Commonly Used Unix-like Commands

head [-n] [files]
Print the first few lines of one or more files. It is a shell-command and has to be issued at shell prompt.
For usage, use head –help.

Example:

C:wbinexamples>sh
$head unix_cmd.txt
agrep.exe
ansi2knr.exe
basename.exe
bc.exe
bison.exe
bunzip2.exe
bzip2.exe
bzip2recover.exe
cat.exe
chgrp.exe

Example: Output the first three line of ASCII data file fixed.txt to fixed_small.txt.

C:wbinexamples>more fixed.txt
123456
234445
334566
456577
534345
676767

C:wbinexamples>sh
$head -3 fixed.txt >fixed_small.txt
C:wbinexamples>wc -l fixed_small.txt
      3 fixed_small.txt

tail [options] [file]
Print the last ten lines of the names file.
For usage, use tail –help.

Example:

C:wbinexamples>tail unix_cmd.txt
uuencode.exe
wc.exe
wget.exe
wget.hlp
which.exe
whoami.exe
xargs.exe
yes.exe
zcat.exe
zip.exe

wc [options] [files]
Print a character, word, and line count for files.
For usage, use wc –help.

Example 1: Count the number of rows in the file.

C:wbinexamples>more fixed.txt
123456
234445
334566
456577
534345
676767

C:wbinexamples>wc -l fixed.txt
      6 fixed.txt

Example 2: Print the length of the longest line.

E:temp>more odd.txt
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
11 22 3 3 444 555 6 77 88
222 444 55

E:temp>wc -L odd.txt
     25 odd.txt

cut options [files]
Select a list of columns or fields from one or more files. Option -c or -f must be specified.
For usage, use cut –help.

Example1: Free format

C:wbinexamples>more f2.txt
john b a
tina b a

C:wbinexamples>cut -d" " -f2 grade.txt
b
b

Example 2: Fixed format

C:wbinexamples>more fixed.txt
123456
234445
334566
456577
534345
676767

C:wbinexamples>cut -c2-3 fixed.txt
23
34
34
56
34
76

join [options] file1 file2
Join the common lines of sorted file1 and sorted file2 (merge two files).
For usage, use join –help.

Example 1:

C:wbinexamples>more score.txt
john 81 91
mark 82 93
tina 88 92

C:wbinexamples>more grade.txt
john b a
tina b a

C:wbinexamples>join score.txt grade.txt > final.txt

C:wbinexamples>more final.txt
john 81 91 b a
tina 88 92 b a

Example 2: Pair each score with its grade.

C:wbinexamples>join -o 1.1 1.2 2.2 1.3 2.3 score.txt grade.txt
john 81 b 91 a
tina 88 b 92 a

paste [options] files
Merge corresponding lines of one or more files into vertical columns, separated by tab.
For usage, use paste –help.

Example:

C:wbinexamples>more c1.txt
1
2
3
4
5
6

C:wbinexamples>more c23.txt
23
34
34
56
34
76

C:wbinexamples>paste c1.txt c23.txt
1       23
2       34
3       34
4       56
5       34
6       76

cat [options] [file] …
Concatenate and write files.
For usage, use cat –help.

Example 1: Write a file to the screen (standard out).

C:>cat file1.txt
a1 a2 a3
1  3  4
2  9  0
3 10  2
4 11  2

Example 2: Concatenating (stacking) two files.

C:>cat file1.txt
a1 a2 a3
1  3  4
2  9  0
3 10  2
4 11  2

C:>cat file2.txt
5 12  0
6  9  1
7  8  3

C:>cat file1.txt file2.txt > whole.txt

C:>cat whole.txt
a1 a2 a3
1  3  4
2  9  0
3 10  2
4 11  2
5 12  0
6  9  1
7  8  3

Example 3: Stacking multiple files with the same file extension

C:>cat file1.txt
a1 a2 a3
1  3  4
2  9  0
3 10  2
4 11  2

C:>cat file2.txt
5 12  0
6  9  1
7  8  3

C:>cat file3.txt
9  12 7
10 12 0
11 23 34

C:>cat *.txt
a1 a2 a3
1  3  4
2  9  0
3 10  2
4 11  2
5 12  0
6  9  1
7  8  3
9  12 7
10 12 0
11 23 34

C:>cat *.txt > big

Remark: Notice that the file big does not have extension .txt. This is to avoid an infinite loop due to the use of wild card ‘*’.

sort [options] [files]
Sort the lines of the named files, typically in alphabetical order.
For usage, use sort –help.

