Re: cut - reorder fields

[Bob Proulx]

James KEEFER wrote:
> As far as I can see, there is no way to re-order fields using cut.

That is correct.  But other tools do this easily.

> It would be nice to be able to specify -f 3,2,1 and have the first
> three fields switched in their order.  It would also be nice to
> repeat an input fields in the output, such as -f 1,1,1 repeating the
> first field three times.

I suggest using awk for this.  It is a standard tool that will do
exactly what you are asking.

  $ echo one two three four | awk '{print $3,$1,$2}'
  three one two

  $ echo one two three four | awk '{print $3,$2,$1,$2}'
  three two one two

Using awk just seems perfectly fitted to these types of tasks.

Bob