Only keeping lines in a textfile that start with specific characters

Question

How can we achieve deleting lines starting with specific characters in a huge text file using a batch file?

e.g:

oldfile.txt is:

line 1 Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam

line 2 euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat.

line 3 aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor

line 4 vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla.

deleting lines starting with "eui" and "ali";

newfile.txt becomes:

line 1 Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam

line 4 vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla.

Please read the entire [tour page](http://stackoverflow.com/tour) and learn how this site works! — aschipfl, Sep 19 '16 at 15:37
Thanks for your advice, i prefer learning through experiencing if you don't mind! — Akın Aktansel, Sep 19 '16 at 15:44
Actually I do mind, because your post is not a real question (following the rules of this site) but a task request! Please regard that StackOverflow is not a free code writing service! So try it on your own and when stuck, come back here, share your efforts and ask a specific question! — aschipfl, Sep 19 '16 at 15:47
No worries, I am cool... The thing is, questions that are not [on-topic](http://stackoverflow.com/help/on-topic) are likely volted to be closed... — aschipfl, Sep 19 '16 at 16:07
thanks. if you havent wasted my time -and yours- and replied a simple answer, i would now be working on the topics of my profession. i am intelligent enough to be aware of here is not a free coding service. — Akın Aktansel, Sep 19 '16 at 17:11
Funny (sarcastic), there's always something going down in the comments these days. Take a look at my edit. — Jonas, Sep 19 '16 at 18:05
@AkınAktansel - And yet you're not intelligent enough to not post an off-topic question. [RTFM](http://stackoverflow.com/help/on-topic). — SomethingDark, Sep 19 '16 at 19:25
@Jonas but what is the batch file exactly for removing lines starting with eui and ali, not Lorem and euismod? yes man as you guessed, this was a sarcastic joke :) thanks for your gracious support, it works perfect! — Akın Aktansel, Sep 19 '16 at 20:34
@SomethingDark there is something dark about you, sorry to bother everyone, i am new and will be more careful next time. — Akın Aktansel, Sep 19 '16 at 20:34

score 0 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:32

0

Try:

@ECHO ON
findstr /v "Lorem euismod" "%USERPROFILE%\Desktop\test.txt" > "%USERPROFILE%\Desktop\outfile.txt"
PAUSE

It deletes line 1 and line 2 in test.txt. I used Lorem euismod as reference.

Check out this link.

edited May 23 '17 at 12:32

Community

1
1

answered Sep 19 '16 at 18:01

Jonas

1,105
1
15
21

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 19 '16 at 18:48

0

To avoid deleting lines with one or more of the search terms in the middle of the string somewhere, instead of just at the beginning as requested, add the /B option to fix that:

findstr /B /V "eui ali" "input.txt" > "output.txt"

answered Sep 19 '16 at 18:48

Bill Gilliss

1
2

Only keeping lines in a textfile that start with specific characters

2 Answers2