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how to get first two characters from a word

 
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# 1  
Old 12-06-2007
how to get first two characters from a word
Hi guyz,

suppose there is a variable a=sachin.
I want to have letter 'c' from variable a.

I am trying this awk 'substr(sachin,2,1)'
but its not working.

I cant user cut as it requires a file whereas i have a variable.
# 2  
Old 12-06-2007
Here is one way of doing it

Code:
echo "sachin" | awk '{ printf "%s\n", substr($1,1,2) }'

# 3  
Old 12-06-2007
you can use cut
echo $somevar | cut -c 2
i dont know if its the best option, but is the most straight forward
# 4  
Old 12-06-2007
thanks a lot for your replies.
# 5  
Old 12-06-2007
bash and ksh93:

Code:
echo ${a:2:1}

zsh:

Code:
print $a[3]

 
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