files and their types.

markjason · #1 (**permalink**) 09-19-06, 11:53

Hi,

is there any direct command to verify whether a file is fixed length file ?

i can do calc on number of records,length of each record to find whether file is fixed width.

Thanks
Mark.

sco08y · #2 (**permalink**) 10-20-06, 03:45

What's wrong with rolling your own command?

LKBrwn_DBA · #3 (**permalink**) 10-20-06, 09:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by markjason

Hi,

is there any direct command to verify whether a file is fixed length file ?

i can do calc on number of records,length of each record to find whether file is fixed width.

Thanks
Mark.

No, if the file contains the ascii character 10 (LF), Unix considers that and end-of-record.

For text files, if all records are same size and end in LF you could assume the file is fixed length; for those files with different record sizes that also end in LF, you could assume variable length.

Otherwise for binary files with/without LF characters you cannot know if it's fixed or variable length and cannot not know the length of the records unless someone tells you how it was created.

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