There are several Linux and Unix commands that you can use to view the contents of a file. Here are some common options:
cat
: The cat
command is a simple utility that displays the contents of a file on the screen. For example, to view the contents of the file file.txt
, you can use the following command:cat file.txt
This will display the contents of file.txt
on the screen.
less
: The less
command is a pager utility that allows you to view the contents of a file one page at a time. It is useful for viewing large files or files with long lines. For example, to view the contents of the file file.txt
using less
, you can use the following command:less file.txt
This will open file.txt
in less
and display the contents one page at a time. You can use the Up
and Down
arrow keys to scroll through the file, or type /
followed by a search term to search for a specific string in the file.
head
: The head
command displays the first few lines of a file. By default, it displays the first 10 lines, but you can specify a different number of lines using the -n
option. For example, to view the first 5 lines of the file file.txt
, you can use the following command:head -n 5 file.txt
This will display the first 5 lines of file.txt
on the screen.
tail
: The tail
command is similar to head
. It displays the last few lines of a file.tail -n 5 file.txt