NAME
cut —
select portions of each line of a
file
SYNOPSIS
cut |
-c list
file ... |
cut |
-f list
[-d string]
[-s] file ... |
DESCRIPTION
Thecut utility selects portions of each line (as
specified by list) from each file
(or the standard input by default), and writes them to the standard output.
The items specified by list can be in terms of column
position or in terms of fields delimited by a special character. Column
numbering starts 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 fields or columns from the first number to the second, inclusive.
Numbers or number ranges may be preceded by a dash, which selects all fields
or columns from 1 to the first number. Numbers or number ranges may be
followed by a dash, which selects all fields or columns 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 fields or
columns not present in the input line.
The options are as follows:
-clist- The list specifies character positions.
-dstring- Use the first character of string as the field delimiter character instead of the tab character.
-flist- The list specifies fields, delimited in the input by a single tab character. Output fields are separated by a single tab character.
-s- Suppresses lines with no field delimiter characters. Unless specified, lines with no delimiters are passed through unmodified.
Cut exits 0 on success, 1 if an error
occurred.
SEE ALSO
STANDARDS
The cut utility is expected to conform to
IEEE Std 1003.2 (“POSIX.2”).