Previous | Table of Contents | Next |
DESCRIPTION
The external pcat command displays the contents of a previously packed file. The pack command is used to create these files.
The pcat command will fail if any of the following conditions are encountered .
If you want to create a copy of a packed file but leave the existing copy in place, you can use shell redirection in combination with the pcat command as follows :
pcat file > newfile
This way you can create a new version of the unpacked file without losing the old version of the packed file.
COMMAND FORMAT
Following is the general format of the pcat command.
pcat file_list
Arguments
The following describes the argument that may be passed to the pcat command.
file_list | One or more packed files to be displayed on the standard output. You can specify the packed files with or without the .z extension. For example, to unpack passwd.z you could use either of the two command formats. |
pcat passwd pcat passwd.z
RELATED COMMANDS
Refer to the pack and unpack commands described in Module 98.
RELATED FILES
The pcat command reads its input from packed file name .z and displays the text on the standard output.
RETURN CODES
The pcat command reads an exit status equal to the number of files it failed to display.
APPLICATIONS
The pcat command is used to view previously packed files. It lets you view packed files without having to unpack the file, cat it out, and pack it again. You can also use the pcat command to obtain a copy of a packed file without removing the packed copy. If you use the unpack command, the packed version of the file is removed.
TYPICAL OPERATION
In this activity you use the pcat command to view your packed version of the passwd file. Begin at the shell prompt.
Previous | Table of Contents | Next |