GNU text utilities

This manual documents version 2.0 of the GNU text utilities.

1. Introduction		Caveats, overview, and authors.
2. Common options
3. Output of entire files		cat tac nl od
4. Formatting file contents		fmt pr fold
5. Output of parts of files		head tail split csplit
6. Summarizing files		wc sum cksum md5sum
7. Operating on sorted files		sort uniq comm ptx tsort
8. Operating on fields within a line		cut paste join
9. Operating on characters		tr expand unexpand
10. Opening the software toolbox		The software tools philosophy.
Index		General index.

 -- The Detailed Node Listing ---

Output of entire files

3.1 cat: Concatenate and write files		Concatenate and write files.
3.2 tac: Concatenate and write files in reverse		Concatenate and write files in reverse.
3.3 nl: Number lines and write files		Number lines and write files.
3.4 od: Write files in octal or other formats		Write files in octal or other formats.

Formatting file contents

4.1 fmt: Reformat paragraph text		Reformat paragraph text.
4.2 pr: Paginate or columnate files for printing		Paginate or columnate files for printing.
4.3 fold: Wrap input lines to fit in specified width		Wrap input lines to fit in specified width.

Output of parts of files

5.1 head: Output the first part of files		Output the first part of files.
5.2 tail: Output the last part of files		Output the last part of files.
5.3 split: Split a file into fixed-size pieces		Split a file into fixed-size pieces.
5.4 csplit: Split a file into context-determined pieces		Split a file into context-determined pieces.

Summarizing files

6.1 wc: Print byte, word, and line counts		Print byte, word, and line counts.
6.2 sum: Print checksum and block counts		Print checksum and block counts.
6.3 cksum: Print CRC checksum and byte counts		Print CRC checksum and byte counts.
6.4 md5sum: Print or check message-digests		Print or check message-digests.

Operating on sorted files

7.1 sort: Sort text files		Sort text files.
7.2 uniq: Uniquify files		Uniquify files.
7.3 comm: Compare two sorted files line by line		Compare two sorted files line by line.
7.5 ptx: Produce permuted indexes		Produce a permuted index of file contents.
7.4 tsort: Topological sort		Topological sort.

ptx: Produce permuted indexes

7.5.1 General options		Options which affect general program behavior.
7.5.2 Charset selection		Underlying character set considerations.
7.5.3 Word selection and input processing		Input fields, contexts, and keyword selection.
7.5.4 Output formatting		Types of output format, and sizing the fields.
7.5.5 The GNU extensions to ptx

Operating on fields within a line

8.1 cut: Print selected parts of lines		Print selected parts of lines.
8.2 paste: Merge lines of files		Merge lines of files.
8.3 join: Join lines on a common field		Join lines on a common field.

Operating on characters

9.1 tr: Translate, squeeze, and/or delete characters		Translate, squeeze, and/or delete characters.
9.2 expand: Convert tabs to spaces		Convert tabs to spaces.
9.3 unexpand: Convert spaces to tabs		Convert spaces to tabs.

tr: Translate, squeeze, and/or delete characters

9.1.1 Specifying sets of characters
9.1.2 Translating		Changing one characters to another.
9.1.3 Squeezing repeats and deleting
9.1.4 Warning messages

Opening the software toolbox

Toolbox introduction
I/O redirection
The who command
The cut command
The sort command
The uniq command
Putting the tools together