How to extract sub-string content from a text file in console application

Question

1.00/5 (1 vote)

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my input text file format

SHIPPER/EXPORTER (2)                                        DOCUMENT NO (5)
EXXON MOBIL CORPORATION                                  NAM2998573      NAM2998573                       
22777 SPRINGWOODS VILLAGE PARKWAY                        EXPORT REFERENCES (6)
SPRING, TX 77389-1425 USA                                5004753 / 6004754
                                                           4451690406

 CONSIGNEE (3)                                       FORWARDING AGENT - REFERENCES (7)
MANULI DA AMAZONIA                                E LOGISTICS INC (931839)
INDUSTRIA DE EMBALAGENS LTDA AV.                 3050 POST OAK BLVD, STE 444   CHB:
BURITI 3670 BAIRRO DISTRITO                           HOUSTON, TX 77056    FMC: 025823        
INDUSTRIAL 69075-000 MANAUS, AM                   TEL. NO. 346-802-4008
BRASIL
 CNPJ/CPF: 14269557000137

NOTIFY (4)                                        POINT AND COUNTRY OF ORIGIN (8)
MANULI DA AMAZONIA
INDUSTRIA DE EMBALAGENS LTDA AV.                    UNITED STATES
BURITI 3670 BAIRRO DISTRITO                DOMESTIC ROUTING/EXPORT INSTRUCTIONS (9)
INDUSTRIAL 69075-000 MANAUS, A              NO SED REQUIRED - X20180206869589
BRASIL CNPJ: 14.269.557/0001-37

Note: i want to read and extract first Shipper/Exporter sub-string values.

in my program code when i am reading shipper exporter values its reading document no and export reference values also.
so here when i am reading shipper exporter header name and values i want to skip document no and export reference header name and values

so please kindly give me a solution for this

i want to show my output like in this format

SHIPPER/EXPORTER (2)
EXXON MOBIL CORPORATION
22777 SPRINGWOODS VILLAGE PARKWAY
SPRING, TX 77389-1425 USA

What I have tried:

<pre>
static void Main(string[] args)
{
string text = System.IO.File.ReadAllText(@"D:\data.txt");
int i = text.IndexOf("Shipper/Exopter");
string shipperexpoter = text.Substring(i+15,80);
System.IO.File.WriteAllText(@"D:\output.txt", "Shipper/Exopter="+shipperexpoter);
Console.WriteLine("Shipper/Expoter =" +shipperexpoter);
Console.Read();

Posted 3-Mar-18 0:49am

Member 13706320

Updated 12-Mar-18 21:33pm

v2

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Comments

BillWoodruff 3-Mar-18 20:40pm

You need to have some regular structure in the data to clearly delimit objects and attributes, or use AI.

Member 13706320 4-Mar-18 4:26am

how? can you give give a steps?

Member 13706320 4-Mar-18 4:56am

its impossible to get sub-string values because in the input text file
Header Name Shipper/EXporter (2) in the same line another name Document No after next line Sub-string values of Shipper/Exporter in the same line sub-string of Document no after so how could it possible to get the value of Sub-String

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OriginalGriff · Answer 1 · 2018-03-03T00:59:00

Solution 1

You need to start by looking a lot closer at your text file, and work out what distinguishes the stuff on the left from the stuff on the right. If it's always spaces, and the right hand stuff always starts in the same column, then that's just a Substring job similar to the one line you show. If it isn't, then it gets more complex and you need to work out how to identify it properly. Don't just assume that "it always starts in column 40" because it shows that way in your text editor - it may use tabs to "move it across" and if so then Substring won't work correctly.

Then stop reading the text inst a string, and read it as lines:

string[] lines = File.ReadAllLines(@"D:\data.txt");

Then use a loop to examine each line until you find one starting with "SHIPPER/EXPORTER"
You can then process the following lines to extract the address info before continuing to see if there are more exporters in there.

