ECHO(1)

NAME
echo - write arguments to the standard output

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

DESCRIPTION
The echo utility writes any specified operands, separated by single blank (‘ ’) characters and followed by a newline (‘\n’) character, to the standard output.

The following option is available:

-n  Do not print the trailing newline character.

The end-of-options marker - - is not recognized and written literally.

The newline may also be suppressed by appending ‘\c’ to the end of the string, as is done by iBCS2 compatible systems. Note that the -n option as well as the effect of ‘\c’ are implementation-defined in p1003.1-2001 as amended by Cor. 1-2002. For portability, echo should only be used if the first argument does not start with a hyphen (‘-’) and does not contain any backslashes (‘\’). If this is not sufficient, printf(1) should be used.

Most shells provide a builtin echo command which tends to differ from this utility in the treatment of options and backslashes. Consult the builtin(1) manual page.

EXIT STATUS

EXAMPLES
Special treatment of options and backslashes:

    $ /bin/echo "-hello\tworld"
    -hello	world

Avoid new line character:

    $ /bin/echo -n hello;/bin/echo world
    helloworld

Or to achieve the same result:

    $ /bin/echo "hello\c";/bin/echo world
    helloworld

SEE ALSO
builtin(1), csh(1), printf(1), sh(1)

STANDARDS
The echo utility conforms to p1003.1-2001 as amended by Cor. 1-2002.

HISTORY
The echo command appeared in AT&T UNIX.

CAVEATS
The echo command behaves differently with regards to the built-in echo shell command in a number of ways including escaped characters handling. It also differs in behavior between different systems hence complicating writing portable scripts. It is advised to use the printf(1) command to avoid these shortcomings.