The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 6
IEEE Std 1003.1, 2004 Edition
Copyright © 2001-2004 The IEEE and The Open Group, All Rights reserved.

#### NAME

> nl - line numbering filter

#### SYNOPSIS

> ``[XSI] nl` [`-p`][`-b` type][`-d` delim][`-f` type][`-h` type][`-i` incr][`-l` num][`-n` format]
> `` [`-s` sep][`-v` startnum][`-w` width][file]```

#### DESCRIPTION

> The nl utility shall read lines from the named file or the standard input if no file is named and shall reproduce the lines to standard output. Lines shall be numbered on the left. Additional functionality may be provided in accordance with the command options in effect.

> The nl utility views the text it reads in terms of logical pages. Line numbering shall be reset at the start of each logical page. A logical page consists of a header, a body, and a footer section. Empty sections are valid. Different line numbering options are independently available for header, body, and footer (for example, no numbering of header and footer lines while numbering blank lines only in the body).

> The starts of logical page sections shall be signaled by input lines containing nothing but the following delimiter characters:

> Line | Start of
> --- | ---
> \:\:\: | Header
> \:\: | Body
> \: | Footer

> Unless otherwise specified, nl shall assume the text being read is in a single logical page body.

#### OPTIONS

> The nl utility shall conform to the Base Definitions volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, Section 12.2, Utility Syntax Guidelines. Only one file can be named.

> The following options shall be supported:

> -b type
>   Specify which logical page body lines shall be numbered. Recognized types and their meaning are:
>   a
>     Number all lines.
>   t
>     Number only non-empty lines.
>   n
>     No line numbering.
>   p string
>     Number only lines that contain the basic regular expression specified in string.

>   The default type for logical page body shall be t (text lines numbered).

> -d delim
>   Specify the delimiter characters that indicate the start of a logical page section. These can be changed from the default characters `"\:"` to two user-specified characters. If only one character is entered, the second character shall remain the default character `':'`.
> -f type
>   Specify the same as b type except for footer. The default for logical page footer shall be n (no lines numbered).
> -h type
>   Specify the same as b type except for header. The default type for logical page header shall be n (no lines numbered).
> -i incr
>   Specify the increment value used to number logical page lines. The default shall be 1.
> -l num
>   Specify the number of blank lines to be considered as one. For example, -l 2 results in only the second adjacent blank line being numbered (if the appropriate -h a, -b a, or -f a option is set). The default shall be 1.
> -n format
>   Specify the line numbering format. Recognized values are: ln, left justified, leading zeros suppressed; rn, right justified, leading zeros suppressed; rz, right justified, leading zeros kept. The default format shall be rn (right justified).
> -p
>   Specify that numbering should not be restarted at logical page delimiters.
> -s sep
>   Specify the characters used in separating the line number and the corresponding text line. The default sep shall be a <tab>.
> -v startnum
>   Specify the initial value used to number logical page lines. The default shall be 1.
> -w width
>   Specify the number of characters to be used for the line number. The default width shall be 6.

#### OPERANDS

> The following operand shall be supported:

> file
>   A pathname of a text file to be line-numbered.

#### STDIN

> The standard input is a text file that is used if no file operand is given.

#### INPUT FILES

> The input file named by the file operand is a text file.

#### ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

> The following environment variables shall affect the execution of nl:

> LANG
>   Provide a default value for the internationalization variables that are unset or null. (See the Base Definitions volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, Section 8.2, Internationalization Variables for the precedence of internationalization variables used to determine the values of locale categories.)
> LC_ALL
>   If set to a non-empty string value, override the values of all the other internationalization variables.
> LC_COLLATE
>   Determine the locale for the behavior of ranges, equivalence classes, and multi-character collating elements within regular expressions.
> LC_CTYPE
>   Determine the locale for the interpretation of sequences of bytes of text data as characters (for example, single-byte as opposed to multi-byte characters in arguments and input files), the behavior of character classes within regular expressions, and for deciding which characters are in character class graph (for the -b t, -f t, and -h t options).
> LC_MESSAGES
>   Determine the locale that should be used to affect the format and contents of diagnostic messages written to standard error.
> NLSPATH
>   Determine the location of message catalogs for the processing of LC_MESSAGES .

#### ASYNCHRONOUS EVENTS

> Default.

#### STDOUT

> The standard output shall be a text file in the following format:

>     "%s%s%s", <line number>, <separator>, <input line>

> where <line number> is one of the following numeric formats:

> `%6d`
>   When the rn format is used (the default; see -n).
> `%06d`
>   When the rz format is used.
> `%-6d`
>   When the ln format is used.
> <empty>
>   When line numbers are suppressed for a portion of the page; the <separator> is also suppressed.

> In the preceding list, the number 6 is the default width; the -w option can change this value.

#### STDERR

> The standard error shall be used only for diagnostic messages.

#### OUTPUT FILES

> None.

#### EXTENDED DESCRIPTION

> None.

#### EXIT STATUS

> The following exit values shall be returned:

> 0
>   Successful completion.
> >0
>   An error occurred.

#### CONSEQUENCES OF ERRORS

> Default.

The following sections are informative.

#### APPLICATION USAGE

> In using the -d delim option, care should be taken to escape characters that have special meaning to the command interpreter.

#### EXAMPLES

> The command:

>     nl -v 10 -i 10 -d \!+ file1

> numbers file1 starting at line number 10 with an increment of 10. The logical page delimiter is `"!+"`. Note that the `'!'` has to be escaped when using csh as a command interpreter because of its history substitution syntax. For ksh and sh the escape is not necessary, but does not do any harm.

#### RATIONALE

> None.

#### FUTURE DIRECTIONS

> None.

#### SEE ALSO

> pr

#### CHANGE HISTORY

> First released in Issue 2.

#### Issue 5

> The option [ -f type] is added to the SYNOPSIS. The option descriptions are presented in alphabetic order. The description of -bt is changed to "Number only non-empty lines".

#### Issue 6

> The obsolescent behavior allowing the options to be intermingled with the optional file operand is removed.

End of informative text.

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