in reply to Re: Re: Searching a multidimensional list
in thread Searching a multidimensional list

Okay.

P:\test>perl -ne"$p=tell ARGV; print if /Larry|Robb/ and not scalar <> + =~ /Larry|Robb/; seek ARGV, $p, 0; " logfile 1056128833340 Robb 2003-06-20 665 ** 1055439973653 Larry 2003-06-16 815 **

Usual caveat: 's instead of "s on *nix.

Update: Added code to bottle out as soon as we've printed the two records.

perl -ne"BEGIN{$C=0}$p=tell ARGV; ++$c, print if /Larry|Robb/ and not +scalar <> =~ /Larry|Robb/; seek ARGV, $p, 0; exit if $c==2 " logfile
or golfed a bit
perl -ne"BEGIN{$C=0}$p=tell ARGV;/Larry|Robb/&<>!~/Larry|Robb/and++$c, +print;seek ARGV,$p,0;$c==2&&exit" logfile

Examine what is said, not who speaks.
"Efficiency is intelligent laziness." -David Dunham
"When I'm working on a problem, I never think about beauty. I think only how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong." -Richard Buckminster Fuller
If I understand your problem, I can solve it! Of course, the same can be said for you.