Linux: wc command

This Linux tutorial explains how to use the Linux wc command with syntax and arguments.

NAME

wc - print newline, word, and byte counts for each file

SYNOPSIS

wc [OPTION]... [FILE]...
wc [OPTION]... --files0-from=F

DESCRIPTION

Print newline, word, and byte counts for each FILE, and a total line if more than one FILE is specified. With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input. A word is a non-zero-length sequence of characters delimited by white space. The options below may be used to select which counts are printed, always in the following order: newline, word, character, byte, maximum line length.

-c, --bytes

print the byte counts

-m, --chars

print the character counts

-l, --lines

print the newline counts

--files0-from=F

read input from the files specified by NUL-terminated names in file F; If F is - then read names from standard input

-L, --max-line-length

print the length of the longest line

-w, --words

print the word counts

--help

display this help and exit

--version

output version information and exit