Example 1:

beta (124) % cat hsbfew.txt
id female race ses schtyp prog read write math science socst
70 0 4 1 1 1 57 52 41 47 57
121 1 4 2 1 3 68 59 53 63 61
86 0 4 3 1 1 44 33 54 58 31
141 0 4 3 1 3 63 44 47 53 56
172 0 4 2 1 2 47 52 57 53 61
113 0 4 2 1 2 44 52 51 63 61
50 0 3 2 1 1 50 59 42 53 61
11 0 1 2 1 2 34 46 45 39 36
84 0 4 2 1 1 63 57 54 58 51
48 0 3 2 1 2 57 55 52 50 51
75 0 4 2 1 3 60 46 51 53 61
60 0 4 2 1 2 57 65 51 63 61

 beta(125)% sort -n hsbfew.txt
id female race ses schtyp prog read write math science socst
11 0 1 2 1 2 34 46 45 39 36
48 0 3 2 1 2 57 55 52 50 51
50 0 3 2 1 1 50 59 42 53 61
60 0 4 2 1 2 57 65 51 63 61
70 0 4 1 1 1 57 52 41 47 57
75 0 4 2 1 3 60 46 51 53 61
84 0 4 2 1 1 63 57 54 58 51
86 0 4 3 1 1 44 33 54 58 31
113 0 4 2 1 2 44 52 51 63 61
121 1 4 2 1 3 68 59 53 63 61
141 0 4 3 1 3 63 44 47 53 56
172 0 4 2 1 2 47 52 57 53 61

fgrep [options] [pattern] [files]
Search one or more files for lines that match a literal, text-string pattern. Because fgrep does not support regular expressions, it is faster than grep.
For usage, use fgrep –help.

Example 1: Search for lines that contains “john”. The option -i is used to ignore uppercase and lowercase distinction.

C:wbinexamples>more score.txt

john 81 91
mark 82 93
tina 88 92
C:wbinexamples>fgrep "john" score.txt
john 81 91

C:wbinexamples>fgrep -i "JOHN" score.txt
john 81 91

grep [options] regexp [files]
Search one or more files for lines that match a regular expression regexp.
For usage, use grep –help.

Example 1: Search for lines that contain a particular character.

C:wbinexamples>more problem.txt
123456
23?445
334566
456x77
534345
676767

C:wbinexamples>grep "?" problem.txt
23?445

Example 2: Search lines containing a x or a question mark.

C:wbinexamples>grep "[x?]" problem.txt
23?445
456x77

Example 3: Search for lines that begin with either 1 or 2.

C:wbinexamples>grep "^[12]" problem.txt
123456
23?445

Example 4: Search for lines that don’t begin with 1 or 2.

C:wbinexamples>grep -v "^[12]" problem.txt
334566
456x77
534345
676767

gawk [options] -f script_file input_file(s)
gawk [options] ‘script’ file(s)
A pattern-matching program for processing files, especially when files are databases.
For usage, use gawk –help.

Example1: Print the maximal record length of a file.

C:wbinexamples>cat reclength.awk
BEGIN {len = 0}
{
  test = length($0)
  if ( test > len) len = test
}
END {print "The maximal record length is " len}

C:wbinexamples>gawk -f reclength.awk score.txt
The maximal record length is 10

Example 2: Print the second column of a file.

C:wbinexamples>more score.txt
john 81 91
mark 82 93
tina 88 92

C:wbinexamples>gawk  '{print $2}' score.txt
81
82
88

Example 3: Print the number of records of each line.

C:wbinexamples>more temp
     1  70 0 4 1 1 1 57 52 41 47 57
     2  121 1 4 2 1 3 68 59 53 63 61
     3  86 0 4 3 1 1 44 33 54 58 31
     4  141 0 4 3 1 3 63 44 47 53 56
     5  172 0 4 2 1 2 47 52 57 53 61
     6  113 0 4 2 1 2 44 52 51 63 61
     7  50 0 3 2 1 1 50 59 42 53 61
     8  11 0 1 2 1 2 34 46 45 39 36
     9  84 0 4 2 1 1 63 57 54 58 51
    10  48 0 3 2 1 2 57 55 52 50 51
    11  75 0 4 2 1 3 60 46 51 53 61

C:wbinexamples>gawk '{print NF}'  temp
12
12
12
12
12
12
12
12
12
12
12

Example 4: Deleting the first line of a file. The first line of file test.txt has variable names. Sometimes, it may be useful to delete the first line, or multiple lines.

