Offer HN: Unix file manipulation

2 points by BrandonM 15y ago ↗ HN

Do you have a set of (possibly large) files that needs reformatted, pulled apart, put together, parsed, renamed, reorganized, or otherwise munged? I'll do the job for you, along the way creating Bash/Python scripts that you can use in the future to perform the same task in seconds (of man time. Computation time is obviously based on the size of the data). Here's a few examples of things I can do:

- Restructure a hierarchy of files

- Return the set of files in a hierarchy such that each file matches arbitrary criteria

- Run various commands on a hierarchy of input files (based on the file's properties) and create a hierarchy of output files

- Turn any reasonably-structured file (e.g., a log file) into a more usable CSV (comma-separated value, which can be imported into a spreadsheet) file

- Pull specific lines and fields out of a CSV matching arbitrary criteria

- Create simple (plaintext) reports based on the data in a set of files

Just send me an email with the description of the task. I'll take on any reasonable task. I can receive the files via SCP, FTP, email (depending on file size), or HTTP. If the data set is huge and you'd like me to do so, I can even log in and work on the files directly.

I work in Forensic Computing, and I've often worked on massive data sets. I've turned gigabytes of tcpdump files into useful reports. I've turned hundred-gigabyte IIS log files into a small list of unauthorized requests. I've extracted the emails from an mbox file, the attachments from each email, and created a browse-able view of the emails. I created a simple system to convert all of my personal FLAC files into much-smaller MP3s, and randomly pulled out a set of those MP3s (based on my rating of each song) to be put onto my cell phone's microSD card.

One of the parts I enjoy most about my current job is turning massive unwieldy data into something useful. I truly love using and creating simple command line utilities that accomplish great things when they are put together. Let me know if I can help you.