compare a set of strings from one csv file in another csv file using Unix Shell script

Question

I m new to bash Shell scripting. I have a requirement that I have a lookup file (csv) in which there are set of strings in it like below.

file1:

text1
text2
text3

I have to check whether the strings in file1 are present in the file2.

file2:

s.no    desc
1       text5
2       text3
3       text2
4       text9

If the the string in file1 is there in file2, then I have to print the output in a new file file3 with the s.no and the string found. Please help.

Please add sample output for that sample input to your question. — Cyrus
– Cyrus, Commented Jun 11, 2017 at 6:11
How are your columns separated? One Space, multiple spaces or one tab? — Cyrus
– Cyrus, Commented Jun 11, 2017 at 7:25
With join, sort and bash: join -1 1 -2 2 -t $'\t' --header <(echo; sort file1) <(sort -t $'\t' -k2,2 file2) -o 2.1,2.2 — Cyrus
– Cyrus, Commented Jun 11, 2017 at 8:18

Utsav · Accepted Answer · 2017-06-11 06:48:42Z

1

Use

grep --file=file1 file2

or

grep -f file1 file2

From manual page of grep

  -f FILE, --file=FILE
          Obtain  patterns  from  FILE, one per line.  
          The empty file contains zero patterns, and therefore matches nothing.  (-f is
          specified by  POSIX.)

Note: Add -w if you want only exact word match. So footext3bar will not be matched with text3.

Also of file1 contains regular expressing keywords like * or ^ then add -F also.

So updated command would be

grep -Fwf file1 file2

Example

bash-4.2$ cat file1
text1
text2
text3
bash-4.2$ cat file2
s.no    desc
1       text5
2       text3
3       text2
4       text9
bash-4.2$
bash-4.2$ grep --file=file1 file2
2       text3
3       text2

edited Jun 11, 2017 at 6:48

answered Jun 11, 2017 at 6:36

Utsav

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2 Comments

Ciwa Over a year ago

Thanks Utsav. that's working perfectly. if my file2 has a value like below s.no desc 1 like text5 is xxxx 2 some text3 is qwe 3 random text2 is dfgg 4 call text9 has phdg how can i check whether the lookup string is there in the file2? let's say, this is kind of a error checking mechanism where in we are using a specific error keyword from file1 to search in a log file (file2).

Utsav Over a year ago

Cool. Please read What should I do when someone answers my question so the question could be closed.

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