xref: /netbsd-src/usr.bin/cut/cut.1 (revision aaf4ece63a859a04e37cf3a7229b5fab0157cc06)
1.\"	$NetBSD: cut.1,v 1.12 2003/08/07 11:13:32 agc Exp $
2.\"
3.\" Copyright (c) 1989, 1990, 1993
4.\"	The Regents of the University of California.  All rights reserved.
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6.\" This code is derived from software contributed to Berkeley by
7.\" the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.
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14.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
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16.\"    documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
17.\" 3. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors
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33.\"     @(#)cut.1	8.1 (Berkeley) 6/6/93
34.\"
35.Dd June 6, 1993
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
61(or the standard input by default), and writes them to the
62standard output.
63The items specified by
64.Ar list
65can be in terms of column position or in terms of fields delimited
66by a special character. Column numbering starts from 1.
67.Pp
68.Ar List
69is a comma or whitespace separated set of increasing numbers and/or
70number ranges.
71Number ranges consist of a number, a dash
72.Pq Li \- ,
73and a second number
74and select the fields or columns from the first number to the second,
75inclusive.
76Numbers or number ranges may be preceded by a dash, which selects all
77fields or columns from 1 to the first number.
78Numbers or number ranges may be followed by a dash, which selects all
79fields or columns from the last number to the end of the line.
80Numbers and number ranges may be repeated, overlapping, and in any order.
81It is not an error to select fields or columns not present in the
82input line.
83.Pp
84The options are as follows:
85.Bl -tag -width Fl
86.It Fl b Ar list
87The
88.Ar list
89specifies byte positions.
90.It Fl c Ar list
91The
92.Ar list
93specifies character positions.
94.It Fl d Ar string
95Use the first character of
96.Ar string
97as the field delimiter character instead of the tab character.
98.It Fl f Ar list
99The
100.Ar list
101specifies fields, delimited in the input by a single tab character.
102Output fields are separated by a single tab character.
103.It Fl n
104Do not split multi-byte characters.
105.It Fl s
106Suppresses lines with no field delimiter characters.
107Unless specified, lines with no delimiters are passed through unmodified.
108.El
109.Sh EXIT STATUS
110.Nm
111exits 0 on success, 1 if an error occurred.
112.Sh SEE ALSO
113.Xr paste 1
114.Sh STANDARDS
115The
116.Nm
117utility conforms to
118.St -p1003.2-92 .
119