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GNU Coreutils
*************

This manual documents version 5.97 of the GNU core utilities, including
the standard programs for text and file manipulation.

   Copyright (C) 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005
Free Software Foundation, Inc.

     Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this
     document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License,
     Version 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software
     Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts,
     and with no Back-Cover Texts.  A copy of the license is included
     in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".

Introduction: Caveats, overview, and authors.
Common options: Common options.
Output of entire files: cat tac nl od
Formatting file contents: fmt pr fold
Output of parts of files: head tail split csplit
Summarizing files: wc sum cksum md5sum
Operating on sorted files: sort uniq comm ptx tsort
Operating on fields within a line: cut paste join
Operating on characters: tr expand unexpand
Directory listing: ls dir vdir dircolors
Basic operations: cp dd install mv rm shred
Special file types: ln mkdir rmdir mkfifo mknod
Changing file attributes: chgrp chmod chown touch
Disk usage: df du stat sync
Printing text: echo printf yes
Conditions: false true test expr
Redirection: tee
File name manipulation: dirname basename pathchk
Working context: pwd stty printenv tty
User information: id logname whoami groups users who
System context: date uname hostname
Modified command invocation: chroot env nice nohup su
Process control: kill
Delaying: sleep
Numeric operations: factor seq
File permissions: Access modes.
Date input formats: Specifying date strings.
Opening the software toolbox: The software tools philosophy.
GNU Free Documentation License: The license for this documentation.
Index: General index.

--- The Detailed Node Listing --- Common Options

Exit status: Indicating program success or failure.
Backup options: Backup options
Block size: Block size
Target directory: Target directory
Trailing slashes: Trailing slashes
Traversing symlinks: Traversing symlinks to directories
Treating / specially: Treating / specially
Standards conformance: Standards conformance

Output of entire files

cat invocation: Concatenate and write files.
tac invocation: Concatenate and write files in reverse.
nl invocation: Number lines and write files.
od invocation: Write files in octal or other formats.

Formatting file contents

fmt invocation: Reformat paragraph text.
pr invocation: Paginate or columnate files for printing.
fold invocation: Wrap input lines to fit in specified width.

Output of parts of files

head invocation: Output the first part of files.
tail invocation: Output the last part of files.
split invocation: Split a file into fixed-size pieces.
csplit invocation: Split a file into context-determined pieces.

Summarizing files

wc invocation: Print newline, word, and byte counts.
sum invocation: Print checksum and block counts.
cksum invocation: Print CRC checksum and byte counts.
md5sum invocation: Print or check message-digests.

Operating on sorted files

sort invocation: Sort text files.
uniq invocation: Uniquify files.
comm invocation: Compare two sorted files line by line.
ptx invocation: Produce a permuted index of file contents.
tsort invocation: Topological sort.

`ptx': Produce permuted indexes

General options in ptx: Options which affect general program behavior.
Charset selection in ptx: Underlying character set considerations.
Input processing in ptx: Input fields, contexts, and keyword selection.
Output formatting in ptx: Types of output format, and sizing the fields.
Compatibility in ptx: The GNU extensions to `ptx'

Operating on fields within a line

cut invocation: Print selected parts of lines.
paste invocation: Merge lines of files.
join invocation: Join lines on a common field.

Operating on characters

tr invocation: Translate, squeeze, and/or delete characters.
expand invocation: Convert tabs to spaces.
unexpand invocation: Convert spaces to tabs.

`tr': Translate, squeeze, and/or delete characters

Character sets: Specifying sets of characters.
Translating: Changing one set of characters to another.
Squeezing: Squeezing repeats and deleting.

