NAME

       cat, read, nobs - catenate files

SYNOPSIS

       cat [ file ...  ]
       read [ -m ] [ -n nline ] [ file ...  ]
       nobs [ file ...  ]

DESCRIPTION

       Cat reads each file in sequence and writes it on the standard output.  Thus

              cat file

       prints a file and

              cat file1 file2 >file3

       concatenates the first two files and places the result on the third.

       If  no  file  is  given,  cat reads from the standard input.  Output is buffered in blocks
       matching the input.

       Read copies to standard output exactly one line from  the  named  file,  default  standard
       input.  It is useful in interactive rc(1) scripts.

       The -m flag causes it to continue reading and writing multiple lines until end of file; -n
       causes it to read no more than nline lines.

       Read always executes a single write for each line of input,  which  can  be  helpful  when
       preparing input to programs that expect line-at-a-time data.  It never reads any more data
       from the input than it prints to the output.

       Nobs copies the named files to standard  output  except  that  it  removes  all  backspace
       characters  and  the characters that precede them.  It is useful to use as $PAGER with the
       Unix version of man(1) when run inside a win (see acme(1)) window.

SOURCE

       /src/cmd/cat.c
       /src/cmd/read.c
       /bin/nobs

SEE ALSO

       cp(1)

DIAGNOSTICS

       Read exits with status eof on end of file or, in the -n case, if it  doesn't  read  nlines
       lines.

BUGS

       Beware of and which destroy input files before reading them.

                                                                                      CAT(1plan9)