Joseph Paish wrote:
> i have a data file that looks something like this :
> ( it is already sorted by date )
>
> 12/22/02 abc 123 456 789
> 12/23/02 def 246 812 98234
> 12/24/02 ank 987 23456 8762
> 12/27/02 abc 987 345 65434
> 01/05/03 abc 876 2356 87
> 01/09/03 ank 875 234 98098
> 02/01/03 def 987 3453 456
> 02/05/03 ghi.th 987 2345 94
>
> ------------
>
> i need the final entry of each unique second field. in other words,
> in the output file, i would have :
>
> 01/05/03 abc 876 2356 87 << last abc entry
> 02/01/03 def 987 3453 456 << last def entry
> 01/09/03 ank 875 234 98098 << last ank entry
> 02/05/03 ghi.th 987 2345 94 << last ghi.th entry
>
>
> -----------
>
> what i have done so far :
> sort data file by the second field
> while (not end of file) {
> read each record and store it in a temporary array
> keep reading until the second field changes
> if the second field changes {
> write the temporary array to the output file
> store the "just read" record in the temporary array
> }
> }
>
>
> this seems needlessly complicated. there has to be a better way.
> suggestions?
>
> thanks
>
> joe
Here is a start using a hash:
#!perl -w
my %MD = ();
my $MyData = \%MD;
my @MyWorka = ();
while ( <DATA> ){
chomp;
@MyWorka = split(/\s+/,$_,3);
$MyData->{$MyWorka[1]} = $_;
}
foreach my $MyKey (sort keys%{$MyData}) {
printf "%-s\n", $MyData->{$MyKey};
}
__DATA__
12/22/02 abc 123 456 789
12/23/02 def 246 812 98234
12/24/02 ank 987 23456 8762
12/27/02 abc 987 345 65434
01/05/03 abc 876 2356 87
01/09/03 ank 875 234 98098
02/01/03 def 987 3453 456
02/05/03 ghi.th 987 2345 94
#Output:
01/05/03 abc 876 2356 87
01/09/03 ank 875 234 98098
02/01/03 def 987 3453 456
02/05/03 ghi.th 987 2345 94
Wags ;)
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