Posted 3-Mar-18 0:59am

OriginalGriff

Updated 3-Mar-18 1:00am

v2

Comments

Member 13706320 3-Mar-18 7:15am

No there is no Shipper/exporters in the 1 page. can you give a brief program for this to me i can try it so please kindly do the needful.

OriginalGriff 3-Mar-18 7:19am

No, it's your homework - we are willing to help you, but not do it all for you!

Member 13706320 3-Mar-18 7:32am

Anyway thanks for your comments i don't want to use int i to string.substring to split the i values i am right.
i have to use loop condition over there right.

OriginalGriff 3-Mar-18 7:43am

Without looking at your actual data I can't tell - but you probably need both: a loop to split out multiple lines and Substring inside that loop.

Member 13706320 3-Mar-18 8:02am

what is the way to show you my file so please help me on this i have to complete this work asap

OriginalGriff 3-Mar-18 8:10am

What part of "this is your homework" did you not understand? :laugh:
Start by looking at it carefully yourself and see if you can find anything out.

And never stress the urgency of your homework: everybody wants an answer quickly, and stressing yours just says "I have poor time management and want you to do it for me before it due in" - and that will slow a response, not speed it.

Member 13706320 3-Mar-18 8:18am

i am trying still solution for this i never give up

OriginalGriff 3-Mar-18 8:23am

Good! :thumbsup:

Member 13706320 3-Mar-18 8:30am

can you post here any related sample program link on this i can analysis the program and do it myself..

OriginalGriff 3-Mar-18 8:37am

Stop looking for someone to do this for you: you will not learn anything properly unless you do it yourself.
Development course homework is intended to get you brain working in "different ways", thinking about problems and solutions instead of just googling for a result. If you don't learn how to think that way, you will never be any good at this stuff, honest.

This isn't difficult - a few minutes of careful thinking would have had you 90% th way there hours ago!

Member 13706320 3-Mar-18 8:41am

THANK for you encourage me ... i will try it

OriginalGriff 3-Mar-18 8:44am

That's all we ask!

Member 13706320 3-Mar-18 9:05am

i need a clarification with you Regex pattern for this work?

OriginalGriff 3-Mar-18 10:05am

Don't even think about a regex for this: without knowing what exactly is in the file you'll waste a lot of time trying to get it sort-of working - and then it'll fail on your second example!

Member 13706320 3-Mar-18 10:30am

ok sir, still i am searching for a solution

Member 13706320 3-Mar-18 12:26pm

Good Night!

Member 13706320 4-Mar-18 4:56am

its impossible to get sub-string values because in the input text file
Header Name Shipper/EXporter (2) in the same line another name Document No after next line Sub-string values of Shipper/Exporter in the same line sub-string of Document no after so how could it possible to get the value of Sub-String

OriginalGriff 4-Mar-18 5:53am

Think about it. What does substring do?
How would you do this manually?

Member 13707832 4-Mar-18 8:08am

To find one substring value I have to declare three variables

OriginalGriff 4-Mar-18 8:14am

Which are? And what do you do with them?

Member 13707832 4-Mar-18 8:24am

Iam using
Int I = text index of (“ shipperexporter”)
Int j = text index of ( “ shipperexporter(2) “) ;
Then only working substring values

OriginalGriff 4-Mar-18 8:53am

OK - let's assume it's all spaces between things.
Find the first line: it starts with "SHIPPER/EXPORTER".
On that line, find the index of "DOCUMENT" and save it.
On the subsequent lines, extract substrings between the start of the line (index 0) and the index of "DOCUMENT" that you saved minus 1.
Use Trim to strip out leading and trailing whitespace.
What do you have left?

Member 13707832 4-Mar-18 8:58am

Can you give a brief program code

OriginalGriff 4-Mar-18 9:06am

I refer you back to earlier in our conversation:

What part of "this is your homework" did you not understand? :laugh:

Come on, it's pretty trivial stuff!

