FFE(1)FFE(1)NAMEffe - flat file extractor
SYNOPSISffe [options]...
DESCRIPTIONffe is a program for extracting fields from flat file records and dis‐
playing them in different formats. ffe relies on the configuration file
to control input file structure and the output format.
OPTIONSffe accepts the following options:
-c, --configuration=file
Read the configuration from file, default is ~/.fferc.
-s, --structure=STRUCTURE
Input file is processed using the structure STRUCTURE.
-p, --print=FORMAT
Use output format FORMAT for printing. All printing can be sup‐
pressed using format no. Original data is printed using format
raw.
-o, --output=NAME
Write output to NAME instead of standard output.
-f, --field-list=LIST
Print only fields and constants specified in comma separated
list LIST.
-e, --expression=EXPRESSION
Print only those records for which the EXPRESSION evaluates to
true.
-a, --and
Expressions are combined with logical and, default is logical
or.
-X, --casecmp
Expressions are evaluated case insensitive.
-v, --invert-match
Print only those records which don't match the expression.
-l, --loose
An invalid input line does not cause program to abort.
-r, --replace=FIELD=VALUE
Replace FIELDs contents with VALUE in output. VALUE can contain
same directives as output option data.
-d, --debug
All invalid input lines are written to file ffe_error_<pid>.log.
-I, --info
Show the structure information in configuration file and exit.
-?, --help
List all available options and their meanings and exit.
-V, --version
Show version of program and exit.
All remaining arguments are names of input files; if no input files are
specified, then the standard input is read.
Expressions (option -e, --expression)
Expression can be used to select specific records comparing field val‐
ues.
If the value starts with string "file:" then the rest of the value is
considered as a file name. Every line in the file is used as value in
comparison. Record will be selected if one or more values evaluates
true.
Expression notation:
field=value
A record will be selected if the field field is equal to the
value value.
field^value
A record will be selected if the field field starts with the
value value.
field~value
A record will be selected if the field field contains the value
value.
field!value
A record will be selected if the field field is not equal to the
value value.
field?value
A record will be selected if the field field matches the regular
expression in value.
FFE CONFIGURATIONffe uses the configuration file for extracting fields from the input
file and for formatting the fields for output. Every line or binary
block of the input file is considered as a record. Default configura‐
tion file is ~/.fferc but another file can be given with '-c' option.
Configuration file for ffe is a text file. The file may contain empty
lines. Commands are case-sensitive. Comments begin with the #-char‐
acter and end at the end of the line. The string and char definitions
can be enclosed in double quotation '"' characters. char is a single
character. string and char can contain following escape codes:
'\a','\b','\t','\n','\v','\f', '\r', '\"' and '\#'. Character '\' can
be escaped as '\\'.
Command Substitution allows the output of a command to replace parts of
the configuration file. Syntax for command substitution is:
`command`
The command is executed and the `command` is substituted with the stan‐
dard output of the command, with any trailing newlines deleted. Command
substitutions may not be nested.
Before executing the command ffe sets few environment variables:
FFE_STRUCTURE
The name of the structure given using -s,--structure.
FFE_OUIPUT
The name of the output file given using -o,--output.
FFE_FORMAT
The name of the output format given using -p,--print.
FFE_FIRST_FILE
The name of the first input file.
FFE_FILES
A list of all input files.
If variable is already set it will not be replaced.
Input file structure
Input file structures are specified with keyword structure:
structure name {options...}
Options must be ended with newline, options are:
type fixed|binary|separated [char] [*]
Fields in the input are fixed length text fields, fixed length
binary fields or text fields separated by char. If * is given,
multiple sequential separators are considered as one. Default
separator is comma.
quoted [char]
Fields may be quoted with char, default quotation mark is double
quotation mark '"'. A quotation mark is assumed to be escaped
as \char or doubling the mark as charchar in input. Non escaped
quotation marks are not preserved in output.
header first|all|no
Controls the occurrence of the header line. Default is no. If
set as first or all, the first line of the first input file is
considered as header line containing the names of the fields.
First means that only the first file has a header, all means
that all files have a header, although the names are still taken
from the header of the first file. Header line is handled
according the record definition, meaning that the name posi‐
tions, separators etc. are the same as for the fields.
output name
All records belonging this structure are printed according out‐
put format name. Default is to use output named as 'default'.
record name {options...}
Defines one record for a structure. A structure can contain sev‐
eral record types.
Record options:
id position string
rid position regexp
Identifies a record in the input file. Records are identified by
the string or by the regular expression in regexp in input
record position position. For fixed length and binary input the
position is the byte position of the input record and for sepa‐
rated input the position means the position'th field of the
input record. Positions start from one.
Id's are required only if input structure contains several
record types with equal lengths or field counts. Non printable
characters can be escaped as \xnn where nn is the hexadecimal
value of the character.
A record definition can contain several id's, then all id'd must
match the input line (id's are combined with logical and).
