NAME
cut —
select portions of each line of a
file
SYNOPSIS
cut |
-b list
[-n]
[file ...] |
cut |
-f list
[-d
string]
[-s]
[file ...] |
DESCRIPTION
The
cut utility selects portions of each line (as specified by
list) from each
file and writes
them to the standard output. If the
file argument is a
single dash (‘-’) or no
file arguments were
specified, lines are read from the standard input. The items specified by
list can be in terms of column position or in terms of
fields delimited by a special character. Column and field numbering start from
1.
list is a comma or whitespace separated set of increasing
numbers and/or number ranges. Number ranges consist of a number, a dash
(
-
), and a second number and select the columns or
fields from the first number to the second, inclusive. Numbers or number
ranges may be preceded by a dash, which selects all columns or fields from 1
to the first number. Numbers or number ranges may be followed by a dash, which
selects all columns or fields from the last number to the end of the line.
Numbers and number ranges may be repeated, overlapping, and in any order. It
is not an error to select columns or fields not present in the input line.
The options are as follows:
-
-
- -b
list
- list specifies byte positions.
-
-
- -c
list
- list specifies character
positions.
-
-
- -d
string
- Use the first character of string as
the field delimiter character. The default is the ⟨TAB⟩
character.
-
-
- -f
list
- list specifies fields, separated by
the field delimiter character. The selected fields are output, separated
by the field delimiter character.
-
-
- -n
- Do not split multi-byte characters.
-
-
- -s
- Suppress lines with no field delimiter characters. Unless
specified, lines with no delimiters are passed through unmodified.
EXIT STATUS
The
cut utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an
error occurs.
SEE ALSO
paste(1)
STANDARDS
The
cut utility conforms to
IEEE Std
1003.2-1992 (“POSIX.2”).