UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Code:

awk '$4 {...}

means if "$4" exists and is not zero (in which case e would be set to 1, etc.).

I suppose $4 != 0 would have done the same (assuming $4 existed).

Hey, I am not an awk-ie, but I read "if field 4 is true (not zero, like in C) then print problem, set a variable e to 1 and (see above) go to END. The rest says if variable e not set to 1, print fine. Being an awk doofus, I wonder if it prints fine a lot or if the curly braces or something says call me at eof. If I hang around here too much, I will speak awk by oooozemosis.

Careful, or you might even turn into an awk-ie unknowingly, now that would be sed wouldn't it

Code:

 awk '$4{f=1;exit}END{ print f?"problem":"fine"}' file

How does that improve on #3?