how to view a file in a terminal

[reed9]

I would assume since this is a file in the Music directory, you're looking at a music file, right?

As said, nano and vi are text editors. Are you looking for a way to play music in the command line?

[branoo]

No, i was trying to access the files in the directory called Music. The files in question are not sound files but sheet music files.

[reed9]

Do you know what file format these are in? pdf?

Do

file <filename>

where <filename> is one of these sheet music files, to get info on the filetype.

[branoo]

Yes, all the sheet music files come in the pdf format

[oz]

You need to use a pdf viewer for pdf files.

Evince, Okular, epdfviewer, and acrobat reader/viewer are just a few that you can choose from.

More options here:

PDF | Linux App Finder

Maybe you already have one of them installed. If not, you can use the package tool for your distribution to install one or more of them as you see fit.

[branoo]

Just typed in: file <filename> and got this output

PDF document version 1.4

Sorry to have been a nuisance but i would like to thank everyone for their help and advice

[reed9]

Yeah, there's not really a convenient way to view pdf files in the console. It's possible, but not worth the effort unless you're running without a gui for some reason, and really need it.

[oz]

You could try pdftohtml and maybe use a command line html viewer, but I'm not sure how well it will work for your needs:

PDFTOHTML conversion program

[ashmitsaluja]

Simple basic solution, rest figure it out.

You may list the files or you may say, you can view the files list or view the list of files of a directly by typing the following command.

ls (small letter of L and S)
Syntax: ls <enter>

Now, You may browse into a directory through your terminal in mac.
Path you want to go to: Music/English/2010
Being Music a Folder, English a folder within Music Folder, and 2010 a folder inside English. So its basically Music -> English -> 2010. For this use

cd.
Syntax: cd Music/English/2010 <enter> OR
cd ./'Music/English/2010' <enter>

If by chance you happen to have a space in the folder name, example English Fast, you can use the second syntaxt show above.

cd ./'Music/English Fast/2010'
OR
cd 'Music/English Fast/2010'

Now once you are in the folder 2010, you want to view the files with their extentions.
You may use,

ls <enter> (As shown above)

Then, supposing a .mp3 file "down jay sean.mp3" is to be run, you can use the following command.

open 'down jay sean.mp3'

=========================================
Let me show you a freaky geeky thing I made on my mac and placed the file on starup items.

1) cd desktop
2) nano file
3) type the program below.

while (true) do
say Hello. Welcome To Mac OS X, Shanks.
say Verifying your code.
say Code: 22370BD
say Access Accepted
cd 'Music/BlackBerry Music/BB BackUp Songs 1'
echo Initiating...
open 'down jay sean.mp3'
say You may now proceed.
killall Terminal
done

Press CTRL + X
Then press Y for Yes. (It saves the file on the desktop)

4) chmod +x <drag the saved file after you type chmod +x , here> Press enter
5) The file is not changed into UNIX EXECUTABLE FILE.
6) Click the file on the desktop.
It welcomes you and plays the music.
You may place the file on the startup items.

This is an example to sue basic commands and to show off