UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

I have one file:

123*100*abcd*10
123*101*abcd*-29*def
123*100*abcd*-10
123*102*abcd*-105*asd

I would like to parameterize the search patterns in the following way so that the user could dynamically change the search pattern.

*100* and *- (ie *minus)
*102* and *-

The output that is required is the following into a new file:

123*100*abcd*-10
123*102*abcd*-105*asd

What would be the best way to do it (including scripting). Thanks.

Please clarify your problem:Understanding your problem makes finding a solution a lot easier.

Hi,

I shall explain this problem a little further. I want to search for one pattern (like "*100*" and if it is there check for "*-" on the same line; if both the conditions are satisfied, put that line onto a new file. I want to see if the substrings (or patterns) can be put into a file which can be maintained (like "*100*" & "*-"; "*101*" & "*-" ) based on which the search could be done on a file and another one created.

The advantage of finding a solution to this is the following:

I can avoid running a second report program in my database which would save 15 minutes of processing time. Another report is already creating a large ASCII file and I do not want to duplicate the report process, if I can obtain another file based on multiple substring searches on each line.

Just use grep:
grep "\*100.*\*-" < inputfile > outputfile

Thanks Perderabo. Just two clarifications.


One:

Since we have given

grep "\*100.*\*-" < test > test2

the output file could also contain lines like these:

123*1000*ade*-15
123*100.00*abc*-10
123*100*ade*-20
123*100.*ade*-15

How will I restrict it to only "*100*". i.e., only the third line from above should be returned as it contains an exact string of "*100*" and "*-" ?

Two:

Is it possible to parameterize these patterns("*100*" and "*-" and so on) into a file that could be used in the search?

One:
grep "\*100\*.*\*-" < inputfile > outputfile

Two:
You can put this in a script if you want. But it's just a one line command.

And you should stop thinking of this as two patterns. Think of it as an asterisk, "100", another asterisk, a variable number of characters, still another asterisk, and a minus sign. That is a single pattern.

Thank you very much Perderabo. I was able to automate the report process.