`%Y'
year (1970....)
File: coreutils.info, Node: Literal directives, Next: Padding, Prev: Date directives, Up: date invocation
21.1.3 Literal directives
-------------------------
`date' directives that produce literal strings.
`%%'
a literal %
`%n'
a newline
`%t'
a horizontal tab
File: coreutils.info, Node: Padding, Next: Setting the time, Prev: Literal directives, Up: date invocation
21.1.4 Padding
--------------
By default, `date' pads numeric fields with zeroes, so that, for
example, numeric months are always output as two digits. GNU `date'
recognizes the following numeric modifiers between the `%' and the
directive.
`-'
(hyphen) do not pad the field; useful if the output is intended for
human consumption.
`_'
(underscore) pad the field with spaces; useful if you need a fixed
number of characters in the output, but zeroes are too distracting.
These are GNU extensions.
Here is an example illustrating the differences:
date +%d/%m -d "Feb 1"
=> 01/02
date +%-d/%-m -d "Feb 1"
=> 1/2
date +%_d/%_m -d "Feb 1"
=> 1/ 2
File: coreutils.info, Node: Setting the time, Next: Options for date, Prev: Padding, Up: date invocation
21.1.5 Setting the time
-----------------------
If given an argument that does not start with `+', `date' sets the
system clock to the time and date specified by that argument (as
described below). You must have appropriate privileges to set the
system clock. The `--date' and `--set' options may not be used with
such an argument. The `--universal' option may be used with such an
argument to indicate that the specified time and date are relative to
Coordinated Universal Time rather than to the local time zone.
The argument must consist entirely of digits, which have the
following meaning:
`MM'
month
`DD'
day within month
`hh'
hour
`mm'
minute
`CC'
first two digits of year (optional)
`YY'
last two digits of year (optional)
`ss'
second (optional)
The `--set' option also sets the system clock; see the next section.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Options for date, Next: Examples of date, Prev: Setting the time, Up: date invocation
21.1.6 Options for `date'
-------------------------
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-d DATESTR'
`--date=DATESTR'
Display the time and date specified in DATESTR instead of the
current time and date. DATESTR can be in almost any common
format. It can contain month names, time zones, `am' and `pm',
`yesterday', `ago', `next', etc. *Note Date input formats::.
`-f DATEFILE'
`--file=DATEFILE'
Parse each line in DATEFILE as with `-d' and display the resulting
time and date. If DATEFILE is `-', use standard input. This is
useful when you have many dates to process, because the system
overhead of starting up the `date' executable many times can be
considerable.
`-I TIMESPEC'
`--iso-8601[=TIMESPEC]'
Display the date using the ISO 8601 format, `%Y-%m-%d'.
The argument TIMESPEC specifies the number of additional terms of
the time to include. It can be one of the following:
`auto'
The default behavior: print just the date.
`hours'
Append the hour of the day to the date.
`minutes'
Append the hours and minutes.
`seconds'
Append the hours, minutes, and seconds.
If showing any time terms, then include the time zone using the
format `%z'.
If TIMESPEC is omitted with `--iso-8601', the default is `auto'.
On older systems, GNU `date' instead supports an obsolete option
`-I[TIMESPEC]', where TIMESPEC defaults to `auto'. POSIX
1003.1-2001 (*note Standards conformance::) does not allow `-I'
without an argument; use `--iso-8601' instead.
`-R'
`--rfc-822'
`--rfc-2822'
Display the time and date using the format `%a, %d %b %Y %H:%M:%S
%z', evaluated in the C locale so abbreviations are always in
English. For example:
Fri, 1 Aug 2003 23:05:56 -0700
This format conforms to RFC 2822
(ftp://ftp.rfc-editor.org/in-notes/rfc2822.txt) and RFC 822
(ftp://ftp.rfc-editor.org/in-notes/rfc822.txt), the current and
previous standards for Internet email.
`-r FILE'
`--reference=FILE'
Display the time and date reference according to the last
modification time of FILE, instead of the current time and date.
`-s DATESTR'
`--set=DATESTR'
Set the time and date to DATESTR. See `-d' above.
`-u'
`--utc'
`--universal'
Use Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) by operating as if the `TZ'
environment variable were set to the string `UTC0'. Normally,
`date' operates in the time zone indicated by `TZ', or the system
default if `TZ' is not set. Coordinated Universal Time is often
called "Greenwich Mean Time" (GMT) for historical reasons.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Examples of date, Prev: Options for date, Up: date invocation
21.1.7 Examples of `date'
-------------------------
Here are a few examples. Also see the documentation for the `-d'
option in the previous section.
* To print the date of the day before yesterday:
date --date='2 days ago'
* To print the date of the day three months and one day hence:
date --date='3 months 1 day'
* To print the day of year of Christmas in the current year:
date --date='25 Dec' +%j
* To print the current full month name and the day of the month:
date '+%B %d'
But this may not be what you want because for the first nine days
of the month, the `%d' expands to a zero-padded two-digit field,
for example `date -d 1may '+%B %d'' will print `May 01'.
* To print a date without the leading zero for one-digit days of the
month, you can use the (GNU extension) `-' modifier to suppress
the padding altogether.
date -d 1may '+%B %-d
* To print the current date and time in the format required by many
non-GNU versions of `date' when setting the system clock:
date +%m%d%H%M%Y.%S
* To set the system clock forward by two minutes:
date --set='+2 minutes'
* To print the date in the format specified by RFC-2822, use `date
--rfc-2822'. I just did and saw this:
Thu, 31 Jul 2003 13:13:05 -0700
* To convert a date string to the number of seconds since the epoch
(which is 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC), use the `--date' option with
the `%s' format. That can be useful in sorting and/or graphing
and/or comparing data by date. The following command outputs the
number of the seconds since the epoch for the time two minutes
after the epoch:
date --date='1970-01-01 00:02:00 +0000' +%s
120
If you do not specify time zone information in the date string,
`date' uses your computer's idea of the time zone when
interpreting the string. For example, if your computer's time
zone is that of Cambridge, Massachusetts, which was then 5 hours
(i.e., 18,000 seconds) behind UTC:
# local time zone used
date --date='1970-01-01 00:02:00' +%s
18120
* If you're sorting or graphing dated data, your raw date values may
be represented as seconds since the epoch. But few people can
look at the date `946684800' and casually note "Oh, that's the
first second of the year 2000 in Greenwich, England."
date --date='2000-01-01 UTC' +%s
946684800
An alternative is to use the `--utc' (`-u') option. Then you may
omit `UTC' from the date string. Although this produces the same
result for `%s' and many other format sequences, with a time zone
offset different from zero, it would give a different result for
zone-dependent formats like `%z'.
date -u --date=2000-01-01 +%s
946684800
To convert such an unwieldy number of seconds back to a more
readable form, use a command like this:
# local time zone used
date -d '1970-01-01 UTC 946684800 seconds' +"%Y-%m-%d %T %z"
1999-12-31 19:00:00 -0500
Often it is better to output UTC-relative date and time:
date -u -d '1970-01-01 946684800 seconds' +"%Y-%m-%d %T %z"
2000-01-01 00:00:00 +0000
File: coreutils.info, Node: uname invocation, Next: hostname invocation, Prev: date invocation, Up: System context
21.2 `uname': Print system information
======================================
`uname' prints information about the machine and operating system it is
run on. If no options are given, `uname' acts as if the `-s' option
were given. Synopsis:
uname [OPTION]...
If multiple options or `-a' are given, the selected information is
printed in this order:
KERNEL-NAME NODENAME KERNEL-RELEASE KERNEL-VERSION MACHINE PROCESSOR HARDWARE-PLATFORM OPERATING-SYSTEM
The information may contain internal spaces, so such output cannot be
parsed reliably. In the following example, RELEASE is
`2.2.18ss.e820-bda652a #4 SMP Tue Jun 5 11:24:08 PDT 2001':
uname -a
=> Linux dum 2.2.18ss.e820-bda652a #4 SMP Tue Jun 5 11:24:08 PDT 2001 i686 unknown unknown GNU/Linux
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-a'
`--all'
Print all of the below information.
`-i'
`--hardware-platform'
Print the hardware platform name (sometimes called the hardware
implementation).
`-m'
`--machine'
Print the machine hardware name (sometimes called the hardware
class or hardware type).
`-n'
`--nodename'
Print the network node hostname.
`-p'
`--processor'
Print the processor type (sometimes called the instruction set
architecture or ISA).
`-o'
`--operating-system'
Print the name of the operating system.
`-r'
`--kernel-release'
Print the kernel release.
`-s'
`--kernel-name'
Print the kernel name. POSIX 1003.1-2001 (*note Standards
conformance::) calls this "the implementation of the operating
system", because the POSIX specification itself has no notion of
"kernel". The kernel name might be the same as the operating
system name printed by the `-o' or `--operating-system' option,
but it might differ. Some operating systems (e.g., FreeBSD,
HP-UX) have the same name as their underlying kernels; others
(e.g., GNU/Linux, Solaris) do not.
`-v'
`--kernel-version'
Print the kernel version.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: hostname invocation, Next: hostid invocation, Prev: uname invocation, Up: System context
21.3 `hostname': Print or set system name
=========================================
With no arguments, `hostname' prints the name of the current host
system. With one argument, it sets the current host name to the
specified string. You must have appropriate privileges to set the host
name. Synopsis:
hostname [NAME]
The only options are `--help' and `--version'. *Note Common
options::.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: hostid invocation, Prev: hostname invocation, Up: System context
21.4 `hostid': Print numeric host identifier.
=============================================
`hostid' prints the numeric identifier of the current host in
hexadecimal. This command accepts no arguments. The only options are
`--help' and `--version'. *Note Common options::.
For example, here's what it prints on one system I use:
$ hostid
1bac013d
On that system, the 32-bit quantity happens to be closely related to
the system's Internet address, but that isn't always the case.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Modified command invocation, Next: Process control, Prev: System context, Up: Top
22 Modified command invocation
******************************
This section describes commands that run other commands in some context
different than the current one: a modified environment, as a different
user, etc.
* Menu:
* chroot invocation:: Modify the root directory.
* env invocation:: Modify environment variables.
* nice invocation:: Modify scheduling priority.
* nohup invocation:: Immunize to hangups.
* su invocation:: Modify user and group id.
File: coreutils.info, Node: chroot invocation, Next: env invocation, Up: Modified command invocation
22.1 `chroot': Run a command with a different root directory
============================================================
`chroot' runs a command with a specified root directory. On many
systems, only the super-user can do this. Synopses:
chroot NEWROOT [COMMAND [ARGS]...]
chroot OPTION
Ordinarily, filenames are looked up starting at the root of the
directory structure, i.e., `/'. `chroot' changes the root to the
directory NEWROOT (which must exist) and then runs COMMAND with
optional ARGS. If COMMAND is not specified, the default is the value
of the `SHELL' environment variable or `/bin/sh' if not set, invoked
with the `-i' option.
The only options are `--help' and `--version'. *Note Common
options::.
Here are a few tips to help avoid common problems in using chroot.
To start with a simple example, make COMMAND refer to a statically
linked binary. If you were to use a dynamically linked executable, then
you'd have to arrange to have the shared libraries in the right place
under your new root directory.
For example, if you create a statically linked `ls' executable, and
put it in /tmp/empty, you can run this command as root:
$ chroot /tmp/empty /ls -Rl /
Then you'll see output like this:
/:
total 1023
-rwxr-xr-x 1 0 0 1041745 Aug 16 11:17 ls
If you want to use a dynamically linked executable, say `bash', then
first run `ldd bash' to see what shared objects it needs. Then, in
addition to copying the actual binary, also copy the listed files to
the required positions under your intended new root directory.
Finally, if the executable requires any other files (e.g., data, state,
device files), copy them into place, too.
Exit status:
1 if `chroot' itself fails
126 if COMMAND is found but cannot be invoked
127 if COMMAND cannot be found
the exit status of COMMAND otherwise
File: coreutils.info, Node: env invocation, Next: nice invocation, Prev: chroot invocation, Up: Modified command invocation
22.2 `env': Run a command in a modified environment
===================================================
`env' runs a command with a modified environment. Synopses:
env [OPTION]... [NAME=VALUE]... [COMMAND [ARGS]...]
env
Arguments of the form `VARIABLE=VALUE' set the environment variable
VARIABLE to value VALUE. VALUE may be empty (`VARIABLE='). Setting a
variable to an empty value is different from unsetting it.
The first remaining argument specifies the program name to invoke;
it is searched for according to the `PATH' environment variable. Any
remaining arguments are passed as arguments to that program.
If no command name is specified following the environment
specifications, the resulting environment is printed. This is like
specifying a command name of `printenv'.
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-u NAME'
`--unset=NAME'
Remove variable NAME from the environment, if it was in the
environment.
`-'
`-i'
`--ignore-environment'
Start with an empty environment, ignoring the inherited
environment.
Exit status:
0 if no COMMAND is specified and the environment is output
1 if `env' itself fails
126 if COMMAND is found but cannot be invoked
127 if COMMAND cannot be found
the exit status of COMMAND otherwise
File: coreutils.info, Node: nice invocation, Next: nohup invocation, Prev: env invocation, Up: Modified command invocation
22.3 `nice': Run a command with modified scheduling priority
============================================================
`nice' prints or modifies the scheduling priority of a job. Synopsis:
nice [OPTION]... [COMMAND [ARG]...]
If no arguments are given, `nice' prints the current scheduling
priority, which it inherited. Otherwise, `nice' runs the given COMMAND
with its scheduling priority adjusted. If no ADJUSTMENT is given, the
priority of the command is incremented by 10. You must have
appropriate privileges to specify a negative adjustment. The priority
can be adjusted by `nice' over the range of -20 (the highest priority)
to 19 (the lowest).
Because most shells have a built-in command by the same name, using
the unadorned command name in a script or interactively may get you
different functionality than that described here.
The program accepts the following option. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-n ADJUSTMENT'
`--adjustment=ADJUSTMENT'
Add ADJUSTMENT instead of 10 to the command's priority.
On older systems, `nice' supports an obsolete option
`-ADJUSTMENT'. POSIX 1003.1-2001 (*note Standards conformance::)
does not allow this; use `-n ADJUSTMENT' instead.
Exit status:
0 if no COMMAND is specified and the current priority is output
1 if `nice' itself fails
126 if COMMAND is found but cannot be invoked
127 if COMMAND cannot be found
the exit status of COMMAND otherwise
It is sometimes useful to run non-interactive programs with reduced
priority.
$ nice factor `echo '2^997 - 1'|bc`
Since `nice' prints the current priority, we can invoke it through
itself to demonstrate how it works:
The default behavior is to reduce priority by `10'.
$ nice nice
10
$ nice -n 10 nice
10
The ADJUSTMENT is relative to the current priority. Here, the first
`nice' invocation runs the second one at priority `10', and it in turn
runs the final one at a priority lowered by `3' more.
$ nice nice -n 3 nice
13
Specifying a priority larger than `19' is the same as specifying
`19'.
$ nice -n 30 nice
19
Only a privileged user may run a process with higher priority.
$ nice -n -1 nice
nice: cannot set priority: Permission denied
$ sudo nice -n -1 nice
-1
File: coreutils.info, Node: nohup invocation, Next: su invocation, Prev: nice invocation, Up: Modified command invocation
22.4 `nohup': Run a command immune to hangups
=============================================
`nohup' runs the given COMMAND with hangup signals ignored, so that the
command can continue running in the background after you log out.
Synopsis:
nohup COMMAND [ARG]...
If standard output is a terminal, it is redirected so that it is
appended to the file `nohup.out'; if that cannot be written to, it is
appended to the file `$HOME/nohup.out'. If that cannot be written to,
the command is not run. If standard output is not a terminal, then the
standard output of COMMAND will be the same as that of `nohup'.
If `nohup' creates either `nohup.out' or `$HOME/nohup.out', it
creates it with no "group" or "other" access permissions. It does not
change the permissions if the output file already existed.
If standard error is a terminal, it is redirected to the same file
descriptor as the standard output.
`nohup' does not automatically put the command it runs in the
background; you must do that explicitly, by ending the command line
with an `&'. Also, `nohup' does not change the scheduling priority of
COMMAND; use `nice' for that, e.g., `nohup nice COMMAND'.
The only options are `--help' and `--version'. *Note Common
options::.
Exit status:
126 if COMMAND is found but cannot be invoked
127 if `nohup' itself fails or if COMMAND cannot be found
the exit status of COMMAND otherwise
File: coreutils.info, Node: su invocation, Prev: nohup invocation, Up: Modified command invocation
22.5 `su': Run a command with substitute user and group id
==========================================================
`su' allows one user to temporarily become another user. It runs a
command (often an interactive shell) with the real and effective user
id, group id, and supplemental groups of a given USER. Synopsis:
su [OPTION]... [USER [ARG]...]
If no USER is given, the default is `root', the super-user. The
shell to use is taken from USER's `passwd' entry, or `/bin/sh' if none
is specified there. If USER has a password, `su' prompts for the
password unless run by a user with effective user id of zero (the
super-user).
By default, `su' does not change the current directory. It sets the
environment variables `HOME' and `SHELL' from the password entry for
USER, and if USER is not the super-user, sets `USER' and `LOGNAME' to
USER. By default, the shell is not a login shell.
Any additional ARGs are passed as additional arguments to the shell.
GNU `su' does not treat `/bin/sh' or any other shells specially
(e.g., by setting `argv[0]' to `-su', passing `-c' only to certain
shells, etc.).
`su' can optionally be compiled to use `syslog' to report failed,
and optionally successful, `su' attempts. (If the system supports
`syslog'.)
This version of `su' has support for using PAM for authentication.
You can edit `/etc/pam.d/su' to customize its behaviour.
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-c COMMAND'
`--command=COMMAND'
Pass COMMAND, a single command line to run, to the shell with a
`-c' option instead of starting an interactive shell.
`-f'
`--fast'
Pass the `-f' option to the shell. This probably only makes sense
if the shell run is `csh' or `tcsh', for which the `-f' option
prevents reading the startup file (`.cshrc'). With Bourne-like
shells, the `-f' option disables file name pattern expansion
(globbing), which is not likely to be useful.
`-'
`-l'
`--login'
Make the shell a login shell. This means the following. Unset all
environment variables except `TERM', `HOME', and `SHELL' (which
are set as described above), and `USER' and `LOGNAME' (which are
set, even for the super-user, as described above), and set `PATH'
to a compiled-in default value. Change to USER's home directory.
Prepend `-' to the shell's name, intended to make it read its
login startup file(s).
`-m'
`-p'
`--preserve-environment'
Do not change the environment variables `HOME', `USER', `LOGNAME',
or `SHELL'. Run the shell given in the environment variable
`SHELL' instead of the shell from USER's passwd entry, unless the
user running `su' is not the superuser and USER's shell is
restricted. A "restricted shell" is one that is not listed in the
file `/etc/shells', or in a compiled-in list if that file does not
exist. Parts of what this option does can be overridden by
`--login' and `--shell'.
`-s SHELL'
`--shell=SHELL'
Run SHELL instead of the shell from USER's passwd entry, unless
the user running `su' is not the superuser and USER's shell is
restricted (see `-m' just above).
Exit status:
1 if `su' itself fails
126 if subshell is found but cannot be invoked
127 if subshell cannot be found
the exit status of the subshell otherwise
File: coreutils.info, Node: Process control, Next: Delaying, Prev: Modified command invocation, Up: Top
23 Process control
******************
* Menu:
* kill invocation:: Sending a signal to processes.
File: coreutils.info, Node: kill invocation, Up: Process control
23.1 `kill': Send a signal to processes
=======================================
The `kill' command sends a signal to processes, causing them to
terminate or otherwise act upon receiving the signal in some way.
Alternatively, it lists information about signals. Synopses:
kill [-s SIGNAL | --signal SIGNAL | -SIGNAL] PID...
kill [-l | --list | -t | --table] [SIGNAL]...
The first form of the `kill' command sends a signal to all PID
arguments. The default signal to send if none is specified is `TERM'.
The special signal number `0' does not denote a valid signal, but can
be used to test whether the PID arguments specify processes to which a
signal could be sent.
If PID is positive, the signal is sent to the process with the
process id PID. If PID is zero, the signal is sent to all processes in
the process group of the current process. If PID is -1, the signal is
sent to all processes for which the user has permission to send a
signal. If PID is less than -1, the signal is sent to all processes in
the process group that equals the absolute value of PID.
If PID is not positive, a system-dependent set of system processes
is excluded from the list of processes to which the signal is sent.
If a negative PID argument is desired as the first one, either a
signal must be specified as well, or the option parsing must be
interrupted with `-' before the first PID argument. The following
three commands are equivalent:
kill -15 -1
kill -TERM -1
kill -- -1
The first form of the `kill' command succeeds if every PID argument
specifies at least one process that the signal was sent to.
The second form of the `kill' command lists signal information.
Either the `-l' or `--list' option, or the `-t' or `--table' option
must be specified. Without any SIGNAL argument, all supported signals
are listed. The output of `-l' or `--list' is a list of the signal
names, one per line; if SIGNAL is already a name, the signal number is
printed instead. The output of `-t' or `--table' is a table of signal
numbers, names, and descriptions. This form of the `kill' command
succeeds if all SIGNAL arguments are valid and if there is no output
error.
The `kill' command also supports the `--help' and `--version'
options. *Note Common options::.
A SIGNAL may be a signal name like `HUP', or a signal number like
`1', or an exit status of a process terminated by the signal. A signal
name can be given in canonical form or prefixed by `SIG'. The case of
the letters is ignored, except for the `-SIGNAL' option which must use
upper case to avoid ambiguity with lower case option letters. The
following signal names and numbers are supported on all POSIX compliant
systems:
`HUP'
1. Hangup.
`INT'
2. Terminal interrupt.
`QUIT'
3. Terminal quit.
`ABRT'
6. Process abort.
`KILL'
9. Kill (cannot be caught or ignored).
`ALRM'
14. Alarm Clock.
`TERM'
15. Termination.
Other supported signal names have system-dependent corresponding
numbers. All systems conforming to POSIX 1003.1-2001 also support the
following signals:
`BUS'
Access to an undefined portion of a memory object.
