Cat command is used to concatenate files and to view the contents of files on the standard output in Linux. The following 15 examples can help you understand how to use Linux cat command.
Display a File Using cat
The cat command displays a file to the screen.
cat filenameCat Command with More & Less Options
cat filename|morecat filename|lessShow Line Numbers using Cat
For all the non-empty lines in a file use the following command:
cat -b filenameIf there are lines with no characters at all they won't be numbered. To show numbers for all the lines regardless as to whether they are blank, type the following command:
cat -n filenameDisplay non-printing characters using Cat
cat -e filenameReducing Blank Lines with Cat
When you show the contents of a file using the cat command you probably don't want to see when there are loads of consecutive blank lines. Use the -s switch to condense all blank lines into a single blank line:
cat -s filenameCopy the contents of one file to another
cat filename > filename-newAppending the contents of one file to another
cat filename >> filename-newView the contents of many files with Cat
cat filename1 filename2 filename3Redirecting the output of multiple files into a single file
cat filename1 filename2 filename3 > filename-newSorting Contents of Multiple Files in a Single File
cat filename1 filename2 filename3|sort > filename-new