Commands Reference, Volume 2

head Command

Purpose

Displays the first few lines or bytes of a file or files.

Syntax

head [ -Count | -c Number | -n Number ] [ File ... ]

The head command writes to standard output a specified number of lines or bytes of each of the specified files, or of the standard input. If no flag is specified with the head command, the first 10 lines are displayed by default. The File parameter specifies the names of the input files. An input file must be a text file. When more than one file is specified, the start of each file will look like the following:

==> filename <==

To display a set of short files, identifying each one, enter:

example% head -9999 filename1 filename2...

Flags

-Count	Specifies the number of lines from the beginning of each specified file to be displayed. The Count variable must be a positive decimal integer. This flag is equivalent to the -n Number flag, but should not be used if portability is a consideration.
-c Number	Specifies the number of bytes to display. The Number variable must be a positive decimal integer.
-n Number	Specifies the number of lines from the beginning of each specified file to be displayed. The number variable must be a positive decimal integer. This flag is equivalent to the -Count flag.

Exit Status

This command returns the following exit values:

0	Successful completion.
>0	An error occurred.

Examples

To display the first five lines of the Test file, enter:

head -5 Test

head -n 5 Test

Related Information

The tail command.

Files Overview in AIX 5L Version 5.1 System User's Guide: Operating System and Devices.

Input and Output Redirection Overview in AIX 5L Version 5.1 System User's Guide: Operating System and Devices.