Swapping column in vi editor


 
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# 1  
Old 11-19-2012
Swapping column in vi editor

is there any command in vi editor to turn this

Code:
986.000   4.026.000   775.328.625   9.319.003.000       
986.000   4.036.000   775.328.625   9.318.803.000       
986.000   4.046.000   775.328.625   9.318.603.000       
986.000   4.056.000   775.328.625   9.318.403.000

become this

Code:
             
4.026.000   986.000   775.328.625   9.319.003.000       
4.036.000   986.000   775.328.625   9.318.803.000       
4.046.000   986.000   775.328.625   9.318.603.000       
4.056.000   986.000   775.328.625   9.318.403.000

# 2  
Old 11-19-2012
Hi

Something like this:

Code:
:%s/\([^ ]*\) *\([^ ]*\)/\2 \1 /


Last edited by guruprasadpr; 11-19-2012 at 03:59 AM.. Reason: Removed g to prevent global substitution
# 3  
Old 11-19-2012
Code:
:1,4s/\([^ \t]*\)\([ \t]*\)\([^ \t]*\)/\3\2\1/

Change the range 1,4 as per your requirements.
# 4  
Old 11-19-2012
and in case you find the pure vi solution too complex, you might use awk this way:
Code:
:%!awk '{t=$1;$1=$2;$2=t;print}'


Last edited by jlliagre; 11-19-2012 at 04:16 AM..
# 5  
Old 11-19-2012
@jlliagre,
I think you missed a 1 or print there.
In any case, the spacing between the columns might get mangled.
# 6  
Old 11-19-2012
Thanks, I indeed missed a statement, post #4 fixed (I prefer 'print' to the cryptic '1'). Column separators will be normalized to a single space after running this command while your solution preserve the existing separators.
 
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