head(1) — Linux manual pages

Linux manual pages	Section 1

DESCRIPTION

Print the first 10 lines of each FILE to standard output. With more than one FILE, precede each with a header giving the file name.

With no FILE, or when FILE is −, read standard input.

Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too.

−c, −−bytes=[−]K: print the first K bytes of each file; with the leading '−', print all but the last K bytes of each file
−n, −−lines=[−]K: print the first K lines instead of the first 10; with the leading '−', print all but the last K lines of each file
−q, −−quiet, −−silent: never print headers giving file names
−v, −−verbose: always print headers giving file names
−−help: display this help and exit
−−version: output version information and exit

K may have a multiplier suffix: b 512, kB 1000, K 1024, MB 1000*1000, M 1024*1024, GB 1000*1000*1000, G 1024*1024*1024, and so on for T, P, E, Z, Y.

Written by David MacKenzie and Jim Meyering.