[SOLVED] How to parse a specific column or data without losing content from other columns/rows after parsing?

Issue

I have the following output to grep the value in this case "225". This value is actually a variable $pd so it could change depending on users input" It could be integer numbers or an alphanumeric character case-insensitive exact match. Example if value of variable is "225" then a "0225" or "11225" its not a valid output from the file Im reading it.

Input File:
10.20.223.10|2000-H1|1/1/2|DeviceX_4021|LG
10.20.223.10|2000-H1|1/1/3|Undiscoverable|Unkwn
10.20.225.10|2000-H1|1/1/5|DeviceZ_2050|LG
10.20.223.10|2000-H1|1/1/8|DeviceY_225_|Kenmore
10.20.223.10|2000-H1|1/1/8|DeviceY_01225_|Kenmore
10.20.225.10|2000-H1|1/1/8|DeviceY_2250_|Kenmore

Desired Output File:
10.20.223.10|2000-H1|1/1/8|DeviceY_225_|Kenmore

If user input is "lg"; then it should output the line without not ignoring it because the input file has "lg" in uppercase. (This part is already fixed on the script).

Desired Output:
10.20.223.10|2000-H1|1/1/2|DeviceX_4021|LG
10.20.225.10|2000-H1|1/1/5|DeviceZ_2050|LG

Solution

$ awk -F'|' -v n='225' '$4 ~ n' file
10.20.223.10|2000-H1|1/1/8|DeviceY_225_|Kenmore

or if you don't want a partial match (e.g. against 1225) then one way is:

$ awk -F'|' -v n='225' '$4 ~ ("(^|[^0-9])" n "([^0-9]|$)")' file
10.20.223.10|2000-H1|1/1/8|DeviceY_225_|Kenmore

or:

$ awk -F'|' -v n='225' '$4 ~ ("(^|_)" n "(_|$)")' file
10.20.223.10|2000-H1|1/1/8|DeviceY_225_|Kenmore

There are other possibilities too. The right solution depends on the requirements you haven't told us about and will pass or fail when using input other then you've shown us yet.

Answered By - Ed Morton

Answer Checked By - Willingham (WPSolving Volunteer)