GNU Textutils

https://ftp.gnu.org/old-gnu/Manuals/textutils-1.22/html_mono/textutils.html
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GNU Textutils is a set of command-line text manipulation utilities such as cat, sort, cut, tr, head,...
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### cut command example with /etc/passwd input

Source: https://ftp.gnu.org/old-gnu/Manuals/textutils-1.22/html_mono/textutils.html

Shows a sample line from /etc/passwd, which has seven fields separated by colons. This is the input for the cut example.

```text
arnold:xyzzy:2076:10:Arnold D. Robbins:/home/arnold:/bin/ksh
```

--------------------------------

### wc --bytes --words example

Source: https://ftp.gnu.org/old-gnu/Manuals/textutils-1.22/html_mono/textutils.html

Example showing that wc options do not undo each other; this prints both byte and word counts.

```shell
wc --bytes --words
```

--------------------------------

### Unix Shell Data Pipeline Example

Source: https://ftp.gnu.org/old-gnu/Manuals/textutils-1.22/html_mono/textutils.html

Example of a Unix shell pipeline that creates data, applies successive filters, and redirects the final output to a file. Demonstrates the use of standard input/output and filters.

```shell
program_to_create_data | filter1 | .... | filterN > final.pretty.data
```

--------------------------------

### cut command example with -d and -f options

Source: https://ftp.gnu.org/old-gnu/Manuals/textutils-1.22/html_mono/textutils.html

Shows how to use cut with -d: and -f1,5 to print the first and fifth fields from /etc/passwd. The output includes the login name and full name.

```shell
$ cut -d: -f1,5 /etc/passwd
root:Operator
...
arnold:Arnold D. Robbins
miriam:Miriam A. Robbins
...
```

--------------------------------

### who command example with output

Source: https://ftp.gnu.org/old-gnu/Manuals/textutils-1.22/html_mono/textutils.html

Shows the output of running the who command, listing logged-in users. The $ is the shell prompt. On traditional Unix systems, user names are never more than eight characters long.

```shell
$ who
arnold   console Jan 22 19:57
miriam   ttyp0   Jan 23 14:19(:0.0)
bill     ttyp1   Jan 21 09:32(:0.0)
arnold   ttyp2   Jan 23 20:48(:0.0)
```

--------------------------------

### comm f1 f2 example with cat f1 and cat f2

Source: https://ftp.gnu.org/old-gnu/Manuals/textutils-1.22/html_mono/textutils.html

Shows the output of comm on two sorted files f1 and f2. The output has three columns: lines unique to f1, lines unique to f2, and common lines. The -1, -2, -3 options omit respective columns.

```shell
$ cat f1
11111
22222
33333
44444
$ cat f2
00000
22222
33333
55555
$ comm f1 f2
        00000
11111
                22222
                33333
44444
        55555

```

--------------------------------

### Sample output of uniq -c word count

Source: https://ftp.gnu.org/old-gnu/Manuals/textutils-1.22/html_mono/textutils.html

Example output showing word counts sorted alphabetically, not by frequency.

```shell
  60 a
   2 able
   6 about
   1 above
   2 accomplish
   1 acquire
   1 actually
   2 additional

```

--------------------------------

### Sort password file using global -b modifier

Source: https://ftp.gnu.org/old-gnu/Manuals/textutils-1.22/html_mono/textutils.html

Alternative to the previous example using the global -b modifier instead of -n, with an explicit 'n' on the second key specifier. The -k 5,5 ignores leading and trailing whitespace globally.

```shell
sort -t : -b -k 5,5 -k 3,3n /etc/passwd
```

--------------------------------

### wc synopsis

Source: https://ftp.gnu.org/old-gnu/Manuals/textutils-1.22/html_mono/textutils.html

Shows the general command-line syntax for wc.

```shell
wc [option]... [file]...
```

--------------------------------

### sum synopsis

Source: https://ftp.gnu.org/old-gnu/Manuals/textutils-1.22/html_mono/textutils.html

Shows the general command-line syntax for sum.

```shell
sum [option]... [file]...
```

--------------------------------

### sort -k3: Sort alphabetically omitting first two fields

Source: https://ftp.gnu.org/old-gnu/Manuals/textutils-1.22/html_mono/textutils.html

Sorts lines alphabetically using a single key that starts at field three and extends to the end of each line. Fields are separated by whitespace by default.

```shell
sort -k3
```

