cut

Divide a file into several parts (columns)
Writes to standard output selected parts of each line of each input file, or standard input if no files are given or for a file name of `-'.

SYNTAX
     cut [OPTION]... [FILE]...

DESCRIPTION
In the options below, BYTE-LIST, CHARACTER-LIST, and FIELD-LIST are one or more 
numbers or ranges (two numbers separated by a dash)

Bytes, characters, and fields are are numbered starting at 1 and 
separated by commas.  Incomplete ranges may be given: `-M'
means `1-M'; `N-' means `N' through end of line or last field.

OPTIONS

`-b BYTE-LIST'
`--bytes=BYTE-LIST'
     Print only the bytes in positions listed in BYTE-LIST.  Tabs and
     backspaces are treated like any other character; they take up 1
     byte.

`-c CHARACTER-LIST'
`--characters=CHARACTER-LIST'
     Print only characters in positions listed in CHARACTER-LIST.  The
     same as `-b' for now, but internationalization will change that.
     Tabs and backspaces are treated like any other character; they
     take up 1 character.

`-f FIELD-LIST'
`--fields=FIELD-LIST'
     Print only the fields listed in FIELD-LIST.  Fields are separated
     by a TAB character by default.

`-d INPUT_DELIM_BYTE'
`--delimiter=INPUT_DELIM_BYTE'
     For `-f', fields are separated in the input by the first character
     in INPUT_DELIM_BYTE (default is TAB).

`-n'
     Do not split multi-byte characters (no-op for now).

`-s'
`--only-delimited'
     For `-f', do not print lines that do not contain the field
     separator character.

`--output-delimiter=OUTPUT_DELIM_STRING'
     For `-f', output fields are separated by OUTPUT_DELIM_STRING The
     default is to use the input delimiter.

"It seemed the world was divided into good and bad people. The good ones slept better... while the bad ones seemed to enjoy the waking hours much more" - Woody Allen

Related commands:

csplit - Split a file into context-determined pieces
fmt - Reformat paragraph text
fold - Wrap input lines to fit in specified width
head - Output the first part of file(s)
join - Join lines on a common field
paste - Merge lines of files
split - Split a file into fixed-size pieces
tail - Output the last part of files