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Import ASCII 28 delimited text file

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# 1  
Old 02-07-2014
Import ASCII 28 delimited text file
I have an ASCII 28 delimited text file(non-printable delimiter) with 4 columns along with the header.I need to open this text file in Excel or any other tool to view each column content.

Please help..

Thanks
# 2  
Old 02-07-2014
Excel really hates nonprinting characters as separators... Even if you manage to get one of them into the clipboard, it refuses to let you paste it as a custom separator. If there are any characters you know your file doesn't contain, you can translate them into something usable.

Code:
tr '\034' '^' < inputfile > outputfile

to turn ascii 28's into ^'s for example.
# 3  
Old 02-07-2014
Thanks Corona688.

This worked for my requirement.

Thanks
This User Gave Thanks to aneeta13 For This Post:
Corona688
# 4  
Old 02-07-2014
Longhand using builtins only:-
OSX 10.7.5, default bash terminal...
Code:
Last login: Fri Feb  7 21:34:30 on ttys000
AMIGA:barrywalker~> # Create a file with ASCII 28 in it...
AMIGA:barrywalker~> printf "Barry\x1CWalker\x1CG0LCU\x1C" > /tmp/ascii28.txt
AMIGA:barrywalker~> # Check it has 19 characters...
AMIGA:barrywalker~> hexdump -C < /tmp/ascii28.txt
00000000  42 61 72 72 79 1c 57 61  6c 6b 65 72 1c 47 30 4c  |Barry.Walker.G0L|
00000010  43 55 1c                                          |CU.|
00000013
AMIGA:barrywalker~> # Now create a file with ASCII 28 only...
AMIGA:barrywalker~> printf "\x1C" > /tmp/unprintable
AMIGA:barrywalker~> # Read in both files...
AMIGA:barrywalker~> read -d '' text < /tmp/ascii28.txt
AMIGA:barrywalker~> read -d '' unprintable < /tmp/unprintable
AMIGA:barrywalker~> # This is the working part.
AMIGA:barrywalker~> text=$(printf "${text//$unprintable/,}")
AMIGA:barrywalker~> echo "$text"
Barry,Walker,G0LCU,
AMIGA:barrywalker~> # Done! Comma separated variable now... ;o)
AMIGA:barrywalker~> _

Last edited by wisecracker; 02-08-2014 at 09:55 AM.. Reason: Change "read -p ''" to "read -d ''"...
# 5  
Old 02-08-2014
Quote:
Originally Posted by wisecracker
Longhand using builtins only:-
OSX 10.7.5, default bash terminal...
Code:
Last login: Fri Feb  7 21:34:30 on ttys000
AMIGA:barrywalker~> # Create a file with ASCII 28 in it...
AMIGA:barrywalker~> printf "Barry\x1CWalker\x1CG0LCU\x1C" > /tmp/ascii28.txt
AMIGA:barrywalker~> # Check it has 19 characters...
AMIGA:barrywalker~> hexdump -C < /tmp/ascii28.txt
00000000  42 61 72 72 79 1c 57 61  6c 6b 65 72 1c 47 30 4c  |Barry.Walker.G0L|
00000010  43 55 1c                                          |CU.|
00000013
AMIGA:barrywalker~> # Now create a file with ASCII 28 only...
AMIGA:barrywalker~> printf "\x1C" > /tmp/unprintable
AMIGA:barrywalker~> # Read in both files...
AMIGA:barrywalker~> read -p '' text < /tmp/ascii28.txt
AMIGA:barrywalker~> read -p '' unprintable < /tmp/unprintable
AMIGA:barrywalker~> # This is the working part.
AMIGA:barrywalker~> text=$(printf "${text//$unprintable/,}")
AMIGA:barrywalker~> echo "$text"
Barry,Walker,G0LCU,
AMIGA:barrywalker~> # Done! Comma separated variable now... ;o)
AMIGA:barrywalker~> _

Interesting...

Why not use:
Code:
unprintable=$(printf '\x1C')

instead of:
Code:
printf "\x1C" > /tmp/unprintable
read -p '' unprintable < /tmp/unprintable

and, why use:
Code:
read -p '' text < /tmp/ascii28.txt

instead of:
Code:
read text < /tmp/ascii28.txt

or, more safely:
Code:
read -r text < /tmp/ascii28.txt

Is there some reason to specify that bash should prompt with an empty string that I'm missing?
This User Gave Thanks to Don Cragun For This Post:
wisecracker
# 6  
Old 02-08-2014
If you are using bash syntax, you could also use:
Code:
unprintable=$'\x1C'

Last edited by Scrutinizer; 02-08-2014 at 06:36 AM..
# 7  
Old 02-08-2014
Hi Don...

;o)

First this code.
Code:
unprintable=$(printf '\x1C')

I did except that I always save odd unprintables to a drawer of my choice and had never
seen that one so I used that method. It stems from AMIGA CLI shell scripting, boy is that
difficult and limited, as I could create a strange character without using the SET command.
I won't go any further with this part as is it not relevant to UNIX scripting.

Secondly.
Code:
read -p '' text < /tmp/ascii28.txt

DRAT! That must be __dyslexia__ setting in, "-p" should be "-d", not a prompt...
I must admit I did use read on its own but thought it better that "\n"
should be taken into account...

Thanks for pointing out my error...
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