.so src2
\&.TH CAT 1
\&.SH NAME
cat, read \- catenate files
\&.SH SYNOPSIS
\&.B cat
[
\&.I file ...
]
\&.br
\&.B read
[
\&.B -m
] [
\&.B -n
\&.I nline
] [
\&.I file ...
]
\&.SH DESCRIPTION
\&.I Cat
reads each
\&.I file
in sequence and writes it 
on the standard output.
Thus
\&.IP
\&.L
cat file
\&.LP
prints a file and
\&.IP
\&.L
cat file1 file2 >file3
\&.LP
concatenates the first two files 
and places the result
on the third.
\&.PP
If no
\&.I file
is given,
\&.I cat 
reads from the standard input.
Output is buffered in blocks
matching the input.
\&.PP
\&.I Read
copies to standard output exactly
one line from the named
\&.IR file ,
default standard input.
It is useful in interactive
\&.IR rc (1)
scripts.
\&.PP
The
\&.B -m
flag causes it to continue reading 
and writing multiple lines until 
end of file;
\&.B -n
causes it to read no more than
\&.I nline
lines.
\&.PP
\&.I Read
always executes a single
\&.B write
for each line of input, which can 
be helpful when preparing input to 
programs that expect line-at-a-time data.
It never reads any more data from 
the input than it prints to the output.
\&.SH SOURCE
\&.B /sys/src/cmd/cat.c
\&.br
\&.B /sys/src/cmd/read.c
\&.SH SEE ALSO
\&.IR cp (1)
\&.SH DIAGNOSTICS
\&.I Read
exits with status
\&.B eof
on end of file or, in the
\&.B -n
case, if it doesn't read
\&.I nlines
lines.
\&.SH BUGS
Beware of
\&.L "cat a b >a"
and
\&.LR "cat a b >b" ,
which destroy input files 
before reading them.