echo

PURPOSE

     Writes its arguments to standard output.

SYNOPSIS
     echo [ arg ] ...


DESCRIPTION

     The echo command writes its arguments to standard output.
     strings are separated by  blanks and a new-line character
     follows the last string.   Use echo to produce diagnostic
     messages in command files and to send data into a pipe.

     The  echo command  recognizes the  following escape  con-
     ventions:

     \b    Display a backspace character.
     \c    Suppress the new-line character.
     \f    Display a form-feed character.
     \n    Display a new-line character.
     \r    Display a carriage return character.
     \t    Display a tab character.
     \\    Display a backslash character.
     \num  Display an  8-bit character.  whose ASCII  value is
           the 1-,  2-or 3-digit octal number  num.  The first
           digit of num must be a zero.

EXAMPLES

     1.  To write a message to standard output:

           echo Please insert diskette . . .

     2.  To display a message containing special characters:

           echo "\n\n\nI'm at lunch.\nI'll be back at 1:00."

         This skips three lines and displays the message:

           I'm at lunch.
           I'll be back at 1:00.

         Note:   You must  quote  the message  if it  contains
         escape  sequences like  "\n".   Otherwise, the  shell
         treats  the "\"  specially.   See page   for  details
         about quoting.
     3.  To use echo with pattern-matching characters:

           echo The back-up files are: *.bak

         This displays  the message  "The back-up  files are:"
         followed by  the file names in  the current directory
         ending with ".bak".
     4.  To add a single line of text to a file:

           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 shell
         variable PATH.
     5.  To write a message to the standard error output:

           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.   For details about this type
         of  file redirection,  see  "Input  and Output  Redi-
         rection Using File Descriptors."

RELATED INFORMATION

     The following commands:  "csh" and "sh."

     Note:   The csh  command contains  a built-in  subcommand
     named  echo.  The  command and  subcommand do  not neces-
     sarily work the same way.  For information on the subcom-
     mand, see the csh command.