Converting Space delimited file to Tab delimited file

jeevs81 · #1 (**permalink**) 02-20-2009

Hi all,

I have a file with single white space delimited values, I want to convert them to a tab delimited file.

I tried sed, tr ... but nothing is working.

Thanks,
Rajeevan D

vgersh99 · #2 (**permalink**) 02-20-2009

what exactly did you try?

Ikon · #3 (**permalink**) 02-20-2009

Try this:

Code:

 # cat test.log
1 2 3 4
a b c d
ased asd fff

# sed 's/ /\t/g' test.log
1       2       3       4
a       b       c       d
ased    asd     fff

mr.perffect · #4 (**permalink**) 02-20-2009

maybe i'm misreading your question but would unexpand work for you?

treesloth · #5 (**permalink**) 02-20-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ikon

Try this:

Code:

 # cat test.log
1 2 3 4
a b c d
ased asd fff

# sed 's/ /\t/g' test.log
1       2       3       4
a       b       c       d
ased    asd     fff

On my system (FreeBSD 6.3), that converted:

Quote:

1 2 3 4 5
a s d f g
as df gh jk
blah!

into:

Quote:

1t2t3t4t5
atstdtftg
astdftghtjk
blah!

However...

Code:

cat file | tr ' ' '\t'

... worked. Chalk it up to the vagaries of different UNIX systems. I guess.

jeevs81 · #6 (**permalink**) 02-23-2009

360200tFY10tFEB-LTFt500420t12t0
460213tFY09tFEB-LTFt500420t09t15000
460213tFY09tFEB-LTFt500420t10t15000
077426tFY10tFEB-LTFt550200t12t0
077426tFY11tFEB-LTFt550200t12t0
677120tFY09tFEB-LTFt550200t07t57
677120tFY09tFEB-LTFt550200t09t57.5
977120tFY09tFEB-LTFt550200t06t561.5
477717tFY10tFEB-LTFt550200t12t0
577000tFY09tFEB-LTFt550200t12t327
577050tFY09tFEB-LTFt550200t08t86

cat file | tr ' ' '\t'

When I use this, I get the above result.

jeevs81 · #7 (**permalink**) 02-23-2009

I'm getting "t" as a delimiter rather than a tab

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