Hi,
I have two files file1 and file2 delimited by semicolon,
And I want to compare column 2 and column3 of file1 to column3 and column 4 in file2.

file1
--------
abc;cef;155.67;143_34;
def;fgh;146.55;123.3;
frg;hff;134.67;;
yyy;fgh;134.78;35_45;

file 2
---------
abc;cef;155.09;;
abc;cef;155.67;143_34;
asd;;;123;
def;fgh;145.6;123.3;
def;fgh;146.55;123.3;
frg;hff;134.67;;

Successfile1
------------
abc;cef;155.67;143_34;
def;fgh;146.55;123.3;

Failfile1
-----------
frg;hff;134.67;;
yyy;fgh;134.78;35_45;

Can anyone help me with a script.

Hi Jerome

First of all wht is see is col2 of file 1 is text & col3 of file2 is number,
so how u r going to compare?

but still you can use somewhat this way

#!/usr/bin/ksh

cut -d";" -f2 file1 >> tmpf2.txt
echo
cut -d";" -f3 file2 >> tmpf3.txt

diff tmpf2.txt tmpf3.txt

cut -d";" -f3 file1 >> tmpf3.txt
echo
cut -d";" -f4 file2 >> tmpf4.txt

diff tmpf3.txt tmpf4.txt

rm tmpf[0-9].txt

Sorry girish,

I have given the column info wrongly,
Its col3 and col4 of file1 to col3 and col4 of file2 comparison.

Perhaps this is what you want, but I'm not sure if I've understood you

#!/bin/bash

comp1=($(cat text1.txt | cut -d\; -f 3,4))
comp2=($(cat text2.txt | cut -d\; -f 3,4))

for str in ${comp1[*]}; do
   i=0
   while (( $i < ${#comp2[*]} )); do
      if [[ $str = ${comp2[i]} ]]; then
         cat text1.txt | grep $str
      fi
      (( i += 1 ))
   done
done

Hi Grial,
Thanks for your prompt and quick response.

The script works for comparing two cols i.e., col 3 and col4 of two files.

If i try to try to compare only col3 of two files,
I am getting redundant records.

Eg:
My File1 consists of 100 records and
file2 consists of 238 records.If i try to compare,file1 and file2 I got 116 records as my o/p
in the console.Can u suggest me,how to rectify this.

Again, I don't know if I've understood. Do you mean you could have duplicate records on file2? Or, Do you want only the first ocurrence? If this is teh case, try:

#!/bin/bash

comp1=($(cat text1.txt | cut -d\; -f 3,4))
comp2=($(cat text2.txt | cut -d\; -f 3,4))

for str in ${comp1[*]}; do
   i=0
   while (( $i < ${#comp2[*]} )); do
      if [[ $str = ${comp2[i]} ]]; then
         cat text1.txt | grep $str
         break
      fi
      (( i += 1 ))
   done
done