grep replacement

[Jill Diewald]

A missing feature in UNIX is the ability to deal with files with
very long lines - the kind of file you get from a data base tape like
Compustat.  The standard data base tape contains very long lines,
instead of separating each record with a newline, all the records may
be on the same line.  There is a defined record size which is used to
determine when a record ends - instead of a newline.

There are two specific things that it would be nice to do with UNIX, 
instead of having to write a c program:

1) To be able to give grep (also awk, etc) a record size 
which it would use instead of newlines.  

2) To be able to specify a field range (ie columns 20-30) for the 
program to search - instead of the entire line/record.  In addition it 
should be posible to specify several fields in one grep.  For 
example: to search for records which have "1000" in one field or
"2000" in another.  Sort uses fields so they aren't totally foreign
to UNIX.