In a multi-record binary structure every record must have at
least one id.
field name|FILLER|* [length]|* [lookup]|* [output]
Specifies one field in a text input structure. length is manda‐
tory for fixed length input structure except for the last field.
If the last field of a fixed length input structure has a * in
place of length then the last field can have arbitrary length.
Length is also used for printing fields in fixed length format
using the %D or %D directive. The order of fields in configura‐
tion file is essential, it specifies the field order in a
record.
If '*' is given instead of the name, then the 'name' will be
the ordinal number of the field, or if the 'header' option has
value 'first' or 'all', then the name of the field will taken
from the header line (first line of the input).
If lookup is given then the fields contents is used to make a
lookup in lookup table lookup. If length is not needed (sepa‐
rated format) but lookup is needed, use asterisk (*) in place of
length definition.
If output is given field is printed using output output. Use
asterisk in place of lookup if lookup is not needed.
Naming the field as FILLER causes field not to be printed in
output.
field name|FILLER|* [length]|type [lookup]|* [output]
Specifies one field in a binary input structure. All other fea‐
tures are same as for the text structure except the type parame‐
ter. type specifies field data type and length and can have the
following values:
char Printable character.
short Short integer having current system length and byte order.
int Integer having current system length and byte order.
long Long integer having current system length and byte order.
llong Long long integer having current system length and byte
order.
ushort Unsigned short integer having current system length and
byte order.
uint Unsigned integer having current system length and byte
order.
ulong Unsigned long integer having current system length and
byte order.
ullong Unsigned long long integer having current system length
and byte order.
int8 8 bit integer.
int16_be Big endian 16 bit integer.
int32_be Big endian 32 bit integer.
int64_be Big endian 64 bit integer.
int16_le Little endian 16 bit integer.
int32_le Little endian 32 bit integer.
int64_le Little endian 64 bit integer.
uint8 Unsigned 8 bit integer.
uint16_be Unsigned big endian 16 bit integer.
uint32_be Unsigned big endian 32 bit integer.
uint64_be Unsigned big endian 64 bit integer.
uint16_le Unsigned little endian 16 bit integer.
uint32_le Unsigned little endian 32 bit integer.
uint64_le Unsigned little endian 64 bit integer.
float Float having current system length and byte order.
float_be Float having current system length and big endian byte
order.
float_le Float having current system length and little endian
byte order.
double Double having current system length and byte order.
double_be Double having current system length and big endian
byte order.
double_le Double having current system length and little endian
byte order.
bcd_be_len Bcd number having length len and nybbles in big
endian order.
bcd_le_len Bcd number having length len and nybbles in little
endian order.
hex_be_len Hexadecimal data in big endian order having length
len.
hex_le_len Hexadecimal data in little endian order having length
len.
If length is given instead of the type, then the field is
assumed to be a printable string having length length. String is
printed until length characters are printed or NULL character is
found.
Bcd number (bcd_be_len and bcd_le_len) is printed until len
bytes are read or a nybble having hexadecimal value f is found.
Bcd number having big endian order is printed in order: most
significant nybble first and least significant nybble second and
bcd number having little endian order is printed in order: least
significant nybble first and most significant nybble second.
Bytes are always read in big endian order.
Hexadecimal data (hex_be_len and hex_le_len) is printed as hexa‐
decimal values. Big endian data is printed starting from the
lower address and little endian data starting from the upper
address.
field-count number
Same effect as having field * number times. Because length is
not specified, this works only with separated structure.
fields-from record
Fields for this record are the same as for record record.
output name
This record is printed according output format name. Default is
to use output format specified in the structure.
level number [element_name|*] [group_name]
Level can be used if the contents of a file should be printed as
hierarchical multi-level nested form document. Use * instead of
the element name if it is not needed. number is the level of the
record, starting from number one (highest level), element_name
is the name for the record, group_name is used to group records
in the same and lower levels. Only number is mandatory parame‐
ter.
record-length strict|minimum
strict Input record length and field count must match the record
definition in order to get it processed. This is default value.
minimum Input record length and field count can be the same or
longer as defined for the record. The rest of the input line is
ignored.
Output definitions
There can be several output definitions in the configuration file. For‐
mat can be selected with '-p' option. Default format is named as
'default'.
output name|default {options...}
Defines one output format. Output named as 'default' will be
used if none is given for structure or record, or none is given
with option '-p'.
There is two predefined output formats no and raw. no suppresses
all printing and raw prints the original input data.
Output options
Pictures in output definition can contain printf-style %-directives:
%f Name of the input file.
%s Name of the current structure.
%r Name of the current record.
%o Input record number in current file.
%O Input record number starting from the first file.
%i Byte offset of the current record in the current file. Starts
from zero.
%I Byte offset of the current record starting from the first file.
Starts from zero.
%n Field name.
%t Field contents, without leading and trailing whitespaces.
%d Field contents. Binary integer is printed as a decimal value.
Floating point number is printed in the style [-]ddd.ddd, where
the number of digits after the decimal-point character is 6. Bcd
number is printed as a decimal number and hexadecimal data as
consecutive hexadecimal values.
