Printing and pagination filter for text files.
When multiple input files are specified, each is read, formatted, and written
to standard output.
Syntax
pr [options] [file ...]
Options
+page
Begin output at page number page of the formatted input.
-column
Produce output that is columns wide (default is 1) that 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 (e.g., when column is
2, the first input line heads column 1, the second heads column 2,
the third is the second line in column 1, etc.). 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 speci-
fied 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 <space>s. 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 <space>s with <tab>s whenever two or
more adjacent <space>s reach column positions gap+1, 2*gap+1, etc.
If gap is zero or omitted, default <tab> settings at every eighth
column position is used. If any nondigit character, char, is spec-
ified, 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), the pr utility 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 posi-
tions 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 whatever 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 <spaces>s. 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 <space>s (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 the -w option is not specified and the
-s option is not specified, the default width is 72. If the -w
option is not specified and the -s option is specified, the default
width is 512.
file A pathname of a file to be printed.
If no file operands are specified, or if a file operand is `-',
the standard input is used.
Notes
In all the option descriptions above, column, lines, offset, page, and width are positive decimal integers and gap is a nonnegative decimal integer.
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.
By default, the input is separated into 66-line pages, each with
If standard output is associated with a terminal, diagnostic messages are suppressed until the pr 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.
“We photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing, and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth can make them come back again. We cannot develop and print a memory” - Henri Cartier-Bresson
Related:
pr man page - Apple.com
cat - Display the contents of a file
more - Display output one screen at a time
say - Convert text to audible speech
textutil - Manipulate text files in various formats
