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Cut command, no input delim, output delim not working

 
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Top Forums UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers Cut command, no input delim, output delim not working
# 1  
Old 10-23-2014
Cut command, no input delim, output delim not working
Hello,

I'm using cygwin on my Windows 7 machine.

From the man pages of cut:
--output-delimiter=STRING
use STRING as the output delimiter the default is to use the input delimiter

I tried the following commands and got the error messages:

Code:
$ cut -c1-10,20-30 -d --output-delimiter=| filename
cut: the delimiter must be a single character
Try `cut --help' for more information.
-bash: filename: command not found

$ cut -c1-10,20-30 -d --output-delimiter="|" filename
cut: the delimiter must be a single character
Try `cut --help' for more information.

$ cut -c1-10,20-30 -d --output-delimiter='|' filename
cut: the delimiter must be a single character
Try `cut --help' for more information.

$ cut -c1-10,20-30 -d --output-delimiter'|' filename
cut: the delimiter must be a single character
Try `cut --help' for more information.

$ cut -c1-10,20-30 -d --output-delimiter| filename
cut: the delimiter must be a single character
Try `cut --help' for more information.
-bash: filename: command not found

$ cut -c1-10,20-30 -d --output-delimiter"|" filename
cut: the delimiter must be a single character
Try `cut --help' for more information.

Is it possible that you cannot specify a output delim if you don't specify an input delim? What if there is no input delim in the file...such as a fixed length file and you want an output delim?

Can anyone shed some light on this??? Smilie
Thanks in advance!
Last edited by Corona688; 10-23-2014 at 01:24 PM..
# 2  
Old 10-23-2014
Code:
$ cut -c1-10,20-30 -d --output-delimiter=| filename
cut: the delimiter must be a single character

That error is because of -d or --delimiter
This User Gave Thanks to Aia For This Post:
kojac
# 3  
Old 10-23-2014
Please use code tags for code and output, [code]stuff[/code]
This User Gave Thanks to Corona688 For This Post:
kojac
# 4  
Old 10-23-2014
With cut -b... and cut -c... the input delimiter is never used anyway. And, since you are creating a single sequence of characters (not fields), I'm not sure you can specify an output field delimiter either. The version of cut I use doesn't have an --output-delimiter option.
You could try:
Code:
cut -c1-10,20-30 --output-delimiter="|" filename

but you'll probably need something more like:
Code:
awk '{print substr($0, 1, 10) "|" substr($0, 20, 11)}' filename

This User Gave Thanks to Don Cragun For This Post:
kojac
# 5  
Old 10-23-2014
Aia, I tried!

Code:
$ cut -c1-2,4-5 -d --output-delimiter=| t.txt
cut: the delimiter must be a single character
Try `cut --help' for more information.
-bash: t.txt: command not found

Don Cragun, I tried!
$ cut -c1-2,4-5 -d --output-delimiter="|" t.txt
cut: the delimiter must be a single character
Try `cut --help' for more information.

I'm wondering if it is the cygwin environment running on Windows 7!!

Don, the awk command worked nicely!! Much thanks to you both!!
# 6  
Old 10-23-2014
To keep the forums high quality for all users, please take the time to format your posts correctly.

First of all, use Code Tags when you post any code or data samples so others can easily read your code. You can easily do this by highlighting your code and then clicking on the # in the editing menu. (You can also type code tags [code] and [/code] by hand.)



Second, avoid adding color or different fonts and font size to your posts. Selective use of color to highlight a single word or phrase can be useful at times, but using color, in general, makes the forums harder to read, especially bright colors like red.

Third, be careful when you cut-and-paste, edit any odd characters and make sure all links are working property.

Thank You.

The UNIX and Linux Forums
This User Gave Thanks to Corona688 For This Post:
kojac
# 7  
Old 10-23-2014
What is the input delimiter you want, required after '-d'?
Code:
$ cut -c1-2,4-5 -d ' ' --output-delimiter="|" t.txt

 
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