paste -- Command

Merge lines of files
paste [-s] [-d list] file ...

paste merges  corresponding lines from  multiple input files.   By default,
paste  uses the  <tab> character  to  delineate texts  from different
files.  paste writes the merged text to standard output; thus, paste can be
used at the head of a shell pipeline.

If paste  reads EOF  from any  of the input  files while other  files still
contain data,  it substitutes blank lines  as input from the  file that has
ended.

Options

paste recognizes the following command-line options:

-d list
     Use  the  characters  in list  to  separate  the  output fields.   The
     characters in  list are taken  in sequence and  used circularly, i.e.,
     taken in order until the end of list is reached, then returning to the
     first  character  in  list. By  default,  paste  uses the  <tab>
     character  to delineate  the output  fields.  The  following character
     sequences have special meaning when encountered in list:

     \\  Output a single backslash character
     \t  Output a <tab> character
     \n  Output a <newline> character
     \0  Output a null string (i.e., no separator between output fields)

-s   Output successive  lines from  each input  file across the  page, with
     each input  line separated from  the next by  a <tab> character.
     After  all  input lines  from  a given  file  have been  concatenated,
     terminate the output  line with a <newline> character and repeat
     the process on the next input file.

Example

The  following  two files  will  be used  for  subsequent examples.   File1
contains:

     File1_Line1
     File1_Line2
     File1_Line3
     File1_Line4

File2 contains:

     File2_Line1
     File2_Line2
     File2_Line3
     File2_Line4

The command

     paste File1 File2

generates the following output:

     File1_Line1  File2_Line1
     File1_Line2  File2_Line2
     File1_Line3  File2_Line3
     File1_Line4  File2_Line4

Adding the option -s yields the output:

     File1_Line1  File1_Line2 File1_Line3  File1_Line4
     File2_Line1  File2_Line2 File2_Line3  File2_Line4

See Also

awk,
commands,
cut,
sed

Notes

paste  is  copyright  © 1989  by  The  Regents  of  the University  of
California.  All rights reserved.

© 2012 by Stephen A. Ness