What is Linux command to view file contents?

Viewing File Contents in Linux

In the Linux operating system, there are several commands you can use to view the contents of a file. The most commonly used command is cat, which stands for "concatenate". The cat command allows you to display the entire contents of a file in the terminal.

Here's how you can use the cat command to view the contents of a file:

cat filename.txt

Replace filename.txt with the name of the file you want to view.

Here's an example:

cat example.txt

This will display the entire contents of the example.txt file in the terminal.

Another useful command for viewing file contents is less. The less command allows you to view the contents of a file one page at a time, making it easier to navigate through larger files. Here's how you can use the less command:

less filename.txt

Once you're in the less viewer, you can use the following commands to navigate the file:

• Space bar: Scroll down one page
• b: Scroll up one page
• g: Go to the beginning of the file
• G: Go to the end of the file
• q: Quit the less viewer

You can also use the head and tail commands to view the first or last few lines of a file, respectively. Here's how you can use these commands:

head filename.txt
tail filename.txt

The head command will display the first 10 lines of the file, while the tail command will display the last 10 lines.

You can also use the more command, which is similar to less, but it doesn't allow you to scroll back up in the file.

Here's a Mermaid diagram that summarizes the different commands for viewing file contents in Linux:

In summary, the cat, less, head, tail, and more commands are all useful for viewing the contents of files in the Linux operating system. Each command has its own unique features and use cases, so it's important to understand when to use each one.