The `wc` command in Linux is a simple yet powerful utility for counting words, lines, and characters in a text file or from input provided through pipes. It's commonly used to analyze and summarize text-based data. When executed, `wc` displays three numeric values: the number of lines, words, and characters present in the input. It provides insights into the content's structure and size, aiding in tasks like text processing, scripting, and data analysis. Additionally, its versatile nature allows users to customize its behavior by employing optional flags to focus on specific aspects of the data, such as counting only lines or characters. Overall, the `wc` command is an essential tool for both novice and experienced Linux users when dealing with textual information.
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
GNU coreutils online help: <http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
Report wc translation bugs to <http://translationproject.org/team/>
AUTHOR
Written by Paul Rubin and David MacKenzie.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 2013 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+: GNU
GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
SEE ALSO
The full documentation for wc is maintained as a Texinfo manual. If
the info and wc programs are properly installed at your site, the com‐
mand
info coreutils 'wc invocation'
should give you access to the complete manual.
GNU coreutils 8.22 April 2018 WC(1)