Reading a Huge Text File

Ever come across a file so massive that you can’t load it in a text editor? If you just want to examine it to discover the structure then this can be a real pain.

You can easily take a peek at the file by using some command line tools. You can display only the first screen of a file with the more command.

On Windows:

C:\>type {FILENAME} | more

Or redirect the output to another file then quickly cancel it. You can then open that file normally.

C:\>type {FILENAME} > smallerFile.txt

Ctrl+C (to cancel the operation)

You could use the cat or head command instead on Mac OSX or Linux.


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