E:awk_stuff>more test.txt
a b c
1 2 3
2 3 5
3 5 7
1 2 3
2 3 4
4 5 5
2 4 6

E:awk_stuff>sh
$ gawk 'NR >1' <test.txt > noname.txt
$ cat noname.txt
1 2 3
2 3 5
3 5 7
1 2 3
2 3 4
4 5 5
2 4 6

seq [options] first increment last
Generate a sequence of integers, with a user-selected increment.
For usage, use seq –help.

Example 1: Use the default for first (1) and increment (1).

C:wbin>seq 5
1
2
3
4
5

Example 2:

C:wbin>seq 0 10 100
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100

od [options] [file]
Octal dump; produce a dump (normally octal) of the named file.
For usage, use od –help.

sum [option] file
Calculate and print a checksum and the number of (512-byte) blocks for file.
For usage, use sum –help.

Example:

beta (119) % sum hsb2.sas7bdat
27863    25 hsb2.sas7bdat

fold [options] [files]
Break the lines of the named files so that they are no wider than the specified width.
For usage, use fold –help.

Example:

C:wbinexamples>more score.txt
john 81 91
mark 82 93
tina 88 92

C:wbinexamples>fold -w 5 score.txt
john
81 91
mark
82 93
tina
88 92

dd [option = value]
Make a copy of an input file (if = ) using the specified conditions, and send the results to the output file (or standard output if of is not specified).
For usage, use dd –help.

Example : Convert an input file to all uppercase:

D:temp>more score.txt
john 81 91
mark 82 93
tina 88 92

D:temp>dd if=score.txt of=score_up.txt conv=ucase
0+1 records in
0+1 records out

D:temp>more score_up.txt
JOHN 81 91
MARK 82 93
TINA 88 92

tr [options][string1][string2]
Performing substitution of characters from string1 to string2 or deletion of characters in string1.
For usage, use tr –help.

Example1: Change uppercase to lowercase in a file:

D:temp>more score.txt
john 81 91
mark 82 93
tina 88 92

D:temp>tr '[a-z]' '[A-Z]' < score.txt > score1.txt

D:temp>more score1.txt
JOHN 81 91
MARK 82 93
TINA 88 92

Example 2: Delete ^M character appended to the end of each line:

Let’s say we have a file called test.csv that has an extra character ^M at the end of each line as illustrated below.

18,307,130,3504,12,70,1,8,0^M
15,350,165,3693,12,70,1,8,0^M
18,318,150,3436,11,70,1,8,0^M
16,304,150,3433,12,70,1,8,0^M
17,302,140,3449,11,70,1,8,0^M
15,429,198,4341,10,70,1,8,0^M

We can do use tr command as follows.

tr -d "15" <test.csv > test1.csv

The new file test1.csv will look like this:

18,307,130,3504,12,70,1,8,0
15,350,165,3693,12,70,1,8,0
18,318,150,3436,11,70,1,8,0
16,304,150,3433,12,70,1,8,0
17,302,140,3449,11,70,1,8,0
15,429,198,4341,10,70,1,8,0

for FOR %variable IN (set) DO command [command-parameters]
Runs a specified command for each file in a set of files.
For usage, use for /?.

Example1: Change file extensions for all the files in a directory

C:temptoshow>ls
myfile_1  myfile_2  myfile_3  myfile_4  myfile_5  myfile_6  myfile_7

C:temptoshow>for %v in (*) do rename %v %v.txt

C:temptoshow>ls
myfile_1.txt  myfile_3.txt  myfile_5.txt  myfile_7.txt
myfile_2.txt  myfile_4.txt  myfile_6.txt

Note: 1) Place to download the Unix utilities for Windows: http://unxutils.sourceforge.net/

2) See more complete document: http://www.gnu.org/manual/manual.html