Displaying file contents with cat
Instead of using more to display files, you can use cat (as in "concatenate"), which displays files but does not pause so you can read the information. Instead, it displays the file or files—which whizzzz by onscreen—and leaves you looking at the last several lines of the file (Code Listing 1.8).
The cat command also lets you redirect one or more files, offering a function that some versions of more do not.
To display file contents with cat:
Code Listing 1.8. With cat, long files whir by, and all you'll see is the bottom of the file. You can also redirect cat output to a file, as shown at the end of the listing.
$ cat newest.programs ... xtermdos xvminitoppm xwdtopnm xxd yacc ybmtopbm yes yuvsplittoppm yuvtoppm zcmp zdiff zeisstopnm zforce zgrep zip zipcloak zipgrep zipinfo zipnote zipsplit zless zmore znew $ cat newer.programs newest.programs > all.programs $ |
Tip
If you inadvertently use cat with a binary file, you might end up with a whole screen of garbage. On some systems, you might try stty sane to fix it—more on this in Fixing terminal settings with stty in Chapter 3.
Tip
You can also view file contents using the more command. See the previous section, Viewing file contents with more , for details.
| Directory | Contents |
|---|---|
| /bin | Essential programs and commands for use by all users |
| /etc | System configuration files and global settings |
| /home | Home directories for users |
| /sbin | Programs and commands needed for system boot |
| /tmp | Temporary files |
| /usr/bin | Commands and programs that are less central to basic UNIX system functionality than those in /bin but were installed with the system |
| /usr/local | Most files and data that were developed or customized on the system |
| /usr/local/bin | Locally developed or installed programs |
| /usr/local/man | Manual (help) pages for local programs |
| /usr/share/man | Manual (help) pages |
| /var | Changeable data, including system logs, temporary data from programs, and user mail storage |