feed-image  ISSN 1836-5930



Receive Your Complimentary Guide to Linux NOW!

A Newbie's Getting Started Guide to Linux

Linux from Scratch - Create Your Own Linux System - Free eBook

The GNU/Linux Advanced Administration

A Complete Beginner's Manual for Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx)




Poll

Do you care about your privacy when using a FACEBOOK?
 
linuxconfig.org
is hosted by:

Partner Linux Sites
TuxMachines
DebianAdmin
Monsterb
LinuxBloggers
AdamsInfo
LinuxScrew
FreeSoftwareLinux
All For Linux

head
Article Index
1. Name
2. Synopsis
3. Frequently used options
4. Examples

1. Name

head [man page] - output the first part of files

2. Synopsis

head [OPTION]... [FILE]...

3. Frequently used options

-c, --bytes=[-]N
      print the first N bytes of each  file;  with  the  leading  `-',
      print all but the last N bytes of each file
-n, --lines=[-]N
      print  the first N lines instead of the first 10; with the leading `-', 
      print all but the last N lines of each file

4. Examples

Command head will by default print first 10 lines of a file. Lets prove it by creating test file from /etc/services which contains line numbers. 
$ cat /etc/services | nl > /tmp/services.txt
head command - create test file
$ head /tmp/services.txt
head command - print first 10 lines of a file
with -n option we can instruct head command to print line numbers. 
$ head -n /tmp/services.txt
head command to print line numbers
make head command to print first 5 lines: 
$ head -5 /tmp/services.txt
head command to print first 5 lines
Same as with option -n with option -c we can print out number of bytes to the standard output. Lets do small test: 
$ wc -l -c services.txt
$ head -c 22173 /tmp/services.txt | wc -l
head command to print number of bytes