UNIX Question and Answer – File Manipulation
UNIX MCQ – Multiple Choice Questions for exam, interview, and Entrance Test
1. Which command is used to display the contents of a file in UNIX?
a) grep
b) cat
c) sed
d) chmod
Answer: b) cat
Explanation: The cat command is used to concatenate and display the contents of a file in UNIX.
2. What command is used to display the first few lines of a file in UNIX?
a) head
b) tail
c) more
d) less
Answer: a) head
Explanation: The head command is used to display the first few lines of a file in UNIX.
3. Which command is used to display the last few lines of a file in UNIX?
a) head
b) tail
c) more
d) less
Answer: b) tail
Explanation: The tail command is used to display the last few lines of a file in UNIX.
4. What command is used to view the contents of a file one page at a time in UNIX?
a) cat
b) more
c) less
d) head
Answer: b) more
Explanation: The more command is used to view the contents of a file one page at a time in UNIX.
5. Which command is used to search for patterns in a file in UNIX?
a) grep
b) sed
c) awk
d) cat
Answer: a) grep
Explanation: The grep command is used to search for patterns in a file in UNIX.
6. What is the purpose of the sed command in UNIX?
a) Search and replace text in a file
b) Display file permissions
c) Change file ownership
d) Change file permissions
Answer: a) Search and replace text in a file
Explanation: The sed command is used to perform text manipulation tasks, such as search and replace, in UNIX.
7. Which command is used to extract specific columns of text from a file in UNIX?
a) grep
b) sed
c) awk
d) cut
Answer: c) awk
Explanation: The awk command is used to extract and manipulate specific columns of text from a file in UNIX.
8. What command is used to change the permissions of a file in UNIX?
a) chmod
b) chown
c) grep
d) sed
Answer: a) chmod
Explanation: The chmod command is used to change the permissions of a file in UNIX.
9. Which command is used to change the owner of a file in UNIX?
a) chmod
b) chown
c) grep
d) sed
Answer: b) chown
Explanation: The chown command is used to change the owner of a file in UNIX.
10. What is the primary purpose of the grep command in UNIX?
a) Display file contents
b) Search for patterns in files
c) Change file permissions
d) Change file ownership
Answer: b) Search for patterns in files
Explanation: The grep command is primarily used to search for patterns in files in UNIX.
11. Which command is used to display specific lines of a file based on pattern matching in UNIX?
a) grep
b) sed
c) awk
d) tail
Answer: c) awk
Explanation: The awk command can be used to display specific lines of a file based on pattern matching criteria in UNIX.
12. What is the purpose of the cut command in UNIX?
a) Search and replace text in a file
b) Display file permissions
c) Extract specific columns of text from a file
d) Change file ownership
Answer: c) Extract specific columns of text from a file
Explanation: The cut command is used to extract specific columns of text from a file in UNIX.
13. Which command is used to display the last lines of a file in UNIX?
a) tail
b) head
c) more
d) less
Answer: a) tail
Explanation: The tail command is used to display the last lines of a file in UNIX.
14. What is the primary function of the more command in UNIX?
a) View the contents of a file one page at a time
b) Search for patterns in files
c) Change file permissions
d) Change file ownership
Answer: a) View the contents of a file one page at a time
Explanation: The more command is primarily used to view the contents of a file one page at a time in UNIX.
15. Which command is used to display the first lines of a file in UNIX?
a) head
b) tail
c) more
d) less
Answer: a) head
Explanation: The head command is used to display the first lines of a file in UNIX.
16. What is the purpose of the tail command in UNIX?
a) Display file permissions
b) View the contents of a file one page at a time
c) Search for patterns in files
d) Display the last lines of a file
Answer: d) Display the last lines of a file
Explanation: The tail command is used to display the last lines of a file in UNIX.
17. Which command is used to search for patterns in files and perform text manipulation tasks?
a) grep
b) sed
c) awk
d) cut
Answer: b) sed
Explanation: The sed command is used to search for patterns in files and perform text manipulation tasks in UNIX.