Member 13707832 4-Mar-18 9:23am

I am trying but still on my source code

OriginalGriff 4-Mar-18 10:37am

You've got the full instructions there!
It's what - ten lines of code in total? Maybe less?
I'll give you a clue:

            string[] lines = File.ReadAllLines(@"D:\Temp\TestData.txt");
            bool searching = true;
            int end = -1;
            foreach (string line in lines)
                {
                if (searching)
                    {
Just 3 lines of code are needed here!
                    }
                Console.WriteLine(line.Substring(0, end).Trim());
                }

Explain what all of that does correctly in English, and I'll give you another line of code! Deal?

Member 13706320 4-Mar-18 11:37am

str="SHIPPER/EXPORPTER"
INT I=0; I<LENGHT;I++

OriginalGriff 4-Mar-18 11:44am

Nope. Come on - think!
The first one is an "if" statement. What do you thi9nk it wants to check for?

Member 13706320 4-Mar-18 11:48am

dOCUMENT NO AND VALUES

OriginalGriff 4-Mar-18 12:01pm

So write the code ... come on, I know you are intelligent, just think.

Member 13706320 4-Mar-18 12:01pm

document no and Expoter reference value i have to - space

Member 13706320 4-Mar-18 12:03pm

kindly provide me the code

OriginalGriff 4-Mar-18 12:11pm

OK. First line of the missing three:

if (!line.StartsWith("SHIPPER/EXPORTER")) continue;

You do not get the next one for 24 hours unless you explain what the whole code so far is doing. When are you due to hand this in?

Member 13706320 4-Mar-18 12:19pm

in next line i have to calculate space from Shipper/Exporter to document no and exporter reference

Member 13706320 4-Mar-18 22:50pm

Good Morning!

Member 13706320 4-Mar-18 23:04pm

1.i have to read shipper/Exporter value
2.i have to read document no
3. i have to read exporter reference
4. i have to read consignee
5. i have to read Notify
6. i have to port of dishcarge
7. i have to port of loading etc... like 15 or 20 header names i want to find and read of sub-string values.
The input put file looks on the same format i didnt up the data here

Member 13706320 5-Mar-18 6:00am

Good Morning! Sir

OriginalGriff 5-Mar-18 6:11am

Good morning! HAve you finished it yet?

Member 13706320 5-Mar-18 6:23am

no sir, do the needful

OriginalGriff 5-Mar-18 6:45am

Nope. You get one more line in about 5 hours.

Member 13706320 5-Mar-18 6:24am

i am work outing still not getting the proper way
in my coding its running but not getting proper alignment that is the problem

Member 13706320 5-Mar-18 6:26am

for (int i = lines.Count - 1; i >= 0; i--)

Member 13706320 5-Mar-18 6:48am

this concept was correct ?

OriginalGriff 5-Mar-18 7:05am

The for loop?
No.

Member 13706320 5-Mar-18 7:25am

Ok, Sir i need your help on this
Which OCR ENGINE Will helps Extract PDF TO TEXT and Extract to get Substring Values

OriginalGriff 5-Mar-18 7:43am

why would you want to OCR a PDF? Are you converting it to an image?

Member 13706320 5-Mar-18 9:41am

I Want to Convert in OCR ENGINE PDF TO TEXT
After Convert i want extract substring value in OCR ENGINE its very easy and simple i am right.

OriginalGriff 5-Mar-18 9:54am

OCR is never simple: and a PDF file is normally made up of text - so reading the PDF file as a PDF file means you get access directly to the text without the complications and errors that OCR introduces.

Google for "PDF reader c#" and you'll find loads of ways to do it.

Member 13706320 5-Mar-18 10:01am

its paid or free ?sir

OriginalGriff 5-Mar-18 10:13am

At least two of those are to articles here, so they will be free. There is also iTextSharp (free) that I used once a long time ago (but can't remember sod-all about it, I use a paid-for standalone product - Corel PDF Fusion - on the rare occasions I have to play with PDF files these days.)

Member 13706320 5-Mar-18 10:55am

ok i will check the Corel PDF FUSION can i get the program code.