Directory listing

ls invocation: List directory contents
dir invocation: Briefly list directory contents
vdir invocation: Verbosely list directory contents
dircolors invocation: Color setup for `ls'

`ls': List directory contents

Which files are listed: Which files are listed
What information is listed: What information is listed
Sorting the output: Sorting the output
More details about version sort: More details about version sort
General output formatting: General output formatting
Formatting the file names: Formatting the file names

Basic operations

cp invocation: Copy files and directories
dd invocation: Convert and copy a file
install invocation: Copy files and set attributes
mv invocation: Move (rename) files
rm invocation: Remove files or directories
shred invocation: Remove files more securely

Special file types

link invocation: Make a hard link via the link syscall
ln invocation: Make links between files
mkdir invocation: Make directories
mkfifo invocation: Make FIFOs (named pipes)
mknod invocation: Make block or character special files
readlink invocation: Print the referent of a symbolic link
rmdir invocation: Remove empty directories
unlink invocation: Remove files via unlink syscall

Changing file attributes

chown invocation: Change file owner and group
chgrp invocation: Change group ownership
chmod invocation: Change access permissions
touch invocation: Change file timestamps

Disk usage

df invocation: Report file system disk space usage
du invocation: Estimate file space usage
stat invocation: Report file or file system status
sync invocation: Synchronize data on disk with memory

Printing text

echo invocation: Print a line of text
printf invocation: Format and print data
yes invocation: Print a string until interrupted

Conditions

false invocation: Do nothing, unsuccessfully
true invocation: Do nothing, successfully
test invocation: Check file types and compare values
expr invocation: Evaluate expressions

`test': Check file types and compare values

File type tests: File type tests
Access permission tests: Access permission tests
File characteristic tests: File characteristic tests
String tests: String tests
Numeric tests: Numeric tests

`expr': Evaluate expression

String expressions: + : match substr index length
Numeric expressions: + - * / %
Relations for expr: | & < <= = == != >= >
Examples of expr: Examples of using `expr'

Redirection

tee invocation: Redirect output to multiple files

File name manipulation

basename invocation: Strip directory and suffix from a file name
dirname invocation: Strip non-directory suffix from a file name
pathchk invocation: Check file name portability

Working context

pwd invocation: Print working directory
stty invocation: Print or change terminal characteristics
printenv invocation: Print all or some environment variables
tty invocation: Print file name of terminal on standard input

`stty': Print or change terminal characteristics

Control: Control settings
Input: Input settings
Output: Output settings
Local: Local settings
Combination: Combination settings
Characters: Special characters
Special: Special settings

User information

id invocation: Print user identity
logname invocation: Print current login name
whoami invocation: Print effective user ID
groups invocation: Print group names a user is in
users invocation: Print login names of users currently logged in
who invocation: Print who is currently logged in

System context

date invocation: Print or set system date and time
uname invocation: Print system information
hostname invocation: Print or set system name
hostid invocation: Print numeric host identifier.

`date': Print or set system date and time

Time conversion specifiers: %[HIklMNpPrRsSTXzZ]
Date conversion specifiers: %[aAbBcCdDeFgGhjmuUVwWxyY]
Literal conversion specifiers: %[%nt]
Padding and other flags: Pad with zeroes, spaces, etc.
Setting the time: Changing the system clock.
Options for date: Instead of the current time.
Examples of date: Examples.

Modified command invocation

chroot invocation: Run a command with a different root directory
env invocation: Run a command in a modified environment
nice invocation: Run a command with modified niceness
nohup invocation: Run a command immune to hangups
su invocation: Run a command with substitute user and group ID

Process control

kill invocation: Sending a signal to processes.

Delaying

sleep invocation: Delay for a specified time

Numeric operations

factor invocation: Print prime factors
seq invocation: Print numeric sequences

File permissions

Mode Structure: Structure of File Permissions
Symbolic Modes: Mnemonic permissions representation
Numeric Modes: Permissions as octal numbers

Date input formats

General date syntax: Common rules.
Calendar date items: 19 Dec 1994.
Time of day items: 9:20pm.
Time zone items: EST, PDT, GMT.
Day of week items: Monday and others.
Relative items in date strings: next tuesday, 2 years ago.
Pure numbers in date strings: 19931219, 1440.
Seconds since the Epoch: @1078100502.
Specifying time zone rules: TZ="America/New_York", TZ="UTC0".
Authors of get_date: Bellovin, Eggert, Salz, Berets, et al.

Opening the software toolbox

Toolbox introduction: Toolbox introduction
I/O redirection: I/O redirection
The who command: The `who' command
The cut command: The `cut' command
The sort command: The `sort' command
The uniq command: The `uniq' command
Putting the tools together: Putting the tools together

GNU Free Documentation License

How to use this License for your documents

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