[ron17]

hi,

i need to identify the duplicate records (in terms of given primary key fields) in a pipe ('|') delimited text file, and spool these duplicates into excel file. i'm illustrating this below:


input file (in txt file):

abc|123|jon|male |brown
xyz|456|may|female|red
xyz|456|may|female|orange
klm|234|mac|male |black
opq|561|may|male |green
klm|234|ace|male |black
klm|234|ron|male |black


output file (in excel format):

xyz|456|may|female|red
xyz|456|may|female|orange
klm|234|mac|male |black
klm|234|ace|male |black
klm|234|ron|male |black


* the 1st two fields are the primary key fields



thanks!

[lotuseclat79]

Hi Ron17,

Welcome to TSG!

We are not a homework solving website, but you can learn as you go here.

Cat the input file into a pipe, |, and use the sort command with '|' as the specified separator field, and specify the key field you are sorting upon, e.g.:
$ cat input-file | sort ...

Read the man page for the sort command and play with it until you have solved your problem.
$ man sort

-- Tom