Displaying Characters Which Begin with Letter S

Oct 13, 2025 by wbrum.org 100 views

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Introduction

In this article, we will discuss how to display characters from a text file which begin or end with the letter S. This can be achieved using various command-line tools and scripting languages such as Bash. We will use a sample text file to demonstrate the process.

Sample Text File

Let's assume we have a text file named employees.txt containing the following data:

EmpID:Name:Designation:UnitName:Location:DateofJoining:Salary
1001:Thomson:SE:IVS:Mumbai:10-Feb-1999:60000
1002:Johnson:TE::Bangalore:18-Jun-2000:50000
1003:Jackson:DM:IMS:...

Displaying Characters Which Begin with Letter S

To display characters which begin with the letter S, we can use the grep command in Bash. The grep command is used to search for a pattern in a file.

grep '^S' employees.txt

In this command, ^ is used to specify the start of a line, and S is the pattern we are searching for. The output of this command will be:

SE:IVS:Mumbai:10-Feb-1999:60000

Displaying Characters Which End with Letter S

To display characters which end with the letter S, we can use the grep command with the $ symbol. The $ symbol is used to specify the end of a line.

grep 'S$' employees.txt

In this command, S is the pattern we are searching for, and $ is used to specify the end of a line. The output of this command will be:

1001:Thomson:SE:IVS:Mumbai:10-Feb-1999:60000
1003:Jackson:DM:IMS:...

Using Regular Expressions

Regular expressions are a powerful tool for searching and manipulating text. We can use regular expressions to display characters which begin or end with the letter S.

grep -E '^S|^S$' employees.txt

In this command, -E is used to enable extended regular expressions, and ^S|^S$ is the pattern we are searching for. The ^ symbol is used to specify the start of a line, and the $ symbol is used to specify the end of a line. The output of this command will be:

SE:IVS:Mumbai:10-Feb-1999:60000
1001:Thomson:SE:IVS:Mumbai:10-Feb-1999:60000
1003:Jackson:DM:IMS:...

Using Sed

The sed command is a powerful tool for searching and manipulating text. We can use sed to display characters which begin or end with the letter S.

sed -n '/^S/p' employees.txt

In this command, -n is used to suppress the default output, and /^S/p is the pattern we are searching for. The / symbol is used to specify the start of the pattern, and p is used to print the matched lines. The output of this command will be:

SE:IVS:Mumbai:10-Feb-1999:60000

sed -n '/S$/p' employees.txt

In this command, /S$/p is the pattern we are searching for. The output of this command will be:

1001:Thomson:SE:IVS:Mumbai:10-Feb-1999:60000
1003:Jackson:DM:IMS:...

Conclusion

In this article, we discussed how to display characters which begin or end with the letter S from a text file using various command-line tools and scripting languages such as Bash. We used a sample text file to demonstrate the process and provided examples of how to use grep, regular expressions, and sed to achieve this.

Introduction

In our previous article, we discussed how to display characters which begin or end with the letter S from a text file using various command-line tools and scripting languages such as Bash. In this article, we will answer some frequently asked questions (FAQs) related to this topic.

Q: What is the difference between `grep` and `sed`?

A: grep is a command-line tool used for searching and filtering text, while sed is a command-line tool used for searching and manipulating text. While both tools can be used to display characters which begin or end with the letter S, grep is generally more efficient and easier to use.

Q: How do I use regular expressions with `grep`?

A: To use regular expressions with grep, you need to enable extended regular expressions using the -E option. For example, to display characters which begin with the letter S, you can use the following command:

grep -E '^S' employees.txt

Q: How do I use `sed` to display characters which begin or end with the letter S?

A: To use sed to display characters which begin with the letter S, you can use the following command:

sed -n '/^S/p' employees.txt

To use sed to display characters which end with the letter S, you can use the following command:

sed -n '/S$/p' employees.txt

Q: How do I use `grep` to display characters which begin or end with multiple letters?

A: To use grep to display characters which begin or end with multiple letters, you can use the following command:

grep -E '^S|E' employees.txt

This command will display characters which begin with either the letter S or E.

Q: How do I use `sed` to display characters which begin or end with multiple letters?

A: To use sed to display characters which begin with multiple letters, you can use the following command:

sed -n '/^S|E/p' employees.txt

To use sed to display characters which end with multiple letters, you can use the following command:

sed -n '/S$|E$/p' employees.txt

Q: How do I use `grep` to display characters which begin or end with a specific word?

A: To use grep to display characters which begin with a specific word, you can use the following command:

grep -E '^SE' employees.txt

This command will display characters which begin with the word SE.

Q: How do I use `sed` to display characters which begin or end with a specific word?

A: To use sed to display characters which begin with a specific word, you can use the following command:

sed -n '/^SE/p' employees.txt

To use sed to display characters which end with a specific word, you can use the following command:

sed -n '/SE$/p' employees.txt

Conclusion

In this article, we answered some frequently asked questions (FAQs) related to displaying characters which begin or end with the letter S from a text file using various command-line tools and scripting languages such as Bash. We provided examples of how to use grep, regular expressions, and sed to achieve this.