CODEWITHSUNDEEP
unixdelimitercut
asachet
asachet

Reputation: 6921

Insert output-delimiter with unix cut *-c*

The documentation for cut (cf info cut) says:

--output-delimiter=OUTPUT_DELIM_STRING

With `-f`, output fields are separated by OUTPUT_DELIM_STRING.
 The default with `-f` is to use the input delimiter.  When using
 `-b` or `-c` to select ranges of byte or character offsets (as
 opposed to ranges of fields), output OUTPUT_DELIM_STRING between
 non-overlapping ranges of selected bytes.

My understanding is that therefore this:

 echo abcdefghi | cut --output-delimiter=',' -c 1-2,5-6

Should give ab,ef. But it prints abef...

How do I achieve ab,ef? Have I misunderstood the documentation?

Before closing as dupe, please note that:

Upvotes: 1

Views: 2459

Answers (1)

bishop
bishop

Reputation: 39434

In version 8.22, the behavior is as expected:

$ echo abcdefghi | cut --output-delimiter=',' -c 1-2,5-6
ab,ef
$ cut --version
cut (GNU coreutils) 8.22
Copyright (C) 2013 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

Given that you're using the 5.9 series, officially released around 2006, I think we can conclude this is a bug in that series. Given that you're on RedHat, your version likely has had security fixes back-ported, but not paper cut bugs like this one.

Solution would be to upgrade, or use an alternative tool as you've pointed out.

Upvotes: 1

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