`CHLD'
Child process terminated, stopped, or continued.
`CONT'
Continue executing, if stopped.
`FPE'
Erroneous arithmetic operation.
`ILL'
Illegal Instruction.
`PIPE'
Write on a pipe with no one to read it.
`SEGV'
Invalid memory reference.
`STOP'
Stop executing (cannot be caught or ignored).
`TSTP'
Terminal stop.
`TTIN'
Background process attempting read.
`TTOU'
Background process attempting write.
`URG'
High bandwidth data is available at a socket.
`USR1'
User-defined signal 1.
`USR2'
User-defined signal 2.
POSIX 1003.1-2001 systems that support the XSI extension also support
the following signals:
`POLL'
Pollable event.
`PROF'
Profiling timer expired.
`SYS'
Bad system call.
`TRAP'
Trace/breakpoint trap.
`VTALRM'
Virtual timer expired.
`XCPU'
CPU time limit exceeded.
`XFSZ'
File size limit exceeded.
POSIX 1003.1-2001 systems that support the XRT extension also support
at least eight real-time signals called `RTMIN', `RTMIN+1', ...,
`RTMAX-1', `RTMAX'.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Delaying, Next: Numeric operations, Prev: Process control, Up: Top
24 Delaying
***********
* Menu:
* sleep invocation:: Delay for a specified time.
File: coreutils.info, Node: sleep invocation, Up: Delaying
24.1 `sleep': Delay for a specified time
========================================
`sleep' pauses for an amount of time specified by the sum of the values
of the command line arguments. Synopsis:
sleep NUMBER[smhd]...
Each argument is a number followed by an optional unit; the default
is seconds. The units are:
`s'
seconds
`m'
minutes
`h'
hours
`d'
days
Historical implementations of `sleep' have required that NUMBER be
an integer. However, GNU `sleep' accepts arbitrary floating point
numbers (using a period before any fractional digits).
The only options are `--help' and `--version'. *Note Common
options::.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Numeric operations, Next: File permissions, Prev: Delaying, Up: Top
25 Numeric operations
*********************
These programs do numerically-related operations.
* Menu:
* factor invocation:: Show factors of numbers.
* seq invocation:: Print sequences of numbers.
File: coreutils.info, Node: factor invocation, Next: seq invocation, Up: Numeric operations
25.1 `factor': Print prime factors
==================================
`factor' prints prime factors. Synopses:
factor [NUMBER]...
factor OPTION
If no NUMBER is specified on the command line, `factor' reads
numbers from standard input, delimited by newlines, tabs, or spaces.
The only options are `--help' and `--version'. *Note Common
options::.
The algorithm it uses is not very sophisticated, so for some inputs
`factor' runs for a long time. The hardest numbers to factor are the
products of large primes. Factoring the product of the two largest
32-bit prime numbers takes about 80 seconds of CPU time on a 1.6 GHz
Athlon.
$ p=`echo '4294967279 * 4294967291'|bc`
$ factor $p
18446743979220271189: 4294967279 4294967291
Similarly, it takes about 80 seconds for GNU factor (from
coreutils-5.1.2) to "factor" the largest 64-bit prime:
$ factor 18446744073709551557
18446744073709551557: 18446744073709551557
In contrast, `factor' factors the largest 64-bit number in just over
a tenth of a second:
$ factor `echo '2^64-1'|bc`
18446744073709551615: 3 5 17 257 641 65537 6700417
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: seq invocation, Prev: factor invocation, Up: Numeric operations
25.2 `seq': Print numeric sequences
===================================
`seq' prints a sequence of numbers to standard output. Synopses:
seq [OPTION]... LAST
seq [OPTION]... FIRST LAST
seq [OPTION]... FIRST INCREMENT LAST
`seq' prints the numbers from FIRST to LAST by INCREMENT. By
default, each number is printed on a separate line. When INCREMENT is
not specified, it defaults to `1', even when FIRST is larger than LAST.
FIRST also defaults to `1'. So `seq 1' prints `1', but `seq 0' and
`seq 10 5' produce no output. Floating-point numbers may be specified
(using a period before any fractional digits).
The program accepts the following options. Also see *Note Common
options::.
`-f FORMAT'
`--format=FORMAT'
Print all numbers using FORMAT; default `%g'. FORMAT must contain
exactly one of the floating point output formats `%e', `%f', or
`%g'.
`-s STRING'
`--separator=STRING'
Separate numbers with STRING; default is a newline. The output
always terminates with a newline.
`-w'
`--equal-width'
Print all numbers with the same width, by padding with leading
zeroes. (To have other kinds of padding, use `--format').
If you want to use `seq' to print sequences of large integer values,
don't use the default `%g' format since it can result in loss of
precision:
$ seq 1000000 1000001
1e+06
1e+06
Instead, you can use the format, `%1.f', to print large decimal
numbers with no exponent and no decimal point.
$ seq --format=%1.f 1000000 1000001
1000000
1000001
If you want hexadecimal output, you can use `printf' to perform the
conversion:
$ printf %x'\n' `seq -f %1.f 1048575 1024 1050623`
fffff
1003ff
1007ff
For very long lists of numbers, use xargs to avoid system
limitations on the length of an argument list:
$ seq -f %1.f 1000000 | xargs printf %x'\n' | tail -n 3
f423e
f423f
f4240
To generate octal output, use the printf `%o' format instead of
`%x'. Note however that using printf works only for numbers smaller
than `2^32':
$ printf "%x\n" `seq -f %1.f 4294967295 4294967296`
ffffffff
bash: printf: 4294967296: Numerical result out of range
On most systems, seq can produce whole-number output for values up to
`2^53', so here's a more general approach to base conversion that also
happens to be more robust for such large numbers. It works by using
`bc' and setting its output radix variable, OBASE, to `16' in this case
to produce hexadecimal output.
$ (echo obase=16; seq -f %1.f 4294967295 4294967296)|bc
FFFFFFFF
100000000
Be careful when using `seq' with a fractional INCREMENT, otherwise
you may see surprising results. Most people would expect to see `0.3'
printed as the last number in this example:
$ seq -s' ' 0 .1 .3
0 0.1 0.2
But that doesn't happen on most systems because `seq' is implemented
using binary floating point arithmetic (via the C `double' type) -
which means some decimal numbers like `.1' cannot be represented
exactly. That in turn means some nonintuitive conditions like
`.1 * 3 > .3' will end up being true.
To work around that in the above example, use a slightly larger
number as the LAST value:
$ seq -s' ' 0 .1 .31
0 0.1 0.2 0.3
In general, when using an INCREMENT with a fractional part, where
(LAST - FIRST) / INCREMENT is (mathematically) a whole number, specify
a slightly larger (or smaller, if INCREMENT is negative) value for LAST
to ensure that LAST is the final value printed by seq.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.
File: coreutils.info, Node: File permissions, Next: Date input formats, Prev: Numeric operations, Up: Top
26 File permissions
*******************
Each file has a set of "permissions" that control the kinds of access
that users have to that file. The permissions for a file are also
called its "access mode". They can be represented either in symbolic
form or as an octal number.
* Menu:
* Mode Structure:: Structure of file permissions.
* Symbolic Modes:: Mnemonic permissions representation.
* Numeric Modes:: Permissions as octal numbers.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Mode Structure, Next: Symbolic Modes, Up: File permissions
26.1 Structure of File Permissions
==================================
There are three kinds of permissions that a user can have for a file:
1. permission to read the file. For directories, this means
permission to list the contents of the directory.
2. permission to write to (change) the file. For directories, this
means permission to create and remove files in the directory.
3. permission to execute the file (run it as a program). For
directories, this means permission to access files in the
directory.
There are three categories of users who may have different
permissions to perform any of the above operations on a file:
1. the file's owner;
2. other users who are in the file's group;
3. everyone else.
Files are given an owner and group when they are created. Usually
the owner is the current user and the group is the group of the
directory the file is in, but this varies with the operating system, the
filesystem the file is created on, and the way the file is created. You
can change the owner and group of a file by using the `chown' and
`chgrp' commands.
In addition to the three sets of three permissions listed above, a
file's permissions have three special components, which affect only
executable files (programs) and, on some systems, directories:
1. set the process's effective user ID to that of the file upon
execution (called the "setuid bit"). No effect on directories.
2. set the process's effective group ID to that of the file upon
execution (called the "setgid bit"). For directories on some
systems, put files created in the directory into the same group as
the directory, no matter what group the user who creates them is
in.
3. save the program's text image on the swap device so it will load
more quickly when run (called the "sticky bit"). For directories
on some systems, prevent users from removing or renaming a file in
a directory unless they own the file or the directory; this is
called the "restricted deletion flag" for the directory.
In addition to the permissions listed above, there may be file
attributes specific to the filesystem, e.g: access control lists
(ACLs), whether a file is compressed, whether a file can be modified
(immutability), whether a file can be dumped. These are usually set
using programs specific to the filesystem. For example:
ext2
On GNU and Linux/GNU the file permissions ("attributes") specific
to the ext2 filesystem are set using `chattr'.
FFS
On FreeBSD the file permissions ("flags") specific to the FFS
filesystem are set using `chrflags'.
Although a file's permission "bits" allow an operation on that file,
that operation may still fail, because:
* the filesystem-specific permissions do not permit it;
* the filesystem is mounted as read-only.
For example, if the immutable attribute is set on a file, it cannot
be modified, regardless of the fact that you may have just run `chmod
a+w FILE'.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Symbolic Modes, Next: Numeric Modes, Prev: Mode Structure, Up: File permissions
26.2 Symbolic Modes
===================
"Symbolic modes" represent changes to files' permissions as operations
on single-character symbols. They allow you to modify either all or
selected parts of files' permissions, optionally based on their
previous values, and perhaps on the current `umask' as well (*note
Umask and Protection::).
The format of symbolic modes is:
[ugoa...][[+-=][rwxXstugo...]...][,...]
The following sections describe the operators and other details of
symbolic modes.
* Menu:
* Setting Permissions:: Basic operations on permissions.
* Copying Permissions:: Copying existing permissions.
* Changing Special Permissions:: Special permissions.
* Conditional Executability:: Conditionally affecting executability.
* Multiple Changes:: Making multiple changes.
* Umask and Protection:: The effect of the umask.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Setting Permissions, Next: Copying Permissions, Up: Symbolic Modes
26.2.1 Setting Permissions
--------------------------
The basic symbolic operations on a file's permissions are adding,
removing, and setting the permission that certain users have to read,
write, and execute the file. These operations have the following
format:
USERS OPERATION PERMISSIONS
The spaces between the three parts above are shown for readability only;
symbolic modes cannot contain spaces.
The USERS part tells which users' access to the file is changed. It
consists of one or more of the following letters (or it can be empty;
*note Umask and Protection::, for a description of what happens then).
When more than one of these letters is given, the order that they are
in does not matter.
`u'
the user who owns the file;
`g'
other users who are in the file's group;
`o'
all other users;
`a'
all users; the same as `ugo'.
The OPERATION part tells how to change the affected users' access to
the file, and is one of the following symbols:
`+'
to add the PERMISSIONS to whatever permissions the USERS already
have for the file;
`-'
to remove the PERMISSIONS from whatever permissions the USERS
already have for the file;
`='
to make the PERMISSIONS the only permissions that the USERS have
for the file.
The PERMISSIONS part tells what kind of access to the file should be
changed; it is zero or more of the following letters. As with the
USERS part, the order does not matter when more than one letter is
given. Omitting the PERMISSIONS part is useful only with the `='
operation, where it gives the specified USERS no access at all to the
file.
`r'
the permission the USERS have to read the file;
`w'
the permission the USERS have to write to the file;
`x'
the permission the USERS have to execute the file.
For example, to give everyone permission to read and write a file,
but not to execute it, use:
a=rw
To remove write permission for from all users other than the file's
owner, use:
go-w
The above command does not affect the access that the owner of the file
has to it, nor does it affect whether other users can read or execute
the file.
To give everyone except a file's owner no permission to do anything
with that file, use the mode below. Other users could still remove the
file, if they have write permission on the directory it is in.
go=
Another way to specify the same thing is:
og-rxw
File: coreutils.info, Node: Copying Permissions, Next: Changing Special Permissions, Prev: Setting Permissions, Up: Symbolic Modes
26.2.2 Copying Existing Permissions
-----------------------------------
You can base a file's permissions on its existing permissions. To do
this, instead of using `r', `w', or `x' after the operator, you use the
letter `u', `g', or `o'. For example, the mode
o+g
adds the permissions for users who are in a file's group to the
permissions that other users have for the file. Thus, if the file
started out as mode 664 (`rw-rw-r--'), the above mode would change it
to mode 666 (`rw-rw-rw-'). If the file had started out as mode 741
(`rwxr----x'), the above mode would change it to mode 745
(`rwxr--r-x'). The `-' and `=' operations work analogously.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Changing Special Permissions, Next: Conditional Executability, Prev: Copying Permissions, Up: Symbolic Modes
26.2.3 Changing Special Permissions
-----------------------------------
In addition to changing a file's read, write, and execute permissions,
you can change its special permissions. *Note Mode Structure::, for a
summary of these permissions.
To change a file's permission to set the user ID on execution, use
`u' in the USERS part of the symbolic mode and `s' in the PERMISSIONS
part.
To change a file's permission to set the group ID on execution, use
`g' in the USERS part of the symbolic mode and `s' in the PERMISSIONS
part.
To change a file's permission to stay permanently on the swap device,
use `o' in the USERS part of the symbolic mode and `t' in the
PERMISSIONS part.
For example, to add set user ID permission to a program, you can use
the mode:
u+s
To remove both set user ID and set group ID permission from it, you
can use the mode:
ug-s
To cause a program to be saved on the swap device, you can use the
mode:
o+t
Remember that the special permissions only affect files that are
executable, plus, on some systems, directories (on which they have
different meanings; *note Mode Structure::). Also, the combinations
`u+t', `g+t', and `o+s' have no effect.
The `=' operator is not very useful with special permissions; for
example, the mode:
o=t
does cause the file to be saved on the swap device, but it also removes
all read, write, and execute permissions that users not in the file's
group might have had for it.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Conditional Executability, Next: Multiple Changes, Prev: Changing Special Permissions, Up: Symbolic Modes
26.2.4 Conditional Executability
--------------------------------
There is one more special type of symbolic permission: if you use `X'
instead of `x', execute permission is affected only if the file already
had execute permission or is a directory. It affects directories'
execute permission even if they did not initially have any execute
permissions set.
For example, this mode:
a+X
gives all users permission to execute files (or search directories) if
anyone could before.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Multiple Changes, Next: Umask and Protection, Prev: Conditional Executability, Up: Symbolic Modes
26.2.5 Making Multiple Changes
------------------------------
The format of symbolic modes is actually more complex than described
above (*note Setting Permissions::). It provides two ways to make
multiple changes to files' permissions.
The first way is to specify multiple OPERATION and PERMISSIONS parts
after a USERS part in the symbolic mode.
For example, the mode:
og+rX-w
gives users other than the owner of the file read permission and, if it
is a directory or if someone already had execute permission to it,
gives them execute permission; and it also denies them write permission
to the file. It does not affect the permission that the owner of the
file has for it. The above mode is equivalent to the two modes:
og+rX
og-w
The second way to make multiple changes is to specify more than one
simple symbolic mode, separated by commas. For example, the mode:
a+r,go-w
gives everyone permission to read the file and removes write permission
on it for all users except its owner. Another example:
u=rwx,g=rx,o=
sets all of the non-special permissions for the file explicitly. (It
gives users who are not in the file's group no permission at all for
it.)
The two methods can be combined. The mode:
a+r,g+x-w
gives all users permission to read the file, and gives users who are in
the file's group permission to execute it, as well, but not permission
to write to it. The above mode could be written in several different
ways; another is:
u+r,g+rx,o+r,g-w
File: coreutils.info, Node: Umask and Protection, Prev: Multiple Changes, Up: Symbolic Modes
26.2.6 The Umask and Protection
-------------------------------
If the USERS part of a symbolic mode is omitted, it defaults to `a'
(affect all users), except that any permissions that are _set_ in the
system variable `umask' are _not affected_. The value of `umask' can
be set using the `umask' command. Its default value varies from system
to system.
Omitting the USERS part of a symbolic mode is generally not useful
with operations other than `+'. It is useful with `+' because it
allows you to use `umask' as an easily customizable protection against
giving away more permission to files than you intended to.
As an example, if `umask' has the value 2, which removes write
permission for users who are not in the file's group, then the mode:
+w
adds permission to write to the file to its owner and to other users who
are in the file's group, but _not_ to other users. In contrast, the
mode:
a+w
ignores `umask', and _does_ give write permission for the file to all
users.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Numeric Modes, Prev: Symbolic Modes, Up: File permissions
26.3 Numeric Modes
==================
File permissions are stored internally as integers. As an alternative
to giving a symbolic mode, you can give an octal (base 8) number that
corresponds to the internal representation of the new mode. This
number is always interpreted in octal; you do not have to add a leading
0, as you do in C. Mode 0055 is the same as mode 55.
A numeric mode is usually shorter than the corresponding symbolic
mode, but it is limited in that it cannot take into account a file's
previous permissions; it can only set them absolutely.
On most systems, the permissions granted to the user, to other users
in the file's group, and to other users not in the file's group are
each stored as three bits, which are represented as one octal digit.
The three special permissions are also each stored as one bit, and they
are as a group represented as another octal digit. Here is how the
bits are arranged, starting with the lowest valued bit:
Value in Corresponding
Mode Permission
Other users not in the file's group:
1 Execute
2 Write
4 Read
Other users in the file's group:
10 Execute
20 Write
40 Read
The file's owner:
100 Execute
200 Write
400 Read
Special permissions:
1000 Save text image on swap device
2000 Set group ID on execution
4000 Set user ID on execution
For example, numeric mode 4755 corresponds to symbolic mode
`u=rwxs,go=rx', and numeric mode 664 corresponds to symbolic mode
`ug=rw,o=r'. Numeric mode 0 corresponds to symbolic mode `ugo='.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Date input formats, Next: Opening the software toolbox, Prev: File permissions, Up: Top
27 Date input formats
*********************
First, a quote:
Our units of temporal measurement, from seconds on up to months,
are so complicated, asymmetrical and disjunctive so as to make
coherent mental reckoning in time all but impossible. Indeed, had
some tyrannical god contrived to enslave our minds to time, to
make it all but impossible for us to escape subjection to sodden
routines and unpleasant surprises, he could hardly have done
better than handing down our present system. It is like a set of
trapezoidal building blocks, with no vertical or horizontal
surfaces, like a language in which the simplest thought demands
ornate constructions, useless particles and lengthy
circumlocutions. Unlike the more successful patterns of language
and science, which enable us to face experience boldly or at least
level-headedly, our system of temporal calculation silently and
persistently encourages our terror of time.
... It is as though architects had to measure length in feet,
width in meters and height in ells; as though basic instruction
manuals demanded a knowledge of five different languages. It is
no wonder then that we often look into our own immediate past or
future, last Tuesday or a week from Sunday, with feelings of
helpless confusion. ...
-- Robert Grudin, `Time and the Art of Living'.
This section describes the textual date representations that GNU
programs accept. These are the strings you, as a user, can supply as
arguments to the various programs. The C interface (via the `getdate'
function) is not described here.
Although the date syntax here can represent any possible time since
the year zero, computer integers often cannot represent such a wide
range of time. On POSIX systems, the clock starts at 1970-01-01
00:00:00 UTC: POSIX does not require support for times before the POSIX
Epoch and times far in the future. Traditional Unix systems have
32-bit signed `time_t' and can represent times from 1901-12-13 20:45:52
through 2038-01-19 03:14:07 UTC. Systems with 64-bit signed `time_t'
can represent all the times in the known lifetime of the universe.
* Menu:
* General date syntax:: Common rules.
* Calendar date items:: 19 Dec 1994.
* Time of day items:: 9:20pm.
* Time zone items:: EST, PDT, GMT, ...
* Day of week items:: Monday and others.
* Relative items in date strings:: next tuesday, 2 years ago.
* Pure numbers in date strings:: 19931219, 1440.
* Authors of getdate:: Bellovin, Eggert, Salz, Berets, et al.
File: coreutils.info, Node: General date syntax, Next: Calendar date items, Up: Date input formats
27.1 General date syntax
========================
A "date" is a string, possibly empty, containing many items separated
by whitespace. The whitespace may be omitted when no ambiguity arises.
The empty string means the beginning of today (i.e., midnight). Order
of the items is immaterial. A date string may contain many flavors of
items:
* calendar date items
* time of the day items
* time zone items
* day of the week items
* relative items
* pure numbers.
We describe each of these item types in turn, below.
A few numbers may be written out in words in most contexts. This is
most useful for specifying day of the week items or relative items (see
below). Here is the list: `first' for 1, `next' for 2, `third' for 3,
`fourth' for 4, `fifth' for 5, `sixth' for 6, `seventh' for 7, `eighth'
for 8, `ninth' for 9, `tenth' for 10, `eleventh' for 11 and `twelfth'
for 12. Also, `last' means exactly -1.
When a month is written this way, it is still considered to be
written numerically, instead of being "spelled in full"; this changes
the allowed strings.
In the current implementation, only English is supported for words
and abbreviations like `AM', `DST', `EST', `first', `January',
`Sunday', `tomorrow', and `year'.
The output of `date' is not always acceptable as a date string, not
only because of the language problem, but also because there is no
standard meaning for time zone items like `IST'. When using `date' to
generate a date string intended to be parsed later, specify a date
format that is independent of language and that does not use time zone
items other than `UTC' and `Z'. Here are some ways to do this:
$ LC_ALL=C TZ=UTC0 date
Fri Dec 15 19:48:05 UTC 2000
$ TZ=UTC0 date +"%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%SZ"
2000-12-15 19:48:05Z
$ date --iso-8601=seconds # a GNU extension
2000-12-15T11:48:05-0800
$ date --rfc-2822 # a GNU extension
Fri, 15 Dec 2000 11:48:05 -0800
$ date +"%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S %z" # %z is a GNU extension.
