Got it! I just have to replace the (+) sign with (*) for blank or any
string.

Next, how do I insert those values into MySQL database, assuming I have
those table defined. Thanks.

"Useko Netsumi" <usenets / nyc.rr.com> wrote in message
news:bm08ec$gd9eb$1 / ID-159205.news.uni-berlin.de...
> this script failed if any of the cell is blank/no-value,
> e.g:
>
> CODE#1^DESCRIPTION^CODE#2^NOTES
> NN-110^^^some notes
> NN-111^1st line data
> 2nd line data
> 3rd line data^BRT345^another notes
> NN-112^description of NN-112^BBC23^multiline
> notes blah
> blah
> blah
> NN-113^info info^MNO12^some notes here
>
>
> "Ara.T.Howard" <ahoward / fsl.noaa.gov> wrote in message
> news:Pine.LNX.4.53.0310072218560.32521 / eli.fsl.noaa.gov...
> > On Tue, 7 Oct 2003, Artco News wrote:
> >
> > > I thought I ask the scripting guru about the following.
> > >
> > > I have a file containing records of data with the following
format(first
> > > column is the label):
> > >
> > > CODE#1^DESCRIPTION^CODE#2^NOTES
> > > NN-110^an info of NN-001^BRY234^some notes
> > > NN-111^1st line data
> > > 2nd line data
> > > 3rd line data^BRT345^another notes
> > > NN-112^description of NN-112^BBC23^multiline
> > > notes blah
> > > blah
> > > blah
> > > NN-113^info info^MNO12^some notes here
> > >
> > > How do I parse so I can insert them in the database, e.g.
MySQL/Access?
> > >
> > > Perhaps there are an advanced scripting language can do this easily.
> >
> > ruby is one of the more advanced  :-)
> >
> > ~/eg/ruby > cat ./parse.rb
> >
> >   #!/usr/bin/env ruby
> >
> >   txt = <<-txt
> >     CODE#1^DESCRIPTION^CODE#2^NOTES
> >     NN-110^an info of NN-001^BRY234^some notes
> >     NN-111^1st line data
> >     2nd line data
> >     3rd line data^BRT345^another notes
> >     NN-112^description of NN-112^BBC23^multiline
> >     notes blah
> >     blah
> >     blah
> >     NN-113^info info^MNO12^some notes here
> >   txt
> >
> >
> >   pat = %r{([^^]+)\^([^^]+)\^([^^]+)\^([^^]+)\n}mox
> >   tuples = txt.scan pat
> >
> >   tuples.map{|tuple| p tuple}
> >
> >
> > ~/eg/ruby > ./parse.rb
> >
> >   ["  CODE#1", "DESCRIPTION", "CODE#2", "NOTES"]
> >   ["  NN-110", "an info of NN-001", "BRY234", "some notes"]
> >   ["  NN-111", "1st line data\n  2nd line data\n  3rd line data",
> "BRT345", "another notes"]
> >   ["  NN-112", "description of NN-112", "BBC23", "multiline\n  notes
> blah\n  blah\n  blah"]
> >   ["  NN-113", "info info", "MNO12", "some notes here"]
> >
> > -a
> >   ====================================
> >   | Ara Howard
> >   | NOAA Forecast Systems Laboratory
> >   | Information and Technology Services
> >   | Data Systems Group
> >   | R/FST 325 Broadway
> >   | Boulder, CO 80305-3328
> >   | Email: ahoward / noaa.gov
> >   | Phone:  303-497-7238
> >   | Fax:    303-497-7259
> >   | The difference between art and science is that science is what we
> understand
> >   | well enough to explain to a computer.  Art is everything else.
> >   |   -- Donald Knuth, "Discover"
> >   | ~ > /bin/sh -c 'for lang in ruby perl; do $lang -e "print
> \"\x3a\x2d\x29\x0a\""; done'
> >   ====================================
>
>