Display the contents of a file (concatenate)
SYNTAX
cat [Options] [File]…
Concatenate FILE(s), or standard input, to standard output.
-A, –show-all equivalent to -vET
-b, –number-nonblank number nonblank output lines
-e equivalent to -vE
-E, –show-ends display $ at end of each line
-n, –number number all output lines
-s, –squeeze-blank never more than one single blank line
-t equivalent to -vT
-T, –show-tabs display TAB characters as ^I
-u (ignored)
-v, –show-nonprinting use ^ and M- notation, except for LFD and TAB
–help display this help and exit
–version output version information and exit
With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input.Examples:
Display a file
$ cat myfile
Concatenate two files:
$ cat file1 file2 >> file3.dat
Put the contents of a file into a variable
$my_variable=&qt;cat $myfile.txt&qt;