PASTE(1) BSD General Commands Manual PASTE(1)NAME
paste -- merge corresponding or subsequent lines of files
SYNOPSIS
paste [-s] [-d list] file ...
DESCRIPTION
The paste utility concatenates the corresponding lines of the given input files, replacing all but the last file's newline characters with a
single tab character, and writes the resulting lines to standard output. If end-of-file is reached on an input file while other input files
still contain data, the file is treated as if it were an endless source of empty lines.
The options are as follows:
-d list Use one or more of the provided characters to replace the newline characters instead of the default tab. The characters in list
are used circularly, i.e., when list is exhausted the first character from list is reused. This continues until a line from the
last input file (in default operation) or the last line in each file (using the -s option) is displayed, at which time paste
begins selecting characters from the beginning of list again.
The following special characters can also be used in list:
newline character
tab character
\ backslash character
Empty string (not a null character).
Any other character preceded by a backslash is equivalent to the character itself.
-s Concatenate all of the lines of each separate input file in command line order. The newline character of every line except the
last line in each input file is replaced with the tab character, unless otherwise specified by the -d option.
If '-' is specified for one or more of the input files, the standard input is used; standard input is read one line at a time, circularly,
for each instance of '-'.
EXIT STATUS
The paste utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.
EXAMPLES
List the files in the current directory in three columns:
ls | paste - - -
Combine pairs of lines from a file into single lines:
paste -s -d '
' myfile
Number the lines in a file, similar to nl(1):
sed = myfile | paste -s -d '
' - -
Create a colon-separated list of directories named bin, suitable for use in the PATH environment variable:
find / -name bin -type d | paste -s -d : -
SEE ALSO cut(1), lam(1)STANDARDS
The paste utility is expected to be IEEE Std 1003.2 (``POSIX.2'') compatible.
HISTORY
A paste command appeared in Version 32V AT&T UNIX.
BSD June 25, 2004 BSD
Check Out this Related Man Page
paste(1) General Commands Manual paste(1)NAME
paste - Joins corresponding lines of several files or subsequent lines in one file
SYNOPSIS
paste [-d list] [-s] file...
STANDARDS
Interfaces documented on this reference page conform to industry standards as follows:
paste: XCU5.0
Refer to the standards(5) reference page for more information about industry standards and associated tags.
OPTIONS
Replaces the delimiter that separates lines in the output (tab by default) with one or more characters from list. If list contains more
than one character, then the characters are repeated in order until the end of the output. In parallel merging, the lines from the last
file always end with a newline character, instead of one from list.
The following special characters can be used in list: Newline character Tab Backslash Empty string (not a null character) [Tru64
UNIX] An extended character
You must quote characters that have special meaning to the shell. Merges all lines from each input file into one line of output
(serial merging). Using this option, the paste command merges all lines in the first input file forcing a newline before at the
end. The command then continues with the next input file, continuing in the same manner until all input files have been completed.
A tab separates the input lines unless you use the -d option. Regardless of the list, the last character of the output is a newline
character.
OPERANDS
The name of an input file. You may specify up to 12 files, including hyphens.
If you specify a -, paste reads standard input recursively, one line for each -.
DESCRIPTION
Specifying the -d option or no options causes the paste command to treat each file as a column, joining them horizontally with a tab char-
acter by default (parallel merging).
Using the -s option, the paste command combines all lines of each input file into one output line (serial merging). These lines are joined
with the tab character by default.
Output lines can be any length.
[Tru64 UNIX] The output of pr -t -m is similar to the output produced by the paste command, but pr with its options creates extra spaces,
tabs, and lines for an enhanced page layout.
RESTRICTIONS
If the -s option is not used, it is an error if any specified file cannot be opened.
EXIT STATUS
The following exit values are returned: Successful completion. An error occurred.
EXAMPLES
To paste several columns of data together, enter: paste names places dates > npd
This creates a file named npd that contains the data from names in one column, places in another, and dates in a third. The columns
are separated by tab characters.
File npd then contains:
rachel New York 28 February jerzy Warsaw 27 April mata Nairobi 21 June michel
Boca Raton 27 July segui Managua 18 November
A tab character separates the name, place, and date on each line. To separate the columns with a character other than a tab (sh
only), enter: paste -d"!@" names places dates > npd
This alternates the apostrophe (!) and the at sign (@) as the column separators. If names, places, and dates are the same as in
Example 1, then npd contains:
rachel!New York@28 February jerzy!Warsaw@27 April mata!Nairobi@21 June michel!Boca Raton@27 July segui!Managua@18 November To dis-
play the standard input in multiple columns, enter: ls | paste - - - -
This lists the current directory in four columns. Each hyphen (-) tells the paste command to create a column containing data read
from the standard input. The first line is put in the first column, the second line in the second column, ... and then the fifth
line in the first column, and so on.
This is equivalent to ls | paste -d"
" -s-
which fills the columns across the page with subsequent lines from the standard input. The -d
defines the character to
insert after each column: a tab character ( ) after the first three columns, and a newline character (
) after the fourth. Without
the -d option, paste -s - displays all of the input as one line with a tab between each column. To merge the lines of the file
names above into one output line, enter: paste -s names
This results in: rachel jerzy mata michel segui
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
The following environment variables affect the execution of paste: Provides a default value for the internationalization variables that are
unset or null. If LANG is unset or null, the corresponding value from the default locale is used. If any of the internationalization vari-
ables contain an invalid setting, the utility behaves as if none of the variables had been defined. If set to a non-empty string value,
overrides the values of all the other internationalization variables. Determines the locale for the interpretation of sequences of bytes
of text data as characters (for example, single-byte as opposed to multibyte characters in arguments and input files). Determines the
locale for the format and contents of diagnostic messages written to standard error. Determines the location of message catalogues for the
processing of LC_MESSAGES.
SEE ALSO
Commands: cut(1), grep(1), fold(1), join(1), pr(1)
Standards: standards(5)paste(1)