[module]
name = "cut"
description = "Remove sections from each line of files"
version = 1
[intro]
text = """
## What is cut?
`cut` removes sections from each line of a file or stdin. It's useful for extracting columns from delimited text or fixed-width data.
## Basic Syntax
```
cut [OPTIONS] [file]
```
## Common Options
- `-d DELIM` — use DELIM as field delimiter (default: tab)
- `-f LIST` — select fields (columns) by number
- `-c LIST` — select characters by position
- `-f 1,3` — fields 1 and 3
- `-f 1-3` — fields 1 through 3
- `-f 2-` — field 2 to end
## Examples
`cut -d: -f1 /etc/passwd` — print usernames
`cut -d, -f1,3 data.csv` — print columns 1 and 3 of CSV
`cut -c1-10 file.txt` — print first 10 characters of each line
"""
[[examples]]
title = "Extract a field from CSV"
description = "Get the second column from a comma-separated file"
command = "cut -d, -f2 data.csv"
output = "city\nNew York\nLos Angeles\n"
[[examples]]
title = "Extract characters"
description = "Get the first 3 characters of each line"
command = "cut -c1-3 words.txt"
output = "app\nban\nche\n"
[[exercises]]
id = "cut.1"
difficulty = "beginner"
question = """The file `data.csv` has comma-separated fields.
Extract just the first field (name) from each line."""
expected_output = "Alice\nBob\nCharlie\n"
hints = [
"Use -d, to set comma as delimiter and -f1 for the first field",
"Try: cut -d, -f1 data.csv",
]
solution = "cut -d, -f1 data.csv"
match_mode = "exact"
[[exercises.fixtures]]
filename = "data.csv"
content = "Alice,30,Engineer\nBob,25,Designer\nCharlie,35,Manager\n"
[[exercises]]
id = "cut.2"
difficulty = "beginner"
question = """The file `data.csv` has comma-separated fields: name, age, role.
Extract the first and third fields (name and role)."""
expected_output = "Alice,Engineer\nBob,Designer\nCharlie,Manager\n"
hints = [
"Use -f1,3 to select fields 1 and 3",
"Try: cut -d, -f1,3 data.csv",
]
solution = "cut -d, -f1,3 data.csv"
match_mode = "exact"
[[exercises.fixtures]]
filename = "data.csv"
content = "Alice,30,Engineer\nBob,25,Designer\nCharlie,35,Manager\n"
[[exercises]]
id = "cut.3"
difficulty = "beginner"
question = """The file `fixed.txt` has fixed-width data.
Extract only the first 5 characters from each line."""
expected_output = "Alice\nBob \nEve \n"
hints = [
"Use -c1-5 to select the first 5 characters",
"Try: cut -c1-5 fixed.txt",
]
solution = "cut -c1-5 fixed.txt"
match_mode = "exact"
[[exercises.fixtures]]
filename = "fixed.txt"
content = "Alice 30 Engineer\nBob 25 Designer\nEve 28 Analyst \n"
[[exercises]]
id = "cut.4"
difficulty = "intermediate"
question = """The file `passwd.txt` is in /etc/passwd format (colon-separated).
Extract the username (field 1) and home directory (field 6) from each line."""
expected_output = "root:/root\nalice:/home/alice\nbob:/home/bob\n"
hints = [
"Use -d: and -f1,6 to extract fields 1 and 6",
"Try: cut -d: -f1,6 passwd.txt",
]
solution = "cut -d: -f1,6 passwd.txt"
match_mode = "exact"
[[exercises.fixtures]]
filename = "passwd.txt"
content = "root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash\nalice:x:1001:1001::/home/alice:/bin/bash\nbob:x:1002:1002::/home/bob:/bin/zsh\n"
[[exercises]]
id = "cut.5"
difficulty = "intermediate"
question = """The file `data.csv` has 4 comma-separated fields.
Extract fields 2 through 4 (all except the first field)."""
expected_output = "New York,30,Engineer\nLos Angeles,25,Designer\nChicago,35,Manager\n"
hints = [
"Use -f2- to select from field 2 to the end",
"Try: cut -d, -f2- data.csv",
]
solution = "cut -d, -f2- data.csv"
match_mode = "exact"
[[exercises.fixtures]]
filename = "data.csv"
content = "Alice,New York,30,Engineer\nBob,Los Angeles,25,Designer\nCharlie,Chicago,35,Manager\n"