18. What is the primary role of the head command in UNIX?
a) View the contents of a file one page at a time
b) Display file permissions
c) Change file ownership
d) Display the first lines of a file
Answer: d) Display the first lines of a file
Explanation: The head command is primarily used to display the first lines of a file in UNIX.
19. Which command is used to display file permissions in UNIX?
a) chmod
b) chown
c) grep
d) ls -l
Answer: d) ls -l
Explanation: The ls -l command is used to display detailed information about files, including permissions, in UNIX.
20. What is the purpose of the awk command in UNIX?
a) Extract specific columns of text from a file
b) Search and replace text in a file
c) Display file permissions
d) View the contents of a file one page at a time
Answer: a) Extract specific columns of text from a file
Explanation: The awk command is used to extract specific columns of text from a file based on specified delimiters in UNIX.
21. Which command is used to search for patterns in files and display matching lines?
a) grep
b) sed
c) awk
d) cut
Answer: a) grep
Explanation: The grep command is used to search for patterns in files and display matching lines in UNIX.
22. What is the primary function of the sed command in UNIX?
a) Display file contents
b) Search for patterns in files
c) Perform text manipulation tasks
d) Change file permissions
Answer: c) Perform text manipulation tasks
Explanation: The sed command is primarily used to perform text manipulation tasks, such as search and replace, in UNIX.
23. Which command is used to change the permissions of a file or directory in UNIX?
a) chmod
b) chown
c) grep
d) sed
Answer: a) chmod
Explanation: The chmod command is used to change the permissions of a file or directory in UNIX.
24. What command is used to change the owner and group of a file in UNIX?
a) chmod
b) chown
c) grep
d) sed
Answer: b) chown
Explanation: The chown command is used to change the owner and group of a file in UNIX.
25. Which command is used to display the first few lines of a file in UNIX?
a) head
b) tail
c) more
d) less
Answer: a) head
Explanation: The head command is used to display the first few lines of a file in UNIX.
26. Which command is used to display the contents of a file in reverse order in UNIX?
a) rev
b) reverse
c) revfile
d) tail -r
Answer: a) rev
Explanation: The rev command is used to reverse the order of characters in each line of a file in UNIX.
27. What is the purpose of the tee command in UNIX?
a) Concatenate files
b) Display the last lines of a file
c) Redirect output to multiple files and standard output simultaneously
d) Replace text patterns in a file
Answer: c) Redirect output to multiple files and standard output simultaneously
Explanation: The tee command is used to redirect output to multiple files and standard output simultaneously in UNIX.
28. Which command is used to append content to the end of a file in UNIX?
a) append
b) add
c) tail -a
d) cat >> filename
Answer: d) cat >> filename
Explanation: The cat command with the >> operator is used to append content to the end of a file in UNIX.
29. What is the purpose of the uniq command in UNIX?
a) Display unique lines from sorted files
b) Display file permissions
c) Replace text patterns in a file
d) Extract specific columns of text from a file
Answer: a) Display unique lines from sorted files
Explanation: The uniq command is used to display unique lines from sorted files in UNIX.
30. Which command is used to count the number of words, lines, and characters in a file in UNIX?
a) wc
b) count
c) wordcount
d) stats
Answer: a) wc
Explanation: The wc command is used to count the number of words, lines, and characters in a file in UNIX.
31. What is the function of the fold command in UNIX?
a) Fold text files to fit a specified width
b) Search for patterns in files
c) Display the last lines of a file
d) Extract specific columns of text from a file
Answer: a) Fold text files to fit a specified width
Explanation: The fold command is used to fold text files to fit a specified width in UNIX.
32. Which command is used to remove duplicate lines from a sorted file in UNIX?
a) remove_duplicates
b) dedup
c) uniq
d) remove
Answer: c) uniq
Explanation: The uniq command is used to remove duplicate lines from a sorted file in UNIX.
33. What is the purpose of the paste command in UNIX?
a) Merge lines of files
b) Split lines of files
c) Convert tabs to spaces
d) Remove empty lines from files
Answer: a) Merge lines of files
Explanation: The paste command is used to merge lines of files in UNIX.
