How to convert text file to a JSON file using a shell script

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I have a file which looks like this (myfile.txt)

GYFUFGYO1  KMP-app   james@qt.com  CODE_SMELL
GYFUFGYO2  KMP-app   james@qt.com  CODE_SMELL
GYFUFGYG3  AFP-Login   nathan@qt.com  BUG
GYFUFGYG4  AFP-Login   nathan@qt.com  BUG
GYFUFGYO5  KMP-app   james@qt.com  CODE_SMELL
GYFUFGYO6  KMP-app   james@qt.com  CODE_SMELL

I have to write this text content to a JSON file (myfile.json). this is the expected output

[
{"ApplicationName":"KMP-app","BuildBreakReason":"CODE_SMELL","DefectAuthor": "james@qt.com"},
{"ApplicationName":"KMP-app","BuildBreakReason":"CODE_SMELL","DefectAuthor": "james@qt.com"},
{"ApplicationName":"AFP-Login","BuildBreakReason":"BUG","DefectAuthor": "nathan@qt.com"},
{"ApplicationName":"AFP-Login","BuildBreakReason":"BUG","DefectAuthor": "nathan@qt.com"},
{"ApplicationName":"KMP-app","BuildBreakReason":"CODE_SMELL","DefectAuthor": "james@qt.com"},
{"ApplicationName":"KMP-app","BuildBreakReason":"CODE_SMELL","DefectAuthor": "james@qt.com"}
]

this is what I tried

I created a file called "textconvert.sh". then wrote a shell script like this.

echo"[" >> myfile.json
echo {"ApplicationName":"KMP-app","BuildBreakReason":"CODE_SMELL","DefectAuthor": "james@qt.com"}, >> myfile.json
echo {"ApplicationName":"KMP-app","BuildBreakReason":"CODE_SMELL","DefectAuthor": "james@qt.com"}, >> myfile.json
echo {"ApplicationName":"AFP-Login","BuildBreakReason":"BUG","DefectAuthor": "nathan@qt.com"}, >> myfile.json
echo {"ApplicationName":"AFP-Login","BuildBreakReason":"BUG","DefectAuthor": "nathan@qt.com"}, >> myfile.json
echo {"ApplicationName":"KMP-app","BuildBreakReason":"CODE_SMELL","DefectAuthor": "james@qt.com"}, >> myfile.json
echo {"ApplicationName":"KMP-app","BuildBreakReason":"CODE_SMELL","DefectAuthor": "james@qt.com"} >> myfile.json
echo"]" >> myfile.json

but I am not allowed to hard coding like this. what I am thinking now is,

write a loop to scan "myfile.txt" then assign column values to variables. then write a json file.

Can someone help me to figure out this?

sed awk shell linux
3 Answers

Using any awk:

$ cat tst.awk
BEGIN {
    fmt = "%s{\"ApplicationName\":\"%s\",\"BuildBreakReason\":\"%s\",\"DefectAuthor\": \"%s\"}"
    print "["
}
{ printf fmt, sep, $2, $4, $3; sep="," ORS }
END { print ORS "]" }


$ awk -f tst.awk myfile.txt
[
{"ApplicationName":"KMP-app","BuildBreakReason":"CODE_SMELL","DefectAuthor": "james@qt.com"},
{"ApplicationName":"KMP-app","BuildBreakReason":"CODE_SMELL","DefectAuthor": "james@qt.com"},
{"ApplicationName":"AFP-Login","BuildBreakReason":"BUG","DefectAuthor": "nathan@qt.com"},
{"ApplicationName":"AFP-Login","BuildBreakReason":"BUG","DefectAuthor": "nathan@qt.com"},
{"ApplicationName":"KMP-app","BuildBreakReason":"CODE_SMELL","DefectAuthor": "james@qt.com"},
{"ApplicationName":"KMP-app","BuildBreakReason":"CODE_SMELL","DefectAuthor": "james@qt.com"}
]

Regarding What I am thinking now is, write a loop to scan "myfile.txt"... from your question - no, don't do that. See why-is-using-a-shell-loop-to-process-text-considered-bad-practice.

user_17450010

Using sed

$ sed -E 's/[^ ]* +([^ ]*) +([^ ]*) +(.*)/{"ApplicationName":"\1","BuildBreakReason":"\3","DefectAuthor": "\2"},/;$s/,$/\n]/;1i[' myfile.txt
[
{"ApplicationName":"KMP-app","BuildBreakReason":"CODE_SMELL","DefectAuthor": "james@qt.com"},
{"ApplicationName":"KMP-app","BuildBreakReason":"CODE_SMELL","DefectAuthor": "james@qt.com"},
{"ApplicationName":"AFP-Login","BuildBreakReason":"BUG","DefectAuthor": "nathan@qt.com"},
{"ApplicationName":"AFP-Login","BuildBreakReason":"BUG","DefectAuthor": "nathan@qt.com"},
{"ApplicationName":"KMP-app","BuildBreakReason":"CODE_SMELL","DefectAuthor": "james@qt.com"},
{"ApplicationName":"KMP-app","BuildBreakReason":"CODE_SMELL","DefectAuthor": "james@qt.com"}
]
user_163721090

I would harness GNU AWK for this task following way, let file.txt content be

GYFUFGYO1  KMP-app   james@qt.com  CODE_SMELL
GYFUFGYO2  KMP-app   james@qt.com  CODE_SMELL
GYFUFGYG3  AFP-Login   nathan@qt.com  BUG
GYFUFGYG4  AFP-Login   nathan@qt.com  BUG
GYFUFGYO5  KMP-app   james@qt.com  CODE_SMELL
GYFUFGYO6  KMP-app   james@qt.com  CODE_SMELL

then

awk 'BEGIN{print "["}NR>1{print ","}{printf "{\"ApplicationName\":\"%s\",\"BuildBreakReason\":\"%s\",\"DefectAuthor\":\"%s\"}",$2,$4,$3}END{print "\n]"}' file.txt

gives output

[
{"ApplicationName":"KMP-app","BuildBreakReason":"CODE_SMELL","DefectAuthor":"james@qt.com"},
{"ApplicationName":"KMP-app","BuildBreakReason":"CODE_SMELL","DefectAuthor":"james@qt.com"},
{"ApplicationName":"AFP-Login","BuildBreakReason":"BUG","DefectAuthor":"nathan@qt.com"},
{"ApplicationName":"AFP-Login","BuildBreakReason":"BUG","DefectAuthor":"nathan@qt.com"},
{"ApplicationName":"KMP-app","BuildBreakReason":"CODE_SMELL","DefectAuthor":"james@qt.com"},
{"ApplicationName":"KMP-app","BuildBreakReason":"CODE_SMELL","DefectAuthor":"james@qt.com"}
]

Explanation: You need , after every but last characters, but detecting last line in GNU AWK is not easy, so I print , before every but 1st record. I use printf to rework your whitespace-sheared records into JSON, 1st argument is string with places to fill denoted by %s, observe that " needs to be escaped to mean literal ". BEGIN and END are used to encase records into [ and ]. Disclaimer: this code does not espace characters of special meaning to JSON, for example ".

(tested in gawk 4.2.1)

user_107859750
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