CAT(1)

NAME
cat - concatenate and print files

SYNOPSIS
cat [-benstuv] file ...

DESCRIPTION
The cat utility reads files sequentially, writing them to the standard output. The file operands are processed in command line order. A single dash represents the standard input.

  OPTIONS

-b  Implies the -n option but doesn't number blank lines.

-e  Implies the -v option, and displays a dollar sign ($) at the end of each line as well.

-n  Number the output lines, starting at 1.

-s  Squeeze multiple adjacent empty lines, causing the output to be single spaced.

-t  Implies the -v option, and displays tab characters as ^I as well.

-u  The -u option guarantees that the output is unbuffered.

-v  Displays non-printing characters so they are visible. Control characters print as ^X for control-X; the delete character (octal 0177) prints as ^? Non-ascii characters (with the high bit set) are printed as M- (for meta) followed by the character for the low 7 bits.

The cat utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.

WARNINGS
Because of the shell language mechanism used to perform output redirection, the command

    cat file1 file2 > file1

will cause the original data in file1 to be destroyed! Instead use

    cat file2 >> file1

ATTRIBUTIONS
This command was ported from FreeBSD source code for distribution with GNO/ME 2.0.6.

SEE ALSO
head(1), more(1), pr(1), tail(1), vis(1)