I'm pretty sure that there is some variation in implementations and releases of sed and other commands. So if you don't have documentation on the version that you are using then I recommend that you should carefully check the output. You might be able to install the latest GNU versions along with their documentation but that might be more trouble than it's worth for what you have described. Just a thought or two. np wrote: > Thanks! Just the helpful nudge in the right direction i needed. as an > aside, I just discovered that our RS/6000 seems to have no manpages on > there at all -- "There is not an entry for awk," "There is not an entry > for sed", etc etc etc. Guess I'll have to wait til I get home to poke > around on my linux box. > Anyhow, thanks again, > Nick > >> man sed. >> seriously, it's sed (stream editor) that will give you the search and >> replace functionality that you're after. might want to make friends >> with awk as well. ;-) >> when last we saw our hero (Tuesday, Sep 16, 2003), np was madly >> tapping out: >> >>> >>> Hello list, >>> I'm working at a used bookstore, running a fairly archaic cataloguing >>> program which runs on an IBM AIX server (Windows machines telnet in >>> to catalogue, run point of sale, etc.) All databases are exported in >>> tab-delimited text format, with whatever fields you have specified to >>> export -- all standard issue stuff. We're beginning to upload our >>> inventory to websites, and we need to do a little tweaking to the >>> exported database file before we upload -- basically, we need to >>> replace the terse condition descriptions we have on the database >>> (limited to 8 characters!) with rather more descriptive versions for >>> online browsers.. >>> So I need to write a script which does a search and replace (ex. >>> search for 'NEW', replace with 'In new condition, with no blemishes," >>> etc..) Unfortunately I'm pretty much a newbie when it comes to >>> scripting - I've done some C, some (very minor) Bash scripting, but >>> no Korn shell scripting at all. Could anyone offer any help in how to >>> solve this problem? If someone could just point out a couple of >>> commands (I'm looking into sed and awk, but not sure if this is the >>> best place to start), I'll happily read the man pages -- I'd just >>> like to get some tips on where to look first! >>> thanks in advance, >>> Nick >>> _______________________________________________ >>> TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota >>> http://www.mn-linux.org tclug-list at mn-linux.org >>> https://mailman.real-time.com/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list >> >> >> -- >> steve ulrich sulrich at botwerks.org >> PGP: 8D0B 0EE9 E700 A6CF ABA7 AE5F 4FD4 07C9 133B FAFC > > > > _______________________________________________ > TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota > http://www.mn-linux.org tclug-list at mn-linux.org > https://mailman.real-time.com/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list > > -- Eric (Rick) Meyerhoff rick at eworld3.net 952-929-1659 _______________________________________________ TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota http://www.mn-linux.org tclug-list at mn-linux.org https://mailman.real-time.com/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list