2000-12-15 11:48:05 -0800
Alphabetic case is completely ignored in dates. Comments may be
introduced between round parentheses, as long as included parentheses
are properly nested. Hyphens not followed by a digit are currently
ignored. Leading zeros on numbers are ignored.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Calendar date items, Next: Time of day items, Prev: General date syntax, Up: Date input formats
27.2 Calendar date items
========================
A "calendar date item" specifies a day of the year. It is specified
differently, depending on whether the month is specified numerically or
literally. All these strings specify the same calendar date:
1972-09-24 # ISO 8601.
72-9-24 # Assume 19xx for 69 through 99,
# 20xx for 00 through 68.
72-09-24 # Leading zeros are ignored.
9/24/72 # Common U.S. writing.
24 September 1972
24 Sept 72 # September has a special abbreviation.
24 Sep 72 # Three-letter abbreviations always allowed.
Sep 24, 1972
24-sep-72
24sep72
The year can also be omitted. In this case, the last specified year
is used, or the current year if none. For example:
9/24
sep 24
Here are the rules.
For numeric months, the ISO 8601 format `YEAR-MONTH-DAY' is allowed,
where YEAR is any positive number, MONTH is a number between 01 and 12,
and DAY is a number between 01 and 31. A leading zero must be present
if a number is less than ten. If YEAR is 68 or smaller, then 2000 is
added to it; otherwise, if YEAR is less than 100, then 1900 is added to
it. The construct `MONTH/DAY/YEAR', popular in the United States, is
accepted. Also `MONTH/DAY', omitting the year.
Literal months may be spelled out in full: `January', `February',
`March', `April', `May', `June', `July', `August', `September',
`October', `November' or `December'. Literal months may be abbreviated
to their first three letters, possibly followed by an abbreviating dot.
It is also permitted to write `Sept' instead of `September'.
When months are written literally, the calendar date may be given as
any of the following:
DAY MONTH YEAR
DAY MONTH
MONTH DAY YEAR
DAY-MONTH-YEAR
Or, omitting the year:
MONTH DAY
File: coreutils.info, Node: Time of day items, Next: Time zone items, Prev: Calendar date items, Up: Date input formats
27.3 Time of day items
======================
A "time of day item" in date strings specifies the time on a given day.
Here are some examples, all of which represent the same time:
20:02:0
20:02
8:02pm
20:02-0500 # In EST (U.S. Eastern Standard Time).
More generally, the time of the day may be given as
`HOUR:MINUTE:SECOND', where HOUR is a number between 0 and 23, MINUTE
is a number between 0 and 59, and SECOND is a number between 0 and 59.
Alternatively, `:SECOND' can be omitted, in which case it is taken to
be zero.
If the time is followed by `am' or `pm' (or `a.m.' or `p.m.'), HOUR
is restricted to run from 1 to 12, and `:MINUTE' may be omitted (taken
to be zero). `am' indicates the first half of the day, `pm' indicates
the second half of the day. In this notation, 12 is the predecessor of
1: midnight is `12am' while noon is `12pm'. (This is the zero-oriented
interpretation of `12am' and `12pm', as opposed to the old tradition
derived from Latin which uses `12m' for noon and `12pm' for midnight.)
The time may alternatively be followed by a time zone correction,
expressed as `SHHMM', where S is `+' or `-', HH is a number of zone
hours and MM is a number of zone minutes. When a time zone correction
is given this way, it forces interpretation of the time relative to
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), overriding any previous specification
for the time zone or the local time zone. The MINUTE part of the time
of the day may not be elided when a time zone correction is used. This
is the best way to specify a time zone correction by fractional parts
of an hour.
Either `am'/`pm' or a time zone correction may be specified, but not
both.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Time zone items, Next: Day of week items, Prev: Time of day items, Up: Date input formats
27.4 Time zone items
====================
A "time zone item" specifies an international time zone, indicated by a
small set of letters, e.g., `UTC' or `Z' for Coordinated Universal
Time. Any included periods are ignored. By following a
non-daylight-saving time zone by the string `DST' in a separate word
(that is, separated by some white space), the corresponding daylight
saving time zone may be specified.
Time zone items other than `UTC' and `Z' are obsolescent and are not
recommended, because they are ambiguous; for example, `EST' has a
different meaning in Australia than in the United States. Instead,
it's better to use unambiguous numeric time zone corrections like
`-0500', as described in the previous section.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Day of week items, Next: Relative items in date strings, Prev: Time zone items, Up: Date input formats
27.5 Day of week items
======================
The explicit mention of a day of the week will forward the date (only
if necessary) to reach that day of the week in the future.
Days of the week may be spelled out in full: `Sunday', `Monday',
`Tuesday', `Wednesday', `Thursday', `Friday' or `Saturday'. Days may
be abbreviated to their first three letters, optionally followed by a
period. The special abbreviations `Tues' for `Tuesday', `Wednes' for
`Wednesday' and `Thur' or `Thurs' for `Thursday' are also allowed.
A number may precede a day of the week item to move forward
supplementary weeks. It is best used in expression like `third
monday'. In this context, `last DAY' or `next DAY' is also acceptable;
they move one week before or after the day that DAY by itself would
represent.
A comma following a day of the week item is ignored.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Relative items in date strings, Next: Pure numbers in date strings, Prev: Day of week items, Up: Date input formats
27.6 Relative items in date strings
===================================
"Relative items" adjust a date (or the current date if none) forward or
backward. The effects of relative items accumulate. Here are some
examples:
1 year
1 year ago
3 years
2 days
The unit of time displacement may be selected by the string `year'
or `month' for moving by whole years or months. These are fuzzy units,
as years and months are not all of equal duration. More precise units
are `fortnight' which is worth 14 days, `week' worth 7 days, `day'
worth 24 hours, `hour' worth 60 minutes, `minute' or `min' worth 60
seconds, and `second' or `sec' worth one second. An `s' suffix on
these units is accepted and ignored.
The unit of time may be preceded by a multiplier, given as an
optionally signed number. Unsigned numbers are taken as positively
signed. No number at all implies 1 for a multiplier. Following a
relative item by the string `ago' is equivalent to preceding the unit
by a multiplier with value -1.
The string `tomorrow' is worth one day in the future (equivalent to
`day'), the string `yesterday' is worth one day in the past (equivalent
to `day ago').
The strings `now' or `today' are relative items corresponding to
zero-valued time displacement, these strings come from the fact a
zero-valued time displacement represents the current time when not
otherwise changed by previous items. They may be used to stress other
items, like in `12:00 today'. The string `this' also has the meaning
of a zero-valued time displacement, but is preferred in date strings
like `this thursday'.
When a relative item causes the resulting date to cross a boundary
where the clocks were adjusted, typically for daylight-saving time, the
resulting date and time are adjusted accordingly.
The fuzz in units can cause problems with relative items. For
example, `2003-07-31 -1 month' might evaluate to 2003-07-01, because
2003-06-31 is an invalid date. To determine the previous month more
reliably, you can ask for the month before the 15th of the current
month. For example:
$ date -R
Thu, 31 Jul 2003 13:02:39 -0700
$ date --date="-1 month" +'Last month was %B?'
Last month was July?
$ date --date="$(date +%Y-%m-15) -1 month" +'Last month was %B!'
Last month was June!
Also, take care when manipulating dates around clock changes such as
daylight saving leaps. In a few cases these have added or subtracted
as much as 24 hours from the clock, so it is often wise to adopt
universal time by setting the `TZ' environment variable to `UTC0'
before embarking on calendrical calculations.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Pure numbers in date strings, Next: Authors of getdate, Prev: Relative items in date strings, Up: Date input formats
27.7 Pure numbers in date strings
=================================
The precise interpretation of a pure decimal number depends on the
context in the date string.
If the decimal number is of the form YYYYMMDD and no other calendar
date item (*note Calendar date items::) appears before it in the date
string, then YYYY is read as the year, MM as the month number and DD as
the day of the month, for the specified calendar date.
If the decimal number is of the form HHMM and no other time of day
item appears before it in the date string, then HH is read as the hour
of the day and MM as the minute of the hour, for the specified time of
the day. MM can also be omitted.
If both a calendar date and a time of day appear to the left of a
number in the date string, but no relative item, then the number
overrides the year.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Authors of getdate, Prev: Pure numbers in date strings, Up: Date input formats
27.8 Authors of `getdate'
=========================
`getdate' was originally implemented by Steven M. Bellovin
(<>) while at the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill. The code was later tweaked by a couple of people on
Usenet, then completely overhauled by Rich $alz (<>) and
Jim Berets (<>) in August, 1990. Various revisions for
the GNU system were made by David MacKenzie, Jim Meyering, Paul Eggert
and others.
This chapter was originally produced by Franc,ois Pinard
(<>) from the `getdate.y' source code, and then
edited by K. Berry (<>).
File: coreutils.info, Node: Opening the software toolbox, Next: GNU Free Documentation License, Prev: Date input formats, Up: Top
28 Opening the Software Toolbox
*******************************
This chapter originally appeared in `Linux Journal', volume 1, number
2, in the `What's GNU?' column. It was written by Arnold Robbins.
* Menu:
* Toolbox introduction:: Toolbox introduction
* I/O redirection:: I/O redirection
* The who command:: The `who' command
* The cut command:: The `cut' command
* The sort command:: The `sort' command
* The uniq command:: The `uniq' command
* Putting the tools together:: Putting the tools together
File: coreutils.info, Node: Toolbox introduction, Next: I/O redirection, Up: Opening the software toolbox
Toolbox Introduction
====================
This month's column is only peripherally related to the GNU Project, in
that it describes a number of the GNU tools on your GNU/Linux system
and how they might be used. What it's really about is the "Software
Tools" philosophy of program development and usage.
The software tools philosophy was an important and integral concept
in the initial design and development of Unix (of which Linux and GNU
are essentially clones). Unfortunately, in the modern day press of
Internetworking and flashy GUIs, it seems to have fallen by the
wayside. This is a shame, since it provides a powerful mental model
for solving many kinds of problems.
Many people carry a Swiss Army knife around in their pants pockets
(or purse). A Swiss Army knife is a handy tool to have: it has several
knife blades, a screwdriver, tweezers, toothpick, nail file, corkscrew,
and perhaps a number of other things on it. For the everyday, small
miscellaneous jobs where you need a simple, general purpose tool, it's
just the thing.
On the other hand, an experienced carpenter doesn't build a house
using a Swiss Army knife. Instead, he has a toolbox chock full of
specialized tools--a saw, a hammer, a screwdriver, a plane, and so on.
And he knows exactly when and where to use each tool; you won't catch
him hammering nails with the handle of his screwdriver.
The Unix developers at Bell Labs were all professional programmers
and trained computer scientists. They had found that while a
one-size-fits-all program might appeal to a user because there's only
one program to use, in practice such programs are
a. difficult to write,
b. difficult to maintain and debug, and
c. difficult to extend to meet new situations.
Instead, they felt that programs should be specialized tools. In
short, each program "should do one thing well." No more and no less.
Such programs are simpler to design, write, and get right--they only do
one thing.
Furthermore, they found that with the right machinery for hooking
programs together, that the whole was greater than the sum of the
parts. By combining several special purpose programs, you could
accomplish a specific task that none of the programs was designed for,
and accomplish it much more quickly and easily than if you had to write
a special purpose program. We will see some (classic) examples of this
further on in the column. (An important additional point was that, if
necessary, take a detour and build any software tools you may need
first, if you don't already have something appropriate in the toolbox.)
File: coreutils.info, Node: I/O redirection, Next: The who command, Prev: Toolbox introduction, Up: Opening the software toolbox
I/O Redirection
===============
Hopefully, you are familiar with the basics of I/O redirection in the
shell, in particular the concepts of "standard input," "standard
output," and "standard error". Briefly, "standard input" is a data
source, where data comes from. A program should not need to either
know or care if the data source is a disk file, a keyboard, a magnetic
tape, or even a punched card reader. Similarly, "standard output" is a
data sink, where data goes to. The program should neither know nor
care where this might be. Programs that only read their standard
input, do something to the data, and then send it on, are called
"filters", by analogy to filters in a water pipeline.
With the Unix shell, it's very easy to set up data pipelines:
program_to_create_data | filter1 | .... | filterN > final.pretty.data
We start out by creating the raw data; each filter applies some
successive transformation to the data, until by the time it comes out
of the pipeline, it is in the desired form.
This is fine and good for standard input and standard output. Where
does the standard error come in to play? Well, think about `filter1' in
the pipeline above. What happens if it encounters an error in the data
it sees? If it writes an error message to standard output, it will just
disappear down the pipeline into `filter2''s input, and the user will
probably never see it. So programs need a place where they can send
error messages so that the user will notice them. This is standard
error, and it is usually connected to your console or window, even if
you have redirected standard output of your program away from your
screen.
For filter programs to work together, the format of the data has to
be agreed upon. The most straightforward and easiest format to use is
simply lines of text. Unix data files are generally just streams of
bytes, with lines delimited by the ASCII LF (Line Feed) character,
conventionally called a "newline" in the Unix literature. (This is
`'\n'' if you're a C programmer.) This is the format used by all the
traditional filtering programs. (Many earlier operating systems had
elaborate facilities and special purpose programs for managing binary
data. Unix has always shied away from such things, under the
philosophy that it's easiest to simply be able to view and edit your
data with a text editor.)
OK, enough introduction. Let's take a look at some of the tools, and
then we'll see how to hook them together in interesting ways. In the
following discussion, we will only present those command line options
that interest us. As you should always do, double check your system
documentation for the full story.
File: coreutils.info, Node: The who command, Next: The cut command, Prev: I/O redirection, Up: Opening the software toolbox
The `who' Command
=================
The first program is the `who' command. By itself, it generates a list
of the users who are currently logged in. Although I'm writing this on
a single-user system, we'll pretend that several people are logged in:
$ who
-| arnold console Jan 22 19:57
-| miriam ttyp0 Jan 23 14:19(:0.0)
-| bill ttyp1 Jan 21 09:32(:0.0)
-| arnold ttyp2 Jan 23 20:48(:0.0)
Here, the `$' is the usual shell prompt, at which I typed `who'.
There are three people logged in, and I am logged in twice. On
traditional Unix systems, user names are never more than eight
characters long. This little bit of trivia will be useful later. The
output of `who' is nice, but the data is not all that exciting.
File: coreutils.info, Node: The cut command, Next: The sort command, Prev: The who command, Up: Opening the software toolbox
The `cut' Command
=================
The next program we'll look at is the `cut' command. This program cuts
out columns or fields of input data. For example, we can tell it to
print just the login name and full name from the `/etc/passwd' file.
The `/etc/passwd' file has seven fields, separated by colons:
arnold:xyzzy:2076:10:Arnold D. Robbins:/home/arnold:/bin/bash
To get the first and fifth fields, we would use `cut' like this:
$ cut -d: -f1,5 /etc/passwd
-| root:Operator
...
-| arnold:Arnold D. Robbins
-| miriam:Miriam A. Robbins
...
With the `-c' option, `cut' will cut out specific characters (i.e.,
columns) in the input lines. This is useful for input data that has
fixed width fields, and does not have a field separator. For example,
list the Monday dates for the current month:
$ cal | cut -c 3-5
-|Mo
-|
-| 6
-| 13
-| 20
-| 27
File: coreutils.info, Node: The sort command, Next: The uniq command, Prev: The cut command, Up: Opening the software toolbox
The `sort' Command
==================
Next we'll look at the `sort' command. This is one of the most
powerful commands on a Unix-style system; one that you will often find
yourself using when setting up fancy data plumbing.
The `sort' command reads and sorts each file named on the command
line. It then merges the sorted data and writes it to standard output.
It will read standard input if no files are given on the command line
(thus making it into a filter). The sort is based on the character
collating sequence or based on user-supplied ordering criteria.
File: coreutils.info, Node: The uniq command, Next: Putting the tools together, Prev: The sort command, Up: Opening the software toolbox
The `uniq' Command
==================
Finally (at least for now), we'll look at the `uniq' program. When
sorting data, you will often end up with duplicate lines, lines that
are identical. Usually, all you need is one instance of each line.
This is where `uniq' comes in. The `uniq' program reads its standard
input. It prints only one copy of each repeated line. It does have
several options. Later on, we'll use the `-c' option, which prints
each unique line, preceded by a count of the number of times that line
occurred in the input.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Putting the tools together, Prev: The uniq command, Up: Opening the software toolbox
Putting the Tools Together
==========================
Now, let's suppose this is a large ISP server system with dozens of
users logged in. The management wants the system administrator to
write a program that will generate a sorted list of logged in users.
Furthermore, even if a user is logged in multiple times, his or her
name should only show up in the output once.
The administrator could sit down with the system documentation and
write a C program that did this. It would take perhaps a couple of
hundred lines of code and about two hours to write it, test it, and
debug it. However, knowing the software toolbox, the administrator can
instead start out by generating just a list of logged on users:
$ who | cut -c1-8
-| arnold
-| miriam
-| bill
-| arnold
Next, sort the list:
$ who | cut -c1-8 | sort
-| arnold
-| arnold
-| bill
-| miriam
Finally, run the sorted list through `uniq', to weed out duplicates:
$ who | cut -c1-8 | sort | uniq
-| arnold
-| bill
-| miriam
The `sort' command actually has a `-u' option that does what `uniq'
does. However, `uniq' has other uses for which one cannot substitute
`sort -u'.
The administrator puts this pipeline into a shell script, and makes
it available for all the users on the system (`#' is the system
administrator, or `root', prompt):
# cat > /usr/local/bin/listusers
who | cut -c1-8 | sort | uniq
^D
# chmod +x /usr/local/bin/listusers
There are four major points to note here. First, with just four
programs, on one command line, the administrator was able to save about
two hours worth of work. Furthermore, the shell pipeline is just about
as efficient as the C program would be, and it is much more efficient in
terms of programmer time. People time is much more expensive than
computer time, and in our modern "there's never enough time to do
everything" society, saving two hours of programmer time is no mean
feat.
Second, it is also important to emphasize that with the
_combination_ of the tools, it is possible to do a special purpose job
never imagined by the authors of the individual programs.
Third, it is also valuable to build up your pipeline in stages, as
we did here. This allows you to view the data at each stage in the
pipeline, which helps you acquire the confidence that you are indeed
using these tools correctly.
Finally, by bundling the pipeline in a shell script, other users can
use your command, without having to remember the fancy plumbing you set
up for them. In terms of how you run them, shell scripts and compiled
programs are indistinguishable.
After the previous warm-up exercise, we'll look at two additional,
more complicated pipelines. For them, we need to introduce two more
tools.
The first is the `tr' command, which stands for "transliterate."
The `tr' command works on a character-by-character basis, changing
characters. Normally it is used for things like mapping upper case to
lower case:
$ echo ThIs ExAmPlE HaS MIXED case! | tr '[A-Z]' '[a-z]'
-| this example has mixed case!
There are several options of interest:
`-c'
work on the complement of the listed characters, i.e., operations
apply to characters not in the given set
`-d'
delete characters in the first set from the output
`-s'
squeeze repeated characters in the output into just one character.
We will be using all three options in a moment.
The other command we'll look at is `comm'. The `comm' command takes
two sorted input files as input data, and prints out the files' lines
in three columns. The output columns are the data lines unique to the
first file, the data lines unique to the second file, and the data
lines that are common to both. The `-1', `-2', and `-3' command line
options _omit_ the respective columns. (This is non-intuitive and takes
a little getting used to.) For example:
$ cat f1
-| 11111
-| 22222
-| 33333
-| 44444
$ cat f2
-| 00000
-| 22222
-| 33333
-| 55555
$ comm f1 f2
-| 00000
-| 11111
-| 22222
-| 33333
-| 44444
-| 55555
The single dash as a filename tells `comm' to read standard input
instead of a regular file.
Now we're ready to build a fancy pipeline. The first application is
a word frequency counter. This helps an author determine if he or she
is over-using certain words.
The first step is to change the case of all the letters in our input
file to one case. "The" and "the" are the same word when doing
counting.
$ tr '[A-Z]' '[a-z]' < whats.gnu | ...
The next step is to get rid of punctuation. Quoted words and
unquoted words should be treated identically; it's easiest to just get
the punctuation out of the way.
$ tr '[A-Z]' '[a-z]' < whats.gnu | tr -cd '[A-Za-z0-9_ \012]' | ...
The second `tr' command operates on the complement of the listed
characters, which are all the letters, the digits, the underscore, and
the blank. The `\012' represents the newline character; it has to be
left alone. (The ASCII tab character should also be included for good
measure in a production script.)
At this point, we have data consisting of words separated by blank
space. The words only contain alphanumeric characters (and the
underscore). The next step is break the data apart so that we have one
word per line. This makes the counting operation much easier, as we
will see shortly.
$ tr '[A-Z]' '[a-z]' < whats.gnu | tr -cd '[A-Za-z0-9_ \012]' |
> tr -s '[ ]' '\012' | ...
This command turns blanks into newlines. The `-s' option squeezes
multiple newline characters in the output into just one. This helps us
avoid blank lines. (The `>' is the shell's "secondary prompt." This is
what the shell prints when it notices you haven't finished typing in
all of a command.)
We now have data consisting of one word per line, no punctuation,
all one case. We're ready to count each word:
$ tr '[A-Z]' '[a-z]' < whats.gnu | tr -cd '[A-Za-z0-9_ \012]' |
> tr -s '[ ]' '\012' | sort | uniq -c | ...
At this point, the data might look something like this:
60 a
2 able
6 about
1 above
2 accomplish
1 acquire
1 actually
2 additional
The output is sorted by word, not by count! What we want is the most
frequently used words first. Fortunately, this is easy to accomplish,
with the help of two more `sort' options:
`-n'
do a numeric sort, not a textual one
`-r'
reverse the order of the sort
The final pipeline looks like this:
$ tr '[A-Z]' '[a-z]' < whats.gnu | tr -cd '[A-Za-z0-9_ \012]' |
> tr -s '[ ]' '\012' | sort | uniq -c | sort -nr
-| 156 the
-| 60 a
-| 58 to
-| 51 of
-| 51 and
...
