1PR(1P) POSIX Programmer's Manual PR(1P)
2
6 This manual page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual. The Linux
7 implementation of this interface may differ (consult the corresponding
8 Linux manual page for details of Linux behavior), or the interface may
9 not be implemented on Linux.
10
13 pr — print files
14
16 pr [+page] [−column] [−adFmrt] [−e[char][gap]] [−h header] [−i[char][gap]]
17 [−l lines] [−n[char][width]] [−o offset] [−s[char]] [−w width] [−fp]
18 [file...]
19
21 The pr utility is a printing and pagination filter. If multiple input
22 files are specified, each shall be read, formatted, and written to
23 standard output. By default, the input shall be separated into 66-line
24 pages, each with:
25 * A 5-line header that includes the page number, date, time, and the
27 pathname of the file
28 * A 5-line trailer consisting of blank lines
30 If standard output is associated with a terminal, diagnostic messages
32 shall be deferred until the pr utility has completed processing.
33 When options specifying multi-column output are specified, output text
35 columns shall be of equal width; input lines that do not fit into a
36 text column shall be truncated. By default, text columns shall be sepa‐
37 rated with at least one <blank>.
38
40 The pr utility shall conform to the Base Definitions volume of
41 POSIX.1‐2008, Section 12.2, Utility Syntax Guidelines, except that: the
42 page option has a '+' delimiter; page and column can be multi-digit
43 numbers; some of the option-arguments are optional; and some of the
44 option-arguments cannot be specified as separate arguments from the
45 preceding option letter. In particular, the −s option does not allow
46 the option letter to be separated from its argument, and the options
47 −e, −i, and −n require that both arguments, if present, not be sepa‐
48 rated from the option letter.
49 The following options shall be supported. In the following option
51 descriptions, column, lines, offset, page, and width are positive deci‐
52 mal integers; gap is a non-negative decimal integer.
53 +page Begin output at page number page of the formatted input.
55 −column Produce multi-column output that is arranged in column col‐
57 umns (the default shall be 1) and is written down each column
58 in the order in which the text is received from the input
59 file. This option should not be used with −m. The options −e
60 and −i shall be assumed for multiple text-column output.
61 Whether or not text columns are produced with identical ver‐
62 tical lengths is unspecified, but a text column shall never
63 exceed the length of the page (see the −l option). When used
64 with −t, use the minimum number of lines to write the output.
65 −a Modify the effect of the −column option so that the columns
67 are filled across the page in a round-robin order (for exam‐
68 ple, when column is 2, the first input line heads column 1,
69 the second heads column 2, the third is the second line in
70 column 1, and so on).
71 −d Produce output that is double-spaced; append an extra <new‐
73 line> following every <newline> found in the input.
74 −e[char][gap]
76 Expand each input <tab> to the next greater column position
77 specified by the formula n*gap+1, where n is an integer > 0.
78 If gap is zero or is omitted, it shall default to 8. All
79 <tab> characters in the input shall be expanded into the
80 appropriate number of <space> characters. If any non-digit
81 character, char, is specified, it shall be used as the input
82 <tab>. If the first character of the −e option-argument is a
83 digit, the entire option-argument shall be assumed to be gap.
84 −f Use a <form-feed> for new pages, instead of the default
86 behavior that uses a sequence of <newline> characters. Pause
87 before beginning the first page if the standard output is
88 associated with a terminal.
89 −F Use a <form-feed> for new pages, instead of the default
91 behavior that uses a sequence of <newline> characters.
92 −h header Use the string header to replace the contents of the file op‐
94 erand in the page header.
95 −i[char][gap]
97 In output, replace <space> characters with <tab> characters
98 wherever one or more adjacent <space> characters reach column
99 positions gap+1, 2* gap+1, 3* gap+1, and so on. If gap is
100 zero or is omitted, default tab settings at every eighth col‐
101 umn position shall be assumed. If any non-digit character,
102 char, is specified, it shall be used as the output <tab>. If
103 the first character of the −i option-argument is a digit, the
104 entire option-argument shall be assumed to be gap.
105 −l lines Override the 66-line default and reset the page length to
107 lines. If lines is not greater than the sum of both the
108 header and trailer depths (in lines), the pr utility shall
109 suppress both the header and trailer, as if the −t option
110 were in effect.
