[graysonk]

You don't need the cat pipe. Just grep on the filename

But I agree entirely. I go back to things I did even a year ago and desperately wish I had documented more.

[btschaegg]

I see that "useless use of cat" awards haven't died out yet.

Now I'm left wondering if that makes a point for or against the OP's arguments. ;-)

[dsfyu404ed]

As a side effect of my 9-5 job I think of everything in terms of inputs and outputs that get piped into things and get piped places.