How to Display the Contents Of A File In Linux?

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To display the contents of a file in Linux, you can use the following commands:

  1. Using cat command: The cat command can be used to display the contents of a file in the terminal. Simply type cat followed by the file name and press Enter. For example: cat filename.txt
  2. Using more command: The more command allows you to view the contents of a file page by page. This is useful when dealing with long files. Enter more followed by the file name and press Enter. You can scroll through the file using the spacebar or arrow keys. Press q to exit. For example: more filename.txt
  3. Using less command: The less command is similar to the more command but provides more advanced features. It also allows backward scrolling and searching within the file. Enter less followed by the file name and press Enter. Scroll using the spacebar or arrow keys, and press q to exit. For example: less filename.txt
  4. Using head command: The head command displays the first few lines of a file. By default, it shows the first 10 lines. You can also specify the number of lines you want to display. Type head -n followed by the number of lines and the file name. For example, to display the first 5 lines: head -n 5 filename.txt
  5. Using tail command: The tail command displays the last few lines of a file. Similar to the head command, it shows the last 10 lines by default but can display a specific number of lines. Type tail -n followed by the number of lines and the file name. For example, to display the last 5 lines: tail -n 5 filename.txt


These commands provide different ways to display the contents of a file in Linux, allowing you to choose the one that suits your needs best.

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How to count the number of lines in a file in Linux?

To count the number of lines in a file in Linux, you can use the wc command with the -l option. Here's the syntax:

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wc -l <filename>


Replace <filename> with the name of the file you want to count the lines of. For example, to count the lines in a file called "sample.txt", you would run the following command:

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wc -l sample.txt


The output will display the number of lines in the specified file.


What is the command to display the file contents in vertical columns in Linux?

In Linux, the column command can be used to display file contents in vertical columns. The basic syntax for using the column command is:

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column [options] [file]


For example, to display the contents of a file named example.txt in vertical columns, you can use the following command:

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column example.txt


This will display the contents of the file in a formatted output with vertical columns.


How to display the file contents sorted by file size in Linux?

In Linux, you can use the ls command along with the -lhS options to display the file contents sorted by file size.


Here's the command:

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ls -lhS


Explanation of the options:

  • -l: Displays the file details in a long format.
  • -h: Prints the file sizes in a human-readable format (e.g., KB, MB, GB).
  • -S: Sorts the files by size, in descending order.


After executing the above command in the terminal, you will get a list of files and directories in the current directory, sorted by their file sizes. The files with larger sizes will appear at the top.


What is the command to see the file content in Linux shell?

The command to see the file content in the Linux shell is "cat". You can use it as follows:


cat


Replace "" with the name of the file you want to view.


How can I list the contents of a file in Linux using the command line?

To list the contents of a file in Linux using the command line, you can use the command cat, less, head, or tail. Here are examples of each command:

  1. cat command: cat filename
  2. less command: less filename
  3. head command (to display the first few lines): head filename
  4. tail command (to display the last few lines): tail filename


Replace filename with the actual name of the file you want to list the contents of.


How can I display non-printable characters in a file using Linux commands?

You can use the cat command with the -v or -A option to display non-printable characters in a file.


Here is an example:

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cat -v file.txt


This will display the content of the file file.txt with non-printable characters represented as visible control characters.


Alternatively, you can also use the od command with the -c option to display the file content in octal format, where non-printable characters will be shown as backslash escapes.


Here is an example:

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od -c file.txt


This will display the content of the file file.txt with non-printable characters represented as octal values.

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