Name
nl - number lines of filesSynopsis
nl [\,OPTION\/]... [\,FILE\/]...Description
Write each FILE to standard output, with line numbers added.
With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input.
Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too.
-b, --body-numbering=\,STYLE\/ use STYLE for numbering body lines
-d, --section-delimiter=\,CC\/ use CC for logical page delimiters
-f, --footer-numbering=\,STYLE\/ use STYLE for numbering footer lines
-h, --header-numbering=\,STYLE\/ use STYLE for numbering header lines
-i, --line-increment=\,NUMBER\/ line number increment at each line
-l, --join-blank-lines=\,NUMBER\/ group of NUMBER empty lines counted as one
-n, --number-format=\,FORMAT\/ insert line numbers according to FORMAT
-p, --no-renumber do not reset line numbers for each section
-s, --number-separator=\,STRING\/ add STRING after (possible) line number
-v, --starting-line-number=\,NUMBER\/ first line number for each section
-w, --number-width=\,NUMBER\/ use NUMBER columns for line numbers
--help display this help and exit
--version output version information and exit
Default options are: -bt -d'\e:' -fn -hn -i1 -l1 -n'rn' -s<TAB> -v1 -w6
CC are two delimiter characters used to construct logical page delimiters; a missing second character implies ':'.
STYLE is one of:
a number all lines
t number only nonempty lines
n number no lines
pBRE number only lines that contain a match for the basic regular expression, BRE
FORMAT is one of:
ln left justified, no leading zeros
rn right justified, no leading zeros
rz right justified, leading zeros