question on grep

[navin]

Hi ,
what options should i use to grep a pattern in the file ,the entries in the file looks like below

df,gh,ww:user name:home dir
gh:user name :home dir
ww,gh:username:home dir

i need to grep a entry that does have only a gh in the first column

any idea , much appreciated

[Matti_Kurkela]

I assume the "columns" (rather, fields) are separated by colons (':')?

"Only gh in the first field" is equal to
+ gh + .

So, the command would be:

grep '^gh:' somefile

MK

[Steven Schweda]

man grep
man regexp

dyi # echo 'gh:user' | grep '^gh'
gh:user
dyi # echo 'df,gh,ww:user' | grep '^gh'
dyi #

[James R. Ferguson]

Hi:

If the columns are delimited with ":" delimiters, you could use:

# awk -F: '$1~/gh/ {print}' file

Regards!

...JRF...

[Raj D.]

Navin,

- You can do it with awk:

$ awk -F ":" '{if ($1 ~ /gh/ ) print $0}' file_name





Example:
$ cat file_name

df,gh,ww:user name:home dir
gh:user name :home dir
ww,gh:username:home dir
ww,fh:username:home dir
ww,dh:username:home dir



$ awk -F ":" '{if ($1 ~ /gh/ ) print $0}' filename
df,gh,ww:user name:home dir
gh:user name :home dir
ww,gh:username:home dir




Cheers,
Raj.

[Steven Schweda]

> I assume [...]

> If the columns [...]

As usual, a more precise definition of the
problem might reduce the guesswork, and lead
to more accurate answers.

> [...] a gh in the first column

Define "column". Here, "g" is "in the first
column". "h" is in the second column. Are
you looking for "gh" which begins in column
one, or what, exactly?

Are you worried about columns, or
colon-separated fields, or what, exactly?