linux : empty file from command line
Being faced with large log files that contains info you no longer need ?
cat reads the contents of /dev/null (which contains nothing) and > writes this into <filename>.
$ cat /dev/null > <filename>see more : http://hackaddict.blogspot.be/2007/06/quick-tip-delete-contents-of-file.html
Written by Wim Paulussen
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2 Responses
$ echo > <filename>and even shorter, but I don't like the aesthetic
$ > <filename>
over 1 year ago
·
"echo > foo" doesn't create an empty file, it creates a file of size 1
"> foo" does work correctly.
A traditional alternative is the bash builtin ":" which does nothing:
:> foo
over 1 year ago
·
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