111 −m Merge files. Standard output shall be formatted so the pr
113 utility writes one line from each file specified by a file
114 operand, side by side into text columns of equal fixed
115 widths, in terms of the number of column positions. Implemen‐
116 tations shall support merging of at least nine file operands.
117 −n[char][width]
119 Provide width-digit line numbering (default for width shall
120 be 5). The number shall occupy the first width column posi‐
121 tions of each text column of default output or each line of
122 −m output. If char (any non-digit character) is given, it
123 shall be appended to the line number to separate it from
124 whatever follows (default for char is a <tab>).
125 −o offset Each line of output shall be preceded by offset <space> char‐
127 acters. If the −o option is not specified, the default offset
128 shall be zero. The space taken is in addition to the output
129 line width (see the −w option below).
130 −p Pause before beginning each page if the standard output is
132 directed to a terminal (pr shall write an <alert> to standard
133 error and wait for a <carriage-return> to be read on
134 /dev/tty).
135 −r Write no diagnostic reports on failure to open files.
137 −s[char] Separate text columns by the single character char instead of
139 by the appropriate number of <space> characters (default for
140 char shall be <tab>).
141 −t Write neither the five-line identifying header nor the five-
143 line trailer usually supplied for each page. Quit writing
144 after the last line of each file without spacing to the end
145 of the page.
146 −w width Set the width of the line to width column positions for mul‐
148 tiple text-column output only. If the −w option is not speci‐
149 fied and the −s option is not specified, the default width
150 shall be 72. If the −w option is not specified and the −s
151 option is specified, the default width shall be 512.
152 For single column output, input lines shall not be truncated.
154
156 The following operand shall be supported:
157 file A pathname of a file to be written. If no file operands are
159 specified, or if a file operand is '−', the standard input
160 shall be used.
161
163 The standard input shall be used only if no file operands are speci‐
164 fied, or if a file operand is '−'. See the INPUT FILES section.
165
167 The input files shall be text files.
168 The file /dev/tty shall be used to read responses required by the −p
170 option.
171
173 The following environment variables shall affect the execution of pr:
174 LANG Provide a default value for the internationalization vari‐
176 ables that are unset or null. (See the Base Definitions vol‐
177 ume of POSIX.1‐2008, Section 8.2, Internationalization Vari‐
178 ables the precedence of internationalization variables used
179 to determine the values of locale categories.)
180 LC_ALL If set to a non-empty string value, override the values of
182 all the other internationalization variables.
183 LC_CTYPE Determine the locale for the interpretation of sequences of
185 bytes of text data as characters (for example, single-byte as
186 opposed to multi-byte characters in arguments and input
187 files) and which characters are defined as printable (charac‐
188 ter class print). Non-printable characters are still written
189 to standard output, but are not counted for the purpose for
190 column-width and line-length calculations.
191 LC_MESSAGES
193 Determine the locale that should be used to affect the format
194 and contents of diagnostic messages written to standard
195 error.
196 LC_TIME Determine the format of the date and time for use in writing
198 header lines.
199 NLSPATH Determine the location of message catalogs for the processing
201 of LC_MESSAGES.
202 TZ Determine the timezone used to calculate date and time
204 strings written in header lines. If TZ is unset or null, an
205 unspecified default timezone shall be used.
206
208 If pr receives an interrupt while writing to a terminal, it shall flush
209 all accumulated error messages to the screen before terminating.
210
212 The pr utility output shall be a paginated version of the original file
213 (or files). This pagination shall be accomplished using either <form-
214 feed> characters or a sequence of <newline> characters, as controlled
215 by the −F or −f option. Page headers shall be generated unless the −t
216 option is specified. The page headers shall be of the form:
217 "\n\n%s %s Page %d\n\n\n", <output of date>, <file>, <page number>
219 In the POSIX locale, the <output of date> field, representing the date
221 and time of last modification of the input file (or the current date
222 and time if the input file is standard input), shall be equivalent to
223 the output of the following command as it would appear if executed at
224 the given time:
225 date "+%b %e %H:%M %Y"
227 without the trailing <newline>, if the page being written is from stan‐
229 dard input. If the page being written is not from standard input, in
230 the POSIX locale, the same format shall be used, but the time used
231 shall be the modification time of the file corresponding to file
232 instead of the current time. When the LC_TIME locale category is not
233 set to the POSIX locale, a different format and order of presentation
234 of this field may be used.
