pr

NAME

pr - print files

SYNOPSIS

pr [+page] [-column] [-adFmrt] [[-e] [char] [gap]]
   [-h header] [[-i] [char] [gap]] [-l lines] [-o offset]
   [[-s] [char]] [[-n] [char] [width]] [-w width]
   [-] [file ...]
   

DESCRIPTION

The pr(1) utility is a printing and pagination filter for text files. When multiple input files are specified, each is read, formatted, and written to standard output. By default, the input is separated into 66-line pages, each with the following:

• A five-line header with the page number, date, time, and the path name of the file.
• A five-line trailer consisting of blank lines.

If standard output is associated with a terminal, diagnostic messages are suppressed until the pr(1) utility has completed processing.

When multiple column output is specified, text columns are of equal width. By default, text columns are separated by at least one blank. Input lines that do not fit into a text column are truncated. Lines are not truncated under single-column output.

In the following option descriptions, column, lines, offset, page, and width are positive decimal integers and gap is a nonnegative decimal integer.

+page

Begin output at page number page of the formatted input.

- column

Produce output that is the number of columns wide specified by column (default is 1), and which is written vertically down each column in the order in which the text is received from the input file. The options -e and -i are assumed. This option should not be used with -m. When used with -t, the minimum number of lines is used to display the output.

-a

Modify the effect of the - column option so that the columns are filled across the page in a round-robin order (For example, if column is 2, the first input line heads column 1, the second heads column 2, the third is the second line in column 1, and so on). This option requires the use of the - column option.

-d

Produce output that is double spaced. An extra newline character is output following every newline found in the input.

-e [char][gap]

Expand each input tab to the next greater column position specified by the formula n*gap+1, where n is an integer > 0. If gap is zero or is omitted, the default is 8. All tab characters in the input are expanded into the appropriate number of spaces. If any nondigit character, char, is specified, it is used as the input tab character.

-F

Use a form-feed character for new pages, instead of the default behavior that uses a sequence of newline characters.

-h header

Use the string header to replace the file name in the header line.

-i [char][gap]

In output, replace multiple spaces with tabs whenever two or more adjacent spaces reach column positions gap+1, 2*gap+1, and so on. If gap is zero or omitted, default tab settings at every eighth column position is used. If any nondigit character, char, is specified, it is used as the output tab character.

-l lines

Override the 66-line default and reset the page length to lines. If lines is not greater than the sum of both the header and trailer depths (in lines), pr suppresses output of both the header and trailer as if the -t option were in effect.

-m

Merge the contents of multiple files. One line from each file specified by a file operand is written side by side into text columns of equal fixed widths, in terms of the number of column positions. The number of text columns depends on the number of file operands successfully opened. The maximum number of files merged depends on page width and the per-process, open-file limit. The options -e and -i are assumed.

-n [char][width]

Provide width digit line numbering. The default for width, if not specified, is 5. The number occupies the first width column positions of each text column or each line of -m output. If char (any nondigit character) is given, it is appended to the line number to separate it from what follows. The default for char is a tab. Line numbers longer than width columns are truncated.

-o offset

Each line of output is preceded by offset space characters. If the -o option is not specified, the default is zero. The space taken is in addition to the output line width.

-r

Write no diagnostic reports on failure to open a file.

-s char

Separate text columns by the single character char instead of by the appropriate number of spaces (default for char is the tab character).

-t

Print neither the five-line identifying header nor the five-line trailer usually supplied for each page. Quit printing after the last line of each file without spacing to the end of the page.

-w width

Set the width of the line to width column positions for multiple text-column output only. If neither the -w option nor the -s option is specified, the default width is 72. If the -w option is not specified, and the -s option is specified, the default width is 512.

The file is the path name of a file to be printed. If no file operands are specified, or if a file operand is '-', the standard input is used. The standard input is used only if no file operands are specified, or if a file operand is '-'.

The -s option does not allow the option letter to be separated from its argument, and the options -e, -i, and -n require that both arguments, if present, not be separated from the option letter.

ERRORS

If pr(1) receives an interrupt while printing to a terminal, it flushes all accumulated error messages to the screen before terminating.

DIAGNOSTICS

The pr(1) utility exits 0 on success, and 1 if an error occurs.

Error messages are written to standard error during the printing process (if output is redirected) or after all successful file printing is complete (when printing to a terminal).

NOTES

The pr(1) utility does not interpret form-feed characters; a form-feed character in the text will not cause pr(1) to create a new page.

SEE ALSO

cat(1)

pg(1)