.\"	$OpenBSD: cut.1,v 1.12 2007/05/31 19:20:09 jmc Exp $
.\"	$NetBSD: cut.1,v 1.6 1995/10/02 20:19:26 jtc 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.
.\"
.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
.\" 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.
.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
.\"    documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
.\" 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
.\"    without specific prior written permission.
.\"
.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
.\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
.\" ARE DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
.\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
.\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
.\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
.\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
.\" SUCH DAMAGE.
.\"
.\"     @(#)cut.1	8.1 (Berkeley) 6/6/93
.\"
.Dd $Mdocdate: May 31 2007 $
.Dt CUT 1
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm cut
.Nd select portions of each line of a file
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Nm cut
.Fl b Ar list
.Op Fl n
.Op Ar
.Nm cut
.Fl c Ar list
.Op Ar
.Nm cut
.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
(or the standard input by default), and writes them to the
standard output.
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 Sq \- ,
and a second number
which 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 Ds
.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 delim
Use the first character of
.Ar delim
as the field delimiter character instead of the tab character.
.It Fl f Ar list
The
.Ar list
specifies fields, delimited in the input by a single tab character.
Output fields are separated by a single tab 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
.Pp
The
.Nm
utility exits 0 on success or 1 if an error occurred.
.Sh EXAMPLES
Extract login names and shells from the system
.Xr passwd 5
file as
.Dq name:shell
pairs:
.Pp
.Dl "$ cut -d : -f 1,7 /etc/passwd"
.Pp
Show the names and login times of logged in users:
.Pp
.Dl "$ who | cut -c 1-16,26-38"
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr paste 1
.Sh STANDARDS
The
.Nm
utility is compliant with the
.St -p1003.1-2004
specification.