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diff --git a/doc/coreutils.info b/doc/coreutils.info new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b62fa6c --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/coreutils.info @@ -0,0 +1,21222 @@ +This is coreutils.info, produced by makeinfo version 6.6 from +coreutils.texi. + +This manual documents version 8.32 of the GNU core utilities, including +the standard programs for text and file manipulation. + + Copyright © 1994-2020 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 1.3 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”. +INFO-DIR-SECTION Basics +START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY +* Coreutils: (coreutils). Core GNU (file, text, shell) utilities. +* Common options: (coreutils)Common options. +* File permissions: (coreutils)File permissions. Access modes. +* Date input formats: (coreutils)Date input formats. +END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY + +INFO-DIR-SECTION Individual utilities +START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY +* arch: (coreutils)arch invocation. Print machine hardware name. +* b2sum: (coreutils)b2sum invocation. Print or check BLAKE2 digests. +* base32: (coreutils)base32 invocation. Base32 encode/decode data. +* base64: (coreutils)base64 invocation. Base64 encode/decode data. +* basename: (coreutils)basename invocation. Strip directory and suffix. +* basenc: (coreutils)basenc invocation. Encoding/decoding of data. +* cat: (coreutils)cat invocation. Concatenate and write files. +* chcon: (coreutils)chcon invocation. Change SELinux CTX of files. +* chgrp: (coreutils)chgrp invocation. Change file groups. +* chmod: (coreutils)chmod invocation. Change access permissions. +* chown: (coreutils)chown invocation. Change file owners and groups. +* chroot: (coreutils)chroot invocation. Specify the root directory. +* cksum: (coreutils)cksum invocation. Print POSIX CRC checksum. +* comm: (coreutils)comm invocation. Compare sorted files by line. +* cp: (coreutils)cp invocation. Copy files. +* csplit: (coreutils)csplit invocation. Split by context. +* cut: (coreutils)cut invocation. Print selected parts of lines. +* date: (coreutils)date invocation. Print/set system date and time. +* dd: (coreutils)dd invocation. Copy and convert a file. +* df: (coreutils)df invocation. Report file system disk usage. +* dir: (coreutils)dir invocation. List directories briefly. +* dircolors: (coreutils)dircolors invocation. Color setup for ls. +* dirname: (coreutils)dirname invocation. Strip last file name component. +* du: (coreutils)du invocation. Report on disk usage. +* echo: (coreutils)echo invocation. Print a line of text. +* env: (coreutils)env invocation. Modify the environment. +* expand: (coreutils)expand invocation. Convert tabs to spaces. +* expr: (coreutils)expr invocation. Evaluate expressions. +* factor: (coreutils)factor invocation. Print prime factors +* false: (coreutils)false invocation. Do nothing, unsuccessfully. +* fmt: (coreutils)fmt invocation. Reformat paragraph text. +* fold: (coreutils)fold invocation. Wrap long input lines. +* groups: (coreutils)groups invocation. Print group names a user is in. +* head: (coreutils)head invocation. Output the first part of files. +* hostid: (coreutils)hostid invocation. Print numeric host identifier. +* hostname: (coreutils)hostname invocation. Print or set system name. +* id: (coreutils)id invocation. Print user identity. +* install: (coreutils)install invocation. Copy files and set attributes. +* join: (coreutils)join invocation. Join lines on a common field. +* kill: (coreutils)kill invocation. Send a signal to processes. +* link: (coreutils)link invocation. Make hard links between files. +* ln: (coreutils)ln invocation. Make links between files. +* logname: (coreutils)logname invocation. Print current login name. +* ls: (coreutils)ls invocation. List directory contents. +* md5sum: (coreutils)md5sum invocation. Print or check MD5 digests. +* mkdir: (coreutils)mkdir invocation. Create directories. +* mkfifo: (coreutils)mkfifo invocation. Create FIFOs (named pipes). +* mknod: (coreutils)mknod invocation. Create special files. +* mktemp: (coreutils)mktemp invocation. Create temporary files. +* mv: (coreutils)mv invocation. Rename files. +* nice: (coreutils)nice invocation. Modify niceness. +* nl: (coreutils)nl invocation. Number lines and write files. +* nohup: (coreutils)nohup invocation. Immunize to hangups. +* nproc: (coreutils)nproc invocation. Print the number of processors. +* numfmt: (coreutils)numfmt invocation. Reformat numbers. +* od: (coreutils)od invocation. Dump files in octal, etc. +* paste: (coreutils)paste invocation. Merge lines of files. +* pathchk: (coreutils)pathchk invocation. Check file name portability. +* pr: (coreutils)pr invocation. Paginate or columnate files. +* printenv: (coreutils)printenv invocation. Print environment variables. +* printf: (coreutils)printf invocation. Format and print data. +* ptx: (coreutils)ptx invocation. Produce permuted indexes. +* pwd: (coreutils)pwd invocation. Print working directory. +* readlink: (coreutils)readlink invocation. Print referent of a symlink. +* realpath: (coreutils)realpath invocation. Print resolved file names. +* rm: (coreutils)rm invocation. Remove files. +* rmdir: (coreutils)rmdir invocation. Remove empty directories. +* runcon: (coreutils)runcon invocation. Run in specified SELinux CTX. +* seq: (coreutils)seq invocation. Print numeric sequences +* sha1sum: (coreutils)sha1sum invocation. Print or check SHA-1 digests. +* sha2: (coreutils)sha2 utilities. Print or check SHA-2 digests. +* shred: (coreutils)shred invocation. Remove files more securely. +* shuf: (coreutils)shuf invocation. Shuffling text files. +* sleep: (coreutils)sleep invocation. Delay for a specified time. +* sort: (coreutils)sort invocation. Sort text files. +* split: (coreutils)split invocation. Split into pieces. +* stat: (coreutils)stat invocation. Report file(system) status. +* stdbuf: (coreutils)stdbuf invocation. Modify stdio buffering. +* stty: (coreutils)stty invocation. Print/change terminal settings. +* sum: (coreutils)sum invocation. Print traditional checksum. +* sync: (coreutils)sync invocation. Synchronize memory to disk. +* tac: (coreutils)tac invocation. Reverse files. +* tail: (coreutils)tail invocation. Output the last part of files. +* tee: (coreutils)tee invocation. Redirect to multiple files. +* test: (coreutils)test invocation. File/string tests. +* timeout: (coreutils)timeout invocation. Run with time limit. +* touch: (coreutils)touch invocation. Change file timestamps. +* tr: (coreutils)tr invocation. Translate characters. +* true: (coreutils)true invocation. Do nothing, successfully. +* truncate: (coreutils)truncate invocation. Shrink/extend size of a file. +* tsort: (coreutils)tsort invocation. Topological sort. +* tty: (coreutils)tty invocation. Print terminal name. +* uname: (coreutils)uname invocation. Print system information. +* unexpand: (coreutils)unexpand invocation. Convert spaces to tabs. +* uniq: (coreutils)uniq invocation. Uniquify files. +* unlink: (coreutils)unlink invocation. Removal via unlink(2). +* uptime: (coreutils)uptime invocation. Print uptime and load. +* users: (coreutils)users invocation. Print current user names. +* vdir: (coreutils)vdir invocation. List directories verbosely. +* wc: (coreutils)wc invocation. Line, word, and byte counts. +* who: (coreutils)who invocation. Print who is logged in. +* whoami: (coreutils)whoami invocation. Print effective user ID. +* yes: (coreutils)yes invocation. Print a string indefinitely. +END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Top, Next: Introduction, Up: (dir) + +GNU Coreutils +************* + +This manual documents version 8.32 of the GNU core utilities, including +the standard programs for text and file manipulation. + + Copyright © 1994-2020 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 1.3 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 base32 base64 basenc +* Formatting file contents:: fmt pr fold +* Output of parts of files:: head tail split csplit +* Summarizing files:: wc sum cksum b2sum md5sum sha1sum sha2 +* Operating on sorted files:: sort shuf uniq comm ptx tsort +* Operating on fields:: cut paste join +* Operating on characters:: tr expand unexpand +* Directory listing:: ls dir vdir dircolors +* Basic operations:: cp dd install mv rm shred +* Special file types:: mkdir rmdir unlink mkfifo mknod ln link readlink +* Changing file attributes:: chgrp chmod chown touch +* Disk usage:: df du stat sync truncate +* Printing text:: echo printf yes +* Conditions:: false true test expr +* Redirection:: tee +* File name manipulation:: dirname basename pathchk mktemp realpath +* Working context:: pwd stty printenv tty +* User information:: id logname whoami groups users who +* System context:: date arch nproc uname hostname hostid uptime +* SELinux context:: chcon runcon +* Modified command invocation:: chroot env nice nohup stdbuf timeout +* Process control:: kill +* Delaying:: sleep +* Numeric operations:: factor numfmt seq +* File permissions:: Access modes +* File timestamps:: File timestamp issues +* Date input formats:: Specifying date strings +* Version sort ordering:: Details on version-sort algorithm +* Opening the software toolbox:: The software tools philosophy +* GNU Free Documentation License:: Copying and sharing this manual +* Concept index:: General index + + — The Detailed Node Listing — + +Common Options + +* Exit status:: Indicating program success or failure +* Backup options:: Backup options +* Block size:: Block size +* Floating point:: Floating point number representation +* Signal specifications:: Specifying signals +* Disambiguating names and IDs:: chgrp, chown, chroot, id: user and group syntax +* Random sources:: Sources of random data +* Target directory:: Target directory +* Trailing slashes:: Trailing slashes +* Traversing symlinks:: Traversing symlinks to directories +* Treating / specially:: Treating / specially +* Standards conformance:: Standards conformance +* Multi-call invocation:: Multi-call program invocation + +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 +* base32 invocation:: Transform data into printable data +* base64 invocation:: Transform data into printable data +* basenc invocation:: Transform data into printable data + +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 +* b2sum invocation:: Print or check BLAKE2 digests +* md5sum invocation:: Print or check MD5 digests +* sha1sum invocation:: Print or check SHA-1 digests +* sha2 utilities:: Print or check SHA-2 digests + +Operating on sorted files + +* sort invocation:: Sort text files +* shuf invocation:: Shuffle 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 + +* 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 and deleting:: Removing characters + +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 +* 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 value of a symlink or canonical file name +* 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 file system disk space usage +* du invocation:: Estimate file space usage +* stat invocation:: Report file or file system status +* sync invocation:: Synchronize cached writes to persistent storage +* truncate invocation:: Shrink or extend the size of a file + +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 or processes + +File name manipulation + +* basename invocation:: Strip directory and suffix from a file name +* dirname invocation:: Strip last file name component +* pathchk invocation:: Check file name validity and portability +* mktemp invocation:: Create temporary file or directory +* realpath invocation:: Print resolved file names + +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 user identity +* 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 + +* arch invocation:: Print machine hardware name +* date invocation:: Print or set system date and time +* nproc invocation:: Print the number of processors +* uname invocation:: Print system information +* hostname invocation:: Print or set system name +* hostid invocation:: Print numeric host identifier +* uptime invocation:: Print system uptime and load + +‘date’: Print or set system date and time + +* Time conversion specifiers:: %[HIklMNpPrRsSTXzZ] +* Date conversion specifiers:: %[aAbBcCdDeFgGhjmuUVwWxyY] +* Literal conversion specifiers:: %[%nt] +* Padding and other flags:: Pad with zeros, spaces, etc. +* Setting the time:: Changing the system clock +* Options for date:: Instead of the current time +* Date input formats:: Specifying date strings +* Examples of date:: Examples + +SELinux context + +* chcon invocation:: Change SELinux context of file +* runcon invocation:: Run a command in specified SELinux context + +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 niceness +* nohup invocation:: Run a command immune to hangups +* stdbuf invocation:: Run a command with modified I/O buffering +* timeout invocation:: Run a command with a time limit + +Process control + +* kill invocation:: Sending a signal to processes. + +Delaying + +* sleep invocation:: Delay for a specified time + +Numeric operations + +* factor invocation:: Print prime factors +* numfmt invocation:: Reformat numbers +* seq invocation:: Print numeric sequences + + +File timestamps + +* File timestamps:: File timestamp issues + +File permissions + +* Mode Structure:: Structure of file mode bits +* Symbolic Modes:: Mnemonic representation of file mode bits +* Numeric Modes:: File mode bits as octal numbers +* Directory Setuid and Setgid:: Set-user-ID and set-group-ID on directories + +Date input formats + +* General date syntax:: Common rules +* Calendar date items:: 19 Dec 1994 +* Time of day items:: 9:20pm +* Time zone items:: EST, PDT, UTC, ... +* Combined date and time of day items:: 1972-09-24T20:02:00,000000-0500 +* Day of week items:: Monday and others +* Relative items in date strings:: next tuesday, 2 years ago +* Pure numbers in date strings:: 19931219, 1440 +* Seconds since the Epoch:: @1078100502 +* Specifying time zone rules:: TZ="America/New_York", TZ="UTC0" +* Authors of parse_datetime:: Bellovin, Eggert, Salz, Berets, et al. + +Version sorting order + +* Version sort overview:: +* Implementation Details:: +* Differences from the official Debian Algorithm:: +* Advanced Topics:: + +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 + +Copying This Manual + +* GNU Free Documentation License:: Copying and sharing this manual + + + +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 <bug-coreutils@gnu.org>. 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. + + If you have a problem with ‘sort’ or ‘date’, try using the ‘--debug’ +option, as it can can often help find and fix problems without having to +wait for an answer to a bug report. If the debug output does not +suffice to fix the problem on your own, please compress and attach it to +the rest of your bug report. + + Although diffs are welcome, please include a description of the +problem as well, since this is sometimes difficult to infer. *Note +(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. François 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. + + A few programs can usefully have trailing operands with leading ‘-’. +With such a program, options must precede operands even if +‘POSIXLY_CORRECT’ is not set, and this fact is noted in the program +description. For example, the ‘env’ command’s options must appear +before its operands, since in some cases the operands specify a command +that itself contains options. + + Most programs that accept long options recognize unambiguous +abbreviations of those options. For example, ‘rmdir +--ignore-fail-on-non-empty’ can be invoked as ‘rmdir --ignore-fail’ or +even ‘rmdir --i’. Ambiguous options, such as ‘ls --h’, are identified +as such. + + Some of these programs recognize the ‘--help’ and ‘--version’ options +only when one of them is the sole command line argument. For these +programs, abbreviations of the long options are not always recognized. + +‘--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 ‘-’ operand is not really an option, though it looks like +one. It stands for a file operand, and some tools treat it as standard +input, or as standard output if that is clear from the context. For +example, ‘sort -’ reads from standard input, and is equivalent to plain +‘sort’. Unless otherwise specified, a ‘-’ can appear as any operand +that requires a file name. + +* Menu: + +* Exit status:: Indicating program success or failure. +* Backup options:: -b -S, in some programs. +* Block size:: BLOCK_SIZE and –block-size, in some programs. +* Floating point:: Floating point number representation. +* Signal specifications:: Specifying signals using the –signal option. +* Disambiguating names and IDs:: chgrp, chown, chroot, id: user and group syntax +* Random sources:: –random-source, in some programs. +* Target directory:: Specifying a 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. +* Special built-in utilities:: ‘break’, ‘:’, ... +* Standards conformance:: Conformance to the POSIX standard. +* Multi-call invocation:: Multi-call program invocation. + + +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’, ‘numfmt’, ‘printenv’, ‘sort’, ‘stdbuf’, ‘test’, +‘timeout’, ‘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. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Block size, Next: Floating point, 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 file system 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. + +‘BLOCKSIZE’ + This specifies the default block size for all values that are + normally printed as blocks, if neither ‘BLOCK_SIZE’ nor the above + command-specific environment variables are set. Unlike the other + environment variables, ‘BLOCKSIZE’ does not affect values that are + normally printed as byte counts, e.g., the file sizes contained in + ‘ls -l’ output. + +‘POSIXLY_CORRECT’ + If neither ‘COMMAND_BLOCK_SIZE’, nor ‘BLOCK_SIZE’, nor ‘BLOCKSIZE’ + is 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.org/en/publications/si-brochure/chapter3.html) for +decimal multiples and with the ISO/IEC 80000-13 (formerly IEC 60027-2) +prefixes (https://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/binary.html) for binary +multiples. + + 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 ISO/IEC 80000-13 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. +‘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. + + 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’. Note for ‘ls’ the ‘-k’ option does not +control the display of the apparent file sizes, whereas the +‘--block-size’ option does. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Floating point, Next: Signal specifications, Prev: Block size, Up: Common options + +2.4 Floating point numbers +========================== + +Commands that accept or produce floating point numbers employ the +floating point representation of the underlying system, and suffer from +rounding error, overflow, and similar floating-point issues. Almost all +modern systems use IEEE-754 floating point, and it is typically portable +to assume IEEE-754 behavior these days. IEEE-754 has positive and +negative infinity, distinguishes positive from negative zero, and uses +special values called NaNs to represent invalid computations such as +dividing zero by itself. For more information, please see David +Goldberg’s paper What Every Computer Scientist Should Know About +Floating-Point Arithmetic +(https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E19957-01/806-3568/ncg_goldberg.html). + + Commands that accept floating point numbers as options, operands or +input use the standard C functions ‘strtod’ and ‘strtold’ to convert +from text to floating point numbers. These floating point numbers +therefore can use scientific notation like ‘1.0e-34’ and ‘-10e100’. +Commands that parse floating point also understand case-insensitive +‘inf’, ‘infinity’, and ‘NaN’, although whether such values are useful +depends on the command in question. Modern C implementations also +accept hexadecimal floating point numbers such as ‘-0x.ep-3’, which +stands for −14/16 times 2^-3, which equals −0.109375. *Note +(libc)Parsing of Floats::. + + Normally the ‘LC_NUMERIC’ locale determines the decimal-point +character. However, some commands’ descriptions specify that they +accept numbers in either the current or the C locale; for example, they +treat ‘3.14’ like ‘3,14’ if the current locale uses comma as a decimal +point. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Signal specifications, Next: Disambiguating names and IDs, Prev: Floating point, Up: Common options + +2.5 Signal specifications +========================= + +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. 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: Disambiguating names and IDs, Next: Random sources, Prev: Signal specifications, Up: Common options + +2.6 chown, chgrp, chroot, id: Disambiguating user names and IDs +=============================================================== + +Since the USER and GROUP arguments to these commands may be specified as +names or numeric IDs, there is an apparent ambiguity. What if a user or +group _name_ is a string of digits? (1) Should the command interpret it +as a user name or as an ID? POSIX requires that these commands first +attempt to resolve the specified string as a name, and only once that +fails, then try to interpret it as an ID. This is troublesome when you +want to specify a numeric ID, say 42, and it must work even in a +pathological situation where ‘42’ is a user name that maps to some other +user ID, say 1000. Simply invoking ‘chown 42 F’, will set ‘F’s owner ID +to 1000—not what you intended. + + GNU ‘chown’, ‘chgrp’, ‘chroot’, and ‘id’ provide a way to work around +this, that at the same time may result in a significant performance +improvement by eliminating a database look-up. Simply precede each +numeric user ID and/or group ID with a ‘+’, in order to force its +interpretation as an integer: + + chown +42 F + chgrp +$numeric_group_id another-file + chown +0:+0 / + + The name look-up process is skipped for each ‘+’-prefixed string, +because a string containing ‘+’ is never a valid user or group name. +This syntax is accepted on most common Unix systems, but not on Solaris +10. + + ---------- Footnotes ---------- + + (1) Using a number as a user name is common in some environments. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Random sources, Next: Target directory, Prev: Disambiguating names and IDs, Up: Common options + +2.7 Sources of random data +========================== + +The ‘shuf’, ‘shred’, and ‘sort’ commands sometimes need random data to +do their work. For example, ‘sort -R’ must choose a hash function at +random, and it needs random data to make this selection. + + By default these commands use an internal pseudo-random generator +initialized by a small amount of entropy, but can be directed to use an +external source with the ‘--random-source=FILE’ option. An error is +reported if FILE does not contain enough bytes. + + For example, the device file ‘/dev/urandom’ could be used as the +source of random data. Typically, this device gathers environmental +noise from device drivers and other sources into an entropy pool, and +uses the pool to generate random bits. If the pool is short of data, +the device reuses the internal pool to produce more bits, using a +cryptographically secure pseudo-random number generator. But be aware +that this device is not designed for bulk random data generation and is +relatively slow. + + ‘/dev/urandom’ suffices for most practical uses, but applications +requiring high-value or long-term protection of private data may require +an alternate data source like ‘/dev/random’ or ‘/dev/arandom’. The set +of available sources depends on your operating system. + + To reproduce the results of an earlier invocation of a command, you +can save some random data into a file and then use that file as the +random source in earlier and later invocations of the command. Rather +than depending on a file, one can generate a reproducible arbitrary +amount of pseudo-random data given a seed value, using for example: + + get_seeded_random() + { + seed="$1" + openssl enc -aes-256-ctr -pass pass:"$seed" -nosalt \ + </dev/zero 2>/dev/null + } + + shuf -i1-100 --random-source=<(get_seeded_random 42) + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Target directory, Next: Trailing slashes, Prev: Random sources, Up: Common options + +2.8 Target directory +==================== + +The ‘cp’, ‘install’, ‘ln’, and ‘mv’ commands normally treat the last +operand specially when it is a directory or a symbolic link to a +directory. For example, ‘cp source dest’ is equivalent to ‘cp source +dest/source’ if ‘dest’ is a directory. Sometimes this behavior is not +exactly what is wanted, so these commands support the following options +to allow more fine-grained control: + +‘-T’ +‘--no-target-directory’ + Do not treat the last operand specially when it is a directory or a + symbolic link to a directory. This can help avoid race conditions + in programs that operate in a shared area. For example, when the + command ‘mv /tmp/source /tmp/dest’ succeeds, there is no guarantee + that ‘/tmp/source’ was renamed to ‘/tmp/dest’: it could have been + renamed to ‘/tmp/dest/source’ instead, if some other process + created ‘/tmp/dest’ as a directory. However, if ‘mv -T /tmp/source + /tmp/dest’ succeeds, there is no question that ‘/tmp/source’ was + renamed to ‘/tmp/dest’. + + In the opposite situation, where you want the last operand to be + treated as a directory and want a diagnostic otherwise, you can use + the ‘--target-directory’ (‘-t’) option. + +‘-t DIRECTORY’ +‘--target-directory=DIRECTORY’ + Use DIRECTORY as the directory component of each destination file + name. + + 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’ (‘-t’) 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: + + ls | xargs mv -t ../d -- + + However, this doesn’t move files whose names begin with ‘.’. If + you use the GNU ‘find’ program, you can move those files too, with + this command: + + find . -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 \ + | xargs mv -t ../d + + But both of the above approaches fail if there are no files in the + current directory, or if any file has a name containing a blank or + some other special characters. 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 -t ../d + +The ‘--target-directory’ (‘-t’) and ‘--no-target-directory’ (‘-T’) +options cannot be combined. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Trailing slashes, Next: Traversing symlinks, Prev: Target directory, Up: Common options + +2.9 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 + +2.10 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: Special built-in utilities, Prev: Traversing symlinks, Up: Common options + +2.11 Treating ‘/’ specially +=========================== + +Certain commands can operate destructively on entire hierarchies. For +example, if a user with appropriate privileges mistakenly runs ‘rm -rf / +tmp/junk’, that may remove all files on the entire system. Since there +are so few legitimate uses for such a command, GNU ‘rm’ normally +declines to operate on any directory that resolves to ‘/’. If you +really want to try to remove all the files on your system, you can use +the ‘--no-preserve-root’ option, but the default behavior, specified by +the ‘--preserve-root’ option, is safer for most purposes. + + 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. Tradition and POSIX require these +commands to operate recursively on ‘/’, so they default to +‘--no-preserve-root’, but using the ‘--preserve-root’ option makes them +safer for most purposes. For convenience you can specify +‘--preserve-root’ in an alias or in a shell function. + + Note that the ‘--preserve-root’ option also ensures that ‘chgrp’ and +‘chown’ do not modify ‘/’ even when dereferencing a symlink pointing to +‘/’. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Special built-in utilities, Next: Standards conformance, Prev: Treating / specially, Up: Common options + +2.12 Special built-in utilities +=============================== + +Some programs like ‘nice’ can invoke other programs; for example, the +command ‘nice cat file’ invokes the program ‘cat’ by executing the +command ‘cat file’. However, “special built-in utilities” like ‘exit’ +cannot be invoked this way. For example, the command ‘nice exit’ does +not have a well-defined behavior: it may generate an error message +instead of exiting. + + Here is a list of the special built-in utilities that are +standardized by POSIX 1003.1-2004. + + . : break continue eval exec exit export readonly return set shift + times trap unset + + For example, because ‘.’, ‘:’, and ‘exec’ are special, the commands +‘nice . foo.sh’, ‘nice :’, and ‘nice exec pwd’ do not work as you might +expect. + + Many shells extend this list. For example, Bash has several extra +special built-in utilities like ‘history’, and ‘suspend’, and with Bash +the command ‘nice suspend’ generates an error message instead of +suspending. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Standards conformance, Next: Multi-call invocation, Prev: Special built-in utilities, Up: Common options + +2.13 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 in 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. To complicate things further, POSIX +1003.1-2008 allows an implementation to have either the old or the new +behavior. + + 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. Three values are currently supported for ‘_POSIX2_VERSION’: +‘199209’ stands for POSIX 1003.2-1992, ‘200112’ stands for POSIX +1003.1-2001, and ‘200809’ stands for POSIX 1003.1-2008. For example, if +you have a POSIX 1003.1-2001 system but are running software containing +traditional usage like ‘sort +1’ or ‘tail +10’, you can work around the +compatibility problems by setting ‘_POSIX2_VERSION=200809’ in your +environment. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Multi-call invocation, Prev: Standards conformance, Up: Common options + +2.14 ‘coreutils’: Multi-call program +==================================== + +The ‘coreutils’ command invokes an individual utility, either implicitly +selected by the last component of the name used to invoke ‘coreutils’, +or explicitly with the ‘--coreutils-prog’ option. Synopsis: + + coreutils --coreutils-prog=PROGRAM ... + + The ‘coreutils’ command is not installed by default, so portable +scripts should not rely on its existence. + + +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. +* base32 invocation:: Transform data into printable data. +* base64 invocation:: Transform data into printable data. +* basenc invocation:: Transform data into printable data. + + +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’ +‘--number-nonblank’ + Number all nonempty output lines, starting with 1. + +‘-e’ + Equivalent to ‘-vE’. + +‘-E’ +‘--show-ends’ + Display a ‘$’ after the end of each line. + +‘-n’ +‘--number’ + Number all output lines, starting with 1. This option is ignored + if ‘-b’ is in effect. + +‘-s’ +‘--squeeze-blank’ + Suppress repeated adjacent blank lines; output just one empty line + instead of several. + +‘-t’ + Equivalent to ‘-vT’. + +‘-T’ +‘--show-tabs’ + Display TAB characters as ‘^I’. + +‘-u’ + Ignored; for POSIX 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 systems like MS-DOS that distinguish between text and binary +files, ‘cat’ normally reads and writes in binary mode. However, ‘cat’ +reads in text mode if one of the options ‘-bensAE’ is used or if ‘cat’ +is reading from standard input and standard input is a terminal. +Similarly, ‘cat’ writes in text mode if one of the options ‘-bensAE’ is +used or if standard output is a terminal. + + An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value +indicates failure. + + Examples: + + # Output f's contents, then standard input, then g's contents. + cat f - g + + # Copy standard input to standard output. + cat + + +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. + +‘-s SEPARATOR’ +‘--separator=SEPARATOR’ + Use SEPARATOR as the record separator, instead of newline. Note an + empty SEPARATOR is treated as a zero byte. I.e., input and output + items are delimited with ASCII NUL. + + On systems like MS-DOS that distinguish between text and binary +files, ‘tac’ reads and writes in binary mode. + + An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value +indicates failure. + + Example: + + # Reverse a file character by character. + tac -r -s 'x\|[^x]' + + +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) page sections; by default, +the line number is reset to 1 at each logical page section. ‘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’ +‘--line-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, Next: base32 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 [-abcdfilosx]... [FILE] [[+]OFFSET[.][b]] + od [OPTION]... --traditional [FILE] [[+]OFFSET[.][b] [[+]LABEL[.][b]]] + + 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 a C ‘short int’’s worth of input +printed as a single octal number. + + If OFFSET is given, it specifies how many input bytes to skip before +formatting and writing. By default, it is interpreted as an octal +number, but the optional trailing decimal point causes it to be +interpreted as decimal. 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. + + If a command is of both the first and second forms, the second form +is assumed if the last operand begins with ‘+’ or (if there are two +operands) a digit. For example, in ‘od foo 10’ and ‘od +10’ the ‘10’ is +an offset, whereas in ‘od 10’ the ‘10’ is a file name. + + 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. + +‘--endian=ORDER’ + Reorder input bytes, to handle inputs with differing byte orders, + or to provide consistent output independent of the endian + convention of the current system. Swapping is performed according + to the specified ‘--type’ size and endian ORDER, which can be + ‘little’ or ‘big’. + +‘-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. + BYTES may be, or may be an integer optionally followed by, one of + the following multiplicative suffixes: + ‘b’ => 512 ("blocks") + ‘KB’ => 1000 (KiloBytes) + ‘K’ => 1024 (KibiBytes) + ‘MB’ => 1000*1000 (MegaBytes) + ‘M’ => 1024*1024 (MebiBytes) + ‘GB’ => 1000*1000*1000 (GigaBytes) + ‘G’ => 1024*1024*1024 (GibiBytes) + and so on for ‘T’, ‘P’, ‘E’, ‘Z’, and ‘Y’. Binary prefixes can be + used, too: ‘KiB’=‘K’, ‘MiB’=‘M’, and so on. + +‘-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 BYTES’ +‘--strings[=BYTES]’ + Instead of the normal output, output only “string constants”: at + least BYTES consecutive ASCII graphic characters, followed by a + zero byte (ASCII NUL). Prefixes and suffixes on BYTES are + interpreted as for the ‘-j’ option. + + If BYTES is omitted with ‘--strings’, the default is 3. + +‘-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 single byte character representation of the printable + characters to the output line generated by the type specification. + + ‘a’ + named character, ignoring high-order bit + ‘c’ + printable single byte character, C backslash escape or a 3 + digit octal sequence + ‘d’ + signed decimal + ‘f’ + floating point (*note 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 zero byte. Only the least significant seven bits + of each byte is used; the high-order bit is ignored. 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, the default is 32. + + 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 ‘-t a’. + +‘-b’ + Output as octal bytes. Equivalent to ‘-t o1’. + +‘-c’ + Output as printable single byte characters, C backslash escapes or + 3 digit octal sequences. Equivalent to ‘-t c’. + +‘-d’ + Output as unsigned decimal two-byte units. Equivalent to ‘-t u2’. + +‘-f’ + Output as floats. Equivalent to ‘-t fF’. + +‘-i’ + Output as decimal ints. Equivalent to ‘-t dI’. + +‘-l’ + Output as decimal long ints. Equivalent to ‘-t dL’. + +‘-o’ + Output as octal two-byte units. Equivalent to ‘-t o2’. + +‘-s’ + Output as decimal two-byte units. Equivalent to ‘-t d2’. + +‘-x’ + Output as hexadecimal two-byte units. Equivalent to ‘-t x2’. + +‘--traditional’ + Recognize the non-option label argument 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. 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: base32 invocation, Next: base64 invocation, Prev: od invocation, Up: Output of entire files + +3.5 ‘base32’: Transform data into printable data +================================================ + +‘base32’ transforms data read from a file, or standard input, into (or +from) base32 encoded form. The base32 encoded form uses printable ASCII +characters to represent binary data. The usage and options of this +command are precisely the same as for ‘base64’. *Note base64 +invocation::. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: base64 invocation, Next: basenc invocation, Prev: base32 invocation, Up: Output of entire files + +3.6 ‘base64’: Transform data into printable data +================================================ + +‘base64’ transforms data read from a file, or standard input, into (or +from) base64 encoded form. The base64 encoded form uses printable ASCII +characters to represent binary data. Synopses: + + base64 [OPTION]... [FILE] + base64 --decode [OPTION]... [FILE] + + The base64 encoding expands data to roughly 133% of the original. +The base32 encoding expands data to roughly 160% of the original. The +format conforms to RFC 4648 (https://tools.ietf.org/search/rfc4648). + + The program accepts the following options. Also see *note Common +options::. + +‘-w COLS’ +‘--wrap=COLS’ + During encoding, wrap lines after COLS characters. This must be a + positive number. + + The default is to wrap after 76 characters. Use the value 0 to + disable line wrapping altogether. + +‘-d’ +‘--decode’ + Change the mode of operation, from the default of encoding data, to + decoding data. Input is expected to be base64 encoded data, and + the output will be the original data. + +‘-i’ +‘--ignore-garbage’ + When decoding, newlines are always accepted. During decoding, + ignore unrecognized bytes, to permit distorted data to be decoded. + + An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value +indicates failure. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: basenc invocation, Prev: base64 invocation, Up: Output of entire files + +3.7 ‘basenc’: Transform data into printable data +================================================ + +‘basenc’ transforms data read from a file, or standard input, into (or +from) various common encoding forms. The encoded form uses printable +ASCII characters to represent binary data. + + Synopses: + + basenc ENCODING [OPTION]... [FILE] + basenc ENCODING --decode [OPTION]... [FILE] + + The ENCODING argument is required. If FILE is omitted, reads input +from stdin. The ‘-w/--wrap’,‘-i/--ignore-garbage’, ‘-d/--decode’ +options of this command are precisely the same as for ‘base64’. *Note +base64 invocation::. + + Supported ENCODINGs are: + +‘--base64’ + Encode into (or decode from with ‘-d/--decode’) base64 form. The + format conforms to RFC 4648#4 + (https://tools.ietf.org/search/rfc4648#section-4). Equivalent to + the ‘base64’ command. + +‘--base64url’ + Encode into (or decode from with ‘-d/--decode’) file-and-url-safe + base64 form (using ‘_’ and ‘-’ instead of ‘+’ and ‘/’). The format + conforms to RFC 4648#5 + (https://tools.ietf.org/search/rfc4648#section-5). + +‘--base32’ + Encode into (or decode from with ‘-d/--decode’) base32 form. The + encoded data uses the ‘ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ234567=’ + characters. The format conforms to RFC 4648#6 + (https://tools.ietf.org/search/rfc4648#section-6). Equivalent to + the ‘base32’ command. + +‘--base32hex’ + Encode into (or decode from with ‘-d/--decode’) Extended Hex + Alphabet base32 form. The encoded data uses the + ‘0123456789ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUV=’ characters. The format + conforms to RFC 4648#7 + (https://tools.ietf.org/search/rfc4648#section-7). + +‘--base16’ + Encode into (or decode from with ‘-d/--decode’) base16 + (hexadecimal) form. The encoded data uses the ‘0123456789ABCDEF’ + characters. The format conforms to RFC 4648#8 + (https://tools.ietf.org/search/rfc4648#section-8). + +‘--base2lsbf’ + Encode into (or decode from with ‘-d/--decode’) binary string form + (‘0’ and ‘1’) with the _least_ significant bit of every byte first. + +‘--base2msbf’ + Encode into (or decode from with ‘-d/--decode’) binary string form + (‘0’ and ‘1’) with the _most_ significant bit of every byte first. + +‘--z85’ + Encode into (or decode from with ‘-d/--decode’) Z85 form (a + modified Ascii85 form). The encoded data uses the + ‘0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTU VWXYZ.-:+=^!/*?&<>()[]{}@%$#’. + characters. The format conforms to ZeroMQ spec:32/Z85 + (https://rfc.zeromq.org/spec:32/Z85/). + + When encoding with ‘--z85’, input length must be a multiple of 4; + when decoding with ‘--z85’, input length must be a multiple of 5. + + Encoding/decoding examples: + + $ printf '\376\117\202' | basenc --base64 + /k+C + + $ printf '\376\117\202' | basenc --base64url + _k-C + + $ printf '\376\117\202' | basenc --base32 + 7ZHYE=== + + $ printf '\376\117\202' | basenc --base32hex + VP7O4=== + + $ printf '\376\117\202' | basenc --base16 + FE4F82 + + $ printf '\376\117\202' | basenc --base2lsbf + 011111111111001001000001 + + $ printf '\376\117\202' | basenc --base2msbf + 111111100100111110000010 + + $ printf '\376\117\202\000' | basenc --z85 + @.FaC + + $ printf 01010100 | basenc --base2msbf --decode + T + + $ printf 01010100 | basenc --base2lsbf --decode + * + + +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 given by Donald E. Knuth and Michael F. +Plass in “Breaking Paragraphs Into Lines”, ‘Software—Practice & +Experience’ 11, 11 (November 1981), 1119–1184. + + The program accepts the following options. Also see *note Common +options::. + +‘-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 or GOAL plus + 10, if GOAL is provided). + +‘-g GOAL’ +‘--goal=GOAL’ + ‘fmt’ initially tries to make lines GOAL characters wide. By + default, this is 7% shorter than WIDTH. + +‘-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 file name, and the page count; and two more +blank lines. A footer of five blank lines is also printed. The default +PAGE_LENGTH is 66 lines. The default number of text lines is therefore +56. 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 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 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"’. + + The default date format is ‘%Y-%m-%d %H:%M’ (for example, + ‘2001-12-04 23:59’); but if the ‘POSIXLY_CORRECT’ environment + variable is set and the ‘LC_TIME’ locale category specifies the + POSIX locale, the default is ‘%b %e %H:%M %Y’ (for example, ‘Dec 4 + 23:59 2001’. + + Timestamps are listed according to the time zone rules specified by + the ‘TZ’ environment variable, or by the system default rules if + ‘TZ’ is not set. *Note Specifying the Time Zone with ‘TZ’: + (libc)TZ Variable. + +‘-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. This + does not alter the default page length of 66 lines. + +‘-h HEADER’ +‘--header=HEADER’ + Replace the file name 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, the header and footer are omitted, 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" "’). If no + ‘STRING’ argument is specified, ‘""’ is assumed. + +‘-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). The specified + PAGE_WIDTH is rounded down so that columns have equal width. + ‘-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, honored with and + without a column option. With a column option, the specified + PAGE_WIDTH is rounded down so that columns have equal width. 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 + disable 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. + + For compatibility ‘fold’ supports an obsolete option syntax + ‘-WIDTH’. New scripts should 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 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 [-]NUM’ +‘--bytes=[-]NUM’ + Print the first NUM bytes, instead of initial lines. However, if + NUM is prefixed with a ‘-’, print all but the last NUM bytes of + each file. NUM may be, or may be an integer optionally followed + by, one of the following multiplicative suffixes: + ‘b’ => 512 ("blocks") + ‘KB’ => 1000 (KiloBytes) + ‘K’ => 1024 (KibiBytes) + ‘MB’ => 1000*1000 (MegaBytes) + ‘M’ => 1024*1024 (MebiBytes) + ‘GB’ => 1000*1000*1000 (GigaBytes) + ‘G’ => 1024*1024*1024 (GibiBytes) + and so on for ‘T’, ‘P’, ‘E’, ‘Z’, and ‘Y’. Binary prefixes can be + used, too: ‘KiB’=‘K’, ‘MiB’=‘M’, and so on. + +‘-n [-]NUM’ +‘--lines=[-]NUM’ + Output the first NUM lines. However, if NUM is prefixed with a + ‘-’, print all but the last NUM lines of each file. Size + multiplier suffixes are the same as with the ‘-c’ option. + +‘-q’ +‘--quiet’ +‘--silent’ + Never print file name headers. + +‘-v’ +‘--verbose’ + Always print file name headers. + +‘-z’ +‘--zero-terminated’ + Delimit items with a zero byte rather than a newline (ASCII LF). + I.e., treat input as items separated by ASCII NUL and terminate + output items with ASCII NUL. 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 file names (even + those containing blanks or other special characters). + + For compatibility ‘head’ also supports an obsolete option syntax +‘-[NUM][bkm][cqv]’, which is recognized only if it is specified first. +NUM 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’). Scripts intended for standard hosts should use ‘-c NUM’ or ‘-n +NUM’ instead. If your script must also run on hosts that support only +the obsolete syntax, it is usually simpler to avoid ‘head’, e.g., by +using ‘sed 5q’ instead of ‘head -5’. + + 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 +before the output for each FILE, consisting of: + + ==> FILE NAME <== + + For further processing of tail output, it can be useful to convert +the file headers to line prefixes, which can be done like: + + tail ... | + awk ' + /^==> .* <==$/ {prefix=substr($0,5,length-8)":"; next} + {print prefix$0} + ' | ... + + 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. + + The program accepts the following options. Also see *note Common +options::. + +‘-c [+]NUM’ +‘--bytes=[+]NUM’ + Output the last NUM bytes, instead of final lines. However, if NUM + is prefixed with a ‘+’, start printing with byte NUM from the start + of each file, instead of from the end. NUM may be, or may be an + integer optionally followed by, one of the following multiplicative + suffixes: + ‘b’ => 512 ("blocks") + ‘KB’ => 1000 (KiloBytes) + ‘K’ => 1024 (KibiBytes) + ‘MB’ => 1000*1000 (MegaBytes) + ‘M’ => 1024*1024 (MebiBytes) + ‘GB’ => 1000*1000*1000 (GigaBytes) + ‘G’ => 1024*1024*1024 (GibiBytes) + and so on for ‘T’, ‘P’, ‘E’, ‘Z’, and ‘Y’. Binary prefixes can be + used, too: ‘KiB’=‘K’, ‘MiB’=‘M’, and so on. + +‘-f’ +‘--follow[=HOW]’ + Loop forever trying to read more characters at the end of the file, + presumably because the file is growing. 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, perhaps by reopening it periodically to see + if it has been removed and recreated by some other program. Note + that the inotify-based implementation handles this case without the + need for any periodic reopening. + + 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 from the start of the file, assuming + it has been truncated to 0, which is the usual truncation operation + for log files. + + 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’. + + The ‘-f’ option is ignored if no FILE operand is specified and + standard input is a FIFO or a pipe. Likewise, the ‘-f’ option has + no effect for any operand specified as ‘-’, when standard input is + a FIFO or a pipe. + + With kernel inotify support, output is triggered by file changes + and is generally very prompt. Otherwise, ‘tail’ sleeps for one + second between checks— use ‘--sleep-interval=N’ to change that + default—which can make the output appear slightly less responsive + or bursty. When using tail without inotify support, you can make + it more responsive by using a sub-second sleep interval, e.g., via + an alias like this: + + alias tail='tail -s.1' + +‘-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. + +‘--max-unchanged-stats=N’ + When tailing a file by name, if there have been N (default n=5) + consecutive iterations for which the file has not changed, 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 polling (i.e., + without inotify) and when following by name. + +‘-n [+]NUM’ +‘--lines=[+]’ + Output the last NUM lines. However, if NUM is prefixed with a ‘+’, + start printing with line NUM from the start of each file, instead + of from the end. Size multiplier suffixes are the same as with the + ‘-c’ option. + +‘--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. + +‘-q’ +‘--quiet’ +‘--silent’ + Never print file name headers. + +‘--retry’ + Indefinitely try to open the specified file. This option is useful + mainly when following (and otherwise issues a warning). + + When following by file descriptor (i.e., with + ‘--follow=descriptor’), this option only affects the initial open + of the file, as after a successful open, ‘tail’ will start + following the file descriptor. + + When following by name (i.e., with ‘--follow=name’), ‘tail’ + infinitely retries to re-open the given files until killed. + + 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. + +‘-s NUMBER’ +‘--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. When ‘tail’ uses inotify, + this polling-related option is usually ignored. However, if you + also specify ‘--pid=P’, ‘tail’ checks whether process P is alive at + least every NUMBER seconds. The NUMBER must be non-negative and + can be a floating-point number in either the current or the C + locale. *Note Floating point::. + +‘-v’ +‘--verbose’ + Always print file name headers. + +‘-z’ +‘--zero-terminated’ + Delimit items with a zero byte rather than a newline (ASCII LF). + I.e., treat input as items separated by ASCII NUL and terminate + output items with ASCII NUL. 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 file names (even + those containing blanks or other special characters). + + For compatibility ‘tail’ also supports an obsolete usage ‘tail +-[NUM][bcl][f] [FILE]’, which is recognized only if it does not conflict +with the usage described above. This obsolete form uses exactly one +option and at most one file. In the option, NUM is an optional decimal +number optionally followed by a size letter (‘b’, ‘c’, ‘l’) to mean +count by 512-byte blocks, bytes, or lines, optionally followed by ‘f’ +which has the same meaning as ‘-f’. + + On systems not conforming to POSIX 1003.1-2001, the leading ‘-’ can +be replaced by ‘+’ in the traditional option syntax with the same +meaning as in counts, and on obsolete systems predating POSIX +1003.1-2001 traditional usage overrides normal usage when the two +conflict. This behavior can be controlled with the ‘_POSIX2_VERSION’ +environment variable (*note Standards conformance::). + + Scripts intended for use on standard hosts should avoid traditional +syntax and should use ‘-c NUM[b]’, ‘-n NUM’, and/or ‘-f’ instead. If +your script must also run on hosts that support only the traditional +syntax, you can often rewrite it to avoid problematic usages, e.g., by +using ‘sed -n '$p'’ rather than ‘tail -1’. If that’s not possible, the +script can use a test like ‘if tail -c +1 </dev/null >/dev/null 2>&1; +then ...’ to decide which syntax to use. + + Even if your script assumes the standard behavior, you should still +beware usages whose behaviors differ depending on the POSIX version. +For example, avoid ‘tail - main.c’, since it might be interpreted as +either ‘tail main.c’ or as ‘tail -- - main.c’; avoid ‘tail -c 4’, since +it might mean either ‘tail -c4’ or ‘tail -c 10 4’; and avoid ‘tail +4’, +since it might mean either ‘tail ./+4’ or ‘tail -n +4’. + + 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 pieces. +====================================== + +‘split’ creates output files containing consecutive or interleaved +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 (except ‘-nr/N’). By default split +will initially create files with two generated suffix characters, and +will increase this width by two when the next most significant position +reaches the last character. (‘yz’, ‘zaaa’, ‘zaab’, ...). In this way +an arbitrary number of output files are supported, which sort as +described above, even in the presence of an ‘--additional-suffix’ +option. If the ‘-a’ option is specified and 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::. + +‘-l LINES’ +‘--lines=LINES’ + Put LINES lines of INPUT into each output file. If ‘--separator’ + is specified, then LINES determines the number of records. + + For compatibility ‘split’ also supports an obsolete option syntax + ‘-LINES’. New scripts should use ‘-l LINES’ instead. + +‘-b SIZE’ +‘--bytes=SIZE’ + Put SIZE bytes of INPUT into each output file. SIZE may be, or may + be an integer optionally followed by, one of the following + multiplicative suffixes: + ‘b’ => 512 ("blocks") + ‘KB’ => 1000 (KiloBytes) + ‘K’ => 1024 (KibiBytes) + ‘MB’ => 1000*1000 (MegaBytes) + ‘M’ => 1024*1024 (MebiBytes) + ‘GB’ => 1000*1000*1000 (GigaBytes) + ‘G’ => 1024*1024*1024 (GibiBytes) + and so on for ‘T’, ‘P’, ‘E’, ‘Z’, and ‘Y’. Binary prefixes can be + used, too: ‘KiB’=‘K’, ‘MiB’=‘M’, and so on. + +‘-C SIZE’ +‘--line-bytes=SIZE’ + Put into each output file as many complete lines of INPUT as + possible without exceeding SIZE bytes. Individual lines or records + longer than SIZE bytes are broken into multiple files. SIZE has + the same format as for the ‘--bytes’ option. If ‘--separator’ is + specified, then LINES determines the number of records. + +‘--filter=COMMAND’ + With this option, rather than simply writing to each output file, + write through a pipe to the specified shell COMMAND for each output + file. COMMAND should use the $FILE environment variable, which is + set to a different output file name for each invocation of the + command. For example, imagine that you have a 1TiB compressed file + that, if uncompressed, would be too large to reside on disk, yet + you must split it into individually-compressed pieces of a more + manageable size. To do that, you might run this command: + + xz -dc BIG.xz | split -b200G --filter='xz > $FILE.xz' - big- + + Assuming a 10:1 compression ratio, that would create about fifty + 20GiB files with names ‘big-aa.xz’, ‘big-ab.xz’, ‘big-ac.xz’, etc. + +‘-n CHUNKS’ +‘--number=CHUNKS’ + + Split INPUT to CHUNKS output files where CHUNKS may be: + + N generate N files based on current size of INPUT + K/N only output Kth of N to stdout + l/N generate N files without splitting lines or records + l/K/N likewise but only output Kth of N to stdout + r/N like ‘l’ but use round robin distribution + r/K/N likewise but only output Kth of N to stdout + + Any excess bytes remaining after dividing the INPUT into N chunks, + are assigned to the last chunk. Any excess bytes appearing after + the initial calculation are discarded (except when using ‘r’ mode). + + All N files are created even if there are fewer than N lines, or + the INPUT is truncated. + + For ‘l’ mode, chunks are approximately INPUT size / N. The INPUT + is partitioned into N equal sized portions, with the last assigned + any excess. If a line _starts_ within a partition it is written + completely to the corresponding file. Since lines or records are + not split even if they overlap a partition, the files written can + be larger or smaller than the partition size, and even empty if a + line/record is so long as to completely overlap the partition. + + For ‘r’ mode, the size of INPUT is irrelevant, and so can be a pipe + for example. + +‘-a LENGTH’ +‘--suffix-length=LENGTH’ + Use suffixes of length LENGTH. If a LENGTH of 0 is specified, this + is the same as if (any previous) ‘-a’ was not specified, and thus + enables the default behavior, which starts the suffix length at 2, + and unless ‘-n’ or ‘--numeric-suffixes=FROM’ is specified, will + auto increase the length by 2 as required. + +‘-d’ +‘--numeric-suffixes[=FROM]’ + Use digits in suffixes rather than lower-case letters. The + numerical suffix counts from FROM if specified, 0 otherwise. + + FROM is supported with the long form option, and is used to either + set the initial suffix for a single run, or to set the suffix + offset for independently split inputs, and consequently the auto + suffix length expansion described above is disabled. Therefore you + may also want to use option ‘-a’ to allow suffixes beyond ‘99’. + Note if option ‘--number’ is specified and the number of files is + less than FROM, a single run is assumed and the minimum suffix + length required is automatically determined. + +‘-x’ +‘--hex-suffixes[=FROM]’ + Like ‘--numeric-suffixes’, but use hexadecimal numbers (in lower + case). + +‘--additional-suffix=SUFFIX’ + Append an additional SUFFIX to output file names. SUFFIX must not + contain slash. + +‘-e’ +‘--elide-empty-files’ + Suppress the generation of zero-length output files. This can + happen with the ‘--number’ option if a file is (truncated to be) + shorter than the number requested, or if a line is so long as to + completely span a chunk. The output file sequence numbers, always + run consecutively even when this option is specified. + +‘-t SEPARATOR’ +‘--separator=SEPARATOR’ + Use character SEPARATOR as the record separator instead of the + default newline character (ASCII LF). To specify ASCII NUL as the + separator, use the two-character string ‘\0’, e.g., ‘split -t + '\0'’. + +‘-u’ +‘--unbuffered’ + Immediately copy input to output in ‘--number r/...’ mode, which is + a much slower mode of operation. + +‘--verbose’ + Write a diagnostic just before each output file is opened. + + An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value +indicates failure. + + Here are a few examples to illustrate how the ‘--number’ (‘-n’) +option works: + + Notice how, by default, one line may be split onto two or more: + + $ seq -w 6 10 > k; split -n3 k; head xa? + ==> xaa <== + 06 + 07 + ==> xab <== + + 08 + 0 + ==> xac <== + 9 + 10 + + Use the "l/" modifier to suppress that: + + $ seq -w 6 10 > k; split -nl/3 k; head xa? + ==> xaa <== + 06 + 07 + + ==> xab <== + 08 + 09 + + ==> xac <== + 10 + + Use the "r/" modifier to distribute lines in a round-robin fashion: + + $ seq -w 6 10 > k; split -nr/3 k; head xa? + ==> xaa <== + 06 + 09 + + ==> xab <== + 07 + 10 + + ==> xac <== + 08 + + You can also extract just the Kth chunk. This extracts and prints +just the 7th "chunk" of 33: + + $ seq 100 > k; split -nl/7/33 k + 20 + 21 + 22 + + +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. Note lines within a negative offset of + a regexp pattern are not matched in subsequent regexp patterns. + +‘%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. The + 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 file name produces the +original input file, excluding portions skipped with a %REGEXP% pattern +or the ‘--suppress-matched’ option. + + 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 FORMAT’ +‘--suffix-format=FORMAT’ + Use FORMAT 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 unsigned integer argument to readable + form. The format letters ‘d’ and ‘i’ are aliases for ‘u’, and the + ‘u’, ‘o’, ‘x’, and ‘X’ conversions are allowed. The entire FORMAT + 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. + +‘--suppress-matched’ + Do not output lines matching the specified PATTERN. I.e., suppress + the boundary line from the start of the second and subsequent + splits. + +‘-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. + + Here is an example of its usage. First, create an empty directory +for the exercise, and cd into it: + + $ mkdir d && cd d + + Now, split the sequence of 1..14 on lines that end with 0 or 5: + + $ seq 14 | csplit - '/[05]$/' '{*}' + 8 + 10 + 15 + + Each number printed above is the size of an output file that csplit +has just created. List the names of those output files: + + $ ls + xx00 xx01 xx02 + + Use ‘head’ to show their contents: + + $ head xx* + ==> xx00 <== + 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + + ==> xx01 <== + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 + + ==> xx02 <== + 10 + 11 + 12 + 13 + 14 + + Example of splitting input by empty lines: + + $ csplit --suppress-matched INPUT.TXT '/^$/' '{*}' + + +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. +* b2sum invocation:: Print or check BLAKE2 digests. +* md5sum invocation:: Print or check MD5 digests. +* sha1sum invocation:: Print or check SHA-1 digests. +* sha2 utilities:: Print or check SHA-2 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, maximum line length. +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 line lengths here are +measured in screen columns, according to the current locale and assuming +tab positions in every 8th column. + + 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 display widths. Tabs are set at every 8th + column. Display widths of wide characters are considered. + Non-printable characters are given 0 width. + +‘--files0-from=FILE’ + Disallow processing files named on the command line, and instead + process those named in file FILE; each name being terminated by a + zero byte (ASCII NUL). This is useful when the list of file names + is so long that it may exceed a command line length limitation. In + such cases, running ‘wc’ via ‘xargs’ is undesirable because it + splits the list into pieces and makes ‘wc’ print a total for each + sublist rather than for the entire list. One way to produce a list + of ASCII NUL terminated file names is with GNU ‘find’, using its + ‘-print0’ predicate. If FILE is ‘-’ then the ASCII NUL terminated + file names are read from standard input. + + For example, to find the length of the longest line in any ‘.c’ or + ‘.h’ file in the current hierarchy, do this: + + find . -name '*.[ch]' -print0 | + wc -L --files0-from=- | tail -n1 + + 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: b2sum 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 file name 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: b2sum invocation, Next: md5sum invocation, Prev: cksum invocation, Up: Summarizing files + +6.4 ‘b2sum’: Print or check BLAKE2 digests +========================================== + +‘b2sum’ computes a 512-bit checksum for each specified FILE. The same +usage and options as the ‘md5sum’ command are supported. *Note md5sum +invocation::. In addition ‘b2sum’ supports the following options. + +‘-l’ +‘--length’ + Change (shorten) the default digest length. This is specified in + bits and thus must be a multiple of 8. This option is ignored when + ‘--check’ is specified, as the length is automatically determined + when checking. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: md5sum invocation, Next: sha1sum invocation, Prev: b2sum invocation, Up: Summarizing files + +6.5 ‘md5sum’: Print or check MD5 digests +======================================== + +‘md5sum’ computes a 128-bit checksum (or “fingerprint” or +“message-digest”) for each specified FILE. + + Note: The MD5 digest is more reliable than a simple CRC (provided by +the ‘cksum’ command) for detecting accidental file corruption, as the +chances of accidentally having two files with identical MD5 are +vanishingly small. However, it should not be considered secure against +malicious tampering: although finding a file with a given MD5 +fingerprint is considered infeasible at the moment, it is known how to +modify certain files, including digital certificates, so that they +appear valid when signed with an MD5 digest. For more secure hashes, +consider using SHA-2, or the newer ‘b2sum’ command. *Note sha2 +utilities::. *Note b2sum invocation::. + + 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. Synopsis: + + md5sum [OPTION]... [FILE]... + + For each FILE, ‘md5sum’ outputs by default, the MD5 checksum, a +space, a flag indicating binary or text input mode, and the file name. +Binary mode is indicated with ‘*’, text mode with ‘ ’ (space). Binary +mode is the default on systems where it’s significant, otherwise text +mode is the default. Without ‘--zero’, if FILE contains a backslash or +newline, the line is started with a backslash, and each problematic +character in the file name is escaped with a backslash, making the +output unambiguous even in the presence of arbitrary file names. 