echo - display a line of text¶
Synopsis¶
echo [OPTIONS] [STRING]
Description¶
echo displays STRING of text.
The following options are available:
- -n
- Do not output a newline. 
- -s
- Do not separate arguments with spaces. 
- -E
- Disable interpretation of backslash escapes (default). 
- -e
- Enable interpretation of backslash escapes. 
Unlike other shells, this echo accepts -- to signal the end of the options.
Escape Sequences¶
If -e is used, the following sequences are recognized:
- \backslash
- \aalert (BEL)
- \bbackspace
- \cproduce no further output
- \eescape
- \fform feed
- \nnew line
- \rcarriage return
- \thorizontal tab
- \vvertical tab
- \0NNNbyte with octal value NNN (1 to 3 digits)
- \xHHbyte with hexadecimal value HH (1 to 2 digits)
Example¶
> echo 'Hello World'
Hello World
> echo -e 'Top\nBottom'
Top
Bottom
> echo -- -n
-n
See Also¶
- the printf command, for more control over output formatting 
