Linux Commands

File Handling

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Topics
head
tail
link
tar
gzip and gunzip
touch
diff
head command
Displays the first ten lines of a file, unless otherwise stated.
Syntax:
head [-number | -n number] filename




Example:
head -15 myfile.txt
It displays the first 15 lines of myfile.txt .


-number
Number of lines to display
-n number Number of lines to display
filename Desired filename
tail command
Displays the last ten lines of a file, unless otherwise stated.
Syntax:
tail [-n number] [-l] [-b] [-c] [-r] [-f] [file]






-n number
Number of lines to display
-l Units of lines.
-b Units of blocks.
-c Units of bytes.
-r Copies lines from the specified starting
point in the file in reverse order.
-f Displays the last 10 lines and then update
the file as new lines are being added.
filename Desired filename
link command
Creates a link to the file or directory.
Syntax:
ln [-f] [-n] [-s] [-i] source destination





-f
Forced to create a link.
-n
Does not overwrite existing
files.
-s Creates a Symbolic link.
source Desired filename
destination Destination filename
Example:
ln s f1 home/myfiles/f2

Creates a symbolic link between file f1 to file f3 of myfiles directory.

Represented as

View the Link using :
ls l
Remove the link using rm command.
rm r f1.
tar command
Used to group set of files in to ma single file. It is called Archive
file.
Syntax:
tar [-c] [-t or -v] [-x] [-f] filename archivefilename





It has .tar extension.
-c
Creates an archive file.
-t or -v
Lists archive file content.
-x Extract or de archive an archive file.
filename File to be archived
archivefilename New name for archive file.
Examples:
1. Create an archive file

tar vcf dir1 myarc.tar
It creates archive file myarc.tar which has all files of directory dir1.

2. Dearchive an archive file

tar xvf myarc.tar
All files in dir1 are no more grouped, they are separated.
gzip and gunzip
Used to compress and decompress the file respectively.
Syntax:
gzip [-f][-d] filename.
gunzip [-f] compressedfilename.





It is with .gz extension.

-f
Compress forcibly.
-d
Decompress the compressed file.
filename File to be compressed.
Examples:
1. Compress the file.

gzip f f1.
Compresses the file f1 and is represented as f1.gz.

2. Decompress the compressed file.

gzip d f1.gz or gunzip f f1.gz
File f1.gz is decompressed to file f1.




touch command
Used to change the timestamp of a file. It is also used to
create multiple files at one shot.

Syntax:
touch t [-a][-m] [-r reference-file] filename





a To change access time
m To change modified time
-r Refer the timestamp of another file
filename Required filename
Use Stat command to know the Timestamp.
$ stat f1.c
(sample output)
Access: 2010-11-01 20:35:58.000000000 +0530
Modify: 2010-11-01 20:35:58.000000000 +0530
Change: 2010-11-01 20:35:58.000000000 +0530


Format for touch -t is : [YY]MMDDhhmm[.ss]


Examples:

1. Create multiple files at once.
$ touch file1.txt file2.txt file3.txt

2. Change the access time of a file.
$ touch t -a 08210820 file1.txt

Access: 2010-06-15 13:30:00.000000000 +0530
Modify: 2010-08-21 08:20:00.000000000 +0530
Change: 2010-11-01 20:45:05.000000000 +0530


Same way we can change the modified time of a file using -m along with
-t


4. Refer the timestamp of another file than the current time.

$touch -r file4 file5
file 5 uses the timestamp of file4.


diff command
It is used to find differences between two files.
Syntax:
diff [options] file1 file2

Options:


a Treats all files as text and compare
them line-by-line.
y Use the side by side output format.
w Ignore white space/blank space
when comparing lines.
i Ignores Case.

Let us have two files, file1.txt and file2.txt as follows:








file1.txt file2.txt
LINUX TEST
goodmorning
with great thoughts
Lead india
LINUX TEST
GOODMORNING
with great thoughts
Examples:
1. Compare the files side by side, ignoring white space.
diff -by file1.txt file2.txt
LINUX TEST LINUX TEST
hscripts.com | HSCRIPTS.com
with great thoughts with great thoughts
Lead India <

2. Compare the files side by side, ignoring Case.
diff -iy file1.txt file2.txt
LINUX TEST LINUX TEST
hscripts.com HSCRIPTS.com
with great thoughts | with great thoughts
Lead India <

Thankyou