Whew! That's a lot to digest. Yet, the same principles apply. With
six commands, on two lines (really one long one split for convenience),
we've created a program that does something interesting and useful, in
much less time than we could have written a C program to do the same
thing.
A minor modification to the above pipeline can give us a simple
spelling checker! To determine if you've spelled a word correctly, all
you have to do is look it up in a dictionary. If it is not there, then
chances are that your spelling is incorrect. So, we need a dictionary.
The conventional location for a dictionary is `/usr/dict/words'. On my
GNU/Linux system,(1) this is a is a sorted, 45,402 word dictionary.
Now, how to compare our file with the dictionary? As before, we
generate a sorted list of words, one per line:
$ tr '[A-Z]' '[a-z]' < whats.gnu | tr -cd '[A-Za-z0-9_ \012]' |
> tr -s '[ ]' '\012' | sort -u | ...
Now, all we need is a list of words that are _not_ in the
dictionary. Here is where the `comm' command comes in.
$ tr '[A-Z]' '[a-z]' < whats.gnu | tr -cd '[A-Za-z0-9_ \012]' |
> tr -s '[ ]' '\012' | sort -u |
> comm -23 - /usr/dict/words
The `-2' and `-3' options eliminate lines that are only in the
dictionary (the second file), and lines that are in both files. Lines
only in the first file (standard input, our stream of words), are words
that are not in the dictionary. These are likely candidates for
spelling errors. This pipeline was the first cut at a production
spelling checker on Unix.
There are some other tools that deserve brief mention.
`grep'
search files for text that matches a regular expression
`wc'
count lines, words, characters
`tee'
a T-fitting for data pipes, copies data to files and to standard
output
`sed'
the stream editor, an advanced tool
`awk'
a data manipulation language, another advanced tool
The software tools philosophy also espoused the following bit of
advice: "Let someone else do the hard part." This means, take
something that gives you most of what you need, and then massage it the
rest of the way until it's in the form that you want.
To summarize:
1. Each program should do one thing well. No more, no less.
2. Combining programs with appropriate plumbing leads to results where
the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. It also leads to
novel uses of programs that the authors might never have imagined.
3. Programs should never print extraneous header or trailer data,
since these could get sent on down a pipeline. (A point we didn't
mention earlier.)
4. Let someone else do the hard part.
5. Know your toolbox! Use each program appropriately. If you don't
have an appropriate tool, build one.
As of this writing, all the programs we've discussed are available
via anonymous `ftp' from:
`ftp://gnudist.gnu.org/textutils/textutils-1.22.tar.gz'. (There may be
more recent versions available now.)
None of what I have presented in this column is new. The Software
Tools philosophy was first introduced in the book `Software Tools', by
Brian Kernighan and P.J. Plauger (Addison-Wesley, ISBN 0-201-03669-X).
This book showed how to write and use software tools. It was written in
1976, using a preprocessor for FORTRAN named `ratfor' (RATional
FORtran). At the time, C was not as ubiquitous as it is now; FORTRAN
was. The last chapter presented a `ratfor' to FORTRAN processor,
written in `ratfor'. `ratfor' looks an awful lot like C; if you know C,
you won't have any problem following the code.
In 1981, the book was updated and made available as `Software Tools
in Pascal' (Addison-Wesley, ISBN 0-201-10342-7). The first book is
still in print; the second, alas, is not. Both books are well worth
reading if you're a programmer. They certainly made a major change in
how I view programming.
Initially, the programs in both books were available (on 9-track
tape) from Addison-Wesley. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case,
although the `ratfor' versions are available from Brian Kernighan's
home page (http://cm.bell-labs.come/who/bwk), and you might be able to
find copies of the Pascal versions floating around the Internet. For a
number of years, there was an active Software Tools Users Group, whose
members had ported the original `ratfor' programs to essentially every
computer system with a FORTRAN compiler. The popularity of the group
waned in the middle 1980s as Unix began to spread beyond universities.
With the current proliferation of GNU code and other clones of Unix
programs, these programs now receive little attention; modern C
versions are much more efficient and do more than these programs do.
Nevertheless, as exposition of good programming style, and evangelism
for a still-valuable philosophy, these books are unparalleled, and I
recommend them highly.
Acknowledgment: I would like to express my gratitude to Brian
Kernighan of Bell Labs, the original Software Toolsmith, for reviewing
this column.
---------- Footnotes ----------
(1) Redhat Linux 6.1, for the November 2000 revision of this article.
File: coreutils.info, Node: GNU Free Documentation License, Next: Index, Prev: Opening the software toolbox, Up: Top
Appendix A GNU Free Documentation License
*****************************************
Version 1.1, March 2000
* Menu:
* How to use this License for your documents::
Copyright (C) 2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies
of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.
0. PREAMBLE
The purpose of this License is to make a manual, textbook, or other
written document "free" in the sense of freedom: to assure everyone
the effective freedom to copy and redistribute it, with or without
modifying it, either commercially or noncommercially. Secondarily,
this License preserves for the author and publisher a way to get
credit for their work, while not being considered responsible for
modifications made by others.
This License is a kind of "copyleft", which means that derivative
works of the document must themselves be free in the same sense.
It complements the GNU General Public License, which is a copyleft
license designed for free software.
We have designed this License in order to use it for manuals for
free software, because free software needs free documentation: a
free program should come with manuals providing the same freedoms
that the software does. But this License is not limited to
software manuals; it can be used for any textual work, regardless
of subject matter or whether it is published as a printed book.
We recommend this License principally for works whose purpose is
instruction or reference.
1. APPLICABILITY AND DEFINITIONS
This License applies to any manual or other work that contains a
notice placed by the copyright holder saying it can be distributed
under the terms of this License. The "Document", below, refers to
any such manual or work. Any member of the public is a licensee,
and is addressed as "you".
A "Modified Version" of the Document means any work containing the
Document or a portion of it, either copied verbatim, or with
modifications and/or translated into another language.
A "Secondary Section" is a named appendix or a front-matter
section of the Document that deals exclusively with the
relationship of the publishers or authors of the Document to the
Document's overall subject (or to related matters) and contains
nothing that could fall directly within that overall subject.
(For example, if the Document is in part a textbook of
mathematics, a Secondary Section may not explain any mathematics.)
The relationship could be a matter of historical connection with
the subject or with related matters, or of legal, commercial,
philosophical, ethical or political position regarding them.
The "Invariant Sections" are certain Secondary Sections whose
titles are designated, as being those of Invariant Sections, in
the notice that says that the Document is released under this
License.
The "Cover Texts" are certain short passages of text that are
listed, as Front-Cover Texts or Back-Cover Texts, in the notice
that says that the Document is released under this License.
A "Transparent" copy of the Document means a machine-readable copy,
represented in a format whose specification is available to the
general public, whose contents can be viewed and edited directly
and straightforwardly with generic text editors or (for images
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text formatters or for automatic translation to a variety of
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Examples of suitable formats for Transparent copies include plain
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Opaque formats include PostScript, PDF, proprietary formats that
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or XML for which the DTD and/or processing tools are not generally
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The "Title Page" means, for a printed book, the title page itself,
plus such following pages as are needed to hold, legibly, the
material this License requires to appear in the title page. For
works in formats which do not have any title page as such, "Title
Page" means the text near the most prominent appearance of the
work's title, preceding the beginning of the body of the text.
2. VERBATIM COPYING
You may copy and distribute the Document in any medium, either
commercially or noncommercially, provided that this License, the
copyright notices, and the license notice saying this License
applies to the Document are reproduced in all copies, and that you
add no other conditions whatsoever to those of this License. You
may not use technical measures to obstruct or control the reading
or further copying of the copies you make or distribute. However,
you may accept compensation in exchange for copies. If you
distribute a large enough number of copies you must also follow
the conditions in section 3.
You may also lend copies, under the same conditions stated above,
and you may publicly display copies.
3. COPYING IN QUANTITY
If you publish printed copies of the Document numbering more than
100, and the Document's license notice requires Cover Texts, you
must enclose the copies in covers that carry, clearly and legibly,
all these Cover Texts: Front-Cover Texts on the front cover, and
Back-Cover Texts on the back cover. Both covers must also clearly
and legibly identify you as the publisher of these copies. The
front cover must present the full title with all words of the
title equally prominent and visible. You may add other material
on the covers in addition. Copying with changes limited to the
covers, as long as they preserve the title of the Document and
satisfy these conditions, can be treated as verbatim copying in
other respects.
If the required texts for either cover are too voluminous to fit
legibly, you should put the first ones listed (as many as fit
reasonably) on the actual cover, and continue the rest onto
adjacent pages.
If you publish or distribute Opaque copies of the Document
numbering more than 100, you must either include a
machine-readable Transparent copy along with each Opaque copy, or
state in or with each Opaque copy a publicly-accessible
computer-network location containing a complete Transparent copy
of the Document, free of added material, which the general
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charge using public-standard network protocols. If you use the
latter option, you must take reasonably prudent steps, when you
begin distribution of Opaque copies in quantity, to ensure that
this Transparent copy will remain thus accessible at the stated
location until at least one year after the last time you
distribute an Opaque copy (directly or through your agents or
retailers) of that edition to the public.
It is requested, but not required, that you contact the authors of
the Document well before redistributing any large number of
copies, to give them a chance to provide you with an updated
version of the Document.
4. MODIFICATIONS
You may copy and distribute a Modified Version of the Document
under the conditions of sections 2 and 3 above, provided that you
release the Modified Version under precisely this License, with
the Modified Version filling the role of the Document, thus
licensing distribution and modification of the Modified Version to
whoever possesses a copy of it. In addition, you must do these
things in the Modified Version:
A. Use in the Title Page (and on the covers, if any) a title
distinct from that of the Document, and from those of previous
versions (which should, if there were any, be listed in the
History section of the Document). You may use the same title
as a previous version if the original publisher of that version
gives permission.
B. List on the Title Page, as authors, one or more persons or
entities responsible for authorship of the modifications in the
Modified Version, together with at least five of the principal
authors of the Document (all of its principal authors, if it
has less than five).
C. State on the Title page the name of the publisher of the
Modified Version, as the publisher.
D. Preserve all the copyright notices of the Document.
E. Add an appropriate copyright notice for your modifications
adjacent to the other copyright notices.
F. Include, immediately after the copyright notices, a license
notice giving the public permission to use the Modified Version
under the terms of this License, in the form shown in the
Addendum below.
G. Preserve in that license notice the full lists of Invariant
Sections and required Cover Texts given in the Document's
license notice.
H. Include an unaltered copy of this License.
I. Preserve the section entitled "History", and its title, and add
to it an item stating at least the title, year, new authors, and
publisher of the Modified Version as given on the Title Page.
If there is no section entitled "History" in the Document,
create one stating the title, year, authors, and publisher of
the Document as given on its Title Page, then add an item
describing the Modified Version as stated in the previous
sentence.
J. Preserve the network location, if any, given in the Document for
public access to a Transparent copy of the Document, and
likewise the network locations given in the Document for
previous versions it was based on. These may be placed in the
"History" section. You may omit a network location for a work
that was published at least four years before the Document
itself, or if the original publisher of the version it refers
to gives permission.
K. In any section entitled "Acknowledgements" or "Dedications",
preserve the section's title, and preserve in the section all the
substance and tone of each of the contributor acknowledgements
and/or dedications given therein.
L. Preserve all the Invariant Sections of the Document,
unaltered in their text and in their titles. Section numbers
or the equivalent are not considered part of the section titles.
M. Delete any section entitled "Endorsements". Such a section
may not be included in the Modified Version.
N. Do not retitle any existing section as "Endorsements" or to
conflict in title with any Invariant Section.
If the Modified Version includes new front-matter sections or
appendices that qualify as Secondary Sections and contain no
material copied from the Document, you may at your option
designate some or all of these sections as invariant. To do this,
add their titles to the list of Invariant Sections in the Modified
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You may add a section entitled "Endorsements", provided it contains
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You may add a passage of up to five words as a Front-Cover Text,
and a passage of up to 25 words as a Back-Cover Text, to the end
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The author(s) and publisher(s) of the Document do not by this
License give permission to use their names for publicity for or to
assert or imply endorsement of any Modified Version.
5. COMBINING DOCUMENTS
You may combine the Document with other documents released under
this License, under the terms defined in section 4 above for
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all of the Invariant Sections of all of the original documents,
unmodified, and list them all as Invariant Sections of your
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The combined work need only contain one copy of this License, and
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by adding at the end of it, in parentheses, the name of the
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unique number. Make the same adjustment to the section titles in
the list of Invariant Sections in the license notice of the
combined work.
In the combination, you must combine any sections entitled
"History" in the various original documents, forming one section
entitled "History"; likewise combine any sections entitled
"Acknowledgements", and any sections entitled "Dedications". You
must delete all sections entitled "Endorsements."
6. COLLECTIONS OF DOCUMENTS
You may make a collection consisting of the Document and other
documents released under this License, and replace the individual
copies of this License in the various documents with a single copy
that is included in the collection, provided that you follow the
rules of this License for verbatim copying of each of the
documents in all other respects.
You may extract a single document from such a collection, and
distribute it individually under this License, provided you insert
a copy of this License into the extracted document, and follow
this License in all other respects regarding verbatim copying of
that document.
7. AGGREGATION WITH INDEPENDENT WORKS
A compilation of the Document or its derivatives with other
separate and independent documents or works, in or on a volume of
a storage or distribution medium, does not as a whole count as a
Modified Version of the Document, provided no compilation
copyright is claimed for the compilation. Such a compilation is
called an "aggregate", and this License does not apply to the
other self-contained works thus compiled with the Document, on
account of their being thus compiled, if they are not themselves
derivative works of the Document.
If the Cover Text requirement of section 3 is applicable to these
copies of the Document, then if the Document is less than one
quarter of the entire aggregate, the Document's Cover Texts may be
placed on covers that surround only the Document within the
aggregate. Otherwise they must appear on covers around the whole
aggregate.
8. TRANSLATION
Translation is considered a kind of modification, so you may
distribute translations of the Document under the terms of section
4. Replacing Invariant Sections with translations requires special
permission from their copyright holders, but you may include
translations of some or all Invariant Sections in addition to the
original versions of these Invariant Sections. You may include a
translation of this License provided that you also include the
original English version of this License. In case of a
disagreement between the translation and the original English
version of this License, the original English version will prevail.
9. TERMINATION
You may not copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute the Document
except as expressly provided for under this License. Any other
attempt to copy, modify, sublicense or distribute the Document is
void, and will automatically terminate your rights under this
License. However, parties who have received copies, or rights,
from you under this License will not have their licenses
terminated so long as such parties remain in full compliance.
10. FUTURE REVISIONS OF THIS LICENSE
The Free Software Foundation may publish new, revised versions of
the GNU Free Documentation License from time to time. Such new
versions will be similar in spirit to the present version, but may
differ in detail to address new problems or concerns. See
http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/.
Each version of the License is given a distinguishing version
number. If the Document specifies that a particular numbered
version of this License "or any later version" applies to it, you
have the option of following the terms and conditions either of
that specified version or of any later version that has been
published (not as a draft) by the Free Software Foundation. If
the Document does not specify a version number of this License,
you may choose any version ever published (not as a draft) by the
Free Software Foundation.
File: coreutils.info, Node: How to use this License for your documents, Up: GNU Free Documentation License
ADDENDUM: How to use this License for your documents
====================================================
To use this License in a document you have written, include a copy of
the License in the document and put the following copyright and license
notices just after the title page:
Copyright (C) YEAR YOUR NAME.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1
or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation;
with the Invariant Sections being LIST THEIR TITLES, with the
Front-Cover Texts being LIST, and with the Back-Cover Texts being LIST.
A copy of the license is included in the section entitled ``GNU
Free Documentation License''.
If you have no Invariant Sections, write "with no Invariant
Sections" instead of saying which ones are invariant. If you have no
Front-Cover Texts, write "no Front-Cover Texts" instead of "Front-Cover
Texts being LIST"; likewise for Back-Cover Texts.
If your document contains nontrivial examples of program code, we
recommend releasing these examples in parallel under your choice of
free software license, such as the GNU General Public License, to
permit their use in free software.
File: coreutils.info, Node: Index, Prev: GNU Free Documentation License, Up: Top
Index
*****
[index]
* Menu:
* !: Connectives for test.
(line 9)
* !=: String tests. (line 21)
* %: Numeric expressions. (line 15)
* &: Relations for expr. (line 17)
* *: Numeric expressions. (line 15)
* + <1>: Numeric expressions. (line 11)
* +: String expressions. (line 53)
* +PAGE_RANGE: pr invocation. (line 60)
* - <1>: su invocation. (line 55)
* - <2>: env invocation. (line 34)
* - <3>: Numeric expressions. (line 11)
* -: shred invocation. (line 136)
* - and Unix rm: rm invocation. (line 75)
* -, removing files beginning with: rm invocation. (line 63)
* --: Common options. (line 29)
* --across: pr invocation. (line 84)
* --address-radix: od invocation. (line 22)
* --adjustment: nice invocation. (line 27)
* --all <1>: uname invocation. (line 29)
* --all <2>: who invocation. (line 30)
* --all <3>: stty invocation. (line 26)
* --all <4>: du invocation. (line 21)
* --all <5>: df invocation. (line 32)
* --all <6>: Which files are listed.
(line 12)
* --all: unexpand invocation. (line 38)
* --all-repeated: uniq invocation. (line 66)
* --almost-all: Which files are listed.
(line 16)
* --apparent-size: du invocation. (line 24)
* --append: tee invocation. (line 21)
* --archive: cp invocation. (line 50)
* --author: What information is listed.
(line 10)
* --backup <1>: ln invocation. (line 52)
* --backup <2>: mv invocation. (line 46)
* --backup <3>: install invocation. (line 28)
* --backup <4>: cp invocation. (line 57)
* --backup: Backup options. (line 13)
* --before: tac invocation. (line 21)
* --binary <1>: md5sum invocation. (line 24)
* --binary: cat invocation. (line 20)
* --block-size <1>: du invocation. (line 43)
* --block-size <2>: df invocation. (line 40)
* --block-size: Block size. (line 130)
* --block-size=SIZE: Block size. (line 12)
* --body-numbering: nl invocation. (line 47)
* --boot: who invocation. (line 34)
* --bourne-shell: dircolors invocation.
(line 27)
* --buffer-size: sort invocation. (line 191)
* --bytes <1>: du invocation. (line 39)
* --bytes <2>: cut invocation. (line 26)
* --bytes <3>: wc invocation. (line 41)
* --bytes <4>: split invocation. (line 38)
* --bytes <5>: tail invocation. (line 34)
* --bytes <6>: head invocation. (line 22)
* --bytes: fold invocation. (line 23)
* --c-shell: dircolors invocation.
(line 33)
* --canonicalize: readlink invocation. (line 31)
* --changes <1>: chmod invocation. (line 26)
* --changes <2>: chgrp invocation. (line 17)
* --changes: chown invocation. (line 65)
* --characters: cut invocation. (line 34)
* --chars: wc invocation. (line 45)
* --check: sort invocation. (line 17)
* --check-chars: uniq invocation. (line 100)
* --classify: General output formatting.
(line 36)
* --color: General output formatting.
(line 21)
* --columns: pr invocation. (line 70)
* --command: su invocation. (line 41)
* --count <1>: who invocation. (line 54)
* --count: uniq invocation. (line 52)
* --count-links: du invocation. (line 77)
* --crown-margin: fmt invocation. (line 38)
* --csh: dircolors invocation.
(line 33)
* --date <1>: Options for date. (line 11)
* --date: touch invocation. (line 56)
* --dead: who invocation. (line 38)
* --delimiter: cut invocation. (line 50)
* --delimiters: paste invocation. (line 43)
* --dereference <1>: stat invocation. (line 22)
* --dereference <2>: du invocation. (line 82)
* --dereference <3>: chgrp invocation. (line 27)
* --dereference <4>: chown invocation. (line 98)
* --dereference <5>: cp invocation. (line 117)
* --dereference: Which files are listed.
(line 62)
* --dereference-args: du invocation. (line 54)
* --dereference-command-line: Which files are listed.
(line 33)
* --dereference-command-line-symlink-to-dir: Which files are listed.
(line 38)
* --dictionary-order: sort invocation. (line 80)
* --digits: csplit invocation. (line 80)
* --directory <1>: ln invocation. (line 58)
* --directory <2>: rm invocation. (line 25)
* --directory <3>: install invocation. (line 36)
* --directory: Which files are listed.
(line 25)
* --dired: What information is listed.
(line 16)
* --double-space: pr invocation. (line 96)
* --elide-empty-files: csplit invocation. (line 89)
* --escape: Formatting the file names.
(line 11)
* --exact: shred invocation. (line 118)
* --exclude-from=FILE: du invocation. (line 130)
* --exclude-type: df invocation. (line 133)
* --exclude=PATTERN: du invocation. (line 124)
* --expand-tabs: pr invocation. (line 115)
* --fast: su invocation. (line 46)
* --field-separator: sort invocation. (line 207)
* --fields: cut invocation. (line 43)
* --file <1>: Options for date. (line 18)
* --file: stty invocation. (line 31)
* --file-type: General output formatting.
(line 73)
* --filesystem: stat invocation. (line 17)
* --first-line-number: pr invocation. (line 193)
* --follow: tail invocation. (line 39)
* --footer-numbering: nl invocation. (line 75)
* --force <1>: ln invocation. (line 64)
* --force <2>: shred invocation. (line 90)
* --force <3>: rm invocation. (line 35)
* --force <4>: mv invocation. (line 51)
* --force: cp invocation. (line 92)
* --form-feed: pr invocation. (line 123)
* --format <1>: stat invocation. (line 33)
* --format <2>: General output formatting.
(line 10)
* --format <3>: What information is listed.
(line 127)
* --format: od invocation. (line 66)
* --format=FORMAT: seq invocation. (line 24)
* --from: chown invocation. (line 75)
* --full-time: What information is listed.