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 each input file as binary, by reading it in binary mode and + outputting a ‘*’ flag. This is the inverse of ‘--text’. On + systems like GNU that do not distinguish between binary and text + files, this option merely flags each input mode as binary: the MD5 + checksum is unaffected. This option is the default on systems like + MS-DOS that distinguish between binary and text files, except for + reading standard input when standard input is a terminal. + +‘-c’ +‘--check’ + Read file names and checksum information (not data) from each FILE + (or from stdin if no FILE was specified) and report whether the + checksums match the contents of the named files. The input to this + mode of ‘md5sum’ is usually the output of a prior, + checksum-generating run of ‘md5sum’. Three input formats are + supported. Either the default output format described above, the + ‘--tag’ output format, or the BSD reversed mode format which is + similar to the default mode, but doesn’t use a character to + distinguish binary and text modes. Output with ‘--zero’ enabled is + not supported by ‘--check’. + + 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 file name, 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. + +‘--ignore-missing’ + This option is useful only when verifying checksums. When + verifying checksums, don’t fail or report any status for missing + files. This is useful when verifying a subset of downloaded files + given a larger list of checksums. + +‘--quiet’ + This option is useful only when verifying checksums. When + verifying checksums, don’t generate an ’OK’ message per + successfully checked file. Files that fail the verification are + reported in the default one-line-per-file format. If there is any + checksum mismatch, print a warning summarizing the failures to + standard error. + +‘--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. + +‘--tag’ + Output BSD style checksums, which indicate the checksum algorithm + used. As a GNU extension, if ‘--zero’ is not used, file names with + problematic characters are escaped as described above, with the + same escaping indicator of ‘\’ at the start of the line, being + used. The ‘--tag’ option implies binary mode, and is disallowed + with ‘--text’ mode as supporting that would unnecessarily + complicate the output format, while providing little benefit. + +‘-t’ +‘--text’ + Treat each input file as text, by reading it in text mode and + outputting a ‘ ’ flag. This is the inverse of ‘--binary’. This + option is the default on systems like GNU that do not distinguish + between binary and text files. On other systems, it is the default + for reading standard input when standard input is a terminal. This + mode is never defaulted to if ‘--tag’ is used. + +‘-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. + +‘--strict’ + When verifying checksums, if one or more input line is invalid, + exit nonzero after all warnings have been issued. + +‘-z’ +‘--zero’ + Output a zero byte (ASCII NUL) at the end of each line, rather than + a newline. This option enables other programs to parse the output + even when that output would contain data with embedded newlines. + Also file name escaping is not used. + + An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value +indicates failure. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: sha1sum invocation, Next: sha2 utilities, Prev: md5sum invocation, Up: Summarizing files + +6.6 ‘sha1sum’: Print or check SHA-1 digests +=========================================== + +‘sha1sum’ computes a 160-bit checksum for each specified FILE. The +usage and options of this command are precisely the same as for +‘md5sum’. *Note md5sum invocation::. + + Note: The SHA-1 digest is more reliable than a simple CRC (provided +by the ‘cksum’ command) for detecting accidental file corruption, as the +chances of accidentally having two files with identical SHA-1 are +vanishingly small. However, it should not be considered secure against +malicious tampering: although finding a file with a given SHA-1 +fingerprint is considered infeasible at the moment, it is known how to +modify certain files, including digital certificates, so that they +appear valid when signed with an SHA-1 digest. For more secure hashes, +consider using SHA-2, or the newer ‘b2sum’ command. *Note sha2 +utilities::. *Note b2sum invocation::. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: sha2 utilities, Prev: sha1sum invocation, Up: Summarizing files + +6.7 sha2 utilities: Print or check SHA-2 digests +================================================ + +The commands ‘sha224sum’, ‘sha256sum’, ‘sha384sum’ and ‘sha512sum’ +compute checksums of various lengths (respectively 224, 256, 384 and 512 +bits), collectively known as the SHA-2 hashes. The usage and options of +these commands are precisely the same as for ‘md5sum’ and ‘sha1sum’. +*Note md5sum invocation::. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Operating on sorted files, Next: Operating on fields, Prev: Summarizing files, Up: Top + +7 Operating on sorted files +*************************** + +These commands work with (or produce) sorted files. + +* Menu: + +* sort invocation:: Sort text files. +* shuf invocation:: Shuffle 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. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: sort invocation, Next: shuf 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]... + + Many options affect how ‘sort’ compares lines; if the results are +unexpected, try the ‘--debug’ option to see what happened. A pair of +lines is compared as follows: ‘sort’ compares each pair of fields (see +‘--key’), in the order specified on the command line, according to the +associated ordering options, until a difference is found or no fields +are left. If no key fields are specified, ‘sort’ uses a default key of +the entire line. Finally, as a last resort when all keys compare equal, +‘sort’ compares entire lines as if no ordering options other than +‘--reverse’ (‘-r’) were specified. 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. The ‘--unique’ +(‘-u’) option also disables the last-resort comparison. + + Unless otherwise specified, all comparisons use the character +collating sequence specified by the ‘LC_COLLATE’ locale.(1) A line’s +trailing newline is not part of the line for comparison purposes. If +the final byte of an input file is not a newline, GNU ‘sort’ silently +supplies one. GNU ‘sort’ (as specified for all GNU utilities) has no +limit on input line length or restrictions on bytes allowed within +lines. + + ‘sort’ has three modes of operation: sort (the default), merge, and +check for sortedness. The following options change the operation mode: + +‘-c’ +‘--check’ +‘--check=diagnose-first’ + Check whether the given file is already sorted: if it is not all + sorted, print a diagnostic containing the first out-of-order line + and exit with a status of 1. Otherwise, exit successfully. At + most one input file can be given. + +‘-C’ +‘--check=quiet’ +‘--check=silent’ + Exit successfully if the given file is already sorted, and exit + with status 1 otherwise. At most one input file can be given. + This is like ‘-c’, except it does not print a diagnostic. + +‘-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. + + Exit status: + + 0 if no error occurred + 1 if invoked with ‘-c’ or ‘-C’ and the input is not 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. By + default a blank is a space or a tab, but the ‘LC_CTYPE’ locale can + change this. Note blanks may be ignored by your locale’s collating + rules, but without this option they will be significant for + character positions specified in keys with the ‘-k’ option. + +‘-d’ +‘--dictionary-order’ + Sort in “phone directory” order: ignore all characters except + letters, digits and blanks when sorting. By default letters and + digits are those of ASCII and a blank is a space or a tab, but the + ‘LC_CTYPE’ locale can change this. + +‘-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. When used with + ‘--unique’ those lower case equivalent lines are thrown away. + (There is currently no way to throw away the upper case equivalent + instead. (Any ‘--reverse’ given would only affect the final + result, after the throwing away.)) + +‘-g’ +‘--general-numeric-sort’ +‘--sort=general-numeric’ + Sort numerically, converting a prefix of each line to a long + double-precision floating point number. *Note Floating point::. + 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. + +‘-h’ +‘--human-numeric-sort’ +‘--sort=human-numeric’ + Sort numerically, first by numeric sign (negative, zero, or + positive); then by SI suffix (either empty, or ‘k’ or ‘K’, or one + of ‘MGTPEZY’, in that order; *note Block size::); and finally by + numeric value. For example, ‘1023M’ sorts before ‘1G’ because ‘M’ + (mega) precedes ‘G’ (giga) as an SI suffix. This option sorts + values that are consistently scaled to the nearest suffix, + regardless of whether suffixes denote powers of 1000 or 1024, and + it therefore sorts the output of any single invocation of the ‘df’, + ‘du’, or ‘ls’ commands that are invoked with their + ‘--human-readable’ or ‘--si’ options. The syntax for numbers is + the same as for the ‘--numeric-sort’ option; the SI suffix must + immediately follow the number. Note also the ‘numfmt’ command, + which can be used to reformat numbers to human format _after_ the + sort, thus often allowing sort to operate on more accurate numbers. + +‘-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’ +‘--sort=month’ + 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. By default a blank is a space or a tab, but the + ‘LC_CTYPE’ locale can change this. + +‘-n’ +‘--numeric-sort’ +‘--sort=numeric’ + Sort numerically. The number begins each line and 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. An empty number + is treated as ‘0’. The ‘LC_NUMERIC’ locale specifies the + decimal-point character and thousands separator. By default a + blank is a space or a tab, but the ‘LC_CTYPE’ locale can change + this. + + Comparison is exact; there is no rounding error. + + Neither a leading ‘+’ nor exponential notation is recognized. To + compare such strings numerically, use the ‘--general-numeric-sort’ + (‘-g’) option. + +‘-V’ +‘--version-sort’ + Sort by version name and number. It behaves like a standard sort, + except that each sequence of decimal digits is treated numerically + as an index/version number. (*Note Version sort ordering::.) + +‘-r’ +‘--reverse’ + Reverse the result of comparison, so that lines with greater key + values appear earlier in the output instead of later. + +‘-R’ +‘--random-sort’ +‘--sort=random’ + Sort by hashing the input keys and then sorting the hash values. + Choose the hash function at random, ensuring that it is free of + collisions so that differing keys have differing hash values. This + is like a random permutation of the inputs (*note shuf + invocation::), except that keys with the same value sort together. + + If multiple random sort fields are specified, the same random hash + function is used for all fields. To use different random hash + functions for different fields, you can invoke ‘sort’ more than + once. + + The choice of hash function is affected by the ‘--random-source’ + option. + + Other options are: + +‘--compress-program=PROG’ + Compress any temporary files with the program PROG. + + With no arguments, PROG must compress standard input to standard + output, and when given the ‘-d’ option it must decompress standard + input to standard output. + + Terminate with an error if PROG exits with nonzero status. + + White space and the backslash character should not appear in PROG; + they are reserved for future use. + +‘--files0-from=FILE’ + Disallow processing files named on the command line, and instead + process those named in file FILE; each name being terminated by a + zero byte (ASCII NUL). This is useful when the list of file names + is so long that it may exceed a command line length limitation. In + such cases, running ‘sort’ via ‘xargs’ is undesirable because it + splits the list into pieces and makes ‘sort’ print sorted output + for each sublist rather than for the entire list. One way to + produce a list of ASCII NUL terminated file names is with GNU + ‘find’, using its ‘-print0’ predicate. If FILE is ‘-’ then the + ASCII NUL terminated file names are read from standard input. + +‘-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_. + + In its simplest form POS specifies a field number (starting with + 1), with fields being separated by runs of blank characters, and by + default those blanks being included in the comparison at the start + of each field. To adjust the handling of blank characters see the + ‘-b’ and ‘-t’ options. + + More generally, each POS has the form ‘F[.C][OPTS]’, 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. Fields and character + positions are numbered starting with 1; a character position of + zero in POS2 indicates the field’s last character. If ‘.C’ is + omitted from POS1, it defaults to 1 (the beginning of the field); + if omitted from POS2, it defaults to 0 (the end of the field). + OPTS are ordering options, allowing individual keys to be sorted + according to different rules; see below for details. Keys can span + multiple fields. + + Example: To sort on the second field, use ‘--key=2,2’ (‘-k 2,2’). + See below for more notes on keys and more examples. See also the + ‘--debug’ option to help determine the part of the line being used + in the sort. + +‘--debug’ + Highlight the portion of each line used for sorting. Also issue + warnings about questionable usage to stderr. + +‘--batch-size=NMERGE’ + Merge at most NMERGE inputs at once. + + When ‘sort’ has to merge more than NMERGE inputs, it merges them in + groups of NMERGE, saving the result in a temporary file, which is + then used as an input in a subsequent merge. + + A large value of NMERGE may improve merge performance and decrease + temporary storage utilization at the expense of increased memory + usage and I/O. Conversely a small value of NMERGE may reduce + memory requirements and I/O at the expense of temporary storage + consumption and merge performance. + + The value of NMERGE must be at least 2. The default value is + currently 16, but this is implementation-dependent and may change + in the future. + + The value of NMERGE may be bounded by a resource limit for open + file descriptors. The commands ‘ulimit -n’ or ‘getconf OPEN_MAX’ + may display limits for your systems; these limits may be modified + further if your program already has some files open, or if the + operating system has other limits on the number of open files. If + the value of NMERGE exceeds the resource limit, ‘sort’ silently + uses a smaller value. + +‘-o OUTPUT-FILE’ +‘--output=OUTPUT-FILE’ + Write output to OUTPUT-FILE instead of standard output. Normally, + ‘sort’ reads all input before opening OUTPUT-FILE, so you can sort + a file in place by using commands like ‘sort -o F F’ and ‘cat F | + sort -o F’. However, it is often safer to output to an + otherwise-unused file, as data may be lost if the system crashes or + ‘sort’ encounters an I/O or other serious error while a file is + being sorted in place. Also, ‘sort’ with ‘--merge’ (‘-m’) can open + the output file before reading all input, so a command like ‘cat F + | sort -m -o F - G’ is not safe as ‘sort’ might start writing ‘F’ + before ‘cat’ is done reading it. + + 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. + +‘--random-source=FILE’ + Use FILE as a source of random data used to determine which random + hash function to use with the ‘-R’ option. *Note Random sources::. + +‘-s’ +‘--stable’ + + Make ‘sort’ stable by disabling its last-resort comparison. This + option has no effect if no fields or global ordering options other + than ‘--reverse’ (‘-r’) are specified. + +‘-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. + By default a blank is a space or a tab, but the ‘LC_CTYPE’ locale + can change this. + + 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, so + with ‘sort -t " "’ the same input line has three fields: an empty + field, ‘foo’, and ‘bar’. However, fields that extend to the end of + the line, as ‘-k 2’, or fields consisting of a range, as ‘-k 2,3’, + retain the field separators present between the endpoints of the + range. + + To specify ASCII NUL 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. + +‘--parallel=N’ + Set the number of sorts run in parallel to N. By default, N is set + to the number of available processors, but limited to 8, as there + are diminishing performance gains after that. Note also that using + N threads increases the memory usage by a factor of log N. Also + see *note nproc invocation::. + +‘-u’ +‘--unique’ + + Normally, output only the first of a sequence of lines that compare + equal. For the ‘--check’ (‘-c’ or ‘-C’) option, check that no pair + of consecutive lines compares equal. + + This option also disables the default last-resort comparison. + + The commands ‘sort -u’ and ‘sort | uniq’ are equivalent, but this + equivalence does not extend to arbitrary ‘sort’ options. For + example, ‘sort -n -u’ inspects only the value of the initial + numeric string when checking for uniqueness, whereas ‘sort -n | + uniq’ inspects the entire line. *Note uniq invocation::. + +‘-z’ +‘--zero-terminated’ + Delimit items with a zero byte rather than a newline (ASCII LF). + I.e., treat input as items separated by ASCII NUL and terminate + output items with ASCII NUL. 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 file names (even + those containing blanks or other special 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 ‘-k’ may have any of the +option letters ‘MbdfghinRrV’ appended to it, in which case no global +ordering options are inherited by 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. If input lines can contain +leading or adjacent blanks and ‘-t’ is not used, then ‘-k’ is typically +combined with ‘-b’ or an option that implicitly ignores leading blanks +(‘Mghn’) as otherwise the varying numbers of leading blanks in fields +can cause confusing results. + + If the start position in a sort field specifier falls after the end +of the line or after the end field, the field is empty. If the ‘-b’ +option was specified, the ‘.C’ part of a field specification is counted +from the first nonblank character of the field. + + On systems not conforming to POSIX 1003.1-2001, ‘sort’ supports a +traditional origin-zero syntax ‘+POS1 [-POS2]’ for specifying sort keys. +The traditional command ‘sort +A.X -B.Y’ is equivalent to ‘sort -k +A+1.X+1,B’ if Y is ‘0’ or absent, otherwise it is equivalent to ‘sort -k +A+1.X+1,B+1.Y’. + + This traditional behavior can be controlled with the +‘_POSIX2_VERSION’ environment variable (*note Standards conformance::); +it can also be enabled when ‘POSIXLY_CORRECT’ is not set by using the +traditional syntax with ‘-POS2’ present. + + Scripts intended for use on standard hosts should avoid traditional +syntax and should use ‘-k’ instead. For example, avoid ‘sort +2’, since +it might be interpreted as either ‘sort ./+2’ or ‘sort -k 3’. If your +script must also run on hosts that support only the traditional syntax, +it can use a test like ‘if sort -k 1 </dev/null >/dev/null 2>&1; then +...’ to decide which syntax to use. + + Here are some examples to illustrate various combinations of options. + + • Sort in descending (reverse) numeric order. + + sort -n -r + + • Run no more than 4 sorts concurrently, using a buffer size of 10M. + + sort --parallel=4 -S 10M + + • Sort alphabetically, omitting the first and second fields and the + blanks at the start of the third field. This uses a single key + composed of the characters beginning at the start of the first + nonblank character in field three and extending to the end of each + line. + + sort -k 3b + + • 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 2n’ instead of ‘-k 2,2n’ ‘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. Fields are separated by ‘:’. + + sort -t : -k 5b,5 -k 3,3n /etc/passwd + sort -t : -n -k 5b,5 -k 3,3 /etc/passwd + sort -t : -b -k 5,5 -k 3,3n /etc/passwd + + These three commands have equivalent effect. The first specifies + that the first key’s start position ignores leading blanks and the + second key is sorted numerically. The other two commands rely on + global options being inherited by sort keys that lack modifiers. + The inheritance works in this case because ‘-k 5b,5b’ and ‘-k 5b,5’ + are equivalent, as the location of a field-end lacking a ‘.C’ + character position is not affected by whether initial blanks are + skipped. + + • Sort a set of log files, primarily by IPv4 address and secondarily + by timestamp. If two lines’ primary and secondary keys are + identical, output the lines in the same order that they were input. + The log files contain lines that look like this: + + 4.150.156.3 - - [01/Apr/2004:06:31:51 +0000] message 1 + 211.24.3.231 - - [24/Apr/2004:20:17:39 +0000] message 2 + + Fields are separated by exactly one space. Sort IPv4 addresses + lexicographically, e.g., 212.61.52.2 sorts before 212.129.233.201 + because 61 is less than 129. + + sort -s -t ' ' -k 4.9n -k 4.5M -k 4.2n -k 4.14,4.21 file*.log | + sort -s -t '.' -k 1,1n -k 2,2n -k 3,3n -k 4,4n + + This example cannot be done with a single ‘sort’ invocation, since + IPv4 address components are separated by ‘.’ while dates come just + after a space. So it is broken down into two invocations of + ‘sort’: the first sorts by timestamp and the second by IPv4 + address. The timestamp is sorted by year, then month, then day, + and finally by hour-minute-second field, using ‘-k’ to isolate each + field. Except for hour-minute-second there’s no need to specify + the end of each key field, since the ‘n’ and ‘M’ modifiers sort + based on leading prefixes that cannot cross field boundaries. The + IPv4 addresses are sorted lexicographically. The second sort uses + ‘-s’ so that ties in the primary key are broken by the secondary + key; the first sort uses ‘-s’ so that the combination of the two + sorts is stable. + + • Generate a tags file in case-insensitive sorted order. + + find src -type f -print0 | sort -z -f | xargs -0 etags --append + + The use of ‘-print0’, ‘-z’, and ‘-0’ in this case means that file + names that contain blanks or other special characters are not + broken up by the sort operation. + + • Use the common DSU, Decorate Sort Undecorate idiom to sort lines + according to their length. + + awk '{print length, $0}' /etc/passwd | sort -n | cut -f2- -d' ' + + In general this technique can be used to sort data that the ‘sort’ + command does not support, or is inefficient at, sorting directly. + + • Shuffle a list of directories, but preserve the order of files + within each directory. For instance, one could use this to + generate a music playlist in which albums are shuffled but the + songs of each album are played in order. + + ls */* | sort -t / -k 1,1R -k 2,2 + + ---------- 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: shuf invocation, Next: uniq invocation, Prev: sort invocation, Up: Operating on sorted files + +7.2 ‘shuf’: Shuffling text +========================== + +‘shuf’ shuffles its input by outputting a random permutation of its +input lines. Each output permutation is equally likely. Synopses: + + shuf [OPTION]... [FILE] + shuf -e [OPTION]... [ARG]... + shuf -i LO-HI [OPTION]... + + ‘shuf’ has three modes of operation that affect where it obtains its +input lines. By default, it reads lines from standard input. The +following options change the operation mode: + +‘-e’ +‘--echo’ + Treat each command-line operand as an input line. + +‘-i LO-HI’ +‘--input-range=LO-HI’ + Act as if input came from a file containing the range of unsigned + decimal integers LO...HI, one per line. + + ‘shuf’’s other options can affect its behavior in all operation +modes: + +‘-n COUNT’ +‘--head-count=COUNT’ + Output at most COUNT lines. By default, all input lines are + output. + +‘-o OUTPUT-FILE’ +‘--output=OUTPUT-FILE’ + Write output to OUTPUT-FILE instead of standard output. ‘shuf’ + reads all input before opening OUTPUT-FILE, so you can safely + shuffle a file in place by using commands like ‘shuf -o F <F’ and + ‘cat F | shuf -o F’. + +‘--random-source=FILE’ + Use FILE as a source of random data used to determine which + permutation to generate. *Note Random sources::. + +‘-r’ +‘--repeat’ + Repeat output values, that is, select with replacement. With this + option the output is not a permutation of the input; instead, each + output line is randomly chosen from all the inputs. This option is + typically combined with ‘--head-count’; if ‘--head-count’ is not + given, ‘shuf’ repeats indefinitely. + +‘-z’ +‘--zero-terminated’ + Delimit items with a zero byte rather than a newline (ASCII LF). + I.e., treat input as items separated by ASCII NUL and terminate + output items with ASCII NUL. 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 file names (even + those containing blanks or other special characters). + + For example: + + shuf <<EOF + A man, + a plan, + a canal: + Panama! + EOF + +might produce the output + + Panama! + A man, + a canal: + a plan, + +Similarly, the command: + + shuf -e clubs hearts diamonds spades + +might output: + + clubs + diamonds + spades + hearts + +and the command ‘shuf -i 1-4’ might output: + + 4 + 2 + 1 + 3 + +The above examples all have four input lines, so ‘shuf’ might produce +any of the twenty-four possible permutations of the input. In general, +if there are N input lines, there are N! (i.e., N factorial, or N * (N +- 1) * ... * 1) possible output permutations. + +To output 50 random numbers each in the range 0 through 9, use: + + shuf -r -n 50 -i 0-9 + +To simulate 100 coin flips, use: + + shuf -r -n 100 -e Head Tail + + An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value +indicates failure. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: uniq invocation, Next: comm invocation, Prev: shuf invocation, Up: Operating on sorted files + +7.3 ‘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’. *Note sort +invocation::. + + Comparisons honor the rules 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. + + For compatibility ‘uniq’ supports a traditional option syntax ‘-N’. + New scripts should 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 systems not conforming to POSIX 1003.1-2001, ‘uniq’ supports a + traditional option syntax ‘+N’. Although this traditional behavior + can be controlled with the ‘_POSIX2_VERSION’ environment variable + (*note Standards conformance::), portable scripts should avoid + commands whose behavior depends on this variable. For example, use + ‘uniq ./+10’ or ‘uniq -s 10’ rather than the ambiguous ‘uniq +10’. + +‘-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, + supported with the long form option, specifies 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. With + ‘--zero-terminated’ (‘-z’), use a zero byte (ASCII NUL) + instead of a newline as the delimiter. + + ‘separate’ + Separate groups of repeated lines with a single newline. This + is the same as using ‘prepend’, except that no delimiter is + inserted before the first group, and hence may be better + suited for output direct to users. With ‘--zero-terminated’ + (‘-z’), use a zero byte (ASCII NUL) instead of a newline as + the delimiter. + + Note that when groups are delimited and the input stream contains + blank lines, then the output is ambiguous. To avoid that, filter + the input through ‘tr -s '\n'’ to remove blank lines. + + This is a GNU extension. + +‘--group[=DELIMIT-METHOD]’ + Output all lines, and delimit each unique group. With + ‘--zero-terminated’ (‘-z’), use a zero byte (ASCII NUL) instead of + a newline as the delimiter. The optional DELIMIT-METHOD specifies + how to delimit groups, and must be one of the following: + + ‘separate’ + Separate unique groups with a single delimiter. This is the + default delimiting method if none is specified, and better + suited for output direct to users. + + ‘prepend’ + Output a delimiter before each group of unique items. + + ‘append’ + Output a delimiter after each group of unique items. + + ‘both’ + Output a delimiter around each group of unique items. + + Note that when groups are delimited and the input stream contains + blank lines, then the output is ambiguous. To avoid that, filter + the input through ‘tr -s '\n'’ to remove blank lines. + + This is a GNU extension. + +‘-u’ +‘--unique’ + Discard the last line that would be output for a repeated input + group. 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. + +‘-z’ +‘--zero-terminated’ + Delimit items with a zero byte rather than a newline (ASCII LF). + I.e., treat input as items separated by ASCII NUL and terminate + output items with ASCII NUL. 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 file names (even + those containing blanks or other special characters). Note with + ‘-z’ the newline character is treated as a field separator. + + 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 + +7.4 ‘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 (and separators). 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. + + If the ‘--check-order’ option is given, unsorted inputs will cause a +fatal error message. If the option ‘--nocheck-order’ is given, unsorted +inputs will never cause an error message. If neither of these options +is given, wrongly sorted inputs are diagnosed only if an input file is +found to contain unpairable lines. If an input file is diagnosed as +being unsorted, the ‘comm’ command will exit with a nonzero status (and +the output should not be used). + + Forcing ‘comm’ to process wrongly sorted input files containing +unpairable lines by specifying ‘--nocheck-order’ is not guaranteed to +produce any particular output. The output will probably not correspond +with whatever you hoped it would be. + +‘--check-order’ + Fail with an error message if either input file is wrongly ordered. + +‘--nocheck-order’ + Do not check that both input files are in sorted order. + + Other options are: + +‘--output-delimiter=STR’ + Print STR between adjacent output columns, rather than the default + of a single TAB character. + + The delimiter STR may not be empty. + +‘--total’ + Output a summary at the end. + + Similar to the regular output, column one contains the total number + of lines unique to FILE1, column two contains the total number of + lines unique to FILE2, and column three contains the total number + of lines common to both files, followed by the word ‘total’ in the + additional column four. + + In the following example, ‘comm’ omits the regular output (‘-123’), + thus just printing the summary: + + $ printf '%s\n' a b c d e > file1 + $ printf '%s\n' b c d e f g > file2 + $ comm --total -123 file1 file2 + 1 2 4 total + + This option is a GNU extension. Portable scripts should use ‘wc’ + to get the totals, e.g. for the above example files: + + $ comm -23 file1 file2 | wc -l # number of lines only in file1 + 1 + $ comm -13 file1 file2 | wc -l # number of lines only in file2 + 2 + $ comm -12 file1 file2 | wc -l # number of lines common to both files + 4 + +‘-z’ +‘--zero-terminated’ + Delimit items with a zero byte rather than a newline (ASCII LF). + I.e., treat input as items separated by ASCII NUL and terminate + output items with ASCII NUL. 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 file names (even + those containing blanks or other special characters). + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: ptx invocation, Next: tsort invocation, Prev: comm invocation, Up: Operating on sorted files + +7.5 ‘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. *Note Compatibility in ptx::, for the full list. + + 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 + +7.5.1 General options +--------------------- + +‘-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 + +7.5.2 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 + +7.5.3 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. + +‘-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. *Note + Output formatting in ptx::, for more information about reference + production. 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 + +7.5.4 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’ +‘--flag-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 + +7.5.5 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 bytes, even ASCII NUL bytes, 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, Prev: ptx invocation, Up: Operating on sorted files + +7.6 ‘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::. + + An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value +indicates failure. + +* Menu: + +* tsort background:: Where tsort came from. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: tsort background, Up: tsort invocation + +7.6.1 ‘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. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Operating on fields, Next: Operating on characters, Prev: Operating on sorted files, Up: Top + +8 Operating on fields +********************* + +* 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 + +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’ + Select for printing 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’ + Select for printing only the 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’ + Select for printing 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. + + Note ‘awk’ supports more sophisticated field processing, like + reordering fields, and handling fields aligned with blank + characters. By default ‘awk’ uses (and discards) runs of blank + characters to separate fields, and ignores leading and trailing + blanks. + awk '{print $2}' # print the second field + awk '{print $(NF-1)}' # print the penultimate field + awk '{print $2,$1}' # reorder the first two fields + Note while ‘cut’ accepts field specifications in arbitrary order, + output is always in the order encountered in the file. + + In the unlikely event that ‘awk’ is unavailable, one can use the + ‘join’ command, to process blank characters as ‘awk’ does above. + join -a1 -o 1.2 - /dev/null # print the second field + join -a1 -o 1.2,1.1 - /dev/null # reorder the first two fields + +‘-d INPUT_DELIM_BYTE’ +‘--delimiter=INPUT_DELIM_BYTE’ + With ‘-f’, use the first byte of INPUT_DELIM_BYTE as the input + fields separator (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 + non-overlapping ranges of selected bytes. + +‘--complement’ + This option is a GNU extension. Select for printing the complement + of the bytes, characters or fields selected with the ‘-b’, ‘-c’ or + ‘-f’ options. In other words, do _not_ print the bytes, characters + or fields specified via those options. This option is useful when + you have many fields and want to print all but a few of them. + +‘-z’ +‘--zero-terminated’ + Delimit items with a zero byte rather than a newline (ASCII LF). + I.e., treat input as items separated by ASCII NUL and terminate + output items with ASCII NUL. 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 file names (even + those containing blanks or other special characters). + + 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 + +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. + + Synopsis: + + paste [OPTION]... [FILE]... + + For example, with: + $ cat num2 + 1 + 2 + $ cat let3 + a + b + c + + Take lines sequentially from each file: + $ paste num2 let3 + 1 a + 2 b + c + + Duplicate lines from a file: + $ paste num2 let3 num2 + 1 a 1 + 2 b 2 + c + + Intermix lines from stdin: + $ paste - let3 - < num2 + 1 a 2 + b + c + + Join consecutive lines with a space: + $ seq 4 | paste -d ' ' - - + 1 2 + 3 4 + + 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_ + +‘-z’ +‘--zero-terminated’ + Delimit items with a zero byte rather than a newline (ASCII LF). + I.e., treat input as items separated by ASCII NUL and terminate + output items with ASCII NUL. 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 file names (even + those containing blanks or other special characters). + + 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 + +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. + + $ cat file1 + a 1 + b 2 + e 5 + + $ cat file2 + a X + e Y + f Z + + $ join file1 file2 + a 1 X + e 5 Y + +‘join’’s default behavior (when no options are given): + • 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. + +* Menu: + +* General options in join:: Options which affect general program behavior. +* Sorting files for join:: Using ‘sort’ before ‘join’. +* Working with fields:: Joining on different fields. +* Paired and unpaired lines:: Controlling ‘join’’s field matching. +* Header lines:: Working with header lines in files. +* Set operations:: Union, Intersection and Difference of files. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: General options in join, Next: Sorting files for join, Up: join invocation + +8.3.1 General options +--------------------- + +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. + +‘--check-order’ + Fail with an error message if either input file is wrongly ordered. + +‘--nocheck-order’ + Do not check that both input files are in sorted order. This is + the default. + +‘-e STRING’ + Replace those output fields that are missing in the input with + STRING. I.e., missing fields specified with the ‘-12jo’ options. + +‘--header’ + Treat the first line of each input file as a header line. The + header lines will be joined and printed as the first output line. + If ‘-o’ is used to specify output format, the header line will be + printed according to the specified format. The header lines will + not be checked for ordering even if ‘--check-order’ is specified. + Also if the header lines from each file do not match, the heading + fields from the first file will be used. + +‘-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’ +‘-o auto’ + If the keyword ‘auto’ is specified, infer the output format from + the first line in each file. This is the same as the default + output format but also ensures the same number of fields are output + for each line. Missing fields are replaced with the ‘-e’ option + and extra fields are discarded. + + Otherwise, 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. + Blank separators typically need to be quoted for the shell. For + example, the commands ‘join -o 1.2,2.2’ and ‘join -o '1.2 2.2'’ are + equivalent. + + 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. Use + ‘sort -t CHAR’, without the ‘-b’ option of ‘sort’, to produce this + ordering. If ‘join -t ''’ is specified, the whole line is + considered, matching the default operation of sort. If ‘-t '\0'’ + is specified then the ASCII NUL character is used to delimit the + fields. + +‘-v FILE-NUMBER’ + Print a line for each unpairable line in file FILE-NUMBER (either + ‘1’ or ‘2’), instead of the normal output. + +‘-z’ +‘--zero-terminated’ + Delimit items with a zero byte rather than a newline (ASCII LF). + I.e., treat input as items separated by ASCII NUL and terminate + output items with ASCII NUL. 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 file names (even + those containing blanks or other special characters). Note with + ‘-z’ the newline character is treated as a field separator. + + An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value +indicates failure. + + If the ‘--check-order’ option is given, unsorted inputs will cause a +fatal error message. If the option ‘--nocheck-order’ is given, unsorted +inputs will never cause an error message. If neither of these options +is given, wrongly sorted inputs are diagnosed only if an input file is +found to contain unpairable lines, and when both input files are non +empty. If an input file is diagnosed as being unsorted, the ‘join’ +command will exit with a nonzero status (and the output should not be +used). + + Forcing ‘join’ to process wrongly sorted input files containing +unpairable lines by specifying ‘--nocheck-order’ is not guaranteed to +produce any particular output. The output will probably not correspond +with whatever you hoped it would be. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Sorting files for join, Next: Working with fields, Prev: General options in join, Up: join invocation + +8.3.2 Pre-sorting +----------------- + +‘join’ requires sorted input files. Each input file should be sorted +according to the key (=field/column number) used in ‘join’. The +recommended sorting option is ‘sort -k 1b,1’ (assuming the desired key +is in the first column). + +Typical usage: + $ sort -k 1b,1 file1 > file1.sorted + $ sort -k 1b,1 file2 > file2.sorted + $ join file1.sorted file2.sorted > file3 + + 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’: + + $ sort -k 1bf,1 file1 > file1.sorted + $ sort -k 1bf,1 file2 > file2.sorted + $ join --ignore-case file1.sorted file2.sorted > file3 + + The ‘sort’ and ‘join’ commands should use consistent locales and +options if the output of ‘sort’ is fed to ‘join’. You can use a command +like ‘sort -k 1b,1’ to sort a file on its default join field, but if you +select a non-default locale, join field, separator, or comparison +options, then you should do so consistently between ‘join’ and ‘sort’. + +To avoid any locale-related issues, it is recommended to use the ‘C’ +locale for both commands: + + $ LC_ALL=C sort -k 1b,1 file1 > file1.sorted + $ LC_ALL=C sort -k 1b,1 file2 > file2.sorted + $ LC_ALL=C join file1.sorted file2.sorted > file3 + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Working with fields, Next: Paired and unpaired lines, Prev: Sorting files for join, Up: join invocation + +8.3.3 Working with fields +------------------------- + +Use ‘-1’,‘-2’ to set the key fields for each of the input files. Ensure +the preceding ‘sort’ commands operated on the same fields. + +The following example joins two files, using the values from seventh +field of the first file and the third field of the second file: + + $ sort -k 7b,7 file1 > file1.sorted + $ sort -k 3b,3 file2 > file2.sorted + $ join -1 7 -2 3 file1.sorted file2.sorted > file3 + +If the field number is the same for both files, use ‘-j’: + + $ sort -k4b,4 file1 > file1.sorted + $ sort -k4b,4 file2 > file2.sorted + $ join -j4 file1.sorted file2.sorted > file3 + +Both ‘sort’ and ‘join’ operate of whitespace-delimited fields. To +specify a different delimiter, use ‘-t’ in _both_: + + $ sort -t, -k3b,3 file1 > file1.sorted + $ sort -t, -k3b,3 file2 > file2.sorted + $ join -t, -j3 file1.sorted file2.sorted > file3 + +To specify a tab (ASCII 0x09) character instead of whitespace, use (1): + + $ sort -t$'\t' -k3b,3 file1 > file1.sorted + $ sort -t$'\t' -k3b,3 file2 > file2.sorted + $ join -t$'\t' -j3 file1.sorted file2.sorted > file3 + +If ‘join -t ''’ is specified then the whole line is considered which +matches the default operation of sort: + + $ sort file1 > file1.sorted + $ sort file2 > file2.sorted + $ join -t '' file1.sorted file2.sorted > file3 + + ---------- Footnotes ---------- + + (1) the ‘$'\t'’ is supported in most modern shells. For older +shells, use a literal tab + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Paired and unpaired lines, Next: Header lines, Prev: Working with fields, Up: join invocation + +8.3.4 Controlling ‘join’’s field matching +----------------------------------------- + +In this section the ‘sort’ commands are omitted for brevity. Sorting +the files before joining is still required. + + ‘join’’s default behavior is to print only lines common to both input +files. Use ‘-a’ and ‘-v’ to print unpairable lines from one or both +files. + +All examples below use the following two (pre-sorted) input files: + + $ cat file1 $ cat file2 + a 1 a A + b 2 c C + +Command Outcome + +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + $ join file1 file2 common lines (_intersection_) + a 1 A + $ join -a 1 file1 file2 common lines _and_ unpaired lines + a 1 A from the first file + b 2 + $ join -a 2 file1 file2 common lines _and_ unpaired lines + a 1 A from the second file + c C + $ join -a 1 -a 2 file1 file2 all lines (paired and unpaired) + a 1 A from both files (_union_). + b 2 see note below regarding ‘-o + c C auto’. + + $ join -v 1 file1 file2 unpaired lines from the first file + b 2 (_difference_) + + $ join -v 2 file1 file2 unpaired lines from the second + c C file (_difference_) + + $ join -v 1 -v 2 file1 file2 unpaired lines from both files, + b 2 omitting common lines (_symmetric + c C difference_). + + +The ‘-o auto -e X’ options are useful when dealing with unpaired lines. +The following example prints all lines (common and unpaired) from both +files. Without ‘-o auto’ it is not easy to discern which fields +originate from which file: + + $ join -a 1 -a 2 file1 file2 + a 1 A + b 2 + c C + + $ join -o auto -e X -a 1 -a 2 file1 file2 + a 1 A + b 2 X + c X C + + If the input has no unpairable lines, a GNU extension is available; +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 + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Header lines, Next: Set operations, Prev: Paired and unpaired lines, Up: join invocation + +8.3.5 Header lines +------------------ + +The ‘--header’ option can be used when the files to join have a header +line which is not sorted: + + $ cat file1 + Name Age + Alice 25 + Charlie 34 + + $ cat file2 + Name Country + Alice France + Bob Spain + + $ join --header -o auto -e NA -a1 -a2 file1 file2 + Name Age Country + Alice 25 France + Bob NA Spain + Charlie 34 NA + + To sort a file with a header line, use GNU ‘sed -u’. The following +example sort the files but keeps the first line of each file in place: + + $ ( sed -u 1q ; sort -k2b,2 ) < file1 > file1.sorted + $ ( sed -u 1q ; sort -k2b,2 ) < file2 > file2.sorted + $ join --header -o auto -e NA -a1 -a2 file1.sorted file2.sorted > file3 + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Set operations, Prev: Header lines, Up: join invocation + +8.3.6 Union, Intersection and Difference of files +------------------------------------------------- + +Combine ‘sort’, ‘uniq’ and ‘join’ to perform the equivalent of set +operations on files: + +Command outcome +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +‘sort -u file1 file2’ Union of unsorted files + +‘sort file1 file2 | uniq -d’ Intersection of unsorted files + +‘sort file1 file1 file2 | uniq -u’ Difference of unsorted files + +‘sort file1 file2 | uniq -u’ Symmetric Difference of unsorted + files + +‘join -t '' -a1 -a2 file1 file2’ Union of sorted files + +‘join -t '' file1 file2’ Intersection of sorted files + +‘join -t '' -v2 file1 file2’ Difference of sorted files + +‘join -t '' -v1 -v2 file1 file2’ Symmetric Difference of sorted + files + + + All examples above operate on entire lines and not on specific +fields: ‘sort’ without ‘-k’ and ‘join -t ''’ both consider entire lines +as the key. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Operating on characters, Next: Directory listing, Prev: Operating on fields, Up: Top + +9 Operating on characters +************************* + +These 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’, ‘-C’) option replaces SET1 with its complement (all of the +characters that are not in SET1). + + Currently ‘tr’ fully supports only single-byte characters. +Eventually it will support multibyte characters; when it does, the ‘-C’ +option will cause it to complement the set of characters, whereas ‘-c’ +will cause it to complement the set of values. This distinction will +matter only when some values are not characters, and this is possible +only in locales using multibyte encodings when the input contains +encoding errors. + + The program accepts the ‘--help’ and ‘--version’ options. *Note +Common options::. Options must precede operands. + + 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 and deleting:: Removing characters. + + +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 + + The following backslash escape sequences are recognized: + + ‘\a’ + Control-G. + ‘\b’ + Control-H. + ‘\f’ + Control-L. + ‘\n’ + Control-J. + ‘\r’ + Control-M. + ‘\t’ + Control-I. + ‘\v’ + Control-K. + ‘\OOO’ + The 8-bit character with the value given by OOO, which is 1 to + 3 octal digits. Note that ‘\400’ is interpreted as the + two-byte sequence, ‘\040’ ‘0’. + ‘\\’ + A backslash. + + While a backslash followed by a character not listed above is + interpreted as that character, the backslash also effectively + removes any special significance, so it is useful to escape ‘[’, + ‘]’, ‘*’, and ‘-’. + +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 and deleting, 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, and +it assumes that the octal code for newline is 012. Assuming a POSIX +compliant ‘tr’, here is a better way to write it: + + tr -cs '[:alnum:]' '[\n*]' + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Squeezing and deleting, 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 and not +translating, ‘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 '\0' + + • 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. + I.e., delete blank lines: + + 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- + + Or you can use ‘--’ to terminate option processing: + + 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: 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 tab stop + given with single spaces. Tab stops can be separated by blanks as + well as by commas. + + As a GNU extension the last TAB specified can be prefixed with a + ‘/’ to indicate a tab size to use for remaining positions. For + example, ‘--tabs=2,4,/8’ will set tab stops at position 2 and 4, + and every multiple of 8 after that. + + Also the last TAB specified can be prefixed with a ‘+’ to indicate + a tab size to use for remaining positions, offset from the final + explicitly specified tab stop. For example, to ignore the 1 + character gutter present in diff output, one can specify a 1 + character offset using ‘--tabs=1,+8’, which will set tab stops at + positions 1,9,17,... + + For compatibility, GNU ‘expand’ also accepts the obsolete option + syntax, ‘-T1[,T2]...’. New scripts should use ‘-t T1[,T2]...’ + 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, converting +blanks at the beginning of each line into as many tab characters as +needed. In the default POSIX locale, a “blank” is a space or a tab; +other locales may specify additional blank characters. Synopsis: + + unexpand [OPTION]... [FILE]... + + By default, ‘unexpand’ converts only initial blanks (those that +precede all non-blank 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 columns apart + instead of the default 8. Otherwise, set the tabs at columns TAB1, + TAB2, ... (numbered from 0), and leave blanks beyond the tab stops + given unchanged. Tab stops can be separated by blanks as well as + by commas. + + As a GNU extension the last TAB specified can be prefixed with a + ‘/’ to indicate a tab size to use for remaining positions. For + example, ‘--tabs=2,4,/8’ will set tab stops at position 2 and 4, + and every multiple of 8 after that. + + Also the last TAB specified can be prefixed with a ‘+’ to indicate + a tab size to use for remaining positions, offset from the final + explicitly specified tab stop. For example, to ignore the 1 + character gutter present in diff output, one can specify a 1 + character offset using ‘--tabs=1,+8’, which will set tab stops at + positions 1,9,17,... + + This option implies the ‘-a’ option. + + For compatibility, GNU ‘unexpand’ supports the obsolete option + syntax, ‘-TAB1[,TAB2]...’, where tab stops must be separated by + commas. (Unlike ‘-t’, this obsolete option does not imply ‘-a’.) + New scripts should use ‘--first-only -t TAB1[,TAB2]...’ instead. + +‘-a’ +‘--all’ + Also convert all sequences of two or more blanks just before a tab + stop, even if they occur after non-blank characters in a line. + + 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. + + Exit status: + + 0 success + 1 minor problems (e.g., failure to access a file or directory not + specified as a command line argument. This happens when listing a + directory in which entries are actively being removed or renamed.) + 2 serious trouble (e.g., memory exhausted, invalid option, failure + to access a file or directory specified as a command line argument + or a directory loop) + + Also see *note Common options::. + +* Menu: + +* Which files are listed:: +* What information is listed:: +* Sorting the output:: +* 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, ‘ls’ lists files and the contents of any directories on the +command line, except that in directories it ignores files whose names +start with ‘.’. + +‘-a’ +‘--all’ + In directories, do not ignore file names that start with ‘.’. + +‘-A’ +‘--almost-all’ + In directories, do not ignore all file names that start with ‘.’; + ignore only ‘.’ and ‘..’. The ‘--all’ (‘-a’) option overrides this + option. + +‘-B’ +‘--ignore-backups’ + In directories, ignore files that end with ‘~’. This option is + equivalent to ‘--ignore='*~' --ignore='.*~'’. + +‘-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’)). + +‘--group-directories-first’ + Group all the directories before the files and then sort the + directories and the files separately using the selected sort key + (see –sort option). That is, this option specifies a primary sort + key, and the –sort option specifies a secondary key. However, any + use of ‘--sort=none’ (‘-U’) disables this option altogether. + +‘--hide=PATTERN’ + In directories, ignore files whose names match the shell pattern + PATTERN, unless the ‘--all’ (‘-a’) or ‘--almost-all’ (‘-A’) is also + given. This option acts like ‘--ignore=PATTERN’ except that it has + no effect if ‘--all’ (‘-a’) or ‘--almost-all’ (‘-A’) is also given. + + This option can be useful in shell aliases. For example, if ‘lx’ + is an alias for ‘ls --hide='*~'’ and ‘ly’ is an alias for ‘ls + --ignore='*~'’, then the command ‘lx -A’ lists the file ‘README~’ + even though ‘ly -A’ would not. + +‘-I PATTERN’ +‘--ignore=PATTERN’ + In directories, ignore files whose names match the shell pattern + (not regular expression) PATTERN. 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 Jun 10 12:27 f1 + -rw-r--r-- 1 0 Jun 10 12:27 f2 + drwxr-xr-x 3 4096 Jun 10 12:27 sub/ + drwxr-xr-x 2 4096 Jun 10 12:27 sub2/ + + a/sub: + total 4 + drwxr-xr-x 2 4096 Jun 10 12:27 deeper/ + + a/sub/deeper: + total 0 + -rw-r--r-- 1 0 Jun 10 12:27 file + + a/sub2: + total 0 + //DIRED// 48 50 84 86 120 123 158 162 217 223 282 286 + //SUBDIRED// 2 3 167 172 228 240 290 296 + //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 Jun 10 12:28 a\ b + //DIRED// 30 34 + //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. + This option is equivalent to ‘--block-size=human-readable’. 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 file + system.) + +‘-l’ +‘--format=long’ +‘--format=verbose’ + In addition to the name of each file, print the file type, file + mode bits, number of hard links, owner name, group name, size, and + timestamp (*note Formatting file timestamps::), normally the + modification timestamp (the mtime, *note File timestamps::). If + the owner or group name cannot be determined, print the owner or + group ID instead, right-justified as a cue that it is a number + rather than a textual name. Print question marks for other + information that cannot be determined. + + 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 file type is one of the following characters: + + ‘-’ + regular file + ‘b’ + block special file + ‘c’ + character special file + ‘C’ + high performance (“contiguous data”) file + ‘d’ + directory + ‘D’ + door (Solaris 2.5 and up) + ‘l’ + symbolic link + ‘M’ + off-line (“migrated”) file (Cray DMF) + ‘n’ + network special file (HP-UX) + ‘p’ + FIFO (named pipe) + ‘P’ + port (Solaris 10 and up) + ‘s’ + socket + ‘?’ + some other file type + + The file mode bits 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 set-user-ID or set-group-ID bit and the corresponding + executable bit are both set. + + ‘S’ + If the set-user-ID or set-group-ID bit is set but the + corresponding executable bit is not set. + + ‘t’ + If the restricted deletion flag or sticky bit, and the + other-executable bit, are both set. The restricted deletion + flag is another name for the sticky bit. *Note Mode + Structure::. + + ‘T’ + If the restricted deletion flag or 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 file mode bits is a single character that specifies + whether an alternate access method such as an access control list + applies to the file. When the character following the file mode + bits is a space, there is no alternate access method. When it is a + printing character, then there is such a method. + + GNU ‘ls’ uses a ‘.’ character to indicate a file with a security + context, but no other alternate access method. + + A file with any other combination of alternate access methods is + marked with a ‘+’ character. + +‘-n’ +‘--numeric-uid-gid’ + Produce long format directory listings, but display right-justified + numeric user and group IDs instead of left-justified 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 ‘M’ for + megabytes. Powers of 1000 are used, not 1024; ‘M’ 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. + +‘-Z’ +‘--context’ + Display the SELinux security context or ‘?’ if none is found. When + used with the ‘-l’ option, print the security context to the left + of the size column. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Sorting the output, Next: General output formatting, 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’ + If the long listing format (e.g., ‘-l’, ‘-o’) is being used, print + the status change timestamp (the ctime) instead of the mtime. When + explicitly sorting by time (‘--sort=time’ or ‘-t’) or when not + using a long listing format, sort according to the ctime. *Note + File timestamps::. + +‘-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 timestamp (mtime) by default, newest first. + The timestamp to order by can be changed with the ‘--time’ option. + *Note File timestamps::. + +‘-u’ +‘--time=atime’ +‘--time=access’ +‘--time=use’ + If the long listing format (e.g., ‘--format=long’) is being used, + print the last access timestamp (the atime). When explicitly + sorting by time (‘--sort=time’ or ‘-t’) or when not using a long + listing format, sort according to the atime. *Note File + timestamps::. + +‘--time=birth’ +‘--time=creation’ + If the long listing format (e.g., ‘--format=long’) is being used, + print the file creation timestamp if available. When explicitly + sorting by time (‘--sort=time’ or ‘-t’) or when not using a long + listing format, sort according to the birth time. *Note File + timestamps::. + +‘-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 Version + sort ordering::.) + +‘-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: General output formatting, Next: Formatting file timestamps, Prev: Sorting the output, Up: ls invocation + +10.1.4 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. See also the ‘-b’ and ‘-q’ options to + suppress direct output of newline characters within a file name. + +‘-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’ program. 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’. + If piping a colorized listing through a pager like ‘less’, use the + ‘-R’ option to pass the color codes to the terminal. + + Note that using the ‘--color’ option may incur a noticeable + performance penalty when run in a directory with very many entries, + because the default settings require that ‘ls’ ‘stat’ every single + file it lists. However, if you would like most of the file-type + coloring but can live without the other coloring options (e.g., + executable, orphan, sticky, other-writable, capability), use + ‘dircolors’ to set the ‘LS_COLORS’ environment variable like this, + eval $(dircolors -p | perl -pe \ + 's/^((CAP|S[ET]|O[TR]|M|E)\w+).*/$1 00/' | dircolors -) + and on a ‘dirent.d_type’-capable file system, ‘ls’ will perform + only one ‘stat’ call per command line argument. + +‘-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, ‘>’ for doors, 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. + +‘--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. + +‘--hyperlink [=WHEN]’ + Output codes recognized by some terminals to link to files using + the ‘file://’ URI format. WHEN may be omitted, or one of: + • none - Do not use hyperlinks at all. This is the default. + • auto - Only use hyperlinks if standard output is a terminal. + • always - Always use hyperlinks. + Specifying ‘--hyperlink’ and no WHEN is equivalent to + ‘--hyperlink=always’. + +‘--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. + ‘slash’ + Append ‘/’ for directories. This is the same as the ‘-p’ + option. + ‘file-type’ + Append ‘/’ for directories, ‘@’ for symbolic links, ‘|’ for + FIFOs, ‘=’ for sockets, and nothing for regular files. This + is the same as the ‘--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’ +‘--kibibytes’ + Set the default block size to its normal value of 1024 bytes, + overriding any contrary specification in environment variables + (*note Block size::). If ‘--block-size’, ‘-h’, ‘--human-readable’, + or ‘--si’ options are used, they take precedence over ‘-k’ or + ‘--kibibytes’ even if ‘-k’ or ‘--kibibytes’ is placed after the + other options. + + The ‘-k’ or ‘--kibibytes’ option affects the per-directory block + count written by the ‘-l’ and similar options, and the size written + by the ‘-s’ or ‘--size’ option. It does not affect the file size + written by ‘-l’. + +‘-m’ +‘--format=commas’ + List files horizontally, with as many as will fit on each line, + separated by ‘, ’ (a comma and a space). + +‘-p’ +‘--indicator-style=slash’ + Append a ‘/’ to directory names. + +‘-x’ +‘--format=across’ +‘--format=horizontal’ + List the files in columns, sorted horizontally. + +‘-T COLS’ +‘--tabsize=COLS’ + Assume that each tab stop 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. + + Some terminal emulators might not properly align columns to the + right of a TAB following a non-ASCII byte. You can avoid that + issue by using the ‘-T0’ option or put ‘TABSIZE=0’ in your + environment, to tell ‘ls’ to align using spaces, not tabs. + +‘-w COLS’ +‘--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. With a COLS value of ‘0’, there is no limit on the length of + the output line, and that single output line will be delimited with + spaces, not tabs. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Formatting file timestamps, Next: Formatting the file names, Prev: General output formatting, Up: ls invocation + +10.1.5 Formatting file timestamps +--------------------------------- + +By default, file timestamps are listed in abbreviated form, using 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. This format can +change depending on the current locale as detailed below. + + 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. *Note File timestamps::. + + Timestamps are listed according to the time zone rules specified by +the ‘TZ’ environment variable, or by the system default rules if ‘TZ’ is +not set. *Note Specifying the Time Zone with ‘TZ’: (libc)TZ Variable. + + 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-like date, time, and + time zone components 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 components with minute precision, + 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-like 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. Mär 2002 ’ and ‘30. Mär 23:45’. + + ‘posix-STYLE’ + List POSIX-locale timestamps if the ‘LC_TIME’ locale category + is POSIX, STYLE timestamps otherwise. For example, the + ‘posix-long-iso’ style 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 ‘locale’. GNU Emacs 21.3 and later use the ‘--dired’ +option and therefore can parse any date format, but if you are using +Emacs 21.1 or 21.2 and specify a non-POSIX locale you may need to set +‘TIME_STYLE="posix-long-iso"’. + + To avoid certain denial-of-service attacks, timestamps that would be +longer than 1000 bytes may be treated as errors. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Formatting the file names, Prev: Formatting file timestamps, Up: ls invocation + +10.1.6 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. However, with ‘ls’ nongraphic characters + are still printed as question marks if the output is a terminal and + you do not specify the ‘--show-control-chars’ option. + +‘-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. + ‘shell-escape’ + Like ‘shell’, but also quoting non-printable characters using + the POSIX proposed ‘$''’ syntax suitable for most shells. + ‘shell-escape-always’ + Like ‘shell-escape’, but quote strings 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 ‘shell-escape’ when the + output is a terminal, and ‘literal’ otherwise. + +‘--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’ 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’ 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. + + *Note ‘ls’: ls invocation. + + +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’. + + To make ‘dircolors’ read a ‘~/.dircolors’ file if it exists, you can +put the following lines in your ‘~/.bashrc’ (or adapt them to your +favorite shell): + + d=.dircolors + test -r $d && eval "$(dircolors $d)" + + 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. Synopses: + + cp [OPTION]... [-T] SOURCE DEST + cp [OPTION]... SOURCE... DIRECTORY + cp [OPTION]... -t DIRECTORY SOURCE... + + • If two file names are given, ‘cp’ copies the first file to the + second. + + • If the ‘--target-directory’ (‘-t’) option is given, or failing that + if the last file is a directory and the ‘--no-target-directory’ + (‘-T’) option is not given, ‘cp’ copies each SOURCE file to the + specified directory, using the SOURCEs’ names. + + 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. + + When copying from a symbolic link, ‘cp’ normally follows the link +only when not copying recursively or when ‘--link’ (‘-l’) is used. 