Macro to delete stock entries from txt files
Hi,
I've got a range of PC inventory reports that are TXT files. 90% of the content is the same (due to the base build that we use). Can I open them in Word, and then run a macro that refers to a master list of known standard entries, and then deletes that entire line, leaving only the unique entries?
It's possible that the line could occur twice within the inventory. It would also be great if there was some degree of wildcards - ie remove any line that started with "Security Update".
Each full inventory is about 3 pages long, and it's hard to sort the wheat from the chaff at present.
Sample text:
Logiciels installés sur machine DLD54609 :
Sybase Software Developer's Kit 12.5.1 GA
Adobe SVG Viewer 3.0
Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator Driver
Windows Internet Explorer 8
Gupta Team Developer 3.1 (PTF3) Deployment
Security Update for Windows Media Player (KB2378111)
Security Update for Windows Internet Explorer 8 (KB2510531)
Windows Internet Explorer 8 - Software Updates
Security Update for Windows Internet Explorer 8 (KB2544521)
Windows Internet Explorer 8 - Software Updates
Adobe Reader 8.1.0
Adobe Acrobat Distiller Server 6.0
In the example above, I'd like to remove all the Security Update and Software Update lines, the Intel entry, and the IE8 entry.
So, the Kill List would be:
Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator Driver
Windows Internet Explorer 8
Security Update for Windows Media Player (KB2378111)
Security Update for Windows Internet Explorer 8 (KB2510531)
Windows Internet Explorer 8 - Software Updates
Security Update for Windows Internet Explorer 8 (KB2544521)
Windows Internet Explorer 8 - Software Updates
Happy to hear about other options if Word macros aren't the best tool!
Thanks, Danny
I've got a range of PC inventory reports that are TXT files. 90% of the content is the same (due to the base build that we use). Can I open them in Word, and then run a macro that refers to a master list of known standard entries, and then deletes that entire line, leaving only the unique entries?
It's possible that the line could occur twice within the inventory. It would also be great if there was some degree of wildcards - ie remove any line that started with "Security Update".
Each full inventory is about 3 pages long, and it's hard to sort the wheat from the chaff at present.
Sample text:
Logiciels installés sur machine DLD54609 :
Sybase Software Developer's Kit 12.5.1 GA
Adobe SVG Viewer 3.0
Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator Driver
Windows Internet Explorer 8
Gupta Team Developer 3.1 (PTF3) Deployment
Security Update for Windows Media Player (KB2378111)
Security Update for Windows Internet Explorer 8 (KB2510531)
Windows Internet Explorer 8 - Software Updates
Security Update for Windows Internet Explorer 8 (KB2544521)
Windows Internet Explorer 8 - Software Updates
Adobe Reader 8.1.0
Adobe Acrobat Distiller Server 6.0
In the example above, I'd like to remove all the Security Update and Software Update lines, the Intel entry, and the IE8 entry.
So, the Kill List would be:
Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator Driver
Windows Internet Explorer 8
Security Update for Windows Media Player (KB2378111)
Security Update for Windows Internet Explorer 8 (KB2510531)
Windows Internet Explorer 8 - Software Updates
Security Update for Windows Internet Explorer 8 (KB2544521)
Windows Internet Explorer 8 - Software Updates
Happy to hear about other options if Word macros aren't the best tool!
Thanks, Danny
vbs seems a useful tool to me. ill mock up a process shortly but i will be using a file of the kill list (or std entries to be ignored)
are all the Inventory files named similarly, or in a folder of their own ?
are all the Inventory files named similarly, or in a folder of their own ?
ASKER
They're all named softs.txt, which is embedded in a Zip file in the users' personal drives.
I can extract them with a batch file, and was planning to rename them as
softsXYZ.txt, where XYZ relates to each user.
However, it may be simpler to add in the processing stage of deleting the dross BEFORE I do this renaming. But hey, leave that to me!
I can extract them with a batch file, and was planning to rename them as
softsXYZ.txt, where XYZ relates to each user.
However, it may be simpler to add in the processing stage of deleting the dross BEFORE I do this renaming. But hey, leave that to me!
sorry thought I had posted my mockup but appears not. will try again tonight...
ok, the renaming is good. I suggest "softs-XYZ.txt" or use underscore to separate the name.
are you extracting all these to the one folder for reporting ?
the process I suggest is
1. extract and copy the softs.txt to a central location as the new name. eg x:\inventory_report\softs-
2. run the reporting script that uses a list of std entries and creates a text file with all the exceptions from the PC lists. the list has headers for each PCfile with date last modified.
I'll update my script to use your filenames as I assumed names like INV-DLD54609.txt
ok, the renaming is good. I suggest "softs-XYZ.txt" or use underscore to separate the name.
are you extracting all these to the one folder for reporting ?
the process I suggest is
1. extract and copy the softs.txt to a central location as the new name. eg x:\inventory_report\softs-
2. run the reporting script that uses a list of std entries and creates a text file with all the exceptions from the PC lists. the list has headers for each PCfile with date last modified.
I'll update my script to use your filenames as I assumed names like INV-DLD54609.txt
we could add the reporting script as the last item of your extraction batch file.
ASKER
Looking forward to trying this as soon as you get to post it!
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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Look at http://www.activestate.com/compare-editions, i use the community edition