How to make something similar to Excel's vlookup function in Unix?excerpt from office website, VLOOKUPThe V in VLOOKUP stands for vertical. Use VLOOKUP instead of HLOOKUP  when your comparison values are located in a column to the left of the  data that you want to find.Syntax VLOOKUP(lookup_value,table_array,col_index_num,range_lookup)Lookup_value    The value to search in the first column of the table  array. Lookup_value can be a value or a reference. If lookup_value is  smaller than the smallest value in the first column of table_array,  VLOOKUP returns the #N/A error value.Table_array    Two or more columns of data. Use a reference to a range  or a range name. The values in the first column of table_array are the  values searched by lookup_value. These values can be text, numbers, or  logical values. Uppercase and lowercase text are equivalent.Col_index_num    The column number in table_array from which the  matching value must be returned. A col_index_num of 1 returns the  value in the first column in table_array; a col_index_num of 2 returns  the value in the second column in table_array, and so on. If  col_index_num is:Less than 1, VLOOKUP returns the #VALUE! error value. Greater than the  number of columns in table_array, VLOOKUP returns the #REF! error  value.Range_lookup    A logical value that specifies whether you want  VLOOKUP to find an exact match or an approximate match:File1:1GR_P1:001PI:040VG_L1:001PO_L31JPI_P1:001PO_L11JPI_P1:001PO_L2File2:1JPI_P1:001PO_L1    1401UC1JPI_P1:001PO_L2    1401UC1HIK_P2:001ER       1402UC1GR_P1:001PI        1402UCOutput-File3:1GR_P1:001PI        1402UC:040VG_L1       NA:001PO_L3       NA1JPI_P1:001PO_L1    1401UC1JPI_P1:001PO_L2    1401UC
vlookup function in unix
text processing