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authorJim Meyering <jim@meyering.net>1999-07-20 08:03:49 +0000
committerJim Meyering <jim@meyering.net>1999-07-20 08:03:49 +0000
commit35c14d81cf768669b82c1ef77ed24e17daedee40 (patch)
tree516938381b86be1267a3fcb1e19ebd8076dd2bbf /doc
parent7387f60b8563a8fba885748cf4b1f8a4baf548d2 (diff)
downloadcoreutils-35c14d81cf768669b82c1ef77ed24e17daedee40.tar.xz
wc vs. POSIXLY_CORRECT
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-rw-r--r--doc/textutils.texi5
1 files changed, 5 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/doc/textutils.texi b/doc/textutils.texi
index 9e25362c1..95c7b238a 100644
--- a/doc/textutils.texi
+++ b/doc/textutils.texi
@@ -1799,6 +1799,11 @@ given as an argument, it prints the file name following the counts. If
more than one @var{file} is given, @code{wc} prints a final line
containing the cumulative counts, with the file name @file{total}. The
counts are printed in this order: newlines, words, bytes.
+By default, each count is output right-justified in a 7-byte field with
+one space between fields so that the numbers and file names line up nicely
+in columns. However, POSIX requires that there be exactly one space
+separating columns. You can make @code{wc} use the POSIX-mandated
+output format by setting the @env{POSIXLY_CORRECT} environment variable.
By default, @code{wc} prints all three counts. Options can specify
that only certain counts be printed. Options do not undo others