Using while loop on file with spaces in some fields

[johngiggs]

How can I use a while loop to read a file that has spaces.

Ex. input.file looks like this:

Field 1 Field 2 Field 3

cat input.file | while read field1 field2 field3
do
...
done

The problem I'm having is that the while loop is breaking up the fields into 6 fields instead of 3.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

John

 

[Annihilannic]

So the fields themselves have spaces in them? Is each field always two words? Are the fields separated by tabs rather than spaces (which would allow you to differentiate between field separators and spaces)?

Annihilannic
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[johngiggs]

Annihilannic,

Since I was using bash, I used the IFS and OFS variables.

OLDIFS=$IFS
IFS=";"

while ...
do
...
done < /my/input/file
IFS=$OLDIFS

 

[Annihilannic]

So your problem is solved?

Annihilannic
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