35. Which command is used to display the difference between two files in UNIX?
a) diff
b) compare
c) delta
d) changes
Answer: a) diff
Explanation: The diff command is used to display the difference between two files in UNIX.
36. What is the purpose of the cut command in UNIX?
a) Display file contents
b) Extract specific columns of text from a file
c) Search for patterns in files
d) Display the first lines of a file
Answer: b) Extract specific columns of text from a file
Explanation: The cut command is used to extract specific columns of text from a file in UNIX.
37. Which command is used to sort the lines of a file alphabetically in UNIX?
a) sort
b) alphabetize
c) arrange
d) order
Answer: a) sort
Explanation: The sort command is used to sort the lines of a file alphabetically in UNIX
38. What is the function of the join command in UNIX?
a) Concatenate files
b) Merge lines of files
c) Remove duplicate lines
d) Combine fields from two files using a common field
Answer: d) Combine fields from two files using a common field
Explanation: The join command is used to combine fields from two files using a common field in UNIX.
39. Which command is used to display the last part of files in UNIX?
a) end
b) tail
c) last
d) bottom
Answer: b) tail
Explanation: The tail command is used to display the last part of files in UNIX.
40. What is the purpose of the tr command in UNIX?
a) Translate characters
b) Concatenate files
c) Display file permissions
d) Display file contents
Answer: a) Translate characters
Explanation: The tr command is used to translate or delete characters in a file in UNIX.
41. Which command is used to display the specified number of lines from the beginning of a file in UNIX?
a) first
b) head
c) top
d) beginning
Answer: b) head
Explanation: The head command is used to display the specified number of lines from the beginning of a file in UNIX.
42. What is the primary function of the tac command in UNIX?
a) Display the last lines of a file
b) Reverse the order of lines in a file
c) Merge lines of files
d) Sort the lines of a file
Answer: b) Reverse the order of lines in a file
Explanation: The tac command is used to reverse the order of lines in a file in UNIX.
43. Which command is used to split a file into multiple files based on specified criteria in UNIX?
a) divide
b) split
c) separate
d) part
Answer: b) split
Explanation: The split command is used to split a file into multiple files based on specified criteria in UNIX.
44. What is the purpose of the comm command in UNIX?
a) Compare two sorted files line by line
b) Concatenate files
c) Display file permissions
d) Display file contents
Answer: a) Compare two sorted files line by line
Explanation: The comm command is used to compare two sorted files line by line in UNIX.
45. Which command is used to count the occurrences of each unique line in a file in UNIX?
a) count
b) tally
c) uniq -c
d) unique
Answer: c) uniq -c
Explanation: The uniq -c command is used to count the occurrences of each unique line in a file in UNIX.
46. What is the function of the cmp command in UNIX?
a) Compare two files byte by byte
b) Compare two files line by line
c) Compare two directories
d) Compare two file permissions
Answer: a) Compare two files byte by byte
Explanation: The cmp command is used to compare two files byte by byte in UNIX.
47. Which command is used to display the unique lines from two sorted files in UNIX?
a) unique
b) uniq
c) sort
d) comm
Answer: d) comm
Explanation: The comm command is used to display the unique lines from two sorted files in UNIX.
48. What is the purpose of the fmt command in UNIX?
a) Format text files
b) Filter text
c) Merge lines of files
d) Translate characters
Answer: a) Format text files
Explanation: The fmt command is used to format text files in UNIX.
49. Which command is used to display the contents of multiple files in columns in UNIX?
a) paste
b) combine
c) merge
d) column
Answer: a) paste
Explanation: The paste command is used to display the contents of multiple files in columns in UNIX.
50. What is the primary function of the pr command in UNIX?
a) Paginate or columnate files for printing
b) Filter text
c) Sort lines of text files
d) Translate characters
Answer: a) Paginate or columnate files for printing
Explanation: The pr command is primarily used to paginate or columnate files for printing in UNIX.
