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echo(1)
NAME
  echo - Writes its arguments to standard output

SYNOPSIS
  echo [-n] [string...]

  [Tru64 UNIX]	The -n option is valid only if the environment variable
  CMD_ENV is set to bsd.

				     Note

       The C shell has a built-in version of the echo command.	If you are
       using the C shell, and want to guarantee that you are using the
       command described here, you must specify the full path /usr/bin/echo.
       See the csh(1) reference page for a description of the built-in
       command.

STANDARDS
  Interfaces documented on this reference page conform to industry standards
  as follows:

  echo:	 XCU5.0

  Refer to the standards(5) reference page for more information about
  industry standards and associated tags.

OPTIONS
  -n  [Tru64 UNIX]  No newline is added to the output. The -n option is valid
      only if the environment variable CMD_ENV is set to bsd. Otherwise any
      -n operand is treated as a string rather than as a option. See the
      printf(1) reference page for use in portable applications.

OPERANDS
  string
      The string to be displayed on standard output. The echo command
      recognizes the following special characters in the string:

      \a  Displays an alert character.

      \b  Displays a backspace character.

      \c  Suppresses the newline character. All characters following \c in
	  the arguments are ignored.

      \f  Displays a formfeed character.

      \n  Displays a newline character.

      \r  Displays a carriage-return character.

      \t  Displays a tab character.

      \v  Displays a vertical tab character.

      \\  Displays a backslash character.

      \number
	  Displays an 8-bit character whose value is the 1-, 2- or 3-digit
	  octal number, number.	 The first digit of number must be a 0
	  (zero).

DESCRIPTION
  The echo command writes the specified string to standard output, followed
  by a newline character.

  The arguments are separated by spaces. Use the echo command to produce
  diagnostic messages in command files and to send data into a pipe.  If
  there are no arguments, the echo command outputs a newline character.

  [Tru64 UNIX]	The echo command described here is the program /usr/bin/echo.
  Both csh and sh shells contain built-in echo subcommands, which do not
  necessarily work in the same way as the /usr/bin/echo command.

EXIT STATUS
  The following exit values are returned:

  0   Successful completion.

  >0  An error occurred.

EXAMPLES
   1.  To write a message to standard output, enter:
	    echo Please insert diskette . . .

   2.  To display a message containing special characters as listed in
       DESCRIPTION, enclose the message in quotes, as follows:
	    echo "\n\n\nI'm at lunch.\nI'll be back at 1 p.m."

       This skips three lines and displays the message:
	    I'm at lunch.
	    I'll be back at 1 p.m.

					Note

	 You must enclose the message in quotation marks if it contains
	 escape sequences such as \n.  Otherwise, the shell treats the
	 backslash (\) as an escape character.	The previous command example,
	 entered without the quotes, results in the following output:
	      nnnI'm at lunch.nI'll be back at 1 p.m.

   3.  To use echo with pattern-matching characters, enter:
	    echo The back-up files are: *.bak

       This displays the message The back-up files are: and then displays the
       file names in the current directory ending with .bak.

   4.  To add a single line of text to a file, enter:
	    echo Remember to set the shell search path to $PATH. >>notes

       This adds the message to the end of the file notes after the shell
       substitutes the value of the PATH shell variable.

   5.  To write a message to the standard error output (sh only), enter:
	    echo Error: file already exists. >&2

       Use this in shell procedures to write error messages.  If the >&2 is
       omitted, then the message is written to the standard output.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
  The following environment variables affect the execution of echo:

  CMD_ENV
      [Tru64 UNIX]  This variable must set to bsd for the -n option to be
      valid.  Otherwise any -n operand is treated as a string member.

  LANG
      Provides a default value for the internationalization variables that
      are unset or null. If LANG is unset or null, the corresponding value
      from the default locale is used.	If any of the internationalization
      variables contain an invalid setting, the utility behaves as if none of
      the variables had been defined.

  LC_ALL
      If set to a non-empty string value, overrides the values of all the
      other internationalization variables.

  LC_CTYPE
      Determines the locale for the interpretation of sequences of bytes of
      text data as characters (for example, single-byte as opposed to
      multibyte characters in arguments).

  LC_MESSAGES
      Determines the locale for the format and contents of diagnostic
      messages written to standard error.

  NLSPATH
      Determines the location of message catalogues for the processing of
      LC_MESSAGES.

SEE ALSO
  Commands:  csh(1), ksh(1), printf(1), Bourne shell sh(1b), POSIX shell
  sh(1p)

  Environment:	environ(5)

  Standards:  standards(5)

Index for Section 1

Alphabetical listing for E

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