Format text file, replace few whitespaces with commas.

[kris06]

Hi All,

I have a textfile and i need to format it, so that i can import it to the mysql database.

The textfile contains 9 colums of data separated by a space. I want to replace only the first 8 whitespaces separating those 9 colums, because the 9th column contains a sentence separated by space. similaryly i want all the rows in that file to get updated in the same fashion.

Heres how the contents of the textfile looks:
-------------------------------------------


2223 A None NULL 5 03/05/2008 mike Not_Apply active directory feature
3232 O 4.5.4 39 7 04/05/2008 tim cisco bitrate enhancement

similaryly many more rows.

Only the first 8 columns needs to be delimited with a comma. I been stuck with this for many hours now. any help would be appreciated.


/Kris

[ronverdonk]

When you are sure about the correct format of your text file you can[php]
$text=str_repla ce(' ', ' ', $text); // replace all double blanks by one blank
$text=str_repla ce(' ', ',', $text,8); // replace first 8 blanks with comma[/php]Ronald

[kris06]

When you are sure about the correct format of your text file you can[php]
$text=str_repla ce(' ', ' ', $text); // replace all double blanks by one blank
$text=str_repla ce(' ', ',', $text,8); // replace first 8 blanks with comma[/php]Ronald

But i think i need to read from the start of the file to the end, and make changes line by line. i am not sure, how to accomplish that !. please help.

[ronverdonk]

You mean you don't know how to read a fiole line by line? Allright then[php]<?php
$file = "test.txt";
$handle = fopen($file,"r" );
if ($handle) {
while(!feof($ha ndle)){
$text = fgets($handle, 4096); // read one line
$text=str_repla ce(' ', ' ', $text); // replace double blanks by 1 blank
$text=str_repla ce(' ', ',', $text,8); // replace first 8 blanks with comma

}
}
?>[/php]Ronald