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. + + When copying to a symbolic link, ‘cp’ follows the link only when it +refers to an existing regular file. However, when copying to a dangling +symbolic link, ‘cp’ refuses by default, and fails with a diagnostic, +since the operation is inherently dangerous. This behavior is contrary +to historical practice and to POSIX. Set ‘POSIXLY_CORRECT’ to make ‘cp’ +attempt to create the target of a dangling destination symlink, in spite +of the possible risk. Also, when an option like ‘--backup’ or ‘--link’ +acts to rename or remove the destination before copying, ‘cp’ renames or +removes the symbolic link rather than the file it points to. + + 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). Try to preserve SELinux security + context and extended attributes (xattr), but ignore any failure to + do that and print no corresponding diagnostic. Equivalent to ‘-dR + --preserve=all’ with the reduced diagnostics. + +‘--attributes-only’ + Copy only the specified attributes of the source file to the + destination. If the destination already exists, do not alter its + contents. See the ‘--preserve’ option for controlling which + attributes to copy. + +‘-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. + fail=0 + for i; do + cp --backup --force --preserve=all -- "$i" "$i" || fail=1 + done + exit $fail + +‘--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 + tries to recreate the file by first removing it. Note ‘--force’ + alone will not remove dangling symlinks. When this option is + combined with ‘--link’ (‘-l’) or ‘--symbolic-link’ (‘-s’), the + destination link is replaced, and unless ‘--backup’ (‘-b’) is also + given there is no brief moment when the destination does not exist. + Also see the description of ‘--remove-destination’. + + This option is independent of the ‘--interactive’ or ‘-i’ option: + neither cancels the effect of the other. + + This option is ignored when the ‘--no-clobber’ or ‘-n’ option is + also used. + +‘-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’ + When copying a file other than a directory, prompt whether to + overwrite an existing destination file. The ‘-i’ option overrides + a previous ‘-n’ option. + +‘-l’ +‘--link’ + Make hard links instead of copies of non-directories. + +‘-L’ +‘--dereference’ + Follow symbolic links when copying from them. With this option, + ‘cp’ cannot create a symbolic link. For example, a symlink (to + regular file) in the source tree will be copied to a regular file + in the destination tree. + +‘-n’ +‘--no-clobber’ + Do not overwrite an existing file; silently do nothing instead. + This option overrides a previous ‘-i’ option. This option is + mutually exclusive with ‘-b’ or ‘--backup’ option. + +‘-P’ +‘--no-dereference’ + Copy symbolic links as symbolic links rather than copying the files + that they point to. This option affects only symbolic links in the + source; symbolic links in the destination are always followed if + possible. + +‘-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 file mode bits and access control lists. + ‘ownership’ + Preserve the owner and group. On most modern systems, only + users with appropriate privileges may change the owner of a + file, and ordinary 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, when + possible. On older systems, it is not possible to preserve + these attributes when the affected file is a symbolic link. + However, many systems now provide the ‘utimensat’ function, + which makes it possible even for symbolic links. + ‘links’ + Preserve in the destination files any links between + corresponding source files. Note that with ‘-L’ or ‘-H’, this + option can convert symbolic links to hard links. For example, + $ mkdir c; : > a; ln -s a b; cp -aH a b c; ls -i1 c + 74161745 a + 74161745 b + Note the inputs: ‘b’ is a symlink to regular file ‘a’, yet the + files in destination directory, ‘c/’, are hard-linked. Since + ‘-a’ implies ‘--no-dereference’ it would copy the symlink, but + the later ‘-H’ tells ‘cp’ to dereference the command line + arguments where it then sees two files with the same inode + number. Then the ‘--preserve=links’ option also implied by + ‘-a’ will preserve the perceived hard link. + + Here is a similar example that exercises ‘cp’’s ‘-L’ option: + $ mkdir b c; (cd b; : > a; ln -s a b); cp -aL b c; ls -i1 c/b + 74163295 a + 74163295 b + + ‘context’ + Preserve SELinux security context of the file, or fail with + full diagnostics. + ‘xattr’ + Preserve extended attributes of the file, or fail with full + diagnostics. If ‘cp’ is built without xattr support, ignore + this option. If SELinux context, ACLs or Capabilities are + implemented using xattrs, they are preserved implicitly by + this option as well, i.e., even without specifying + ‘--preserve=mode’ or ‘--preserve=context’. + ‘all’ + Preserve all file attributes. Equivalent to specifying all of + the above, but with the difference that failure to preserve + SELinux security context or extended attributes does not + change ‘cp’’s exit status. In contrast to ‘-a’, all but + ‘Operation not supported’ warnings are output. + + Using ‘--preserve’ with no ATTRIBUTE_LIST is equivalent to + ‘--preserve=mode,ownership,timestamps’. + + In the absence of this option, the permissions of existing + destination files are unchanged. Each new file is created with the + mode of the corresponding source file minus the set-user-ID, + set-group-ID, and sticky bits as the create mode; the operating + system then applies either the umask or a default ACL, possibly + resulting in a more restrictive file mode. *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. + +‘-R’ +‘-r’ +‘--recursive’ + Copy directories recursively. By default, do not follow symbolic + links in the source unless used together with the ‘--link’ (‘-l’) + option; 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. + +‘--reflink[=WHEN]’ + Perform a lightweight, copy-on-write (COW) copy, if supported by + the file system. Once it has succeeded, beware that the source and + destination files share the same disk data blocks as long as they + remain unmodified. Thus, if a disk I/O error affects data blocks + of one of the files, the other suffers the same fate. + + The WHEN value can be one of the following: + + ‘always’ + The default behavior: if the copy-on-write operation is not + supported then report the failure for each file and exit with + a failure status. + + ‘auto’ + If the copy-on-write operation is not supported then fall back + to the standard copy behavior. + + ‘never’ + Disable copy-on-write operation and use the standard copy + behavior. + + This option is overridden by the ‘--link’, ‘--symbolic-link’ and + ‘--attributes-only’ options, thus allowing it to be used to + configure the default data copying behavior for ‘cp’. For example, + with the following alias, ‘cp’ will use the minimum amount of space + supported by the file system. + + alias cp='cp --reflink=auto --sparse=always' + +‘--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 zeros. 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 file system + that does not support sparse files (for example, ‘efs’ file + systems in SGI IRIX 5.3 and earlier), but the output file is + on a type of file system 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::. + +‘-t DIRECTORY’ +‘--target-directory=DIRECTORY’ + Specify the destination DIRECTORY. *Note Target directory::. + +‘-T’ +‘--no-target-directory’ + Do not treat the last operand specially when it is a directory or a + symbolic link to a directory. *Note Target directory::. + +‘-u’ +‘--update’ + Do not copy a non-directory that has an existing destination with + the same or newer modification timestamp. If timestamps are being + preserved, the comparison is to the source timestamp truncated to + the resolutions of the destination file system and of the system + calls used to update timestamps; this avoids duplicate work if + several ‘cp -pu’ commands are executed with the same source and + destination. This option is ignored if the ‘-n’ or ‘--no-clobber’ + option is also specified. Also, if ‘--preserve=links’ is also + specified (like with ‘cp -au’ for example), that will take + precedence; consequently, depending on the order that files are + processed from the source, newer files in the destination may be + replaced, to mirror hard links in the source. + +‘-v’ +‘--verbose’ + Print the name of each file before copying it. + +‘-x’ +‘--one-file-system’ + Skip subdirectories that are on different file systems from the one + that the copy started on. However, mount point directories _are_ + copied. + +‘-Z’ +‘--context[=CONTEXT]’ + Without a specified CONTEXT, adjust the SELinux security context + according to the system default type for destination files, + similarly to the ‘restorecon’ command. The long form of this + option with a specific context specified, will set the context for + newly created files only. With a specified context, if both + SELinux and SMACK are disabled, a warning is issued. This option + is mutually exclusive with the ‘--preserve=context’ option, and + overrides the ‘--preserve=all’ and ‘-a’ options. + + 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. Synopses: + + dd [OPERAND]... + dd OPTION + + The only options are ‘--help’ and ‘--version’. *Note Common +options::. ‘dd’ accepts the following operands, whose syntax was +inspired by the DD (data definition) statement of OS/360 JCL. + +‘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’ + Set the input block size to BYTES. This makes ‘dd’ read BYTES per + block. The default is 512 bytes. + +‘obs=BYTES’ + Set the output block size to BYTES. This makes ‘dd’ write BYTES + per block. The default is 512 bytes. + +‘bs=BYTES’ + Set both input and output block sizes to BYTES. This makes ‘dd’ + read and write BYTES per block, overriding any ‘ibs’ and ‘obs’ + settings. In addition, if no data-transforming ‘conv’ operand is + specified, input is copied to the output as soon as it’s read, even + if it is smaller than the block size. + +‘cbs=BYTES’ + Set the conversion block size to BYTES. When converting + variable-length records to fixed-length ones (‘conv=block’) or the + reverse (‘conv=unblock’), use BYTES as the fixed record length. + +‘skip=N’ + Skip N ‘ibs’-byte blocks in the input file before copying. If + ‘iflag=skip_bytes’ is specified, N is interpreted as a byte count + rather than a block count. + +‘seek=N’ + Skip N ‘obs’-byte blocks in the output file before copying. if + ‘oflag=seek_bytes’ is specified, N is interpreted as a byte count + rather than a block count. + +‘count=N’ + Copy N ‘ibs’-byte blocks from the input file, instead of everything + until the end of the file. if ‘iflag=count_bytes’ is specified, N + is interpreted as a byte count rather than a block count. Note if + the input may return short reads as could be the case when reading + from a pipe for example, ‘iflag=fullblock’ will ensure that + ‘count=’ corresponds to complete input blocks rather than the + traditional POSIX specified behavior of counting input read + operations. + +‘status=LEVEL’ + Specify the amount of information printed. If this operand is + given multiple times, the last one takes precedence. The LEVEL + value can be one of the following: + + ‘none’ + Do not print any informational or warning messages to stderr. + Error messages are output as normal. + + ‘noxfer’ + Do not print the final transfer rate and volume statistics + that normally make up the last status line. + + ‘progress’ + Print the transfer rate and volume statistics on stderr, when + processing each input block. Statistics are output on a + single line at most once every second, but updates can be + delayed when waiting on I/O. + + Transfer information is normally output to stderr upon receipt of + the ‘INFO’ signal or when ‘dd’ exits, and defaults to the following + form in the C locale: + + 7287+1 records in + 116608+0 records out + 59703296 bytes (60 MB, 57 MiB) copied, 0.0427974 s, 1.4 GB/s + + The notation ‘W+P’ stands for W whole blocks and P partial blocks. + A partial block occurs when a read or write operation succeeds but + transfers less data than the block size. An additional line like + ‘1 truncated record’ or ‘10 truncated records’ is output after the + ‘records out’ line if ‘conv=block’ processing truncated one or more + input records. + +‘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, using the conversion table specified + by POSIX. This provides a 1:1 translation for all 256 bytes. + This implies ‘conv=unblock’; input is converted to ASCII + before trailing spaces are deleted. + + ‘ebcdic’ + Convert ASCII to EBCDIC. This is the inverse of the ‘ascii’ + conversion. This implies ‘conv=block’; trailing spaces are + added before being converted to EBCDIC. + + ‘ibm’ + This acts like ‘conv=ebcdic’, except it uses the alternate + conversion table specified by POSIX. This is not a 1:1 + translation, but reflects common historical practice for ‘~’, + ‘[’, and ‘]’. + + The ‘ascii’, ‘ebcdic’, and ‘ibm’ conversions are mutually + exclusive. If you use any of these conversions, you should + also use the ‘cbs=’ operand. + + ‘block’ + For each line in the input, output ‘cbs’ bytes, replacing the + input newline with a space and truncating or padding input + lines with spaces as necessary. + + ‘unblock’ + Remove any trailing spaces in each ‘cbs’-sized input block, + and append a newline. + + The ‘block’ and ‘unblock’ conversions are mutually exclusive. + + ‘lcase’ + Change uppercase letters to lowercase. + + ‘ucase’ + Change lowercase letters to uppercase. + + The ‘lcase’ and ‘ucase’ conversions are mutually exclusive. + + ‘sparse’ + Try to seek rather than write NUL output blocks. On a file + system that supports sparse files, this will create sparse + output when extending the output file. Be careful when using + this conversion in conjunction with ‘conv=notrunc’ or + ‘oflag=append’. With ‘conv=notrunc’, existing data in the + output file corresponding to NUL blocks from the input, will + be untouched. With ‘oflag=append’ the seeks performed will be + ineffective. Similarly, when the output is a device rather + than a file, NUL input blocks are not copied, and therefore + this conversion is most useful with virtual or pre zeroed + devices. + + ‘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). + + ‘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. + + The following “conversions” are really file flags and don’t affect + internal processing: + + ‘excl’ + Fail if the output file already exists; ‘dd’ must create the + output file itself. + + ‘nocreat’ + Do not create the output file; the output file must already + exist. + + The ‘excl’ and ‘nocreat’ conversions are mutually exclusive. + + ‘notrunc’ + Do not truncate the output file. + + ‘noerror’ + Continue after read errors. + + ‘fdatasync’ + Synchronize output data just before finishing. This forces a + physical write of output data. + + ‘fsync’ + Synchronize output data and metadata just before finishing. + This forces a physical write of output data and metadata. + +‘iflag=FLAG[,FLAG]...’ + Access the input file using the flags specified by the FLAG + argument(s). (No spaces around any comma(s).) + +‘oflag=FLAG[,FLAG]...’ + Access the output file using the flags specified by the FLAG + argument(s). (No spaces around any comma(s).) + + Here are the flags. Not every flag is supported on every operating + system. + + ‘append’ + Write in append mode, so that even if some other process is + writing to this file, every ‘dd’ write will append to the + current contents of the file. This flag makes sense only for + output. If you combine this flag with the ‘of=FILE’ operand, + you should also specify ‘conv=notrunc’ unless you want the + output file to be truncated before being appended to. + + ‘cio’ + Use concurrent I/O mode for data. This mode performs direct + I/O and drops the POSIX requirement to serialize all I/O to + the same file. A file cannot be opened in CIO mode and with a + standard open at the same time. + + ‘direct’ + Use direct I/O for data, avoiding the buffer cache. Note that + the kernel may impose restrictions on read or write buffer + sizes. For example, with an ext4 destination file system and + a Linux-based kernel, using ‘oflag=direct’ will cause writes + to fail with ‘EINVAL’ if the output buffer size is not a + multiple of 512. + + ‘directory’ + + Fail unless the file is a directory. Most operating systems + do not allow I/O to a directory, so this flag has limited + utility. + + ‘dsync’ + Use synchronized I/O for data. For the output file, this + forces a physical write of output data on each write. For the + input file, this flag can matter when reading from a remote + file that has been written to synchronously by some other + process. Metadata (e.g., last-access and last-modified time) + is not necessarily synchronized. + + ‘sync’ + Use synchronized I/O for both data and metadata. + + ‘nocache’ + Request to discard the system data cache for a file. When + count=0 all cached data for the file is specified, otherwise + the cache is dropped for the processed portion of the file. + Also when count=0, failure to discard the cache is diagnosed + and reflected in the exit status. + + Note data that is not already persisted to storage will not be + discarded from cache, so note the use of the ‘sync’ + conversions in the examples below, which are used to maximize + the effectiveness of the ‘nocache’ flag. + + Here are some usage examples: + + # Advise to drop cache for whole file + dd if=ifile iflag=nocache count=0 + + # Ensure drop cache for the whole file + dd of=ofile oflag=nocache conv=notrunc,fdatasync count=0 + + # Advise to drop cache for part of file + # Note the kernel will only consider complete and + # already persisted pages. + dd if=ifile iflag=nocache skip=10 count=10 of=/dev/null + + # Stream data using just the read-ahead cache. + # See also the ‘direct’ flag. + dd if=ifile of=ofile iflag=nocache oflag=nocache,sync + + ‘nonblock’ + Use non-blocking I/O. + + ‘noatime’ + Do not update the file’s access timestamp. *Note File + timestamps::. Some older file systems silently ignore this + flag, so it is a good idea to test it on your files before + relying on it. + + ‘noctty’ + Do not assign the file to be a controlling terminal for ‘dd’. + This has no effect when the file is not a terminal. On many + hosts (e.g., GNU/Linux hosts), this flag has no effect at all. + + ‘nofollow’ + Do not follow symbolic links. + + ‘nolinks’ + Fail if the file has multiple hard links. + + ‘binary’ + Use binary I/O. This flag has an effect only on nonstandard + platforms that distinguish binary from text I/O. + + ‘text’ + Use text I/O. Like ‘binary’, this flag has no effect on + standard platforms. + + ‘fullblock’ + Accumulate full blocks from input. The ‘read’ system call may + return early if a full block is not available. When that + happens, continue calling ‘read’ to fill the remainder of the + block. This flag can be used only with ‘iflag’. This flag is + useful with pipes for example as they may return short reads. + In that case, this flag is needed to ensure that a ‘count=’ + argument is interpreted as a block count rather than a count + of read operations. + + ‘count_bytes’ + Interpret the ‘count=’ operand as a byte count, rather than a + block count, which allows specifying a length that is not a + multiple of the I/O block size. This flag can be used only + with ‘iflag’. + + ‘skip_bytes’ + Interpret the ‘skip=’ operand as a byte count, rather than a + block count, which allows specifying an offset that is not a + multiple of the I/O block size. This flag can be used only + with ‘iflag’. + + ‘seek_bytes’ + Interpret the ‘seek=’ operand as a byte count, rather than a + block count, which allows specifying an offset that is not a + multiple of the I/O block size. This flag can be used only + with ‘oflag’. + + These flags are not supported on all systems, and ‘dd’ rejects + attempts to use them when they are not supported. When reading + from standard input or writing to standard output, the ‘nofollow’ + and ‘noctty’ flags should not be specified, and the other flags + (e.g., ‘nonblock’) can affect how other processes behave with the + affected file descriptors, even after ‘dd’ exits. + + The numeric-valued strings above (N and BYTES) 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::). + + Any block size you specify via ‘bs=’, ‘ibs=’, ‘obs=’, ‘cbs=’ should +not be too large—values larger than a few megabytes are generally +wasteful or (as in the gigabyte..exabyte case) downright +counterproductive or error-inducing. + + To process data that is at an offset or size that is not a multiple +of the I/O block size, you can use the ‘skip_bytes’, ‘seek_bytes’ and +‘count_bytes’ flags. Alternatively the traditional method of separate +‘dd’ invocations can be used. 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 + + For failing disks, other tools come with a great variety of extra +functionality to ease the saving of as much data as possible before the +disk finally dies, e.g. GNU ‘ddrescue’ +(https://www.gnu.org/software/ddrescue/). However, in some cases such a +tool is not available or the administrator feels more comfortable with +the handling of ‘dd’. As a simple rescue method, call ‘dd’ as shown in +the following example: the operand ‘conv=noerror,sync’ is used to +continue after read errors and to pad out bad reads with NULs, while +‘iflag=fullblock’ caters for short reads (which traditionally never +occur on disk based devices): + + # Rescue data from an (unmounted!) partition of a failing disk. + dd conv=noerror,sync iflag=fullblock </dev/sda1 > /mnt/rescue.img + + Sending an ‘INFO’ signal (or ‘USR1’ signal where that is unavailable) +to a running ‘dd’ process makes it print I/O statistics to standard +error and then resume copying. In the example below, ‘dd’ is run in the +background to copy 5GB of data. The ‘kill’ command makes it output +intermediate I/O statistics, and when ‘dd’ completes normally or is +killed by the ‘SIGINT’ signal, it outputs the final statistics. + + # Ignore the signal so we never inadvertently terminate the dd child. + # Note this is not needed when SIGINFO is available. + trap '' USR1 + + # Run dd with the fullblock iflag to avoid short reads + # which can be triggered by reception of signals. + dd iflag=fullblock if=/dev/zero of=/dev/null count=5000000 bs=1000 & pid=$! + + # Output stats every second. + while kill -s USR1 $pid 2>/dev/null; do sleep 1; done + + The above script will output in the following format: + + 3441325+0 records in + 3441325+0 records out + 3441325000 bytes (3.4 GB, 3.2 GiB) copied, 1.00036 s, 3.4 GB/s + 5000000+0 records in + 5000000+0 records out + 5000000000 bytes (5.0 GB, 4.7 GiB) copied, 1.44433 s, 3.5 GB/s + + The ‘status=progress’ operand periodically updates the last line of +the transfer statistics above. + + On systems lacking the ‘INFO’ signal ‘dd’ responds to the ‘USR1’ +signal instead, unless the ‘POSIXLY_CORRECT’ environment variable is +set. + + 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 file mode bits and, if +possible, their owner and group. Synopses: + + install [OPTION]... [-T] SOURCE DEST + install [OPTION]... SOURCE... DIRECTORY + install [OPTION]... -t DIRECTORY SOURCE... + install [OPTION]... -d DIRECTORY... + + • If two file names are given, ‘install’ copies the first file to the + second. + + • If the ‘--target-directory’ (‘-t’) option is given, or failing that + if the last file is a directory and the ‘--no-target-directory’ + (‘-T’) option is not given, ‘install’ copies each SOURCE file to + the specified directory, using the SOURCEs’ names. + + • If the ‘--directory’ (‘-d’) option is given, ‘install’ creates each + DIRECTORY and any missing parent directories. Parent directories + are created with mode ‘u=rwx,go=rx’ (755), regardless of the ‘-m’ + option or the current umask. *Note Directory Setuid and Setgid::, + for how the set-user-ID and set-group-ID bits of parent directories + are inherited. + + ‘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. + + ‘install’ never preserves extended attributes (xattr). + + 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’ +‘--compare’ + Compare each pair of source and destination files, and if the + destination has identical content and any specified owner, group, + permissions, and possibly SELinux context, then do not modify the + destination at all. Note this option is best used in conjunction + with ‘--user’, ‘--group’ and ‘--mode’ options, lest ‘install’ + incorrectly determines the default attributes that installed files + would have (as it doesn’t consider setgid directories and POSIX + default ACLs for example). This could result in redundant copies + or attributes that are not reset to the correct defaults. + +‘-c’ + Ignored; for compatibility with old Unix versions of ‘install’. + +‘-D’ + Create any missing parent directories of DEST, then copy SOURCE to + DEST. Explicitly specifying the ‘--target-directory=DIR’ will + similarly ensure the presence of that hierarchy before copying + SOURCE arguments. + +‘-d’ +‘--directory’ + Create any missing parent directories, giving them the default + attributes. Then create each given directory, setting their owner, + group and mode as given on the command line or to the defaults. + +‘-g GROUP’ +‘--group=GROUP’ + Set the group ownership of installed files or directories to GROUP. + The default is the process’s current group. GROUP may be either a + group name or a numeric group ID. + +‘-m MODE’ +‘--mode=MODE’ + Set the file mode bits for the installed file or directory to MODE, + which can be either an octal number, or a symbolic mode as in + ‘chmod’, with ‘a=’ (no access allowed to anyone) as the point of + departure (*note File permissions::). The default mode is + ‘u=rwx,go=rx,a-s’—read, write, and execute for the owner, read and + execute for group and other, and with set-user-ID and set-group-ID + disabled. This default is not quite the same as ‘755’, since it + disables instead of preserving set-user-ID and set-group-ID on + directories. *Note Directory Setuid and Setgid::. + +‘-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. + +‘--preserve-context’ + Preserve the SELinux security context of files and directories. + Failure to preserve the context in all of the files or directories + will result in an exit status of 1. If SELinux is disabled then + print a warning and ignore the option. + +‘-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 timestamps are both set to the time of + installation. This option is useful if you want to use the last + modification timestamps 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. + +‘--strip-program=PROGRAM’ + Program used to strip binaries. + +‘-S SUFFIX’ +‘--suffix=SUFFIX’ + Append SUFFIX to each backup file made with ‘-b’. *Note Backup + options::. + +‘-t DIRECTORY’ +‘--target-directory=DIRECTORY’ + Specify the destination DIRECTORY. *Note Target directory::. Also + specifying the ‘-D’ option will ensure the directory is present. + +‘-T’ +‘--no-target-directory’ + Do not treat the last operand specially when it is a directory or a + symbolic link to a directory. *Note Target directory::. + +‘-v’ +‘--verbose’ + Print the name of each file before copying it. + +‘-Z’ +‘--context[=CONTEXT]’ + Without a specified CONTEXT, adjust the SELinux security context + according to the system default type for destination files, + similarly to the ‘restorecon’ command. The long form of this + option with a specific context specified, will set the context for + newly created files only. With a specified context, if both + SELinux and SMACK are disabled, a warning is issued. This option + is mutually exclusive with the ‘--preserve-context’ option. + + 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). Synopses: + + mv [OPTION]... [-T] SOURCE DEST + mv [OPTION]... SOURCE... DIRECTORY + mv [OPTION]... -t DIRECTORY SOURCE... + + • If two file names are given, ‘mv’ moves the first file to the + second. + + • If the ‘--target-directory’ (‘-t’) option is given, or failing that + if the last file is a directory and the ‘--no-target-directory’ + (‘-T’) option is not given, ‘mv’ moves each SOURCE file to the + specified directory, using the SOURCEs’ names. + + ‘mv’ can move any type of file from one file system to another. +Prior to version ‘4.0’ of the fileutils, ‘mv’ could move only regular +files between file systems. 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. + + ‘mv’ always tries to copy extended attributes (xattr), which may +include SELinux context, ACLs or Capabilities. Upon failure all but +‘Operation not supported’ warnings are output. + + 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 is +not affirmative, the file is skipped. + + _Warning_: Avoid specifying a source name with a trailing slash, when +it might be a symlink to a directory. Otherwise, ‘mv’ may do something +very surprising, since its behavior depends on the underlying rename +system call. On a system with a modern Linux-based kernel, it fails +with ‘errno=ENOTDIR’. However, on other systems (at least FreeBSD 6.1 +and Solaris 10) it silently renames not the symlink but rather the +directory referenced by the symlink. *Note Trailing slashes::. + + _Note_: ‘mv’ will only replace empty directories in the destination. +Conflicting populated directories are skipped with a diagnostic. + + 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. If you + specify more than one of the ‘-i’, ‘-f’, ‘-n’ options, only the + final one takes effect. + +‘-i’ +‘--interactive’ + Prompt whether to overwrite each existing destination file, + regardless of its permissions. If the response is not affirmative, + the file is skipped. If you specify more than one of the ‘-i’, + ‘-f’, ‘-n’ options, only the final one takes effect. + +‘-n’ +‘--no-clobber’ + Do not overwrite an existing file; silently do nothing instead. If + you specify more than one of the ‘-i’, ‘-f’, ‘-n’ options, only the + final one takes effect. This option is mutually exclusive with + ‘-b’ or ‘--backup’ option. + +‘-u’ +‘--update’ + Do not move a non-directory that has an existing destination with + the same or newer modification timestamp. If the move is across + file system boundaries, the comparison is to the source timestamp + truncated to the resolutions of the destination file system and of + the system calls used to update timestamps; this avoids duplicate + work if several ‘mv -u’ commands are executed with the same source + and destination. This option is ignored if the ‘-n’ or + ‘--no-clobber’ option is also specified. + +‘-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::. + +‘-t DIRECTORY’ +‘--target-directory=DIRECTORY’ + Specify the destination DIRECTORY. *Note Target directory::. + +‘-T’ +‘--no-target-directory’ + Do not treat the last operand specially when it is a directory or a + symbolic link to a directory. *Note Target directory::. + +‘-Z’ +‘--context’ + This option functions similarly to the ‘restorecon’ command, by + adjusting the SELinux security context according to the system + default type for destination files and each created directory. + + 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 the ‘-I’ or ‘--interactive=once’ option is given, and there are +more than three files or the ‘-r’, ‘-R’, or ‘--recursive’ are given, +then ‘rm’ prompts the user for whether to proceed with the entire +operation. If the response is not affirmative, the entire command is +aborted. + + Otherwise, if a file is unwritable, standard input is a terminal, and +the ‘-f’ or ‘--force’ option is not given, or the ‘-i’ or +‘--interactive=always’ option _is_ given, ‘rm’ prompts the user for +whether to remove the file. If the response is not affirmative, the +file is skipped. + + Any attempt to remove a file whose last file name component is ‘.’ or +‘..’ is rejected without any prompting, as mandated by POSIX. + + _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 unrecoverable, consider using ‘shred’. + + The program accepts the following options. Also see *note Common +options::. + +‘-d’ +‘--dir’ + Remove the listed directories if they are empty. + +‘-f’ +‘--force’ + Ignore nonexistent files and missing operands, and never prompt the + user. Ignore any previous ‘--interactive’ (‘-i’) option. + +‘-i’ + Prompt whether to remove each file. If the response is not + affirmative, the file is skipped. Ignore any previous ‘--force’ + (‘-f’) option. Equivalent to ‘--interactive=always’. + +‘-I’ + Prompt once whether to proceed with the command, if more than three + files are named or if a recursive removal is requested. Ignore any + previous ‘--force’ (‘-f’) option. Equivalent to + ‘--interactive=once’. + +‘--interactive [=WHEN]’ + Specify when to issue an interactive prompt. WHEN may be omitted, + or one of: + • never - Do not prompt at all. + • once - Prompt once if more than three files are named or if a + recursive removal is requested. Equivalent to ‘-I’. + • always - Prompt for every file being removed. Equivalent to + ‘-i’. + ‘--interactive’ with no WHEN is equivalent to + ‘--interactive=always’. + +‘--one-file-system’ + When removing a hierarchy recursively, skip any directory that is + on a file system different from that of the corresponding command + line argument. This option is useful when removing a build + “chroot” hierarchy, which normally contains no valuable data. + However, it is not uncommon to bind-mount ‘/home’ into such a + hierarchy, to make it easier to use one’s start-up file. The catch + is that it’s easy to forget to unmount ‘/home’. Then, when you use + ‘rm -rf’ to remove your normally throw-away chroot, that command + will remove everything under ‘/home’, too. Use the + ‘--one-file-system’ option, and it will warn about and skip + directories on other file systems. Of course, this will not save + your ‘/home’ if it and your chroot happen to be on the same file + system. See also ‘--preserve-root=all’ to protect command line + arguments themselves. + +‘--preserve-root [=all]’ + Fail upon any attempt to remove the root directory, ‘/’, when used + with the ‘--recursive’ option. This is the default behavior. + *Note Treating / specially::. When ‘all’ is specified, reject any + command line argument that is not on the same file system as its + parent. + +‘--no-preserve-root’ + Do not treat ‘/’ specially when removing recursively. This option + is not recommended unless you really want to remove all the files + on your computer. *Note Treating / specially::. + +‘-r’ +‘-R’ +‘--recursive’ + Remove the listed directories and their contents 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 extensive +forensics from recovering the data. + + Ordinarily when you remove a file (*note rm invocation::), its data +and metadata are not actually destroyed. Only the file’s directory +entry is removed, and the file’s storage is reclaimed only when no +process has the file open and no other directory entry links to the +file. And even if file’s data and metadata’s storage space is freed for +further reuse, there are undelete utilities that will attempt to +reconstruct the file from the data in freed storage, and that can bring +the file back if the storage was not rewritten. + + On a busy system with a nearly-full device, space can get reused in a +few seconds. But there is no way to know for sure. And although the +undelete utilities and already-existing processes require insider or +superuser access, you may be wary of the superuser, of processes running +on your behalf, or of attackers that can physically access the storage +device. So if you have sensitive data, you may want to be sure that +recovery is not possible by plausible attacks like these. + + 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 this is often the preferred method. However, some storage devices +are expensive or are harder to destroy, so the ‘shred’ utility tries to +achieve a similar effect non-destructively, by overwriting the file with +non-sensitive data. + + *Please note* that ‘shred’ relies on a crucial assumption: that the +file system and hardware overwrite data in place. Although this is +common and is the traditional way to do things, but many modern file +system designs do not satisfy this assumption. Exceptions include: + + • Log-structured or journaled file systems, such as ext3/ext4 (in + ‘data=journal’ mode), Btrfs, NTFS, ReiserFS, XFS, ZFS, file systems + supplied with AIX and Solaris, etc., when they are configured to + journal data. + + • File systems that write redundant data and carry on even if some + writes fail, such as RAID-based file systems. + + • File systems that make snapshots, such as Network Appliance’s NFS + server. + + • File systems that cache in temporary locations, such as NFS version + 3 clients. + + • Compressed file systems. + + For ext3 and ext4 file systems, ‘shred’ is less effective when the +file system is in ‘data=journal’ mode, which journals file data in +addition to just metadata. In both the ‘data=ordered’ (default) and +‘data=writeback’ modes, ‘shred’ works as usual. The ext3/ext4 +journaling modes can be changed by adding the ‘data=something’ option to +the mount options for a particular file system in the ‘/etc/fstab’ file, +as documented in the ‘mount’ man page (‘man mount’). Alternatively, if +you know how large the journal is, you can shred the journal by +shredding enough file data so that the journal cycles around and fills +up with shredded data. + + If you are not sure how your file system operates, then you should +assume that it does not overwrite data in place, which means ‘shred’ +cannot reliably operate on regular files in your file system. + + Generally speaking, it is more reliable to shred a device than a +file, since this bypasses file system design issues mentioned above. +However, devices are also problematic for shredding, for reasons such as +the following: + + • Solid-state storage devices (SSDs) typically do wear leveling to + prolong service life, and this means writes are distributed to + other blocks by the hardware, so “overwritten” data blocks are + still present in the underlying device. + + • Most storage devices map out bad blocks invisibly to the + application; if the bad blocks contain sensitive data, ‘shred’ + won’t be able to destroy it. + + • With some obsolete storage technologies, it may be possible to take + (say) a floppy 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. With these older + technologies, if the file has been overwritten only once, it’s + reputedly not even that hard. Luckily, this kind of data recovery + has become difficult, and there is no public evidence that today’s + higher-density storage devices can be analyzed in this way. + + The ‘shred’ command can use many overwrite passes, with data + patterns chosen to maximize the damage they do to the old data. By + default the patterns are designed for best effect on hard drives + using now-obsolete technology; for newer devices, a single pass + should suffice. For more details, see the source code and Peter + Gutmann’s paper ‘Secure Deletion of Data from Magnetic and + Solid-State Memory’ + (https://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/secure_del.html), from + the proceedings of the Sixth USENIX Security Symposium (San Jose, + California, July 22–25, 1996). + + ‘shred’ makes no attempt to detect or report these problems, 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 +deallocate or remove the output file. This default is more suitable for +devices, which typically cannot be deallocated 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. + +‘-n NUMBER’ +‘--iterations=NUMBER’ + By default, ‘shred’ uses 3 passes of overwrite. You can reduce + this to save time, or increase it if you think it’s appropriate. + After 25 passes all of the internal overwrite patterns will have + been used at least once. + +‘--random-source=FILE’ + Use FILE as a source of random data used to overwrite and to choose + pass ordering. *Note Random sources::. + +‘-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[=HOW]’ + After shredding a file, deallocate it (if possible) and then remove + it. If a file has multiple links, only the named links will be + removed. Often the file name is less sensitive than the file data, + in which case the optional HOW parameter, supported with the long + form option, gives control of how to more efficiently remove each + directory entry. The ‘unlink’ parameter will just use a standard + unlink call, ‘wipe’ will also first obfuscate bytes in the name, + and ‘wipesync’ will also sync each obfuscated byte in the name to + disk. Note ‘wipesync’ is the default method, but can be expensive, + requiring a sync for every character in every file. This can + become significant with many files, or is redundant if your file + system provides synchronous metadata updates. + +‘-v’ +‘--verbose’ + Display to standard error all status updates as sterilization + proceeds. + +‘-x’ +‘--exact’ + By default, ‘shred’ rounds the size of a regular file up to the + next multiple of the file system block size to fully erase the + slack space in the last block of the file. This space may contain + portions of the current system memory on some systems for example. + 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 storage device (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. + + You might use the following command to erase the file system you +created on a USB flash drive. This command typically takes several +minutes, depending on the drive’s size and write speed. On modern +storage devices a single pass should be adequate, and will take one +third the time of the default three-pass approach. + + shred -v -n 1 /dev/sdd1 + + Similarly, to erase all data on a selected partition of your hard +disk, you could give a command like the following. + + # 1 pass, write pseudo-random data; 3x faster than the default + shred -v -n1 /dev/sda5 + + To be on the safe side, use at least one pass that overwrites using +pseudo-random data. I.e., don’t be tempted to use ‘-n0 --zero’, in case +some disk controller optimizes the process of writing blocks of all +zeros, and thereby does not clear all bytes in a block. Some SSDs may +do just that. + + A FILE of ‘-’ denotes standard output. The intended use of this is +to shred a removed temporary file. For example: + + i=$(mktemp) + exec 3<>"$i" + rm -- "$i" + echo "Hello, world" >&3 + shred - >&3 + exec 3>- + + However, the command ‘shred - >file’ does not shred the contents of +FILE, since the shell truncates FILE before invoking ‘shred’. Use the +command ‘shred file’ or (if using a Bourne-compatible shell) the command +‘shred - 1<>file’ instead. + + 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 value of a symlink or canonical file name. +* 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 (libc)Hard +Links::. It avoids the bells and whistles of the more commonly-used +‘ln’ command (*note ln invocation::). 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. + + On a GNU system, this command acts like ‘ln --directory +--no-target-directory FILENAME LINKNAME’. However, the ‘--directory’ +and ‘--no-target-directory’ options are not specified by POSIX, and the +‘link’ command is more portable in practice. + + If FILENAME is a symbolic link, it is unspecified whether LINKNAME +will be a hard link to the symbolic link or to the target of the +symbolic link. Use ‘ln -P’ or ‘ln -L’ to specify which behavior is +desired. + + 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]... [-T] TARGET LINKNAME + ln [OPTION]... TARGET + ln [OPTION]... TARGET... DIRECTORY + ln [OPTION]... -t DIRECTORY TARGET... + + • If two file names are given, ‘ln’ creates a link to the first file + from the second. + + • If one TARGET is given, ‘ln’ creates a link to that file in the + current directory. + + • If the ‘--target-directory’ (‘-t’) option is given, or failing that + if the last file is a directory and the ‘--no-target-directory’ + (‘-T’) option is not given, ‘ln’ creates a link to each TARGET file + in the specified directory, using the TARGETs’ names. + + Normally ‘ln’ does not replace existing files. Use the ‘--force’ +(‘-f’) option to replace them unconditionally, the ‘--interactive’ +(‘-i’) option to replace them conditionally, and the ‘--backup’ (‘-b’) +option to rename them. Unless the ‘--backup’ (‘-b’) option is used +there is no brief moment when the destination does not exist; this is an +extension to POSIX. + + 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. +Most systems prohibit making a hard link to a directory; on those where +it is allowed, only the super-user can do so (and with caution, since +creating a cycle will cause problems to many other utilities). Hard +links cannot cross file system 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. The owner and group of a symlink are +not significant to file access performed through the link, but do have +implications on deleting a symbolic link from a directory with the +restricted deletion bit set. On the GNU system, the mode of a symlink +has no significance and cannot be changed, but on some BSD systems, the +mode can be changed and will affect whether the symlink will be +traversed in file name resolution. *Note (libc)Symbolic Links::. + + Symbolic links can contain arbitrary strings; a “dangling symlink” +occurs when the string in the symlink does not resolve to a file. There +are no restrictions against creating dangling symbolic links. There are +trade-offs to using absolute or relative symlinks. An absolute symlink +always points to the same file, even if the directory containing the +link is moved. However, if the symlink is visible from more than one +machine (such as on a networked file system), the file pointed to might +not always be the same. A relative symbolic link is resolved in +relation to the directory that contains the link, and is often useful in +referring to files on the same device without regards to what name that +device is mounted on when accessed via networked machines. + + When creating a relative symlink in a different location than the +current directory, the resolution of the symlink will be different than +the resolution of the same string from the current directory. +Therefore, many users prefer to first change directories to the location +where the relative symlink will be created, so that tab-completion or +other file resolution will find the same target as what will be placed +in the symlink. + + 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 users with appropriate privileges 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. + +‘-L’ +‘--logical’ + If ‘-s’ is not in effect, and the source file is a symbolic link, + create the hard link to the file referred to by the symbolic link, + rather than the symbolic link itself. + +‘-n’ +‘--no-dereference’ + Do not treat the last operand specially when it is a symbolic link + to a directory. Instead, treat it 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. + + This option is weaker than the ‘--no-target-directory’ (‘-T’) + option, so it has no effect if both options are given. + +‘-P’ +‘--physical’ + If ‘-s’ is not in effect, and the source file is a symbolic link, + create the hard link to the symbolic link itself. On platforms + where this is not supported by the kernel, this option creates a + symbolic link with identical contents; since symbolic link contents + cannot be edited, any file name resolution performed through either + link will be the same as if a hard link had been created. + +‘-r’ +‘--relative’ + Make symbolic links relative to the link location. + + Example: + + ln -srv /a/file /tmp + '/tmp/file' -> '../a/file' + + Relative symbolic links are generated based on their canonicalized + containing directory, and canonicalized targets. I.e., all + symbolic links in these file names will be resolved. *Note + realpath invocation::, which gives greater control over relative + file name generation, as demonstrated in the following example: + + ln--relative() { + test "$1" = --no-symlinks && { nosym=$1; shift; } + target="$1"; + test -d "$2" && link="$2/." || link="$2" + rtarget="$(realpath $nosym -m "$target" \ + --relative-to "$(dirname "$link")")" + ln -s -v "$rtarget" "$link" + } + +‘-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::. + +‘-t DIRECTORY’ +‘--target-directory=DIRECTORY’ + Specify the destination DIRECTORY. *Note Target directory::. + +‘-T’ +‘--no-target-directory’ + Do not treat the last operand specially when it is a directory or a + symbolic link to a directory. *Note Target directory::. + +‘-v’ +‘--verbose’ + Print the name of each file after linking it successfully. + + If ‘-L’ and ‘-P’ are both given, the last one takes precedence. If +‘-s’ is also given, ‘-L’ and ‘-P’ are silently ignored. If neither +option is given, then this implementation defaults to ‘-P’ if the system +‘link’ supports hard links to symbolic links (such as the GNU system), +and ‘-L’ if ‘link’ follows symbolic links (such as on BSD). + + An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value +indicates failure. + + Examples: + + Bad Example: + + # Create link ../a pointing to a in that directory. + # Not really useful because it points to itself. + ln -s a .. + + Better Example: + + # Change to the target before creating symlinks to avoid being confused. + cd .. + ln -s adir/a . + + Bad Example: + + # Hard coded file names don't move well. + ln -s $(pwd)/a /some/dir/ + + Better Example: + + # Relative file names survive directory moves and also + # work across networked file systems. + ln -s afile anotherfile + ln -s ../adir/afile yetanotherfile + + +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... + + ‘mkdir’ creates each directory NAME in the order given. It reports +an error if NAME already exists, unless the ‘-p’ option is given and +NAME is a directory. + + The program accepts the following options. Also see *note Common +options::. + +‘-m MODE’ +‘--mode=MODE’ + Set the file permission bits of created directories to MODE, which + uses the same syntax as in ‘chmod’ and uses ‘a=rwx’ (read, write + and execute allowed for everyone) for the point of the departure. + *Note File permissions::. + + Normally the directory has the desired file mode bits at the moment + it is created. As a GNU extension, MODE may also mention special + mode bits, but in this case there may be a temporary window during + which the directory exists but its special mode bits are incorrect. + *Note Directory Setuid and Setgid::, for how the set-user-ID and + set-group-ID bits of directories are inherited unless overridden in + this way. + +‘-p’ +‘--parents’ + Make any missing parent directories for each argument, setting + their file permission bits to the umask modified by ‘u+wx’. Ignore + existing parent directories, and do not change their file + permission bits. + + To set the file permission bits of any newly-created parent + directories to a value that includes ‘u+wx’, you can set the umask + before invoking ‘mkdir’. For example, if the shell command ‘(umask + u=rwx,go=rx; mkdir -p P/Q)’ creates the parent ‘P’ it sets the + parent’s permission bits to ‘u=rwx,go=rx’. To set a parent’s + special mode bits as well, you can invoke ‘chmod’ after ‘mkdir’. + *Note Directory Setuid and Setgid::, for how the set-user-ID and + set-group-ID bits of newly-created parent directories are + inherited. + +‘-v’ +‘--verbose’ + Print a message for each created directory. This is most useful + with ‘--parents’. + +‘-Z’ +‘--context[=CONTEXT]’ + Without a specified CONTEXT, adjust the SELinux security context + according to the system default type for destination files, + similarly to the ‘restorecon’ command. The long form of this + option with a specific context specified, will set the context for + newly created files only. With a specified context, if both + SELinux and SMACK are disabled, a warning is issued. + + 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 options. 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) for + the point of departure. MODE should specify only file permission + bits. *Note File permissions::. + +‘-Z’ +‘--context[=CONTEXT]’ + Without a specified CONTEXT, adjust the SELinux security context + according to the system default type for destination files, + similarly to the ‘restorecon’ command. The long form of this + option with a specific context specified, will set the context for + newly created files only. With a specified context, if both + SELinux and SMACK are disabled, a warning is issued. + + 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. + + Due to shell aliases and built-in ‘mknod’ functions, using an +unadorned ‘mknod’ interactively or in a script may get you different +functionality than that described here. Invoke it via ‘env’ (i.e., ‘env +mknod ...’) to avoid interference from the shell. + + 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 options. 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’ as the point of departure. MODE should + specify only file permission bits. *Note File permissions::. + +‘-Z’ +‘--context[=CONTEXT]’ + Without a specified CONTEXT, adjust the SELinux security context + according to the system default type for destination files, + similarly to the ‘restorecon’ command. The long form of this + option with a specific context specified, will set the context for + newly created files only. With a specified context, if both + SELinux and SMACK are disabled, a warning is issued. + + 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 value of a symlink or canonical file name +================================================================ + +‘readlink’ may work in one of two supported modes: + +‘Readlink mode’ + + ‘readlink’ outputs the value of the given symbolic links. If + ‘readlink’ is invoked with an argument other than the name 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 files which + contain no ‘.’, ‘..’ components nor any repeated separators (‘/’) + or symbolic links. Note the ‘realpath’ command is the preferred + command to use for canonicalization. *Note realpath invocation::. + + 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. If any component of the file name + except the last one is missing or unavailable, ‘readlink’ produces + no output and exits with a nonzero exit code. A trailing slash is + ignored. + +‘-e’ +‘--canonicalize-existing’ + Activate canonicalize mode. If any component is missing or + unavailable, ‘readlink’ produces no output and exits with a nonzero + exit code. A trailing slash requires that the name resolve to a + directory. + +‘-m’ +‘--canonicalize-missing’ + Activate canonicalize mode. If any component is missing or + unavailable, ‘readlink’ treats it as a directory. + +‘-n’ +‘--no-newline’ + Do not print the output delimiter, when a single FILE is specified. + Print a warning if specified along with multiple FILEs. + +‘-s’ +‘-q’ +‘--silent’ +‘--quiet’ + Suppress most error messages. On by default. + +‘-v’ +‘--verbose’ + Report error messages. + +‘-z’ +‘--zero’ + Output a zero byte (ASCII NUL) at the end of each line, rather than + a newline. This option enables other programs to parse the output + even when that output would contain data with embedded newlines. + + The ‘readlink’ utility first appeared in OpenBSD 2.1. + + The ‘realpath’ command without options, operates like ‘readlink’ in +canonicalize mode. + + 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 options. 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 +(libc)Deleting Files::. Synopsis: It avoids the bells and whistles of +the more commonly-used ‘rm’ command (*note rm invocation::). + + 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. + + The ‘unlink’ command honors the ‘--help’ and ‘--version’ options. To +remove a file whose name begins with ‘-’, prefix the name with ‘./’, +e.g., ‘unlink ./--help’. + + 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 user ID), 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: + +* chown invocation:: Change file owners and groups. +* chgrp invocation:: Change file groups. +* chmod invocation:: Change access permissions. +* touch invocation:: Change file timestamps. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: chown invocation, Next: chgrp 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’. + +‘:’ + If only a colon is given, or if NEW-OWNER is empty, neither the + owner nor the group is changed. + + If OWNER or GROUP is intended to represent a numeric user or group +ID, then you may specify it with a leading ‘+’. *Note Disambiguating +names and IDs::. + + 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 ‘.’. + + It is system dependent whether a user can change the group to an +arbitrary one, or the more portable behavior of being restricted to +setting a group of which the user is a member. + + The ‘chown’ command sometimes clears the set-user-ID or set-group-ID +permission bits. This behavior depends on the policy and functionality +of the underlying ‘chown’ system call, which may make system-dependent +file mode modifications outside the control of the ‘chown’ command. For +example, the ‘chown’ command might not affect those bits when invoked by +a user with appropriate privileges, or when the bits signify some +function other than executable permission (e.g., mandatory locking). +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 user ID numbering change for one + user’s files without an option like this, ‘root’ might run + + find / -owner OLDUSER -print0 | xargs -0 chown -h 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 -h 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 -h -R --from=OLDUSER NEWUSER / + +‘--dereference’ + Do not act on symbolic links themselves but rather on what they + point to. This is the default when not operating recursively. + + Combining this dereferencing option with the ‘--recursive’ option + may create a security risk: During the traversal of the directory + tree, an attacker may be able to introduce a symlink to an + arbitrary target; when the tool reaches that, the operation will be + performed on the target of that symlink, possibly allowing the + attacker to escalate privileges. + +‘-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 root directory, + ‘/’. 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. + + Combining this dereferencing option with the ‘--recursive’ option + may create a security risk: During the traversal of the directory + tree, an attacker may be able to introduce a symlink to an + arbitrary target; when the tool reaches that, the operation will be + performed on the target of that symlink, possibly allowing the + attacker to escalate privileges. + + *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. + + Examples: + + # Change the owner of /u to "root". + chown root /u + + # Likewise, but also change its group to "staff". + chown root:staff /u + + # Change the owner of /u and subfiles to "root". + chown -hR root /u + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: chgrp invocation, Next: chmod invocation, Prev: chown 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. *Note chown invocation::. Synopsis: + + chgrp [OPTION]... {GROUP | --reference=REF_FILE} FILE... + + If GROUP is intended to represent a numeric group ID, then you may +specify it with a leading ‘+’. *Note Disambiguating names and IDs::. + + It is system dependent whether a user can change the group to an +arbitrary one, or the more portable behavior of being restricted to +setting a group of which the user is a member. + + 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 when not operating recursively. + + Combining this dereferencing option with the ‘--recursive’ option + may create a security risk: During the traversal of the directory + tree, an attacker may be able to introduce a symlink to an + arbitrary target; when the tool reaches that, the operation will be + performed on the target of that symlink, possibly allowing the + attacker to escalate privileges. + +‘-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 root directory, + ‘/’. 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. + + Combining this dereferencing option with the ‘--recursive’ option + may create a security risk: During the traversal of the directory + tree, an attacker may be able to introduce a symlink to an + arbitrary target; when the tool reaches that, the operation will be + performed on the target of that symlink, possibly allowing the + attacker to escalate privileges. + + *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. + + Examples: + + # Change the group of /u to "staff". + chgrp staff /u + + # Change the group of /u and subfiles to "staff". + chgrp -hR staff /u + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: chmod invocation, Next: touch 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. + + Only a process whose effective user ID matches the user ID of the +file, or a process with appropriate privileges, is permitted to change +the file mode bits of a file. + + A successful use of ‘chmod’ clears the set-group-ID bit of a regular +file if the file’s group ID does not match the user’s effective group ID +or one of the user’s supplementary group IDs, unless the user has +appropriate privileges. Additional restrictions may cause the +set-user-ID and set-group-ID bits of MODE or REF_FILE to be ignored. +This behavior depends on the policy and functionality of the underlying +‘chmod’ system call. When in doubt, check the underlying system +behavior. + + If used, MODE specifies the new file mode bits. For details, see the +section on *note File permissions::. If you really want MODE to have a +leading ‘-’, you should use ‘--’ first, e.g., ‘chmod -- -w file’. +Typically, though, ‘chmod a-w file’ is preferable, and ‘chmod -w file’ +(without the ‘--’) complains if it behaves differently from what ‘chmod +a-w file’ would do. + + 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 root directory, + ‘/’. 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. + + Examples: + + # Change file permissions of FOO to be world readable + # and user writable, with no other permissions. + chmod 644 foo + chmod a=r,u+w foo + + # Add user and group execute permissions to FOO. + chmod +110 file + chmod ug+x file + + # Set file permissions of DIR and subsidiary files to + # be the umask default, assuming execute permissions for + # directories and for files already executable. + chmod -R a=,+rwX dir + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: touch invocation, Prev: chmod invocation, Up: Changing file attributes + +13.4 ‘touch’: Change file timestamps +==================================== + +‘touch’ changes the access and/or modification timestamps of the +specified files. Synopsis: + + touch [OPTION]... FILE... + + Any FILE argument that does not exist is created empty, unless option +‘--no-create’ (‘-c’) or ‘--no-dereference’ (‘-h’) was in effect. + + A FILE argument string of ‘-’ is handled specially and causes ‘touch’ +to change the times of the file associated with standard output. + + By default, ‘touch’ sets file timestamps to the current time. +Because ‘touch’ acts on its operands left to right, the resulting +timestamps of earlier and later operands may disagree. + + When setting file timestamps to the current time, ‘touch’ can change +the timestamps for files that the user does not own but has write +permission for. Otherwise, the user must own the files. Some older +systems have a further restriction: the user must own the files unless +both the access and modification timestamps are being set to the current +time. + + The ‘touch’ command cannot set a file’s status change timestamp to a +user-specified value, and cannot change the file’s birth time (if +supported) at all. Also, ‘touch’ has issues similar to those affecting +all programs that update file timestamps. For example, ‘touch’ may set +a file’s timestamp to a value that differs slightly from the requested +time. *Note File timestamps::. + + Timestamps assume the time zone rules specified by the ‘TZ’ +environment variable, or by the system default rules if ‘TZ’ is not set. +*Note Specifying the Time Zone with ‘TZ’: (libc)TZ Variable. You can +avoid ambiguities during daylight saving transitions by using UTC +timestamps. + + The program accepts the following options. Also see *note Common +options::. + +‘-a’ +‘--time=atime’ +‘--time=access’ +‘--time=use’ + Change the access timestamp only. *Note File timestamps::. + +‘-c’ +‘--no-create’ + Do not warn about or create files that do not exist. + +‘-d TIME’ +‘--date=TIME’ + Use TIME instead of the current time. It can contain month names, + time zones, ‘am’ and ‘pm’, ‘yesterday’, etc. For example, + ‘--date="2004-02-27 14:19:13.489392193 +0530"’ specifies the + instant of time that is 489,392,193 nanoseconds after February 27, + 2004 at 2:19:13 PM in a time zone that is 5 hours and 30 minutes + east of UTC. *Note Date input formats::. File systems that do not + support high-resolution timestamps silently ignore any excess + precision here. + +‘-f’ + Ignored; for compatibility with BSD versions of ‘touch’. + +‘-h’ +‘--no-dereference’ + Attempt to change the timestamps of a symbolic link, rather than + what the link refers to. When using this option, empty files are + not created, but option ‘-c’ must also be used to avoid warning + about files that do not exist. Not all systems support changing + the timestamps of symlinks, since underlying system support for + this action was not required until POSIX 2008. Also, on some + systems, the mere act of examining a symbolic link changes the + access timestamp, such that only changes to the modification + timestamp will persist long enough to be observable. When coupled + with option ‘-r’, a reference timestamp is taken from a symbolic + link rather than the file it refers to. + +‘-m’ +‘--time=mtime’ +‘--time=modify’ + Change the modification timestamp 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 timestamp equal to five seconds before the + corresponding timestamp for ‘foo’. If FILE is a symbolic link, the + reference timestamp is taken from the target of the symlink, unless + ‘-h’ was also in effect. + +‘-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. On the atypical systems that support + leap seconds, SS may be ‘60’. + + On systems predating POSIX 1003.1-2001, ‘touch’ supports an obsolete +syntax, as follows. If no timestamp is given with any of the ‘-d’, +‘-r’, or ‘-t’ options, and if there are two or more FILEs and the first +FILE is of the form ‘MMDDHHMM[YY]’ and this would be a valid argument to +the ‘-t’ option (if the YY, if any, were moved to the front), and if the +represented year is in the range 1969–1999, that argument is interpreted +as the time for the other files instead of as a file name. Although +this obsolete behavior can be controlled with the ‘_POSIX2_VERSION’ +environment variable (*note Standards conformance::), portable scripts +should avoid commands whose behavior depends on this variable. For +example, use ‘touch ./12312359 main.c’ or ‘touch -t 12312359 main.c’ +rather than the ambiguous ‘touch 12312359 main.c’. + + 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 how +much disk storage is in use or available, report other file and file +status information, and write buffers to disk. + +* Menu: + +* df invocation:: Report file system disk space usage. +* du invocation:: Estimate file space usage. +* stat invocation:: Report file or file system status. +* sync invocation:: Synchronize cached writes to persistent storage. +* truncate invocation:: Shrink or extend the size of a file. