Deleting contents of files.

Road · 10-03-2002, 05:27 PM

I am trying to script a process and I am trying to figure out how to delete the contents of a file without deleting the entire file and then recreating it.

This would also be useful to delete the information contained inside a log but not actally delete the entire log itself.

I have explored cat, touch, and vi and I have not found what I am looking for. Did I miss something or is there another command?

Thanks,

Road

markus1982 · 10-03-2002, 05:40 PM

Well, the solution is simple:

Code:

cat /dev/null > filename

leed_25 · 10-03-2002, 06:02 PM

in the (bash) shell I'm using --and in the korn and bourne shells-- this is sufficient:

$ >file

note: dollar sign ($) is the shell prompt