get the data from pipe delimited file using awk

jone kim · 08-19-2014, 11:52 AM

I want to extract the data from 1st and 2nd column from a pipe "|" delimited text file and keep it in two separate variables.

How can I do this using awk? If the file was space separated I can use just print $1 for first column and print $2 for second column.

But how can I do this when the file is pipe separated?
Suppose the file is:

Quote:

HYDROGEN|H|1
OXYGEN|O|8
NITROGEN|N|7
CARBON|C|6

thesnow · 08-19-2014, 11:56 AM

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2...separated-file

colucix · 08-19-2014, 12:58 PM

This question and others like it have been answered many times; please, take a look here as an example: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...tching-900345/

initramfs · 08-20-2014, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jone kim

I want to extract the data from 1st and 2nd column from a pipe "|" delimited text file and keep it in two separate variables.

How can I do this using awk?

Code:

awk -F\|  '{ var1=$1; var2=$2; print var1, var2 }' file.txt

Or

Code:

cat file.txt | awk -F\| '{ var1=$1; var2=$2; print var1, var2 }'

initramfs · 08-20-2014, 06:52 PM

Hi jone kim

I'm not sure what you wanted, in my first code above, I assumed you wanted to extract the columns into separate variables and then use these variables with awk.

In this example, we use awk to store the variables and then have other programs use the variables

Code:

#!/bin/bash 

while read line
do
	var1=$(awk -F\| '{ print $1 }' <<< "$line")
	var2=$(awk -F\| '{ print $2 }'  <<< "$line")
	echo "$var1 $var2"
done < file.txt

In this simple example the echo command is using the variables.

sundialsvcs · 08-20-2014, 10:49 PM

awk is designed to make things like this very easy ... for instance the "FS" (Field Separator) and "RS" (Record Separator) variables.

Please step back from the immediate requirement and spend just a couple hours "really surfing-the-web" about this amazingly useful tool. Maybe spend a half-day on it. You'll be very, very glad that you did. This is one of the most-powerful tools in your daily arsenal. It will profit you to learn to use it well.

initramfs · 08-21-2014, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sundialsvcs

This is one of the most-powerful tools in your daily arsenal. It will profit you to learn to use it well.

I agree. I know the basics of awk and sed and I barely touch the power of these two commands. I hope my suggested codes is what the OP is seeking.

Awk and sed are so powerful with many features that O'Reily have books dedicated on the subject.