ECHO(1)                 FreeBSD General Commands Manual                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 IEEE Std
     1003.1-2001 ("POSIX.1") 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

     The echo utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.

EXAMPLES

     Special treatment of options and backslashes:

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

     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 IEEE Std 1003.1-2001 ("POSIX.1") as amended
     by Cor. 1-2002.

HISTORY

     The echo command appeared in Version 2 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.

FreeBSD 15.1-STABLE-HBSD        October 5, 2016                        ECHO(1)