Linux command (like cat) to read a specified quantity of characters

Question

Is there a command like cat in linux which can return a specified quantity of characters from a file?

e.g., I have a text file like:

Hel         


        

Answer 1

Here's a simple script that wraps up using the dd approach mentioned here:

extract_chars.sh

#!/usr/bin/env bash

function show_help()
{
  IT="
extracts characters X to Y from stdin or FILE
usage: X Y {FILE}

e.g. 

2 10 /tmp/it     => extract chars 2-10 from /tmp/it
EOF
  "
  echo "$IT"
  exit
}

if [ "$1" == "help" ]
then
  show_help
fi
if [ -z "$1" ]
then
  show_help
fi

FROM=$1
TO=$2
COUNT=`expr $TO - $FROM + 1`

if [ -z "$3" ]
then
  dd skip=$FROM count=$COUNT bs=1 2>/dev/null
else
  dd skip=$FROM count=$COUNT bs=1 if=$3 2>/dev/null 
fi