xref: /freebsd/usr.bin/cut/cut.1 (revision 1b6c2589164a3a7b2f62d4c28c2ffa1be860959e)
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35.\"     @(#)cut.1	8.1 (Berkeley) 6/6/93
36.\" $FreeBSD$
37.\"
38.Dd June 6, 1993
39.Dt CUT 1
40.Os
41.Sh NAME
42.Nm cut
43.Nd select portions of each line of a file
44.Sh SYNOPSIS
45.Nm
46.Fl b Ar list
47.Op Fl n
48.Op Ar
49.Nm
50.Fl c Ar list
51.Op Ar
52.Nm
53.Fl f Ar list
54.Op Fl d Ar delim
55.Op Fl s
56.Op Ar
57.Sh DESCRIPTION
58The
59.Nm
60utility selects portions of each line (as specified by
61.Ar list  )
62from each
63.Ar file
64(or the standard input by default), and writes them to the
65standard output.
66The items specified by
67.Ar list
68can be in terms of column position or in terms of fields delimited
69by a special character.
70Column numbering starts from 1.
71.Pp
72.Ar list
73is a comma or whitespace separated set of increasing numbers and/or
74number ranges.
75Number ranges consist of a number, a dash
76.Pq Sq \- ,
77and a second number
78and select the fields or columns from the first number to the second,
79inclusive.
80Numbers or number ranges may be preceded by a dash, which selects all
81fields or columns from 1 to the first number.
82Numbers or number ranges may be followed by a dash, which selects all
83fields or columns from the last number to the end of the line.
84Numbers and number ranges may be repeated, overlapping, and in any order.
85It is not an error to select fields or columns not present in the
86input line.
87.Pp
88The options are as follows:
89.Bl -tag -width indent
90.It Fl b Ar list
91The
92.Ar list
93specifies byte positions.
94.It Fl c Ar list
95The
96.Ar list
97specifies character positions.
98.It Fl d Ar delim
99Use the first character of
100.Ar delim
101as the field delimiter character instead of the tab character.
102.It Fl f Ar list
103The
104.Ar list
105specifies fields, delimited in the input by a single tab character.
106Output fields are separated by a single tab character.
107.It Fl n
108Do not split multi-byte characters.
109.It Fl s
110Suppress lines with no field delimiter characters.
111Unless specified, lines with no delimiters are passed through unmodified.
112.El
113.Pp
114The
115.Nm
116utility exits with 0 on success or 1 if an error occurred.
117.Sh SEE ALSO
118.Xr paste 1
119.Sh STANDARDS
120The
121.Nm
122utility conforms to
123.St -p1003.2-92 .
124