How to open files from Terminal

Question

How can you open a file from the terminal. For example from terminal how can I open a .txt or .py file?

• Aurora0001: In what way do you want to open it? Do you want to edit the file, just view it, run it, or something else?
• linuxuser1: I would like to open it so I can edit it.
• goldilocks: You want to edit it using what application?
• linuxuser1: lets say I want to open a python file and edit it in Thonny. how would I do this from the terminal?
• Aurora0001: @linuxuser1 Thonny is a GUI program; running it from the terminal doesn't make a lot of sense unless you already have a GUI set up. Are you already running one (e.g. PIXEL)?

Answer 1

To view the text file you could use less or cat.

Example: cat /path/file.txt. Of course this works only if the file is readable for your user account. For details please read the manpage: man cat.

To edit a file you can choose between many editors. I recommend to start with nano. A good read: Raspberry Pi Documentation - Text editors.

To learn more command line basics I recommend the eBook The MagPi Essentials - Conquer The Command Line (you can download it for free).

Answer 2

Simple Answer

To view a python / text file you can use cat command.

cat /home/pi/documents/yourfile.txt

To edit a python / text file you can use vim or nano commands.

vim - vim ~/yourfile.txt
nano - nano ~/yourfile.py

Answer 3

Short answer:

nano file.txt

Or

nano /home/user/documents/file.txt

Ctrl+x to close.