cut(1) User Commands cut(1)
NAME
cut - cut out selected fields of each line of a file
SYNOPSIS
cut -b list [-n] [file...]
cut -c list [file...]
cut -f list [-d delim] [-s] [file...]
DESCRIPTION
Use the cut utility to cut out columns from a table or fields from each line of a file; in data base parlance, it implements the projection
of a relation. The fields as specified by list can be fixed length, that is, character positions as on a punched card (-c option) or the
length can vary from line to line and be marked with a field delimiter character like <TAB> (-f option). cut can be used as a filter.
Either the -b, -c, or -f option must be specified.
Use grep(1) to make horizontal ``cuts'' (by context) through a file, or paste(1) to put files together column-wise (that is, horizontally).
To reorder columns in a table, use cut and paste.
OPTIONS
The following options are supported:
list A comma-separated or blank-character-separated list of integer field numbers (in increasing order), with optional - to
indicate ranges (for instance, 1,4,7; 1-3,8; -5,10 (short for 1-5,10); or 3- (short for third through last field)).
-b list The list following -b specifies byte positions (for instance, -b1-72 would pass the first 72 bytes of each line). When -b
and -n are used together, list is adjusted so that no multi-byte character is split.
-c list The list following -c specifies character positions (for instance, -c1-72 would pass the first 72 characters of each line).
-d delim The character following -d is the field delimiter (-f option only). Default is tab. Space or other characters with special
meaning to the shell must be quoted. delim can be a multi-byte character.
-f list The list following -f is a list of fields assumed to be separated in the file by a delimiter character (see -d ); for
instance, -f1,7 copies the first and seventh field only. Lines with no field delimiters will be passed through intact (use-
ful for table subheadings), unless -s is specified.
-n Do not split characters. When -b list and -n are used together, list is adjusted so that no multi-byte character is split.
-s Suppresses lines with no delimiter characters in case of -f option. Unless specified, lines with no delimiters will be
passed through untouched.
OPERANDS
The following operands are supported:
file A path name of an input file. If no file operands are specified, or if a file operand is -, the standard input will be
used.
USAGE
See largefile(5) for the description of the behavior of cut when encountering files greater than or equal to 2 Gbyte (2**31 bytes).
EXAMPLES
Example 1: Mapping user IDs
A mapping of user IDs to names follows:
example% cut -d: -f1,5 /etc/passwd
Example 2: Setting current login name
To set name to current login name:
example$ name=`who am i | cut -f1 -d' '`
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
See environ(5) for descriptions of the following environment variables that affect the execution of cut: LANG, LC_ALL, LC_CTYPE, LC_MES-
SAGES, and NLSPATH.
EXIT STATUS
The following exit values are returned:
0 All input files were output successfully.
>0 An error occurred.
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:
+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
| ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE |
+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
|Availability |SUNWcsu |
+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
|CSI |Enabled |
+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
|Interface Stability |Standard |
+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
SEE ALSO
grep(1), paste(1), attributes(5), environ(5), largefile(5), standards(5)
DIAGNOSTICS
cut: -n may only be used with -b
cut: -d may only be used with -f
cut: -s may only be used with -f
cut: cannot open <file> Either file cannot be read or does not exist. If multiple files are present, processing continues.
cut: no delimiter specified Missing delim on -d option.
cut: invalid delimiter
cut: no list specified Missing list on -b, -c, or -f option.
cut: invalid range specifier
cut: too many ranges specified
cut: range must be increasing
cut: invalid character in range
cut: internal error processing input
cut: invalid multibyte character
cut: unable to allocate enough memory
SunOS 5.10 29 Apr 1999 cut(1)