(line 97)
* --general-numeric-sort: sort invocation. (line 92)
* --group <1>: id invocation. (line 23)
* --group: install invocation. (line 45)
* --groups: id invocation. (line 27)
* --hardware-platform: uname invocation. (line 33)
* --header: pr invocation. (line 129)
* --header-numbering: nl invocation. (line 79)
* --heading: who invocation. (line 42)
* --help: Common options. (line 22)
* --hide-control-chars: Formatting the file names.
(line 21)
* --human-readable <1>: du invocation. (line 61)
* --human-readable <2>: df invocation. (line 45)
* --human-readable <3>: What information is listed.
(line 113)
* --human-readable: Block size. (line 130)
* --idle: who invocation. (line 46)
* --ignore-backups: Which files are listed.
(line 20)
* --ignore-case <1>: join invocation. (line 57)
* --ignore-case <2>: uniq invocation. (line 56)
* --ignore-case: sort invocation. (line 86)
* --ignore-environment: env invocation. (line 34)
* --ignore-fail-on-non-empty: rmdir invocation. (line 17)
* --ignore-interrupts: tee invocation. (line 26)
* --ignore-leading-blanks: sort invocation. (line 75)
* --ignore-nonprinting: sort invocation. (line 119)
* --ignore=PATTERN: Which files are listed.
(line 48)
* --indent: pr invocation. (line 199)
* --indicator-style: General output formatting.
(line 36)
* --initial: expand invocation. (line 35)
* --inode: What information is listed.
(line 119)
* --inodes: df invocation. (line 54)
* --interactive <1>: ln invocation. (line 68)
* --interactive <2>: rm invocation. (line 40)
* --interactive <3>: mv invocation. (line 55)
* --interactive: cp invocation. (line 109)
* --iso-8601[=TIMESPEC]: Options for date. (line 26)
* --iterations=NUMBER: shred invocation. (line 95)
* --join-blank-lines: nl invocation. (line 87)
* --join-lines: pr invocation. (line 142)
* --keep-files: csplit invocation. (line 85)
* --kernel-name: uname invocation. (line 60)
* --kernel-release: uname invocation. (line 56)
* --kernel-version: uname invocation. (line 71)
* --key: sort invocation. (line 237)
* --length: pr invocation. (line 151)
* --line-bytes: split invocation. (line 44)
* --lines <1>: wc invocation. (line 53)
* --lines <2>: split invocation. (line 30)
* --lines <3>: tail invocation. (line 124)
* --lines: head invocation. (line 28)
* --link: cp invocation. (line 113)
* --literal: Formatting the file names.
(line 17)
* --local: df invocation. (line 65)
* --login <1>: su invocation. (line 55)
* --login: who invocation. (line 69)
* --lookup: who invocation. (line 74)
* --machine: uname invocation. (line 38)
* --max-depth=DEPTH: du invocation. (line 92)
* --max-line-length: wc invocation. (line 57)
* --max-unchanged-stats: tail invocation. (line 112)
* --merge <1>: sort invocation. (line 23)
* --merge: pr invocation. (line 159)
* --mesg: who invocation. (line 87)
* --message: who invocation. (line 87)
* --mode <1>: mknod invocation. (line 43)
* --mode <2>: mkfifo invocation. (line 21)
* --mode <3>: mkdir invocation. (line 24)
* --mode: install invocation. (line 51)
* --month-sort: sort invocation. (line 125)
* --name: id invocation. (line 31)
* --no-create: touch invocation. (line 52)
* --no-dereference <1>: du invocation. (line 88)
* --no-dereference <2>: chgrp invocation. (line 32)
* --no-dereference <3>: chown invocation. (line 103)
* --no-dereference <4>: ln invocation. (line 72)
* --no-dereference: cp invocation. (line 121)
* --no-file-warnings: pr invocation. (line 206)
* --no-group: What information is listed.
(line 107)
* --no-newline: readlink invocation. (line 35)
* --no-preserve-root <1>: chmod invocation. (line 41)
* --no-preserve-root <2>: chgrp invocation. (line 45)
* --no-preserve-root <3>: chown invocation. (line 116)
* --no-preserve-root: rm invocation. (line 50)
* --no-renumber: nl invocation. (line 108)
* --no-sync: df invocation. (line 69)
* --nodename: uname invocation. (line 43)
* --null: du invocation. (line 98)
* --number: cat invocation. (line 52)
* --number-format: nl invocation. (line 95)
* --number-lines: pr invocation. (line 172)
* --number-nonblank: cat invocation. (line 37)
* --number-separator: nl invocation. (line 112)
* --number-width: nl invocation. (line 122)
* --numeric-sort: sort invocation. (line 133)
* --numeric-suffixes: split invocation. (line 52)
* --numeric-uid-gid: What information is listed.
(line 176)
* --omit-header: pr invocation. (line 235)
* --omit-pagination: pr invocation. (line 246)
* --one-file-system <1>: du invocation. (line 120)
* --one-file-system: cp invocation. (line 265)
* --only-delimited: cut invocation. (line 58)
* --operating-system: uname invocation. (line 52)
* --output: sort invocation. (line 167)
* --output-delimiter: cut invocation. (line 63)
* --output-duplicates: od invocation. (line 135)
* --output-tabs: pr invocation. (line 135)
* --owner: install invocation. (line 60)
* --page-increment: nl invocation. (line 83)
* --page_width: pr invocation. (line 264)
* --pages=PAGE_RANGE: pr invocation. (line 60)
* --parents <1>: rmdir invocation. (line 22)
* --parents <2>: mkdir invocation. (line 31)
* --parents: cp invocation. (line 163)
* --pid: tail invocation. (line 94)
* --portability <1>: pathchk invocation. (line 27)
* --portability: df invocation. (line 76)
* --prefix: csplit invocation. (line 62)
* --preserve: cp invocation. (line 126)
* --preserve-environment: su invocation. (line 66)
* --preserve-root <1>: chmod invocation. (line 36)
* --preserve-root <2>: chgrp invocation. (line 40)
* --preserve-root <3>: chown invocation. (line 111)
* --preserve-root: rm invocation. (line 45)
* --preserve-timestamps: install invocation. (line 66)
* --print-database: dircolors invocation.
(line 38)
* --print-type: df invocation. (line 109)
* --processor: uname invocation. (line 47)
* --quiet <1>: tty invocation. (line 18)
* --quiet <2>: chmod invocation. (line 32)
* --quiet <3>: chgrp invocation. (line 23)
* --quiet <4>: chown invocation. (line 71)
* --quiet <5>: readlink invocation. (line 41)
* --quiet <6>: csplit invocation. (line 100)
* --quiet <7>: tail invocation. (line 129)
* --quiet: head invocation. (line 34)
* --quote-name: Formatting the file names.
(line 28)
* --quoting-style: Formatting the file names.
(line 11)
* --read-bytes: od invocation. (line 49)
* --real: id invocation. (line 36)
* --recursive <1>: chmod invocation. (line 56)
* --recursive <2>: chgrp invocation. (line 63)
* --recursive <3>: chown invocation. (line 135)
* --recursive <4>: rm invocation. (line 56)
* --recursive <5>: cp invocation. (line 185)
* --recursive: Which files are listed.
(line 69)
* --reference <1>: Options for date. (line 67)
* --reference <2>: touch invocation. (line 69)
* --reference <3>: chmod invocation. (line 49)
* --reference <4>: chgrp invocation. (line 49)
* --reference: chown invocation. (line 120)
* --regex: tac invocation. (line 26)
* --remove: shred invocation. (line 108)
* --remove-destination: cp invocation. (line 197)
* --repeated: uniq invocation. (line 60)
* --reply <1>: mv invocation. (line 60)
* --reply: cp invocation. (line 174)
* --retry: tail invocation. (line 80)
* --reverse <1>: Sorting the output. (line 28)
* --reverse: sort invocation. (line 159)
* --rfc-2822: Options for date. (line 54)
* --rfc-822: Options for date. (line 54)
* --save: stty invocation. (line 41)
* --section-delimiter: nl invocation. (line 68)
* --sep-string: pr invocation. (line 220)
* --separate-dirs: du invocation. (line 115)
* --separator <1>: pr invocation. (line 211)
* --separator: tac invocation. (line 33)
* --serial: paste invocation. (line 34)
* --set: Options for date. (line 72)
* --sh: dircolors invocation.
(line 27)
* --shell: su invocation. (line 77)
* --show-all: cat invocation. (line 16)
* --show-control-chars <1>: Formatting the file names.
(line 75)
* --show-control-chars: pr invocation. (line 90)
* --show-ends: cat invocation. (line 46)
* --show-nonprinting <1>: pr invocation. (line 251)
* --show-nonprinting: cat invocation. (line 74)
* --show-tabs: cat invocation. (line 67)
* --si <1>: du invocation. (line 104)
* --si <2>: df invocation. (line 89)
* --si <3>: What information is listed.
(line 202)
* --si: Block size. (line 130)
* --silent <1>: tty invocation. (line 18)
* --silent <2>: chmod invocation. (line 32)
* --silent <3>: chgrp invocation. (line 23)
* --silent <4>: chown invocation. (line 71)
* --silent <5>: readlink invocation. (line 41)
* --silent <6>: csplit invocation. (line 100)
* --silent <7>: tail invocation. (line 129)
* --silent: head invocation. (line 34)
* --size: What information is listed.
(line 186)
* --size=BYTES: shred invocation. (line 102)
* --skip-bytes: od invocation. (line 41)
* --skip-chars: uniq invocation. (line 41)
* --skip-fields: uniq invocation. (line 30)
* --sleep-interval: tail invocation. (line 86)
* --sort: Sorting the output. (line 33)
* --spaces: fold invocation. (line 29)
* --sparse=WHEN: cp invocation. (line 201)
* --split-only: fmt invocation. (line 51)
* --squeeze-blank: cat invocation. (line 58)
* --stable: sort invocation. (line 178)
* --starting-line-number: nl invocation. (line 117)
* --status: md5sum invocation. (line 53)
* --strings: od invocation. (line 54)
* --strip: install invocation. (line 76)
* --strip-trailing-slashes <1>: mv invocation. (line 76)
* --strip-trailing-slashes: cp invocation. (line 234)
* --suffix <1>: ln invocation. (line 94)
* --suffix <2>: mv invocation. (line 81)
* --suffix <3>: install invocation. (line 80)
* --suffix <4>: cp invocation. (line 247)
* --suffix <5>: csplit invocation. (line 66)
* --suffix: Backup options. (line 50)
* --suffix-length: split invocation. (line 26)
* --summarize: du invocation. (line 111)
* --symbolic: ln invocation. (line 88)
* --symbolic-link: cp invocation. (line 239)
* --sync: df invocation. (line 96)
* --sysv: sum invocation. (line 31)
* --tabs <1>: unexpand invocation. (line 24)
* --tabs: expand invocation. (line 22)
* --tabsize: General output formatting.
(line 83)
* --tagged-paragraph: fmt invocation. (line 44)
* --target-directory <1>: ln invocation. (line 98)
* --target-directory <2>: mv invocation. (line 85)
* --target-directory <3>: install invocation. (line 84)
* --target-directory <4>: cp invocation. (line 251)
* --target-directory: Target directory. (line 10)
* --temporary-directory: sort invocation. (line 222)
* --terse: stat invocation. (line 28)
* --text: md5sum invocation. (line 63)
* --time <1>: touch invocation. (line 48)
* --time: Sorting the output. (line 14)
* --time-style: Formatting file timestamps.
(line 21)
* --total: du invocation. (line 48)
* --traditional: od invocation. (line 189)
* --type: df invocation. (line 103)
* --uniform-spacing: fmt invocation. (line 57)
* --unique <1>: uniq invocation. (line 95)
* --unique: sort invocation. (line 231)
* --universal: Options for date. (line 77)
* --update: mv invocation. (line 68)
* --user: id invocation. (line 41)
* --utc: Options for date. (line 77)
* --verbose <1>: chmod invocation. (line 46)
* --verbose <2>: chgrp invocation. (line 55)
* --verbose <3>: chown invocation. (line 127)
* --verbose <4>: rmdir invocation. (line 32)
* --verbose <5>: readlink invocation. (line 45)
* --verbose <6>: mkdir invocation. (line 38)
* --verbose <7>: ln invocation. (line 102)
* --verbose <8>: shred invocation. (line 114)
* --verbose <9>: rm invocation. (line 60)
* --verbose <10>: mv invocation. (line 73)
* --verbose <11>: install invocation. (line 88)
* --verbose <12>: cp invocation. (line 255)
* --verbose <13>: split invocation. (line 55)
* --verbose <14>: tail invocation. (line 133)
* --verbose: head invocation. (line 38)
* --version: Common options. (line 26)
* --version-control <1>: ln invocation. (line 106)
* --version-control <2>: mv invocation. (line 89)
* --version-control <3>: install invocation. (line 92)
* --version-control <4>: cp invocation. (line 259)
* --version-control: Backup options. (line 56)
* --warn: md5sum invocation. (line 68)
* --width <1>: General output formatting.
(line 89)
* --width <2>: fold invocation. (line 35)
* --width <3>: pr invocation. (line 255)
* --width <4>: fmt invocation. (line 63)
* --width: od invocation. (line 142)
* --words: wc invocation. (line 49)
* --writable: who invocation. (line 87)
* --zero: shred invocation. (line 128)
* --zero-terminated: sort invocation. (line 245)
* -0: du invocation. (line 97)
* -1 <1>: General output formatting.
(line 10)
* -1 <2>: join invocation. (line 62)
* -1: comm invocation. (line 23)
* -2 <1>: join invocation. (line 65)
* -2: comm invocation. (line 23)
* -3: comm invocation. (line 23)
* -a <1>: uname invocation. (line 29)
* -a <2>: who invocation. (line 30)
* -a <3>: stty invocation. (line 26)
* -a <4>: tee invocation. (line 21)
* -a <5>: Connectives for test.
(line 12)
* -a <6>: du invocation. (line 21)
* -a <7>: df invocation. (line 32)
* -a <8>: touch invocation. (line 48)
* -a: cp invocation. (line 50)
* -A: Which files are listed.
(line 16)
* -a <1>: Which files are listed.
(line 12)
* -a <2>: unexpand invocation. (line 38)
* -a <3>: join invocation. (line 48)
* -a <4>: split invocation. (line 26)
* -a <5>: pr invocation. (line 84)
* -a: od invocation. (line 158)
* -A <1>: od invocation. (line 22)
* -A: cat invocation. (line 16)
* -b <1>: who invocation. (line 34)
* -b: File type tests. (line 10)
* -B: du invocation. (line 43)
* -b: du invocation. (line 39)
* -B: df invocation. (line 40)
* -b <1>: ln invocation. (line 52)
* -b <2>: mv invocation. (line 46)
* -b <3>: install invocation. (line 28)
* -b <4>: cp invocation. (line 57)
* -b <5>: dircolors invocation.
(line 27)
* -b: Formatting the file names.
(line 11)
* -B: Which files are listed.
(line 20)
* -b <1>: cut invocation. (line 26)
* -b <2>: sort invocation. (line 75)
* -b <3>: md5sum invocation. (line 24)
* -b <4>: csplit invocation. (line 66)
* -b <5>: split invocation. (line 38)
* -b <6>: fold invocation. (line 23)
* -b <7>: od invocation. (line 161)
* -b <8>: nl invocation. (line 47)
* -b <9>: tac invocation. (line 21)
* -b: cat invocation. (line 37)
* -B: cat invocation. (line 20)
* -b: Backup options. (line 13)
* -c <1>: su invocation. (line 41)
* -c <2>: File type tests. (line 13)
* -c <3>: stat invocation. (line 33)
* -c <4>: du invocation. (line 48)
* -c <5>: touch invocation. (line 52)
* -c <6>: chmod invocation. (line 26)
* -c <7>: chgrp invocation. (line 17)
* -c <8>: chown invocation. (line 65)
* -c <9>: install invocation. (line 32)
* -c: dircolors invocation.
(line 33)
* -C: General output formatting.
(line 15)
* -c <1>: Sorting the output. (line 14)
* -c <2>: cut invocation. (line 34)
* -c <3>: uniq invocation. (line 52)
* -c <4>: sort invocation. (line 17)
* -c: wc invocation. (line 41)
* -C: split invocation. (line 44)
* -c <1>: tail invocation. (line 34)
* -c <2>: head invocation. (line 22)
* -c <3>: pr invocation. (line 90)
* -c: fmt invocation. (line 38)
* -C: fmt invocation. (line 33)
* -c: od invocation. (line 164)
* -COLUMN: pr invocation. (line 70)
* -d <1>: Options for date. (line 11)
* -d <2>: who invocation. (line 38)
* -d: File type tests. (line 16)
* -D: du invocation. (line 54)
* -d <1>: touch invocation. (line 56)
* -d <2>: ln invocation. (line 58)
* -d <3>: rm invocation. (line 25)
* -d <4>: install invocation. (line 36)
* -d: cp invocation. (line 85)
* -D: What information is listed.
(line 16)
* -d <1>: Which files are listed.
(line 25)
* -d <2>: paste invocation. (line 43)
* -d: cut invocation. (line 50)
* -D: uniq invocation. (line 66)
* -d <1>: uniq invocation. (line 60)
* -d <2>: sort invocation. (line 80)
* -d <3>: split invocation. (line 52)
* -d <4>: pr invocation. (line 96)
* -d <5>: od invocation. (line 168)
* -d: nl invocation. (line 68)
* -e <1>: File characteristic tests.
(line 9)
* -e <2>: echo invocation. (line 18)
* -e <3>: join invocation. (line 52)
* -e: pr invocation. (line 115)
* -E: cat invocation. (line 46)
* -e: cat invocation. (line 42)
* -ef: File characteristic tests.
(line 23)
* -eq: Numeric tests. (line 16)
* -f <1>: su invocation. (line 46)
* -f: Options for date. (line 18)
* -F: stty invocation. (line 31)
* -f <1>: File type tests. (line 19)
* -f <2>: stat invocation. (line 17)
* -f <3>: touch invocation. (line 60)
* -f <4>: chmod invocation. (line 32)
* -f <5>: chgrp invocation. (line 23)
* -f <6>: chown invocation. (line 71)
* -f <7>: readlink invocation. (line 31)
* -f: ln invocation. (line 64)
* -F: ln invocation. (line 58)
* -f <1>: shred invocation. (line 90)
* -f <2>: rm invocation. (line 35)
* -f <3>: mv invocation. (line 51)
* -f: cp invocation. (line 92)
* -F: General output formatting.
(line 36)
* -f <1>: Sorting the output. (line 21)
* -f <2>: cut invocation. (line 43)
* -f <3>: uniq invocation. (line 30)
* -f <4>: sort invocation. (line 86)
* -f: csplit invocation. (line 62)
* -F: tail invocation. (line 75)
* -f <1>: tail invocation. (line 39)
* -f: pr invocation. (line 123)
* -F: pr invocation. (line 123)
* -f <1>: od invocation. (line 171)
* -f: nl invocation. (line 75)
* -f FORMAT: seq invocation. (line 24)
* -G: id invocation. (line 27)
* -g <1>: id invocation. (line 23)
* -g: stty invocation. (line 41)
* -G: Access permission tests.
(line 30)
* -g <1>: Access permission tests.
(line 9)
* -g: install invocation. (line 45)
* -G: What information is listed.
(line 107)
* -g <1>: What information is listed.
(line 102)
* -g: sort invocation. (line 92)
* -ge: Numeric tests. (line 16)
* -gt: Numeric tests. (line 16)
* -H: who invocation. (line 42)
* -h: File type tests. (line 23)
* -H: du invocation. (line 66)
* -h: du invocation. (line 61)
* -H: df invocation. (line 50)
* -h: df invocation. (line 45)
* -H: chgrp invocation. (line 67)
* -h: chgrp invocation. (line 32)
* -H: chown invocation. (line 138)
* -h: chown invocation. (line 103)
* -H: cp invocation. (line 102)
* -h: What information is listed.
(line 113)
* -H: Which files are listed.
(line 33)
* -h <1>: pr invocation. (line 129)
* -h <2>: od invocation. (line 174)
* -h: nl invocation. (line 79)
* -H: Traversing symlinks. (line 18)
* -h: Block size. (line 130)
* -i <1>: env invocation. (line 34)
* -i <2>: uname invocation. (line 33)
* -i <3>: who invocation. (line 46)
* -i <4>: tee invocation. (line 26)
* -i <5>: df invocation. (line 54)
* -i <6>: ln invocation. (line 68)
* -i <7>: rm invocation. (line 40)
* -i <8>: mv invocation. (line 55)
* -i <9>: cp invocation. (line 109)
* -i: What information is listed.
(line 119)
* -I: Which files are listed.
(line 48)
* -i <1>: expand invocation. (line 35)
* -i <2>: join invocation. (line 57)
* -i <3>: uniq invocation. (line 56)
* -i <4>: sort invocation. (line 119)
* -i <5>: pr invocation. (line 135)
* -i <6>: od invocation. (line 177)
* -i: nl invocation. (line 83)
* -I TIMESPEC: Options for date. (line 26)
* -J: pr invocation. (line 142)
* -j: od invocation. (line 41)
* -k <1>: Access permission tests.
(line 12)
* -k <2>: du invocation. (line 71)
* -k <3>: df invocation. (line 59)
* -k <4>: General output formatting.
(line 61)
* -k <5>: sort invocation. (line 237)
* -k <6>: csplit invocation. (line 85)
* -k: Block size. (line 130)
* -l <1>: su invocation. (line 55)
* -l: who invocation. (line 69)
* -L <1>: File type tests. (line 23)
* -L <2>: stat invocation. (line 22)
* -L: du invocation. (line 82)
* -l <1>: du invocation. (line 77)
* -l: df invocation. (line 65)
* -L <1>: chgrp invocation. (line 72)
* -L <2>: chown invocation. (line 143)
* -L: cp invocation. (line 117)
* -l <1>: cp invocation. (line 113)
* -l: What information is listed.
(line 127)
* -L <1>: Which files are listed.
