pr

Understanding the Basics of pr

The pr command’s core function is to paginate and format text files. It takes one or more files as input and outputs a formatted version to standard output (your terminal) or to a specified file. By default, pr treats each input file as a separate document, adding headers, footers, and page numbers to each.

Key Options and Their Usage

Let’s look at some pr options through practical examples:

1. Setting Page Length and Width:

The -l option sets the page length (number of lines per page), and -w sets the page width (number of characters per line).

echo "This is line 1" > sample.txt
echo "This is line 2" >> sample.txt
echo "This is line 3" >> sample.txt


pr -l 2 -w 10 sample.txt

This will output the text with each page containing only two lines, truncated to a width of 10 characters.

2. Adding Headers and Footers:

Use -h to specify a header and -f for a footer. Multiple headers or footers can be given, separated by spaces.

pr -h "My Document Header" -f "Page %p" sample.txt

This adds “My Document Header” as the header and “Page ” as the footer to each page.

3. Handling Multiple Files:

pr can process multiple files simultaneously, treating each as a separate document.

echo "Another line" > sample2.txt


pr sample.txt sample2.txt

This will format both sample.txt and sample2.txt, separating them with a page break.

4. Numbering Lines:

The -n option controls line numbering. -n adds line numbers to each line, -n1 numbers lines sequentially across all input files, and -nN numbers each file separately.

pr -n sample.txt
pr -n1 sample.txt sample2.txt
pr -nN sample.txt sample2.txt

5. Output to a File:

Use redirection to send the formatted output to a file instead of the terminal.

pr -l 5 sample.txt > formatted.txt

This saves the formatted output to formatted.txt.

6. Columnar Output:

The -m option merges multiple files into columns on the same page.

pr -m sample.txt sample2.txt

This will display the content of both files side-by-side in columns.

7. Suppressing Headers and Footers:

Use -t to suppress the header and footer.

pr -t sample.txt

This will produce output without any headers or footers.

These examples demonstrate the versatility of the pr command. Experiment with these options and their combinations to achieve the desired text formatting for your specific needs. Remember to consult the man pr page for a detailed list of all available options and their detailed descriptions.