cut

The cut command extracts sections from each line of a file or standard input. It is commonly used to extract columns from a delimited text file like a CSV or /etc/passwd.

Basic Syntax

cut OPTION... [FILE]...

Common Options

Option	Description
-d, --delimiter=DELIM	Use DELIM instead of TAB for field delimiter.
-f, --fields=LIST	Select only these fields; also print any line that contains no delimiter character, unless the -s option is specified.
-c, --characters=LIST	Select only these characters.
-b, --bytes=LIST	Select only these bytes.
--complement	Complement the set of selected bytes, characters or fields (select everything EXCEPT the specified parts).

Real-world Examples

1. Extract the first field from a CSV file:

   cut -d ',' -f 1 data.csv

2. Extract the username (field 1) from /etc/passwd:

   cut -d ':' -f 1 /etc/passwd

3. Extract characters 1 through 5 of each line:

   cut -c 1-5 file.txt

4. Extract multiple fields (1st and 3rd):

   cut -d ',' -f 1,3 data.csv