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Need script to test text file

Hi,
I need a script to test a text file and based on the character it finds on line 1 column 60, run different programs. The script can be awk, perl or whatever else that will run on IBM AIX.

If line 1 column 60 is "O" then run program qu
If line 1 column 60 is "d" then run program ak
if line 1 column 60 is "k" then run program pk
If line 1 column 60 is "a" then run program wt
If line 1 column 60 is anything else, run program other

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Mark

Peter Kwan

awk < textfile.txt 'NR == 1 {
switch (substr($0, 60, 1)) {
case "O": qu; break;
case "d": ak; break;
case "k": pk; break;
case "a": wt; break;
default: other;
}
}'

brettmjohnson

switch (`head -1 textfile.txt | cut -c 60-60`)
case "O": qu; break;
case "d": ak; break;
case "k": pk; break;
case "a": wt; break;
default: other;
}

9thTee

ASKER

pkwan:

When I run this it says:

Syntax Error The source line is 2.
The error context is
switch >>> (` <<<
awk: 0602-502 The statement cannot be correctly parsed. The source line is 2.
Syntax Error The source line is 3.

Any ideas?

9thTee

ASKER

brettmjohnson:
I am not sure how to run your script.

Mark

brettmjohnson

nevermind, brain burp on my part. The only interesting part is

`head -1 textfile.txt | cut -c 60-60`

which returns the specific character of interest.
The switch statement is from the previous post
and is in awk/C syntax, not Bourne shell syntax.

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

Sys_Prog

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9thTee

ASKER

Hi SysProg,
What does the L:1 do? I had to remove it for the script to run.

Thanks,
Mark

Sys_Prog

-L means how many characters to consider
By default, it takes upto the end of line
-c means the start position from where u want to cut the string

Amit

9thTee

ASKER

SysProg,
Well the script works fine without it on IBM AIX. Thanks for the help.

Mark