Convert a tab-delimited file to use newlines

text processing

input.txt (around 30K lines)

RT|367079254|bn|ERTS01065811.1| 38 1 503
RT|367079251|bn|ERTS01065814.1| 56 3 502
RT|367079248|bn|ERTS01065817.1| 52 2 502

output.txt

RT|367079254|bn|ERTS01065811.1|
38
1
503
RT|367079251|bn|ERTS01065814.1|
56
3
502
RT|367079248|bn|ERTS01065817.1|
52
2
502

Best Answer

Sed:

sed -e 'y/\t/\n/' input.txt > output.txt

Awk:

awk 'BEGIN { OFS = "\n" } { $1=$1; print }' input.txt > output.txt

Related Solutions

Lum – Column mismatch and substituting

awk -v 'OFS=\t' 'NF == 2 { print $1, "none", $2; next } 1' input.txt > output.txt

Adjust depending on the characteristics of your input file. I assume every line with only 2 fields should have a "none" inserted. Otherwise, all other lines are just passed through unchanged (the purpose of the 1 at the end).

Text Processing – How to Replace Missing Value Blank Space with Zero

You could do it like this with awk:

awk 'BEGIN { FS = OFS = "\t" } { for(i=1; i<=NF; i++) if($i ~ /^ *$/) $i = 0 }; 1' file

Explanation

Setting FS and OFS to tab ensures the output is correctly delimited. The for-loop looks at every field and sets it to zero if it is empty. The one at the end is a shorthand for { print $0 }.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Lum – Column mismatch and substituting

Text Processing – How to Replace Missing Value Blank Space with Zero

Explanation

Related Question