Title: Filters
Course: CIS 121: Linux/UNIX I: Fundamentals ~ For IGNITE Review > Section: Learning Modules

Commands that are created to be used with a pipe are often called filters. These filters are very small programs that do one specific thing very efficiently. They can be used as building blocks. The combination of simple commands and filters in a long pipe allows you to design elegant solutions. (Cobbault, pp. 123)

- Filters are commands that sort, modify, select or count.
- They can be used on the output from a command or series of commands.
- They can be used to display the output of a file in a modified form or to actually change a file.
- They are often “piped” together, so that the output has gone through many commands.