why does "cut" print fields in original order?

Ed Greshko Ed.Greshko at greshko.com
Wed Nov 21 14:43:16 UTC 2007


Dave Ihnat wrote:

> Now, as to why it does what it does?  I don't know for sure, since
> I didn't go find whoever wrote the original and ask.  But I can
> guess--"do one thing, and do it well."  Cut is supposed to get fields
> from a line-delimited data stream.  Period.  Rearrangement is an added
> function--one that might be useful, certainly; but that can be done via
> other shell tools.

Exactly what I thought.  It was designed to do a simple function and no more
, no less.

It does exactly what it was intended to do.

Why some folks would want it (or expect it) to do more is beyond me.  :-)




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