NAME

head − output the first part of files

SYNOPSIS

head [−c N[bkm]] [−n N] [−qv] [−−bytes=N[bkm]] [−−lines=N] [−−quiet] [−−silent] [−−verbose] [−−help] [−−version] [file...]
 
head [−Nbcklmqv] [file...]

DESCRIPTION

This manual page documents the GNU version of head.  head prints the first part (10 lines by default) of each given file; it reads from standard input if no files are given or when a filename of ‘−’ is encountered.  If more than one file is given, it prints a header consisting of the file’s name enclosed in ‘==>’ and ‘<==’ before the output for each file. 

OPTIONS

head accepts two option formats: the new one, in which numbers are arguments to the option letters, and the old one, in which the number precedes any option letters. 

−c N, −−bytes N
Print first N bytes.  N is a nonzero integer, optionally followed by one of the following characters to specify a different unit.

b512-byte blocks. 

k1-kilobyte blocks. 

m1-megabyte blocks. 

−l, −n N, −−lines N
Print first N lines.

−q, −−quiet, −−silent
Never print filename headers.

−v, −−verbose
Always print filename headers.

−−help
Print a usage message and exit with a non-zero status.

−−version
Print version information on standard output then exit.