xref: /netbsd/usr.bin/cut/cut.1 (revision 6550d01e)
1.\"	$NetBSD: cut.1,v 1.16 2009/03/29 05:58:41 dholland Exp $
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33.\"     @(#)cut.1	8.1 (Berkeley) 6/6/93
34.\"
35.Dd December 21, 2008
36.Dt CUT 1
37.Os
38.Sh NAME
39.Nm cut
40.Nd select portions of each line of a file
41.Sh SYNOPSIS
42.Nm
43.Fl b Ar list
44.Op Fl n
45.Op Ar
46.Nm
47.Fl c Ar list
48.Op Ar
49.Nm
50.Fl f Ar list
51.Op Fl d Ar delim
52.Op Fl s
53.Op Ar
54.Sh DESCRIPTION
55The
56.Nm
57utility selects portions of each line (as specified by
58.Ar list )
59from each
60.Ar file
61and writes them to the
62standard output.
63If the
64.Ar file
65argument is a single dash
66.Pq Sq -
67or no
68.Ar file
69arguments were specified, lines are read from the standard input.
70The items specified by
71.Ar list
72can be in terms of column position or in terms of fields delimited
73by a special character.
74Column numbering starts from 1.
75.Pp
76.Ar list
77is a comma or whitespace separated set of increasing numbers and/or
78number ranges.
79Number ranges consist of a number, a dash
80.Pq Li \- ,
81and a second number
82and select the fields or columns from the first number to the second,
83inclusive.
84Numbers or number ranges may be preceded by a dash, which selects all
85fields or columns from 1 to the first number.
86Numbers or number ranges may be followed by a dash, which selects all
87fields or columns from the last number to the end of the line.
88Numbers and number ranges may be repeated, overlapping, and in any order.
89It is not an error to select fields or columns not present in the
90input line.
91.Pp
92The options are as follows:
93.Bl -tag -width Fl
94.It Fl b Ar list
95The
96.Ar list
97specifies byte positions.
98.It Fl c Ar list
99The
100.Ar list
101specifies character positions.
102.It Fl d Ar string
103Use the first character of
104.Ar string
105as the field delimiter character.
106The default is the
107.Aq TAB
108character.
109.It Fl f Ar list
110The
111.Ar list
112specifies fields, separated by the field delimiter character.
113The selected fields are output,
114separated by the field delimiter character.
115.It Fl n
116Do not split multi-byte characters.
117.It Fl s
118Suppresses lines with no field delimiter characters.
119Unless specified, lines with no delimiters are passed through unmodified.
120.El
121.Sh EXIT STATUS
122.Nm
123exits 0 on success, 1 if an error occurred.
124.Sh SEE ALSO
125.Xr paste 1
126.Sh STANDARDS
127The
128.Nm
129utility conforms to
130.St -p1003.2-92 .
131