# Combine multiple lines into one variable

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/combine-multiple-lines-into-one-variable/130833>\
**Category:** Logstash\
**Created:** [May 7, 2018, 12:31pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/combine-multiple-lines-into-one-variable/130833 "2018-05-07T12:31:50Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Petersiemens](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/petersiemens/32/30889_2.png) [@Petersiemens](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Petersiemens)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2018, 12:31pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/combine-multiple-lines-into-one-variable/130833/1 "2018-05-07T12:31:50Z")

</div>

Hi,  
i am searching for a good solution to prozess different form of events in the same log files. I could write if{}elseif{} for every possible event, but i hope there is a better way. Some of my logs look like:

```
Ereignis 25 von 3000: Ereignis-ID 16# 3942
Baugruppe gestört oder Wartung erforderlich
Baugruppentyp: Dezentrale Peripherie
Eingangsadresse: 16337
Anwenderinformation vorhanden
Diagnosealarm von Stellvertreter
Modul/Submodul gestört
Fehler baugruppenextern
Alarm aufgetreten in Baugruppenträger 0
Angeforderter OB: Diagnosealarm-OB (OB 82)
Prioritätsklasse: 25
externer Fehler, kommendes Ereignis
16:53:51.688 03.09.2017
(Kodierung: 16# 3942 1952 D054 3FD1 0563 0000)

Ereignis 26 von 3000: Ereignis-ID 16# 5979
Baugruppenfehler in Dezentraler Peripherie aufgetreten 
Steckplatz DP-Master/IO-Controller: 6 in Baugruppenträger-Nr. 0
Ereignis aufgetreten in der Master-CPU in Baugruppenträger-Nr.: 0
externer Fehler, kommendes Ereignis
16:53:51.687 03.09.2017
(Kodierung: 16# 5979 F806 0000 0000 0000 0000)

Ereignis 27 von 3000: Ereignis-ID 16# 3842
Baugruppe ok
Baugruppentyp: Dezentrale Peripherie
Eingangsadresse: 16337
Anwenderinformation vorhanden
Diagnosealarm von Stellvertreter
Alarm aufgetreten in Baugruppenträger 0
Angeforderter OB: Diagnosealarm-OB (OB 82)
Prioritätsklasse: 25
externer Fehler, gehendes Ereignis
16:53:51.517 03.09.2017
(Kodierung: 16# 3842 1952 D054 3FD1 0063 0000)

```

Currently i'm filtering the first line like this:

`match => { "message" => "Ereignis %{NUMBER:Nummer} von 3000: Ereignis-ID 16# %{NUMBER:ID}\n...`

and the variable part in the middle with multiple`%{GREEDYDATA:Message1}\n%{GREEDYDATA:Message2}`...

until the date and timestamp. It works like that but i would like to have just one variable which contains all the new lines between the first and the date line (right now i need a new variable for every new line in the event). Is it even possible to write multiple lines in one variable? And if that's possible can i set the number of lines dynamically with `()?` ?

Thanks in advance

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Jenni](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/jenni/32/29684_2.png) [@Jenni](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Jenni)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2018, 12:54pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/combine-multiple-lines-into-one-variable/130833/2 "2018-05-07T12:54:04Z")

</div>

Hallo, hier meine Vermutung zum Thema.. 😉

I think you need to use `(?<msg>(.|\r|\n)*)` instead of GREEDYDATA to include linebreaks.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Petersiemens](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/petersiemens/32/30889_2.png) [@Petersiemens](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Petersiemens)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2018, 1:12pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/combine-multiple-lines-into-one-variable/130833/3 "2018-05-07T13:12:09Z")

</div>

Wow, as simple as that. ^^  
Works like a charm!

Thx  
Vielen dank 😄

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\
**Post date:** [June 4, 2018, 1:22pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/combine-multiple-lines-into-one-variable/130833/4 "2018-06-04T13:22:16Z")

</div>

Closed on June 4, 2018, 1:22pm UTC

This topic was automatically closed 28 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.