nl(1)							      General Commands Manual							     nl(1)

NAME

       nl - Numbers lines in a file

SYNOPSIS

       nl  [-b	type] [-d delimiter1[delimiter2]] [-f type] [-h type] [-i number] [-l number] [-n format] [-p] [-s [separator]] [-vnumber] [-wnum-
       ber] [file]

STANDARDS

       Interfaces documented on this reference page conform to industry standards as follows:

       nl:  XCU5.0

       Refer to the standards(5) reference page for more information about industry standards and associated tags.

OPTIONS

       Use the following options to change the default settings.  Specifies which body section lines to number.  The recognized types are as  fol-
       lows:  Numbers all lines.  Number only non-empty lines.	Does not number any lines.  Numbers only those lines containing the specified pat-
       tern.  The full range of regular expressions is supported for pattern.

	      The default for type is t.  Uses delimiter1 and delimiter2 as the delimiters for the start of a logical page section.   The  default
	      characters are : (backslash followed by a colon).

	      You  can	specify  either one or two characters after the -d option.  If you want to use a backslash as a delimiter, enter two back-
	      slashes (\).  If you specify only one character, it is used as start of a logical page, and the end delimiter remains the  default.
	      Specifies which logical page footer lines to number. The types recognized are the same as in -b type.

	      The default for type is n.  Specifies which logical page header lines to number. The types recognized are the same as in -b type.

	      The  default for type is n.  Increments logical page line numbers by number. The default is 1.  Counts number blank lines as 1.  You
	      must use one or more of the "-ba", "-fa", and "-ha" options with this option for it to be effective.  For  example,  -l3	will  only
	      number  the  third adjacent blank.  The default is 1.  Specifies format as the line numbering format. Recognized formats are as fol-
	      lows: Left justified, leading zeroes are suppressed.  Right justified, leading zeroes are suppressed  (default).	 Right	justified,
	      leading  zeroes  are kept.  Ignores logical page delimiters (does not restart numbering).  Separates text from line numbers with the
	      separator string.  The default value of separator is a tab character.

	      [Tru64 UNIX]  If you enter -s without an argument, there is no separation between the line number and its text.	Sets  the  initial
	      logical page line number to number.  Specifies number as the number of digits in the line number.  The default value of number is 6.

OPERANDS

       The path name of a file in which the lines are to be numbered.  If file is not specified, standard input is used.

DESCRIPTION

       The nl command reads file (standard input by default), numbers the lines in the input, and writes the numbered lines to standard output.

       In the output, nl numbers the lines on the left, according to the options you specify on the command line.

       The  input  text  must  be written in logical pages.  Each logical page has a header, a body, and a footer section (sections can be empty).
       Unless you use the -p option, nl resets the line numbers at the start of each logical page.  You can set line  numbering  options  indepen-
       dently  for  the header, body, and footer sections (for example, no numbering of header and footer lines while numbering text lines only in
       the body).

       Signal the start of logical page sections with lines in file that contain nothing but the  following  delimiter	characters  (assuming  the
       default delimiters--see the description of the -d option):

       Line Contents   Start of
       :::	       Header
       ::	       Body
       :	       Footer

       You can name only one file on the command line.	You can list the options and the file name in any order.

EXIT STATUS

       The following exit values are returned: Successful completion.  An error occurred.

EXAMPLES

       To number only the nonblank lines, enter: nl chap1

	      This  displays  a  numbered listing of chap1, numbering only the nonblank lines in the body sections.  If chap1 contains no :: :,
	      : :, or : delimiters, then the entire file is considered the body.  To number all lines, enter: nl -ba chap1

	      This numbers all the lines in the body sections, including blank lines.  This form of the nl command is adequate for most uses.	To
	      specify a different line number format, enter: nl  -i10  -nrz  -s::  -v10  -w4  chap1

	      This numbers the lines of chap1, starting with 10 (-v10) and counting by 10s (-i10).  It displays four digits for each number (-w4),
	      including leading zeroes (-nrz). The line numbers are separated from the text by two colons (-s::).

	      For example, if chap1 contains the following text:

	      A not-so-important note to remember:

	      You can't kill time without injuring eternity.

	      then the numbered listing is as follows:

	      0010::A not-so-important note to remember:

	      0020::You can't kill time without injuring eternity.

	      Notice that the blank line was not numbered. To do this, use the -ba option as shown in Example 2.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

       The following environment variables affect the execution of nl: Provides a default value for the internationalization  variables  that  are
       unset or null. If LANG is unset or null, the corresponding value from the default locale is used.  If any of the internationalization vari-
       ables contain an invalid setting, the utility behaves as if none of the variables had been defined.  If set to a  non-empty  string  value,
       overrides  the  values of all the other internationalization variables.	Determines the locale for the interpretation of sequences of bytes
       of text data as characters (for example, single-byte as opposed to multibyte characters in arguments and  input	files),  the  behavior	of
       classes	within	regular expressions, and for deciding which characters are in character class graph.  Determines the locale for the format
       and contents of diagnostic messages written to standard error.  Determines the location of message catalogues for the processing of LC_MES-
       SAGES.

SEE ALSO

       Commands:  cat(1), pr(1)

       Standards:  standards(5)

																	     nl(1)