NAME

dbcolmerge - merge multiple columns into one

SYNOPSIS

dbcolmerge [-C ElementSeparator] [columns...]

DESCRIPTION

For each row, merge multiple columns down to a single column, joining elements with ElementSeparator (defaults to a single underscore).

OPTIONS

-C S or --element-separator S

Specify the separator used to join columns. (Defaults to a single underscore.)

-e E or --empty E

give value E as the value for empty (null) records

This module also supports the standard fsdb options:

-d

Enable debugging output.

-i or --input InputSource

Read from InputSource, typically a file name, or - for standard input, or (if in Perl) a IO::Handle, Fsdb::IO or Fsdb::BoundedQueue objects.

-o or --output OutputDestination

Write to OutputDestination, typically a file name, or - for standard output, or (if in Perl) a IO::Handle, Fsdb::IO or Fsdb::BoundedQueue objects.

--autorun or --noautorun

By default, programs process automatically, but Fsdb::Filter objects in Perl do not run until you invoke the run() method. The --(no)autorun option controls that behavior within Perl.

--help

Show help.

--man

Show full manual.

SAMPLE USAGE

Input:

#fsdb      first   last
John    Heidemann
Greg    Johnson
Root    -
# this is a simple database
#  | /home/johnh/BIN/DB/dbcol fullname
#  | dbcolrename fullname first_last
#  | /home/johnh/BIN/DB/dbcolsplit -C _ first_last
#  | /home/johnh/BIN/DB/dbcol first last

Command:

cat data.fsdb | dbcolmerge -C _ first last

Output:

#fsdb      first   last    first_last
John    Heidemann       John_Heidemann
Greg    Johnson Greg_Johnson
Root    -        Root_
# this is a simple database
#  | /home/johnh/BIN/DB/dbcol fullname
#  | dbcolrename fullname first_last
#  | /home/johnh/BIN/DB/dbcolsplit first_last
#  | /home/johnh/BIN/DB/dbcol first last
#  | /home/johnh/BIN/DB/dbcolmerge -C _ first last

SEE ALSO

Fsdb. dbcolsplittocols. dbcolsplittorows. dbcolrename.

CLASS FUNCTIONS

new

$filter = new Fsdb::Filter::dbcolmerge(@arguments);

Create a new dbcolmerge object, taking command-line arguments.

set_defaults

$filter->set_defaults();

Internal: set up defaults.

parse_options

$filter->parse_options(@ARGV);

Internal: parse command-line arguments.

setup

$filter->setup();

Internal: setup, parse headers.

run

$filter->run();

Internal: run over each rows.

AUTHOR and COPYRIGHT

Copyright (C) 1991-2008 by John Heidemann <johnh@isi.edu>

This program is distributed under terms of the GNU general public license, version 2. See the file COPYING with the distribution for details.