cat files in current folder and all subfolders

Question

I want to cat a file in current folder and all files in all subfolders (and subsubfolders).

Here is my directory structure

$ tree
.
├── f
│   └── foo
└── yo

I want to cat foo and yo.

I've tried this command but did not work:

cat */*

It just cats foo.

Dup. http://unix.stackexchange.com/q/76418/6622 You search before asking — poige, May 24 '13 at 04:51
Super dangerous to do this because the files may contain commands. You should always run a `file` on the file first — Kellen Stuart, Nov 16 '16 at 21:46

score 62 · Accepted Answer · edited May 25 '13 at 07:09

62

try:

   find . -type f -exec cat {} +

edited May 25 '13 at 07:09

answered May 23 '13 at 21:28

Raza

11

What's the `+` for? I used to end these type of commands with `\;`. – Stephen Rasku Jun 01 '17 at 20:31
1

@StephenRasku - https://stackoverflow.com/questions/6085156/using-semicolon-vs-plus-with-exec-in-find – But those new buttons though.. Sep 11 '18 at 19:29
4

`-exec foo {} \;` is `foo x; foo y; foo z;`, but `-exec foo {} +` is `foo x y z`. – Dale C. Anderson Dec 08 '20 at 00:04

score 24 · Answer 2 · answered May 23 '13 at 23:53

24

cat accepts multiple arguments, so you can:

  cat * */*

to cat everything in the current directory and in all subdirectories. You can also

  cat * */* */*/*

and so on, if you want.

Note, of course, that your shell is translating those '*'s into a list of files then passing that whole list to cat.

answered May 23 '13 at 23:53

1

With `shopt -s globstar` enabled on bash 4+, you can use `cat **` instead of the second one. – evilsoup May 25 '13 at 11:07
3

That's not a useful solution, as you need to know how many layers deep to go. – brianmearns Oct 25 '16 at 15:06
Moreover, the directories will be processed – Rémi B. Nov 22 '18 at 18:32

2 Answers2