Hi All,

You have a very large file, named 'ColCheckMe', tab-delimited, that you are asked to process. You are told that each line in 'ColCheckMe' has 7 columns, and that the values in the 5th column are integers. Using shell functions (and standard LINUX/UNIX filters), indicate how you would verify that these conditions were satisfied in 'ColCheckMe'

In the same file, you are told that each value in column 1 is unique. How would you verify that?


Write a shell function that counts the number of occurrences of the word “SpecStr” in the file 'ColCheckMe'.

Please advice.

Thanks much.

Homework? (rule 6)

Hello,

This is not homework or school work. I'm a seasoned C++ developer on windows. My current project is both, windows and unix based. As part of my expanding job duties, I'm getting my feet wet in the unix world as well.

My problem is that I have a very large file called ColCheckMe which is tab-delimited, that I have to process. Each line in ColCheckMe has 7 columns, and the values in the 5th column are integers. Using shell functions (and standard LINUX/UNIX filters), I have to verify that these conditions are satisfied in ColCheckMe. In the same file, each value in column 1 is unique. How do I verify that? I have to write a shell function that counts the number of occurrences of the word “SpecStr” in the file ColCheckMe.

Thanks for any help.

nawk 'NF != 7 {printf("[%d] has invalid [%d] number of fields\n", FNR, NF)} $5 !~ /^[0-9]+$/ {printf("[%d] 5th field is invalid [%s]\n", FNR, $5)}' ColCheckMe

The rest is left as an excersize....

what does it accomplish

it:

1. checks for the valid number of fields
2. checks for the 5-th field being integer field

Being 'seasoned C++' developer I'm sure you could've at least guessed OR at most tried it and saw the results....

Well, first off, it's a shame if you write code (that too, all in one executable line) that only you can understand....no need for the brickbats though. If you don't like to help without throwing insults, then don't help at all.

let me simplify it for you:
Is it somewhat easier to parse/understand?
You should be able to see some of the familiar C/C++ concepts.

As far as helping others... I'm always willing to go 'extra mile' for someone who's willing to take a ride with me investing his/her/its own time investigating the "hints" given.
Having said that.... I'll close the 'brickbats' discussion.