shell script :: how to print string that appeared maximum number of times in file ??

mayankmehta83 · 12-07-2009, 03:55 AM

file.txt -->
alpha gamma alpha beta

<OR>

alpha
gamma
alpha
beta

Desired output -->
alpha

Thanks in advance.

PS: Best would be if one can suggest an in-line shell (bash) script command (i.e. something of type "cat file.txt | <some_command>").

Guttorm · 12-07-2009, 06:47 AM

There are probably many ways to do it, but here is one:

Code:

cat file.txt | tr '[:space:]' "\n" | sort | uniq -c |sort -n -r |head -n 1 | awk '{print $2}'

Meaning:
- cat file.txt
- convert all whitespace to newlines
- sort it
- check unique lines, and add the word count first
- sort by word count (numerical) reverse
- only use the first line
- print second word (skip the count)

ghostdog74 · 12-07-2009, 07:02 AM

despite guessing that this should be a homework type qns, here's a partial solution. do the finding of max number yourself.

Code:

$ awk '{for(i=1;i<=NF;i++){w[$i]++ } }END{for(o in w) print o,w[o]}' file
<OR> 1
gamma 2
alpha 4
beta 2

Next time, try to come up with your own solution first.

onebuck · 12-07-2009, 07:44 AM

Hi,

This does smell like homework. Then why do you respond with solutions when the OP doesn't even show what he/she has attempted?
If there were some problems with what the OP presents then addressing that would be appropriate.

The LQ Rules don't state that we cannot help but;

Quote:

excerpt LQ Rules;

Do not expect LQ members to do your homework - you will learn much more by doing it yourself.

The OP will not gain from this other than to provide a solution that he/she did not create or conclude thus not learning.