Cheatsheet & Examples: cut

The cut command is used to extract specific parts of a file, such as columns, bytes, or characters, based on provided criteria.

Extract specific fields by default delimiter (tab)

Example Usage: cut -f1,3 file.txt

What it does: Extracts the first and third fields (columns) from each line of file.txt, using tab as the delimiter.

Command-line Arguments Explained:

• -f1,3: Specifies the fields to extract (1st and 3rd) separated by commas.
• file.txt: The input file from which to extract the fields.

Extract specific fields by custom delimiter

Example Usage: cut -d: -f2 file.txt

What it does: Extracts the second field from each line of file.txt, using a colon (:) as the delimiter.

Command-line Arguments Explained:

• -d:: Sets the delimiter to a colon (:) instead of the default tab.
• -f2: Specifies the field (second) to extract.
• file.txt: The input file.

Extract specific bytes

Example Usage: cut -b3-5 file.txt

What it does: Extracts bytes from positions 3 to 5 (inclusive) of each line in file.txt.

Command-line Arguments Explained:

• -b3-5: Defines the byte range to extract (3 to 5).
• file.txt: The input file.

Extract specific characters

Example Usage: cut -c1-2,5 file.txt

What it does: Extracts characters from positions 1 to 2 and position 5 of each line in file.txt.

Command-line Arguments Explained:

• -c1-2,5: Defines character ranges to extract (1-2 and 5).
• file.txt: The input file.

Exclude specific fields

Example Usage: cut -f1 --complement -d: file.txt

What it does: Extracts all fields except the first from each line of file.txt, using a colon (:) as the delimiter.

Command-line Arguments Explained:

• -f1: Specifies the field to exclude (first).
• --complement: Tells cut to exclude the specified field instead of including it.
• -d:: Sets the delimiter to a colon (:).
• file.txt: The input file.

Suppress lines without the delimiter

Example Usage: cut -d: -f2 -s file.txt

What it does: Extracts the second field from each line of file.txt but skips lines that do not contain the colon (:) delimiter.

Command-line Arguments Explained:

• -d:: Sets the delimiter to a colon (:).
• -f2: Specifies the field (second) to extract.
• -s: Skips lines that do not match the delimiter.
• file.txt: The input file.

Output with custom delimiter

Example Usage: cut -d: -f1,3 --output-delimiter=, file.txt

What it does: Extracts the first and third fields from file.txt using a colon (:) as the delimiter and outputs them separated by a comma (,).

Command-line Arguments Explained:

• -d:: Sets the delimiter to a colon (:).
• -f1,3: Specifies the fields (1st and 3rd) to extract.
• --output-delimiter=,: Changes the output delimiter to a comma (,).
• file.txt: The input file.

Extract fields from standard input

Example Usage: cat file.txt | cut -f1,4

What it does: Pipes the contents of file.txt into cut and extracts the first and fourth fields from each line.

Command-line Arguments Explained:

• cat file.txt: Passes the file's contents to cut via a pipe.
• -f1,4: Specifies the fields (1st and 4th) to extract.
• |: Pipes the output of cat to cut.

Extract a range of fields

Example Usage: cut -f1-3 file.txt

What it does: Extracts the first, second, and third fields from each line of file.txt using the default tab delimiter.

Command-line Arguments Explained:

• -f1-3: Defines a field range (1st to 3rd).
• file.txt: The input file.

Extract bytes with offset

Example Usage: cut -b5- file.txt

What it does: Extracts bytes starting from position 5 to the end of each line in file.txt.

Command-line Arguments Explained:

• -b5-: Defines a byte range starting at position 5 and continuing to the end.
• file.txt: The input file.

Extract characters with offset

Example Usage: cut -c5- file.txt

What it does: Extracts characters starting from position 5 to the end of each line in file.txt.

Command-line Arguments Explained:

• -c5-: Defines a character range starting at position 5 and continuing to the end.
• file.txt: The input file.