PASS parameter to AWK - UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

unisam · #1 (**permalink**) 05-14-2004

Hi,

Can i pass a parameter(not a file name) as a parameter to a awk program?

eg;

$awk -f test 1 2 3

here test is the filename...and 1,2,3 are the i/p parameters?

thank you:-)

zazzybob · #2 (**permalink**) 05-14-2004

Parameters passed to AWK are stored in the ARGV array, which has ARGC elements.

Example: suppose foo.awk contains

Code:

BEGIN {
   for ( i = 0; i < ARGC; i++ )
   {
       print ARGV[i]
   }
}

Then executing

Code:

awk -f foo.awk 1 2 3

would print

Code:

awk
1
2
3

ARGV[0] is the awk command itself, and the other ARGV elements are the parameters passed.

Peace,
ZB
http://www.zazzybob.com

Ygor · #3 (**permalink**) 05-14-2004

You can also assign variables on the command line, e.g....

awk -v a=1 -v b=2 -v c=3 -f test.awk

The -v option means that the variables are assigned before the BEGIN section.

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