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Top Forums UNIX for Advanced & Expert Users Should I say "field 8" or "column 8" in this case? Post 302784377 by hanson44 on Friday 22nd of March 2013 05:07:33 AM
Old 03-22-2013
Should I say "field 8" or "column 8" in this case?

I saw some recent posts where I thought the terms "field" and "column" were being misused. I work with data a lot, and have my opinions. I'm wondering if those opinions are correct.

***** Rows seem clear - I don't think there is any controversy about what a row is, either for database or text file.

***** Flat file columns seem clear - For a flat file such as the following, I don't think there is any controversy about what a column is. Column in file shown is like "cut -c 1". Several columns may combine to make a field, so "cut -c 1-11" cuts the field in columns 1-11 (record ID here), such as 09011101001, 09011101002, etc.
Code:
09011101001270101192008BNB1102008000027060126720001305591
09011101002230101212008B5P1102008000053110126720001305591
090111010032501011120084XB1102008000085030126720001305591
09011101005250101232008GUW1202008000145050126720001305591
09011101006070101132008E3S1102008000157050126720001305591
09012101007060102062008GWB1102008000186030361080005352411
090111010081601011920082XW1102008000226050126720001305591

****** CSV and TSV "columns" seem misused to me - Here is similar data, in TSV format. I would call say "data in field 8" instead of "data in column 8". I think I'm supported by the cut command and it's use of "cut -f 8 -d," (--fields) for parsing this kind of data. To me, "column 8" means "cut -c 8". By the time we get out to "field 8", it doesn't line up vertically anymore, so I doesn't even look like a column. But it seems many, or perhaps most, say "data in column 8". But many of those can barely string together a sentence. Smilie So I thought I would ask the experts. Is it more correct to say "column 8" or "field 8" for what "cut -f 8 -d," retrieves in example below? Smilie
Code:
9,1,1,1,1001,27,1,01192008,01,19,2008,BNB,110,2008000027
9,1,1,1,1002,23,1,01212008,01,21,2008,B5P,110,2008000053
9,1,1,1,1003,25,1,01112008,01,11,2008,4XB,110,2008000085
9,1,1,1,1005,25,1,01232008,01,23,2008,GUW,120,2008000145
9,1,1,1,1006,7,1,01132008,01,13,2008,E3S,110,2008000157,2
9,1,2,1,1007,6,1,02062008,02,06,2008,GWB,110,2008000186,2
9,1,1,1,1008,16,1,01192008,01,19,2008,2XW,110,2008000226

 

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CUT(1)							      General Commands Manual							    CUT(1)

NAME
cut - select out columns of a file SYNOPSIS
cut [ -b | -c] list [file...] cut -f list [-d delim] [ -s] OPTIONS
-b Cut specified bytes -c Select out specific characters -d Change the column delimiter to delim -f Select out specific fields that are separated by the -i Runs of delimiters count as one -s Suppres lines with no delimiter characters, when used EXAMPLES
cut -f 2 file # Extract field 2 cut -c 1-2,5 file # Extract character columns 1, 2, and 5 cut -c 1-5,7- file # Extract all columns except 6 DESCRIPTION
[file...]" delimiter character ( see delim)" with the -f option. Lines with no delimiters are passwd through untouched" Cut extracts one or more fields or columns from a file and writes them on standard output. If the -f flag is used, the fields are sepa- rated by a delimiter character, normally a tab, but can be changed using the -d flag. If the -c flag is used, specific columns can be specified. The list can be comma or BLANK separated. The -f and -c flags are mutually exclusive. Note: The POSIX1003.2 standard requires the option -b to cut out specific bytes in a file. It is intended for systems with multi byte characters (e.g. kanji), since MINIX uses only one byte characters, this option is equivalent to -c. For the same reason, the option -n has no effect and is not listed in this man- ual page. SEE ALSO
sed(1), awk(9). CUT(1)
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