--------------------------------

### split synopsis: split [option] [input [prefix]]

Source: https://ftp.gnu.org/old-gnu/Manuals/textutils-1.22/html_mono/textutils.html

Shows the command-line syntax for the split utility. The input defaults to standard input if omitted or given as '-', and the output file prefix defaults to 'x'.

```bash
split [option] [input [prefix]]
```

--------------------------------

### Final word frequency pipeline with sort -nr

Source: https://ftp.gnu.org/old-gnu/Manuals/textutils-1.22/html_mono/textutils.html

Complete pipeline: lowercase, remove punctuation, squeeze blanks, sort, count with uniq -c, then sort -nr for numeric reverse order to get most frequent words first.

```shell
$ tr '[A-Z]' '[a-z]' < whats.gnu | tr -cd '[A-Za-z0-9_ \012]' |
> tr -s '[ ]' '\012' | sort | uniq -c | sort -nr
 156 the
  60 a
  58 to
  51 of
  51 and
 ...

```

--------------------------------

### expand synopsis

Source: https://ftp.gnu.org/old-gnu/Manuals/textutils-1.22/html_mono/textutils.html

Usage synopsis for the expand command: expand [option]... [file]...

```bash
expand [option]... [file]...
```

--------------------------------

### fmt command synopsis

Source: https://ftp.gnu.org/old-gnu/Manuals/textutils-1.22/html_mono/textutils.html

Shows the general usage of the 'fmt' command. It reads from specified files or standard input and writes to standard output.

```bash
fmt [option]... [file]...
```

--------------------------------

### Sort password file using global numeric modifier -n

Source: https://ftp.gnu.org/old-gnu/Manuals/textutils-1.22/html_mono/textutils.html

Alternative to the previous example using the global numeric modifier -n instead of the 'n' modifier on the second key. The -k 5b,5 still ignores leading whitespace on the fifth field.

```shell
sort -t : -n -k 5b,5 -k 3,3 /etc/passwd
```

--------------------------------

### join synopsis

Source: https://ftp.gnu.org/old-gnu/Manuals/textutils-1.22/html_mono/textutils.html

Shows the command-line syntax for join. Requires two file arguments, one of which may be '-' for standard input.

```bash
join [option]... file1 file2
```

--------------------------------

### uniq command synopsis

Source: https://ftp.gnu.org/old-gnu/Manuals/textutils-1.22/html_mono/textutils.html

Shows the general usage syntax for the `uniq` command. The input must be sorted; if not, use `sort -u`. If no output file is specified, output goes to standard output.

```text
uniq [option]... [input [output]]
```

--------------------------------

### Create listusers shell script with pipeline

Source: https://ftp.gnu.org/old-gnu/Manuals/textutils-1.22/html_mono/textutils.html

Creates a shell script /usr/local/bin/listusers containing the pipeline, then makes it executable with chmod. The ^D represents end-of-input.

```shell
# cat > /usr/local/bin/listusers
who | cut -c1-8 | sort | uniq
^D
# chmod +x /usr/local/bin/listusers
```

--------------------------------

### sort synopsis

Source: https://ftp.gnu.org/old-gnu/Manuals/textutils-1.22/html_mono/textutils.html

The general command-line syntax for the sort utility.

```text
sort [option]... [file]...
```

--------------------------------

### pr synopsis: pr [option]... [file]...

Source: https://ftp.gnu.org/old-gnu/Manuals/textutils-1.22/html_mono/textutils.html

Shows the command-line synopsis for the 'pr' utility. Files are written to standard output, paginated and optionally in multicolumn format; '-' means standard input.

```shell
pr [option]... [file]...
```

--------------------------------

### comm synopsis: comm [option]... file1 file2

Source: https://ftp.gnu.org/old-gnu/Manuals/textutils-1.22/html_mono/textutils.html

Shows the command-line syntax for comm. The input files must be sorted before use. With no options, output has three columns: unique to file1, unique to file2, and common lines, separated by TAB.

```text
comm [option]... file1 file2
```

--------------------------------

### Generate list of logged-in users with who and cut

Source: https://ftp.gnu.org/old-gnu/Manuals/textutils-1.22/html_mono/textutils.html

First step of the pipeline: generate a list of logged-on users by taking the first 8 characters of each line from the who command output.

```shell
$ who | cut -c1-8
arnold
miriam
bill
arnold
```

