Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!newstop!texsun!convex!news
From: tchrist@convex.COM (Tom Christiansen)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions
Subject: Re: using awk with records that have over 100 fields
Keywords: awk
Message-ID: <1990Dec31.200723.7929@convex.com>
Date: 31 Dec 90 20:07:23 GMT
References: <1560@manta.NOSC.MIL>
Sender: news@convex.com (news access account)
Reply-To: tchrist@convex.COM (Tom Christiansen)
Organization: CONVEX Software Development, Richardson, TX
Lines: 21
Nntp-Posting-Host: pixel.convex.com

From the keyboard of plantz@manta.NOSC.MIL (Glen W. Plantz):
:The problem I've had so far with our version of "awk", is that the lines
:(paragraphs) that have too many fields cause an error of the type:
:	547
:awk: record `   479 Provide techn...' has too many fields
: record number 4
:
:These "_LONG_" lines could have several hundred words on them.  How can
:I get awk or another unix utilitity to process this text?

Run your awk script through the awk-to-perl translator, a2p, then run perl
on the resulting script as perl has no such limitations.  By default, the
translator will convert awk splits into perl splits with a maximum number
of resulting field of 999, but you can easily increase or remove that
restriction.

--tom
--
Tom Christiansen		tchrist@convex.com	convex!tchrist
"With a kernel dive, all things are possible, but it sure makes it hard
 to look at yourself in the mirror the next morning."  -me