UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Hi,
How can I reformat a file (text file) using unix command.
This file was FTP'd from Mainframe and contains some garbage character at the end of each line.
Each line contains special characters '<soh>' at the end which should have been spaces when I view it in emacs or nedit. I couldnt do find and replace all in the editor as it does'nt recognize it.
Please help!
Thanks.

You may have channel control words embedded in the file. Try using the ASC mode in ftp.

Also look up how to use the dd command - man dd - it is meant to do file conversions.
If you need more help post back with a sample of the file.

From what you describe, you have a <soh> or ASCII 001 that you wish to get rid of.

you could

Code:

>cat file1 | tr "\001" " "

that would replace the character with a blank

If not successful, you may want to analyze what the character truly is.

Code:

>cat file1 | od -An -t oC -w10

will give you octal representation for you input.

Code:

>cat file1 | od -An -t dC -w10

will give you decimal representation for you input.
Check an ASCII chart if you like. By default, the tr command works with octal representations.