ccwc - Character, Word, and Byte Count Tool

Description

ccwc is a command-line utility designed to count characters, words, lines, and bytes in text files or from standard input. It provides a flexible way to analyze text data, with support for various options to customize the type of counting performed.

Author

• Name: delta-x

Features

1. Character Count (-m option)

• Description: Counts the total number of characters in the given file or standard input. This includes all visible characters and whitespace.
• Usage: ccwc -m <filename> or cat <filename> | ccwc -m
• Example:

  $ ccwc -m test.txt
  342190 test.txt

  $ cat test.txt | ccwc -m
  342190

2. Byte Count (-c option)

• Description: Counts the total number of bytes in the given file or standard input. This is useful for understanding the size of the file in bytes.
• Usage: ccwc -c <filename> or cat <filename> | ccwc -c
• Example:

  $ ccwc -c test.txt
  342190 test.txt

  $ cat test.txt | ccwc -c
  342190

3. Line Count (-l option)

• Description: Counts the number of lines in the given file or standard input. This is useful for understanding the structure of the text in terms of line breaks.
• Usage: ccwc -l <filename> or cat <filename> | ccwc -l
• Example:

  $ ccwc -l test.txt
  714 test.txt

  $ cat test.txt | ccwc -l
  714

4. Word Count (-w option)

• Description: Counts the total number of words in the given file or standard input. This helps in understanding the content length in terms of word count.
• Usage: ccwc -w <filename> or cat <filename> | ccwc -w
• Example:

  $ ccwc -w test.txt
  58164 test.txt

  $ cat test.txt | ccwc -w
  58164

5. Comprehensive Count (<no flag> or -g option)

• Description: Provides a comprehensive count of lines, words, and bytes. When no flag is provided, it defaults to this mode, offering a summary of all three metrics.
• Usage: ccwc <filename> or cat <filename> | ccwc
• Example:

  $ ccwc test.txt
  714 58164 342190 test.txt

  $ cat test.txt | ccwc
  714 58164 342190

6. Standard Input Support

• Description: ccwc can process data piped from standard input, allowing it to count characters, words, lines, and bytes from data streams.
• Usage: cat <filename> | ccwc <option> or echo "text" | ccwc <option>
• Example:

  $ echo "Hello world" | ccwc -w
  2

Usage

To use ccwc, you need to specify at least one of the following options:

• -c for byte count
• -l for line count
• -w for word count
• -m for character count

If no option is provided, the tool defaults to comprehensive counting, showing the number of lines, words, and bytes.

Examples

1. Byte Count

   $ ccwc -c test.txt
   342190 test.txt