Commands Reference, Volume 5

tee Command

Purpose

Displays the output of a program and copies it into a file.

Syntax

tee [  -a ] [  -i ] [ File ... ]

Description

The tee command reads standard input, then writes the output of a program to standard output and simultaneously copies it into the specified file or files.

Flags

Exit Status

This command returns the following exit values:

Note: If a write to any successfully opened File operand is not successful, writes to other successfully opened File operands and standard output will continue, but the exit value will be >0.

Examples

1. To view and save the output from a command at the same time:

   lint program.c | tee program.lint

   This displays the standard output of the command lint program.c at the workstation, and at the same time saves a copy of it in the file program.lint. If a file named program.lint already exists, it is deleted and replaced.

2. To view and save the output from a command to an existing file:
   lint program.c | tee  -a program.lint
   This displays the standard output of the lint program.c command at the workstation and at the same time appends a copy of it to the end of the program.lint file. If the program.lint file does not exist, it is created.

Files

Related Information

The script command.

Input and Output Redirection Overview in AIX 5L Version 5.2 System User's Guide: Operating System and Devices describes how the operating system processes input and output and how to use the redirect and pipe symbols.