wwwjscom/File-Parser

Running

From the root dir of the program, running $ rake -T will give you a list of runnable tasks. Output numbers match with the desired output numbering scheme listed online.

For completeness, here is a listing of the commands:

rake output_1    # Sort by gender (females > males) then by LN ASC
rake output_2    # Sort by DOB ASC
rake output_3    # Sort by LN DESC
rake test_units  # Run tests for test_units

Comments

No yaml files are used since its assumed the location of the input files wont change. Besides, its sort of overkill to create a config file for the options available for this task, in my humble opinion. Also, rdocs are included just for completeness and to save the end-user the time of generating them.

Versions

ruby -v: ruby 1.8.7 (2008-08-11 patchlevel 72) [universal-darwin10.0]
rake --version: rake, version 0.8.3

PROBLEM DESCRIPTION

Write a Ruby program to first assemble a single set of records by parsing data from 3 different file formats and then display these records sorted in 3 different ways.

Details

The Data

A record consists of the following 5 fields: last name, first name, gender, date of birth and favorite color. You will be given 3 files, each containing records stored in a different format.

The comma-delimited file looks like this:
LastName, FirstName, Gender, FavoriteColor, DateOfBirth

And lastly, the space-delimited file:
LastName FirstName MiddleInitial Gender DateOfBirth FavoriteColor

You may assume that the delimiters (commas, pipes and spaces) do not appear anywhere in the data values themselves. Write a Ruby program to read in records from these files and combine them into a single set of records.

Display Requirements

Create and display 3 different views of the recordset (see a sample here):

Output 1 – sorted by gender (females before males) then by last name ascending.
Output 2 – sorted by birth date, ascending.
Output 3 – sorted by last name, descending.

Ensure that fields are displayed in the following order: last name, first name, gender, date of birth, favorite color.
Display dates in the format MM/DD/YYYY.

SAMPLE INPUT FILES

See input/*.txt for the sample input files.

DESIRED OUTPUT

Output 1:

Hingis Martina Female 4/2/1979 Green
Kelly Sue Female 7/12/1959 Pink
Kournikova Anna Female 6/3/1975 Red
Seles Monica Female 12/2/1973 Black
Abercrombie Neil Male 2/13/1943 Tan
Bishop Timothy Male 4/23/1967 Yellow
Bonk Radek Male 6/3/1975 Green
Bouillon Francis Male 6/3/1975 Blue
Steve Smith Male 3/3/1985 Red

Output 2:

Abercrombie Neil Male 2/13/1943 Tan
Kelly Sue Female 7/12/1959 Pink
Bishop Timothy Male 4/23/1967 Yellow
Seles Monica Female 12/2/1973 Black
Bonk Radek Male 6/3/1975 Green
Bouillon Francis Male 6/3/1975 Blue
Kournikova Anna Female 6/3/1975 Red
Hingis Martina Female 4/2/1979 Green
Steve Smith Male 3/3/1985 Red

Output 3:

Steve Smith Male 3/3/1985 Red
Seles Monica Female 12/2/1973 Black
Kournikova Anna Female 6/3/1975 Red
Kelly Sue Female 7/12/1959 Pink
Hingis Martina Female 4/2/1979 Green
Bouillon Francis Male 6/3/1975 Blue
Bonk Radek Male 6/3/1975 Green
Bishop Timothy Male 4/23/1967 Yellow
Abercrombie Neil Male 2/13/1943 Tan

wwwjscom / File-Parser