(line 62)
* -L: wc invocation. (line 57)
* -l <1>: wc invocation. (line 53)
* -l <2>: split invocation. (line 30)
* -l <3>: pr invocation. (line 151)
* -l <4>: od invocation. (line 180)
* -l: nl invocation. (line 87)
* -L: Traversing symlinks. (line 22)
* -le: Numeric tests. (line 16)
* -lt: Numeric tests. (line 16)
* -m <1>: su invocation. (line 66)
* -m <2>: uname invocation. (line 38)
* -m <3>: who invocation. (line 50)
* -m <4>: touch invocation. (line 65)
* -m <5>: mknod invocation. (line 43)
* -m <6>: mkfifo invocation. (line 21)
* -m <7>: mkdir invocation. (line 24)
* -m <8>: install invocation. (line 51)
* -m: General output formatting.
(line 67)
* -M: sort invocation. (line 125)
* -m <1>: sort invocation. (line 23)
* -m <2>: wc invocation. (line 45)
* -m: pr invocation. (line 159)
* -n <1>: nice invocation. (line 27)
* -n <2>: uname invocation. (line 43)
* -n <3>: id invocation. (line 31)
* -n <4>: String tests. (line 15)
* -n <5>: echo invocation. (line 15)
* -n <6>: readlink invocation. (line 35)
* -n: ln invocation. (line 72)
* -N: Formatting the file names.
(line 17)
* -n <1>: What information is listed.
(line 176)
* -n <2>: cut invocation. (line 54)
* -n <3>: sort invocation. (line 133)
* -n <4>: csplit invocation. (line 80)
* -n <5>: tail invocation. (line 124)
* -n: head invocation. (line 28)
* -N: pr invocation. (line 193)
* -n: pr invocation. (line 172)
* -N: od invocation. (line 49)
* -n <1>: nl invocation. (line 95)
* -n: cat invocation. (line 52)
* -n NUMBER: shred invocation. (line 95)
* -ne: Numeric tests. (line 16)
* -nt: File characteristic tests.
(line 15)
* -o <1>: uname invocation. (line 52)
* -o: Connectives for test.
(line 15)
* -O: Access permission tests.
(line 27)
* -o <1>: install invocation. (line 60)
* -o <2>: What information is listed.
(line 180)
* -o <3>: sort invocation. (line 167)
* -o <4>: pr invocation. (line 199)
* -o: od invocation. (line 183)
* -ot: File characteristic tests.
(line 19)
* -p <1>: su invocation. (line 66)
* -p <2>: uname invocation. (line 47)
* -p <3>: pathchk invocation. (line 27)
* -p: File type tests. (line 26)
* -P <1>: du invocation. (line 88)
* -P <2>: df invocation. (line 76)
* -P <3>: chgrp invocation. (line 76)
* -P: chown invocation. (line 147)
* -p <1>: rmdir invocation. (line 22)
* -p <2>: mkdir invocation. (line 31)
* -p <3>: install invocation. (line 66)
* -p: cp invocation. (line 126)
* -P: cp invocation. (line 121)
* -p <1>: dircolors invocation.
(line 38)
* -p: nl invocation. (line 108)
* -P: Traversing symlinks. (line 26)
* -q <1>: who invocation. (line 54)
* -q: readlink invocation. (line 41)
* -Q: Formatting the file names.
(line 28)
* -q <1>: Formatting the file names.
(line 21)
* -q <2>: csplit invocation. (line 100)
* -q <3>: tail invocation. (line 129)
* -q: head invocation. (line 34)
* -r <1>: uname invocation. (line 56)
* -r: Options for date. (line 67)
* -R: Options for date. (line 54)
* -r <1>: id invocation. (line 36)
* -r <2>: Access permission tests.
(line 15)
* -r: touch invocation. (line 69)
* -R <1>: chmod invocation. (line 56)
* -R <2>: chgrp invocation. (line 63)
* -R <3>: chown invocation. (line 135)
* -R: rm invocation. (line 56)
* -r <1>: rm invocation. (line 56)
* -r: cp invocation. (line 185)
* -R: cp invocation. (line 185)
* -r: Sorting the output. (line 28)
* -R: Which files are listed.
(line 69)
* -r <1>: sort invocation. (line 159)
* -r <2>: sum invocation. (line 25)
* -r <3>: pr invocation. (line 206)
* -r: tac invocation. (line 26)
* -s <1>: su invocation. (line 77)
* -s <2>: uname invocation. (line 60)
* -s <3>: Options for date. (line 72)
* -s <4>: who invocation. (line 58)
* -s <5>: tty invocation. (line 18)
* -s: File characteristic tests.
(line 12)
* -S <1>: File type tests. (line 29)
* -S: du invocation. (line 115)
* -s <1>: du invocation. (line 111)
* -s: readlink invocation. (line 41)
* -S: ln invocation. (line 94)
* -s: ln invocation. (line 88)
* -S <1>: mv invocation. (line 81)
* -S: install invocation. (line 80)
* -s: install invocation. (line 76)
* -S: cp invocation. (line 247)
* -s: cp invocation. (line 239)
* -S: Sorting the output. (line 33)
* -s <1>: What information is listed.
(line 186)
* -s <2>: paste invocation. (line 34)
* -s <3>: cut invocation. (line 58)
* -s: uniq invocation. (line 41)
* -S: sort invocation. (line 191)
* -s <1>: sort invocation. (line 178)
* -s <2>: sum invocation. (line 31)
* -s <3>: csplit invocation. (line 100)
* -s: fold invocation. (line 29)
* -S: pr invocation. (line 220)
* -s <1>: pr invocation. (line 211)
* -s <2>: fmt invocation. (line 51)
* -s <3>: od invocation. (line 54)
* -s <4>: nl invocation. (line 112)
* -s <5>: tac invocation. (line 33)
* -s: cat invocation. (line 58)
* -S: Backup options. (line 50)
* -s BYTES: shred invocation. (line 102)
* -su: su invocation. (line 25)
* -T: who invocation. (line 87)
* -t <1>: File type tests. (line 32)
* -t: stat invocation. (line 28)
* -T: df invocation. (line 109)
* -t: df invocation. (line 103)
* -T: General output formatting.
(line 83)
* -t <1>: Sorting the output. (line 37)
* -t <2>: unexpand invocation. (line 24)
* -t: expand invocation. (line 22)
* -T: sort invocation. (line 222)
* -t <1>: sort invocation. (line 207)
* -t: md5sum invocation. (line 63)
* -T: pr invocation. (line 246)
* -t <1>: pr invocation. (line 235)
* -t <2>: fmt invocation. (line 44)
* -t: od invocation. (line 66)
* -T: cat invocation. (line 67)
* -t: cat invocation. (line 63)
* -u <1>: env invocation. (line 28)
* -u <2>: Options for date. (line 77)
* -u <3>: who invocation. (line 63)
* -u <4>: id invocation. (line 41)
* -u <5>: Access permission tests.
(line 18)
* -u <6>: shred invocation. (line 108)
* -u: mv invocation. (line 68)
* -U: Sorting the output. (line 49)
* -u <1>: Sorting the output. (line 42)
* -u <2>: uniq invocation. (line 95)
* -u <3>: sort invocation. (line 231)
* -u <4>: fmt invocation. (line 57)
* -u: cat invocation. (line 70)
* -unset: env invocation. (line 28)
* -v <1>: uname invocation. (line 71)
* -v <2>: chmod invocation. (line 46)
* -v <3>: chgrp invocation. (line 55)
* -v <4>: chown invocation. (line 127)
* -v <5>: rmdir invocation. (line 32)
* -v <6>: readlink invocation. (line 45)
* -v: mkdir invocation. (line 38)
* -V: ln invocation. (line 106)
* -v <1>: ln invocation. (line 102)
* -v <2>: shred invocation. (line 114)
* -v: rm invocation. (line 60)
* -V: mv invocation. (line 89)
* -v: mv invocation. (line 73)
* -V: install invocation. (line 92)
* -v: install invocation. (line 88)
* -V: cp invocation. (line 259)
* -v <1>: cp invocation. (line 255)
* -v <2>: Sorting the output. (line 56)
* -v <3>: tail invocation. (line 133)
* -v <4>: head invocation. (line 38)
* -v <5>: pr invocation. (line 251)
* -v <6>: od invocation. (line 135)
* -v <7>: nl invocation. (line 117)
* -v: cat invocation. (line 74)
* -w <1>: who invocation. (line 87)
* -w <2>: Access permission tests.
(line 21)
* -w <3>: General output formatting.
(line 89)
* -w <4>: uniq invocation. (line 100)
* -w <5>: md5sum invocation. (line 68)
* -w <6>: wc invocation. (line 49)
* -w: fold invocation. (line 35)
* -W: pr invocation. (line 264)
* -w <1>: pr invocation. (line 255)
* -w <2>: fmt invocation. (line 63)
* -w <3>: od invocation. (line 142)
* -w: nl invocation. (line 122)
* -WIDTH: fmt invocation. (line 63)
* -x <1>: Access permission tests.
(line 24)
* -x <2>: du invocation. (line 120)
* -x <3>: df invocation. (line 133)
* -x <4>: shred invocation. (line 118)
* -x <5>: cp invocation. (line 265)
* -x: General output formatting.
(line 79)
* -X: Sorting the output. (line 63)
* -x: od invocation. (line 186)
* -X FILE: du invocation. (line 130)
* -z <1>: String tests. (line 11)
* -z <2>: shred invocation. (line 128)
* -z <3>: sort invocation. (line 245)
* -z: csplit invocation. (line 89)
* .cshrc: su invocation. (line 46)
* /: Numeric expressions. (line 15)
* /bin/sh: su invocation. (line 12)
* /etc/passwd: su invocation. (line 12)
* /etc/shells: su invocation. (line 66)
* /var/log/wtmp <1>: who invocation. (line 15)
* /var/log/wtmp: users invocation. (line 14)
* /var/run/utmp <1>: who invocation. (line 15)
* /var/run/utmp <2>: users invocation. (line 14)
* /var/run/utmp: logname invocation. (line 6)
* 128-bit checksum: md5sum invocation. (line 6)
* 16-bit checksum: sum invocation. (line 6)
* 4.2 filesystem type: df invocation. (line 120)
* <: Relations for expr. (line 22)
* <=: Relations for expr. (line 22)
* = <1>: Relations for expr. (line 22)
* =: String tests. (line 18)
* ==: Relations for expr. (line 22)
* >: Relations for expr. (line 22)
* >=: Relations for expr. (line 22)
* \( regexp operator: String expressions. (line 24)
* \+ regexp operator: String expressions. (line 28)
* \? regexp operator: String expressions. (line 28)
* \c: printf invocation. (line 42)
* \OOO: printf invocation. (line 25)
* \uhhhh: printf invocation. (line 30)
* \Uhhhhhhhh: printf invocation. (line 30)
* \xHH: printf invocation. (line 25)
* \| regexp operator: String expressions. (line 28)
* _POSIX2_VERSION: Standards conformance.
(line 19)
* abbreviations for months: Calendar date items. (line 38)
* access permission tests: Access permission tests.
(line 6)
* access permissions, changing: chmod invocation. (line 6)
* access time, changing: touch invocation. (line 48)
* access time, printing or sorting files by: Sorting the output.
(line 42)
* across columns: pr invocation. (line 84)
* across, listing files: General output formatting.
(line 79)
* adding permissions: Setting Permissions. (line 38)
* addition: Numeric expressions. (line 11)
* ago in date strings: Relative items in date strings.
(line 23)
* all repeated lines, outputting: uniq invocation. (line 66)
* alnum: Character sets. (line 87)
* alpha: Character sets. (line 90)
* alternate ebcdic, converting to: dd invocation. (line 91)
* always color option: General output formatting.
(line 27)
* am i: who invocation. (line 20)
* am in date strings: Time of day items. (line 20)
* and operator <1>: Relations for expr. (line 17)
* and operator: Connectives for test.
(line 12)
* appropriate privileges <1>: nice invocation. (line 6)
* appropriate privileges <2>: hostname invocation. (line 6)
* appropriate privileges <3>: Setting the time. (line 6)
* appropriate privileges: install invocation. (line 60)
* arbitrary date strings, parsing: Options for date. (line 11)
* arbitrary text, displaying: echo invocation. (line 6)
* arithmetic tests: Numeric tests. (line 6)
* ASCII dump of files: od invocation. (line 6)
* ascii, converting to: dd invocation. (line 85)
* atime, changing: touch invocation. (line 48)
* atime, printing or sorting files by: Sorting the output. (line 42)
* attributes, file: Changing file attributes.
(line 6)
* authors of getdate: Authors of getdate. (line 6)
* auto color option: General output formatting.
(line 25)
* automounter filesystems: df invocation. (line 32)
* b for block special file: mknod invocation. (line 26)
* background jobs, stopping at terminal write: Local. (line 41)
* backslash escapes <1>: echo invocation. (line 18)
* backslash escapes: Character sets. (line 14)
* backslash sequences for file names: Formatting the file names.
(line 11)
* backup files, ignoring: Which files are listed.
(line 20)
* backup options: Backup options. (line 6)
* backup suffix: Backup options. (line 50)
* backups, making <1>: ln invocation. (line 52)
* backups, making <2>: mv invocation. (line 46)
* backups, making <3>: install invocation. (line 28)
* backups, making <4>: cp invocation. (line 57)
* backups, making: Backup options. (line 13)
* backups, making only: cp invocation. (line 38)
* basename: basename invocation. (line 6)
* baud rate, setting: Special. (line 43)
* beeping at input buffer full: Input. (line 53)
* beginning of time: Time directives. (line 39)
* beginning of time, for POSIX: Date input formats. (line 37)
* Bellovin, Steven M.: Authors of getdate. (line 6)
* Berets, Jim: Authors of getdate. (line 6)
* Berry, K. <1>: Authors of getdate. (line 14)
* Berry, K.: Introduction. (line 19)
* binary and text I/O in cat: cat invocation. (line 20)
* binary input files: md5sum invocation. (line 24)
* blank: Character sets. (line 93)
* blank lines, numbering: nl invocation. (line 87)
* blanks, ignoring leading: sort invocation. (line 75)
* block (space-padding): dd invocation. (line 94)
* block size <1>: dd invocation. (line 62)
* block size: Block size. (line 6)
* block size of conversion: dd invocation. (line 66)
* block size of input: dd invocation. (line 56)
* block size of output: dd invocation. (line 59)
* block special check: File type tests. (line 10)
* block special files: mknod invocation. (line 11)
* block special files, creating: mknod invocation. (line 6)
* BLOCK_SIZE: Block size. (line 12)
* body, numbering: nl invocation. (line 17)
* Bourne shell syntax for color setup: dircolors invocation.
(line 27)
* breaks, cause interrupts: Input. (line 10)
* breaks, ignoring: Input. (line 7)
* brkint: Input. (line 10)
* bs: dd invocation. (line 62)
* BSD sum: sum invocation. (line 25)
* BSD tail: tail invocation. (line 17)
* BSD touch compatibility: touch invocation. (line 60)
* bsN: Output. (line 55)
* bugs, reporting: Introduction. (line 12)
* built-in shell commands, conflicts with <1>: nice invocation.
(line 18)
* built-in shell commands, conflicts with <2>: pwd invocation.
(line 10)
* built-in shell commands, conflicts with: test invocation. (line 20)
* byte count: wc invocation. (line 6)
* byte-swapping: dd invocation. (line 109)
* c for character special file: mknod invocation. (line 29)
* C shell syntax for color setup: dircolors invocation.
(line 33)
* C-s/C-q flow control: Input. (line 35)
* calendar date item: Calendar date items. (line 6)
* case folding: sort invocation. (line 86)
* case translation: Local. (line 36)
* case, ignored in dates: General date syntax. (line 59)
* cat: cat invocation. (line 6)
* cbreak: Combination. (line 48)
* cbs: dd invocation. (line 66)
* CD-ROM filesystem type: df invocation. (line 124)
* cdfs filesystem type: df invocation. (line 124)
* change or print terminal settings: stty invocation. (line 6)
* changed files, verbosely describing: chgrp invocation. (line 17)
* changed owners, verbosely describing: chown invocation. (line 65)
* changing access permissions: chmod invocation. (line 6)
* changing file attributes: Changing file attributes.
(line 6)
* changing file ownership: chown invocation. (line 6)
* changing file timestamps: touch invocation. (line 6)
* changing group ownership <1>: chgrp invocation. (line 6)
* changing group ownership: chown invocation. (line 6)
* changing special permissions: Changing Special Permissions.
(line 6)
* character classes: Character sets. (line 74)
* character count: wc invocation. (line 6)
* character size: Control. (line 19)
* character special check: File type tests. (line 13)
* character special files: mknod invocation. (line 11)
* character special files, creating: mknod invocation. (line 6)
* characters, special: Characters. (line 6)
* check file types: test invocation. (line 6)
* checking for sortedness: sort invocation. (line 17)
* checksum, 128-bit: md5sum invocation. (line 6)
* checksum, 16-bit: sum invocation. (line 6)
* chgrp: chgrp invocation. (line 6)
* chmod: chmod invocation. (line 6)
* chown: chown invocation. (line 6)
* chroot: chroot invocation. (line 6)
* cksum: cksum invocation. (line 6)
* clocal: Control. (line 33)
* cntrl: Character sets. (line 96)
* color database, printing: dircolors invocation.
(line 38)
* color setup: dircolors invocation.
(line 6)
* color, distinguishing file types with: General output formatting.
(line 21)
* cols: Special. (line 27)
* COLUMNS: Special. (line 30)
* columns: Special. (line 27)
* COLUMNS: General output formatting.
(line 89)
* combination settings: Combination. (line 6)
* comm: comm invocation. (line 6)
* commands for controlling processes: Process control. (line 6)
* commands for delaying: Delaying. (line 6)
* commands for exit status: Conditions. (line 6)
* commands for file name manipulation: File name manipulation.
(line 6)
* commands for invoking other commands: Modified command invocation.
(line 6)
* commands for printing text: Printing text. (line 6)
* commands for printing the working context: Working context. (line 6)
* commands for printing user information: User information. (line 6)
* commands for redirection: Redirection. (line 6)
* commands for system context: System context. (line 6)
* commas, outputting between files: General output formatting.
(line 67)
* comments, in dates: General date syntax. (line 59)
* common field, joining on: join invocation. (line 6)
* common lines: comm invocation. (line 18)
* common options: Common options. (line 6)
* compare values: test invocation. (line 6)
* comparing sorted files: comm invocation. (line 6)
* comparison operators: Relations for expr. (line 22)
* concatenate and write files: cat invocation. (line 6)
* conditional executability: Conditional Executability.
(line 6)
* conditions: Conditions. (line 6)
* conflicts with shell built-ins <1>: nice invocation. (line 18)
* conflicts with shell built-ins <2>: pwd invocation. (line 10)
* conflicts with shell built-ins: test invocation. (line 20)
* connectives, logical <1>: Relations for expr. (line 6)
* connectives, logical: Connectives for test.
(line 6)
* context splitting: csplit invocation. (line 6)
* context, system: System context. (line 6)
* control characters, using ^C: Local. (line 51)
* control settings: Control. (line 6)
* conv: dd invocation. (line 79)
* conversion block size: dd invocation. (line 66)
* converting tabs to spaces: expand invocation. (line 6)
* converting while copying a file: dd invocation. (line 6)
* cooked: Combination. (line 35)
* Coordinated Universal Time: Options for date. (line 77)
* copying directories recursively: cp invocation. (line 72)
* copying existing permissions: Copying Permissions. (line 6)
* copying files: cat invocation. (line 6)
* copying files and directories: cp invocation. (line 6)
* copying files and setting attributes: install invocation. (line 6)
* core utilities: Top. (line 19)
* count: dd invocation. (line 75)
* cp: cp invocation. (line 6)
* crashes and corruption: sync invocation. (line 11)
* CRC checksum: cksum invocation. (line 6)
* cread: Control. (line 30)
* creating directories: mkdir invocation. (line 6)
* creating FIFOs (named pipes): mkfifo invocation. (line 6)
* creating links (hard only): link invocation. (line 6)
* creating links (hard or soft): ln invocation. (line 6)
* crN: Output. (line 45)
* crown margin: fmt invocation. (line 38)
* crt: Combination. (line 70)
* crterase: Local. (line 22)
* crtkill: Local. (line 56)
* crtscts: Control. (line 36)
* csh syntax for color setup: dircolors invocation.
(line 33)
* csN: Control. (line 19)
* csplit: csplit invocation. (line 6)
* cstopb: Control. (line 27)
* ctime, printing or sorting by: Sorting the output. (line 14)
* ctlecho: Local. (line 51)
* current working directory, printing: pwd invocation. (line 6)
* cut: cut invocation. (line 6)
* cyclic redundancy check: cksum invocation. (line 6)
* data, erasing: shred invocation. (line 6)
* database for color setup, printing: dircolors invocation.
(line 38)
* date: date invocation. (line 6)
* date directives: Date directives. (line 6)
* date format, ISO 8601: Calendar date items. (line 30)
* date input formats: Date input formats. (line 6)
* date options: Options for date. (line 6)
* date strings, parsing: Options for date. (line 11)
* day in date strings: Relative items in date strings.
(line 15)
* day of week item: Day of week items. (line 6)
* dd: dd invocation. (line 6)
* dec: Combination. (line 73)
* decctlq: Combination. (line 59)
* delay for a specified time: sleep invocation. (line 6)
* delaying commands: Delaying. (line 6)
* deleting characters: Squeezing. (line 6)
* dereferencing symbolic links: ln invocation. (line 37)
* descriptor follow option: tail invocation. (line 39)
* destination directory <1>: ln invocation. (line 98)
* destination directory <2>: mv invocation. (line 85)
* destination directory <3>: install invocation. (line 84)
* destination directory <4>: cp invocation. (line 251)
* destination directory: Target directory. (line 10)
* destinations, multiple output: tee invocation. (line 6)
* device file, disk: df invocation. (line 19)
* df: df invocation. (line 6)
* DF_BLOCK_SIZE: Block size. (line 12)
* dictionary order: sort invocation. (line 80)
* differing lines: comm invocation. (line 18)
* digit: Character sets. (line 99)
* dir: dir invocation. (line 6)
* dircolors: dircolors invocation.
