control vi using shell scripts

i need a shell script to add the line numbers to a text file. i know how to add the line numbers using vi ( Esc :set number ), but is there a way to control vi from my shell script?

if not, how would i go about adding line numbers?

If installed you can use nl

nl --body-numbering=a <text.file>

Example:

$ cat blaat
#!/bin/sh

ls -al
$ nl --body-numbering=a blaat
1 #!/bin/sh
2
3 ls -al

You can also use sed, i.e.

sed = filename | sed 'N;s/\n/ /'

- F