235 If the standard input is used instead of a file operand, the <file>
237 field shall be replaced by a null string.
238 If the −h option is specified, the <file> field shall be replaced by
240 the header argument.
241
243 The standard error shall be used for diagnostic messages and for alert‐
244 ing the terminal when −p is specified.
245
247 None.
248
250 None.
251
253 The following exit values shall be returned:
254 0 Successful completion.
256 >0 An error occurred.
258
260 Default.
261 The following sections are informative.
263
265 A conforming application must protect its first operand, if it starts
266 with a <plus-sign>, by preceding it with the "−−" argument that denotes
267 the end of the options. For example, pr+x could be interpreted as an
268 invalid page number or a file operand.
269
271 1. Print a numbered list of all files in the current directory:
272 ls −a | pr −n −h "Files in $(pwd)."
274 2. Print file1 and file2 as a double-spaced, three-column listing
276 headed by ``file list'':
277 pr −3d −h "file list" file1 file2
279 3. Write file1 on file2, expanding tabs to columns 10, 19, 28, ...:
281 pr −e9 −t <file1 >file2
283
285 This utility is one of those that does not follow the Utility Syntax
286 Guidelines because of its historical origins. The standard developers
287 could have added new options that obeyed the guidelines (and marked the
288 old options obsolescent) or devised an entirely new utility; there are
289 examples of both actions in this volume of POSIX.1‐2008. Because of its
290 widespread use by historical applications, the standard developers
291 decided to exempt this version of pr from many of the guidelines.
292 Implementations are required to accept option-arguments to the −h, −l,
294 −o, and −w options whether presented as part of the same argument or as
295 a separate argument to pr, as suggested by the Utility Syntax Guide‐
296 lines. The −n and −s options, however, are specified as in historical
297 practice because they are frequently specified without their optional
298 arguments. If a <blank> were allowed before the option-argument in
299 these cases, a file operand could mistakenly be interpreted as an
300 option-argument in historical applications.
301 The text about the minimum number of lines in multi-column output was
303 included to ensure that a best effort is made in balancing the length
304 of the columns. There are known historical implementations in which,
305 for example, 60-line files are listed by pr −2 as one column of 56
306 lines and a second of 4. Although this is not a problem when a full
307 page with headers and trailers is produced, it would be relatively use‐
308 less when used with −t.
309 Historical implementations of the pr utility have differed in the
311 action taken for the −f option. BSD uses it as described here for the
312 −F option; System V uses it to change trailing <newline> characters on
313 each page to a <form-feed> and, if standard output is a TTY device,
314 sends an <alert> to standard error and reads a line from /dev/tty
315 before the first page. There were strong arguments from both sides of
316 this issue concerning historical practice and as a result the −F option
317 was added. XSI-conformant systems support the System V historical
318 actions for the −f option.
319 The <output of date> field in the −l format is specified only for the
321 POSIX locale. As noted, the format can be different in other locales.
322 No mechanism for defining this is present in this volume of
323 POSIX.1‐2008, as the appropriate vehicle is a message catalog; that is,
324 the format should be specified as a ``message''.
325
327 None.
328
330 expand, lp
331 The Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1‐2008, Chapter 8, Environment
333 Variables, Section 12.2, Utility Syntax Guidelines
334
336 Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form
337 from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2013 Edition, Standard for Information Technology
338 -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base
339 Specifications Issue 7, Copyright (C) 2013 by the Institute of Electri‐
340 cal and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. (This is
341 POSIX.1-2008 with the 2013 Technical Corrigendum 1 applied.) In the
342 event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and
343 The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard
344 is the referee document. The original Standard can be obtained online
345 at http://www.unix.org/online.html .
346 Any typographical or formatting errors that appear in this page are
348 most likely to have been introduced during the conversion of the source
349 files to man page format. To report such errors, see https://www.ker‐
350 nel.org/doc/man-pages/reporting_bugs.html .
351IEEE/The Open Group 2013 PR(1P)