CHAPTER 19Filters and Utilities
One of the most valuable features of the UNIX System is the rich set of commands it gives you. This chapter surveys a particularly useful set of commands that are often referred to as tools or utilities. They are small, modular commands, each of which performs a specific function, such as sorting a list or searching for a word in a file. You can use them singly and in combination to carry out many common tasks.
Most of the tools described in this chapter are what are often referred to as filters. Filters are programs that read standard input, operate on it, and produce the result as standard output. They are not interactive—they do not prompt you or wait for input. Filters are often used with other commands in ...
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