How to Read A Specific Line From A File In Linux?

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To read a specific line from a file in Linux, you can use various commands and techniques. Here's a textual explanation of the process:

  1. Using the sed command: Open the Terminal and navigate to the directory where your file is located. To read a specific line, run the following command: sed -n 'Xp' filename, where X is the line number and filename is the name of your file. Replace X with the line number you want to view. The output will display that specific line.
  2. Using the head and tail commands: Open the Terminal and navigate to the directory where your file is located. To read a specific line, run the following command: head -n X filename | tail -n 1, where X is the line number and filename is the name of your file. Replace X with the line number you want to view. The output will display that specific line.
  3. Using the awk command: Open the Terminal and navigate to the directory where your file is located. To read a specific line, run the following command: awk 'NR==X' filename, where X is the line number and filename is the name of your file. Replace X with the line number you want to view. The output will display that specific line.


Each of these methods allows you to read a specific line from a file in Linux. Choose the method that best suits your requirements and preferences.

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What is the command to extract a range of lines from a file in Linux?

The command to extract a range of lines from a file in Linux is called sed (stream editor). Here's an example command to extract lines 5 to 10 from a file called "file.txt":

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sed -n '5,10p' file.txt


Explanation:

  • sed is the command to invoke the stream editor.
  • -n flag tells sed not to print lines by default.
  • '5,10p' is the expression within single quotes that specifies the range of lines to print.
  • file.txt is the name of the file from which to extract the lines.


How to read a particular line number from a file in Linux?

To read a particular line number from a file in Linux, you can use the sed command along with the line number parameter.


The syntax is as follows:

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sed -n '<line number>p' <filename>


For example, let's say you want to read line number 5 from a file called "example.txt". You can run the following command:

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sed -n '5p' example.txt


This will display only line number 5 from the file. If you need to read a different line number, simply replace 5 with the desired line number.


Note that line numbers start from 1, so the first line is 1, the second line is 2, and so on.


How to read line by line from a file until a certain line in Linux?

To read line by line from a file until a certain line in Linux, you can use the head command along with a pipeline. Here's an example:

1
head -n END_LINE_NUMBER file_name


Replace END_LINE_NUMBER with the line number until which you want to read the file, and file_name with the name of the file you want to read.


For example, if you want to read a file called example.txt until line 5, you can use the following command:

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head -n 5 example.txt


This will display the first 5 lines of the example.txt file.

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