Gentlemen;
In the course of trying to emulate some simple data processing functions
of the early mainframe era, I was surprised they weren't readily
supported by current standard tools.
In particular I wish to enter text into predefined (fixed location)
fields in a record as opposed to variably delimited fields. In other
words emulate the punched card record where card columns are assigned to
particular data character columns. Those card columns then just become
a text column range of a single record. If I could just set perhaps 10
arbitrary tab stops (in any simple editor), it would be sufficient for
this purpose. The tab key would just advance to the next stop in
succession, tho not necessarily regularly spaced. In the simplest
sense, a command line switch could just accept a list of tab columns in
ascending order. The end of a field need not be defined, too much text
would just spill into consecutive columns. The expansion of the tab
into spaces would be necessary as there is no assurance subsequently
used utilities could synchronize those stops.
The companion problem was using "sort" to accept keys based upon fixed
character columns vs delimited fields. I would like to sort keys in
specific columns without regard to potentially missing fields. There
appears to be character positioning of keys, but relative to a delimited
key field. Perhaps a notation like a field "0" with a character
position could refer to just absolute character positions e.g. "-k0.5,
0.9" indicating a key of character columns 5 thru 9, regardless of what
may or may not reside on characters 1-4.
I believe such enhancements could increase the generality of these
utilities without bloating them with seldom needed capability. I am not
a programmer of the modern era and find it disappointing that special
code appears to be needed for what used to be basic.
Regards,
John Kotrba
- enhancement suggestions for "sort" and text editor john
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