Today I have brought a handy command for you, and that is the cat command.
‘cat‘ stands for “Concatenate“.
Whether you are a beginner or an expert in Linux, this is the most frequently used command for all.
**Key features of cat command
Create a FileConcatenate FilesCombine Binary filesDisplay contents of a Filecat command can be used in conjunction with other commands such as head, tail, more, less.Print FilesCan display useful system information such as CPU Information, Memory Information, etc.The cat command was launched in the Unix operating system and was written by Torbjorn Granlund and Richard M. Stallman.
In this article, I will teach you about the complete features of cat command.
We can use the following Redirection operators with cat command:
>
: Redirection of output>>
: Appends output to the specified file<
: Redirection of input|
: Pipe
Syntax:
You must follow the syntax given below to use the cat command.
cat [OPTION]... [FILE]...
1. Create a New file
To create a new file, you must combine the Redirection of output (>) operator with the cat.
Syntax:
~$ cat > [File Name]
Refer to the following example.
~$ cat > test.txt
After running the above command, it will allow you to type the text you want to store in the test.txt file.
After typing, press the CTRL + D (Hold the CTRL button and then press D) button on your keyword to save the file.
2. Display contents of a File
You can display the contents of a file using cat.
To do this type the following command.
~$ cat week.txt MondayTuesdayWedneswdayThursdayFridaySaturdaySunday
OR you can mention the path of the file.
~$ cat data/file1.txt root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bashdaemon:x:1:1:daemon:/usr/sbin:/usr/sbin/nologinbin:x:2:2:bin:/bin:/usr/sbin/nologinwhoopsie:x:112:117::/nonexistent:/bin/false
3. Display contents multiple Files
You can also display the contents of multiple files.
Here I have two files named months.txt and week.txt. Run the following command to display the contents of these files.
~$ cat months.txt week.txt JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecemberMondayTuesdayWedneswdayThursdayFridaySaturdaySunday
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