Replacing a column in a pipe delimited file


 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Top Forums Shell Programming and Scripting Replacing a column in a pipe delimited file
# 1  
Old 11-25-2014
Replacing a column in a pipe delimited file

Hi,

I have a pipe delimited file as below and I need to replace the 2nd column of each line with null values.

Code:
1|10/15/2011|fname1|lname1
2|10/15/2012|fname2|lname2
3|10/15/2013|fname3|lname3

Output file:
Code:
1||fname1|lname1
2||fname2|lname2
3||fname3|lname3

I tried this
Code:
awk -F"|" -v OFS="|" '{ $2=""}' filename.txt

Can anyone please help me with this urgent requirement?

Thanks in advance.

---------- Post updated at 10:36 AM ---------- Previous update was at 10:31 AM ----------

Was a syntax error. This worked.

Code:
awk -F"|" -v OFS="|" '$2 { $2=""} 1' filename.txt > newfilename.txt

# 2  
Old 11-25-2014
Use sed:
Code:
sed -e 's/|[^|]*|/|/'

---------- Post updated at 02:12 PM ---------- Previous update was at 01:58 PM ----------

Or cut:
Code:
cut -d\| -f1,3-

This User Gave Thanks to derekludwig For This Post:
# 3  
Old 11-25-2014
Thank you Derek. This is helpful.
Login or Register to Ask a Question

Previous Thread | Next Thread

10 More Discussions You Might Find Interesting

1. Shell Programming and Scripting

Replace delimiter for a particular column in a pipe delimited file

I have an input file as below Emp1|FirstName|MiddleName|LastName|Address|Pincode|PhoneNumber 1234|FirstName1|MiddleName2|LastName3| Add1 || ADD2|123|000000000 Output : 1234|FirstName1|MiddleName2|LastName3| Add1 ,, ADD2|123|000000000 OR 1234,FirstName1,MiddleName2,LastName3, Add1 ||... (2 Replies)
Discussion started by: styris
2 Replies

2. UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Check for not null column in a pipe delimited file

Hi, I have a requirement where I have to check whether the mandatory columns in a pipe delimited file is null and print error message. For eg, I have to check if the 3rd,5th,6th,7th and 8th column are null and print the message "<column name> is null". The data file will have aroung 100,000... (6 Replies)
Discussion started by: reshma15193
6 Replies

3. UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Need to convert a pipe delimited text file to tab delimited

Hi, I have a rquirement in unix as below . I have a text file with me seperated by | symbol and i need to generate a excel file through unix commands/script so that each value will go to each column. ex: Input Text file: 1|A|apple 2|B|bottle excel file to be generated as output as... (9 Replies)
Discussion started by: raja kakitapall
9 Replies

4. Shell Programming and Scripting

Replace pipe delimited column string to null

Hi All, I have a large dat file where each lines are pipe delimited values. I need to parse the file depending on the request. For example: sometimes I have told to remove all the values in the 7th column (this case remove values '3333' only from the first line and '3543' from the second line)... (4 Replies)
Discussion started by: express14
4 Replies

5. Homework & Coursework Questions

how to show particular column from pipe delimited file

hi, I have pipe delimited flat file as below 1|ab|4.5|9| 2|ac|3|12| 3|ac|4.5|8| i want to show (display) only 3rd field between pipes. please help (1 Reply)
Discussion started by: vai15517
1 Replies

6. Shell Programming and Scripting

Help with converting Pipe delimited file to Tab Delimited

I have a file which was pipe delimited, I need to make it tab delimited. I tried with sed but no use cat file | sed 's/|//t/g' The above command substituted "/t" not tab in the place of pipe. Sample file: abc|123|2012-01-30|2012-04-28|xyz have to convert to: abc 123... (6 Replies)
Discussion started by: karumudi7
6 Replies

7. Shell Programming and Scripting

How to convert a space delimited file into a pipe delimited file using shellscript?

Hi All, I have space delimited file similar to the one as shown below.. I need to convert it as a pipe delimited, the values inside the pipe delimited file should be as highlighted... AA ATIU2345098809 009697 005374 BB ATIU2345097809 005445 006518 CC ATIU9685098809 003215 003571 DD... (7 Replies)
Discussion started by: nithins007
7 Replies

8. Shell Programming and Scripting

How to insert a sequence number column inside a pipe delimited csv file using shell scripting?

Hi All, I need a shell script which could insert a sequence number column inside a dat file(pipe delimited). I have the dat file similar to the one as shown below.. |A|B|C||D|E |F|G|H||I|J |K|L|M||N|O |P|Q|R||S|T As shown above, the column 4 is currently blank and i need to insert sequence... (5 Replies)
Discussion started by: nithins007
5 Replies

9. UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Replacing a field in pipe delimited TEXT File

Hi, I want to replace a field in a text delimited file with the actual number of records in the same file. HDR|ABCD|10-13-2008 to 10-19-2008.txt|10-19-2008|XYZ DTL|0|5464-1|0|02-02-2008|02-03-2008||||F||||||||| DTL|1|5464-1|1|02-02-2008|02-03-2008|1||JJJ... (3 Replies)
Discussion started by: ravi0435
3 Replies

10. UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Need help with shell script for chekking a column in txt file - pipe delimited

Hi: I have a text file date(pipe delimited) which is loaded in to the DB using sql loader(&CTL files) after some initial validation by the shell script. Now i have a situation where the shell script needs to check a column in the text file and if it is NULL then it needs send this record/row... (12 Replies)
Discussion started by: ravi0435
12 Replies
Login or Register to Ask a Question