sum - macOS
Overview
The sum command calculates the sum of values specified via standard input or arguments. It’s commonly used for performing simple addition operations and processing numeric data in scripts and pipelines.
Syntax
sum [options] [--] [numbers...]
Options/Flags
- -h, –help: Display help and usage information.
- -sSEP, –sum-separator=SEP: Specify a custom separator to use when parsing multiple numbers from input. Defaults to the space character.
Examples
Simple addition:
echo 10 5 2 | sum
# Output: 17
Using a custom separator:
echo "5,2,3,1" | sum -s,
# Output: 11
Complex usage:
grep -Eo '[0-9]+' file.txt | sum
# Sum all numbers extracted from file.txt
Common Issues
- Invalid input: Ensure that the input contains valid numeric characters.
Integration
sum can be combined with other commands to perform advanced tasks:
- Average calculation:
cat numbers.txt | sum | bc -l / $(wc -l numbers.txt)