Introduction to Copying Command Output

When working with terminals, it’s often necessary to copy the output of a command for further use. This can be done manually by selecting the text and using the clipboard, but there are more efficient ways to achieve this. In this tutorial, we’ll explore how to pipe the output of a command directly into the clipboard.

Why Copy Command Output?

Copying command output is useful in various scenarios:

Sharing output with others
Pasting into documents or emails
Using output as input for another command

Methods for Copying Command Output

The method for copying command output varies depending on the operating system being used. Below, we’ll cover the most common methods.

Linux

On Linux systems, the xclip command is commonly used to interact with the clipboard. To copy output to the clipboard, you can pipe the output of a command to xclip:

cat file | xclip -selection clipboard

To paste the contents of the clipboard, use:

xclip -o -selection clipboard

macOS

On macOS, the pbcopy and pbpaste commands are used for copying and pasting, respectively. To copy output to the clipboard:

cat file | pbcopy

To paste the contents of the clipboard:

pbpaste

Windows (WSL/Cygwin)

On Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) or Cygwin, you can use clip.exe to copy output to the clipboard:

cat file | clip.exe

To paste the contents of the clipboard on WSL:

powershell.exe Get-Clipboard

On Cygwin, you can use /dev/clipboard to copy and paste:

cat file > /dev/clipboard
cat /dev/clipboard

Unified Solution using Aliases

To simplify the process of copying and pasting across different systems, you can create aliases in your shell configuration file (~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc). Here’s an example:

if grep -q -i microsoft /proc/version; then
  alias copy="clip.exe"
  alias paste="powershell.exe Get-Clipboard"
elif grep -q -i cygwin $(uname -a); then
  alias copy="/dev/clipboard"
  alias paste="cat /dev/clipboard"
elif [[ ! -r /proc/version ]]; then
  alias copy="pbcopy"
  alias paste="pbpaste"
else
  alias copy="xclip -sel clip"
  alias paste="xclip -sel clip -o"
fi

With these aliases, you can use copy and paste commands regardless of the operating system:

echo "hello world" | copy
paste > file

Conclusion

Copying command output to the clipboard is a useful technique for streamlining your workflow. By using the methods outlined in this tutorial, you can efficiently pipe output to the clipboard and paste it into other applications or documents.

Copying Command Output to the Clipboard