OriginalGriff 5-Mar-18 11:10am

No - it's a stand alone product for viewing and editing PDF files, you can't get the source. I mentioned it to explain why I don't use iTextSharp any more - which is free and does work IIRC.

Member 13706320 5-Mar-18 11:15am

ok , sir but can you give the solution for this extract substring

OriginalGriff 5-Mar-18 11:59am

Next line:
searching = false;

One more line: 24 hours.

Member 13706320 5-Mar-18 12:26pm

string[] lines = File.ReadAllLines(@"D:\Temp\TestData.txt");
bool searching = true;
int end = -1;
foreach (string line in lines)
{
if (searching)
{
//Just 3 lines of code are needed here!
if (!line.StartsWith("SHIPPER/EXPORTER")) continue;
Next line:searching = false;

}
Console.WriteLine(line.Substring(0, end).Trim());
}

OriginalGriff 5-Mar-18 12:40pm

All you have to do is put those in the right place! (I.e. - watch where the curly brackets go)

Member 13706320 6-Mar-18 1:45am

good morning sir

Member 13706320 6-Mar-18 11:50am

sir please kindly provide me the code

OriginalGriff 6-Mar-18 12:00pm

You already have it!
You wrote the last line yourself yesterday - I was impressed. All you had to do was get them in the right place.
<pre lang="cs> string[] lines = File.ReadAllLines(@"D:\Temp\TestData.txt");
bool searching = true;
int end = -1;
foreach (string line in lines)
{
if (searching)
{
if (!line.StartsWith("SHIPPER/EXPORTER")) continue;
searching = false;
end = line.IndexOf("DOCUMENT NO") - 1;
}
Console.WriteLine(line.Substring(0, end).Trim());
}

Member 13706320 6-Mar-18 21:39pm

Thanks, when i am running this program i am not getting the output i am getting blank screen on console application

OriginalGriff 7-Mar-18 4:09am

Then your data file does not contain what you are showing us - which I told you to look at extremely closely right at the beginning!

Member 13706320 7-Mar-18 5:42am

when i am using breakpoint in can see the data in that time but after in console application the data was empty not getting output

OriginalGriff 7-Mar-18 5:48am

Check the file: is it in the same place?
If it is, make sure that the version of your app you run in the console is the same as the one you debugged - "Release" versions are not automatically produced when you build a solution, you have to specifically build those.
If it works in the debugger, it should work in "production".

Member 13706320 7-Mar-18 5:44am

sir, can i share my mail here ping to my mail i will share my text file to you

OriginalGriff 7-Mar-18 5:49am

Nope. I already get several hundred emails a day, and I don't need more. :laugh:
Put it up on dropbox and I'll see if I have time to look at it.

Member 13706320 7-Mar-18 5:54am

Sir, can you post once again the entire program code pls? i can try that on my c#

OriginalGriff 7-Mar-18 5:58am

It's still there from 18 hours ago - just look above this message!

Member 13706320 7-Mar-18 5:55am

i am using 4.5.1 version C#

Member 13706320 7-Mar-18 6:06am

Sir if i want post the full text in which format i have to be done..

OriginalGriff 7-Mar-18 6:16am

Put the file up on dropbox, that way it doesn't get "altered" at all.

Member 13706320 7-Mar-18 6:30am

in this format will look my text file

Member 13706320 7-Mar-18 6:08am

because i am new for this if i copy and past the text file you can see accuracy?

Member 13706320 8-Mar-18 1:01am

so please send the full source code to me

Member 13706320 8-Mar-18 4:06am

Good morning! i am waiting

OriginalGriff 8-Mar-18 4:25am

For what?
You had the code yesterday!

Member 13706320 8-Mar-18 4:46am

i am trying this code on visual studio its not running i am getting output blank console application screen. so please can you send the full code here i can try it..

OriginalGriff 8-Mar-18 4:54am

You have the code I used.
Either your data is not like the sample you gave - and I told you to look carefully at that days ago - or you are not running it correctly.