(line 6)
* directives, date: Date directives. (line 6)
* directives, literal: Literal directives. (line 6)
* directives, time: Time directives. (line 6)
* directories, copying: cp invocation. (line 6)
* directories, copying recursively: cp invocation. (line 72)
* directories, creating: mkdir invocation. (line 6)
* directories, creating with given attributes: install invocation.
(line 36)
* directories, removing (recursively): rm invocation. (line 56)
* directories, removing empty: rmdir invocation. (line 6)
* directories, removing with unlink: rm invocation. (line 25)
* directory check: File type tests. (line 16)
* directory components, printing: dirname invocation. (line 6)
* directory deletion, ignoring failures: rmdir invocation. (line 17)
* directory deletion, reporting: rmdir invocation. (line 32)
* directory listing: ls invocation. (line 6)
* directory listing, brief: dir invocation. (line 6)
* directory listing, recursive: Which files are listed.
(line 69)
* directory listing, verbose: vdir invocation. (line 6)
* directory order, listing by: Sorting the output. (line 21)
* directory, stripping from file names: basename invocation. (line 6)
* dired Emacs mode support: What information is listed.
(line 16)
* dirname: dirname invocation. (line 6)
* disabling sort's last-resort comparison: sort invocation. (line 178)
* disabling special characters: Characters. (line 13)
* disk allocation: What information is listed.
(line 186)
* disk device file: df invocation. (line 19)
* disk usage: Disk usage. (line 6)
* disk usage by filesystem: df invocation. (line 6)
* disk usage for files: du invocation. (line 6)
* diskette filesystem: df invocation. (line 128)
* displacement of dates: Relative items in date strings.
(line 6)
* displaying text: echo invocation. (line 6)
* displaying value of a symbolic link: readlink invocation. (line 6)
* division: Numeric expressions. (line 15)
* do nothing, successfully: true invocation. (line 6)
* do nothing, unsuccessfully: false invocation. (line 6)
* DOS filesystem: df invocation. (line 128)
* double spacing: pr invocation. (line 96)
* down columns: pr invocation. (line 70)
* dsusp: Characters. (line 53)
* du: du invocation. (line 6)
* DU_BLOCK_SIZE: Block size. (line 12)
* ebcdic, converting to: dd invocation. (line 88)
* echo <1>: Local. (line 18)
* echo: echo invocation. (line 6)
* echoctl: Local. (line 51)
* echoe: Local. (line 22)
* echok: Local. (line 26)
* echoke: Local. (line 56)
* echonl: Local. (line 29)
* echoprt: Local. (line 46)
* effective uid and gid, printing: id invocation. (line 6)
* effective UID, printing: whoami invocation. (line 6)
* efs filesystem type: df invocation. (line 120)
* Eggert, Paul: Authors of getdate. (line 6)
* eight-bit characters <1>: Combination. (line 51)
* eight-bit characters: Control. (line 19)
* eight-bit input: Input. (line 23)
* ek: Combination. (line 22)
* empty files, creating: touch invocation. (line 18)
* empty lines, numbering: nl invocation. (line 87)
* entire files, output of: Output of entire files.
(line 6)
* env: env invocation. (line 6)
* environment variables, printing: printenv invocation. (line 6)
* environment, preserving: su invocation. (line 66)
* environment, printing: env invocation. (line 19)
* environment, running a program in a modified: env invocation.
(line 6)
* eof: Characters. (line 32)
* eol: Characters. (line 35)
* eol2: Characters. (line 38)
* epoch, for POSIX: Date input formats. (line 37)
* epoch, seconds since: Time directives. (line 39)
* equal string check: String tests. (line 18)
* equivalence classes: Character sets. (line 123)
* erase: Characters. (line 26)
* erasing data: shred invocation. (line 6)
* error messages, omitting <1>: chmod invocation. (line 32)
* error messages, omitting <2>: chgrp invocation. (line 23)
* error messages, omitting: chown invocation. (line 71)
* evaluation of expressions: expr invocation. (line 6)
* even parity: Control. (line 13)
* evenp: Combination. (line 9)
* exabyte, definition of: Block size. (line 108)
* examples of date: Examples of date. (line 6)
* examples of expr: Examples of expr. (line 6)
* exbibyte, definition of: Block size. (line 112)
* excluding files from du: du invocation. (line 124)
* executable file check: Access permission tests.
(line 24)
* executables and file type, marking: General output formatting.
(line 36)
* execute permission: Mode Structure. (line 14)
* execute permission, symbolic: Setting Permissions. (line 63)
* existence-of-file check: File characteristic tests.
(line 9)
* existing backup method: Backup options. (line 39)
* exit status commands: Conditions. (line 6)
* exit status of chroot: chroot invocation. (line 46)
* exit status of env: env invocation. (line 38)
* exit status of expr: expr invocation. (line 36)
* exit status of false: false invocation. (line 6)
* exit status of nice: nice invocation. (line 34)
* exit status of nohup: nohup invocation. (line 33)
* exit status of pathchk: pathchk invocation. (line 34)
* exit status of printenv: printenv invocation. (line 17)
* exit status of sort: sort invocation. (line 54)
* exit status of su: su invocation. (line 82)
* exit status of test: test invocation. (line 31)
* exit status of true: true invocation. (line 6)
* exit status of tty: tty invocation. (line 21)
* expand: expand invocation. (line 6)
* expr: expr invocation. (line 6)
* expression evaluation <1>: expr invocation. (line 6)
* expression evaluation: test invocation. (line 6)
* expressions, numeric: Numeric expressions. (line 6)
* expressions, string: String expressions. (line 6)
* extension, sorting files by: Sorting the output. (line 63)
* factor: factor invocation. (line 6)
* failure exit status: false invocation. (line 6)
* false: false invocation. (line 6)
* ffN: Output. (line 63)
* field separator character: sort invocation. (line 207)
* fields, padding numeric: Padding. (line 6)
* FIFOs, creating: mkfifo invocation. (line 6)
* file attributes, changing: Changing file attributes.
(line 6)
* file characteristic tests: File characteristic tests.
(line 6)
* file contents, dumping unambiguously: od invocation. (line 6)
* file information, preserving: cp invocation. (line 126)
* file name manipulation: File name manipulation.
(line 6)
* file name pattern expansion, disabled: su invocation. (line 46)
* file names, checking validity and portability: pathchk invocation.
(line 6)
* file names, stripping directory and suffix: basename invocation.
(line 6)
* file offset radix: od invocation. (line 22)
* file ownership, changing: chown invocation. (line 6)
* file permissions, numeric: Numeric Modes. (line 6)
* file sizes: du invocation. (line 43)
* file space usage: du invocation. (line 6)
* file status: stat invocation. (line 6)
* file timestamps, changing: touch invocation. (line 6)
* file type and executables, marking: General output formatting.
(line 36)
* file type tests: File type tests. (line 6)
* file type, marking: General output formatting.
(line 73)
* file types: Special file types. (line 9)
* file types, special: Special file types. (line 6)
* file utilities: Top. (line 19)
* files beginning with -, removing: rm invocation. (line 63)
* files, copying: cp invocation. (line 6)
* filesystem disk usage: df invocation. (line 6)
* filesystem sizes: df invocation. (line 40)
* filesystem space, retrieving current data more slowly: df invocation.
(line 96)
* filesystem space, retrieving old data more quickly: df invocation.
(line 69)
* filesystem status: stat invocation. (line 6)
* filesystem types, limiting output to certain: df invocation.
(line 65)
* filesystem types, printing: df invocation. (line 109)
* filesystems: stat invocation. (line 17)
* filesystems and hard links: ln invocation. (line 6)
* filesystems, omitting copying to different: cp invocation. (line 265)
* fingerprint, 128-bit: md5sum invocation. (line 6)
* first in date strings: General date syntax. (line 26)
* first part of files, outputting: head invocation. (line 6)
* flow control, hardware: Control. (line 36)
* flow control, software: Input. (line 40)
* flushing, disabling: Local. (line 32)
* fmt: fmt invocation. (line 6)
* fold: fold invocation. (line 6)
* folding long input lines: fold invocation. (line 6)
* footers, numbering: nl invocation. (line 17)
* force deletion: shred invocation. (line 90)
* formatting file contents: Formatting file contents.
(line 6)
* formatting of numbers in seq: seq invocation. (line 24)
* formatting times <1>: date invocation. (line 14)
* formatting times: pr invocation. (line 100)
* fortnight in date strings: Relative items in date strings.
(line 15)
* fsck: rm invocation. (line 25)
* general date syntax: General date syntax. (line 6)
* general numeric sort: sort invocation. (line 92)
* getdate: Date input formats. (line 6)
* gibibyte, definition of: Block size. (line 91)
* gigabyte, definition of: Block size. (line 87)
* giving away permissions: Umask and Protection.
(line 12)
* globbing, disabled: su invocation. (line 46)
* GMT: Options for date. (line 77)
* grand total of disk space: du invocation. (line 48)
* graph: Character sets. (line 102)
* Greenwich Mean Time: Options for date. (line 77)
* group owner, default: Mode Structure. (line 27)
* group ownership of installed files, setting: install invocation.
(line 45)
* group ownership, changing <1>: chgrp invocation. (line 6)
* group ownership, changing: chown invocation. (line 6)
* group, permissions for: Setting Permissions. (line 26)
* groups: groups invocation. (line 6)
* growing files: tail invocation. (line 39)
* hangups, immunity to: nohup invocation. (line 6)
* hard link check: File characteristic tests.
(line 23)
* hard link, defined: ln invocation. (line 29)
* hard links to directories: ln invocation. (line 58)
* hard links, counting in du: du invocation. (line 77)
* hard links, creating <1>: ln invocation. (line 6)
* hard links, creating: link invocation. (line 6)
* hard links, preserving: cp invocation. (line 85)
* hardware class: uname invocation. (line 38)
* hardware flow control: Control. (line 36)
* hardware platform: uname invocation. (line 33)
* hardware type: uname invocation. (line 38)
* hat notation for control characters: Local. (line 51)
* head: head invocation. (line 6)
* headers, numbering: nl invocation. (line 17)
* help, online: Common options. (line 22)
* hex dump of files: od invocation. (line 6)
* High Sierra filesystem: df invocation. (line 124)
* holes, copying files with: cp invocation. (line 201)
* HOME: su invocation. (line 18)
* horizontal, listing files: General output formatting.
(line 79)
* host processor type: uname invocation. (line 47)
* hostid: hostid invocation. (line 6)
* hostname <1>: hostname invocation. (line 6)
* hostname: uname invocation. (line 43)
* hour in date strings: Relative items in date strings.
(line 15)
* hsfs filesystem type: df invocation. (line 124)
* human-readable output <1>: du invocation. (line 61)
* human-readable output <2>: df invocation. (line 45)
* human-readable output <3>: What information is listed.
(line 113)
* human-readable output: Block size. (line 35)
* hup[cl]: Control. (line 23)
* hurd, author, printing: What information is listed.
(line 10)
* ibs: dd invocation. (line 56)
* icanon: Local. (line 11)
* icrnl: Input. (line 32)
* id: id invocation. (line 6)
* idle time: who invocation. (line 63)
* iexten: Local. (line 15)
* if: dd invocation. (line 48)
* ignbrk: Input. (line 7)
* igncr: Input. (line 29)
* ignore filesystems: df invocation. (line 32)
* ignoring case: sort invocation. (line 86)
* ignpar: Input. (line 13)
* imaxbel: Input. (line 53)
* immunity to hangups: nohup invocation. (line 6)
* implementation, hardware: uname invocation. (line 33)
* indenting lines: pr invocation. (line 199)
* index: String expressions. (line 45)
* information, about current users: who invocation. (line 6)
* initial part of files, outputting: head invocation. (line 6)
* initial tabs, converting: expand invocation. (line 35)
* inlcr: Input. (line 26)
* inode number, printing: What information is listed.
(line 119)
* inode usage: df invocation. (line 54)
* inode, and hard links: ln invocation. (line 29)
* inodes, written buffered: sync invocation. (line 6)
* inpck: Input. (line 20)
* input block size: dd invocation. (line 56)
* input settings: Input. (line 6)
* input tabs: pr invocation. (line 115)
* install: install invocation. (line 6)
* interactivity <1>: mv invocation. (line 60)
* interactivity: cp invocation. (line 174)
* intr: Characters. (line 20)
* invocation of commands, modified: Modified command invocation.
(line 6)
* isig: Local. (line 7)
* ISO 8601 date format: Calendar date items. (line 30)
* ispeed: Special. (line 16)
* istrip: Input. (line 23)
* items in date strings: General date syntax. (line 6)
* iterations, selecting the number of: shred invocation. (line 95)
* iuclc: Input. (line 45)
* ixany: Input. (line 49)
* ixoff: Input. (line 40)
* ixon: Input. (line 35)
* join: join invocation. (line 6)
* kernel name: uname invocation. (line 60)
* kernel release: uname invocation. (line 56)
* kernel version: uname invocation. (line 71)
* kibibyte, definition of: Block size. (line 75)
* kibibytes for file sizes: du invocation. (line 71)
* kibibytes for filesystem sizes: df invocation. (line 59)
* kill <1>: kill invocation. (line 6)
* kill: Characters. (line 29)
* kilobyte, definition of: Block size. (line 70)
* Knuth, Donald E.: fmt invocation. (line 19)
* language, in dates: General date syntax. (line 37)
* last DAY <1>: Day of week items. (line 15)
* last DAY: Options for date. (line 11)
* last in date strings: General date syntax. (line 26)
* last part of files, outputting: tail invocation. (line 6)
* LC_ALL <1>: ls invocation. (line 17)
* LC_ALL: sort invocation. (line 29)
* LC_COLLATE <1>: Relations for expr. (line 22)
* LC_COLLATE <2>: join invocation. (line 11)
* LC_COLLATE <3>: comm invocation. (line 12)
* LC_COLLATE <4>: uniq invocation. (line 20)
* LC_COLLATE: sort invocation. (line 29)
* LC_CTYPE: sort invocation. (line 75)
* LC_MESSAGES: pr invocation. (line 13)
* LC_NUMERIC <1>: printf invocation. (line 14)
* LC_NUMERIC <2>: sort invocation. (line 92)
* LC_NUMERIC: Block size. (line 49)
* LC_TIME <1>: Formatting file timestamps.
(line 25)
* LC_TIME <2>: sort invocation. (line 125)
* LC_TIME: pr invocation. (line 107)
* LCASE: Combination. (line 67)
* lcase: Combination. (line 67)
* lcase, converting to: dd invocation. (line 103)
* lchown <1>: chgrp invocation. (line 27)
* lchown: chown invocation. (line 98)
* leading directories, creating missing: install invocation. (line 36)
* leading directory components, stripping: basename invocation.
(line 6)
* left margin: pr invocation. (line 199)
* length: String expressions. (line 50)
* limiting output of du: du invocation. (line 92)
* line: Special. (line 37)
* line count: wc invocation. (line 6)
* line numbering: nl invocation. (line 6)
* line settings of terminal: stty invocation. (line 6)
* line-breaking: fmt invocation. (line 19)
* line-by-line comparison: comm invocation. (line 6)
* LINES: Special. (line 30)
* link: link invocation. (line 6)
* links, creating <1>: ln invocation. (line 6)
* links, creating: link invocation. (line 6)
* Linux filesystem types: df invocation. (line 120)
* literal directives: Literal directives. (line 6)
* litout: Combination. (line 55)
* ln: ln invocation. (line 6)
* ln format for nl: nl invocation. (line 98)
* lnext: Characters. (line 62)
* local filesystem types: df invocation. (line 120)
* local settings: Local. (line 6)
* logging out and continuing to run: nohup invocation. (line 6)
* logical and operator <1>: Relations for expr. (line 17)
* logical and operator: Connectives for test.
(line 12)
* logical connectives <1>: Relations for expr. (line 6)
* logical connectives: Connectives for test.
(line 6)
* logical or operator <1>: Relations for expr. (line 11)
* logical or operator: Connectives for test.
(line 15)
* logical pages, numbering on: nl invocation. (line 12)
* login name, printing: logname invocation. (line 6)
* login sessions, printing users with: users invocation. (line 6)
* login shell: su invocation. (line 18)
* login shell, creating: su invocation. (line 55)
* login time: who invocation. (line 11)
* LOGNAME: su invocation. (line 18)
* logname: logname invocation. (line 6)
* long ls format: What information is listed.
(line 127)
* lower: Character sets. (line 105)
* lowercase, translating to output: Output. (line 12)
* ls: ls invocation. (line 6)
* LS_BLOCK_SIZE: Block size. (line 12)
* LS_COLORS: dircolors invocation.
(line 16)
* machine type: uname invocation. (line 38)
* machine-readable stty output: stty invocation. (line 41)
* MacKenzie, D.: Introduction. (line 19)
* MacKenzie, David: Authors of getdate. (line 6)
* Makefiles, installing programs in: install invocation. (line 18)
* manipulating files: Basic operations. (line 6)
* manipulation of file names: File name manipulation.
(line 6)
* match: String expressions. (line 36)
* matching patterns: String expressions. (line 11)
* md5sum: md5sum invocation. (line 6)
* mebibyte, definition of: Block size. (line 84)
* megabyte, definition of: Block size. (line 80)
* merging files: paste invocation. (line 6)
* merging files in parallel: pr invocation. (line 6)
* merging sorted files: sort invocation. (line 23)
* message status: who invocation. (line 87)
* message-digest, 128-bit: md5sum invocation. (line 6)
* Meyering, J.: Introduction. (line 19)
* Meyering, Jim: Authors of getdate. (line 6)
* midnight in date strings: Time of day items. (line 20)
* min: Special. (line 7)
* minute in date strings: Relative items in date strings.
(line 15)
* minutes, time zone correction by: Time of day items. (line 28)
* mkdir: mkdir invocation. (line 6)
* mkfifo: mkfifo invocation. (line 6)
* mknod: mknod invocation. (line 6)
* modem control: Control. (line 33)
* modes and umask: Umask and Protection.
(line 6)
* modes of created directories, setting: mkdir invocation. (line 24)
* modes of created FIFOs, setting: mkfifo invocation. (line 21)
* modification time, sorting files by: Sorting the output. (line 37)
* modified command invocation: Modified command invocation.
(line 6)
* modified environment, running a program in a: env invocation.
(line 6)
* modify time, changing: touch invocation. (line 65)
* modifying scheduling priority: nice invocation. (line 6)
* month in date strings: Relative items in date strings.
(line 15)
* month names in date strings: Calendar date items. (line 38)
* months, sorting by: sort invocation. (line 125)
* months, written-out: General date syntax. (line 33)
* MS-DOS filesystem: df invocation. (line 128)
* mtime, changing: touch invocation. (line 65)
* multicolumn output, generating: pr invocation. (line 6)
* multiple changes to permissions: Multiple Changes. (line 6)
* multiplication: Numeric expressions. (line 15)
* multipliers after numbers: dd invocation. (line 15)
* mv: mv invocation. (line 6)
* name follow option: tail invocation. (line 39)
* name of kernel: uname invocation. (line 60)
* named pipe check: File type tests. (line 26)
* named pipes, creating: mkfifo invocation. (line 6)
* network node name: uname invocation. (line 43)
* newer files, moving only: mv invocation. (line 68)
* newer-than file check: File characteristic tests.
(line 15)
* newline echoing after kill: Local. (line 26)
* newline, echoing: Local. (line 29)
* newline, translating to crlf: Output. (line 19)
* newline, translating to return: Input. (line 26)
* next DAY <1>: Day of week items. (line 15)
* next DAY: Options for date. (line 11)
* next in date strings: General date syntax. (line 26)
* NFS filesystem type: df invocation. (line 115)
* NFS mounts from BSD to HP-UX <1>: du invocation. (line 135)
* NFS mounts from BSD to HP-UX: What information is listed.
(line 194)
* nice: nice invocation. (line 6)
* nl <1>: Combination. (line 18)
* nl: nl invocation. (line 6)
* nlN: Output. (line 39)
* no-op: true invocation. (line 6)
* node name: uname invocation. (line 43)
* noerror: dd invocation. (line 114)
* noflsh: Local. (line 32)
* nohup: nohup invocation. (line 6)
* nohup.out: nohup invocation. (line 6)
* non-directories, copying as special files: cp invocation. (line 72)
* non-directory suffix, stripping: dirname invocation. (line 6)
* none backup method: Backup options. (line 31)
* none color option: General output formatting.
(line 23)
* none, sorting option for ls: Sorting the output. (line 49)
* nonempty file check: File characteristic tests.
(line 12)
* nonprinting characters, ignoring: sort invocation. (line 119)
* nonzero-length string check: String tests. (line 15)
* noon in date strings: Time of day items. (line 20)
* not-equal string check: String tests. (line 21)
* notrunc: dd invocation. (line 117)
* now in date strings: Relative items in date strings.
(line 33)
* numbered backup method: Backup options. (line 35)
* numbering lines: nl invocation. (line 6)
* numbers, written-out: General date syntax. (line 26)
* numeric expressions: Numeric expressions. (line 6)
* numeric field padding: Padding. (line 6)
* numeric modes: Numeric Modes. (line 6)
* numeric operations: Numeric operations. (line 6)
* numeric sequences: seq invocation. (line 6)
* numeric sort: sort invocation. (line 133)
* numeric tests: Numeric tests. (line 6)
* numeric uid and gid: What information is listed.
(line 176)
* obs: dd invocation. (line 59)
* ocrnl: Output. (line 16)
* octal dump of files: od invocation. (line 6)
* octal numbers for file modes: Numeric Modes. (line 6)
* od: od invocation. (line 6)
* odd parity: Control. (line 13)
* oddp: Combination. (line 14)
* of: dd invocation. (line 51)
* ofdel: Output. (line 34)
* ofill: Output. (line 30)
* olcuc: Output. (line 12)
* older-than file check: File characteristic tests.
(line 19)
* one filesystem, restricting du to: du invocation. (line 120)
* one-line output format: df invocation. (line 76)
* onlcr: Output. (line 19)
* onlret: Output. (line 27)
* onocr: Output. (line 23)
* operating on characters: Operating on characters.
(line 6)
* operating on sorted files: Operating on sorted files.