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: df invocation, Next: du invocation, Up: Disk usage + +14.1 ‘df’: Report file system disk space usage +============================================== + +‘df’ reports the amount of disk space used and available on file +systems. Synopsis: + + df [OPTION]... [FILE]... + + With no arguments, ‘df’ reports the space used and available on all +currently mounted file systems (of all types). Otherwise, ‘df’ reports +on the file system 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. + + For bind mounts and without arguments, ‘df’ only outputs the +statistics for that device with the shortest mount point name in the +list of file systems (MTAB), i.e., it hides duplicate entries, unless +the ‘-a’ option is specified. + + With the same logic, ‘df’ elides a mount entry of a dummy pseudo +device if there is another mount entry of a real block device for that +mount point with the same device number, e.g. the early-boot pseudo +file system ‘rootfs’ is not shown per default when already the real root +device has been mounted. + + If an argument FILE resolves to a special file containing a mounted +file system, ‘df’ shows the space available on that file system rather +than on the file system containing the device node. GNU ‘df’ does not +attempt to determine the disk usage on unmounted file systems, because +on most kinds of systems doing so requires extremely nonportable +intimate knowledge of file system structures. + + The program accepts the following options. Also see *note Common +options::. + +‘-a’ +‘--all’ + Include in the listing dummy, duplicate, or inaccessible file + systems, which are omitted by default. Dummy file systems are + typically special purpose pseudo file systems such as ‘/proc’, with + no associated storage. Duplicate file systems are local or remote + file systems that are mounted at separate locations in the local + file hierarchy, or bind mounted locations. Inaccessible file + systems are those which are mounted but subsequently over-mounted + by another file system at that point, or otherwise inaccessible due + to permissions of the mount point etc. + +‘-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. + This option is equivalent to ‘--block-size=human-readable’. 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 file systems. By default, remote file + systems 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. + +‘--output’ +‘--output[=FIELD_LIST]’ + Use the output format defined by FIELD_LIST, or print all fields if + FIELD_LIST is omitted. In the latter case, the order of the + columns conforms to the order of the field descriptions below. + + The use of the ‘--output’ together with each of the options ‘-i’, + ‘-P’, and ‘-T’ is mutually exclusive. + + FIELD_LIST is a comma-separated list of columns to be included in + ‘df’’s output and therefore effectively controls the order of + output columns. Each field can thus be used at the place of + choice, but yet must only be used once. + + Valid field names in the FIELD_LIST are: + ‘source’ + The source of the mount point, usually a device. + ‘fstype’ + File system type. + + ‘itotal’ + Total number of inodes. + ‘iused’ + Number of used inodes. + ‘iavail’ + Number of available inodes. + ‘ipcent’ + Percentage of IUSED divided by ITOTAL. + + ‘size’ + Total number of blocks. + ‘used’ + Number of used blocks. + ‘avail’ + Number of available blocks. + ‘pcent’ + Percentage of USED divided by SIZE. + + ‘file’ + The file name if specified on the command line. + ‘target’ + The mount point. + + The fields for block and inodes statistics are affected by the + scaling options like ‘-h’ as usual. + + The definition of the FIELD_LIST can even be split among several + ‘--output’ uses. + + #!/bin/sh + # Print the TARGET (i.e., the mount point) along with their percentage + # statistic regarding the blocks and the inodes. + df --out=target --output=pcent,ipcent + + # Print all available fields. + df --o + +‘-P’ +‘--portability’ + Use the POSIX output format. This is like the default format + except for the following: + + 1. The information about each file system 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. + + 3. The default block size and output format are unaffected by the + ‘DF_BLOCK_SIZE’, ‘BLOCK_SIZE’ and ‘BLOCKSIZE’ environment + variables. However, the default block size is still affected + by ‘POSIXLY_CORRECT’: it is 512 if ‘POSIXLY_CORRECT’ is set, + 1024 otherwise. *Note Block size::. + +‘--si’ + Append an SI-style abbreviation to each size, such as ‘M’ for + megabytes. Powers of 1000 are used, not 1024; ‘M’ 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 file systems. + +‘--total’ + Print a grand total of all arguments after all arguments have been + processed. This can be used to find out the total disk size, usage + and available space of all listed devices. If no arguments are + specified df will try harder to elide file systems insignificant to + the total available space, by suppressing duplicate remote file + systems. + + For the grand total line, ‘df’ prints ‘"total"’ into the SOURCE + column, and ‘"-"’ into the TARGET column. If there is no SOURCE + column (see ‘--output’), then ‘df’ prints ‘"total"’ into the TARGET + column, if present. + +‘-t FSTYPE’ +‘--type=FSTYPE’ + Limit the listing to file systems of type FSTYPE. Multiple file + system types can be specified by giving multiple ‘-t’ options. By + default, nothing is omitted. + +‘-T’ +‘--print-type’ + Print each file system’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 file system, 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. + + ‘ext2, ext3, ext4, xfs, btrfs...’ + A file system on a locally-mounted hard disk. (The system + might even support more than one type here; Linux does.) + + ‘iso9660, cdfs’ + A file system on a CD or DVD drive. HP-UX uses ‘cdfs’, most + other systems use ‘iso9660’. + + ‘ntfs,fat’ + File systems used by MS-Windows / MS-DOS. + +‘-x FSTYPE’ +‘--exclude-type=FSTYPE’ + Limit the listing to file systems not of type FSTYPE. Multiple + file system types can be eliminated by giving multiple ‘-x’ + options. By default, no file system types are omitted. + +‘-v’ + Ignored; for compatibility with System V versions of ‘df’. + + ‘df’ is installed only on systems that have usable mount tables, so +portable scripts should not rely on its existence. + + An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value +indicates failure. Failure includes the case where no output is +generated, so you can inspect the exit status of a command like ‘df -t +ext3 -t reiserfs DIR’ to test whether DIR is on a file system of type +‘ext3’ or ‘reiserfs’. + + Since the list of file systems (MTAB) is needed to determine the file +system type, failure includes the cases when that list cannot be read +and one or more of the options ‘-a’, ‘-l’, ‘-t’ or ‘-x’ is used together +with a file name argument. + + +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 set of 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. + + If two or more hard links point to the same file, only one of the +hard links is counted. The FILE argument order affects which links are +counted, and changing the argument order may change the numbers and +entries that ‘du’ outputs. + + The program accepts the following options. Also see *note Common +options::. + +‘-0’ +‘--null’ + Output a zero byte (ASCII NUL) at the end of each line, rather than + a newline. This option enables other programs to parse the output + even when that output would contain data with embedded newlines. + +‘-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 0 to 16 KiB or more 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=2GiB if=/dev/null of=big + + has an apparent size of 2 GiB, yet on most modern systems, it + actually uses almost no disk space. + +‘-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. + +‘-b’ +‘--bytes’ + Equivalent to ‘--apparent-size --block-size=1’. + +‘-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. + +‘-d DEPTH’ +‘--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’. + +‘--files0-from=FILE’ + Disallow processing files named on the command line, and instead + process those named in file FILE; each name being terminated by a + zero byte (ASCII NUL). This is useful when the list of file names + is so long that it may exceed a command line length limitation. In + such cases, running ‘du’ via ‘xargs’ is undesirable because it + splits the list into pieces and makes ‘du’ print with the ‘--total’ + (‘-c’) option for each sublist rather than for the entire list. + One way to produce a list of ASCII NUL terminated file names is + with GNU ‘find’, using its ‘-print0’ predicate. If FILE is ‘-’ + then the ASCII NUL terminated file names are read from standard + input. + +‘-H’ + Equivalent to ‘--dereference-args’ (‘-D’). + +‘-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. + This option is equivalent to ‘--block-size=human-readable’. Use + the ‘--si’ option if you prefer powers of 1000. + +‘--inodes’ + List inode usage information instead of block usage. This option + is useful for finding directories which contain many files, and + therefore eat up most of the inodes space of a file system (see + ‘df’, option ‘--inodes’). It can well be combined with the options + ‘-a’, ‘-c’, ‘-h’, ‘-l’, ‘-s’, ‘-S’, ‘-t’ and ‘-x’; however, passing + other options regarding the block size, for example ‘-b’, ‘-m’ and + ‘--apparent-size’, is ignored. + +‘-k’ + Print sizes in 1024-byte blocks, overriding the default block size + (*note Block size::). This option is equivalent to + ‘--block-size=1K’. + +‘-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). + +‘-l’ +‘--count-links’ + Count the size of all files, even if they have appeared already (as + a hard link). + +‘-m’ + Print sizes in 1,048,576-byte blocks, overriding the default block + size (*note Block size::). This option is equivalent to + ‘--block-size=1M’. + +‘-P’ +‘--no-dereference’ + For each symbolic links encountered by ‘du’, consider the disk + space used by the symbolic link. + +‘-S’ +‘--separate-dirs’ + Normally, in the output of ‘du’ (when not using ‘--summarize’), the + size listed next to a directory name, D, represents the sum of + sizes of all entries beneath D as well as the size of D itself. + With ‘--separate-dirs’, the size reported for a directory name, D, + will exclude the size of any subdirectories. + +‘--si’ + Append an SI-style abbreviation to each size, such as ‘M’ for + megabytes. Powers of 1000 are used, not 1024; ‘M’ 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. + +‘-s’ +‘--summarize’ + Display only a total for each argument. + +‘-t SIZE’ +‘--threshold=SIZE’ + Exclude entries based on a given SIZE. The SIZE refers to used + blocks in normal mode (*note Block size::), or inodes count in + conjunction with the ‘--inodes’ option. + + If SIZE is positive, then ‘du’ will only print entries with a size + greater than or equal to that. + + If SIZE is negative, then ‘du’ will only print entries with a size + smaller than or equal to that. + + Although GNU ‘find’ can be used to find files of a certain size, + ‘du’’s ‘--threshold’ option can be used to also filter directories + based on a given size. + + Please note that the ‘--threshold’ option can be combined with the + ‘--apparent-size’ option, and in this case would elide entries + based on its apparent size. + + Please note that the ‘--threshold’ option can be combined with the + ‘--inodes’ option, and in this case would elide entries based on + its inodes count. + + Here’s how you would use ‘--threshold’ to find directories with a + size greater than or equal to 200 megabytes: + + du --threshold=200MB + + Here’s how you would use ‘--threshold’ to find directories and + files - note the ‘-a’ - with an apparent size smaller than or equal + to 500 bytes: + + du -a -t -500 --apparent-size + + Here’s how you would use ‘--threshold’ to find directories on the + root file system with more than 20000 inodes used in the directory + tree below: + + du --inodes -x --threshold=20000 / + +‘--time’ + Show the most recent modification timestamp (mtime) of any file in + the directory, or any of its subdirectories. *Note File + timestamps::. + +‘--time=ctime’ +‘--time=status’ +‘--time=use’ + Show the most recent status change timestamp (ctime) of any file in + the directory, or any of its subdirectories. *Note File + timestamps::. + +‘--time=atime’ +‘--time=access’ + Show the most recent access timestamp (atime) of any file in the + directory, or any of its subdirectories. *Note File timestamps::. + +‘--time-style=STYLE’ + List timestamps in style STYLE. This option has an effect only if + the ‘--time’ option is also specified. 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 ‘du’ to + list timestamps like ‘2002-03-30 23:45:56’. As with ‘date’, + FORMAT’s interpretation is affected by the ‘LC_TIME’ locale + category. + + ‘full-iso’ + List timestamps in full using ISO 8601-like date, time, and + time zone components 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’. + + ‘long-iso’ + List ISO 8601 date and time components with minute precision, + 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 timestamps, e.g., ‘2002-03-30’. This + style is equivalent to ‘+%Y-%m-%d’. + + 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 ‘long-iso’. For compatibility with ‘ls’, if + ‘TIME_STYLE’ begins with ‘+’ and contains a newline, the newline + and any later characters are ignored; if ‘TIME_STYLE’ begins with + ‘posix-’ the ‘posix-’ is ignored; and if ‘TIME_STYLE’ is ‘locale’ + it is ignored. + +‘-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. + +‘--exclude=PATTERN’ + When recursing, skip subdirectories or files matching PATTERN. For + example, ‘du --exclude='*.o'’ excludes files whose names end in + ‘.o’. + +‘-x’ +‘--one-file-system’ + Skip directories that are on different file systems from the one + that the argument being processed is on. + + 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 file system 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 file systems +the given files are located on. If the files are links, ‘stat’ can also +give information about the files the links point to. + + Due to shell aliases and built-in ‘stat’ functions, using an +unadorned ‘stat’ interactively or in a script may get you different +functionality than that described here. Invoke it via ‘env’ (i.e., ‘env +stat ...’) to avoid interference from the shell. + +‘-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. + +‘-f’ +‘--file-system’ + Report information about the file systems where the given files are + located instead of information about the files themselves. This + option implies the ‘-L’ option. + +‘--cached=MODE’ + Control how attributes are read from the file system; if supported + by the system. This allows one to control the trade-off between + freshness and efficiency of attribute access, especially useful + with remote file systems. MODE can be: + + ‘always’ + Always read the already cached attributes if available. + + ‘never’ + Always sychronize with the latest file system attributes. + + ‘default’ + Leave the caching behavior to the underlying file system. + +‘-c’ +‘--format=FORMAT’ + Use FORMAT rather than the default format. FORMAT is automatically + newline-terminated, so running a command like the following with + two or more FILE operands produces a line of output for each + operand: + $ stat --format=%d:%i / /usr + 2050:2 + 2057:2 + +‘--printf=FORMAT’ + Use FORMAT rather than the default format. Like ‘--format’, but + interpret backslash escapes, and do not output a mandatory trailing + newline. If you want a newline, include ‘\n’ in the FORMAT. + Here’s how you would use ‘--printf’ to print the device and inode + numbers of ‘/’ and ‘/usr’: + $ stat --printf='%d:%i\n' / /usr + 2050:2 + 2057:2 + +‘-t’ +‘--terse’ + Print the information in terse form, suitable for parsing by other + programs. + + The output of the following commands are identical and the + ‘--format’ also identifies the items printed (in fuller form) in + the default format. Note the format string would include another + ‘%C’ at the end with an active SELinux security context. + $ stat --format="%n %s %b %f %u %g %D %i %h %t %T %X %Y %Z %W %o" ... + $ stat --terse ... + + The same illustrating terse output in ‘--file-system’ mode: + $ stat -f --format="%n %i %l %t %s %S %b %f %a %c %d" ... + $ stat -f --terse ... + + The valid FORMAT directives for files with ‘--format’ and ‘--printf’ +are: + + • %a - Permission bits in octal (note ‘#’ and ‘0’ printf flags) + • %A - Permission bits in symbolic form (similar to ‘ls -ld’) + • %b - Number of blocks allocated (see ‘%B’) + • %B - The size in bytes of each block reported by ‘%b’ + • %C - The SELinux security context of a file, if available + • %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 + • %m - Mount point (See note below) + • %n - File name + • %N - Quoted file name with dereference if symbolic link (see below) + • %o - Optimal I/O transfer size hint + • %s - Total size, in bytes + • %t - Major device type in hex (see below) + • %T - Minor device type in hex (see below) + • %u - User ID of owner + • %U - User name of owner + • %w - Time of file birth, or ‘-’ if unknown + • %W - Time of file birth as seconds since Epoch, or ‘0’ + • %x - Time of last access + • %X - Time of last access as seconds since Epoch + • %y - Time of last data modification + • %Y - Time of last data modification as seconds since Epoch + • %z - Time of last status change + • %Z - Time of last status change as seconds since Epoch + + The ‘%a’ format prints the octal mode, and so it is useful to control +the zero padding of the output with the ‘#’ and ‘0’ printf flags. For +example to pad to at least 3 wide while making larger numbers +unambiguously octal, you can use ‘%#03a’. + + The ‘%N’ format can be set with the environment variable +‘QUOTING_STYLE’. If that environment variable is not set, the default +value is ‘shell-escape-always’. Valid quoting styles are: +‘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. +‘shell-escape’ + Like ‘shell’, but also quoting non-printable characters using the + POSIX proposed ‘$''’ syntax suitable for most shells. +‘shell-escape-always’ + Like ‘shell-escape’, but quote strings 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. + + The ‘%t’ and ‘%T’ formats operate on the st_rdev member of the +stat(2) structure, and are only defined for character and block special +files. On some systems or file types, st_rdev may be used to represent +other quantities. + + The ‘%W’, ‘%X’, ‘%Y’, and ‘%Z’ formats accept a precision preceded by +a period to specify the number of digits to print after the decimal +point. For example, ‘%.3X’ outputs the access timestamp to millisecond +precision. If a period is given but no precision, ‘stat’ uses 9 digits, +so ‘%.X’ is equivalent to ‘%.9X’. When discarding excess precision, +timestamps are truncated toward minus infinity. + + zero pad: + $ stat -c '[%015Y]' /usr + [000001288929712] + space align: + $ stat -c '[%15Y]' /usr + [ 1288929712] + $ stat -c '[%-15Y]' /usr + [1288929712 ] + precision: + $ stat -c '[%.3Y]' /usr + [1288929712.114] + $ stat -c '[%.Y]' /usr + [1288929712.114951834] + + The mount point printed by ‘%m’ is similar to that output by ‘df’, +except that: + • stat does not dereference symlinks by default (unless ‘-L’ is + specified) + • stat does not search for specified device nodes in the file system + list, instead operating on them directly + • stat outputs the alias for a bind mounted file, rather than the + initial mount point of its backing device. One can recursively + call stat until there is no change in output, to get the current + base mount point + + When listing file system information (‘--file-system’ (‘-f’)), you +must use a different set of FORMAT directives: + + • %a - Free blocks available to non-super-user + • %b - Total data blocks in file system + • %c - Total file nodes in file system + • %d - Free file nodes in file system + • %f - Free blocks in file system + • %i - File System ID in hex + • %l - Maximum length of file names + • %n - File name + • %s - Block size (for faster transfers) + • %S - Fundamental block size (for block counts) + • %t - Type in hex + • %T - Type in human readable form + + Timestamps are listed according to the time zone rules specified by +the ‘TZ’ environment variable, or by the system default rules if ‘TZ’ is +not set. *Note Specifying the Time Zone with ‘TZ’: (libc)TZ Variable. + + An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value +indicates failure. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: sync invocation, Next: truncate invocation, Prev: stat invocation, Up: Disk usage + +14.4 ‘sync’: Synchronize cached writes to persistent storage +============================================================ + +‘sync’ synchronizes in memory files or file systems to persistent +storage. Synopsis: + + sync [OPTION] [FILE]... + + ‘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’, ‘syncfs’, +‘fsync’, and ‘fdatasync’ system calls. + + 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 file system corrupted as a result. The +‘sync’ command instructs the kernel to write data in memory to +persistent storage. + + If any argument is specified then only those files will be +synchronized using the fsync(2) syscall by default. + + If at least one file is specified, it is possible to change the +synchronization method with the following options. Also see *note +Common options::. + +‘-d’ +‘--data’ + Use fdatasync(2) to sync only the data for the file, and any + metadata required to maintain file system consistency. + +‘-f’ +‘--file-system’ + Synchronize all the I/O waiting for the file systems that contain + the file, using the syscall syncfs(2). Note you would usually + _not_ specify this option if passing a device node like ‘/dev/sda’ + for example, as that would sync the containing file system rather + than the referenced one. Note also that depending on the system, + passing individual device nodes or files may have different sync + characteristics than using no arguments. I.e., arguments passed to + fsync(2) may provide greater guarantees through write barriers, + than a global sync(2) used when no arguments are provided. + + An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value +indicates failure. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: truncate invocation, Prev: sync invocation, Up: Disk usage + +14.5 ‘truncate’: Shrink or extend the size of a file +==================================================== + +‘truncate’ shrinks or extends the size of each FILE to the specified +size. Synopsis: + + truncate OPTION... FILE... + + Any FILE that does not exist is created. + + If a FILE is larger than the specified size, the extra data is lost. +If a FILE is shorter, it is extended and the sparse extended part (or +hole) reads as zero bytes. + + The program accepts the following options. Also see *note Common +options::. + +‘-c’ +‘--no-create’ + Do not create files that do not exist. + +‘-o’ +‘--io-blocks’ + Treat SIZE as number of I/O blocks of the FILE rather than bytes. + +‘-r RFILE’ +‘--reference=RFILE’ + Base the size of each FILE on the size of RFILE. + +‘-s SIZE’ +‘--size=SIZE’ + Set or adjust the size of each FILE according to SIZE. SIZE is in + bytes unless ‘--io-blocks’ is specified. SIZE may be, or may be an + integer optionally followed by, one of the following multiplicative + suffixes: + ‘KB’ => 1000 (KiloBytes) + ‘K’ => 1024 (KibiBytes) + ‘MB’ => 1000*1000 (MegaBytes) + ‘M’ => 1024*1024 (MebiBytes) + ‘GB’ => 1000*1000*1000 (GigaBytes) + ‘G’ => 1024*1024*1024 (GibiBytes) + and so on for ‘T’, ‘P’, ‘E’, ‘Z’, and ‘Y’. Binary prefixes can be + used, too: ‘KiB’=‘K’, ‘MiB’=‘M’, and so on. + + SIZE may also be prefixed by one of the following to adjust the + size of each FILE based on its current size: + ‘+’ => extend by + ‘-’ => reduce by + ‘<’ => at most + ‘>’ => at least + ‘/’ => round down to multiple of + ‘%’ => round up to multiple of + + 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]... + + Due to shell aliases and built-in ‘echo’ functions, using an +unadorned ‘echo’ interactively or in a script may get you different +functionality than that described here. Invoke it via ‘env’ (i.e., ‘env +echo ...’) to avoid interference from the shell. + + The program accepts the following options. Also see *note Common +options::. Options must precede operands, and the normally-special +argument ‘--’ has no special meaning and is treated like any other +STRING. + +‘-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’ + produce no further output + ‘\e’ + escape + ‘\f’ + form feed + ‘\n’ + newline + ‘\r’ + carriage return + ‘\t’ + horizontal tab + ‘\v’ + vertical tab + ‘\\’ + backslash + ‘\0NNN’ + the eight-bit value that is the octal number NNN (zero to + three octal digits), if NNN is a nine-bit value, the ninth bit + is ignored + ‘\NNN’ + the eight-bit value that is the octal number NNN (one to three + octal digits), if NNN is a nine-bit value, the ninth bit is + ignored + ‘\xHH’ + the eight-bit value that is the hexadecimal number HH (one or + two hexadecimal digits) + +‘-E’ + Disable interpretation of backslash escapes in each STRING. This + is the default. If ‘-e’ and ‘-E’ are both specified, the last one + given takes effect. + + If the ‘POSIXLY_CORRECT’ environment variable is set, then when +‘echo’’s first argument is not ‘-n’ it outputs option-like arguments +instead of treating them as options. For example, ‘echo -ne hello’ +outputs ‘-ne hello’ instead of plain ‘hello’. Also backslash escapes +are always enabled. + + POSIX does not require support for any options, and says that the +behavior of ‘echo’ is implementation-defined if any STRING contains a +backslash or if the first argument is ‘-n’. Portable programs can use +the ‘printf’ command if they need to omit trailing newlines or output +control characters or backslashes. *Note printf invocation::. + + 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 to format numeric and string arguments in a way that is +mostly similar to the C ‘printf’ function. *Note ‘printf’ format +directives: (libc)Output Conversion Syntax, for details. The +differences are listed below. + + Due to shell aliases and built-in ‘printf’ functions, using an +unadorned ‘printf’ interactively or in a script may get you different +functionality than that described here. Invoke it via ‘env’ (i.e., ‘env +printf ...’) to avoid interference from the shell. + + • The FORMAT argument is reused as necessary to convert all the given + ARGUMENTs. For example, the command ‘printf %s a b’ outputs ‘ab’. + + • Missing ARGUMENTs are treated as null strings or as zeros, + depending on whether the context expects a string or a number. For + example, the command ‘printf %sx%d’ prints ‘x0’. + + • An additional escape, ‘\c’, causes ‘printf’ to produce no further + output. For example, the command ‘printf 'A%sC\cD%sF' B E’ prints + ‘ABC’. + + • The hexadecimal escape sequence ‘\xHH’ has at most two digits, as + opposed to C where it can have an unlimited number of digits. For + example, the command ‘printf '\x07e'’ prints two bytes, whereas the + C statement ‘printf ("\x07e")’ prints just one. + + • An additional directive ‘%b’, 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. If ‘\OOO’ is nine-bit value, ignore the ninth bit. + If a precision is also given, it limits the number of bytes printed + from the converted string. + + • An additional directive ‘%q’, prints its argument string in a + format that can be reused as input by most shells. Non-printable + characters are escaped with the POSIX proposed ‘$''’ syntax, and + shell metacharacters are quoted appropriately. This is an + equivalent format to ‘ls --quoting=shell-escape’ output. + + • Numeric arguments must be single C constants, possibly with leading + ‘+’ or ‘-’. For example, ‘printf %.4d -3’ outputs ‘-0003’. + + • If the leading character of a numeric argument is ‘"’ or ‘'’ then + its value is the numeric value of the immediately following + character. Any remaining characters are silently ignored if the + ‘POSIXLY_CORRECT’ environment variable is set; otherwise, a warning + is printed. For example, ‘printf "%d" "'a"’ outputs ‘97’ on hosts + that use the ASCII character set, since ‘a’ has the numeric value + 97 in ASCII. + + A floating point argument is interpreted according to the +‘LC_NUMERIC’ category of either the current or the C locale, and is +printed according to the current locale. For example, in a locale whose +decimal point character is a comma, the command ‘printf '%g %g' 2,5 2.5’ +outputs ‘2,5 2,5’. *Note Floating point::. + + ‘printf’ interprets ‘\OOO’ in FORMAT as an octal number (if OOO is 1 +to 3 octal digits) specifying a byte to print, and ‘\xHH’ as a +hexadecimal number (if HH is 1 to 2 hex digits) specifying a character +to print. Note however that when ‘\OOO’ specifies a number larger than +255, ‘printf’ ignores the ninth bit. For example, ‘printf '\400'’ is +equivalent to ‘printf '\0'’. + + ‘printf’ interprets two character syntaxes introduced in ISO C 99: +‘\u’ for 16-bit Unicode (ISO/IEC 10646) characters, specified as four +hexadecimal digits HHHH, and ‘\U’ for 32-bit Unicode characters, +specified as eight hexadecimal digits HHHHHHHH. ‘printf’ outputs the +Unicode characters according to the ‘LC_CTYPE’ locale. Unicode +characters in the ranges U+0000...U+009F, U+D800...U+DFFF cannot be +specified by this syntax, except for U+0024 ($), U+0040 (@), and U+0060 +()̀. + + 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 ‘\u’ and ‘\U’ +will print as-is. + + The only options are a lone ‘--help’ or ‘--version’. *Note Common +options::. Options must precede operands. + + The Unicode character syntaxes are useful for writing strings in a +locale independent way. For example, a string containing the Euro +currency symbol + + $ env 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 + + $ env printf '\u4e2d\u6587' + +will be output correctly in all Chinese locales (GB2312, BIG5, UTF-8, +etc). + + Note that in these examples, the ‘printf’ command has been invoked +via ‘env’ to ensure that we run the program found via your shell’s +search path, and not a shell alias or a built-in function. + + 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’. To output an +argument that begins with ‘-’, precede it with ‘--’, e.g., ‘yes -- +--help’. *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. In most modern shells, ‘false’ is a +built-in command, so when you use ‘false’ in a script, you’re probably +using the built-in command, not the one documented here. + + ‘false’ honors the ‘--help’ and ‘--version’ options. + + 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’. + + Portable programs should not assume that the exit status of ‘false’ +is 1, as it is greater than 1 on some non-GNU hosts. + + +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. + + ‘true’ honors the ‘--help’ and ‘--version’ options. + + Note, however, that it is possible to cause ‘true’ to exit with +nonzero status: 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. + + Synopses: + + test EXPRESSION + test + [ EXPRESSION ] + [ ] + [ OPTION + + Due to shell aliases and built-in ‘test’ functions, using an +unadorned ‘test’ interactively or in a script may get you different +functionality than that described here. Invoke it via ‘env’ (i.e., ‘env +test ...’) to avoid interference from the shell. + + If EXPRESSION is omitted, ‘test’ returns false. If EXPRESSION is a +single argument, ‘test’ returns false if the argument is null and true +otherwise. 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. Unlike all other + file-related tests, this test does not dereference FILE if it 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 exists and has its “sticky” bit set. + +‘-r FILE’ + True if FILE exists and read permission is granted. + +‘-u FILE’ + True if FILE exists and has its set-user-ID bit set. + +‘-w FILE’ + True if FILE exists and write permission is granted. + +‘-x FILE’ + True if FILE exists and execute permission is granted (or search + permission, if it is a directory). + +‘-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. + +‘-N FILE’ + True if FILE exists and has been modified (mtime) since it was last + read (atime). + + +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. You may need to quote STRING +arguments for the shell. For example: + + test -n "$V" + + The quotes here prevent the wrong arguments from being passed to +‘test’ if ‘$V’ is empty or contains special characters. + +‘-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 equal (synonym for =). + +‘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 relational operators. 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’ +----------------------------- + +Note it’s preferred to use shell logical primitives rather than these +logical connectives internal to ‘test’, because an expression may become +ambiguous depending on the expansion of its parameters. + + For example, this becomes ambiguous when ‘$1’ is set to ‘'!'’ and +‘$2’ to the empty string ‘''’: + + test "$1" -a "$2" + + and should be written as: + + test "$1" && test "$2" + + Note the shell logical primitives also benefit from short circuit +operation, which can be significant for file attribute tests. + +‘! EXPR’ + True if EXPR is false. ‘!’ has lower precedence than all parts of + EXPR. Note ‘!’ needs to be specified to the left of a binary + expression, I.e., ‘'!' 1 -gt 2’ rather than ‘1 '!' -gt 2’. Also + ‘!’ is often a shell special character and is best used quoted. + +‘EXPR1 -a EXPR2’ + True if both EXPR1 and EXPR2 are true. ‘-a’ is left associative, + and has a higher precedence than ‘-o’. + +‘EXPR1 -o EXPR2’ + True if either EXPR1 or EXPR2 is true. ‘-o’ is left associative. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: expr invocation, Prev: test invocation, Up: Conditions + +16.4 ‘expr’: Evaluate expressions +================================= + +‘expr’ evaluates an expression and writes the result on standard output. +Each token of the expression must be a separate argument. + + Operands are either integers or strings. Integers consist of one or +more decimal digits, with an optional leading ‘-’. ‘expr’ converts +anything appearing in an operand position to an integer or a string +depending on the operation being applied to it. + + Strings are not quoted for ‘expr’ itself, though you may need to +quote them to protect characters with special meaning to the shell, +e.g., spaces. However, regardless of whether it is quoted, a string +operand should not be a parenthesis or any of ‘expr’’s operators like +‘+’, so you cannot safely pass an arbitrary string ‘$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. + + When built with support for the GNU MP library, ‘expr’ uses +arbitrary-precision arithmetic; otherwise, it uses native arithmetic +types and may fail due to arithmetic overflow. + + The only options are ‘--help’ and ‘--version’. *Note Common +options::. Options must precede operands. + + Exit status: + + 0 if the expression is neither null nor 0, + 1 if the expression is null or 0, + 2 if the expression is invalid, + 3 if an internal error occurred (e.g., arithmetic overflow). + +* 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 +higher 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. These numeric operators have lower precedence than the +string operators described in the previous section, and higher +precedence than the connectives (next section). + +‘+ -’ + 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 have +lower precedence than the string and 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 + 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 or processes. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: tee invocation, Up: Redirection + +17.1 ‘tee’: Redirect output to multiple files or processes +========================================================== + +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. + + In previous versions of GNU coreutils (v5.3.0 - v8.23), a FILE of ‘-’ +caused ‘tee’ to send another copy of input to standard output. However, +as the interleaved output was not very useful, ‘tee’ now conforms to +POSIX which explicitly mandates it to treat ‘-’ as a file with such +name. + + 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. + +‘-p’ +‘--output-error[=MODE]’ + Adjust the behavior with errors on the outputs, with the long form + option supporting selection between the following MODEs: + + ‘warn’ + Warn on error opening or writing any output, including pipes. + Writing is continued to still open files/pipes. Exit status + indicates failure if any output has an error. + + ‘warn-nopipe’ + This is the default MODE when not specified, or when the short + form ‘-p’ is used. Warn on error opening or writing any + output, except pipes. Writing is continued to still open + files/pipes. Exit status indicates failure if any non pipe + output had an error. + + ‘exit’ + Exit on error opening or writing any output, including pipes. + + ‘exit-nopipe’ + Exit on error opening or writing any output, except pipes. + + The ‘tee’ command is useful when you happen to be transferring a +large amount of data and also want to summarize that data without +reading it a second time. For example, when you are downloading a DVD +image, you often want to verify its signature or checksum right away. +The inefficient way to do it is simply: + + wget https://example.com/some.iso && sha1sum some.iso + + One problem with the above is that it makes you wait for the download +to complete before starting the time-consuming SHA1 computation. +Perhaps even more importantly, the above requires reading the DVD image +a second time (the first was from the network). + + The efficient way to do it is to interleave the download and SHA1 +computation. Then, you’ll get the checksum for free, because the entire +process parallelizes so well: + + # slightly contrived, to demonstrate process substitution + wget -O - https://example.com/dvd.iso \ + | tee >(sha1sum > dvd.sha1) > dvd.iso + + That makes ‘tee’ write not just to the expected output file, but also +to a pipe running ‘sha1sum’ and saving the final checksum in a file +named ‘dvd.sha1’. + + Note, however, that this example relies on a feature of modern shells +called “process substitution” (the ‘>(command)’ syntax, above; *Note +Process Substitution: (bash)Process Substitution.), so it works with +‘zsh’, ‘bash’, and ‘ksh’, but not with ‘/bin/sh’. So if you write code +like this in a shell script, be sure to start the script with +‘#!/bin/bash’. + + Note also that if any of the process substitutions (or piped stdout) +might exit early without consuming all the data, the ‘-p’ option is +needed to allow ‘tee’ to continue to process the input to any remaining +outputs. + + Since the above example writes to one file and one process, a more +conventional and portable use of ‘tee’ is even better: + + wget -O - https://example.com/dvd.iso \ + | tee dvd.iso | sha1sum > dvd.sha1 + + You can extend this example to make ‘tee’ write to two processes, +computing MD5 and SHA1 checksums in parallel. In this case, process +substitution is required: + + wget -O - https://example.com/dvd.iso \ + | tee >(sha1sum > dvd.sha1) \ + >(md5sum > dvd.md5) \ + > dvd.iso + + This technique is also useful when you want to make a _compressed_ +copy of the contents of a pipe. Consider a tool to graphically +summarize disk usage data from ‘du -ak’. For a large hierarchy, ‘du +-ak’ can run for a long time, and can easily produce terabytes of data, +so you won’t want to rerun the command unnecessarily. Nor will you want +to save the uncompressed output. + + Doing it the inefficient way, you can’t even start the GUI until +after you’ve compressed all of the ‘du’ output: + + du -ak | gzip -9 > /tmp/du.gz + gzip -d /tmp/du.gz | xdiskusage -a + + With ‘tee’ and process substitution, you start the GUI right away and +eliminate the decompression completely: + + du -ak | tee >(gzip -9 > /tmp/du.gz) | xdiskusage -a + + Finally, if you regularly create more than one type of compressed +tarball at once, for example when ‘make dist’ creates both +‘gzip’-compressed and ‘bzip2’-compressed tarballs, there may be a better +way. Typical ‘automake’-generated ‘Makefile’ rules create the two +compressed tar archives with commands in sequence, like this (slightly +simplified): + + tardir=your-pkg-M.N + tar chof - "$tardir" | gzip -9 -c > your-pkg-M.N.tar.gz + tar chof - "$tardir" | bzip2 -9 -c > your-pkg-M.N.tar.bz2 + + However, if the hierarchy you are archiving and compressing is larger +than a couple megabytes, and especially if you are using a +multi-processor system with plenty of memory, then you can do much +better by reading the directory contents only once and running the +compression programs in parallel: + + tardir=your-pkg-M.N + tar chof - "$tardir" \ + | tee >(gzip -9 -c > your-pkg-M.N.tar.gz) \ + | bzip2 -9 -c > your-pkg-M.N.tar.bz2 + + If you want to further process the output from process substitutions, +and those processes write atomically (i.e., write less than the system’s +PIPE_BUF size at a time), that’s possible with a construct like: + + tardir=your-pkg-M.N + tar chof - "$tardir" \ + | tee >(md5sum --tag) > >(sha256sum --tag) \ + | sort | gpg --clearsign > your-pkg-M.N.tar.sig + + 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 last file name component. +* pathchk invocation:: Check file name validity and portability. +* mktemp invocation:: Create temporary file or directory. +* realpath invocation:: Print resolved file names. + + +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] + basename OPTION... NAME... + + If SUFFIX is specified and is identical to the end of NAME, it is +removed from NAME as well. Note that since trailing slashes are removed +prior to suffix matching, SUFFIX will do nothing if it contains slashes. +‘basename’ prints the result on standard output. + + Together, ‘basename’ and ‘dirname’ are designed such that if ‘ls +"$name"’ succeeds, then the command sequence ‘cd "$(dirname "$name")"; +ls "$(basename "$name")"’ will, too. This works for everything except +file names containing a trailing newline. + + POSIX allows the implementation to define the results if NAME is +empty or ‘//’. In the former case, GNU ‘basename’ returns the empty +string. In the latter case, the result is ‘//’ on platforms where // is +distinct from /, and ‘/’ on platforms where there is no difference. + + The program accepts the following options. Also see *note Common +options::. Options must precede operands. + +‘-a’ +‘--multiple’ + Support more than one argument. Treat every argument as a NAME. + With this, an optional SUFFIX must be specified using the ‘-s’ + option. + +‘-s SUFFIX’ +‘--suffix=SUFFIX’ + Remove a trailing SUFFIX. This option implies the ‘-a’ option. + +‘-z’ +‘--zero’ + Output a zero byte (ASCII NUL) at the end of each line, rather than + a newline. This option enables other programs to parse the output + even when that output would contain data with embedded newlines. + + An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value +indicates failure. + + Examples: + + # Output "sort". + basename /usr/bin/sort + + # Output "stdio". + basename include/stdio.h .h + + # Output "stdio". + basename -s .h include/stdio.h + + # Output "stdio" followed by "stdlib" + basename -a -s .h include/stdio.h include/stdlib.h + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: dirname invocation, Next: pathchk invocation, Prev: basename invocation, Up: File name manipulation + +18.2 ‘dirname’: Strip last file name component +============================================== + +‘dirname’ prints all but the final slash-delimited component of each +NAME. Slashes on either side of the final component are also removed. +If the string contains no slash, ‘dirname’ prints ‘.’ (meaning the +current directory). Synopsis: + + dirname [OPTION] NAME... + + NAME need not be a file name, but if it is, this operation +effectively lists the directory that contains the final component, +including the case when the final component is itself a directory. + + Together, ‘basename’ and ‘dirname’ are designed such that if ‘ls +"$name"’ succeeds, then the command sequence ‘cd "$(dirname "$name")"; +ls "$(basename "$name")"’ will, too. This works for everything except +file names containing a trailing newline. + + POSIX allows the implementation to define the results if NAME is +‘//’. With GNU ‘dirname’, the result is ‘//’ on platforms where // is +distinct from /, and ‘/’ on platforms where there is no difference. + + The program accepts the following option. Also see *note Common +options::. + +‘-z’ +‘--zero’ + Output a zero byte (ASCII NUL) at the end of each line, rather than + a newline. This option enables other programs to parse the output + even when that output would contain data with embedded newlines. + + An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value +indicates failure. + + Examples: + + # Output "/usr/bin". + dirname /usr/bin/sort + dirname /usr/bin//.// + + # Output "dir1" followed by "dir2" + dirname dir1/str dir2/str + + # Output ".". + dirname stdio.h + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: pathchk invocation, Next: mktemp invocation, Prev: dirname invocation, Up: File name manipulation + +18.3 ‘pathchk’: Check file name validity and portability +======================================================== + +‘pathchk’ checks validity and portability of file names. Synopsis: + + pathchk [OPTION]... NAME... + + For each NAME, ‘pathchk’ prints an error 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 the maximum supported by the + operating system. + 3. The length of one component of NAME is longer than its file + system’s maximum. + + A nonexistent NAME is not an error, so long a file with that name +could be created under the above conditions. + + The program accepts the following options. Also see *note Common +options::. Options must precede operands. + +‘-p’ + Instead of performing checks based on the underlying file system, + print an error message if any of these conditions is true: + + 1. A file name is empty. + + 2. A file name contains a character outside the POSIX portable + file name character set, namely, the ASCII letters and digits, + ‘.’, ‘_’, ‘-’, and ‘/’. + + 3. The length of a file name or one of its components exceeds the + POSIX minimum limits for portability. + +‘-P’ + Print an error message if a file name is empty, or if it contains a + component that begins with ‘-’. + +‘--portability’ + Print an error message if a file name is not portable to all POSIX + hosts. This option is equivalent to ‘-p -P’. + + Exit status: + + 0 if all specified file names passed all checks, + 1 otherwise. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: mktemp invocation, Next: realpath invocation, Prev: pathchk invocation, Up: File name manipulation + +18.4 ‘mktemp’: Create temporary file or directory +================================================= + +‘mktemp’ manages the creation of temporary files and directories. +Synopsis: + + mktemp [OPTION]... [TEMPLATE] + + Safely create a temporary file or directory based on TEMPLATE, and +print its name. If given, TEMPLATE must include at least three +consecutive ‘X’s in the last component. If omitted, the template +‘tmp.XXXXXXXXXX’ is used, and option ‘--tmpdir’ is implied. The final +run of ‘X’s in the TEMPLATE will be replaced by alpha-numeric +characters; thus, on a case-sensitive file system, and with a TEMPLATE +including a run of N instances of ‘X’, there are ‘62**N’ potential file +names. + + Older scripts used to create temporary files by simply joining the +name of the program with the process id (‘$$’) as a suffix. However, +that naming scheme is easily predictable, and suffers from a race +condition where the attacker can create an appropriately named symbolic +link, such that when the script then opens a handle to what it thought +was an unused file, it is instead modifying an existing file. Using the +same scheme to create a directory is slightly safer, since the ‘mkdir’ +will fail if the target already exists, but it is still inferior because +it allows for denial of service attacks. Therefore, modern scripts +should use the ‘mktemp’ command to guarantee that the generated name +will be unpredictable, and that knowledge of the temporary file name +implies that the file was created by the current script and cannot be +modified by other users. + + When creating a file, the resulting file has read and write +permissions for the current user, but no permissions for the group or +others; these permissions are reduced if the current umask is more +restrictive. + + Here are some examples (although note that if you repeat them, you +will most likely get different file names): + + • Create a temporary file in the current directory. + $ mktemp file.XXXX + file.H47c + + • Create a temporary file with a known suffix. + $ mktemp --suffix=.txt file-XXXX + file-H08W.txt + $ mktemp file-XXXX-XXXX.txt + file-XXXX-eI9L.txt + + • Create a secure fifo relative to the user’s choice of ‘TMPDIR’, but + falling back to the current directory rather than ‘/tmp’. Note + that ‘mktemp’ does not create fifos, but can create a secure + directory in which the fifo can live. Exit the shell if the + directory or fifo could not be created. + $ dir=$(mktemp -p "${TMPDIR:-.}" -d dir-XXXX) || exit 1 + $ fifo=$dir/fifo + $ mkfifo "$fifo" || { rmdir "$dir"; exit 1; } + + • Create and use a temporary file if possible, but ignore failure. + The file will reside in the directory named by ‘TMPDIR’, if + specified, or else in ‘/tmp’. + $ file=$(mktemp -q) && { + > # Safe to use $file only within this block. Use quotes, + > # since $TMPDIR, and thus $file, may contain whitespace. + > echo ... > "$file" + > rm "$file" + > } + + • Act as a semi-random character generator (it is not fully random, + since it is impacted by the contents of the current directory). To + avoid security holes, do not use the resulting names to create a + file. + $ mktemp -u XXX + Gb9 + $ mktemp -u XXX + nzC + + The program accepts the following options. Also see *note Common +options::. + +‘-d’ +‘--directory’ + Create a directory rather than a file. The directory will have + read, write, and search permissions for the current user, but no + permissions for the group or others; these permissions are reduced + if the current umask is more restrictive. + +‘-q’ +‘--quiet’ + Suppress diagnostics about failure to create a file or directory. + The exit status will still reflect whether a file was created. + +‘-u’ +‘--dry-run’ + Generate a temporary name that does not name an existing file, + without changing the file system contents. Using the output of + this command to create a new file is inherently unsafe, as there is + a window of time between generating the name and using it where + another process can create an object by the same name. + +‘-p DIR’ +‘--tmpdir[=DIR]’ + Treat TEMPLATE relative to the directory DIR. If DIR is not + specified (only possible with the long option ‘--tmpdir’) or is the + empty string, use the value of ‘TMPDIR’ if available, otherwise use + ‘/tmp’. If this is specified, TEMPLATE must not be absolute. + However, TEMPLATE can still contain slashes, although intermediate + directories must already exist. + +‘--suffix=SUFFIX’ + Append SUFFIX to the TEMPLATE. SUFFIX must not contain slash. If + ‘--suffix’ is specified, TEMPLATE must end in ‘X’; if it is not + specified, then an appropriate ‘--suffix’ is inferred by finding + the last ‘X’ in TEMPLATE. This option exists for use with the + default TEMPLATE and for the creation of a SUFFIX that starts with + ‘X’. + +‘-t’ + Treat TEMPLATE as a single file relative to the value of ‘TMPDIR’ + if available, or to the directory specified by ‘-p’, otherwise to + ‘/tmp’. TEMPLATE must not contain slashes. This option is + deprecated; the use of ‘-p’ without ‘-t’ offers better defaults (by + favoring the command line over ‘TMPDIR’) and more flexibility (by + allowing intermediate directories). + + Exit status: + + 0 if the file was created, + 1 otherwise. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: realpath invocation, Prev: mktemp invocation, Up: File name manipulation + +18.5 ‘realpath’: Print the resolved file name. +============================================== + +‘realpath’ expands all symbolic links and resolves references to ‘/./’, +‘/../’ and extra ‘/’ characters. By default, all but the last component +of the specified files must exist. Synopsis: + + realpath [OPTION]... FILE... + + The file name canonicalization functionality overlaps with that of +the ‘readlink’ command. This is the preferred command for +canonicalization as it’s a more suitable and standard name. In addition +this command supports relative file name processing functionality. + + The program accepts the following options. Also see *note Common +options::. + +‘-e’ +‘--canonicalize-existing’ + Ensure that all components of the specified file names exist. If + any component is missing or unavailable, ‘realpath’ will output a + diagnostic unless the ‘-q’ option is specified, and exit with a + nonzero exit code. A trailing slash requires that the name resolve + to a directory. + +‘-m’ +‘--canonicalize-missing’ + If any component of a specified file name is missing or + unavailable, treat it as a directory. + +‘-L’ +‘--logical’ + Symbolic links are resolved in the specified file names, but they + are resolved after any subsequent ‘..’ components are processed. + +‘-P’ +‘--physical’ + Symbolic links are resolved in the specified file names, and they + are resolved before any subsequent ‘..’ components are processed. + This is the default mode of operation. + +‘-q’ +‘--quiet’ + Suppress diagnostic messages for specified file names. + +‘--relative-to=DIR’ + Print the resolved file names relative to the specified directory. + Note this option honors the ‘-m’ and ‘-e’ options pertaining to + file existence. + +‘--relative-base=DIR’ + Print the resolved file names as relative _if_ the files are + descendants of DIR. Otherwise, print the resolved file names as + absolute. Note this option honors the ‘-m’ and ‘-e’ options + pertaining to file existence. For details about combining + ‘--relative-to’ and ‘--relative-base’, *note Realpath usage + examples::. + +‘-s’ +‘--strip’ +‘--no-symlinks’ + Do not resolve symbolic links. Only resolve references to ‘/./’, + ‘/../’ and remove extra ‘/’ characters. When combined with the + ‘-m’ option, realpath operates only on the file name, and does not + touch any actual file. + +‘-z’ +‘--zero’ + Output a zero byte (ASCII NUL) at the end of each line, rather than + a newline. This option enables other programs to parse the output + even when that output would contain data with embedded newlines. + + Exit status: + + 0 if all file names were printed without issue. + 1 otherwise. + +* Menu: + +* Realpath usage examples:: Realpath usage examples. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Realpath usage examples, Up: realpath invocation + +18.5.1 Realpath usage examples +------------------------------ + +By default, ‘realpath’ prints the absolute file name of given files +(symlinks are resolved, ‘words’ is resolved to ‘american-english’): + + cd /home/user + realpath /usr/bin/sort /tmp/foo /usr/share/dict/words 1.txt + ⇒ /usr/bin/sort + ⇒ /tmp/foo + ⇒ /usr/share/dict/american-english + ⇒ /home/user/1.txt + + With ‘--relative-to’, file names are printed relative to the given +directory: + + realpath --relative-to=/usr/bin \ + /usr/bin/sort /tmp/foo /usr/share/dict/words 1.txt + ⇒ sort + ⇒ ../../tmp/foo + ⇒ ../share/dict/american-english + ⇒ ../../home/user/1.txt + + With ‘--relative-base’, relative file names are printed _if_ the +resolved file name is below the given base directory. For files outside +the base directory absolute file names are printed: + + realpath --relative-base=/usr \ + /usr/bin/sort /tmp/foo /usr/share/dict/words 1.txt + ⇒ bin/sort + ⇒ /tmp/foo + ⇒ share/dict/american-english + ⇒ /home/user/1.txt + + When both ‘--relative-to=DIR1’ and ‘--relative-base=DIR2’ are used, +file names are printed relative to DIR1 _if_ they are located below +DIR2. If the files are not below DIR2, they are printed as absolute +file names: + + realpath --relative-to=/usr/bin --relative-base=/usr \ + /usr/bin/sort /tmp/foo /usr/share/dict/words 1.txt + ⇒ sort + ⇒ /tmp/foo + ⇒ ../share/dict/american-english + ⇒ /home/user/1.txt + + When both ‘--relative-to=DIR1’ and ‘--relative-base=DIR2’ are used, +DIR1 _must_ be a subdirectory of DIR2. Otherwise, ‘realpath’ prints +absolutes file names. + + +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 name of the current directory. Synopsis: + + pwd [OPTION]... + + The program accepts the following options. Also see *note Common +options::. + +‘-L’ +‘--logical’ + If the contents of the environment variable ‘PWD’ provide an + absolute name of the current directory with no ‘.’ or ‘..’ + components, but possibly with symbolic links, then output those + contents. Otherwise, fall back to default ‘-P’ handling. + +‘-P’ +‘--physical’ + Print a fully resolved name for the current directory. That is, + all components of the printed name will be actual directory + names—none will be symbolic links. + + If ‘-L’ and ‘-P’ are both given, the last one takes precedence. If +neither option is given, then this implementation uses ‘-P’ as the +default unless the ‘POSIXLY_CORRECT’ environment variable is set. + + Due to shell aliases and built-in ‘pwd’ functions, using an unadorned +‘pwd’ interactively or in a script may get you different functionality +than that described here. Invoke it via ‘env’ (i.e., ‘env pwd ...’) to +avoid interference from the shell. + + 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 file name 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. + + ‘stty’ is installed only on platforms with the POSIX terminal +interface, so portable scripts should not rely on its existence on +non-POSIX platforms. + + 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. + +‘cmspar’ + Use "stick" (mark/space) parity. If parodd is set, the parity bit + is always 1; if parodd is not set, the parity bit is always zero. + Non-POSIX. 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. + +‘cdtrdsr’ + Enable DTR/DSR flow control. Non-POSIX. May be negated. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Input, Next: Output, Prev: Control, Up: stty invocation + +19.2.2 Input settings +--------------------- + +These settings control operations on data received from the terminal. + +‘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. + +‘iutf8’ + Assume input characters are UTF-8 encoded. 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. Note ilcuc is not implemented, as one would not be able + to issue almost any (lowercase) Unix command, after invoking it. + +‘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 settings control operations on data sent to the terminal. + +‘opost’ + Postprocess output. May be negated. + +‘olcuc’ + Translate lowercase characters to uppercase. Non-POSIX. May be + negated. (Note ouclc is not currently implemented.) + +‘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 ASCII DEL characters for fill instead of ASCII NUL 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. + +‘extproc’ + Enable ‘LINEMODE’, which is used to avoid echoing each character + over high latency links. See also Internet RFC 1116 + (https://tools.ietf.org/search/rfc1116). Non-POSIX. May be + negated. + +‘flusho’ + Discard output. Note this setting is currently ignored on + GNU/Linux systems. 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 + icanon iexten echo echoe echok -echonl -noflsh + -ixoff -iutf8 -iuclc -ixany imaxbel -xcase -olcuc -ocrnl + opost -ofill onlcr -onocr -onlret nl0 cr0 tab0 bs0 vt0 ff0 + isig -tostop -ofdel -echoprt echoctl echoke -extproc + + 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 -icanon -opost + -isig -iuclc -ixany -imaxbel -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. (Used + for terminals with uppercase characters only.) + +‘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. + +‘discard’ + Alternate character to toggle discarding of output. Non-POSIX. + +‘swtch’ + Switch to a different shell layer. Non-POSIX. + +‘status’ + Send an info signal. Not currently supported on Linux. 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. + +‘drain’ + Apply settings after first waiting for pending output to be + transmitted. This is enabled by default for GNU ‘stty’. It is + useful to disable this option in cases where the system may be in a + state where serial transmission is not possible. For example, if + the system has received the ‘DC3’ character with ‘ixon’ (software + flow control) enabled, then ‘stty’ would block without ‘-drain’ + being specified. May be negated. 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. Many systems, including GNU/Linux, support higher speeds. + The ‘stty’ command includes support for speeds of 57600, 115200, + 230400, 460800, 500000, 576000, 921600, 1000000, 1152000, 1500000, + 2000000, 2500000, 3000000, 3500000, or 4000000 where the system + supports these. 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 program accepts the following option. Also see *note Common +options::. + +‘-0’ +‘--null’ + Output a zero byte (ASCII NUL) at the end of each line, rather than + a newline. This option enables other programs to parse the output + even when that output would contain data with embedded newlines. + + 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 a non-terminal file + 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 user identity. +* 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 user identity +============================== + +‘id’ prints information about the given user, or the process running it +if no user is specified. Synopsis: + + id [OPTION]... [USER]... + + USER can be either a user ID or a name, with name look-up taking +precedence unless the ID is specified with a leading ‘+’. *Note +Disambiguating names and IDs::. + + 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. In addition, if +SELinux is enabled and the ‘POSIXLY_CORRECT’ environment variable is not +set, then print ‘context=C’, where C is the security context. + + 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 group ID and 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. + +‘-Z’ +‘--context’ + Print only the security context of the process, which is generally + the user’s security context inherited from the parent process. If + neither SELinux or SMACK is enabled then print a warning and set + the exit status to 1. + +‘-z’ +‘--zero’ + Delimit output items with ASCII NUL characters. This option is not + permitted when using the default format. When multiple users are + specified, and the ‘--groups’ option is also in effect, groups are + delimited with a single NUL character, while users are delimited + with two NUL characters. + + Example: + $ id -Gn --zero + users <NUL> devs <NUL> + + Primary and supplementary groups for a process are normally inherited +from its parent and are usually unchanged since login. This means that +if you change the group database after logging in, ‘id’ will not reflect +your changes within your existing login session. Running ‘id’ with a +user argument causes the user and group database to be consulted afresh, +and so will give a different result. + + 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 a +system-maintained file (often ‘/var/run/utmp’ or ‘/etc/utmp’), and exits +with a status of 0. If there is no 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 more than one name is given, the name of each user is printed before +the list of that user’s groups and the user name is separated from the +group list by a colon. 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::. + + Primary and supplementary groups for a process are normally inherited +from its parent and are usually unchanged since login. This means that +if you change the group database after logging in, ‘groups’ will not +reflect your changes within your existing login session. Running +‘groups’ with a list of users causes the user and group database to be +consulted afresh, and so will give a different result. + + 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 a +system-maintained file (often ‘/var/run/utmp’ or ‘/etc/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::. + + The ‘users’ command is installed only on platforms with the POSIX +‘<utmpx.h>’ include file or equivalent, so portable scripts should not +rely on its existence on non-POSIX platforms. + + 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 a +default system-maintained file (often ‘/var/run/utmp’ or ‘/etc/utmp’) as +the name of the file containing the record of users logged on. +‘/var/log/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’. + + Timestamps are listed according to the time zone rules specified by +the ‘TZ’ environment variable, or by the system default rules if ‘TZ’ is +not set. *Note Specifying the Time Zone with ‘TZ’: (libc)TZ Variable. + + 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 a line of column headings. + +‘-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. + +‘-m’ + Same as ‘who am i’. + +‘-p’ +‘--process’ + List active processes spawned by init. + +‘-q’ +‘--count’ + Print only the login names and the number of users logged on. + Overrides all other options. + +‘-r’ +‘--runlevel’ + Print the current (and maybe previous) run-level of the init + process. + +‘-s’ + Ignored; for compatibility with other versions of ‘who’. + +‘-t’ +‘--time’ + Print last system clock change. + +‘-u’ + After the login time, print the number of hours and minutes that + the user has been idle. ‘.’ means the user was active in the last + minute. ‘old’ means the user has been idle for more than 24 hours. + +‘-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 + + The ‘who’ command is installed only on platforms with the POSIX +‘<utmpx.h>’ include file or equivalent, so portable scripts should not +rely on its existence on non-POSIX platforms. + + An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value +indicates failure. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: System context, Next: SELinux context, 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. +* arch invocation:: Print machine hardware name. +* nproc invocation:: Print the number of processors. +* uname invocation:: Print system information. +* hostname invocation:: Print or set system name. +* hostid invocation:: Print numeric host identifier. +* uptime invocation:: Print system uptime and load. