php-deluxe.net - description Cut Unix

Cut (Unix)

cut is a Unix command which is typically used to extract a certain range of characters from a line, usually from a file.

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

Flags which may be used include

-b Bytes; a list following -b specifies a range of bytes which will be returned, e.g. cut -b1-66 would return the first 66 bytes of a line. NB If used in conjunction with -n, no multi-byte characters will be split. NNB. -b will only work on input lines of less than 1023 bytes

-c Characters; a list following -b specifies a range of characters which will be returned, e.g. cut -c1-66 would return the first 66 characters of a line

-f Specifies a field list, separated by a delimiter

list A comma separated or blank separated list of integer denoted fields, incrementally ordered. The - indicator may be supplied as shorthand to allow inclusion of ranges of fields e.g. 4-6 for ranges 4 - 6 or 5 - as shorthand for field 5 to the end, etc.

-n Used in combination with -b suppresses splits of multi-byte characters

-d Delimiter; the character immediately following the -d option is the field delimiter for use in conjunction with the -f option; the default delimiter is tab . Space and other characters with special meanings within the context of the Unix shell in use must be enquoted or escaped as necessary.

-s Bypasses lines which contain no field delimiters when -f is specified, unless otherwise indicated.

file The file (and accompanying path if necessary) to process as input. If no file is specified then standard input will be used.