[linux-help] Re: Awk & Sed

[Tom Hull <thull@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Nathan wrote:
> 
> I'm looking for anyone comfortable with Awk & Sed (or
> maybe Perl) who would be willing to help me with the
> combined projects of learning these languages, and
> making a script to parse tab delimited files for my
> job.

Just a sample:

  awk -F'       ' '{
    printf("Row %d\n", NR)
    for (i=1;i<=NF;i++) {
      printf("  Field %d: %s\n", i, $i)
    }
  }' tab-delimited-file

If you're running bash, you'll probably have to use ^v to
quote the TAB character (-F argument).

NR is the number of records processed to date, starting
from 1. NF is the number of fields in the current record.
RS separates records (default newline; i.e., one record
per line). FS separates fields (default space, which is
one or more consecutive isspace() characters). You can
change FS with the -F command line option, or you can
put it into a BEGIN block:

  BEGIN { FS = "\t" }

Which saves you from having to use a literal TAB.

Fields are numbered from 1 .. NF inclusive; $1 gives you
the first field, $2 the second, etc.; a variable after
the $ is evaluated: e.g., $NF always gives you the last
field.

> It's got to run on WinDOS.  (I've already found
> versions of Awk & Sed that are made for DOS.  I've
> also found a version of Perl for DOS.)

You'll also need a shell to pipeline between sed and awk:
they're two separate programs, frequently piped together.

> I'd like to learn to use Awk & Sed so I can say
> goodbye to my crappy Microsoft macros which aren't
> event compatible between two sequential versions of
> Word.  I've thought of using Perl (not that I've
> totally decided against it), but I'd like to minimize
> the amount of stuff I have to put on each computer to
> make the script work.  Would any of you be willing to help?

I can help with awk and sed, but if you're running on DOS,
you might be better off with Perl, which is more powerful,
which usually eliminates the need for a separate shell, or
whole environment like cygwin.

> Nate

-- 
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 *  Tom Hull * thull at kscable.com * http://www.ocston.org/~thull/
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