seq

Print numbers from a starting number to an ending number with a specified increment.

Description

The seq command is used to generate all integers (or numbers) between one number and another.

Syntax

seq [options]... last
seq [options]... first last
seq [options]... first increment last

Options

-f, --format=FORMAT      Use a printf-style floating-point format.
-s, --separator=STRING   Use the specified string to separate numbers (default: \n).
-w, --equal-width        Pad with leading zeros to make all numbers the same width.

Examples

-f option: Specify format

# seq -f"%3g" 9 11
  9
 10
 11

Specified with % followed by the number of digits. The default is %g. With %3g, the part where the number of digits is insufficient is padded with spaces.

# seq -f"%03g" 9 11
009
010
011
# seq -f"str%03g" 9 11
str009
str010
str011

In this case, the part where the number of digits is insufficient is padded with 0. A string can be specified before %.

-w option: Specify equal width for output numbers

seq -w 98 101
098
099
100
101

Cannot be used with -f; the output is equal-width.

-s option: Specify separator (default is newline)

seq -s" " -f"str%03g" 9 11
str009 str010 str011

To specify \t as the separator:

seq -s"`echo -e "\t"`" 9 11

Specifying \n as the separator:

seq -s"`echo -e "\n"`" 9 11
19293949596979899910911

This yields an incorrect result. Generally, there is no need for this as it defaults to a newline as the separator.