How to print empty line when the a field is changed

yahyaaa · June 14, 2008, 11:03am

Hi all,

I have this input file ..

BSS01 107 Swafieh 11/06/2008 12:06:57
BSS01 111 Ramada_Hotel 12/06/2008 11:37:20
BSS01 147 Kalha_Rep 11/06/2008 19:13:39
BSS01 147 Kalha_Rep 11/06/2008 19:13:39
BSS06 601 Abu_Alanda_Caragat 12/06/2008 02:57:11
BSS06 601 Abu_Alanda_Caragat 12/06/2008 11:10:37
BSS06 601 Abu_Alanda_Caragat 12/06/2008 11:10:37
BSS06 601 Abu_Alanda_Caragat 12/06/2008 11:10:37
BSS06 601 Abu_Alanda_Caragat 12/06/2008 11:10:37
BSS08 802 Jada_SDH 12/06/2008 09:53:59
BSS08 805 Rakeen_Batter 12/06/2008 09:53:58
BSS08 805 Rakeen_Batter 12/06/2008 09:53:58
BSS08 805 Rakeen_Batter 12/06/2008 09:53:58
BSS08 811 Sarfa 12/06/2008 09:53:57
BSS08 821 Qaser_SDH 12/06/2008 09:54:00
BSS08 821 Qaser_SDH 12/06/2008 09:54:00
BSS08 821 Qaser_SDH 12/06/2008 09:54:00

I need to print empty line when the second field is changed.
like this

BSS01 107 Swafieh 11/06/2008 12:06:57

BSS01 111 Ramada_Hotel 12/06/2008 11:37:20

BSS01 147 Kalha_Rep 11/06/2008 19:13:39
BSS01 147 Kalha_Rep 11/06/2008 19:13:39

BSS06 601 Abu_Alanda_Caragat 12/06/2008 02:57:11
BSS06 601 Abu_Alanda_Caragat 12/06/2008 11:10:37
BSS06 601 Abu_Alanda_Caragat 12/06/2008 11:10:37
BSS06 601 Abu_Alanda_Caragat 12/06/2008 11:10:37
BSS06 601 Abu_Alanda_Caragat 12/06/2008 11:10:37

BSS08 802 Jada_SDH 12/06/2008 09:53:59

BSS08 805 Rakeen_Batter 12/06/2008 09:53:58
BSS08 805 Rakeen_Batter 12/06/2008 09:53:58
BSS08 805 Rakeen_Batter 12/06/2008 09:53:58

BSS08 811 Sarfa 12/06/2008 09:53:57

BSS08 821 Qaser_SDH 12/06/2008 09:54:00
BSS08 821 Qaser_SDH 12/06/2008 09:54:00
BSS08 821 Qaser_SDH 12/06/2008 09:54:00

I tried this awk but still doesnt work ..
any help is appreciated ..

BEGIN { site = $2 }

/BSS/{ if ( $2 == site )

printf "%s\n",$0; site = $2

else

printf "\\n" ; site = $2

}

Thanks

Franklin52 · June 14, 2008, 11:28am

awk 'NR==1{v=$2}$2!=v{v=$2;print ""}1' file

Regards

na5m · June 14, 2008, 11:35am

I want to help you, but I don't quite understand the question. Can you re-phrase it?

yahyaaa · June 14, 2008, 11:37am

Thanks for the quick response.

I tried your code, the ouput was like

BSS01 107 Swafieh 11/06/2008 12:06:57

BSS01 111 Ramada_Hotel 12/06/2008 11:37:20

BSS01 147 Kalha_Rep 11/06/2008 19:13:39

BSS06 601 Abu_Alanda_Caragat 12/06/2008 02:57:11

BSS06 601 Abu_Alanda_Caragat 12/06/2008 11:10:37

BSS08 802 Jada_SDH 12/06/2008 09:53:59

BSS08 805 Rakeen_Batter 12/06/2008 09:53:58

BSS08 811 Sarfa 12/06/2008 09:53:57

BSS08 821 Qaser_SDH 12/06/2008 09:54:00

any suggestions ??????

yahyaaa · June 14, 2008, 12:04pm

Dear na5m

I mean when the second field is changed I want to print new line.
To group the lines that have the same second field together.

regards

yahyaaa · June 14, 2008, 12:24pm

Please Mr. Franklin Could you explain your code for me ...
Thanks very very much for your efforts.

na5m · June 14, 2008, 1:46pm

For what it's worth, here's a partial solution:

$ echo file | sort --key=2,2

I'll post a full solution, if I can make it that far :o

Franklin52 · June 14, 2008, 2:13pm

awk 'NR==1{v=$2}$2!=v{v=$2;print ""}1' file

I've tested the code with your file and it works fine for me....:rolleyes:

Explanation:

NR==1{v=$2}

Assign the value of the 2nd field to variable v if the line number = 1

$2!=v{v=$2;print ""}

If variable v (the value of the 2nd field of the previous line) don't match with the 2nd field, assign the value of the 2nd field to variable v and print an empty line.

1' file

awk evaluates after the last close brace the 1 as true and the prints the entire line by default.

Regards

yahyaaa · June 14, 2008, 2:53pm

Thanks very very very very much mannnnnnn, YOU ARE GREAT..... I changed it to nawk and it worked.

freelong · June 17, 2008, 10:31am

Here is one I just test, kind of late.

NR==1{print $0; f2=$2; next}
{if(NR!=1) 
        {
        if(f2==$2)
                print $0
        else
        {
                printf("\n%s\n", $0)
                f2=$2
        }
}
}