UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

p="$1"

awk -v P="$p" '
{
        for (i=1; i<=NF; i++)
        {
                if (i == P)
                        print $i
                if (P == "NF" && i == NF)
                        print $i
        }
} '

awk -v var="$1" '{ print var!="NF"?$var:$NF}'

$ cat test.sh
awk -v var="$1" '{ print var!="NF"?$var:$NF}'

$ echo a b c d e f | ./test.sh NF
f

$ echo a b c d e f | ./test.sh 4
d

awk -v var="$1"  #    It uses var for saving $1(number which are passed to the script is $1).

'{ print var!="NF"?$var:$NF}' #    Here we check if variable var is not equal to "NF". If it is a number/not equal to "NF" then directly print $var(print that column value). 
                                If it is "NF" then print $NF.