redhat man page for nl

NL(1)									FSF								     NL(1)

NAME
       nl - number lines of files

SYNOPSIS
       nl [OPTION]... [FILE]...

DESCRIPTION
       Write each FILE to standard output, with line numbers added.  With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input.

       Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too.

       -b, --body-numbering=STYLE
	      use STYLE for numbering body lines

       -d, --section-delimiter=CC
	      use CC for separating logical pages

       -f, --footer-numbering=STYLE
	      use STYLE for numbering footer lines

       -h, --header-numbering=STYLE
	      use STYLE for numbering header lines

       -i, --page-increment=NUMBER
	      line number increment at each line

       -l, --join-blank-lines=NUMBER
	      group of NUMBER empty lines counted as one

       -n, --number-format=FORMAT
	      insert line numbers according to FORMAT

       -p, --no-renumber
	      do not reset line numbers at logical pages

       -s, --number-separator=STRING
	      add STRING after (possible) line number

       -v, --first-page=NUMBER
	      first line number on each logical page

       -w, --number-width=NUMBER
	      use NUMBER columns for line numbers

       --help display this help and exit

       --version
	      output version information and exit

       By default, selects -v1 -i1 -l1 -sTAB -w6 -nrn -hn -bt -fn.  CC are two delimiter characters for separating logical pages, a missing second
       character implies :.  Type \ for .  STYLE is one of:

       a      number all lines

       t      number only nonempty lines

       n      number no lines

       pREGEXP
	      number only lines that contain a match for REGEXP

       FORMAT is one of:

       ln     left justified, no leading zeros

       rn     right justified, no leading zeros

       rz     right justified, leading zeros

AUTHOR
       Written by Scott Bartram and David MacKenzie.

REPORTING BUGS
       Report bugs to <bug-coreutils@gnu.org>.

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright (C) 2002 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
       This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.  There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICU-
       LAR PURPOSE.

SEE ALSO
       The full documentation for nl is maintained as a Texinfo manual.  If the info and nl programs are properly installed at your site, the com-
       mand

	      info nl

       should give you access to the complete manual.

nl (coreutils) 4.5.3						   February 2003							     NL(1)