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Replace spaces between strings in a line with tab

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# 1  
Old 07-20-2009
Replace spaces between strings in a line with tab
Hi All

I am having problem in substitution of any number of spaces, or a combination of space and tab in between strings in the lines of text file. Is there any way out in Perl? Please help me.

e.g.,
Say the input is in the following format:-
XX yyy zzz
aaaaa bbbbb cccccc

Expected output must be TAB separated strings.
# 2  
Old 07-20-2009
Quote:
Originally Posted by my_Perl
...
I am having problem in substitution of any number of spaces, or a combination of space and tab in between strings in the lines of text file. Is there any way out in Perl?
...
Code:
$
$ cat data.txt
XX yyy   zzz
aaaaa     bbbbb         cccccc
$
$ # cat -vET displays tabs as ^I and end-of-line as $
$
$ cat -vET data.txt
XX yyy   zzz$
aaaaa ^I  bbbbb^I^Icccccc$
$
$ # convert any combination of spaces and tabs to a single tab
$
$ perl -ne 's/[ \t]+/\t/g; print' data.txt
XX      yyy     zzz
aaaaa   bbbbb   cccccc
$
$ # verify
$
$ perl -ne 's/[ \t]+/\t/g; print' data.txt | cat -vET
XX^Iyyy^Izzz$
aaaaa^Ibbbbb^Icccccc$
$

For inline substitution, try the "perl pie".

tyler_durden
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