COLRM(1)                FreeBSD General Commands Manual               COLRM(1)

NAME
     colrm - remove columns from a file

SYNOPSIS
     colrm [start [stop]]

DESCRIPTION
     The colrm utility removes selected columns from the lines of a file.  A
     column is defined as a single character in a line.  Input is read from
     the standard input.  Output is written to the standard output.

     If only the start column is specified, columns numbered less than the
     start column will be written.  If both start and stop columns are
     specified, columns numbered less than the start column or greater than
     the stop column will be written.  Column numbering starts with one, not
     zero.

     Tab characters increment the column count to the next multiple of eight.
     Backspace characters decrement the column count by one.

ENVIRONMENT
     The LANG, LC_ALL and LC_CTYPE environment variables affect the execution
     of colrm as described in environ(7).

EXIT STATUS
     The colrm utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.

EXAMPLES
     Show columns below 3 (c) and above 5 (e):

           $ echo -e "abcdefgh\n12345678" | colrm 3 5
           abfgh
           12678

     Specifying a start column bigger than the number of columns in the file
     is allowed and shows all the columns:

           $ echo "abcdefgh" | colrm 100
           abcdefgh

     Using 1 as start column will show nothing:

           $ echo "abcdefgh" | colrm 1

SEE ALSO
     awk(1), column(1), cut(1), paste(1)

HISTORY
     The colrm utility first appeared in 1BSD.

AUTHORS
     Jeff Schriebman wrote the original version of colrm in November 1974.

FreeBSD 13.1-RELEASE-p6          June 23, 2020         FreeBSD 13.1-RELEASE-p6