Extract 2nd and 5th line from a file

normanjr29 · #1 (**permalink**) 04-08-04, 16:13

I'm having troubles trying to extract the 2nd and 5th line from my file. It doesn't matter to me what tool is used: grep, sed, awk, perl, etc., I just need help. I have multiple files and the 2nd and 5th line change everyday with a new timestamp in all of them. I want to do something like this:

$ cat MOB.stats.04* | print the 2nd and 5th lines

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Jeff

Pat Phelan · #2 (**permalink**) 04-08-04, 16:45

This is rather crude, but:

Code:

cat MOB.stats.04* | perl -e "while (<>) { if (2==$. || 5 == $.) { print $_; };};"

should work.

-PatP

aigles · #3 (**permalink**) 04-08-04, 16:49

Try something like this

Code:

# With sed

sed -n '2p;5p' input_file

# With awk

awk 'NR==1 || NR==5' input_file

# With awk, for multiple input files

awk 'FNR==1 || FNR==5' input_file1 input_file2 ...
awk 'FNR==1 || FNR==5' MOB.stats.04*

Pat Phelan · #4 (**permalink**) 04-08-04, 17:37

...or you could also use:

Code:

cat MOB.stats.04* | perl -n -e "if (2==$. || 5==$.) {print}"

too!

-PatP

normanjr29 · #5 (**permalink**) 04-09-04, 08:54

Thanks, all this is very useful. My problem now is that all these different commands are only extracting lines 2 and 5 from the 1st file. It apparently is ignoring the other files even though I'm specifying a wildcard: MOB.stats.04*

Here are three of the filenames:
MOB.stats.04012004
MOB.stats.04022004
MOB.stats.04032004

Thanks for all your help so far.

Jeff

Quote:

Originally posted by aigles
Try something like this

Code:

# With sed

sed -n '2p;5p' input_file

# With awk

awk 'NR==1 || NR==5' input_file

# With awk, for multiple input files

awk 'FNR==1 || FNR==5' input_file1 input_file2 ...
awk 'FNR==1 || FNR==5' MOB.stats.04*

aigles · #6 (**permalink**) 04-09-04, 09:03

Have you tried the last command ?

Code:

awk 'FNR==1 || FNR==5' MOB.stats.04*

normanjr29 · #7 (**permalink**) 04-09-04, 09:29

Jean-Pierre,

Thanks for the quick response. I did try that one, but with no luck:

kzcd004:MOB:/home/a243450/temp/stats $ awk 'FNR==1 || FNR==5' MOB.stats.04*
kzcd004:MOB:/home/a243450/temp/stats $

Thanks,
Jeff

Quote:

Originally posted by aigles
Have you tried the last command ?

Code:

awk 'FNR==1 || FNR==5' MOB.stats.04*

aigles · #8 (**permalink**) 04-09-04, 09:33

Try with nawk instead of awk

normanjr29 · #9 (**permalink**) 04-09-04, 09:39

Ah ha, that worked! Thanks so much.

Jeff

Quote:

Originally posted by aigles
Try with nawk instead of awk

normanjr29 · #10 (**permalink**) 04-09-04, 09:42

The output is exactly what I wanted. Outstanding:

kzcd004:MOB:/home/a243450/temp/stats $ nawk 'FNR==2 || FNR==5' MOB.stats.04*
04/01/2004|122255
04/01/2004|36241
04/02/2004|131535
04/02/2004|39169
04/03/2004|115801
04/03/2004|33775
04/04/2004|91806
04/04/2004|26890
04/05/2004|130187
04/05/2004|38277
04/06/2004|133905
04/06/2004|39793
04/07/2004|130981
04/07/2004|39065
04/08/2004|132065
04/08/2004|39326

One quick question though. Is there anyway to grab just the numbers? If not, I can modify my orginial script to put a space b/w the date, pipe, and numbers and then awk 'em out.

Thanks,
Jeff

Quote:

Originally posted by normanjr29
Ah ha, that worked! Thanks so much.

Jeff

aigles · #11 (**permalink**) 04-09-04, 09:45

Try something like this :

Code:

nawk -F'|' 'FNR==1 || FNR==5 {print $2}' MOB.stats.04*

normanjr29 · #12 (**permalink**) 04-09-04, 09:49

Jean-Pierre,

Thank you so much for your help. You've been a great help. I guess I need to learn a little nawk

Have a great day.

Thanks,
Jeff

Quote:

Originally posted by aigles
Try something like this :

Code:

nawk -F'|' 'FNR==1 || FNR==5 {print $2}' MOB.stats.04*

Internet Services

Web Development

Digital Marketing

Consumer Tech