I have a question - beginning user, just learning unix.

I have a file that name starts with a hypen -, such as a name like :

-myfile (yes, I know shold not start files names like this, but this is the question I have to figure out, and its driving me nuts)

I know that this hyphen is like a special character.. right ? So how do I cat or more this file to see its contents when it is named like this ?

I've tried commenting the hyphen, such as :

cat '-'myfile and I have tried cat \-myfile with no success.

Advice appreciated.

::email removed::

so you said that this is a question you have to figure out.... a HOMEWORK question? this is not allowed here! \-myfile...it looks like you tried to escape the '-'. your on the right track, why dont you try one more time.


/ EOF

Hey,

You need to let cat know that you aren't trying to feed it a flag. This can be done by using --

$ cat -- \-filename

Cheers,
Keith

Thanks for the help on this. I finally found ( or stumbled across) the answer by looking in the "man rm" , where it says that following the rm command with the "--" means it treats what follows that as a filename, allowing the filename to start with the hyphen.

Is the hyphen a "special character " ? I don't see it listed as such in the lists of special characters.....???

Not a special character per say, but it is what is used to identify option flags at the CLI. -- is used to denote an end of all option flags. Congrats on having found the answer yourself before hand. I have always found great satisfaction in problem solving and creative thinking. UNIX and other such appendages provide a good playground for such activities.

Cheers,
Keith

Hi,

You can do cat ./-myfile as well.

hehe i guess no one caught onto my hint...