Nawk works better but still not 100%, the code is now:
nawk '{for(i=1;i<=length;i++)
printf((i>=1&&i<=3||i>=203&&i<=240||i>=260&&i<=289), substr($0,i,1))}' file_in > file_out
but my file in looks like
ABC SOLARIS 2200 MAIN STREET
My out file is getting 1's in place of the characters I want to print and 0's in place of the blank spaces I want:
1110000000000011111111100000111111111
I'm sure it's something simple but I'm not seeing it
Thanks for any input