BITS(1) User Commands BITS(1) NAME bits - convert bit masks from/to various formats SYNOPSIS bits [-h] [-V] [-w <NUM>] [<MODE>] [<MASK_OR_LIST>...] DESCRIPTION The bits utility converts bit masks into various formats. It supports com- bining multiple masks together using bitwise operations. POSITIONAL ARGUMENTS <MASK_OR_LIST> A set of bits specified as a hexadecimal mask value (e.g. 0xeec2) or as a comma-separated list of bit IDs. If no argument is specified, the sets of bits will be read from standard input; one group per line. Consecutive ids can be compressed as ranges (e.g. 5,6,7,8,9,10 -> 5-10). Optionally, if an argument starts with a comma, it will be parsed as a sin- gle hexadecimal mask split in 32bit groups (e.g. ,00014000,00000000,00020000 -> 17,78,80). By default all groups will be OR'ed together. If a group has one of the following prefixes, it will be combined with the resulting mask using a different binary operation: &<MASK_OR_LIST> The group will be combined with a binary AND operation. I.e. all bits that are set to 1 in the group AND the combined groups so far will be preserved to 1. All other bits will be reset to 0. ^<MASK_OR_LIST> The group will be combined with a binary XOR operation. I.e. all bits that are set to 1 in the group AND to 0 the combined groups so far (or the other way around) will be set to 1. Bits that are both to 1 or both to 0 will be reset to 0. ~<MASK_OR_LIST> All bits set to 1 in the group will be cleared (reset to 0) in the com- bined groups so far. OPTIONS -w <NUM>, --width <NUM> Maximum number of bits in the masks handled by bits (default 8192). Any bit larger than this number will be truncated. -h, --help Display help text and exit. -V, --version Display version and exit. CONVERSION MODE One of the following conversion modes can be specified. If not specified, it defaults to -m, --mask. -m, --mask Print the combined args as a hexadecimal mask value (default). -g, --grouped-mask Print the combined args as a hexadecimal mask value in 32bit comma sep- arated groups. -b, --binary Print the combined args as a binary mask value. -l, --list Print the combined args as a list of bit IDs. Consecutive IDs are com- pressed as ranges. EXAMPLES ~$ bits --mask 4,5-8 16,30 0x400101f0 ~$ bits --list 0xeec2 1,6,7,9-11,13-15 ~$ bits --binary 4,5-8 16,30 0b100_0000_0000_0001_0000_0001_1111_0000 ~$ bits --list ,00300000,03000000,30000003 0,1,28,29,56,57,84,85 ~$ bits --list 1,2,3,4 ~3-10 1,2 ~$ bits --list 1,2,3,4 ^3-10 1,2,5-10 ~$ bits --grouped-mask 2,22,74,79 8400,00000000,00400004 ~$ bits --width 64 --list 2,22,74,79 2,22 AUTHORS Robin Jarry. REPORTING BUGS For bug reports, use the issue tracker <https://github.com/util-linux/util-linux/issues>. AVAILABILITY The bits command is part of the util-linux package which can be downloaded from Linux Kernel Archive <https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/util-linux/>. util-linux 2.41.2 2025-09-22 BITS(1)
NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | POSITIONAL ARGUMENTS | OPTIONS | CONVERSION MODE | EXAMPLES | AUTHORS | REPORTING BUGS | AVAILABILITY
Want to link to this manual page? Use this URL:
<https://man.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=bits&sektion=1&manpath=FreeBSD+Ports+15.1.quarterly>