.\"	$NetBSD: cut.1,v 1.16 2009/03/29 05:58:41 dholland Exp $
.\"
.\" Copyright (c) 1989, 1990, 1993
.\"	The Regents of the University of California.  All rights reserved.
.\"
.\" This code is derived from software contributed to Berkeley by
.\" the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.
.\"
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.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
.\" are met:
.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
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.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
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.\" 3. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors
.\"    may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
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.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
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.\"     @(#)cut.1	8.1 (Berkeley) 6/6/93
.\"
.Dd December 21, 2008
.Dt CUT 1
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm cut
.Nd select portions of each line of a file
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Nm
.Fl b Ar list
.Op Fl n
.Op Ar
.Nm
.Fl c Ar list
.Op Ar
.Nm
.Fl f Ar list
.Op Fl d Ar delim
.Op Fl s
.Op Ar
.Sh DESCRIPTION
The
.Nm
utility selects portions of each line (as specified by
.Ar list )
from each
.Ar file
and writes them to the
standard output.
If the
.Ar file
argument is a single dash
.Pq Sq -
or no
.Ar file
arguments were specified, lines are read from the standard input.
The items specified by
.Ar list
can be in terms of column position or in terms of fields delimited
by a special character.
Column numbering starts from 1.
.Pp
.Ar list
is a comma or whitespace separated set of increasing numbers and/or
number ranges.
Number ranges consist of a number, a dash
.Pq Li \- ,
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.
.Pp
The options are as follows:
.Bl -tag -width Fl
.It Fl b Ar list
The
.Ar list
specifies byte positions.
.It Fl c Ar list
The
.Ar list
specifies character positions.
.It Fl d Ar string
Use the first character of
.Ar string
as the field delimiter character.
The default is the
.Aq TAB
character.
.It Fl f Ar list
The
.Ar list
specifies fields, separated by the field delimiter character.
The selected fields are output,
separated by the field delimiter character.
.It Fl n
Do not split multi-byte characters.
.It Fl s
Suppresses lines with no field delimiter characters.
Unless specified, lines with no delimiters are passed through unmodified.
.El
.Sh EXIT STATUS
.Nm
exits 0 on success, 1 if an error occurred.
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr paste 1
.Sh STANDARDS
The
.Nm
utility conforms to
.St -p1003.2-92 .