Transform text file : how to? - etl

Question

I have a text file with 85 fields , comma separated.
I need to produce a different text file with only 25 fields.
The first option i've thought is to import that file in a database, then re-export only the fields i need.
What are other tool / option I can use ?
Does exists some command-line tool (Windows) to transform a text file without going through database ?
Thanks

Answer 1

You can use a Powershell Script (Microsoft). Please see also https://technet.microsoft.com/de-de/library/ee176874.aspx
Create a text file with the following content:
Name,Department,Title
Pilar Ackerman,Research,Manager
Jonathan Haas,Finance,Finance Specialist
Ken Myer,Finance,Accountant
The following command extracts all infomrmation and filters for department = Finance
Import-Csv c:\temp\test.txt | Where-Object {$_.department -eq "Finance"}
Name Department Title
---- ---------- -----
Jonathan Haas Finance Finance Specialist
Ken Myer Finance Accountant
This commands accesses specific columns
Import-Csv -Delimiter (",") -Header "Name","Department","Title" -Path c:\temp\test.txt | SELECT {$_.Title + " " + $_.Name + " " + $_.Department }
$_.Title + " " + $_.Name + " " + $_.Department
-----------------------------------------------
Title Name Department
Manager Pilar Ackerman Research
Finance Specialist Jonathan Haas Finance
Accountant Ken Myer Finance
You can, of course, also save the result in a new file.