.\" DO NOT MODIFY THIS FILE!  It was generated by help2man 1.49.2.
.TH ZCAT "1" "January 2024" "zutils 1.13" "User Commands"
.SH NAME
zcat \- decompress and concatenate files to standard output
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B zcat
[\fI\,options\/\fR] [\fI\,files\/\fR]
.SH DESCRIPTION
zcat copies each file argument to standard output in sequence. If any
file given is compressed, its decompressed content is copied. If a file
given does not exist, and its name does not end with one of the known
extensions, zcat tries the compressed file names corresponding to the
formats supported until one is found. If a file fails to decompress, zcat
continues copying the rest of the files.
.PP
If a file is specified as '\-', data are read from standard input,
decompressed if needed, and sent to standard output. Data read from
standard input must be of the same type; all uncompressed or all in the
same compressed format.
.PP
If no files are specified, recursive searches examine the current
working directory, and nonrecursive searches read standard input.
.PP
The formats supported are bzip2, gzip, lzip, xz, and zstd.
.PP
Exit status is 0 if no errors occurred, 1 otherwise.
.SH OPTIONS
.TP
\fB\-h\fR, \fB\-\-help\fR
display this help and exit
.TP
\fB\-V\fR, \fB\-\-version\fR
output version information and exit
.TP
\fB\-A\fR, \fB\-\-show\-all\fR
equivalent to '\-vET'
.TP
\fB\-b\fR, \fB\-\-number\-nonblank\fR
number nonblank output lines
.TP
\fB\-e\fR
equivalent to '\-vE'
.TP
\fB\-E\fR, \fB\-\-show\-ends\fR
display '$' at end of each line
.TP
\fB\-M\fR, \fB\-\-format=\fR<list>
process only the formats in <list>
.TP
\fB\-n\fR, \fB\-\-number\fR
number all output lines
.TP
\fB\-N\fR, \fB\-\-no\-rcfile\fR
don't read runtime configuration file
.TP
\fB\-O\fR, \fB\-\-force\-format=\fR<fmt>
force the input format
.TP
\fB\-q\fR, \fB\-\-quiet\fR
suppress all messages
.TP
\fB\-r\fR, \fB\-\-recursive\fR
operate recursively on directories
.TP
\fB\-R\fR, \fB\-\-dereference\-recursive\fR
recursively follow symbolic links
.TP
\fB\-s\fR, \fB\-\-squeeze\-blank\fR
never more than one single blank line
.TP
\fB\-t\fR
equivalent to '\-vT'
.TP
\fB\-T\fR, \fB\-\-show\-tabs\fR
display TAB characters as '^I'
.TP
\fB\-v\fR, \fB\-\-show\-nonprinting\fR
use '^' and 'M\-' notation, except for LF and TAB
.TP
\fB\-\-verbose\fR
verbose mode (show error messages)
.TP
\fB\-\-bz2=\fR<command>
set compressor and options for bzip2 format
.TP
\fB\-\-gz=\fR<command>
set compressor and options for gzip format
.TP
\fB\-\-lz=\fR<command>
set compressor and options for lzip format
.TP
\fB\-\-xz=\fR<command>
set compressor and options for xz format
.TP
\fB\-\-zst=\fR<command>
set compressor and options for zstd format
.PP
Valid formats for options '\-M' and '\-O' are 'bz2', 'gz', 'lz', 'xz', 'zst',
and 'un' for uncompressed.
.SH "REPORTING BUGS"
Report bugs to zutils\-bug@nongnu.org
.br
Zutils home page: http://www.nongnu.org/zutils/zutils.html
.SH COPYRIGHT
Copyright \(co 2024 Antonio Diaz Diaz.
License GPLv2+: GNU GPL version 2 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>
.br
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
The full documentation for
.B zcat
is maintained as a Texinfo manual.  If the
.B info
and
.B zcat
programs are properly installed at your site, the command
.IP
.B info zutils
.PP
should give you access to the complete manual.