BITS(1)				 User Commands			       BITS(1)

NAME
       bits - convert bit masks from/to various formats

SYNOPSIS
       bits [-h] [-V] [-w <NUM>] [<MODE>] [<MASK_OR_LIST>...]

DESCRIPTION
       The bits utility converts bit masks into various formats. It supports
       combining multiple masks together using bitwise operations.

POSITIONAL ARGUMENTS
       <MASK_OR_LIST>
	   A set of bits specified as a hexadecimal mask value (e.g. 0xeec2)
	   or as a comma-separated list of bit IDs.

       If no argument is specified, the sets of bits will be read from
       standard input; one group per line.

       Consecutive ids can be compressed as ranges (e.g. 5,6,7,8,9,10 → 5-10).

       Optionally, if an argument starts with a comma, it will be parsed as a
       single hexadecimal mask split in 32bit groups (e.g.
       ,00014000,00000000,00020000 → 17,78,80).

       By default all groups will be OR’ed together. If a group has one of the
       following prefixes, it will be combined with the resulting mask using a
       different binary operation:

       &<MASK_OR_LIST>
	   The group will be combined with a binary AND operation. I.e. all
	   bits that are set to 1 in the group AND the combined groups so far
	   will be preserved to 1.  All other bits will be reset to 0.

       ^<MASK_OR_LIST>
	   The group will be combined with a binary XOR operation. I.e. all
	   bits that are set to 1 in the group AND to 0 the combined groups so
	   far (or the other way around) will be set to 1. Bits that are both
	   to 1 or both to 0 will be reset to 0.

       ~<MASK_OR_LIST>
	   All bits set to 1 in the group will be cleared (reset to 0) in the
	   combined groups so far.

OPTIONS
       -w <NUM>, --width <NUM>
	   Maximum number of bits in the masks handled by bits (default 8192).
	   Any bit larger than this number will be truncated.

       -h, --help
	   Display help text and exit.

       -V, --version
	   Display version and exit.

CONVERSION MODE
       One of the following conversion modes can be specified. If not
       specified, it defaults to -m, --mask.

       -m, --mask
	   Print the combined args as a hexadecimal mask value (default).

       -g, --grouped-mask
	   Print the combined args as a hexadecimal mask value in 32bit comma
	   separated groups.

       -b, --binary
	   Print the combined args as a binary mask value.

       -l, --list
	   Print the combined args as a list of bit IDs. Consecutive IDs are
	   compressed as ranges.

EXAMPLES
	   ~$ bits --mask 4,5-8 16,30
	   0x400101f0

	   ~$ bits --list 0xeec2
	   1,6,7,9-11,13-15

	   ~$ bits --binary 4,5-8 16,30
	   0b100_0000_0000_0001_0000_0001_1111_0000

	   ~$ bits --list ,00300000,03000000,30000003
	   0,1,28,29,56,57,84,85

	   ~$ bits --list 1,2,3,4 ~3-10
	   1,2

	   ~$ bits --list 1,2,3,4 ^3-10
	   1,2,5-10

	   ~$ bits --grouped-mask 2,22,74,79
	   8400,00000000,00400004

	   ~$ bits --width 64 --list 2,22,74,79
	   2,22

AUTHORS
       Robin Jarry.

REPORTING BUGS
       For bug reports, use the issue tracker
       <https://github.com/util-linux/util-linux/issues>.

AVAILABILITY
       The bits command is part of the util-linux package which can be
       downloaded from Linux Kernel Archive
       <https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/util-linux/>.

util-linux 2.41.2		  2025-09-22			       BITS(1)