Reading text under blocks and select blocks containing the data...

Hi all,

I have a ascii file with several million lines which is defined as follows:

< startblock >
value value2 value3
.
.
.
< endblock >
< startblock >
value value2 value3
.
.
.
< endblock >

My goal is to go into each block and read the values inside. If these values are of interest I want to select the entire block and save it as a new file. Can someone give me some insight on how to do this?

Thanks in advance!

Best regards

Joao

[dpb]

What, specifically are <start/endblock> markers?

Are the blocks fixed-size or variable?

If either, is that size known a priori?

[Walter Roberson]

Do you have enough memory to be able to read the entire file at one time and then analyze it?

[KSSV]

If these values are of interest I want to select the entire block what's the criteria to select? I think what you have is a x,y,z data. At the end you want to plot and see?