%D Field contents, right padded to the field length (requires
length definition for the field).
%C Field contents, right padded to the field length (requires
length definition for the field). Output field is cutted if
input field is longer that field length.
%x Unsigned hexadecimal value of a binary integer. Other fields are
printed using directive %d.
%l Value from lookup.
%L Value from lookup, right padded to the field length (requires
length definition for the field).
%e Does not print anything, causes still the "field empty" check to
be performed. Can be used when only the names of non-empty
fields should be printed.
%p Fields start position in a record. For fixed structure this is
field's byte position in the input line and for separated struc‐
ture this is the ordinal number of the field. Starts from one.
%h Hexadecimal dump of a field. Byte values are printed as consecu‐
tive xnn values, where the nn is the hexadecimal value of a
byte. Data is printed before any endian conversion.
%g Group name given by the keyword group_name in record definition.
%m Element name given by the keyword element_name in record defini‐
tion.
%% Percent sign.
file_header picture
Picture is printed once before file contents.
file_trailer picture
Picture is printed once after file contents.
header picture
If specified, then the header line describing the field names is
printed before records. Every field name is printed according
the picture using the same separator and fields length as
defined for the fields. Picture can contain only %n directive.
data picture
Field contents is printed according picture.
lookup picture
If field is mapped to lookup table, this picture will be used
instead of picture from data option. If not given, then picture
from data will be used.
separator string
All fields are terminated by string, except the last field of
the record. Default is not to print separator.
record_header picture
picture is printed before the record content. Default is not to
print header.
record_trailer picture
picture is printed after the record content. Default is newline.
justify left|right|char
Fields are left or right justified. char justifies output
according the first occurrence of char in the data picture.
Default is left.
indent string
Record contents is intended by string. Field contents is
intended by two times the string. Default is not to indent.
field-list name1,name2,...
Only fields or constants named as name1,name2,... are printed,
same effect as has '-f' option. Default is to print all the
fields. Fields are also printed in the same order as they are
listed.
no-data-print yes|no
When set as no and field-list is given, suppresses printing of
record_header and record_trailer in case where current record
contains none of the fields specified in field-list.
field-empty-print yes|no
When set as no, nothing is printed for fields which consist
entirely of characters from empty-chars. If none of the fields
of a record are printed then the printing of record_trailer is
also suppressed. Default is yes.
empty-chars string
string specifies a set of characters which define an "empty"
field. Default is " \f\n\r\t\v" (space, form-feed, newline, car‐
riage return, horizontal tab and vertical tab).
output-file file
Output is written to file instead of the default output. If - is
given the standard output is used.
group_header string
If a record has a level and group name defined, string is
printed before the first record in the same group or if the
group name has changed in the same level
group_trailer string
If a record has a level and group name defined, string is
printed after the records in lower levels or if the group name
has changed in the same level or if a higher level record is
found.
element_header string
If record has a level and header name defined, string is printed
before the records contents.
element_header string
If record has a level and header name defined, string is printed
after the records contents.
hex-caps yes|no
Print hexadecimal numbers in capital letters. Default is no.
Lookup definitions
lookup name {options...}
Defines one lookup table.
Lookup options:
search exact|longest
The search type for lookup table.
default-value value
value is printed if the lookup is not successful.
pair key value
One key/value pair for the lookup table.
file name [separator]
Key/value pairs are read from file name. Every line is consid‐
ered as a key/value pair separated by separator. Default separa‐
tor is semicolon.
Constants
Additional to input fields constants values can be printed using option
-f,--field-list or output option field-list. Constant will be printed
using data output option.
Constants are specified as
const name value
when the name appears in a field list, value will be printed for
every record as the name were one of the input fields.
Input Preprocessor
It is possible to define an input preprosessor for ffe. An input pre‐
processor is simply an executable program which writes the contents of
the input file to standard output which will be read by ffe. If the
input preprosessor does not write any characters on its standard out‐
put, then ffe uses the original file.
To set up an input preprocessor, set the FFEOPEN environment variable
to a command line which will invoke your input preprocessor. This com‐
mand line should include one occurrence of the string %s, which will be
replaced by the input filename when the input preprocessor command is
invoked.
The input preprocessor is not used if ffe is reading standard input.
EXAMPLES
Example of fixed length flat file containing fields 'FirstName','Last‐
Name' and 'Age':
John Ripper 23
Scott Tiger 45
Mary Moore 41
This file can be printed in XML with the following configuration:
structure personnel {
type fixed
output XML
record person {
field FirstName 9
field LastName 13
field Age 2
}
}
output XML {
file_header "<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"ISO-8859-1\"?>\n"
data "<%n>%d</%n>\n"
record_header "<%r>\n"
record_trailer "</%r>\n"
indent " "
}
SEE ALSO
More examples in Texinfo manual. If the info and ffe are properly
installed, the command
info ffe
should give more information.
AUTHOR
Timo Savinen <tjsa@iki.fi >
Timo Savinen 2011-04-06 FFE(1)