--------------------------------

### head synopses

Source: https://ftp.gnu.org/old-gnu/Manuals/textutils-1.22/html_mono/textutils.html

Shows the two command-line synopses for head. The first is the standard form, and the second is the old-style form with a number before options.

```bash
head [option]... [file]...
```

```bash
head -number [option]... [file]...
```

--------------------------------

### cut synopsis: cut [option]... [file]...

Source: https://ftp.gnu.org/old-gnu/Manuals/textutils-1.22/html_mono/textutils.html

Shows the command-line syntax for cut. It reads from standard input if no files are given or if a file name is '-'. Byte, character, and field lists are comma-separated numbers or ranges, numbered from 1.

```text
cut [option]... [file]...
```

--------------------------------

### md5sum synopsis

Source: https://ftp.gnu.org/old-gnu/Manuals/textutils-1.22/html_mono/textutils.html

Shows the two command-line forms for md5sum: one for generating checksums and one for verifying them with --check.

```bash
md5sum [option]... [file]...
md5sum [option]... --check [file]
```

--------------------------------

### Sort the user list with sort

Source: https://ftp.gnu.org/old-gnu/Manuals/textutils-1.22/html_mono/textutils.html

Second step: sort the list of users generated by who and cut. The output shows the sorted list with duplicates still present.

```shell
$ who | cut -c1-8 | sort
arnold
arnold
bill
miriam
```

--------------------------------

### unexpand synopsis

Source: https://ftp.gnu.org/old-gnu/Manuals/textutils-1.22/html_mono/textutils.html

Usage synopsis for the unexpand command: unexpand [option]... [file]...

```bash
unexpand [option]... [file]...
```

--------------------------------

### cat synopsis: cat [option] [file]...

Source: https://ftp.gnu.org/old-gnu/Manuals/textutils-1.22/html_mono/textutils.html

Shows the command-line syntax for the cat program. It copies each file (or standard input if none are given) to standard output.

```shell
cat [option] [file]...
```

--------------------------------

### csplit synopsis

Source: https://ftp.gnu.org/old-gnu/Manuals/textutils-1.22/html_mono/textutils.html

The command-line synopsis for csplit. It shows the general usage: csplit [option]... input pattern...

```text
csplit [option]... input pattern...
```

--------------------------------

### od --traditional syntax

Source: https://ftp.gnu.org/old-gnu/Manuals/textutils-1.22/html_mono/textutils.html

Shows the syntax for the pre-POSIX non-option arguments accepted when using --traditional.

```shell
od --traditional [file] [[+]offset[.][b] [[+]label[.][b]]]
```

--------------------------------

### paste synopsis

Source: https://ftp.gnu.org/old-gnu/Manuals/textutils-1.22/html_mono/textutils.html

Shows the command-line syntax for paste. Use it to merge lines from multiple files.

```bash
paste [option]... [file]...
```

--------------------------------

### cksum synopsis

Source: https://ftp.gnu.org/old-gnu/Manuals/textutils-1.22/html_mono/textutils.html

Shows the command-line syntax for cksum. It computes a CRC checksum for each file or standard input.

```bash
cksum [option]... [file]...
```

--------------------------------

### head file header format

Source: https://ftp.gnu.org/old-gnu/Manuals/textutils-1.22/html_mono/textutils.html

Shows the one-line header that head prints before the output for each file when more than one file is specified.

```bash
==> file name <==

```

--------------------------------

### nl synopsis

Source: https://ftp.gnu.org/old-gnu/Manuals/textutils-1.22/html_mono/textutils.html

Shows the command-line synopsis for nl. It writes each file, or standard input if none are given, to standard output, with line numbers added to some or all of the lines.

```bash
nl [option]... [file]...
```

--------------------------------

### tail synopsis

Source: https://ftp.gnu.org/old-gnu/Manuals/textutils-1.22/html_mono/textutils.html

Shows the three synopsis forms for the `tail` command: standard, with a number, and with a plus number.

```shell
tail [option]... [file]...
tail -number [option]... [file]...
tail +number [option]... [file]...
```

--------------------------------

### tac synopsis

Source: https://ftp.gnu.org/old-gnu/Manuals/textutils-1.22/html_mono/textutils.html

Shows the command-line synopsis for tac. It copies each file, or standard input if none are given, to standard output, reversing the records in each separately.

```bash
tac [option]... [file]...
```
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