cat a file from end to beginning


 
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# 1  
Old 03-23-2001
Is there an option, for cat, head, tail, or is there any way, to display a file from last line to first? For example, my file
looks like this:

Code:
aaaa
bbbb
cccc
eeee

and I would like to print or display it like this:

Code:
eeee
cccc
bbbb
aaaa

thanks
# 2  
Old 03-23-2001
If file contains;
aaaa
bbbb
cccc
dddd


Then
Code:
sort -r file

will output;
dddd
cccc
bbbb
aaaa
# 3  
Old 03-23-2001
Quote:
sort -r file

This will only work if the original file is in alphabetical order. The proper solution is to use 'tac' (which is the opposite of 'cat').
# 4  
Old 03-30-2001
or cat file | perl -e 'print reverse <>'

# 5  
Old 03-30-2001
Quote:
cat file | perl -e 'print reverse <>'
Just do perl -e 'print reverse <>' file

However, the down side to the perl method is that the whole file must be read into memory. Could be a memory-hog for extremely large files. I believe 'tac' uses seek to read through the file, so that you can view files of arbitrary size. Usually not a problem though. The perl method is good if you dont have 'tac' installed.
# 6  
Old 03-31-2001
Yes, use of cat there shows useless usage of cat. Smilie

Thanks for pinch on nose warning PxT.




 
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