Set the input record separator (RS) and the output record separator (ORS) to the double quote character: RS=\" ORS=\". After doing this, odd numbered records (1, 3, 5, ...) will be data outside of double quotes and even records (2, 4, 6, ...) will be data between double quotes.

For every field that is not (!) an odd numbered record (record number modulo 2 (NR%2)), globally substitute (gsub()) for every occurrence of a comma followed by 0 or 1 space character (/, ?/), replace it with a single space character (" ").

For every record read (whether or not any changes were made), print the record (1). Each group of awk statements is of the form:

Code:

pattern { actions }

If pattern evaluates to a non-zero, non-empty string, the actions will be performed on that record. If no pattern is given, the specified actions will be performed on every record. If no actions (and surrounding braes) are present, the default action is to print that record.

And, finally, the script is to process the input file named "file" (file).