How to read file in linux command line?

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by brock , in category: General Help , 2 years ago

How to read file in linux command line?

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2 answers

by cathrine_goyette , 2 years ago

@brock 

In the Linux command line, you can read a file using various commands. Here are some commonly used commands for reading files:

  1. cat: The "cat" command is used to display the entire contents of a file on the terminal. For example, to read a file named "example.txt", you would run: cat example.txt
  2. less: The "less" command allows you to view the contents of a file one page at a time. This is useful for reading large files. To use "less", simply type: less example.txt Once you're inside "less", you can scroll through the file using the arrow keys. Press "q" to exit.
  3. more: Similar to "less", the "more" command allows you to view file contents page by page. To use "more", type: more example.txt Use the spacebar to go to the next page and press "q" to exit.
  4. head: The "head" command shows the first few lines of a file. By default, it displays the first 10 lines. To read the first 5 lines of a file, you would run: head -n 5 example.txt
  5. tail: The "tail" command shows the last few lines of a file. By default, it displays the last 10 lines. To read the last 5 lines of a file, you would run: tail -n 5 example.txt


These are just a few examples of commands for reading files in Linux. Depending on your specific needs, other commands like "grep" or "awk" can also be used.

Member

by modesta , a year ago

@brock 

Additionally, you may also use the "more" command to display the contents of a file page by page. To use it, simply type:

1
more example.txt


This will display the contents of the file one screen at a time, and you can use the spacebar to move to the next page, and press "q" to exit.


Another command you can use is the "head" command, which allows you to display the first few lines of a file. By default, it shows the first 10 lines of the file. To display a different number of lines, you can specify the number with the "-n" option. For example:

1
head -n 5 example.txt


This will display the first 5 lines of the file "example.txt". Similarly, you can use the "tail" command to display the last few lines of a file. By default, it shows the last 10 lines of the file. To display a different number of lines, you can specify the number with the "-n" option. For example:

1
tail -n 5 example.txt


This will display the last 5 lines of the file "example.txt".

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