"dd conv=unblock cbs=80 - really grep replacement"

[Jill Diewald]

>>More importantly, this is NOT a good solution. ... The files that
>>we deal with are very very large data files.  Making a reformated
>>copy of the file is not a good solution.
>
>Think `tools'.  Think `pipes'.
>
>	dd if=big_data_file cbs=<recordsize> conv=unblock | grep <regexp>
>-- 
>In-Real-Life: Chris Torek, Univ of MD Comp Sci Dept (+1 301 454 7163)
>Domain:	chris at mimsy.umd.edu	Path:	uunet!mimsy!chris


Yes I know.  However we really need to be able to "look around" in these
files so several greps might be neccessary.  Reformatting the entire 
file before each grep is slow - and a temporary file takes up too much disk
space.  There doesn't seem to be a good solution.  There are many ways to 
do this but none are very good.

Jill Diewald
INSYTE
Newton, MA