{"id":388,"date":"2026-01-15T04:21:30","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T04:21:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mitalgoswami.in\/?p=388"},"modified":"2026-01-28T04:36:34","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T04:36:34","slug":"working-with-columns-and-fieldscut-paste-join","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mitalgoswami.in\/?p=388","title":{"rendered":"Working with columns and fieldscut, paste, join"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

✂️ cut<\/code> \u2013 Extract Columns (Fields) from a File<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What it does<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Extracts specific columns\/fields<\/strong> from each line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Syntax<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
cut -d \"delimiter\" -f field_list file\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Examples<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
File: emp.txt<\/code><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
101 Amit 45000 IT\n102 Neha 52000 HR\n103 Rahul 48000 IT\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • Print ID and Name<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    cut -d \" \" -f 1,2 emp.txt\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
      \n
    • CSV file (comma-separated)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
      cut -d \",\" -f 2 data.csv\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
        \n
      • By character position<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
        cut -c 1-5 file.txt\ncat > stat.txt\nAndhra Pradesh\nArunachal Pradesh\nAssam\nBihar\nChhattisgarh\nctrl+z\n\ncut -b 1,2,3 stat.txt\ncut -b -3 stat.txt\ncut -c 2,3 stat.txt\n\n cat > b.txt\n01234:567;89\nabcd:drg;ij\nctrl+z\n\ncut -d \";\" -f1 b.txt  \/\/-f column name\ncut -d \":\" -f2 b.txt \nwho | cut -c 1-2\n\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
        ⚠️ Note: cut<\/code> works best with single, consistent delimiters<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
        \n\n\n\n
        📎 paste<\/code> \u2013 Combine Files Line by Line<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
        What it does<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
        Merges lines of multiple files horizontally<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
        Syntax<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
        paste file1 file2\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
        Examples<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
        Files<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
        names.txt      salary.txt\nAmit           45000\nNeha           52000\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
          \n
        • Combine side by side<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
          paste names.txt salary.txt\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
          Output<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
          Amit    45000\nNeha    52000\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
            \n
          • Use comma as delimiter<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
            paste -d \",\" names.txt salary.txt\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
              \n
            • Merge all lines into one<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
              paste -s names.txt\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
              \n\n\n\n
              paste a.txt b.txt
              paste -d “%” a.txt b.txt
              paste -d “1,” a.txt b.txt c.txt
              cat stat.txt | paste<\/p>\n\n\n\n
              🔗 join<\/code> \u2013 Join Two Files Using a Common Field<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
              What it does<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
              Joins two files based on a common key (column)<\/strong>
              ➡️ Similar to SQL JOIN<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
              Syntax<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
              join file1 file2\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
              Example<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
              File: emp_id.txt<\/code><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
              101 Amit\n102 Neha\n103 Rahul\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
              File: emp_dept.txt<\/code><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
              101 IT\n102 HR\n103 IT\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
                \n
              • Join on first column<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
                join emp_id.txt emp_dept.txt\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
                Output<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
                101 Amit IT\n102 Neha HR\n103 Rahul IT\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
                ⚠️ Important:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
                  \n
                • Files must be sorted<\/strong> on join field<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
                  sort emp_id.txt > a.txt\nsort emp_dept.txt > b.txt\njoin a.txt b.txt\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
                    \n
                  • Join on specific fields<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
                    join -1 1 -2 1 file1 file2\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
                    \n\n\n\n
                    📊 Quick Comparison (Very Important for Exams)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
                    Command<\/th>Purpose<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
                    cut<\/code><\/td>Extract columns<\/td><\/tr>
                    paste<\/code><\/td>Combine files horizontally<\/td><\/tr>
                    join<\/code><\/td>Combine files using common field<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
                    \n\n\n\n
                    🧠 Easy Memory Trick<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
                      \n
                    • cut<\/strong> \u2192 take out<\/em> columns ✂️<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                    • paste<\/strong> \u2192 stick together<\/em> files 📎<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                    • join<\/strong> \u2192 connect<\/em> using key 🔗<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
                      ✂️ cut \u2013 Extract Columns (Fields) from a File What it does Extracts specific columns\/fields from each line. Syntax Examples File: emp.txt ⚠️ Note: cut works best with single, consistent delimiters. 📎 paste \u2013 Combine Files Line by Line What it does Merges lines of multiple files horizontally. Syntax Examples Files Output paste a.txt b.txtpaste […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-unix"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitalgoswami.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitalgoswami.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitalgoswami.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitalgoswami.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitalgoswami.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=388"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mitalgoswami.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":389,"href":"https:\/\/mitalgoswami.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388\/revisions\/389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitalgoswami.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitalgoswami.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitalgoswami.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}