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CUT(1)			    General Commands Manual			CUT(1)

NAME
       cut -- cut out selected portions	of each	line of	a file

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

DESCRIPTION
       The  cut	 utility cuts out selected 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 and field numbering start from 1.

       The  list option	argument is a comma or whitespace separated set	of in-
       creasing	numbers	and/or number ranges.  Number ranges consist of	a num-
       ber, a dash (`-'), and a	second number and select the columns or	fields
       from the	first number to	the  second,  inclusive.   Numbers  or	number
       ranges  may  be preceded	by a dash, which selects all columns or	fields
       from 1 to the last number.  Numbers or number ranges may	be followed by
       a dash, which selects all columns or fields from	the last number	to the
       end of the line.	 Numbers and number ranges may be  repeated,  overlap-
       ping, and in any	order.	It is not an error to select columns or	fields
       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 delim as the field	delimiter character instead of the tab
		 character.

       -f list	 The  list  specifies  fields,	separated  in the input	by the
		 field delimiter character (see	the -d option).	 Output	fields
		 are separated by a single occurrence of the  field  delimiter
		 character.

       -n	 Do  not split multi-byte characters.  Characters will only be
		 output	if at least one	byte is	selected, and, after a	prefix
		 of  zero or more unselected bytes, the	rest of	the bytes that
		 form the character are	selected.

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

       -w	 Use  whitespace (spaces and tabs) as the delimiter.  Consecu-
		 tive spaces and tabs count as one single field	separator.

ENVIRONMENT
       The LANG, LC_ALL	and LC_CTYPE environment variables affect  the	execu-
       tion of cut as described	in environ(7).

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

EXAMPLES
       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

SEE ALSO
       colrm(1), paste(1)

STANDARDS
       The cut utility conforms	to IEEE	Std 1003.2-1992	("POSIX.2").

       The -w flag is an extension to the specification.

HISTORY
       A cut command first appeared in 4.3BSD-Reno.

AUTHORS
       The  original  Bell Labs	version	was written by Gottfried W. R. Luderer
       and the BSD version by Adam S. Moskowitz.

FreeBSD	ports 15.1	       November	6, 2022				CUT(1)

Want to link to this manual page? Use this URL:
<https://man.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=cut&sektion=1&manpath=FreeBSD+15.1-RELEASE+and+Ports>

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