Linux/Unix: Cat Command Display Line Numbers

To display line numbers when using the cat command in Linux or Unix, you can use the -n option.

Here is the basic syntax for using the cat command with the -n option:

cat -n file

This will display the contents of file with line numbers added to the beginning of each line.

For example, to display the contents of the file test.txt with line numbers, you can use the following command:

cat -n test.txt

This will output the contents of test.txt with line numbers, like this:

1  This is the first line of the file.
     2  This is the second line of the file.
     3  This is the third line of the file.

You can also use the -b option to display line numbers for non-empty lines only, like this:

cat -b file

For more information on using the cat command and its options, you can consult the cat manual or seek guidance from the Linux or Unix community.