https://github.com/kyotalab/xcut
xcut – A Flexible Field Extractor and Filter Tool for the Command Line
https://github.com/kyotalab/xcut
Last synced: 3 months ago
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xcut – A Flexible Field Extractor and Filter Tool for the Command Line
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/kyotalab/xcut
- Owner: kyotalab
- License: mit
- Created: 2025-05-29T20:17:51.000Z (about 1 year ago)
- Default Branch: main
- Last Pushed: 2025-06-03T04:00:47.000Z (about 1 year ago)
- Last Synced: 2025-10-14T20:25:51.657Z (9 months ago)
- Language: Rust
- Homepage:
- Size: 23.4 KB
- Stars: 7
- Watchers: 0
- Forks: 0
- Open Issues: 0
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
Awesome Lists containing this project
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README
# xcut – A Flexible Field Extractor and Filter Tool for the Command Line
**xcut** is an extended version of the Unix `cut` command, with support for filtering, column extraction, and flexible delimiters.
It is written in Rust and supports cross-platform usage (Linux, macOS, Windows via CMD or Git Bash).
---
## Features
- Column selection (`--cols`)
- Flexible field delimiter (`--delim`, `--max-split`)
- Field filtering with boolean logic and regex (`--filter`)
- Output customization (`--out-delim`, `--output`)
- CSV-style header skipping (`--no-header`)
- Head/tail output restriction (`--head`, `--tail`)
- Accepts stdin when no input file is specified
---
## Usage
```sh
xcut [OPTIONS]
```
### Basic Options
- `-i`, `--input `
Path to the input file. Reads from stdin if not specified
- `-f`, `--filter `
Filter expression to match lines. Supports regex and boolean logic.
Examples:
- `col(3) == "INFO"`
- `col(4) =~ "^CPU"`
- `col(3) !~ "DEBUG" && col(4) =~ "error"`
- `-c`, `--cols `
List of column numbers to output (1-based index).
Example: `--cols 1,3`
- `--delim `
Delimiter used to split each line into columns. Default is whitespace
- `--max-split `
Maximum number of splits to perform when using `--delim`. Useful to preserve trailing content in the last field
- `--out-delim `
Delimiter used to join output fields. Default is a space
- `-o`, `--output `
Path to output file. Appends to the file if it exists. Defaults to stdout
- `--no-header`
Skip the first line (e.g. header in CSV files)
- `--head `
Output only the first N lines (like `head`)
- `--tail `
Output only the last N lines (like `tail`)
- `-h`, `--help`
Print help (see a summary with `-h`)
- `-V`, `--version`
Print version
---
## Filtering Expression Examples
You can filter lines using column values. Examples:
| Expression | Description |
|-----------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|
| `col(2) == "INFO"` | Select rows where column 2 equals "INFO" |
| `col(2) != "INFO"` | Select rows where column 2 is not "INFO" |
| `col(4) =~ "CPU"` | Regex match: column 4 contains "CPU" |
| `col(3) !~ "DEBUG"` | Regex *not* match |
| `col(2) == "INFO" && col(4) =~ "CPU"` | Logical AND of two conditions |
| `col(2) == "INFO" || col(2) == "WARN"` | Logical OR |
---
## Examples
```bash
## Extract columns 2 and 4 with space as delimiter, max 4 splits
xcut --input sample_logs.txt --cols 2,4 --delim ' ' --max-split 4
# Filter lines where column 3 matches regex and output to a file
xcut --input sample_logs.txt --filter 'col(3) =~ "ERROR"' --output errors.txt
# Only take the first 10 lines, skip the header
xcut --input data.csv --no-header --head 10 --cols 1,2,3 --delim ','
# Use regex negation
xcut --input logs.txt --filter 'col(3) !~ "DEBUG"'
```
---
## PowerShell Note (Windows)
PowerShell has issues interpreting `!~`, quotes, and parentheses.
For best results on Windows:
- Use **cmd.exe** or **Git Bash**
---
## Running Tests
To run integration tests, make sure the binary is built first:
```bash
cargo build
cargo test
```
The tests expect `target/debug/xcut` to be available. If you want to run tests directly without building separately, simply use:
```bash
cargo test
```
---