What Does “cat-file” Stand For in Git?

Git is a powerful tool used by thousands of developers worldwide. It is utilized to manage and keep track of the modifications made to the software development project. Git uses objects to store its database. These objects represent various elements of a Git repository. It includes trees, commits, blobs, and tags. Moreover, you can view the content of these objects using Git commands.

This article will illustrate:

• What is “cat-file” in Git?
• How to Utilize the “git cat-file” Command in Git?

What is “cat-file” in Git?

In Git, the “cat” stands for concatenate. This command displays one or multiple files. While the “cat-file” only displays a single file. It lists the content, size, type, and other information of the Git repository objects, including trees, commits, blobs, and tags.

How to Utilize the “git cat-file” Command in Git?

The “git cat-file” command can be utilized with different options, such as:

• “-p” option displays the object’s content in a pretty manner.
• “-s” option shows the size of the object.
• “-t” option indicates the type of the object.

Method 1: How to Use git show-list -p <object>” Command?

To read and print the content of the object, specify the “-p” option with the “git cat-file” command:

Here, “6050458” is treated as an object which is our desired commit id:

Method 2: How to Use “git show-list -s <object>” Command?

To display the size of the desired object (commit), use the “-s” option in the same command:

The below output indicates that the size of the commit is “277 bytes”:

Method 3: How to Use “git show-list -t <object>” Command?

Utilize the “-t” option to view the type of the object:

It can be observed that the type of the specified object has been displayed as “commit”:

That was all about the usage of the “cat-file” in Git.

Conclusion

In Git, the “cat” stands for concatenate. The “cat-file” lists the content, size, type, and other information of the Git repository objects, including trees, commits, tags, and blobs. Moreover, the “git cat-file” command can be utilized with different options, such as “-p” displays the content of the object in a pretty manner, the “-s” shows the size of the object in bytes, and “-t” indicates the type of the object. This article explained about “cat-file” command and its use in Git.