Originally Posted by Arlamos

thanks to both of you.

I don't quite understand the AWK syntax so I tried the perl line and aside from a couple of details it does exactly what I need.

I have only few followup questions.

the perl command is including an extra line with the filename at the bottom of the output from each file:

Code:

500.423065 3.526756 3.dat
503.648834 82.129471 3.dat
506.528046 21.388363 3.dat
510.004608 12.926329 3.dat
  3.dat
21.214518 273.515930 4.dat
33.278835 282.828949 4.dat
29.159582 270.977661 4.dat

how do I get rid of the "extra" 3.dat at the bottom?

How can I specify a range of input files to the perl line, so that instead of

Code:

perl -lane '$.>2 && print "$F[3] $F[4] $ARGV"; close ARGV if eof' 1.dat
perl -lane '$.>2 && print "$F[3] $F[4] $ARGV"; close ARGV if eof' 2.dat

i can perhaps do something like

Code:

perl -lane '$.>2 && print "$F[3] $F[4] $ARGV"; close ARGV if eof' 0.dat .. 82.dat

lastly, I'd like to get rid of the ".dat" file handle from the output if that is at all possible without renaming all the files.

thanks again guys, your knowledge and willingness to help has already saved me hours.