Shell Tip: cut

cut
The cut command has the ability to cut out characters or fields.
cut use delimiters to determine where to split the  fields.

By default, cut's delimiters are stored in the shell variable IFS (Input Field Separators).
Typing:

set | grep IFS

will show what the separator characters currently are; at present, IFS is either:
a. tab
b. new line
c. space.

Usage:
cut [-d char] [-c|-f] list [files...]
-d: define field delimiter (tab by default)
-c list:  cut by column position
-f list: cut by field number

Examples:

cat /etc/passwd | cut -d:  -f1,7
or:
cut -d:  -f1,7 /etc/passwd

will display:
field 1 (username)
field 7 (default shell)
from /etc/passwd.

cut -d:  -f1,6-7 /etc/passwd
will display:
field 1 (username)
field 6 (home directory)
field 7 (default shell)ut

who | cut -d' ' -f1
will display the username that
currently login to the system

cut -c1-7 /etc/tstab
will display the first 7 characters
in /etc/fstab (for each line)