Sample Input File
+--------------------+---------+---------
| Name | S1 | S2
+--------------------+---------+---------
| A | -4.703 | -2.378
| B | -3283.2 | -3204.5
| C | 8779 | 7302
| D | 22078 | 18018
+--------------------+---------+---------
It is required to remove the S1 Column, i.e
Desired Output
+--------------------+---------
| Name | S2
+--------------------+---------
| A | -2.378
| B | -3205.5
| C | 7302
| D | 18018
+--------------------+---------
Can anyone help with this
thanks
In command mode:
:%s/^\([[+|][^+|]\+\)[+|][^+|]\+/\1/
This uses vim's built-in sed-like search and replace command. Here's the breakdown:
% - for the entire file
s - search for
/^ - the start of line
\([[+|][^+|]\+\) - followed by + or |, followed by any number (\+) of anything that is not + or |. This will get the first column, which we want to keep, so put it in a capture group by surrounding it with \( and \)
[+|][^+|]\+ - followed by + or |, followed by any number (\+) of anything that is not + or |. This will get the second column, which we don't want to keep, so no capture group.
/\1/ - replace everything we matched with the first capture group (which contains the first column). This effectively replaces the first and second column with the contents of the first column.
Like I said, vim's regex are pretty much identical to sed, so you if you look through this tutorial on sed you'll probably pick up a lot of useful stuff for vim as well.
Edit
In response to the OP's request to make this more generally capable of deleting any column:
:%s/^\(\([[+|][^+|]\+\)\{1\}\)[+|][^+|]\+/\1/
The index inside of the \{\}, now deletes the column indicated. Think of it like an array index (i.e. starts at zero). So \{0\} now deletes the first column, \{1\} deletes the second, and so on.