nth

Name a hash

$ nth [[-t|--text]] [5f4dcc3b5aa765d61d8327deb882cf99]

$ nth [[-f|--file]] [path/to/hashes]

$ nth [[-t|--text]] [5f4dcc3b5aa765d61d8327deb882cf99] [[-g|--greppable]]

$ nth [[-t|--text]] [NWY0ZGNjM2I1YWE3NjVkNjFkODMyN2RlYjg4MmNmOTkK] [[-b64|--base64]]

As "nth" is not a standard command, there is no defined synopsis for it. Operations typically implied by 'nth' are achieved through complex piping and combination of standard Linux commands.

N/A
    No parameters exist for a non-standard command.

The command "nth" is not a standard or recognized standalone utility in most common Linux and Unix-like operating systems. When users refer to the 'nth' item, line, or occurrence, they typically mean using existing powerful text processing utilities to extract or manipulate data based on its numerical position. Common methods involve combining commands such as head, tail, sed, awk, cut, and sort to achieve the desired 'n-th' functionality. For instance, getting the 5th line of a file, the 3rd word on a line, or the 2nd occurrence of a pattern are all 'nth' operations performed by these other tools, rather than a single 'nth' command.

It is crucial to understand that "nth" as a direct command does not exist. Attempting to execute "nth" will result in a 'command not found' error. Users should clarify what specific 'n-th' operation they intend to perform (e.g., n-th line, n-th field, n-th occurrence) and then seek the appropriate combination of standard Linux text processing utilities.

1. Get the Nth line of a file:
Use sed: sed -n 'N p' filename
Use awk: awk 'NR == N' filename
Use head and tail (less efficient for large N): head -n N filename | tail -n 1

2. Get the Nth word/field on a line:
Use awk: echo "line with words" | awk '{print $N}'
Use cut: echo "line with fields" | cut -d'DELIMITER' -f N

3. Get the Nth match of a pattern:
This often involves piping grep with head or sed:
grep 'pattern' filename | head -n N | tail -n 1
For a more efficient Nth match using awk:
awk '/pattern/{count++; if (count == N) {print; exit}}' filename

There is no history or development lineage for a standard "nth" command because it is not a recognized part of core Unix/Linux utilities. The concept of addressing 'n-th' elements has always been handled by the flexible and composable design of Unix tools, allowing users to build solutions for specific 'n-th' requirements.

head(1), tail(1), sed(1), awk(1), cut(1), sort(1), grep(1)