PR(1) | General Commands Manual | PR(1)

# NAME

`pr` —
print files

# SYNOPSIS

`pr` | [+page] [`-`column] [`-adFfmprt`] [`-e`[char][gap]] [`-h` header] [`-i`[char][gap]] [`-l` lines] [`-n`[char][width]] [`-o` offset] [`-s`[char]] [`-T` timefmt] [`-w` width] [-] [file ...]

# DESCRIPTION

The `pr` 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

- A 5-line header with the page number, date, time, and the pathname of the file.
- A 5-line trailer consisting of blank lines.

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.

# OPTIONS

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 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 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 ⟨space⟩s. If any nondigit character, char, is specified, it is used as the input tab character. If the first character of char is a digit then char is treated as gap.
`-F`
  Use a ⟨form-feed⟩ character for new pages, instead of the default behavior that uses a sequence of ⟨newline⟩ characters.
`-f`
  Same as `-F`. Additionally pause before beginning the first page if the standard output is associated with a terminal.
`-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 specified, it is used as the output ⟨tab⟩ character. If the first character of char is a digit then char is treated as gap.
`-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 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 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 ⟨space⟩s. If the `-o` option is not specified, the default is zero. The space taken is in addition to the output line width.
`-p`
  Pause before beginning each page if the standard output is associated with a terminal. `pr` will write an ⟨alert⟩ to standard error and wait for a ⟨carriage-return⟩ to be read on /dev/tty.
`-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`
  Specify an strftime(3) format string to be used to format the date and time information in the page header.
`-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. 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` receives an interrupt while printing to a terminal, it flushes all accumulated error messages to the screen before terminating.

The `pr` 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).

# SEE ALSO

cat(1), more(1), strftime(3)

# STANDARDS

The `pr` utility is IEEE Std 1003.1-2008 (“POSIX.1”) compatible.

# HISTORY

A `pr` utility appeared in Version 1 AT&T UNIX.

September 1, 2019 | NetBSD 9.2