cut - remove sections from each line

Options you will use

-d DELIM

Use DELIM instead of TAB as the field delimiter.

-f LIST

Select these fields: 1, 1,3, 2-, 1-3.

-c LIST

Select these character positions.

-c, --characters LIST

Select only these character positions: -c1-19, -c5, -c12-16.

-d, --delimiter DELIM

Use DELIM instead of TAB as the field separator: -d: -d, -d' '.

-f, --fields LIST

Select only these fields: -f1, -f1,3, -f2-4, -f3-.

-b, --bytes LIST

Select only these bytes.

-s, --only-delimited

Skip lines that do not contain the delimiter.

--complement

Print everything EXCEPT the selected fields.

Gotchas

• cut cannot treat runs of spaces as one delimiter. That is when you switch to awk.

Taught in

• 1.7 Driving the shell: exit codes, chaining, redirection