Content-type: text/html Man page of head

head

Section: User Commands (1)
Index Return to Main Contents
 

NAME

head - Displays the beginning of files  

SYNOPSIS


 

Current Syntax

head [-c bytes] [-n lines] [file...]


 

Obsolescent Syntax

head [-lines] [file...]


 

STANDARDS

Interfaces documented on this reference page conform to industry standards as follows:

head:  XPG4, XPG4-UNIX

Refer to the standards(5) reference page for more information about industry standards and associated tags.
 

OPTIONS

The default count is 10. [Compaq]  Specifies the number of bytes to display. If the last byte written is not a newline character, a newline character is appended to the output. Specifies the number of lines to display Works exactly as -n lines. Obsolescent.
 

OPERANDS

Path name of the input file. If you do not specify a file, head reads standard input.
 

DESCRIPTION

The head command copies the standard input to standard output, ending output of each file at the specified point.
 

NOTES

The obsolescent form is subject to withdrawal at any time.
 

EXIT STATUS

The following exit values are returned: Successful completion. An error occurred.
 

EXAMPLES

To display the first 5 lines of a file called test, enter: head -n 5 test To display the first ten lines of all files (except those with a name beginning with a period), enter: head *


 

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

The following environment variables affect the execution of head: Provides a default value for the internationalization variables that are unset or null. If LANG is unset or null, the corresponding value from the default locale is used. If any of the internationalization variables contain an invalid setting, the utility behaves as if none of the variables had been defined. If set to a non-empty string value, overrides the values of all the other internationalization variables. Determines the locale for the interpretation of sequences of bytes of text data as characters (for example, single-byte as opposed to multibyte characters in arguments and input files). Determines the locale for the format and contents of diagnostic messages written to standard error. Determines the location of message catalogues for the processing of LC_MESSAGES.
 

SEE ALSO

Commands:  cat(1), more(1), pg(1), sed(1), tail(1)

Standards:  standards(5)


 

Index

NAME
SYNOPSIS
Current Syntax
Obsolescent Syntax
STANDARDS
OPTIONS
OPERANDS
DESCRIPTION
NOTES
EXIT STATUS
EXAMPLES
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
SEE ALSO

This document was created by man2html, using the manual pages.
Time: 02:42:55 GMT, October 02, 2010