UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Hi,

I need to unload some data from Informix database into text file.
But what happen is when i open the text file, some record split into 2 line, become uncomplete.
I had checked is due to some unregconized space in particular fields, i used many way to detect this unregconized space, but failed, because it is not null, not blank, not space, trim() also cannot help.
here is sample of the record in text file:

1337851|^M\
KAMPUNG SUNGAI SAMAK|
10000|NO 3 PRSN KLEDANG 12|

the 2nd column contain some funny character ^M, then direct goto 2nd line.

Need your guys help urgently.
Thanks

Regards
Eelyn

Put your sample record in a text file and enter this command:

Code:

od -t oC -An input_file

Each number represents the exact octal code of every character in the file, so you can determine which is the "blank" char.

You may also try:

Code:

od -t a input_file

In this manner you have a more readable visualization which could help you identifying the character in the previous output.

Hi Robotronic,

Thanks a lot for your reply, by using the od command, i able to detect the octal code 012 is the one cause newline \n in my text file.

But how should i write my coding to detect this octal code and remove it in informix 4GL program?

Thanks

Regards
Eelyn

Well, "\012" is nothing strange, it's a simple newline character (\n). I notice in your first post that there is a "^M"... Maybe is the symptom that the input file is in DOS format.
The first recommendation is trying to convert the input file into unix format and then look in the output if the unwanted newlines are gone:

Code:

dos2unix input_file converted_file.txt

For removing ALL the newlines from the input file you can try:

Code:

cat input_file | tr -d '\n'

But I think this is a too brutal solution for your purposes