SUB-criteria covering two lines ? 2

[ChrB]

Hi

I am new to AWK, on Windows, and need to re-format textfiles like this one:

:54:any text on one line
:86:this text field co
vers two lines or ev
en more lines
:54:here is another text on one line

The result should show all lines beginning with :xx: ; the
record starting with :86: should be on 1 line only:

:54:any text on one line
:86:this text field covers two lines or even more lines
:54:here is another text on one line

What would be the best way -
First removing all newlines and inserting newlines at the beginning of every :xx: ?
Or better, remove only these newlines which are not followed by :xx: ? But then, how do I do that ?

SUB seems not to be suitable when all newlines are removed - at least, I get no output.

What would you recommend?

 

[PHV]

awk '/^:[0-9][0-9]:/ && NR>1{printf "\n"}{printf "%s",$0}END{printf "\n"}' input > output

Hope This Helps, PH.
Want to get great answers to your Tek-Tips questions? Have a look at FAQ219-2884 or FAQ222-2244

 

[futurelet]

/^:[0-9][0-9]:/ { printf "%s%s",line,line?RS:""
  line = "" }
{ line = line $0 }
END { print line }

Let me know whether or not this helps.

.

For an introduction to Awk, see faq271-5564.

 

[ChrB]

Hi folks

Thanks a lot for your replies.
Both solutions are working fine!

Now I have to choose which one serves best.


Thanks!