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head(1)
NAME
  head - Displays the beginning of files

SYNOPSIS
  Current Syntax

  head [-c bytes] [-n lines] [file...]

  Obsolescent Syntax

  head [-lines] [file...]

STANDARDS
  Interfaces documented on this reference page conform to industry standards
  as follows:

  head:	 XCU5.0

  Refer to the standards(5) reference page for more information about
  industry standards and associated tags.

OPTIONS
  The default count is 10.

  -c bytes
      [Tru64 UNIX]  Specifies the number of bytes to display. If the last
      byte written is not a newline character, a newline character is
      appended to the output.

  -n lines
      Specifies the number of lines to display

  -lines
      Works exactly as -n lines.  Obsolescent.

OPERANDS
  file
      Path name of the input file. If you do not specify a file, head reads
      standard input.

DESCRIPTION
  The head command copies the standard input to standard output, ending
  output of each file at the specified point.

NOTES
  The obsolescent form is subject to withdrawal at any time.

EXIT STATUS
  The following exit values are returned:

  0   Successful completion.

  >0  An error occurred.

EXAMPLES
   1.  To display the first 5 lines of a file called test, enter:
	    head -n 5 test

   2.  To display the first ten lines of all files (except those with a name
       beginning with a period), enter:
	    head *

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
  The following environment variables affect the execution of head:

  LANG
      Provides a default value for the internationalization variables that
      are unset or null. If LANG is unset or null, the corresponding value
      from the default locale is used.	If any of the internationalization
      variables contain an invalid setting, the utility behaves as if none of
      the variables had been defined.

  LC_ALL
      If set to a non-empty string value, overrides the values of all the
      other internationalization variables.

  LC_CTYPE
      Determines the locale for the interpretation of sequences of bytes of
      text data as characters (for example, single-byte as opposed to
      multibyte characters in arguments and input files).

  LC_MESSAGES
      Determines the locale for the format and contents of diagnostic
      messages written to standard error.

  NLSPATH
      Determines the location of message catalogues for the processing of
      LC_MESSAGES.

SEE ALSO
  Commands:  cat(1), more(1), pg(1), sed(1), tail(1)

  Standards:  standards(5)

Index for Section 1

Alphabetical listing for H

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