The Question and Answer Board

[Koikaze]

Dear Matt,

Thank you for your very timely post.

It just so happens that I learned last night that I need to do precisely what you described in your post ... extract subsets from comma-delimited lines of ASCII text, where (approximately) 4 of 5 lines must be discarded.

In xBASE this would be a trivial task. I could finish it quickly. Sadly for me, though, the master monopolist has decreed that DOS is dead. If I perform this simple task in the clean, direct (non-resource hogging) way it should be done, I run the risk of bequeathing an overripe lemon to my heirs.

Can you tell me how an old goat can accomplish this simple task, without buying new software or learning a new language?

Yeah, I know. "Ask your question on the Computer Learning Board, Fred."

Well, Suh, I'm asking you because your gentlemanly exchange with your good friend and cohort saved me from having to describe the problem.

Fred