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| -rw-r--r-- | doc/coreutils.texi | 12 |
1 files changed, 6 insertions, 6 deletions
diff --git a/doc/coreutils.texi b/doc/coreutils.texi index 0e8b19076..0703ec2b7 100644 --- a/doc/coreutils.texi +++ b/doc/coreutils.texi @@ -2532,17 +2532,17 @@ wc [@var{option}]@dots{} [@var{file}]@dots{} @end example @cindex total counts -@vindex POSIXLY_CORRECT @command{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 @var{file} is given, @command{wc} prints a final line containing the cumulative counts, with the file name @file{total}. The counts are printed in this order: newlines, words, characters, 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, @acronym{POSIX} requires that there be exactly one space -separating columns. You can make @command{wc} use the @acronym{POSIX}-mandated -output format by setting the @env{POSIXLY_CORRECT} environment variable. +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 @acronym{GNU} extension, if only one count is printed, +it is guaranteed to be printed without leading spaces. By default, @command{wc} prints three counts: the newline, words, and byte counts. Options can specify that only certain counts be printed. |