How to split variable line with varied delimiters

[patwat]

What I want to do:
Parse the output from a verbose "grep" command and get just certain pieces of information.

Sample output from grep:
user123 12101 <variable collection of unwanted stuff> -nproduction_WebLive <maybe more unwanted stuff>

The problem:
I want the pid (here "12101") which is always field 2 using the standard awk delimiter of spaces, but I also want to grab that which is preceded by "-n" and it is not always in the same spot. I know about using "-F" to specify a different delimiter, but have not figured out how to switch delimiters after grabbing the desired pid.

Desired output:
Using the above example, I would like to see "12101 production_WebLive

 

[Annihilannic]

There's no need for grep when you're using awk, because it has the same search capability built-in.

e.g.

ps -ef | awk '
    /searchstring/ {
        n=$0
        # strip off everything up to and including -n
        sub("^.*-n","",n)
        # strip off everything after space following -n parameter
        sub(" .*$","",n)
        print $2,n
    }
'

Annihilannic.

 

[patwat]

Judging from the structure, and the error I got, I am guessing this needs to be within a script rather than being command line doable?

Thanks for the tip. I'll give it a shot and let you know how it turns out.

 

[Annihilannic]

It should work from the command line, if you're prepared to type that much!

I laid it out like that for clarity, you could equally write:

ps -ef | awk '/searchstring/ { n=$0; sub("^.*-n","",n); sub(" .*$","",n); print $2,n }'

Annihilannic.

 

[patwat]

Duh! I forgot the semi-colons. I think I like the script idea better, that way others can use it, too.

 

[patwat]

Added the "x" to the ps parameters and this works like a charm.

Thank you so much