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: date invocation, Next: arch 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 it +with a default format that depends on the ‘LC_TIME’ locale category. In +the default C locale, this format is ‘'+%a %b %e %H:%M:%S %Z %Y'’, so +the output looks like ‘Thu Mar 3 13:47:51 PST 2005’. + + Normally, ‘date’ uses the time zone rules indicated by the ‘TZ’ +environment variable, or the system default rules if ‘TZ’ is not set. +*Note Specifying the Time Zone with ‘TZ’: (libc)TZ Variable. + + If given an argument that starts with a ‘+’, ‘date’ prints the +current date and time (or the date and time specified by the ‘--date’ +option, see below) in the format defined by that argument, which is +similar to that of the ‘strftime’ function. Except for conversion +specifiers, which start with ‘%’, characters in the format string are +printed unchanged. The conversion specifiers are described below. + + An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value +indicates failure. + +* Menu: + +* Time conversion specifiers:: %[HIklMNpPrRsSTXzZ] +* Date conversion specifiers:: %[aAbBcCdDeFgGhjmuUVwWxyY] +* Literal conversion specifiers:: %[%nt] +* Padding and other flags:: Pad with zeros, spaces, etc. +* Setting the time:: Changing the system clock. +* Options for date:: Instead of the current time. +* Date input formats:: Specifying date strings. +* Examples of date:: Examples. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Time conversion specifiers, Next: Date conversion specifiers, Up: date invocation + +21.1.1 Time conversion specifiers +--------------------------------- + +‘date’ conversion specifiers related to times. + +‘%H’ + hour (‘00’...‘23’) +‘%I’ + hour (‘01’...‘12’) +‘%k’ + hour, space padded (‘ 0’...‘23’); equivalent to ‘%_H’. This is a + GNU extension. +‘%l’ + hour, space padded (‘ 1’...‘12’); equivalent to ‘%_I’. This is a + GNU extension. +‘%M’ + minute (‘00’...‘59’) +‘%N’ + nanoseconds (‘000000000’...‘999999999’). This is a GNU extension. +‘%p’ + locale’s equivalent of either ‘AM’ or ‘PM’; blank in many locales. + Noon is treated as ‘PM’ and midnight as ‘AM’. +‘%P’ + like ‘%p’, except lower case. This is a GNU extension. +‘%r’ + locale’s 12-hour clock time (e.g., ‘11:11:04 PM’) +‘%R’ + 24-hour hour and minute. Same as ‘%H:%M’. +‘%s’ + seconds since the epoch, i.e., since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC. Leap + seconds are not counted unless leap second support is available. + *Note %s-examples::, for examples. This is a GNU extension. +‘%S’ + second (‘00’...‘60’). This may be ‘60’ if leap seconds are + supported. +‘%T’ + 24-hour hour, minute, and second. Same as ‘%H:%M:%S’. +‘%X’ + locale’s time representation (e.g., ‘23:13:48’) +‘%z’ + Four-digit numeric time zone, e.g., ‘-0600’ or ‘+0530’, or ‘-0000’ + if no time zone is determinable. This value reflects the numeric + time zone appropriate for the current time, using the time zone + rules specified by the ‘TZ’ environment variable. A time zone is + not determinable if its numeric offset is zero and its abbreviation + begins with ‘-’. The time (and optionally, the time zone rules) + can be overridden by the ‘--date’ option. +‘%:z’ + Numeric time zone with ‘:’, e.g., ‘-06:00’ or ‘+05:30’), or + ‘-00:00’ if no time zone is determinable. This is a GNU extension. +‘%::z’ + Numeric time zone to the nearest second with ‘:’ (e.g., ‘-06:00:00’ + or ‘+05:30:00’), or ‘-00:00:00’ if no time zone is determinable. + This is a GNU extension. +‘%:::z’ + Numeric time zone with ‘:’ using the minimum necessary precision + (e.g., ‘-06’, ‘+05:30’, or ‘-04:56:02’), or ‘-00’ if no time zone + is determinable. This is a GNU extension. +‘%Z’ + alphabetic time zone abbreviation (e.g., ‘EDT’), or nothing if no + time zone is determinable. See ‘%z’ for how it is determined. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Date conversion specifiers, Next: Literal conversion specifiers, Prev: Time conversion specifiers, Up: date invocation + +21.1.2 Date conversion specifiers +--------------------------------- + +‘date’ conversion specifiers related to dates. + +‘%a’ + locale’s abbreviated weekday name (e.g., ‘Sun’) +‘%A’ + locale’s full weekday name, variable length (e.g., ‘Sunday’) +‘%b’ + locale’s abbreviated month name (e.g., ‘Jan’) +‘%B’ + locale’s full month name, variable length (e.g., ‘January’) +‘%c’ + locale’s date and time (e.g., ‘Thu Mar 3 23:05:25 2005’) +‘%C’ + century. This is like ‘%Y’, except the last two digits are + omitted. For example, it is ‘20’ if ‘%Y’ is ‘2000’, and is ‘-0’ if + ‘%Y’ is ‘-001’. It is normally at least two characters, but it may + be more. +‘%d’ + day of month (e.g., ‘01’) +‘%D’ + date; same as ‘%m/%d/%y’ +‘%e’ + day of month, space padded; same as ‘%_d’ +‘%F’ + full date in ISO 8601 format; like ‘%+4Y-%m-%d’ except that any + flags or field width override the ‘+’ and (after subtracting 6) the + ‘4’. This is a good choice for a date format, as it is standard + and is easy to sort in the usual case where years are in the range + 0000...9999. +‘%g’ + 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’ + 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. It is normally useful only if ‘%V’ is also used; for + example, the format ‘%G-%m-%d’ is probably a mistake, since it + combines the ISO week number year with the conventional month and + day. +‘%h’ + same as ‘%b’ +‘%j’ + day of year (‘001’...‘366’) +‘%m’ + month (‘01’...‘12’) +‘%q’ + quarter of year (‘1’...‘4’) +‘%u’ + day of week (‘1’...‘7’) with ‘1’ corresponding to Monday +‘%U’ + week number of year, with Sunday as the first day of the week + (‘00’...‘53’). Days in a new year preceding the first Sunday are + in week zero. +‘%V’ + ISO week number, that is, the week number of year, with Monday as + the first day of the week (‘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 (e.g., ‘12/31/99’) +‘%y’ + last two digits of year (‘00’...‘99’) +‘%Y’ + year. This is normally at least four characters, but it may be + more. Year ‘0000’ precedes year ‘0001’, and year ‘-001’ precedes + year ‘0000’. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Literal conversion specifiers, Next: Padding and other flags, Prev: Date conversion specifiers, Up: date invocation + +21.1.3 Literal conversion specifiers +------------------------------------ + +‘date’ conversion specifiers that produce literal strings. + +‘%%’ + a literal % +‘%n’ + a newline +‘%t’ + a horizontal tab + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Padding and other flags, Next: Setting the time, Prev: Literal conversion specifiers, Up: date invocation + +21.1.4 Padding and other flags +------------------------------ + +Unless otherwise specified, ‘date’ normally pads numeric fields with +zeros, so that, for example, numeric months are always output as two +digits. Seconds since the epoch are not padded, though, since there is +no natural width for them. + + The following optional flags can appear after the ‘%’: + +‘-’ + (hyphen) Do not pad the field; useful if the output is intended for + human consumption. This is a GNU extension. +‘_’ + (underscore) Pad with spaces; useful if you need a fixed number of + characters in the output, but zeros are too distracting. This is a + GNU extension. +‘0’ + (zero) Pad with zeros even if the conversion specifier would + normally pad with spaces. +‘+’ + Pad with zeros, like ‘0’. In addition, precede any year number + with ‘+’ if it exceeds 9999 or if its field width exceeds 4; + similarly, precede any century number with ‘+’ if it exceeds 99 or + if its field width exceeds 2. This supports ISO 8601 formats for + dates far in the future; for example, the command ‘date + --date=12019-02-25 +%+13F’ outputs the string ‘+012019-02-25’. +‘^’ + Use upper case characters if possible. This is a GNU extension. +‘#’ + Use opposite case characters if possible. A field that is normally + upper case becomes lower case, and vice versa. This is a GNU + extension. + +Here are some examples of padding: + + date +%d/%m -d "Feb 1" + ⇒ 01/02 + date +%-d/%-m -d "Feb 1" + ⇒ 1/2 + date +%_d/%_m -d "Feb 1" + ⇒ 1/ 2 + + You can optionally specify the field width (after any flag, if +present) as a decimal number. If the natural size of the output of the +field has less than the specified number of characters, the result is +written right adjusted and padded to the given size. For example, ‘%9B’ +prints the right adjusted month name in a field of width 9. + + An optional modifier can follow the optional flag and width +specification. The modifiers are: + +‘E’ + Use the locale’s alternate representation for date and time. This + modifier applies to the ‘%c’, ‘%C’, ‘%x’, ‘%X’, ‘%y’ and ‘%Y’ + conversion specifiers. In a Japanese locale, for example, ‘%Ex’ + might yield a date format based on the Japanese Emperors’ reigns. + +‘O’ + Use the locale’s alternate numeric symbols for numbers. This + modifier applies only to numeric conversion specifiers. + + If the format supports the modifier but no alternate representation +is available, it is ignored. + + POSIX specifies the behavior of flags and field widths only for ‘%C’, +‘%F’, ‘%G’, and ‘%Y’ (all without modifiers), and requires a flag to be +present if and only if a field width is also present. Other +combinations of flags, field widths and modifiers are GNU extensions. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Setting the time, Next: Options for date, Prev: Padding and other flags, 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 date and time specified by that argument (as +described below). You must have appropriate privileges to set the +system clock. Note for changes to persist across a reboot, the hardware +clock may need to be updated from the system clock, which might not +happen automatically on your system. + + 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) + + Note, the ‘--date’ and ‘--set’ options may not be used with an +argument in the above format. The ‘--universal’ option may be used with +such an argument to indicate that the specified date and time are +relative to Universal Time rather than to the local time zone. + + +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 date and time specified in DATESTR instead of the + current date and time. DATESTR can be in almost any common format. + It can contain month names, time zones, ‘am’ and ‘pm’, ‘yesterday’, + etc. For example, ‘--date="2004-02-27 14:19:13.489392193 +0530"’ + specifies the instant of time that is 489,392,193 nanoseconds after + February 27, 2004 at 2:19:13 PM in a time zone that is 5 hours and + 30 minutes east of UTC. + Note: input currently must be in locale independent format. E.g., + the LC_TIME=C below is needed to print back the correct date in + many locales: + date -d "$(LC_TIME=C date)" + *Note Date input formats::. + +‘--debug’ + Annotate the parsed date, display the effective time zone, and warn + about potential misuse. + +‘-f DATEFILE’ +‘--file=DATEFILE’ + Parse each line in DATEFILE as with ‘-d’ and display the resulting + date and time. 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 an 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’ + Print just the date. This is the default if TIMESPEC is + omitted. + + ‘hours’ + Append the hour of the day to the date. + + ‘minutes’ + Append the hours and minutes. + + ‘seconds’ + Append the hours, minutes and seconds. + + ‘ns’ + Append the hours, minutes, seconds and nanoseconds. + + If showing any time terms, then include the time zone using the + format ‘%:z’. This format is always suitable as input for the + ‘--date’ (‘-d’) and ‘--file’ (‘-f’) options, regardless of the + current locale. + +‘-r FILE’ +‘--reference=FILE’ + Display the date and time of the last modification of FILE, instead + of the current date and time. + +‘-R’ +‘--rfc-email’ + Display the date and time 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, 09 Sep 2005 13:51:39 -0700 + + This format conforms to Internet RFCs 5322 + (https://tools.ietf.org/search/rfc5322), 2822 + (https://tools.ietf.org/search/rfc2822) and 822 + (https://tools.ietf.org/search/rfc822), the current and previous + standards for Internet email. For compatibility with older + versions of ‘date’, ‘--rfc-2822’ and ‘--rfc-822’ are aliases for + ‘--rfc-email’. + +‘--rfc-3339=TIMESPEC’ + Display the date using a format specified by Internet RFC 3339 + (https://tools.ietf.org/search/rfc3339). This is like + ‘--iso-8601’, except that a space rather than a ‘T’ separates dates + from times. This format is always suitable as input for the + ‘--date’ (‘-d’) and ‘--file’ (‘-f’) options, regardless of the + current locale. + + The argument TIMESPEC specifies how much of the time to include. + It can be one of the following: + + ‘date’ + Print just the full-date, e.g., ‘2005-09-14’. This is + equivalent to the format ‘%Y-%m-%d’. + + ‘seconds’ + Print the full-date and full-time separated by a space, e.g., + ‘2005-09-14 00:56:06+05:30’. The output ends with a numeric + time-offset; here the ‘+05:30’ means that local time is five + hours and thirty minutes east of UTC. This is equivalent to + the format ‘%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S%:z’. + + ‘ns’ + Like ‘seconds’, but also print nanoseconds, e.g., ‘2005-09-14 + 00:56:06.998458565+05:30’. This is equivalent to the format + ‘%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S.%N%:z’. + +‘-s DATESTR’ +‘--set=DATESTR’ + Set the date and time to DATESTR. See ‘-d’ above. See also *note + Setting the time::. + +‘-u’ +‘--utc’ +‘--universal’ + Use Universal Time by operating as if the ‘TZ’ environment variable + were set to the string ‘UTC0’. UTC stands for Coordinated + Universal Time, established in 1960. Universal Time is often + called “Greenwich Mean Time” (GMT) for historical reasons. + Typically, systems ignore leap seconds and thus implement an + approximation to UTC rather than true UTC. + + +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) ‘-’ flag 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 Internet RFC 5322 format, use ‘date + --rfc-email’. Here is some example output: + + Fri, 09 Sep 2005 13:51:39 -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 + + Or if you do not mind depending on the ‘@’ feature present since + coreutils 5.3.0, you could shorten this to: + + date -d @946684800 +"%F %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 + + • Typically the seconds count omits leap seconds, but some systems + are exceptions. Because leap seconds are not predictable, the + mapping between the seconds count and a future timestamp is not + reliable on the atypical systems that include leap seconds in their + counts. + + Here is how the two kinds of systems handle the leap second at + 2012-06-30 23:59:60 UTC: + + # Typical systems ignore leap seconds: + date --date='2012-06-30 23:59:59 +0000' +%s + 1341100799 + date --date='2012-06-30 23:59:60 +0000' +%s + date: invalid date '2012-06-30 23:59:60 +0000' + date --date='2012-07-01 00:00:00 +0000' +%s + 1341100800 + + # Atypical systems count leap seconds: + date --date='2012-06-30 23:59:59 +0000' +%s + 1341100823 + date --date='2012-06-30 23:59:60 +0000' +%s + 1341100824 + date --date='2012-07-01 00:00:00 +0000' +%s + 1341100825 + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: arch invocation, Next: nproc invocation, Prev: date invocation, Up: System context + +21.2 ‘arch’: Print machine hardware name +======================================== + +‘arch’ prints the machine hardware name, and is equivalent to ‘uname +-m’. Synopsis: + + arch [OPTION] + + The program accepts the *note Common options:: only. + + ‘arch’ is not installed by default, so portable scripts should not +rely on its existence. + + An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value +indicates failure. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: nproc invocation, Next: uname invocation, Prev: arch invocation, Up: System context + +21.3 ‘nproc’: Print the number of available processors +====================================================== + +Print the number of processing units available to the current process, +which may be less than the number of online processors. If this +information is not accessible, then print the number of processors +installed. If the ‘OMP_NUM_THREADS’ or ‘OMP_THREAD_LIMIT’ environment +variables are set, then they will determine the minimum and maximum +returned value respectively. The result is guaranteed to be greater +than zero. Synopsis: + + nproc [OPTION] + + The program accepts the following options. Also see *note Common +options::. + +‘--all’ + Print the number of installed processors on the system, which may + be greater than the number online or available to the current + process. The ‘OMP_NUM_THREADS’ or ‘OMP_THREAD_LIMIT’ environment + variables are not honored in this case. + +‘--ignore=NUMBER’ + If possible, exclude this NUMBER of processing units. + + An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value +indicates failure. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: uname invocation, Next: hostname invocation, Prev: nproc invocation, Up: System context + +21.4 ‘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 dumdum 2.2.18 #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, except omit the processor type + and the hardware platform name if they are unknown. + +‘-i’ +‘--hardware-platform’ + Print the hardware platform name (sometimes called the hardware + implementation). Print ‘unknown’ if this information is not + available. Note this is non-portable (even across GNU/Linux + distributions). + +‘-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). Print ‘unknown’ if this information is not + available. Note this is non-portable (even across GNU/Linux + distributions). + +‘-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 + +21.5 ‘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::. + + ‘hostname’ is not installed by default, and other packages also +supply a ‘hostname’ command, so portable scripts should not rely on its +existence or on the exact behavior documented above. + + An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value +indicates failure. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: hostid invocation, Next: uptime invocation, Prev: hostname invocation, Up: System context + +21.6 ‘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. + + ‘hostid’ is installed only on systems that have the ‘gethostid’ +function, so portable scripts should not rely on its existence. + + An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value +indicates failure. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: uptime invocation, Prev: hostid invocation, Up: System context + +21.7 ‘uptime’: Print system uptime and load +=========================================== + +‘uptime’ prints the current time, the system’s uptime, the number of +logged-in users and the current load average. + + If an argument is specified, it is used as the file to be read to +discover how many users are logged in. If no argument is specified, a +system default is used (‘uptime --help’ indicates the default setting). + + The only options are ‘--help’ and ‘--version’. *Note Common +options::. + + For example, here’s what it prints right now on one system I use: + + $ uptime + 14:07 up 3:35, 3 users, load average: 1.39, 1.15, 1.04 + + The precise method of calculation of load average varies somewhat +between systems. Some systems calculate it as the average number of +runnable processes over the last 1, 5 and 15 minutes, but some systems +also include processes in the uninterruptible sleep state (that is, +those processes which are waiting for disk I/O). The Linux kernel +includes uninterruptible processes. + + ‘uptime’ is installed only on platforms with infrastructure for +obtaining the boot time, and other packages also supply an ‘uptime’ +command, so portable scripts should not rely on its existence or on the +exact behavior documented above. + + An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value +indicates failure. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: SELinux context, Next: Modified command invocation, Prev: System context, Up: Top + +22 SELinux context +****************** + +This section describes commands for operations with SELinux contexts. + +* Menu: + +* chcon invocation:: Change SELinux context of file +* runcon invocation:: Run a command in specified SELinux context + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: chcon invocation, Next: runcon invocation, Up: SELinux context + +22.1 ‘chcon’: Change SELinux context of file +============================================ + +‘chcon’ changes the SELinux security context of the selected files. +Synopses: + + chcon [OPTION]... CONTEXT FILE... + chcon [OPTION]... [-u USER] [-r ROLE] [-l RANGE] [-t TYPE] FILE... + chcon [OPTION]... --reference=RFILE FILE... + + Change the SELinux security context of each FILE to CONTEXT. With +‘--reference’, change the security context of each FILE to that of +RFILE. + + The program accepts the following options. Also see *note Common +options::. + +‘--dereference’ + Do not affect symbolic links but what they refer to; this is the + default. + +‘-h’ +‘--no-dereference’ + Affect the symbolic links themselves instead of any referenced + file. + +‘--reference=RFILE’ + Use RFILE’s security context rather than specifying a CONTEXT + value. + +‘-R’ +‘--recursive’ + Operate on files and directories recursively. + +‘--preserve-root’ + Refuse to operate recursively on the root directory, ‘/’, when used + together with the ‘--recursive’ option. *Note Treating / + specially::. + +‘--no-preserve-root’ + Do not treat the root directory, ‘/’, specially when operating + recursively; this is the default. *Note Treating / specially::. + +‘-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::. + +‘-v’ +‘--verbose’ + Output a diagnostic for every file processed. + +‘-u USER’ +‘--user=USER’ + Set user USER in the target security context. + +‘-r ROLE’ +‘--role=ROLE’ + Set role ROLE in the target security context. + +‘-t TYPE’ +‘--type=TYPE’ + Set type TYPE in the target security context. + +‘-l RANGE’ +‘--range=RANGE’ + Set range RANGE in the target security context. + + An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value +indicates failure. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: runcon invocation, Prev: chcon invocation, Up: SELinux context + +22.2 ‘runcon’: Run a command in specified SELinux context +========================================================= + +‘runcon’ runs file in specified SELinux security context. + + Synopses: + runcon CONTEXT COMMAND [ARGS] + runcon [ -c ] [-u USER] [-r ROLE] [-t TYPE] [-l RANGE] COMMAND [ARGS] + + Run COMMAND with completely-specified CONTEXT, or with current or +transitioned security context modified by one or more of LEVEL, ROLE, +TYPE and USER. + + If none of ‘-c’, ‘-t’, ‘-u’, ‘-r’, or ‘-l’ is specified, the first +argument is used as the complete context. Any additional arguments +after COMMAND are interpreted as arguments to the command. + + With neither CONTEXT nor COMMAND, print the current security context. + + Note also the ‘setpriv’ command which can be used to set the +NO_NEW_PRIVS bit using ‘setpriv --no-new-privs runcon ...’, thus +disallowing usage of a security context with more privileges than the +process would normally have. + + ‘runcon’ accepts the following options. Also see *note Common +options::. + +‘-c’ +‘--compute’ + Compute process transition context before modifying. + +‘-u USER’ +‘--user=USER’ + Set user USER in the target security context. + +‘-r ROLE’ +‘--role=ROLE’ + Set role ROLE in the target security context. + +‘-t TYPE’ +‘--type=TYPE’ + Set type TYPE in the target security context. + +‘-l RANGE’ +‘--range=RANGE’ + Set range RANGE in the target security context. + + Exit status: + + 126 if COMMAND is found but cannot be invoked + 127 if ‘runcon’ itself fails or if COMMAND cannot be found + the exit status of COMMAND otherwise + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Modified command invocation, Next: Process control, Prev: SELinux context, Up: Top + +23 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 niceness. +* nohup invocation:: Immunize to hangups. +* stdbuf invocation:: Modify buffering of standard streams. +* timeout invocation:: Run with time limit. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: chroot invocation, Next: env invocation, Up: Modified command invocation + +23.1 ‘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.(1). Synopses: + + chroot OPTION NEWROOT [COMMAND [ARGS]...] + chroot OPTION + + Ordinarily, file names are looked up starting at the root of the +directory structure, i.e., ‘/’. ‘chroot’ changes the root to the +directory NEWROOT (which must exist), then changes the working directory +to ‘/’, and finally 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. COMMAND must not +be a special built-in utility (*note Special built-in utilities::). + + The program accepts the following options. Also see *note Common +options::. Options must precede operands. + +‘--groups=GROUPS’ + Use this option to override the supplementary GROUPS to be used by + the new process. The items in the list (names or numeric IDs) must + be separated by commas. Use ‘--groups=''’ to disable the + supplementary group look-up implicit in the ‘--userspec’ option. + +‘--userspec=USER[:GROUP]’ + By default, COMMAND is run with the same credentials as the + invoking process. Use this option to run it as a different USER + and/or with a different primary GROUP. If a USER is specified then + the supplementary groups are set according to the system defined + list for that user, unless overridden with the ‘--groups’ option. + +‘--skip-chdir’ + Use this option to not change the working directory to ‘/’ after + changing the root directory to NEWROOT, i.e., inside the chroot. + This option is only permitted when NEWROOT is the old ‘/’ + directory, and therefore is mostly useful together with the + ‘--groups’ and ‘--userspec’ options to retain the previous working + directory. + + The user and group name look-up performed by the ‘--userspec’ and +‘--groups’ options, is done both outside and inside the chroot, with +successful look-ups inside the chroot taking precedence. If the +specified user or group items are intended to represent a numeric ID, +then a name to ID resolving step is avoided by specifying a leading ‘+’. +*Note Disambiguating names and IDs::. + + 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. + + ‘chroot’ is installed only on systems that have the ‘chroot’ +function, so portable scripts should not rely on its existence. + + Exit status: + + 125 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 + + ---------- Footnotes ---------- + + (1) However, some systems (e.g., FreeBSD) can be configured to allow +certain regular users to use the ‘chroot’ system call, and hence to run +this program. Also, on Cygwin, anyone can run the ‘chroot’ command, +because the underlying function is non-privileged due to lack of support +in MS-Windows. Furthermore, the ‘chroot’ command avoids the ‘chroot’ +system call when NEWROOT is identical to the old ‘/’ directory for +consistency with systems where this is allowed for non-privileged users. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: env invocation, Next: nice invocation, Prev: chroot invocation, Up: Modified command invocation + +23.2 ‘env’: Run a command in a modified environment +=================================================== + +‘env’ runs a command with a modified environment. Synopses: + + env [OPTION]... [NAME=VALUE]... [COMMAND [ARGS]...] + env -[v]S'[OPTION]... [NAME=VALUE]... [COMMAND [ARGS]...]' + env + + ‘env’ is commonly used on first line of scripts (shebang line): + #!/usr/bin/env COMMAND + #!/usr/bin/env -[v]S[OPTION]... [NAME=VALUE]... COMMAND [ARGS]... + + Operands 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. These +operands are evaluated left-to-right, so if two operands mention the +same variable the earlier is ignored. + + Environment variable names can be empty, and can contain any +characters other than ‘=’ and ASCII NUL. However, it is wise to limit +yourself to names that consist solely of underscores, digits, and ASCII +letters, and that begin with a non-digit, as applications like the shell +do not work well with other names. + + The first operand that does not contain the character ‘=’ specifies +the program to invoke; it is searched for according to the ‘PATH’ +environment variable. Any remaining arguments are passed as arguments +to that program. The program should not be a special built-in utility +(*note Special built-in utilities::). + + Modifications to ‘PATH’ take effect prior to searching for COMMAND. +Use caution when reducing ‘PATH’; behavior is not portable when ‘PATH’ +is undefined or omits key directories such as ‘/bin’. + + In the rare case that a utility contains a ‘=’ in the name, the only +way to disambiguate it from a variable assignment is to use an +intermediate command for COMMAND, and pass the problematic program name +via ARGS. For example, if ‘./prog=’ is an executable in the current +‘PATH’: + + env prog= true # runs 'true', with prog= in environment + env ./prog= true # runs 'true', with ./prog= in environment + env -- prog= true # runs 'true', with prog= in environment + env sh -c '\prog= true' # runs 'prog=' with argument 'true' + env sh -c 'exec "$@"' sh prog= true # also runs 'prog=' + + If no command name is specified following the environment +specifications, the resulting environment is printed. This is like +specifying the ‘printenv’ program. + + For some examples, suppose the environment passed to ‘env’ contains +‘LOGNAME=rms’, ‘EDITOR=emacs’, and ‘PATH=.:/gnubin:/hacks’: + + • Output the current environment. + $ env | LC_ALL=C sort + EDITOR=emacs + LOGNAME=rms + PATH=.:/gnubin:/hacks + + • Run ‘foo’ with a reduced environment, preserving only the original + ‘PATH’ to avoid problems in locating ‘foo’. + env - PATH="$PATH" foo + + • Run ‘foo’ with the environment containing ‘LOGNAME=rms’, + ‘EDITOR=emacs’, and ‘PATH=.:/gnubin:/hacks’, and guarantees that + ‘foo’ was found in the file system rather than as a shell built-in. + env foo + + • Run ‘nemacs’ with the environment containing ‘LOGNAME=foo’, + ‘EDITOR=emacs’, ‘PATH=.:/gnubin:/hacks’, and ‘DISPLAY=gnu:0’. + env DISPLAY=gnu:0 LOGNAME=foo nemacs + + • Attempt to run the program ‘/energy/--’ (as that is the only + possible path search result); if the command exists, the + environment will contain ‘LOGNAME=rms’ and ‘PATH=/energy’, and the + arguments will be ‘e=mc2’, ‘bar’, and ‘baz’. + env -u EDITOR PATH=/energy -- e=mc2 bar baz + +23.2.1 General options +---------------------- + +The program accepts the following options. Also see *note Common +options::. Options must precede operands. + +‘-0’ +‘--null’ + Output a zero byte (ASCII NUL) at the end of each line, rather than + a newline. This option enables other programs to parse the output + even when that output would contain data with embedded newlines. + +‘-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. + +‘-C DIR’ +‘--chdir=DIR’ + Change the working directory to DIR before invoking COMMAND. This + differs from the shell built-in ‘cd’ in that it starts COMMAND as a + subprocess rather than altering the shell’s own working directory; + this allows it to be chained with other commands that run commands + in a different context. For example: + + # Run 'true' with /chroot as its root directory and /srv as its working + # directory. + chroot /chroot env --chdir=/srv true + # Run 'true' with /build as its working directory, FOO=bar in its + # environment, and a time limit of five seconds. + env --chdir=/build FOO=bar timeout 5 true + +‘--default-signal[=SIG]’ + Unblock and reset signal SIG to its default signal handler. + Without SIG all known signals are unblocked and reset to their + defaults. Multiple signals can be comma-separated. The following + command runs ‘seq’ with SIGINT and SIGPIPE set to their default + (which is to terminate the program): + + env --default-signal=PIPE,INT seq 1000 | head -n1 + + In the following example, we see how this is not possible to do + with traditional shells. Here the first trap command sets SIGPIPE + to ignore. The second trap command ostensibly sets it back to its + default, but POSIX mandates that the shell must not change + inherited state of the signal - so it is a no-op. + + trap '' PIPE && sh -c 'trap - PIPE ; seq inf | head -n1' + + Using ‘--default-signal=PIPE’ we can ensure the signal handling is + set to its default behavior: + + trap '' PIPE && sh -c 'env --default-signal=PIPE seq inf | head -n1' + +‘--ignore-signal[=SIG]’ + Ignore signal SIG when running a program. Without SIG all known + signals are set to ignore. Multiple signals can be + comma-separated. The following command runs ‘seq’ with SIGINT set + to be ignored - pressing ‘Ctrl-C’ will not terminate it: + + env --ignore-signal=INT seq inf > /dev/null + + ‘SIGCHLD’ is special, in that ‘--ignore-signal=CHLD’ might have no + effect (POSIX says it’s unspecified). + + Most operating systems do not allow ignoring ‘SIGKILL’, ‘SIGSTOP’ + (and possibly other signals). Attempting to ignore these signals + will fail. + + Multiple (and contradictory) ‘--default-signal=SIG’ and + ‘--ignore-signal=SIG’ options are processed left-to-right, with the + latter taking precedence. In the following example, ‘SIGPIPE’ is + set to default while ‘SIGINT’ is ignored: + + env --default-signal=INT,PIPE --ignore-signal=INT + +‘--block-signal[=SIG]’ + Block signal(s) SIG from being delivered. + +‘--list-signal-handling’ + List blocked or ignored signals to stderr, before executing a + command. + +‘-v’ +‘--debug’ + Show verbose information for each processing step. + + $ env -v -uTERM A=B uname -s + unset: TERM + setenv: A=B + executing: uname + arg[0]= 'uname' + arg[1]= '-s' + Linux + + When combined with ‘-S’ it is recommended to list ‘-v’ first, e.g. + ‘env -vS'string'’. + +‘-S STRING’ +‘--split-string=STRING’ + process and split STRING into separate arguments used to pass + multiple arguments on shebang lines. ‘env’ supports FreeBSD’s + syntax of several escape sequences and environment variable + expansions. See below for details and examples. + + Exit status: + + 0 if no COMMAND is specified and the environment is output + 125 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 + +23.2.2 ‘-S’/‘--split-string’ usage in scripts +--------------------------------------------- + +The ‘-S’/‘--split-string’ options enable using multiple arguments on the +first one of scripts (shebang line, ‘#!’). + + When a script’s interpreter is in a known location, scripts typically +contain the absolute file name in their first line: + +Shell script: #!/bin/sh + echo hello + +Perl script: #!/usr/bin/perl + print "hello\n"; + +Python script: #!/usr/bin/python3 + print("hello") + + + When a script’s interpreter is in a non-standard location in the +‘PATH’ environment variable, it is recommended to use ‘env’ on the first +line of the script to find the executable and run it: + +Shell script: #!/usr/bin/env bash + echo hello + +Perl script: #!/usr/bin/env perl + print "hello\n"; + +Python script: #!/usr/bin/env python3 + print("hello") + + + Most operating systems (e.g. GNU/Linux, BSDs) treat all text after +the first space as a single argument. When using ‘env’ in a script it +is thus not possible to specify multiple arguments. + + In the following example: + #!/usr/bin/env perl -T -w + print "hello\n"; + + The operating system treats ‘perl -T -w’ as one argument (the +program’s name), and executing the script fails with: + + /usr/bin/env: 'perl -T -w': No such file or directory + + The ‘-S’ option instructs ‘env’ to split the single string into +multiple arguments. The following example works as expected: + + $ cat hello.pl + #!/usr/bin/env -S perl -T -w + print "hello\n"; + + $ chmod a+x hello.pl + $ ./hello.pl + hello + + And is equivalent to running ‘perl -T -w hello.pl’ on the command +line prompt. + +Testing and troubleshooting +........................... + +To test ‘env -S’ on the command line, use single quotes for the ‘-S’ +string to emulate a single paramter. Single quotes are not needed when +using ‘env -S’ in a shebang line on the first line of a script (the +operating system already treats it as one argument). + + The following command is equivalent to the ‘hello.pl’ script above: + + $ env -S'perl -T -w' hello.pl + + To troubleshoot ‘-S’ usage add the ‘-v’ as the first argument (before +‘-S’). + + Using ‘-vS’ on a shebang line in a script: + + $ cat hello-debug.pl + #!/usr/bin/env -vS perl -T -w + print "hello\n"; + + $ chmod a+x hello-debug.pl + $ ./hello-debug.pl + split -S: 'perl -T -w' + into: 'perl' + & '-T' + & '-w' + executing: perl + arg[0]= 'perl' + arg[1]= '-T' + arg[2]= '-w' + arg[3]= './hello-debug.pl' + hello + + Using ‘-vS’ on the command line prompt (adding single quotes): + + $ env -vS'perl -T -w' hello-debug.pl + split -S: 'perl -T -w' + into: 'perl' + & '-T' + & '-w' + executing: perl + arg[0]= 'perl' + arg[1]= '-T' + arg[2]= '-w' + arg[3]= 'hello-debug.pl' + hello + +23.2.3 ‘-S’/‘--split-string’ syntax +----------------------------------- + +Splitting arguments by whitespace +................................. + +Running ‘env -Sstring’ splits the STRING into arguments based on +unquoted spaces or tab characters. + + In the following contrived example the ‘awk’ variable ‘OFS’ will be +‘<space>xyz<space>’ as these spaces are inside double quotes. The other +space characters are used as argument separators: + + $ cat one.awk + #!/usr/bin/env -S awk -v OFS=" xyz " -f + BEGIN {print 1,2,3} + + $ chmod a+x one.awk + $ ./one.awk + 1 xyz 2 xyz 3 + + When using ‘-S’ on the command line prompt, remember to add single +quotes around the entire string: + + $ env -S'awk -v OFS=" xyz " -f' one.awk + 1 xyz 2 xyz 3 + +Escape sequences +................ + +‘env’ supports several escape sequences. These sequences are processed +when unquoted or inside double quotes (unless otherwise noted). Single +quotes disable escape sequences except ‘\'’ and ‘\\’. + +‘\c’ Ignore the remaining characters in the string. Cannot be used + inside double quotes. + +‘\f’ form-feed character (ASCII 0x0C) + +‘\n’ new-line character (ASCII 0x0A) + +‘\r’ carriage-return character (ASCII 0x0D) + +‘\t’ tab character (ASCII 0x09) + +‘\v’ vertical tab character (ASCII 0x0B) + +‘\#’ A hash ‘#’ character. Used when a ‘#’ character is needed as + the first character of an argument (see ’comments’ section + below). + +‘\$’ A dollar-sign character ‘$’. Unescaped ‘$’ characters are used + to expand environment variables (see ’variables’ section + below). + +‘\_’ Inside double-quotes, replaced with a single space character. + Outside quotes, treated as an argument separator. ‘\_’ can be + used to avoid space characters in a shebang line (see examples + below). + +‘\"’ A double-quote character. + +‘\'’ A single-quote character. This escape sequence works inside + single-quoted strings. + +‘\\’ A backslash character. This escape sequence works inside + single-quoted strings. + + + The following ‘awk’ script will use tab character as input and output +field separator (instead of spaces and tabs): + + $ cat tabs.awk + #!/usr/bin/env -S awk -v FS="\t" -v OFS="\t" -f + ... + +Comments +........ + +The escape sequence ‘\c’ (used outside single/double quotes) causes +‘env’ to ignore the rest of the string. + + The ‘#’ character causes ‘env’ to ignore the rest of the string when +it appears as the first character of an argument. Use ‘\#’ to reverse +this behavior. + + $ env -S'printf %s\n A B C' + A + B + C + + $ env -S'printf %s\n A# B C' + A# + B + C + + $ env -S'printf %s\n A #B C' + A + + $ env -S'printf %s\n A \#B C' + A + #B + C + + $ env -S'printf %s\n A\cB C' + A + + NOTE: The above examples use single quotes as they are executed on +the command-line. + +Environment variable expansion +.............................. + +The pattern ‘${VARNAME}’ is used to substitute a value from the +environment variable. The pattern must include the curly braces +(‘{’,‘}’). Without them ‘env’ will reject the string. Special shell +variables (such as ‘$@’, ‘$*’, ‘$$’) are not supported. + + If the environment variable is empty or not set, the pattern will be +replaced by an empty string. The value of ‘${VARNAME}’ will be that of +the executed ‘env’, before any modifications using +‘-i’/‘--ignore-environment’/‘-u’/‘--unset’ or setting new values using +‘VAR=VALUE’. + + The following python script prepends ‘/opt/custom/modules’ to the +python module search path environment variable (‘PYTHONPATH’): + + $ cat custom.py + #!/usr/bin/env -S PYTHONPATH=/opt/custom/modules/:${PYTHONPATH} python + print "hello" + ... + + The expansion of ‘${PYTHONPATH}’ is performed by ‘env’, not by a +shell. If the curly braces are omitted, ‘env’ will fail: + + $ cat custom.py + #!/usr/bin/env -S PYTHONPATH=/opt/custom/modules/:$PYTHONPATH python + print "hello" + ... + + $ chmod a+x custom.py + $ custom.py + /usr/bin/env: only ${VARNAME} expansion is supported, error at: $PYTHONPATH python + + Environment variable expansion happens before clearing the +environment (with ‘-i’) or unsetting specific variables (with ‘-u’): + + $ env -S'-i OLDUSER=${USER} env' + OLDUSER=gordon + + Use ‘-v’ to diagnose the operations step-by-step: + + $ env -vS'-i OLDUSER=${USER} env' + expanding ${USER} into 'gordon' + split -S: '-i OLDUSER=${USER} env' + into: '-i' + & 'OLDUSER=gordon' + & 'env' + cleaning environ + setenv: OLDUSER=gordon + executing: env + arg[0]= 'env' + OLDUSER=gordon + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: nice invocation, Next: nohup invocation, Prev: env invocation, Up: Modified command invocation + +23.3 ‘nice’: Run a command with modified niceness +================================================= + +‘nice’ prints a process’s “niceness”, or runs a command with modified +niceness. “niceness” affects how favorably the process is scheduled in +the system. Synopsis: + + nice [OPTION]... [COMMAND [ARG]...] + + If no arguments are given, ‘nice’ prints the current niceness. +Otherwise, ‘nice’ runs the given COMMAND with its niceness adjusted. By +default, its niceness is incremented by 10. + + Niceness values range at least from −20 (process has high priority +and gets more resources, thus slowing down other processes) through 19 +(process has lower priority and runs slowly itself, but has less impact +on the speed of other running processes). Some systems may have a wider +range of niceness values; conversely, other systems may enforce more +restrictive limits. An attempt to set the niceness outside the +supported range is treated as an attempt to use the minimum or maximum +supported value. + + A niceness should not be confused with a scheduling priority, which +lets applications determine the order in which threads are scheduled to +run. Unlike a priority, a niceness is merely advice to the scheduler, +which the scheduler is free to ignore. Also, as a point of terminology, +POSIX defines the behavior of ‘nice’ in terms of a “nice value”, which +is the non-negative difference between a niceness and the minimum +niceness. Though ‘nice’ conforms to POSIX, its documentation and +diagnostics use the term “niceness” for compatibility with historical +practice. + + COMMAND must not be a special built-in utility (*note Special +built-in utilities::). + + Due to shell aliases and built-in ‘nice’ functions, using an +unadorned ‘nice’ interactively or in a script may get you different +functionality than that described here. Invoke it via ‘env’ (i.e., ‘env +nice ...’) to avoid interference from the shell. + + Note to change the “niceness” of an existing process, one needs to +use the ‘renice’ command. + + The program accepts the following option. Also see *note Common +options::. Options must precede operands. + +‘-n ADJUSTMENT’ +‘--adjustment=ADJUSTMENT’ + Add ADJUSTMENT instead of 10 to the command’s niceness. If + ADJUSTMENT is negative and you lack appropriate privileges, ‘nice’ + issues a warning but otherwise acts as if you specified a zero + adjustment. + + For compatibility ‘nice’ also supports an obsolete option syntax + ‘-ADJUSTMENT’. New scripts should use ‘-n ADJUSTMENT’ instead. + + ‘nice’ is installed only on systems that have the POSIX ‘setpriority’ +function, so portable scripts should not rely on its existence on +non-POSIX platforms. + + Exit status: + + 0 if no COMMAND is specified and the niceness is output + 125 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 a non-interactive program with reduced +niceness. + + $ nice factor 4611686018427387903 + + Since ‘nice’ prints the current niceness, you can invoke it through +itself to demonstrate how it works. + + The default behavior is to increase the niceness by ‘10’: + + $ nice + 0 + $ nice nice + 10 + $ nice -n 10 nice + 10 + + The ADJUSTMENT is relative to the current niceness. In the next +example, the first ‘nice’ invocation runs the second one with niceness +10, and it in turn runs the final one with a niceness that is 3 more: + + $ nice nice -n 3 nice + 13 + + Specifying a niceness larger than the supported range is the same as +specifying the maximum supported value: + + $ nice -n 10000000000 nice + 19 + + Only a privileged user may run a process with lower niceness: + + $ nice -n -1 nice + nice: cannot set niceness: Permission denied + 0 + $ sudo nice -n -1 nice + -1 + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: nohup invocation, Next: stdbuf invocation, Prev: nice invocation, Up: Modified command invocation + +23.4 ‘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 input is a terminal, redirect it so that terminal +sessions do not mistakenly consider the terminal to be used by the +command. Make the substitute file descriptor unreadable, so that +commands that mistakenly attempt to read from standard input can report +an error. This redirection is a GNU extension; programs intended to be +portable to non-GNU hosts can use ‘nohup COMMAND [ARG]... 0>/dev/null’ +instead. + + If standard output is a terminal, the command’s standard output is +appended to the file ‘nohup.out’; if that cannot be written to, it is +appended to the file ‘$HOME/nohup.out’; and if that cannot be written +to, the command is not run. Any ‘nohup.out’ or ‘$HOME/nohup.out’ file +created by ‘nohup’ is made readable and writable only to the user, +regardless of the current umask settings. + + If standard error is a terminal, it is normally redirected to the +same file descriptor as the (possibly-redirected) standard output. +However, if standard output is closed, standard error terminal output is +instead appended to the file ‘nohup.out’ or ‘$HOME/nohup.out’ as above. + + To capture the command’s output to a file other than ‘nohup.out’ you +can redirect it. For example, to capture the output of ‘make’: + + nohup make > make.log + + ‘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 alter the niceness of COMMAND; use +‘nice’ for that, e.g., ‘nohup nice COMMAND’. + + COMMAND must not be a special built-in utility (*note Special +built-in utilities::). + + The only options are ‘--help’ and ‘--version’. *Note Common +options::. Options must precede operands. + + Exit status: + + 125 if ‘nohup’ itself fails, and ‘POSIXLY_CORRECT’ is not set + 126 if COMMAND is found but cannot be invoked + 127 if COMMAND cannot be found + the exit status of COMMAND otherwise + + If ‘POSIXLY_CORRECT’ is set, internal failures give status 127 +instead of 125. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: stdbuf invocation, Next: timeout invocation, Prev: nohup invocation, Up: Modified command invocation + +23.5 ‘stdbuf’: Run a command with modified I/O stream buffering +=============================================================== + +‘stdbuf’ allows one to modify the buffering operations of the three +standard I/O streams associated with a program. Synopsis: + + stdbuf OPTION... COMMAND + + COMMAND must start with the name of a program that + 1. uses the ISO C ‘FILE’ streams for input/output (note the programs + ‘dd’ and ‘cat’ don’t do that), + + 2. does not adjust the buffering of its standard streams (note the + program ‘tee’ is not in this category). + + Any additional ARGs are passed as additional arguments to the +COMMAND. + + The program accepts the following options. Also see *note Common +options::. + +‘-i MODE’ +‘--input=MODE’ + Adjust the standard input stream buffering. + +‘-o MODE’ +‘--output=MODE’ + Adjust the standard output stream buffering. + +‘-e MODE’ +‘--error=MODE’ + Adjust the standard error stream buffering. + + The MODE can be specified as follows: + +‘L’ + Set the stream to line buffered mode. In this mode data is + coalesced until a newline is output or input is read from any + stream attached to a terminal device. This option is invalid with + standard input. + +‘0’ + Disable buffering of the selected stream. In this mode, data is + output immediately and only the amount of data requested is read + from input. Note the difference in function for input and output. + Disabling buffering for input will not influence the responsiveness + or blocking behavior of the stream input functions. For example + ‘fread’ will still block until ‘EOF’ or error, even if the + underlying ‘read’ returns less data than requested. + +‘SIZE’ + Specify the size of the buffer to use in fully buffered mode. SIZE + may be, or may be an integer optionally followed by, one of the + following multiplicative suffixes: + ‘KB’ => 1000 (KiloBytes) + ‘K’ => 1024 (KibiBytes) + ‘MB’ => 1000*1000 (MegaBytes) + ‘M’ => 1024*1024 (MebiBytes) + ‘GB’ => 1000*1000*1000 (GigaBytes) + ‘G’ => 1024*1024*1024 (GibiBytes) + and so on for ‘T’, ‘P’, ‘E’, ‘Z’, and ‘Y’. Binary prefixes can be + used, too: ‘KiB’=‘K’, ‘MiB’=‘M’, and so on. + + ‘stdbuf’ is installed only on platforms that use the Executable and +Linkable Format (ELF) and support the ‘constructor’ attribute, so +portable scripts should not rely on its existence. + + Exit status: + + 125 if ‘stdbuf’ 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: timeout invocation, Prev: stdbuf invocation, Up: Modified command invocation + +23.6 ‘timeout’: Run a command with a time limit +=============================================== + +‘timeout’ runs the given COMMAND and kills it if it is still running +after the specified time interval. Synopsis: + + timeout [OPTION] DURATION COMMAND [ARG]... + + COMMAND must not be a special built-in utility (*note Special +built-in utilities::). + + The program accepts the following options. Also see *note Common +options::. Options must precede operands. + +‘--preserve-status’ + Return the exit status of the managed COMMAND on timeout, rather + than a specific exit status indicating a timeout. This is useful + if the managed COMMAND supports running for an indeterminate amount + of time. + +‘--foreground’ + Don’t create a separate background program group, so that the + managed COMMAND can use the foreground TTY normally. This is + needed to support timing out commands not started directly from an + interactive shell, in two situations. + 1. COMMAND is interactive and needs to read from the terminal for + example + 2. the user wants to support sending signals directly to COMMAND + from the terminal (like Ctrl-C for example) + + Note in this mode of operation, any children of COMMAND will not be + timed out. Also SIGCONT will not be sent to COMMAND, as it’s + generally not needed with foreground processes, and can cause + intermittent signal delivery issues with programs that are monitors + themselves (like GDB for example). + +‘-k DURATION’ +‘--kill-after=DURATION’ + Ensure the monitored COMMAND is killed by also sending a ‘KILL’ + signal, after the specified DURATION. Without this option, if the + selected signal proves not to be fatal, ‘timeout’ does not kill the + COMMAND. + +‘-s SIGNAL’ +‘--signal=SIGNAL’ + Send this SIGNAL to COMMAND on timeout, rather than the default + ‘TERM’ signal. SIGNAL may be a name like ‘HUP’ or a number. *Note + Signal specifications::. + +‘-v’ +‘--verbose’ + Diagnose to stderr, any signal sent upon timeout. + + DURATION is a floating point number in either the current or the C +locale (*note Floating point::) followed by an optional unit: + ‘s’ for seconds (the default) + ‘m’ for minutes + ‘h’ for hours + ‘d’ for days + A duration of 0 disables the associated timeout. Note that the +actual timeout duration is dependent on system conditions, which should +be especially considered when specifying sub-second timeouts. + + Exit status: + + 124 if COMMAND times out + 125 if ‘timeout’ itself fails + 126 if COMMAND is found but cannot be invoked + 127 if COMMAND cannot be found + 137 if COMMAND is sent the KILL(9) signal (128+9) + the exit status of COMMAND otherwise + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Process control, Next: Delaying, Prev: Modified command invocation, Up: Top + +24 Process control +****************** + +* Menu: + +* kill invocation:: Sending a signal to processes. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: kill invocation, Up: Process control + +24.1 ‘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]... + + Due to shell aliases and built-in ‘kill’ functions, using an +unadorned ‘kill’ interactively or in a script may get you different +functionality than that described here. Invoke it via ‘env’ (i.e., ‘env +kill ...’) to avoid interference from the shell. + + 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, it should be +preceded by ‘--’. However, as a common extension to POSIX, ‘--’ is not +required with ‘kill -SIGNAL -PID’. The following commands are +equivalent: + + kill -15 -1 + kill -TERM -1 + kill -s 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. *Note +Signal specifications::, for a list of supported signal names and +numbers. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Delaying, Next: Numeric operations, Prev: Process control, Up: Top + +25 Delaying +*********** + +* Menu: + +* sleep invocation:: Delay for a specified time. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: sleep invocation, Up: Delaying + +25.1 ‘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 non-negative number followed by an optional unit; +the default is seconds. The units are: + +‘s’ + seconds +‘m’ + minutes +‘h’ + hours +‘d’ + days + + Although portable POSIX scripts must give ‘sleep’ a single +non-negative integer argument without a suffix, GNU ‘sleep’ also accepts +two or more arguments, unit suffixes, and floating-point numbers in +either the current or the C locale. *Note Floating point::. + + For instance, the following could be used to ‘sleep’ for 1 second, +234 milli-, 567 micro- and 890 nanoseconds: + + sleep 1234e-3 567.89e-6 + + The only options are ‘--help’ and ‘--version’. *Note Common +options::. + + Due to shell aliases and built-in ‘sleep’ functions, using an +unadorned ‘sleep’ interactively or in a script may get you different +functionality than that described here. Invoke it via ‘env’ (i.e., ‘env +sleep ...’) to avoid interference from the shell. + + 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 + +26 Numeric operations +********************* + +These programs do numerically-related operations. + +* Menu: + +* factor invocation:: Show factors of numbers. +* numfmt invocation:: Reformat numbers. +* seq invocation:: Print sequences of numbers. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: factor invocation, Next: numfmt invocation, Up: Numeric operations + +26.1 ‘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 ‘factor’ command supports only a small number of options: + +‘--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. + + Factoring the product of the eighth and ninth Mersenne primes takes +about 30 milliseconds of CPU time on a 2.2 GHz Athlon. + + M8=$(echo 2^31-1|bc) + M9=$(echo 2^61-1|bc) + n=$(echo "$M8 * $M9" | bc) + /usr/bin/time -f %U factor $n + 4951760154835678088235319297: 2147483647 2305843009213693951 + 0.03 + + Similarly, factoring the eighth Fermat number 2^{256}+1 takes about +20 seconds on the same machine. + + Factoring large numbers is, in general, hard. The Pollard-Brent rho +algorithm used by ‘factor’ is particularly effective for numbers with +relatively small factors. If you wish to factor large numbers which do +not have small factors (for example, numbers which are the product of +two large primes), other methods are far better. + + If ‘factor’ is built without using GNU MP, only single-precision +arithmetic is available, and so large numbers (typically 2^{128} and +above) will not be supported. The single-precision code uses an +algorithm which is designed for factoring smaller numbers. + + An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value +indicates failure. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: numfmt invocation, Next: seq invocation, Prev: factor invocation, Up: Numeric operations + +26.2 ‘numfmt’: Reformat numbers +=============================== + +‘numfmt’ reads numbers in various representations and reformats them as +requested. The most common usage is converting numbers to/from _human_ +representation (e.g. ‘4G’ ↦ ‘4,000,000,000’). + + numfmt [OPTION]... [NUMBER] + + ‘numfmt’ converts each NUMBER on the command-line according to the +specified options (see below). If no NUMBERs are given, it reads +numbers from standard input. ‘numfmt’ can optionally extract numbers +from specific columns, maintaining proper line padding and alignment. + + An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value +indicates failure. + + See ‘--invalid’ for additional information regarding exit status. + +26.2.1 General options +---------------------- + +The program accepts the following options. Also see *note Common +options::. + +‘--debug’ + Print (to standard error) warning messages about possible erroneous + usage. + +‘-d D’ +‘--delimiter=D’ + Use the character D as input field separator (default: whitespace). + _Note_: Using non-default delimiter turns off automatic padding. + +‘--field=FIELDS’ + Convert the number in input field FIELDS (default: 1). FIELDS + supports ‘cut’ style field ranges: + + N N'th field, counted from 1 + N- from N'th field, to end of line + N-M from N'th to M'th field (inclusive) + -M from first to M'th field (inclusive) + - all fields + +‘--format=FORMAT’ + Use printf-style floating FORMAT string. The FORMAT string must + contain one ‘%f’ directive, optionally with ‘'’, ‘-’, ‘0’, width or + precision modifiers. The ‘'’ modifier will enable ‘--grouping’, + the ‘-’ modifier will enable left-aligned ‘--padding’ and the width + modifier will enable right-aligned ‘--padding’. The ‘0’ width + modifier (without the ‘-’ modifier) will generate leading zeros on + the number, up to the specified width. A precision specification + like ‘%.1f’ will override the precision determined from the input + data or set due to ‘--to’ option auto scaling. + +‘--from=UNIT’ + Auto-scales input numbers according to UNIT. See UNITS below. The + default is no scaling, meaning suffixes (e.g. ‘M’, ‘G’) will + trigger an error. + +‘--from-unit=N’ + Specify the input unit size (instead of the default 1). Use this + option when the input numbers represent other units (e.g. if the + input number ‘10’ represents 10 units of 512 bytes, use + ‘--from-unit=512’). Suffixes are handled as with ‘--from=auto’. + +‘--grouping’ + Group digits in output numbers according to the current locale’s + grouping rules (e.g _Thousands Separator_ character, commonly ‘.’ + (dot) or ‘,’ comma). This option has no effect in ‘POSIX/C’ + locale. + +‘--header[=N]’ + Print the first N (default: 1) lines without any conversion. + +‘--invalid=MODE’ + The default action on input errors is to exit immediately with + status code 2. ‘--invalid=‘abort’’ explicitly specifies this + default mode. With a MODE of ‘fail’, print a warning for _each_ + conversion error, and exit with status 2. With a MODE of ‘warn’, + exit with status 0, even in the presence of conversion errors, and + with a MODE of ‘ignore’ do not even print diagnostics. + +‘--padding=N’ + Pad the output numbers to N characters, by adding spaces. If N is + a positive number, numbers will be right-aligned. If N is a + negative number, numbers will be left-aligned. By default, numbers + are automatically aligned based on the input line’s width (only + with the default delimiter). + +‘--round=METHOD’ + When converting number representations, round the number according + to METHOD, which can be ‘up’, ‘down’, ‘from-zero’ (the default), + ‘towards-zero’, ‘nearest’. + +‘--suffix=SUFFIX’ + Add ‘SUFFIX’ to the output numbers, and accept optional ‘SUFFIX’ in + input numbers. + +‘--to=UNIT’ + Auto-scales output numbers according to UNIT. See _Units_ below. + The default is no scaling, meaning all the digits of the number are + printed. + +‘--to-unit=N’ + Specify the output unit size (instead of the default 1). Use this + option when the output numbers represent other units (e.g. to + represent ‘4,000,000’ bytes in blocks of 1KB, use ‘--to=si + --to-unit=1000’). Suffixes are handled as with ‘--from=auto’. + +‘-z’ +‘--zero-terminated’ + Delimit items with a zero byte rather than a newline (ASCII LF). + I.e., treat input as items separated by ASCII NUL and terminate + output items with ASCII NUL. 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 file names (even + those containing blanks or other special characters). Note with + ‘-z’ the newline character is treated as a field separator. + +26.2.2 Possible UNITs: +---------------------- + +The following are the possible UNIT options with ‘--from=UNITS’ and +‘--to=UNITS’: + +NONE + No scaling is performed. For input numbers, no suffixes are + accepted, and any trailing characters following the number will + trigger an error. For output numbers, all digits of the numbers + will be printed. + +SI + Auto-scale numbers according to the _International System of Units + (SI)_ standard. For input numbers, accept one of the following + suffixes. For output numbers, values larger than 1000 will be + rounded, and printed with one of the following suffixes: + + ‘K’ => 1000^1 = 10^3 (Kilo) + ‘M’ => 1000^2 = 10^6 (Mega) + ‘G’ => 1000^3 = 10^9 (Giga) + ‘T’ => 1000^4 = 10^{12} (Tera) + ‘P’ => 1000^5 = 10^{15} (Peta) + ‘E’ => 1000^6 = 10^{18} (Exa) + ‘Z’ => 1000^7 = 10^{21} (Zetta) + ‘Y’ => 1000^8 = 10^{24} (Yotta) + +IEC + Auto-scale numbers according to the _International Electrotechnical + Commission (IEC)_ standard. For input numbers, accept one of the + following suffixes. For output numbers, values larger than 1024 + will be rounded, and printed with one of the following suffixes: + + ‘K’ => 1024^1 = 2^{10} (Kibi) + ‘M’ => 1024^2 = 2^{20} (Mebi) + ‘G’ => 1024^3 = 2^{30} (Gibi) + ‘T’ => 1024^4 = 2^{40} (Tebi) + ‘P’ => 1024^5 = 2^{50} (Pebi) + ‘E’ => 1024^6 = 2^{60} (Exbi) + ‘Z’ => 1024^7 = 2^{70} (Zebi) + ‘Y’ => 1024^8 = 2^{80} (Yobi) + + The ‘iec’ option uses a single letter suffix (e.g. ‘G’), which is + not fully standard, as the _iec_ standard recommends a two-letter + symbol (e.g ‘Gi’) - but in practice, this method common. Compare + with the ‘iec-i’ option. + +IEC-I + Auto-scale numbers according to the _International Electrotechnical + Commission (IEC)_ standard. For input numbers, accept one of the + following suffixes. For output numbers, values larger than 1024 + will be rounded, and printed with one of the following suffixes: + + ‘Ki’ => 1024^1 = 2^{10} (Kibi) + ‘Mi’ => 1024^2 = 2^{20} (Mebi) + ‘Gi’ => 1024^3 = 2^{30} (Gibi) + ‘Ti’ => 1024^4 = 2^{40} (Tebi) + ‘Pi’ => 1024^5 = 2^{50} (Pebi) + ‘Ei’ => 1024^6 = 2^{60} (Exbi) + ‘Zi’ => 1024^7 = 2^{70} (Zebi) + ‘Yi’ => 1024^8 = 2^{80} (Yobi) + + The ‘iec-i’ option uses a two-letter suffix symbol (e.g. ‘Gi’), as + the _iec_ standard recommends, but this is not always common in + practice. Compare with the ‘iec’ option. + +AUTO + ‘auto’ can only be used with ‘--from’. With this method, numbers + with ‘K’,‘M’,‘G’,‘T’,‘P’,‘E’,‘Z’,‘Y’ suffixes are interpreted as + _SI_ values, and numbers with ‘Ki’, + ‘Mi’,‘Gi’,‘Ti’,‘Pi’,‘Ei’,‘Zi’,‘Yi’ suffixes are interpreted as + _IEC_ values. + +26.2.3 Examples of using ‘numfmt’ +--------------------------------- + +Converting a single number from/to _human_ representation: + $ numfmt --to=si 500000 + 500K + + $ numfmt --to=iec 500000 + 489K + + $ numfmt --to=iec-i 500000 + 489Ki + + $ numfmt --from=si 1M + 1000000 + + $ numfmt --from=iec 1M + 1048576 + + # with '--from=auto', M=Mega, Mi=Mebi + $ numfmt --from=auto 1M + 1000000 + $ numfmt --from=auto 1Mi + 1048576 + + Converting from ‘SI’ to ‘IEC’ scales (e.g. when a harddisk capacity +is advertised as ‘1TB’, while checking the drive’s capacity gives lower +values): + + $ numfmt --from=si --to=iec 1T + 932G + + Converting a single field from an input file / piped input (these +contrived examples are for demonstration purposes only, as both ‘ls’ and +‘df’ support the ‘--human-readable’ option to output sizes in +human-readable format): + + # Third field (file size) will be shown in SI representation + $ ls -log | numfmt --field 3 --header --to=si | head -n4 + -rw-r--r-- 1 94K Aug 23 2011 ABOUT-NLS + -rw-r--r-- 1 3.7K Jan 7 16:15 AUTHORS + -rw-r--r-- 1 36K Jun 1 2011 COPYING + -rw-r--r-- 1 0 Jan 7 15:15 ChangeLog + + # Second field (size) will be shown in IEC representation + $ df --block-size=1 | numfmt --field 2 --header --to=iec | head -n4 + File system 1B-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on + rootfs 132G 104741408 26554036 80% / + tmpfs 794M 7580 804960 1% /run/shm + /dev/sdb1 694G 651424756 46074696 94% /home + + Output can be tweaked using ‘--padding’ or ‘--format’: + + # Pad to 10 characters, right-aligned + $ du -s * | numfmt --to=si --padding=10 + 2.5K config.log + 108 config.status + 1.7K configure + 20 configure.ac + + # Pad to 10 characters, left-aligned + $ du -s * | numfmt --to=si --padding=-10 + 2.5K config.log + 108 config.status + 1.7K configure + 20 configure.ac + + # Pad to 10 characters, left-aligned, using 'format' + $ du -s * | numfmt --to=si --format="%10f" + 2.5K config.log + 108 config.status + 1.7K configure + 20 configure.ac + + # Pad to 10 characters, left-aligned, using 'format' + $ du -s * | numfmt --to=si --padding="%-10f" + 2.5K config.log + 108 config.status + 1.7K configure + 20 configure.ac + + With locales that support grouping digits, using ‘--grouping’ or +‘--format’ enables grouping. In ‘POSIX’ locale, grouping is silently +ignored: + + $ LC_ALL=C numfmt --from=iec --grouping 2G + 2147483648 + + $ LC_ALL=en_US.utf8 numfmt --from=iec --grouping 2G + 2,147,483,648 + + $ LC_ALL=ta_IN numfmt --from=iec --grouping 2G + 2,14,74,83,648 + + $ LC_ALL=C ./src/numfmt --from=iec --format="==%'15f==" 2G + == 2147483648== + + $ LC_ALL=en_US.utf8 ./src/numfmt --from=iec --format="==%'15f==" 2G + == 2,147,483,648== + + $ LC_ALL=en_US.utf8 ./src/numfmt --from=iec --format="==%'-15f==" 2G + ==2,147,483,648 == + + $ LC_ALL=ta_IN ./src/numfmt --from=iec --format="==%'15f==" 2G + == 2,14,74,83,648== + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: seq invocation, Prev: numfmt invocation, Up: Numeric operations + +26.3 ‘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. The sequence of numbers ends when the sum of +the current number and INCREMENT would become greater than LAST, so ‘seq +1 10 10’ only produces ‘1’. INCREMENT must not be ‘0’; use the tool +‘yes’ to get repeated output of a constant number. FIRST, INCREMENT and +LAST must not be ‘NaN’. Floating-point numbers may be specified in +either the current or the C locale. *Note Floating point::. + + The program accepts the following options. Also see *note Common +options::. Options must precede operands. + +‘-f FORMAT’ +‘--format=FORMAT’ + Print all numbers using FORMAT. FORMAT must contain exactly one of + the ‘printf’-style floating point conversion specifications ‘%a’, + ‘%e’, ‘%f’, ‘%g’, ‘%A’, ‘%E’, ‘%F’, ‘%G’. The ‘%’ may be followed + by zero or more flags taken from the set ‘-+#0 '’, then an optional + width containing one or more digits, then an optional precision + consisting of a ‘.’ followed by zero or more digits. FORMAT may + also contain any number of ‘%%’ conversion specifications. All + conversion specifications have the same meaning as with ‘printf’. + + The default format is derived from FIRST, STEP, and LAST. If these + all use a fixed point decimal representation, the default format is + ‘%.Pf’, where P is the minimum precision that can represent the + output numbers exactly. Otherwise, the default format is ‘%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 + zeros. FIRST, STEP, and LAST should all use a fixed point decimal + representation. (To have other kinds of padding, use ‘--format’). + + You can get finer-grained control over output with ‘-f’: + + $ seq -f '(%9.2E)' -9e5 1.1e6 1.3e6 + (-9.00E+05) + ( 2.00E+05) + ( 1.30E+06) + + If you want hexadecimal integer output, you can use ‘printf’ to +perform the conversion: + + $ printf '%x\n' $(seq 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 1000000 | xargs printf '%x\n' | tail -n 3 + f423e + f423f + f4240 + + To generate octal output, use the printf ‘%o’ format instead of ‘%x’. + + On most systems, seq can produce whole-number output for values up to +at least 2^{53}. Larger integers are approximated. The details differ +depending on your floating-point implementation. *Note Floating +point::. A common case is that ‘seq’ works with integers through +2^{64}, and larger integers may not be numerically correct: + + $ seq 50000000000000000000 2 50000000000000000004 + 50000000000000000000 + 50000000000000000000 + 50000000000000000004 + + However, note that when limited to non-negative whole numbers, an +increment of 1 and no format-specifying option, seq can print +arbitrarily large numbers. + + Be careful when using ‘seq’ with outlandish values: otherwise you may +see surprising results, as ‘seq’ uses floating point internally. For +example, on the x86 platform, where the internal representation uses a +64-bit fraction, the command: + + seq 1 0.0000000000000000001 1.0000000000000000009 + + outputs 1.0000000000000000007 twice and skips 1.0000000000000000008. + + An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value +indicates failure. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: File permissions, Next: File timestamps, Prev: Numeric operations, Up: Top + +27 File permissions +******************* + +Each file has a set of “file mode bits” that control the kinds of access +that users have to that file. They can be represented either in +symbolic form or as an octal number. + +* Menu: + +* Mode Structure:: Structure of file mode bits. +* Symbolic Modes:: Mnemonic representation of file mode bits. +* Numeric Modes:: File mode bits as octal numbers. +* Operator Numeric Modes:: ANDing, ORing, and setting modes octally. +* Directory Setuid and Setgid:: Set-user-ID and set-group-ID on directories. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Mode Structure, Next: Symbolic Modes, Up: File permissions + +27.1 Structure of File Mode Bits +================================ + +The file mode bits have two parts: the “file permission bits”, which +control ordinary access to the file, and “special mode bits”, which +affect only some files. + + 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 +file system 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, the +file mode bits have three special components, which affect only +executable files (programs) and, on most systems, directories: + +The “set-user-ID bit” (“setuid bit”). + On execution, set the process’s effective user ID to that of the + file. For directories on a few systems, give files created in the + directory the same owner as the directory, no matter who creates + them, and set the set-user-ID bit of newly-created subdirectories. + +The “set-group-ID bit” (“setgid bit”). + On execution, set the process’s effective group ID to that of the + file. For directories on most systems, give files created in the + directory the same group as the directory, no matter what group the + user who creates them is in, and set the set-group-ID bit of + newly-created subdirectories. + +The “restricted deletion flag” or “sticky bit”. + Prevent unprivileged users from removing or renaming a file in a + directory unless they own the file or the directory; this is + commonly found on world-writable directories like ‘/tmp’. For + regular files on some older systems, save the program’s text image + on the swap device so it will load more quickly when run, so that + the image is “sticky”. + + In addition to the file mode bits listed above, there may be file +attributes specific to the file system, e.g., access control lists +(ACLs), whether a file is compressed, whether a file can be modified +(immutability), and whether a file can be dumped. These are usually set +using programs specific to the file system. For example: + +ext2 + On GNU and GNU/Linux the file attributes specific to the ext2 file + system are set using ‘chattr’. + +FFS + On FreeBSD the file flags specific to the FFS file system are set + using ‘chflags’. + + Even if a file’s mode bits allow an operation on that file, that +operation may still fail, because: + + • the file-system-specific attributes or flags do not permit it; or + + • the file system 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 + +27.2 Symbolic Modes +=================== + +“Symbolic modes” represent changes to files’ mode bits as operations on +single-character symbols. They allow you to modify either all or +selected parts of files’ mode bits, 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...][-+=]PERMS...[,...] + +where PERMS is either zero or more letters from the set ‘rwxXst’, or a +single letter from the set ‘ugo’. + + 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 Mode Bits:: Special mode bits. +* 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 + +27.2.1 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 or search 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 normally 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, or search it if + it is a directory. + + For example, to give everyone permission to read and write a regular +file, but not to execute it, use: + + a=rw + + To remove write permission for 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-rwx + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Copying Permissions, Next: Changing Special Mode Bits, Prev: Setting Permissions, Up: Symbolic Modes + +27.2.2 Copying Existing Permissions +----------------------------------- + +You can base a file’s permissions on its existing permissions. To do +this, instead of using a series of ‘r’, ‘w’, or ‘x’ letters 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 Mode Bits, Next: Conditional Executability, Prev: Copying Permissions, Up: Symbolic Modes + +27.2.3 Changing Special Mode Bits +--------------------------------- + +In addition to changing a file’s read, write, and execute/search +permissions, you can change its special mode bits. *Note Mode +Structure::, for a summary of these special mode bits. + + To change the file mode bits 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 the file mode bits to set the group ID on execution, use +‘g’ in the USERS part of the symbolic mode and ‘s’ in the PERMISSIONS +part. + + To set both user and group ID on execution, omit the USERS part of +the symbolic mode (or use ‘a’) and use ‘s’ in the PERMISSIONS part. + + To change the file mode bits to set the restricted deletion flag or +sticky bit, omit the USERS part of the symbolic mode (or use ‘a’) and +use ‘t’ in the PERMISSIONS part. + + For example, to set the set-user-ID mode bit of a program, you can +use the mode: + + u+s + + To remove both set-user-ID and set-group-ID mode bits from it, you +can use the mode: + + a-s + + To set the restricted deletion flag or sticky bit, you can use the +mode: + + +t + + The combination ‘o+s’ has no effect. On GNU systems the combinations +‘u+t’ and ‘g+t’ have no effect, and ‘o+t’ acts like plain ‘+t’. + + The ‘=’ operator is not very useful with special mode bits. For +example, the mode: + + o=t + +does set the restricted deletion flag or sticky bit, but it also removes +all read, write, and execute/search permissions that users not in the +file’s group might have had for it. + + *Note Directory Setuid and Setgid::, for additional rules concerning +set-user-ID and set-group-ID bits and directories. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Conditional Executability, Next: Multiple Changes, Prev: Changing Special Mode Bits, Up: Symbolic Modes + +27.2.4 Conditional Executability +-------------------------------- + +There is one more special type of symbolic permission: if you use ‘X’ +instead of ‘x’, execute/search permission is affected only if the file +is a directory or already had execute permission. + + For example, this mode: + + a+X + +gives all users permission to search directories, or to execute files if +anyone could execute them before. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Multiple Changes, Next: Umask and Protection, Prev: Conditional Executability, Up: Symbolic Modes + +27.2.5 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’ mode bits. + + 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/search 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 permission bits 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/search 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 + +27.2.6 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, Next: Operator Numeric Modes, Prev: Symbolic Modes, Up: File permissions + +27.3 Numeric Modes +================== + +As an alternative to giving a symbolic mode, you can give an octal (base +8) number that represents the mode. + + The permissions granted to the user, to other users in the file’s +group, and to other users not in the file’s group each require three +bits: one bit for read, one for write, and one for execute/search +permission. These three bits are represented as one octal digit; for +example, if all three are present, the resulting 111 (in binary) is +represented as the digit 7 (in octal). The three special mode bits also +require one bit each, and they are as a group represented as another +octal digit. Here is how the bits are arranged, starting with the +highest valued bit: + + Value in Corresponding + Mode Mode Bit + + Special mode bits: + 4000 Set user ID + 2000 Set group ID + 1000 Restricted deletion flag or sticky bit + + The file's owner: + 400 Read + 200 Write + 100 Execute/search + + Other users in the file's group: + 40 Read + 20 Write + 10 Execute/search + + Other users not in the file's group: + 4 Read + 2 Write + 1 Execute/search + + For example, numeric mode ‘4751’ corresponds to symbolic mode +‘u=srwx,g=rx,o=x’, and numeric mode ‘664’ corresponds to symbolic mode +‘ug=rw,o=r’. Numeric mode ‘0’ corresponds to symbolic mode ‘a=’. + + A numeric mode is usually shorter than the corresponding symbolic +mode, but it is limited in that normally it cannot take into account the +previous file mode bits; it can only set them absolutely. The +set-user-ID and set-group-ID bits of directories are an exception to +this general limitation. *Note Directory Setuid and Setgid::. Also, +operator numeric modes can take previous file mode bits into account. +*Note Operator Numeric Modes::. + + Numeric modes are 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’. +However, modes of five digits or more, such as ‘00055’, are sometimes +special (*note Directory Setuid and Setgid::). + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Operator Numeric Modes, Next: Directory Setuid and Setgid, Prev: Numeric Modes, Up: File permissions + +27.4 Operator Numeric Modes +=========================== + +An operator numeric mode is a numeric mode that is prefixed by a ‘-’, +‘+’, or ‘=’ operator, which has the same interpretation as in symbolic +modes. For example, ‘+440’ enables read permission for the file’s owner +and group, ‘-1’ disables execute permission for other users, and ‘=600’ +clears all permissions except for enabling read-write permissions for +the file’s owner. Operator numeric modes can be combined with symbolic +modes by separating them with a comma; for example, ‘=0,u+r’ clears all +permissions except for enabling read permission for the file’s owner. + + The commands ‘chmod =755 DIR’ and ‘chmod 755 DIR’ differ in that the +former clears the directory DIR’s setuid and setgid bits, whereas the +latter preserves them. *Note Directory Setuid and Setgid::. + + Operator numeric modes are a GNU extension. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Directory Setuid and Setgid, Prev: Operator Numeric Modes, Up: File permissions + +27.5 Directories and the Set-User-ID and Set-Group-ID Bits +========================================================== + +On most systems, if a directory’s set-group-ID bit is set, newly created +subfiles inherit the same group as the directory, and newly created +subdirectories inherit the set-group-ID bit of the parent directory. On +a few systems, a directory’s set-user-ID bit has a similar effect on the +ownership of new subfiles and the set-user-ID bits of new +subdirectories. These mechanisms let users share files more easily, by +lessening the need to use ‘chmod’ or ‘chown’ to share new files. + + These convenience mechanisms rely on the set-user-ID and set-group-ID +bits of directories. If commands like ‘chmod’ and ‘mkdir’ routinely +cleared these bits on directories, the mechanisms would be less +convenient and it would be harder to share files. Therefore, a command +like ‘chmod’ does not affect the set-user-ID or set-group-ID bits of a +directory unless the user specifically mentions them in a symbolic mode, +or uses an operator numeric mode such as ‘=755’, or sets them in a +numeric mode, or clears them in a numeric mode that has five or more +octal digits. For example, on systems that support set-group-ID +inheritance: + + # These commands leave the set-user-ID and + # set-group-ID bits of the subdirectories alone, + # so that they retain their default values. + mkdir A B C + chmod 755 A + chmod 0755 B + chmod u=rwx,go=rx C + mkdir -m 755 D + mkdir -m 0755 E + mkdir -m u=rwx,go=rx F + + If you want to try to set these bits, you must mention them +explicitly in the symbolic or numeric modes, e.g.: + + # These commands try to set the set-user-ID + # and set-group-ID bits of the subdirectories. + mkdir G + chmod 6755 G + chmod +6000 G + chmod u=rwx,go=rx,a+s G + mkdir -m 6755 H + mkdir -m +6000 I + mkdir -m u=rwx,go=rx,a+s J + + If you want to try to clear these bits, you must mention them +explicitly in a symbolic mode, or use an operator numeric mode, or +specify a numeric mode with five or more octal digits, e.g.: + + # These commands try to clear the set-user-ID + # and set-group-ID bits of the directory D. + chmod a-s D + chmod -6000 D + chmod =755 D + chmod 00755 D + + This behavior is a GNU extension. Portable scripts should not rely +on requests to set or clear these bits on directories, as POSIX allows +implementations to ignore these requests. The GNU behavior with numeric +modes of four or fewer digits is intended for scripts portable to +systems that preserve these bits; the behavior with numeric modes of +five or more digits is for scripts portable to systems that do not +preserve the bits. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: File timestamps, Next: Date input formats, Prev: File permissions, Up: Top + +28 File timestamps +****************** + +Standard POSIX files have three timestamps: the access timestamp (atime) +of the last read, the modification timestamp (mtime) of the last write, +and the status change timestamp (ctime) of the last change to the file’s +meta-information. Some file systems support a fourth time: the birth +timestamp (birthtime) of when the file was created; by definition, +birthtime never changes. + + One common example of a ctime change is when the permissions of a +file change. Changing the permissions doesn’t access the file, so 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. + + Naively, a file’s atime, mtime, and ctime are set to the current time +whenever you read, write, or change the attributes of the file +respectively, and searching a directory counts as reading it. A file’s +atime and mtime can also be set directly, via the ‘touch’ command (*note +touch invocation::). In practice, though, timestamps are not updated +quite that way. + + For efficiency reasons, many systems are lazy about updating atimes: +when a program accesses a file, they may delay updating the file’s +atime, or may not update the file’s atime if the file has been accessed +recently, or may not update the atime at all. Similar laziness, though +typically not quite so extreme, applies to mtimes and ctimes. + + Some systems emulate timestamps instead of supporting them directly, +and these emulations may disagree with the naive interpretation. For +example, a system may fake an atime or ctime by using the mtime. + + The determination of what time is “current” depends on the platform. +Platforms with network file systems often use different clocks for the +operating system and for file systems; because updates typically uses +file systems’ clocks by default, clock skew can cause the resulting file +timestamps to appear to be in a program’s “future” or “past”. + + When the system updates a file timestamp to a desired time T (which +is either the current time, or a time specified via the ‘touch’ +command), there are several reasons the file’s timestamp may be set to a +value that differs from T. First, T may have a higher resolution than +supported. Second, a file system may use different resolutions for +different types of times. Third, file timestamps may use a different +resolution than operating system timestamps. Fourth, the operating +system primitives used to update timestamps may employ yet a different +resolution. For example, in theory a file system might use +10-microsecond resolution for access timestamp and 100-nanosecond +resolution for modification timestamp, and the operating system might +use nanosecond resolution for the current time and microsecond +resolution for the primitive that ‘touch’ uses to set a file’s timestamp +to an arbitrary value. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Date input formats, Next: Version sort ordering, Prev: File timestamps, Up: Top + +29 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 +‘parse_datetime’ function) is not described here. + +* Menu: + +* General date syntax:: Common rules. +* Calendar date items:: 19 Dec 1994. +* Time of day items:: 9:20pm. +* Time zone items:: EST, PDT, UTC, ... +* Combined date and time of day items:: 1972-09-24T20:02:00,000000-0500. +* Day of week items:: Monday and others. +* Relative items in date strings:: next tuesday, 2 years ago. +* Pure numbers in date strings:: 19931219, 1440. +* Seconds since the Epoch:: @1078100502. +* Specifying time zone rules:: TZ="America/New_York", TZ="UTC0". +* Authors of parse_datetime:: Bellovin, Eggert, Salz, Berets, et al. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: General date syntax, Next: Calendar date items, Up: Date input formats + +29.1 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 day items + • time zone items + • combined date and time of day items + • day of the week items + • relative items + • pure numbers. + +We describe each of these item types in turn, below. + + A few ordinal numbers may be written out in words in some contexts. +This is most useful for specifying day of the week items or relative +items (see below). Among the most commonly used ordinal numbers, the +word ‘last’ stands for -1, ‘this’ stands for 0, and ‘first’ and ‘next’ +both stand for 1. Because the word ‘second’ stands for the unit of time +there is no way to write the ordinal number 2, but for convenience +‘third’ stands 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. + + 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 the ‘date’ command 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 + Mon Mar 1 00:21:42 UTC 2004 + $ TZ=UTC0 date +'%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%SZ' + 2004-03-01 00:21:42Z + $ date --rfc-3339=ns # --rfc-3339 is a GNU extension. + 2004-02-29 16:21:42.692722128-08:00 + $ date --rfc-2822 # a GNU extension + Sun, 29 Feb 2004 16:21:42 -0800 + $ date +'%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S %z' # %z is a GNU extension. + 2004-02-29 16:21:42 -0800 + $ date +'@%s.%N' # %s and %N are GNU extensions. + @1078100502.692722128 + + 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. + + Invalid dates like ‘2005-02-29’ or times like ‘24:00’ are rejected. +In the typical case of a host that does not support leap seconds, a time +like ‘23:59:60’ is rejected even if it corresponds to a valid leap +second. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Calendar date items, Next: Time of day items, Prev: General date syntax, Up: Date input formats + +29.2 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 + +29.3 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: + + 20:02:00.000000 + 20:02 + 8:02pm + 20:02-0500 # In EST (U.S. Eastern Standard Time). + + More generally, the time of 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 possibly followed by ‘.’ +or ‘,’ and a fraction containing one or more digits. Alternatively, +‘:SECOND’ can be omitted, in which case it is taken to be zero. On the +rare hosts that support leap seconds, SECOND may be 60. + + 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. The zone minutes term, MM, +may be omitted, in which case the one- or two-digit correction is +interpreted as a number of hours. You can also separate HH from MM with +a colon. 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. For example, ‘+0530’ and ‘+05:30’ both stand for the time +zone 5.5 hours ahead of UTC (e.g., India). This is the best way to +specify a time zone correction by fractional parts of an hour. The +maximum zone correction is 24 hours. + + Either ‘am’/‘pm’ or a time zone correction may be specified, but not +both. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Time zone items, Next: Combined date and time of day items, Prev: Time of day items, Up: Date input formats + +29.4 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. Alternatively, a non-daylight-saving time zone can be +followed by a time zone correction, to add the two values. This is +normally done only for ‘UTC’; for example, ‘UTC+05:30’ is equivalent to +‘+05:30’. + + 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, and ‘A’ has +different meaning as a military time zone than as an obsolescent RFC 822 +time zone. Instead, it’s better to use unambiguous numeric time zone +corrections like ‘-0500’, as described in the previous section. + + If neither a time zone item nor a time zone correction is supplied, +timestamps are interpreted using the rules of the default time zone +(*note Specifying time zone rules::). + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Combined date and time of day items, Next: Day of week items, Prev: Time zone items, Up: Date input formats + +29.5 Combined date and time of day items +======================================== + +The ISO 8601 date and time of day extended format consists of an ISO +8601 date, a ‘T’ character separator, and an ISO 8601 time of day. This +format is also recognized if the ‘T’ is replaced by a space. + + In this format, the time of day should use 24-hour notation. +Fractional seconds are allowed, with either comma or period preceding +the fraction. ISO 8601 fractional minutes and hours are not supported. +Typically, hosts support nanosecond timestamp resolution; excess +precision is silently discarded. + + Here are some examples: + + 2012-09-24T20:02:00.052-05:00 + 2012-12-31T23:59:59,999999999+11:00 + 1970-01-01 00:00Z + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Day of week items, Next: Relative items in date strings, Prev: Combined date and time of day items, Up: Date input formats + +29.6 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 + +29.7 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: Seconds since the Epoch, Prev: Relative items in date strings, Up: Date input formats + +29.8 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 +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: Seconds since the Epoch, Next: Specifying time zone rules, Prev: Pure numbers in date strings, Up: Date input formats + +29.9 Seconds since the Epoch +============================ + +If you precede a number with ‘@’, it represents an internal timestamp as +a count of seconds. The number can contain an internal decimal point +(either ‘.’ or ‘,’); any excess precision not supported by the internal +representation is truncated toward minus infinity. Such a number cannot +be combined with any other date item, as it specifies a complete +timestamp. + + Internally, computer times are represented as a count of seconds +since an epoch—a well-defined point of time. On GNU and POSIX systems, +the epoch is 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC, so ‘@0’ represents this time, ‘@1’ +represents 1970-01-01 00:00:01 UTC, and so forth. GNU and most other +POSIX-compliant systems support such times as an extension to POSIX, +using negative counts, so that ‘@-1’ represents 1969-12-31 23:59:59 UTC. + + Traditional Unix systems count seconds with 32-bit two’s-complement +integers and can represent times from 1901-12-13 20:45:52 through +2038-01-19 03:14:07 UTC. More modern systems use 64-bit counts of +seconds with nanosecond subcounts, and can represent all the times in +the known lifetime of the universe to a resolution of 1 nanosecond. + + On most hosts, these counts ignore the presence of leap seconds. For +example, on most hosts ‘@915148799’ represents 1998-12-31 23:59:59 UTC, +‘@915148800’ represents 1999-01-01 00:00:00 UTC, and there is no way to +represent the intervening leap second 1998-12-31 23:59:60 UTC. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Specifying time zone rules, Next: Authors of parse_datetime, Prev: Seconds since the Epoch, Up: Date input formats + +29.10 Specifying time zone rules +================================ + +Normally, dates are interpreted using the rules of the current time +zone, which in turn are specified by the ‘TZ’ environment variable, or +by a system default if ‘TZ’ is not set. To specify a different set of +default time zone rules that apply just to one date, start the date with +a string of the form ‘TZ="RULE"’. The two quote characters (‘"’) must +be present in the date, and any quotes or backslashes within RULE must +be escaped by a backslash. + + For example, with the GNU ‘date’ command you can answer the question +“What time is it in New York when a Paris clock shows 6:30am on October +31, 2004?” by using a date beginning with ‘TZ="Europe/Paris"’ as shown +in the following shell transcript: + + $ export TZ="America/New_York" + $ date --date='TZ="Europe/Paris" 2004-10-31 06:30' + Sun Oct 31 01:30:00 EDT 2004 + + In this example, the ‘--date’ operand begins with its own ‘TZ’ +setting, so the rest of that operand is processed according to +‘Europe/Paris’ rules, treating the string ‘2004-10-31 06:30’ as if it +were in Paris. However, since the output of the ‘date’ command is +processed according to the overall time zone rules, it uses New York +time. (Paris was normally six hours ahead of New York in 2004, but this +example refers to a brief Halloween period when the gap was five hours.) + + A ‘TZ’ value is a rule that typically names a location in the ‘tz’ +database (https://www.iana.org/time-zones). A recent catalog of +location names appears in the TWiki Date and Time Gateway +(https://twiki.org/cgi-bin/xtra/tzdatepick.html). A few non-GNU hosts +require a colon before a location name in a ‘TZ’ setting, e.g., +‘TZ=":America/New_York"’. + + The ‘tz’ database includes a wide variety of locations ranging from +‘Arctic/Longyearbyen’ to ‘Antarctica/South_Pole’, but if you are at sea +and have your own private time zone, or if you are using a non-GNU host +that does not support the ‘tz’ database, you may need to use a POSIX +rule instead. Simple POSIX rules like ‘UTC0’ specify a time zone +without daylight saving time; other rules can specify simple daylight +saving regimes. *Note Specifying the Time Zone with ‘TZ’: (libc)TZ +Variable. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Authors of parse_datetime, Prev: Specifying time zone rules, Up: Date input formats + +29.11 Authors of ‘parse_datetime’ +================================= + +‘parse_datetime’ started life as ‘getdate’, as originally implemented by +Steven M. Bellovin (<smb@research.att.com>) 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 +(<rsalz@bbn.com>) and Jim Berets (<jberets@bbn.com>) in August, 1990. +Various revisions for the GNU system were made by David MacKenzie, Jim +Meyering, Paul Eggert and others, including renaming it to ‘get_date’ to +avoid a conflict with the alternative Posix function ‘getdate’, and a +later rename to ‘parse_datetime’. The Posix function ‘getdate’ can +parse more locale-specific dates using ‘strptime’, but relies on an +environment variable and external file, and lacks the thread-safety of +‘parse_datetime’. + + This chapter was originally produced by François Pinard +(<pinard@iro.umontreal.ca>) from the ‘parse_datetime.y’ source code, and +then edited by K. Berry (<kb@cs.umb.edu>). + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Version sort ordering, Next: Opening the software toolbox, Prev: Date input formats, Up: Top + +30 Version sort ordering +************************ + +* Menu: + +* Version sort overview:: +* Implementation Details:: +* Differences from the official Debian Algorithm:: +* Advanced Topics:: + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Version sort overview, Next: Implementation Details, Up: Version sort ordering + +30.1 Version sort overview +========================== + +“version sort” ordering (and similarly, “natural sort” ordering) is a +method to sort items such as file names and lines of text in an order +that feels more natural to people, when the text contains a mixture of +letters and digits. + + Standard sorting usually does not produce the order that one expects +because comparisons are made on a character-by-character basis. + + Compare the sorting of the following items: + + Alphabetical sort: Version Sort: + + a1 a1 + a120 a2 + a13 a13 + a2 a120 + + version sort functionality in GNU coreutils is available in the ‘ls +-v’, ‘ls --sort=version’, ‘sort -V’, ‘sort --version-sort’ commands. + +* Menu: + +* Using version sort in GNU coreutils:: +* Origin of version sort and differences from natural sort:: +* Correct/Incorrect ordering and Expected/Unexpected results:: + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Using version sort in GNU coreutils, Next: Origin of version sort and differences from natural sort, Up: Version sort overview + +30.1.1 Using version sort in GNU coreutils +------------------------------------------ + +Two GNU coreutils programs use version sort: ‘ls’ and ‘sort’. + + To list files in version sort order, use ‘ls’ with ‘-v’ or +‘--sort=version’ options: + + default sort: version sort: + + $ ls -1 $ ls -1 -v + a1 a1 + a100 a1.4 + a1.13 a1.13 + a1.4 a1.40 + a1.40 a2 + a2 a100 + + To sort text files in version sort order, use ‘sort’ with the ‘-V’ +option: + + $ cat input + b3 + b11 + b1 + b20 + + + alphabetical order: version sort order: + + $ sort input $ sort -V input + b1 b1 + b11 b3 + b20 b11 + b3 b20 + + To sort a specific column in a file use ‘-k/--key’ with ‘V’ ordering +option: + + $ cat input2 + 1000 b3 apples + 2000 b11 oranges + 3000 b1 potatoes + 4000 b20 bananas + + $ sort -k2V,2 input2 + 3000 b1 potatoes + 1000 b3 apples + 2000 b11 oranges + 4000 b20 bananas + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Origin of version sort and differences from natural sort, Next: Correct/Incorrect ordering and Expected/Unexpected results, Prev: Using version sort in GNU coreutils, Up: Version sort overview + +30.1.2 Origin of version sort and differences from natural sort +--------------------------------------------------------------- + +In GNU coreutils, the name “version sort” was chosen because it is based +on Debian GNU/Linux’s algorithm of sorting packages’ versions. + + Its goal is to answer the question “which package is newer, +‘firefox-60.7.2’ or ‘firefox-60.12.3’ ?” + + In coreutils this algorithm was slightly modified to work on more +general input such as textual strings and file names (see *note +Differences from the official Debian Algorithm::). + + In other contexts, such as other programs and other programming +languages, a similar sorting functionality is called natural sort +(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_sort_order). + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Correct/Incorrect ordering and Expected/Unexpected results, Prev: Origin of version sort and differences from natural sort, Up: Version sort overview + +30.1.3 Correct/Incorrect ordering and Expected/Unexpected results +----------------------------------------------------------------- + +Currently there is no standard for version/natural sort ordering. + + That is: there is no one correct way or universally agreed-upon way +to order items. Each program and each programming language can decide +its own ordering algorithm and call it ’natural sort’ (or other various +names). + + See *note Other version/natural sort implementations:: for many +examples of differing sorting possibilities, each with its own rules and +variations. + + If you do suspect a bug in coreutils’ implementation of version-sort, +see *note Reporting bugs or incorrect results:: on how to report them. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Implementation Details, Next: Differences from the official Debian Algorithm, Prev: Version sort overview, Up: Version sort ordering + +30.2 Implementation Details +=========================== + +GNU coreutils’ version sort algorithm is based on Debian’s versioning +scheme +(https://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/ch-controlfields.html#version), +specifically on the "upstream version" part. + + This section describes the ordering rules. + + The next section (*note Differences from the official Debian +Algorithm::) describes some differences between GNU coreutils +implementation and Debian’s official algorithm. + +* Menu: + +* Version-sort ordering rules:: +* Version sort is not the same as numeric sort:: +* Punctuation Characters:: +* Punctuation Characters vs letters:: +* Tilde ~ character:: +* Version sort ignores locale:: + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Version-sort ordering rules, Next: Version sort is not the same as numeric sort, Up: Implementation Details + +30.2.1 Version-sort ordering rules +---------------------------------- + +The version sort ordering rules are: + + 1. The strings are compared from left to right. + + 2. First the initial part of each string consisting entirely of + non-digit characters is determined. + + 1. These two parts (one of which may be empty) are compared + lexically. If a difference is found it is returned. + + 2. The lexical comparison is a comparison of ASCII values + modified so that: + + 1. all the letters sort earlier than all the non-letters and + 2. so that a tilde sorts before anything, even the end of a + part. + + 3. Then the initial part of the remainder of each string which + consists entirely of digit characters is determined. The numerical + values of these two parts are compared, and any difference found is + returned as the result of the comparison. + 1. For these purposes an empty string (which can only occur at + the end of one or both version strings being compared) counts + as zero. + + 4. These two steps (comparing and removing initial non-digit strings + and initial digit strings) are repeated until a difference is found + or both strings are exhausted. + + Consider the version-sort comparison of two file names: ‘foo07.7z’ +and ‘foo7a.7z’. The two strings will be broken down to the following +parts, and the parts compared respectively from each string: + + foo vs foo (rule 2, non-digits characters) + 07 vs 7 (rule 3, digits characters) + . vs a. (rule 2) + 7 vs 7 (rule 3) + z vs z (rule 2) + + Comparison flow based on above algorithm: + + 1. The first parts (‘foo’) are identical in both strings. + + 2. The second parts (‘07’ and ‘7’) are compared numerically, and are + identical. + + 3. The third parts (‘‘.’’ vs ‘‘a.’’) are compared lexically by ASCII + value (rule 2.2). + + 4. The first character of the first string (‘‘.’’) is compared to the + first character of the second string (‘‘a’’). + + 5. Rule 2.2.1 dictates that "all letters sorts earlier than all + non-letters". Hence, ‘‘a’’ comes before ‘‘.’’. + + 6. The returned result is that ‘foo7a.7z’ comes before ‘foo07.7z’. + + Result when using sort: + + $ cat input3 + foo07.7z + foo7a.7z + + $ sort -V input3 + foo7a.7z + foo07.7z + + See *note Differences from the official Debian Algorithm:: for +additional rules that extend the Debian algorithm in coreutils. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Version sort is not the same as numeric sort, Next: Punctuation Characters, Prev: Version-sort ordering rules, Up: Implementation Details + +30.2.2 Version sort is not the same as numeric sort +--------------------------------------------------- + +Consider the following text file: + + $ cat input4 + 8.10 + 8.5 + 8.1 + 8.01 + 8.010 + 8.100 + 8.49 + + + + Numerical Sort: Version Sort: + + $ sort -n input4 $ sort -V input4 + 8.01 8.01 + 8.010 8.1 + 8.1 8.5 + 8.10 8.010 + 8.100 8.10 + 8.49 8.49 + 8.5 8.100 + + Numeric sort (‘sort -n’) treats the entire string as a single numeric +value, and compares it to other values. For example, ‘8.1’, ‘8.10’ and +‘8.100’ are numerically equivalent, and are ordered together. +Similarly, ‘8.49’ is numerically smaller than ‘8.5’, and appears before +first. + + Version sort (‘sort -V’) first breaks down the string into digits and +non-digits parts, and only then compares each part (see annotated +example in Version-sort ordering rules). + + Comparing the string ‘8.1’ to ‘8.01’, first the ‘‘8’’ characters are +compared (and are identical), then the dots (‘‘.’’) are compared and are +identical, and lastly the remaining digits are compared numerically (‘1’ +and ‘01’) - which are numerically equivalent. Hence, ‘8.01’ and ‘8.1’ +are grouped together. + + Similarly, comparing ‘8.5’ to ‘8.49’ - the ‘‘8’’ and ‘‘.’’ parts are +identical, then the numeric values ‘5’ and ‘49’ are compared. The +resulting ‘5’ appears before ‘49’. + + This sorting order (where ‘8.5’ comes before ‘8.49’) is common when +assigning versions to computer programs (while perhaps not intuitive or +’natural’ for people). + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Punctuation Characters, Next: Punctuation Characters vs letters, Prev: Version sort is not the same as numeric sort, Up: Implementation Details + +30.2.3 Punctuation Characters +----------------------------- + +Punctuation characters are sorted by ASCII order (rule 2.2). + + $ touch 1.0.5_src.tar.gz 1.0_src.tar.gz + + $ ls -v -1 + 1.0.5_src.tar.gz + 1.0_src.tar.gz + + Why is ‘1.0.5_src.tar.gz’ listed before ‘1.0_src.tar.gz’ ? + + Based on the *note algorithm: Version-sort ordering rules. above, the +strings are broken down into the following parts: + + 1 vs 1 (rule 3, all digit characters) + . vs . (rule 2, all non-digit characters) + 0 vs 0 (rule 3) + . vs _src.tar.gz (rule 2) + 5 vs empty string (no more character in the file name) + _src.tar.gz vs empty string + + The fourth parts (‘‘.’’ and ‘_src.tar.gz’) are compared lexically by +ASCII order. The character ‘‘.’’ (ASCII value 46) is smaller than ‘‘_’’ +(ASCII value 95) - and should be listed before it. + + Hence, ‘1.0.5_src.tar.gz’ is listed first. + + If a different character appears instead of the underscore (for +example, percent sign ‘‘%’’ ASCII value 37, which is smaller than dot’s +ASCII value of 46), that file will be listed first: + + $ touch 1.0.5_src.tar.gz 1.0%zzzzz.gz + 1.0%zzzzz.gz + 1.0.5_src.tar.gz + + The same reasoning applies to the following example: The character +‘‘.’’ has ASCII value 46, and is smaller than slash character ‘‘/’’ +ASCII value 47: + + $ cat input5 + 3.0/ + 3.0.5 + + $ sort -V input5 + 3.0.5 + 3.0/ + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Punctuation Characters vs letters, Next: Tilde ~ character, Prev: Punctuation Characters, Up: Implementation Details + +30.2.4 Punctuation Characters vs letters +---------------------------------------- + +Rule 2.2.1 dictates that letters sorts earlier than all non-letters +(after breaking down a string to digits and non-digits parts). + + $ cat input6 + a% + az + + $ sort -V input6 + az + a% + + The input strings consist entirely of non-digits, and based on the +above algorithm have only one part, all non-digit characters (‘‘a%’’ vs +‘‘az’’). + + Each part is then compared lexically, character-by-character. ‘‘a’’ +compares identically in both strings. + + Rule 2.2.1 dictates that letters (‘‘z’’) sorts earlier than all +non-letters (‘‘%’’) - hence ‘‘az’’ appears first (despite ‘‘z’’ having +ASCII value of 122, much bigger than ‘‘%’’ with ASCII value 37). + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Tilde ~ character, Next: Version sort ignores locale, Prev: Punctuation Characters vs letters, Up: Implementation Details + +30.2.5 Tilde ‘~’ character +-------------------------- + +Rule 2.2.2 dictates that tilde character ‘‘~’’ (ASCII 126) sorts before +all other non-digit characters, including an empty part. + + $ cat input7 + 1 + 1% + 1.2 + 1~ + ~ + + $ sort -V input7 + ~ + 1~ + 1 + 1% + 1.2 + + The sorting algorithm starts by breaking down the string into +non-digits (rule 2) and digits parts (rule 3). + + In the above input file, only the last line in the input file starts +with a non-digit (‘‘~’’). This is the first part. All other lines in +the input file start with a digit - their first non-digit part is empty. + + Based on rule 2.2.2, tilde ‘‘~’’ sorts before all other non-digits +including the empty part - hence it comes before all other strings, and +is listed first in the sorted output. + + The remaining lines (‘1’, ‘1%’, ‘1.2’, ‘1~’) follow similar logic: +The digit part is extracted (1 for all strings) and compares identical. +The following extracted parts for the remaining input lines are: empty +part, ‘%’, ‘.’, ‘~’. + + Tilde sorts before all others, hence the line ‘1~’ appears next. + + The remaining lines (‘1’, ‘1%’, ‘1.2’) are sorted based on previously +explained rules. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Version sort ignores locale, Prev: Tilde ~ character, Up: Implementation Details + +30.2.6 Version sort uses ASCII order, ignores locale, unicode characters +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +In version sort, unicode characters are compared byte-by-byte according +to their binary representation, ignoring their unicode value or the +current locale. + + Most commonly, unicode characters (e.g. Greek Small Letter Alpha +U+03B1 ‘α’) are encoded as UTF-8 bytes (e.g. ‘α’ is encoded as UTF-8 +sequence ‘0xCE 0xB1’). The encoding will be compared byte-by-byte, e.g. +first ‘0xCE’ (decimal value 206) then ‘0xB1’ (decimal value 177). + + $ touch aa az "a%" "aα" + + $ ls -1 -v + aa + az + a% + aα + + Ignoring the first letter (‘a’) which is identical in all strings, +the compared values are: + + ‘‘a’’ and ‘‘z’’ are letters, and sort earlier than all other +non-digit characters. + + Then, percent sign ‘‘%’’ (ASCII value 37) is compared to the first +byte of the UTF-8 sequence of ‘‘α’’, which is 0xCE or 206). The value +37 is smaller, hence ‘‘a%’’ is listed before ‘‘aα’’. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Differences from the official Debian Algorithm, Next: Advanced Topics, Prev: Implementation Details, Up: Version sort ordering + +30.3 Differences from the official Debian Algorithm +=================================================== + +The GNU coreutils’ version sort algorithm differs slightly from the +official Debian algorithm, in order to accommodate more general usage +and file name listing. + +* Menu: + +* Minus/Hyphen and Colon characters:: +* Additional hard-coded priorities in GNU coreutils' version sort:: +* Special handling of file extensions:: + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Minus/Hyphen and Colon characters, Next: Additional hard-coded priorities in GNU coreutils' version sort, Up: Differences from the official Debian Algorithm + +30.3.1 Minus/Hyphen ‘-’ and Colon ‘:’ characters +------------------------------------------------ + +In Debian’s version string syntax the version consists of three parts: + [epoch:]upstream_version[-debian_revision] + The ‘epoch’ and ‘debian_revision’ parts are optional. + + Example of such version strings: + + 60.7.2esr-1~deb9u1 + 52.9.0esr-1~deb9u1 + 1:2.3.4-1+b2 + 327-2 + 1:1.0.13-3 + 2:1.19.2-1+deb9u5 + + If the ‘debian_revision part’ is not present, hyphen characters ‘-’ +are not allowed. If epoch is not present, colons ‘:’ are not allowed. + + If these parts are present, hyphen and/or colons can appear only once +in valid Debian version strings. + + In GNU coreutils, such restrictions are not reasonable (a file name +can have many hyphens, a line of text can have many colons). + + As a result, in GNU coreutils hyphens and colons are treated exactly +like all other punctuation characters (i.e., they are sorted after +letters. See Punctuation Characters above). + + In Debian, these characters are treated differently than in +coreutils: a version string with hyphen will sort before similar strings +without hyphens. + + Compare: + + $ touch abb ab-cd + + $ ls -v -1 + abb + ab-cd + + With Debian’s ‘dpkg’ they will be listed as ‘ab-cd’ first and ‘abb’ +second. + + For further technical details see bug35939 +(https://bugs.gnu.org/35939). + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Additional hard-coded priorities in GNU coreutils' version sort, Next: Special handling of file extensions, Prev: Minus/Hyphen and Colon characters, Up: Differences from the official Debian Algorithm + +30.3.2 Additional hard-coded priorities in GNU coreutils’ version sort +---------------------------------------------------------------------- + +In GNU coreutils’ version sort algorithm, the following items have +special priority and sort earlier than all other characters (listed in +order); + + 1. The empty string + + 2. The string ‘‘.’’ (a single dot character, ASCII 46) + + 3. The string ‘‘..’’ (two dot characters) + + 4. Strings start with a dot (‘‘.’’) sort earlier than strings starting + with any other characters. + + Example: + + $ printf "%s\n" a "" b "." c ".." ".d20" ".d3" | sort -V + + . + .. + .d3 + .d20 + a + b + c + + These priorities make perfect sense for ‘ls -v’: The special files +dot ‘‘.’’ and dot-dot ‘‘..’’ will be listed first, followed by any +hidden files (files starting with a dot), followed by non-hidden files. + + For ‘sort -V’ these priorities might seem arbitrary. However, +because the sorting code is shared between the ‘ls’ and ‘sort’ program, +the ordering rules are the same. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Special handling of file extensions, Prev: Additional hard-coded priorities in GNU coreutils' version sort, Up: Differences from the official Debian Algorithm + +30.3.3 Special handling of file extensions +------------------------------------------ + +GNU coreutils’ version sort algorithm implements specialized handling of +file extensions (or strings that look like file names with extensions). + + This nuanced implementation enables slightly more natural ordering of +files. + + The additional rules are: + + 1. A suffix (i.e., a file extension) is defined as: a dot, followed by + a letter or tilde, followed by one or more letters, digits, or + tildes (possibly repeated more than once), until the end of the + string (technically, matching the regular expression + ‘(\.[A-Za-z~][A-Za-z0-9~]*)*’). + + 2. If the strings contains suffixes, the suffixes are temporarily + removed, and the strings are compared without them (using the *note + algorithm: Version-sort ordering rules. above). + + 3. If the suffix-less strings are identical, the suffix is restored + and the entire strings are compared. + + 4. If the non-suffixed strings differ, the result is returned and the + suffix is effectively ignored. + + Examples for rule 1: + + • ‘hello-8.txt’: the suffix is ‘.txt’ + + • ‘hello-8.2.txt’: the suffix is ‘.txt’ (‘‘.2’’ is not included + because the dot is not followed by a letter) + + • ‘hello-8.0.12.tar.gz’: the suffix is ‘.tar.gz’ (‘‘.0.12’’ is not + included) + + • ‘hello-8.2’: no suffix (suffix is an empty string) + + • ‘hello.foobar65’: the suffix is ‘.foobar65’ + + • ‘gcc-c++-10.8.12-0.7rc2.fc9.tar.bz2’: the suffix is ‘.fc9.tar.bz2’ + (‘.7rc2’ is not included as it begins with a digit) + + Examples for rule 2: + + • Comparing ‘hello-8.txt’ to ‘hello-8.2.12.txt’, the ‘.txt’ suffix is + temporarily removed from both strings. + + • Comparing ‘foo-10.3.tar.gz’ to ‘foo-10.tar.xz’, the suffixes + ‘.tar.gz’ and ‘.tar.xz’ are temporarily removed from the strings. + + Example for rule 3: + + • Comparing ‘hello.foobar65’ to ‘hello.foobar4’, the suffixes + (‘.foobar65’ and ‘.foobar4’) are temporarily removed. The + remaining strings are identical (‘hello’). The suffixes are then + restored, and the entire strings are compared (‘hello.foobar4’ + comes first). + + Examples for rule 4: + + • When comparing the strings ‘hello-8.2.txt’ and ‘hello-8.10.txt’, + the suffixes (‘.txt’) are temporarily removed. The remaining + strings (‘hello-8.2’ and ‘hello-8.10’) are compared as previously + described (‘hello-8.2’ comes first). (In this case the suffix + removal algorithm does not have a noticeable effect on the + resulting order.) + + How does the suffix-removal algorithm effect ordering results? + + Consider the comparison of hello-8.txt and hello-8.2.txt. + + Without the suffix-removal algorithm, the strings will be broken down +to the following parts: + + hello- vs hello- (rule 2, all non-digit characters) + 8 vs 8 (rule 3, all digit characters) + .txt vs . (rule 2) + empty vs 2 + empty vs .txt + + The comparison of the third parts (‘‘.’’ vs ‘‘.txt’’) will determine +that the shorter string comes first - resulting in ‘hello-8.2.txt’ +appearing first. + + Indeed this is the order in which Debian’s ‘dpkg’ compares the +strings. + + A more natural result is that ‘hello-8.txt’ should come before +‘hello-8.2.txt’, and this is where the suffix-removal comes into play: + + The suffixes (‘.txt’) are removed, and the remaining strings are +broken down into the following parts: + + hello- vs hello- (rule 2, all non-digit characters) + 8 vs 8 (rule 3, all digit characters) + empty vs . (rule 2) + empty vs 2 + + As empty strings sort before non-empty strings, the result is +‘hello-8’ being first. + + A real-world example would be listing files such as: +‘gcc_10.fc9.tar.gz’ and ‘gcc_10.8.12.7rc2.fc9.tar.bz2’: Debian’s +algorithm would list ‘gcc_10.8.12.7rc2.fc9.tar.bz2’ first, while ‘ls -v’ +will list ‘gcc_10.fc9.tar.gz’ first. + + These priorities make sense for ‘ls -v’: Versioned files will be +listed in a more natural order. + + For ‘sort -V’ these priorities might seem arbitrary. However, +because the sorting code is shared between the ‘ls’ and ‘sort’ program, +the ordering rules are the same. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Advanced Topics, Prev: Differences from the official Debian Algorithm, Up: Version sort ordering + +30.4 Advanced Topics +==================== + +* Menu: + +* Comparing two strings using Debian's algorithm:: +* Reporting bugs or incorrect results:: +* Other version/natural sort implementations:: +* Related Source code:: + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Comparing two strings using Debian's algorithm, Next: Reporting bugs or incorrect results, Up: Advanced Topics + +30.4.1 Comparing two strings using Debian’s algorithm +----------------------------------------------------- + +The Debian program ‘dpkg’ (available on all Debian and Ubuntu +installations) can compare two strings using the ‘--compare-versions’ +option. + + To use it, create a helper shell function (simply copy & paste the +following snippet to your shell command-prompt): + + compver() { + dpkg --compare-versions "$1" lt "$2" \ + && printf "%s\n" "$1" "$2" \ + || printf "%s\n" "$2" "$1" ; \ + } + + Then compare two strings by calling compver: + + $ compver 8.49 8.5 + 8.5 + 8.49 + + Note that ‘dpkg’ will warn if the strings have invalid syntax: + + $ compver "foo07.7z" "foo7a.7z" + dpkg: warning: version 'foo07.7z' has bad syntax: + version number does not start with digit + dpkg: warning: version 'foo7a.7z' has bad syntax: + version number does not start with digit + foo7a.7z + foo07.7z + + $ compver "3.0/" "3.0.5" + dpkg: warning: version '3.0/' has bad syntax: + invalid character in version number + 3.0.5 + 3.0/ + + To illustrate the different handling of hyphens between Debian and +coreutils’ algorithms (see *note Minus/Hyphen and Colon characters::): + + $ compver abb ab-cd 2>/dev/null $ printf "abb\nab-cd\n" | sort -V + ab-cd abb + abb ab-cd + + To illustrate the different handling of file extension: (see *note +Special handling of file extensions::): + + $ compver hello-8.txt hello-8.2.txt 2>/dev/null + hello-8.2.txt + hello-8.txt + + $ printf "%s\n" hello-8.txt hello-8.2.txt | sort -V + hello-8.txt + hello-8.2.txt + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Reporting bugs or incorrect results, Next: Other version/natural sort implementations, Prev: Comparing two strings using Debian's algorithm, Up: Advanced Topics + +30.4.2 Reporting bugs or incorrect results +------------------------------------------ + +If you suspect a bug in GNU coreutils’ version sort (i.e., in the output +of ‘ls -v’ or ‘sort -V’), please first check the following: + + 1. Is the result consistent with Debian’s own ordering (using ‘dpkg’, + see *note Comparing two strings using Debian's algorithm::) ? If + it is, then this is not a bug - please do not report it. + + 2. If the result differs from Debian’s, is it explained by one of the + sections in *note Differences from the official Debian Algorithm::? + If it is, then this is not a bug - please do not report it. + + 3. If you have a question about specific ordering which is not + explained here, please write to <coreutils@gnu.org>, and provide a + concise example that will help us diagnose the issue. + + 4. If you still suspect a bug which is not explained by the above, + please write to <bug-coreutils@gnu.org> with a concrete example of + the suspected incorrect output, with details on why you think it is + incorrect. + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Other version/natural sort implementations, Next: Related Source code, Prev: Reporting bugs or incorrect results, Up: Advanced Topics + +30.4.3 Other version/natural sort implementations +------------------------------------------------- + +As previously mentioned, there are multiple variations on +version/natural sort, each with its own rules. Some examples are: + + • Natural Sorting variants in Rosetta Code + (https://rosettacode.org/wiki/Natural_sorting). + + • Python’s natsort package (https://pypi.org/project/natsort/) + (includes detailed description of their sorting rules: natsort - + how it works + (https://natsort.readthedocs.io/en/master/howitworks.html)). + + • Ruby’s version_sorter (https://github.com/github/version_sorter). + + • Perl has multiple packages for natual and version sorts (each + likely with its own rules and nuances): Sort::Naturally + (https://metacpan.org/pod/Sort::Naturally), Sort::Versions + (https://metacpan.org/pod/Sort::Versions), CPAN::Version + (https://metacpan.org/pod/CPAN::Version). + + • PHP has a built-in function natsort + (https://www.php.net/manual/en/function.natsort.php). + + • NodeJS’s natural-sort package + (https://www.npmjs.com/package/natural-sort). + + • In zsh, the glob modifier + (http://zsh.sourceforge.net/Doc/Release/Expansion.html#Glob-Qualifiers) + ‘*(n)’ will expand to files in natural sort order. + + • When writing ‘C’ programs, the GNU libc library (‘glibc’) provides + the strvercmp(3) + (http://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man3/strverscmp.3.html) function + to compare two strings, and versionsort(3) + (http://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man3/versionsort.3.html) function + to compare two directory entries (despite the names, they are not + identical to GNU coreutils’ version sort ordering). + + • Using Debian’s sorting algorithm in: + + • python: Stack Overflow Example #4957741 + (https://stackoverflow.com/a/4957741). + + • NodeJS: deb-version-compare + (https://www.npmjs.com/package/deb-version-compare). + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Related Source code, Prev: Other version/natural sort implementations, Up: Advanced Topics + +30.4.4 Related Source code +-------------------------- + + • Debian’s code which splits a version string into + ‘epoch/upstream_version/debian_revision’ parts: + parsehelp.c:parseversion() + (https://git.dpkg.org/cgit/dpkg/dpkg.git/tree/lib/dpkg/parsehelp.c#n191). + + • Debian’s code which performs the ‘upstream_version’ comparison: + version.c + (https://git.dpkg.org/cgit/dpkg/dpkg.git/tree/lib/dpkg/version.c#n140). + + • GNULIB code (used by GNU coreutils) which performs the version + comparison: filevercmp.c + (https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/gnulib.git/tree/lib/filevercmp.c). + + +File: coreutils.info, Node: Opening the software toolbox, Next: GNU Free Documentation License, Prev: Version sort ordering, Up: Top + +31 Opening the Software Toolbox +******************************* + +An earlier version of this chapter appeared in the ‘What’s GNU?’ column +of the June 1994 ‘Linux Journal’ +(https://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=2762). 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 '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]' + ⊣ 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 file name ‘-’ 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 '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]' < 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 '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]' < whats.gnu | tr -cd '[:alnum:]_ \n' | ... + + 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 ‘\n’ 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 '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]' < whats.gnu | tr -cd '[:alnum:]_ \n' | + > tr -s ' ' '\n' | ... + + This command turns blanks into newlines. The ‘-s’ option squeezes +multiple newline characters in the output into just one, removing 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 '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]' < whats.gnu | tr -cd '[:alnum:]_ \n' | + > tr -s ' ' '\n' | 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 '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]' < whats.gnu | tr -cd '[:alnum:]_ \n' | + > tr -s ' ' '\n' | sort | uniq -c | sort -n -r + ⊣ 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 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 '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]' < whats.gnu | tr -cd '[:alnum:]_ \n' | + > tr -s ' ' '\n' | 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 '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]' < whats.gnu | tr -cd '[:alnum:]_ \n' | + > tr -s ' ' '\n' | 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. + + All the programs discussed are available as described in GNU core +utilities (https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/coreutils.html). + + 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). Both books are still +in print and are well worth reading if you’re a programmer. They +certainly made a major change in how I view programming. + + The programs in both books are available from Brian Kernighan’s home +page (https://www.cs.princeton.edu/~bwk/). 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: Concept index, Prev: Opening the software toolbox, Up: Top + +Appendix A GNU Free Documentation License +***************************************** + + Version 1.3, 3 November 2008 + + Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2002, 2007, 2008 Free Software Foundation, Inc. + <https://fsf.org/> + + Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies + of this license document, but changing it is not allowed. + + 0. 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These + Warranty Disclaimers are considered to be included by reference in + this License, but only as regards disclaiming warranties: any other + implication that these Warranty Disclaimers may have is void and + has no effect on the meaning of this License. + + 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 (or copies in media that commonly + have printed covers) 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 computer-network location from which the general + network-using public has access to download using public-standard + network protocols a complete Transparent copy of the Document, free + of added material. 