yq/mkdocs/read.md

```
yq r <yaml_file|json_file> <path>
```

{!snippets/works_with_json.md!}

### Basic
Given a sample.yaml file of:
```yaml
b:
  c: 2
```
then
```bash
yq r sample.yaml b.c
```
will output the value of '2'.

### From Stdin
Given a sample.yaml file of:
```bash
cat sample.yaml | yq r - b.c
```
will output the value of '2'.

### Splat
Given a sample.yaml file of:
```yaml
---
bob:
  item1:
    cats: bananas
  item2:
    cats: apples
```
then
```bash
yq r sample.yaml bob.*.cats
```
will output
```yaml
- bananas
- apples
```

### Handling '.' in the yaml key
Given a sample.yaml file of:
```yaml
b.x:
  c: 2
```
then
```bash
yq r sample.yaml \"b.x\".c
```
will output the value of '2'.

### Arrays
You can give an index to access a specific element:
e.g.: given a sample file of
```yaml
b:
  e:
    - name: fred
      value: 3
    - name: sam
      value: 4
```
then
```
yq r sample.yaml 'b.e[1].name'
```
will output 'sam'

Note that the path is in quotes to avoid the square brackets being interpreted by your shell.

### Array Splat
e.g.: given a sample file of
```yaml
b:
  e:
    - name: fred
      value: 3
    - name: sam
      value: 4
```
then
```
yq r sample.yaml 'b.e[*].name'
```
will output:
```
- fred
- sam
```
Note that the path is in quotes to avoid the square brackets being interpreted by your shell.

{!snippets/keys_with_dots.md!}