Use the debugger, and look at exactly what is happening while your code is running.

Member 13706320 8-Mar-18 5:02am

please help me on the loop concept sir

OriginalGriff 8-Mar-18 5:15am

If you aren't going to listen to what we say, then there is no point in this discussion.

Please come back when you are prepared to use the debugger and look at the problem properly. Until then, I can do no more, so good day to you.

Member 13706320 8-Mar-18 5:16am

sir could you see my text format i just update here

Member 13706320 8-Mar-18 5:20am

when i am using breakpoint its not reading to the end of the loop.

OriginalGriff 8-Mar-18 5:29am

Why not? What controls the loop, and what is in the relevant variables?

Member 13706320 8-Mar-18 5:37am

i given a loop here
if(searching)
{
if (!line.StartsWith("SHIPPER/EXPORTER")) continue;
}

OriginalGriff 8-Mar-18 6:26am

That's not a loop.
It's part of what is inside a loop.
And what does the debugger say is in the variables?

Member 13706320 8-Mar-18 5:47am

i am trying but not working here

Member 13707832 8-Mar-18 7:37am

It’s not moving from the next line

OriginalGriff 8-Mar-18 7:42am

"And what does the debugger say is in the variables?"
Have you looked?

Member 13706320 13-Mar-18 3:21am

hi sir good morning!

Maciej Los 13-Mar-18 3:49am

Can you paste your text file content into https://pastebin.com/ ? Then post link into it.

Member 13706320 13-Mar-18 5:03am

https://pastebin.com/cHbyysNW

Maciej Los 13-Mar-18 5:10am

Do not post spam!

Member 13706320 13-Mar-18 5:23am

actually how then get it that from

OriginalGriff 13-Mar-18 5:33am

Did you look at the file you uploaded?
Go and have a look ... a good look. Then look at the example you started this with ... And then tell me where they are similar at all.

Member 13706320 13-Mar-18 5:40am

string[] lines = File.ReadAllLines(@"E:\Exxon BL\Exxon BL\CMA\64C90E9451B70676E0530A0087616E94.txt");
bool searching = true;
int end = -1;
foreach (string line in lines)
{
if (searching)
{
if (!line.StartsWith("SHIPPER/EXPORTER")) continue;
searching = false;
end = line.IndexOf("DOCUMENT NO") - 1;
}
Console.WriteLine(line.Substring(0, end).Trim());
Console.Read();
}

OriginalGriff 13-Mar-18 5:49am

Stop faffing around.
The file you uploaded looks absolutely nothing like the example you gave, so if that is genuinely what you are processing, then there is no way on Earth that you are going to be able to parse it and extract the information you are looking for, because it isn't there at all.

No go and download the file you posted a link to, open it in Notepad and look at the content. Is that what you meant to post? Is that what you are processing?

OriginalGriff 13-Mar-18 5:11am

And how is that supposed to look anything like the example you gave to start with? Did you look at it at all?

Member 13706320 13-Mar-18 5:32am

when i am using break point its not moving to the next line...

Member 13706320 13-Mar-18 6:29am

in this path i have my input text file..

OriginalGriff 13-Mar-18 6:31am

Down.
Load.
The.
File.

Look at it.

Think.

Member 13706320 13-Mar-18 6:38am

if you don't mine can i share my id here will you send test mail to mail i will forward my text file please help me on this.

OriginalGriff 13-Mar-18 6:42am

No.
You have already posted it on pastebin, so what makes you think emailing it to me would make it any different?
Have you bothered to look at the file you uploaded?

Member 13706320 13-Mar-18 6:58am

Sir, here i didn't post full file alignment was not coming proper so that y i post small sample here

OriginalGriff 13-Mar-18 7:07am

I'm going to just walk away, because if I don't I'm going to start swearing at you, and that will help no-one.

Member 13707832 13-Mar-18 7:24am

Ok sir