.TH head "" "" Command
.PC "Print the beginning of a file"
\fBhead [+\fIn\^\fB[bcl\fB]] [\fIfile\^\fB]
\fBhead [\-\fIn\^\fB[bcl\fB]] [\fIfile\^\fB]
.PP
.HS
.SH Options:
.IC \fB+\fR
Count from beginning of file
.IC \fB\-\fR
Count from end of file
.IC \fBb\fR
Count in blocks
.IC \fBc\fR
Count in characters
.IC \fBl\fR
Count in lines
.HE
.B head
copies the first part of
.IR file ,
or of the standard input if none is named, to the standard output.
.PP
The given
.I number
tells
.B head
where to begin to copy the data.
Numbers of the form
.RI + number
measure the starting point from the beginning of the file;
those of the form
.RI \- number
measure from the end of the file.
.PP
A specifier of blocks, characters, or lines (\f3b\f1,
.BR c ,
or
.BR l ,
respectively)
may follow the number; the default is lines.
If no
.I number
is specified, a default of \+4 is assumed.
.SH "See Also"
.Xr "commands," commands
.Xr "dd," dd
.Xr "egrep," egrep
.Xr "sed," sed
.Xr "tail" tail
.SH Notes
Because
.B head
buffers data measured from the end of the file, large counts may not work.
