Sorting blocks of data

Shell Programming and Scripting
1

Hello all,

Below is what I am trying to accomplish:

I have a file that looks like this

/* ----------------- xxxx.y_abcd_00000050 ----------------- */ 

jdghjghkla
sadgsdags
asdgsdgasd
asdgsagasdg

/* ----------------- xxxx.y_abcd_00000055 ----------------- */ 

sdgsdg
sdgxcvzxcbv
rtertwre
tqwetqe
xzcbvzxcb

/* ----------------- xxxx.y_abcd_00000005 ----------------- */ 

sdgsdg
sdgxcvzxcbv
rtertwre
tqwetqe
xzcbvzxcb

I need to sort it so that it looks like this

/* ----------------- xxxx.y_abcd_00000005 ----------------- */ 

sdgsdg
sdgxcvzxcbv
rtertwre
tqwetqe
xzcbvzxcb

/* ----------------- xxxx.y_abcd_00000050 ----------------- */ 

jdghjghkla
sadgsdags
asdgsdgasd
asdgsagasdg

/* ----------------- xxxx.y_abcd_00000055 ----------------- */ 

sdgsdg
sdgxcvzxcbv
rtertwre
tqwetqe
xzcbvzxcb

So i really want to sort only based on the items within /*----*/

I looked up the forums but could not find anything....any suggestions?

2

Alfredo,
Even though your output file does not match with your requirement,
here is how you can keep the dashes and sorting what is inside of it:

mSorted='Sorted.txt'
rm -f $mSorted
csplit -k b "/-------/" {99}
for mFile in xx??
do
  sort $mFile >> $mSorted
done
3

Thanks for you response..on trying that this is the error I get
csplit: b: No such file or directory
sort: open failed: xx??: No such file or directory??

Let me rephrase the question and post the actual file that needs to be sorted:

/* ----------------- SVAMN14GLBSMGR.c_imds_00000060 ----------------- */ 

insert_job: SVAMN14GLBSMGR.c_imds_00000060   job_type: c 
command: script.sh par1 par2
machine: SVAMN14GLBSMGR
permission: gx,wx

/* ----------------- SVAMN14GLBSMGR.c_imds_00000050 ----------------- */ 

insert_job: SVAMN14GLBSMGR.c_imds_00000050   job_type: c 
command: script.sh par1 par2
machine: SVAMN14GLBSMGR
permission: gx,wx


/* ----------------- SVAMN14GLBSMGR.c_imds_00000055 ----------------- */ 

insert_job: SVAMN14GLBSMGR.c_imds_00000055   job_type: c 
command: script.sh par1 par2
machine: SVAMN14GLBSMGR
permission: gx,wx

This needs to be sorted to:


/* ----------------- SVAMN14GLBSMGR.c_imds_00000050 ----------------- */ 

insert_job: SVAMN14GLBSMGR.c_imds_00000050   job_type: c 
command: script.sh par1 par2
machine: SVAMN14GLBSMGR
permission: gx,wx

/* ----------------- SVAMN14GLBSMGR.c_imds_00000055 ----------------- */ 

insert_job: SVAMN14GLBSMGR.c_imds_00000055   job_type: c 
command: script.sh par1 par2
machine: SVAMN14GLBSMGR
permission: gx,wx

/* ----------------- SVAMN14GLBSMGR.c_imds_00000060 ----------------- */ 

insert_job: SVAMN14GLBSMGR.c_imds_00000060   job_type: c 
command: script.sh par1 par2
machine: SVAMN14GLBSMGR
permission: gx,wx

How would I go abt doing that?

4

Alfredo, 'b' is my test file -- sorry about it.
In your case, please, replace:

csplit -k b "/-------/" {99}

By:

csplit -k your_file "/-------/" {99}
5

I got it to work...however I think you might have misunderstood my requirement. I need to sort blocks based on the first line. THe data within the block needs to remain the same --should not change. SO below only the items in bold are what I am concerned about...

So if I have 3 lines

/---S005---/asd
dfasd
asdg

/---S003---/erqwe
dvasd
xcvc

/---S001---/ewrwqer
dsaf
xzcvxc

this needs to be sorted to

/---S001---/
dsaf
xzcvxc

/---S003---/
dvasd
xcvc

/---S005---/
dfasd
asdg

6 
paste -d "\t\t\t\t\t\t\n" -s test_sort_file|sort -t_ -n -k3,3 | tr "\t\t" "\n"
7

You can try something like that :

awk '
   /^\/\* ---.*--- \*\// && NF==5 { hdr=$3}
   { printf("%s.%09d\t%s\n", hdr ,NR, $0) }
' sort_blk.txt | sort -k1,1 | cut -f2-
8

Awesome aigles...it works....thanks a bunch!

9

Alfredo, now that I understand your requirement:

csplit -k input_file "/-------/" {99}
paste -d'|' -s xx?? | sort | tr '|' '\n'