(line 6)
* operating system name: uname invocation. (line 52)
* opost: Output. (line 9)
* option delimiter: Common options. (line 29)
* options for date: Options for date. (line 6)
* or operator <1>: Relations for expr. (line 11)
* or operator: Connectives for test.
(line 15)
* ordinal numbers: General date syntax. (line 26)
* ospeed: Special. (line 19)
* other permissions: Setting Permissions. (line 29)
* output block size: dd invocation. (line 59)
* output file name prefix <1>: csplit invocation. (line 62)
* output file name prefix: split invocation. (line 14)
* output file name suffix: csplit invocation. (line 66)
* output format: stat invocation. (line 33)
* output format, portable: df invocation. (line 76)
* output NUL-terminated lines: du invocation. (line 98)
* output of entire files: Output of entire files.
(line 6)
* output of parts of files: Output of parts of files.
(line 6)
* output settings: Output. (line 6)
* output tabs: pr invocation. (line 135)
* overwriting of input, allowed: sort invocation. (line 167)
* owned by effective gid check: Access permission tests.
(line 30)
* owned by effective uid check: Access permission tests.
(line 27)
* owner of file, permissions for: Setting Permissions. (line 23)
* owner, default: Mode Structure. (line 27)
* ownership of installed files, setting: install invocation. (line 60)
* p for FIFO file: mknod invocation. (line 23)
* pad character: Output. (line 34)
* pad instead of timing for delaying: Output. (line 30)
* padding of numeric fields: Padding. (line 6)
* paragraphs, reformatting: fmt invocation. (line 6)
* parenb: Control. (line 9)
* parent directories and cp: cp invocation. (line 163)
* parent directories, creating: mkdir invocation. (line 31)
* parent directories, creating missing: install invocation. (line 36)
* parent directories, removing: rmdir invocation. (line 22)
* parentheses for grouping: expr invocation. (line 31)
* parity: Combination. (line 10)
* parity errors, marking: Input. (line 16)
* parity, ignoring: Input. (line 13)
* parmrk: Input. (line 16)
* parodd: Control. (line 13)
* parsing date strings: Options for date. (line 11)
* parts of files, output of: Output of parts of files.
(line 6)
* pass8: Combination. (line 51)
* passwd entry, and su shell: su invocation. (line 12)
* paste: paste invocation. (line 6)
* Paterson, R.: Introduction. (line 19)
* PATH <1>: su invocation. (line 55)
* PATH: env invocation. (line 15)
* pathchk: pathchk invocation. (line 6)
* pattern matching: String expressions. (line 11)
* PC filesystem: df invocation. (line 128)
* pcfs: df invocation. (line 128)
* pebibyte, definition of: Block size. (line 105)
* permission tests: Access permission tests.
(line 6)
* permissions of installed files, setting: install invocation.
(line 51)
* permissions, changing access: chmod invocation. (line 6)
* permissions, copying existing: Copying Permissions. (line 6)
* permissions, for changing file timestamps: touch invocation.
(line 20)
* permissions, output by ls: What information is listed.
(line 145)
* petabyte, definition of: Block size. (line 101)
* phone directory order: sort invocation. (line 80)
* pieces, splitting a file into: split invocation. (line 6)
* Pinard, F. <1>: Authors of getdate. (line 14)
* Pinard, F.: Introduction. (line 19)
* pipe fitting: tee invocation. (line 6)
* Plass, Michael F.: fmt invocation. (line 19)
* platform, hardware: uname invocation. (line 33)
* pm in date strings: Time of day items. (line 20)
* portable file names, checking for: pathchk invocation. (line 6)
* portable output format: df invocation. (line 76)
* POSIX: Introduction. (line 11)
* POSIX output format: df invocation. (line 76)
* POSIXLY_CORRECT <1>: Warnings in tr. (line 6)
* POSIXLY_CORRECT <2>: sort invocation. (line 172)
* POSIXLY_CORRECT <3>: pr invocation. (line 107)
* POSIXLY_CORRECT <4>: Standards conformance.
(line 6)
* POSIXLY_CORRECT: Common options. (line 11)
* POSIXLY_CORRECT, and block size: Block size. (line 12)
* pr: pr invocation. (line 6)
* prime factors: factor invocation. (line 6)
* print: Character sets. (line 108)
* print name of current directory: pwd invocation. (line 6)
* print system information: uname invocation. (line 6)
* print terminal file name: tty invocation. (line 6)
* printenv: printenv invocation. (line 6)
* printf: printf invocation. (line 6)
* printing all or some environment variables: printenv invocation.
(line 6)
* printing color database: dircolors invocation.
(line 38)
* printing current user information: who invocation. (line 6)
* printing current usernames: users invocation. (line 6)
* printing groups a user is in: groups invocation. (line 6)
* printing real and effective uid and gid: id invocation. (line 6)
* printing text: echo invocation. (line 6)
* printing text, commands for: Printing text. (line 6)
* printing the current time: date invocation. (line 6)
* printing the effective UID: whoami invocation. (line 6)
* printing the host identifier: hostid invocation. (line 6)
* printing the hostname: hostname invocation. (line 6)
* printing user's login name: logname invocation. (line 6)
* printing, preparing files for: pr invocation. (line 6)
* priority, modifying: nice invocation. (line 6)
* processes, commands for controlling: Process control. (line 6)
* prompting, and ln: ln invocation. (line 68)
* prompting, and mv: mv invocation. (line 30)
* prompting, and rm: rm invocation. (line 11)
* prompts, forcing: mv invocation. (line 55)
* prompts, omitting: mv invocation. (line 51)
* prterase: Local. (line 46)
* ptx: ptx invocation. (line 6)
* punct: Character sets. (line 111)
* pure numbers in date strings: Pure numbers in date strings.
(line 6)
* pwd: pwd invocation. (line 6)
* quit: Characters. (line 23)
* quoting style: Formatting the file names.
(line 32)
* radix for file offsets: od invocation. (line 22)
* ranges: Character sets. (line 46)
* raw: Combination. (line 41)
* read errors, ignoring: dd invocation. (line 114)
* read from stdin and write to stdout and files: tee invocation.
(line 6)
* read permission: Mode Structure. (line 8)
* read permission, symbolic: Setting Permissions. (line 57)
* read system call, and holes: cp invocation. (line 201)
* readable file check: Access permission tests.
(line 15)
* readlink: readlink invocation. (line 6)
* real uid and gid, printing: id invocation. (line 6)
* recursive directory listing: Which files are listed.
(line 69)
* recursively changing access permissions: chmod invocation. (line 56)
* recursively changing file ownership: chown invocation. (line 135)
* recursively changing group ownership: chgrp invocation. (line 63)
* recursively copying directories: cp invocation. (line 72)
* redirection: Redirection. (line 6)
* reformatting paragraph text: fmt invocation. (line 6)
* regular expression matching: String expressions. (line 11)
* regular file check: File type tests. (line 19)
* relations, numeric or string: Relations for expr. (line 6)
* relative items in date strings: Relative items in date strings.
(line 6)
* release of kernel: uname invocation. (line 56)
* remainder: Numeric expressions. (line 15)
* remote hostname: who invocation. (line 11)
* removing empty directories: rmdir invocation. (line 6)
* removing files after shredding: shred invocation. (line 108)
* removing files or directories: rm invocation. (line 6)
* removing files or directories (via the unlink syscall): unlink invocation.
(line 6)
* removing permissions: Setting Permissions. (line 42)
* repeated characters: Character sets. (line 67)
* repeated lines, outputting: uniq invocation. (line 60)
* repeated output of a string: yes invocation. (line 6)
* restricted deletion flag: Mode Structure. (line 47)
* restricted shell: su invocation. (line 66)
* return, ignoring: Input. (line 29)
* return, translating to newline <1>: Output. (line 16)
* return, translating to newline: Input. (line 32)
* reverse sorting <1>: Sorting the output. (line 28)
* reverse sorting: sort invocation. (line 159)
* reversing files: tac invocation. (line 6)
* rm: rm invocation. (line 6)
* rmdir: rmdir invocation. (line 6)
* rn format for nl: nl invocation. (line 101)
* root as default owner: install invocation. (line 60)
* root directory, allow recursive destruction: rm invocation. (line 50)
* root directory, allow recursive modification <1>: chmod invocation.
(line 41)
* root directory, allow recursive modification <2>: chgrp invocation.
(line 45)
* root directory, allow recursive modification: chown invocation.
(line 116)
* root directory, disallow recursive destruction: rm invocation.
(line 45)
* root directory, disallow recursive modification <1>: chmod invocation.
(line 36)
* root directory, disallow recursive modification <2>: chgrp invocation.
(line 40)
* root directory, disallow recursive modification: chown invocation.
(line 111)
* root directory, running a program in a specified: chroot invocation.
(line 6)
* root, becoming: su invocation. (line 6)
* rows: Special. (line 22)
* rprnt: Characters. (line 56)
* RTS/CTS flow control: Control. (line 36)
* running a program in a modified environment: env invocation.
(line 6)
* running a program in a specified root directory: chroot invocation.
(line 6)
* rz format for nl: nl invocation. (line 104)
* Salz, Rich: Authors of getdate. (line 6)
* same file check: File characteristic tests.
(line 23)
* sane: Combination. (line 26)
* scheduling priority, modifying: nice invocation. (line 6)
* screen columns: fold invocation. (line 14)
* seconds since the epoch: Time directives. (line 39)
* section delimiters of pages: nl invocation. (line 68)
* seek: dd invocation. (line 72)
* self-backups: cp invocation. (line 38)
* send a signal to processes: kill invocation. (line 6)
* sentences and line-breaking: fmt invocation. (line 19)
* separator for numbers in seq: seq invocation. (line 30)
* seq: seq invocation. (line 6)
* sequence of numbers: seq invocation. (line 6)
* set-group-id check: Access permission tests.
(line 9)
* set-user-id check: Access permission tests.
(line 18)
* setgid: Mode Structure. (line 41)
* setting permissions: Setting Permissions. (line 46)
* setting the hostname: hostname invocation. (line 6)
* setting the time: Setting the time. (line 6)
* setuid: Mode Structure. (line 38)
* setup for color: dircolors invocation.
(line 6)
* sh syntax for color setup: dircolors invocation.
(line 27)
* SHELL: su invocation. (line 18)
* SHELL environment variable, and color: dircolors invocation.
(line 16)
* shell utilities: Top. (line 19)
* shred: shred invocation. (line 6)
* SI output <1>: du invocation. (line 104)
* SI output <2>: df invocation. (line 89)
* SI output <3>: What information is listed.
(line 202)
* SI output: Block size. (line 35)
* simple backup method: Backup options. (line 44)
* SIMPLE_BACKUP_SUFFIX: Backup options. (line 50)
* single-column output of files: General output formatting.
(line 10)
* size: Special. (line 30)
* size for main memory sorting: sort invocation. (line 191)
* size of file to shred: shred invocation. (line 102)
* size of files, reporting: What information is listed.
(line 186)
* size of files, sorting files by: Sorting the output. (line 33)
* skip: dd invocation. (line 69)
* sleep: sleep invocation. (line 6)
* socket check: File type tests. (line 29)
* software flow control: Input. (line 40)
* sort: sort invocation. (line 6)
* sort field: sort invocation. (line 237)
* sort stability: sort invocation. (line 178)
* sort zero-terminated lines: sort invocation. (line 245)
* sorted files, operations on: Operating on sorted files.
(line 6)
* sorting files: sort invocation. (line 6)
* sorting ls output: Sorting the output. (line 6)
* space: Character sets. (line 114)
* sparse files, copying: cp invocation. (line 201)
* special characters: Characters. (line 6)
* special file types: Special file types. (line 6)
* special files: mknod invocation. (line 11)
* special settings: Special. (line 6)
* specifying sets of characters: Character sets. (line 6)
* speed: Special. (line 40)
* split: split invocation. (line 6)
* splitting a file into pieces: split invocation. (line 6)
* splitting a file into pieces by context: csplit invocation. (line 6)
* squeezing blank lines: cat invocation. (line 58)
* squeezing repeat characters: Squeezing. (line 6)
* Stallman, R.: Introduction. (line 19)
* standard input: Common options. (line 34)
* standard output: Common options. (line 34)
* start: Characters. (line 44)
* stat: stat invocation. (line 6)
* status time, printing or sorting by: Sorting the output. (line 14)
* sticky: Mode Structure. (line 47)
* sticky bit check: Access permission tests.
(line 12)
* stop: Characters. (line 47)
* stop bits: Control. (line 27)
* strftime and date: date invocation. (line 14)
* string constants, outputting: od invocation. (line 54)
* string expressions: String expressions. (line 6)
* string tests: String tests. (line 6)
* strip directory and suffix from file names: basename invocation.
(line 6)
* stripping non-directory suffix: dirname invocation. (line 6)
* stripping symbol table information: install invocation. (line 76)
* stripping trailing slashes <1>: mv invocation. (line 76)
* stripping trailing slashes: cp invocation. (line 234)
* stty: stty invocation. (line 6)
* su: su invocation. (line 6)
* substitute user and group ids: su invocation. (line 6)
* substr: String expressions. (line 40)
* subtracting permissions: Setting Permissions. (line 42)
* subtraction: Numeric expressions. (line 11)
* successful exit: true invocation. (line 6)
* suffix, stripping from file names: basename invocation. (line 6)
* sum: sum invocation. (line 6)
* summarizing files: Summarizing files. (line 6)
* super-user, becoming: su invocation. (line 6)
* superblock, writing: sync invocation. (line 6)
* supplementary groups, printing: groups invocation. (line 6)
* susp: Characters. (line 50)
* swab (byte-swapping): dd invocation. (line 109)
* swap space, saving text image in: Mode Structure. (line 47)
* swtch: Characters. (line 41)
* symbol table information, stripping: install invocation. (line 76)
* symbolic (soft) links, creating: ln invocation. (line 6)
* symbolic link check: File type tests. (line 23)
* symbolic link to directory, controlling traversal of: Traversing symlinks.
(line 6)
* symbolic link to directory, never traverse <1>: chgrp invocation.
(line 76)
* symbolic link to directory, never traverse <2>: chown invocation.
(line 147)
* symbolic link to directory, never traverse: Traversing symlinks.
(line 26)
* symbolic link to directory, traverse each that is encountered <1>: chgrp invocation.
(line 72)
* symbolic link to directory, traverse each that is encountered <2>: chown invocation.
(line 143)
* symbolic link to directory, traverse each that is encountered: Traversing symlinks.
(line 22)
* symbolic link to directory, traverse each that is specified on the command line <1>: chgrp invocation.
(line 67)
* symbolic link to directory, traverse each that is specified on the command line <2>: chown invocation.
(line 138)
* symbolic link to directory, traverse each that is specified on the command line: Traversing symlinks.
(line 18)
* symbolic link, defined: ln invocation. (line 37)
* symbolic links and pwd: pwd invocation. (line 6)
* symbolic links, changing group: chgrp invocation. (line 32)
* symbolic links, changing owner <1>: chgrp invocation. (line 27)
* symbolic links, changing owner: chown invocation. (line 75)
* symbolic links, copying: cp invocation. (line 85)
* symbolic links, copying with: cp invocation. (line 239)
* symbolic links, dereferencing: Which files are listed.
(line 33)
* symbolic links, dereferencing in du: du invocation. (line 82)
* symbolic links, dereferencing in stat: stat invocation. (line 22)
* symbolic links, permissions of: chmod invocation. (line 10)
* symbolic modes: Symbolic Modes. (line 6)
* sync: sync invocation. (line 6)
* sync (padding with nulls): dd invocation. (line 120)
* synchronize disk and memory: sync invocation. (line 6)
* syslog: su invocation. (line 29)
* system context: System context. (line 6)
* system information, printing: uname invocation. (line 6)
* system name, printing: hostname invocation. (line 6)
* System V sum: sum invocation. (line 31)
* tabN: Output. (line 51)
* tabs: Combination. (line 62)
* tabs to spaces, converting: expand invocation. (line 6)
* tabstops, setting: expand invocation. (line 22)
* tac: tac invocation. (line 6)
* tagged paragraphs: fmt invocation. (line 44)
* tail: tail invocation. (line 6)
* tandem: Input. (line 40)
* target directory <1>: ln invocation. (line 98)
* target directory <2>: mv invocation. (line 85)
* target directory <3>: install invocation. (line 84)
* target directory <4>: cp invocation. (line 251)
* target directory: Target directory. (line 6)
* tebibyte, definition of: Block size. (line 98)
* tee: tee invocation. (line 6)
* telephone directory order: sort invocation. (line 80)
* temporary directory: sort invocation. (line 222)
* terabyte, definition of: Block size. (line 94)
* TERM: su invocation. (line 55)
* terminal check: File type tests. (line 32)
* terminal file name, printing: tty invocation. (line 6)
* terminal lines, currently used: who invocation. (line 11)
* terminal settings: stty invocation. (line 6)
* terminal, using color iff: General output formatting.
(line 25)
* terse output: stat invocation. (line 28)
* test: test invocation. (line 6)
* text image, saving in swap space: Mode Structure. (line 47)
* text input files: md5sum invocation. (line 63)
* text utilities: Top. (line 19)
* text, displaying: echo invocation. (line 6)
* text, reformatting: fmt invocation. (line 6)
* this in date strings: Relative items in date strings.
(line 33)
* time <1>: Special. (line 11)
* time: touch invocation. (line 56)
* time directives: Time directives. (line 6)
* time formats <1>: date invocation. (line 14)
* time formats: pr invocation. (line 100)
* time of day item: Time of day items. (line 6)
* time setting: Setting the time. (line 6)
* time style: Formatting file timestamps.
(line 21)
* time units: sleep invocation. (line 11)
* time zone correction: Time of day items. (line 28)
* time zone item <1>: Time zone items. (line 6)
* time zone item: General date syntax. (line 41)
* time, printing or setting: date invocation. (line 6)
* TIME_STYLE: Formatting file timestamps.
(line 101)
* timestamps of installed files, preserving: install invocation.
(line 66)
* timestamps, changing file: touch invocation. (line 6)
* TMPDIR: sort invocation. (line 60)
* today in date strings: Relative items in date strings.
(line 33)
* tomorrow: Options for date. (line 11)
* tomorrow in date strings: Relative items in date strings.
(line 29)
* topological sort: tsort invocation. (line 6)
* tostop: Local. (line 41)
* total counts: wc invocation. (line 12)
* touch: touch invocation. (line 6)
* tr: tr invocation. (line 6)
* trailing slashes: Trailing slashes. (line 6)
* translating characters: Translating. (line 6)
* true: true invocation. (line 6)
* truncating output file, avoiding: dd invocation. (line 117)
* tsort: tsort invocation. (line 6)
* tty: tty invocation. (line 6)
* two-way parity: Control. (line 9)
* type size: od invocation. (line 102)
* u, and disabling special characters: Characters. (line 13)
* ucase, converting to: dd invocation. (line 106)
* ufs filesystem type: df invocation. (line 120)
* umask and modes: Umask and Protection.
(line 6)
* uname: uname invocation. (line 6)
* unblock: dd invocation. (line 99)
* unexpand: unexpand invocation. (line 6)
* uniq: uniq invocation. (line 6)
* unique lines, outputting: uniq invocation. (line 95)
* uniquify files: uniq invocation. (line 6)
* uniquifying output: sort invocation. (line 231)
* unlink <1>: unlink invocation. (line 6)
* unlink: rm invocation. (line 25)
* unprintable characters, ignoring: sort invocation. (line 119)
* unsorted directory listing: Sorting the output. (line 21)
* upper: Character sets. (line 117)
* uppercase, translating to lowercase: Input. (line 45)
* use time, changing: touch invocation. (line 48)
* use time, printing or sorting files by: Sorting the output. (line 14)
* USER: su invocation. (line 18)
* user id, switching: su invocation. (line 6)
* user information, commands for: User information. (line 6)
* user name, printing: logname invocation. (line 6)
* usernames, printing current: users invocation. (line 6)
* users: users invocation. (line 6)
* UTC: Options for date. (line 77)
* utmp: logname invocation. (line 6)
* valid file names, checking for: pathchk invocation. (line 6)
* vdir: vdir invocation. (line 6)
* verbose ls format: What information is listed.
(line 127)
* verifying MD5 checksums: md5sum invocation. (line 53)
* version number, finding: Common options. (line 26)
* version of kernel: uname invocation. (line 71)
* version, sorting option for ls: Sorting the output. (line 56)
* version-control Emacs variable: Backup options. (line 24)
* VERSION_CONTROL <1>: ln invocation. (line 52)
* VERSION_CONTROL <2>: mv invocation. (line 46)
* VERSION_CONTROL <3>: install invocation. (line 28)
* VERSION_CONTROL <4>: cp invocation. (line 57)
* VERSION_CONTROL: Backup options. (line 13)
* vertical sorted files in columns: General output formatting.
(line 15)
* vtN: Output. (line 59)
* wc: wc invocation. (line 6)
* week in date strings: Relative items in date strings.
(line 15)
* werase: Characters. (line 59)
* who: who invocation. (line 6)
* who am i: who invocation. (line 20)
* whoami: whoami invocation. (line 6)
* word count: wc invocation. (line 6)
* working context: Working context. (line 6)
* working directory, printing: pwd invocation. (line 6)
* wrapping long input lines: fold invocation. (line 6)
* writable file check: Access permission tests.
(line 21)
* write permission: Mode Structure. (line 11)
* write permission, symbolic: Setting Permissions. (line 60)
* write, allowed: who invocation. (line 87)
* xcase: Local. (line 36)
* xdigit: Character sets. (line 120)
* XON/XOFF flow control: Input. (line 35)
* year in date strings: Relative items in date strings.
(line 15)
* yes: yes invocation. (line 6)
* yesterday: Options for date. (line 11)
* yesterday in date strings: Relative items in date strings.
(line 29)
* yottabyte, definition of: Block size. (line 123)
* Youmans, B.: Introduction. (line 19)
* zero-length string check: String tests. (line 11)
* zettabyte, definition of: Block size. (line 115)
* |: Relations for expr. (line 11)
|