Linux mtype Command with Practical Examples

Introduction

In this lab, we will explore the Linux mtype command, which is used to display the contents of a file in a readable format. The mtype command is particularly useful for viewing files with special characters or formatting, such as binary files or files with non-ASCII characters. We will start by understanding the basic usage of the mtype command, and then explore the various options available to customize its behavior, including displaying binary data in octal, showing control characters, and using form feeds instead of newlines.

Linux Commands Cheat Sheet

Skills Graph

Understand the mtype Command

In this step, we will explore the Linux mtype command, which is used to display the contents of a file in a specific format. The mtype command is particularly useful for viewing files with special characters or formatting, such as binary files or files with non-ASCII characters.

First, let's check the version of the mtype command installed on our system:

mtype --version

Example output:

mtype (GNU sharutils) 4.15.2
Copyright (C) 2018 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

Written by Francois Pinard.

The mtype command is part of the GNU sharutils package, which provides a set of utilities for handling archives and special files.

Next, let's explore the basic usage of the mtype command:

mtype file.txt

This will display the contents of the file.txt file in a readable format, even if the file contains special characters or non-ASCII text.

You can also use the mtype command to display the contents of a binary file:

mtype binary_file.dat

The mtype command will attempt to display the contents of the binary file in a human-readable format, making it easier to understand the file's structure and contents.

Explore mtype Command Options

In this step, we will explore the various options available with the mtype command to customize its behavior.

Let's start by checking the available options:

mtype --help

Example output:

Usage: mtype [OPTION]... [FILE]...
Display contents of FILE(s) in a readable format.

  -b, --binary            output binary data in octal
  -c, --show-control-chars
                          display control characters
  -d, --dump              output a hex+ASCII dump
  -f, --form-feed         use form feeds instead of newlines
  -h, --help              display this help and exit
  -l, --length=BYTES      limit dump to BYTES bytes per line
  -n, --lines=NUMBER      output the first NUMBER lines only
  -o, --output=FILE       write output to FILE instead of stdout
  -r, --raw               output raw, binary data
  -s, --squeeze-blank     suppress repeated empty output lines
  -t, --tabs              show tabs as ^I
  -u, --unbuffered        use unbuffered I/O
  -v, --version           output version information and exit

If no FILE is given, or if FILE is -, read standard input.

The most commonly used options are:

• -b, --binary: Display binary data in octal format
• -c, --show-control-chars: Display control characters
• -d, --dump: Output a hex+ASCII dump of the file
• -l, --length=BYTES: Limit the dump to a specific number of bytes per line
• -n, --lines=NUMBER: Output the first NUMBER lines only
• -r, --raw: Output the raw, binary data

Let's try some examples:

## Display a binary file in octal format
mtype -b binary_file.dat

## Display a file with control characters
mtype -c control_chars.txt

## Output a hex+ASCII dump of a file
mtype -d hex_dump.bin

Remember, the mtype command is designed to handle files with special characters or formatting, making it a useful tool for exploring the contents of various types of files.

Practical Examples of mtype Command Usage

In this final step, we will explore some practical examples of using the mtype command to handle different types of files.

First, let's create a file with some non-ASCII characters:

echo -e "Hello, Wörld!\nこんにちは世界!" > non_ascii.txt

Now, let's use the mtype command to display the contents of this file:

mtype non_ascii.txt

Example output:

Hello, Wörld!
こんにちは世界!

As you can see, the mtype command is able to properly display the non-ASCII characters in the file.

Next, let's create a binary file and use mtype to explore its contents:

dd if=/dev/urandom of=binary_file.dat bs=1024 count=10
mtype binary_file.dat

Example output:

\200\200\200\200\200\200\200\200\200\200
\200\200\200\200\200\200\200\200\200\200
\200\200\200\200\200\200\200\200\200\200
\200\200\200\200\200\200\200\200\200\200
\200\200\200\200\200\200\200\200\200\200

The mtype command displays the binary data in a readable format, making it easier to understand the file's contents.

Finally, let's use the mtype command to view the first few lines of a large file:

head -n 5 large_file.txt | mtype

This will display the first 5 lines of the large_file.txt file using the mtype command, which can be useful when you need to quickly inspect the contents of a large file.

Summary

In this lab, we explored the Linux mtype command, which is used to display the contents of a file in a specific format. We learned that the mtype command is particularly useful for viewing files with special characters or formatting, such as binary files or files with non-ASCII characters. We also explored the various options available with the mtype command, including the ability to display binary data in octal, show control characters, and use form feeds instead of newlines.

The mtype command is part of the GNU sharutils package, which provides a set of utilities for handling archives and special files. We learned how to check the version of the mtype command installed on our system and how to use it to display the contents of both text and binary files in a readable format.

Linux Commands Cheat Sheet