UNIX® Shells by Example, Third Edition

cat—concatenates and displays files

cat [ –bnsuvet ] filename...

cat reads each filename in sequence and writes it on the standard output. If no input file is given, or if the argument – is encountered, cat reads from the standard input file.

Example A.7.

1 cat /etc/passwd 2 cat -n file1 file2 >> file3

EXPLANATION Displays the contents of the /etc/passwd file. Concatenates file1 and file2 and appends output to file3. The –n switch causes each line to be numbered.