NAME    [Toc]    [Back]

     cut -- select portions of each line of a file

SYNOPSIS    [Toc]    [Back]

     cut -b list [-n] [file ...]
     cut -c list [file ...]
     cut -f list [-d delim] [-s] [file ...]

DESCRIPTION    [Toc]    [Back]

     The cut utility selects portions of each line (as specified by list) from
     each file and writes them to the standard output.	If no file arguments
     are specified, or a file argument is a single dash (`-'), cut reads from
     the standard input.  The items specified by list can be in terms of column
 position or in terms of fields delimited by a special character.
     Column numbering starts from 1.

     The list option argument is a comma or whitespace separated set of
     increasing numbers and/or number ranges.  Number ranges consist of a number,
 a dash (`-'), and a second number and select the fields or columns
     from the first number to the second, inclusive.  Numbers or number ranges
     may be preceded by a dash, which selects all fields or columns from 1 to
     the first number.	Numbers or number ranges may be followed by a dash,
     which selects all fields or columns from the last number to the end of
     the line.	Numbers and number ranges may be repeated, overlapping, and in
     any order.  It is not an error to select fields or columns not present in
     the input line.

     The options are as follows:

     -b list
	     The list specifies byte positions.

     -c list
	     The list specifies character positions.

     -d delim
	     Use the first character of delim as the field delimiter character
	     instead of the tab character.

     -f list
	     The list specifies fields, delimited in the input by a single tab
	     character.  Output fields are separated by a single tab character.


     -n      Do not split multi-byte characters.

     -s      Suppress lines with no field delimiter characters.  Unless specified,
 lines with no delimiters are passed through unmodified.

ENVIRONMENT    [Toc]    [Back]

     The LANG, LC_ALL and LC_CTYPE environment variables affect the execution
     of cut if the -n option is specified.  Their effect is described in
     environ(7).

EXAMPLES    [Toc]    [Back]

     Extract users' login names and shells from the system passwd(5) file as
     ``name:shell'' pairs:

	   cut -d : -f 1,7 /etc/passwd

     Show the names and login times of the currently logged in users:

	   who | cut -c 1-16,26-38

DIAGNOSTICS    [Toc]    [Back]

     The cut utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.

SEE ALSO    [Toc]    [Back]

     paste(1)

STANDARDS    [Toc]    [Back]

     The cut utility conforms to IEEE Std 1003.2-1992 (``POSIX.2'').

HISTORY    [Toc]    [Back]

     A cut command appeared in AT&T System III UNIX.

BUGS    [Toc]    [Back]

     The -c option is a synonym for the -b option, which causes incorrect behaviour
 in locales that support multibyte characters.

     When operating on fields (-f option is specified), cut does not recognise
     multibyte characters, and the delim character is recognised in the middle
     of multibyte sequences.


FreeBSD 5.2.1			 June 6, 1993			 FreeBSD 5.2.1