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 fewer than five), unless they release you + from this requirement. + + 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”, Preserve 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. For any section Entitled “Acknowledgements” or “Dedications”, + Preserve the Title of the section, 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 to be Entitled + “Endorsements” or to conflict in title with any Invariant + Section. + + O. Preserve any Warranty Disclaimers. + + 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 Version’s + license notice. These titles must be distinct from any other + section titles. + + You may add a section Entitled “Endorsements”, provided it contains + nothing but endorsements of your Modified Version by various + parties—for example, statements of peer review or that the text has + been approved by an organization as the authoritative definition of + a standard. + + 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 of + the list of Cover Texts in the Modified Version. Only one passage + of Front-Cover Text and one of Back-Cover Text may be added by (or + through arrangements made by) any one entity. If the Document + already includes a cover text for the same cover, previously added + by you or by arrangement made by the same entity you are acting on + behalf of, you may not add another; but you may replace the old + one, on explicit permission from the previous publisher that added + the old one. + + 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 + modified versions, provided that you include in the combination all + of the Invariant Sections of all of the original documents, + unmodified, and list them all as Invariant Sections of your + combined work in its license notice, and that you preserve all + their Warranty Disclaimers. + + The combined work need only contain one copy of this License, and + multiple identical Invariant Sections may be replaced with a single + copy. If there are multiple Invariant Sections with the same name + but different contents, make the title of each such section unique + by adding at the end of it, in parentheses, the name of the + original author or publisher of that section if known, or else a + 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, is called an “aggregate” if the + copyright resulting from the compilation is not used to limit the + legal rights of the compilation’s users beyond what the individual + works permit. When the Document is included in an aggregate, this + License does not apply to the other works in the aggregate which + 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 half + of the entire aggregate, the Document’s Cover Texts may be placed + on covers that bracket the Document within the aggregate, or the + electronic equivalent of covers if the Document is in electronic + form. Otherwise they must appear on printed covers that bracket + 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, and all the license notices in the + Document, and any Warranty Disclaimers, provided that you also + include the original English version of this License and the + original versions of those notices and disclaimers. In case of a + disagreement between the translation and the original version of + this License or a notice or disclaimer, the original version will + prevail. + + If a section in the Document is Entitled “Acknowledgements”, + “Dedications”, or “History”, the requirement (section 4) to + Preserve its Title (section 1) will typically require changing the + actual title. + + 9. TERMINATION + + You may not copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute the Document + except as expressly provided under this License. Any attempt + otherwise to copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute it is void, + and will automatically terminate your rights under this License. + + However, if you cease all violation of this License, then your + license from a particular copyright holder is reinstated (a) + provisionally, unless and until the copyright holder explicitly and + finally terminates your license, and (b) permanently, if the + copyright holder fails to notify you of the violation by some + reasonable means prior to 60 days after the cessation. + + Moreover, your license from a particular copyright holder is + reinstated permanently if the copyright holder notifies you of the + violation by some reasonable means, this is the first time you have + received notice of violation of this License (for any work) from + that copyright holder, and you cure the violation prior to 30 days + after your receipt of the notice. + + Termination of your rights under this section does not terminate + the licenses of parties who have received copies or rights from you + under this License. If your rights have been terminated and not + permanently reinstated, receipt of a copy of some or all of the + same material does not give you any rights to use it. + + 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 + <https://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. If the Document specifies that a proxy can + decide which future versions of this License can be used, that + proxy’s public statement of acceptance of a version permanently + authorizes you to choose that version for the Document. + + 11. RELICENSING + + “Massive Multiauthor Collaboration Site” (or “MMC Site”) means any + World Wide Web server that publishes copyrightable works and also + provides prominent facilities for anybody to edit those works. A + public wiki that anybody can edit is an example of such a server. + A “Massive Multiauthor Collaboration” (or “MMC”) contained in the + site means any set of copyrightable works thus published on the MMC + site. + + “CC-BY-SA” means the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 + license published by Creative Commons Corporation, a not-for-profit + corporation with a principal place of business in San Francisco, + California, as well as future copyleft versions of that license + published by that same organization. + + “Incorporate” means to publish or republish a Document, in whole or + in part, as part of another Document. + + An MMC is “eligible for relicensing” if it is licensed under this + License, and if all works that were first published under this + License somewhere other than this MMC, and subsequently + incorporated in whole or in part into the MMC, (1) had no cover + texts or invariant sections, and (2) were thus incorporated prior + to November 1, 2008. + + The operator of an MMC Site may republish an MMC contained in the + site under CC-BY-SA on the same site at any time before August 1, + 2009, provided the MMC is eligible for relicensing. + +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 1.3 + or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; + with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover + Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled ``GNU + Free Documentation License''. + + If you have Invariant Sections, Front-Cover Texts and Back-Cover +Texts, replace the “with...Texts.” line with this: + + with the Invariant Sections being LIST THEIR TITLES, with + the Front-Cover Texts being LIST, and with the Back-Cover Texts + being LIST. + + If you have Invariant Sections without Cover Texts, or some other +combination of the three, merge those two alternatives to suit the +situation. + + 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: Concept index, Prev: GNU Free Documentation License, Up: Top + +Index +***** + + +* Menu: + +* !: Connectives for test. + (line 23) +* !=: String tests. (line 28) +* %: Numeric expressions. (line 16) +* %b: printf invocation. (line 37) +* %q: printf invocation. (line 44) +* &: Relations for expr. (line 17) +* *: Numeric expressions. (line 16) +* +: String expressions. (line 53) +* + <1>: Numeric expressions. (line 12) +* +PAGE_RANGE: pr invocation. (line 39) +* -: Numeric expressions. (line 12) +* - <1>: env invocation. (line 102) +* - and Unix rm: rm invocation. (line 113) +* -, removing files beginning with: rm invocation. (line 101) +* --: Common options. (line 43) +* --across: pr invocation. (line 62) +* --additional-suffix: split invocation. (line 135) +* --address-radix: od invocation. (line 36) +* --adjustment: nice invocation. (line 51) +* --all: unexpand invocation. (line 51) +* --all <1>: Which files are listed. + (line 13) +* --all <2>: df invocation. (line 42) +* --all <3>: du invocation. (line 32) +* --all <4>: stty invocation. (line 26) +* --all <5>: who invocation. (line 35) +* --all <6>: nproc invocation. (line 20) +* --all <7>: uname invocation. (line 30) +* --all-repeated: uniq invocation. (line 69) +* --almost-all: Which files are listed. + (line 17) +* --apparent-size: du invocation. (line 35) +* --append: tee invocation. (line 27) +* --archive: cp invocation. (line 63) +* --attributes-only: cp invocation. (line 72) +* --author: What information is listed. + (line 10) +* --auto-reference: Output formatting in ptx. + (line 45) +* --backup: Backup options. (line 13) +* --backup <1>: cp invocation. (line 79) +* --backup <2>: install invocation. (line 41) +* --backup <3>: mv invocation. (line 59) +* --backup <4>: ln invocation. (line 82) +* --base16: basenc invocation. (line 49) +* --base2lsbf: basenc invocation. (line 55) +* --base2msbf: basenc invocation. (line 59) +* --base32: basenc invocation. (line 35) +* --base32hex: basenc invocation. (line 42) +* --base64: basenc invocation. (line 23) +* --base64url: basenc invocation. (line 29) +* --batch-size: sort invocation. (line 262) +* --before: tac invocation. (line 21) +* --binary: md5sum invocation. (line 41) +* --block-size: Block size. (line 121) +* --block-size <1>: df invocation. (line 54) +* --block-size <2>: du invocation. (line 52) +* --block-size=SIZE: Block size. (line 12) +* --body-numbering: nl invocation. (line 45) +* --boot: who invocation. (line 39) +* --bourne-shell: dircolors invocation. + (line 34) +* --break-file: Input processing in ptx. + (line 8) +* --buffer-size: sort invocation. (line 316) +* --bytes: fold invocation. (line 23) +* --bytes <1>: head invocation. (line 24) +* --bytes <2>: tail invocation. (line 39) +* --bytes <3>: split invocation. (line 41) +* --bytes <4>: wc invocation. (line 43) +* --bytes <5>: cut invocation. (line 26) +* --bytes <6>: du invocation. (line 57) +* --c-shell: dircolors invocation. + (line 40) +* --cached=MODE: stat invocation. (line 33) +* --canonicalize: readlink invocation. (line 31) +* --canonicalize-existing: readlink invocation. (line 38) +* --canonicalize-existing <1>: realpath invocation. (line 22) +* --canonicalize-missing: readlink invocation. (line 45) +* --canonicalize-missing <1>: realpath invocation. (line 30) +* --changes: chown invocation. (line 73) +* --changes <1>: chgrp invocation. (line 24) +* --changes <2>: chmod invocation. (line 43) +* --characters: cut invocation. (line 34) +* --chars: wc invocation. (line 47) +* --chdir: env invocation. (line 107) +* --check: sort invocation. (line 39) +* --check <1>: sort invocation. (line 47) +* --check-chars: uniq invocation. (line 133) +* --classify: General output formatting. + (line 46) +* --color: General output formatting. + (line 22) +* --columns: pr invocation. (line 49) +* --compare: install invocation. (line 46) +* --complement: cut invocation. (line 86) +* --compute: runcon invocation. (line 32) +* --context: What information is listed. + (line 259) +* --context <1>: cp invocation. (line 384) +* --context <2>: install invocation. (line 139) +* --context <3>: mv invocation. (line 117) +* --context <4>: mkdir invocation. (line 56) +* --context <5>: mkfifo invocation. (line 28) +* --context <6>: mknod invocation. (line 53) +* --context <7>: id invocation. (line 51) +* --count: uniq invocation. (line 55) +* --count <1>: who invocation. (line 69) +* --count-links: du invocation. (line 123) +* --crown-margin: fmt invocation. (line 34) +* --csh: dircolors invocation. + (line 40) +* --data: sync invocation. (line 32) +* --date: touch invocation. (line 56) +* --date <1>: Options for date. (line 11) +* --dead: who invocation. (line 43) +* --debug: Options for date. (line 25) +* --debug <1>: env invocation. (line 173) +* --debug <2>: numfmt invocation. (line 29) +* --decode: base64 invocation. (line 30) +* --delimiter: cut invocation. (line 66) +* --delimiter <1>: numfmt invocation. (line 34) +* --delimiters: paste invocation. (line 61) +* --dereference: Which files are listed. + (line 83) +* --dereference <1>: cp invocation. (line 149) +* --dereference <2>: chown invocation. (line 106) +* --dereference <3>: chgrp invocation. (line 34) +* --dereference <4>: du invocation. (line 117) +* --dereference <5>: stat invocation. (line 22) +* --dereference <6>: chcon invocation. (line 21) +* --dereference-args: du invocation. (line 67) +* --dereference-command-line: Which files are listed. + (line 36) +* --dereference-command-line-symlink-to-dir: Which files are listed. + (line 41) +* --dictionary-order: sort invocation. (line 87) +* --digits: csplit invocation. (line 81) +* --dir: rm invocation. (line 35) +* --directory: Which files are listed. + (line 28) +* --directory <1>: install invocation. (line 67) +* --directory <2>: ln invocation. (line 88) +* --directory <3>: mktemp invocation. (line 85) +* --dired: What information is listed. + (line 16) +* --double-space: pr invocation. (line 74) +* --dry-run: mktemp invocation. (line 97) +* --echo: shuf invocation. (line 19) +* --elide-empty-files: split invocation. (line 140) +* --elide-empty-files <1>: csplit invocation. (line 95) +* --endian: od invocation. (line 51) +* --equal-width: seq invocation. (line 49) +* --error: stdbuf invocation. (line 34) +* --escape: Formatting the file names. + (line 11) +* --exact: shred invocation. (line 164) +* --exclude-from=FILE: du invocation. (line 252) +* --exclude-type: df invocation. (line 223) +* --exclude=PATTERN: du invocation. (line 257) +* --expand-tabs: pr invocation. (line 98) +* --field: numfmt invocation. (line 38) +* --field-separator: sort invocation. (line 332) +* --fields: cut invocation. (line 43) +* --file: stty invocation. (line 31) +* --file <1>: Options for date. (line 30) +* --file-system: stat invocation. (line 28) +* --file-system <1>: sync invocation. (line 37) +* --file-type: General output formatting. + (line 57) +* --files0-from=FILE: wc invocation. (line 64) +* --files0-from=FILE <1>: sort invocation. (line 218) +* --files0-from=FILE <2>: du invocation. (line 79) +* --filter: split invocation. (line 63) +* --first-line-number: pr invocation. (line 174) +* --flag-truncation: Output formatting in ptx. + (line 71) +* --follow: tail invocation. (line 56) +* --footer-numbering: nl invocation. (line 70) +* --force: cp invocation. (line 115) +* --force <1>: mv invocation. (line 64) +* --force <2>: rm invocation. (line 39) +* --force <3>: shred invocation. (line 123) +* --force <4>: ln invocation. (line 94) +* --foreground: timeout invocation. (line 24) +* --form-feed: pr invocation. (line 106) +* --format: od invocation. (line 90) +* --format <1>: What information is listed. + (line 131) +* --format <2>: General output formatting. + (line 10) +* --format <3>: General output formatting. + (line 16) +* --format <4>: General output formatting. + (line 103) +* --format <5>: General output formatting. + (line 113) +* --format <6>: numfmt invocation. (line 48) +* --format <7>: seq invocation. (line 28) +* --format=FORMAT: stat invocation. (line 49) +* --format=roff: Output formatting in ptx. + (line 100) +* --format=tex: Output formatting in ptx. + (line 118) +* --from: chown invocation. (line 83) +* --from <1>: numfmt invocation. (line 59) +* --from-unit: numfmt invocation. (line 64) +* --full-time: What information is listed. + (line 100) +* --gap-size: Output formatting in ptx. + (line 26) +* --general-numeric-sort: sort invocation. (line 105) +* --goal: fmt invocation. (line 64) +* --group: uniq invocation. (line 100) +* --group <1>: install invocation. (line 73) +* --group <2>: id invocation. (line 29) +* --group-directories-first: Which files are listed. + (line 50) +* --grouping: numfmt invocation. (line 70) +* --groups: id invocation. (line 33) +* --groups <1>: chroot invocation. (line 24) +* --hardware-platform: uname invocation. (line 35) +* --head-count: shuf invocation. (line 31) +* --header: pr invocation. (line 111) +* --header <1>: General options in join. + (line 25) +* --header <2>: numfmt invocation. (line 76) +* --header-numbering: nl invocation. (line 74) +* --header=N: numfmt invocation. (line 76) +* --heading: who invocation. (line 47) +* --help: Common options. (line 36) +* --hex-suffixes: split invocation. (line 131) +* --hide-control-chars: Formatting the file names. + (line 23) +* --hide=PATTERN: Which files are listed. + (line 57) +* --human-numeric-sort: sort invocation. (line 126) +* --human-readable: Block size. (line 121) +* --human-readable <1>: What information is listed. + (line 116) +* --human-readable <2>: df invocation. (line 59) +* --human-readable <3>: du invocation. (line 96) +* --hyperlink: General output formatting. + (line 61) +* --ignore: nproc invocation. (line 26) +* --ignore-backups: Which files are listed. + (line 23) +* --ignore-case: sort invocation. (line 94) +* --ignore-case <1>: uniq invocation. (line 59) +* --ignore-case <2>: Charset selection in ptx. + (line 18) +* --ignore-case <3>: General options in join. + (line 35) +* --ignore-environment: env invocation. (line 102) +* --ignore-fail-on-non-empty: rmdir invocation. (line 17) +* --ignore-file: Input processing in ptx. + (line 26) +* --ignore-garbage: base64 invocation. (line 36) +* --ignore-interrupts: tee invocation. (line 32) +* --ignore-leading-blanks: sort invocation. (line 79) +* --ignore-missing: md5sum invocation. (line 76) +* --ignore-nonprinting: sort invocation. (line 143) +* --ignore=PATTERN: Which files are listed. + (line 69) +* --indent: pr invocation. (line 180) +* --indicator-style: General output formatting. + (line 46) +* --indicator-style <1>: General output formatting. + (line 57) +* --indicator-style <2>: General output formatting. + (line 70) +* --indicator-style <3>: General output formatting. + (line 108) +* --initial: expand invocation. (line 46) +* --inode: What information is listed. + (line 123) +* --inodes: df invocation. (line 69) +* --inodes <1>: du invocation. (line 102) +* --input: stdbuf invocation. (line 26) +* --input-range: shuf invocation. (line 23) +* --interactive: cp invocation. (line 139) +* --interactive <1>: mv invocation. (line 70) +* --interactive <2>: rm invocation. (line 54) +* --interactive <3>: ln invocation. (line 98) +* --invalid: numfmt invocation. (line 79) +* --io-blocks: truncate invocation. (line 26) +* --iso-8601[=TIMESPEC]: Options for date. (line 38) +* --iterations=NUMBER: shred invocation. (line 127) +* --join-blank-lines: nl invocation. (line 82) +* --join-lines: pr invocation. (line 124) +* --keep-files: csplit invocation. (line 86) +* --kernel-name: uname invocation. (line 66) +* --kernel-release: uname invocation. (line 62) +* --kernel-version: uname invocation. (line 77) +* --key: sort invocation. (line 231) +* --kibibytes: General output formatting. + (line 89) +* --kill-after: timeout invocation. (line 41) +* --length: pr invocation. (line 133) +* --length <1>: b2sum invocation. (line 12) +* --line-bytes: split invocation. (line 56) +* --line-increment: nl invocation. (line 78) +* --lines: head invocation. (line 40) +* --lines <1>: tail invocation. (line 125) +* --lines <2>: split invocation. (line 33) +* --lines <3>: wc invocation. (line 55) +* --link: cp invocation. (line 145) +* --literal: Formatting the file names. + (line 17) +* --local: df invocation. (line 80) +* --logical: ln invocation. (line 102) +* --logical <1>: realpath invocation. (line 35) +* --logical <2>: pwd invocation. (line 15) +* --login: who invocation. (line 51) +* --lookup: who invocation. (line 56) +* --machine: uname invocation. (line 42) +* --macro-name: Output formatting in ptx. + (line 94) +* --max-depth=DEPTH: du invocation. (line 74) +* --max-line-length: wc invocation. (line 59) +* --max-unchanged-stats: tail invocation. (line 113) +* --merge: pr invocation. (line 140) +* --merge <1>: sort invocation. (line 53) +* --mesg: who invocation. (line 94) +* --message: who invocation. (line 94) +* --mode: install invocation. (line 79) +* --mode <1>: mkdir invocation. (line 19) +* --mode <2>: mkfifo invocation. (line 21) +* --mode <3>: mknod invocation. (line 47) +* --month-sort: sort invocation. (line 150) +* --multiple: basename invocation. (line 32) +* --name: id invocation. (line 37) +* --no-clobber: cp invocation. (line 156) +* --no-clobber <1>: mv invocation. (line 77) +* --no-create: touch invocation. (line 52) +* --no-create <1>: truncate invocation. (line 22) +* --no-dereference: cp invocation. (line 162) +* --no-dereference <1>: ln invocation. (line 108) +* --no-dereference <2>: chown invocation. (line 118) +* --no-dereference <3>: chgrp invocation. (line 46) +* --no-dereference <4>: touch invocation. (line 70) +* --no-dereference <5>: du invocation. (line 133) +* --no-dereference <6>: chcon invocation. (line 26) +* --no-file-warnings: pr invocation. (line 187) +* --no-group: What information is listed. + (line 110) +* --no-newline: readlink invocation. (line 50) +* --no-preserve-root: rm invocation. (line 88) +* --no-preserve-root <1>: chown invocation. (line 131) +* --no-preserve-root <2>: chgrp invocation. (line 59) +* --no-preserve-root <3>: chmod invocation. (line 58) +* --no-preserve-root <4>: chcon invocation. (line 43) +* --no-renumber: nl invocation. (line 101) +* --no-symlinks: realpath invocation. (line 64) +* --no-sync: df invocation. (line 84) +* --no-target-directory: Target directory. (line 15) +* --no-target-directory <1>: cp invocation. (line 354) +* --no-target-directory <2>: install invocation. (line 130) +* --no-target-directory <3>: mv invocation. (line 112) +* --no-target-directory <4>: ln invocation. (line 175) +* --nodename: uname invocation. (line 47) +* --null: du invocation. (line 26) +* --null <1>: printenv invocation. (line 19) +* --null <2>: env invocation. (line 90) +* --number: cat invocation. (line 31) +* --number <1>: split invocation. (line 79) +* --number-format: nl invocation. (line 90) +* --number-lines: pr invocation. (line 153) +* --number-nonblank: cat invocation. (line 20) +* --number-separator: nl invocation. (line 105) +* --number-width: nl invocation. (line 115) +* --numeric-sort: sort invocation. (line 160) +* --numeric-suffixes: split invocation. (line 117) +* --numeric-uid-gid: What information is listed. + (line 225) +* --omit-header: pr invocation. (line 210) +* --omit-pagination: pr invocation. (line 220) +* --one-file-system: cp invocation. (line 378) +* --one-file-system <1>: rm invocation. (line 65) +* --one-file-system <2>: du invocation. (line 263) +* --only-delimited: cut invocation. (line 74) +* --only-file: Input processing in ptx. + (line 35) +* --operating-system: uname invocation. (line 58) +* --output: sort invocation. (line 288) +* --output <1>: shuf invocation. (line 36) +* --output <2>: df invocation. (line 91) +* --output <3>: stdbuf invocation. (line 30) +* --output-delimiter: cut invocation. (line 79) +* --output-duplicates: od invocation. (line 150) +* --output-error: tee invocation. (line 36) +* --output-tabs: pr invocation. (line 117) +* --owner: install invocation. (line 91) +* --padding: numfmt invocation. (line 87) +* --pages=PAGE_RANGE: pr invocation. (line 39) +* --page_width: pr invocation. (line 239) +* --parallel: sort invocation. (line 361) +* --parents: cp invocation. (line 239) +* --parents <1>: mkdir invocation. (line 34) +* --parents <2>: rmdir invocation. (line 22) +* --physical: ln invocation. (line 127) +* --physical <1>: realpath invocation. (line 40) +* --physical <2>: pwd invocation. (line 22) +* --pid: tail invocation. (line 131) +* --portability: df invocation. (line 148) +* --portability <1>: pathchk invocation. (line 44) +* --prefix: csplit invocation. (line 63) +* --preserve: cp invocation. (line 169) +* --preserve-context: install invocation. (line 96) +* --preserve-root: rm invocation. (line 81) +* --preserve-root <1>: chown invocation. (line 126) +* --preserve-root <2>: chgrp invocation. (line 54) +* --preserve-root <3>: chmod invocation. (line 53) +* --preserve-root <4>: chcon invocation. (line 38) +* --preserve-status: timeout invocation. (line 18) +* --preserve-timestamps: install invocation. (line 103) +* --print-database: dircolors invocation. + (line 45) +* --print-type: df invocation. (line 200) +* --printf=FORMAT: stat invocation. (line 58) +* --process: who invocation. (line 65) +* --processor: uname invocation. (line 51) +* --quiet: head invocation. (line 47) +* --quiet <1>: tail invocation. (line 153) +* --quiet <2>: csplit invocation. (line 106) +* --quiet <3>: md5sum invocation. (line 82) +* --quiet <4>: readlink invocation. (line 57) +* --quiet <5>: chown invocation. (line 79) +* --quiet <6>: chgrp invocation. (line 30) +* --quiet <7>: chmod invocation. (line 49) +* --quiet <8>: mktemp invocation. (line 92) +* --quiet <9>: realpath invocation. (line 46) +* --quiet <10>: tty invocation. (line 18) +* --quote-name: Formatting the file names. + (line 30) +* --quoting-style: Formatting the file names. + (line 11) +* --quoting-style <1>: Formatting the file names. + (line 17) +* --quoting-style <2>: Formatting the file names. + (line 30) +* --quoting-style <3>: Formatting the file names. + (line 34) +* --random-sort: sort invocation. (line 189) +* --random-source: sort invocation. (line 304) +* --random-source <1>: shuf invocation. (line 42) +* --random-source <2>: shred invocation. (line 133) +* --range: chcon invocation. (line 77) +* --range <1>: runcon invocation. (line 48) +* --read-bytes: od invocation. (line 76) +* --real: id invocation. (line 42) +* --recursive: Which files are listed. + (line 90) +* --recursive <1>: cp invocation. (line 252) +* --recursive <2>: rm invocation. (line 95) +* --recursive <3>: chown invocation. (line 150) +* --recursive <4>: chgrp invocation. (line 77) +* --recursive <5>: chmod invocation. (line 73) +* --recursive <6>: chcon invocation. (line 35) +* --reference: chown invocation. (line 135) +* --reference <1>: chgrp invocation. (line 63) +* --reference <2>: chmod invocation. (line 66) +* --reference <3>: touch invocation. (line 89) +* --reference <4>: truncate invocation. (line 30) +* --reference <5>: Options for date. (line 65) +* --reference <6>: chcon invocation. (line 30) +* --references: Input processing in ptx. + (line 48) +* --reflink[=WHEN]: cp invocation. (line 265) +* --regex: tac invocation. (line 26) +* --relative: ln invocation. (line 136) +* --relative-base: realpath invocation. (line 54) +* --relative-base <1>: Realpath usage examples. + (line 6) +* --relative-to: realpath invocation. (line 49) +* --relative-to <1>: Realpath usage examples. + (line 6) +* --remove: shred invocation. (line 144) +* --remove-destination: cp invocation. (line 295) +* --remove=unlink: shred invocation. (line 144) +* --remove=wipe: shred invocation. (line 144) +* --remove=wipesync: shred invocation. (line 144) +* --repeat: shuf invocation. (line 47) +* --repeated: uniq invocation. (line 63) +* --retry: tail invocation. (line 156) +* --reverse: sort invocation. (line 183) +* --reverse <1>: Sorting the output. (line 27) +* --rfc-2822: Options for date. (line 76) +* --rfc-3339=TIMESPEC: Options for date. (line 85) +* --rfc-822: Options for date. (line 76) +* --rfc-email: Options for date. (line 70) +* --right-side-refs: Output formatting in ptx. + (line 56) +* --role: chcon invocation. (line 69) +* --role <1>: runcon invocation. (line 40) +* --round: numfmt invocation. (line 94) +* --round=down: numfmt invocation. (line 94) +* --round=from-zero: numfmt invocation. (line 94) +* --round=nearest: numfmt invocation. (line 94) +* --round=towards-zero: numfmt invocation. (line 94) +* --round=up: numfmt invocation. (line 94) +* --runlevel: who invocation. (line 74) +* --save: stty invocation. (line 41) +* --section-delimiter: nl invocation. (line 63) +* --sentence-regexp: Input processing in ptx. + (line 65) +* --sep-string: pr invocation. (line 201) +* --separate-dirs: du invocation. (line 138) +* --separator: tac invocation. (line 30) +* --separator <1>: pr invocation. (line 192) +* --separator <2>: split invocation. (line 148) +* --separator <3>: seq invocation. (line 44) +* --serial: paste invocation. (line 52) +* --set: Options for date. (line 113) +* --sh: dircolors invocation. + (line 34) +* --show-all: cat invocation. (line 16) +* --show-control-chars: pr invocation. (line 68) +* --show-control-chars <1>: Formatting the file names. + (line 78) +* --show-ends: cat invocation. (line 27) +* --show-nonprinting: cat invocation. (line 51) +* --show-nonprinting <1>: pr invocation. (line 225) +* --show-tabs: cat invocation. (line 44) +* --si: Block size. (line 121) +* --si <1>: What information is listed. + (line 251) +* --si <2>: df invocation. (line 167) +* --si <3>: du invocation. (line 145) +* --signal: timeout invocation. (line 48) +* --silent: head invocation. (line 47) +* --silent <1>: tail invocation. (line 153) +* --silent <2>: csplit invocation. (line 106) +* --silent <3>: readlink invocation. (line 57) +* --silent <4>: chown invocation. (line 79) +* --silent <5>: chgrp invocation. (line 30) +* --silent <6>: chmod invocation. (line 49) +* --silent <7>: tty invocation. (line 18) +* --size: What information is listed. + (line 236) +* --size <1>: truncate invocation. (line 34) +* --size=BYTES: shred invocation. (line 138) +* --skip-bytes: od invocation. (line 59) +* --skip-chars: uniq invocation. (line 41) +* --skip-chdir: chroot invocation. (line 37) +* --skip-fields: uniq invocation. (line 31) +* --sleep-interval: tail invocation. (line 173) +* --sort: sort invocation. (line 105) +* --sort <1>: sort invocation. (line 126) +* --sort <2>: sort invocation. (line 150) +* --sort <3>: sort invocation. (line 160) +* --sort <4>: sort invocation. (line 189) +* --sort <5>: Sorting the output. (line 32) +* --sort <6>: Sorting the output. (line 36) +* --sort <7>: Sorting the output. (line 60) +* --sort <8>: Sorting the output. (line 67) +* --sort <9>: Sorting the output. (line 74) +* --spaces: fold invocation. (line 29) +* --sparse=WHEN: cp invocation. (line 299) +* --split-only: fmt invocation. (line 47) +* --split-string: env invocation. (line 188) +* --squeeze-blank: cat invocation. (line 36) +* --stable: sort invocation. (line 309) +* --starting-line-number: nl invocation. (line 110) +* --status: md5sum invocation. (line 90) +* --strict: md5sum invocation. (line 123) +* --strings: od invocation. (line 81) +* --strip: install invocation. (line 113) +* --strip <1>: realpath invocation. (line 64) +* --strip-program: install invocation. (line 116) +* --strip-trailing-slashes: cp invocation. (line 332) +* --strip-trailing-slashes <1>: mv invocation. (line 98) +* --suffix: Backup options. (line 49) +* --suffix <1>: cp invocation. (line 345) +* --suffix <2>: install invocation. (line 120) +* --suffix <3>: mv invocation. (line 103) +* --suffix <4>: ln invocation. (line 166) +* --suffix <5>: basename invocation. (line 38) +* --suffix <6>: mktemp invocation. (line 113) +* --suffix <7>: numfmt invocation. (line 99) +* --suffix-format: csplit invocation. (line 67) +* --suffix-length: split invocation. (line 109) +* --summarize: du invocation. (line 153) +* --suppress-matched: csplit invocation. (line 89) +* --symbolic: ln invocation. (line 160) +* --symbolic-link: cp invocation. (line 337) +* --sync: df invocation. (line 174) +* --sysv: sum invocation. (line 31) +* --tabs: expand invocation. (line 22) +* --tabs <1>: unexpand invocation. (line 24) +* --tabsize: General output formatting. + (line 117) +* --tag: md5sum invocation. (line 99) +* --tagged-paragraph: fmt invocation. (line 40) +* --target-directory: Target directory. (line 31) +* --target-directory <1>: cp invocation. (line 350) +* --target-directory <2>: install invocation. (line 125) +* --target-directory <3>: mv invocation. (line 108) +* --target-directory <4>: ln invocation. (line 171) +* --temporary-directory: sort invocation. (line 353) +* --terse: stat invocation. (line 69) +* --text: md5sum invocation. (line 109) +* --threshold: du invocation. (line 157) +* --time: Sorting the output. (line 13) +* --time <1>: Sorting the output. (line 44) +* --time <2>: Sorting the output. (line 52) +* --time <3>: touch invocation. (line 48) +* --time <4>: touch invocation. (line 85) +* --time <5>: du invocation. (line 197) +* --time <6>: du invocation. (line 204) +* --time <7>: du invocation. (line 210) +* --time <8>: who invocation. (line 82) +* --time-style: Formatting file timestamps. + (line 24) +* --time-style <1>: du invocation. (line 214) +* --tmpdir: mktemp invocation. (line 105) +* --to: numfmt invocation. (line 103) +* --to-unit: numfmt invocation. (line 108) +* --total: df invocation. (line 180) +* --total <1>: du invocation. (line 61) +* --traditional: od invocation. (line 200) +* --type: df invocation. (line 194) +* --type <1>: chcon invocation. (line 73) +* --type <2>: runcon invocation. (line 44) +* --unbuffered: split invocation. (line 155) +* --uniform-spacing: fmt invocation. (line 53) +* --unique: sort invocation. (line 369) +* --unique <1>: uniq invocation. (line 127) +* --universal: Options for date. (line 119) +* --unset: env invocation. (line 96) +* --update: cp invocation. (line 359) +* --update <1>: mv invocation. (line 84) +* --user: id invocation. (line 47) +* --user <1>: chcon invocation. (line 65) +* --user <2>: runcon invocation. (line 36) +* --userspec: chroot invocation. (line 30) +* --utc: Options for date. (line 119) +* --verbose: head invocation. (line 51) +* --verbose <1>: tail invocation. (line 184) +* --verbose <2>: split invocation. (line 159) +* --verbose <3>: cp invocation. (line 374) +* --verbose <4>: install invocation. (line 135) +* --verbose <5>: mv invocation. (line 95) +* --verbose <6>: rm invocation. (line 99) +* --verbose <7>: shred invocation. (line 159) +* --verbose <8>: ln invocation. (line 180) +* --verbose <9>: mkdir invocation. (line 51) +* --verbose <10>: readlink invocation. (line 61) +* --verbose <11>: rmdir invocation. (line 31) +* --verbose <12>: chown invocation. (line 142) +* --verbose <13>: chgrp invocation. (line 69) +* --verbose <14>: chmod invocation. (line 63) +* --verbose <15>: chcon invocation. (line 61) +* --verbose <16>: timeout invocation. (line 54) +* --version: Common options. (line 40) +* --version-sort: sort invocation. (line 177) +* --warn: md5sum invocation. (line 118) +* --width: od invocation. (line 157) +* --width <1>: fmt invocation. (line 59) +* --width <2>: pr invocation. (line 229) +* --width <3>: fold invocation. (line 35) +* --width <4>: Output formatting in ptx. + (line 32) +* --width <5>: General output formatting. + (line 128) +* --word-regexp: Input processing in ptx. + (line 105) +* --words: wc invocation. (line 51) +* --wrap: base64 invocation. (line 22) +* --writable: who invocation. (line 94) +* --z85: basenc invocation. (line 63) +* --zero: md5sum invocation. (line 128) +* --zero <1>: shred invocation. (line 175) +* --zero <2>: readlink invocation. (line 65) +* --zero <3>: basename invocation. (line 42) +* --zero <4>: dirname invocation. (line 31) +* --zero <5>: realpath invocation. (line 71) +* --zero <6>: id invocation. (line 58) +* --zero-terminated: head invocation. (line 55) +* --zero-terminated <1>: tail invocation. (line 188) +* --zero-terminated <2>: sort invocation. (line 384) +* --zero-terminated <3>: shuf invocation. (line 55) +* --zero-terminated <4>: uniq invocation. (line 139) +* --zero-terminated <5>: comm invocation. (line 88) +* --zero-terminated <6>: cut invocation. (line 94) +* --zero-terminated <7>: paste invocation. (line 72) +* --zero-terminated <8>: General options in join. + (line 93) +* --zero-terminated <9>: numfmt invocation. (line 115) +* -0: du invocation. (line 26) +* -0 <1>: printenv invocation. (line 19) +* -0 <2>: env invocation. (line 90) +* -1: comm invocation. (line 23) +* -1 <1>: General options in join. + (line 40) +* -1 <2>: General output formatting. + (line 10) +* -2: comm invocation. (line 23) +* -2 <1>: General options in join. + (line 43) +* -3: comm invocation. (line 23) +* -A: cat invocation. (line 16) +* -A <1>: od invocation. (line 36) +* -a: od invocation. (line 169) +* -a <1>: pr invocation. (line 62) +* -a <2>: split invocation. (line 109) +* -A <2>: Output formatting in ptx. + (line 45) +* -a <3>: General options in join. + (line 10) +* -a <4>: unexpand invocation. (line 51) +* -a <5>: Which files are listed. + (line 13) +* -A <3>: Which files are listed. + (line 17) +* -a <6>: cp invocation. (line 63) +* -a <7>: touch invocation. (line 48) +* -a <8>: df invocation. (line 42) +* -a <9>: du invocation. (line 32) +* -a <10>: Connectives for test. + (line 29) +* -a <11>: tee invocation. (line 27) +* -a <12>: basename invocation. (line 32) +* -a <13>: stty invocation. (line 26) +* -a <14>: who invocation. (line 35) +* -a <15>: uname invocation. (line 30) +* -b: Backup options. (line 13) +* -b <1>: cat invocation. (line 20) +* -b <2>: tac invocation. (line 21) +* -b <3>: nl invocation. (line 45) +* -b <4>: od invocation. (line 172) +* -b <5>: fold invocation. (line 23) +* -b <6>: split invocation. (line 41) +* -b <7>: csplit invocation. (line 67) +* -b <8>: md5sum invocation. (line 41) +* -b <9>: sort invocation. (line 79) +* -b <10>: Input processing in ptx. + (line 8) +* -b <11>: cut invocation. (line 26) +* -B: Which files are listed. + (line 23) +* -b <12>: Formatting the file names. + (line 11) +* -b <13>: dircolors invocation. + (line 34) +* -b <14>: cp invocation. (line 79) +* -b <15>: install invocation. (line 41) +* -b <16>: mv invocation. (line 59) +* -b <17>: ln invocation. (line 82) +* -B <1>: df invocation. (line 54) +* -B <2>: du invocation. (line 52) +* -b <18>: du invocation. (line 57) +* -b <19>: File type tests. (line 10) +* -b <20>: who invocation. (line 39) +* -c: od invocation. (line 175) +* -c <1>: fmt invocation. (line 34) +* -c <2>: pr invocation. (line 68) +* -c <3>: head invocation. (line 24) +* -c <4>: tail invocation. (line 39) +* -C: split invocation. (line 56) +* -c <5>: wc invocation. (line 43) +* -c <6>: sort invocation. (line 39) +* -c <7>: sort invocation. (line 47) +* -c <8>: shuf invocation. (line 19) +* -c <9>: uniq invocation. (line 55) +* -c <10>: cut invocation. (line 34) +* -c <11>: Sorting the output. (line 13) +* -C <1>: General output formatting. + (line 16) +* -c <12>: dircolors invocation. + (line 40) +* -C <2>: install invocation. (line 46) +* -c <13>: install invocation. (line 57) +* -c <14>: chown invocation. (line 73) +* -c <15>: chgrp invocation. (line 24) +* -c <16>: chmod invocation. (line 43) +* -c <17>: touch invocation. (line 52) +* -c <18>: du invocation. (line 61) +* -c <19>: stat invocation. (line 49) +* -c <20>: truncate invocation. (line 22) +* -c <21>: File type tests. (line 13) +* -c <22>: runcon invocation. (line 32) +* -C <3>: env invocation. (line 107) +* -COLUMN: pr invocation. (line 49) +* -d: nl invocation. (line 63) +* -d <1>: od invocation. (line 179) +* -d <2>: base64 invocation. (line 30) +* -d <3>: pr invocation. (line 74) +* -d <4>: split invocation. (line 117) +* -d <5>: sort invocation. (line 87) +* -d <6>: uniq invocation. (line 63) +* -D: uniq invocation. (line 69) +* -d <7>: cut invocation. (line 66) +* -d <8>: paste invocation. (line 61) +* -d <9>: Which files are listed. + (line 28) +* -D <1>: What information is listed. + (line 16) +* -d <10>: cp invocation. (line 109) +* -D <2>: install invocation. (line 60) +* -d <11>: install invocation. (line 67) +* -d <12>: rm invocation. (line 35) +* -d <13>: ln invocation. (line 88) +* -d <14>: touch invocation. (line 56) +* -D <3>: du invocation. (line 67) +* -d <15>: File type tests. (line 16) +* -d <16>: mktemp invocation. (line 85) +* -d <17>: who invocation. (line 43) +* -d <18>: Options for date. (line 11) +* -d <19>: numfmt invocation. (line 34) +* -d DEPTH: du invocation. (line 74) +* -e: cat invocation. (line 23) +* -E: cat invocation. (line 27) +* -e <1>: pr invocation. (line 98) +* -e <2>: split invocation. (line 140) +* -e <3>: General options in join. + (line 21) +* -e <4>: readlink invocation. (line 38) +* -e <5>: echo invocation. (line 25) +* -E <1>: echo invocation. (line 61) +* -e <6>: File characteristic tests. + (line 9) +* -e <7>: realpath invocation. (line 22) +* -e <8>: stdbuf invocation. (line 34) +* -ef: File characteristic tests. + (line 23) +* -eq: Numeric tests. (line 17) +* -f: nl invocation. (line 70) +* -f <1>: od invocation. (line 182) +* -F: pr invocation. (line 106) +* -f <2>: pr invocation. (line 106) +* -f <3>: tail invocation. (line 56) +* -F <1>: tail invocation. (line 108) +* -f <4>: csplit invocation. (line 63) +* -f <5>: sort invocation. (line 94) +* -f <6>: uniq invocation. (line 31) +* -f <7>: Charset selection in ptx. + (line 18) +* -F <2>: Output formatting in ptx. + (line 71) +* -f <8>: cut invocation. (line 43) +* -f <9>: Sorting the output. (line 20) +* -F <3>: General output formatting. + (line 46) +* -f <10>: cp invocation. (line 115) +* -f <11>: mv invocation. (line 64) +* -f <12>: rm invocation. (line 39) +* -f <13>: shred invocation. (line 123) +* -F <4>: ln invocation. (line 88) +* -f <14>: ln invocation. (line 94) +* -f <15>: readlink invocation. (line 31) +* -f <16>: chown invocation. (line 79) +* -f <17>: chgrp invocation. (line 30) +* -f <18>: chmod invocation. (line 49) +* -f <19>: touch invocation. (line 66) +* -f <20>: stat invocation. (line 28) +* -f <21>: File type tests. (line 19) +* -F <5>: stty invocation. (line 31) +* -f <22>: Options for date. (line 30) +* -f <23>: seq invocation. (line 28) +* -g: fmt invocation. (line 64) +* -g <1>: sort invocation. (line 105) +* -g <2>: Output formatting in ptx. + (line 26) +* -g <3>: What information is listed. + (line 105) +* -G: What information is listed. + (line 110) +* -g <4>: install invocation. (line 73) +* -g <5>: Access permission tests. + (line 9) +* -G <1>: Access permission tests. + (line 31) +* -g <6>: stty invocation. (line 41) +* -g <7>: id invocation. (line 29) +* -G <2>: id invocation. (line 33) +* -ge: Numeric tests. (line 17) +* -gt: Numeric tests. (line 17) +* -h: Block size. (line 121) +* -H: Traversing symlinks. (line 18) +* -h <1>: nl invocation. (line 74) +* -h <2>: pr invocation. (line 111) +* -h <3>: sort invocation. (line 126) +* -H <1>: Which files are listed. + (line 36) +* -h <4>: What information is listed. + (line 116) +* -H <2>: cp invocation. (line 132) +* -h <5>: chown invocation. (line 118) +* -H <3>: chown invocation. (line 153) +* -h <6>: chgrp invocation. (line 46) +* -H <4>: chgrp invocation. (line 81) +* -h <7>: touch invocation. (line 70) +* -h <8>: df invocation. (line 59) +* -H <5>: df invocation. (line 65) +* -H <6>: du invocation. (line 92) +* -h <9>: du invocation. (line 96) +* -h <10>: File type tests. (line 23) +* -H <7>: who invocation. (line 47) +* -h <11>: chcon invocation. (line 26) +* -H <8>: chcon invocation. (line 47) +* -i: nl invocation. (line 78) +* -i <1>: od invocation. (line 185) +* -i <2>: base64 invocation. (line 36) +* -i <3>: pr invocation. (line 117) +* -i <4>: sort invocation. (line 143) +* -i <5>: shuf invocation. (line 23) +* -i <6>: uniq invocation. (line 59) +* -i <7>: Input processing in ptx. + (line 26) +* -i <8>: General options in join. + (line 35) +* -i <9>: expand invocation. (line 46) +* -I: Which files are listed. + (line 69) +* -i <10>: What information is listed. + (line 123) +* -i <11>: cp invocation. (line 139) +* -i <12>: mv invocation. (line 70) +* -i <13>: rm invocation. (line 43) +* -I <1>: rm invocation. (line 48) +* -i <14>: ln invocation. (line 98) +* -i <15>: df invocation. (line 69) +* -i <16>: tee invocation. (line 32) +* -i <17>: uname invocation. (line 35) +* -i <18>: env invocation. (line 102) +* -i <19>: stdbuf invocation. (line 26) +* -I[TIMESPEC]: Options for date. (line 38) +* -j: od invocation. (line 59) +* -J: pr invocation. (line 124) +* -k: Block size. (line 121) +* -k <1>: csplit invocation. (line 86) +* -k <2>: sort invocation. (line 231) +* -k <3>: General output formatting. + (line 89) +* -k <4>: df invocation. (line 74) +* -k <5>: du invocation. (line 111) +* -k <6>: Access permission tests. + (line 12) +* -k <7>: timeout invocation. (line 41) +* -L: Traversing symlinks. (line 22) +* -l: nl invocation. (line 82) +* -l <1>: od invocation. (line 188) +* -l <2>: pr invocation. (line 133) +* -l <3>: split invocation. (line 33) +* -l <4>: wc invocation. (line 55) +* -L <1>: wc invocation. (line 59) +* -l <5>: b2sum invocation. (line 12) +* -L <2>: Which files are listed. + (line 83) +* -l <6>: What information is listed. + (line 131) +* -l <7>: cp invocation. (line 145) +* -L <3>: cp invocation. (line 149) +* -L <4>: ln invocation. (line 102) +* -L <5>: chown invocation. (line 158) +* -L <6>: chgrp invocation. (line 86) +* -l <8>: df invocation. (line 80) +* -L <7>: du invocation. (line 117) +* -l <9>: du invocation. (line 123) +* -L <8>: stat invocation. (line 22) +* -L <9>: File type tests. (line 23) +* -L <10>: realpath invocation. (line 35) +* -L <11>: pwd invocation. (line 15) +* -l <10>: who invocation. (line 51) +* -L <12>: chcon invocation. (line 52) +* -l <11>: chcon invocation. (line 77) +* -l <12>: runcon invocation. (line 48) +* -le: Numeric tests. (line 17) +* -lt: Numeric tests. (line 17) +* -m: pr invocation. (line 140) +* -m <1>: wc invocation. (line 47) +* -m <2>: sort invocation. (line 53) +* -M: sort invocation. (line 150) +* -M <1>: Output formatting in ptx. + (line 94) +* -m <3>: General output formatting. + (line 103) +* -m <4>: install invocation. (line 79) +* -m <5>: mkdir invocation. (line 19) +* -m <6>: mkfifo invocation. (line 21) +* -m <7>: mknod invocation. (line 47) +* -m <8>: readlink invocation. (line 45) +* -m <9>: touch invocation. (line 85) +* -m <10>: du invocation. (line 127) +* -m <11>: realpath invocation. (line 30) +* -m <12>: who invocation. (line 61) +* -m <13>: uname invocation. (line 42) +* -n: cat invocation. (line 31) +* -n <1>: nl invocation. (line 90) +* -N: od invocation. (line 76) +* -n <2>: pr invocation. (line 153) +* -N <1>: pr invocation. (line 174) +* -n <3>: head invocation. (line 40) +* -n <4>: tail invocation. (line 125) +* -n <5>: split invocation. (line 79) +* -n <6>: csplit invocation. (line 81) +* -n <7>: sort invocation. (line 160) +* -n <8>: shuf invocation. (line 31) +* -n <9>: cut invocation. (line 70) +* -n <10>: What information is listed. + (line 225) +* -N <2>: Formatting the file names. + (line 17) +* -n <11>: cp invocation. (line 156) +* -n <12>: mv invocation. (line 77) +* -n <13>: ln invocation. (line 108) +* -n <14>: readlink invocation. (line 50) +* -n <15>: echo invocation. (line 22) +* -N <3>: File characteristic tests. + (line 27) +* -n <16>: String tests. (line 19) +* -n <17>: id invocation. (line 37) +* -n <18>: uname invocation. (line 47) +* -n <19>: nice invocation. (line 51) +* -n NUMBER: shred invocation. (line 127) +* -ne: Numeric tests. (line 17) +* -nt: File characteristic tests. + (line 15) +* -o: od invocation. (line 191) +* -o <1>: pr invocation. (line 180) +* -o <2>: sort invocation. (line 288) +* -o <3>: shuf invocation. (line 36) +* -o <4>: Input processing in ptx. + (line 35) +* -O: Output formatting in ptx. + (line 100) +* -o <5>: What information is listed. + (line 230) +* -o <6>: install invocation. (line 91) +* -o <7>: truncate invocation. (line 26) +* -O <1>: Access permission tests. + (line 28) +* -o <8>: Connectives for test. + (line 33) +* -o <9>: uname invocation. (line 58) +* -o <10>: stdbuf invocation. (line 30) +* -ot: File characteristic tests. + (line 19) +* -P: Traversing symlinks. (line 26) +* -p: nl invocation. (line 101) +* -p <1>: General output formatting. + (line 108) +* -p <2>: dircolors invocation. + (line 45) +* -P <1>: cp invocation. (line 162) +* -p <3>: cp invocation. (line 169) +* -p <4>: install invocation. (line 103) +* -P <2>: ln invocation. (line 127) +* -p <5>: mkdir invocation. (line 34) +* -p <6>: rmdir invocation. (line 22) +* -P <3>: chown invocation. (line 171) +* -P <4>: chgrp invocation. (line 99) +* -P <5>: df invocation. (line 148) +* -P <6>: du invocation. (line 133) +* -p <7>: File type tests. (line 28) +* -p <8>: tee invocation. (line 36) +* -p <9>: pathchk invocation. (line 27) +* -P <7>: pathchk invocation. (line 40) +* -p <10>: mktemp invocation. (line 105) +* -P <8>: realpath invocation. (line 40) +* -P <9>: pwd invocation. (line 22) +* -p <11>: who invocation. (line 65) +* -p <12>: uname invocation. (line 51) +* -P <10>: chcon invocation. (line 56) +* -q: head invocation. (line 47) +* -q <1>: tail invocation. (line 153) +* -q <2>: csplit invocation. (line 106) +* -q <3>: Formatting the file names. + (line 23) +* -Q: Formatting the file names. + (line 30) +* -q <4>: readlink invocation. (line 57) +* -q <5>: mktemp invocation. (line 92) +* -q <6>: realpath invocation. (line 46) +* -q <7>: who invocation. (line 69) +* -r: tac invocation. (line 26) +* -r <1>: pr invocation. (line 187) +* -r <2>: sum invocation. (line 25) +* -r <3>: sort invocation. (line 183) +* -R: sort invocation. (line 189) +* -r <4>: shuf invocation. (line 47) +* -r <5>: Input processing in ptx. + (line 48) +* -R <1>: Output formatting in ptx. + (line 56) +* -R <2>: Which files are listed. + (line 90) +* -r <6>: Sorting the output. (line 27) +* -R <3>: cp invocation. (line 252) +* -r <7>: cp invocation. (line 252) +* -r <8>: rm invocation. (line 95) +* -R <4>: rm invocation. (line 95) +* -r <9>: ln invocation. (line 136) +* -R <5>: chown invocation. (line 150) +* -R <6>: chgrp invocation. (line 77) +* -R <7>: chmod invocation. (line 73) +* -r <10>: touch invocation. (line 89) +* -r <11>: truncate invocation. (line 30) +* -r <12>: Access permission tests. + (line 15) +* -r <13>: id invocation. (line 42) +* -r <14>: who invocation. (line 74) +* -r <15>: Options for date. (line 65) +* -R <8>: Options for date. (line 70) +* -r <16>: uname invocation. (line 62) +* -R <9>: chcon invocation. (line 35) +* -r <17>: chcon invocation. (line 69) +* -r <18>: runcon invocation. (line 40) +* -S: Backup options. (line 49) +* -s: cat invocation. (line 36) +* -s <1>: tac invocation. (line 30) +* -s <2>: nl invocation. (line 105) +* -S <1>: od invocation. (line 81) +* -s <3>: od invocation. (line 194) +* -s <4>: fmt invocation. (line 47) +* -s <5>: pr invocation. (line 192) +* -S <2>: pr invocation. (line 201) +* -s <6>: fold invocation. (line 29) +* -s <7>: tail invocation. (line 173) +* -s <8>: csplit invocation. (line 106) +* -s <9>: sum invocation. (line 31) +* -s <10>: sort invocation. (line 309) +* -S <3>: sort invocation. (line 316) +* -s <11>: uniq invocation. (line 41) +* -S <4>: Input processing in ptx. + (line 65) +* -s <12>: cut invocation. (line 74) +* -s <13>: paste invocation. (line 52) +* -s <14>: What information is listed. + (line 236) +* -S <5>: Sorting the output. (line 32) +* -s <15>: cp invocation. (line 337) +* -S <6>: cp invocation. (line 345) +* -s <16>: install invocation. (line 113) +* -S <7>: install invocation. (line 120) +* -S <8>: mv invocation. (line 103) +* -s <17>: ln invocation. (line 160) +* -S <9>: ln invocation. (line 166) +* -s <18>: readlink invocation. (line 57) +* -S <10>: du invocation. (line 138) +* -s <19>: du invocation. (line 153) +* -s <20>: truncate invocation. (line 34) +* -S <11>: File type tests. (line 31) +* -s <21>: File characteristic tests. + (line 12) +* -s <22>: basename invocation. (line 38) +* -s <23>: realpath invocation. (line 64) +* -s <24>: tty invocation. (line 18) +* -s <25>: who invocation. (line 78) +* -s <26>: Options for date. (line 113) +* -s <27>: uname invocation. (line 66) +* -S <12>: env invocation. (line 188) +* -s <28>: timeout invocation. (line 48) +* -s <29>: seq invocation. (line 44) +* -s BYTES: shred invocation. (line 138) +* -S, env and single quotes: env invocation. (line 264) +* -t: cat invocation. (line 40) +* -T: cat invocation. (line 44) +* -t <1>: od invocation. (line 90) +* -t <2>: fmt invocation. (line 40) +* -t <3>: pr invocation. (line 210) +* -T <1>: pr invocation. (line 220) +* -t <4>: split invocation. (line 148) +* -t <5>: md5sum invocation. (line 109) +* -t <6>: sort invocation. (line 332) +* -T <2>: sort invocation. (line 353) +* -T <3>: Output formatting in ptx. + (line 118) +* -t <7>: expand invocation. (line 22) +* -t <8>: unexpand invocation. (line 24) +* -t <9>: Sorting the output. (line 36) +* -T <4>: General output formatting. + (line 117) +* -t <10>: cp invocation. (line 350) +* -T <5>: cp invocation. (line 354) +* -t <11>: install invocation. (line 125) +* -T <6>: install invocation. (line 130) +* -t <12>: mv invocation. (line 108) +* -T <7>: mv invocation. (line 112) +* -t <13>: ln invocation. (line 171) +* -T <8>: ln invocation. (line 175) +* -t <14>: df invocation. (line 194) +* -T <9>: df invocation. (line 200) +* -t <15>: du invocation. (line 157) +* -t <16>: stat invocation. (line 69) +* -t <17>: File type tests. (line 34) +* -t <18>: mktemp invocation. (line 121) +* -t <19>: who invocation. (line 82) +* -T <10>: who invocation. (line 94) +* -t <20>: chcon invocation. (line 73) +* -t <21>: runcon invocation. (line 44) +* -u: cat invocation. (line 47) +* -u <1>: fmt invocation. (line 53) +* -u <2>: split invocation. (line 155) +* -u <3>: sort invocation. (line 369) +* -u <4>: uniq invocation. (line 127) +* -u <5>: Sorting the output. (line 44) +* -U: Sorting the output. (line 60) +* -u <6>: cp invocation. (line 359) +* -u <7>: mv invocation. (line 84) +* -u <8>: shred invocation. (line 144) +* -u <9>: Access permission tests. + (line 18) +* -u <10>: mktemp invocation. (line 97) +* -u <11>: id invocation. (line 47) +* -u <12>: who invocation. (line 85) +* -u <13>: Options for date. (line 119) +* -u <14>: chcon invocation. (line 65) +* -u <15>: runcon invocation. (line 36) +* -u <16>: env invocation. (line 96) +* -v: cat invocation. (line 51) +* -v <1>: nl invocation. (line 110) +* -v <2>: od invocation. (line 150) +* -v <3>: pr invocation. (line 225) +* -v <4>: head invocation. (line 51) +* -v <5>: tail invocation. (line 184) +* -V: sort invocation. (line 177) +* -v <6>: Sorting the output. (line 67) +* -v <7>: cp invocation. (line 374) +* -v <8>: install invocation. (line 135) +* -v <9>: mv invocation. (line 95) +* -v <10>: rm invocation. (line 99) +* -v <11>: shred invocation. (line 159) +* -v <12>: ln invocation. (line 180) +* -v <13>: mkdir invocation. (line 51) +* -v <14>: readlink invocation. (line 61) +* -v <15>: rmdir invocation. (line 31) +* -v <16>: chown invocation. (line 142) +* -v <17>: chgrp invocation. (line 69) +* -v <18>: chmod invocation. (line 63) +* -v <19>: uname invocation. (line 77) +* -v <20>: chcon invocation. (line 61) +* -v <21>: env invocation. (line 173) +* -v <22>: timeout invocation. (line 54) +* -w: nl invocation. (line 115) +* -w <1>: od invocation. (line 157) +* -w <2>: base64 invocation. (line 22) +* -w <3>: fmt invocation. (line 59) +* -w <4>: pr invocation. (line 229) +* -W: pr invocation. (line 239) +* -w <5>: fold invocation. (line 35) +* -w <6>: wc invocation. (line 51) +* -w <7>: md5sum invocation. (line 118) +* -w <8>: uniq invocation. (line 133) +* -W <1>: Input processing in ptx. + (line 105) +* -w <9>: Output formatting in ptx. + (line 32) +* -w <10>: General output formatting. + (line 128) +* -w <11>: Access permission tests. + (line 21) +* -w <12>: who invocation. (line 94) +* -w <13>: seq invocation. (line 49) +* -WIDTH: fmt invocation. (line 59) +* -x: od invocation. (line 197) +* -x <1>: split invocation. (line 131) +* -X: Sorting the output. (line 74) +* -x <2>: General output formatting. + (line 113) +* -x <3>: cp invocation. (line 378) +* -x <4>: shred invocation. (line 164) +* -x <5>: df invocation. (line 223) +* -x <6>: du invocation. (line 263) +* -x <7>: Access permission tests. + (line 24) +* -X FILE: du invocation. (line 252) +* -z: head invocation. (line 55) +* -z <1>: tail invocation. (line 188) +* -z <2>: csplit invocation. (line 95) +* -z <3>: md5sum invocation. (line 128) +* -z <4>: sort invocation. (line 384) +* -z <5>: shuf invocation. (line 55) +* -z <6>: uniq invocation. (line 139) +* -z <7>: comm invocation. (line 88) +* -z <8>: cut invocation. (line 94) +* -z <9>: paste invocation. (line 72) +* -z <10>: General options in join. + (line 93) +* -Z: What information is listed. + (line 259) +* -Z <1>: cp invocation. (line 384) +* -Z <2>: install invocation. (line 139) +* -Z <3>: mv invocation. (line 117) +* -z <11>: shred invocation. (line 175) +* -Z <4>: mkdir invocation. (line 56) +* -Z <5>: mkfifo invocation. (line 28) +* -Z <6>: mknod invocation. (line 53) +* -z <12>: readlink invocation. (line 65) +* -z <13>: String tests. (line 15) +* -z <14>: basename invocation. (line 42) +* -z <15>: dirname invocation. (line 31) +* -z <16>: realpath invocation. (line 71) +* -Z <7>: id invocation. (line 51) +* -z <17>: id invocation. (line 58) +* -z <18>: numfmt invocation. (line 115) +* /: Numeric expressions. (line 16) +* 128-bit checksum: md5sum invocation. (line 6) +* 16-bit checksum: sum invocation. (line 6) +* 160-bit checksum: sha1sum invocation. (line 6) +* 224-bit checksum: sha2 utilities. (line 6) +* 256-bit checksum: sha2 utilities. (line 6) +* 384-bit checksum: sha2 utilities. (line 6) +* 512-bit checksum: b2sum invocation. (line 6) +* 512-bit checksum <1>: sha2 utilities. (line 6) +* <: Relations for expr. (line 22) +* <=: Relations for expr. (line 22) +* =: Relations for expr. (line 22) +* = <1>: String tests. (line 22) +* ==: Relations for expr. (line 22) +* == <1>: String tests. (line 25) +* >: 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 28) +* \OOO: printf invocation. (line 67) +* \uhhhh: printf invocation. (line 74) +* \Uhhhhhhhh: printf invocation. (line 74) +* \xHH: printf invocation. (line 67) +* \| regexp operator: String expressions. (line 28) +* _POSIX2_VERSION: Standards conformance. + (line 20) +* _POSIX2_VERSION <1>: tail invocation. (line 203) +* _POSIX2_VERSION <2>: sort invocation. (line 416) +* _POSIX2_VERSION <3>: uniq invocation. (line 46) +* _POSIX2_VERSION <4>: touch invocation. (line 107) +* |: Relations for expr. (line 11) +* 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 timestamp: dd invocation. (line 278) +* access timestamp, printing or sorting files by: Sorting the output. + (line 44) +* access timestamp, show the most recent: du invocation. (line 210) +* across columns: pr invocation. (line 62) +* across, listing files: General output formatting. + (line 113) +* adding permissions: Setting Permissions. (line 35) +* addition: Numeric expressions. (line 12) +* ago in date strings: Relative items in date strings. + (line 23) +* all lines, grouping: uniq invocation. (line 100) +* all repeated lines, outputting: uniq invocation. (line 69) +* alnum: Character sets. (line 88) +* alpha: Character sets. (line 90) +* alternate ebcdic, converting to: dd invocation. (line 117) +* always color option: General output formatting. + (line 26) +* always hyperlink option: General output formatting. + (line 65) +* always interactive option: rm invocation. (line 59) +* am i: who invocation. (line 21) +* am in date strings: Time of day items. (line 21) +* and operator: Connectives for test. + (line 29) +* and operator <1>: Relations for expr. (line 17) +* append: dd invocation. (line 207) +* appending to the output file: dd invocation. (line 207) +* appropriate privileges: install invocation. (line 91) +* appropriate privileges <1>: Setting the time. (line 6) +* appropriate privileges <2>: hostname invocation. (line 6) +* appropriate privileges <3>: nice invocation. (line 6) +* arbitrary date strings, debugging: Options for date. (line 25) +* arbitrary date strings, parsing: Options for date. (line 11) +* arbitrary text, displaying: echo invocation. (line 6) +* arch: arch invocation. (line 6) +* arithmetic tests: Numeric tests. (line 6) +* ASCII dump of files: od invocation. (line 6) +* ascii, converting to: dd invocation. (line 106) +* atime: File timestamps. (line 6) +* atime, changing: touch invocation. (line 48) +* atime, printing or sorting files by: Sorting the output. (line 44) +* atime, show the most recent: du invocation. (line 210) +* attribute caching: stat invocation. (line 33) +* attributes, file: Changing file attributes. + (line 6) +* authors of parse_datetime: Authors of parse_datetime. + (line 6) +* auto color option: General output formatting. + (line 25) +* auto hyperlink option: General output formatting. + (line 64) +* b for block special file: mknod invocation. (line 31) +* b2sum: b2sum invocation. (line 6) +* background jobs, stopping at terminal write: Local. (line 41) +* backslash escapes: Character sets. (line 14) +* backslash escapes <1>: echo invocation. (line 25) +* backslash escapes <2>: echo invocation. (line 61) +* backslash sequences for file names: Formatting the file names. + (line 11) +* backup files, ignoring: Which files are listed. + (line 23) +* backup options: Backup options. (line 6) +* backup suffix: Backup options. (line 49) +* backups, making: Backup options. (line 13) +* backups, making <1>: cp invocation. (line 79) +* backups, making <2>: install invocation. (line 41) +* backups, making <3>: mv invocation. (line 59) +* backups, making <4>: ln invocation. (line 82) +* backups, making only: cp invocation. (line 51) +* base32: base32 invocation. (line 6) +* base32 encoding: base32 invocation. (line 6) +* base32 encoding <1>: basenc invocation. (line 6) +* base64: base64 invocation. (line 6) +* Base64 decoding: base64 invocation. (line 30) +* base64 encoding: base64 invocation. (line 6) +* basename: basename invocation. (line 6) +* basenc: basenc invocation. (line 6) +* baud rate, setting: Special. (line 52) +* beeping at input buffer full: Input. (line 59) +* beginning of time: Time conversion specifiers. + (line 32) +* beginning of time, for POSIX: Seconds since the Epoch. + (line 13) +* Bellovin, Steven M.: Authors of parse_datetime. + (line 6) +* Berets, Jim: Authors of parse_datetime. + (line 6) +* Berry, K.: Introduction. (line 29) +* Berry, K. <1>: Authors of parse_datetime. + (line 19) +* binary: dd invocation. (line 295) +* binary I/O: dd invocation. (line 295) +* binary input files: md5sum invocation. (line 41) +* bind mount: rm invocation. (line 67) +* bind mount <1>: stat invocation. (line 191) +* birth time, printing or sorting files by: Sorting the output. + (line 52) +* birthtime: File timestamps. (line 6) +* BLAKE2: b2sum invocation. (line 6) +* BLAKE2 hash length: b2sum invocation. (line 12) +* blank: Character sets. (line 92) +* blank lines, numbering: nl invocation. (line 82) +* blanks, ignoring leading: sort invocation. (line 79) +* block (space-padding): dd invocation. (line 127) +* block size: Block size. (line 6) +* block size <1>: dd invocation. (line 34) +* block size of conversion: dd invocation. (line 41) +* block size of input: dd invocation. (line 26) +* block size of output: dd invocation. (line 30) +* block special check: File type tests. (line 10) +* block special files: mknod invocation. (line 11) +* block special files, creating: mknod invocation. (line 6) +* BLOCKSIZE: Block size. (line 12) +* BLOCK_SIZE: Block size. (line 12) +* body, numbering: nl invocation. (line 17) +* Bourne shell syntax for color setup: dircolors invocation. + (line 34) +* breaks, cause interrupts: Input. (line 12) +* breaks, ignoring: Input. (line 9) +* brkint: Input. (line 12) +* bs: dd invocation. (line 34) +* BSD output: md5sum invocation. (line 99) +* BSD sum: sum invocation. (line 25) +* BSD tail: tail invocation. (line 26) +* BSD touch compatibility: touch invocation. (line 66) +* bsN: Output. (line 55) +* btrfs file system type: df invocation. (line 211) +* bugs, reporting: Introduction. (line 12) +* built-in shell commands, conflicts with: mknod invocation. (line 20) +* built-in shell commands, conflicts with <1>: stat invocation. + (line 15) +* built-in shell commands, conflicts with <2>: echo invocation. + (line 11) +* built-in shell commands, conflicts with <3>: printf invocation. + (line 16) +* built-in shell commands, conflicts with <4>: test invocation. + (line 28) +* built-in shell commands, conflicts with <5>: pwd invocation. + (line 30) +* built-in shell commands, conflicts with <6>: nice invocation. + (line 38) +* built-in shell commands, conflicts with <7>: kill invocation. + (line 13) +* built-in shell commands, conflicts with <8>: sleep invocation. + (line 36) +* byte count: wc invocation. (line 6) +* byte-swapping: od invocation. (line 51) +* byte-swapping <1>: dd invocation. (line 159) +* c for character special file: mknod invocation. (line 34) +* C shell syntax for color setup: dircolors invocation. + (line 40) +* C-s/C-q flow control: Input. (line 40) +* calendar date item: Calendar date items. (line 6) +* calling combined multi-call program: Multi-call invocation. + (line 6) +* canonical file name: readlink invocation. (line 6) +* canonical file name <1>: realpath invocation. (line 6) +* canonicalize a file name: readlink invocation. (line 6) +* canonicalize a file name <1>: realpath invocation. (line 6) +* case folding: sort invocation. (line 94) +* case translation: Local. (line 36) +* case, ignored in dates: General date syntax. (line 60) +* cat: cat invocation. (line 6) +* cbreak: Combination. (line 52) +* cbs: dd invocation. (line 41) +* CD-ROM file system type: df invocation. (line 215) +* cdfs file system type: df invocation. (line 215) +* cdtrdsr: Control. (line 44) +* change or print terminal settings: stty invocation. (line 6) +* change SELinux context: chcon invocation. (line 6) +* changed files, verbosely describing: chgrp invocation. (line 24) +* changed owners, verbosely describing: chown invocation. (line 73) +* 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: chown invocation. (line 6) +* changing group ownership <1>: chgrp invocation. (line 6) +* changing security context: chcon invocation. (line 6) +* changing special mode bits: Changing Special Mode Bits. + (line 6) +* character classes: Character sets. (line 74) +* character count: wc invocation. (line 6) +* character size: Control. (line 24) +* 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) +* chcon: chcon invocation. (line 6) +* check file types: test invocation. (line 6) +* checking for sortedness: sort invocation. (line 39) +* checking for sortedness <1>: sort invocation. (line 47) +* checksum, 128-bit: md5sum invocation. (line 6) +* checksum, 16-bit: sum invocation. (line 6) +* checksum, 160-bit: sha1sum invocation. (line 6) +* checksum, 224-bit: sha2 utilities. (line 6) +* checksum, 256-bit: sha2 utilities. (line 6) +* checksum, 384-bit: sha2 utilities. (line 6) +* checksum, 512-bit: b2sum invocation. (line 6) +* checksum, 512-bit <1>: sha2 utilities. (line 6) +* chgrp: chgrp invocation. (line 6) +* chmod: chmod invocation. (line 6) +* chown: chown invocation. (line 6) +* chroot: chroot invocation. (line 6) +* cio: dd invocation. (line 215) +* cksum: cksum invocation. (line 6) +* clocal: Control. (line 38) +* clock skew: Formatting file timestamps. + (line 11) +* clock skew <1>: File timestamps. (line 39) +* clone: cp invocation. (line 265) +* cmspar: Control. (line 16) +* cntrl: Character sets. (line 94) +* color database, printing: dircolors invocation. + (line 45) +* color setup: dircolors invocation. + (line 6) +* color, distinguishing file types with: General output formatting. + (line 22) +* cols: Special. (line 27) +* column to wrap data after: base64 invocation. (line 22) +* COLUMNS: General output formatting. + (line 128) +* COLUMNS <1>: Special. (line 39) +* columns: Special. (line 27) +* combination settings: Combination. (line 6) +* combined: Multi-call invocation. + (line 6) +* combined date and time of day item: Combined date and time of day items. + (line 6) +* comm: comm invocation. (line 6) +* command-line operands to shuffle: shuf invocation. (line 19) +* 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 SELinux context: SELinux context. (line 6) +* commands for system context: System context. (line 6) +* commas, outputting between files: General output formatting. + (line 103) +* comments, in dates: General date syntax. (line 60) +* 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) +* concurrent I/O: dd invocation. (line 215) +* conditional executability: Conditional Executability. + (line 6) +* conditions: Conditions. (line 6) +* conflicts with shell built-ins: mknod invocation. (line 20) +* conflicts with shell built-ins <1>: stat invocation. (line 15) +* conflicts with shell built-ins <2>: echo invocation. (line 11) +* conflicts with shell built-ins <3>: printf invocation. (line 16) +* conflicts with shell built-ins <4>: test invocation. (line 28) +* conflicts with shell built-ins <5>: pwd invocation. (line 30) +* conflicts with shell built-ins <6>: nice invocation. (line 38) +* conflicts with shell built-ins <7>: kill invocation. (line 13) +* conflicts with shell built-ins <8>: sleep invocation. (line 36) +* connectives, logical: Connectives for test. + (line 6) +* connectives, logical <1>: Relations for expr. (line 6) +* constant parity: Control. (line 16) +* context splitting: csplit invocation. (line 6) +* context, system: System context. (line 6) +* control characters, using ^C: Local. (line 51) +* control settings: Control. (line 6) +* controlling terminal: dd invocation. (line 284) +* conv: dd invocation. (line 100) +* conversion block size: dd invocation. (line 41) +* conversion specifiers, date: Date conversion specifiers. + (line 6) +* conversion specifiers, literal: Literal conversion specifiers. + (line 6) +* conversion specifiers, time: Time conversion specifiers. + (line 6) +* converting tabs to spaces: expand invocation. (line 6) +* converting while copying a file: dd invocation. (line 6) +* cooked: Combination. (line 37) +* Coordinated Universal Time: Options for date. (line 119) +* copy on write: cp invocation. (line 265) +* copying directories recursively: cp invocation. (line 