help! need to compare files


 
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# 1  
Old 07-07-2003
Question help! need to compare files

Hi to all,
I'm writing this time looking for some suggestions. I need to elaborate a
script that asks the user to enter two parameters, compare this parameters
and if the conditions are true then execute another script.
The problem is that i need to test the parameters (numbers in this case)
with two text files that contain a list of numbers (1 per row). The idea
is something like this:

read parameter#1
read parameter#2
Does parameter#1 exists in file1? and Does parameter#2 exists in file2?
If yes then execute the other script.
If no show a message that tells the user which parameter were not found if
the files.

Thank's in advance
# 2  
Old 07-08-2003
This is untested, but it should work:
Code:
echo -n "Enter parameter 1: "; read parm1
echo -n "Enter parameter 2: "; read parm2

parm1Found=0
parm2Found=0

while read LINE
do
  if [ $LINE -eq $parm1 ]; then
    parm1Found=1
  fi
done < file1

if [ $parm1Found -eq 1 ]; then
  while read LINE
  do
    if [ $LINE -eq $parm2 ]; then
      parm2Found=1
    fi
  done < file2
  if [ $parm2Found -eq 1 ]; then
    call other script
  else
    echo "Parameter 1 found, but Parameter 2 not found."
    echo "Other script not executed."
  fi
else
  echo "Parameter 1 not found, so Parameter 2 not searched for."
  echo "Other script not executed."
fi


Last edited by oombera; 07-08-2003 at 12:18 AM..
# 3  
Old 07-08-2003
This may work as well:
Code:
echo -n "Enter parameter 1: "; read parm1
echo -n "Enter parameter 2: "; read parm2

if grep -wq "$parm1" file1 && grep -wq "$parm2" file2 ; then
    call other script
fi

Note: Not all greps have a -w option but it's needed here so that an input of "1" isn't found on a line that reads a "10".
# 4  
Old 07-08-2003
Quote:
Originally posted by criglerj
Note: Not all greps have a -w option but it's needed here so that an input of "1" isn't found on a line that reads a "10".
That's interesting.. that's the reason I created the loops, because I knew that if someone was searching for "1" and there was a "100" in the file, the result would be that "1" was found when really it wasn't...

On my machine, there's a -x option that does the same thing.
# 5  
Old 07-08-2003
Thank's for all the help.
I've been trying oombera's solution but i think something is wrong. The script asks the user for the two parameters but always drops the message of the second "else". I'm not clear about how this solutions works because i'm not sure where the LINE var is declared, so i don't know if all the lines in file 1 and 2 are searched.
About criglerj's solution, i'm not sure if my grep has the -w option but definitely there are 1's and 100's so i need to be specific about the input.
# 6  
Old 07-09-2003
It may be dropping to the second else statement because the value you're entering for Parameter1 isn't in your file...

As for criglerj's solution, type "man grep" at a prompt and see if you have a "-w" or "-x" option, or something similar in function.
# 7  
Old 07-09-2003
If no grep available to you has a "whole words only" option, you can always use awk. Just replace the "if" line with this:
Code:
if awk -v p=$parm1 '$1==p {exit 0} END { exit 1 }' file1 &&
   awk -v p=$parm2 '$1==p {exit 0} END { exit 1 }' file2 ; then

It's a bit more complex, and the awk part might deserve to be in its own file, call it "present", for example. It's generally useful (much as grep -w is), so mark it executable and put it in the path someplace.
Code:
#!/usr/bin/awk -f
$1 == p { exit 0 }
END {exit 1}

Then if "if" line becomes
Code:
if present -v p=$parm1 file1 && present -v p=$parm2 file2 ; then

You can make it more "grep-like" by putting embedding the awk in a separate shell script:
Code:
#!/bin/sh
if [ "$#" = 0 ]; then
    echo "Need a string to search for!" >&2
    exit 1
fi
pattern="$1"
shift
awk -v "p=$pattern" '$1 == p { exit 0 }
END { exit 1 }' "$@"

This will work for any single exact pattern at the "beginning" of the line (awk strips any leading blanks, not a problem if I understand your situation). It will accept zero or more files to search in (i.e., it will search standard input).

Notice that the "if" line is now even more simplified:
Code:
if present $parm1 file1 && present $parm2 file2 ; then

To increase the generality even more, i.e., to search for whole words anywhere on the line (not in the OP's problem), try this:
Code:
#!/bin/sh
if [ "$#" = 0 ]; then
    echo "Need a string to search for!" >&2
    exit 1
fi
pattern="$1"
shift
awk -v "p=$pattern" '{
        for (i=1; i<=NF; i++)
            if ($i == p) exit 0 }
END { exit 1 }' "$@"

Now let's ignore letter case (not in the OP's problem):
Code:
#!/bin/sh
i=0
while getopts i arg ; do
    case $arg in
    i)  i=1 ;;
    ?)  echo "Bad option" >&2 ;;
    esac
done

shift `expr $OPTIND - 1`

if [ "$#" = 0 ]; then
    echo "Need a string to search for!" >&2
    exit 1
fi
pattern="$1"
shift
nawk -v "p=$pattern" -v ig=$i'{
        if(!ig) $0 = toupper($0)
        for (i=1; i<=NF; i++) if ($i == p) exit 0
    }
END { exit 1 }' "$@"

This depends on having a nawk.

At this point, if you have ruby or perl (or perhaps python, but I don't use it so I'm not sure), you might consider using them --- their regex syntax is a lot cleaner.

But if you have a "whole word only" option in your grep, all this is unnecessary.Smilie
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