This manual page is for Mac OS X version 10.6.3

If you are running a different version of Mac OS X, view the documentation locally:

  • In Terminal, using the man(1) command

Reading manual pages

Manual pages are intended as a quick reference for people who already understand a technology.

  • For more information about the manual page format, see the manual page for manpages(5).

  • For more information about this technology, look for other documentation in the Apple Reference Library.

  • For general information about writing shell scripts, read Shell Scripting Primer.



HEAD(1)                                  BSD General Commands Manual                                 HEAD(1)

NAME
     head -- display first lines of a file

SYNOPSIS
     head [-n count | -c bytes] [file ...]

DESCRIPTION
     This filter displays the first count lines or bytes of each of the specified files, or of the standard
     input if no files are specified.  If count is omitted it defaults to 10.

     If more than a single file is specified, each file is preceded by a header consisting of the string
     ``==> XXX <=='' where ``XXX'' is the name of the file.

EXIT STATUS
     The head utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.

SEE ALSO
     tail(1)

HISTORY
     The head command appeared in PWB UNIX.

BSD                                             June 6, 1993                                             BSD

Reporting Problems

The way to report a problem with this manual page depends on the type of problem:

Content errors
Report errors in the content of this documentation with the feedback links below.
Bug reports
Report bugs in the functionality of the described tool or API through Bug Reporter.
Formatting problems
Report formatting mistakes in the online version of these pages with the feedback links below.

Did this document help you? Yes It's good, but... Not helpful...