removing trailing spaces of a particular column in a file

rooh · #1 (**permalink**) 01-10-2002

Hi,

I am currently confused.

Suppose I have a file something like the one below.
4299|raj Telecommunications|12|||||
4302|anjali International Ltd.|86|ritchie||dong|(000)2890 9993 |(222)4881 3689
4305|ï¾Œï½¨ï¾ƒï¾žï½*ï½¼ï½±ï¾˜ï½¥ï¾„ï¾—ï½½ï¾„ï½¥ï½²ï¾ï¾€ï½°ï¾…ï½¼ï½®ï¾…ï¾™æŠ•è³‡é¡§å•æ*ªå¼ä¼šç¤¾ |112||||01-9211-1931 |08-3677-1985

Now what I have found is that if it finds the second field empty it puts these strange characters.

What I think is that it is because of the blank spaces.
Is there a way that I can avoid it.

Thanks.
Rooh

Cameron · #2 (**permalink**) 01-10-2002

You may want to post your script regarding this.
What is perusing the input file?

Kelam_Magnus · #3 (**permalink**) 01-12-2002

You may want to make a new data file.

Use awk

cat file1 | awk -F| '{ print $0 }' > newfile

The character after the -F is a Pipe to designate your delimiter in the file.

Then try your script again. This should get rid of Unprintable chars in your file.

More UNIX and Linux Forum Topics You Might Find Helpful
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Trim trailing spaces from each line in a file	tipsy	Shell Programming and Scripting	5	09-13-2006 05:48 AM
Removing trailing spaces from delimited files	djkane	Shell Programming and Scripting	6	03-29-2006 06:11 AM
Removing leading and trailing spaces of data between the tags in xml.	jhmr7	UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers	2	05-18-2005 10:27 AM
Strip leading and trailing spaces only in a shell variable with embedded spaces	jerardfjay	Shell Programming and Scripting	6	03-07-2005 02:24 PM
Adding Trailing Spaces to a file	222001459	UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers	1	11-04-2004 03:23 PM

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search
Display Modes	Rate This Thread
Switch to Linear Mode Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode	Rate This Thread:


	Powered by