Checking the format of inputs in a file - Shell Programming and Scripting

sendhilmani123 · #1 (**permalink**) 05-04-2006

Hi,

I have a script that takes the contents of another file as inputs. Its assumed that there are 3 values in the input file that are seperated by '|'. I have to check in my script, whether the filed seperator used in the input file is '|' or not. If its not a '|' I have to print a error message. How can I do it.

Thanks in advnace.

vino · #2 (**permalink**) 05-04-2006

You could use awk.

Code:

awk -F "\|" '{ if (NF != 3) printf ("Not good\n");  }' input.file

If you want to do it within the script, you can take this approach

Code:

#! /bin/ksh

while read line
do
        last="${line##*\|}"

        if [ "$last" = "$line" ] ; then
                echo "Not good"
                break;
        fi ;
done < input.file

Unlike the awk, the script will not go ahead if it encounters a non-conforming input.

sendhilmani123 · #3 (**permalink**) 05-05-2006

Hi,
The script works fine when there are no "|" symbols in the file. But even if one of them is present then it still says that the format is ok, which is not the exact way.
ie....
I have inputs like this.

Mani|123 prof

This kind of input also is accepted by the script. But it should not accept. It should accept only if all the three field are seperated by "|".

Thanks in advance

jim mcnamara · #4 (**permalink**) 05-05-2006

Code:

echo "$record_read" | egrep -q '^.*([|]).*([|]).*$'
if [ $? -eq 0 ] ; then
  echo "good"
else
  echo "bad"
fi

vino · #5 (**permalink**) 05-05-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by sendhilmani123

Hi,
The script works fine when there are no "|" symbols in the file. But even if one of them is present then it still says that the format is ok, which is not the exact way.
ie....
I have inputs like this.

Mani|123 prof

This kind of input also is accepted by the script. But it should not accept. It should accept only if all the three field are seperated by "|".

Thanks in advance

Does the awk statement work well ?

sendhilmani123 · #6 (**permalink**) 05-05-2006

Hi,
The script is working fine for the following inputs:

Mani|123|proff
Mani 123|proff
Mani|123 proff

But when I just give '|||' in the input file it still tells me that its 'good'. Even when I give the input as Mani 123 proff|||, it tells that its good.

Thanks in advance

jim mcnamara · #7 (**permalink**) 05-05-2006

Okay.

Why don't you explain EXACTLY what is allowed/not allowed. We are trying to hit a moving target.

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