Cat command in bash

mgarciagarcia1982 · 02-17-2011, 05:22 PM

Hello,

how can I set the cat command to read specified lines of a text file,

like if I have a text file with 100 lines, who can I say cat only line 23 to 42?

jcalzare · 02-17-2011, 05:46 PM

You want to use sed.

This prints line 23:
sed -n '23p' file.txt

This prints a range, including lines 23 and 42:
sed -n '23,42p' file.txt

kurumi · 02-17-2011, 07:52 PM

Code:

$ ruby -ne 'print if $.>=23 && $.<=42' file

someshpr · 02-17-2011, 11:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mgarciagarcia1982

Hello,

how can I set the cat command to read specified lines of a text file,

like if I have a text file with 100 lines, who can I say cat only line 23 to 42?

Another non-elegant way would be:

Code:

head -n 42 your-file | tail -n 20

to get 20 lines before and including 42, i.e., 23-42.