freeCodeCamp/guide/english/bash/bash-cat/index.md

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Bash Cat

Bash Cat

Cat is one of the most frequently used commands in Unix operating systems.

Cat is used to read a file sequentially and print it to the standard output. The name is derived from its function to concatenate files.

Usage

cat [options] [file_names]

Most used options:

• -b, numer non-blank output lines
• -n, number all output lines
• -s, squeeze multiple adjacent blank lines
• -v, display nonprinting characters, except for tabs and the end of line character

Example

Print in terminal the content of file.txt:

cat file.txt

Concatenate the content of the two files and display the result in terminal:

cat file1.txt file2.txt

More Information:

• Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_(Unix)