I am doing a mysql query with a bash shell script like:


mysql translator -u root --password=******** -e "SELECT word FROM tagalog ORDER BY RAND() LIMIT 1" | while read line; do
echo $line

so when i echo the value of $line i get:
word
magandang umaga

"word" is the name of the row in the table and maganda umaga is a randomly selected choice from the row


is there a way i can remove the name of the row from the variable $line

with a result that will allow me to echo $line and output only the randomly selected entry in from the row e.g.
magandang umaga

You can try using the cut command man.

http://linux.die.net/man/1/cut

That is the best explanation; the man page. Hope it helps, good luck.

Hi,
how about:
In other words just the last line will be output.

"$!" is the pid of the running process.
Should work. Post again if not .

This will remove everything up to and including the first newline contained in the variable:
The extquote shell option must be enabled in order to use the $'string' quoting pattern inside parameter substitution. It should be enabled by default.


Edit: By the way, be careful about falling prey to bash pitfall #8 in your code above.

Actually, looking at it again more carefully, read works on a per-line basis (at least by default), so your problem isn't that the variable holds two lines, it's that the loop is running twice, echoing each line separately. So you'll have to devise some test or filter, or otherwise rewrite your script to avoid the unwanted echo.

1 members found this post helpful.

That's why I suggested using the cut command, to try to cut out the characters or columns needed.

Yes, and there are certainly many other options available too, such as grep -v, tail, or even sed or awk. The main thing is that either the line has to be eliminated somehow before the output gets passed to the loop, or some kind of test has to be done to the variable inside the loop to catch it.

Or possibly using tr to remove the new line/carriage returns:

Have you contemplated using the -N option to mysql?


Cheers,
Tink

1 members found this post helpful.

You beat me Tink

tinker "Have you contemplated using the -N option to mysql?"

does anyone have example syntax of the -N option tinker and grail are referring too?

For example: mysql -N -e 'select * from user' mysql

---------- Post added 02-21-11 at 05:46 AM ----------

Oops, forgot the manpage for you - http://linux.die.net/man/1/mysql

thanks tinkster,grail, and corp 769. it is working !


mysql translator -u root --password=********* -N -e "SELECT word FROM tagalog ORDER BY RAND() LIMIT 1" | while read line; do

echo "$line"

now when i echo $line it no longer includes the name of the column

Awesome, glad to hear you got it working!