Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!ames!necntc!adelie!axiom!insyte!jad
From: jad@insyte.UUCP (Jill Diewald)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: grep replacement
Keywords: Long Lines
Message-ID: <144@insyte.UUCP>
Date: 9 Jun 88 16:03:43 GMT
References: <7882@alice.UUCP> <5630@umn-cs.cs.umn.edu> <6866@elroy.Jpl.Nasa.Gov> <2312@bgsuvax.UUCP> <7869@ncoast.UUCP>
Reply-To: jad@insyte.UUCP
Organization: Innovative Systems Techniques, Newton, MA
Lines: 18

A missing feature in UNIX is the ability to deal with files with
very long lines - the kind of file you get from a data base tape like
Compustat.  The standard data base tape contains very long lines,
instead of separating each record with a newline, all the records may
be on the same line.  There is a defined record size which is used to
determine when a record ends - instead of a newline.

There are two specific things that it would be nice to do with UNIX, 
instead of having to write a c program:

1) To be able to give grep (also awk, etc) a record size 
which it would use instead of newlines.  

2) To be able to specify a field range (ie columns 20-30) for the 
program to search - instead of the entire line/record.  In addition it 
should be posible to specify several fields in one grep.  For 
example: to search for records which have "1000" in one field or
"2000" in another.  Sort uses fields so they aren't totally foreign
to UNIX.