96) +* copying directories recursively <1>: cp invocation. (line 252) +* 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 18) +* count: dd invocation. (line 56) +* count_bytes: dd invocation. (line 313) +* COW: cp invocation. (line 265) +* cp: cp invocation. (line 6) +* crashes and corruption: sync invocation. (line 17) +* CRC checksum: cksum invocation. (line 6) +* cread: Control. (line 35) +* 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) +* creating output file, avoiding: dd invocation. (line 176) +* creating output file, requiring: dd invocation. (line 172) +* creation timestamp, printing or sorting files by: Sorting the output. + (line 52) +* crN: Output. (line 45) +* crown margin: fmt invocation. (line 34) +* crt: Combination. (line 75) +* crterase: Local. (line 22) +* crtkill: Local. (line 56) +* crtscts: Control. (line 41) +* csh syntax for color setup: dircolors invocation. + (line 40) +* csN: Control. (line 24) +* csplit: csplit invocation. (line 6) +* cstopb: Control. (line 32) +* ctime: File timestamps. (line 6) +* ctime, printing or sorting by: Sorting the output. (line 13) +* ctime, show the most recent: du invocation. (line 204) +* 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 45) +* date: date invocation. (line 6) +* date and time of day format, ISO 8601: Combined date and time of day items. + (line 6) +* date conversion specifiers: Date conversion specifiers. + (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, debugging: Options for date. (line 25) +* date strings, parsing: Options for date. (line 11) +* day in date strings: Relative items in date strings. + (line 15) +* day in date strings <1>: Relative items in date strings. + (line 29) +* day of week item: Day of week items. (line 6) +* dd: dd invocation. (line 6) +* ddrescue: dd invocation. (line 362) +* debugging date strings: Options for date. (line 25) +* debugging, env -S: env invocation. (line 273) +* dec: Combination. (line 78) +* decctlq: Combination. (line 63) +* Decode base64 data: base64 invocation. (line 30) +* delay for a specified time: sleep invocation. (line 6) +* delaying commands: Delaying. (line 6) +* deleting characters: Squeezing and deleting. + (line 6) +* dereferencing symbolic links: ln invocation. (line 42) +* descriptor follow option: tail invocation. (line 56) +* destination directory: Target directory. (line 15) +* destination directory <1>: Target directory. (line 31) +* destination directory <2>: cp invocation. (line 350) +* destination directory <3>: cp invocation. (line 354) +* destination directory <4>: install invocation. (line 125) +* destination directory <5>: install invocation. (line 130) +* destination directory <6>: mv invocation. (line 108) +* destination directory <7>: mv invocation. (line 112) +* destination directory <8>: ln invocation. (line 171) +* destination directory <9>: ln invocation. (line 175) +* destinations, multiple output: tee invocation. (line 6) +* device file, disk: df invocation. (line 30) +* df: df invocation. (line 6) +* DF_BLOCK_SIZE: Block size. (line 12) +* diagnostic: chcon invocation. (line 61) +* dictionary order: sort invocation. (line 87) +* differing lines: comm invocation. (line 18) +* digit: Character sets. (line 96) +* dir: dir invocation. (line 6) +* dircolors: dircolors invocation. + (line 6) +* direct: dd invocation. (line 221) +* direct I/O: dd invocation. (line 221) +* directories, copying: cp invocation. (line 6) +* directories, copying recursively: cp invocation. (line 96) +* directories, copying recursively <1>: cp invocation. (line 252) +* directories, creating: mkdir invocation. (line 6) +* directories, creating with given attributes: install invocation. + (line 67) +* directories, removing: rm invocation. (line 35) +* directories, removing (recursively): rm invocation. (line 95) +* directories, removing empty: rmdir invocation. (line 6) +* directory: dd invocation. (line 229) +* 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 31) +* directory I/O: dd invocation. (line 229) +* directory listing: ls invocation. (line 6) +* directory listing, brief: dir invocation. (line 6) +* directory listing, recursive: Which files are listed. + (line 90) +* directory listing, verbose: vdir invocation. (line 6) +* directory order, listing by: Sorting the output. (line 20) +* directory, creating temporary: mktemp invocation. (line 6) +* 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 special characters: Characters. (line 12) +* disambiguating group names and IDs: Disambiguating names and IDs. + (line 6) +* discard: Characters. (line 39) +* discarding file cache: dd invocation. (line 246) +* disk allocation: What information is listed. + (line 236) +* disk device file: df invocation. (line 30) +* disk usage: Disk usage. (line 6) +* disk usage by file system: df invocation. (line 6) +* disk usage for files: du invocation. (line 6) +* disks, failing: dd invocation. (line 362) +* 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 16) +* do nothing, successfully: true invocation. (line 6) +* do nothing, unsuccessfully: false invocation. (line 6) +* DOS file system: df invocation. (line 219) +* double spacing: pr invocation. (line 74) +* down columns: pr invocation. (line 49) +* drain: Special. (line 30) +* dsusp: Characters. (line 57) +* dsync: dd invocation. (line 235) +* DTR/DSR flow control: Control. (line 44) +* du: du invocation. (line 6) +* DU_BLOCK_SIZE: Block size. (line 12) +* DVD file system type: df invocation. (line 215) +* ebcdic, converting to: dd invocation. (line 112) +* echo: echo invocation. (line 6) +* echo <1>: Local. (line 18) +* 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 user and group IDs, printing: id invocation. (line 6) +* effective user ID, printing: whoami invocation. (line 6) +* Eggert, Paul: Authors of parse_datetime. + (line 6) +* eight-bit characters: Control. (line 24) +* eight-bit characters <1>: Combination. (line 55) +* eight-bit input: Input. (line 25) +* ek: Combination. (line 22) +* empty files, creating: touch invocation. (line 11) +* empty lines, numbering: nl invocation. (line 82) +* endianness: od invocation. (line 51) +* entire files, output of: Output of entire files. + (line 6) +* env: env invocation. (line 6) +* env -S, and single quotes: env invocation. (line 264) +* env -S, debugging: env invocation. (line 273) +* env in scripts: env invocation. (line 188) +* environment variables, printing: printenv invocation. (line 6) +* environment, printing: env invocation. (line 50) +* environment, running a program in a modified: env invocation. + (line 6) +* eof: Characters. (line 30) +* eol: Characters. (line 33) +* eol2: Characters. (line 36) +* epoch, for POSIX: Seconds since the Epoch. + (line 13) +* epoch, seconds since: Time conversion specifiers. + (line 32) +* equal string check: String tests. (line 22) +* equal string check <1>: String tests. (line 25) +* equivalence classes: Character sets. (line 113) +* erase: Characters. (line 24) +* erasing data: shred invocation. (line 6) +* error messages, omitting: chown invocation. (line 79) +* error messages, omitting <1>: chgrp invocation. (line 30) +* error messages, omitting <2>: chmod invocation. (line 49) +* evaluation of expressions: expr invocation. (line 6) +* even parity: Control. (line 13) +* evenp: Combination. (line 9) +* exabyte, definition of: Block size. (line 106) +* examples of date: Examples of date. (line 6) +* examples of expr: Examples of expr. (line 6) +* exbibyte, definition of: Block size. (line 109) +* excl: dd invocation. (line 172) +* excluding files from du: du invocation. (line 252) +* excluding files from du <1>: du invocation. (line 257) +* executable file check: Access permission tests. + (line 24) +* executables and file type, marking: General output formatting. + (line 46) +* execute/search permission: Mode Structure. (line 16) +* execute/search permission, symbolic: Setting Permissions. (line 56) +* 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 78) +* exit status of env: env invocation. (line 193) +* exit status of expr: expr invocation. (line 43) +* exit status of false: false invocation. (line 6) +* exit status of ls: ls invocation. (line 29) +* exit status of mktemp: mktemp invocation. (line 128) +* exit status of nice: nice invocation. (line 63) +* exit status of nohup: nohup invocation. (line 48) +* exit status of pathchk: pathchk invocation. (line 47) +* exit status of printenv: printenv invocation. (line 23) +* exit status of realpath: realpath invocation. (line 75) +* exit status of runcon: runcon invocation. (line 50) +* exit status of sort: sort invocation. (line 58) +* exit status of stdbuf: stdbuf invocation. (line 70) +* exit status of test: test invocation. (line 41) +* exit status of timeout: timeout invocation. (line 66) +* exit status of true: true invocation. (line 6) +* exit status of tty: tty invocation. (line 20) +* expand: expand invocation. (line 6) +* expr: expr invocation. (line 6) +* expression evaluation: test invocation. (line 6) +* expression evaluation <1>: expr invocation. (line 6) +* expressions, numeric: Numeric expressions. (line 6) +* expressions, string: String expressions. (line 6) +* ext2 file system type: df invocation. (line 211) +* ext3 file system type: df invocation. (line 211) +* ext4 file system type: df invocation. (line 211) +* extended attributes, xattr: install invocation. (line 34) +* extended attributes, xattr <1>: mv invocation. (line 33) +* extension, sorting files by: Sorting the output. (line 74) +* extproc: Local. (line 61) +* factor: factor invocation. (line 6) +* failure exit status: false invocation. (line 6) +* false: false invocation. (line 6) +* fat file system file: df invocation. (line 219) +* fdatasync: dd invocation. (line 188) +* ffN: Output. (line 63) +* field separator character: sort invocation. (line 332) +* fields, padding numeric: Padding and other flags. + (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 235) +* file information, preserving, extended attributes, xattr: cp invocation. + (line 169) +* file mode bits, numeric: Numeric Modes. (line 6) +* file name manipulation: File name manipulation. + (line 6) +* file names, canonicalization: realpath invocation. (line 6) +* file names, checking validity and portability: pathchk invocation. + (line 6) +* file names, creating temporary: mktemp invocation. (line 6) +* file names, stripping directory and suffix: basename invocation. + (line 6) +* file offset radix: od invocation. (line 36) +* file ownership, changing: chown invocation. (line 6) +* file sizes: du invocation. (line 52) +* file space usage: du invocation. (line 6) +* file status: stat invocation. (line 6) +* file system disk usage: df invocation. (line 6) +* file system sizes: df invocation. (line 54) +* file system space, retrieving current data more slowly: df invocation. + (line 174) +* file system space, retrieving old data more quickly: df invocation. + (line 84) +* file system status: stat invocation. (line 6) +* file system types, limiting output to certain: df invocation. + (line 80) +* file system types, limiting output to certain <1>: df invocation. + (line 194) +* file system types, printing: df invocation. (line 200) +* file systems: stat invocation. (line 28) +* file systems and hard links: ln invocation. (line 6) +* file systems, omitting copying to different: cp invocation. (line 378) +* file timestamp resolution: File timestamps. (line 45) +* file timestamps, changing: touch invocation. (line 6) +* file type and executables, marking: General output formatting. + (line 46) +* file type tests: File type tests. (line 6) +* file type, marking: General output formatting. + (line 57) +* file type, marking <1>: General output formatting. + (line 108) +* file types: Special file types. (line 9) +* file types, special: Special file types. (line 6) +* file utilities: Top. (line 18) +* files beginning with -, removing: rm invocation. (line 101) +* files, copying: cp invocation. (line 6) +* files, creating: truncate invocation. (line 11) +* fingerprint, 128-bit: md5sum invocation. (line 6) +* fingerprint, 160-bit: sha1sum invocation. (line 6) +* fingerprint, 224-bit: sha2 utilities. (line 6) +* fingerprint, 256-bit: sha2 utilities. (line 6) +* fingerprint, 384-bit: sha2 utilities. (line 6) +* fingerprint, 512-bit: b2sum invocation. (line 6) +* fingerprint, 512-bit <1>: sha2 utilities. (line 6) +* first in date strings: General date syntax. (line 22) +* first part of files, outputting: head invocation. (line 6) +* fixed-length records, converting to variable-length: dd invocation. + (line 41) +* floating point: Floating point. (line 6) +* flow control, hardware: Control. (line 41) +* flow control, hardware <1>: Control. (line 44) +* flow control, software: Input. (line 45) +* flush: Characters. (line 39) +* flushing, disabling: Local. (line 32) +* flusho: Local. (line 67) +* 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 123) +* formatting file contents: Formatting file contents. + (line 6) +* formatting of numbers in seq: seq invocation. (line 28) +* formatting times: pr invocation. (line 78) +* formatting times <1>: date invocation. (line 20) +* fortnight in date strings: Relative items in date strings. + (line 15) +* fsync: dd invocation. (line 192) +* fullblock: dd invocation. (line 303) +* general date syntax: General date syntax. (line 6) +* general numeric sort: sort invocation. (line 105) +* gibibyte, definition of: Block size. (line 94) +* gigabyte, definition of: Block size. (line 91) +* giving away permissions: Umask and Protection. + (line 12) +* GMT: Options for date. (line 119) +* grand total of disk size, usage and available space: df invocation. + (line 180) +* grand total of disk space: du invocation. (line 61) +* graph: Character sets. (line 98) +* Greenwich Mean Time: Options for date. (line 119) +* group IDs, disambiguating: Disambiguating names and IDs. + (line 6) +* group names, disambiguating: Disambiguating names and IDs. + (line 6) +* group owner, default: Mode Structure. (line 27) +* group ownership of installed files, setting: install invocation. + (line 73) +* group ownership, changing: chown invocation. (line 6) +* group ownership, changing <1>: chgrp invocation. (line 6) +* group, permissions for: Setting Permissions. (line 25) +* groups: groups invocation. (line 6) +* growing files: tail invocation. (line 56) +* hangups, immunity to: nohup invocation. (line 6) +* hard link check: File characteristic tests. + (line 23) +* hard link, defined: ln invocation. (line 32) +* hard links: dd invocation. (line 292) +* hard links to directories: ln invocation. (line 88) +* hard links to symbolic links: ln invocation. (line 182) +* hard links, counting in du: du invocation. (line 123) +* hard links, creating: link invocation. (line 6) +* hard links, creating <1>: ln invocation. (line 6) +* hard links, preserving: cp invocation. (line 109) +* hardware class: uname invocation. (line 42) +* hardware flow control: Control. (line 41) +* hardware flow control <1>: Control. (line 44) +* hardware platform: uname invocation. (line 35) +* hardware type: uname invocation. (line 42) +* hat notation for control characters: Local. (line 51) +* head: head invocation. (line 6) +* head of output: shuf invocation. (line 31) +* headers, numbering: nl invocation. (line 17) +* help, online: Common options. (line 36) +* hex dump of files: od invocation. (line 6) +* holes, copying files with: cp invocation. (line 299) +* holes, creating files with: truncate invocation. (line 13) +* horizontal, listing files: General output formatting. + (line 113) +* host processor type: uname invocation. (line 51) +* hostid: hostid invocation. (line 6) +* hostname: hostname invocation. (line 6) +* hostname <1>: uname invocation. (line 47) +* hour in date strings: Relative items in date strings. + (line 15) +* human numeric sort: sort invocation. (line 126) +* human-readable output: Block size. (line 42) +* human-readable output <1>: What information is listed. + (line 116) +* human-readable output <2>: df invocation. (line 59) +* human-readable output <3>: du invocation. (line 96) +* hup[cl]: Control. (line 28) +* hurd, author, printing: What information is listed. + (line 10) +* hyperlink, linking to files: General output formatting. + (line 61) +* ibs: dd invocation. (line 26) +* icanon: Local. (line 11) +* icrnl: Input. (line 34) +* id: id invocation. (line 6) +* idle time: who invocation. (line 85) +* IEEE floating point: Floating point. (line 6) +* iexten: Local. (line 15) +* if: dd invocation. (line 18) +* iflag: dd invocation. (line 196) +* ignbrk: Input. (line 9) +* igncr: Input. (line 31) +* ignore file systems: df invocation. (line 42) +* Ignore garbage in base64 stream: base64 invocation. (line 36) +* ignoring case: sort invocation. (line 94) +* ignpar: Input. (line 15) +* imaxbel: Input. (line 59) +* immunity to hangups: nohup invocation. (line 6) +* implementation, hardware: uname invocation. (line 35) +* indenting lines: pr invocation. (line 180) +* 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 46) +* inlcr: Input. (line 28) +* inode number, printing: What information is listed. + (line 123) +* inode usage: df invocation. (line 69) +* inode usage, dereferencing in du: du invocation. (line 102) +* inode, and hard links: ln invocation. (line 32) +* inodes, written buffered: sync invocation. (line 11) +* inpck: Input. (line 22) +* input block size: dd invocation. (line 26) +* input encoding, UTF-8: Input. (line 37) +* input range to shuffle: shuf invocation. (line 23) +* input settings: Input. (line 6) +* input tabs: pr invocation. (line 98) +* install: install invocation. (line 6) +* intr: Characters. (line 18) +* invocation of commands, modified: Modified command invocation. + (line 6) +* isig: Local. (line 7) +* ISO 8601 date and time of day format: Combined date and time of day items. + (line 6) +* ISO 8601 date format: Calendar date items. (line 30) +* ISO/IEC 10646: printf invocation. (line 74) +* ISO9660 file system type: df invocation. (line 215) +* iso9660 file system type: df invocation. (line 215) +* ispeed: Special. (line 16) +* istrip: Input. (line 25) +* items in date strings: General date syntax. (line 6) +* iterations, selecting the number of: shred invocation. (line 127) +* iuclc: Input. (line 50) +* iutf8: Input. (line 37) +* ixany: Input. (line 55) +* ixoff: Input. (line 45) +* ixon: Input. (line 40) +* join: join invocation. (line 6) +* kernel name: uname invocation. (line 66) +* kernel release: uname invocation. (line 62) +* kernel version: uname invocation. (line 77) +* kibibyte, definition of: Block size. (line 82) +* kibibytes for file sizes: du invocation. (line 111) +* kibibytes for file system sizes: df invocation. (line 74) +* kill: kill invocation. (line 6) +* kill <1>: Characters. (line 27) +* kilobyte, definition of: Block size. (line 78) +* Knuth, Donald E.: fmt invocation. (line 19) +* language, in dates: General date syntax. (line 36) +* language, in dates <1>: General date syntax. (line 40) +* last DAY: Day of week items. (line 15) +* last DAY <1>: Options for date. (line 11) +* last in date strings: General date syntax. (line 22) +* last modified dates, displaying in du: du invocation. (line 197) +* last part of files, outputting: tail invocation. (line 6) +* lcase: Combination. (line 71) +* LCASE: Combination. (line 71) +* lcase, converting to: dd invocation. (line 138) +* lchown: chown invocation. (line 106) +* lchown <1>: chown invocation. (line 118) +* lchown <2>: chgrp invocation. (line 34) +* lchown <3>: chgrp invocation. (line 46) +* LC_ALL: sort invocation. (line 23) +* LC_ALL <1>: ls invocation. (line 17) +* LC_COLLATE: sort invocation. (line 23) +* LC_COLLATE <1>: uniq invocation. (line 21) +* LC_COLLATE <2>: comm invocation. (line 12) +* LC_COLLATE <3>: Sorting files for join. + (line 16) +* LC_COLLATE <4>: Relations for expr. (line 22) +* LC_CTYPE: sort invocation. (line 79) +* LC_CTYPE <1>: sort invocation. (line 87) +* LC_CTYPE <2>: sort invocation. (line 94) +* LC_CTYPE <3>: sort invocation. (line 143) +* LC_CTYPE <4>: printf invocation. (line 74) +* LC_MESSAGES: pr invocation. (line 13) +* LC_NUMERIC: Block size. (line 57) +* LC_NUMERIC <1>: Floating point. (line 29) +* LC_NUMERIC <2>: sort invocation. (line 105) +* LC_NUMERIC <3>: sort invocation. (line 126) +* LC_NUMERIC <4>: sort invocation. (line 160) +* LC_NUMERIC <5>: printf invocation. (line 61) +* LC_TIME: pr invocation. (line 85) +* LC_TIME <1>: sort invocation. (line 150) +* LC_TIME <2>: Formatting file timestamps. + (line 28) +* LC_TIME <3>: Formatting file timestamps. + (line 73) +* LC_TIME <4>: Formatting file timestamps. + (line 97) +* LC_TIME <5>: du invocation. (line 219) +* LC_TIME <6>: date invocation. (line 11) +* leading directories, creating missing: install invocation. (line 67) +* leading directory components, stripping: basename invocation. + (line 6) +* leap seconds: touch invocation. (line 99) +* leap seconds <1>: Time conversion specifiers. + (line 32) +* leap seconds <2>: Time conversion specifiers. + (line 36) +* leap seconds <3>: Options for date. (line 119) +* leap seconds <4>: Examples of date. (line 104) +* leap seconds <5>: General date syntax. (line 65) +* leap seconds <6>: Time of day items. (line 14) +* leap seconds <7>: Seconds since the Epoch. + (line 26) +* left margin: pr invocation. (line 180) +* length: String expressions. (line 50) +* limiting output of du: du invocation. (line 74) +* line: Special. (line 46) +* line buffered: stdbuf invocation. (line 6) +* line count: wc invocation. (line 6) +* line numbering: nl invocation. (line 6) +* line separator character: split invocation. (line 148) +* 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 39) +* link: link invocation. (line 6) +* links, creating: link invocation. (line 6) +* links, creating <1>: ln invocation. (line 6) +* Linux file system types: df invocation. (line 211) +* literal conversion specifiers: Literal conversion specifiers. + (line 6) +* litout: Combination. (line 59) +* ln: ln invocation. (line 6) +* ln format for nl: nl invocation. (line 93) +* lnext: Characters. (line 66) +* local file system types: df invocation. (line 211) +* local settings: Local. (line 6) +* logging out and continuing to run: nohup invocation. (line 6) +* logical and operator: Connectives for test. + (line 29) +* logical and operator <1>: Relations for expr. (line 17) +* logical connectives: Connectives for test. + (line 6) +* logical connectives <1>: Relations for expr. (line 6) +* logical or operator: Connectives for test. + (line 33) +* logical or operator <1>: Relations for expr. (line 11) +* 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 time: who invocation. (line 11) +* logname: logname invocation. (line 6) +* long ls format: What information is listed. + (line 131) +* lower: Character sets. (line 100) +* lowercase, translating to output: Output. (line 12) +* ls: ls invocation. (line 6) +* LS_BLOCK_SIZE: Block size. (line 12) +* LS_COLORS: General output formatting. + (line 31) +* LS_COLORS <1>: dircolors invocation. + (line 23) +* lutimes: touch invocation. (line 70) +* machine type: uname invocation. (line 42) +* machine-readable stty output: stty invocation. (line 41) +* MacKenzie, D.: Introduction. (line 29) +* MacKenzie, David: Authors of parse_datetime. + (line 6) +* Makefiles, installing programs in: install invocation. (line 29) +* manipulating files: Basic operations. (line 6) +* manipulation of file names: File name manipulation. + (line 6) +* mark parity: Control. (line 16) +* match: String expressions. (line 36) +* matching patterns: String expressions. (line 11) +* MD5: md5sum invocation. (line 6) +* md5sum: md5sum invocation. (line 6) +* mebibyte, definition of: Block size. (line 89) +* mebibytes for file sizes: du invocation. (line 127) +* megabyte, definition of: Block size. (line 86) +* merging files: paste invocation. (line 6) +* merging files in parallel: pr invocation. (line 6) +* merging sorted files: sort invocation. (line 53) +* message status: who invocation. (line 94) +* message-digest, 128-bit: md5sum invocation. (line 6) +* message-digest, 160-bit: sha1sum invocation. (line 6) +* message-digest, 224-bit: sha2 utilities. (line 6) +* message-digest, 256-bit: sha2 utilities. (line 6) +* message-digest, 384-bit: sha2 utilities. (line 6) +* message-digest, 512-bit: b2sum invocation. (line 6) +* message-digest, 512-bit <1>: sha2 utilities. (line 6) +* Meyering, J.: Introduction. (line 29) +* Meyering, Jim: Authors of parse_datetime. + (line 6) +* midnight in date strings: Time of day items. (line 21) +* 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 29) +* mkdir: mkdir invocation. (line 6) +* mkfifo: mkfifo invocation. (line 6) +* mknod: mknod invocation. (line 6) +* mktemp: mktemp invocation. (line 6) +* modem control: Control. (line 38) +* modes and umask: Umask and Protection. + (line 6) +* modes of created directories, setting: mkdir invocation. (line 19) +* modes of created FIFOs, setting: mkfifo invocation. (line 21) +* modification timestamp, sorting files by: Sorting the output. + (line 36) +* 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 85) +* 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 150) +* months, written-out: General date syntax. (line 32) +* MS-DOS file system: df invocation. (line 219) +* MS-Windows file system: df invocation. (line 219) +* mtime: File timestamps. (line 6) +* mtime, changing: touch invocation. (line 85) +* mtime-greater-atime file check: File characteristic tests. + (line 27) +* multicall: Multi-call invocation. + (line 6) +* multicolumn output, generating: pr invocation. (line 6) +* multiple changes to permissions: Multiple Changes. (line 6) +* multiplication: Numeric expressions. (line 16) +* multipliers after numbers: dd invocation. (line 337) +* multithreaded sort: sort invocation. (line 361) +* mv: mv invocation. (line 6) +* name follow option: tail invocation. (line 56) +* name of kernel: uname invocation. (line 66) +* named pipe check: File type tests. (line 28) +* named pipes, creating: mkfifo invocation. (line 6) +* network node name: uname invocation. (line 47) +* never interactive option: rm invocation. (line 56) +* newer files, copying only: cp invocation. (line 359) +* newer files, moving only: mv invocation. (line 84) +* 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 28) +* next DAY: Day of week items. (line 15) +* next DAY <1>: Options for date. (line 11) +* next in date strings: General date syntax. (line 22) +* NFS file system type: df invocation. (line 206) +* NFS mounts from BSD to HP-UX: What information is listed. + (line 244) +* NFS mounts from BSD to HP-UX <1>: du invocation. (line 266) +* nice: nice invocation. (line 6) +* niceness: nice invocation. (line 6) +* nl: nl invocation. (line 6) +* nl <1>: Combination. (line 18) +* nlN: Output. (line 39) +* no dereference: chcon invocation. (line 26) +* no-op: true invocation. (line 6) +* noatime: dd invocation. (line 278) +* nocache: dd invocation. (line 246) +* nocreat: dd invocation. (line 176) +* noctty: dd invocation. (line 284) +* node name: uname invocation. (line 47) +* noerror: dd invocation. (line 185) +* noflsh: Local. (line 32) +* nofollow: dd invocation. (line 289) +* nohup: nohup invocation. (line 6) +* nohup.out: nohup invocation. (line 6) +* nohup.out <1>: nohup invocation. (line 20) +* nolinks: dd invocation. (line 292) +* non-directories, copying as special files: cp invocation. (line 96) +* non-directories, copying as special files <1>: cp invocation. + (line 252) +* non-directory suffix, stripping: dirname invocation. (line 6) +* nonblock: dd invocation. (line 275) +* nonblocking I/O: dd invocation. (line 275) +* nonblocking stty setting: Special. (line 30) +* none backup method: Backup options. (line 31) +* none color option: General output formatting. + (line 24) +* none dd status=: dd invocation. (line 71) +* none hyperlink option: General output formatting. + (line 63) +* none, sorting option for ls: Sorting the output. (line 60) +* nonempty file check: File characteristic tests. + (line 12) +* nonprinting characters, ignoring: sort invocation. (line 143) +* nonzero-length string check: String tests. (line 19) +* noon in date strings: Time of day items. (line 21) +* not-equal string check: String tests. (line 28) +* notrunc: dd invocation. (line 182) +* now in date strings: Relative items in date strings. + (line 33) +* noxfer dd status=: dd invocation. (line 75) +* NO_NEW_PRIVS: runcon invocation. (line 22) +* nproc: nproc invocation. (line 6) +* NTFS file system: df invocation. (line 219) +* ntfs file system file: df invocation. (line 219) +* number of inputs to merge, nmerge: sort invocation. (line 262) +* numbered backup method: Backup options. (line 35) +* numbering lines: nl invocation. (line 6) +* numbers, written-out: General date syntax. (line 22) +* numeric expressions: Numeric expressions. (line 6) +* numeric field padding: Padding and other flags. + (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 160) +* numeric tests: Numeric tests. (line 6) +* numeric uid and gid: What information is listed. + (line 225) +* numeric user and group IDs: What information is listed. + (line 225) +* numfmt: numfmt invocation. (line 6) +* obs: dd invocation. (line 30) +* 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 21) +* ofdel: Output. (line 34) +* ofill: Output. (line 30) +* oflag: dd invocation. (line 200) +* olcuc: Output. (line 12) +* older-than file check: File characteristic tests. + (line 19) +* once interactive option: rm invocation. (line 57) +* one file system, restricting du to: du invocation. (line 263) +* one file system, restricting rm to: rm invocation. (line 65) +* one-line output format: df invocation. (line 148) +* 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 58) +* opost: Output. (line 9) +* option delimiter: Common options. (line 43) +* options for date: Options for date. (line 6) +* or operator: Connectives for test. + (line 33) +* or operator <1>: Relations for expr. (line 11) +* ordinal numbers: General date syntax. (line 22) +* ospeed: Special. (line 19) +* other permissions: Setting Permissions. (line 27) +* output block size: dd invocation. (line 30) +* output file name prefix: split invocation. (line 15) +* output file name prefix <1>: csplit invocation. (line 63) +* output file name suffix: csplit invocation. (line 67) +* output format: stat invocation. (line 49) +* output format <1>: stat invocation. (line 58) +* output format, portable: df invocation. (line 148) +* output NUL-byte-terminated lines: md5sum invocation. (line 128) +* output NUL-byte-terminated lines <1>: readlink invocation. (line 65) +* output NUL-byte-terminated lines <2>: du invocation. (line 26) +* output NUL-byte-terminated lines <3>: basename invocation. (line 42) +* output NUL-byte-terminated lines <4>: dirname invocation. (line 31) +* output NUL-byte-terminated lines <5>: realpath invocation. (line 71) +* output NUL-byte-terminated lines <6>: printenv invocation. (line 19) +* output NUL-byte-terminated lines <7>: env invocation. (line 90) +* 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 117) +* overwriting of input, allowed: sort invocation. (line 288) +* overwriting of input, allowed <1>: shuf invocation. (line 36) +* owned by effective group ID check: Access permission tests. + (line 31) +* owned by effective user ID check: Access permission tests. + (line 28) +* owner of file, permissions for: Setting Permissions. (line 23) +* owner, default: Mode Structure. (line 27) +* ownership of installed files, setting: install invocation. (line 91) +* p for FIFO file: mknod invocation. (line 28) +* pad character: Output. (line 34) +* pad instead of timing for delaying: Output. (line 30) +* padding of numeric fields: Padding and other flags. + (line 6) +* paragraphs, reformatting: fmt invocation. (line 6) +* parenb: Control. (line 9) +* parent directories and cp: cp invocation. (line 239) +* parent directories, creating: mkdir invocation. (line 34) +* parent directories, creating missing: install invocation. (line 67) +* parent directories, removing: rmdir invocation. (line 22) +* parentheses for grouping: expr invocation. (line 31) +* parity: Combination. (line 10) +* parity errors, marking: Input. (line 18) +* parity, ignoring: Input. (line 15) +* parmrk: Input. (line 18) +* parodd: Control. (line 13) +* parse_datetime: Date input formats. (line 6) +* parsing date strings: Options for date. (line 11) +* parts of files, output of: Output of parts of files. + (line 6) +* pass8: Combination. (line 55) +* paste: paste invocation. (line 6) +* Paterson, R.: Introduction. (line 29) +* PATH: env invocation. (line 28) +* pathchk: pathchk invocation. (line 6) +* pattern matching: String expressions. (line 11) +* pebibyte, definition of: Block size. (line 104) +* permission tests: Access permission tests. + (line 6) +* permissions of installed files, setting: install invocation. + (line 79) +* permissions, changing access: chmod invocation. (line 6) +* permissions, copying existing: Copying Permissions. (line 6) +* permissions, for changing file timestamps: touch invocation. + (line 21) +* permissions, output by ls: What information is listed. + (line 182) +* petabyte, definition of: Block size. (line 101) +* phone directory order: sort invocation. (line 87) +* pieces, splitting a file into: split invocation. (line 6) +* Pinard, F.: Introduction. (line 29) +* Pinard, F. <1>: Authors of parse_datetime. + (line 19) +* pipe fitting: tee invocation. (line 6) +* Plass, Michael F.: fmt invocation. (line 19) +* platform, hardware: uname invocation. (line 35) +* pm in date strings: Time of day items. (line 21) +* portable file names, checking for: pathchk invocation. (line 6) +* portable output format: df invocation. (line 148) +* POSIX: Introduction. (line 11) +* POSIX output format: df invocation. (line 148) +* POSIXLY_CORRECT: Common options. (line 11) +* POSIXLY_CORRECT <1>: Standards conformance. + (line 6) +* POSIXLY_CORRECT <2>: pr invocation. (line 85) +* POSIXLY_CORRECT <3>: sort invocation. (line 299) +* POSIXLY_CORRECT <4>: sort invocation. (line 416) +* POSIXLY_CORRECT <5>: dd invocation. (line 406) +* POSIXLY_CORRECT <6>: echo invocation. (line 65) +* POSIXLY_CORRECT <7>: printf invocation. (line 53) +* POSIXLY_CORRECT <8>: id invocation. (line 15) +* POSIXLY_CORRECT, and block size: Block size. (line 12) +* pr: pr invocation. (line 6) +* prime factors: factor invocation. (line 6) +* print: Character sets. (line 102) +* print machine hardware name: arch invocation. (line 6) +* print name of current directory: pwd invocation. (line 6) +* print system information: uname invocation. (line 6) +* print terminal file name: tty invocation. (line 6) +* Print the number of processors: nproc 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 45) +* 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 user and group IDs: 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 user ID: whoami invocation. (line 6) +* printing the host identifier: hostid invocation. (line 6) +* printing the hostname: hostname invocation. (line 6) +* printing the system uptime and load: uptime invocation. (line 6) +* printing user’s login name: logname invocation. (line 6) +* printing, preparing files for: pr invocation. (line 6) +* process zero-terminated items: head invocation. (line 55) +* process zero-terminated items <1>: tail invocation. (line 188) +* process zero-terminated items <2>: sort invocation. (line 384) +* process zero-terminated items <3>: shuf invocation. (line 55) +* process zero-terminated items <4>: uniq invocation. (line 139) +* process zero-terminated items <5>: comm invocation. (line 88) +* process zero-terminated items <6>: cut invocation. (line 94) +* process zero-terminated items <7>: paste invocation. (line 72) +* process zero-terminated items <8>: General options in join. + (line 93) +* process zero-terminated items <9>: numfmt invocation. (line 115) +* processes, commands for controlling: Process control. (line 6) +* progress dd status=: dd invocation. (line 79) +* prompting, and ln: ln invocation. (line 98) +* prompting, and mv: mv invocation. (line 37) +* prompting, and rm: rm invocation. (line 11) +* prompts, forcing: mv invocation. (line 70) +* prompts, omitting: mv invocation. (line 64) +* prompts, omitting <1>: mv invocation. (line 77) +* prterase: Local. (line 46) +* ptx: ptx invocation. (line 6) +* punct: Character sets. (line 104) +* pure numbers in date strings: Pure numbers in date strings. + (line 6) +* pwd: pwd invocation. (line 6) +* quit: Characters. (line 21) +* quoting style: Formatting the file names. + (line 34) +* radix for file offsets: od invocation. (line 36) +* random seed: Random sources. (line 31) +* random sort: sort invocation. (line 189) +* random source for shredding: shred invocation. (line 133) +* random source for shuffling: shuf invocation. (line 42) +* random source for sorting: sort invocation. (line 304) +* random sources: Random sources. (line 6) +* ranges: Character sets. (line 44) +* raw: Combination. (line 43) +* read errors, ignoring: dd invocation. (line 185) +* read from stdin and write to stdout and files: tee invocation. + (line 6) +* read permission: Mode Structure. (line 12) +* read permission, symbolic: Setting Permissions. (line 52) +* read system call, and holes: cp invocation. (line 299) +* readable file check: Access permission tests. + (line 15) +* readlink: readlink invocation. (line 6) +* real user and group IDs, printing: id invocation. (line 6) +* realpath: realpath invocation. (line 6) +* realpath <1>: realpath invocation. (line 6) +* realpath <2>: realpath invocation. (line 6) +* realpath <3>: readlink invocation. (line 6) +* record separator character: split invocation. (line 148) +* recursive directory listing: Which files are listed. + (line 90) +* recursively changing access permissions: chmod invocation. (line 73) +* recursively changing file ownership: chown invocation. (line 150) +* recursively changing group ownership: chgrp invocation. (line 77) +* recursively copying directories: cp invocation. (line 96) +* recursively copying directories <1>: cp invocation. (line 252) +* redirection: Redirection. (line 6) +* reference file: chcon invocation. (line 30) +* 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 62) +* relpath: realpath invocation. (line 49) +* remainder: Numeric expressions. (line 16) +* remote hostname: who invocation. (line 11) +* removing characters: Squeezing and deleting. + (line 6) +* removing empty directories: rmdir invocation. (line 6) +* removing files after shredding: shred invocation. (line 144) +* 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 38) +* repeat output values: shuf invocation. (line 47) +* repeated characters: Character sets. (line 66) +* repeated lines, outputting: uniq invocation. (line 63) +* repeated output of a string: yes invocation. (line 6) +* restricted deletion flag: Mode Structure. (line 52) +* restricted security context: runcon invocation. (line 22) +* return, ignoring: Input. (line 31) +* return, translating to newline: Input. (line 34) +* return, translating to newline <1>: Output. (line 16) +* reverse sorting: sort invocation. (line 183) +* reverse sorting <1>: Sorting the output. (line 27) +* reversing files: tac invocation. (line 6) +* rm: rm invocation. (line 6) +* rmdir: rmdir invocation. (line 6) +* rn format for nl: nl invocation. (line 95) +* root as default owner: install invocation. (line 91) +* root directory, allow recursive destruction: rm invocation. (line 88) +* root directory, allow recursive modification: chown invocation. + (line 131) +* root directory, allow recursive modification <1>: chgrp invocation. + (line 59) +* root directory, allow recursive modification <2>: chmod invocation. + (line 58) +* root directory, disallow recursive destruction: rm invocation. + (line 81) +* root directory, disallow recursive modification: chown invocation. + (line 126) +* root directory, disallow recursive modification <1>: chgrp invocation. + (line 54) +* root directory, disallow recursive modification <2>: chmod invocation. + (line 53) +* root directory, running a program in a specified: chroot invocation. + (line 6) +* rows: Special. (line 22) +* rprnt: Characters. (line 60) +* RTS/CTS flow control: Control. (line 41) +* run commands with bounded time: timeout invocation. (line 6) +* run with security context: runcon invocation. (line 6) +* runcon: runcon invocation. (line 6) +* 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 97) +* Salz, Rich: Authors of parse_datetime. + (line 6) +* same file check: File characteristic tests. + (line 23) +* sane: Combination. (line 26) +* scheduling, affecting: nice invocation. (line 6) +* screen columns: fold invocation. (line 14) +* scripts arguments: env invocation. (line 188) +* seconds since the epoch: Time conversion specifiers. + (line 32) +* section delimiters of pages: nl invocation. (line 63) +* security context: What information is listed. + (line 259) +* security context <1>: cp invocation. (line 384) +* security context <2>: install invocation. (line 96) +* security context <3>: install invocation. (line 139) +* security context <4>: mv invocation. (line 117) +* security context <5>: mkdir invocation. (line 56) +* security context <6>: mkfifo invocation. (line 28) +* security context <7>: mknod invocation. (line 53) +* security context <8>: id invocation. (line 51) +* seek: dd invocation. (line 51) +* seek_bytes: dd invocation. (line 325) +* self-backups: cp invocation. (line 51) +* SELinux: What information is listed. + (line 259) +* SELinux <1>: install invocation. (line 96) +* SELinux <2>: id invocation. (line 51) +* SELinux context: SELinux context. (line 6) +* SELinux, context: SELinux context. (line 6) +* SELinux, restoring security context: mv invocation. (line 117) +* SELinux, setting/restoring security context: cp invocation. (line 384) +* SELinux, setting/restoring security context <1>: install invocation. + (line 139) +* SELinux, setting/restoring security context <2>: mkdir invocation. + (line 56) +* SELinux, setting/restoring security context <3>: mkfifo invocation. + (line 28) +* SELinux, setting/restoring security context <4>: mknod invocation. + (line 53) +* 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 44) +* seq: seq invocation. (line 6) +* sequence of numbers: seq invocation. (line 6) +* set-group-ID: Mode Structure. (line 45) +* set-group-ID check: Access permission tests. + (line 9) +* set-user-ID: Mode Structure. (line 39) +* set-user-ID check: Access permission tests. + (line 18) +* setgid: Mode Structure. (line 45) +* setting permissions: Setting Permissions. (line 41) +* setting the hostname: hostname invocation. (line 6) +* setting the time: Setting the time. (line 6) +* setuid: Mode Structure. (line 39) +* setup for color: dircolors invocation. + (line 6) +* sh syntax for color setup: dircolors invocation. + (line 34) +* SHA-1: sha1sum invocation. (line 6) +* SHA-2: sha2 utilities. (line 6) +* sha1sum: sha1sum invocation. (line 6) +* sha224sum: sha2 utilities. (line 6) +* sha256sum: sha2 utilities. (line 6) +* sha384sum: sha2 utilities. (line 6) +* sha512sum: sha2 utilities. (line 6) +* shebang arguments: env invocation. (line 188) +* SHELL environment variable, and color: General output formatting. + (line 31) +* SHELL environment variable, and color <1>: dircolors invocation. + (line 23) +* shell utilities: Top. (line 18) +* shred: shred invocation. (line 6) +* shuf: shuf invocation. (line 6) +* shuffling files: shuf invocation. (line 6) +* SI output: Block size. (line 42) +* SI output <1>: What information is listed. + (line 251) +* SI output <2>: df invocation. (line 167) +* SI output <3>: du invocation. (line 145) +* signals, specifying: Signal specifications. + (line 6) +* simple backup method: Backup options. (line 44) +* SIMPLE_BACKUP_SUFFIX: Backup options. (line 49) +* single quotes, and env -S: env invocation. (line 264) +* single-column output of files: General output formatting. + (line 10) +* size: Special. (line 39) +* size for main memory sorting: sort invocation. (line 316) +* size of file to shred: shred invocation. (line 138) +* size of files, reporting: What information is listed. + (line 236) +* size of files, sorting files by: Sorting the output. (line 32) +* skip: dd invocation. (line 46) +* skip_bytes: dd invocation. (line 319) +* sleep: sleep invocation. (line 6) +* socket check: File type tests. (line 31) +* software flow control: Input. (line 45) +* sort: sort invocation. (line 6) +* sort field: sort invocation. (line 231) +* sort stability: sort invocation. (line 12) +* sort stability <1>: sort invocation. (line 309) +* sort’s last-resort comparison: sort invocation. (line 12) +* sort’s last-resort comparison <1>: sort invocation. (line 309) +* 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 106) +* space parity: Control. (line 16) +* sparse: dd invocation. (line 146) +* sparse files, copying: cp invocation. (line 299) +* sparse files, creating: truncate invocation. (line 13) +* special characters: Characters. (line 6) +* special file types: Special file types. (line 6) +* special file types <1>: Special file types. (line 9) +* special files: mknod invocation. (line 11) +* special settings: Special. (line 6) +* specifying sets of characters: Character sets. (line 6) +* speed: Special. (line 49) +* 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 36) +* squeezing empty lines: cat invocation. (line 36) +* squeezing repeat characters: Squeezing and deleting. + (line 6) +* Stallman, R.: Introduction. (line 29) +* standard input: Common options. (line 47) +* standard output: Common options. (line 47) +* standard streams, buffering: stdbuf invocation. (line 6) +* start: Characters. (line 48) +* stat: stat invocation. (line 6) +* status: dd invocation. (line 66) +* status <1>: Characters. (line 45) +* status time, printing or sorting by: Sorting the output. (line 13) +* status time, show the most recent: du invocation. (line 204) +* stdbuf: stdbuf invocation. (line 6) +* stick parity: Control. (line 16) +* sticky: Mode Structure. (line 52) +* sticky bit check: Access permission tests. + (line 12) +* stop: Characters. (line 51) +* stop bits: Control. (line 32) +* strftime and date: date invocation. (line 20) +* string constants, outputting: od invocation. (line 81) +* 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 113) +* stripping trailing slashes: cp invocation. (line 332) +* stripping trailing slashes <1>: mv invocation. (line 98) +* stty: stty invocation. (line 6) +* substr: String expressions. (line 40) +* subtracting permissions: Setting Permissions. (line 38) +* subtraction: Numeric expressions. (line 12) +* 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) +* superblock, writing: sync invocation. (line 11) +* supplementary groups, printing: groups invocation. (line 6) +* susp: Characters. (line 54) +* swab (byte-swapping): dd invocation. (line 159) +* swap space, saving text image in: Mode Structure. (line 52) +* swtch: Characters. (line 42) +* symbol table information, stripping: install invocation. (line 113) +* symbol table information, stripping, program: install invocation. + (line 116) +* 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: Traversing symlinks. + (line 26) +* symbolic link to directory, never traverse <1>: chown invocation. + (line 171) +* symbolic link to directory, never traverse <2>: chgrp invocation. + (line 99) +* symbolic link to directory, never traverse <3>: chcon invocation. + (line 56) +* symbolic link to directory, traverse each that is encountered: Traversing symlinks. + (line 22) +* symbolic link to directory, traverse each that is encountered <1>: chown invocation. + (line 158) +* symbolic link to directory, traverse each that is encountered <2>: chgrp invocation. + (line 86) +* symbolic link to directory, traverse each that is encountered <3>: chcon invocation. + (line 52) +* symbolic link to directory, traverse if on the command line: Traversing symlinks. + (line 18) +* symbolic link to directory, traverse if on the command line <1>: chown invocation. + (line 153) +* symbolic link to directory, traverse if on the command line <2>: chgrp invocation. + (line 81) +* symbolic link to directory, traverse if on the command line <3>: chcon invocation. + (line 47) +* symbolic link, defined: ln invocation. (line 42) +* symbolic links and ln: ln invocation. (line 182) +* symbolic links and pwd: pwd invocation. (line 26) +* symbolic links, changing group: chgrp invocation. (line 46) +* symbolic links, changing owner: chown invocation. (line 83) +* symbolic links, changing owner <1>: chown invocation. (line 106) +* symbolic links, changing owner <2>: chown invocation. (line 118) +* symbolic links, changing owner <3>: chgrp invocation. (line 34) +* symbolic links, changing time: touch invocation. (line 70) +* symbolic links, copying: cp invocation. (line 109) +* symbolic links, copying <1>: cp invocation. (line 162) +* symbolic links, copying with: cp invocation. (line 337) +* symbolic links, dereferencing: Which files are listed. + (line 36) +* symbolic links, dereferencing <1>: Which files are listed. + (line 41) +* symbolic links, dereferencing <2>: Which files are listed. + (line 83) +* symbolic links, dereferencing in du: du invocation. (line 117) +* symbolic links, dereferencing in du <1>: du invocation. (line 133) +* symbolic links, dereferencing in stat: stat invocation. (line 22) +* symbolic links, following: dd invocation. (line 289) +* symbolic links, permissions of: chmod invocation. (line 10) +* symbolic modes: Symbolic Modes. (line 6) +* symlinks, resolution: realpath invocation. (line 6) +* sync: sync invocation. (line 6) +* sync <1>: dd invocation. (line 243) +* sync (padding with ASCII NULs): dd invocation. (line 164) +* Synchronize cached writes to persistent storage: sync invocation. + (line 6) +* synchronize disk and memory: sync invocation. (line 6) +* synchronized data and metadata I/O: dd invocation. (line 243) +* synchronized data and metadata writes, before finishing: dd invocation. + (line 192) +* synchronized data reads: dd invocation. (line 235) +* synchronized data writes, before finishing: dd invocation. (line 188) +* system context: System context. (line 6) +* system information, printing: arch invocation. (line 6) +* system information, printing <1>: nproc invocation. (line 6) +* system information, printing <2>: uname invocation. (line 6) +* system name, printing: hostname invocation. (line 6) +* System V sum: sum invocation. (line 31) +* tab stops, setting: expand invocation. (line 22) +* tabN: Output. (line 51) +* tabs: Combination. (line 66) +* tabs to spaces, converting: expand invocation. (line 6) +* tac: tac invocation. (line 6) +* tagged paragraphs: fmt invocation. (line 40) +* tail: tail invocation. (line 6) +* tandem: Input. (line 45) +* target directory: Target directory. (line 6) +* target directory <1>: Target directory. (line 15) +* target directory <2>: Target directory. (line 31) +* target directory <3>: cp invocation. (line 350) +* target directory <4>: cp invocation. (line 354) +* target directory <5>: install invocation. (line 125) +* target directory <6>: install invocation. (line 130) +* target directory <7>: mv invocation. (line 108) +* target directory <8>: mv invocation. (line 112) +* target directory <9>: ln invocation. (line 171) +* target directory <10>: ln invocation. (line 175) +* tebibyte, definition of: Block size. (line 99) +* tee: tee invocation. (line 6) +* telephone directory order: sort invocation. (line 87) +* temporary directory: sort invocation. (line 353) +* temporary files and directories: mktemp invocation. (line 6) +* terabyte, definition of: Block size. (line 96) +* terminal check: File type tests. (line 34) +* 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) +* terminal, using hyperlink iff: General output formatting. + (line 64) +* terse output: stat invocation. (line 69) +* test: test invocation. (line 6) +* text: dd invocation. (line 299) +* text I/O: dd invocation. (line 299) +* text image, saving in swap space: Mode Structure. (line 52) +* text input files: md5sum invocation. (line 109) +* text utilities: Top. (line 18) +* text, displaying: echo invocation. (line 6) +* text, reformatting: fmt invocation. (line 6) +* this in date strings: Relative items in date strings. + (line 33) +* time: touch invocation. (line 56) +* time <1>: Special. (line 11) +* time conversion specifiers: Time conversion specifiers. + (line 6) +* time formats: pr invocation. (line 78) +* time formats <1>: date invocation. (line 20) +* time limit: timeout invocation. (line 6) +* time of day item: Time of day items. (line 6) +* time setting: Setting the time. (line 6) +* time style: Formatting file timestamps. + (line 24) +* time style <1>: du invocation. (line 214) +* time units: timeout invocation. (line 56) +* time units <1>: sleep invocation. (line 11) +* time zone correction: Time of day items. (line 29) +* time zone item: General date syntax. (line 40) +* time zone item <1>: Time zone items. (line 6) +* time, printing or setting: date invocation. (line 6) +* timeout: timeout invocation. (line 6) +* timestamps of installed files, preserving: install invocation. + (line 103) +* timestamps, changing file: touch invocation. (line 6) +* TIME_STYLE: Formatting file timestamps. + (line 103) +* TIME_STYLE <1>: du invocation. (line 242) +* TMPDIR: sort invocation. (line 64) +* TMPDIR <1>: sort invocation. (line 353) +* 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) +* truncate: truncate invocation. (line 6) +* truncating output file, avoiding: dd invocation. (line 182) +* truncating, file sizes: truncate invocation. (line 6) +* tsort: tsort invocation. (line 6) +* tty: tty invocation. (line 6) +* two-way parity: Control. (line 9) +* type size: od invocation. (line 122) +* TZ: pr invocation. (line 91) +* TZ <1>: Formatting file timestamps. + (line 17) +* TZ <2>: touch invocation. (line 35) +* TZ <3>: stat invocation. (line 212) +* TZ <4>: who invocation. (line 26) +* TZ <5>: date invocation. (line 16) +* TZ <6>: Options for date. (line 119) +* TZ <7>: Specifying time zone rules. + (line 6) +* u, and disabling special characters: Characters. (line 12) +* ucase, converting to: dd invocation. (line 141) +* umask and modes: Umask and Protection. + (line 6) +* uname: uname invocation. (line 6) +* unblock: dd invocation. (line 132) +* unexpand: unexpand invocation. (line 6) +* Unicode: printf invocation. (line 74) +* uniq: uniq invocation. (line 6) +* unique lines, outputting: uniq invocation. (line 127) +* uniquify files: uniq invocation. (line 6) +* uniquifying output: sort invocation. (line 369) +* Universal Time: Options for date. (line 119) +* unlink: unlink invocation. (line 6) +* unprintable characters, ignoring: sort invocation. (line 143) +* unsorted directory listing: Sorting the output. (line 20) +* upper: Character sets. (line 108) +* uppercase, translating to lowercase: Input. (line 50) +* uptime: uptime invocation. (line 6) +* use time, changing: touch invocation. (line 48) +* use time, printing or sorting files by: Sorting the output. (line 13) +* use time, printing or sorting files by <1>: Sorting the output. + (line 44) +* use time, show the most recent: du invocation. (line 204) +* user IDs, disambiguating: Disambiguating names and IDs. + (line 6) +* user information, commands for: User information. (line 6) +* user name, printing: logname invocation. (line 6) +* user names, disambiguating: Disambiguating names and IDs. + (line 6) +* usernames, printing current: users invocation. (line 6) +* users: users invocation. (line 6) +* UTC: Options for date. (line 119) +* utmp: logname invocation. (line 6) +* utmp <1>: users invocation. (line 14) +* utmp <2>: who invocation. (line 15) +* valid file names, checking for: pathchk invocation. (line 6) +* variable-length records, converting to fixed-length: dd invocation. + (line 41) +* vdir: vdir invocation. (line 6) +* verbose ls format: What information is listed. + (line 131) +* verifying MD5 checksums: md5sum invocation. (line 76) +* verifying MD5 checksums <1>: md5sum invocation. (line 82) +* verifying MD5 checksums <2>: md5sum invocation. (line 90) +* verifying MD5 checksums <3>: md5sum invocation. (line 118) +* verifying MD5 checksums <4>: md5sum invocation. (line 123) +* version number sort: sort invocation. (line 177) +* version number, finding: Common options. (line 40) +* version of kernel: uname invocation. (line 77) +* version, sorting option for ls: Sorting the output. (line 67) +* version-control Emacs variable: Backup options. (line 24) +* VERSION_CONTROL: Backup options. (line 13) +* VERSION_CONTROL <1>: cp invocation. (line 79) +* VERSION_CONTROL <2>: install invocation. (line 41) +* VERSION_CONTROL <3>: mv invocation. (line 59) +* VERSION_CONTROL <4>: ln invocation. (line 82) +* vertical sorted files in columns: General output formatting. + (line 16) +* vtN: Output. (line 59) +* wc: wc invocation. (line 6) +* week in date strings: Relative items in date strings. + (line 15) +* werase: Characters. (line 63) +* who: who invocation. (line 6) +* who am i: who invocation. (line 21) +* whoami: whoami invocation. (line 6) +* word count: wc invocation. (line 6) +* working context: Working context. (line 6) +* working directory, printing: pwd invocation. (line 6) +* wrap data: base64 invocation. (line 22) +* wrapping long input lines: fold invocation. (line 6) +* writable file check: Access permission tests. + (line 21) +* write permission: Mode Structure. (line 14) +* write permission, symbolic: Setting Permissions. (line 54) +* write, allowed: who invocation. (line 94) +* wtmp: users invocation. (line 14) +* wtmp <1>: who invocation. (line 15) +* xcase: Local. (line 36) +* xdigit: Character sets. (line 110) +* xfs file system type: df invocation. (line 211) +* XON/XOFF flow control: Input. (line 40) +* 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 116) +* Youmans, B.: Introduction. (line 29) +* zero-length string check: String tests. (line 15) +* zettabyte, definition of: Block size. (line 111) + + + +Tag Table: +Node: Top8619 +Node: Introduction23195 +Node: Common options25080 +Node: Exit status28517 +Node: Backup options29337 +Node: Block size31383 +Node: Floating point36720 +Node: Signal specifications38579 +Node: Disambiguating names and IDs40749 +Ref: Disambiguating names and IDs-Footnote-142366 +Node: Random sources42436 +Node: Target directory44445 +Node: Trailing slashes48095 +Node: Traversing symlinks49134 +Node: Treating / specially50266 +Node: Special built-in utilities51900 +Node: Standards conformance53099 +Node: Multi-call invocation54845 +Node: Output of entire files55407 +Node: cat invocation56144 +Node: tac invocation58086 +Node: nl invocation59519 +Node: od invocation63586 +Node: base32 invocation71408 +Node: base64 invocation71935 +Node: basenc invocation73434 +Node: Formatting file contents77101 +Node: fmt invocation77552 +Node: pr invocation80546 +Node: fold invocation92822 +Node: Output of parts of files94337 +Node: head invocation94834 +Node: tail invocation97762 +Node: split invocation108802 +Node: csplit invocation117034 +Node: Summarizing files122472 +Node: wc invocation123183 +Node: sum invocation126510 +Node: cksum invocation127976 +Node: b2sum invocation129155 +Node: md5sum invocation129856 +Node: sha1sum invocation136665 +Node: sha2 utilities137730 +Node: Operating on sorted files138261 +Node: sort invocation138848 +Ref: sort invocation-Footnote-1164709 +Node: shuf invocation165319 +Node: uniq invocation168520 +Node: comm invocation174581 +Node: ptx invocation178609 +Node: General options in ptx181443 +Node: Charset selection in ptx182043 +Node: Input processing in ptx182956 +Node: Output formatting in ptx188501 +Node: Compatibility in ptx195337 +Node: tsort invocation198720 +Node: tsort background201924 +Node: Operating on fields203632 +Node: cut invocation203994 +Node: paste invocation208774 +Node: join invocation210937 +Node: General options in join212401 +Node: Sorting files for join217593 +Node: Working with fields219303 +Ref: Working with fields-Footnote-1220886 +Node: Paired and unpaired lines220983 +Node: Header lines223921 +Node: Set operations224832 +Node: Operating on characters226352 +Node: tr invocation226775 +Node: Character sets228531 +Node: Translating233279 +Node: Squeezing and deleting235450 +Node: expand invocation238720 +Node: unexpand invocation240888 +Node: Directory listing243409 +Node: ls invocation243907 +Ref: ls invocation-Footnote-1246011 +Node: Which files are listed246255 +Node: What information is listed250265 +Node: Sorting the output260146 +Node: General output formatting263055 +Node: Formatting file timestamps269118 +Node: Formatting the file names274724 +Node: dir invocation278083 +Node: vdir invocation278510 +Node: dircolors invocation278935 +Node: Basic operations280741 +Node: cp invocation281361 +Node: dd invocation299714 +Node: install invocation317254 +Node: mv invocation323602 +Node: rm invocation328884 +Node: shred invocation333770 +Node: Special file types344128 +Node: link invocation345657 +Node: ln invocation346914 +Node: mkdir invocation355949 +Node: mkfifo invocation358723 +Node: mknod invocation360198 +Node: readlink invocation362740 +Node: rmdir invocation365299 +Node: unlink invocation366616 +Node: Changing file attributes367610 +Node: chown invocation368430 +Node: chgrp invocation375824 +Node: chmod invocation380066 +Node: touch invocation383584 +Node: Disk usage389299 +Node: df invocation389980 +Node: du invocation399817 +Node: stat invocation411007 +Node: sync invocation420219 +Node: truncate invocation422390 +Node: Printing text424424 +Node: echo invocation424798 +Node: printf invocation427566 +Node: yes invocation433608 +Node: Conditions434260 +Node: false invocation434855 +Node: true invocation435944 +Node: test invocation437277 +Node: File type tests439414 +Node: Access permission tests440333 +Node: File characteristic tests441253 +Node: String tests442144 +Node: Numeric tests442914 +Node: Connectives for test443749 +Node: expr invocation445003 +Node: String expressions447515 +Node: Numeric expressions450220 +Node: Relations for expr450928 +Node: Examples of expr452157 +Node: Redirection452906 +Node: tee invocation453371 +Node: File name manipulation459955 +Node: basename invocation460530 +Node: dirname invocation462749 +Node: pathchk invocation464566 +Node: mktemp invocation466377 +Node: realpath invocation472195 +Node: Realpath usage examples475258 +Node: Working context477073 +Node: pwd invocation477717 +Node: stty invocation479136 +Node: Control482121 +Node: Input483197 +Node: Output484951 +Node: Local486369 +Node: Combination488456 +Node: Characters490868 +Node: Special492695 +Node: printenv invocation494944 +Node: tty invocation495955 +Node: User information496689 +Node: id invocation497324 +Node: logname invocation500037 +Node: whoami invocation500694 +Node: groups invocation501201 +Node: users invocation502436 +Node: who invocation503616 +Node: System context506951 +Node: date invocation507616 +Node: Time conversion specifiers509390 +Node: Date conversion specifiers512129 +Node: Literal conversion specifiers515594 +Node: Padding and other flags515966 +Node: Setting the time519029 +Node: Options for date520180 +Node: Examples of date525089 +Ref: %s-examples526591 +Node: arch invocation529812 +Node: nproc invocation530371 +Node: uname invocation531591 +Node: hostname invocation534304 +Node: hostid invocation535134 +Node: uptime invocation536007 +Node: SELinux context537487 +Node: chcon invocation537862 +Node: runcon invocation540267 +Node: Modified command invocation542042 +Node: chroot invocation542734 +Ref: chroot invocation-Footnote-1546628 +Node: env invocation547145 +Node: nice invocation563675 +Node: nohup invocation567808 +Node: stdbuf invocation570310 +Node: timeout invocation573244 +Node: Process control576188 +Node: kill invocation576411 +Node: Delaying579605 +Node: sleep invocation579802 +Node: Numeric operations581158 +Node: factor invocation581543 +Node: numfmt invocation583347 +Node: seq invocation595100 +Node: File permissions599375 +Node: Mode Structure600068 +Node: Symbolic Modes603747 +Node: Setting Permissions604865 +Node: Copying Permissions607531 +Node: Changing Special Mode Bits608401 +Node: Conditional Executability610283 +Node: Multiple Changes610835 +Node: Umask and Protection612508 +Node: Numeric Modes613653 +Node: Operator Numeric Modes615999 +Node: Directory Setuid and Setgid617059 +Node: File timestamps619914 +Node: Date input formats623237 +Node: General date syntax625671 +Node: Calendar date items628802 +Node: Time of day items630879 +Node: Time zone items633183 +Node: Combined date and time of day items634587 +Node: Day of week items635458 +Node: Relative items in date strings636542 +Node: Pure numbers in date strings639452 +Node: Seconds since the Epoch640441 +Node: Specifying time zone rules642104 +Node: Authors of parse_datetime644576 +Ref: Authors of get_date644767 +Node: Version sort ordering645766 +Node: Version sort overview646079 +Node: Using version sort in GNU coreutils647204 +Node: Origin of version sort and differences from natural sort648646 +Node: Correct/Incorrect ordering and Expected/Unexpected results649636 +Node: Implementation Details650547 +Node: Version-sort ordering rules651407 +Node: Version sort is not the same as numeric sort654137 +Node: Punctuation Characters656202 +Node: Punctuation Characters vs letters657986 +Node: Tilde ~ character658958 +Node: Version sort ignores locale660398 +Node: Differences from the official Debian Algorithm661642 +Node: Minus/Hyphen and Colon characters662229 +Node: Additional hard-coded priorities in GNU coreutils' version sort663851 +Node: Special handling of file extensions665185 +Node: Advanced Topics669842 +Node: Comparing two strings using Debian's algorithm670188 +Node: Reporting bugs or incorrect results672090 +Node: Other version/natural sort implementations673370 +Node: Related Source code675517 +Node: Opening the software toolbox676270 +Node: Toolbox introduction677068 +Node: I/O redirection679812 +Node: The who command682697 +Node: The cut command683622 +Node: The sort command684724 +Node: The uniq command685442 +Node: Putting the tools together686157 +Ref: Putting the tools together-Footnote-1698294 +Node: GNU Free Documentation License698368 +Node: Concept index723747 + +End Tag Table + + +Local Variables: +coding: utf-8 +End: |