appending text to the top of a file 1

[keak]

Hi,
If we want to append a text to a file at the bottom we can use the command
echo "bottom text" >> test.txt

is there a way to append a string to the beginning of a textfile with a similar method?

I have been googling for a while with no luck ...

 

[TrojanWarBlade]

rename original file, echo text to original file, cat renamed as append onto original file.


Trojan.

 

[PHV]

One way:
(echo "beginning text"; cat test.txt) > test.$$ && mv test.$$ test.txt
Another way:
awk 'BEGIN{print "beginning text"}1' test.txt > test.$$ && mv test.$$ test.txt

Without temp file:
echo "1i\nbeginning text\n.\nw\nq" | ed -s test.txt

Hope This Helps, PH.
Want to get great answers to your Tek-Tips questions? Have a look at FAQ219-2884 or FAQ181-2886

 

[keak]

Thansk, that did the trick ... !!
ahh gotta get used to these stuff from now

 

[feherke]

Hi

And PHV's last example with [tt]sed[/tt] :

sed -i '1ibeginning text' test.txt

Feherke.

http://rootshell.be/~feherke/