csplit(1) — Linux manual page

CSPLIT(1)                     User Commands                     CSPLIT(1)

NAME         top

       csplit - split a file into sections determined by context lines

SYNOPSIS         top

       csplit [OPTION]... FILE PATTERN...

DESCRIPTION         top

       Output pieces of FILE separated by PATTERN(s) to files 'xx00',
       'xx01', ..., and output byte counts of each piece to standard
       output.

       Read standard input if FILE is -

       Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short
       options too.

       -b, --suffix-format=FORMAT
              use sprintf FORMAT instead of %02d

       -f, --prefix=PREFIX
              use PREFIX instead of 'xx'

       -k, --keep-files
              do not remove output files on errors

       --suppress-matched
              suppress the lines matching PATTERN

       -n, --digits=DIGITS
              use specified number of digits instead of 2

       -s, --quiet, --silent
              do not print counts of output file sizes

       -z, --elide-empty-files
              suppress empty output files

       --help display this help and exit

       --version
              output version information and exit

   Each PATTERN may be:
       INTEGER
              copy up to but not including specified line number

       /REGEXP/[OFFSET]
              copy up to but not including a matching line

       %REGEXP%[OFFSET]
              skip to, but not including a matching line

       {INTEGER}
              repeat the previous pattern specified number of times

       {*}    repeat the previous pattern as many times as possible

       A line OFFSET is an integer optionally preceded by '+' or '-'

AUTHOR         top

       Written by Stuart Kemp and David MacKenzie.

REPORTING BUGS         top

       GNU coreutils online help:
       <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
       Report any translation bugs to
       <https://translationproject.org/team/>

COPYRIGHT         top

       Copyright © 2025 Free Software Foundation, Inc.  License GPLv3+:
       GNU GPL version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
       This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
       There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

SEE ALSO         top

       Full documentation <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/csplit>
       or available locally via: info '(coreutils) csplit invocation'

COLOPHON         top

       This page is part of the coreutils (basic file, shell and text
       manipulation utilities) project.  Information about the project
       can be found at ⟨http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/⟩.  If you
       have a bug report for this manual page, see
       ⟨http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/⟩.  This page was obtained
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       send a mail to [email protected]

GNU coreutils 9.7               April 2025                      CSPLIT(1)

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