Cat Command
Display File Content with Cat
The cat command, short for concatenate, is a
fundamental utility in Unix-like operating systems used primarily to
display the contents of files on the standard output. It's
incredibly versatile and can be used for simple file viewing,
concatenating multiple files, or even creating new files.
Basic File Display
The most common use of the cat command is to display
the entire content of a single file. Simply type
cat followed by the filename.
cat <file>Display File Content with Line Numbers
To make it easier to reference specific lines within a file, you can
use the -n option with the cat command.
This will prepend each line of the output with its corresponding
line number.
cat -n <file>Display File Content Excluding Blank Lines
Sometimes, you might want to display file content while ignoring any
blank lines. The -b option achieves this by numbering
only non-empty output lines.
cat -b <file>Understanding Cat Command Options
The cat command offers several other useful options,
such as:
-
-s: Squeeze multiple adjacent blank lines into a single blank line. -E: Display a '$' at the end of each line.-T: Display TAB characters as '^I'.
By mastering these options, you can efficiently view and manipulate text files directly from your terminal.