cat—concatenates and displays files

cat [-benstuvAET] [--number] [--number-nonblank]
    [--squeeze-blank] [--show-nonprinting] [--show-ends]
    [--show-tabs] [--show-all] [--help] [--version] [file…]

cat reads each filename in sequence and writes it on the standard output. If no input file is given, or if the "-" argument is encountered, cat reads from the standard input file. Use the --help option to see a short description of all of the options to the cat command.

Example A.9. 
1   cat /etc/passwd
2   cat -n file1 file2 >> file3
3   cat -T datafile
4   cat -b datafile

Explanation

  1. Displays the contents of the /etc/passwd file.

  2. Concatenates file1 and file2 and appends output to file3. The -n switch causes each line to be numbered.

  3. Displays tabs as ^I. ...

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