cut Man Page

cut Man Page - Linux

Divide a file into several parts (columns)
Writes to standard output selected parts of each line of each input file, or standard input if no files are given or for a file name of '-'.

Syntax
     cut [OPTION]... [FILE]...

In the options below, BYTE-LIST, CHARACTER-LIST, and FIELD-LIST are one or more numbers or ranges (two numbers separated by a dash)

Bytes, characters, and fields are are numbered starting at 1 and separated by commas.
Incomplete ranges can be given: -M means 1-M ; N- means N through end of line or last field.

Options

   -b BYTE-LIST
   --bytes=BYTE-LIST
        Print only the bytes in positions listed in BYTE-LIST.  Tabs and backspaces
        are treated like any other character; they take up 1 byte.

   -c CHARACTER-LIST
   --characters=CHARACTER-LIST
        Print only characters in positions listed in CHARACTER-LIST.  The same as '-b'
        for now, but internationalization will change that.
        Tabs and backspaces are treated like any other character; they take up 1 character.

   -f FIELD-LIST
   --fields=FIELD-LIST
        Print only the fields listed in FIELD-LIST.  Fields are separated by a TAB character by default.

   -d INPUT_DELIM_BYTE
   --delimiter=INPUT_DELIM_BYTE
        For '-f', fields are separated in the input by the first character in INPUT_DELIM_BYTE
        (default is TAB).

   -n
        Do not split multi-byte characters (no-op for now).

   -s
   --only-delimited
        For '-f', do not print lines that do not contain the field separator character.

   --output-delimiter=OUTPUT_DELIM_STRING
        For '-f', output fields are separated by OUTPUT_DELIM_STRING The default is to use
        the input delimiter.

Examples

Parse out column 2 from a semicolon (;) delimited file:

$ cat myfile.txt | cut -d \; -f 2 > output.txt

“There are too many things in the world which divide people, such as religion, politics, history, and nationalism. If culture is capable of anything, then it is finding that which unites us all” ~ Krzysztof Kieślowski

Related Linux commands

csplit - Split a file into context-determined pieces.
fmt - Reformat paragraph text.
fold - Wrap input lines to fit in specified width.
head - Output the first part of file(s).
join - Join lines on a common field.
paste - Merge lines of files.
split - Split a file into fixed-size pieces.
tail - Output the last part of files.
wl-copy - Copy to clipboard (Wayland).
xclip - Copy to clipboard (X11).
Equivalent Windows command: FOR /F - Conditionally perform a command on items in a text file.