You display first lines of a file using head command.
Syntax
The syntax is:
Tutorial details | |
---|---|
Difficulty | Easy (rss) |
Root privileges | No |
Requirements | None |
Time | 1m |
head filename
OR
head -1 filename
Example: Displaying the first line
Open the Terminal application and type the following command:
$ head -1 foo.txt
The following example will show first 3 lines from /etc/passwd file:
$ head -3 /etc/passwd
Sample outputs:
root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash bin:x:1:1:bin:/bin:/sbin/nologin daemon:x:2:2:daemon:/sbin:/sbin/nologin
To print first 3 lines and number lines of files use nl command as follows:
$ head -3 /etc/passwd | nl
Sample outputs:
1 root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash 2 bin:x:1:1:bin:/bin:/sbin/nologin 3 daemon:x:2:2:daemon:/sbin:/sbin/nologin
A note about sed command
You can use sed command as follows:
$ sed -n 1p foo.txt
For more information see man pages: nl(1).
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