Text Manipulation Commands Explained

Key Concepts

• Viewing Text Files
• Searching Text Files
• Editing Text Files

Viewing Text Files

Viewing text files is essential for understanding their content. The cat command is commonly used to display the contents of a file. It reads the file and outputs its content to the terminal.

Imagine cat as a tool that opens a book and reads it aloud. For example, to view the contents of a file named "notes.txt", you would use the command cat notes.txt. This command prints the entire content of "notes.txt" to the terminal.

Searching Text Files

Searching text files helps in finding specific information quickly. The grep command is a powerful tool for searching text. It scans files for lines that match a pattern and displays those lines.

Think of grep as a highlighter in a book. For example, to find all lines containing the word "important" in "notes.txt", you would use the command grep "important" notes.txt. This command highlights and displays all lines that contain the word "important".

Editing Text Files

Editing text files is necessary for making changes or adding new content. The nano command is a simple text editor that allows you to open and edit files directly from the terminal.

Consider nano as a pen and paper for writing notes. For example, to edit a file named "notes.txt", you would use the command nano notes.txt. This command opens "notes.txt" in the nano editor, where you can make changes and save them by pressing Ctrl + O and exiting with Ctrl + X.