Removing a line from a text file?...

[gareh]

Hi.
I'm trying to remove a line from a file that holds user profiles. The file is as follows:

admin:god:group1:ksh:1
user1:pass1:group1:bash:1
user2:pass1:group2:bash:0
user3:pass1:group3:bash:1
user4:pass1:group4:bash:0

So I have a form which can select which username to delete, but I don't know how to actually delete a specific line from the text file. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

One idea I have was to create a 2nd file, reading each line except that of the one I wish to remove, then rename the new file to the original filename. There must be an easier way to do this?!

Many Thanks

 

[MikeLacey]

hi gareh

Unless you use a database you have to do it exactly the way you don't want to - read through first file, write second file with everything except record you don't want, delete first file, rename second file to first file.

If you're dealing with "a lot" of records it will be worth working with a database.

In this context the phrase "a lot" means "more records than I can process in a reasonable time"

Mike

Want to get great answers to your Tek-Tips questions? Have a look at faq219-2884

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[gareh]

Cheers. Got it working my way. will look into using a database. Thanks again.